Former White House press secretary Tony Snow, twice member of the Bush Administration died at 53 years old from colon cancer he was suffering from for a number of years early this morning. The media spent the morning talking about what a nice guy Tony was and how hard he fought his cancer. I will not disagree with either count and I know it’s not polite to speak ill of the recently deceased for at least a couple of days but here goes anyway.

The media has been concentrating mostly on his time as White House press secretary. I like to talk about Mr. Snow’s first stint in the White House for President George Bush in 1991, as chief speechwriter and later as Deputy Assistant to the President for Media Affairs (1992–1993). Snow’s most important role was after the takeover of Afghanistan and the people did not want to hear about another invasion into Iraq and it showed in the polls at the time. He was very instrumental in running the public relations campaign (propaganda) fueled by the lies feed from Bush and company to make the case for a another war. As we know, public opinion turned and the war in Iraq was on and is still going over four long years later.

When we think about the cost of the Iraq war (over 4,000 American troops dead, 80,000 to million Iraqis dead, and will hit the trillion dollar price tag), George Bush possibly may not have been able to make it happen without the hard work of Tony Snow. Our country has owes a great debt to Mr. Snow and I mean literally.

Tony Snow was only the front man for the criminal gang known as the Bush administration so I hope he passed away peacefully.  Since Congress won’t punish them, hopefully God will have more fittings ends for the rest of the gang — Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush.

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I have never talked about sports before on this blog but have been a long time fan myself. This rant is based on a recent column by Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News.

Jerry Sullivan
Updated: 06/24/08 7:06 AM

A few days ago, I was listening to an update on sports radio and heard a reference to Citizens Bank Park. I searched my brain for a few seconds and came to a stunning realization. I had no idea who played there.

The White Sox? No, that’s U. S. Cellular Field. Reds? They play in Great American Ball Park. Pirates? PNC Park. Or is it PETCO? No, that’s the Padres. How about the Diamondbacks? Didn’t they change it from Bank One Ballpark? Yeah, but it’s Chase Field now.

Read the rest of “Corporations play games with names” at the Buffalo News

I always have hated the constant name changes of sports stadiums. I am with Jerry on trying to remember all the new stadium names. When I was a kid could rattle off the stadium names of most of the pro sports teams. Today? Forget it… I was shocked to learn even Wrigley Field has it’s naming rights up for sale now. The Cubs fans need to revolt or the Wrigley Company somehow or someway needs to secure the name again. I am not sure what would do if my beloved Boston Red Sox sold the name of Fenway Park to the highest bidder.

What Jerry Sullivan did not address in his column is what we can do about this? I think the solution is very simple. The only reason naming rights have value is because of the exposure they cause. Why does everyone including you and I, sports reporters like Jerry, or the media seem to be compelled to use the corporate name of any sports venue? Why can’t we all just adopt a common used alternative name for any corporate named stadium for our use?

In Buffalo here, the Sabres play at HSBC Arena but why not just refer to it as the original working name of the Crossroads Arena? The Buffalo Bisons baseball team has played at Pilot Field, North AmeriCare Park, and Dunn Tire Park. Come on now… Why can’t the local media just refer to it as the Downtown Park like most people do already and be done with it? No worries with the Buffalo Bills since the owner, Ralph Wilson just names it after himself.

It’s time we stop being held hostage to the lastest naming rights change of our favorite sports team’s home. If the people and media stopped using the corporate name then the naming rights would have no value anymore. The teams themselves really don’t need the revenue from naming rights or else they would just get players salaries under control. Just a idea…

One of the few Democrats with balls, Congressman Dennis Kucinich read 35 articles of impeachment against President George Bush on the House floor late last Monday. It’s all there - the lies, the use of torture, the ignoring of Congress, and the using of propaganda to start a war. Mr. Kucinich has tried unsuccessfully to start impeachment hearings before on Bush and also VP Dick Cheney in the past. Can he succeed now?

Well it looks like the corporate run media will be of no help. The day after on Tuesday, the news of the impeachment was being discussed across the blogosphere and on progressive talk radio. I did not see the story hit the CNN front page until Wednesday. OK, even if you think all the charges are bogus won’t you think a Congressman bringing criminal charges against the President might be news worthy? It sure was when Bill Clinton was lying about a blow job. This is another reason why we know when right wing blow holes mention the “liberal” media they are full of shit.

Another obstacle to impeachment hearings will be the Democratic leadership itself and why would that be? Progressive radio talk show host Randi Rhodes had a excellent post on this very topic that everyone should read where her belief is that the Democrat leadership would end up implicating themselves in any hearings!

So to get the Judiciary Committee to act on Kucinich’s articles of impeachment it will be up to the people which is ME and YOU. Here is a checklist for what to do for anyone you wants George to pay for his crimes against America.

1. Read (or download the PDF) the 35 articles of impeachment of George Bush by Dennis Kucinich or watch the videos of him reading them on the House floor Monday.

