On Obama's NCAA Picks

Apparently, some people are pretty ticked off that President Obama took 10 minutes of his time and made some NCAA predictions.

Get over it.

When "W" was filling out his NCAA brackets over the past 8 years, he ran with his Number 1 seeds like, God, Big Oil, 9-11, and Compassionate Conservatism, while things like the middle class, the Constitution, and our nations Veterans made early exits.

I think President Bush spent more time reading "My Pet Goat" than President Obama spent picking his NCAA brackets...

Will Ferrell as Bush

Hilarious...although he's no Mugatu but it's pretty damn funny!

Check out the video over at Raw Story!

CPAC Presidential Poll

Not that I really care about CPAC...but the results are in.

Mitt Romney - 20 percent
Bobby Jindal - 14 percent
Ron Paul -13 percent
Sarah Palin - 13 percent
Newt Gingrich -10 percent
Mike Huckabee - 7 percent
Mark Sanford - 4 percent
Rudy Guiliani - 3 percent
Tim Pawlenty - 2 percent
Charlie Crist - 1 percent
Undecided - 9 percent

Pawlenty's dismal performance isn't really a big deal in my opinion. CPAC Presidential Polls are not good indicators of electoral chances.

1995: Phil Gramm won the poll, received less than 1 percent of the 1996 presidential primary vote.

1998: Steve Forbes, won only two delegates in 1996, dropped out after taking 3rd in Delaware in 2000.

1999: Gary Bauer, dropped out after New Hampshire primary.

2000: Bush won

2005: George Allen, lost to Senator Jim Webb

2006: George Allen, lost to Senator Jim Webb

2007: Mitt Romney, conceded at the 2008 CPAC

2008: Mitt Romney

2009: Mitt Romney

And Bobby Jindal coming in second at 14%? CPAC attendees obviously didn't watch his craptastic response to President Obama's address to Congress last week. Pawlenty is far from being done...

But then again, as evidenced by Bush's 8 year term in the White House, they don't always like the best orators.

"Ann Coulter" on SNL

SNL Ann Coulter video

She went on to defend the Bush administration's position on torture.

"I love torture. I think torture is good and Christian-y, and history will bear this out. It may take 500 years," 'Coulter' said. "But I will still be here, leading a band of survivors in a post-apocalyptic America where we battle against gangs of Osama bin-single mothers. And I shall cackle and cackle that you ever doubted George Bush."

When Meyers questioned Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, 'Coulter' offered a swift rejoinder.

"Sure, it was bad," she said "But think about it - we don't know how many hurricanes President Bush prevented."

Former VA Chief Jim Nicholson Dodges Bullet...

...and somehow fails to make the Think Progress list of the "Top 43 Appointees Who Helped Make Bush the Worst President Ever".

To be fair, the list is pretty long and distinguished though.

1. Dick Cheney — The worst Dick since Nixon. The man who shot his friend while in office. The “most powerful and controversial vice president.” Until he got the job, people used to actually think it was a bad thing that the vice presidency has historically been a do-nothing position. Asked by PBS’s Jim Lehrer about why people hate him, Cheney rejected the premise, saying, “I don’t buy that.” His top placement in our survey says otherwise.

2. Karl Rove — There wasn’t a scandal in the Bush administration that Rove didn’t have his fingerprints all over — see Plame, Iraq war deception, Gov. Don Siegelman, U.S. Attorney firings, missing e-mails, and more. As senior political adviser and later as deputy chief of staff, “The Architect” was responsible for politicizing nearly every agency of the federal government.

3. Alberto Gonzales — Fundamentally dishonest and woefully incompetent, Gonzales was involved in a series of scandals, first as White House counsel and then as Attorney General. Some of the most notable: pressuring a “feeble” and “barely articulate” Attorney General Ashcroft at his hospital bedside to sign off on Bush’s illegal wiretapping program; approving waterboarding and other torture techniques to be used against detainees; and leading the firing of U.S. Attorneys deemed not sufficiently loyal to Bush.

4. Donald Rumsfeld — After winning praise for leading the U.S. effort in ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001, the former Defense Secretary strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq and then grossly misjudged and mishandled its aftermath. Rumsfeld is also responsible for authorizing the use of torture against terror detainees in U.S. custody; according to a bipartisan Senate report, Rumsfeld “conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees.”

5. Michael Brown — This former commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association was appointed by Bush to head FEMA in 2003. After Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Brownie promptly did a “heck of a job” bungling the government’s relief efforts, and was sent back to Washington a few days later. He was forced to resign shortly thereafter.

6. Paul Wolfowitz — As Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2005, Wolfowitz was one of the primary architects of the Iraq war, arguing for the invasion as early as Sept. 15, 2001. Testifying before Congress in February 2003, Wolfowitz said that it was “hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself.” Wolfowitz eventually admitted that “for bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction,” as a justification for war, “because it was the one reason everyone [in the administration] could agree on.”

7. David Addington — “Cheney’s Cheney” was the “most powerful man you’ve never heard of.” As the leader of Bush’s legal team and Cheney’s chief of staff, Addington was the biggest proponent of some of Bush’s most notorious legal abuses, such as torture and warrantless surveillance, and is a loyal follower of the so-called unitary executive theory.

8. Stephen Johnson — The “Alberto Gonzales of the environment,” EPA Administrator Johnson subverted the agency’s mission at the behest of the White House and corporate interests, suppressing staff recommendations on pesticides, mercury, lead paint, smog, and global warming.

