Republicans continue being 'Party of No' with Sotomayor

It's clear that Sonia Sotomayor is more than qualified to become a Supreme Court justice. Yet, the Republicans going to continue to be The Party of No and probably vote en masse against this historic nomination. Well -- that will just go down on their growing permanent record of mean-spirited backwardness.

Top Republicans on Judiciary Panel Oppose Sotomayor

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/27/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5190900.shtml

Attn: McCain and Jindal - how about that volcano observatory?

Check out this photo of the lava flow from that Alaska volcano erupting this week. Remember how John McCain, Bobby Jindal and their fellow anti-"big government" phonies ridiculed federal funding for things like volcano observatories?

Blogger John Aravosis posted a relevant commentary at AMERICAblog.com earlier this month. He was in Anchorage the last time the same volcano blew, in 1989.

Here's an excerpt:

I remember it was a clear sunny day, except for the black mass that was slowly advancing on us as we drove down the highway. By the time we got to my friend's sister's house, the sky was black. Pitch black. Street lights came on. It was the middle of a sunny day. And it was darker than the darkest closet, lights off, middle of the night. But there were no stars. Nothing. I've seen few things as creepy, and nothing as apocalyptic-seeming, in my life. The city initiated a quarantine, so I was stuck at my friend's sister's for 24 hours. Then the ash fell. Fascinating. A snowshower of volcanic ash - they're these sort of large grey snowflakes that fall even slower than snowflakes. Beautiful in a way. But not very good for you, healthwise. Volcanic ash has a way of making you choke. It nearly brought down a commercial airliner after it got sucked into the planes engines and they all turned off.

Check out the whole article. A good commentary on the ignorant Republican attacks on federal funding of important programs they deride as "pork barrel."

Shake up Washington???

Does John McCain really think he's the outsider?? He's been in the administration and with the ruling party for eight years!!! He's going to "get the job done?" He's been in Washington for 26 years and the Republicans have ruled most of them!!! Does he think the American people are crazy?

He's going to go after corruption??? He was one of the Keating 5 -- caught in corruption with the savings and loan industry.

Plus he is the biggest supporter of the illegal, immoral Iraq war.

I know this convention is about mobilizing the Republicans' base but come on. This is the ruling party and they are acting like they had nothing to do with the last eight years!

Now they are trying to go after families who have kids with special needs. He has not supported any increase in federal funding for the Individuals with Disability and Education Act. This kind of hypocrisy makes me sick.

Plan Bush-McCain no bajará precio de gasolina

Plan Bush-McCain no bajará precio de gasolina

Por Tim Wheeler

La propuesta del presidente Bush y el senador John McCain de revocar las prohibiciones en contra de explotar yacimientos de petróleo en la costa no hará nada para bajar el precio del combustible pero sí causará daños permanente a la costa y la vida silvestre marítima, de acuerdo a ambientalistas y expertos energéticos.

Bush hizo la propuesta el junio 19. McCain, presunto candidato republicano, hizo la misma propuesta anterior para la explotación en las costas dea Alaska, California, Florida y otros estados.

Tim Hamilton, presidente de Automotive United Trade Association (AUTO), que representa a 600 gasolineras independiente en el estado de Washington, nos dijo que la propuesta es un regalo a las corporaciones de petróleo. “Aquí está la mentira: que si uno explota el Ártico y la costa baja el precio de la gasolina”. Hamilton siguió, “Es una gran mentira porque las grandes corporaciones ya están explotando los yacimientos ahora”. La meta verdadera de la propuesta es otorgarle más contratos a las petroleras “ahora que tiene el presidente más amistoso [a la petroleras] de la historia norteamericana”, dijo.

En el 2006, Hamilton escribió un reporte titulado, “Por qué el precio de gasolina va llegar a $3,50 el galón”. Ahora dice que el preció está en camino a $5. El que gana en esto “es un cartel ilegal, inmoral cuya única preocupación es su beneficio máximo”.

Melanie Duchin, del grupo ambientalista Greenpeace an Anchorage, Alaska, dijo, “El gobierno Bush se niega hacer la matemática. Quemamos 24 por ciento del petróleo mundial y solo tenemos tres por ciento de las reservas. Aunque saquemos todo el petróleo hasta la última gota, nunca podremos bajar el precio de la gasolina. Esto son trucos para beneficiar a las petroleras”.

Duchin ayudó dirigir la campaña que declarara el oso polar una especie en amenazada con la extinción.

Ella habló del peligro a la vida silvestre del Ártico mientras el permahielo, la capa de hielo y los glaciares se derriten y los bosques caen víctimas a escarabajos. Aldeas completas de los pueblos originarios de Alaska se los está tragando el mar, ella dijo.

“Esto es una cuestión de justicia ambiental. La gente pobre y los de color tienen una carga desproporcionada de los males por los cambios climáticos globales. Estamos en el punto cero de una guerra global”.La solución, dijo ella, es cambiar a formas renovables de energía como solar y viento.

