Why, every one as they like; as the good woman said when she kissed her cow. -- Rabelais

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Cellophane. We love it. Leftover food? Leave it in the dish, and wrap it in Saran Wrap. You can SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT, so you never have to guess, "what the hell is THIS stuff?" In much the same way, the Bush administration is transparent. At least if you're not an ask-no-questions Bush follower.

In the past few weeks there have been several revelations about what these guys are up to, and even some of the most diehard rats are jumping ship. Scott McClellan comes to mind. And Bush can always be counted on to say what might be the funniest things, if they weren't so pathetic. Take this quote, for example:

Asked in June 2004 if he'd stand by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked, Bush replied "yes." [Bush Press Conference: Savannah, GA, 6/10/04]

When the White House was asked specifically whether Karl Rove, Elliot Abrams or Lewis Libby told any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "Those individuals -- I talked -- I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands." [White House Briefing, 10/10/03]

"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." [Bush Remarks: Chicago, Illinois, 9/30/03]

"The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." [White House Briefing, 9/29/03]

Now that we know for a fact that someone in the White House did indeed leak this info, and in fact the President himself signed off on it, they brush it off with simple semantics, a la Bill Clinton, saying it was not a leak, but a "declassification". And somehow that makes it all OK.

Is there anyone left who still denies that the Administration of Bush 43 is intimately tied into the Energy and Defense industries? Certainly not me, which is why when I read today that in addition to his promise to punish anyone who engages in gasoline price gouging (a statement every bit as laughable as the one about firing the "leaker"), Bush has now OK'ed the "temporary" lift on environmental regulations pertaining to the refinement of crude oil. This, he claims, will enable refineries to produce more gas for less money. Well, it makes sense that this would cost less money, but will it really produce more gas? The aforementioned environmental regulations call for refineries to use additives like ethanol to reduce the greenhouse factor caused by automobile exhaust. Now I am no expert, but by removing the additives, won't that require MORE crude oil, and hence, more gasoline per gallon?

Meanwhile, the war in Iraq is costing the American taxpayer an estimated $195 MILLION PER DAY. Remember when Paul Wolfowitz said Iraqi oil will pay for the war?
It makes me nauseous to imagine the infinitely better ways we could be spending that money. The first thing that comes to mind is putting just a fraction of it toward research and development on alternative, sustainable energy sources. You can check this site for more information about that (please note - I am NOT a Democrat and I am not endorsing their site, I just came across this page which has some good information and some great ideas on this particular subject):

The Real Cost of the Iraq War to American Taxpayers

And now this week, after the most abysmally low approval ratings are coming in, (astoundingly the lowest of these numbers came from FOX NEWS, who might as well call themselves the BUSH NETWORK), as has been the case whenever public support for the administration wanes, our old pals Osama and now Zarqawi have BOTH released tapes, to help remind us how SAFE our leader is keeping us all!

That's why I have decided to dub this administration The Cellophane Gang: because they are the most transparent bunch of sniveling corporate tools this or any country has ever seen.

And by the way, here's your vocabulary word for the day:

fas·cism
n.

1. often Fascism
1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

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