It's November. One year until the Presidential election, and still most Americans aren't paying attention to what's really going on. I talked to one person recently who told me he's firmly in the corner of Wesley Clark, and then in the next breath told me he was a Republican. Not only did this guy not realize that Bush would be running for re-election, he didn't realize Clark was a Democrat. I'm not sure the second thing makes him as stupid as the first, but still, this does not bode well for America.

I'm just waking up to a few scary facts as it is. I must have missed a memo. When, exactly, did the under-30 demographic become right wingers? I know it was that way in the Reagan years, but that changed. When did it change back? I'm hearing now that as many as 67% of voters 30 and under would vote Republican if the election was held tomorrow. The only good news is that only 28% of them bother to vote. When you look at the average salaries, average medical benefits and number of jobless in this demographic, you've got to figure there's been some bad PR on the Dem side and a great magic show from the GOP. Something to work on before the election, or maybe rocking the vote isn't that good an idea.

Okay, this is always scary, but let's do it. Time to fly by Iraq.

Soldiers are no longer dying at a rate of one or two per day. The insurgents are taking our people out in greater numbers, along with plenty of Iraqis, Italians and whoever else is unlucky enough to be on the scene. The worst thing we could do is panic. Let's just take a deep breath and read the exit strategy.

Oh yeah. Sorry. We don't have one. We're not likely to have one, either. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on Face The Nation, sidestepped a question about mounting U.S. deaths in Iraq by taking the ideological high road.

"We are doing this for a better world, a better region," he said, "and I think history will be a good judge, of not only our intentions but our accomplishments."

That depends on two things: how do you define "good" and who will be filtering the events for the sake of history? To listen to the voices of the Bush Administration, you'd think things could be a little better but we're right and we'll prevail no matter what. You'd think the soldiers are happy in their work and proud to be there, like none of them have read or heard about the deceptions that may have sent them into harm's way and cost the lives of some of their friends.

[Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Iowa)]

If you listen to NPR you've heard soldiers asking tough questions and making statements reminiscent of those made by the kids we tossed into Viet Nam. Something along the lines of I was told this was about one thing, and now it looks like it was something different. Something I wouldn't fight for. Yet a member of the House of Representatives, Deborah Pryce (Republican - Ohio), claims she met many soldiers in Baghdad and all of them, to a man, "felt we were on the right track, were proud of what they were doing, felt the mission was a good and positive one, and were brave and committed to this." Interesting. Pryce, a member of the GOP house leadership committe, and the rest of her delegation had to be flown out of the country every night and back in every morning, as the place is just too damned dangerous for important Americans.

By the way, we have some CIA intelligence here. I know you probably trust that about as much as a late night infomercial at this point, but as it doesn't read like it was written by RovenBush to serve the purposes of RovenBush, it might be worth a look. Apparently this report says there is a fast-growing number of Iraqis who are giving up on the U.S. and, figuring the insurgents will win (and there may even be a possible return to power by Saddam Hussein), they are turning against the Americans and siding with the insurgents. I would say that things could get ugly in a hurry, but things are already terribly ugly in Iraq. Let's say things could surpass our worst nightmares, and certainly those of our troops, if everything collapses.

Let's fly on. We have a few other things to check out.

As we head back across the water toward America, I'll turn up the radio so you can hear this Jethro Tull tune, in case you're a fan. See, we'll be going over parts of New Jersey where you won't be hearing any Tull at all, so we need to get it in while we can. He pulled a Dixie Chicks. He had the nerve to say he was tired of seeing all the American flags hanging out of "every bloody station wagon, out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area." As conservative rockers blinked in confusion, Anderson compounded the situation by observing "It's easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism." For this crime, WCHR in Monmouth-Ocean, NJ, a station surprisingly nicknamed "The Hawk," has banned Tull music from its airwaves and asked its listeners who are going to see the rock icon in concert to wave flags at the show. Take THAT, Aqualung!

Let's get back to stuff that matters.

Senator Zell Miller of Georgia says he's a Democrat, but he votes with Repubicans, hangs out with Republicans, speaks out against Democrats like a Republican would, and now he's backing George W. Bush for President in 2004. He makes embarrassing comments that make one wonder if he should even be in public office. Take his recent remarks on the Senate floor concerning the Democratic blockage of the confirmation of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown, an African-American, to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Keep in mind her nomination is opposed for a bevy of reasons including attitudes about abortion, Affirmative Action and corporate liability, and her well-known penchant for ignoring precedent when it suits her cause but not when it suits a cause that doesn't fit her political beliefs. Miller said "The Democrats in this chamber refuse to stand and let her do it. They're standing in the doorway, and they've got a sign: Conservative African-American women need not apply. And if you have the temerity to do so your reputation will be shattered and your dignity will be shredded. Gal, you will be lynched."