9. Douglas Feith — Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 2001-2005, Feith headed up the notorious Office of Special Plans, an in-house Pentagon intelligence shop devised by Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz to produce intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. A subsequent investigation by the Pentagon’s Inspector General found the OSP’s work produced “conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence.”

10. John Bolton — As Undersecretary of State, Bolton offered a strong voice in favor of invading Iraq and pushed for the U.S. to disengage from the International Criminal Court and key international arms control agreements. A recess appointment landed Bolton the job of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, despite his stringent animosity toward the world body. Today, he spends his time calling for war with Iran.

11. John Yoo — As a lawyer for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Yoo authored a series of legal memos detainee to be buried alive.

12. Ari Fleischer — Bush’s first press secretary helped redefine the role as that of liar-in-chief rather than informer of the public, earning a reputation as “the world’s most dishonest flack.” Whereas his successors sometimes looked uncomfortable lying, Fleischer was having fun, spinning a cowed and gullible press corps through two massive tax cuts and the initiation of a war undertaken on false pretenses.

13. John Ashcroft — In 2003, as Bush’s first Attorney General, Ashcroft approved waterboarding and other torture techniques on detainees. Ashcroft’s nomination was controversial, as he had a history of opposing school desegregation. The chief architect of the invasive Patriot Act, Ashcroft maintains to this day that Bush is “among the most respectful of all leaders ever” of civil liberties.

14. Henry Paulson — Even as the financial system was crashing down around him, Treasury Secretary Paulson insisted for months that the banking system was “safe and sound.” Once he decided that the economy needed saving, Paulson requested nearly unfettered authority to send billions of taxpayer dollars to banks with no oversight.

15. L. Paul Bremer — This Presidential Medal of Freedom winner took over the Coalition Provisional Authority in May 2003. Under his mismanagement, the insurgency exploded in Iraq. Bremer claimed he had all the troops he needed to secure the country, overestimated the strength of the new U.S.-trained Iraqi army, disbanded the Iraqi army leaving thousands of Iraqi soldiers with no income and no occupation, and enacted a de-Baathification law that barred many experienced Iraqis from government positions.

16. Bradley Schlozman — As a recent DOJ Inspector General report demonstrates, Schlozman was a central figure in Bush’s politicization of the Justice Department. Violating civil service laws, Schlozman used political and ideological considerations to ensure that only “right-thinking Americans” received jobs. He eventually lied to Congress about his efforts.

17. J. Steven Griles — A former energy lobbyist and no. 2 official in the Interior Department, Griles went to jail for lying to Congress about illegal favors he did for corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Griles also abused his position “to unlock nearly every legal barrier to exploitation” of our nation’s oil and mineral reserves. Before his conviction, Griles left the White House to become a lobbyist for Conoco Phillips.

18. Condoleezza Rice — As Bush’s national security adviser, Rice was another strong advocate for invading Iraq, once famously warning that the U.S. should attack Iraq and not wait for solid proof of its WMD because “we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” Rice also ignored an urgent warning from the CIA before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that a strike inside the U.S. was imminent.

19. Scooter Libby — Cheney’s former chief of staff was a key player in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame as part of the Bush administration’s quest to punish Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, for publishing an op-ed debunking one of the White House’s main justifications for invading Iraq. Libby was ultimately convicted of perjury and obstructing justice in a federal investigation into Plame’s outing but later had his 30-month prison sentence commuted by Bush.

20. Monica Goodling — Goodling was the most notorious graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University during her tenure in the Justice Department. As the White House liaison at the DOJ, she based the department’s hiring of candidates on their sexual preference, GOP loyalty, and adherence to conservative ideology.

21. Alphonso Jackson — As Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Jackson let the U.S. housing market crumble while he was busy giving lucrative contracts to his golfing buddies, retaliating against Bush critics, and erecting giant photo homages to himself.

22. Michael Hayden — As director of the National Security Agency, Hayden ran Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program and misled Congress about the program’s legality. After moving to the CIA, he dismissed the destruction of evidence implicating the CIA in torture as “in line with the law.”

23. Lurita Doan — The former head of the General Services Administration (GSA)who doled out a no-bid contract to a friend, Doan famously hosted a meeting of White House political operatives where she asked how GSA employees could “help ‘our candidates’ in the next election.” After the Office of Special Counsel called for her firing, she was forced to resign

24. Gale Norton — A former industry lobbyist and Bush’s first Secretary of the Interior, Norton pushed a radical ideological agenda “through regulatory rollbacks, suppression of science, preferential treatment, and collusion with industry” — including doctoring scientific findings on the impacts of oil drilling on caribou. After resigning under the cloud of ties to Jack Abramoff, she joined Shell Oil.

25. Lester Crawford — After promising to act on the morning-after contraceptive pill during his confirmation hearings, the former FDA Commissioner “indefinitely postponed nonprescription sales of emergency contraception over the objections of staff scientists who had declared the pill safe.” Crawford resigned after just two months on the job and later pleaded guilty “to charges that he hid his ownership of stock in food and drug companies that his agency regulated.”

26. Harriet Miers — Well-known for being Bush’s failed Supreme Court nominee, Miers also thought it was “important” to her as White House Counsel that Rove protege Tim Griffin was installed as a U.S. Attorney, making her a central figure in the U.S. Attorney scandal. She is said to have called Bush “the most brilliant man she had ever met.”

27. Hans Von Spakovsky — Originally a political appointee in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Spakovsky “injected partisan political factors into decision-making” and used every opportunity “to make it difficult for voters — poor, minority and Democratic — to go to the polls.” In 2008, Spakovsky withdrew his name from consideration for the FEC, following months of opposition from lawmakers and civil rights groups.