El presidente del Club Sierra, Carl Pope, respondió anunciando que su organización está apoyando a Barack Obama para la presidencia. Pope dijo que él cree que Obama pondrá al país en un “sendero hacia una economía de energía limpia que creará y mantendrá a millones de empleos, animará la innovación y la oportunidad, hacernos una nación más segura y ayudarnos encontrar soluciones al calentamiento global”.

Anterior el Club Sierra había criticado al plan de explotación costanera. “La verdad es que explotar los yacimientos en la costa no va a resolver nuestros problemas de energía”, dijo Pope. “Un derrame en la costa de Virginia causaría impacto en las playas, vida marítima, y el turismo en Nueva Jersey. Levantar al prohibiciones no haría nada para reducir el precio de la gasolina para la familia típica norteamericana”.

Of Smears & Red Hysteria

Isn’t it amazing how dangerously influential the CPUSA has suddenly become again? As a regular peruser of the insane ramblings of Right-Wing bloggers, I am seeing a huge increase of histrionic entries by the wing-nut 101^st Keyboard Brigade about Barack Obama’s secret commie background. Most entries are just cut and past jobs emanating from the (in)Accuracy In The Media howlings of Cliff Kincaid. Kincaid believes he has become the new Woodward & Bernstein by “uncovering” Obama’s childhood connection to Frank Marshall Davis, the African-American poet and journalist. Davis was a family friend during the period Obama lived in Hawaii. The whole thing is way too tiresome to get into. Google Davis and I’m sure a hard drive could be filled with the links to calls from these wanna be Paul Reveres to defend Americuh from the Red Menace posted all over the Internet.

Suddenly, the CPUSA, once again has “front organizations” and secret “moles” being used to subvert this shining republic. Obama is not being upfront about his commie connections, they write. Another hit piece titled “Barack Obama's communist connections” written by Wes Vernon from a pseudo-patriot web site called Renew America goes into more detail about the dangers of Obama’s past. My point is that these stories are being reposted over and over again. Add these to the pervasive misinformation being planted such as Obama’s a Muslim, he isn’t patriotic or that he downright hates America and it becomes too obvious that Right-Wing America is terrified of Obama. Let’s be truthful, America. The real issue is that Obama is—drum roll please—BLACK! These loons on the Right know that they can’t take the racist low road so they have found something akin to a pair of dirty under shorts to rally around. Instead of a burning cross, these drones have dredged up the old “Red under every bed” chestnut.

I have no idea whether Obama ever had Communist or Socialist leanings. Maybe he was what I like to call a “college Socialist.” I’ve seen it over and over again. College students get involved in socialist and communist parties while in school but as soon as they graduate and land a great paying job, all thoughts of Marx are forgotten. Let us hope that Obama has maintained some of the advice from Frank Marshall Davis.

I am reminded of the “When I give bread to a poor man they call me a saint. When I ask why he is poor they call me a communist” quote. Displaying social responsibility and fighting for social justice has become the new communism for the Right. How could it not? We live in a country where greed and decadence is rewarded and viewed as a sign of success. If you are poor, you are garbage not worth the time to market to. I’m an up from the dirt Prole and proud of it. Capitalism DID make me one of its grave-diggers in waiting.

My father was a janitor and my mother cleaned houses and motels. I grew up living with class prejudice. I lived in a ramshackle house with no hot water, a coal furnace, an outhouse and a party line telephone. My clothes never failed to get me ridiculed at school. What has this to do with my original rant? I think we should be screaming from rooftops that we are Communists and proud of it. We must illustrate why we are Communists. Why do we believe what we do? We have forgotten that communist work is not just an intellectual concept promoted by those who sit in offices or college classrooms. We must remember that the real work is down at the street level. We must become community activists. This is where the people learn what we are. The wing-nuts use words to label us. We should use action to define ourselves.

How about a numerical estimate of the casualties of Capitalism? The Right loves to toss around the “100 million victims of Communism” claim.

We should be blogging to counter the Right. We need to better explain to the masses what our program consists of. We need to dispel the idea that our Party wishes to turn Amerika into a Stalinist gulag. How much longer shall we allow the mistakes of the past to be used against us with an uneducated public? We need to organize more aggressively as was done in the early years. I suggest a serious summer seminar on how to talk to people about our ideas and how to counter our critics.

I hope this wasn't too long and boring. I have a tendency to ramble.

Oil companies' reason for being

Woo-hoo. We used to have a "quote of the week" feature here at PWW but gave it up because of space limitations and frequent lack of good punchy quotes. Well, here's one:

Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions noted that “the world market for oil is not a free market.”

He also pointed out that oil companies “don’t exist to produce the lowest possible price of fuel for our constituents. They exist to maximize their profits for their shareholders.”

Sessions said this at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where top oil execs had been summoned to explain why they're making exorbitant profits.

For some real insights into why, see here and here.