Politry Plus » 2006

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29.11.06 |

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Maliku

That’s not a snub, the
PM’s protecting his base.
Bush understands that.

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28.11.06 |

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Names Don’t Matter, Actions Do

Whether Iraq is in a civil war
or battling an insurgency
is not a matter of semantics,
it’s a question of strategy.
If a bunch of rebels are
fighting established authority
we should continue training
and equipping the Iraqi army.
If no one is really in charge,
and the combat is between
different factions or parties, we
should stop fueling the flames.
Since it appears we don’t […]

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27.11.06 |

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Warring Word Wizards

NBC says the Iraq conflict
has become a “civil war.”
The White House says it hasn’t.
Since there’s a disagreement,
media should follow Bush’s lead.
Otherwise they could be accused
of misunderestimating his skill
with the English language.

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25.11.06 |

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Friends in Need

Losing the midterm election didn’t deter Bush
from taking care of business. His USDA quickly
pronounced a genetically altered rice safe without
the usual tests, after it contaminated the U.S. crop.
The farmers who have been losing export business
can still sue the company that made the seed
herbicide resistant, and Bayer can count on other
Bush appointees to help with damage […]

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21.11.06 |

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History Lesson

While the Baker group and the military
scrounge for ideas about what to do in Iraq,
Iraq’s prime minister says leave it to him.
Mark Moyar, Marine Corps University prof,
says we should let him try because a similar
effort in Viet Nam might have changed that war.
Since everyone else seems to be concentrating
on what we can’t do, won’t do, […]

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17.11.06 |

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Bush Didn’t Invent the Name Game

Once public and business interests
could share the name “national,”
then business went global, and
left the people behind. Wittingly
or not, government kept giving
big corporations what they wanted,
saying it was in the “national interest.”
Those bi-partisan mistakes make
Bush’s war look like a minor mishap.
The last election focused attention
on extricating ourselves from Iraq,
but it’s not clear we understand
the need to […]

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15.11.06 |

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Waiting for the Run Back

We said “don’t go.�?
He went anyway.
We said “send more troops.�?
He refused.
We said “bring the troops home.�?
He said, “we can’t.�?
We said “this isn’t working.�?
He said “what’s your plan?�?
We said “punt.�?
He kicked the ball to Baker.

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14.11.06 |

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This Peacemaker Has Standards

The Baker commission impressed Bush, and
he promised not to “prejudge�? their report.
Later he told reporters he would not talk to Iran,
one of the commission’s expected proposals,
until that country stopped enriching uranium.
“Our focus of this administration is to convince
the Iranians to give up its nuclear weapons
ambitions.�? Apparently the president thinks
the best way to persuade someone is […]

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12.11.06 |

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Who Won the Election Anyway?

Harry Reid, soon to be senate majority
leader, urged lame duck Republicans
to focus on an offshore oil drilling bill;
legislation to prepare for a flu pandemic;
a nuclear agreement with India; and
and a package of popular tax breaks.
He also suggested finishing up the
spending bills, but didn’t mention
purging them of unwarranted earmarks.
I don’t recall any Democrat discussing
these issues […]

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11.11.06 |

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Evolution

After two days of talking about raising the
minimum wage, Democrats switched to
“fixing�? the Alternative Minimum Tax ―
i.e. repealing the automatic increase
that will begin to take back the cuts Bush
gave to taxpayers making about
five times the median family income.
Democrats call these folks “middle class,�?
but they’re in the top 5% of households.
It’s amazing how fast liberal reformers
can […]

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10.11.06 |

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Thinking Points for Democrats

Given the restraints imposed by gerrymandering
this election was clearly just anti-Republican.
Democrats were hired as firemen, not architects.
Fix the major Republican errors ― encourage
military commanders to speak freely, then listen,
end earmarks, let Medicare negotiate drug prices.
Pass the laws the public already wants, don’t seek
compromises that please no one, don’t start new
controversies ― wait for a pro-Democratic […]

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09.11.06 |

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Green Machines

Touchscreen voting often
leaves no messy paper trail,
or anything to count again, but
don’t expect elected officials
to do anything to fix that.
Only losers are concerned.

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08.11.06 |

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Triku

Joy engulfs nation
as phones and negative ads
plunge into silence.
The public isn’t
as stupid, and he’s not as
smart as Karl Rove thought.
“Madame Speaker�? sounds
refreshing, suggests move toward
polite politics.

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07.11.06 |

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History Can Be a Great Teacher

Microwave ovens set out to revolutionize cooking,
settled for popping corn and warming leftovers.
Perhaps poll workers can be taught to use touchscreen
voting machines to help tabulate paper ballots.

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06.11.06 |

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The Power of Advertising

My phone rings every few minutes
with news about some awful act
by a despicable candidate, or a poll:
“if you knew this…how would you vote?”
or shocking statistics about a voting record.
I knew the country was in trouble,
now I know why, and I’m convinced
by TV commercials and robocalls
no matter who wins tomorrow,
things will soon be worse.

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05.11.06 |

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Keeping Secrets

I believe in god, not God ― the god
in us that makes us care and varies in amount
on a normal distribution curve.
I think God is god commercialized ―
a product sold under many brands, each with
its own accessories and instruction book.
I don’t want to ban any product, but since
individual directions seem to be negotiable, let’s
outlaw evangelizing […]

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04.11.06 |

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Haiku

Absentee ballots
quash negative commercials―
good for everyone.

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03.11.06 |

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Guest Poet

A Warning
Mr. Bush, beware of an inner voice
telling you to act,
to make religion a part of the state,
to favor the rich and punish the poor.
Beware of the belief that you are God’s tool
meant to change the world.
The voice you heed as though coming from God
may in truth be the Devil’s ― or your own.
Shirley Buck […]

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02.11.06 |

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Some Jobs Are Already Too Stressful

A school bus driver in Seattle
was fired for flipping a finger
at President George W. Bush.
The dismissal wasn’t political,
she just set a bad example
for middle school passengers.
True, but the superintendent
should consider the difficulty
of resisting the temptation.

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01.11.06 |

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Another Missed Opportunity

The president apparently
gave control over our military
to prime minister al-Maliki.
Our efforts to find a kidnapped
soldier in Sadr City stalled traffic,
so he made us open our check points.
As the barbed wire came down,
and we delayed the search for the GI,
the streets filled with jubilant Iraqis.
Too bad Bush gave in. If he hadn’t,
the Iraqi leader might have […]

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Archive for November, 2006