Dicky's Doodles &Scribbles

Cartoons,editorials and comment about current events and more.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Goodbye To The Neo Con Menace!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Chip Saltsman, RNC Candidate, Demonstrates Utter Stupidity!






Another Tennessee Republican is in the news. Chip Saltsman is running for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. He has sent an utterly tasteless, stupid CD, containing a song "Barack The Magic Negro," to Republicans around the country.
He has defended this sorry work as "political satire." It is not. It is racist and hateful.
Real satire may be mean and biting but it clearly accentuates or exaggerates some element of truth or perception. "Barack The Magic Negro" is something the Ku Klux Klan might have produced and has no redeeming satirical element.
Below is a story from CNN:

By Rebecca Sinderbrand
A candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship said
Friday the CD he sent committee members for Christmas -- which included a song
titled "Barack the Magic Negro" -- was clearly intended as a joke.
The title of the song about President-elect Barack Obama was drawn from a Los
Angeles Times column.
"I think most people recognize political satire when they see it," Tennessee
Republican Chip Saltsman told CNN. "I think RNC members understand that."
The song, set to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," was first played on
conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007.
Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested President-elect Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans. Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times.
The CD sent to RNC members, first reported by The Hill on Friday, is titled "We
Hate the USA" and also includes songs referencing former presidential candidate
John Edwards and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, among other targets.
According to The Hill, other song titles, some of which were in bold font, were:
"John Edwards' Poverty Tour," "Wright place, wrong pastor," "Love Client #9,"
"Ivory and Ebony" and "The Star Spanglish Banner."
Saltsman was national campaign manager for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's
presidential bid in 2007 and 2008. Before that, he held a variety of posts,
including a number of positions under former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Friday, December 19, 2008

How Do You Like Deregulation Now?

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus







Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cheney Admits To Approving Use Of Torture






Vice President Dick Cheney has topped himself with an outrageous answer about torture during an ABC TV interview with Jonathan Karl.
Karl asked the Veep if he had approved the so-called "enhanced coercive interrogation technique". (Of course that mealy mouthed phrase is nothing but a euphemism for torture. The outgoing administration is found of such expressions. Another example of how they white washed torture is the phrase "the tools necessary to protect the American people". Oh, that makes it sound OK huh?)
Cheney's response to the question was "I supported it." He expanded on the answer. "I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said. "And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it." He added: "It's been a remarkably successful effort, and I think the results speak for themselves."
Karl asked if the tactics went too far.
"I don't," said Cheney.
So here you have the Vice President of the United States,on national television, admitting he approved and supported a program to use techniques against detainees which are against the rules of the Geneva convention and the same techniques which our government had condemned and protested during the Korean War when it was found that Chinese interrogators had used these methods against American and Allied prisoners of war.
This is an admission to aiding and abetting war crimes.

Downward Spiral




Some say we are on a downward spiral. Citing the many problems of our times they wring their hands and see no hope or optimism.
I don't agree. Ever the eternal optimist, I say it is the best time in history to be alive and the future is full of hope. To quote former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

GOP Senators Oppose Big 3 Bailout; Engaged In Union Busting, Interstate Protectionism








The recent chain of events concerning the crash of housing values, the Wall Street crisis and now the failing domestic auto industry are all linked to an economy driven by a need for continuous growth and primarily based on extravagant and wasteful consumerism. The Federal Government’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout will probably be a precursor of things to come.
The bailout was proposed by the Treasury, backed by President Bush and grudgingly accepted by Congress. It was seen as a necessity to keep the economy afloat. Whether or not it will work is not yet known.
The auto bailout proposal now in the works is also seen by some as an absolute necessity to prevent the current recession from falling into a lengthy depression.
The House of Representatives passed a measure creating a $15 billion “bridge” loan to the Big Three but it did not pass by a veto proof vote in the Senate. All of the opposition was from the GOP.
Then the White House moved. Advised by Vice President Dick Cheney not to go down in history as another Herbert Hoover Bush sought support from the GOP senators for a White House plan to use some of the money already set aside for the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program). It seemed as if a deal was struck but the GOP Senate opposition, led by Richard Shelby of Alabama and Tennessee’s Mitch McConnell and freshman Bob Corker, again blocked the bailout.
Their opposition centers on the supposed refusal of the UAW to make wage and contract concessions.
The three southern senators say the labor costs of the Big Three are much higher than of the foreign owned counterparts. Actually they are not that far apart. The southern plants have less medical coverage.
It is also worth noting the southern auto plants were given generous deals concerning tax breaks, grants and other goodies to entice them.
They say their conservative principals frown on governmental interference in the private sector of the economy.
It doesn’t hurt them to do a little union busting, protecting the car industry in your own state and possibly, as a bonus, putting your main competitors out of business.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Waiting For The Last Shoe To Drop...