28. Tommy Franks — As head of U.S. Central Command from 2000 to 2003, Franks oversaw Osama bin Laden’s great escape from Afghanistan, gave orders for the stabilization of Iraq via PowerPoint, assumed that the U.S. would draw down to 25,000 troops by the end of 2004, and had American soldiers stand idly by as chaos and lawlessness took hold after the invasion.

29. Thomas Scully — As chief administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Scully was the White House’s head negotiator on the Medicare prescription drug bill. Scully threatened to fire chief actuary Richard Foster if he revealed that Bush’s Medicare Part D legislation “would cost 25% to 50% more than the Bush administration’s public estimates.”

30. Julie MacDonald — A top Interior Department appointee, MacDonald “interjected herself personally and profoundly” and “tainted nearly every decision made on the protection of endangered species” over a five-year period, intimidating the staff with “abrupt and abrasive, if not abusive” tactics. MacDonald also leaked government documents to a young acquaintance whom she met while playing “internet role-playing games.”

31. William Haynes — As the former general counsel at the Defense Department, he was part of a five-person team of high-level administration lawyers, dubbed the “War Council,” that tossed the Geneva Conventions aside and hatched out the legal framework for torture in secret meetings.

32. David Safavian — Safavian was (twice) tried and convicted for his role in the jack Abramoff scandal. Safavian was found guilty of “lying and obstructing justice” in an attempt to cover-up “his many efforts to assist Abramoff in acquiring two properties controlled by the GSA.”

33. James Connaughton — As chairman of the White House Council of Environmental Quality, Connaughton wrote EPA press releases downplaying the danger of the air quality in lower Manhattan following 9/11. “A former lobbyist for utilities, mining, chemical, and other industrial polluters,” Connaughton insisted “there’s a lot of disagreement” about humans’ impact on global warming, and he touted a bogus study purporting to show that the 20th century was not unusually warm.

34. William Luti — A former Navy officer and Cheney aide, Luti was dispatched to the Pentagon in 2001 to work underneath Feith to find “evidence” to support his boss’s belief in conspiracy theories linking Saddam to al Qaeda. Luti was an integral component of Cheney’s campaign to pressure intelligence professionals to conform their judgments to administration policy rather than reality.

35. Susan Orr — As Assistant Deputy Secretary for Population Affairs, this former Family Research Council official It’s not a medical necessity that you have [contraception].”

36. Christopher Cox — Under Chairman Cox, the Securities and Exchange Commission censored internal reports showing that it ignored critical signs pointing to Wall Street’s meltdown. Cox’s SEC also failed to detect Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme, despite a decade of warnings.

37. Elliott Abrams — An Iran-Contra convict pardoned by Bush 41, Abrams was named by Bush 43 as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations. As a founding Israel’s 2006 bombing of Lebanon into Syria and advocated a Fatah coup after Hamas won the February 2006 Palestinian elections.

38. Philip Cooney — A former oil lobbyist who served as chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Cooney doctored climate reports to “soften” words and phrases linking greenhouse gas emissions to global warming. After his political interference was revealed, Cooney left the White House to become a lobbyist for Exxon.

39. Colin Powell — Though Bush called him “an American hero” when he appointed him to be the first African-American Secretary of State, Powell placed an ugly “blot” on his record when he pushed the Bush administration’s faulty case for the Iraq war in a speech to the U.N. on Feb.5, 2003, using inaccurate information. Liberal hawks and the media rallied around Powell’s false case, calling it the “winning hand” for war.

40. Elaine Chao — The Labor Secretary made it through all eight years of the Bush administration, driving morale at the Labor Department so low that staffers threw a “good-riddance party” to cheer her departure. She leaves behind a “deeply troubled department” that “spent eight years attacking workers’ rights, strong workplace health and safety rules, and unions while they carried the water for Big Business.”

41. Julie Myers — After being hired as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement based on little more than her personal connections, Myers made herself famous by awarding “Most Original Costume” to an employee who dressed up in blackface and a prison costume for Halloween. She was also heavily criticized for conducting politically-motivated immigration raids.

42. Wade Horn — As Assistant Secretary for Community Initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services, Horn funneled millions of tax-payer dollars into right-wing abstinence-only programs. Shortly before he resigned, it was revealed that he had given nearly $1 million “to the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), where he was the president for at least three years until joining the Bush administration in 2001.”

43. George Deutsch — As a young, inexperienced press officer for NASA, Deutsch “told public affairs workers to limit reporters’ access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word ‘theory’ at every mention of the Big Bang.” He resigned in 2006 after it was discovered he had lied on his resume, falsely claiming that he had a journalism degree from Texas A&M.

Through the eyes of Veterans, Nicholson is a Top 10 choice for this list. Hands down at Top 10 choice!

We haven't had many positive things to say about Nicholson's reign at VA Chief.

Who is Jim Nicholson?

More on Jim Nicholson

Nicholson is the Michael Brown of veterans affairs. His primary qualification for the job was serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2000, “raising close to $380 million for the 2000 cycle.” During Bush’s first term, Nicholson was rewarded with the plush ambassadorship to the Vatican; after being selected to run the VA, he promptly ranked #4 in The New Republic’s list of “the 15 biggest Bush administration hacks.”

In the wake of the Walter Reed revelations, President Bush appointed Nicholson to lead a special panel to “cut through red tape” affecting veterans. But veterans advocates say it was Nicholson’s “inept management of the VA [that] has lead to the red tape.” ABC News revealed last week that Nicholson shelved a program that could have avoided many of the bureaucratic delays plaguing injured vets because of its cost — less than $1 million.

