Hmm...

What's Their Problem, Anyway?

Once again, I have to ask, why are opponents of "gay marriage" opposed to it? In the story Measures seek to ban gay marriage, it is again an issue... why? What are they afraid of? How is traditional marriage "threatened"?

I know that some base their opposition to it on their religious beliefs. But in America, we are not supposed to turn one faction's religious beliefs into law, are we? ("Wishful thinking," reply the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine)

A more likely scenario is that it is money-based. Insurance companies don't want to pay out to ayone they don't already have to. Blood relatives don't want inheritances to go to anyone they don't approve of, either. And so on. In the story, it notes that:

"[The anti-gay-marriage legislation] voids and restricts registered domestic partner rights and obligations for certain same-sex and heterosexual couples... rights in several areas would be voided, including property ownership and transfer, inheritance, child custody and support and child adoption, medical decisions, and health and death benefits."

The story also mentions a group called protectmarriage.com. So I sent the following email to that group:

I am interesting in finding out what traditional marriage needs to be protected from. Gay marriage does not threaten traditional marriage in any way. No group has yet been able to define what traditional marriage needs protection from. Can you please provide this information?

I can hardly wait to get their reply! In the meantime, my ongoing challenge stands: Can anyone tell me why traditional marriage is threatened by gay marriage?

"Restoring Honor and Dignity to the White House"

I suppose, by now, everyone has seen the latest video of our president flipping us off. Again.

George W. Bush is an embarrassment. He is a spoiled, old-money rich punk who never had to do an honest day's work in his life, had everything he ever "achieved" handed to him on a silver platter, never had to become an adult, never had to develop the tools necessary to function in civilized society. He is so inarticulate that he is barely coherent. When he does manage to convey a thought, it is likely that it is a lie. In word and deed, his actions are those of an ill-behaved adolescent.

Don't get me wrong about the finger thing. I am not a prude. I flip people off, too, if it makes my point, where appropriate. That is the issue: there is such a thing as appropriate behavior, and in this case, most especially, where it involves the man who holds what is possibly the most powerful position in the world. Anybody with any brains at all should be able to realize that when you are in that position, you should behave with a little dignity and restraint (conservative ideas apparently lost on contemporary neocons). You should also have the brains to realize that whenever cameras are on you, you are representing all of us, the American people, to the whole world. People all over the planet will see Bush's asinine behavior and believe that his undisguised loathing represents Americans' opinion of them. After all, a majority elected him, right?

How stupid and immature can Bush be? We're not talking about complex protocol or unfamiliar customs here, we're talking about fundamental knowledge; rules of behavior that most of us learn at an early age. Does George Bush hate the American people that much? Does he despise the whole world that much? One thing is certain - he is apparently, completely unaware of the significance of the office he holds. To him, it is just the family business; a position of royalty, not public service. And, having spent his life in the lap of luxury, blessed with power and priviledge, he propbably thinks that being a contemptuous, sneering lout is completely okay - it's normal behavior for him and his group.

What do you think the security implications are for saying "fuck you" to open cameras and microphones? Since it was not directed at anyone in particular, it was obviously intended for everyone. You. Me. Liberals, conservatives, independents, everyone. Americans, foreigners, allies, enemies, pacifists, insurgents, soldiers, first-responders, victims of war on both sides, christians, moslems, jews, hindus, bhuddists, everyone. George Bush says, "fuck you all." Way to win hearts and minds, George, you insipid ass. Way to "bring 'em on."

But wait, it gets worse. There are millions of people in this country who actually think all of that is okay. They react to Bush's flipping people off by saying that it only proves he is human; a good-ol'-boy just like them, someone they can "have a beer with," a plain old cattle rancher. They want their president to be an asshole. Even as they cloak themselves in piety and proclaim themselves to be morally superior to the rest of us, they don't hesitate to excuse the most appalling behavior imaginable when it is committed by one of their own. To them, I say, Fine. Here is our response.

Wouldn't it be nice if, next time, we managed to elect a president who is not a complete and utter embarrassment?

Some Thoughts

Criminal case filed against Saddam. Hey - 2 things:

1. Why do journalists always refer to him as just "Saddam"? Why don't they refer to all world leaders by their first names only?

2. You want to know what I'm waiting for? I'm waiting for them to subpoena Bush Sr. and all those other guys who supplied Saddam Hussein with arms and ammo so he could do the things they later claimed were reasons to destroy him. Ha!

The Truth Will Set You Free...

"Mr. Rove’s famous speech redelivered, moments after his icy veins are injected with industrial-strength truth serum." Read KARL ROVE ON SODIUM PENTOTHAL

Ha ha...

