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A collection
of insightful ruminations, reflections, and rants on the events of
the
day (with the exception of the weekend). We'll collect a week's worth
here and then archive them. Come visit each weekday to see what's
pushing
Barbara's buttons.
December
5, 2003
Nurses
are already under an ethical and legal obligation to stay on duty until
relieved, they cannot abandon their patients. It is a rare occasion
that a shift is unrelieved, but it does happen. Do you really believe
that they should not receive a monetary reward for the service they
provide? Money is the deity of the Repuglican party, and everything
they stand for revolves around money and profits. It is completely
in their character to take the few extra dollars
out of a poor man's
pocket. Republicans want to take the average wage earner back
to a time when owing one's soul to the company store wasn't just a
song.
40 hours
a week
and overtime
for added hours is not too much to ask.
*
* *
Some
years ago we were subjected to a series of made-for-TV evangelist
preachers, replete with tears of sorrow and regret, explaining
away their transgressions only after being exposed. Then,
as now, with Rush Limbaugh's recent drug abuse revelation, we are
witness
to "the
devil made me do it, it's not my fault" excuses. Then, as
now, the hypocrisy of loudly denouncing the very sins they were
committing
is repulsive. I suppose it all boils down to the meaning of abusing
illegally obtained drugs. Rush Limbaugh should be accountable
to the same standards he expects of others.
*
* *
If
bribery, intimidation, and threats spell "changing
the tone in Washington," then Bush can say "mission accomplished!"
Here's a quote from The Hill, a publication for and about the
U.S. Congress, referring to the current Medicare bill: "Republican
aides said conservatives who voted against the bill, including Reps.
Mike Pence
(Ind.), John Culberson (Texas), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.)
and Jim Ryun (Kan.), would suffer for their votes against the Medicare
bill." That just proves how openly hostile the tone has
become, which doesn't any of us, now
does it?
*
* *
December
4, 2003
I
have come to the conclusion the Repuglican party is doing everything
they can to thwart anything good and/or decent that has ever been done
for the American public. The intention is to use power and money to
overcome the masses. By legally murdering integrity, honesty, and decency
they believe they can create overwhelming public apathy. Then, and
only then, can they continue to loot the tax coffers for personal gain
without
worry or an interest. We can lick this if we say enough is enough -- VOTE
THE THIEVES, THE LOOTERS, AND THE ARROGANT BASTARD out of office and
be sure your vote counts.
*
* *
If
you can't beat 'em, then bankrupt them -- the motto of the Repuglican
party. Our children and our children's children will have to pay off
the debt incurred by George Bush, This administration is working
very hard to guarantee that jobs and salaries will be minimal. That,
alone, adds up to the medieval notion that the masses must be controlled,
lest they become unruly. Are we ready to return to a time when rich
men ruled and were in control of our very lives? Are we going to let
them succeed? Vote NO MORE BUSH and be sure there is a paper trail!
*
* *
And
you thought Judicial appointments weren't really all that
important -- WRONG! A Texas three judge panel ruled that Tom DeLay
the
bug man would not
have to testify in the Texas redistricting case. "The
court recognized that allowing political operatives to question
their
opponents under oath about their political game plan is too
ripe for
abuse," said DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy. The
Repugs were singing a different tune not so long ago. Remember
Bill Clinton the
President? A Repuglican appointed panel of Judges ruled
that President Clinton would have to testify even while in office.
Seems the courts are so high minded these days that the rule of
law depends
on party affiliation.
* * *
You'd
think we would have learned -- every time the Bushies are in power,
it costs us. Neil Bush's savings and loan shenanigans
cost us more than a billion dollars back in the '80's and now he's involved
with a company that helps obtain government contracts to rebuild Iraq.
Sure hope this price tag won't be as high.
*
* *
December
3, 2003
After
seeing those up close and personal (gag me with a spoon) pictures of
Dumbya holding that platter full of Thanksgiving fare, ad nauseum, I
take pause to wonder -- just who is the turkey here, the bird or Bush?
No matter how the administration or mainstream media tries to spin this
story, it comes up the same old bull: another photo opportunity for the
moron who really seems to be obsessed with "stayin outta harm's
way." Somehow, Bush's explanation of not wanting to put "anyone" in "harm's
way" doesn't ring true, when you know the troops he sent to Iraq
must return to fight a guerilla war after Thanksgiving dinner, while
Bush skulks back home!
