So. Glass half empty kinda guy are we?

Thanks. I needed a little lift.

Gotta hand it to the Republican machine, it's an impressive feat to fool some 50% of the people...but of course those folks aren't so much fooled as just not paying full attention. Four more years of Bush would wake 'em up and discredit the Repubs deeply, if not permanently. But I just can't bring myself to make a strategic vote for that corrupt, mendacious, incompetent, Manchurian asshole, even if it could be the best long-term move.

Hi Folks....The night that Reagan was elected I went out to dinner and accidentally swallowed a large number of hot chilies, came home to find that the house had been burglarized,then went to my wife's workplace the next morning only to be greeted with "don't mourn, organize" from the lead organizing staff.

This year is gonna be worse~!

I can't afford to go out to eat anymore, the government has been systematically burglarizing my job, my prosperity and my property, and I'm still gonna hear some smiley-face organizer encourage me to soldier on.

George Will, in a recent column, noted the continuing American tilt towards conservatism. I can't really identify any traditional conservative values in the Bush regime and the current Republican hegemony. A half-trillion dollar annual deficit ? Wholesale restriction on virtually all civil liberties ? Application of military force for personal retribution and financial gain ? A stated policy goal of bankrupting government ?

I'm convinced that the federal government is controlled by people inclined to fascism and prepared to do most anything to bring it about. To my mind they commit treason against the United States. Richard Scaife Mellon, the inter-locking foundation and think-tank networks, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, et al use willing and complaint dupes like Bush the younger to achieve dominance in their more than 40 year fight against liberal and progressive government.

I believe it may be time for progressives in Northern and Western states to begin consideration of some type of devolution from federal authority and control. If we freely chose to associate with the United States then surely we can freely choose to change the terms and conditions of that association.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment

Folks:

Pat Hayes makes a valid point.

I used to be a Republican. I'm not sure WHAT I am any longer, largely due to the facts Pat points out above -- I can no longer identify any traditional conservative values in the Republican party -- remember that the EPA was created under Nixon -- and the Republicans are no longer the party of Lincoln -- they're not even the party of Nixon or Reagan.

Oil? We're running out of it. That's the problem, folks! It's not taxes, multinational corporations, or anything other than the fact that there are far too many people on the planet and not enough resources to industrialize every nation on earth while we keep things running at home. Given this scenario, Iraq makes perfect sense. It really IS about the oil, folks!

Remember that -- and remember this: 6.5B people on the planet, and counting....

I wish someone could make the cogent argument that Bush is full of sh*t when he claims a tax break for people under his administration.

His foreign and domestic policies have a lot to do with the higher costs of gasoline.

Every penny more per gallon paid that results from his foreign and domestic policies is a TAX.

Only the benefits aren't flowing into the federal government.

well, we still have booze. Ok, you all do. I'm not allowed until well after the inauguration, at which point i'll probably need it all the more.

eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow everything is going straight to hell.

No, I'm just amused by al of this "vote for bush so the country will get so pissed off it straightens itself out" fanfare. I take a different approach :) "Vote for Bush so we can see armeggedon already". This country is in it's death pangs, 4 more years of Bush can put us out of our misery :)

High gas prices equal tough times? Not for everyone.

I wish I could post a link to this Economist article, but its "premium content" and I'm guessing I'd be stoned in the village square if I did so, so, I'll excerpt --

"THESE are profitable days for banks in the Persian Gulf. And no wonder, you might say, with the price of oil topping $50 a barrel this week. The Gulf is awash in money, and banks, the conduits and depositories of it all, are doing nicely. In Saudi Arabia, by far the biggest of the six countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), banks' profits in the first half of this year were 30% higher than in the same period of 2003. Last year wasn't bad, either: according to the Middle East Economic Survey, a weekly newsletter, full-year profits at GCC banks rose by almost one-fifth from 2002's level, to $7.1 billion. Only one of the 67 banks surveyed reported a loss."

Good-on those Saudi's, good on that "Gulf" eh?

The article goes on to explain that oil is only part of the story. "Banks in the Gulf are also benefiting from a boom in consumer banking."

This part of the article is really interesting, not just in what it illuminates about the wealth being created in certain segments of the Middle East - or, those invested in those segments... (as our elderly huddle in cold apartments), but also in how it tracks the growing influence of "Sharia" rules in the financial system. And, how some, (hint, not you or I) are benefiting from this.

