Comprehensive Bush Scandal List

Back in October I made a post about how wrong Bush has been about so many things. It only had about 17 general items listed, while I knew there were more, I don't have the memory to keep track of all the dealings in Washington. But, while perusing the Internet today, I came across a comprehensive list of George W. Bush related scandals. It is updated regularly and is up to 292 items. If you have to the time, please read this wonderful document and prepared to be depressed and enraged at the same time.

Support the Troops, Bring 'em Home

I have a few friends in the military. One is in the marines and the rest are in the army. They fly helicopters, repair tanks, and protect our military ports. They are normal people with families and friends. They will serve or have served in Iraq.

Back here in America we throw the phrase "support the troops" around all too easily. Some say being against the war is against our troops. Some support our troops through a fading magnet on their car that they have long forgotten about. But those who actually support the troops and care about their wellbeing want them home.

If you actually believe the majority of the troops want to be over in Iraq, then you are quite delusional and should seek professional help. They are over there doing their job, nothing more, nothing less. Some of them believe in the mission, many don't. They are not politicians, but soldiers, sworn to protect our country and constitution.

After the terrible things we put our soldiers through in Vietnam, you'd think we'd learn our lesson. Unfortunately, instead of spitting in their faces, this time around we keep their faces were we cannot seem them. We throw them into dilapidated military hospitals. We pretend we are doing them a favor my putting a yellow magnet on our car. We pretend they enjoy what they are doing over there and go about our daily lives, because the president has yet to ask the average American to sacrifice something for his "great cause".

The next time you tell someone you support the troops, make sure you infuse it with a bring them home sentiment. It's up to us to support the troops now. It is time for us to actually sacrifice something to support those who have done so much and ask for little in return. Congress does not support our troops. The president does not support our troops. We must pick up the gauntlet and support the troops by ending pointless wars and bringing them home. If we do nothing, how much better are we than those who sent them in to harms way to begin with?

Why Does Your Blog Suck

I've received a few e-mails recently from people who enjoy the topics I bring up in my blog, but think my posts are too short, or plainly suck. So I've decided to address some issues in this post.

Currently I'm a part-time freelance programmer while being back in school getting a degree in physics (I already have a degree in computer engineering). This doesn't leave me much time to write fancy and elaborate posts, but I still like to get things off my chest and a blog is one way I can do it publicly.

If you want to add something to anything I put up here, comments are enabled. I know I've received a lot more e-mails than I have comments. If you want to contribute, I wouldn't mind adding genuinely interested people as authors to this blog (just drop me an e-mail; sritter27@gmail.com).

Hopefully over the next few weeks I will have a bit more time to blog and perhaps write some better posts. Please let me know if you have any constructive criticism as well. Just telling me my blog sucks doesn't give me any new information.

No, I Will Not Comply. Period.

This is a very interesting excerpt from Michael Badnarik's constitution class. Will you comply?

The Bible is Bullshit

I remember seeing this actual episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! and now a good skim of it is up on YouTube. If you're religious don't just pass this by. Think critically and come to you own conclusion.

Impeach Those Who Won't

You congresspeople out there whom don't understand their jobs, this post is for you. For all those in the legislative branch who've never read the Constitution and do not understand their purpose in the system of checks and balances, this is for you.

Read Article Two, Section 4 of the Constitution please. It gives the House of Representatives the authority of oversight on the executive branch by enabling them to impeach officials that commit crimes while in office. Even in a delusional state of mind that could somehow ignore the crimes perpetrated by the current administration, it is your job to uphold the law on any future crimes committed by them. If you are a congressperson whom has stated that impeachment is "off the table", then you are failing to do your job.

Let's say Bush ordered the army to start shooting US citizens out of the blue, are you then saying that would not be something to impeach him on. I mean, impeachment is off the table, obviously there's no reason to do your job, so why start doing it any time in the future.

You all swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. All of you that disregard any portion of it are failing that oath and a disgrace to your office. Please withdraw such statements or resign your office in shame of such contemptible failure.

