Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia has died.  He was the longest serving Senator in US history and was 92 years old.

I will never forget his stirring stem winders on the floor of the Senate.  He gave the other Senators and myself lessons on both history and The Constitution during those speeches.

I know he had been in ill health for quite some time and I know he was getting old and it was his time to go, but I will really miss seeing him n the floor of the Senate.  He loved the Senate and respected its place in governance and history.  He also loved the people and state he represented there.

Robert Byrd was an out spoken champion of the coal miners of his state and it will take a lot to fill his shoes.  In fact, they never will.  A new Senator will be in his place, but they will have a hard time even coming close to replacing Robert Byrd.

Read Senator Byrd’s obituary in USA Today here.

Sen Robert Carlyle Byrd (D-WV). He will be greatly missed.

By BobbiV

With governors who hike the Appalachian Trail, many members who are very confused as to their sexual identity, birthers, deathers, tea baggers and assorted wing nuts, the Republican Party has no lack of hypocrites, posers and scandal.  In fact, the escapades of Republicans have become so common place, most don’t ping loudly enough on my political radar to warrant taking time to post about them.

However, when a politician in a place of authority over others starts playing politics with a disaster in their state and does things that will harm his constituents while playing those political games, I notice….big time.  I don’t care if it is a Democratic or a Republican politician, they ping loudly and persistently on that same political radar until I am forced to say something.

Recently, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has been pinging my radar almost incessantly.  First, he seemed to be jumping on the federal government about their inattention to the needs of Louisiana after the BP oil disaster.  Okay, I thought, just more Republican cum Libertarian hypocrisy about small government and not needing the federal government until it is my ox that is getting gored.  Nothing unusual about that,so I let that pass.

Then the pinging got louder when he attacked President Obama and his administration for their slow response to the disaster.  Jindal has aspirations to the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.  So even though I knew he was playing politics to garner press attention and I knew what he was saying about the Obama response was a lie, I marked this up to more games with politics.

But now the radar is pinging non-stop, Jindal didn’t use even half the National Guard Troops he was sent for the spill clean up.  Those troops he did use were assigned to guard BP from problems.  Now this was getting interesting so I began to watch the little Howdy Dowdy look alike more closely.  What is he up to?

Now the news that this Governor has stripped funding from his budget to help cash strapped Parishes in Louisiana with the spill clean up.  He says BP should pay, not the taxpayer and on that point he is right.  But the state should take care of ongoing costs and collect the dollars from BP.  He shouldn’t be delaying clean up because he wants to prove his conservative creds because he is harming those same taxpayers he claims he is protecting.  See the WWLTV story here.

The latest in radar pinging from Bobby Jindal is his veto of a bill by Louisiana legislators.  The bill would require him to preserve and make public records his office has relating to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and events that followed.  Now my curiosity is piqued.  Just why wouldn’t he want to preserve the records relating to the biggest environmental disaster in US history?  What is he really playing at?

From The Miami Herald;

In his veto letter, the governor said the legislation would have hurt the state’s position in future litigation against BP PLC, the oil giant that leased the rig which exploded April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and causing the disaster.

“This bill would allow BP and other parties with potential liability to the state to obtain information retained by any state agency responding to this tragic event,” Jindal wrote, saying such access could jeopardize the state’s position in seeking legal remedy for the spill’s damage.

The Senate sponsor of the public records provision said Friday night that Jindal’s veto was expected. He noted that the governor has repeatedly fought attempts to require preservation and open most of his office’s records to public scrutiny.

“This governor has opposed transparency for the three years he’s been in office, so that’s not a surprise. What is sad about all this is it’s just another black eye on Louisiana internationally now,” said Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton.

Read the rest here.

This idiot Jindal deserves watching.  What he’s doing in regard to this disaster just isn’t adding up to be in the best interests of the citizens of Louisiana.

This is Governor Bobby Jindal,of Louisiana. I told you he was a Howdy Dowdy look alike!

Some television reporters and government agencies are saying that the reports of contaminated oil in rainfall in the south eastern US are not possible.

As reported on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show the government agency NOAA has stated that the elements in the crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico that would evaporate into the air could not cause this oil in rain phenomenon.

This flies in the face of video footage, crop damage and eyewitness reports.  Videos have shown metal grates actually bubbling as if exposed to acid during rain showers.  There is also ample video documentation of crop damage that has been recorded by the areas local news shows.  Eyewitness reports include what the videos have shown and the people in the areas go on to state that the rain smells like a gas station or oil refinery.  It has also been stated that water flowing off of residential lawns has a ‘sheen’ to it that indicates the presence of chemicals.

