Letter to the Editor
I'm somewhat confused about that politics of the Judge Alito nomination. What confuses me is why the Right supports him and why the Left opposes him. Maybe I'm missing something but he voted in favor of partial birth abortion. He is also someone who considers being open minded as a virtue which is clearly liberal. As compared to Harriet Miers who was a right wing born again evangelical Christian, Alito is merely a Catholic.
I was somewhat amazed the Bush didn't appoint a real right wing extremist like Judge Bork or Kenneth Starr. And considering that Alito was already confirmed as judge by a unanimous decision of the Senate I would think it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to defeat this candidate. I think the media and the Right aren't going to get the fight they are looking for.
Letter to the Editor
I think special elections should be outlawed unless it is to replace an elected official who has died or otherwise hard to leave office. Governments often run special elections to pass issues due to low turnout that wouldn't pass in a regular election. Special elections are a manipulation of the electoral system requiring people to show up for elections that are not on a date that the usually expect to vote. I'm living in California now but I used to live in Springfield Missouri where it was common practice to try to sneak in a tax increase using a special election and hoping that few people will show up to oppose it.
Special elections are designed to subvert democracy and take away control from the people. I consider it to be un-American because I believe that the vote is something sacred. So I always vote against the government in special elections because I assume that if the government is trying to subvert the will of the people then it must be something that will not stand on its own merits. So I urge people in all states to vote against the government in all special elections as a way of preserving our rights as voters.
Letter to the Editor
President Bush has had a lot of problems lately and he needs to fix them quickly. Maybe Bush needs to think outside the box and try some unusual ideas to turn things around, not only for his legacy, but for the good of the country. Thinking outside the box I would suggest the following:
First - for the Supreme Court - appoint Patrick Fitzgerald. Not only is he universally liked, but it might solve two problems at once. He then needs to shake up his staff getting rid of Rove and bring in someone who knows how to get the job done. Someone who knows how to turn the economy around. Bush should make Bill Clinton chief of staff and the economy Czar. If you put politics aside and go with what works, Clinton is a natural choice. And if there's another opening on the Supreme Court - appoint Hillary Clinton. That would keep her from running for president and winning in 2008. Of course the right wing of the Republican party would hate it but for the last 5 years we did it their way and it's been a huge failure. Now that Bush can't run for president again and the Right Wing is backstabbing him, what's the point in sticking with failure?
Letter to the Editor
In these days when we talk about how to honor the 2000+ troops lost in Iraq I think that Scooter Libby's excuse that "he forgot" about exposing a CIA agent's identity as part of selling this fraudulent war to the world is more than just hard to believe. I think it's an insult to those who died thinking that they were protecting freedom, but died for a lie instead. Although Scooter's trial is technically about him obstructing justice by going out of his way to mislead the prosecutor in his investigation of who committed a crime the bigger question is, "Are we at war because Scooter was part of a lie?" And where is the outrage at the Whitehouse? Why isn't Bush outraged about the idea that America was misled into war? Why doesn't Bush want to talk about it?
This administration is far to comfortable with lies. To them it's all just "politics" and "everyone knows" that lying is just part of the game. It doesn't matter what's true, what matters is what you can get away with. America is supposed to accept that government is dishonest and that it's OK to lie. Well, it isn't. Lying to America to convince us that Iraq was close to having "the bomb" and leading us into war is treason. The question that I ask is, "Was Bush part of the lie that took us to war?" And if Bush lied he too should resign and go to jail.
Letter to the Editor
President bush got more unfortunate news today as Lewis (Scooter) Libby was indicted on 5 felony counts that follows a string of other unfortunate events. He lost his nominee to the supreme court. The price of gas hovers at 3 dollars a gallon and Exxon posted record profits. The death toll in Iraq crossed 2000 and mothers like Cindy Sheehan are following him around questioning if he lied to start the war. Then there was the hurricane Katrina debacle where hundreds died because the FEMA director was inexperienced and clueless. This all is on top of the growing deficit and higher inflation, with more and more people no longer able to afford health care costs. New bankruptcy laws prevent people from starting over in favor of credit card companies. His program to change Social Security is going nowhere and congress is working on cutting Medicare and Medicaid so raise money to give permanent tax cuts to the super rich.