The rest of us have to do our jobs, so congress please do your's.

Educating America; Teach a Child to Think

America's education system is a dismal failure in comparison the rest of the first world. It's relatively apparent after spending just a few minutes in an American school. But don't expect it to get any better any time soon.

Politicians have been using the subject of education to win votes for as long as I can remember. The idiotic No Child Left Behind agenda is the most recent federal retardation of our children. There's probably been even stupider agendas flying around in individual states. But is formal education as whole really all that important to the actual education of a child?

The most important thing a child could ever learn is how to read, and critically. The fact of the matter is, if you teach a child to read and think critically, there's no limit to their education. Of course, they must be interested in the material to learn it well, but if they can think critically, it is major step in the right direction.

I'm obviously simplifying the situation and it is much more complex than I let on. For one poor areas need as much public education funding as any other. The funding of libraries is also essential towards education. With a good book and the desire to learn, there's a lot a child can do.

Video: Cop Having a Bad Day

This guy gets pulled over for doing 70 in a 65 and somehow winds up getting tazed. I feel bad for the good cops that get a bad rap because of guys like this.

Responsibility and War

I have a good friend, lets call him Bob, who is quite the Republican. He calls himself a conservative, but I know better, so I'll just stick with Republican. Last week he came over to watch the Seahawks vs Rams with me. During half time we started talking politics and eventually we were debating the war on Iraq, which as you can imagine became quite a heated "conversation". When it was over and the second half started, I realized that the whole discussion had actually been about responsibility.

You can debate to no end why we went to war, but in th end the American people supported it. If they did not support it, they obviously did not vote well enough in the 2004 election (I'm not getting into any voting conspiracy theories at this time). As far as I'm concerned anyone who did not vote against Bush, or anyone who initially voted for the war is just a culpable as those who ordered the first bombs dropped on Iraq.

Four and a half years later there is quite a bit of resentment towards the president and the war/occupation. But there are still those, such as Bob, whom still support the war and even starting another one with Iran. Bob is not stupid though, he doesn't argue that the war is about WMDs anymore. His argument now is about what will happen if we leave.

There are many theories out there concerning what will happen to Iraq and the Middle East if the US packs its bags and leaves. Most of the Republican theories revolve around utter chaos after we leave, which is the route Bob takes. He asks me, "Will you and the rest of your liberal buddies take responsibility for the horrible things that will occur if we just leave Iraq?" This poses an interesting question of responsibility, from a Republican nonetheless.

Responsibility is something that is completely ignored in a lot of corners of society, and Washington D.C. is a shining example of this. Very few politicians who voted for the war have taken responsibility for their actions. Thousands of our troops have died, while unthinkable numbers of civilians have died as a result.

So, to answer Bob's question, I have no problem taking responsibility for what happens if we leave Iraq today. The real question is, will he and the rest of his buddies who voted for the war take responsibility fore getting us into this mess in the first place. You can't just say we maid a mistake, now we're stuck. If your car gets stuck in mud, you don't just hit the accelerator and hope for the best. You reassess the situation and find a new solution for getting out of the mud.

Lets also not forget the Iraqis in all of this. It's their country as well and they must take responsibility once we leave. The country will not be able to heal overnight from the wound we have inflicted on it. There may be a continuing civil war after we leave. But how is our presence helping at all. Our troops are just targets. Once they are out of the picture, the nationals fighting us will move on to fighting the other foreign invaders, such as Al Qaeda.

We tried to stay the course in Vietnam and look how that turned out. We finally took responsibility for our failure and got our asses out of there. Did Vietnam turn into a utopia after we left? Obviously not. But, both sides were better off once the conflict was over.

The invasion was a mistake and those responsible should understand the consequences of their actions. Everyday we stay there more and more people die because of those actions and for what? What noble cause is this all for? I hope one day those of you who caused, including you Bob, realize what you've done and try to make it right. For now, I'll take responsibility for my actions and continue to try and get our troops home.