Why does Hamas victory in Palestine come as a surprise?

Three years ago, I watched a report on a television news program that discussed the significant positive contribution that Hamas was making to the Palestinian people. Many communities were turning to Hamas for social assistance and for opportunities to move forward. These people were choosing Hamas, a known terrorist organization, over the more acceptable Palestinian Authority and its political arm, Fatah, largely because Hamas was actually able to get things done. There was no infighting and the leadership seemed to have the Palestinian people constantly in mind when making decisions, unlike the PA who seemed to have a greater political agenda.

Why are we suddenly surprised, then, that Hamas won the first democratic election in Palestine? Why does this information come as such a shocking factor to the current President and his administration? Perhaps it is because we do not really understand the Middle East at all. Maybe the neo-conservative movement never had a grasp on the realities of the world. Maybe the major players in the Bush administration are too wrapped up in ideology to accept reality.

The argument can be made that the United States should not deal with Hamas because of their history of terrorism, and of their desire to see Israel destroyed. I would argue that we cannot end the relationship with the Palestinians, that we started building after the death of Yasser Arafat, because of this sudden democratic shift to the leadership of Hamas. Certainly we must walk a careful line with Hamas, but we cannot disregard the peace process, especially now that the leadership of Israel is also in flux.

Elect Tim Kaine Governor of Virginia

In the Kingsport Times-News' endorsement of Jerry Kilgore for Governor of Virginia, the discussion focused on Mr. Kilgore's record as Attorney General and his "strong law-and-order credentials." Mr. Kilgore's credentials as Attorney General do not stop there. He entered office at a time when Virginia's economy was at its worst in decades, and Mr. Kilgore did everything he could do to thwart the attempts by Governor Warner and Lt. Governor Kaine to improve the economic situation of the Commonwealth. Mr. Kilgore opposed all of the initiatives that eventually led Virginia out of near-bankruptcy while Lt. Governor Kaine fought hard to see Gov. Warner's proposals enacted.

If we look carefully at Mr. Kilgore's current economic proposals for the Commonwealth, there are two issues that must be addressed: privatizing the Virginia Retirement System; and, shifting the tax burden from the state level to the local level. Let us consider each of these in turn.

By choosing to privatize the VRS, much as the national Republican Party would like to privatize Social Security, Mr. Kilgore would offer a large percentage of workers in our region an unacceptable reduction in retirement benefits. For the southwestern region of Virginia, privatizing the VRS would impact all state and local government employees who pay into the VRS, in particular teachers in the public schools of the region. In some localities, the public school system is the largest single employer. Privatizing the VRS would have far-reaching and lasting negative impact for all of Southwestern Virginia.

Mr. Kilgore would like to place the taxation burden on localities. He conceals his true intentions by "pledg[ing] to give localities the ability, through referendum, to decide taxation issues for themselves" while planning to reduce state taxes by substantial margins (although I have yet to see in writing his complete taxation 'relief' plan). By 'offering' localities the ability to "decide taxation issues for themselves," Mr. Kilgore has essentially said to the people of Southwestern Virginia that they are on their own. State taxation funds will no longer be available to localities to help offset the costs of operating schools, landfills, sheriff's offices, prosecutor's offices, and other local necessities. The entire tax burden (at least substantially MORE of the tax burden) will shift to local Boards of Supervisors. Do you think your property taxes are high now? Just wait until Mr. Kilgore is elected Governor and see how high they climb! Does he honestly expect Southwestern Virginia to believe that shifting the tax burden back on us will be good for our communities? Does he really expect us to buy his argument that a Kilgore governorship will be good for the counties and localities of Southwestern Virginia?

Mr. Kilgore's "law-and-order credentials" certainly qualify him to be a local sheriff, but nothing he has done as Attorney General (in his brief stint in that office) can recommend him to be Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. There is only one choice on November 8 for Virginians, but more especially for Southwestern Virginians. That choice will keep our economy strong and keep money in the state coffers (not give it back to the wealthiest of us). That choice will be the man who protects retirement and maintains a fair taxation balance between state and local government. That choice is the man who has helped to lead Virginia out of dire economic straits, and who will continue the successful policies of his predecessor. That choice is TIM KAINE for Governor on November 8.

BUSHISM of the Day

"Those of us who spent time in the agricultural sector and in the heartland, we understand how unfair the death penalty is." ---Omaha, NE; 28 February 2001

I did not realize there was such a strong correlation between the heartland and the death penalty.