The right wing is turning on him as well as the Republicans in Congress who fear the 2006 elections will no longer favor them, even with rigged voting machines. Teen pregnancies are up and high school graduation is down. Taxes are up and services are down. The stock market has been flat hovering 2000 points below where it was 6 years ago. Then there's Halliburton kickbacks, Bin Laden is still free, the insurgents are winning, no weapons of mass destruction, Abu, Ghraib torture scandal, questions about the 9-11 attack, a gay hooker posing as Whitehouse press reporter, reporters going to jail, questions about stolen elections, global warming causing more hurricanes, bird flu, anthrax attacks, huge increases in heating oil, natural gas, and electricity costs, arctic oil drilling, mission not quite accomplished, Tom Delay was indicted, Bill Frist is under SEC investigation, and with the Republicans in power there's no one else to blame.
Poor Mr. Bush. Being president is hard work.
You would think a delivery service like Federal Express would have their shit together but they don't. In the last 2 week they have screwed up 4 times in a row.
It started with my HP laptop that had the screen die. HP sent Fedex out to pick it up. Scheduled for before 10:30 they didn't show till 3:00. Two days later they were supposed to deliver the computer before 10:30 - but they waited till 2:30. I wasn't home at the time so I had to pick it up.
No I have another package of computer parts and for the second day in a row the Federal Express truck just drives by without stopping. The tracking system indicates that I wasn't home - but the truth is I sat here and watch the truck drive by without stopping.
I sit here in amazement that these people actually manage to stay in business. I called them up and they say they are going to contact the driver in his truck and get back to me. That was about an hour ago and they haven't called yet. Let's see what it takes to actually get my package delivered. - Time 3:23 pm.
Watch this delivery process live. Tracking number is: 091993412703473
Time: 4:24 - Called again. Now they are telling me that they messaged the terminal but that there isn't always anyone at the terminal. I recorded the phone call. We got disconnected. Waiting for them to call back.
Time: 5:05 - No call back after disconnect. I call again. I get some guy on the phone who also says he's going to call the driver and call me back in 10 minutes. Recorded the call again.
Time: 5:36 - Fedex calls me back. They say they left a message on the driver's cell phone. They are also giving me a story that it wasn't on the regular driver's truck and that a second truck was delivering my package with some temp driver. The guy I talk to claimed to be the manager down there and he seems to be trying to get it delivered. He told the driver to call me but no one called and the woman I talked to earlier said she called the driver too.
Time 6:10: It finally arives. Driver almost drove by again.
When it comes down to it the real reason that this nomination failed is because she was a totally incompetent, inexperienced, unqualified, and a Bush cronie - so much so that even Republicans couldn't stomach it. Especially after the Michael Brown FEMA disaster. I was looking forward for a longer process before it failed. Amazingly enough Meiers is going to be the one who picks the next nominee.
Of course we're going to have to listen to the Christian pound their chests as if they had something to do with it but what they don't realize is that Bush doesn't need them anymore. Besides if the Christian Right wants to take credit for their control of the government then they can take credit for the deficit, the price of gas, tortue, lies, murder, that failed war in Iraq. In fact whenever I see a Bush supporter at the gas station filling up his gas guzzler and forking over $100, I just have to grin.
One of the things I think is disturbing is that Democratic Senate Minority leader Harry Reid supported Meiers. Just as Bush is the Republican moron who brings stupidity to his party, Harry Reid is almost as stupid as Bush is. What he's doing as a leader of the Democrats is a mystery to me.
I'm still waiting to see ig Jesse Ventura will run for president. I'm ready to stick it to both parties.
PRESS RELEASE: Date 10-26-2005
From: Marc Perkel
Founder / First one - Church of Reality
CONTACT: marc@perkel.com
TITLE: The Church of Reality files for Trademark on the word "Reality"
The Church of Reality has filed for a trademark on the word "Reality". Trademark Application Number 78735626 in the International Class 045: Counseling in religious and spiritual matters was filed on October 18th 2005. The Church of Reality seeks to protect the intellectual property rights of the use of the trade mark "reality" to ensure that "Reality" is in the right hands. "Part of the reason behind the filing of this trademark", says Marc Perkel, Founder of the Church of Reality, "is to make sure that no one else files for it first. It is part of our mission as a religion to protect the integrity of reality. We wouldn't want the term reality to be under the control of religions who have nothing to do with reality."
