A Target-Rich Environment

Damn, there's a lot of good stuff out there starting with Iran test-firing a second supercavitating torpedo, this time very symbolically in America's aorta, the Straits of Hormuz. Perhaps it's like America's second use of a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, an attempt to mislead the Japanese into thinking we had more than two of them and perhaps it's a production weapon, ready to sink tankers in the Strait should we try some military action to destroy Iran's nuclear capability or rather potential. Bush seems to have problems differentiating between those two words but then, he's not the most eloquent man to ever steal the Presidency. We just saw our options dwindle yet again in our efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands. Now they can really hit us by hitting shipping in the Persian Gulf, driving up the price of oil to the point of collapsing the U. S. economy. That torpedo is perhaps more deadly to our interests in the Persian Gulf than an Iraqi nuke. Like this humble blogger, they have lots of targets.

Since Clinton left office, the share of the money the economy generates that the Government spends has risen by 2.3 cents per dollar. Not bad for Republicans, sworn to shrink Government to the point where they can drown it in a bathtub. On the Shrub's watch we've seen record deficits but very little of it has benefitted us. Unless you live in Alaska and need a bridge to Anchorage or unless you're a lobbyist or corporation feeding at the public trough, you've probably lost Federal benefits or benefit eligibility. Bush the Yes-Man has approved every spending bill, every earmark, every piece of pork the Republican Congress has sent him. There are no brakes on spending and none likely unless Democrats take back one or both houses of Congress this fall. Yes, I said Democrats who, at least in recent history, have spent far less than their so-called conservative opponents. Republicans have learned they can buy votes by handing out money and yes, they're trying to find a way to blame it on Clinton. Good luck. Clinton governed surpluses. Bush created deficits.

Perhaps the most disturbing event of the day was the Republican Court's refusal to hear Jose Padilla's appeal. Padilla is the man the Bush administration held for three years without charging him of any crime, without access to counsel or hope of release. Finally, when it became apparent that Padilla's case was going to the Supreme Court, the Bush Administration chose to charge him with some lesser offense, sparing themselves both the potential embarassments of a terrorism trial and the trouble of defending their abuse of power before the Supreme Court. Even after it is stacked with Wingnuts, the Bushies didn't want to risk any of the power they'd illegally claimed for themselves so it filed some lesser charge then argued that any harm had gone away. Apparently it was enough to convince the wingnut court that the Bushies had seen the light and were granting Padilla his rights. So now the Government can throw Padilla back into any black hole it wants and he has the right to appeal again. By the time his appeal would be heard, a Democrat would be President, troops would be pulling out of Iraq, we'd have spending under control and Bush would be up on charges. The court sided with the Administration in saying that the charges made the appeal of the Administration's abuse of power pointless. Apparently the Administration has done the same to the Supreme Court.

Also, in a study, prayer doesn't help prevent heart disease. Fundamentalists explain this by saying God doesn't participate in studies. Thus once again Finagle's Law is upheld: The perversity of the universe tends to a maximum. Go running, guys. Pray while you run. Maybe then, the prayer will help. I pray for a Democratic majority in both houses in Congress in November while I run. That should help prevent heart disease.