Today feels real

By Carol Gee

Today is the last full day that George W. Bush will hold the office of President of the United States. And this story from Politico.com "It's over: Bush staffers make exits" (1/16/09), makes it a reality in my mind.

(Image: Free Images.uk)

What will be going on in the White House this Monday, Martin Luther King Day, this Day of Service planned by the Obamas? ProPublica: reported last week that the "Midnight Regs: [are] Nearing the End Game" (1/16/09). Our current president may still be keeping his pen at the ready, really. Politico.com: listed "10 Bush pardons to watch for" (1/19/09). Politico posts pros, cons and odds. To quote:

1. Pardon Prospects: Military and CIA interrogators of war-on-terror prisoners. . . 2. Pardon Prospect: Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. . . 3. Pardon Prospect: Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales . . . 4. Pardon Prospects: Former American Israel Public Affairs Committee Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, Former Pentagon Analyst Lawrence Franklin . . . 5. Pardon Prospect: Former Justice Department official Bradley Schlozman . . . 6. Pardon prospect: Former junk bond king Michael Milken . . . 7. Commutation Prospects: Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean . . . 8. Commutation Prospect: Former Governor George Ryan (R-Ill.) . . . 9. Commutation Prospect: Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard . . . 10. Commutation Prospect: Randall “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.)

Update re (7): Bush commutes sentences of former U.S. border agents.

Republican defeat has been a bitter pill to swallow -- Regarding How Obama Got Elected.com"# (1/14/09) Jon, my regular contributor, notes, "Here is a website the repugs. are rehashing their loss. Palin is spouting lies again as a sore loser. Hello, "BITTER," party of one, or maybe a party of all the repug. losers." And, unfortunately, some Republicans will hold to a spoiler mentality, rather than making the best of their bad situation. Here is an example from Think Progress "Blackwell: GOP Must Defeat Job-Creating Stimulus Because It Will Ruin GOPs Election Chances"# published (1/17/09). What is so sad is that they "just do not get it": From Think Progress comes this sad headline:"Think Progress Fred Barnes doesn't bat an eye when C-Span caller and Barnes fan calls Obama Mr. Monkey Boy"# (1/17/09). McClatchy concludes with commentary that the: " 'Just say no' philosophy is failing GOP"* (1/13/09). To quote:

. . . the party of can-do – has become the party of stale white bread and "just say no."

Not just "no" to immigrants – a desperate move to pander to the close-the-border GOP crowd.

Or no to fair wages in a struggling economy while handing over a trillion dollars of taxpayer-financed bailouts to the fat cats in Detroit and Wall Street.

Scandals or discouraging realities will not all be going away today: Reported by The Public Record: "Universities And Other Scoundrels Reach Late Deals With Bushies"* was the headline on (1/17/09). Also this news comes from Buzz Flash: "Report Finds Major U.S. Companies Have Offshore Tax Haven"* 1/16/09). And finally from Facing South is this story: "Black Lung Rising"* (1/13/09). To quote:

The sight of more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash waste covering a community in Eastern Tennessee has clearly shown the limits of claims made by the coal industry's "clean coal" marketing campaign.

To get another view of the dirty reality behind coal, we need to look inside the lungs of Appalachian miners.

Meanwhile in Congress there is very little possibility that anyone will be held accountable for all of this. In his new book, "35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush" (available for download from Feral House Books), Congressman Kucinich establishes Bush as the 'decider' behind countless abuses of power. But nothing will come of it. And Republican senators such as Inhofe from Oklahoma will continue to be out of step with the bipartisan mood of the country. The story is from Think Progress: "Inhofe: Browner Is A Secret Socialist Who Belongs To A Scary Group Called The Center For American Progress"* (1/14/09) To quote:

Appearing on Fox News this morning, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) peddled the emerging right-wing trope that Barack Obama’s White House energy and climate adviser Carol Browner is a secret socialist.

Many of us will still be tempted to pinch ourselves to make sure it is all real. For me I plan to continue with my efforts to get closure, to use one of my therapeutic terms. This post is one of three left in my set of Monday (Republican) drafts. They will all get published today, and I will be rid of them! At least, for a while.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)