Another Conservative Against Bush

I love these stories, I am going to start collecting them. Yet another conservative announces that the Attila-The-Hun-style government of G.W.Bush is anything but conservative.

GOP candidate calls for impeachment

"This leadership isn't very Republican and I don't think it's very popular with Vermont Republicans," he said. "Republicans in this state tend to be mind-your-own-business people, keep taxes low and government small."

"The Republican leadership is Bush people for the most part," he said. "Generally speaking, I don't pay much attention to party leadership. I recommend that. I recommend it highly."

"The only time I got seriously active was LBJ, Nixon and that war," he said. "Now, we have that situation again with a government running amok."

Morrisseau said he sees an administration flagrantly abusing the powers of the executive branch and a national party leadership gaining dominance over the entire government.

"I'm a Republican," he said. "I'm not a Brown Shirt. I've never, in any contemplation of U.S. history, seen anything like that asserted at any time. I don't think we're going to get much done in the way of standard politics until we clean this neo-con nest out."

More From The (Anti-)Liberal Media

Watchout, Comcast users...

It seems that the folks who run the campaign at www.afterdowningstreet.org have been experiencing some technical difficulty. Amazingly, anyone who has Comcast as their internet provider is unable to receive email from them.

And Also...

Comcast (owned by the billionaire Roberts family of Philadelphia) is the largest provider of cable TV service in the country. Comcast provides service to 23.4 million homes or about 40% of all those who have cable. Comcast has raised cable rates by 8% in hundreds of communities while it refuses to increase workers wages even half that amount. Comcast systematically denies workers the right to organize unions, distributing videos and literature that contain untruthful information about unions during organizing drives and supporting discipline and firing of workers who are involved in organizing. When workers do organize unions, Comcast delays the bargaining of first contracts and has even refused to honor existing bargaining agreements and legal obligations to negotiate changes in wages or working conditions. Meanwhile, Comcast pays its top executives exorbitant bonuses and stock options and guarantees their employment security in written contracts.

Bu$h Regime Ca$hing in Big Time (UPDATED)

The President and his cabinet will personally save hundreds of millions of dollars by repealing the estate tax. Not for us... for them. Isn't that wonderful? How nice for them! I'm sure they'll each do a lot of good in the world with all that money.

How many average working stiffs out there will benefit? How many average Joe's and Jane's are anxiously awaiting the repeal of the estate tax? It doesn't matter, because we'll all be happy to pay a greater share of the burden so the richest of the rich can demonstrate that old money never goes out of style.

That's okay. We will keep working harder for less money, while the Bush league eliminates overtime pay and throws parties for porn stars. After all, he only way to defeat those terrorists is on the strength of our "Christian values", right?

UPDATE: Can non-busheviks do better? Link 1, Link 2, Link 3.

Quid Pro Quo

Roberts was one of the usurpers of 2000: Quiet role in Florida recount - In the aftermath of the disputed 2000 presidential election, Roberts played a key, if quiet, role in the Florida recount. Although his name did not appear on the briefs, three sources who were personally aware of Roberts's role said he gave Gov. Jeb Bush (R) critical advice on how the Florida Legislature could constitutionally name George W. Bush the winner at a time when Republicans feared that if the recount were to continue the courts might force a different choice.

Now he's being named to the supreme court as payment for his loyalty to Bush (and against the will of the majority of the American people). This government is like a bunch of underworld thugs.

It's So Nice to Know That Our Government is Run By Criminals and Traitors

REPUBLICANS MUST CHOOSE: BUSH OR AMERICA?

"We already know that Rove is a traitor. So, probably, is Cheney. Since George W. Bush has protected traitors for at least two years; he is therefore an accomplice to the Rove-Libby cell. We are long past the point where, during the summer of 1974, GOP senators led by Barry Goldwater told Richard Nixon that he had to resign. So why aren't Turd Blossom and his compadres out of office and awaiting trial? Democrats are out of power. And, sadly, Republicans have become so obsessed with personal loyalty that they've forgotten that their first duty is to country, not party or friend. Unless they wake up soon and dump Bush, Republicans could be permanently discredited. We don't need a law to tell us that unmasking a CIA agent, particularly during wartime, is treasonous. Every patriotic American - liberal, conservative, or otherwise - knows that."

Do they?

Support Who..?

Unfortunately, it seems the Halliban has used up so much money that there won't be any left over for veterans' health care. Oh well. Maybe the richest Americans can get some more tax cuts... that will make it okay, right?

