42%.

In Douglas Adams' classic sci-fi parody The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is found by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought to be "42." The only problem, it turns out, is that no one knows what the actual question is.

Well, now we know.

The Ultimate Question, to which 42 is the answer, is How Far Have Geo. Bush's Job Approval Ratings Fallen?

SPACEDARK

Wolfowitz

PTS reader Ricknplano emailed in these great thoughts . . .

On the Wednesday June 23 issue of Hardball on MSNBC the guest was Paul Wolfowitz. By way of explaining the high cost of the Halliburton and other contracts associated with the war in Iraq he said we should remember it was also used to repair 200,000 schools and 2,200 hospitals. I later checked the transcript to confirm I had heard him right. Well, as someone who understands third grade math I knew he had to be either intentionally fabricating the numbers or else totally clueless. The numbers he used would mean we have, in one year, built or repaired one entire school for every 30 school kids in Iraq. And Iraq would have one new or repaired hospital for every 11,000 people. In Plano, an affluent city of 220,000, we have two hospitals.

The scary part is that he is in charge. The second scary part is that the reporter did not challenge a thing he said.

Word!

-PTS

Premature Iraqulation

First, some humor to start out your day. Vice-President crash cart was booed at the Yankee vs. Red Sox game yesterday! LOL.

. . . "Cheney, who visited both clubhouses after batting practice, watched part of the game from the box of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and part from a first-row seat next to the Yankees dugout, where he sat between New York Gov. George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Cheney was booed when he was shown on the right-field videoboard during the seventh-inning stretch" . . .
CLICK HERE.

Now, reality. All that boolsheet from the Bushistas about how terrible things were in Iraq before we invaded turns out to be well . . . boolsheet. Have a look at this new GAO report.
CLICK HERE.

Lastly, get ready for this. The chairman of a new federal voting commission says the government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States.
CLICK HERE

If the thought that the same group of thugs that stole our last presidential election are in charge of this scares you . . . join the club!

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Nutballs, Mickey and Donald, oh my . . .

Say it ain't so . . .

Disney, who tried to stop F-9-11 from being released has now teamed up with a right wing group "Move America Forward" (Remember these whiners who got CBS not to show the Reagans made for TV movie? Yep, same thugs) to promote a film touted as an opposite to Moore's, called "America's Heart and Soul". (Scroll Down)

If you aren't one of those tree lovin', homo lovin', 'Raqi civilian lovin, job lovin', slack jawed Kerry lovin' librul this film's for you!

Nope. Haven't seen it, but check out the 'hosts'.

. . . "WHAT: Screening of Walt Disney Pictures' "America's Heart & Soul"
WHO: Representatives of Walt Disney Pictures
Howard Kaloogian, Chairman, Move America Forward
Melanie Morgan, Vice Chairman, Move America Forward
[Melanie is also a talk show host on KSFO 560 AM San Francisco]
Eric Hogue, KTKZ 1380 AM Sacramento
Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck
Political Leaders
Business Leaders
Invited members of the community" . . .

Yep, Mickey and Donald.

Eisner is now prostituting out our childhood friends for fascist bastards.

Wow, seen it all.

-Prodigal Son

Kerry Meet-Up !

The group raised more than expected for Kerry, around $2500 I think. Go Demos!!

But we can't stop to rest. Kerry and the Shrubster are still tied in a new NYT/ABC poll. CLICK HERE.

The hateful bush ads are having some effect, including the one splicing in Gore, Dean, Kerry and . . . Hitler? What the . . .

Message to Kerry: define yourself or be defined buddy.

ATTENTION ALL PTS: We are going to announce our first call to action soon, so if you have not bellied up yet, all we need is an email address, so SIGN UP! if you haven't already, and ask liked minded folks to jump in as well. Strength in numbers people!

As an aside, I saw F-9-11 last night and I am still digesting.

This is one POWERFUL film, and if it shows one thing, it's that Americans are THIRSTING for info about just what the he** is going on in our country.

Best all!

-Prodigal Son

GOT INPUT? CLICK ON 'COMMENTS'!

Did anyone see the snarky Hannah Storm . . .

. . . interview with Michael Moore on CBS's morning show?

PHEW! was she defensive!

Thought I would shoot out an email, here it is . . .

Dear Ms. Storm,
Your interview last Friday with Michael Moore was absolutely terrible.

It's obvious how YOU feel about the movie, and it shows.
Know what?
I don't care!

Throughout the interview you parroted Bush's positions, and got defensive several times with gems like, "You know what, we'll move past that" after Moore rightly said that the CBS evening news promoted Bush propaganda for the Iraq war.

Your bad attitude shined all the way through!

How sensitive can you be? How biased can you be?

How about writing a new book on calmly laying out both sides of an idea and letting people decide for themselves.

It could be about journalism, and by the by, I have yet to see it from you. You are not a sports anchor anymore, and if I wanted to see moronic macho BS thrown around I will watch Dick Cheney on FOX news throwing the F-Bomb.

You are a GREAT promoter of yourself and your books, now how about doing some research and promoting the news.

Not the talking points fed to you by the corporate masters supporting your literary career, but something like, oh . . . HOW BUSH LIED AMERICA INTO WAR. You know, something with a real edgy bite to it!

Good luck with the whole unbiased reporting thing!

Best,
Prodigal Son

Fahrenheit 9-11 is No. 1 !

It's official:
Michael Moore's movie knocked the cover off the ball. All told, the movie's total stands at $21.96 million.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE MOVIE'S SUCCESS

And all that blather from the right about only liberals going to see it? Uh-uh. Pretty broad base of folks turning out.
GREAT LA TIMES ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Please thank your favorite right winger for losing it over the movie, and giving it free publicity!

Know what is irritating? Disney would not distribute this film, but broadcasting Rush Rumproar and the liar Hannity on its radio stations like WABC-AM in New York IS ok..

-PRODIGAL SON

A Ten-Year-Old Could Do A Better Job

Since even my ten-year-old son notices errors and biases in the Amarillo Globe-News, I plan to occasionally publish his observations on this blog. As a young artist, he is particularly annoyed by the syndicated political cartoons the editorial staff chooses to run. In particular the AGN staff seem enamored with the cartoons of Chuck Asay who operates out of Colorado Springs. We've actually seen the editors run two Asay cartoons in one day! (So much for diversity of opinions.)