"We also believe that very few, if any other religions will be affected by this trademark because even though members of other religions believe their religion is real, most all other religions have no reference to reality in their religious texts." Perkel states pointing out that the word Reality appears only once in the Bible and it's never used by God, Jesus, or any of the prophets. "Christians, for example", states Perkel, "would have no basis for a claim to oppose this trademark. Reality is simply not part of their published religious texts."
Even though Perkel jokes that if granted this trademark that every time a preacher says "reality" that they have to pay me a quarter, the Church of Reality is dedicated to spreading awareness of reality and encouraging people to make reality part of their daily lives. "In these days of complex trademark and intellectual property laws we feel that the Church of Reality should be the proper custodian of the rights to reality. Who is better suited to own reality than us? The Church of Reality is the rightful custodian of reality itself."
Perkel realizes that his trademark might not be granted but that even if his trademark is denied that the denial itself might protect reality for the people. "If we lose this the right way it might have the same effect as winning.", states Perkel. "The trademark office might decides that no one can own the right to reality, or they might decide that our previous trademark of "Church of Reality" also covers "Reality" by itself. So we could also win by losing this. We also feel that it will be good for people to debate the issue of whether or not terms like reality merit trademark protection. And we are also interested in seeing if any other religions oppose our trademark and attempt to state in legal documents what their relationship is to reality. All discussion of reality is a good thing."
The Church of Reality, who just this month received 501C3 tax exempt status, is a religion based on believing in everything that is real. Reality, as the name implies, is the central theme of the Church of Reality and represents or religious identity. Religions have different marketing themes that they use to compete for the religious mind space as they compete for membership. Except for the King James Bible, most all other Bibles are copyrighted works which generate income for their copyright holders. So people in the religion business do use intellectual property rights to protect their funding sources. We as the Church of Reality believe that our religious identity might be harmed in the future should a competing religion abuse our identity by confusing people leading them to believe that they are us and raising money in our name. Therefore we feel it is our responsibility to address this.
Marc Perkel
First One
Church of Reality
Letter to the Editor
It is somewhat ironic that Vice President Dick Cheney is trying to weaken the anti-torture bill to create loopholes allowing suspected criminals to be tortured when he is facing possible criminal charges himself. As someone who may of outed the identity of an undercover CIA agent it makes me wonder of Cheney himself would be subject to his proposed torture exception provision that would allow CIA agents working undercover to use torture. Perhaps if we shipped Cheney to GITMO and kept him awake 24 hours a day playing peace protest music he might crack and confess to outing the identity of Valerie Plame. Maybe we should allow special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to tortue Bush's staff and see how it works?
Letter to the Editor
On the eve of criminal indictments against top Bush administrations officials America has now lost 2000 of our military in Iraq. They all died because Bush lied to America fabricating evidence to trick us into an unjust war. We are losing this war and perhaps rightfully so because, like Vietnam, we are on the wrong side of history. If Bush lied and the prosecutor can prove it, he should be put on trial for murder and treason and if convicted shot as a traitor. The way it looks to me is that the Bush administration knowingly lied sending thousands of people to their death. This strikes at the very heart and soul of who we are as a country and what we stands for. Are we going to face reality as a nation and do the right thing or are we going to continue to believe our own lies?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation ( http://www.eff.org ) receintly turned 15 years old has been a steadfast friend in keeping the internet free and protecting our online rights. If not for the EFF we wouldn't be enjoying the liberties and freedoms we have today. Over the last 15 years EFF has done an extraordinary job with a small staff and a tight budget.
In these days of multiple hurricanes and disasters I am concerned that people might forget organizations like EFF and donate all their money to other causes that are getting more attention. However - EFF is extremely important and that in the long run our online freedom is something we dare not put at risk because we are focusing on other issues.
So although I care about a lot of things, I'm going to donate to EFF and make sure that they don't get forgotten in a world of overlaping disasters. I would like to help do the things that EFF does, but they do it so much better. So by donating to them I feel like I am hiring them to support the causes and issues that are important to me. So as we approach the end of the year I'd like others to join me and support EFF so that we can continue to keep the Internet in the hands of the people.
