I presume this thing is working OK now. They were working on it earlyer this morning. George Bush is giving us all political whiplash pulling his own "September Surprise". After years of nothing now just before the congressional elections, Bush has produced fourteen prisoners who are responsible for 9 - 11 and other Al Quaida activity. In this political 180 now after months of saying how it was a horrible thing to disclose secret CIA prisons, which used torture techniques, now he's coming out into the open and admitting it. Now the pressure is on Congress to pass procedures for some military tribunal to try these fourteen prisoners, which have now been transferred to Guantanamo Bay. I thought they were going to close guantanamo bay. Bush is as much as saying that because we used these "alternative interrigation methods" including "water-boarding" these fourteen prisoners disclosed valuable information. I don't think the democrats should let the President "get away with" vindicating torture methods the way he has done. All of this is suspicious because the November elections for Congress are just around the corner.
Congress, for its own part doesn't have a very good record now. They get paid a hundred and sixty-five thousand or something. But this past year they were only in session seventy-one days. I bet the average C E O works more than that. Clearly they are targets for the charge of being a "do nothing congress". Now the democrats are in an all out push to get rid of Donald Rumsfeld, a move Ed Schultz criticised. This congress has apparently decided to table any action on raising the minimum wage from a low $5.25 an hour, where it has been for nearly ten years. It almost seems as if the Democrats want a terrible record to take back to the Voters so they can blame Bush or something. I guess that's their motive. Clearly in the eleven days they have left for this congress they can't do much in deciding the fate of these fourteen prisoners. We hear that their trials will be secret because they have classified information. As I understant it, the prisoner himself won't even be able to see all of his own trial because the evidence used to convict him is classified. Apparently three republican senators, including John Mc Cain, question the President's motives in wanting a resolution before the November election.
The President had a major embarrassment the day before yesterday. It seems as if Bin Laden's group in Pakistan has been given sanctuary by the Pakistani military. They have a peace accord where if the Taliban promises not to attack, the army won't try to root them out. How is the President explaining this major diplomatic failure? I don't know. Of course several days ago the "second in command" of Al Quaida was captured. I guess one has the right to ask, "Just how many Second in Command" do the Talliban have? If they've captured all these people it would seem we have taken a major step tword solving the terrorism problem. But nobody seems to believe that. I guess we should thank God we have a vigellent President and that Britain is vigellant to break up all these plots before they can be exicuted. You know- on the show Nova the other night, those building dezigners were acting as though another 9 - 11 could happen at any time instead of being a one time flook event. Who is right? I personally don't feel as though I am "In danger". I don't know how many people voting in November do feel endangered, and if they do that President Bush and he along is the one they need to turn to and trust to feel secore.
I am against both of the propositions now on the airwaves here in California, propositions 86 and 87. Prop 87 raises drilling taxes for oil in the state. I guess they call it a "severence tax" in other states. The thing is with that added expense, we will end up importing more oil from other countries and that will end up increasing gasoline prices in the long run. The "energy research" part of the bill seems dubious. Apparently there is no accountability. Proposition 86 seems like a boondoggle for Hospitals who can fix prices and suspend a bunch of regulations that would normally apply. And they rake in a lot of money for projects not related to smoking, but they get it from taxes on the dwindling number of smokers.
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