Today's Asay cartoon was titled "Another Difference Between Republicans and Democrats". The premise is that, if a Republican politician "does something wrong," other Republicans will abandon her or him until he is forced to resign. But, according to Asay, Democrats will defend one of their own who sins or errs, even making him or her rich through book sales.

Clearly this premise is ludicrous, a fact that will be plainly evident when the entire Bush administration is on trial in The Hague for war crimes and Chuck Asay is still defending them.

Asay's cartoons are primitively drawn, his worldview simplistic, his writing amateurish. Maybe I'm exposing my own biases, but I think my ten-year-old son draws better cartoons.

SPACEDARK

And the Righties accused Clinton of "parsing!"

In the Sunday Amarillo Globe-News (06/27/2004) Paul Greenberg continues to split hairs on the quotes of the Bushites concerning the connection between Iraq and al-Qaida AND the Iraqi threat. The implications made by the administration about what was "imminent" (my word this time, not the Bushites) was verbalized MANY different ways without using the word, and the ties between Iraq and al-Qaida was implied DOZENS of times, even if the exact words were not used.
Give me a break!

The Liberalator

One Little "knit-pick" That Means Nothing!

Don't the Amarillo Globe-News editors even read their own paper?
In Sunday's paper (06/21/2004) the first left-hand editorial - which I even AGREE WITH! states Amarillo's rainfall remains below normal, and on page two of the same paper reports both the monthly and year to date are ABOVE normal. Oh, well.

The Liberalator

Polemic - YES!

Is Fahrenheit 9/11 Polemic? ABSOLUTELY! "An aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinion or principles of another; the art or practice of disputation or controversy." EXACTLY what Moore claims - and executes brilliantly in his movie. If he attempted to include ALL horrifying incidents committed by Bush and the Bushites, the movie would be at least 42 days long.
Give me a Break!

The Liberalator

Oops one more time!

I meant National Bureau of Economic Research's Busines CYCLE (not cyle!). Dadgum that spell check! (I forgot to use it!.

The Liberalator

Moore Goes Easy on Dubya

Part of the critical (and I shouldn’t have to point out to PTS readers that criticism is evaluation, not automatic negativity) response to Fahrenheit 9-11 is that, while it is very good, it is a polemic. It argues a case and therefore makes things look as bad as possible for Dubya.

Polemic, yes. Argues a case, yes. But “bad as possible”?

Actually, there are aspects of the reality that Moore—whether through intention or lack of time—glosses over. I was surprised that, while he uses the footage of Dubya calling the elite “his base,” he does not use the far more damning footage of the man joking about not find any WMD. One of the stranger criticisms of Fahrenheit 9-11 has been that Moore "lets" Dubya sit in a classroom on the fateful morning-- as if Moore was there and had anything to do with it. Um, well, Dubya actually sat in that classroom. In reality. Really, the 9-11 classroom footage looks bad—but not nearly as bad as the actual minute-by-minute journal widely available on the internet.

Bad as Fahrenheit 9-11 makes Dubya look, the truth is—amazingly—even worse.

SPACEDARK

Oops, Forgot to mention Tony

Meant to mention to be sure and read Tony Tackitt's column in Saturday's (06/26/2004) paper - Good writing, and even though Tony was speaking to the Bushes use of polling, it shows JUST a FEW of the flip-flops the administration has made - and they make an issue of Kerry! I'd rather have a man in that office that can evaluate and change his mind than a blind ideologue! Thanks, Tony!

The Liberalator

Why Let Facts Get in the Way?

You would think that a nationally syndicated columnist like Matt Towery would verify facts before printing them, but one more time (again) he lets propaganda get in the way of facts! In his Saturday column he states "After all the nation has now emerged from a recession that started under Bill Clinton" WHEN IN FACT, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cyle Data Committee (how's that for a title?) and the Office of Business and Management stated the recession began MARCH, 2001.
Aside from this distortion, Towery made some suggestions for the Bush Campaign including "proposing a real cut in government services" and "greatly reducing the federal Department of Education." Bush promised to do both in his campaign promises in 2000, which has given him four years to get them done. NOW HE WANTS FOUR MORE YEARS! They still hate the Big Guy!
GIVE ME A BREAK!

The Liberalator

Today's the Day!

Fahrenheit 9-11 Friday y'all!

Mark Lazar is organizing a meet-up to see Fahrenheit 9-11 at Tonight's 7:50 PM showing at Hollywood Cinemark 16 theater in Amarillo.

To let him know you want to attend CLICK HERE TO EMAIL HIM AND GET THE DETAILS.

Also, anyone wanting to pass out some re-defeat Bush flyers, give Mark the word.

Any of our folks down in Lubbock or anywhere else in the panhandle, organizing a trip to see the movie, let the staff know at PTS, and we will post an announcement.

BTW, please email PTS if you see any right-wing intimidators out protesting the movie.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Must Read Friday

Good Morning . . .

This AM Bill Seewald pens a terrific column summarizing just how dangerous to democracy Bushco are in the Amarillo Globe News.

CLICK HERE TO READ

This kind of no holds barred examination should be encouraged, so EMAIL BILL and tell him to continue to kick some Ashcroft!

-Prodigal Son

Conservatives Running Scared

The rethugs are trying to ban Fahrenheit 9-11 ads in a disgusting attempt to try and hold back the floodgates from this ALREADY RECORD BREAKING film.

Fahrenheit 9/11’ ban?
Ads for Moore’s movie could be stopped on July 30
By Alexander Bolton
. . . "Michael Moore may be prevented from advertising his controversial new movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” on television or radio after July 30 if the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today accepts the legal advice of its general counsel.

At the same time, a Republican-allied 527 soft-money group is preparing to file a complaint against Moore’s film with the FEC for violating campaign-finance law." . . .
CLICK HERE FOR MORE

The more people think this is a film the Bushistas do not want them to see, the more ticket sales will rise. First Bill O'Liar snubs my boy Al Franken and he has a best seller, now this.

Do these idiots ever learn? Let's hope not!

