Teacher Strikes Here?

Imagine that teachers in your community have just been offered a 5.55% pay reduction as well as an obligation to pick up either 10% or 20% of your health premium. This and more is what the Detroit Federation of Teachers has been offered as a contract settlement. As a result they are going on an illegal strike. Strikes by public employees are illegal in Michigan, as they are in Wisconsin.

Just for the sake of argument, what will it take to mobilize our teachers and support staff to the point where a strike would be successful? Apparently the QEO and revenue caps over 10+ years has not been motivation enough. The QEO and Caps also shoot the "as the market will bear" argument as they are artificially and arbitrarily imposed. So, assuming that most people work at a job in order to make money, what would it take to anger the Wisconsin education masses into action?

Read more about the Detroit strike here. You can access the
Detroit Federation Of Teachers Website here.

Hmmmm....... liberal media?

Let me get this straight. Green's out-of-state donations questioned article is placed in the JS metro section, while this article concerning Governor Doyle's aide meeting with utility executives is considered prime page one material.
In the first place, one may consider the governor's office communication with a utility and a regulatory agency concerning a nuclear power plant sale is well within the responsibilities that we give to the governor. Some would be glad that the governor's office was interested.
It also seems equally reasonable that after the sale was first rejected that the petitioners would resubmit a proposal taking the reasons for the rejection into consideration. Therefore their may not have been a reversal of the previous decision but an approval of a revised plan.
As far as donations are concerned, it would be much more beneficial for the Republicans to use their obvious auditing skills to look at where Green and his Washington friends have been spending or rather wasting our tax dollars.
Who were the folks that met with VP Dick concerning energy policy? Oh yeah, apparently that's none of my business.

Transitions

I have been posting erratically this week as I am transitioning back into the world of work.
As my family knows, once school starts I sort of disappear. The job, for almost all of education personnel, is demanding and all consuming. It will be interesting to see how blogging and work all fit together. I really admire the commitment of the bloggers who are also employed full time in the educational community.
I've also started a blog for my UniServ(regional union entity)in an effort to open communication with those union members who are more likely to get their information through this media. This will keep me extremely busy!

Zogby Poll shows 92% of Americans want right to see ballots counted

A new Zogby poll to be released on Tuesday will reveal that 92% of Americans, spanning every party and democraphic group, believe that the public has the right to view and verify the counting of votes. The issue of transparency has become particularly important due to the use of electronic voting systems

read more

Bush's final gamble: Giving Iraq a dictator?

Would this mean that Bush would be giving Iraq the purple finger?

read more

Generals: War Over, Bush Must Negotiate

Twenty-one former generals and high ranking national security officials have called on George W. Bush to reverse course and embrace a new area of negotiation with Iran,Iraq, and North Korea. In a letter released Thursday, the group told reporters Bush's 'hard line' policies have undermined national security.

I'm a little late but this is not getting the MSM attention that it deserves!

read more

Blair Agrees with Prescott

According to the Daily Mail:

The alliance between George Bush and Tony Blair is in danger after it was revealed that the Prime Minister believes the President has 'let him down badly' over the Middle East crisis.

A senior Downing Street source said that, privately, Mr Blair broadly agrees with John Prescott, who said Mr Bush's record on the issue was 'crap'.

Soon it will be unanimous.

Could This Get Any More Weird?

I promised myself that I'd ignore the JonBenet stuff but this is beyond weird for me. This ought to keep the MSM from reporting anything important for at least a week.

GOP Deserts One Of Its Own

Gotta love those rascally Republicans. John McCain and Newt Gingrich have endorsed Ex Dem Lieberman in the CT senatorial race.
What Democrat would want to vote for Leiberman?
You can read the article here.

Republicans Losing The 'Security Moms'

Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews.

read more | digg story

Wiretapping Ruled Unconstitutional

This ought to get the activist judge crowd and quaint constitutionalists hopping!

37th AD Republican Candidates Fail to Show

I seldom agreed with Republican Assemblyman David Ward who, until his recent resignation, represented the 37th Assembly District. I always, however, respected that he always showed up for political events and in fact seemed to be everywhere in the community. I am sure it was Ward's attendance at most community events that enabled him to be reelected over and over again. It seems as though Republicans vying to replace Rep. Ward have adopted a different strategy.

According to the Daily Jefferson County Union none of the three Republicans facing off in a September primary attended a community forum sponsored by Heart of the City.

