Cheney and Gonzales Indicted in Texas

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/19/texas-grand-jury-indicts-cheney-gonzales-2/

After eight years of criminal activity, the shredding of Americans' Constitutional rights, and a general disregard for the future of this nation, a grand jury in Texas has finally done what no others have been able to accomplish: indict Vice President Dick Cheney, along with former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and hold them accountable for their crimes. The order currently awaits signature from the presiding judge.

But did this make the top of CNN.com? No. Fox News? Heavens no! Drudge Report? Yes.

Why is this not a huge story? The sitting Vice President and a former Attorney General were just indicted in a prisoner abuse investigation and the national media seems not to care. How can this be? Why do we put up with this? Why is this not circulating on every blog and e-mail chain the nation? Is Obama's meeting with McCain really that interesting?

Where, oh where, is Kim Jong Il

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5101905.ece

It is now obvious that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is dead or incapacitated. His former government is making very poor attempts to dispel such rumors, but they are all so badly executed (like many of his enemies) that even the most basic Photoshop user can spot the errors.

They first released a story that he was at a football game for military teams. But no pictures. And this was after he had missed some of the biggest events of the year, including the 60th anniversary of the nation. Pictures and video would have been natural. Especially from a guy who is as in love with himself as Kim. Then they release a photo of him in some sort of VIP booth with a cheesy smile. The image looked like it was taken in 1962 with a shaky lens from a NASA video camera. Grainy and blurry. Obviously someone in the "Kim Is Still Alive" department had missed a deadline and threw something together. And yesterday, they release a military still photo of him surrounded by troops. (See link above.) One small problem - his shadow doesn't match everyone else's.

So what happens now? Someone in North Korea is running the show, but we don't know who. They have some level of nuclear explosives, but it is rudimentary and has not yet been used since Kim's departure. And the United States has a new President who is open to discussion with horrible leaders like Kim. Will Obama solve the North Korean crisis? According to change.gov, it would seem he will speak with whoever is in control. That would definitely be a new course in American policy. Maybe his real plan is to get Castro, Ahmadinejad, Kim, Putin, and Jintao in a room and let some psychos from PETA and Amnesty International eliminate them. I hope they post it on YouTube!

Bad Journalism Hurts The People

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15364.html

If you don't read the above-linked article, that's okay. You won't be missing anything because it doesn't actually contain any journalism. It contains a rumor. Completely hatched by one person in the Democratic party with no stated support or fact.

It states that one Democratic snitch says Joe Gibbs will be Obama's press secretary. But the second to last paragraph says this: "Transition planning is still at an early stage and the job has not been formally offered or accepted, officials said."

So if my reading skills are still top notch, here's what I understand: an anonymous source says a guy who has not been offered a job has the job. WOW! I've never had a job that had not been offered to me, let alone waited for me to accept the offer.

This is the problem with the media today. They rely on anonymous sources to give them unsubstantiated stories that aren't true. And they call it news reporting. Why? Because it fills up their website or TV station with fluff for a 24-hour news cycle.

Way to go Politico. You've wasted more of our time.

Americans make their own history

The two year campaign is now over and history has been made. It may be a day late and a dollar short, but the American people have finally said with one strong voice that the last eight years have been a disaster. Democratic candidates have won offices never before considered possible. Red states have become blue states. Congress looks a bit more one-sided. And this incredible nation of ours has looked beyond its monochromatic history of leadership to something new and yearning to overcome.

I wholeheartedly congratulate President-Elect Obama and his family on their victory. I'm especially thankful that he gave such a dignified and friendly speech of thanks. As one friend of mine put it, it was not a "victory speech". I like the overtures he made to Republicans by referencing Reagan's "beacon" idea and asking them to be a part of the solution to America's challenges. His comment about the "juvenile" behavior that has plagued our politics was particularly nice to hear.

America is ready to begin a new era. Let's hope partisan politics are less a part of this time as they have been of the past.

Prediction

Obama: 329 Electoral votes
McCain: 209 Electoral votes

Obama: 52% popular vote
McCain: 44-45% popular vote

I may be off by a state, but Obama will do very well in the Electoral college (which should be eliminated). I don't think Obama will have a huge landslide, but at least -unlike Clinton- he will have a majority.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

For the past couple of weeks, a few pundits have been wondering what psychological malady is afflicting the 10% of Americans who think our nation is on the right track. They have publicly questioned the motives and sanity of this small majority who's optimism outweighs their reality. Sadly, it seems that everything really is bigger in Texas.

