Busy, Busy Thursday

Well, tomorrow's gonna be a big day. Alberto "I Torture" Gonzales will be rubber stamped in the morning, then as prescribed by law, Congress will meet in a joint session to count electoral votes and officially certify Gee Dumbass as winner of the 2004 Presidential election.

Cue the tumbrels.

For anyone who may have spent the last couple months in a cave, there's still quite a bit of controversy over whether Ohio's electoral votes are legitimate. And apparently, it isn't just Democratic partisans who are concerned about possible illegalities committed by and on behalf of Blackwell- did you know that electors from California, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Vermont called for Congressional investigations into Ohio? In fact, just as in 2000, several House members plan to object. However, unlike 2000, there's talk that a Senator might actually step up, as well. Cable news and the web are buzzing with speculation that Barbara Boxer (D-CA) plans to join Representative John Conyers and company in a joint objection. Her DC office is neither confirming nor denying the rumors, telling some callers that they're still taking feedback and registering opinions, and that no decision has been made. Boxer is among the ballsiest of the Senate Dems so I guess it's possible, but basic math suggests that her objection wouldn't accomplish much. Essentially, an objection would call for the House and Senate to return to their respective chambers and hash it out (read: R's steamroll over D's as usual), then return to finish the vote count.

So, tomorrow may be interesting but, barring last-minute indictments, the result is a foregone conclusion.

Speaking of indictments, The Blue Lemur has posted a copy of a fundraising letter from Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth J. Blackwell, Rightwing scumbag extraordinaire, in which he boasts of helping to "deliver Ohio" for Bush. (you may remember that Diebold CEO Wally O'Dell had also promised to "deliver Ohio"). The letter, which is also available at the House Judiciary Committee Dems website goes on to state that the election of Senator Kerry would have been "a disaster", a "horrible outcome" and "terrible result...." I'm looking forward to digging into the Conyers report- hot off the presses- officially titled Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong In Ohio (Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff).

Should be an interesting read.

Picking Up The Pieces

Interesting week, huh? And while Gee Dumbass was sitting around the Crawford "ranch" with his dick in his hand (not that there's anything inherently wrong with that), the rest of the world has been busier than a domestic violence counselor at a Promise Keepers' rally.

First, let's clear up some of the foolishness being spread by the usual Bush apologists and their willing presstitute accomplices:

• Jan Egeland never called the US "stingy." Media Matters has done their usual exemplary job at deconstructing that particular myth, along with calling out some of its more energetic purveyors, beginning with its creator, Bill Sammon of the Washington Moonie Times.

• The US is stingy. Despite the horseshit being spread by Rightwingnuts, we are *not* The Most Generous Nation Ever.
Couple of facts: we give approximately $20 Billion (0.15% of GDP) in foreign aid annually. For context, the 2001 (pre-911) Defense budget was just under $300B.

Since WWII, an average of 1/3 of this aid has been earmarked as Military Assistance, which allows recipients (think: Israel) to purchase weapons from... drumroll... US military contractors! Development assistance runs at about the same level, although the Administration's bogus funding plans for the Global AIDS Initiative has finally pushed the total for this slice to 50.7% of aid. For humanitarian aid, Congress allocated $2.55 Billion (12% of total aid) in the '04 budget.

In terms of both Government and private giving, the US ranks 19th among the 21 industrialized nations surveyed.

Quick Timeline: First Gee Dumbass hunkers down on the "ranch", not gonna interrupt his vacation for shit.

Sunday, all Hell breaks loose in the Pacific.

On Tuesday, December 28, former President Clinton is interviewed by the BBC. In discussing the need for coordination of relief efforts, he said "It is really important that somebody takes the lead in this." Stung, and once again inferring criticism where none was made (see the Egeland overreaction above), Bush apologists strike up an old favorite of the Right: Rage Against The Clenis.

The next day, with the world still asking "Where's the US?", he crawled out of his Jack Daniels bottle long enough to slur "the coalition will prevail", then scurried back into seclusion. In reaction to public condemnation at the initial niggardly allocation of $15M, he threw in a $20 Million loan for rebuilding - some Internet wits have referred to that as a Halliburton Gift Card. After being blasted by... hell, the whole world (and being embarrassed by his predecessor- more on that in a minute), he kicked the number up to $350 Million.

Naturally, after their petty sniping at Clinton, to whom does the White House turn for help?

They really are contemptible.


Current status:


• NGO's around the world are kicking ass.

• Governments everywhere are doing everything possible to help.

• The Bush Administration has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Global Community.

• Clinton's on the case, once again showing Gee Dumbass how a President is supposed to act.

• Businesses like Apple and Glaxo-SmithKline are doing their part... and you know it kills me to have to give kudos to Big Pharma.

• And following the Preznit's lead, the Religious Right is...


Wait.

Where are they? No doubt, a quick search of homepages should reveal an outpouring of Christian love for those in need.

Falwell's Moral Majority Coalition... school abstinence and gay marriage.

The Christian Coalition... nope, nothing but something about "taking America back" and the Marriage Amendment.

Focus on the Family... more anti-gay stuff and a hagiography of famous dead homophobe Reggie White. Surprise!!!

Eagle Forum- Nothing here, either. Creationism gets the top spot.

A more detailed search was done at Americablog - looks like they didn't have much more luck than we did.

Any questions about why I hold Christofascists in such deep contempt? The next one of these fuckers who starts in on morality and The Evils Of Liberalism deserves to be cockpunched by Ted Kennedy.