Stonewalling

Can there be any doubt that Bush/Cheney and the White House are engaged in nothing but stonewalling, refusing to release any information Congress requests and hiding behind arguments that are simply absurd. Cheney, for example, has apparently abandoned his argument that he is not part of the Executive Branch (under threat of losing his four and a half million dollar annual budget) and is now arguing that he needn't comply with the law because he is not an "agency," and the law somehow specifies only agencies need comply. This is an argument that would probably get him thrown out of court if he tried to present it there. Bush has apparently already made it clear that no matter what Lugar and Voinovich say, he is not going to change a thing. Everyone with a brain larger than a grain of sand now knows that the "war" in Iraq is lost and we will have to withdraw. But Bush/Cheney want to drag it out until after they leave office so they can claim it wasn't their fault. Even if they succeed at this foot-dragging I can't believe that anyone (except a few brainless Republicans) will ever believe it was not entirely their fault (unless, of course, Democrats continue to insist on buying into it as they are presently doing). In the meanwhile more of our troops get killed or wounded, and for what, so Bush/Cheney can pretend we dare not leave because "they will follow us home and kill us all." Given the horror we have created in Iraq they would be more likely to follow us home and ask for asylum. Oh, I forgot, they hate our freedom. The freedom we have given ourselves to kill them, destroy their country, and steal their oil.

If the New Hampshire primary was held right now Al Gore would win, so says a recent poll. I have no doubt that is true. I also suspect it would be true in a lot of states. Although Hillary appears to have a commanding lead over her rivals for the nomination I believe that Gore could take over her spot if he were running. So will he or won't he? I have no doubt he is the best qualified person by far for the job of President of the United States. He has been consisently right while most others have proven to be wrong. What bothers me is the question: why would anyone want the job trying to clean up after Bush/Cheney? It would almost surely prove to be a thankless task as the mess they have made will not easily or quickly be cleaned up. And, of course, there will be Republicans who will fight him all the way (those who will desperately want to cling to priviledge and their subservience to our huge, profit-driven corporations, to say nothing of their already obscene wealth). Unlike Bush, who was elected with very low expectations (which he has certainly lived up to), Gore will be elected with exceedingly high expectations. Indeed, probably so high he will be virtually doomed to fail no matter how great a President he turns out to be. So why would he want to take on such a monumental task? I wish he would but I won't blame him if he passes. He's at the top of his game. Let's let him try to save us from ourselves, whether as President or as the number one citizen of the world.

LKBIQ:

"It (the soul) is a thin unsubstantial human image, in its nature a sort of vapour, film, or shadow, the cause of life and thought in the individual it animates; independently possessing the personal consciousness and volition of its corporeal owner; past or present; capable of leaving the body far behind, to flash swiftly from place to place; mostly impalpable and invisible, yet also manifesting physical power, and especially appearing to men waking or asleep as a phantom separate from the body of which it bears the likeness; continuing to exist and appear to men after the death of that body; able to enter into, possess, and act in the bodies of other men, of animals, and even of things."
Edward Burnett Tylor