LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

Those lying eyes and that funny smirk

– Bumper sticker of the week: Republicant

– Quote of the week: "Outsourcing is a growing phenomenon, but it’s something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run." N. Gregory Mankiw, Chairman, White House Council on Economics.

– You know you’re from Iowa when:

• The only reason you leave the state is to go to Missouri to buy fireworks.

• People wear bib overalls to church.

• Detasseling was your first job.

• You’ve been on a geode hunt.

• You know what "cow tipping" is.

• You know a pickup truck can run without a muffler.

• Being called the Pork Queen is an honor.

– I hear that Mr. Bush is proposing that Michael Moore be the first person sent to Mars.

– Shop Local: Where is it I send my water bill to? You can’t say one thing and do another and expect people to "buy" it.

– I still don’t think they’re going to buy Cottage: They’ll either steal it or bankrupt it. There’s no way they’ll turn a profit under the present conditions and with OSF as competition.

– Promises, promises: Dubya takes lying to a new level:

• bin Laden and Saddam Hussein hate one another, yet Bush continues to say they were in cahoots over 9/11. Recent evidence has surfaced that proves otherwise.

• Bush continues to say that the government knew nothing about 9/11, when the fact is, the government knew plenty.

• Bush planned the war against Iraq before 9/11. He blatantly lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction in order to carry out his pre-emptive war strategy. Surely that qualifies as a war crime!

• Bush claims his tax cuts will help the lower and middle classes, when in fact that was never the purpose.

• He lied in his 2000 campaign about protecting a women’s right to choose. He said he would leave it alone.

• He lied about his criminal record. He just forgot about that DUI. Most people don’t forget, it’s pretty humiliating.

• He lied about protecting the environment. He immediately after taking office KO’d the Kyoto Accord, withdrew a new standard for arsenic in drinking water that the Clinton administration had worked very hard on, denies that global warming is due to human activities, has gutted the Park Service, and has opened up more public land for private corporate exploitation than any previous president.

• "We’re going to bring Medicare into the 21st century." How about we’re going to begin privatizing Medicare so my buddies can make some money and the pharmaceutical companies can rip us off even more than they already do. And AARP fell for it. I canceled my membership and called for the CEO’s resignation.

• He swore he wouldn’t run the government into debt. Then he made up a story that he had said he would only do so in time of war or under terrorist attack. The problem is, no one ever remembers him saying that.

• "The economy is getting better." Yea, and tomorrow it’s going to be 85 degrees. As more and more people lose their jobs or become underemployed, he points to the stock market, where his rich buddies are getting richer, and tells us things are just fine.

• The future of the United States should not be left in the hands of a man with lying eyes.

– To do something wrong is not better than to do nothing at all.

– Support our troops: Bring them home.