If the environment is one of your big issues in the Presidential election this year, the Washington Post has a telling chart that really gives a clear picture of how much this administration has done, and continues to do, to damage our natural resources.

As a side note, it’s always wierd getting back into the blogging swing after a week or so out of the game.

Today is primary day in Wisconsin, so get out and vote!

Here’s a look at the U.S. Senate candidates and U.S. House of Representative candidates for Wisconsin.

Imagine if your boss inserted a flyer into your paycheck envelope that read:

“Just so you will know, because of the Bush tax (cut):
I was able to buy the new Hammer Mill
I was able to finance our receivables
I was able to get the new CAT skid steer
I was able to get the wire cutter
I was able to give you a job”

“You got the benefit of the Bush tax cut. Everyone did.”

Obviously crossing a few lines, no? Yeah, sure he’s the boss and all, but why need to shove his political viewpoints down everyone’s throat via their paychecks?

Now, imagine if that same boss fired you for simply having a Kerry / Edwards bumper sticker on your car. It sounds impossibly insane, but it happened recently in Alabama:

“We were going back to work from break, and my manager told me that Phil said to remove the sticker off my car or I was fired,” she said. “I told him that Phil couldn’t tell me who to vote for. He said, ‘Go tell him.’ ”

She went to Gaddis’ office, knocked on the door and entered on his orders.

“Phil and another man who works there were there,” she said. “I asked him if he said to remove the sticker and he said, ‘Yes, I did.’ I told him he couldn’t tell me who to vote for. When I told him that, he told me, ‘I own this place.’ I told him he still couldn’t tell me who to vote for.”

Gobbell said Gaddis told her to “get out of here.”

“I asked him if I was fired and he told me he was thinking about it,” she said. “I said, ‘Well, am I fired?’ He hollered and said, ‘Get out of here and shut the door.’ ”

She said her manager was standing in another room and she asked him if that meant for her to go back to work or go home. The manager told her to go back to work, but he came back a few minutes later and said, ” ‘I reckon you’re fired. You could either work for him or John Kerry,’ ” Gobbell said. – Decatur Daily

Now I can understand the point of not wearing controverisal atrire to work, or trying to preach the party line during working hours, but this is getting a bit out of hand when simply showing support outside the workplace for a candidate is enough to get you fired.

This is really a small step away from a boss sending a car to everyone’s houses to see if they have any yard or window signs on display, and firing those who don’t have a yardsign of the candidate you support.

For the past several months the administration claimed it had released all documents pertaining to GWB’s military records in response to an AP Freedom of Information Act request for the materials.

Last Spring they said that all the documents had been released, then that oops, maybe a fire had destroyed records of the years in question. When that didn’t fly, a few more documents were released, and that was for sure all the records they had about Bush’s service, or lack there of.

The administration claimed they had released all documents. But last night, conveniently after 60 Minutes showed on TV the missing documents that were never supposed to exist, the White House released the very documents it said it never had.

The Boston Globe has a nice wrap-up about how Bush failed to meet his requirements and the ensuing cover-up.

Personally, it’s not so much the fact of what happened 30 years ago that is at issue for me, it’s that GWB has been lying about this for the last 8 years. Now that they’ve been caught in that lie, what will be the fallout? How can a guy who runs soley on his personality characteristics (honest, trustworthy, resolute) and not on his record even try to play this one off?

I’m expecting Tom Ridge on the TV any minute now to announce that the terror alert level has just been raised to ORANGUTAN ORANGE.

This is pretty sad.. The number of American’s killed in Iraq since last years war has now surpassed 1,000.

Sadder still, the administration has yet to define a clear exit strategy.

GWB made a trip to the near Milwaukee suburb of West Allis today, where he wished Bill Clinton “best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery.” after it was revealed that the fromer President needs emergency bypass surgery. The crowd’s reaction: booing.

Yes, once again pure class shows through as thousands of Republicans show us what ‘Compassionate Conservatives’ stand for.

Meanwhile over on Fox News, Vito Fossella – the Republican Congressman representing NYC – spewed forth the following about the cause of the problems:

“Who knows? It could be the result of a successful Republican convention.”

When oh when will the GOP compassion cease to flow???

Cheney got his 35 minutes in the sun last night at the GOP convention in New York, and it was… an interesting night. When the VP candidate spends more time making ‘humorous’ references to beach sandals (with a special choreographed crowd waving their arms back and forth and showing off their ‘personalized’ flip flops) than talking about election issues, you know you’re in for an entertaining show.

Check that. When his intro speaker Sen. Zell Miller started talking, you could tell it was going to be entertaining. Between pauses to wipe the foam from his mouth, Sen. Miller got himself and the GOP faithful into quite a fury about what a terrible President John Kerry would be. Unfortunately, a rapid angry whitey ripping on his own political party doesn’t really play well to mainstream America, and also unfortunately, most of accusations that Sen. Miller threw at Sen. Kerry were false if not out right lies. Some of the CNN anchors interviewing him after Cheney’s speach actually busted him on those lies (or more accurately, let him bust himself by continous self-contradiction), and when he tried to defend himself, just would up digging deaper and getting more angry.

When questioned later about some of the same issues on Chris Mathews’ ‘Hardball’, he challenged the host to a pistol duel:

MATTHEWS: Well, it‘s a tough question. It takes a few words.
MILLER: Get out of my face.
MILLER: If you are going to ask me a question, step back and let me answer.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Senator, please.
MILLER: You know, I wish we…
MILLER: I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel.
MILLER: Now, that would be pretty good.
Don‘t ask me—don‘t pull that..

- Hardball transcript (bout half way down)

So Zell hyped up the party faithful but played like a rapid attack dog to the rest of the world.

Cheney impressed a lot of people by not simply putting them to sleep with his speech, so that in itself was a victory for him. Other than that, it was a lot of “YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE UNLESS YOU ELECT ME AND W!!!” and a few sprinkles of “HAHA THOSE PANSY ASS DEMOCRATS SUCK, DON’T BE A GIRLIE MAHN – VOTE REPUBLICAN!” and a light dash of “HAVE YOU HEARD OUR OPPONENT CHANGES HIS MIND?!? THATS WEAKNESS THAT WILL GET YOU ALL KILLED”.

And we learned that Libya was so impressed with Bush/Cheney’s bludered handling of the Iraq war, that they immediately gave up plans for nuclear weapons in exchange for guaranteed no-bid contracts in the Iraq reconstruction. (And who says capitalism doesn’t work!?)

Unfortunately, the VP had a lil’ slip of the tongue, and the Libyans now know their secret ‘nuclear weapons program built with only parts from a rice steamer’ now lie in Oak Ridge Tennessee. Ooops.

As is any good Vice Presidents job, Cheney was just setting the table with contradictions and lies for his Boss who delivers the main entree tonite. Consisting of half-baked truths, steaming piles of bullshit, and fear so thick and juicy you just have to come back for more, none of the GOP faithful will go home hungry tonite.

Now who wants seconds?!