President's Ratings Race toward Teens & Single Digits?

Last night CNN reported results for a new poll showing President Bush's approval ratings had decreased to 32%. Today the Associated Press reports that Connecticut Residents approval rating for President Bush has dropped to 24%.

As Oil has increased to levels that couldn't even have been dreamed over three years ago, President Bush's approval ratings are approaching levels that haven't been witnessed in almost one hundred years.

Can these numbers go lower? At what point will politicians step in and start to snipe at the President with calls for senior administration member resignations? Oops, too late, the LA Times has stated that the President should demand the resignation of Dick Cheney.

With numbers these low, it looks like a desperate situation is rapidly approaching the Republican party as the mid-term election silently races closer. Will Democrats sweep the election and reinstate GRIDLOCK in our nations capital? Will Democrats seek revenge for the President Clinton impeachment and exact their retribution on a weakened President Bush?

During these trying times, one thing seems to resonate. Murphy's Law. If it can go wrong it will. If it can get worse it will. If it could be more preposterous it will.

We have seen natural disaster's one after another that trump recent historical records. We have seen oil prices surge to levels almost 3-4 times the price of oil when President bush took power in 2000. We have seen ineffective execution of military and diplomatic pursuits abroad that are dwarfed only by the inept explanations of the failing of these pursuits.

Administration bowls for Democrat Spies - CIA leak firing

I read an article by Newsweek today, Newsweek: CIA's McCarthy Denies She's the Source.

The article talks about the recent firing of Mary O. McCarthy, a senior official and CIA officer. The article discusses how McCarthy was fired for allegedly admitting to the leaking of classified information to journalists, possibly in relation to secret CIA prioson's around the world. McCarthy appears to have been an openly democratic intelligence officer, and is described by republican CIA officers that worked for her stated that he, "never saw her allow her political [views] to cloud her analytical judgment."

The troubling aspect of this story is that at the core McCarthy is alleged to have provided sensitive or classified information to the press. Then within the same article, Newsweek cites either a CIA official or Government Administration officials providing sensitive information about th alleged leaker of information, "The officials, who asked for anonymity because they were discussing sensitive information". The sensitive information in question being the facts that a 20 year CIA officer had been fired after admitting to having unauthorized contacts with the press during a polygraph session, polygraph's are not admissable in court and as such this case is unlikely to go to trial.


So in an administration riddled with leaks of classified information, the government fires a democratic CIA officer for admitting to contact with journalists during a session that cannot be admitted in a court trial as it was the result of a polygraph test. The administration can point the finger at a source of the leak. The alleged source of the leak is a democrat (bonus points for the administration). The situation will never go to trial as the evidence is inadmissable (more bonus points as no more dirty laundry can come out).

Some weeks there is just no winning for the United States when an administration can skip around reality.

Will Iran's President go the way of Sadam Hussein?

Will Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad end up following a destiny similar to Saddam Hussein?

Shimon Peres believes he will and said as much on Saturday, April 15, 2006.

'Iran's President to end up like Saddam': "Israeli veteran statesman Shimon Peres, responding to the latest verbal attack on the Jewish state by Iran's President, said on Saturday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would end up like Iraq's Saddam Hussein. "

The verbal attach he was responding to came from President Ahmadinejad who stated, "Are the consequences of the establishment of this (Israeli) regime less than the Holocaust which you (the West) are claiming? If there are doubts regarding the Holocaust, there is really no doubt regarding the Palestinian disaster and holocaust."

President Ahmadinejad's statements are consistently targeted to his own constituency. It is obvious that he adheres to the age old maxim that all politics are local. His comments will undoubtedly be accepted at face value by the audience he has targeted. However, as with many of his statements, they sound completely different to anyone not in his target audience. To anyone that does not doubt that the Holocaust occurred, President Ahmadinejad's remarks would have to be interpreted as stating 'Since the holocaust occurred, you have to doubt whether or not the Palestinian's have faced a similar disaster or holocaust.'

The problem with communicating in absolutes is that people will consider you absolutely right or absolutely wrong. Depending on your subjective views and knowledge of events and history, a person will either consider Ahmadinejad entirely right or entirely wrong with few people in between.