Tom Dalay pranced into court demanding the judge recuse himself because he's a Democrat. In Texas judges are elected and all of them are either Democrats or Republicans. So the fact that the judge is a Democrat in Texas doesn't mean the same thing as other states that prohibit judges from being involved in politics.
What Delay screwed himself is that the judge ruled that another judge should make the decision about his recusal. What this means is that he will eventually get a hearing and have to wait maybe 90 days and if Delay wins then he'll get a new judge that may also be a Democrat. Similarly, if a Republican is appointed then the Prosecutor in theory could also ask for a new judge.
In the mean time the charges sit there and Delay is hobbled. Delay won't be back at his job at least until this is resolved and it's not going to proceed while they are arguing about who the judge is going to be. In the mean time my pld buddy Roy Blunt will get used to having Delay's job and is unlikely to hand it back to him if Delay wins down the line. The bottom line is Delay has already lost no matter what the outcome is at this point.
Letter to the Editor
During the nomination of John Roberts various Republican related groups were running TV ads supporting Roberts and saying that he shouldn't be required to answer questions. The also demanded an up or down vote on the nomination. Now Harriet Miers is the nominee and I don't see the Republicans running ads urging that she get a fair process. It seems the Republicans have a different process for nominees they like and nominees they don't like. If Roberts was urged not to answer questions an get and up or down vote then why should Miers nomination process be different? After all - this isn't the first Bush crony sent to the Senate for approval.
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I think the real reason Bush appointed Miers is because he needs someone he can call from jail who will get him out.
PRESS RELEASE: Date 10-19-2005
From: Marc Perkel
Founder / First one - Church of Reality
http://www.churchofreality.org
CONTACT: marc@perkel.com
TITLE: The Church of Reality get IRS non-profit recognition
The Church of Reality announces today that it has received 501(C)3 Tax Exempt IRS status. The IRS called today to confirm that the approval had been granted and that the paperwork will be sent in the next few days. The approval process taking nearly 2 years is finally complete after a long and complex process.
There were several complications with the Church of Reality getting it's approval relating to technical definitions as to what constitutes a "Church". Definitions of words mean different things to different organizations. The CoR recently amended it's application to apply as a religious organization rather than a Church to fit into IRS guidelines. A Church - according to the IRS - is a building where wedding a funerals are performed - where people get together - where there is a youth program, etc. As a new religion that was created on the Internet the CoR didn't yet fit this model and this created confusion in the approval process requiring the application be transferred to Washington for further scrutiny. The IRS is skeptical of Internet based churches.
Although the IRS looks closely at the religion itself it turned out that at no tome was the belief system an issue. There is no requirement that a religion worship a fictional deity in order to qualify as a religion. Much of the delay in processing was due to the IRS staff being overworked as agents are reassigned to investigate Islamic religious groups to see if they are funding terrorists.
CoR founder Marc Perkel says, "This is a big step forward for the Church of Reality. We could have become a church without applying for IRS status and that is perfectly legal. However we wanted to go through the process to demonstrate that we are a credible organization and that everything is legitimate. There is a psychological component to promoting a new religion and even though it's not required, to have IRS status creates the appearance of legitimacy. It shows that the CoR intends to be a major player in the competition for the religious mind space."
The Church of Reality is a religion based on believing in everything that is real. What makes it a religion is that what a person believes in is a personal choice. Most people choose to believe in some sort of fictional based religion. A Realist who practices Realism is someone who has dedicated himself to the pursuit of reality the way it really is and is committed to evangelizing reality to move society in a reality based direction. Realism is a doubt based rather than a faith based religion where truth is purified through scrutiny.
Information on the belief system of the Church of Reality can be found on the their web site at http://www.churchofreatity.org
Letter to the Editor
Many people are asking, "Is God punishing America for its sins?" Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan declared that God was punishing America for attacking Iraq. TV Preachers Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell often declares Florida hurricanes is the wrath of God for being pro gay. But is it God who's punishing America or is Reality itself punishing America?
