Day 8

I'm not the most politically motivated guy in the world, but from time to time things get to me. This last presidential election was dubbed as "the most important election of our lifetime" for people of my generation. I did more article reading and news program watching in a 6 month period than I had in the previous 6 years combined. I saw and heard such a divide in this country, even amongst my friends. I look back on that time - Bush winning the election - and feel as though I could see this coming. Now I am not a "Bush won so the world is coming to an end" person. Once the election was over, it was my duty as an American to support our president. But the smugness of W just bothers me. He is so folksy, so arrogant, and to me, so dumb. Say what you want, I still believe we are in way too deep in Iraq and are wasting lives and taxpayer dollars fighting to save what seems to be an unsaveable situation. Its ok though, W cut his 1 month vacation a few days short because of Hurricane Katrina.

I read an article today that really piqued my interest. When the new supreme court justice nominees were being bandied about, I was mainly concerned about one issue; whether or not the balance of power would be shifted to the far right for abortion rights. I am still concerned about this, but after reading the article on the qualifications of nominee Harriet Miers, my main concern is W himself. Its just more proof that he is only about one thing - taking care of his people first, and the nation second. I'm not naive, every president brings in his friends and trusted confidants in key positions. But look at the record. I think his buddy Mike Brown, the director of FEMA who just resigned under fire, wasn't qualified to run a local Red Cross organization, let alone FEMA. But W had been quoted as saying "Brownie's done a great job" after Katrina hit. Karl Rove, another one of his chums, is now a household name for his leaking of a CIA agent's identity to the press. Experts all say if he wasn't such a tight friend of W, he would have been forced out a long time ago. In the article by Geoffrey Stone I have linked below, Miers's credentials for being a supreme court justice are brought to light. She was another friend of W who rode his coattails to a job in the cabinet as white house legal council. The article states: "She received her law degree in 1970 from Southern Methodist University, which is not even among the top 50 law schools in the nation. She then spent 30 years as a commercial litigator with a law firm in Dallas. Her most notable achievement before Bush retained her as his private lawyer in 1993 was a brief stint as president of the Texas State Bar. After she made her connection with then-Gov. Bush, he appointed her head of the Texas Lottery Commission. The president then brought her with him to Washington, and last year appointed her White House counsel. From there to the United States Supreme Court? Even nominees who have not been confirmed--Robert Bork, Douglas Ginsburg, Clement Haynesworth Jr., (even) G. Harrold Carswell--were far more qualified than Miers."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0510040013oct04,1,7478959.story

Now again, I'm no expert, but to me, this is classic Bush. He only knows one way since he was brought up - take care of your friends and they will take care of you. We all know the stories of how W bankrupted one company after another and had his companies saved by his dad's rich friends. He knows no other way than to take of his people. He is loyal almost to a fault.
This is the same guy who has heard to have said God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. The good news is that he can't run for a third term.

Song of the day: "Keep it Simple Stupid" by Diamond D, one of the greatest unknown producers and lyricists from the early 90's. "I'm a fun-goin guy with the knotty dreadlocks. I once lost a bill bettin on the Red Sox."