-PRODIGAL SON

The Wrath of God

Sodom and Gomorrah

Lamentations of
SPACEDARK

Let's see Fahrenheit 9-11

Mark Lazar is organizing a meet-up to see Fahrenheit 9-11 at Friday's 7:50 PM showing at Hollywood Cinemark 16 theater in Amarillo.

To let him know you want to attend CLICK HERE TO EMAIL HIM AND GET THE DETAILS.

Also, anyone wanting to pass out some re-defeat Bush flyers, give Mark the word.

Psssst . . . rumor is there will be a review of the film by the Amarillo Globe News. I bet you a Reagan (Is he on the ten dollar bill yet?) that they pan it/distort it.

Maybe not. We'll see.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

The Panhandle Truth Squad

. . . the unacknowledged ombudsmen of the world.

Or at least of the Texas Panhandle.

SPACEDARK

J-School for the AGN

Dear Editors and Staff of the Amarillo Globe-News,

Pursuant to my post of yesterday afternoon, I would like to offer for your consideration this headline from the cover of this week's Time magazine, dated 28 June, 2004.

Bill Clinton Explains Himself

Neutral and unbiased: that's how it's done. Boring, yes, but that's the other side of the journalism coin. You knew that when you took the job.

Love and Kisses,
SPACEDARK

Show Us The Money

Advertising is the life blood of any media not run by volunteer zealots like ourselves. For a newspaper, subscriptions pay for only a small percentage of operating expenses. That said, several trends at the local newspaper are disturbing:

1. Advertising is becoming more intrusive on the pages of the Amarillo Globe-News. Editorial content is frequently secondary in layout importance, squeezed in wherever it can fit around the ever-increasing-in-both-content-and-size advertisements. Even front-page content is frequently obscured by advertising stickers, slapped on just before the newspapers go out.

2. Businesses have been purchasing large numbers of complimentary newspapers which appear to be delivered by newspaper carriers on their regular routes with additional advertising included.

3. The AGN website, with increasing frequency, is prefaced by an intrusive and noisy animated click-through ad.

We understand that we live on planet Capitalism and that advertising is a necessary evil. But it is ever the responsibility of media to be very careful about maintaining balance between journalistic responsibility and the necessity of paying the bills. We have no proof that that the AGN has upset this balance beyond repair, but these and other incidents point to an increasing and dangerous coziness between the news desks and advertisers. The Panhandle Truth Squad will be following the money trail.

SPACEDARK

PTS on Air America Radio

PTS was mentioned yesterday on the Randi Rhodes show!
Word is getting out!

There are many many more of us out there than the right-wing bullies and Republican parrots in the local media would have you believe.

Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans are more closely aligned with the Democratic Party on the issues than they are with the Republicans.

There is strength in numbers, we are already WAY ahead of where we thought we would be at PTS (Thanks to y'all) so please send folks our way.

We will win in November, then begin to win locally, then statewide. Our country is stronger with a two party system, but . . .

Wouldn't it be great for the Republican party, in it's current corrupt, reckless state to go the way of the Whigs?

-Panhandle Truth Squad

AGN Headlie of the Day

Thanks to the Free State Standard who commented (scroll down to first comment) on our critique of an Amarillo Globe-News headline in the (double-meaning alert!) wake of Reagan’s death.

Now, to steal one of Ronnie’s favorite lines, there they go again. Yesterday the headline on the front page of the AGN was “Clinton talks of failures in his ‘Life’.”

Fine. We all know about Mr. Clinton’s “failures.” But here’s the lede from the LA Times story reprinted by the Globe-News:

President Bush erred in not allowing U.N. inspectors to finish their search for weapons of mass destruction before attacking Iraq, but he is on the right track now in attempting to stabilize the country, former President Clinton said Sunday in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Here’s some liberal benefit-of-the-doubt for you vegans who don’t care for red meat: maybe the AGN meant Clinton was also talking about Bush’s failures. But, as a legally certified English language educator, I’m here to tell you that nothing, nothing in that headline states, implies, or suggests that Clinton was speaking of any but his own failures. And we certainly can’t read the mind of the Amarillo Globe-News. Hell, it’s hard enough reading the paper.

We at the Panhandle Truth Squad don’t want to make this a regular feature. But we will if we have to, so the only question remains, will it be the Headlie of the Day, the Week, or the Month? How often you gonna toss us one of these, AGN?

SPACEDARK

Must See TV

Great Interview with Michael Moore!

CLICK HERE! (Then click On 'Today': War According to Moore)

Mike NAILS it about 5 1/2 minutes in.

Mr. MOORE: "Where were the--where was the evidence to take us to war? I mean, you guys should have really demanded this. To send our kids off to war--over 800 dead now. If only the questions had been asked, and demanded and said, 'No, wait a minute.' If one of you--any of you--and I don't mean this to you personally--but just if anyone here had just said, 'Wait a minute. These are our children. You're not sending them to war unless you prove to us that our nation is under threat of attack, and that's the only reason we go to war."

Only a few more days everyone.

-PRODIGAL SON

Notice from the ministry of truth

By way of Atrios, we discover this morning a GREAT example of how the media falls apart when faced by the Bushistas, instead of informing America of the truth.

Yesterday, Rumsfield's "Torture Memo" was widely reported having him authorizing nasty stuff, now it has disappeared: CLICK HERE TO VIEW GOOGLE LIST OF NEW CNN STORIES

If you click on a CNN link from above, notice that the old stories reporting about the Rumsfield "Torture Memo" have gone 'POOF' ! This AM it never happened.

In fact, this morning on it's news program, CNN has backed away, announcing some new memo is coming out. (Dr. Evil impression here . . . "Riiiiight. . .")

Hmmmmm. . . no wonder our brother and sister Americans believe that Saddam and 9-11 are linked. That's a WHOLE other rant.

Another question. Will the 9-11 commission back down under pressure?
CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

Sounds like letter writing time to your local paper. . .

Amarillo Globe News- letters@amarillo.com
Lubbock AL- CLICK HERE

-PRODIGAL SON

Talkin' 'Bout My 9-11

It's time to chat about what is going to be a HUGE factor in public perception this year. Fahrenheit 9-11

But first, I cannot let another UNSIGNED ARTICLE in today's Amarillo Globe News go by. . .