2. Visit the Dennis Kucinich impeachment web site.

3. Sign the petition to get the media to cover the call for impeachment by having Meet the Press interview Dennis Kucinich for a full half hour this Sunday. While not updated on the petition site yet, the host of Meet the Press Tim Russert has passed away and the petition was addressed to him. The original “Ten Reasons to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney” petition to sign.

4. Get your Representative to be a cosponsor of Kucinich’s articles of impeachment.

5. Follow the road to impeachment on Democrats.com and AfterDowningStreet.org.

6. Use this kit to organize support to have your local government pass a resolution for impeachment.

7. Use your own blog to bring attention to the articles of impeachment before the House.

Why is it so important for Congress to have hearings on these charges against George Bush rather then just let him finish the last couple of months of his term? The articles of impeachment center around the abuse of power by the office of the Presidency. Our founding fathers’ number one fear with Democracy failing was the possible abuse of power by the President and they took that in account when writing the Constitution. George Bush has repeatedly ignored Congress and the Federal Courts while abusing his power so has violated the balance of powers set forth in our Constitution. If Mr. Bush goes unpunished for his crimes then a precedent will be set for future Presidents that will not be in the interest of the people or our Democracy.

What are you going to do about this?

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I must be in a mood because feel like being offensive today. I seen this image on the Human Rights of America blog the other day and feel like sharing…

On the blog a image with the words “Keep Your Religion Out Of My Bedroom” was just above it but I am speaking about this in broader terms here.

Now first off I am not really saying Jesus is a Nazi but that the radical Christian Conservative movement in this country very much is “fascist like” when they try to inject their religious beliefs into our political system. What ever happened to the concept of separation of church and state? I get real worried when I read comments on other blogs were someone states we should make laws based on or follow “a Bible value system”. I guess we would have to pick and choose what values since many in the Bible are part of nobodies value system. I also always found it odd that Jesus lived in a time and place where slavery was a part of life but he never specify condemned it. OK, enough of the Bible nonsense…

Last year I read the excellent book “Kingdom Coming” by Buffalo native Michelle Goldberg which really opened my eyes on the Christian Nationalism movement. She actually traveled across the country meeting the people of this movement and going to their churches. I highly recommend her book. Sure people have the right to believe what they wish but a real concern is when they indoctrinate their children with this garbage. Watch the documentary Jesus Camp and it will make you sick. When your church starts using the words “we are fighting a war” and you are “a army of soldiers” be afraid.

Of course religion has infected the current Presidential race. John McCain, in breaking news finally has rejected the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee (video of this wacko on a previous post of mine) and also now his “spiritual adviser” Pastor Rod Parsley who recently called Islam a “conspiracy of spiritual evil”. The media is acting like these kind of comments from Mr. Parsley are something new. Sigh…

Earlier in the campaign a comment from Mitt Romney really disturbed me in which he said -”Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom…”. While religion does require freedom the opposite certainly is not true. I am no less free because I bow to no man made religion but thanks.

What I am really trying to say here is can religious people keep their faith in their bedroom, please?

I hope the author of the Human Rights of America blog comments here and lets me know where he found the above image or if he designed it himself.

While I encourage discussion from all sides, any Christians who decide they want to comment with less then “Christian words” on this post keep in mind this blog is not a free for all. Please refer to my About page and read the rules of conduct for this blog.

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Article from The Smoking Gun…

“click” on image to enlarge

MAY 21–Meet Alex Phillips. The Wisconsin teenager is facing felony child pornography charges for allegedly posting naked photos of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend on his MySpace page. When contacted by police about the two images, Phillips, 17, balked at removing the pictures of the girl. Warned that he could face jail for publishing images of the minor, Phillips told an investigator, “Fuck that, I am keeping them up,” according to a criminal complaint filed yesterday in Lacrosse County Circuit Court. Phillips, pictured in the below mug shot, told cops that he posted the photos last week “because he was venting.” The cell phone camera photos had been taken by the girl, who provided them to Phillips. Along with posting the photos, Phillips added explicit captions like, “Yo, U see how big her hole is! Its from me!” While claiming that his goal was not to harm the girl, Phillips acknowledged that, “he probably should not have done this,” according to the May 20 court filing. Along with the child porn count, Phillips was charged with defamation and sexual exploitation of a child.

My first point on this is will teenage girls please think first and stop sending naked photos of themselves to any jerk of a boy they know or are “in love” with. It could be maybe I am just mad not a teenager now in this internet age. OK, that was bad….

I do have to question the charges of defamation and sexual exploitation of a child since both were minors and she sent him the photos. Seems more like simple harassment to me but I will admit not familiar with the law in Wisconsin. The only thing that is certain is we will see more cases like this and more teens being criminally charged like this which is not good. Parents be aware of what your kids are up to please!

I am interested in what my readers think about this case so please leave a comment with your opinion on this…

UPDATED 5/25

Seems this story is now spending around the internet. GAWKER’S Nick Douglas appears to agree with me in questioning if this really is a child porn case. Alex Phillips is now being be dubbed the “MySpace Kid” by some people. I just refer to him as the dumb ass punk kid from MySpace… The mainstream media is of course also now covering this story as seen on this ABC News post.