The profound failure of the Bush Administration has reached a new low: It has now been two years since any species has been added to the list of organisms protected under the Endangered Species Act. Never since the Endangered Species Act was passed has there been such a long period of no activity.

Is this long gap in new listings due to an ecological improvement that has led fewer species to be in danger of extinction? No. There are 280 candidate species that have been waiting consideration for years, all the while their populations dwindling toward the point of no return.

Sadly, even if an animal is listed under the Endangered Species act, it may not get the protection it needs from the Bush Administration. The North Atlantic right whale, for example, will not receive protections from speeding shipping vessels this year because of political decisions made by White House officials. George W. Bush is willing to break the law to start wars, to torture people, and to spy on law-abiding Americans, and so violations of the Endangered Species Act are nothing to him.

As J. Clifford noted back in February of 2008, John McCain has a lobbyist problem. His campaign is full of lobbyists, and they’re not lobbyists for bunnies, kitties, peace, love and happiness. Rick Davis, the campaign manager for McCain 2008, is a lobbyist for telecommunications corporations Verizon and SBC. Charles Black, the top political advisor to John McCain’s campaign, is a lobbyist for telecommunications corporation AT&T. Tom Loeffler, the top fundraiser for John McCain in 2008, is also a lobbyist for telecommunications corporation AT&T. Funny thing, but lately John McCain has been standing up for the right of telecommunications corporations not to be taken to court when they break the law by violating Americans’ rights. That’s just a coincidence, and I’m a harmonica-playing grasshopper.

Newsweek broke the news this week (see, that’s why they call it Newsweek) that John McCain’s official Convention Chair, Doug Goodyear, is also a lobbyist. He’s not just any lobbyist, either; he’s CEO of DCI, a lobbying corporation that has promoted the interests of the autocratic military regime in Myanmar (nee Burma). In exchange for loads of cash, Goodyear used DCI to instigate a public relations campaign denying the abuses of the Myanmar junta and arguing for special favors for the brutes.

Now, in exchange for loads of cash, Goodyear was put to work instigating a public relations spectacle denying the problems with a McCain presidential candidacy, replacing it with a fawning hagiography instead.

Boy, those corporate lobbyists without a moral compass sure do come in handy for John McCain.

(Source: Newsweek, May 18 2008 issue)

On March 26, I sent the following e-mail message off to First Freedom First, a non-profit organization advocating for religious liberty in America under the First Amendment:

My name is James Cook, I’m a resident of Columbus Ohio (who is looking forward to attending the simulcast tonight), and I have a question regarding the Online Shop First Freedom First has set up through CafePress.

I notice that FFF is selling shirts, some of which are made overseas by subcontractors to corporations that have a history of sweatshop labor. Would FFF consider selling shirts with a less questionable ethical history? CafePress offers a set of American Apparel shirts which are made domestically in an above-board factory situation. Skreened (at skreened.com) offers a yet-wider selection of American Apparel shirts. Also, Zazzle (at zazzle.com) offers American-made union shirts as well as American Apparel shirts — as well as the interesting Edun Live shirts made in Africa through a factory system set up with the help of Bono.

I am not an employee (or family member of an employee) of any of these online companies. I just am interested in FFF taking its ethical lens on the world and applying it to its own sales system. Is FFF willing to investigate a change in this regard?

Sincerely,

James Cook

I said at the time that I’d be sure be sure to share any response I get with you.

Well, I’ve waited for a month and a half and I’ve gotten absolutely NO response from the organization whatsoever.

Please, if you’re interested in the issue of ethical shirt production and if you believe FFF should be too, contact First Freedom First at questions@firstfreedomfirst.org. Ask them what they intend to do about their shirt ethics problem.

If you want to know what a truly endangered species is, look at the North Atlantic Right Whale. There are only 350 of the slow-to-breed animals left alive, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has concluded that the death of even one of pregnant North Atlantic Right Whale could make the difference between species survival and species extinction.

