Off for 2 weeks in LA,

back by Jan 4.'06 ~Hello In There

This Holiday Season, support the businesses

 that support liberal causes! Have a Blue Christmas!

No matter how bad it gets for Republicans; no matter how blatantly corrupt they've become; no matter how miserably they seem to fail at almost every turn, their main rallying cry is that the Democrats are no better because they don't have a solid, unified platform. Well, I think the Democrats have a sure-fire winner in playing the morality card. Let's drill it home to America that the Busheviks are the most unethical, corrupt administration in modern history.

In an effort to win back the House in 2006, let's remind Americans of the Bushies' 2000 campaign promise "to restore honesty and integrity" to Washington, and of all the moral and ethical transgressions and criminal behavior that followed instead. We can relentlessly remind voters of the various scandals that have rocked and socked the GOP, including:

1-The indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
2-The SEC investigation of Senate Majority Bill Frist
3-The obstruction/perjury/false statements indictment of Cheney Chief Scooter Libby
4-The wire fraud/conspiracy indictment of top GOP lobbyist and crony Jack Abramson
5-The conspiracy indictment of Abramoff partner and DeLay aide Michael Scanlon
6-The bribery indictment of California Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
7-The criminal indictment of Ohio Gov. Bob Taft
8-The ongoing Federal investigation (and hopefully soon-to-be indictment) of Bush guru Karl Rove in the CIA leak case
9-Bush's disastrous appointment of crony Michael "Brownie" Brown to head FEMA
10-Halliburton's no-bid contracts windfall, and VP Cheney's profiting from it
11-The Armstrong Williams paid propaganda campaign for No Child Left Behind
12-The Pentagon pay-for-positive-Iraq news propaganda scheme
13-The Geneva Convention violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
14-The willful misuse and manipulation of pre-war intelligence to justify the war
15-Bush's authorization of illegal NSA spying on American citizens

And keep in mind, this is just the short list. Kind of makes Bill Clinton's lapses in Oval Office morality seem quite benign by comparison, no?

A victory today for AU.

We are happy the superstitious

beliefs of the Facsist Relgious Right,

is kept out of our classrooms.

AMERICANS UNITED HAILS FEDERAL COURT RULING
AGAINST 'INTELLIGENT DESIGN' IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Sweeping Decision Should Bring Latest Creationist Crusade
To A Halt, Church-State Watchdog Group Says

Today’s federal court decision against the teaching of “intelligent design” in Dover, Pa., is a significant blow to Religious Right-led efforts to sneak fundamentalist dogma into public schools under the guise of science, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled that the Dover School Board violated the separation of church and state when it voted to introduce intelligent design into science classes by requiring students to listen to a disclaimer critical of evolution.

“This is a tremendous victory for public schools and religious freedom,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “It means that school board members have no right to impose their personal religious beliefs on students through the school curriculum.”

Americans United and the Pennsylvania ACLU brought the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District lawsuit on behalf of Dover parents who oppose the introduction of religious concepts into the public school curriculum.

Observed Jones in his 139-page ruling (PDF), “The disclaimer’s plain language, the legislative history, and the historical context in which the ID Policy arose, all inevitably lead to the conclusion that Defendants consciously chose to change Dover’s biology curriculum to advance religion. We have been presented with a wealth of evidence which reveals that the District’s purpose was to advance creationism, an inherently religious view, both by introducing it directly under the label ID and by disparaging the scientific theory of evolution, so that creationism would gain credence by default as the only apparent alternative to evolution….”

Lynn said that in light of this decision, it is time for ID proponents to give up trying to insert their personal religious viewpoints into public school science classes.

“Public schools should teach science in science class, and let parents make their own decisions about religion,” said Lynn. “It’s a simple idea that the Religious Right has never been able to grasp.”

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

more great posters here:

Diebold Variations

Dear Howard Dean: Why Bother?

December 13, 2005
Dr. Howard Dean, Chair
Democratic National Committee

Dear Dr. Dean,

Every week I get dozens of solicitations from the Democratic National Committee, from the Democratic Senate and Congressional Campaign Committees, or from various Democratic candidates and office-holders, each of them asking for contributions. "You can help us achieve victory next November," I am told.

