http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401966.html  A few days ago, a boy who was injured by a falling television in a Catholic school was awarded $19 million. While one feels almost inhuman saying that this makes absolutely no sense, I feel that this is the case. According to the Washington Whore Post, the boy was tugging on the television before it fell. Even though most people are not expected to display common sense at the tender age of nine, anyone should know that pulling on heavy objects that are above eye level is a bad idea. Perhaps if the archdiocese had not admitted fault, common sense would have prevailed. After all, I'd rather that the Catholics spent their time protecting children from priests, not from lapses in their own judgement.

Julie Mason, The Houston Chronicle, September 28, 2007 Tom DeLay didn't quit the battle when he left Congress last year. To the contrary, he's battling harder than ever against an increasing array of foes, and possibly himself. Embarking this week on a national tour of college Republican clubs, the former majority leader is still stewing over unsettled scores, missing the role he once had and deeply disappointed in the state of Republican politics. "They desperately need an agenda, they need to know how to fight," DeLay told three dozen young Republicans at George Washington University this week. "Where are the leaders?" The bantam fighter has always relished conflict and the part of scrappy underdog, back to the 1970s when DeLay was one of only five Republicans in his then-heavily Democratic Sugar Land voting precinct. But since his ignoble departure from Congress amid a range of ethics problems, and with his legal troubles still unresolved, the sense of persecution that once gave DeLay strength has lately turned to bitterness. Read More Here

Dan Morain, The Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2007 SACRAMENTO --A proposed California initiative campaign that could have helped Republicans hold on to the White House in 2008 was a shambles Thursday night, as two of its key consultants quit. Unable to raise sufficient money and angered over a lack of disclosure by its one large donor, veteran political law attorney Thomas Hiltachk, who drafted the measure, said he was resigning from the committee. Hiltachk's departure is a major blow to the operation because he organized other consultants who had set about trying to raise money and gather signatures for the initiative. Campaign spokesman Kevin Eckery said he was ending his role as well. There remained a chance that the measure could be revived, but only if a major donor were to come forward to fund the petition drive. However, time is short to gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by the end of November. And backers said Thursday that they believed the measure was all but dead, at least for the 2008 election. " 'Shambles' is the wrong word," said strategist Marty Wilson, who curtailed his fundraising efforts weeks ago. "The campaign never got off the ground." Intended for the June 2008 ballot, the proposed initiative sought to change California's winner-take-all system to require that electoral votes be awarded based on how individual congressional districts vote. Read More Here

Smack Down Ahead

Doug Simpson, The Associated Press, September 27, 2007 ... An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 protesters marched in Jena last week in a scene that evoked the early years of the civil rights movement. Walters said the demonstration had no influence on his decision not to press the adult charges, and ended his news conference by saying that only God kept the protest peaceful. "The only way — let me stress that — the only way that I believe that me or this community has been able to endure the trauma that has been thrust upon us is through the prayers of the Christian people who have sent them up in this community," Walters said. "I firmly believe and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened. You can quote me on that." The Rev. Donald Sibley, a black Jena pastor, called it a "shame" that Walters credited divine intervention for the protesters acting responsibly. "What I'm saying is, the Lord Jesus Christ put his influence on those people, and they responded accordingly," Walters responded. Read More Here

Bill Maher, The Huffington Post, September 27, 2007 Iraq is Enron, and President Bush is Ken Lay. He's fighting a war with phony accounting tricks. The Bush administration fudged the numbers to get us into Iraq, and cooked the books to keep us there. "The surge" is simply another in a long series of inflated stock quotes. This past weekend Marcel Marceau passed away at age 84. Doctors say he went quietly. Thus proving that evil thrives when good men stay silent. And just like with Enron, the good men and women who are blowing the whistle on Iraq contractor fraud are being vilified, fired, demoted, and those are the lucky ones. Last Friday morning the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held a hearing entitled "The Mistreatment of Iraq Contracting Whistleblowers," just in time to make the Friday news dump. According to the committee more than $10 billion dollars in Iraq reconstruction and military support contracts is unaccounted for. In other words, for every six dollars spent in Iraq one dollar is in question. And folks, it's a war-zone, you're dealing with a culture known for its haggling skills, so you've got factor in a little skimming, but this is ridiculous. If you stole that much money from the Mafia you'd be dead. Vicente Fox may have called President Bush a "windshield cowboy," but Bush has certainly turned Iraq into a wild, wild, west. And here's another one from the War in Iraq's this-is going-to-make-you-vomit file. Some Iraq contract whistleblowers have been vilified and fired, others have been detained by the US military and subjected to harsh interrogation techniques. Donald Vance, a Navy veteran, was working for an Iraqi-owned outfit called the Shield Group Security Company. Vance said he witnessed Shield Group selling guns, land mines, and rocket-launchers to Iraqi insurgents, American soldiers, State Department workers, and Iraqi embassy and ministry workers. Vance described Shield Groups as "a Wal-Mart for guns." Vance reported this to the FBI, and instead of a pat on the back, he got 97 days at Camp Cropper, a military prison outside of Baghdad. In fact, Saddam's Hussein's old crib. Vance was placed in solitary confinement, subjected to head-banging music blaring from dawn to dusk, and interrogators screaming the same questions over and over again in his face. Read More Here

BartCop.com Volume 2045 - Sad Banalities. In Today's Tequila Treehouse...