G.W. Bush showed up unexpectedly in Baghdad yesterday and an Iraqi TV journalist called him a dog and hurled his shoes at the President, who adeptly ducked.
Bush was interviewed the other day by Martha Radatz and he was asked if he now agreed that Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq until after the U.S. invasion and he answered in the affirmative. His follow up was stunning. "So what?" he asked in a rather brusque manner.
"So what?" ...the man is utterly clueless!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

GM, Ford and Chrysler Just Don’t Get It!











GM, Ford and Chrysler Just Don’t Get It!
Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $14 billion dollar bailout package to help GM and Chrysler get through the early part of the coming new year. It may not pass the Senate without more Republican support and several GOP senators, such as Alabama’s Richard Shelby have vowed to block its passage.
It is hard to have sympathy for these car makers because of the arrogant and hide bound attitudes of some of their chief executives and the policies and sales strategies these former pinnacles of industry.
Illustrative of the prevalent attitudes at the top of GM are recent statements for the patrician Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of Global Product Development at General Motors Corporation.
Lutz is on record as a global warming skeptic, on one occasion calling global warming "a total crock of shit."
He also defended the emphasis on building the big pickups and SUV's the companies have pushed so hard to popularize. "The American Public Wants Sport Utilities And Large Pickup Trucks," he said recently after gasoline went down to around $1.50 per gallon. Now that's some forward looking thinking!
Dodge and Ford have been running some of the most obnoxious TV ads lately that have ever run.
Ford launched a $100 million ad campaign in 2002 promoting the F150 and have continued to spend big bucks pushing the truck because it has been one of the most successful selling models in their inventory. They have been shelling out the ad money for the truck model ever since. Some of their ads are absolutely atrocious.
As bad as the Ford ads have been nothing compares to the current TV blitz for the Dodge Ram pickup.
The ad shows redneck looking guys blasting through mud, countryside and some kind of monster obstacle course while voice overs exclaim "We're out here racing...luxury trucks...Get it!..Yeah man...Let's do it again...and other very juvenile expressions of teenage male pleasure! These ads make light of driving dangerously and encourage blasting through the countryside and to hell with the surroundings, not to mention advocating an extremely unsafe manner of driving these big, heavy, top heavy vehicles. This demonstrates a complete lack of any civic responsibility for the dangers these trucks may pose.
The kind of money these companies have spent promoting these fuel inefficient and dangerous vehicles make it clear that if they get a bailout from taxpayers there has to be much restructuring of these companies and the top management has to go!

Blagojevich Poster Boy For Governmental Corruption



The arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is a breathtaking example of corruption in government. Politics, possibly the second oldest profession, has much in common with the oldest, except it is dirtier.
The only way democracy can ever work as intended is for corruption to be rooted out and severely punished. The people will never trust government unless it is believed to be honest and competent. Obviously there is a long way to go! There is no level of government free of this taint and it is incumbent upon the voters not to elect such jerks as Blagojevich to office!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

OPEC Holds The Price Line...For Now



In a world of economic unrest, wars and political uncertainties fuel consumption has dropped drastically and so has the price of oil. In a dramatic reversal the price of gasoline has tumbled and the members of OPEC are worried. Initially the oil cartel signalled a possible cut in production to help drive the prices back up. At the moment they have not done that. Though they desperately want the profits they are cautious about further damaging the world economy which could cause bigger problems.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel of 12 countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Not The Sharpest Tack In The Box!


Ileana Ros-Lehtininen, U.S, Representative in Congress from Florida's 18th district, recently hung up on President-elect Barack Obama three times! She thought she was the victim of a phone prank. It took a call from Rahm Emanuel to convince her that Obama had indeed called to congratulate her on her re-election!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Big Three Seek To Shore Up Image

G.W. Bush Leaves Tarnished Legacy

Monday, December 01, 2008

G.W.'s Parthian Shots




As G.W. Bush goes into his final weeks as President he has unleashed a flurry of Parthian shots in the form of Presidential orders which will be detrimental to the environment, labor, Medicaid recipients, health care and a host of others which favor mining, big business and big money special interests over the interests of working people.
He has also began issuing many pardons, some very odd.
It's his way of saying goodbye.

The following is an excerpt from a Washington Post article. For full article go to the link below.

At the Last Minute, a Raft of Rules
(By Ed Andrieski -- Associated Press)
Bush White House Approves Regulations on Environmental, Security Matters
A rule approved by the White House after the election would ease constraints on oil shale development in the West.
A rule approved by the White House after the election would ease constraints on oil shale development in the West.
In a burst of activity meant to leave a lasting stamp on the federal government, the Bush White House in the past month has approved 61 new regulations on environmental, security, social and commercial matters that by its own estimate will have an economic impact exceeding $1.9 billion annually.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112901914.html?hpid=topnews

G.W.'s Legacy