MAN BITES BUSH
You know we lost this war a ways back when William F. Buckley Jr. says "the American objective in Iraq has failed." A source tells me that, unless Bush leaves Iraq soon and begins to managing our economy responsibly, Buckley is going to follow through on his threat to bookend his career with one final volume called God and Bush at Yale. From what I'm told, it's the story of a rich kid from Texas who didn't read the newspapers or the Bible, goofed off and drank a lot, wasted a whole lot of other people's money living well and pissed off a whole lot of people in the process. Kind of like what he's doing now, except, this time, thousands of innocent people are dead.

BUSH URGES RESTRAINT IN IRAQ CIVIL WAR
Restraint. Now, there's a thought. 2,286 American soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqi civilans are dead in a war based on lies and mistaken intelligence (against a country that had no involvement in the terrorist attack on 9/11) and suddenly our Asshole-in Chief has the nerve to speak on the virtues of restraint and the dangers of overreacting. He should know, I suppose.

PORT SECURITY: Delay the DeLay Way
The administration is going to hold off before letting the Dubains take over control of the six American ports so that they can "explain" to members of congress details of the deal. All the explaining, you know, is going to be about how much he's prepared to spend to bribe some important Senators from an already bankrupt treasury, who will then provide cover for the rest and then try to ram this deal through. Fat chance. As phony as this issue it is (and probably the best thing we could do begin to heal the rift between us and Arab nations), the American people are simply too and reactionary and jingoistic to see it, something for which Bush has only himself to blame.

THE MUTINY BEGINS
With all the hoopla over a Dubai-based company taking operational control of some U.S. ports, the only real security issue here for members of Congress is their own job security. While the Democrats were the first to react and landed their first good punch on Bush in years, politicians of both parties are climbing all over each other to get a piece of this anti-Arab pie. What better way to be able to say to Arabs "kiss our freedom-loving asses" than to do what all xeonphobes do by refusing to do business with them and running them out of the neighbohood. The fact is that having them run the ports would probably make us more secure by beginning to build bonds of trust based on stronger economic ties and giving them a stake in our peace. President Bush's show of force with the threat of a veto to block any effort to rescind the deal, as Cheney was just about getting around to cleaning his gun, has put the Republican establishment in an unexpected jam and it's about time. Too bad this deal can't be dealt with with a couple good lies, but I'm sure they'll manage to slip in a couple anyway. To see the Republicans trying to catch up with Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer as they are being snookered on an issue of national security is priceless.

But, do not trust the Democrats to be the voices of rationality and integrity here. Weak and uninspired, this is nothing more than an easy interception that they will be sure to fumble before the play is over. They couldn't get one iota of trust from the American people as the opposition party even after thay had lost their trust in a President who lied us all the way to an illegal war and then turned his back on the Geneva Convention. And when you consider the Democrats' inability to make any political headway on the President's handling of Katrina/Fema disaster and other domestic scandals it's no surprise that the American people view them with the contempt they deserve. And now, acting as if they have found the key under the mat, the Democrats are in the process of ransacking the Repulicans on the 'homeland security' issue and they will take it as far as they can. The Republicans, totally panicked over the handing over of the keys to our ports, the most vulnerable area of homeland security, will soon be heading for the exits and won't be coming back. With the Abramoff scandal still only in previews, (and a show that should run a long time if previous scandals on corruption are any indicator), the Republicans are going to have to get real and give up their holier-than-thou mantle as they atone for their brutish behavior and attempt a make-over, reformed and reborn, again, by this fall's elections.

I have to admit, though, how much fun it is to watch the Republicans acting scared for a change, desperately looking forany homeland security skirt to hide under, scrambling with those terrified looks of people who know that they will be out of their jobs by next January. It reminds me of the look from not too long ago when they used to get outmanoeuvred regularly by Bill Clinton. On the heels of the Cheney hunting fiasco and the divulging of the whereabouts of one of his "undisclosed locations," with the Abramoff related scandal yet to hit high gear, this crew is on the run. Soon, many of them will no longer be waking up to the smell of Starbucks, but the bad breath of prison guards; and the rest, no longer a majority, will be left to explain why they took us down the long dark path of an unnecessary war after giving up their pursuit of Bin Laden, endorsed torture on its enemies and took part in a full scale assault on the civil liberties of their own constituents.


