THE FLUB-A-DUB AWARD

August. The heat is on. Thank heavens we haven’t had a power outage. Speaking of power outages. How about that Eastern outage that spread all the way to the Midwest? You talk about a corporate joke on good-old America. The terrorists of the world are laughing at just how easy it would be to disrupt our energy sources. Another prime example of how effective deregulation has been. If someone doesn’t keep an eye on these corporate jokers, inevitably, greed takes over. They take short-cuts and make promises they have no intention of keeping. Another in a long line of corporate Flubs.

Karl Rove, Bush’s long-time friend and advisor, is just about as big an idiot as you would want to find. He made Bush Presidential by having him repeatedly remind us of 9/11, terrorists, tax cuts, and Saddam Hussein, usually all in one sentence. Another Texan, Rove claims the Republican Party can save America from such evils as terrorists and liberals, which he seemingly tends to correlate. It is Rove and Tom DeLay who are trying to redistrict Texas, so they can get rid of six or seven Democratic congressmen, in preparation for the 2004 election. This guy is worse than a Flub. He’s a loosely knit lunatic.

Still, there are worse Flubs being made in August. Bricking the end of Cherry street has to be one of them. Not exactly a historic area, although fairly well-to-do. Seminary Street was a blunder, this is a Flub. And the firemen got a nice four percent raise. Not many of those being had nowadays. Particularly in Galesburg. When the council voted to let the taxpayers pay for a new industrial park, they were told we were broke. Now all of a sudden we got more money than the federal reserve. No, make that Bill Gates. From day to day, the story seems to be different coming from this administration, mainly depending on what they’re fronting. It’s time for a change. As for the firemen, good work. You took advantage of an outfit that apparently doesn’t have a clue, and ain’t about to get one.

August’s major Flub goes to John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General, and his on-going effort to make fascism fashionable in the U.S. He is currently stomping the country to promote his Patriotism II Act. This is a smart piece of work that takes advantage of 9/11 by playing on our fear. He basically wants himself and his henchmen to be able to do just about anything in the name of "protecting our lives and American liberty." The House, currently in an ultra-conservative mode, recently voted against a major portion of this newly proposed bill, to replace Patriot Act I. Now Bush and Ashcroft are worried that the bill may not fly. So Mr. Ashcroft began a "road show" to try and sway public opinion. Of course, he’s only going to speak to closed audiences. He ain’t about to address anyone who disagrees with him. That would cause him to think.

August ends five years for the Flub’s. You’ve never let me down. Thanks.