President Bush and President Ahmadinejad share this trait in common. President Bush similarly speaks in terms of absolutes. Typically, based on principles. President Bush similar to President Ahamdinejad mixes his religion with his politics. The result is that his principles are guided by his religion. This creates for a decision making frame work based on what is right or wrong. Everything becomes pollarized according to the religious views of the speaker. As neither leader seeks to reconcile with other religions it pushes their countries and the world towards more dyametrically opposing positions.

What we are looking at is a battle of religious beliefs between a nuclear power and a soon to be nuclear power. President Bush's camp attempts to dispell the belief that the West is engaging in a new crusade, however, when they mix their personal religious beliefs with their public politics, the Middle East and East often times hear the absolutes in their speeches and hear exactly what they want to hear. This same problem occurs in Iran. Many in the West would like to see the religious authorities in Iran experience a decrease in power, so that they can 'reason' or negotiate with them.

The obstacle to negotiations is opposing religions. In order for either side to get past this obstacle, both sides need to first unilaterally disarm their religions from their public persona and represent their people at a political level, religion removed. The alternative is that the predictions of war and crusade like actions will become a self fulfilling prophecy. During the cold war, weapons and fear of their use kept the Soviets lined up against the US. Today, religion between the Middle East and recently the US has become the primary weapon, with physical force held at ready standby.

Attacks on Our Freedom to Read

I have initiated this site to comment on the gridlock and friction that is causing our country to grind to a halt. I will be running a sister site that reports on the news separately and this site to editorialize on that news. The concept of this site was sparked by the story below(see Original Story).

I learned of this story about 24 hours before it broke and did not at that time have any means to report on it. I now do and will continue to report other breaking news in the future.

This story represents a good example of one group attempting to manipulate portions of society to fit their morals or lack there of by sniping at invented problems. A parent in Gwinnett County, Georgia, a state with one of the lowest educational records in the country, [has been fighting since the fall of 2005] to remove books written to encourage school children to read more and watch less TV.

Why? Because the books, Harry Potter series, promotes demons and witchcraft and has a main character that lies, cheats and steals. There are many classics that do all of the above and then some, however this parent has singled out this series without reading the books herself.

Now, I have lived in this Grinnett County for almost 4 years. The request to remove books off the shelves is backwards. It is an affront to free speech and leads to a reduction in access to information. Censorship in schools if allowed will lead to attempts at censorship on the Internet, the press and other forms of speech. This harms all of us. If these extremist views of a parent are forced on other people in a school, county, state or country it becomes harmful.

The ranting about promotion of witchcraft and demons is all a red herring. Laura Mallory can guide her own children in their reading behavior, but she should not be allowed to dictate to mine or anyone else's children.

For those not familiar with this particular county, its one of the largest fastest growing counties in the state. It also happens to have some of the best public schools in the state. This is not saying much for a state that ranks 48 out of 50 in education. Maybe Laura Mallory should be doing something constructive like trying to get her children to read as much as possible and critically think the material so that this state can move out of the 19th century.

Maybe then one of her children might even be smart enough to become a programmer and create a news service to rival Digg itself.

Curious that Laura Mallory is not principled enough to demand that CS Lewis's books about Narnia should be removed from the shelves, or for that matter, Shakespeare, Macbeth, The legend of King Arthur, all fantasy books, Cinderella, Snow White, or for that matter anything by Disney in General. This situation seems to be a silly ploy based out of ignorance.


Original Story

Ledger-Enquirer.com 04/14/2006 Gwinnett wants Harry Potter book series off shelves: "LOGANVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A Gwinnett County parent wants the Harry Potter book series removed from all school libraries.
Laura Mallory, who has three children that attend J.C. Elementary in Loganville, is asking the state's largest school system to remove the best-selling Potter series from the shelves.
Gwinnett County Associate Superintendent Cindy Loe told board members in a hearing on Thursday that Mallory's request will take place on April 20.
Mallory hasn't completely read any of the books. But she said she has read portions of a few books and was offended by the demonic activity. "My personal religious views don't agree with these books," Mallory said. "We need for our children to read things that teach good morals. Harry Potter lies, cheats and steals and there is no accountability. There are better things for our children to be reading."
The mother of four first challenged the book in September at her children's school, saying the books glorified witchcraft.
Magill Elementary and the school district's review panels already have ruled that the books should remain within the schools.
Students may check out the books while the system handles the complaint, school spokeswoman Sloan Roach said. Parents can request their children be prohibited from taking out any particular books, she said."