If by "victory" is meant a majority vote cast at the polls, then the Democrats achieved "victory" in 2000, 2002 and 2004. And yet, the Republicans remain in control of the Congress and the White House.

Small wonder! Republicans build the voting machines, Republicans write the secret software, Republicans count and compile the totals. The Republican machines allow no auditing of the vote totals they report. So Republicans have the ability to "win" elections, regardless of the will of the voters. There is compelling evidence that they have done just that.

And so, if nothing is done to end the privatization of our elections and to introduce reliable verification, the Republicans will "win" again in November 2006 and then in 2008. Today, eleven months before the mid-term election, the outcome is fore-ordained – as certain as Soviet elections under Stalin, and Iraqi elections under Saddam. For, as Stalin said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything."

In the United States today, the GOP counts most of the votes, and there are no means to verify up to 80% of those votes.

In view of this dreadful situation, when the Democrats ask me for a contribution I must reply: "What's the point? It's already been settled! What remains is an empty charade."

The evidence of election fraud is overwhelming. You, Dr. Dean, are doubtless as aware of that evidence as I am. In fact, along with millions of fellow citizens, I watched the video clip of you sitting at a table with Bev Harris, as she simulated with a computer, in just a few seconds, a "fix" of an election. If I were to elaborate the evidence of fraud, space restraints would force me to halt after I had scarcely begun, and I would never get to other issues I wish to discuss in this letter.

Suffice it to say that several independent statistical analyses have put the probability of an honest 2004 election as one in several million. The thirty-plus-point polling discrepancy in last month's Ohio election reform initiatives are off the probability scale – in effect, impossible as random error. Attempts to explain away the 2004 exit poll errors are risibly lame. (For example, the theory that Republican voters were more reluctant to speak to exit pollsters is supported by no independent evidence, and fails to explain why this alleged phenomenon was confined to districts with paperless e-voting machines, and not found in paper-ballot districts).

Reports of machine failure and error during the 2004 election were overwhelmingly to the advantage of Bush/Cheney. No one has come forth with a plausible explanation of how Bush gained an additional eleven million votes over his 2000 total. (For a "gateway" into the evidence of voting fraud, see The Crisis Papers pages on " Electoral Integrity" and " Election Fraud.")

The evidence of voting fraud and election theft is no secret – it is out in the open for all to see who are willing to see. In 2000, millions watched as Republican thugs, recruited by Tom DeLay from Washington congressional offices, stormed and shut down the voting recount in Miami. The published text of the majority opinion in Bush v. Gore that handed the 2000 election over to George Bush is a self-refuting travesty. Books, articles and reports by Steven Freeman, John Conyers' staff, Fitrakis and Wasserman, Mark Crispin Miller, and the Congressional Government Accountability Office, to name just a few, all testify convincingly to the vulnerability of the election process and the illegitimacy of the election results. Occasionally a virtual confession of guilt is blurted out by a careless GOP operative. For example, as the votes in the 2004 Presidential election were still being counted, Republican Congressman Peter King was caught on camera saying "It's all over but the counting. And we'll take care of the counting." (You can see it here).

There is no cogent rebuttal to this evidence of voting fraud: there can't be, for the e-voting machines and compilers have been designed to forbid rebuttal. The software is secret and there is no independent record of the votes. Accordingly, so-called "verification" is nothing more than a re-run of the suspect tallies. Lacking substantive evidence of the reliability of the voting and compiling machines and software, all that remains for the defenders of e-voting is a pathetic plea, "just trust us!" That and ad hominem attacks on the skeptics: "get over it," "sore losers," "conspiracy theorists."

The response of the mainstream media in the face of all this? Total silence.

The response of the Democratic Party? Total silence.

The response of the media and the Party to the GAO report report validating the concerns of the critics? More silence.

Why?

Admittedly, with total GOP control of the executive and congressional branches in Washington, federal investigation and legislation are, for the moment, out of the question. But elections are administered on the state and municipal levels where, in many cases, the Democrats are in control. So I ask again:



Where are the criminal investigations?