Granted we have had numerous major oil spills in the past that have never resulted in contaminated rainfall.  Even if you rule out contamination from the crude oil itself we still do not know what the results of so much chemical dispersant could be.

Sadly we do not know the chemical makeup of the over one hundred million gallons of dispersant that has already been used in the gulf.  We also have not seen any long term studies on how the dispersed oil may evaporate differently from normal crude or what it might do to the environment.  Add to that the large quantities of sulfur and methane being released and combine those chemicals into the mix and I find it hard to believe that there is no connection between the supposed contaminated rainfall and the oil spill.  For me the timing is just to convenient.

Only time will tell us for sure if inland communities, farms and wildlife are going to be affected by contaminated rain.  Sadly we will know soon enough as the area enters hurricane season and more moisture is picked up off the Gulf by these storms.

I sincerely hope that NOAA and Miss. Maddow are correct and that the reports of contaminated rain are false or exaggerated.  I am worried however, that even when reporting the facts at hand;  BP’s history of holding back information will mean all the facts may not be available for those reporting to see.

Watch as Rachel Maddow reports about oil in rain.

By BobbiV

We certainly hear someone in the press yammering every day about what President Obama has done that is wrong and how his numbers are slipping (really?).  If you didn’t look a bit beyond the media noise, you might just think the Obama Administration along with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and  Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA), have done  nothing but wring their hands since the President took office.

According to Fox and most of the conservative or Republican press, Obama is a threat to the very existence of the United States.  Wild eyed conspiracy theories with the President at their center spout from Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh on a daily basis.

According to the liberal, Progressive or Democratic press seem to complain incessantly about President Obama, the Senate and the House.  They haven’t done enough or they disappointed too many folks or the base is fading away and is too unenthusiastic to win.  The praise, even from this side seems faint, indeed.

This all leads to the fact that I was very happy to see one of the people I consider a good example of press integrity, Rachel Maddow, come out on her show last week with a good piece and a laundry list of the many things this administration has accomplished in the short time President Obama has been in office.  You will find the video of this Maddow piece below.

Whether you are talking about health care, Bank and Wall Street reform or the economy, there has been a lot done in a short period of time.  Some of the accomplishments like health care have been historic.  Some of them like Bank and Wall Street reform are still being pushed through.  S, like the economy and jobs need a lot more to make them get back on track. We are also fighting two wars and were left with a huge pile of dung to clean up from the previous administration.

When you consider those things plus the obstructionist tactics the Republicans continue to use, the number of nominations that are held up and the worst environmental disaster in the nations history all coming in the first two years of this term, you can see that the accomplishments have been surprising , to say the least.  Maybe it is time for all of us to take a deep breath and begin to give credit where credit is most certainly due.

By the way, one other thing needs to be said here.  There are way more Democrats than there are Republicans even if you count their fringe which will vote for tea baggers.  A mid term election doesn’t get the turn out a presidential election does, but Democrats would have to stay away in historic numbers to even the score.  One thing to also bear in mind, even if Democrats said they were not overly enthusiastic, they didn’t say they weren’t going to vote.  So your polls are skewed on this count.  An unenthusiastic vote counts for just as much as a rabidly enthusiastic vote does.

Enjoy Rachel Maddow as she makes a lot of sense.

For those of you with children in the gulf area right now would not be a good time to see “The Little Mermaid” then visit the beach to see the suffering animals and end the day with a dolphin buffet!

For those of you in Arizona there is yet another way to have a fun filled family day.  How bout starting the day off by watching the DVD of “The Lion King”, then visiting the zoo to witness these magnificent creatures in a semi-natural habitat and end the day off at a local restaurant with a round of extra rare lion meat hamburgers?

Sadly, this is not a joke!  This is about to become reality, but not in a jungle surrounded hut where bush meat hunters gather in the dark corners of Africa.  This is soon to be an item on the menu at your more insensitive, uncaring and inhumane eateries in the 12th century city of Mesa Arizona!  The hell with the environment!

We were all aware of the fact that the ‘great’ state of Arizona has no pity whatsoever for their fellow human beings of the wrong skin tone.  Now it seems if you walk on four feet instead of two, even if you are an endangered species, you are fair game for the dinner table.  Wonder what they are feeding the farm raised lions in Arizona?  One can only guess, but I am forced to wonder where all the people they deem unworthy to live in their state go!  Is it like the old Romans and Christians fun and games?  Do the elite whites of Arizona privately gather to see a more modern version of this spectacle?

