3612
Congress continues to try to cripple Bush
Don Surber writes:

"Rather than work on new legislation — fulfill those 100-hour promises of Grandma Pelosi (minimum wage is still $5.15 an hour) — congressional Democrats have decided to spend the next 2 years chasing rabbits down the holes in their quest for the liberal Secular Grail: Watergate.

Today’s scandal is that the Bush administration wants to replace 8 assistant attorney generals. Bush appointed them. He can fire them.

The media — which fails to keep track of that First 100 Hours promise by Pelosi — is (are) eating it up.

The fact is this administration went after Wall Street corruption that the incompetent Janet Reno sat on. The fact is this administration pursued congressional corruption regardless of party.

The fact is these deputies failed to pursue Harry Reid’s purchase and sale of federal lands, failed to track down Philadelphia election fraud and allowed this William Jefferson case to dangle in the wind."

Don Surber here.

This isn't about the firings or even Karl Rove, although the thought has them salivating. It's about getting us defeated and shamed in Iraq.Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/President%20Bush
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3610
The anti-Bush obsession at my library
Yesterday I picked up a book about President Bush from the sale truck at my public library branch for $2.00, The Right man; the surprise presidency of George W. Bush, by David Frum, Random House, 2003 (colophon says First Edition, but I know nothing about that sort of thing and don't care). Seems to be in perfect condition with just a tiny coffee stain on the cover. I flipped through it, didn't see anything just awful and ridiculous, so decided to buy it. Then I went to the computer terminal and looked up Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946- , which had 81 matches. Now that's not all the titles, because catalogers like to add subdivisions and they get pretty silly about it. His ethics--17 titles; his friends and associates, 15 titles; his political and social views, 14 titles. A lot of these overlap, some books get two or three subject headings, especially GWB books, and I didn't want a research project. Besides, I already knew from glancing through the 973 Dewey classification number on the new book shelves, that someone at Upper Arlington Public Library hates and despises the Bush Administration. But 81 titles--I was curious! So I started plodding my way through the excrutiatingly awkward browse feature of this library's on-line catalog. Truly a challenge for this librarian who has been using on-line catalogs since their infancy in the 1970s.

I'm guessing about 10 of the 81 were balanced, fair or just PR titles, including The Right Man. A few were about him as Governor of Texas, some appeared to be more about his family or Karl Rove than him (I'm judging from the photographs on the covers which clutter up the screen--if Bush wasn't cross-eyed, or flap earred, or the word "scandal" or "outrage" wasn't in the title or subtitle, you could sort of figure it out). UAPL LOVES Bob Woodward and Michael Moore. Oh. my. gosh. They must own stock in those men. Woodward's latest book had 15 copies (I noticed the other day they are ALL on the shelf--nothing checked out--just taking up space collecting dust). I think Farenheit 911 had 17 copies (and it has been proven to have so many errors from a number of sources that I'm surprised they hang on to so many copies.)

Anyway, I jotted down the call numbers--and UAPL doesn't mind reusing a call number/author number combination, so don't worry if you see dups. I personally think that is outrageously sloppy, but I know a number of libraries do that now. I noted 51 that I guessed from the title and full record are anti-Bush--and the number of copies. Some I combined that had separate records, like large print, regular print, and audio. But still, even if you figure publishers will turn out more negative than positive titles about a President, does Director Anne Moore (yes, her name) have to buy them all and in so many copies? Whew! What a waste of taxpayer's money. Especially in a community where Republicans outnumber the Democrats. This woman really believes books change lives, and political beliefs.

My library prints full color posters of upcoming events on sheets of paper the size of wall board, but only gives us scrap paper at the terminals.

David Frum's column

George W. Bush
Libraries, librariansSource URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/President%20Bush
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3537 Speech code?

Barack Obama was in Columbus yesterday. I've been hearing snippets on the radio. Hmmmm. Seems to be a change in his speech--all of a sudden (or maybe not so sudden) he doesn't sound like a young educated white lawyer from Illinois. He sounded like a young Jesse Jackson, who also used to be from Illinois. Kind of reminds me of Edwards in jeans or Kerry in the bunny suit. You need to go with the flow when you're in politics. Read the polls and what the latest focus groups say. Now, the President? He always sounds like a good old boy from Texas and it sure makes his enemies mad. He certainly doesn't respond to polls or he'd know how unhappy conservatives are with him about his border follies.Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/President%20Bush
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3514 The global slave trade

Last night I watched an interesting program on the misogyny, criminality and homoeroticism in hip-hop music. Would you believe one guy interviewed actually found a way to tie the problem to President Bush? Then today I was reading "The new Global slave trade," by Ethan B. Kapstein, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2006. There were clues in the first four paragraphs whose fault it would be (the United States because we have the powers of physical force to stop it), but I asked myself, "How far will he go before it is George W. Bush's fault?" Paragraph Five.