Guys . . . the families who are suing are only trying to get answers from the Bush Thugs about what happened to their loved ones on 9-11. They have been consistently stonewalled and lied to. They want answers they cannot get from their local media like, say . . . the Amarillo "See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil" (When it comes to Republicans) Globe News who won't EVER ask a difficult question.
______________________________________________
Back to Fahrenheit 9-11:
This documentary is important for three reasons.
1. Anyone who sees it will be walking out saying to themselves, "Why haven't I seen or been told this before?"
2. A national dialog about where we are as a country will finally ensue, without all that "If you ask any questions, you're with the terra'ists" crap from the right.
2. The Republicans are scared shi**ess of this movie. Good enough reason for me!
______________________________________________
Be prepared to see the following spewed out by ALL media in the runup to the opening.
-It's just propaganda.
-It's mean spirited.
-It's a personal attack.
etc., etc., etc., . . .

Not once will the right ever take on the facts. THEY CAN'T.

Like Harry Truman once said when someone told him to give 'em hell, "I will just tell the truth and it will feel like hell!"

Gonna feel like hell for the right when this movie comes out.

-PRODIGAL SON

Give It Up!

One more time in the Sunday Amarillo Globe-News one of the Right Wingers (on the left side of the editorial pages - why is that?), Kathleen Parker, is hammering on Bill Clinton for - of all things - for being too popular, too famous and too smart. Everything negative that happens in our country (or the world for that matter!), according to the conservative nay-sayers can be blamed on the Clinton presidency. The Iraqi war, the break-down in the economy, the deficit and on and on. Does the right wing never do anything wrong? GIVE ME A BREAK!

The Liberalator

PTS vs. Tweety

Did anyone see Chris Mathews this am on the Today show? He was confused about what the 9-11 commission said about an Iraq-Al Quada link. (THERE WAS NOT ONE)

PTS sent him this:

Chris Mathews, that was a TERRIBLE performance this am on the Today show.

NO ONE is confused about an Iraq-Al Quada link except for you idiots in the lazy press. Do a little research for heaven's sake! CLICK HERE FOR HELP

There was no link between 9-11 and Iraq, America now knows it (PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS NOW), and the Bushies saying it over and over before and after the war STILL does not make it true.

Watching you made me realize that you guys in the media just can't wrap your brain around the reality . . . Bush/Cheney lied America into war, you and the other stenographers in the fourth estate peddled it without checking the facts, and tens of thousands of lives were destroyed.

I fear for my country because of your recklessness.

Damn you sir. Straight to hell.

Click here to see a list of Dead American Patriots because of your ineptitude.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Friday Tip

The staff here at PTS thought we should let ya'll know that you can comment and discuss any post on PTS by clicking on the small line that says, "Comments" and then "Post a Comment".

So . . . let 'er rip and see what's up out there in Panhandle Land!

BTW: We ran across a funny quote yesterday from Molly Ivins, "Naturally, when it comes to voting, we in Texas are accustomed to discerning that fine hair's-breadth worth of difference that makes one hopeless dipstick slightly less awful than the other. But it does raise the question:

Why bother?

Oh, it's just that your life is at stake."


-Panhandle Truth Squad

Kickin A**

The Potter/Randall Democratic club let PTS know that they have updated their web page, including info on the platform for the Gas Oil & Pollution party of Texas which includes these gems:

*Social Security should be abolished.
*The federal minimum wage should be abolished.
*The United States should return to the gold standard and abolish the Federal Reserve.

Holy separated from reality, Batman!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE DEMORILLOS!

-PTS

Reagan Business

Here's one:

I'm sick of the "Reagan defined the eighties as no president ever defined a decade" meme.

As if.

What I remember about the eighties is ecstasy and cocaine, mullets and Flock of Seagulls haircuts, skinny ties and Jams, new wave and hair metal. Not that I did or had all of those things (wink), but the point is Reagan never even KNEW anyone who did.

Clinton defined the wired, stay-up-all-night, 24-7, foosball-and-friends 90s WAY more than Reagan even understood the eighties.

Totally.

SPACEDARK

Ten More days until Fahrenheit 911 Opens!

Michael Moore's new movie, Fahrenheit 911 will be in theaters Friday, June 25th!

In Amarillo it will be playing at the Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive.

In Lubbock it will be playing at the Cinemark Movies 16, 5721 58th.

Go see it, and take a group!

Also, if you get a moment, thank these places for bringing the movie to the panhandle. Theater owners have been under HUGE pressure not to let you see this movie by Right Wing Thugs

Give 'em a ring:
Amarillo: 806-352-7411
Lubbock: 806-796-2804

Best,
-Panhandle Truth Squad

Air America Radio

Folks, if you have not been listening to Air America Radio, you have been missing great stuff! By the by, Al Franken has been beating Rush Rumproar in the ratings in NY for his time slot, so his show has to be pretty decent.

But, like you, we here at PTS have to work to pay for Bush's "leave no billionaire behind" tax cut, so . . .

Do this. Go to airamericaplace. It archives all shows for download so you can listen anytime you want on your computer, mp3 player, etc.

GO HERE to get the good stuff! (I think you have to register once, and you can find the files under the "Audio Archive" tab up top.)

Al Franken's show is called "The O'Franken Factor".

LIBERALS ARE NOT ALONE OUT THERE!

-PRODIGAL SON

St. Reagan's Comet

St. Reagan's week is finally over. It was too short. Maybe we could stretch it out more. Maybe we could have "Reagan Roadtrip 2004" and have a funeral in EVERY CITY! (Satire preceding)

Unlike Repubs who immediately vilified those who even mentioned Paul Wellstone was in the senate at his service, we here at PTS showed restraint last week.

The gloves come off now.

Boolsheet printed in the Amarillo Globe News, Avalanche-Journal, etc. from gushy history revisionists like Rep. John Cornyn, repeated 3 blantant lies over and over.
1. Reagan won the cold war.
2. Reagan made us feel all oogly warm inside at all times.
3. Reagan was responsible for the greatest economic expansion forever.