Nicholson was also a strong advocate for the privatization of the VA.

How this clown fell through the cracks...

Eric Paulsen in HD

CD 3 GOP candidate Erik Paulsen recently admitted that the "guys in the back room" changed his address to delegates at yesterdays Republican National Convention.

From my standard definition television here near my Wright County outpost, it's difficult to see the great detail available via a High Definition television.

Indeed, when viewed in HD, you can actually see the puppet strings twittering Erik Paulsen up the stage at the RNC and run his lips. It's pretty interesting really.

I wish I would have had HD available to me when Congresswoman Bachmann spoke!

From a recent DFL press release:

State Representative Erik Paulsen has now openly admitted that he is being controlled by Washington insiders. In a recent interview, Paulsen acknowledged that the speech that he had planned to give at the Republican National Convention was vetted “by a couple of guys in the back room; I didn’t know who they were ... They wanted me to make a few changes; I’d argue and we came to agreement.”

It gets better, trust me!

A centrist? Not even close!

During his time in the Minnesota House, Eric Paulsen voted with the Republicans more than nine times out of ten. As a member of the Minnesota House, Paulsen has voted in lockstep with his political party, siding with the Republican leadership 93 percent of the time on key votes over the past four years. Just like the other Republicans, Paulsen voted against efforts to fight global warming (HF 436, 5/21/07); against legislation to promote stem cell research (SF 100, 5/7/08); and for a bill eliminating health-insurance coverage for 24,000 Minnesotans (HF 1422, 4/29/05; MPR). During the four years that Paulsen spent as House Republican Majority Leader, his job was to make sure that other House members voted the Republican Party line — just as he did.

Strong ties to a President with the lowest popularity rating ever...

Erik Paulsen believes George W. Bush is “so straightforward and real” — just “like myself.” In October 2004, Paulsen “jumped at the chance” to help get George W. Bush re-elected by hosting a campaign rally with the President in Chanhassen. According to news reports, Paulsen warmed up the crowd for Bush and later enthused about how “[Bush is] so straightforward and real, like myself, my neighbor or any regular person.” Afterwards, Bush gave Paulsen a firm handshake, looked him in the eye and said: “Thank you for your service. We appreciate it.” (Eden Prairie News, 10/13/04)

While Paulsen hob nob's with the elite, Ashwin Madia is out working, working to take the 3rd CD door by door, voter by voter. The party elite and insiders aren't re-writing Ashwin's speeches and ads. He's not at the end of anyone's puppet strings.

The last thing we need is another politician without the ability to think on their own.

We don't need another Erik Paulsen like politician.

Bush-Coleman 08

Franken launched a new ad and a website dealing with Senator Coleman's allegiance to President Bush and his 8 years of foreign and domestic failure.



Brodkorb and the right wing blogosphere are quick to point out that President Bush is not on the ballot this year.

Trailing in the polls by double-digits, Team Franken has released a new attack TV ad and website connecting President Bush to Senator Coleman. The attack ad and website contain no positive message about Al Franken. If Franken wanted to run against President Bush, he should have ran for president in 2004.

Phew, glad these guys are around to let us know important tidbits like that!

They tried the same arguments with Mark Kennedy back in 2006. I remember the 2006 MPR debate at the State Fair between Klobuchar, Kennedy and Fitzgerald. Despite Mark Kennedy having supported Bush initiatives 92% of the time, he made sure to point out to state fair goers that "President Bush is not on the ballot" and wondered about a liberal obsession with Bush.

The same holds true for Norm Coleman. Regardless if Bush were on the ballot or not, the fact that Senator Coleman has sided with failed Bush Administration policy time and time again calls into question Coleman's ability to advocate for Minnesotans. He's surely not the independent that he's trying to paint himself as.

8 years of failed policy have consequences. Franken calling Coleman out on his voting record is not an attack ad. It's not negative. It's presenting the public record. Furthermore, with John McCain as the Republican candidate for President, the foreign and domestic failures of the Bush Administration would most likely continue.

Try as hard as you can, but you will not be able to shield GOP candidates from the failures of George W. Bush.

He's not on the ballot, but his policy and puppets are.

Bush VA Health Care lie

One of many from last nights SOTU address.

Bush said: “Over the past 7 years, we have increased funding for veterans by more than 95 percent. As we increase funding, we must also reform our veterans system to meet the needs of a new war and a new generation.”

FACT — 1.8 MILLION VETERANS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE: “The new study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, estimated that in 2004 nearly 1.8 million veterans were uninsured and unable to get care in veterans’ facilities.” [New York Times, 11/9/07]

FACT — NUMBER OF UNINSURED VETERANS INCREASED BETWEEN 2000 AND 2004: “Just under two million veterans (12.7 percent of non-elderly veterans) were uninsured in 2004, up 290,000 since 2000, the study published in the December, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health found.” [Harvard Science, 10/30/07]

FACT — NEARLY 20 PERCENT OF VETERANS RETURNING FROM IRAQ HAVE MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES: “Screening efforts show 10% to 20% of Marines and soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq may have suffered this wound, according to the Army. The task force last May found that ‘major gaps’ in identifying and treating the injury ‘were created by a lack of coordination and policy-driven approaches.’” [USA Today, 1/18/08]

FACT — NUMBER OF PTSD CASES INCREASING DRAMATICALLY: “The number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder from the Department of Veterans Affairs jumped by nearly 20,000 — almost 70% — in the 12 months ending June 30, VA records show.” [USA Today, 10/18/07]

Note that 2 of these facts would be negated had elected leaders displayed any semblance of a backbone to President Bush back in 2002.

