See What Happens When You STAY HOME ON ELECTION DAY!!!!!

Opinion
Yeah, yeah, yeah....."Those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it". And it appears that the same 59,054,087 Bush voters from 2004 are still alive, still voting.....and have the attention span of a gnat.

I've had the picture above stored on my hardrive....from London's DAILY MIRROR.....and I take a peak at it everytime I start having problems with President Obama and any of his "mis-steps". I have to take a look at the guy who set the stage for the mess the country found ourselves in, and who left it for his successor to lead us out of the abyss.

It appears that many in this nation want to take us back to The Daze of Dubya, and keep swinging it to the right. And it also looks like there are enough disenchanted independents and Democrats who will stay home and not vote in November's midterm elections, thus giving Republicans (read "Tea Baggers") the House and possibly the Senate.

And once again America would be in the hands of Republicans, guys who the man on the street would be happy having a beer with, just like Dubya.

And once again, the little guy will get stuck with the tab.It didn't work out so well the first time, did it?

Honestly, if asked if Barack Obama has been a complete success in his first two years, I'd have to say no he has not. But in saying that I'd say he was a vast improvement over his predecessor. His biggest fault, I'm sorry to say, was his wasted effort trying to establish some sort of bipartisanship with a Republican Party that tried to overtly and covertly render his presidency dead in it's infancy. He did a poor job explaining his healthcare bill to the public, and because of that the bill, which is needed to insure millions of those who have no health insurance or can't be insured because of an existing condition, is being sold as "Obamacare" and used as a weapon against Democrats in the midterms.

And sadly....but predictably....many Democrats are running from this President in droves. Probably something of not being able to pick the people you're in a fox hole with.

The so called "99'ers" are threatening to just stay home this November to punish the Democrats. That would probably insure a Republican takeover of Congress, and undoubtedly more gridlock, probably worse than ever before, at a time when we need it the least.

You can say- if you wish- the 59,054,087 people who voted for Dubya in 2004 did something that was either partisan, or else very dumb.

But there is dumb....and to paraphrase from a Grade B movie...."dumberer".

And in my eyes, the definition of "dumberer" is any reasonable person who, seeing how the far right loons and plutocrats have seized control of the once great Republican Party,  does nothing to try and stop a catastrophic return to the policies that got us where we are.

My fellow progressives...real patriots get off their asses.

And they vote.

8-18-10; The Last US Combat Troops Leave Iraq

It's been nearly seven and a half years after the United States invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein,  but as I type these words the last combat troops are crossing the frontier from Iraq to Kuwait.

And it's an odd thing to watch....so under the radar the average citizen may not be aware that it is happening. There is coverage on the 24/7 news outlets; each of the Big Four networks is staying with their regular programming.  There are no celebrations in Times Square or Griffith Park, no fireworks and church bells ringing as in VE and VJ Days. The television news coverage has all of the elation and suspense of watching a moving van going about it's business.

There is a sense of relief, however. On May 1st, 2003 President George W. Bush made his dramatic landing on the air craft carrier Abraham Lincoln and declared "Mission Accomplished", and told the world that America had won the the combat operations against Saddam Hussein.

But the war dragged on through his presidency, and into the next. And now, thank God, it really does look like the end.

The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last group to leave Iraq; our first troops set foot on Iraqi soil on March 20, 2003. Though 50,000 troops will remain behind in non-combat roles, the "Last Patrol" is leaving; but another 4,415 American men and women did not. They are the ones who lost their lives in Iraq.

The State Department announced that the last combat forces would be leaving Iraq today at about 6:00PM EDT.....

More of the story, with updates, can be found here.

I'll be back with some additional comments tomorrow.

Refudiate This! Is Sarah Palin Norm Crosby's Long Lost Daughter?

Most the civilized world has heard the latest Palinism; Sarah invented the word "refudiate" during a speech, and even TWEETED it later on (ahhhh.... while tweeting didn't that red line under the word indicating it was mispelled, or not a word, set off any alarms...at all?).

Sarah decided to compare her malaprop to Shakespeare inventing words, and to Dubya's "misunderestimate" and Barack's "wee-wee'd up" (is that a diminutive form of being pissed off?).

But take a look at the following video and pay attention to the conversation Harry Smith has with Erica Hill at it's conclusion.




AMAZING!!!!

You mean to say John McCain said "refudiate" as well?

This got me thinking.....whatever happened to "The King of The Malaprop", comedian Norm Crosby. Well...Norm is still alive, and will be 83 years old this September. Obviously, he must be semi-retired at this point in his life.

In keeping with the political side of things, Norm Crosby roasts Senator Barry Goldwater in this old DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROAST....looking at some of the other guests (William Conrad, Dan Rowan) my guess is that the show is from the late 1970's or early 1980's.

Progressive Eruptions: CONSERVATIVE DAVID FRUM TALKS ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE FIGHT AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE GOP

Conservative columnist and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum blogs about President Obama and the Democrat's win on healthcare reform and how it has become the "Waterloo" of the Republicans and the Conservative movement. It is reproduced on the Progressive Eruptions blog, with my thanks.



Progressive Eruptions: CONSERVATIVE DAVID FRUM TALKS ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE FIGHT AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE GOP

Orlando Sentinel - The TV Guy – George W. Bush on Rush Limbaugh’s Haiti comments: Now’s not the time to focus on politics

On this morning's FACE THE NATION Bob Schieffer asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush about Rush Limbaugh's comments about contributing to Haitian relief

READ MORE....from Hal Boedeker and THE ORLANDO SENTINEL