Heart of the City, as described by the Daily Union,

....... is a grassroots citizens organization that focuses on advocacy for sustainable change and the promotion of public good working with other citizens in government in visioning and planning.

According to the Daily Union:

....the forum touched on issues of interest to the group, including sustainability, healthcare and taxes.

The article continues: (Emphasis added)

Democrats Walt Christensen and Andy Jorgensen and Independent Ivan Davis participated Monday at the forum.

Republican candidates Joe Hermanny and Dennis Lund were unable to attend. Greg Gasper, also a Republican candidate, initially committed to participating, but withdrew Monday after Heart of the City altered the format and questions in the forum late last week.

"I apologize for not looking at your message sooner; however, upon reviewing your biased questions and format, I regret I can no longer take part in tonight's forum because of the large-scale changes in the previously agreed-upon questions and format," Gasper wrote in a statement to Heart of the City.

Now Jefferson County is not exactly considered a stronghold of the Democratic Party. Even if the questions were "biased" a Republican answering using conservative talking points would have scored as well or better than any Indy or Democrat. This is the second example of Republicans concealing positions this week. See Monday's entry. Wonder what they are hiding?

Although I would probably not have been in agreement, Dave Ward would have been there answering questions!

Lefties Have Fought the Right Longer!

No, not those type of lefties! The ones who have a dominant left hand, of course! This past weekend I missed the fact that it was International Left Handers Day on Sunday. Now I usually don't get into this stuff too much but, being left handed myself, I do have a curiosity about other people who are left handed.

FromThe Buzz others who are left handed include:

50 Cent
Eminem
Nicole Kidman
Oprah Winfrey
Kate Hudson
Angelina Jolie
Scarlett Johansson
Tom Cruise
Dane Cook
Ne-Yo
George Michael
Jay-Z
Katharine McPhee
Denise Richards
Bob Dylan
Keanu Reeves
Goldie Hawn
Julia Roberts
Paul McCartney
Will Ferrell

If this list doesn't make your tail wag try this site of famous left handers.

I also should have known that lefties have their own Left Handers Day Website complete with lefty games, surveys and even scholarship opportunities.

If you missed the day as I did.....it sure looks like a great Wisconsin day to take off. Celebrate the great left!

Pro Life Wisconsin Denies Green Endorsement

Tucked away in C3 of today's Wisconsin State Journal, Pro-Life Wisconsin explains that it will not be making an endorsement in the governor's race because none of the candidates returned a survey sent out by the group.

According to the article: (Emphasis added)

Green campaign spokesman Luke Punzenberger said Green would try to fill it out before the Nov. 7 election but that the campaign receives numerous questionnaires.

You can bet your life that this was not a mistake or a case of being too busy. Republicans for the last 25 years have counted on this group being whipped up into a froth come voting time.

Could it be that Green could not "find the time" because of this? (Emphasis added)

Among other things, the Pro Life Wisconsin survey asked whether candidates would support legislation granting fetuses an "inalienable right to life from the moment of fertilization," banning abortion in all cases including rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger, and banning research using embyonic stem cells.

I've been on candidate screening committees before and the only candidates who do not fill out the surveys are those who know that they would never be endorsed or those who are hiding their positions. Which is it Rep. Green?

Old Tricks Will Not Succeed!

With a recent MSNBC poll indicating that 19% of the President's former supporters may defect to the Terrorist party in November, it seems like scaring the Republican base is on the agenda with Nancy Pelosi being the monster.

Like most people in Wisconsin, really know very little about Minority Leader Pelosi but using Pelosi as a bogeyman is something which Republicans are very, very good at. The conservatives need a villain in order to be successful and they know it. Without this no good, very bad, latte sipping,gay loving,gun hating, California liberal, conservatives know that they would have to be somehow accountable for the past 6 years. The Democrats have been, after all, effectively been shut out of all Washington decisions.

Conservatives have nothing and the old tricks will not be successful. Despite that, expect these attacks to continue and intensify as the obvious becomes more and clear to them. The Neocons have no conscience and their followers lack all independent thought. Batten down the hatches!

Sy Hersh: US Attack On Iran Is Being Planned

Apologies to wherever I read about this earlier today! I wasn't going to write this article but it has been bugging me all day!

UPDATE: Found a related even scarier post at booman.

Seymour Hersh's new article Watching Lebanon in New Yorker magazine explains the US' strange lack of action concerning Israel's attack of Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to Hersh, President Bush et al were very careful to link Hezbollah with Syria and Iran, who W said were Hezbollah's main source of support. Additionally, the US helped plan the attack on Lebanon in order to test the bunker buster bombs that would be used on Iran's nuclear facilities. All of these actions were to act as a prelude to a US preemptive attack on Iran.