I'm, personally, opposed to the deal, solely on protectionist grounds. Call me sentimental, but I don't think any country besides the U.S. should be in charge of its ports. Before you know it, if they are not planning it already, this administration and its corporate cronies will find an easier and cheaper way to run our military and that will be outsourced, too.

The end is near for the Republicans and it's time to abort to avoid getting hurt in the stampede home. With their tails between their legs and praying to the same sweet baby Jesus they've been blaspheming for the past six years, they will be forced to their knees where they can only beg man and God, alike, for forgiveness. The picture that I'd like to see is Tom Delay, after losing his reelection bid this coming November, being led away like Jim Baker (as in Tammy Fay) to the loony bin after being caught sleeping on a cold winter's night, among his bags of refundable cans, nestled in the warm straw of the Sugarland, Texas nativity scene. While I should be more forgiving, I think I'm going to get down on my knees and start praying, anyway. And I don't think I'm talking a miracle here, either.

THE ANTI-FACTUAL BUSH UNIVERSE"The lack of a political agenda of his own has liberated Mr. Cheney to devote himself to being a serious and deeply involved policy adviser to the president."
-today's Wall Street Journal
CORRECTION: should read, "The lack of a political agenda of his own has liberated Mr. Bush to devote himself to being a serious and deeply involved front man for the vice-president."

Tell me the world hasn't gone totally ass-backwards mad? To know that every word to come out of Washington these days is a part of much bigger lie...and that so much of what you read has to be put up in front kind of some cosmic mirror in order to get what's not being said (oh how I miss the days when all you had to do was read BETWEEN the lines)...is more than a cause for concern. It's terrifying. And to see most media outlets on board makes me wonder what has to happen for the truth to come back into fashion. Today, those who are not in truth's back pocket are on it's leash.

Physicists talk of parallel universes and that for every bit of matter there is a bit of anti-matter. With this administration, every fact gets been put through the Rove-Cheney truth-machine and comes back out as anti-fact. I'm no physicist, not even a political scientist, but what if that for every truth there is a lie and that for some unknown reason we have slipped into that godforsaken, anti-truth universe? Sounds silly? Everything sounds silly the first time you hear it.

photo©Edward Keating 2002: EK self portrait, in mirror, Flagstaff, AZ

FRIEND OR FOWL?There's not one person in the media over the past five days, that I know of, who has questioned the wisdom of Dick Cheney's hunting. I don't hunt, nor do I have a problem, generally, with people who do: I just think it's ill-advised that one of the two most powerful men in the world (take your pick) should be traipsing around with a gun at "undisclosed locations" on weekends, putting himself, potentially, in the line of fire of an errant shotgun blast. What if the shoe had been on the other foot (or the gun in the other hand) this past Saturday? We'd be listening to the news from Walter Reed today and receiving regular updates on Cheney's condition, or worse. Then, all the world's press corps would be tearing Scott McClellan physically apart and would be posing far tougher questions than why neither of them had $7 stamps on their hunting licenses. For starters, how about the age of his partner who is 78, an age many men are no longer trusted behind the wheel of a car? Just how much did these guys have to drink? I'm very surprised that the Secret Service doesn't consider this activity problematic, especially after a lunch with beer. Or do they? Does Cheney tell them what to do, too?During his interview with Brit Hume on "F" News, yesterday, Cheney cut in on Hume's flattering description of him as "a seasoned hunter," with the qualifier, "twelve years," which is not a long time. Twelve years ago seems like yesterday, actually. Clinton was reeling from his and Hillary's failed health-care plan. Gingrich was drafting his Contract on America. And Cheney was in a huddle with his neo-con buddies, plotting their takeover. No better way to get in the mood for that than to buy a gun and take up hunting.