*
* *
War
produces extensive casualties -- some with visible wounds and
some without. My aunt was a nurse in the Army during the Korean war.
Her
assignment was with the team that established the famous MASH units.
She, thankfully,
came home looking much the same as before her tour -- a little
grayer and a little quieter, but with two arms, two legs and a functioning
brain.
Yet,
it was the little things we noticed that no one else would have even
seen, like eating anything left on someone's plate at the end of
a
meal, constantly washing her hands and face, sniffing the air as
though there would be an offensive odor near by, the extra "after-dinner" drink,
and a refusal to work in the ER at the local hospital. Though she
continued to do floor duty competently, she prayed more often, and
tears came
more easily than before. She developed a spastic colon and suffered
immeasurably from that disease for the remainder of her days.
She
was witness to the infamous trench, where the North Korean Army made
over
500 South Korean civilians dig a trench, then lined them up and
machine gunned them. They didn't even bother to cover them up, leaving
an undeniable stench that permeated all of Korea.
She
refused to tell us about what was happening to the children over there
-- it seemed
more
than she could bear, and if they were mentioned she would immediately
start crying with a silent anguish that could only be imagined
in
a nightmare. She told us a story about how all the buildings had
"10," "15," or "20" painted on them in big red letters, signifying
the minutes it took for those buildings to burn to the ground. These
were mostly buildings providing housing for them when they were lucky
enough
to have a roof over their heads. Once
an airman came in, one of the guys who flew the helicopters bringing
in the wounded. He had been
at it for 36 hours straight and told them he was going to bed
to die -- he did. His building was shelled and he jumped into a drum
of
water
in
the hall pulling the mattress over his head and subsequently
boiled to death in a blaze without an escape route.
She
worked hours on
end in the surgery, attending the wounded young men brought back
with horrific
wounds, some un-recoverable and some that would be life-long
trauma.
War
is truly hell, and I had hoped that in the 21st Century we, as a people,
would know that in the end, brute force does not
solve problems, it only brings casualties. *
* *
December
2, 2003
"Iraq
is the picture of success." The key word here is "picture," as in
that which is painted by the Bush administration, mainstream media, and
right wing pundits.
What we're being told and what is actually happening are as far apart
as the north and south poles. There have been no flowers, no song, and
certainly the "welcoming committee" has been wary of this whole "occupation" thing
from its inception. There is no security for Americans nor Iraqis.
Somehow, I just cannot see death and destruction as a true measure of
success, no matter
how they spin it!
*
* *
How
can anyone think that Bush raised morale when he snuck in Iraq and
snuck out a little more than 2 hours later? Our
troops are there and
they
have to stay -- no sneaking around with a flight home in 2 hours.
I'd say those soldiers were served up the biggest turkey ever on
Thanksgiving and, folks, I find nothing worthy in a visit made for political
gain.
There is nothing admirable about a man who sent our troops to die in
a
needless war. My God, people, he wore a flak jacket, equipment that
hasn't even been
provided for all the soldiers having dinner. Admirable would
have been, for once in his life, taking the shirt off his back and offering
it
to some poor guy who really needs it! *
* *
December
1, 2003
Well
now, the Radical Repuglican's do not seem to be as concerned with the
truth today as they were in the 1990s. We are now being told it's
OK to lie as long as George and Dick are doing it, and they can tell
whatever lies are necessary to accomplish the goals of the party. Strange
isn't it, how those little things like morals and
values change when the main player changes? The Bush administration
and the
current Repuglicans are more ruthless and diabolical than any in the
history of America. We are witness to murder and mayhem on the grandest
scale of our history.
*
* *
Bush
promised to change the tone in Washington and, indeed, he has "accomplished
that mission" -- the whole world now knows why the term UGLY
AMERICAN was coined. The
raunchy,
raucous, rude, crude, ego-testical, bully has emerged and we must
bear the burden of that Bush mystique.
*
* *
As
I watched the documentary about JFK, I had to pause and remember just
how he inspired Americans with hope and dreams for
our future and how he inspired a sense of pride, dignity, and greatness
in all of us. We were truly proud of our country and proud to be
Americans. Thanks to JFK's leadership, we were loved and respected
world-wide, which is the exact opposite of all things Bush. |