At this point I really would not be amazed if that were the case.  The powers that be in the backward state of Arizona have truly shown they care nothing about the people or the wildlife in the world.

To read more about this national disgrace visit Fluffyfeet.net by clicking here:

http://www.fluffyfeet.net/wp/2010/06/25/lion-meat-burgers-you-serious/

They don't even look good to eat. I prefer to just look at them, thank you.

We have all heard the stories about law enforcement being just a bit gung-ho in the enforcement part of the law.  We have seen the TV and web footage of them  using tasers on everything from small children to loudmouthed seniors for no apparent reason other than they can.

I want to note right now that I have always respected the men and women who risk their lives every day to defend our rights and liberties, properties and homes.

That being said though, like any group of people with power over others there will always be those that abuse that trust.  That is when we witness a phenomenon that has been called ‘the thin blue line’, where otherwise very good police with excellent records and high moral standing close ranks to defend their brothers and sisters, whether they deserve that defense or not.

We have seen it time and time again.  Good cops covering the truth to defend those who abuse their power.  If one officer speaks up to tell the truth then they become a pariah in the law enforcement community.  Where this mentality originates I’m not sure,  but law enforcement, our communities and our judicial system all suffer because of its existence.

As many of you know I lived in Los Angeles for over two decades.  During that time the LAPD, and the LA sheriffs department had their fair share of problems.  Planted evidence in the O.J. Simpson case allowed a man who was probably guilty to walk away from a murder conviction.  The Rodney King beating and resulting actions to cover the crime and protect the officers involved resulted in the need for National Guard troops to secure the streets of the city.

Now, sadly, there is yet another outrageous case of law enforcement officers stepping way over the line, and of other law enforcement officers on site allowing them to do so.

We are now waiting to see how the police involved justify multiple taser hits to an 86 year old, bedridden grandmother who is in poor health in her own home.  They claim they tasered her because she sat up threateningly in her bed, risking the safety of the ten to twelve armed police officers in her bedroom.  When the taser hits failed to completely subdue her one of these brave officers leaped into action to take the suspect into custody by stepping on her oxygen hose and cutting off her air supply until she could be handcuffed hard enough to make her flesh tear and bleed.

These officers must be very proud of themselves!  Especially when you consider the fact that the original 911 call from the house was not to summon the police, but came from the woman’s grandson seeking paramedics and medical aid for his grandmother.  He was worried her apparent condition and because of her bad health.

Where was the concerned grandson while the police abused this woman?  He had been handcuffed and removed to the backseat of a police cruiser after protesting the very mention of tasering his grandmother.

This sad story comes from Oklahoma City.  It looks to me like a complete and total failure of what our police officers duties are supposed to be.  Protect and serve is the motto for most police departments across our nation.  There were ten or twelve officers in that room.  They all had guns, tasers, pepper spray and handcuffs.  They all knew it was a medical emergency 911 call to which they were responding.  They all allowed this poor woman to be tasered, oxygen deprived and abused.

I do not really care what supposed threat this poor old woman’s actions posed to these officers.  I do not care that they removed her grandson from the room before they began using and abusing their power against this bedridden 86 year old woman.

What I find profoundly disturbing in this case is that not one, not a single police officer in the room, made any attempt to stop this crime from happening.  These highly trained law enforcement officers all felt that a elderly woman who had called for medical help deserved this treatment. If  just one  had the guts to say wait a second, they would have been the one who was right.

I have not yet seen a picture of the police involved in this case.  I must assume they are all at least 150 years of age to believe an 86 year old disabled woman was a life threatening danger.  They must be the weakest, oldest and most cowardly of all the law enforcement officers in our nation.

In my opinion they are, to a person, a disgrace to any uniform and should face charges themselves.

The thin blue line is understandable, you put your life in the hands of those you work with.  Where its wrong is when the police themselves become criminals, abusers of power and betrayers of the public trust.  At that point it is the duty of any and all law enforcement officers to take every step possible to stop the crime and to see those who committed it punished.

It is not a surprise that there is a law suit pending against the police department, the city and the officers involved in this case.  What is a surprise is that there are no criminal charges pending against the police that committed this crime.

The truth is this is another scandal for law enforcement and a black eye on every member of every police department in this country.

To read more on this case, click here:

 http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/24/28330.htm

The sign is to warn against high voltage, perhaps its appropriate around cops, too. 