So, scientists in the federal government were given the task, mandated by the law, of determining how to prevent right whale deaths, and determining the economic cost of doing so. They found that the cost of protecting right whales, by requiring shipping vessels to slow down in areas where right whales are common, would be just three tenths of one percent of the financial worth of the East Coast shipping industry.

That’s when the White House stepped in, ordering officials to determine whether that economic cost would be worth the benefit of preventing North Atlantic right whales to go extinct.

That’s a political decision, not a scientific decision. It’s the kind of political manipulation of science that is forbidden under endangered species law.

Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, is on the job. Last week, Congressman Waxman released Bush Administration memos that show inappropriate efforts to manipulate the decision-making process regarding proposed rules to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

Disregarding the objections of government scientists and the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, the Bush Administration has put the rules to protect the North Atlantic right whale on hold.

“On hold” is a nice way of saying that the North Atlantic right whale will not receive any protections while George W. Bush is President of the United States - regardless of what the law requires. Since when is President Bush going to let a little old thing like the law stand in the way of what he wants to do?

For a few years now, we’ve been offering bumper stickers and buttons with various combinations of Democratic Presidents and Vice Presidents making up potential tickets for 2008. Since the night of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, we’ve sold only items that feature Barack Obama at the top of the ticket. That aspect of the race seems pretty much settled. But who will be Barack Obama’s pick for vice president? Some people care enough about that question to buy a bumper sticker or button to advocate for their ticket of choice.

Here’s the distribution of running-mate bumper stickers and buttons we’ve sold, from the night of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries onward:

Obama-Richardson: 23.1%
Obama-Clinton: 13.5%
Obama-Edwards: 7.7%
Obama-Sebelius: 5.8%
Obama-Feingold: 3.7%
Obama-Gore: 1.9%
Obama-Moyers: 1.8%

You may notice the above group of percentages doesn’t sum to 100. That’s because I’ve left out the our #1 most popular team for 2008:

Obama-Olbermann: 42.5%

That’s right: MSNBC political commentator Keith Olbermann is a more popular pick than any of the other more conventional politicians.

Babs Barr, former Republican member of Congress, has just begun a presidential campaign with the Libertarian Party. Barr wants to be the executive leader of government, shaping government policy according to the idea that government should be doing as little as possible. It’s the logical equivalent of holding starting a catalog of anti-consumerist products.

Babs Barr has a long history of ideological extremism and political incoherence, having declared that nothing but right wing Christianity should be recognized by the American government as a “real religion”. Barr also tried to eliminate the National Endowment of the Arts and Head Start preschool education programs, and even the children’s television program Sesame Street. Barr spoke before the pro-segregation, racist Southern Council of Conservative Citizens and the radical John Birch Society.

Wait a minute. I think I got something wrong there. It isn’t Babs Barr who I should be talking about. I got the presidential candidate’s name wrong. I think the right name is Bob Burr. Yes, former Congressman Bob Burr is running for the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party.

No, no. That isn’t right. Bugs Barber? Butch Behr? Billy Bohr? Burton Bayh? Barton Bobbington?

Oh, I sure would love to give publicity to this right wing extremist anti-government candidate, but golly, I just can’t remember his real name. Oh, darn it, I guess this Benwick Burns fellow will have to look elsewhere for publicity.

American ayatollahs, take heed: Someone in Congress is thinking of your needs. Republican Representative Todd Akin from Missouri has introduced legislation to establish a government sponsored Year of the Bible in 2008.

From the perspective of the Constitution and American law, Akin’s legislation is clearly out of bounds. What about from the Christian perspective, though?

Theologically, the idea of an official Year of the Bible turns Christian belief into nonsensical blather. How can eternal, cosmic wisdom be confined to just one year? If dedication to Christian religious practice is supposed to remain constant, developing throughout one’s life, how can there be just a single Year of the Bible? What are the rest of the years in one’s life supposed to be? The Year of the New York Times Bestseller, followed by the Year of the Encyclopedia, then the Year of the Dictionary, and then the Year of The Omivore’s Dilemma, and on and on?