In a recent statewide poll, 34% of Texans approve of President Bush's job performance. Despite two wars, lying to the American public about WMD & Iraq, a collapsed economy, trillions of taxpayer dollars going to Wall Street firms, the an assault on our environment, the return of torture to American policy, the most vile political partisanship in recent history ("I'm a uniter, not a divider"), the politicization of the Supreme Court, our lost leadership on the world stage, failing to understand and support our military, and his general inability to read, spell, or put a coherent sentence together, one-third of Texas believes he's the right guy for the job.

I have lost a lot of faith in the American electorate and our system in general over the past eight years. The nation seems to choose its leaders based on their desire to share a beer rather than their ability to lead the free world. Voting is more about popularity than about the populace. Now one of the most economically vital states in the Union is still convinced that their former drunk-driving, cocaine-snorting, can't-find-oil-in-Texas-or-run-a-baseball-team Governor has done a great job with America.

It is my sincere hope that America soon realizes that blame can only be assigned to its citizens for its failures. We choose those who lead us and if they fail, it is only because we allowed them to. Caring more about Hollywood than Washington can be our undoing.

(And incidentally, this same survey found that 23% of Texans still believe Barack Obama is a Muslim.)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6084678.html

Did you watch Barack TV?

Were you one of the millions to watch the Barack Obama infomercial? If so, we'd like to know what you thought about it. Did it change your opinion? Reinforce your support or your dislike? Make you wish the World Series was more exciting?

It will be a topic in our episode this weekend (oops, did I spoil the surprise?!) so please send your comments to theonramp@gmail.com and contribute to our discussion.

--Nathan & Andrew
www.theonramppodcast.com

Sen. Stevens builds a bridge to prison

So, the Bridge to Nowhere actually went nowhere. But the bridge built by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) will lead directly to a prison cell. A jury found him guilty on all seven charges of concealing more than $250,000 in home renovations that he failed to declare as part of Senate records. He was also part of a shady car deal and other bargains that he never mentioned in his official filings.

It's always nice to see another power-abusing politician get caught...and punished.
Now we just need Sarah Palin to be punished for her power abusing ways. It's amazing how important Alaska has become in the recent news cycle.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/stevens.jurors/index.html

Austria's Joerg Haider Assassinated

UPDATE (Oct. 29, 2008): Haider was drunk when he crashed his car. Haider more than three times over legal limit - CNN.com
Also, radical supporters are claiming that the Israeli Mossad assassinated Haider. I don't see why they would do that. Haider isn't important enough to pose a threat to Israel.

ORIGINAL POST: Yet another radical European leader has suffered the fate of so many who go around upsetting the wrong people. Just 24-48 hours ago, one of Austria's governors, Joerg Haider, was in the news for setting up remote prisons where he could keep and supervise immigrants to his country seeking asylum. These camps were in the middle of nowhere and not inspected by independent authorities. Moments ago, Joerg Haider was killed in a car accident while driving to his mother's 90th birthday celebration.

Do I have any proof he was assassinated? No.
Do I miss a crazy xenophobe who once praised Nazi employment tactics? No.
Was this guy assassinated for too much bad press? Yes.

Austria's Haider killed in car accident - CNN.com

Thirteen Cheers for the Opposition!

Somehow, in the last couple of decades, the Republicans have become the party of socialism. They seem to view government intervention as a good thing, increased unnecessary spending as a natural occurrence, and corporate America as their own personal pet project.

But tonight, I want to applaud the 13 United States Senators -Republican and Democrat alike- for opposing a piece of legislation that will dig an immensely large hole that America may never truly find its way out of. As taken from Politico, here are those Senators who deserve a "thank you" from the people of this nation:

Allard (R)
Barasso (R)
Brownback (R)
Bunning (R)
Cantwell (D)
Cochran (R)
Crapo (R)
DeMint (R)
Dole (R)
Dorgan (D)
Enzi (R)
Feingold (D)
Inhofe (R)
Johnson (D)
Landrieu (D)
Nelson (FL) (D)
Roberts (R)
Sanders (I)
Sessions (R)
Shelby (R)
Stabenow (D)
Tester (D)
Vitter (R)
Wicker (R)
Wyden (D)