BUSHISM of the Day

"Didn't we already give them a break at the top?"
---To economic advisors urging the elimination of taxes on dividends, as quoted by Paul O'Neill; 26 November 2002


Did he actually own up to the upper-class tax break, or is it just my misunderestimation of his commentary?

BUSHISM of the Day

Asked what he imagined reporters eat, then-Governor Bush replied, "Brie and cheese." ---23 August 2001

BUSHISMs of the Day

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." ---Saginaw, MI, 29 September 2000


"I must confess. It did confuse some of the folks at the Crawford, Texas, coffee shop when I was traveling around the country with Theodore Kennedy." ---13 May 2002

Yes, I suppose it would since no one knows who Theodore Kennedy is. Do you mean Edward (Ted) Kennedy (Senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts) by any chance, Mr. President?


"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." ---27 January 2000

See this link for some more fun times with Mr. Bush and his 'speechalist'.


"I also understand how tender the free enterprise system can be." ---9 July 2002

Is it kind and loving also?

BUSHISM of the Day

"Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant, for example. And we're not a party of anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. We're a party that welcomes people." ---1 July 2000

BUSHISM of the Day

"We need to counter the shock wave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." ---4 October 2001


I had not really recognized how quickly Bush's administration was working to use Sept 11, 2001 to its political advantage until I read this quote. We can counter the evildoer by giving people tax rebates. Who needs to ask the nation for sacrifices in the face of danger when we can go about Republican business as usual and give the rich all of their (sweat-free) money back to them while placing a heavier tax burden on the middle class, and selling all of our debt to the one great nation-state that remains a military threat to this nation? Is it no wonder that the number of people living below the poverty line in the U.S. increased by nearly four million people last year? The policies of Reagan-Bush have proven once again that 'trickle-down' economics is a fallacy, and that all they do is decrease the size of the middle class. It is policies like these that Karl Marx had in mind that would lead to the elimination of the middle class and the eventual overthrow of the bourgeousie by the proletariat. Our world has never seen a truly Marxist state, but give Bush and his ilk enough time and we will.

BUSHISM of the Day

"But the true threats to stability and peace are these nations that are not very transparent, that hide behind the -- that don't let people in to take a look and see what they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes. The true threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer our defenses; the South Koreans." ---Media roundtable, Washington D.C., 13 March 2001


Okay, some commentary on this Bush quote: Mr. Bush claims that the true threats are regimes that hide their true intentions, that mask their true actions in the public sphere, that keep people in the dark about their policies. It takes one to know one, Mr. Bush! A government that tries to work behind close doors without full disclosure to its citizens can very well be a threat to peace and stability throughout the world. Under the Bush Doctrine, the United States is one of these countries.

I can't even comment on anything else from this quote because I don't really understand it. Anyone?

BUSHISM of the Day

"Let me put it to you this way, I am not a revengeful person." ---Time magazine, 25 December 2000

BUSHISM of the Day

"I admit it, I am not one of the great linguists." --To Tom Brokaw, Inside the Real West Wing, 23 January 2001

Quote of the Day

"To be poor in America was to be invisible, but not after this week, not after those images of the bedraggled masses at the Superdome, convention center and airport. No one can claim that the post-Reagan orthodoxy of low taxes and small government, which does wonders for the extremely rich, also inevitably does wonders for the extremely poor. What was that about a rising tide lifting all boats? What if you don't have a boat?"

- Eugene Robinson, columnist for The Washington Post

BUSHISM of the Day

"I want you to know that farmers are not going to be secondary thoughts to a Bush administration. They will be in the forethought of our thinking." ---10 August 2000


Right up front, there, in the front row. That's right...no more worrying about the second row of up front, no indeed. Front row...right up front. When we think we are thinking about thinking we think about upfront thoughts first. Any questions?

BUSHISM of the Day

"Our priorities is our faith." ---10 October 2000

BUSHISM of the Day

"I've changed my style somewhat, as you know. I'm less--I pontificate less, although it may be hard to tell it from this show. And I'm more interacting with people." ---13 February 2000 on Meet the Press

BUSHISM of the Day

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." ---23 September 2002

Well, from the looks of the new energy bill passed by Congress this summer, I think the president got what he wanted. However, if gasoline prices continue to climb, I doubt his desires will continue to see fruition.