Darn Those "Trial Lawyers"! (UPDATED)

Government Defies an Order to Release Iraq Abuse Photos - New York Times - Of course they do. What was the Defense Department thinking? This is Amerika, contracted to enact God's wrath!

UPDATE

Two Great Videos

This flash video presents some very interesting quotes about war.

And this 5-minute realplayer video, Helen Caldicott speaks eloquently about America's use of depleted uranium in Iraq.

RIP, James Doohan (updated)

A hero of mine has flown away. Scotty was always my favorite. I'll never forget that character. In all the articles I have ever seen or read that mentioned his name, no one ever said anything bad about James Doohan. He was always praised as the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet, and he was nice to his fans.

I'm not a star-struck guy, and there have been very few celebrities whose passing I mourn. But James Doohan is one. I'll miss him. His greatest adventure begins.

UPDATE - Added story link here, also click photo for yet another link.

The Magnitude of One More Aspect of Neocon Depravity

In "The Great Iraq Oil Giveaway," Chris Floyd explains:

"...Iraqi oil money that fell into the hands of the profiteer-in-chief, President George W. Bush. According to detailed audits and investigations by Congress, the Pentagon, the General Accountability Office, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, more than $8.8 billion in Iraqi money under Bush's control simply went walking between October 2003 and July 2004, the London Review of Books reports. These were revenues supposedly earmarked for the Iraqi government -- but no one knows where they actually went...

"...looting on a scale not seen since the days of the Mongol Horde -- is just a single rivulet in the vast delta of corruption draining the conquered land. Christian Aid estimates that an additional $4 billion in unmetered oil export revenue was sold off under the counter, Saddam-style, to coalition cronies. Then there were the planeloads of cold cash spread around by Bush's "Provisional Authority" -- off the books, natch -- to "couriers," brokers, Western contractors, tribal leaders, "intelligence assets"...

"All of this money was stolen from the Iraqi people. In fact, every bit of Iraq's oil money was seized by Bush and transferred to New York's Federal Reserve Bank in May 2003... And oil revenues kept flowing to Bush's bank account after the conquest. All told, by the time Bush's personal viceroy, Jerry Bremer, did his "last days of Saigon" bug-out from Baghdad last year, the Crawford Caligula had run through $20 billion of Iraq's oil money.

"No one has been brought to justice for this monstrous -- indeed murderous -- thievery. And the oil barons preparing to feast on the new tenders needn't worry about such "quaint" notions as legality either. That's because Bush... recently renewed his infamous Executive Order 13303, the blanket immunity for all U.S. corporate interests involved in any way with Iraq's oil... The original edict was issued... May 2003.

"Bush's ukase applies to all traffickers in Iraqi oil -- as long as their loot finds its way, by hook or crook, into the coffers of "United States persons or entities." Bush declares flatly that any "judicial process" launched against these protected entities -- not excluding criminal proceedings for, say, fraud, corruption, extortion, even murder -- "shall be deemed null and void."

"Money and power, grabbed through violence and deceit: that's the real point -- the only point -- of Bush's "war on terror.""

Their is no war on terror, truthseekers. To the PNAC Neocons, this is business. They are in the business of war, and of energy They want to possess everything of value, they will stop at nothing to take it without remorse. They are vile, insidious, and evil. They lie to the world to satisfy their diabolical appetites.

By the way... at last count, 51% of Americans like them.

It is a sick, sad world, indeed.

Overheard on the "Internets"...

"Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, now, die, I think the Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives."
- Sunday Portland Oregonian

This is How George Bush and Dick Cheney Support the Troops

Do these assholes ever stop!?

Halliburton Hearing Unearths New Abuse
The new evidence... shows that Hallliburton... overcharged or presented questionable bills for close on $1.5 billion, almost four times the previous amount disclosed... lost 12 giant pre-fabricated bases worth over $75 million destined for the troops.

...the company charged the Army for 20,000 meals a day when it was only serving 10,000... [a whistleblower] says he was punished for speaking to auditors by being banished to the more dangerous outpost of Falluja.

...the company would sometimes supply food that was over a year past the expiration date or had spoiled due to inconsistent refrigeration. When the United States military occasionally refused the spoiled food, Halliburton truckers were instructed to take them to the next base in the hope that they would escape scrutiny.

Also see:
Halliburton Watch
Halliburton's Higher Bill

Don't worry - Bush and Cheney are ensuring that more and more billions are being awarded to the Halliban. Thank God I am not one of the 51% of the idiots who voted for criminals to take over the government.

