Daniel Cody - “Left on the Lake”

This picture and it’s caption from the AP are the quintessential illustration of the fact that Republicans care more about looking good for photo ops than they do about any real issues:

“House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a news conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive the few blocks back to the U.S. Capitol.” link.

I know I’ve said it a thousand times, but seriously, is there anything at all that Republicans can be honest about these days?

I’ve been holding off on posting anything about the flurry of activity around the rising gas prices stories this week. I think that all the rhetoric around it is ridiculous, especially since this issue has been coming at us for months and very few people have said anything about it until gas prices hit $3.00 a gallon.

Slight tangent. Dear Media Outlets: I really don’t care that a gallon of Starbucks would cost $11.93, or that a gallon of imported bottled water is $23.00 per gallon. Firstly, I don’t buy 10 gallons of coffee or bottled water from Fiji at a time, nor are they required for me to get to work. Secondly, it just shows how far out of touch you are with mainstream American’s who would probably laugh at you for paying $3.00 for a cup of coffee or bottle of imported fancy pants water to begin with. Trying to compare luxury items to a necessity like gasoline and then joking how lucky we are that we’re stuck with paying $3.00 a gallon for it just smacks of the elitism that so many accuse you of.

One other thing. Two weeks into this huge gas price increase, we’ve got the idea that drivers are ‘fed up’ with high prices and don’t need you doing live reports from gas stations on the 6pm news ad nausuem. We know gas prices are high, and we know we’re getting screwed. How about reporting on the ‘WHY’ we’re getting screwed instead of the ‘HOW’ we’re getting screwed on a daily basis. I realize that it’s a segment that requires little work or thought on your part to produce, but please stop.

Anyways. I think it’s amusing that the same people who control the Federal government that just gave the oil companies over $15 billion in tax breaks are now trying to act surprised that they’re raking in billions and billions of dollars in pure profit. This is another great example of Republican hypocrisy in action, and so is Senator Frists ‘bold plan’ for dealing with the problem of high gas prices: $100 tax rebate checks!

This is one of the least thought out ideas come out of a politicians press office in quite some time. To deal with the high price of gas, Senator Bill Frist wants to send all of us a $100 check in the mail that we could use to buy gasoline. Talk about an being an enabler! That’s like giving an addict money to buy more drugs because the price has gone up! On top of enabling the addiction and doing nothing to solve the problem, that $100 check is going to go right in the back pockets of the big oil companies that don’t seem to be having a problem making money right now.

Why a conservative Senator is suggesting that the Federal Government start subsidizing the oil industry, the most profitable in the world, boggles the mind and gives you an idea of how close the Senator and his pals must be with the industry.

Then there are the President’s plans, which following the script for administration policy in the last year are simply ineffectual and incompetent but polished up to look and sound like good ideas.

The problem with the people in charge of the government right now is they’re treating this like a flash in the pan issue and offering up flash in the pan solutions as a result. This issue of high gas prices is going to be with us through next Fall, and as a country we should start getting real about serious solutions to the problem, not simply applying band-aids to a hemorrhaging wound while whistling dixie.

It’s fitting that the President is tapping talent at Fox News, the unofficial mouthpiece of the Republican Party, to be the official mouthpiece of the administrataion.

John Snow replaces Scott McClellan starting today I assume. The question on everyones mind is, “Will he have to give up his current media gigs, or will they just be an extension of the job?”

On a side note, I apologize for the slowness in posting to my weblog lately. I’ve got a number of projects going on right now and unfortunately when the proverbial plate is full with the main courses of life, there’s precious little room for dessert.

Abandon ship indeed! President Bush has a 33% approval rating in the latest Fox News poll.

Quick! Replace the Deputy Communications Liason with the new Deputy Secretary of Domestic Communications to shore up support and give the impression that a ‘clean sweep’ is being made in the White House!

Seriously though, when the Fox News poll has the Republican wonderboy President at 33% approval, you know it’s bad. And not just bad bad, but “approval ratings in the 20’s is within the margin of error” bad. It couldn’t happen to a more incompetant President either.

Anyone remember what happened when the Governor of America’s largest state when he had approval ratings that low?

The price of one gallon of regular unleaded gas is now at $3.09 in Milwaukee.

Clearly more tax breaks for big oil companies are needed.