Simply saying "I supported the war, based on the information available at the time" is a cop out and a slap in the face to Veterans and progressives alike.

Olson on the State of the Union Address

It's a good thing I was driving home from work during the State of the Union. Had I been playing the SOTU address game, I would have been "full" by 8:24.

It may have been the Pell Grants for kids thing that pushed me over the edge...

Olson on SOTU: Bush 'Failed the Great Test of Leadership'

For Immediate Release
Contact: Christopher Truscott

ANOKA—Bob Olson, a DFL candidate in the 6th Congressional District, released the following statement in response to President George W. Bush's State of the Union address:

"On a day when five troops were killed in Iraq, President Bush failed to deliver the exit plan our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have earned.

"On a day when 9 million children went uninsured, President Bush failed to deliver health care coverage for the most vulnerable among us.

"On a day when millions of working families worried about losing their homes, President Bush failed to deliver a plan to end the agony.

"On a day when his country needed him most, President Bush failed the great test of leadership—again."

The real State of the Union...

Minnesota Leaders Reflect on Bush Legacy On Same Day President Delivers Final State of the Union Speech

St. Paul, MN – On the same day that President Bush delivers his final State of the Union address, Minnesota Leaders held a roundtable discussion at the MN State Capitol to reflect upon the impact that the Bush Legacy has had in Minnesota . *See below 'Then and Now' document highlighting the staggering regression the nation has seen, both foreign and domestic, since President Bush took office in January 2001. According to a new nationwide Harris Poll, four out of five Americans (81%) think that the current state of the country is fair or poor while just 19 percent think it is excellent or good. Just two percent of Americans think the state of the country is excellent. Last year at this time, three in ten (31%) thought the state of the country was excellent or good while 69 percent felt it was fair or poor.

Kris Jacobs, Executive Director for Jobs Now Coalition, commented on the current job situation in Minnesota . "Keep in mind that job quality is affected by job quantity. The MN Job Vacancy Survey shows that over the last six and a half years, the number of job openings in the state has gone down by 58 percent. With 133,000 unemployed workers now competing for only 60,000 unfilled jobs, job seekers outnumber unfilled jobs by more than two-to-one," said Jacobs.

Chris Stinson of ACORN, discussed the MN foreclosure crisis. "President Bush has described the economy as inherently strong. That's not how it looks in Minnesota neighborhoods: foreclosures are as bad, or worse, than they have been since the great depression. The President needs to get relief to the people affected by this crisis and he needs to do it tonight in the State of the Union ," said Stinson.

"Energy prices are contributing significantly to the bleak economic state faced by low and moderate income Minnesotans," said Pam Marshall, Executive Director of the Energy Cents Coalition. "Annual costs for electricity are 26.5% higher than just seven years ago, while the price for a gallon of fuel oil is 139% greater," continued Marshall .

From massive 'tax cuts for the rich' that never managed to trickle-down to regular working Americans as the nation now heads into a full blown recession, to leading the nation into the quagmire in Iraq that has no end in sight at extraordinary cost in American lives, treasure and priorities like education and healthcare here at home – President Bush's policies have been a disaster. Bush's legacy is one of rising unemployment, rising healthcare costs, rising college tuition, a mortgage crisis, millions more Americans without insurance, the largest increase in inflation in 17 years, gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon, a weak dollar, a $167 billion budget deficit, and a $9.2 trillion national debt – a legacy that will burden our grandchildren for decades to come.

State of the Union game...

Bluewoman and I may try this tonight...

One exception though...

Every time the camera shows....your congressman/woman: the site encourages you to pat yourself on the back...

Those of us in the 6th are going to cringe, hoping that they have doubled the secret service presence for the President's grand entrance and exit.

If you want a positive action though, go ahead and send Bob Olson for Congress $10 everytime you see Congresswoman Bachmann tonight, both at the State of the Union and through local news coverage of Bachmann's actions tonight.

935 false statements on our way to war...

The Center for Public Integrity published a report on the false statements used by the Bush Administration on our road to war in Iraq.

The study accounted for 935 false statements in a 2 year period of time and that over this two year period of time, Bush and his cronies cited "Weapons of Mass Destruction" 532 times in speeches.

Incredible.

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

Think about that, for each time President Bush and his cronies uttered "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and other lies, 4 of our service members died, years later!

I'll never forget the quote I read at Armyofdude...

"Sometime this year, an eighteen year old soldier will die in a war that started when he was thirteen."

How can Michele Bachmann continue to support President Bush's flawed Iraq plan when it's based on 935 lies?

How could Elwyn Tinklenberg state that he supported the Iraq War, "based on the information available at the time"?

Bob Olson press release on Bush's speech

Olson Responds to President's Speech

For Immediate Release

ST. CLOUD – Bob Olson, a DFL candidate in the 6th Congressional District, released the following statement after President Bush's speech on Iraq:

"Gen. Petraeus did what we expected this week. He honestly tried to explain what it would take to carry out President Bush's flawed policy in Iraq.

"The issue before us now is the president's unwillingness to face the realities on the ground and redeploy American forces out of a bloody religious civil war.

"Since 2003 our troops have toppled a brutal dictator, liberated millions and set the stage for democracy in Iraq. They have long-since achieved the success of which the president spoke tonight, now it's time for Iraqis to do the same.

"No matter how much President Bush may wish otherwise, we cannot force the Baghdad government to accept responsibility for its people, which was a term the president set forth in January when he announced the troop 'surge.' We cannot keep changing our goals each time Iraqi leaders fail to act.

"Our troops have done all the Bush administration has asked and more. They now deserve an exit strategy, not an open-ended commitment to a quagmire."

Olson Iraq Op-ed (St. Cloud Times; Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007): http://bobolson.org/node/86

For more information, visit www.bobolson.org.

Army Suicide rates skyrocket!

From the "I freakin told you so" pile...

Army Suicide rates are the highest in 26 years!

But what are our elected leaders going to do about this?

Congresswoman Bachmann? Nothing!

Congressman Kline? Nothing!

Senator Coleman? Nothing!

"In addition, there was a significant relationship between suicide attempts and number of days deployed" in Iraq, Afghanistan or nearby countries where troops are participating in the war effort, it said. The same pattern seemed to hold true for those who not only attempted, but succeeded in killing themselves.

There also "was limited evidence to support the view that multiple ... deployments are a risk factor for suicide behaviors," it said.

So not only is "the surge" not working, some evidence shows that it causes a higher suicide rate amongst Veterans.

It also has had an adverse impact on women serving in forward areas.

About twice as many women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide as did women not sent to war, the report said.

So as Veterans are committing suicide in record numbers, what will the chickenhawk Republican elected officials do now? Will they continue to support Bush's failed policy in Iraq? Will they continue to put politics before the people?

Congresswoman Bachmann continues to be a staunch supporter of a failed plan.

"I'm glad to see evidence of recent improvements in Iraq, but there needs to be
more," she said. "Gen. (David) Petraeus, our commander on the ground, will
report to Congress in September about the progress of the new surge strategy and
the challenges that remain. Like many Americans, I look forward to his candid
assessment."

I read this report, and while fully realized the enormity of the situation, am still fighting to grasp the reality of seeing it in print.

It's more than a candid assessment!

Congresswoman Bachmann has been invited to a forum to discuss Iraq.

Bachmann has been invited to a town-hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 28 at St.
Cloud State University's Atwood Center to discuss Iraq, he said

100:1 Bachmann is a no show!

Remember, at least 15 Minnesota Veterans have committed suicide...and Congresswoman Bachmann remains silent, unwilling to speak to the constituents of the 6th CD about Iraq.

I wonder if Mr Brodkorb will chide the Congresswoman for ditching a townhall meeting? I am sure it would be a fairer discussion than the Taxpayers League shenanigans in 28B!

Vote Vets on Pat Tillman

Here is the letter and the link to sign on!

Mr. President:

On behalf of the veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and those troops still in theater, I implore you to reconsider your decision to invoke claims of executive privilege in refusing to share vital documents regarding the death of Corporal Pat Tillman with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

As you know, this week the Associated Press obtained the medical examiner's finding at the time of his death that Corporal Tillman's fatal wounds seemed to indicate shots fired from ten yards away, or less. The doctors who examined Corporal Tillman urged a criminal investigation into his death be opened at that time, and were refused. Since that time, the Department of Defense has put forth two explanations for the death of Corporal Tillman, the first of which was proven false, and a second which now seems to have been proven to be a lie, as well. In both cases, the White House has actively pushed these false findings to the public.

Your administration has faithfully shared a number of documents with the committee, but has withheld a number of requested documents under the specious argument that sharing the documents would violate confidentiality among you and your staff. For instance, the Committee has requested a number of communications between senior administration officials and the Pentagon, which may offer important details into the death of Corporal Tillman, and if there was an attempt to cover them up, by some in the Executive Branch.

Respectfully, Sir, when it comes to outright lies conveyed to the public about the death of a soldier - especially one like Corporal Tillman whose service was used as a recruiting poster for the military - there is nothing which cannot be shared with the Legislative Branch or the people.
Confidence in the institution of the military from those within is at stake, the longer you withhold information. The longer questions remain about the death of Corporal Tillman and possible White House involvement in an ensuing cover-up, the more our troops will question whether this government will properly honor their sacrifice and let their families know the truth, if they are killed in action. It is simply impossible for the military to function, if those in its ranks do not have full faith in our leadership up the chain of command, all the way to Washington.

Additionally, by letting questions fester regarding the death of Corporal Tillman, you are placing an undue burden on our recruiters, at a time when our Army and Marine Corps can ill-afford more of a drop off in recruiting. Our military depends on being able to visit homes and gaining the trust of mothers and fathers to allow their 18-year old son or daughter to wear the uniform. What mother would allow her son or daughter to serve a nation she feels will not honor her child's service?

Finally, as Commander in Chief, you owe the complete and total truth to Corporal Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman. It is the duty of any officer to write to the families of those under us who were killed, and tell them the entire truth regarding their love one's death. To lie about any details or withhold any information would not just cause unjust pain to the survivors, but is to dishonor the fallen. As our nation's top commander, it is your duty to Pat Tillman and his family to release all materials related to his death.

For the good of our military, our troops, the Tillmans, and our nation, I respectfully call on you to comply with all past and future requests of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the matter of the death of Corporal Tillman.

Respectfully,

More on Pat Tillman

Once again, its been a busy week!

2300 pages of testimony surrounding the death of Pat Tillman were released this week through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The facts outlined in the report are shocking.

The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so
close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired
from a mere 10 yards or so away.

In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."

It was noted that Tillman was killed by 3 gunshots in the forehead.

Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal
investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.

So, while hindering an investigation into the possible murder of a soldier, Army attorney's congratulated themselves?

It's a mere shadow of the Army I served in from 1990--2001.

The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn't recall details of his actions.

Of course not! The Attorney General defense plays out well here. Keep saying "I can't recall" and it will be alright! After all, accountability is a mantra of the Bush Administration.

No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene - no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.

Now this is disturbing. After being told Tillman died in a firefight of epic proportions, we find out that, actually, no one was hit by enemy fire and that the highly trained rebels were unable to even hit a piece of equipment, much less a solider? Really?

Iraq War Veteran Jon Soltz ponders if there was a nefarious plot hatched to off Tillman. From Think Progress...

We know he was a free thinker. But it leads you to think was this guy killed possibly by people that didn’t like his political views or was he killed accidentally? We had a time in the war when the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in April 2004 in Iraq; we had basically the Iraqi Tet offensive where the Shiite militias rose up and the contractors were burned at the stake; the President was facing the election and he decided not to go into Fallujah for six months. Did they use him to justify, politically, bad policy in Iraq?

To be clear, no one is accusing the White House of conspiring to kill Tillman. But with the White House citing "executive privilege" as their reason for not turning over records on the death of Pat Tillman, it makes you really wonder what the hell is going on here?

Seriously!

Name any Veteran who has died in which any "White House" has offered "executive privilege" when pressed for details on their death.

On the heels of yet another Soldier/Veteran suicide here in Minnesota, the treatment of our troops and Veterans is more and more important.

The death of Pat Tillman was tragic.

The cover-up and distortion of facts by Army leadership and the White House is criminal.

One of the best letters I have ever seen

In the comments section over at Think Progress.

Love the definition of Chickenhawk as well!

A chickenhawk is also one who calls for war or the continuation of a war that he himself would not fight in. He calls on you to do what he himself would not do. It’s not just relevant to someone who has never fought in a war but also for someone who won’t fight in a war yet still clamors for everyone else to do it

Sounds a lot like Michele Bachmann...

Wow!

A call to Congressman Turner and all his “chickenhawks” friends:

Although I retired from the Army in 1983 and will be 69 in 4 days, I am heeding President Bush’s call to join the surge and fight “evil” in Iraq. I have good skills. In Vietnam I fought in the middle of a civil war, was ambushed, had friends killed by IEDs and was on the receiving end of rocket and mortar attacks numerous times.

Because I am overage, and need a waiver to return to active duty, I will appeal directly to President Bush with this letter.

Dear Mr. President,

You have convinced me that if we fight terrorism in Iraq long enough we will win militarily. I know we are shorthanded because you are calling up an additional 12,000 National Guard troops this summer. So I am prepared to return to active duty immediately. Given my prior service and age, I have several requests I hope you will see fit to grant.

While I retired as a lieutenant colonel, I want to return as a sergeant so I can lead a squad in combat. I also want to stay not for a year, but until we achieve victory. I should live long enough. My Dad, a WWII vet, died at 88.

I want my squad to consist of personnel committed to the war. Your neoconservative co-conspirators, who supported the war with Iraq as early as 1992, will undoubtedly enthusiastically volunteer to join me. Pugnacious Bill Kristol, who called for attacking Iran to free the British sailors, will be my point man on patrol. Dick Cheney, a deadeye with a lifetime of hunting experience, will be my sniper. Doug Feith, who prepared the “intelligence” which got us into the war when he was head of the Office of Special Plans will, of course, be in charge of intelligence. John Bolton, a superb diplomat, will be responsible for liaison with the Iraqis and remaining members of the “Coalition of the Willing”. Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the Bush Doctrine which resulted in the Iraq invasion, will be in charge of mission operations to insure that financial support for our efforts is siphoned off to Halliburton. Scooter Libby, a fixer for Vice President Cheney, will maintain our equipment (if you pardon him so he can enlist). Entrepreneurial Richard Perle will be our quartermaster. I’m sure he will keep us well provisioned. And last, but not least, I want Fred Kagan, who, lacking military experience and knowledge of the Middle East, nonetheless devised the surge, our key to success in Iraq. He will be the machine gunner in the open turret of our lightly armored Humvee.

We don’t ask for special treatment, only that which you afford all soldiers and Marines. Pre-deployment training will be abbreviated. We won’t be trained in insurgent tactics until we arrive. Our equipment will come from the squad we replace. (I’d rather not use hand-me-downs in combat, but it is more important to fund Halliburton rather than using funds to procure equipment for the troops.) As Secretary Rumsfeld said, “You go to war with the equipment you have.”

In Iraq, we’ll serve on convoy duty, to participate in the IED and ambush “experience” first hand. We will go on nightly raids where we knock down doors and take the men away. Doug Feith will interrogate them according to rules you and Alberto devised. Then we will be assigned to work in Sadr City with Iraqi police of unknown allegiance. Living with them should be quite interesting as we are exposed to death and dismemberment from rocket and mortar attacks, the occasional sniper, IEDs, and suicide bombers, not to mention the hostile Shiite populace.

We will undoubtedly suffer casualties, even men killed in action. I only ask that the dead be buried in Arlington Memorial Cemetery with full military honors, presided over by you, our Commander-in-Chief. I am sure our wounded will receive excellent treatment at the VA. Please hire additional VA administrative personnel, so we don’t have to wait for 18 months before receiving our benefits as at present. And please expand the definition of PTSD so we all qualify. It really doesn’t take too many IEDs, rocket attacks and views of the carnage when the bad guys blow up schools and markets for us to return home with serious issues which need to be resolved.