Support the OYE

Support Operation Yellow Elephant:
Make those Young Republicans get off their chickenhawk asses and "Support the Troops"!

(click to enlarge)

Click the Pic for a Great Bit About RoveGate

More on the history of the BFEE: 19th Century Bush Ancestor Wrote Ugly Anti-Islamic Book.

"...a 19th century biography of Prophet Mohamed authored by Reverend George Bush, a distant ancestor of US President George W Bush. Life of Mohamed: The Founder of Islam and of the Empire of Saracens has provoked a storm of controversy for its harsh criticism of Prophet Mohamed, whom it calls 'an imposter'. The book also occasionally refers to Muslims as 'locusts'."

(Download book for free [PDF file])

Please Watch This Video Clip.

Thoreau, Anyone?

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau

"Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? I please myself with imagining a State at least which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen."

Troop Reductions - ?

Just in time for the 2006 elections! Timing is everything in GOP/Neocon manipulation politics: Signs point to U.S., British troop cuts in Iraq.

Just like they saved the Fallujah fighting until after the 2004 elections, they will postpone troop reductions until after the 2006 elections. Of course, they won't mention that the troops who do come home will have reduced health care benefits, or none at all.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for troop reductions. I just think it is sick the way they use these troops' lives to improve their electoral climate. Mark my words, if these reductions do take place, no further ones will occurr until just prior to the 2008 election, followed by the news that Osama Bin Forgotten has appeared in Iran and our invasion of that country, too.

London Calling

It's about time I comment on the recent London bombings. Bush's response was the same old lie, saying that he'll track down the perpetrators. Right. Him and OJ Simpson are a regular Starsky and Hutch. Osama Bin Forgotten, indeed.

I want to offer, again, a favorite article called Why Do They Hate Us? which explains what Bush and his followers can't comprehend (or refuse to admit). Excerpt:

"...the security apparatus of this nation has been engaged in undermining freedom and democracy in other parts of the world, which have included the Middle East, among other regions, for the purpose of maintaining and expanding the power and fortunes of the privileged class. Furthermore, Americans have been lied to for decades by the government and our so-called free press concerning the basis and justification for these interventions. When I was first exposed to such information, my reaction was typical of most Americans, I did not want to believe it. I still wish it were not true, but there is no honor in burying your head in the sand. Past violations of the rights of other nations and indigenous peoples must be acknowledged and redressed, and we must prevent the occurrence of future indignity and loss of life. In short, if we are unwilling to acknowledge the darker periods of our history, we are not only doomed to repeat it, but we may find we are doomed by it as the thousands who died in New York City on 9/11/2001. [and in London recently - snc].

"In light of our history of interference with the politics, economy and society of regions like the Middle East, the answer to the question, "why do they hate us?" is not the coy yet typical response of our leaders... Rather it is that "they hate us" because we have attacked them. Our security apparatus has been engaged in military attacks, assassinations, and political and economic manipulation upon other sovereign nations that continues to this day. The people of the Middle East have been denied their natural political, economic and social evolution because of outside interference funded by U.S. tax dollars for several decades. However, as 9/11 [and the London incident - snc] indicates, those who have nothing to lose, have everything to gain by attacking their oppressors."

For further information, see also:

List of Illegal U.S. Interventions
Killing Civilians To Show That Killing Civilians is Wrong
A Century of US Military Interventions I
A Century of US Military Interventions II
A Chronology of U.S. Imperialism
History of US Interventions
List of U.S. foreign interventions since 1945
History of U.S. Interventions
U.S. Conduct in the Middle East Since World War II and the Folly Of Intervention

Media Schmedia

The big, scary "Liberal Media".

They haunt the tortured dreams of "conservatives," don't they? "Conservatives" who have convinced themselves, through repeated propaganda, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, that the media are dominated by the liberals.

The corporate-controlled, sponsor-deferential, watered-down, republican shills who do as they're told or disappear, are liberal. Right. Check out this editorial by George McClure. He tells it like it is.

Tip o' the Hat

I recommend Romablog's post called War's a Goddamned Thing. He reminds his readers that the best way to understand the horrors of war is to imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of America's version of "spreading democracy."

Why Do I Bother With Those Guys?

It's hard to like the Democrats sometimes. For a while, I almost thought they might stop being republican-war-monger-wannabes.

They have bought into the Karl Rove argument that might makes right. And they are also accepting Rove's analysis that real men don't question war, only wimpy liberals do. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York endorses the same Rovian analysis. As long as Democrats accept that premise, Republicans win and Democrats lose.

New party, anyone?

Happy 4th of July

July 4, 1776

...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...