Brilliant. Tom Daschle has asked for an apology, and he's not alone. Wade Henderson, director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is just one of many who are outraged by Miller's idiotic remarks.

"Either Senator Miller has conveniently forgotten a frightening period of American history," said Henderson, "or he is willfully demeaning all those African-Americans who were hung from trees throughout the period of racial segregation in the South."

See, you just can't throw these things out there and expect that no one will feel sickened. Zell Miller has forgotten nearly as much about diplomacy as he ever learned and he seems to be running on fumes. That he won't apologize should shock no one. Miller never thinks he's wrong. In fact, the more he speaks these days, the more Right we realize he is. If he had an ounce of integrity he'd resign and run again in the next election as a Republican instead of taking up a Democrat spot while clearly being a Republican.

Even though it's Thanksgiving time, we've spent way too many minutes with this Miller turkey. We have to fly. But just in case you're giving him any points for at least being an original thinker, let's let ol' Zell have the last word regarding his lynching analogy. In a statement that could be called the anti-apology, he points out that he's not the first to use the lynching analogy in reference to Judge Brown. He pointed a crotchety finger at African-American columnist Thomas Sowell, saying it was he who first used it in his October 24th column. Never one to pass up a chance to throw gas on a fire, Miller added "I think it sums up the situation accurately."

You know, we should fly the hell away from Zell. Even he isn't important compared to some issues.

Like abuse of the Patriot Act. Did we see this coming, or what? Give our government the ability to BE the "Big Brother" we always feared and they will become it. After they insisted it would only be used to protect us from terrorists, the government has invoked the Patriot Act to gather evidence against San Diego strip club owner Michael Garaldi, who quite possibly is guilty of corruption and attempting to bribe city councilpersons, but that's not the point here. The point is that he's not a terrorist. Evidence was gathered in a manner that would be illegal in any circumstances other than those covered by the Patriot Act. Why was this done? How is it okay? How is this not the slipperiest fucking slope we've ever stood on as Americans concerned about our civil liberties? How does this little action make sense after reading the Department of Defense's Dispelling the Myths page, a nifty bit of writing we can now officially call fiction?

GET MAD! I don't care if this guy is innocent, guilty, nice or the biggest scumbucket in San Diego. It's not about that. It's about you and me and keeping Big Brother where he belongs: in a book by George Orwell, and not in the Justice Department, the White House or the FBI offices. I mean it. Get very angry. Look at things happening in the news and break it down to "what is it really and who does it benefit." Look at the wording of the bill that allocated 87 billion dollars for rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan. Lots of riders, to be sure, but it's the anti-profiteering rider that is missing you should really be looking into. At the last moment, the White House Gang yanked a rider that would have provided stiff penalties including fines and prison time for anyone defrauding the taxpayers.

Holy Premeditation, Batman, what could it mean!?

How interesting that this is falling into place as Halliburton is charging the government (which means the taxpayers, which means you and me) $2.65 per gallon for gasoline they are sending into Iraq from Kuwait while an Iraqi company called SOMO is paying 97 cents per gallon to do the exact same thing. Having already been paid for the gas, Halliburton is turning around and reselling it in Iraq. You know, that sounds strikingly similar to the kind of thing that ends up with executives going to jail for fraud. Similar, but not quite. Not this time.

If you're really fed up with it and you can't wait for the elections, or you're not feeling too confident in the outcome of said elections, take a look at votetoimpeach.org. This is a legit organization run by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who served during the Johnson administration. I think there have always been impeachment pushes with just about every president, but this one has valid claims listed in the Articles of Impeachment and, thus far, over 350,000 signatures on the petition. They need volunteers and donations, so if you can help in that way, great, but first and foremost they just need your signature and they'd like it if you'd send the link to all your friends. Just read the Articles of Impeachment and see if you don't start feeling either angry or queasy.

This is it, folks, the end of today's flyby. Welcome to the rose garden of the White House, where Resident RovenBush recently held one of his rare press conferences and told the country how safe it was. It's true, he said "The world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership. America is more secure." He may have said more, but the terrorist alert was elevated and I dove into my bomb shelter for the night. I'm thinking of using my tax cut payoff to put a little fridge down there so I don't have to come out so dangerously often. I'll be out for the next flyby, though. Probably.

(C) 2003 - DJ Johnson