Todd Akin’s resolution is a perfect example of how attempts to impose religion through legislation actually end up diminishing religion.

On the positive side, perhaps keeping the Bible contained to just one year could help to keep the theocratic ambitions of the Religious Right at bay. They could have their little Year of the Bible, and then every year after that would be, by definition, not a year of the Bible.

It’s a tempting reinterpretation of a bad idea, but no, I think I’ll stick by the Bill of Rights and the separation of church and state instead.

Have you responded to the long and steep rise in oil and gas prices by taking public transportation instead of driving your car? Thank a progressive. If the conservative, go-it-alone, public-infrastructure-is-for-sissies philosophy had prevailed, that bus or train might not have been there. Investing in efficient public infrastructure isn’t just ideologically appealing to progressives; it’s also smart, and it works, and it saves people money. Do you live in an urban center with poor quality, low-coverage, underfunded public transportation? Thank a conservative for standing in the way.

As the price of energy continues to rise, we will need to figure out new ways (and remember old ways) of banding together to save money, increase efficiency and reduce consumption while still getting our work done. Let’s put the progressives in office who have the vision to get it done.

The price of oil is over 125 dollars per barrel, almost four times its price on George W. Bush’s Inauguration Day in 2001. People are being kicked out of their homes through foreclosure at a record-breaking rate. The cost of food is going through the roof.

So, what are Republicans in Congress doing to help Americans through these difficult times? They’re trying to give fertilized eggs legal rights.

Congressman Paul Broun from Georgia has introduced legislation, H.R. 4157, which would give a human egg, from the moment that a sperm penetrates its cell membrane, the full legal rights of a human being.

Those legal rights would include, I presume, the right to own a gun.

The second amendment to the Constitution says that there shall be no infringement of the right to bear arms, and while a fertilized egg does not yet have arms, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the right to arms. Just because a zygote doesn’t have hands doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the right to own a handgun… if Paul Broun’s law is passed by Congress. The second amendment doesn’t have a clause to prohibit weapons in utero, after all. It doesn’t say “except for fertilized eggs, zygotes, embryos and fetuses”.

Of course, rights come with responsibilities. I say that if they’re going to be persons, then maybe those zygotes ought to pull their weight, and get jobs. That’s what I expect next from Paul Broun: The Embryo Labor Legalization Act.

Since Election Day 2004, we’ve kept track of committed support for various 2008 presidential contenders, indicated by sales of Election 2008 bumper stickers, magnets, campaign buttons, and American Apparel t-shirts. Lately we’ve added yard signs, lapel stickers and union made t-shirts for the presidential candidates as well. While polls measure fickle opinions, our measure tracks the stronger commitment marked by the laying down of cash to promote a candidate in public. The more strongly committed are more likely to caucus and to vote. The following is the percent share of sales of our Election 2008 gear in the past week of May 4 to May 10, 2008:

Barack Obama 2008: 82.6%
Hillary Clinton 2008: 15.3%
Al Gore: 1.5%
Mike Gravel 2008: 0%
Others: 0.6%

Yes, that’s Al Gore in there. Some people are still nursing the hope that Al Gore will be the Democratic Presidential nominee. Nobody seems to care about the still-running Mike Gravel any more. I guess it helps to be an also-ran if you won a Nobel Peace Prize and junk.

Think hard, now. What’s the biggest problem that the United States of America is facing right now?

You’ve got it wrong. It’s baby turtles. Baby turtles are the biggest problem facing the USA right now, or so you’d think if you looked at the legislative record of Louisiana Republican Rodney Alexander.

Congressman Alexander hasn’t actually done much in 2008, but he has taken the time to try solve the baby turtle crisis that is gripping the nation.