As frightening as this all seems, read this, from the article:

The Pentagon consultant told me that intelligence about Hezbollah and Iran is being mishandled by the White House the same way intelligence had been when, in 2002 and early 2003, the Administration was making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The big complaint now in the intelligence community is that all of the important stuff is being sent directly to the top at the insistence of the White House and not being analyzed at all, or scarcely, he said. It's an awful policy and violates all of the N.S.A.'s strictures, and if you complain about it you're out, he said. Cheney had a strong hand in this.

The article goes on to say that the US and Israel are surprised at the resilience of Hezbollah,

Nonetheless, some officers serving with the Joint Chiefs of Staff
remain deeply concerned that the Administration will have a far more positive
assessment of the air campaign than they should, the former senior intelligence
official said. There is no way that Rumsfeld and Cheney will draw the right
conclusion about this, he said. When the smoke clears, they'll say it was a
success, and they'll draw reinforcement for their plan to attack Iran.

There is much more to the article so I'd recommend that you read the entire thing. Hersh does close with this:

The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and
expecting a different result.

Couldn't agree more!

G-berries Makes Amazing Progress

Grumbleberries is over a month old and according to the latest Zogby poll of Dems, I've made tremendous progress. I am no longer part of the lunatic fringe left! Now I don't know if I changed or the country has changed but according to the latest poll:

1. 78% of Democrats are pleased with the primary election results in which Ned Lamont defeated Joe Lieberman.
2. 62% feel that the CT election will have national ramifications.
3. 70% feel that the CT primary has made the Democratic party much stronger or somewhat stronger.
4. 62% feel that the primary increased the chances that Democrats will take over one or both Houses of Congress.
5. 62% are more optimistic than 30 days ago.
6. 78% want Democratic Candidates to oppose the war in Iraq.
7. 68% disagree that the Democratic Party has been taken over by the far left. (Only 16% agree)

Even when I consider the margin of error, I am still well within the thinking of most of the nations democrats! Imagine that!

The unification of the "disorganized" Party must have come as a terrible shock to Republicans who, despite claiming that they are not driven by polls, fired up the great Wurlitzer on terrorist threats again this week. One cannot argue that they are extremely good at making noise!

Other things the Republicans are extremely good at:

1. Lying
2. Attacking the opposition.
3. Distraction
4. Fear mongering
5. Hiring incompetent cronies
6. Securing tax breaks for those who do not need them
7. Yelling privatization at every opportunity
8. Add your own favorite

The truth is the Republicans "got nuthin" left with the possible exception of attacking Iran. (I have serious doubts whether that would win people over.)Observe the evidence that they have nothing left:

1. All national polls have the Repugs at their lowest point.
2. Polls have Dems at their highest point.
3. The Red Terror Alert, although the focus of the past few days MSM, hardly slowed down passengers. Think of it, if you were really concerned during a RED alert, would you get on an airplane?
4. All the political commentary from the right wing is warning the dems that they have gone off the left wing cliff. Take this as an indication that we are indeed doing something correctly!
5. The Democratic Leadership is starting to usher itself to the front of the parade!
6. The Republican taking heads are hysterical!

The hysterical scare mongering is only going to get worse from now until the November elections. We are winning and the louder it gets from the right, the more likely we are to win in the fall. When we hear the noise from the Wurlitzer, we should realize that they are playing our song!

Update Within minutes of this post Georgia10 at DailyKos stikes a similar note.

G-berries One Month Old!

Ok I'm a little late but I've been blogging for over a month now. In fact, this is my 30th post. Most people who know me wouldn't think that I would ever have this much to say. Thanks to the Republicans there is a forever rich line of crap to become irritated about.
It looks like my time posting at Folkbum is rapidly coming to a close. I appreciated the opportunity to expand the readership. I hope that I will have some regular visitors as a result of my time there. I really don't know how to tell how many hits I get per day anyway. I suppose that if I did I may become discouraged.
I hope that all who have visited will come back whether they are lurkers or tend to comment. I wouldn't even mind a troll or two! I do no plan on giving up!

J-S Editorial Board Reads Tea Leaves

Many of us have been here regarding the Iraq war for a long time. In fact, we were called traitors for merely thinking the very same things expressed in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial.

From the editorial:

It is long past time for President Bush to admit as much and give the country a workable plan for a flexible withdrawal. Polling speaks forcefully of large and growing dissatisfaction nationally with the Iraq war.