Where are the civil lawsuits, e.g., by Max Cleland in Georgia, Walter Mondale in Minnesota, Al Gore in Florida, John Kerry in Ohio?

Why is appropriate state-level legislation not proposed and enacted by Democratic majorities?

Why is the national Democratic Party not publicizing the GAO report?

I am told that some Democratic politicians are concerned that if the Party raises a ruckus about voting fraud, the Democratic base will be discouraged and will stay at home on election day.

Well, so what? If the fix is in on election day, what does it matter if the voters go to the polls? Why try to close the gate if the horse has been stolen?

We also hear that the crime of stealing a national election is so enormous that the GOP wouldn't dare to attempt it.

Why would they not? Computer experts have shown us that the theft of a national election can be carried out by very few individuals: the programmers who write the secret software and a few centralized hackers working in "real time" as the returns start to come in. We are also told that they can do this without leaving any trace of their crimes.

Might the perpetrators be deterred by moral qualms or loyalty to our political institutions?

Get real! We are speaking here of a pack of scoundrels who have lied to the public in order to launch an illegal war costing tens of thousands of innocent lives, who have openly violated treaties and condoned war crimes, who have suspended the civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, who have absconded with the national treasury and have put our children and their children in permanent hock, who have sullied the good name and reputation of the United States before the community of nations. In the face of such manifest evil, stolen elections are moral chump change.

And consider in addition the stakes faced by these traitors: billions of dollars from the public treasury "appropriated" into private accounts and massive tax breaks for Bush's "haves and have-mores" while the rest of us face an increased tax burden and a slash in public services. And for many now in the Bush administration and in the Congress, defeat in the 2006 and 2008 elections would bring Congressional and Justice Department investigations and indictments followed by hard time in the federal slammer.

In the face of all this, who can doubt that, if given the opportunity, they would fix elections in order to keep their ill-gotten booty and their immunity from prosecution? And it is abundantly clear that they have this opportunity.

When the defenders of e-voting bother to respond to these concerns, they are heard to demand: "where's the evidence of this alleged fraud?" As noted above, we have the evidence, compelling at least, and many believe, conclusive. But such demands radically misconceive the correct burden of proof. Private citizens and organizations should not have to take upon themselves the obligation to prove their franchise either secure or fraudulent. The free citizens of an authentic democracy have the right to a secure and verifiable vote, and it is the proper task of the criminal justice system to secure that right.

So there you have it, Dr. Dean. A massive and ongoing crime is being committed against our democracy – a democracy which has now, in effect, been set aside and shut down. A democracy which can only be restored if we the people rise up and take it back.

Where, in this coming struggle, is the Democratic Party? Is it an ally of the people and a defender of our Constitution? Or is it an accomplice to the crime?

The American people are entitled to an answer.

Continuing silence by the Democratic party is, in effect, an answer. But it is not the answer to which the free citizens of a democracy are entitled.

Respectfully,

Ernest Partridge, Ph.D,
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers.

Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. He publishes the website, The Online Gadfly and co-edits the progressive website, The Crisis Papers. He is at work on a book, Conscience of a Progressive, which can be seen in-progress here. Send comments to: crisispapers@hotmail.com.

What to do about Iraq?

We need real Democrats to

stop this mess now. Vote out

Biden, Hillary and Lieberman.

~Hello In There

 

The 'Retreat and Defeat' Dems

By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real
Posted on December 14, 2005, Printed on December 14, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/29552/

For once the Republican attack machine has described the Democratic Party perfectly: retreat and defeat. It's what Democrats are all about now. I'm not talking about the Democrats' position (if they had one) on Bush's fool's errand of a war in Iraq. I'm talking about how Democrats have flatly refused to stand and fight the war here at home, the war for America's own democracy.

Democrats remind me of the that group of kids in every grammar school whose members were not smart enough to be dorks nor tough enough to be knuckle-dragging jocks. They are stuck in a social vacuum of sorts. Every now and then one of them gets some backbone and declares he's "gonna show those jocks." To which his frustrated friends eagerly egg him on. So he tosses an insult or rock at the school thugs, who of course immediately counter attack. His friends desert him leaving him screaming, "it was an accident, honest. I didn't mean it." After which the thugs would beat the crap out of him anyway.

