Ran across an interesting article in Yahoo news this morning. Here’s a quote:

Gov’t Search Engines Link to Kerry Critics

Wed Jul 14, 9:05 AM ET

By ELIZABETH WOLFE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Searching for “Kerry” on the Department of Homeland Security’s Web site Tuesday afternoon turned up an unexpected top hit: a Republican attack on the Democratic presidential candidate.

A similar search on the Web site of the Department of Health and Human Services brought up the same link at the top — a news release from conservative Rep. C.L. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, that said a John Kerry administration “would embolden environmental extremists to press an aggressive agenda of restricting access and responsible use of public lands.”

Hmmm… one needs to be an “environmental extremist” to suggest that restricted access and responsible use of public lands might be a good idea? Guess I’m an extremist, then.

Actually, this is about what I’d expect from an Idaho Senator. And before I get flamed for that remark, I grew up in Idaho and lived there until I was 20. I’m familiar with Idaho politics. Granted, there have been some great Idaho statesman — Cecil Andrus and Frank Church come to mind — but that was in the long-ago days. The latter elected officials seem to be more of type with the guy my mama used to call “big, dumb Dane.” 🙂

Of course, the sites where this item was searchable now blame the government search portal on Firstgov.gov. And they, in turn, put the blame on a “technical glitch.” Yeah. Sure.

This morning the news release was still available on gop.gov, but as of this writing it appears to have been removed.

In other news, the Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriages has been killed in the Senate. And I for one am glad, simply because I don’t believe it’s something that belongs in the US Constitution. It’s legislation that belongs in the states, if at all.

Other than that reason, I have a hard time getting my dog in that fight. I’m certainly not a gay activist, but neither am I a homophobe. In my mind, ones sexual preferences are just not relevant in most day-to-day interactions. It becomes relevant only when one side or the other forces it to become relevant. The far right with its gay bashing and its confusion of pedophilia with homosexuality is as guilty of this as the gay-rights activists with their “you must like me no matter what simply because I’m gay and I’m going to rub your nose in that fact over and over” attitude. I like a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy — sort of like the old movies that used to fade to black. You knew what that actor and actress were going to be doing during the fade. It wasn’t necessary to watch it.

And I’m still trying to come up with any profession where sexual preference would be relevant.

I don’t buy the “we can’t have gay scoutmasters/teachers/whatever because their agenda is to recruit our kids into their lifestyle.” Suuuuuuure. I mean, c’mon. That’s just dumb. And there are as many strange and dangerous heterosexuals out there — more, actually, since only a small percentage of the population identifies as gay or lesbian. What about the coach here in Oregon who ran off with one of his female players? The goal should be to weed out any sort of dangerous behavior on the part of adults who are in positions where they contact children — especially if it is a position of authority, like a teacher, coach, scout leader, or — dare we say it — priest. The sexual proclivities of that person are irrelevant. What is relevant is how he/she chooses to act on those proclivities.

I also don’t by the “gay marriage will bring down our country by undermining the sacred institution of marriage.” Nah. I haven’t seen any gay-marriage proposals that would outlaw the traditional kind. Seems to me that will still be legal. And our “sacred institution” is already pretty battered, what with almost half of all marriages ending in divorce and with the number of truly incompetent parents there are. That’s about as stable as a bowl of jello. I think we should celebrate all families, of whatever kind or makeup, that provide strong, safe and loving places for each other and for kids to grow up in.

But the whole schtick is just an election-year gambit by Dubya to try and rally the far-right-wing voters that sat out the last election and to take the focus off of things we really should be focusing on, like the economy, the price of gas, Iraq and Afganistan. Dubya needs to do something to rally the troops, since it seems a pretty fair bet that Jeb won’t be allowed to count the votes this time.

But I saw another article somewhere that reported that in this year’s Demo primary in Florida, touch-screen voting machines failed to count a vote something like 8 times more frequently than machines that scan paper ballots. So obviously there’s some technology issues there that Jeb might be able to use. 😆

From Terence Hunt, AP White House Correspondent in an AP article published in Yahoo:

Bush had agreed in February 2002 that al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were not protected by the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war because they violated the laws of war themselves.

Say WHAT ?????

Thus spake Dubya (this is from the documents themselves):

Our nation recognises that this new paradigm – ushered in not by us, but by terrorists – requires new thinking in the law of war.

I accept the legal conclusion of the attorney general and the Department of Justice that I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time.

This is scary stuff! Very scary. Right down there with the “Patriot” Act. Since when does a President have the legal ability to rescind basic human rights? I don’t care whether it’s war or not. I don’t care how barbarian our “enemy.” We still can be civilized.

Bush and Rumsfeld have both said that the Geneva Conventions do apply in Iraq. And yet Rumsfeld admits to have approving an unspecified number of secret detentions where the International Red Cross was not notified. That’s a Geneva Convention no-no.

From a Justice Department memo dated 01/22/02, written by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee to White House Chief Legal Advisor Alberto Gonzales:

We conclude that neither the federal War Crimes Act nor the Geneva Conventions would apply to the detention conditions of al-Qaeda prisoners.

We also conclude that the president has the plenary constitutional power to suspend our treaty obligations toward Afghanistan during the period of the conflict.

He may exercise that discretion on the basis that Afghanistan was a failed state.

I wonder how we would feel if someone else decided we were a failed state and they could come in, run us over, and ignore the Geneva Conventions as they lock us all up and torture us. Bybee has since become a Federal judge. Isn’t that grand?

Are you scared yet?

Ugh. Did anyone else watch the Bush interview last night? I think it was on 20/20, or maybe 60 Minutes.

The man had obviously been coached. And just as obviously he kept forgetting his lines. Maybe it’s tougher without a teleprompter? He didn’t really answer any questions. He talked around a lot of issues. He downplayed the fact that most of the rest of the world hates our guts. He said we have a lot of allies, but after much pondering could only come up with three. He said that our economy is back on track and strong. Well… I guess you would think that if you were an oil man. The oil companies are in the midst of record profits. Which is, no doubt, why Shrub refuses to release some of the national reserve in order to bring the price down at the pumps.

What was painfully clear was that he has no plan and no policy, and that he thinks it’s way cool that he’s President, and that we’re all going to pay and pay and keep right on paying so that Georgie boy can keep having fun.

I found myself wanting to sing along, “If I only had a brain!”

And he has the audacity — the audacity — to question Kerry’s patriotism. When he, all by himself, has gotten embroiled in a stupid war that we can’t win in a country where we shouldn’t be (can you spell “Vietnam”?), and from which our soldiers are not not being allowed to return. Not to mention attrocities like the “Patriot” act. What, I ask you, is at all “patriotic” about denying basic constitutional liberties to US citizens?

I want my country back!

I’m also really tired.

On the other hand, the weather picture in the corner of the site is showing lightening. That’s my favorite one. It looks cool. I’ve got to get those little gifs redone. And now that I’ve got WordPress up and running, I don’t have much of an excuse not to.