Jenny just called and told me that CNN is reporting the White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is ‘resigning’. I say good ridance to the guy who was one of the worst Press Secretarys in recent memory. Always combative with the press corps and always smirking like he actually thought people were buying the BS he was shoveling, I never cared for him or the job he did.

At least with former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer you knew what you were getting from a guy who could lie without a smirk on his face. He was a guy who at least lied to you with honesty.

On a side note: I know replacing communications and budget staff is supposed to look like some big change or ‘fresh thinking’ in the White House, but it isn’t. It’s not going to boost public opinion of this administration either, despite their futile hopes that it will.

Good news for families, students, and staff in the Milwaukee Public School system: free broadband wireless Internet should be available to them in pilot form in time for the start of the 2007 school year.

The system will use ‘WiMax’ wireless technology, which is an up and coming technology that uses broadcast television channel frequency that can cover square miles with one antenna instead of square feet that the ‘WiFi’ technology we all use now covers.

You may wonder how this relates to the citywide ‘Free’ Milwaukee wireless deal I’ve been covering since last fall, and as far as I can tell, it doesn’t, which depending on how you look at it is a huge loss for that program, or a huge gain for the MPS one.

If you think about it, what family with any child enrolled in the city school system is going to want to drop $20 or more a month for the city’s broadband wireless access, when they can get broadband wireless access for free from the school system? Especially considering the high percentage of low income families that have children in MPS.

Unless there is some deal in the works that compensates the other project for that loss of revenue, this has to be considered a huge loss for them knowing that every home with a child in public school is no longer a potential customer.

Personally, I think that’s a great service for MPS to offer it’s students, their families, and it’s staff and shows a great deal of foresight into how to help propel MPS into the ‘information age’. Of course, there’s still the problem of getting low income familes access to a computer that can work with the WiMax technology, but that’s the same problem the city faces as well, and I’m sure some creative folks will find a number of ways to deal with that part of the problem. As with all projects, we’ll see how this one plays out over the course of the next year, but on the face of it this seems to be great news for the city of Miwaukee, and especially it’s families who choose to send their children to public schools.

Or: why does Newt Gingrich support the terrorists?

That’s been one of the talking points from some on the right whenever a Democrat has suggested pulling out of Iraq after all, so it will be interesting to see if they challenge the ‘patriotism’ of former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich now that he’s suggesting the same thing.

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany. - Argus Leader

Newt Gingrich, former Republican poster boy, traitor? Or finally coming to the realization that it’s time to get out of Iraq?

Was it that long ago that the President said he’d fire anyone in his administration that was involved in the CIA leak case? In light of recent revelations that it was the President who authorized the ‘leaking’ of classified material which indirectly outed a CIA agent, I thought I’d share this set of quotes I came across today:

Asked in June 2004 if he’d stand by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked, Bush replied “yes.” - Bush Press Conference: Savannah, GA, 6/10/04

“I don’t know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I’d like to know it, and we’ll take the appropriate action.” - Bush Remarks: Chicago, Illinois, 9/30/03

“The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He’s made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.” - White House Briefing, 9/29/03

“I will swear to uphold the laws of the land. But I will also swear to uphold the honor and the integrity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God,” - Governor George Bush CNN, “Inside Politics,” 8/11/00

“Americans are tired of investigations and scandal, and the best way to get rid of them is to elect a new president who will bring a new administration, who will restore honor and dignity to the White House.” - Then-Governor George Bush on CNN’s “Burden of Proof,” 9/15/00

“Americans want to be assured that the next administration will bring honor and dignity to the White House.” - Governor George Bush on CNN’s “Capital Gang,” 8/13/00

The latest polling numbers from the AP and Ipsos have President Bush sinking to his lowest approval rating in that poll as well: 36% - and that’s before people are finding out that he’s directly involved in the CIA leak case.

His Iraq numbers also hit a new low at 35% approval.. Sounds like it’s time for some more press conferences to “shore up” public support for his policies in Iraq!

But while the President hitting a new low in poll numbers isn’t exactly surprising news anymore, I thought the congressional poll numbers were.

By a 49% to 33% margin, the public favors Democrats over Republicans when asked which party should control Congress. Democrats also tied Republicans at 41% when people were asked which party people trust to protect the country.

We finally got the pictures from Emerson’s birthday party a few weeks ago uploaded into the photo gallery. A good time was had by all and much cake was eaten.. Thanks to those of you who could make it!

A few pictures to share quickly: