Bush: Nuclear Terrorist #1

You've heard his name before. Our media is so wholly corporatized these days (NYT and WP ears are red for good reason), eager to lick the boots of the bushevists in hopes of a photo-op with Laura or something (actually I had one of those a while back, but that's a story for another time), that you might have forgotten Mr Blix' name. He was there for us on earlier occasion with insights that should have changed destiny and saved tens (hundreds, probably) of thousands of lives. But of course we don't do body counts these days - or on level of the executive office even properly recognize or mourn our own dead. Perhaps the thinking is that if you were not savvy (connected? corrupt?) enough to dodge service you get what you deserve? Of course when your military service involves being AWOL, getting others to destroy records of same, and then doing a trick-or-treat stunt on a flight deck, it's pretty obvious how little you actually relate to the folks being asked to do the heavy lifting.

It's refreshing to have at least the occasional speaker-out tell it like it is. If you think beyond where next meal is coming from you can't help but understand that nuclear proliferation is something our government has been fomenting for a good long time. Bush might just be channeling Dr Strangelove.

Blix Blames U.S. for Nuke-weapons Stalemate
Ex-U.N. inspector cites double standards on nonproliferation treaty

UNITED NATIONS -- Washington isn’t taking “the common bargain” of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as seriously as it once did, and that’s dimming global support for the U.S. campaign to shut down the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector said.

Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, by questioning the value of treaties and international law, has also damaged the U.S. position, Hans Blix said.

“There is a feeling the common edifice of the international community is being dismantled,” the Swedish arms expert said.

Blix, now chairman of the Swedish government-sponsored Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, spoke with reporters in the second week of a month-long conference to review the 1970 nonproliferation treaty.

Under the 188-nation pact, nations without nuclear weapons pledge not to pursue them, in exchange for a commitment by five nuclear-weapons states — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — to negotiate toward nuclear disarmament.

[snip]

Nuclear “have-nots” complain that the Bush administration, in particular, has acted contrary to those commitments, by rejecting the nuclear test-ban treaty, for example.

[snip]

What Goes Around

You do do it in the raw, I trust! Raw Story that is. It's reassuring to be reminded of prior game episodes and encouraging to see signs of spine - if not spleen in the current minority:

THE NUCLEAR OPTION

Democrats open fire, citing numerous GOP senators who have blocked nominees
Some senators filibustered more than 10

One thing is for certain: On the filibuster, Democrats aren't taking it lying down.

As Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) works to negotiate with Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Democrats circulated a document Monday detailing each of the Republican senators who had ever filibustered or blocked a nominee.

The filibuster is a process by which 40 senators can veto a bill or nominee. Democrats have 44 members in the Senate, and are thereby able—when unified—to prevent a Bush judicial nominee from being confirmed.

Some senators, like Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), have filibustered as many as 13 nominees.

Republicans contend that Democrats have sought to block nominees based on their faith. Democrats have allowed for the confirmation of more than 200 of about 240 nominees put forth by President Bush.

[snip]