Asked about recent comments where Dean trashed Republicans as "evil" and said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay belongs in jail, Biden told ABC's This Week: "He doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric and I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats."

And...

Responding to Dean's initial remark, Edwards said Dean "is not the spokesman for the party."Dean is 'a voice. I don't agree with it,"

That's today's Democrats. John Murtha, one of the few truly tough guys in the party, stood up and said right out loud -- "get out of Iraq, now." I'm sure Murtha didn't wake up that morning and decide to hold a news conference. He almost certainly ran his idea by fellow party members. And, from what I hear, they replied, "Sure John, go ahead. We're right behind you."

When Murtha stepped forward, alone, and fired off that rock, Republicans did what Republicans do best, they attacked. Poor John turned to rally his troops, but they were long gone. Many were clustered for cover around CNN microphones, declaring as loudly as they could, "Murtha? He's not with me," and "Hardly know the guy," and "Sure, John's a brave American. No one questions that. But he doesn't speak for me or most other Democrats on this one."  

Hillary Clinton said she respects Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., the Vietnam veteran and hawkish ex-Marine who last week called for an immediate troop pullout. But she added: "I think that would cause more problems for us in America."

Oh you pack of quisling cowards. Run away! Run Away! Retreat and defeat.  

Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'
By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 9, 2005, 07:53

Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.

Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

I don t give a goddamn, Bush retorted. I m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.

Mr. President, one aide in the meeting said. There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.

Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, Bush screamed back. It s just a goddamned piece of paper!

I ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution a goddamned piece of paper.

And, to the Bush Administration, the Constitution of the United States is little more than toilet paper stained from all the shit that this group of power-mad despots have dumped on the freedoms that goddamned piece of paper used to guarantee.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, while still White House counsel, wrote that the Constitution is an outdated document.

Put aside, for a moment, political affiliation or personal beliefs. It doesn t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent. It doesn t matter if you support the invasion or Iraq or not.  Despite our differences, the Constitution has stood for two centuries as the defining document of our government, the final source to determine in the end if something is legal or right.

Every federal official including the President who takes an oath of office swears to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he cringes when someone calls the Constitution a living document.

"Oh, how I hate the phrase we have a 'living document, Scalia says. We now have a Constitution that means whatever we want it to mean. The Constitution is not a living organism, for Pete's sake.

As a judge, Scalia says, I don't have to prove that the Constitution is perfect; I just have to prove that it's better than anything else.

President Bush has proposed seven amendments to the Constitution over the last five years, including a controversial amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and woman.   Members of Congress have proposed some 11,000 amendments over the last decade, ranging from repeal of the right to bear arms to a Constitutional ban on abortion.

Scalia says the danger of tinkering with the Constitution comes from a loss of rights.

We can take away rights just as we can grant new ones, Scalia warns. Don't think that it's a one-way street.

And don t buy the White House hype that the USA Patriot Act is a necessary tool to fight terrorism. It is a dangerous law that infringes on the rights of every American citizen and, as one brave aide told President Bush, something that undermines the Constitution of the United States.

But why should Bush care? After all, the Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper.

© Copyright 2005 Capitol Hill Blue

Here in Fort Worth, the Code Pink group,

is passing out MoveOn.org petitions to

end the war, by buying little green army men,

and attaching the message:

Congress Must Insist on a Plan to Get Out of Iraq in  2006
 Sign the petition at _www.moveon.org_ (http://www.moveon.org)

Anyone can do this:

 Just purchase some little army men.

  (Don’t worry too much about their stock. Just go through the store isles and look at all of the war toys and violent video games. There are so many war toys and they are much more expensive than a box of toy soldiers. BTW, last year CODEPINK put tags on the war toys in the stores that read: “WAR IS NOT A GAME.” Easy action, but I’ve heard that if you are caught there could be a charge.)

 You can place a small gift tag on the arm or leg. One side to read: “BRING ME HOME.”

 The other side to read: “Sign at www.moveon.org”

 Give them out as you go about your day or leave them around town!

