Red State Renegade

From the Boy-King’s speech monday night (If, by ’speech’ you mean ’saliva-foam infused rantings of a smirking, delusional megalomaniac):

“Seven years have passed since I first stood before you at this rostrum. In that time, our country has been tested in ways none of us could have imagined. We faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens. These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve answered the call. Yet history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose.”

“As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty. America has added jobs for a record 52 straight months, but jobs are now growing at a slower pace. Wages are up, but so are prices for food and gas. Exports are rising, but the housing market has declined. At kitchen tables across our country, there is a concern about our economic future.”

“The mission in Iraq has been difficult and trying for our nation. But it is in the vital interest of the United States that we succeed.”

Contrast the tone with Clinton’s final State of the Union speech, eight years ago:

“We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats. Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity — and, therefore, such a profound obligation — to build the more perfect union of our founders’ dreams.”

“Eight years ago, it was not so clear to most Americans there would be much to celebrate in the year 2000. Then our nation was gripped by economic distress, social decline, political gridlock. The title of a best-selling book asked: America: What Went Wrong?…”

“My fellow Americans, we have crossed the bridge we built to the 21st century. Now, we must shape a 21st century American revolution — of opportunity, responsibility and community. We must be now, as we were in the beginning, a new nation.”

Oh how the mighty fall!

The scariest of the Republican presidential candidates, Rudi Ghouliani, has lost the Florida primary on which he’s been concentrating for a month, and may be returning to his roots as a drag queen:

There are reports that Rudy will be bowing out this week, and will endorse John McCain as early as Wednesday.

With McCain’s ongoing momentum, and Rudy’s supporters hopefully transferring to McCain, Mitt “Robo” Romney will be pushed further back.

Romney’s comments after Florida…

…were typical:

The #1 site for foreclosure listings, RealtyTrac, reported a record 2.2 million foreclosure listings in 2007. Worse yet, 2008 foreclosures are on track to beat the 2007 record by 20-30 percent over 2007:

“It’s not a great record to have, but it looks like we’re there…We don’t see the numbers coming down from the current levels right now.”

Foreclosure levels in December 2007 were about DOUBLE what they were the previous december.

A global recession is imminent

Never fear…Our Commander in chief tells us the economy is strong.

But some actually had it right all along. Some commentary from before we went to war, predicting that a prolonged war in the middle east would lead to a global recession:

Robert Shapiro, former undersecretary of commerce in the Clinton administration, 10/2/02:
“If the conflict wears on or, worse, spreads, the economic consequences become very serious. Late last year, George Perry at the Brookings Institution ran some simulations and found that after taking into account a reasonable use of oil reserves, a cut in world oil production of just 6.5 percent a year would send the United States and the world into recession.”

Independent, 11/16/02
“A war against Iraq could cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars, play havoc with an already depressed domestic economy and tip the world into recession because of the adverse effect on oil prices, inflation and interest rates, an academic study [by William Nordhaus, Sterling professor of economics at Yale University] has warned.”

CBS MarketWatch, 3/20/03
“If war with Iraq drags on longer than the few weeks or months most are predicting, corporate revenues will be flat for the coming year and will put the U.S. economy at risk of recession, according to a poll of chief financial officers.

Jose Padilla was sentenced today to 17 years in prison, a lighter than expected sentence due to the harsh treatment he was afforded within Guantanomo.

This is the guy who made the news as the ‘Dirty Bomber’ (that’s right, a Uranium Suitcase bomb). Despite the sensationalism, Padilla (a U.S. citizen) was held for 4 years without any charges brought against him. All the ‘dirty bomb’ charges went away, used for nothing more than a good pay-off in fear-mongering (of the kind that’s been rampant since 9-11) and the destruction of a person’s life for priceless propaganda.

The main source of evidence against Padilla were his past (yes, murder and violence) and a document in which he signed on for a terrorist training camp.

His jailers said he was “so docile and inactive that he could be mistaken for ‘a piece of furniture.’

According to his lawyers, he was forced to stand in painful stress positions, given LSD and other drugs, deprived of sleep and even a mattress for extended periods and subjected to loud noises, extreme heat and cold and noxious odors.

One psychiatrist, after spending 22 hours with him, said that what happened to him at Guantanomo: ‘was essentially the destruction of a human being’s mind.”

There was NEVER a dirty bomb! Some experts doubt that any such device exists.

Mark my words: He will be out much sooner. I’m not saying he’s a good guy - this guy was always deviant, always violent.

But though the world will soon forget about Jose Padilla, he will be released when people figure out what absolute bullshit his entire case was…