Warm water in the Gulf of Mexico causes more and stronger hurricanes. Ignoring warnings that terrorists are about to attack leads to terrorists being successful. Going to war with Iraq for reason that turned out to be lies leads to a drop in America's trustworthiness and empowers our enemies. Having incompetent political cronies in charge of FEMA leads to hundreds of deaths. A nation spending more than it earns leads to bankruptcy. And overpopulation leads to resource shortages.
It is not God but Reality that is punishing America. We are a nation who has turned our back on reality and allowed our nation to be run by a Christian cult who envisions the future in the destruction of the world and is advancing the cause of Armageddon though a reckless disregard for the principles of cause and effect. If we are going to turn America around we are going to have to put Realists in charge who put reality first when making the important decisions that affect us all. Now that we've seen the devastation that is caused by ignoring reality I think it's time for America to come home to the real world.
Letter to the Editor
It's seems that Iraq has passed it's constitution - or have they? More people voted for the constitution than there were registered voters in some areas. Some people might disagree wether or not a constitution approved by a rigged vote is legitimate. But there's one think I think we can agree on - that Iraq has an American style democracy.
Letter to the Editor
President Bush this week touted Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers as being an evangelical Christian in order to send a signal to his base that the "fix is in" and that he knows how she will vote on issues like Abortion and the Separation of Church and State. But can this nominee serve two masters? Is she going to put the Constitution ahead of her religious beliefs as required by her oath of office? Or is she going to substitute her religious beliefs for the law as her fellow evangelicals expect?
As the founder of the Church of Reality I find it disturbing that the president appears to be part of a plot to undermine our basic freedoms and shift power to a small cabal of Christians who feel that they own America. We Realists have a big problem with the mixed messages and the level of deception that is going on around this nominee. America has turned it's back on reality and it's time to question whether or not we should accept this nomination based on our faith in President Bush.
Letter to the Editor
The Religious Right is angry with Bush for nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court instead of someone who is clearly going to overturn abortion.They are threatening to turn against Bush like they do every time they don't get their way. But what they don't get is that Bush doesn't need them any more. He's been reelected and he can't run again. So Bush isn't appointing someone for the Religious Right - he's appointing someone for himself - someone who's going to be loyal to him personally. Bush doesn't care about abortion or religion. It's just an act. It's all fake. Both sides are always ready to stab the other in the back if they don't get what they want. They just need to learn not to believe their own lies.
Letter to the Editor
There's an old saying, "The most important thing in politics is sincerity. Once you learn how to fake that you have it made." Today President Bush demonstrated that principle with a fake teleconference where Bush pretended to do an unscripted interview with troops in Iraq. However they forgot that the cameras were on while the troops were being coached as to what would be asked and what to say. A fake interview to sell a fake war to an American audience who wants to believe that they aren't being suckered into sacrificing the lives of their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers for no reason at all. I believe that when someone has to lie that they are admitting that the truth is something other than what they are trying to get you to believe.
Bush would use the military to enforce a quarenteen in the case of a bird flu pandemic that could cost the lives of hundreds of millions of people. It would be like declaring martial law in order to stop the spread of a disease. But Bush refuses to infringe on any corporate pharmaceutical patents that would allow other companies to manufacture a cure or a vaccine. We are expected to be contained by the military until we die in order to protect corporate profits.
I have a different idea. Should such and event happen then it would be the duty of every citizen to start slaughtering pharmaceutical company executives until they get the idea that the lives of people come before company profits. Maybe after they start dying would the get the idea that life is more important than money. We the people will never become the slaves of international corporations and we are not going to die or be killed to protect corporate profits.
You know - as of right now this pandemic is mostly theoretical. It did happen in 1918 but it is not happening now. So why is everyone going nuts over this as if it's already here? Not to sound to tin foil hat but are they manufacturing a plauge? Would Bush start a plauge merely for political purposes? He started a war for political purposes. It will be more than a coincidence if there just happen to be an outbreak just after this idea is being introduced. And that Bush already has plans to use the Military to contain it.
One of the articles about this is in the extended section. That is what I'm responding to. If I sound like I'm nuts - read this!
Politics behind bird flu
Lawmakers grapple on how to handle potential spread of deadly virus
David Shuster
MSNBC Correspondent
It’s a disease that has already killed millions of birds in Southeast Asia and is spreading to humans across Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. U.S. health officials fear the contagious and deadly Asian flu may be mutating, making it immune to antidotes, creating an international catastrophe.