 The deadline to sign the petition to Congress asking for an exit strategy plan to bring troops home from Iraq in 2006 is today. Please take just one minute to sign the petition by clicking on the link below.

http://political.moveon.org/iraq/?id=6515-3635413-zMtOwvpEFVl4B9bysV3IMw&t=1

MoveOn members will deliver the petition to your congressional office on Wednesday and we want to make sure we have as big a number of signers as possible.

The deadline is tonight at 6:00 PM (Eastern) so that volunteers have enough time to print out a hard copy of the petition. Please sign and then forward this e-mail to your friends family and colleagues.

Thanks for all you do.

Dictionary of Republicanisms Sequel

ARABIAN HORSE ASSOCIATION, n. Homeland security training camp [Bill Schwartz].

BEACH FRONT PROPERTY, n. Place to drill for oil [Quentin Blanchette, St. Louis, MO].

BROWNIE, n. 1) That stinky stuff stuck on Bush's boot [Paul Trepes]. 2) Piece of feces, which clogged federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina [Lucy Stephens, San Diego, CA].

CORPOCRACY, n. The form of democratic government practiced in the United States [Tom Sutter, Madison, WI].

ENTANGLEMENT, n. Power breakfasts at expensive hotels [Matthew Polly, Topeka, KS].

FEDERAL INDICTMENT, n. Criminalizing politics [Kirby Records, Los Angeles, CA].

GOP BASE, n. The haves and the have-a-lots [Thomas Hartley, Rosendale, NY].

HARRIET MIERED, v. 1) To flip-flop [Lucy Stephens, San Diego, CA]. 2) To be Borked by one's own allies [Matthew Polly, Topeka, KS].

HECK OF A JOB, n. President Bush's favorite compliment, see FUBAR [Bill Schwartz, Buffalo, NY].

PANDEMIC, n. Nature's system of population management [Bill Schwartz, Dayton, OH].

PAT ROBERTSON, pr. n., Pandemic foot-in-mouth disease [Stephen Weinstein, Pulaski, NM].

POLITICS, n. The continuation of war by any means [Martin Richard, Belgrade, MT].

REVISIONISM, n. Republican revival of Soviet era epithet [John Llewellyn, Elizabeth, NJ].

RESPECTING THE FLAG, slang. Not letting it be shown draping caskets [Neil Hoey, Missoula, MT].

SCOOTER n., Mode of transportation used to dodge indictment/impeachment [Menno Eelkema, New York, NY].

SELF-DETERMINATION, n. Right of Iraqis to select a government acceptable to us [Matthew Cross, Tulsa, OK].

STAY THE COURSE, n. Stuck between Iraq and a hard place [Joshua Vizer, San Francisco, CA].

SUPPORT THE TROOPS, slang. Outsource, to favored corporations, using no-bid contracts, what earlier generations of troopes hated, namely, KP, guard and latrine duty, and policing the perimeter, in order to facilitate maximum troop exposure to the enemy and enhance corporate profits [John Llewellyn, New York, NY].

SWIFT BOAT, v. To undermine someone's record with falsehoods [Larry Andriks, Eugene, OR].

TED STEVENS, n. Bridge to nowhere [Stephen Weinstein, San Diego, CA].

TEXAS HOLD 'EM, n. Federal government jobs fair [Michael Joyce, Austin, TX].

TORTURE, n. X-Treme research [Matthew Polly, Topeka, KS].

WMD, acronym. We Meant Democracy [Todd Andresen, St. Louis, MO].

From The Nation | Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865

I want to thank again all the loyal readers whose outpouring of interest and words of kindness have made The Dictionary of Republicanisms such a rewarding experience. All of us must continue to fight to reclaim our political discourse, so we can reclaim our politics.

VIDEO - Daily Show Reports on Fox's Misleading 'War on Christmas'

Guest blogged by David Edwards

… The Daily Show's Jon Stewart slammed Fox News and Bill O'Reilly for hyping the divisive myth that Christians in the U.S. are being persecuted. Bill O'Reilly is just one of the Fox anchors claiming that the Christmas holiday is under seige by an evil secular conspiracy.

Stewart asked Samantha Bee to help fact-check O'Reilly's reporting...