You can honor someone, but you do NOT get to make sheeet up.
Executive Summary ready for emailing here:
-The House and Senate did not both come under Republican rule during Reagan's time.
-The Berlin Wall did not come down when Reagan was in office.
-Reagan is not the president who left office with the highest approval rating in modern times. That was BILL CLINTON.
-Reagan was not "the most popular president ever." That was BILL CLINTON.
-Reagan did not preside over the longest economic expansion in history. That was BILL CLINTON.
-Reagan did not shrink the size of government. That was BILL CLINTON.
-Reagan did preside over what was at the time the "biggest tax cut in history" but it was almost instantly followed up by the "biggest tax increase in history."
-Reagan was not "beloved by all." He was loved by some, liked by some, and hated by some with good reason.

(Tip 'o' the hat to Atrios)

Bottom line, how do you know when a Repub is lying about the Reagan Legacy?
Because they are talking.

MUCHO INFO CLICK HERE.

MUCHO MUCHO INFO CLICK HERE

How do you honor a guy with an aircraft carrier, federal bldg, and an airport already named for him? Uhhh . . . I think he is pretty covered.

-PRODIGAL SON

Take That Faith-Based Initiative

It is now time for the compassionate conservatives to step up and apply some of that faith-based initiative to help a growing number of ministries and organizations in our fair city of Amarillo. Within the last several weeks there have been articles in the paper reporting that the Faith City Mission, Family Catholic Services, Goodwill, Tyler Street Resource Center and Crime Stoppers, because of the drop in voluntary donations, are having to cut back or eliminate services to those that need them. More and more children, women and men are having to depend on these groups because of lost jobs, cut-backs in government services, mental health problems, disabilities and, yes, the ever-present minority that won’t work. Because of this decreased income these organizations (like the government services with reduced funding) are not able to keep up with the increase in demand for their help.

We have heard from our current Republican administration and congress that, with the tax cuts given and cuts made in government agencies, the compassionate conservatives will jump in and take over the responsibility of the needy. Okay. They are ready.

-Liberalator

Ka-Booooom !

From the LA Times:
WASHINGTON — A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

That's right. Folks who know, know that Bush's administration is reckless, immoral, corrupt, and incompetent.

And they are willing to say so.

Will this appear in the Amarillo Globe News? The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal?

Those fine publications might need a little help. Email 'em.

AGN-john.kanelis@amarillo.com
LAJ-Online Form Here

-Prodigal Son

YDG award!

The first YDG (Ya Done Good) award goes out to William Seewald in yesterday's Amarillo Globe News. CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

Great Job Bill Seewald!

Email Bill and do some praisin' for tellin' it like it is.

Personally folks, we here at PTS knew we were officially through the looking glass when George Will and Cokie Roberts were on ABC this past Thursday fawning over Reagan's debate performance against Jimmy Carter.

The SAME George Will from "debategate"!
24 years ago, if you remember, thugs in Reagan's presidential campaign pored through Jimmy Carter's debate briefing book which was swiped from the White House.

Back then, George Will was part of the effort to make the most of these illegally obtained papers.

Will looked at the Carter briefing materials and helped coach Reagan. Mr. Will was also one of the commentators who awarded the 'victory' to Mr. Reagan, and after the debate, Will went on "Nightline" to praise Reagan for a "thoroughbred performance."

Viewers never knew.

(Sigh) Cokie, we hardly knew ya.

More on the St. Reagans week later . . .

-PRODIGAL SON

Whatever You Want It To Be

A number of us here at the Panhandle Truth Squad have become personally acquainted with the heartbreak of poorly-chosen Amarillo Globe-News headlines. Okay, maybe the choice of the word "heartbreak" is over-snarked, faux-maudlin, or some other pretentious hyphenate loosely defined as "Dude. Chill."

But let's look at a page from the Neverending Story: the American press's ongoing Dead Reagan Society. The headline (striking in its originality) on page 10A of the print edition of Saturday morning's AGN is "Mourning in America" (at this writing Lexis-Nexis is recording 41 separate print uses of that particular phrase; Google News references 221 uses). A huge picture of the flag-draped casket takes up half the page. Another picture shows a dewy-eyed George W. Bush delivering a eulogy; W's eulogy is set off in a box below this picture in 12-point type.

The full headline of the story in the print version of the paper is "Mourning in America: Country that Reagan inherited was different from one he leaves." Now, with all these appeals to sentiment all over page 10A, you'd sure think that headline meant the country was a better place because of Reagan, wouldn't you? Nevermind what we at the Panhandle Truth Squad believe, you'd think the story below this headline was more unabashed Reagan-worship, wouldn't you?

Well, actually no. The Associated Press story by Connie Cass is relatively even-handed, by current standards. Here's one quote:

"Government does not solve problems, it subsidizes them," Reagan quipped. Nonetheless, the U.S. government grew during Reagan's two terms and keeps growing.

Most newspapers and web sites around the world had more neutral, if occasionally nonsensical, headlines for this same story:

"America before Reagan is far removed today"
"Reagan transformed America he inherited," and, best of all,
"For good or ill, changes wrought by the Reagan era still being felt"

This is a typical tactic from the Amarillo Globe-News. Apparently aware that most people just read the headline, AGN editors routinely ignore the content of a story and simply slap a headline onto the page in accordance with whatever they want reality to be.

SPACEDARK

AGN Publisher: les.simpson@amarillo.com
Executive Newsroom Editor: ralph.routon@amarillo.com

United States of Reagan

In today's Amarillo Globe News, Senator John Cornyn from Texas, wrote the following LYING COLUMN.

. . ."As president, he confronted the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. He brought America from the depths of economic despair to the heights of free market success. He was a voice of moral weight, a compassionate example of the American spirit, and he left the Oval Office as the most popular president in the modern era." . . .

Ended the cold war all by his lonesome? Nope. It was also with Gorby. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. EVEN MORE HERE.

That great free market mumbo? President Clinton was responsible for the greatest economic expansion in history, 1991-2001. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Most popular president? This is a big lie repeated often by the right. It was President Clinton. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

You can honor Reagan's memory and show respect for Nancy and the kids, but you don't get to make boolsheet up Senator.

