Republican Round-up

In less than a week things will change in Washington, D. C. and in our entire nation. On January 20 a new administration, headed by President-elect Barack Obama, will be sworn in. We progressives are under the impression that we will then be able to say, "Goodbye to all that." We believe that the environment will change, that "Grassroots for Obama" will have a voice and actions to take.

Activists will have different things upon which to focus in the blogosphere, and different organizations to support. But until that happens South by Southwest will focus on processing the past eight years of Republican rule. What follows is a round-up of links sent to me within the past few weeks from my regular contributors, "betmo" and Jon (see Hat Tip Key below).

From the year 2009 --

From the legislative branch -- Congressional actions point out the best and worst:

• AfterDowningStreet "House overturns Bush order on papers secrecy*" (1/7/09)
• ClickOrlando: "Congressman Asks For Break To Watch UF Title Game*" (1/7/09)

From some of your least favorite Republicans -- Progressives have loved to rant about people like these outrageous folks:

• Think Progress: "Joe the Plumber: I think media should be abolished from reporting on war#" (1/11/09)
• Yahoo! News: "Pastor in Gay Scandal: I'm back from the wilderness#" (1/10/09)
• Truthdig-Ear to the Ground: Did NBC dump Ann Coulter?* (1/5/09)

From George W. Bush, himself -- Illustrations that reinforce that the man just does not "get it:"

• ThinkProgress: "White House Asked Howard To Stay In Blair House To Give ‘Some Plausible Reason’ For Refusing Obama,#" see also The Raw Story* (1/7/09)
• Truthout: "New Book Reveals How Faith Is Like a Covert Operation for the Bush Family"
• DallasNews: "Bush wants gate on route to Dallas home*" (1/6/09)
• Huffington Post: "Bush Using Federal Funds To Secure Dallas Home#" (1/6/09)
• CNN Political Ticker: "Bush makes last-minute appointments*" (1/6/09)
• Democrats.com and NARAL: "Stand Up for Prevention and Public Health" (re: Bush's failed abstinence-only policy - 1/7/09)
• McClatchy: "Bush first ex-prez to face limit on Secret Service protection*" (1/4/09)

From no particular category -- The stories you would not have read otherwise:

• Huffington Post's Craig Aaron:"Fairness Doctrine: Secret Republican Agenda Exposed!#" (1/4/08)
• The Raw Story: "Hackers take down ring of progressive blogs*" (1/7/09)
• Think Progress: "Pew: 'The overall mood of the public' has gotten worse under Bush#" (1/5/09)
• BuzzFlash: "FBI plans large hiring blitz of agents,experts*" (1/5/09)
  

From the end of last year -- Family, faith and hunger:

• AlterNet: "Why Do People Cling to the Myth of the Nuclear Family?*" By Mark Steel, Independent UK. (12/24/08).
• The Raw Story: "CNN guest: Bush Bible comment shocked evangelicals#" (12/6/08)
• BobGeiger.com: "GOP Senator Wants More God In Government Visitor Center#"(12/4/08)
• Common Dreams: "The Hunger News" (11/21/08)
  

Perhaps now we will be able to take our focus off Bush/Repub Rant over failures, scandal, trials and tribulations.

References:

• ProPublica: "This Year In Scandals: Forgotten Stories From the Market Meltdown" (12/31/08)
• Newsweek: "Choose New Careers for Bush-Cheney#" (1/10/09) Give these men a job. Deadline for entry: January 20. Posted: 31 Dec 2008.
• About: Civil Liberties by Tom Head (11/17/08), reference articles:
  

1. Understanding the Religious Right
   
2. Cal Thomas on the Future of the Religious Right
   
3. What's Next for the Conservative Movement? by Justin Quinn
   

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

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

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