Haven’t heard of the baby turtle crisis? Congressman Alexander has, and he’s decided that it’s time to act!

That’s why he has written the Domestic Pet Turtle Market Access Act of 2007 - H.R.924 - “to require the Food and Drug Administration to permit the sale of baby turtles”.

You see, there has been a ban on the sale of baby turtles as pets since 1975. Since then, great suffering has resulted… like the lack of baby turtles in pet stores. If we can’t have baby turtles for pets, after all… well then we can’t have baby turtles for pets, and that’s… not really so bad, is it?

Yet, Congressman Rodney Alexander is on the job, to ease our, um, suffering. He has come up with his law to require the FDA to allow the sale of baby turtles as pets.

What’s more, Rodney Alexander has persuaded six other members of Congress to cosponsor the baby turtle pet law. These cosponsors are:

Rep Richard Baker
Rep Charles Boustany
Rep William Jefferson
Rep Bobby Jindal
Rep Jim McCrery
Rep Charlie Melancon

These representatives all have something in common with Rodney Alexander. They’re all from Louisiana.

Curious. What the heck is it with Louisiana and baby turtles for the pet sale? It couldn’t be that somebody in Louisiana with political connections would profit from the sale of baby turtles as pets, could it?

I’m sure that’s not it. That would suggest political corruption, and as we all know, Louisiana politics is squeaky clean. Representative William Jefferson, who cosponsors this bill, is a perfect example of that, right?

On January 11, 2008, Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox made the following declaration to a group of 250 people assembled to protest torture and indefinite detention carried out by the U.S. government. He said:

This is the ugly blot on the America we believe in that we are going to finally remove. Because today’s protests and vigils are one more indication that the public outrage at the Bush administration’s continued harmful approach to national security is escalating. Mr. President, the demands for respect for human rights are only going to get louder and more widespread. And there’s only one way to reduce our chants: Shut down Guantanamo.

That sadly has proven to be untrue. In the intervening months, public outrage has not escalated. Demands for respect for human rights are not getting louder and more widespread. The chants have been reduced all on their own, without the shutdown of Guantanamo.

Some Americans do care a whole lot that their government tortures and detains people without charges in their names. Some do. But it seems that most Americans really couldn’t care less.

You can’t control what other people do. But you can control what you do.

At 7:00 am on June 28, 2008, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) will initiate a 24-hour vigil in front of the White House in Lafayette Park.

Can you be there?

Can you spread the word?

For almost twenty years now, Republicans have been screeching on and on about the Whitewater land deal. Okay, let them screech. Hillary Clinton is not going to be running for President for much longer, and the more they babble about Whitewater, the more they’re setting John McCain up for a fall.

You see, John McCain has a Whitewater scandal of his own.

My thanks go to Daniel Patterson from Tucson for pointing to the news that John McCain’s role in a corrupt land deal involving National Forest lands for the personal profit of McCain campaign donor Steve Betts, head of the SunCor Corporation.

The story isn’t just about political corruption. It also involves corruption of the environment, as the land deal was hatched as a way to open up protected national lands to commercial development, degrading the land even as the democratic process was degraded.

It’s an important reminder for those Americans on the fence about John McCain. It seems that Senator McCain has a history of using his power in unethical ways that sacrifice the good of the American people for the sake of his own ambitions.

Chip from Athens, Georgia writes the lyrics to a Bluegrass Obama song that tickles me (you’ll have to imagine the music):

Bluegrass Obama
He’s the man,
He’ll fix our country I know he can,
Don’t listen to the Clintons, they ain’t so bright,
You can vote for Obama even if you’re whiiite….
That’s right,
You can vote for Obama even if you’re whiiite…

Old Bill signed NAFTA and he signed GATT,
Hell, he ain’t no Democrat,
Hillary voted for the war, that’s right,
You can vote for Obama even if you’re whiiite….

You can vote for Obama………
Even if you’re whiiite!

That’s right.