What's in a Name?

The U.S. Justice Department finally gave its written responses to some specific questions made about Bush's wiretapping program today, on a Friday of course. As we know, when the government wants to release bad or embarrassing news, it does so on a Friday since few people read the papers on Saturday.

But here it is courtesy of Raw Story.

Two key things in the DOJ responses.

1. The government asserts that it has the right to monitor conversations between lawyers and clients and between doctors and patients.

2. Hey, that's no big deal I mean, as long as you aren't a terrorist you should be okay, right. Wrong. For you see, the second bit of interesting infromation in the DOJ response: It refused to tell Congress how it defines who a terrorist is.

So, what's that mean? It means the government can decide what sort of behavior constitutes a terrorist act. It can just make it up as it goes along.

We know that the FBI has been surveilling pacifists, animal rights groups, even Quaker! You connect the dots. Tell me you feel like your rights to free assembly and free speech haven't been compromised.

The Royal Family

I never honestly believed George W. Bush had a chance at winning the 2000 election. Oh, wait, he didn't. My bad. Anyway, when he won the Republican nomination I sneered. I mean, here was a guy who had never done an honest day's work in all his life. He was a dumbass with a penchant for doing blow and bankrupting compnaies that had been capitalized by his daddy's friends.

Now he's president. Another silver spoon for the bumbling prince of mediocrity.

But the largesse doesn't cease with George W. His whole family reaps the financial rewards of being the most powerful political family in the country.

First, there's Neil Bush, George's less accomplished brother with a tendency to avoid getting in trouble for criminal behavior.

You may recall that in 2003, some embarrassing footage of a deposition Neil gave during his divorce was made public.

Not only did this reveal that Neil, a member of the family values regime, had been sleeping with hookers. We also learned that he was being paid millions for doing a job he had absolutely no qualifications for.

First, let's review this priceless exchange about the hookers Neil was banging in Southeast Asia while his wife was in the states. You see, Bush admitted that some mysterious, young, beautiful woman whom he's never met randomly came to his hotel room at night and had sex with him. Here's the exchange between Neil and his wife's attorney, courtesy of the Washington Post.

"Mr. Bush," said the attorney, Marshall Davis Brown, "you have to admit that it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her."

"It was very unusual," Bush replied.

Actually, it wasn't that unusual. It happened at least three or four times during Bush's business trips to Asia, he said: "I don't remember the exact number."

"Were they prostitutes?" asked Brown.

"I don't -- I don't know," Neil replied.

"Did you pay them?"

"No."

Why exactly was Neil Bush in Thailand in the first place? Well, here is part of the reason. Again, courtesy of the Post:

In 2002 Bush signed a consulting contract with Grace Semiconductor -- a Shanghai-based company managed in part by the son of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Bush's contractual duties consist solely of attending board meetings and discussing "business strategies." For this, he is to be paid $2 million in company stock over five years, plus $10,000 for every board meeting he attends.

Bush, strategizing for a Communist-Chinaowned semiconductor manufacturer? Well, I'm sure he's qualified for that.

"Now, you have absolutely no educational background in semiconductors, do you Mr. Bush?" Brown asked.

"That's correct," Bush responded.

Meanwhile, back home in Texas, Bush serves as co-chairman of a company called Crest Investment. Crest, he revealed in the deposition, pays him $60,000 a year to provide "miscellaneous consulting services."

"Such as?" Brown asked.

"Such as answering phone calls when Jamal Daniel, the other co-chairman, called and asked for advice," Bush replied.

Let's not forget that this is the same Neil Bush who was the chairman of a failed Savings and Loan which he ran into the ground in the late 1980s. His management of that firm ultimately cost US taxpayers $1.3 billion in bailouts. Luckly, Neil's daddy was vice president at the time, so he was only fined $50,000 and banned from banking for life. Didn't matter to him. He didn't like working anyway.

Now Neil Bush runs an "educational" software company, which has received some contracts in the past from Florida's education department, where his brother Jeb is governor.

Now we learn that Barbara Bush has found a way to make a charitable contribution to her own son. Hasn't he always been a charity case, Babs?

Accordig to the Houston Chronicle:

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.

That's just pathetic.

Oh, and another Bush is enjoying the fruits of having an incompetent relative in the Oval office.

Meet William HT Bush, uncle to President George W. Bush. According to an LA Times report (I've linked to an Arizona paper because LA Times is a subcription site) Uncle William has reaped a $2.7 million windfall by selling his stake in a company that has profited from military contracts in Iraq.

It's gotten to the point where they don't even hide this stuff. But really, I think they were happier when Jeb Bush's daughter was getting publicity for being arrested for being a crackhead. At least working class Republicans could relate to the human frailty of addication. All this greed, on the other hand, is just ugly.

This is how they do business

Bill Clinton continues to be the boogeyman for purveyors and consumers of right wing propaganda. There are still people out there who believe that Clinton murdered White House Deputy Counsel Vince Foster, thanks to the work of Christopher Ruddy, Robert Novak and Rush Limbaugh.

Now Limbaugh, for whatever reason, is sinking to a new low, lower than his addiction to OxyContin. If you listen to the audio file at this URL you will actually hear very clearly his insinuation that Bill Clinton had Slobodan Milosevic murdered so that he (Clinton) would not have to testify at Milosevic's trial.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200603140010

Also last night, Sean Hannnity was on his circus of a show bashing Clinton for failing to do something aboout terrorism. It's been nearly 7 years since Clinton left office. Isn't it time to focus on the failures of today's president, Mr. Hannity?

O'Reilly's Gestapo

I've always beliieved that if born 100 years ago, men like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity would have been members of Hitler's inner circle.

O'Reilly continues to prove me right. His bully tactics continue to escalate. Recently, a caller made a brief reference to Keith Olberman, on O'Reilly's radio show. As you know. Olberman is O'Reilly's nemesis. So O'Reilly had him bounced. Not only that, but he threatened the caller, and anyone else who bothers him that he will turn their phone numbers over to Fox Security and Fox Security will "call the authorities. Nice.

Apparently this guy has gotten under Bill's skin. So now he'll resort to threats and intimidation to shut up his critics.

This guy makes a living attacking, insulting and demeaining anyone to the left of the far right. But when someone teases him about his ridiculous behavior, he blows up. Apparently this person had a similar run in.

Poor Bill. With each passing day, he sinks deeper and deeper. Where's a loofa when you need it?