"Meanwhile, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may have made some bold pronouncements about eliminating slavery, but the U.S. administration is so focused on the war on terror that Bush and Rice rarely press matters such as slavery at meetings with relevant governments." (p. 104)

Eighty percent of the slaves are women and children, 43% of which are being used in prostitution. Multinational criminal gangs capture, transport and sell them for huge profits, estimated at $10 billion a year--much higher than the 18th century slave trade--with the protection of their own governments. Incidentally, I don't know where the UN and Kapstein have been all these years, but this has been reported for at least 15 years in Christian magazines and websites because that's where I first read about it.

As you move through the article, you learn that the U.S. is the ONLY country speaking out about this abomination, President Bush is the only world leader to include it in a major speech, that the UN has passed its usual resolutions and then done nothing, and that other countries have tried legalizing prostitution, regulating prostitution, criminalizing prostitution, promoting economic growth, condemning economic growth and tried "naming and shaming" sanctions. The U.S. actually prosecutes the traffickers (unless they are from you know where). Any guess what country the California police are complaining about when they say they arrest the slave traffickers but they just get deported? (The author doesn't cite a source for this comment.)

The author, who condemns the war on terror, wants to see the United States use FORCE against, India, Russia, China and any wealthy Mideastern country using camel jockeys (there goes the economic theory) as well as about 30 other countries including Algeria, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, South Africa, North Korea, Syria, and Zimbabwe.

World wide the author estimates possibly 800,000 people are subjected to bondage each year. The Department of Justice estimates about 17,500 come to the United States each year. Still and yet, Kapstein persists in his wrong headed belief that if it just weren't for this pesky old war on terror, Bush would be mopping this problem up with the police, intelligence and military force of the United States.Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/President%20Bush
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How many anti-Bush books does one library need?

While browsing the new book shelves at the Upper Arlington Public Library today I glanced through the 973.931 section. In the Dewey classification system this is "Administration of George W. Bush, 2001- ." On the shelf were 1) Pretentions to an empire, 2) Impeachment of George W. Bush, 3) Static; government liars, media cheerleaders and the people who fight back, 4) Voting to kill, 5) U.S. v. George W. Bush, 6) How Bush rules, 7) Vice; Dick Cheney and the hijacking of the American presidency, 8) The architect; Karl Rove and the master plan for absolute power, preceded by two Clinton books, a his and hers (positive, glowing) in 973.927.

Just out of curiosity, I went into the stacks and checked this class number--the Bush years. There were 4 packed shelves, about 30 books to a shelf (ca. 120 books), and only four were positive, balanced or fair to the President of the United States. Some titles had multiple copies. Within this class are also the books on 9/11, ranging from touching to wild to absurd, John Kerry's campaign hype, a bio of Tommy Franks, an anti-Bush women title and two on Hillary Clinton, but compared to the anti-Bush tirades, they don't account for much space. Included in the stacks were items like Gore Vidal's Dreaming War, Woodward's Plan of attack, and James Bovard's Bush betrayal. The previous 5 shelves (ca. 150 books) covered the presidencies of Carter, Reagan, Bush 41 and Clinton (973.926-973.929).

Someone at UAPL REALLY believes in the power of print, because I'm guessing that well over half of the voting residents within our city limits are Republicans. I used to be a Democrat--voted right across the street from the library at St. Mark's Episcopal, and I never ever had to wait in line. Those poor poll attendants looked like the Maytag repairman. Now I'm a registered Republican voting at a Catholic church further north, and there is always a wait. So it appears that either the director or her bibliographer-in-charge of current events thinks if they just buy enough anti-Bush titles they can move this white, suburban, business class community on the edge of the University to the left. Meanwhile, they aren't serving the people who vote on their bond issues.

Book banning begins with the publishers, then moves to the reviewers at LJ, PW and NYT who act as gatekeepers for the public, and then on to the libraries where the few conservative titles that squeak through are carefully scrutinized to make sure they are safe and politically bland.Source URL: https://maryelizabeth-winstead.blogspot.com/search/label/President%20Bush
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