And this,

The administration needs to adopt a plan much like one authored by Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

And many bonus points for this,

Should Wisconsinites take into account Green's congressional record when they vote for governor? Of course they should. His congressional record is likely more of a mixed bag than his detractors depict, but in the absence of a more recent state record, it's more than fair game. The war, in particular, is fair game, not just for Green but in assessing all congressional candidates. It goes to judgment.

Golden bonus points for hitting it out of the park,

Speaking of accountability, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, promised a report on whether the administration misused intelligence to sell the war. Enough with the stalling. Get on with it.

Perhaps the defeat of Senator Lieberman has awakened more than just the Democratic Party! Read the whole editorial as it just gets better.

Questions About A Hypothetical Situation

This is going to sound crazy and I can't imagine this senario ever happening but play along for a moment.

Suppose two candidates of the same party declare candidacy for the same office and a primary election is held. Further suppose that there is a clear winner in this primary. The winner obviously will represent the party in the general election. Please consider the following questions:

1. Should the loser of the primary run for the office anyway?
2. What would one call a person who ignored the will of the people and ran as an independent?
3. Should the loser in the primary, if he runs as an independent, expect to be trusted by anyone in his former party?
4. Should the loser in the primary, if he runs as an independent , expect to have the plum committee appointments if he wins in the general election.
5. Should the loser of the primary have the support of the party members in the general election?
6. If members of the party support the loser of the primary in the general election, are they the ones who are hurting the party?
7. Had the loser won the primary, would all the losers supporters expect to have the support of the entire party in the general election?
8. If the loser of the primary had no intention of abiding with the will of the primary voters, why did he bother with the primary election anyway?
9. If the loser of the primary runs as an independent in the general election, is this evidence of the party being in shambles or the ego of one person getting in the way?
10. If the loser of the primary runs for the general election is he telling everyone to stick it?

I really don't think there is any doubt about how a Republican would answer the above questions. I thought I knew how Democrats would too. Sadly, I now truly wonder. I suppose time will tell.

Although I supported Lamont in yesterday's CT primary, I did not wish that Senator Leiberman would be banished from the Democratic Party. After listening to his Declaration of Independence last night, I have changed my mind.

CT Primary Day

Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont face off today in a primary that many feel has nationwide implications. The national blogosphere has been obsessing on this race for weeks with the past week being almost unbearable. There have been many articles but here are two recent ones that I found interesting. David Sirota provides four senarios concerning the possible outcomes and some comic relief. At NY Daily News, Lieberman pleads that he is not George Bush.

Although the MSM wants us to believe that this primary is a referendum on the war, I believe it to be much more than that.
The Democratic party is currently in a struggle for the direction it will take. According to John Dean in his book, Conservatives Without Conscience many Democrats have chosen to remain silent regarding the extremes of the Neocons because they feel the electorate is not interested in process. Additionally, Dems think such action would make them seem whiney. These Democrats want to move the party to the center of the political spectrum, a center that has moved decidedly to the right. Many in the lefty blogosphere have the opinion that this outlook makes the Democrats seem wimpy. I share this opinion.

The grass roots, emboldened by a blogosphere, is leading the charge to create an opposition party that seeks to aggressively wrestle with the current Republican one party rule. Russ Feingold was one of the first Democrats to "get it". Sooner or later the leadership will be forced to get in front of the Democratic party revolutionary parade or they will need to move over.

This is democracy as it is supposed to be! Messy, loud, and undisciplined, democracy comes from the bottom up pressuring our leaders to do the will of the people. Democracy is not stubbornly sticking to a course of action long after the public has withdrawn its support. Democracy is not blind allegiance to leadership even when all evidence suggests that serious, sometimes illegal, errors have occurred.

Perhaps this is the difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Republicans seem to follow slogan spouting leaders without question and call it a strength. Recent history suggests that Republicans get it wrong much of the time. Democrats, on the other hand, question, argue, research, and have great difficulty following each other. Despite the mess the Democrats will eventually get it right. After all is said and done, how many times has Senator Feingold been wrong?

The Lieberman-Lamont primary is a major battle in this healthy struggle within the Democratic Party. Democrats do not fear the perceived lack of control that Republicans allow to run their lives. In fact, many welcome it because the only thing for certain is change. Regardless of what happens in Connecticut, major changes are coming.