By BobbiV

Is there no end ever to the nightmare the big energy and oil corporation BP has created along the Gulf Coast of this country?  We have a toxic brew of oil and dispersant washing up on our beaches, oil soaked sea birds dying in droves, oily rain falling on Louisiana, toxic rain falling on Southeastern farms and dolphins literally screaming from the burns being inflicted on them by the oily muck.

This all seems to be a little more than people can handle and the national mood is beginning to show it.  A beautiful and fragile environment in the United States is likely ruined forever.  People are beginning to show how testy they can get when something this horrible is happening.

It does not seem to matter if you are Republican or Democratic.  In this situation, everyone suffers the same.  That is unless you are a Republican member of the house or senate.  Then the big corporations are your best friends and contributors.  Even to the point of apologizing to BP for our beaches and wetlands getting in the way of their oil then asking them to pay for it.

Things are really bad along the Gulf Coast and all of the country is aware of it.  But do we now have to have insult added to injury after injury?  It seems we do, because the surf along the beaches in Pensacola, Florida are boiling like they have acid in them.

Come on in the waters fine, according to BP.  Pardon me if I decline the invitation.

As the man at the end of the following video says “God help us all.”

It seems our government just cannot get along any longer without the help of military contractors.  What this says about our country and our politicians lack of faith in the ability of our own military is more that a bit disturbing.

Not long ago our military was a fine tuned machine.  It could provide security for our bases and embassies around the world, call the wrath of our nation down upon any corner of the globe and provide everything from cold beer to pizza ovens to our combat units.

True, greed and wasteful spending were problems but when these problems were discovered they were dealt with.  Crime is also a problem in the military and they have their own courts and prisons to charge, try and sentence criminals.  The military has always had a code of conduct and has always expected every solider from PFC to Five Star General to follow that code or face the consequences.

Crimes like a drunken rampage resulting in the cold blooded murder of unarmed civilians in a foreign country would not be tolerated in the military.  Other crimes like using taxpayer funds to fly in prostitutes from around the world, the bribery of foreign officials to cover up the troops crimes, use of child sex-slaves, drug smuggling , or the theft of weapons from national armories (in the name of a cartoon character no less) would result in swift punishment for those involved.

Furthermore, though they may be very religious men in their personal lives, our nations military leaders are usually smart enough to know that our military is used for defense of our nation and our way of life.  They realize that the United States is not a nation that engages in ‘holy’ wars.  They have and I am sure will continue to call on God to guide them to victory and to spare the lives of their soldiers, they do not claim those same soldiers are ‘christian warriors’.  Given the fact that every faith in the world is represented in the ranks of our military that would be a untrue and downright stupid statement.

Sadly private companies do not follow these same rules and guidelines, nor do they even claim to have any form of a code of conduct comparable to that of our military.  A company like Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, is run as a for profit corporation.  Their only interest in our national security and our nation’s reputation is what it costs their bottom line.

As a company, Blackwater is accused of what could only be called a laundry list of crimes against our own nation, the governments of other nations and the numerous families of innocent civilians their so called soldiers have murdered in cold blood.  They also like to play even bigger games with our own and international law by moving their workers from nation to nation to avoid prosecution for their criminal activity.

This company is so corrupt and operates so far outside our laws that I would place them in the same category as a drug cartel or nationwide gang like the Bloods.  It has gotten to the point that the former owner of Blackwater, a devout ‘Christian solider’ is planning on relocating his family to Dubai. a nation known for hosting war merchants and arms dealers and that has no extradition treaty with the United States.

Given the criminal history and failure to comply with our nations laws this company has, you would think they would soon be out of business.  But if that is what you think then you are dead wrong.

As we have recently reported Blackwater is getting ready to open a chain of retail ‘security’ stores across the United States.  If that is not bad enough, our own government has given this firm permission to destroy even more of our national reputation while we, the American taxpayer finance their actions.

With new financial backing from our government in the amount of $220 million dollars there will be no end to the damage this company can do to our nation.  Murder, smuggling, rape, theft and selling weapons to groups that fight our country be dammed.

The CIA has granted Blackwater a contract of $100 million dollars of our money.  To learn more about this, read the Washington Post here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062305255.html

In addition to that it seems that our troops in Afghanistan need the big brave Blackwater corporation to protect them.  Aside from the CIA contract the criminals at Blackwater have been awarded an additional $120 million dollar contract to provide security services in Afghanistan.

To learn the details on this read the CBS News story here:

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20008238-10391695.html?tag=nl.e879

I am left to wonder: What Xe Hell?
Listen and watch as Keith Olbermann tells you more about this.