	W to World: Up Is Down
	No Guarantee on Troops
	Kerry the Coward
	W loves Ahmahandjob
	She's Electable After All
	Rather's Magnum Opus
	Left's Media Screw-up
	Let's Dump Harry Reid
	Josie Maran voted off

Dems can't make guarantee on Iraq troops HANOVER, N.H. - The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. "I think it's hard to project four years from now," said Obama in the opening moments of a campaign debate in the nation's first primary state. "It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting," added Hillary. "I cannot make that commitment," said John Edwards.

Well golly-gee, that there is some seriously confident pollytickin'.

......and Russert said her husband, once suggested it might be appropriate. "Well, he's not standing here right now," she said, an edge in her voice. There is a disagreement, Russert rejoined.

And big kudos to Tim Russert for cunningly reminding us that Hillary thinks independently of her husband which, as any good god-fearing American can tell you, is a one way ticket to damnation, hairy armpits and the destruction of God's chosen land - The U.S of A.

Well! The extremists among the environmentalists have finally begun to make noise about the building of the fence. Never mind that for years illegals and drug smugglers have torn up the “fragile desert ecosystem.” Remember when environmentalists declared you could still see the wagon wheel ruts made in 1850 leading to the west coast? But where were they when the Mexicans were trashing Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as they have been over the last few decades? Hiding in the closet with the feminists who wouldn’t speak up about the stonings and beatings Moslem women routinely die from? But now that a fence is finally being started along our southern border, here they come: “Oh, the fence will stop the jaguars!” This in spite of the fact that only four have been spotted north of the border in the last three decades. This could be because the large cats don’t like humans and so have been chased off by drug-smugglers noisily roaring across the border in their four wheel drive vehicles. “Oh, but how about the Lesser Long-nose Bat? The fence might damage some bat habitat!” Yeah? Then how about putting up a fence to keep illegals’ vehicles from sending up clouds of dust, covering the cactus flowers these nectar bats feed on? What’s the matter with these people? Can’t they see that uncontrolled traffic is hurting the very animals they want to protect? Below are selections from a news story concerning the damage caused by not having a fence:  Fires are only one of several kinds of environmental damages to Federal lands along the border resulting from illegal immigration, according to the report. Others are: • New roads and trails made by illegal aliens and drug smugglers, damaging vegetation and dislocating wildlife in historical sites such in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; • Massive amounts of human waste and garbage left behind by illegals at known pickup points pose a threat to human, plant, and animal life in the area; • The pygmy owl and pima pineapple cactus, whose habitats are on the Federal lands have both been placed on the endangered species list; • Repeated cutting of farmers' fences, allowing valuable cattle to wander, as well as damaging water supplies and equipment. Many visitors no longer camp at Coronado National Forest or visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument due to confrontations with illegal immigrants. Recently, the number of immigrants was over 100 times the number of citizens that had legally obtained a back country permits in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Massive illegal immigration has inflicted serious damage on the 516 square miles of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, once an environmental gem. If you were to pick any point at the monument and walk three miles in any direction, you would find 9 water bottles, 7 pieces of litter, 4 tire tracks, and 4 places where major damage has been wrought, according to a recent study.” (http://www.carryingcapacity.org/02aa5coronado.html) What's wrong with these people? In light of these facts shouldn't the environmentalists be loudly clamoring for a fence?

As an educator I have watched in horror as Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB)has decimated the education system in America. What could have been a good idea, making sure all children graduate from high school with the skills they need, became a nightmare of uncertainty for educators and a drive to test and test our children.

Bush defended his program Wednesday saying that the nation's scores have improved dramatically. At and education event, Bush said “as yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." Now its tough to take Bush and his law seriously when my kindergartner speaks better than the president of the United States. While some scores have increased the overall level of competence of graduating seniors has dropped. Why? Because teachers are forced to teach to high stakes tests instead of providing students with a well rounded education. Sure kids can add and subtract and write a little but ask them who the governor of their state is or who the president and vice president of the United States is and you get a blank stare. Clearly Bush himself would have benefited from more grammar work and some public speaking, two things that are no longer important in the world of high stakes tests.

In addition, Bush's law provided no funding to implement the tests and courses that the law requires. This has forced school districts to choose between teaching what is truly necessary and forgoing the tests or receiving federal money for other educational needs. No Child Left Behind has forced schools to do what the federal government wants or lose valuable funding. What it also does is force under preforming schools to close rather than improve. This happens because of the school choice part of the law that allows students to move to better preforming schools rather than stay in their local district. While this sound good, force schools to improve or close, the law provides no funding to help schools improve. Instead it forces schools to close by removing students, those that can afford transportation to other schools, or staying open with limited resources. The problem of under performing schools happens predominately in our inner cities where many students are forced to stay in under performing schools because they cannot afford to go elsewhere.

