From Yahoo News (UK & Ireland):

A New Zealand woman has offered to be crucified by U.S. President George W. Bush if he pledges not to attack Iraq.

New Zealand, which refuses entry to its ports for foreign warships that are nuclear powered or carry nuclear weapons, opposes military action against Iraq unless it is backed by the United Nations.

I rarely post on my political views in this blog because I get yelled at for criticizing the Usurper — I mean President when I do. (These are some of my more popular posts as well.) However, there are two events in today’s news that I feel deserve some commentary.

Oh yes… for those who complain that I whine too much about the government and Bush, let me ask you this: When was the last time you emailed your Congressperson about an issue? Do you write to your Congressperson at least once a week or even once a month on issues that are important. I do. I petition on behalf of Million4Roe.Com (because I am not deluded enough to believe that abortion will disappear if we make it illegal– you can’t legislate stuff like that because you have to change attitudes and hearts); National Parks Conservation Association (because I believe that the stewardship of God’s creation has been entrusted to us and that the oil-hungry person appointed to the presidency by the Supreme Court shouldn’t tear up the Alaskan wilderness to satisfy his lust for fossil fuels); Virtual March on Washington (because our president is also a war monger — more on this later); and Bread for the World (because hunger issues and legislation need to be addressed, especially in our depressed economy). Do you know the voting records of your Congressperson and your Senators? I do. (My Congressman is fairly good. One senator is OK and the other is abysmal.) I also have VOTED in 90% of the elections since I turned 18. (The others were because I couldn’t register in time.) Therefore, I feel like I have a right to criticize the government.

GOP fails to attend Democratic filibuster on Estrada
For the last few weeks, Million4Roe.Com has been sending me alerts about the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the District Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. He would be the first Latino to sit on the bench, which is a nice move toward diversity. However, he is refusing to answer questions about his opinion of Roe v. Wade and other civil rights cases. Bush is not pushing him to answer and Democrats will not allow a vote until he answers. While I openly and intensely despise Bush for a *multitude* of reasons, I will usually not ask my Senators to oppose the nominations he gives them *if* I feel that this person is qualified and is not just being appointed to stack the courts in favor of Bush’s agenda. (Contrary to what some may think, I *do* vote Republican about as frequently as I vote Democrat.) I cannot in good conscience support the nomination or approval of a judge who refuses to tell where he stands on a variety of issues. I mean, don’t you want to know how he’d respond if an abortion case or women’s health issue was brought before him? What about if a racial-profiling suit was brought in front of him? It almost disturbs me more that Bush is refusing to answer. Clinton’s people didn’t always get approved but *they were at least honest about where they stood*. People criticize Slick Willie for a variety of reasons but he made his people ‘fess up about their positions. This makes me trust Bush even less because it shows his desire to stack the courts. (Well… his re-nomination of Pickering also showed that.)

Bush: Iraq is playing ‘willful charade’
Quoth King George when referring to the United Nations: “when it comes to our security, we really don’t need anybody’s permission.” Ahem? Since when do we border Iraq? Since when are we authorized to act alone? Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Iran have more to worry about than we do because they *border* Iraq or are in close enough proximity to get hit with missles. Did Bush ever stop and think that Germany, Russia, and France are against the war because they don’t have two continents and an ocean separating them from Iraq? Also… isn’t the U.N. the body authorized to act in matter concerning disputes between countries? I agree that Saddam needs to go and that he is a modern day Hitler. I agree that he has gassed his people and has waged war on his neighbors. However, it really makes us look ugly in the sight of other countries when we’re the only ones wanting to go to war. All this anti-French mentality is irritating because the French helped us out in the Revolutionary War, we helped them out in World Wars I and II, and we’ve helped each other out at other times over the years. Did our president ever stop and think that we’re not the only country in the world and that other countries might have legit points? Then again, I think he wants a war like his daddy had. Too bad it didn’t help his daddy get re-elected. The economy was also crappy when his father lost the presidency. (One can only hope…)

Didn’t 9/11 teach us anything about how the rest of the world views us? Oh yes, if you answer “they hate because we’re free”, I will personally send someone to slap you. Canada is also a free society and they didn’t get attacked. (They also graciously accepted our planes until flights could resume and our president neglected to thank them. How rude of him!) Also, how many of the hijackers on the planes that crashed on 9/11 were Iraqi? 0. How many were Saudi? 15. Shouldn’t we be a little more worried about the Saudis?

OK… got that out of my system (on the third try posting). I feel better…

An ethical question (and we will not discuss the ethics of this person): should former presidents have to serve jury duty? The news story on this was well-written and quite humerous.

Also… no bashing of this person in the comments please. 🙂

*sniff* I wish I was back in Santa Cruz. I love a good peace or civil rights protest and they never are as good back here as they were when I was at UCSC.

Oh President Bush… explain how exactly you are anti-affirmative action when it was the only reason you actually got into Yale. I looked at the UM guidelines for admission and as a white female, there was nothing out of the ordinary. I mean, in the extras category you get 20 points if:
-you are a Michigan state resident (it’s a state-funded school — this is not unusual)
-you are an athlete that they want to recruit (Yeah… let’s make them take that out so that all us non-athletes have a chance)
and finally…
-you are of a minority race (Tell me with a straight face that a preppy white kid from a Michigan day school and a black kid from an inner city Detroit high school are going to have an equal footing in their coursework and admissions. I’m waiting…)

(Thanks Dayna!)

[It’s NOT too late. He needs to keep getting them, so send yours TODAY!]

There is a positive history of this protest! In the 1950s, Fellowship of Reconciliation began a similar protest, which is credited with influencing President Eisenhower against attacking China. Read on: “In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a ‘Feed Thine Enemy’ campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly, no rice was ever sent to China. “What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. options in the conflict with China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When told they numbered in the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many Americans were expressing active interest in having the U.S. feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn’t going to consider using nuclear weapons against them.”

Bush did a pretty good job and *almost* made the case for war with Iraq. He failed to mention the idea of going to Congress first *or* working *with* a coalition. (He said “lead a coalition”. Georgie, we’re not the only nation in the world that thinks Iraq is a problem. Let’s learn to play on a team.) He talked about the need for new energy sources that are cleaner. He avoided using the O-word though (oil) — he talked about liberating ourselves from foreign energy sources. Ummm… name one foreign energy source that we export in large amounts other than oil. He talked about environmental regulations, yet he has rolled back quite a few of them. (To fight this, go to the NPCA website, click on “Take Action” and then click on “Action Alerts”. Do it now.)

Gary Locke, the governor of Washington state, was the Democratic rebuttal (so to speak) and he won as far as selling me on the Dem’s plans. The tax cuts aren’t as deep as Bush proposed but they reach *everyone* and not just the ultra-wealthy. He actually talked about liberation from foreign oil (which is pretty much the only reason we care about *anything* in the Middle East) and he has a decent track record on the environment. I have a serious amount of respect for him because he’s done some good things in Washington, is a second generation Chinese-American, attended Yale on scholarship (i.e. not an entitled person), is an Eagle scout, is the governor of a wastern state (which means that he understood the angst of the West when Bush told us to quit whining and conserve energy during the power crisis), and is really where I am on a lot of issues. Pity that he isn’t running for President…

My mother-in-law told me about this game. Pity that all I can find is commentary.

For those into Middle East politics, there is the PLO-Israel News Drinking Game.