One of the best speeches of the year:

Take It Back ~ Hello In there

    We Must Take America Back
    By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
    t r u t h o u t | Speech

    Saturday 17 September 2005

    Speech delivered at the Sierra Summit 2005
    San Francisco, California

    I want to tell you how proud I am to accept the William O. Douglas Award.

    Two of my most poignant memories as a child involved Justice Douglas. One of them was when I was 11 years old I did a 20 mile hike with my little brother David and with Justice Douglas and my father, which was a bird watching hike on the C & O Canal which he played a critical role in protecting. We started at four o’clock in the morning and walked all day. Then I did a 10 day pack trip with him. He took my whole family up to Olympic Range and the San Juan Peninsula and went camping for almost two weeks when I was eight years old.

    Justice Douglas had a very strong relationship with my family. My grandfather brought Justice Douglas into public life and gave him his first job at the SEC as his deputy and then got Franklin Roosevelt to appoint him to run the SEC and played a critical role in getting him appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court. He said that his relationship to my grandfather was a father son relationship. When my father was 18 years old Justice Douglas took him for a walking tour of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, all the Asian Soviet Republics. They were the first Westerners to enter Soviet Asia after the 1917 revolution and they had an extraordinary trip and Justice Douglas wrote a book about it.

    He had a very, very close relationship with my family and as an attorney the case that was the most important case, he was our greatest environmental jurist and the most important case was Sierra Club vs. Morton where he actually said that he believed the trees should have standing to sue [applause]. And there is nobody in American history than I more admire than him. What he understood which is what I think more and more people are understanding is that protecting the environment is not about protecting the fishes and the birds for their own sake but it’s about recognizing that nature is the infrastructure of our communities and that if we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a civilization, as a nation which is to create communities for our children that provide them with the same opportunities for dignity and enrichment and good health.

    As the communities that our parents gave us, we’ve got to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the public lands, the fisheries, the wildlife, the public areas that connect us to our past, that connect us to our history, that provide context to our communities that are the source ultimately of our values and virtues and character as a people. Over the past 22 years as an environmental advocate, I’ve been disciplined about being non-partisan and bipartisan in my approach to these issues. I don’t think there is any such thing as Republican children or Democratic children.

    I think the worst thing that could happen to the environment is it becomes the province of a single political party. It was mentioned that I have a book out there that is very critical of this president and that’s true but it’s not a partisan book. I didn’t write that book because I’m a Democrat and he’s a Republican. If he were a Democrat, I would have written the same book. I’m not objecting to him because of his political party and I’ve worked for Republicans if they’re good on the environment and democrats on the same level but you can’t talk honestly about the environment in any context today without speaking critically of this president. This is the worst [applause].

    This is the worst environmental president we’ve had in American history. 

A Dictionary of Republicanisms [from The Nation]

abstinence-only sex education n. Ignorance-only sex education
[Wayne Martorelli, Lawrenceville, NJ].

alternative energy sources n. New locations to drill for gas and oil
[Peter Scholz, Fort Collins, Colo.].

bankruptcy n. A punishable crime when committed by poor people but not corporations
[Beth Thielen,Studio City, Calif.].

"burning bush" n. A biblical allusion to the response of the President of the United States when asked a question by a journalist who has not been paid to inquire
[Bill Moyers, New York, NY].

Cheney, Dick n. The greater of two evils
[Jacob McCullar, Austin, Tex.].

China n. See Wal-Mart
[Rebecca Solnit, San Francisco, Calif.].

class warfare n. Any attempt to raise the minimum wage
[Don Zweir, Grayslake, Ill.].

climate change n. The blessed day when the blue states are swallowed by the oceans
[Ann Klopp,Princeton, NJ].

compassionate conservatism n. Poignant concern for the very wealthy
[Lawrence Sandek, Twin Peaks,Calif.].

creationism n. Pseudoscience that claims George W. Bush's resemblance to a chimpanzee is totally coincidental
[Brian Sweeney, Providence, RI].