Guest Posting at Folkbum

For the past week I've been cross posting at Folkbum. What you may be missing here at Grumbleberries are the comments posted in response to my numerous posts. Grumbleberries has not been around long enough to pick up any trolls or even comments so far. I encourage you to go the Folkbum blog and see what others are saying. Pretty amusing actually!

Mark Green Defender of UW Students?

Candidate Green made a stop in Janesville last Thursday and made numerous points about how he "would fix Doyle's errors". According to Friday's (8/4/06) Janesville Gazette, Green stated:

"I support a cap on tuition increases" he said. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of in-state students...It was Jim Doyle's Board of Regents that raised tuition."

Having a son attending one of our fine Universities, I share the pain of the tuition increases but what about that troublesome Representative Green voting record?

US Representative Green cast the deciding vote in February to slash student aid by nearly $12 billion, the largest cut in the program's history. [Source: HRS653, Vote 4, 2/1/06]

US Representative Green voted against increases for Pell grants for our neediest students. [Sources: HR2863, Vote 668, 12/18/05; HR3010, Vote 573, 11/8/05; HR3010, Vote 320, 6/24/05]

Assemblyman Green repeatedly voted to increase tuition at the University of Wisconsin System when he was in the Assembly. [Sources: 1993 SB44, 1995 AB150, 1997 AB100]

Sorry Mark and Friends, this voting record doesn't seem particularly student or parent friendly. Enough said!

Dare to Hope

Although one needs to view events with a degree of caution sometimes it is necessary to also have hope. During the last five years we have witnessed: two wars, Abu Graib, Guantanamo, huge, increasing national debt, attacks on social security, Hurricane Katrina, a shrinking middle class, class warfare, out of control health care costs, obscene gasoline prices and profits, tax cuts for the top 1%, alienation of our allies, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Republican corruption, presidential signing statements, Vice Presidental shootings, and proclivity of Congress to name bills the complete opposite of what they really are all about.

Deep breath! Once one gets started it is difficult to stop but in the interest of time and space I will.
So who is to blame if not the Neocon controlled Congress and Executive Branch.

Despite my good memory, I am optimistic. America is a great country and a group can only dupe the public for so long. I have many moderate Republican friends and relatives who are just as fed up as I am. Eventually voters will get it right even though for some of us it can't come soon enough.

Two articles that articulate the change I sense is happening are The Beginning of the End of the Adventure and The End of the Right. There is great hope but it will only happen with all of our continued hard work! Let's get going! This time we cannot afford to let these guys resurface in thirty years!

Chicks!

Sure, parts of the world are in flames. The President is on vacation. The US Congress and the State Legislature are both in recess. Why shouldn't my thoughts wander to music and the first CD I ever purchased. It is after all Saturday!

Ok, I admit that I bought the first CD in my life for all the wrong reasons. I've always felt some type of kinship toward the underdog, so I was deeply moved by the hatred which erupted when the Dixie Chicks' criticized President Bush and the Iraq war. I simply had to purchase a Chick's CD.

The fact is, I'm not much of a music fan. I had never heard of Natalie Maines, but figured anything that her former fans were so vehemently against, I would automatically be emphatically for. At the very least, I would be supporting the Dixie Chicks right to free speech. I'm, after all, a little touchy on Bill of Rights issues.

As a small but meaningful act of defiance I even played "Taking the Long Way" with my car windows down and the found it to be GREAT. You can listen to "Not Ready to Make Nice" here.

Now I have a confession to make, I've always been attracted to spunky women. Mrs. grumbleberries has not lost anything in this department in the last thirty years, so I know one when I see one. The Dixie Chicks are the real thing. If you have not yet bought the CD, I hope you will consider it. There is nothing more American than dissent and nobody more American than the Dixie Chicks. I'm officially smitten!

Brewing Company Blackmails New Glarus

I've been known to search the countryside seeking the perfect beer. I examine many samples and have narrowed my favorites to but a handful. Ranking high on my list is a product from New Glarus Brewing Company, Spotted Cow to be specific. Somehow this once fine beer will never taste the same after I read this article in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Basically, NGBC is seeking to shake down the village of New Glarus by seeking corporate welfare, er, I mean a TIF district in order to expand the brewery. Although the details are somewhat sketchy, a TIF, usually involves using the tax money collected from the company over ten or so years to pay for the loan needed to provide improvements that are required for the company expansion. This would include roads, sewer and water but not include tax money to support police, fire, schools,or the maintainence of those improvements. The local taxpayer is left to pick up the tab on these government responsibilities.