photos©Edward Keating 2003: Two Guns, AZ

BUSINESS AS USUAL
"What he did was not an irrational thing,"- Mary Matalin, V.P. Cheney's former communications adviser, on his waiting over twenty-four hours to issue a statement following Saturday's hunting accident


Of course it wasn't irrational, if you consider Cheney this administration's designated liar and that he initially viewed Saturday's accident as just another 'collateral damage' incident. We're all too familiar with the drill. Say nothing. Hope the locals keep quiet. If pressed, offer up a line, like, "accidents happen" or "this is one of those unfortunate, yet unavoidable, consequences of war." Even worse than the old joke about lawyers, they don't even have to open their mouths for you to know that they're lying to you. Poor Whittington.

And while we're on the subject of hunting and liars, how's the hunt for that Bin Laden guy going?

photo©Edward Keating:2002 Forestburgh, N.Y

"Made of indestructible stuff, the vice president of the United States was not one to be tormented by guilt or unduly disturbed by some bloodshed."
-Ron Chernow on Aaron Burr in Alexander Hamilton

Prior to the hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney and Harry Whittington in Texas this past weekend, you would have to go back over 200 years to find the last time a sitting vice president got into some trouble for discharging a gun into a long-time social and political aquaintance. The previous episode was, or course, the duel between Thomas Jefferson's vice president, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, which took place in Weehawken, N.J. in 1804. And you probably have to go back just as far if you are looking for an American politician as ruthless, power-hungry and mistrusted as our current Prince of Darkness. A master at how to screw friends and influence people, Burr wrote the book on blind ambition in American politics. Capable of emasculating and criminalizing his opponents in ways that would give our duck-hunting Dick goosebumps, Burr said of Hamilton at Weehawken, "When he stood up to fire, he caught my eye and quailed under it. He looked like a convicted felon"(1)He cared not one bit on what others thought of him and cared even less as to how history might judge him.

Burr was a handsome man and quite the hit with the ladies, but that is not the major distinction between these two frustrated empire builders: That would be the difference in each man's capacity for physical bravery and willingness to fight and serve the American cause in a time of war. With plenty of 'better things to do,' and over the intense objections of his family, Burr enlisted into the army during the opening days of the Revolutionary War. He fought alongside Benedict Arnold and exhibited great bravery in the battle of Quebec in 1775, establishing himself as one of the very first in a long line of American war heros. Cheney, on the other hand, after managing to avoid the Vietnam War, has risen to become this country's all-time great warmonger and deserves the distinction as this country's most notorious and shameful chickenhawk.

After leaving Hamilton to die, Burr never expressed any regret, nor for the next 32 years of his life did he ever speak of the affair. In a shocking display of bravado that only a few who have sat in that chair under a cloud of controversy can appreciate, Burr returned that November to preside over the next session of congress while under indictment for murder. After finally stepping down from his position the following March, Burr headed out west where he attempted to separate Louisiana and the western states from the Union in order to form his own empire. After his plot failed, he returned east and was tried for treason. I can't wait to see what Cheney decides to do once he gets back out to Wyoming.


(1)Parton, James. The Life and Times of Aaron Burr.New York: Mason Brothers, 1858. p.617.

illustration of Hamilton-Burr duel after the painting by J. Mund; public domain

Children and Vice Presidents should not be allowed to play with guns.

photo©Edward Keating 2004

I wake up every Sunday morning feeling like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day," but instead of the picture on the clock radio flipping to 6:00AMand the sound of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe," it's the Pilsbury Doughboy image of Tim Russert and the sounds of dishonest politicians delivering their 'messages of the day' on "Meet the Press." Today was special, though. Like in the movie, it was snowing and what a beautiful sight it was looking out my 8th floor window and up 115th St. towards Columbia University. 27 inches and, by the time it was all over, the largest snowfall on record. It was hard to move around the city and many were forced to cancel plans. Few had to work and even fewer had to move their cars. And that it was Sunday meant that all the mothers and fathers and kids and teenagers and boyfriends and girlfriends in town were free to head out into their neighborhoods for a real day off. For those who didn't care for it, they could simply stay home and get more than their usual share of peace and quiet. It was one of the more spectacular days in New York history, one that will mark our lives and pin down our memories of this town.

