QUOTATION: People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing. - Walter H. Judd
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2004-06-24 - 8:35 a.m. The Truth Will Out - Eventually?The appearance of wrongdoing if NOT wrongdoing:We've all known that Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton, was awarded a no-bid contract worth over $7 billion to help rebuild Iraq (and heaven knows what other contracts elsewhere!) And according to news sources, the process for awarding this lucrative contract was coordinated by Dick Cheney's office in the White House. It seems to me (and others)that because Cheney still receives compensation from Halliburton, deferred as it might be, there is a lingering financial connection there. To top it all off, Halliburton hasn't even given the U.S. a break, but has overcharged the military for gas, failed to deliver meals to our troops, and has wasted at least a billion dollars in Iraq because of poor planning and oversight. More appearance of wrongdoing:Other questionable activities can be attributed to Cheney,as well: Shortly after taking office, President Bush put Cheney, a former energy industry executive, in charge of the task force which, after a series of private meetings in 2001, produced recommendations generally friendly to industry. The Sierra Club and Judicial Watch sued to get the records from that meeting. They argued the public has a right to information about committees like Cheney's. The organizations contended that environmentalists were shut out of the meetings, while executives like former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay were key task force players. Since this was coming before the Supreme Court and since Justice Scalia had been a hunting buddy of Cheney just before the case was to be heard, it was suggested that Scalia should recuse himself. However, he refused...said that just because he hunted with a man did not mean he could not be impartial in the matter, for instance, of whether the records of those meetings should be made public. [Like yeah...of course not!] News out today...According to the Court, the records do not have to be released. Guess the public doesn't have the right to know whether the deck was stacked on the energy recommendations. There might not have been the appearance of wrongdoing had Justice Scalia recused himself...and why one wonders was he reluctant to do that?
Dubya Learned Some New Nouns and New VerbsYesterday in President Bush's speech before the Greater Exodus Baptist Church I heard him use a noun it's taken him a long time to understand - "pandemic". He used it not once, but about five times in five minutes! (I think he may have used it as a noun, adjective, and verb!) And also, for the first time he suggested that the United States in their fight against AIDS could "learn from the experience" of countries like Uganda and embrace the use of condoms to prevent its spread. Well, hooray, Mr. President. I commend you -- congratulations for finally getting the picture.He was quick to say, however, that he still advocates "a practical, balanced and moral" ABC approach: Abstain, Be faithful in marriage, and, when appropriate, use Condoms." Another truth that I hope may finally have gotten through to our President: While teaching our children that abstinence is the only CERTAIN way to avoid contracting H.I.V. as well as unwanted pregnancies, the suggestion of "If you are gonna have sex, USE a condom" is not going to be the determining factor of whether they engage in that activity. Now that wasn't really a rant...I was congratulating our President - really! The sun is out; the sky is blue. Ed's feeling better day by day. If our government would just get it together here and abroad, life would be good. The Hershey stock I bought for my grandchildren years ago has split -- just in time for college for one of them next year. Hooray! Have to look for good news wherever we can find it, don't we?
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