BUSHISMs of the Day

"It's very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America." ---Dakar, Senegal; 8 July 2003

What exactly is a "steadfast"? Does anybody know? Also, wasn't the religion of the African slaves mostly voodoo (or something similar) until they got to America? Finally, let me just ask a hypothetical question: If you were a slave, taken far away from your home to work in the fields and homes of people you did not particularly like, would you believe in freedom? or would you just prefer to live a life of quiet desparation? I'm not sure...


"It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature." ---23 February 2000

Does GW really believe that anyone could possibly mistake him for either Reagan or Clinton? I realize that he does resemble Reagan in some ways...cowboy hat, boots, the 'duh' look on his face most of the time....but he obviously has neither the intelligence nor mass appeal of Clinton. Smell the coffee, George!


"Well, it's an unimaginable honor to be the president during the Fourth of July of this country. It means what these words say, for starters. The great inalienable rights of our country. We're blessed with such values in America. And I--it's--I'm a proud man to be the nation based upon such wonderful values." ---At the Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C.; 2 July 2001

I'm just glad to know that GWBush is a nation unto himself...Saves face for the rest of us, if you ask me.


"There is book smart and the kind of smart that helps do calculus. But smart is also instinct and judgment and common sense. Smart comes in all kinds of different ways." ---19 September 2000

But apparently "smart" is not a pre-requisite for being president...however, it may be necessary for being a GOOD president! Also, just a quick comment as someone who 'does calculus'--I've found that a great deal of my math 'smart' comes from books. I'm confused about the difference mentioned in the first sentence above....

BUSHISM of the Day

"Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace." --25 July 2003

Okay...so let's get this straight. SECURITY is a roadblock to PEACE. Uh huh...so is that like saying, "Sleep is the essential roadblock to being awake," or is it more like saying, "Depression is the essential roadblock to committing suicide?" Can anyone clarify this for me?

BUSHISM of the Day

"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness." --18 September 2000

Recess Appointment of John Bolton as Ambassador to the U.N.

Mr. Bolton nor President Bush have kept it a secret that the intent behind Bolton's appointment as U.N. Ambassador was to force the issue of reform. The problem, of course, with the Bolton appointment began to come out during the Senate confirmation hearings. Republican members of the Senate became some of the most vocal opponents to Bolton's confirmation. The administration would have the American people believe that the confirmation process was being held up by the 'obstructionist Democrats,' but that was NOT the case in the least.

Rumors were running rampant that Colin Powell, formerly Bolton's boss, and Richard Armitage, formerly Asst SecState, were working behind the scenes--giving Senators a thorough knowledge of Bolton's background and behavior patterns--to ensure that Bolton did not receive confirmation. A key Senator in the fight to defeat Bolton was close Bush supporter and ally John Voinovich of Ohio. Would these influential members of the Republican Party really have spoken out against Bush's nominee if there were not SERIOUS character flaws? Of course, the most serious flaw in Bolton's character was his inability to deal with his subordinates in a professional manner. If the man is unable to deal with subordinates professionally, then how can we expect him to deal with the Ambassadors of other nations professionally and civilly?

The great problem with Bush's recess appointment is that, more in this case than in any other, the President has usurped the balance of power; he has removed the confirmation process from the Senate in order to place an incompetent ally into a place of power. Certainly, all presidents have used recess appointments to place their nominees into office, but I know of no other appointment that has been made exclusively to flaunt an ideological agenda at the American people.

This appointment goes too far. It is time for moderate Republicans to stop thinking about political power structures and to start thinking about the good of the nation. For moderate Republicans to continue to support the ideological agenda of the far right does the nation an injustice at a time when the nation needs unity more than ever. The far right agenda offers division and confrontation, not unity and not justice.

Now is the time for the moderates and the liberals to come together to govern the nation in an effective way. A government not based solely on an ideological agenda, but based on what is best for the country and what is best for its citizens. If the recess appointment of John Bolton does nothing else, it should create the realization NOW rather than LATER that the administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney is not looking out for ALL of the citizens of the United States, but is instead following a far right wing ideological agenda. This agenda is designed to help 1% of Americans (I'll let you guess who they are), abandon the middle class, and return the U.S. to a time when Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlements were not a 'burden' to the country. Do we really want to destroy some of the greatest anti-poverty programs ever known to man? Let Bolton's appointment be a wakeup call to all of us!