We Are F**ked.

From the GAO:
"…And even if we're able to constrain discretionary spending for the next ten years to the rate of inflation, which we haven't for a long time, we still face large and growing structural deficits in the years ahead. Bottom line? The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. We're on an imprudent and unsustainable fiscal path. Tough choices are required. We will not be able to grow our way out of this problem. Anybody who says that suffers from two problems. Number one, they have not studied economic history adequately; and number two; they probably wouldn't do real well at math. Because the numbers just don't add up." (emphasis added)

Of course, we know that our current president hasn't studied ANYTHING adequately, and that he is no good at math. Jeebus. Situations like this one are the reason we have the ability to impeach, people. Get crackin'.

Update: a little graphic summary of Bush's impact on our national budget:

How Dubya Ruined The Family Franchise

"The family’s grand design had the No. 2 son, Jeb, by far the brighter and more responsible, ascend to the presidency while George, the partying frat-boy type, settled for second best in Texas ... The son who was wrongly launched has made such a mess of things that he has ruined the family franchise ... The irony is that the senior Bush, dismissed by Junior’s crowd as a country-club patrician, looks like a giant among presidents compared to his son ...

This president has lost all capacity to lead ... And we’re left to analyze Bush’s tender ego and whether he can reverse course on the folly that is killing and maiming countless Iraqis along with U.S. troops. Historians are already debating whether Bush is the worst president ever, or just among the four or five worst ..."

Sad thing is, the whole Bush mafia cares a lot more about salvaging the family rep than salvaging the country. The country's for pillaging, after all.

Update: Jesus' General gives a kinder, gentler take on the Family.

This is What We've Come To. Thanks, Mr. Bush

People suing the Secretary of Defense over the torture they suffered at the hands of the US Military.

Will we ever have a government that we can be proud of after all this administration has done to foul the name of the United States and its public servants?

100+ Meeting in NYC Saturday For Impeachment Strategy

When:
Saturday, December 9, 2006, 1:00 PM 20061209T180000Z

Where:
New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 W. 64th St.
New York , NY 10023
212-874-5210

Description:
Discussion of ImpeachForChange's plan to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney

More info here.

Can We Impeach the Media-Industrial Complex?

"Jim A. Kuypers ... reveals a disturbing world of media bias in his new book Bush's War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age ... the press failed America in its coverage on the War on Terror ... Kuypers calls the mainstream news media an 'anti-democratic institution' ... Immediately following 9/11, the mainstream news media ... did echo Bush, but within eight weeks it began to intentionally ignore certain information the president was sharing, and instead reframed the president's themes or intentionally introduced new material to shift the focus ..." (emphasis added)

The Fox And The Henhouse

Who out there thinks that it's a good thing that the turncoat, Bush-kissing, war-supporting Lieberman is the lead man in the Senate for pursuing investigations of malfeasance by the Bush Administration? Anyone?

Bumper Year for Arms Sales

Just in case anybody wondered what's really at the heart of the Bush Pentagon. Bob Gates should be comfortable there ...

"The U.S. government is on its way to brokering about $20 billion in arms sales in the fiscal year that began October 1, steady with last year's near-record total, the Pentagon official responsible for such sales said on Monday ... Regional security concerns tied to Iran and North Korea were helping drive current sales, Kohler said."

Ike must be rolling over and over in his grave ...

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

BushCo Crooks List Grows ...

Josh is compiling a thorough list of the bad and the ugly ...
* Lester Crawford ... Pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and making false statements.
* Carl Truscott - ... wasted tens of thousands of dollars on luxuries, wasted millions on whimsical management decisions and violated ethics rules by ordering employees to help his nephew with a high school video project.
* Joseph Schmitz - ... personally intervened to protect top political appointees.
* Brian Doyle - ... child sex scandal. Pleaded no contest to 32 criminal counts.
* Claude Allen ... pleaded guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.
* David Safavian ... convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
* Steven Griles ... under investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to Jack Abramoff.
* Susan Ralston ... accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.
* Dusty Foggo ... corruption in connection to the Duke Cunningham scandal. Under investigation.
* Larry Franklin ... pleaded guilty to passing secrets to Israel.
* Janet Rehnquist ... blocked a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.
* Roger Stillwell ... pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.
* Ken Tomlinson ... broke laws in spending CPB money to hire politically connected consultants to search for "bias" without consulting the board ... running a "horse racing operation" out of his office ... hired politically-wired individuals to do "consulting" work for him. He's still there.
* George Deutsch ... prevented the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.
* Richard Perle ... conflict-of-interest charges.
* Frank Figueroa ... pleaded no contest to exposing himself to 16-year-old girl in Florida mall. Girl says he fondled himself for ten minutes.
* James Roche ... rather crudely pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.
* Darleen Druyun ... pleaded guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison for her role in the Boeing tanker lease scandal.
* Philip Cooney ... watered down reports on global warming.

Fun & Games With BushCo Indictments

Josh asks for help ... "Send in your indicted/resigned Bush administration officials ... we have a deal with a series of category questions. Like for instance, appointees so corrupt President Bush couldn't get them through the Republican Senate ...(Bernie Kerik) ... Or in another category, should there be a subgrouping for White House officials arrested for bizarre instances of personal misconduct or deviant behavior? ... (Claude Allen)... Once you deal with those questions you can get to more garden variety corruption and malfeasance like the dudes who get arrested at their house a couple days after resigning their White House job."

Corruption Alert On Gates Nomination ... AGAIN

We've said it here before and we'll say it again: Why in the world would Congressional leadership in Washington just roll over and say yes on the nomination of Bob Gates to head the Defense department?

It's bad enough that he was selling arms to Iran (yes, Axis of Evil ... THAT Iran) back in the Reagan era, but turns out that in the interim he's gone and gotten his paws dirtied up with a lot more defense contracting muck.

Congressional oversight, anyone?