ROVE SCHEDULES AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BUSH BASED ON WHEN LOU DOBBS IS NOT ON THE AIR

With Bush's plummeting approval ratings having proven that there is actually no bottom for how unpopular this regime is, Rove is still acting like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. He's gone out of his way to schedule an announcement by Bush, one sure to lop a few more points off his dismal 28% approval rating, for a time when it will get the least media coverage, late Friday afternoon drifting into a dull weekend of Anna Nicole Smith burial controversy.

The Regime will announce something today that could make Lou Dobbs turn into Tom Dobbs-- that he plans to open the U.S. border to Mexican trucks in the next six to eight weeks for a one-year experimental pilot program. The Teamsters Union has been fighting an uphill battle to keep the borders closed for the past 12 years. And it isn't because they don't like Mexicans. Many of their members are Mexican-Amricans. It's because our own Department of Transportation has found that the incredibly corrupt Mexican government and Mexican trucking companies have not met even the lax safety standards required by NAFTA.

The venal and devious Rove will have Bush announce their plan late this afternoon which will permit Mexican carriers to begin traveling beyond the current 20-mile commercial zone that has been in place since NAFTA began. And Lou Dobbs won't be on TV to warn Americans that, once again, the greed-obsessed Republicans are playing Russian Roulette with America's highways. Congress needs to get on this immediately.


UPDATE: JIM OBERSTAR AND PETE DEFAZIO STEP UP TO DEFEND AMERICA AGAINST BUSH REGIME GREED AND DISREGARD FOR REAL NATIONAL SECURITY

That didn't take long. House Democrats are in action-- even if Lou Dobbs isn't on the case yet. Defazio pointed out that "under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. has consistently compromised its environmental and labor standards. Now we're being asked to risk the safety of citizens on highways and in communities where these trucks will travel. You can be sure Congress will be keeping a close eye on the implementation of this pilot program."