Greatest American? Best Villain of the 1980's Maybe.

The Discovery Channel says that Ronald Reagan has been chosen as the Greatest American. That's pathetic. I mean, even if you disregard the fact that he was being compared to real statesmen like Jefferson, or Franklin, Reagan was a lying son-of-a-bitch who did far more harm than good in the world. But oh, he was telegenic, and that made everything alright. Death squads. Giving arms to Iranian terrorists. Crawling into bed with Saddam Hussein. Convincing the country that if we can give all of our money and property to the very richest people on earth, we'll see our reward someday. Ronald Reagan said that South- and Central-American death squads were the "moral equivalent of our founding fathers" (when democrats say similar things about insurgents defending their homeland in Iraq or Afghanistan, they are villified by the neocons). Oh, and don't give me that old line about him "winning the cold war." That's one of the neocons' most ridiculous lies. I was there. It didn't happen. And remember, if you fly into Ronald Reagan Airport, that he fired all the air traffic controllers. He had the sense of humor of a Disney cartoon villain.

Here, you want to see some reality about Ronald Reagan? Try these on for size:

Remembering the Dead
Not Even a Hedgehog
Reagan’s Legacy of Lies
CIA's Drug Confession
October Surprise files
Saddam's Old Buddy Reagan
The First Stone
Reagan the Paradigm Shifter
66 Unflattering Things About Reagan

Nobody says it anymore, but I will: REAGAN SUCKED!

Uncle Karl's Kids' Korner

This is an actual memo from Rove to Bush. It had not yet been screened to reduce the complexity, to make it suitable for the president.

Campaign Against Depleted Uranium

Surf the Internet and find hope. I just found the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium. They are trying to make a stand against the use of DU in many areas, but the one which concerns me, obviously, is America's use of DU to wage nuclear war against Iraq (and Afghanistan, and...). This is not a republican-democrat issue, though: apparently we used DU in the Balkans, too. War is horrible no matter where it comes from, and both political parties in America are guilty of waging it.

An important article describing DU can be found here, and another site with information can be found here. There are a lot more, of course. The world needs to be reminded: we are waging nuclear war.

Ah, Memories...

In his memoir A World Transformed (1998), George Bush, Senior, wrote the following:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam…would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. There was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the UN’s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, (we) could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

George Bush Sr. is hardly mentioned anymore. For historical purposes, it is as if he never existed. But his statement in the memoir stands as a stark reminder that Bush Jr. fucked it all up in the worst way.

Peace-Out

Peace-Out says, "you can get out of the military as a concientious objector, even if you enlisted." That's worth a look if you are, or know of, a soldier who enlisted to defend their country and found themselves being used as a stormtrooper for the Halliban.

Are You a Potential "EscapeArtist?"

Are you tired of reichwingers telling you to "love it or leave it?" Fed up with being told that, if you don't like the direction the neocons are taking the country, you should "go back to France?" - and, deep down, are you wishing you could? Well, dig this, truth-seekers: EscapeArtist is dedicated to helping the dream become reality. I'm saving this one!

And, check out this blurb from Escape from America magazine:

Restart Your Life Overseas? ...Why Not? If you want to restart your life in a new country our magazines are the place to fuel your jet. Our eZines have original ideas on exotic offshore real estate, overseas jobs, overseas retirement, offshore investments, escape routes, important contacts, and a wide range of resources for living a superior lifestyle free from oppression, crime and idiocy.

The world awaits!

Generation Chickenhawk

In the article Generation Chickenhawk, more typical, two-faced, right-wing hypocrisy is unveiled. Young college republicans, who enthusiastically support the Iraq war, are shown to be the cowards they are. For although they are all too willing to send someone else to die horribly on foreign soil to facilitate their bloodthirsty global conquest, they are afraid to enlist. They are all talk, no action, liars, cowards, hypocrites. I say, any able-bodied supporter of the Bush wars who remains in the comfort of their ivory tower while sending less-priviledged citizens to die in their place, should be drafted straightaway.

click here for chickenhawk database

What Liberal Media?

I wish I had a nickel for every time the media was accused of being "liberal." The media is a business. Their #1 value is the bottom line. In the article Big Media Interlocks with Corporate America is it demonstrated that they are controlled by corporate interests. And guess which political party they tend to support?

This is a Test

This is a test of Blogger Images. So far, I like it. I like being able to align the copy alongside the picture, and this allows me to do it more easily than what I used before.

Dear Red States

Dear Red States,

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all of the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom... We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue; you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush’s Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all of the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Warmest regards,

The citizens of New California