PTS readers, look for these lies to be repeated by the media and the right over and over and over and over and over ad nauseum while pushing to get Ronnie on our money. Personally they ought to put his visage on food stamps.
(Shout out to Randi Rhodes on LIBERAL RADIO for that one!)

-PRODIGAL SON

PTS Gets Monkey Mail !

This emailed to PTS last night.

. . . "First its not the democratic party. its the democrat party"

It's kinda hard to take ya seriously man when you start out with a lie. Anyhoo . . .

. . . "second of all it is the democrat party that put us in harms way during the clinton years.

If you can at least provide ONE example of this it might help with your point. Can't wait to see if you have one!

. . ."and last but not least, there is no such thing as a partiotic liberal."

One word bro . . . SPELLCHECK. Two words 'Arlington Cemetery' What, only Republicans are buried there?

Drop David Bigjohnson an email if you feel so moved.

-PRODIGAL SON

ENOUGH ALL READY!

We already have an aircraft carrier, a post office and an airport named Reagan. Now congress wants his name on the $10 or $20 dollar bill AND rename the Pentagon. Next maybe Frist and Hastert and their cronies can work to change us to the United States of Reagan. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

Liberalator

St. Reagan

Good Reagan morning! How Reagan is Reagan your Reagan week going? Mine Reagan is Reagan pretty Reagan good. I Reagan got Reagan some Reagan housework Reagan done, and Reagan saw Reagan a Reagan movie. "The Reagan Day Reagan After Reagan Tomorrow" was Reagan ok...I Reagan highly Reagan recommend Reagan you wait to Reagan rent the Reagan DVD, Reagan though. . .

PHEW! My thoughts on this week?

This whole nation owes Reagan a debt we can never repay.

MORE HERE

-PRODIGAL SON

BTW: Isn't an aircraft carrier, an airport, and a federal bldg ALL named Reagan enough? LEAVE OUR MONEY ALONE!

Torturing the Truth

John Ashcroft to Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, "This administration rejects torture."

Well, of course they reject torture...they just got caught doing it.

How about last year, did the Bush administration reject torture then?

Turns out, last year Bush was asking his team of lawyers to refine legal arguments that would allow him to sidestep the restrictions of American and international law, as well as the Geneva Convention, to torture prisoners/suspected terrorists. We know because half the memos were leaked to the New York Times.

From the Associated Press in the Houston Chronicle, this is what Bush lawyers came up with:

"In order to respect the president's inherent constitutional authority to manage a military campaign," the lawyers wrote in the 56-page confidential memorandum, the prohibition against torture "must be construed as inapplicable to interrogation undertaken pursuant to his commander-in-chief authority."

How about the year before that, what was the Bush Administration's stance on torture?

From same article:

A Jan. 22, 2002, memorandum from the Justice Department that provided arguments to keep U.S. officials from being charged with war crimes for the way prisoners were detained and interrogated was used extensively as a basis for a May memorandum on avoiding proscriptions against torture.

Another memorandum obtained by the Times indicates that most of the administration's top lawyers, with the exception of those at the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, approved of the Justice Department's position that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the war in Afghanistan.

In addition, that memorandum, dated Feb. 2, 2002, noted that lawyers for the CIA asked for an explicit understanding that the administration's public pledge to abide by the spirit of the Conventions did not apply to its operatives.

So when Bush says he's against torture he means right now, at this minute. But just as soon as he can get away with it...

DustBowl Dem

Who needs a reason for war when you have 27??

I love this. Leave it to the college kids...

An honors student at Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused his senior thesis on cataloging the ever-changing rationale for war in Iraq. He found that we had plenty of good reasons — 27 in fact.

Even better, 23 of them originated from members of the Bush Administration.

To check out the entire study, use this link.

It's impressive that this guy did the legwork to hold our shrinking attention spans accoutable.

Also, it reminds me of my honors thesis at UT -- "27 reasons I've given to skip class."

DustBowl Dem

Bush curses, puts curses on dissidents...

I found this account of Bush's increasing paranoia/evangelism in Capitol Hill Blue, a daily on-line publication. Since 1994 it has been an outlet for both retired and current members of the Washington press corps. The author, former newsman Doug Thompson is publisher of Capitol Hill Blue and a former Republican congressional staffer.

Also checkout the firsthand account of Tenet's firing. Scary but informative.

Bush Leagues
Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
-By Doug Thompson, Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue, Friday, June 4, 2004

. . ."Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."

-Dustbowl Dem

Monday chuckle

Via Atrios . . .

Stuffed gipper
Dear Mr. Mehlman

Replacing the Bush/Cheney 2004 home page with a TRIBUTE to Ronald Reagan was a masterstroke. Surely there are other ways you can exploit his death for the campaign's advantage.

Have you considered taxidermy?

Heterosexually yours,

General JC Christian, patriot

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE GENERAL'S BLOG

-PRODIGAL SON

. . . the really, really bad . . .

Let me make this perfectly clear, a vote is an action, not a statement. I will make statements against certain of John Kerry's proposed policies by writing columns, letters, blog entries or diaries. Or I will take his bumper sticker off my car (it is still there, at this writing). Or I will simply rant. These things are statements. A vote for Ralph Nader is an action, one which will help to get George W. Bush elected.

That said, it is unconscionable that the Amarillo Globe-News responded to Nader's characterization of George W. Bush as an "out-of-control, West Texas sheriff" with a direct threat. Here's what the newspaper had to say, under the unsigned "Monday Briefing" heading ". . . the bad . . . "

Since Nader has been scouring the Texas countryside trying to locate enough recluses to sign on the dotted line and get on the ballot in Texas, casting aspersions against West Texas law enforcement might not be a good idea.

Cause, according to AGN: Nader exercising (however misguidedly) his rights as a citizen
Effect, according to AGN: Nader gets beat up, arrested, harassed, or . . . or what, Amarillo Globe-News? What is your point exactly? And why you harshing on Ralph, AGN? He's helping your guy.

SPACEDARK

P.S. Unsigned editorials: I have been specifically educated by AGN staff that the unsigned editorials "reflect the stance of the paper." Therefore, it will be the policy of the Panhandle Truth Squad to hold the newspaper as a whole-- not merely individual editors and reporters-- responsible for the content of these particular screeds.

