Five years ago, the Libertarian Party hated Bob Barr. In his 2002 congressional race, the Libertarians ran attack ads against him because of his support for the War on Drugs. Now, he is their candidate for the presidency. How did this happen? In his words “The libertarians won”.
Whether or not you have an libertarian sympathies, it is clear that ever since 1972, when Richard Nixon coined the phrase “War on Drugs” as part of his racist Southern Strategy, American’s drug problem has gotten worse and has cost over a trillion dollars (in 2005 alone, $12 billion was spent on federal drug enforcement efforts, and $30 billion was spent to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders).
In a world opinion polls, significantly more people trust Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than trust US President Bush. Bush just barely edged out Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, but then he’s our boy.
From World Public Opinion
Filed in Irony|Comments Off on World trusts Putin and Ahmadinejad more than Bush
Think Bush’s tax cuts reduce taxes for the wealthy? How about eliminating them altogether?
In 2005, the number of federal tax returns with $200,000 or more of adjusted gross income that paid absolutely no federal income taxes at all jumped 161% compared to the year before. In addition the number who paid absolutely no income taxes worldwide increased 75%. These numbers come from the IRS, and the increase in tax avoidance comes directly from two tax law changes.
After the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina would found to have been largely caused by faulty construction on the levees surrounding New Orleans, maybe the government would try to do a better job protecting the city in the future. You would think, but you would be wrong.
A local TV station in Louisiana has found that the expansion joints in the newly constructed flood walls were stuffed with old newspapers, rather than the required rubber seal. Finally, a constructive role for the press! What followed was a blame game between the contractor who did the work and the government. The contractor says that the newspaper was only temporary and the final work waits on money from the government (which has never come). So the “temporary” newspaper is still there, years later, rotting and being eaten by bugs.
Subhash Kulkarni, whom the American Society of Civil Engineers named the outstanding engineer in Louisiana in 2003, said “I cannot even comprehend that somebody would stuff some newspaper in there”.
Not only that, but the contractor hired by the US Army Corps of Engineers is not a licensed contractor.
Most of you know Barely Political for their “Obama Girl” video, but they have done other great videos (and I’m not just talking about the “Return of Obama Girl”). Here’s a sampler of some of their greatest hits:
U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the flooding in the Midwest:
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by the flooding throughout the Midwest. Cindy and I would like to extend our sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones, and stand ready to help those in the Midwest to recover and rebuild.
Thanks to video chat company PalTalk, who developed this. You can customize this video with any name you want — your own name, or a friend’s name to play a trick on them. Just go to this website and fill in part 2 (part 1 is optional).
Filed in Humor|Comments Off on Political Irony for President
For some reason, a new book called “Save the Males” reminded Chris Matthews of an old Saturday Night Live skit where none other than John McCain plays a sensitive, but creepy husband. Who knew he could act? As Matthews says “He can’t read a teleprompter and he can do that? That is good stuff.”