It didn't bother me so much then, that, before I headed out into the white with my camera for another set of snow pictures, I had to watch Mr. Russert turn the show over one more time to all the propaganda messengers and watch as he continued to play the ineffectual middle school civics teacher and make a mockery of what was once a great and vital news program. It appeared to be a rerun as he went over already-covered ground in Bush's NSA wiretap-crimes scandal with the surreal innuendo that this new development in the expansion of executive power must be the Democrats' fault: "What did the Democrats know and when they knew it, why didn't they break the law and all their sworn oaths to stop it?"

The Democrats continue their masochistic ways as the Bush regime's brutality towards the truth rolls on, unchecked by the fourth estate. But, not today. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood and it was going to stay that way,

photo©Edward Keating 1996: 115th St and Broadway

THAT'S THE WAY THEY DO IT, MONEY FOR NOTHIN'
...........................AND CHECKS FOR FREE

photo©Edward Keating 2000: West Palm Beach

KERRY FINDS REASONS TO CELEBRATE IN FAILURE TO BLOCK ALITO NOMINATION.

In a press release linked to his Senate homepage, "Standing Firm on Alito," John Kerry attempts to find a silver lining in his failed effort to organize a filibuster against Judge Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court, boasting, "Twenty-five Democratic Senators joined our effort to filibuster the Alito nomination..." Call me crazy, but I don't see what there is to brag about. Last time I checked, it takes 41 votes, not 26, to hold a filibuster. But, wait, he explains the reason for his pride: more Democrats voted to filibuster Alito than voted for John Roberts confirmation. Is that supposed to make us feel better?. And what does Emily Post say on this, send a "Congratulations?" I'm just going to send a "get well" card. The man must be sick; another right-winger has been confirmed to the Supreme Court and John Kerry is talking about how well things are going. At this point I'm not sure who we have to worry about more - a Justice Alito who wants to give a President unchecked power, or a Senator Kerry who still wants to become President. I wonder what sort of positive feelings Kerry was able to glean from the Roberts vote.

Kerry, apparantly, is incapable of accepting that he has been a disaster for the Democratic Party and for this country. If he had any honor he'd apologize for his incompetence and step aside. The same goes for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Not only did this whole crew fail miserably, but they were late. It wasn't until the final few days, when pressure from the left became too much, that this inept crew finally got off their scared asses and began to talk 'seriously' of a filibuster. But, it was already too late and the Alito confirmation was a done deal. He's thinking 'twenty-five Senators' while the rest of us are thinking '25 years with Alito.' The good news was that we didn't hear the fat DeLay sing, seeing that he was preoccupied with the vote by that jury of his peers that he'll soon be meeting down in Texas.

Kerry continues his bravado, saying,"we will never surrender." No, they will just continue to lay low and forfeit the game, hoping, praying that the Republicans will do themselves in by the self-inflicted wounds brought on by the Abramoff scandal. And if they ever do show up for a fight, they won't impress anyone, but will appear like a bunch of kids playing dress-up, armed with peashooters and pockets full of acorns for a game of war in the backyard while Bush and his proto-fascist criminal circle, smiling from the porch and sipping their gin and tonics, will talk about how cute they all look. Maybe, just maybe, the Democrats will suddenly see the light and find courage to lead the party, and the country, out of this desert to the Promised Land, but I doubt it. I'm calling my broker and investing in peashooters. The Republicans have plenty to worry about right now, but it certainly ain't the Democrats.