Ombudsman: Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Briefly in the early 1990s, the Amarillo Globe-News employed an ombudsman-- a "public editor." His job it was to criticize the newspaper-- "criticize" in the obsolescent sense, meaning "to judge the faults and merits, to analyze and evaluate." (Diminishingly small amounts of true analysis and evaluation go on at newspapers these days.)

The ombudsman system is used by a few dozen newspapers to police themselves. It actually made news in mid-2003 when the "paper of record", The New York Times, appointed an ombudsman in response to the growing growing inability of reporters and editors to maintain basic journalistic standards.

The Times fretted at the time that the ombudsman system would "foster nit-picking and navel-gazing, that it might undermine staff morale, and worst of all, that it would absolve other editors of their responsibility to represent the interests of readers."

But the editors had abdicated that responsibility long before.

How to put this delicately? It, um, seems unlikely that a paper like the Globe-News would employ a full-time ombudsman in the current bottom-line climate. But a paper is about more than selling advertising. The Panhandle Truth Squad calls on the Amarillo Globe-News and other papers to police themselves by appointing an ombudsman or establishing some equivalent system. We're not promising we'll stop doing it, too, but--jeez, at least make this more difficult for us.

SPACEDARK

Texas GOP officially the party of hate.

From the Houston Chronicle:
SAN ANTONIO -- Texas Republican delegates on Friday adopted an ultraconservative party platform that attacks a wide range of targets -- from taxes and homosexuality to abortion and the United Nations -- and gives a mixed review to Gov. Rick Perry's priorities.

We know the Gas Oil and Pollution party in Texas wants to suppress ALL dissent, but read a few more paragraphs down.

. . . "Reacting to two walkouts by Democratic legislators, who fled to Oklahoma and New Mexico last year to delay action on a Republican congressional redistricting bill, the platform has a new section on "AWOL Legislators." It calls for automatic resignations and loss of pay for lawmakers who flee the state under similar circumstances."

And finally this gem, which should be at the TOP of this news column.

. . . "The platform also calls for repeal of the hate crimes law, repeal of the minimum wage, opposes the provision of reproductive health services, including condoms, in public schools and proposes the death penalty as a punishment option for rape."

In other words, not just pandering to the base, but building a bridge to the 19th century.

Email a letter to the editor if you would like, let them know we intend to FIGHT the rethugs, and please be civil.

viewpoints@chron.com

Best,
-Prodigal Son

Dutch is Gone

And with him a part of our adolescence, already quickly fading into history. The first time we thought this day might have come was March 30, 1981. On that day, we heard on the junior high school P.A. that Reagan had been shot, and a girl in our English class, mistaking the announcement for a death announcement, shouted "Good Riddance."

We were children then; we are no more. And we will not today repeat such gruesome sentiments. From our perspective at the Panhandle Truth Squad, President Ronald Reagan's legacy was mostly bad, but today we mourn a man and not a legacy. Neither do we refuse to call this duly-elected man by the proper title, President Reagan.

Mostly, however, we mourn an attitude, by now deader than the 40th president. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill famously said that he and Reagan were bitter antagonists before 5:00 pm, but that shouldn’t affect their friendship after five. So it is in that spirit, and in the desperate hope that such common ground may someday be found again among Americans, that we at the Panhandle Truth Squad drink a martini toast to an American president.

The righties running scared.

Here is a great chart explaining the difference between the Liberal's daddy warbucks and JUST ONE OF the Rethugs' (Soros vs. Sun Myung Moon)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CHART

As you read this, the right wing echo chamber is doing it's corrupt best to discredit George Soros as a response to him funding Liberal groups. We have one guy, THEY HAVE MANY.

Must be hitting a nerve. The only problem is our lazy press is letting them get away with it.

Look for the latest talking point (Soros compared Abu Ghraib to 9-11!!) to be recited in the local papers and media.

BTW, Soros didn't. Here's the real quote, "I think that the picture of torture in Abu Ghraib, in Saddam's prison, was the moment of truth for us, because this is not what this nation stands for."

-PRODIGAL SON

They don't even try to hide it...

Since when are Newsweek and TIME known for their savvy, crack investigative reporting? I thought we couldn't expect much more than quality hand-bound Civil War Books outta those guys.

First, a few weeks ago, buried in a story about heightened partisan rhetoric, TIME mentions:

Administration sources tell TIME that employees at the Department of Homeland Security have been asked to keep their eyes open for opportunities to pose the President in settings that might highlight the Administration’s efforts to make the nation safer. The goal, they are being told, is to provide Bush with one homeland-security photo-op a month.

Sickening, but kudos to them for the coverage.

Then, today, I catch their piece on Patriot Act provisions that require the names of AMERICAN CITIZENS buying/selling homes to be checked against of "suspected" terrorists.

You can check out the story here.

Is anyone familiar with the right to unlimited contract??? It's a little something that allows our business world to keep turning without angry mobs or broken kneecaps.

As Americans, we can enter into contracts with ANYONE, ANYTIME so long as the contract is reasonable, conscionable and legally sound. We have the right to expect those contracts will be enforced by our judiciary.

This is a major step in the Patriot Act's erosion of our civil liberties, and Newsweek, of all mags, blows the lid off it!

The Patriot Act sucks, but I think there's a larger, possibly more dangerous pattern here —- we're approaching a climate when coverups are no longer necessary.

The President himself claims not to read the newspaper, and he hopes we do the same.

But when his administration is exposed by coffeetable rags for manipulating the image of war for political gain and stripping Americans of their right to (Gasp!) buy stuff, you have to ask: do they even have to hide it anymore?

DustBowl Dem

Bird Cage Liner Alert!

. . . From todays Amarillo Globe News, this stenographic bit of UNSIGNED RNC talking point blather. CLICK HERE TO VIEW COLUMN

"Democrats should be breathing a sigh of relief that their candidate for the presidency is John Kerry and not Al Gore. ". . .
Don't know about you, but I do not need the AGN to tell me how I should feel.

"Gore spoke the other day to MoveOn.org, a left-leaning political group, and proceeded to shame himself with hysterical rhetoric."
Since when is calm oratory hysterical? Since it is called that by the right and repeated by our lazy press.