The banks operating in the Gulf have many benefits - they cherry-pick well-healed customers, and then loan money based on liens against their salaries. Low taxes are another: banks pay none at all in Saudi Arabia, for instance.

Then we get into the benefits of being a Sharia bank -- funding costs are low, because of the high proportion of deposits in banks that comply with Islamic law, which prohibits the earning of interest.

Whoa! Wouldn't our banks love to be in that situation?

From the Economist: "Said al Shaikh, the chief economist at National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Saudi Arabia, the GCC's biggest bank, reckons that non-interest-bearing deposits make up roughly 45% of the total in Saudi banks. Even in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the figures are lowest, the share is 10-20%."

This "free money" - the money the banks are earning on these interest-free deposits, is then lent to companies and, more recently, consumers, at "fat margins".

Banks bypass the downside of Islamic rules against interest by structuring loans as a partnership - from which they receive a return on capital at risk. Because the banking industry is largely protected from competition, profits are easy pickin'.

So, "retail Islamic financial products"—"ie, complying with religious law—are increasingly popular." (agian quoting form The Economist) "S&P estimates that the assets of Islamic financial institutions in the Gulf have grown at 10% per year in the past decade. NCB is converting its retail network to Islamic banking; banks in Kuwait and the UAE have also made the switch or are keen to do so."

So, we pay higher oil prices and the financial infrastructure of Islamic Fundamentalism grows and prospers. (As does the value of the stock portfolio's of those who are invested in Middle East oil.)

Now, I have certain reservations about fighting higher oil prices - I do believe that our government's continuing subsidies of this product have been, over time, a deterent to the development of alternative fuel sources, and thus, have made us more vulnerable to being manipulated (or sent to war) over oil.

However, I'm damned it I'll support big profits to the Saudi's and the Bush's as a countervailing force to that problem...

It costs $30 to fill up the gas tank of a car.

<h2>What in the hell are you driving? It only costs me $20. Try something a little more fuel efficient, Arnold.</h2>

The high costs of heating oil and natural gas are going to lead to a lot of cold homes this winter.

<h2>Yeah, and it gets up to 115 where I live, but no one complains about the "high cost of cooling." Most utility companies have average billing programs, but you have to get off your ass and sign up for them.</h2>

If you're between age 2 and 64, you won't be able to get a flu shot this year, and even if you're able, you may have to pay $65 for it.

<h2>Guess all of those pain & suffering lawsuits have finally made it unprofitable for pharmaceutical companies to produce the drugs you need. Tort reform, anyone?</h2>

Population growth is far outstripping job growth. There are fewer jobs now than there were four years ago.

<h2>Die, baby-boomers!!! DIE!!!!</h2>

We are centering our entire foreign policy on the dubious prospect that we can unilaterally impose our version of "freedom" and "democracy" on one of the most dangerous, bloody, chaotic lands on the planet.

That's right!!! They're MUCH too savage, backward, un-enlightened, and ignorant to grasp such a complicated concept as FREEDOM. We should kill them all!!!! Because NO ONE is as smart as the American Citizenry. Just ask the Japanese.

Rob --

Loved your OTT satire.

But -- just because you can wring a laugh from the statement and a punchline doesn't make the statement false.

Does it??

A friend of mine sent this to me today. Kind of captures the essence of these times:

A PSALM FOR THESE TIMES

Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want. He maketh me to lie down on park benches. He leadeth me beside the still factories. He restoreth my doubts about the Republican Party. He leadeth me onto the paths of unemployment for his cronies' sake. Yea, though no weapons of mass destruction have been found, He maketh me continue to fear Evil. His tax cuts for the rich and his deficit discomfort me. He annointest me with never-ending debt. Verily, my days of savings and assets are kaput. Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me all the days of his administration And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

<h1></h1>

It's stupid's economy.

Bush staying on ice in his bubble-wrapped fantasy cell, sends others to do his campaign work and fight his public speaking monsters -- he can hide, but he can't run.

BOYCOTT Cable TV. It'll kill Sinclair, not you.

FCC: Flash breast: Bad. Bash flesh: Good.

Bush to troops: Run away. Hide. Don't fight. Stay alive. I'll get back to you after Veterans Day with another plastic turkey.

<h1></h1>

Well, yes, more Americans are dying in Iraq than were expected to.

And yes, health care benefits for the poor and ill are being cut.

And yes, a bunch of people might die this winter if they can't afford heating oil.

But it's all worth it to have a President whose respect for American lives keeps him fighting valiantly against stem-cell research.

Isn't it?