All in all, when the scores of the entire nation are averaged together, student performance has actually dropped. No one would argue that improving education in the US is a good thing. However, implementing a law that was originally approved because it had funding attached, but has been short in funding by close to $56 billion is not helping the country. The law is up for renewal and if Congress cares at all for education in America they will not renew NCLB and start from scratch.

HANOVER, N.H. (AP) -- The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. "I think it's hard to project four years from now," said Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in the opening moments of a campaign debate in the nation's first primary state. "It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting," added Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. "I cannot make that commitment," said former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Sensing an opening, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson provided the assurances the others would not. "I'll get the job done," said Dodd, while Richardson said he would make sure the troops were home by the end of his first year in office. more here

Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, September 26, 2007 First, we break Iraq and hand it over to the Shiites, putting in a puppet who leans toward Iran and is aligned with the Shiite militias bankrolled by Iran. Then, as Peter Galbraith writes in The New York Review of Books, President Bush facilitates “the takeover of a large part of the country by an Iranian-backed militia,” with the ironic twist that “there is now substantially more personal freedom in Iran than in Southern Iraq.” And on top of all that, we help build up the self-serving doofus Iranian president, a frontman with a Ph.D. in traffic management, into the sort of larger-than-life demon that the real powers in Iran — the mullahs — can love. New York’s hot blast of nastiness, jingoism and xenophobia toward its guest, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, only served to pump him up for his domestic audience. Iranians felt that their president had tied everyone in knots, including the “Zionist Jews,” as Iranian state television said. The Times reports that Mohsen Rezai, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards, was on TV criticizing the rude treatment his president received: “It is shocking that a country that claims to be civilized treats him that way.” (It also raised his profile on the evening news here. Katie Couric dryly has told people that she remembers how to pronounce his name with the mnemonic “I’m a dinner jacket.”) After the Bay of Pigs, J.F.K. and his advisers worried that American foreign policy would no longer seem intelligent. W. doesn’t even try for an intelligent foreign policy. He wallows in a willfully ignorant foreign policy. And this week, his irrational ways were contagious. Read More Here

'A Coup Has Occurred' By Daniel Ellsberg September 26, 2007 (Text of a speech delivered September 20, 2007) "I think nothing has higher priority than averting an attack on Iran, which I think will be accompanied by a further change in our way of governing here that in effect will convert us into what I would call a police state. If there’s another 9/11 under this regime … it means that they switch on full extent all the apparatus of a police state that has been patiently constructed, largely secretly at first but eventually leaked out and known and accepted by the Democratic people in Congress, by the Republicans and so forth. Will there be anything left for NSA to increase its surveillance of us? … They may be to the limit of their technical capability now, or they may not. But if they’re not now they will be after another 9/11. And I would say after the Iranian retaliation to an American attack on Iran, you will then see an increased attack on Iran – an escalation – which will be also accompanied by a total suppression of dissent in this country, including detention camps." more from Consortium News

September 25th, 2007

Can't They Find a Better Spokesman?

I watched Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University yesterday and I was less than impressed. With the whole world watching, Ahmadinejad had an opportunity to undo the media's de-humanization of himself and his people. He could have made a convincing case for peace and understanding. Instead, Ahmadinejad evaded questions and engaged in ridiculous rhetoric that only further undermined his credibility. ("Iran does not have homosexuals") That said, just because he is an idiot doesn't mean that he deserves to have his country bombed. His denial of the holocaust was particularly disturbing, however, that does not mean that Iranian civilians deserve to be murdered by the US Air Force. Despite the rhetoric, Iran is no threat to Israel. We must remember that Israel is armed with hundreds of nuclear warheads: many of them are pointed squarely at Tehran. Those who want war with Iran are bloodthirsty savages. It doesn't matter what they say to package or justify their position, Pro-war means pro-murder, pro-dead children. May all those who argue for war take up arms and do the butchering themselves.

Misplaced Outrage

Those who are upset about the Iranian President's visit must either be ignorant of what Iran is, or unwilling to look in the mirror. I do not defend the regime in Tehran. The Iranian government is guilty of reprehensible human rights abuses. However, those who were outraged that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wished to visit the site of World Trade Centre should be reminded of the following. Iran did not participate in the September 11th attack, officially, the attacks have been blamed on a gang of Saudis called Al Qaeda. Iranians are leftist Shia Muslims. Al Qaeda are right-wing Sunnis. Al Qaeda hates Iran, they are mortal enemies. Also, those who say that the President's visit is unacceptable because Iran sponsors terrorism are guilty of gross hypocrisy. Again, I do not defend the Iranian regime. I ask why...? When Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel last year it was called terrorism. When the US bombed Iraqi civilians during the "Shock and Awe" campaign it was called progress. When Iran passes weapons to Iraqi Shia militias it is called terrorism. When the US passes weapons to former Saddam henchmen in Anbar province (or a private militia of mercenaries called Blackwater) it is called progress. They are guilty of doing what we have done. We have backed them into a corner, and of course, they feel threatened. Ahmadinejad is an idiot, but so is Bush. Neither deserve to have their people bombed. Shame on all who want war.

Why Doesn't Iran Trust the US?

PBS Documentary from 1986