What we are faced with is knowing that Kerry & Co. are incapable of recognizing that they are as much the problem as the Republicans. There was virtually no opposition party in the lead up to war, and it is a few Republicans now who are causing real trouble for the President and Cheney in their questioning of the legality of NSA wiretaps, not the Democrats, who seem to be more comfortable playing the whiney victims. With respect to the failed attempt to filibuster Alito, there were no epipanies. What could have been an opportunity to shake things up and get on the right track has lead,instead, to just one more act in this opera of a self destuctive descent towards Rock Bottom. All we can hope for is that that comes soon. He and the rest of his timid and out-of-touch Democratic ineffectuals should just clear-out and let some people with conviction who know what they are doing take over and lead the party. Don't ask me who that might be, either, because I don't know. Russ Feingold? Al Franken?

It's a miracle that Bush isn't down for the count at this point - after all the lies and all the scandals and all the failures - and that will be the real legacy of this group of Democrats. Had John "Reporting for Duty" Kerry any history of standing up to Bush and his lying thugs; had he showed just one-tenth the amount of courage during the lead-up to the Iraq war and during the Presidential campaign that he bragged about with respect to his swift boat Vietnam War days, he probably would have had the clout to block this nomination. He might even be President today. To be honest, I'm kind of glad he isn't.



photo ©Edward Keating 2003 Charles and West Sts., NYC

Sitting at the end of the subway car this afternoon, heading downtown, I overheard two men in suits talking above the din about Hillary Clinton and how she is funding some pro-life candidates when I realized that one of two was Howard Dean. I, first, observed my subway rule (to take at least one picture in every subway car I ride) and then stood up to ask Gov. Dean a question. After introducing myself to Dean as a former New York Times staffperson, I posed the question, "Given all the Republican scandals and failures, and the war in Iraq, why isn't President Bush on the ropes?" He quickly replied, "I think he IS on the ropes, (emphasis Dean's) and I think we're going to take back the Congress in the fall." I wanted to believe him but I wasn't so sure. With such incompetent people (Reid, Pelosi, Kerry) with barely a gram of political courage amoung them trying to lead the Democrats in Congress, I wouldn't bet on it. I think he believed it, but that's another story. That Kerry (looking more like Lurch from the Addams Family every day) and Reid didn't come out in favor of supporting a filibuster of Judge Alito until just a few days before the vote and after Alito's confirmation was a fait accompli, I wouldn't bet five cents on the Democrats at this point. Wasn't it Reid, and not the Republican leadership, who was on the floor of the Senate last week apologizing for remarks related to the Abramoff scandal? Losers, every one of them.
Which brings me back to my point: It's Bush who is "on the ropes," according to Dean, yet it's the Democrats who are taking the beating. Just, where have they been the past two weeks while Bush has been out on the road making the case for the legality of the NSA's warrantless wiretaps? Sitting back, as usual, waiting to see how it all plays out - supporting some lite version of the Patriot Act... putting up the mamby-pamby Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia to rebut Bush's State-of-the-Union instead of someone who might makes waves like Jack Murtha... doing everything in their feckless little hearts to avoid the always-reliable accusation of the Republicans that they're weak of defense, when they are just plain weak. They look weak, they sound weak and they act weak. And they can do little more than hope to win by default in this year's mid-term. Like a lost remake of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," the party that use to show real courage has been replaced by a sterile and neutered group of imposters and is now just keeping its fingers crossed, hoping all the Republicans get arrested on their way to the station. They take no delight in kicking their opponents' asses, a fundamental difference between parties and the one thing that I have in common with the Republicans. Even if the people do support the Democrats in the Congress in the fall, it won't be love. The Republicans could very easily come roaring back in two years for the Presidential race, after the people annul their marriages of convenience brought on the disgust that should follow the Abramoff scandal, and go back to the party that they don't necessarily like, but the party, playing to their fears, who makes them feel 'safe.' If only the Democrats would expose these blood-sucking creatures. Or maybe Al Gore will be our Kevin McCarthy and come to the rescue and save us from a complete takeover. That'll be the day.

photo©Edward Keating 2005: 110th St. and Broadway

Now is as good a time as any to to add my voice to the blogosphere chorus. Whether the sound made here gets swallowed up by the dark night or if it carries across meadows and mountains, I thank all those who are here, by chance or choice, and invite you to share your thoughts and ideas.
photo©Edward Keating 2005 Route 66: Arizona