The Ming Report

April, 2006

April 10, 2006 - Is the Bush Administration planning military action against Iran? Senior Pentagon officials quietly claim that planning is going on and that it includes the use of nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Rice has already indicated that the problem with Iran is not just its nuclear ambitions; it is the regime itself. The President has pointedly and publicly refused to rule out military force or the nuclear option. The Vice President has made it a point to announce that all options remain on the table. With the midterm elections in the offing and Republican control of Congress in doubt are we to engage Iran? If we are then what are the stakes?

Let’s start with oil. Iran is second only to Saudi Arabia as a source of the world’s energy with fully 25 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. The Bush Administration has been threatening Iran with economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations. On Saturday Ambassador John Bolton warned that should the United Nations refuse to act then the United States was prepared to impose sanctions on its own. Iran’s answer has been defiance. They know in Teheran that the world’s largest consumer of oil can wage an effective trade war against the nation that controls 25 percent of the world oil supply. John Bolton’s economic saber rattling has been singularly ineffective...click here for entire article

WITHOUT DELAY

April 7, 2006 - Tom Delay took himself out of the running to become the first Sugarland Republican to stand trial and for re-election at the same time. He had just won re-nomination handily against two opponents scoring an overwhelming majority. He said that his decision to bow out and resign from the House by June was only because he spare his party from a bitter and expensive campaign to retain his seat. It had nothing to do with his indictment. It had nothing to do with the news that a second trusted aid had just plead guilty to accepting bribes while working for the Hammer. It had nothing to do with the fact the two of his most trusted aides have now agreed to help the prosecution in the ever widening Abramoff corruption investigation.

He said that he would continue to work to advance conservative issues but that he falt that he could be more effective out of Congress than in it. In June he will change is official residence from Texas to Virginia and his office address from the Capitol to K Street. With Jack Abramoff headed to prison for six years the Congressman may see a real opportunity as the new King of K Street. One thing is sure, Tom ain’t planning on going back to killing bugs. You won’t spot him driving around Dallas with a plastic roach attached to the roof of his BMW...click here for entire article...click here for entire article

TOM JOAD, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

April 4, 2006 - The President of the United States spoke with a Texas drawl and told us that it was the duty of the nation to confront the challenge of poverty in America with a bold initiative. No, the President was not Lyndon Johnson and the bold initiative of which he spoke was not the Great Society announced some 40 years ago. The backdrop for the speech was the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. Much of the city of New Orleans was still under water as the President spoke. The President who proclaimed our solemn duty to address poverty in America was not the Democrat who launched the War on Poverty. It was the Reformer with Results; the Compassionate Conservative; the erstwhile Governor of Texas the Republican George W. Bush.

Nine months have intervened since the President spoke of America’s duty. Nine months of inaction on the part of the Congress and the Executive Branch have been torn from the calendar and the Republican controlled Federal Government has been missing in action. The President’s rhetorical call for bold action has been forgotten and ignored. Since the President spoke those words summer has past in to fall; fall has descended into winter; and winter has passed into spring...click here for entire article