Tax Incremental Financing or TIF's were originally created in order to encourage companies to rebuild "blighted" areas, primarily urban. Today, most of these TIF's are granted on agricultural land and are used by companies as leverage to get a "deal" on their taxes. If there is no deal offered, the company threatens to relocate. Major League Stadium Districts, WalMart, Target and many others have been known to do this type of hostage taking. Although companies always make promises as to how this will benefit the community, 30 or so new jobs in New Glarus' case, there is no absolute certainty or accountability built into this plan.

As a result, companies get this form of welfare even though they may not need the financial support and create no jobs. Certainly companies like WalMart are not strapped for cash. Given the sales at New Glarus Brewing Company, I'm certain they are not really too worried either. This puts villages like New Glarus in a tough spot. As a result, the taxpayers of New Glarus will probably have tax increases for the priviledge of the Brewer staying in the community. For some reason conservatives see this type of coporate welfare and the tax implications as beneficial to all.

Perhaps a more committed beer "expert" would stick with his best list and not let corporate greed affect how he views the taste of beer but I've had it! No more Spotted Cow! No more contributions to a company that would act in this manner, period. Having made this statement, the rest of the afternoon must be spent trying to find an adequate replacement for Spotted Cow! These things do take time. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Class Warfare Continues

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities sees the Republican dominated Senate as "putting their cards on the table" as to how the tax cuts for the wealthy will eventually be paid if they are made permanent. In June, the Senate Budget Committee approved legislation(S.3521)that is being touted as a "vision statement" that would drastically cut domestic programs over time. Groups such as the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and other conservative groups are hailing the legislation which will probably not be passed this year.

From the article:

"If the tax cuts are extended, entitlement programs would have to be cut $206 billion a year by 2012. If these savings were achieved through the bill’s automatic entitlement cuts, there would be deep cuts in everything from Medicare and veterans disability compensation to school lunches and assistance for the elderly and disabled poor."


Such pain can be avoided however:

Yet the bill’s deficit target in 2012 would be met without such budget cuts if the tax cuts were not extended or were financed through revenue-raising measures. Essentially, the bill charts a course under which the bill’s severe domestic program cuts would be used to pay for the tax cuts, rather than to reduce deficits.


Republicans often claim outrage at the thought of class warfare. Perhaps this outrage is only when the lower and middle class fight back. I cast my vote with those who would not make the tax cuts permanent.

Update by bonddad at DailyKos

Time to Hire the Government You Want

Perusing the news and blogs for topics of which to blog the past few days is an act of desperation given the overshadowing events of the middle east. The news and pictures from Lebanon and Iraq are ones that make the problems in Wisconsin seem miniscule by comparison. The Daily Star, Lebanon's English paper, accounts and pictures are particularly touching.
One is left to wonder how and why we are in the situation that we are in worldwide.
Despite campaigning as the anti-government party the Republicans ended up in power. They are firmly in control of the Federal government and are threatening to control Wisconsin as well. Their hatred of public institutions is well known as they spread the mantra of tax cuts and privatization to every corner of our government. Governmental appointments are often made based upon the level of hostility one shows for that particular department. Hence the FEMA, EPA, Department of Education, the UN delegation are all headed by those whose main goal is to destroy or seriously disrupt the entity which they head.
All in all it is a little hard to blame the Republicans who are doing exactly what they have said they were going to do. Perhaps it is time to place the blame on those who have put this group in office. So here are a few questions for those who voted for the Republicans:

1. When you have your car repaired, do you take it to a mechanic who hates working on cars?
2. When you go to the Doctor, do you choose one who hates treating people?
3. Would you hire a babysitter who hated kids?
4. Why then do you continue to vote for those who hate government?

To continue to vote these guys into office and expect efficient good government is to expect the impossible. It is long past time to hire people who can and want to do a good job.

Dems Urge Withdrawal from Iraq

According to this Washington Post article the Democratic leadership signed a statement urging the redeployment of troops from Iraq by the end of the year. Twelve Democrats, including Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, signed the letter which in part seeks to differentiate those who support a withdrawal timeline with those who do not.

" In the interests of American national security, our troops and our taxpayers, the open-ended commitment in Iraq that you have embraced cannot and should not be sustained. . . . We need to take a new direction."

Although Republicans were quick to criticize, there are Republicans who appear to agree with the Democrats.

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) last week called Iraq "an absolute replay of Vietnam." Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) recently returned from Iraq with a call for U.S. troops to pull out.

Oddly, this development had very little play in the Wisconsin media.