START Treaty
A little background.

The START Treaty (for STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was first proposed by Ronald Reagan, and signed in 1991 by President George HW Bush. It resulted in the US and Russia eliminating 80% of their nuclear weapons over the life of the treaty.

Fast forward to now…

The new START treaty was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010 by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev. Sounds great right? Not so fast, all treaties that the US signs onto must be ratified by the US Senate. START I was ratified in 1991 in the Senate 93-6. Seems like a no brainer that the new treaty would pass pretty easily. Currently we have a few (lots) of GOP senators who are hell bent on making sure that President Obama doesn’t do anything that could be considered good. Enter Congressman Jon Kyl of Arizona. He repeatedly has delayed the ratification of the START treaty. Why? Originally he stated that ratifying before the elections would “politicize” the treaty. Now that the election is over, it seems like a no brainer that the treaty would be ratified. Damn, acoording to Sen. Kyl there is not enough time to get it done before the new congress is sworn in. Oddly enough, the new congress is a little redder in 2010. What are the odds the GOP will claim that the START treaty was a great accomplishment if theirs?

Worst President Ever?

I noticed this bumper sticker on a SUV on my way to work the other day. I don’t doubt that right wing nut jobs believe everything that they are told by their nut job leaders, but “Worst President Ever” seems pretty strong.
Just a quick rundown of a few presidents that I am pretty sure were MUCH worse than Barack Obama will ever be.

William Harrison
He was president for all of 30 days after contracting pneumonia during his inaugural. Seriously, this guy accomplished jack shit.

Warren G. Harding
He was an ineffectual and indecisive leader who played poker while his friends plundered the U.S. treasury. No joke, he really played poker while his friends took money from the U.S. treasury.

Richard Nixon
Do I really need to explain this one?

Herbert Hoover
He actually started the Great Depression. He ushered in the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that created a trade war at the worst possible time and helped lock the Depression in place.

James Buchanan
Look up Dred Scott vs Sandford. This Supreme Court ruling was made by Buchanan’s buddy
Chief Justice Roger Taney. Buchanan was pretty proud of further expanding slavery, It actually was his the basis for his whole campaign.

Andrew Jackson
The only know president to openly defy a supreme court ruling. The ruling Worcester v. Georgia was openly ignored. Jackson stated “ John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!"

Andrew Johnson
"This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men."
-- Andrew Johnson, 1866
Need I say more?

Woodrow Wilson
The Sedition Act. This masterpiece allowed for the arrest and jailing of American citizens who disagreed with the government. The Palmer Raids were ordered by President Wilson to arrest and attempt to illegally deport over 10,000 people.

Did I mention slavery?

The Pope…

The Pope recently stated that condoms were ok to use! That is great! Now we can slow down the amount of unwanted pregnancies! We can slow down the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa! We can lessen the amount of abortions due to less unwanted pregnancies! Oops, my bad, he said they were only ok for use by gay prostitutes. What a fucked up morality this guy has. He did not specify if you were allowed to use condoms if you are priest banging your favorite altar boy.