DeLay, Tom n. 1. Past tense of De Lie [Rick Rodstrom, Los Angeles, Calif.]. 2. Patronage saint
[Andrew Magni, Nonatum, Mass.].

democracy n. A product so extensively exported that the domestic supply is depleted
[Michael Schwartz, unknown].

dittohead n. An Oxy(contin)moron
[Zydeco Boudreaux, Gretna, La.].

energy independence n. The caribou witness relocation program
[Justin Rezzonico, Keene, Ohio].

extraordinary rendition n. Outsourcing torture
[Milton Feldon, Laguna Woods, Calif.].

faith n. The stubborn belief that God approves of Republican moral values despite the preponderance of textual evidence to the contrary
[Matthew Polly, Topeka, Kans.].

Fox News fict. Faux news
[Justin Rezzonico, Keene, Ohio].

free markets n. Halliburton no-bid contracts at taxpayer expense
[Sean O'Brian, Chicago, Ill.].

girly men n. Males who do not grope women inappropriately
[Nick Gill, Newton, Mass.].

God n. Senior presidential adviser
[Martin Richard, Belgrade, Mont.].

growth n. 1. The justification for tax cuts for the rich. 2. What happens to the national debt when Republicans cut taxes on the rich
[Matthew Polly, Topeka, Kans.].

habeas corpus n. Archaic. (Lat.) Legal term no longer in use (See Patriot Act)
[Josh Wanstreet, Nutter Fort, WV].

healthy forest n. No tree left behind
[Dan McWilliams, Santa Barbara, Calif.].

homelandism n. A neologism for love of the Homeland Security State, as in "My Homeland, 'tis of thee, sweet security state of liberty..."
[Tom Engelhardt, New York, NY].

honesty n. Lies told in simple declarative sentences--e.g., "Freedom is on the march" [Katrina vandenHeuvel, New York, NY].

House of Representatives n. Exclusive club; entry fee $1 million to $5 million (See Senate) [Adam Hochschild, San Francisco, Calif.].

laziness n. When the poor are not working
[Justin Rezzonico, Keene, Ohio].

leisure time n. When the wealthy are not working
[Justin Rezzonico, Keene, Ohio].

liberal(s) n. Followers of the Antichrist
[Ann Wegher, Montello, Wisc.].

Miller, Zell n. The man who shot and killed Alexander Hamilton after a particularly tough interview on Hardball
[Drew Dillion, Arlington, Va.].

neoconservatives n. Nerds with Napoleonic complexes
[Matthew Polly, Topeka, Kans.].

9/11 n. Tragedy used to justify any administrative policy, especially if unrelated (See Deficit, Iraq War)
[Dan Mason, Durham, NH].

No Child Left Behind riff. 1. v. There are always jobs in the military [Ann Klopp, Princeton, NJ]. 2. n.The rapture
[Samantha Hess, Cottonwood, Ariz.].

ownership society n. A civilization where 1 percent of the population controls 90 percent of the wealth
[Michael Albert, Piscataway, NJ].

Patriot Act n. 1. The pre-emptive strike on American freedoms to prevent the terrorists from destroying them first. 2. The elimination of one of the reasons why they hate us
[Michael Thomas, Socorro, NM].

pro-life adj. Valuing human life up until birth
[Kevin Weaver, San Francisco, Calif.].

Senate n. Exclusive club; entry fee $10 million to $30 million
[Adam Hochschild, San Francisco, Calif.].

simplify v. To cut the taxes of Republican donors
[Katrina vanden Heuvel, New York, NY].

staying the course interj. Slang. Saying and doing the same stupid thing over and over, regardless of the result
[Suzanne Smith, Ann Arbor, Mich.].

stuff happens interj. Slang. Donald Rumsfeld as master historian
[Sheila and Chalmers Johnson, San Diego, Calif.].

voter fraud n. A significant minority turnout
[Sue Bazy, Philadelphia, Pa.].

Wal-Mart n. The nation-state, future tense
[Rebecca Solnit, San Francisco, Calif.].

water n. Arsenic storage device
[Joy Losee, Gainesville, Ga.].

woman n. 1. Person who can be trusted to bear a child but can't be trusted to decide whether or not she wishes to have thechild. 2. Person who must have all decisions regarding herreproductive functions made by men with whom she wouldn't want to have sex in the first place
[Denise Clay, Philadelphia, Pa.].