In conclusion, I am sure that sometime in the next 10 to 15 years you will be extremely proud when those of us who survive return home to report to you “Mission Accomplished.”

Very respectfully,

Fred Seamon
Lieutenant Colonel
U.S. Army, Retired

The Iraq Summer Campaign

With the quagmire in Iraq being the focal point of discussion for most Democrats, discussion of the Iraq Summer Campaign merits its own post, separate of the 6th CD Garden Party.

Representatives from the Iraq Summer Campaign attended the Garden Party this past Saturday in Otsego and engaged many of us who walked the cozy confines of the Mick Raeker and Gabe Davis home.

Word on the street is that an event is coming together for Wednesday where some local Veterans will call for Senator Coleman and Congresswoman Bachmann to stand with the majority of Minnesotans and vote for a responsible redeployment.

I'll post a time and location when it is solidified! Feel free to add a comment with details if they come out before I get home tonight!

A look at some numbers behind the quagmire in Iraq.

$567 billion – Cost of the war through 2008, according to a June analysis by the Congressional Research Service, which exists to provide nonpartisan advice to lawmakers and congressional committees.

$350 billion-$700 billion — Estimated lifetime care for wounded and disabled veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a study by Linda Blimes of Harvard University. The numbers vary depending on the duration of the war and the troop levels.

$100 billion — The potential additional costs through 2014 even if most combat troops come home next year. Retaining 30,000 troops per year — about a fifth of the current force level in Iraq — would cost about $21 billion a year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates. So, if troop levels were reduced to 30,000 by 2010 — the first full year after the next president takes office — it would cost about $100 billion to keep them there until 2014.

$22 billion — Economic value of lost lives.

Economists and government agencies value the earning and production potential of the average American male in his prime at roughly $6 million. Using that figure, the economic value of the 3,613 lives lost as of July 16 is $21.7 billion.

$390,000 — Estimated cost to deploy an American soldier to Iraq for a year, according to the Congressional Research Service.

3,636 killed as of today.

26,800 wounded, with estimates as high as 100,000.

With no end in sight...

More than 60% of Americans oppose this quagmire in Iraq. Polls also indicate that the people support Congress over the President with regards to Iraq, even though Congressional approval ratings are low. Other recent polls have shown Bush's approval rating below 30 percent and Congress even lower. But on the issue of Iraq, the Post/ABC poll showed that the public stands with Congress. Fifty-five percent said they trusted congressional Democrats on the war, compared with 32 percent who said they trusted Bush, the Post said.

Congresswoman Bachmann and Senator Coleman are simply wrong on the issue, and are moving down the same popularity road President Bush.

Bachmann on Iraq

The SC Times has commentary on Congresswoman Bachmann's vote to continue the quagmire in Iraq.

"There was no plan in the bill, it does nothing," Bachmann said. "There was no plan to leave Iraq, no plan for success in Iraq. No plan to move forward."

What has the Republican plan been for the past 5 years?

Seriously?

President Bush comes out to defend progress with the troop surge and performance of the Iraqi Government.

Think Progress has a great post up telling the "other side".

CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward forming a Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) and then completing the constitutional review.”
FACT: “The Committee was originally scheduled to complete its work by May 15. Instead, it delivered a draft that did not address many of the key issues.” One CRC leader recently said, “We have not committed to doing it by September.” [LINK]
CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.”
FACT: Such public services committees have “had little impact on Baghdad’s population which still lacks access to many basic services like water and electricity.” [LINK]
CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.”
FACT: According to the Defense Department, “the three brigades that came to Baghdad were understaffed and poorly trained causing a major delay in Baghdad security operations.” Only “one-half to two-thirds” of the promised 330,000 Iraqi security forces have arrived. [LINK]
CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq with substantial Coalition assistance has made satisfactory progress toward reducing sectarian violence…”
FACT: According to the Brookings Institute, “sectarian violence has remained constant despite the ’surge.’” [LINK]
CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq — with substantial Coalition assistance — has made satisfactory progress toward establishing the planned Joint Security Stations in Baghdad.”
FACT: Iraqis living nearby such “Joint Security Stations” say they “feel less safe now, because many of the bases have quickly become magnets for rocket and mortar attacks.” [LINK]
CLAIM: “The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.”
FACT: “The Sunnis — one of the largest and most important minority groups — are currently boycotting the government. [LINK]

Kind of puts a different spin on the glowing review the President portrayed.

Despite fighting Al-Qaeda for half a decade, the group continues to grow.

Bachmann compares withdrawal strategy to a football game. In doing so, she continues to show just how disconnected to reality she really is.

"If you set a date certain on withdrawal, it's kind of the military equivalent of a football team giving the opposing team the play book," she said. "Why would you signal your endgame to your opponent?"

True. We want to maintain OPSEC (Operational Security) and ensure that those we are fighting have no idea what's going on.

However, football games also have scoreboards with pertinent info. The score, time remaining etc...

In case we have forgotten, 3,611 is on one side of the "scoreboard".

In the eyes of the American public, time has expired.

What "playbook" were the Republicans running the show under when they controlled both houses of Congress?

It's pretty clear that through the US Attorney Scandal, Walter Reed, Iraq, wiretapping, that the "playbook" the Republicans are using does not sit well with the majority of Americans.

Bush to veto VA Budget?

Support our Troops!

Too bad it does not extend into their lives as a Veteran.

The President is set to veto a $3.8 billion increase in the VA's budget.

So, not only has he sent hundreds of thousands of our nation's finest into harms way without just cause, he fails to support them when they become injured and in need of future care.

Gotta love compassionate conservatism.