Some echos out there:
Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 5/27/04: John Kerry’s advisers were surprised and annoyed to hear that Mr. Gore hollered so much, he made Howard Dean look like George Pataki.

Paula Zahn, Paula Zahn Now, 5/27/04: Well, we did see a pretty good Howard Dean imitation from Al Gore, didn't we?

Robert Novak, Crossfire, 5/28/04: [Gore] gained credence with the huge lunatic wing of the Democratic Party this week when he did his imitation of Howard Dean shouting.

Margaret Carlson, Capital Gang, 5/29/04: That looked like Gore channeling Howard Dean in Iowa. It’s not a good performance.

Chris Matthews, The Chris Matthews Show, 5/30/04: Wary Kerry! Al Gore screams like Dean, but the candidate stays cool, some say too cool.

Kooky Charles Krauthammer said, "It looks as if Al Gore has gone off his lithium again."

It's always easier to attack someone than disprove what they are saying.

Let 'em know what you think over at the AGN, and be civil!

john.kanelis@amarillo.com

To view Al's speech CLICK HERE

-PRODIGAL SON

Don't believe the BCF's new spin:

The Iraq situation (Or Great Mess-o-potamia as Jon Stewart calls it!)
IS NOT like WWII.

Even the right-wing Chicago Tribune is saying this is horse sh . . . uh, stuff.
Drawing erroneous conclusions
Bush, Rumsfeld, misinterpret our war history
-Steve Chapman, 6-3-2004
. . ."Americans were not willing to go to war with Japan to free China and Korea from colonial rule, or to save Germany's neighbors from being swallowed up, or to rescue Jews from slaughter. It was only when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Hitler declared war on us that we mobilized to fight.

Americans had no alternative. We had been attacked, and defeat was unthinkable. If it meant losing nearly 300,000 soldiers in combat, or twice that many, the price had to be paid.

Those were not wars of choice. They were not undertaken to pre-empt alleged dangers, to bring salvation to oppressed peoples, to set an example of democracy to other nations, or to cow potential aggressors. They were about government's gravest and most basic responsibility: national survival." . . .
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS GREAT ARTICLE

Expect the righties to spew this nonsense over and over and over in the next week.

-Prodigal Son

Enron, Lies & Audiotape

The cause of the California Energy Crisis a few summers ago is becoming clearer by the minute. A public utility district in WA has transcribed conversations between Enron traders.

From the Tuscon Citizen:

In one transcript, a trader asked about "all the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers of California."

An Enron trader responded: "Yeah, Grandma Millie, man. But she's the one who couldn't figure out how to (expletive) vote on the butterfly ballot."

"Yeah, now she wants her (expletive) money back for all the power you've charged right up - jammed right up her (expletive) for (expletive) $250 a megawatt hour," the first trader said.

In another, a trader said, "The magical word of the day is 'burn, baby, burn,' " in reference to a fire in California under a power line that caused a transmission outage, letting Enron take advantage of increased electricity demand.

This is sick — a bunch of Wall Streeters sitting around insulting old folks' intelligence while stealing their pensions through energy price-gouging. Those Blackouts dominated the headlines that summer, and let's hope that Californians settle the score with these corporate cheats...preferably in the form of indictments.

DustBowl Dem

Shrub the Flip Flopper part 673

Riiiight . . .

Bush in the rose garden yesterday: "My meetings with him (Chalabi) were very brief. I mean, I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just kind of working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders. But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him."

Here's a little help for Mr. "Bad short-term memory":

Bush last Feburary, on Meet The Press:
Russert: If the Iraqis choose, however, an Islamic extremist regime, would you accept that, and would that be better for the United States than Saddam Hussein?

President Bush: They're not going to develop that. And the reason I can say that is because I'm very aware of this basic law they're writing. They're not going to develop that because right here in the Oval Office I sat down with Mr. Pachachi and Chalabi and al-Hakim, people from different parts of the country that have made the firm commitment, that they want a constitution eventually written that recognizes minority rights and freedom of religion.

AND:
Briefing the White House press pool accompanying him on Air Force One as he returned to the United States after the two-and-one-half-hour stop in Baghdad, Bush said he and L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, met with Jalal Talibani, the current president of the council, Raja Habib Khuzaii, Ahmed Chalabi, and Mowaffak Rubaie.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

-Prodigal Son

Shrub the Flip Flopper part 672

Riiiiigght . . .

"President Bush said he was never angry with France over its refusal to back the U.S.-led war in Iraq, as both countries sought to play down past tensions ahead of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

"I was never angry with the French. France is a long-term ally," Bush told the weekly Paris Match in an interview due to be published on Thursday.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

Here's a little help for Mr. "Bad short-term memory":

"American anger at France over its refusal to support war in Iraq reached new heights yesterday when President George Bush took a direct swipe at President Chirac.

"I doubt he'll be coming to the ranch any time soon," was Mr Bush's tart comment in an interview with NBC News, when asked about Jacques Chirac – a reference to the informal summits Mr Bush likes to hold with favored foreign leaders at his cherished retreat in Crawford, Texas. Many in his administration – by implication, himself among them – had the impression "that the French position was anti-American", the President said.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

Kerry? You there dude? This one's toooo easy . . .

-PRODIGAL SON

Where Are the Moderate Voices?

Where Are the Moderate Voices?

When almost everything I read and see on television that concerns our country – the budget, health care, the economy, the war, security, – is dominated by the hard-right, the neo-conservatives, it concerns me that our moderate Republicans seem to have disappeared. On rare occasions the media will report unrest from a few conservatives, but there is no voice of moderation.

Are there no moderates left in the Republican Party? Do all Republicans think that a $500 billion dollar deficit is nothing to worry about? Do all Republicans feel 500 dead Americans and thousand of wounded soldiers are not a concern? Do all Republicans consider the budget cuts that drastically affected the disabled, the children, the working poor, the elderly and the sick are fair equitable?

Have Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Tom DeLay so intimidated the moderate Republican congress men and women (and in my heart of heart, I hope the moderates represent the majority of the party) that they fear for their positions and offices? Our senators and representatives have become more accountable to the Republican Party leadership than to our citizens – and somehow it seems the citizens should be more important than the party.

The Liberalator