According to Dr. Frederick Leung at the University of Hong Kong, “You would be surprised how fast that virus can travel from a Third World backward country farm into New York City.”
The flu spreads easily from birds to humans, like by eating infected chicken, and there are worries that it could spread human to human, through something as simple as kissing. Airline passengers in places like Hong Kong are being scanned for the fever, but officials, including some in the United States, warn the Asian flu could end up killing tens of millions of people.
“The world is obviously unprepared, or inadequately prepared, for the potential of a pandemic,” says Secretary Mike Leavitt of Health and Human Services.
One reason is because of poor monitoring overseas. Another is because there are not enough doses available of the main anti-virus drug known as Tamiflu. President Bush recently brought CEOs of six vaccine companies to the White House to address expanding the American stockpile.
President Bush said, “The people of the country ought to rest assured that we are doing everything we can.”
But in the United States, experts say there are less than 10 million doses of the vaccine and manufacturing millions more will take time. Democrats argue the administration is moving too late. They say the administration should relax patent issues, so dozens of companies can make the drug. Something the pharmaceutical industry and the Bush administration oppose.
The other political flash point is over government plans for containing an outbreak. The president suggests using U.S. troops, one of the first ever been proposals for domestic health crisis.
“Who best to be able to effect a quarantine? One option is the use of a military that’s able to plan and move,” said Bush, addressing the issue. “That’s why I put it on the table."
The military was dispatched to help keep people out of cities along the Gulf following Hurricane Katrina, but the potential reliance on trained warriors in a fully-populated city instead of police startles some on the political right.
“When you put them in a role that is more appropriate to domestic peace officers, who ideally are trained to respect the constitutional rights of the citizens they’re protecting — if you put soldiers in that role, if you put the 82nd Airborne in that role, you run the risk of collateral damage to civil life and liberty,” said Gene Healy of the Cato Institute.
It’s a debate in part between scenarios. Imagine being kept in your hometown and forced at gunpoint to stay in a quarantine. But also imagine the chaos if you and millions of other Americans in the face of a pandemic are on your own. As one observer noted, while the political fight over the Asian flu may be getting intense, just wait.
Letter to the Editor
I'm happy that we can give aid to the people in Pakistan. But I can't help but to wonder if we brought in the heavy lift helicopters dropping food and water and getting evacuees out like we did there how many more lives could have been saved in New Orleans. Too bad we can't bring in the same resources for America that we do overseas.
Letter to the Editor
Will gas prices at record highs the Republicans in the House again showed their loyalty to Big Oil over the American but passing another huge giveaway to help cash rich oil companies to build more refineries. The bill does nothing to curb gas prices or the expected huge increase in heating oil and natural gas prices expected this winter. The government has become the looter of the people attaching itself to us like a leach instead of serving the people like it should be. The American people are like the proverbial from in a pot of boiling water. We have accepted far to much government corruption and we are a nation in deep denial.
Letter to the Editor
Is Creationism evolving into Intelligent Design? As our scientific knowledge increases it is becoming more and more obvious that the universe is more than a few thousand years old. We now know through genetic mapping that humans and monkeys are a 98.5% genetic match. So in order for creationism to survive in the face of scientific evidence the concept of creationism is evolving. Now the word "day" in the Bible might mean "a thousand years" or perhaps a billion years. And as we see science take apart the Bible we see Creationism evolving into "Intelligent Design".
But Intelligent Design just obscures science. It basically assumes that anything complex had to be made by "someone" and it stops there. I find it dishonest for Christians to claim that ID isn't really Creationism and should consider the commandment "Thou shalt not lie". I would encourage Christianity to evolve into reality.
Letter to the Editor
I'm concerned about Bush's pick of Harriet Ellan Miers for the Supreme Court because she has never been a judge. Bush seems to want to pick his personal friends for high positions instead of people who are experienced an competent. Why pick someone to be a judge on the Supreme Court who has never been a judge? That makes as much sense as Michael Brown being picked to be head of FEMA - and we know how that turned out.
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I'm sure that there will me more to come on this - but has this person even argued a case in the Supreme Court? Is she even a member of the Supreme Court Bar? This woman's only qualification is she's a Bush political hack.