Saturday, September 30, 2006
Why Bill Clinton Pushed Back
If the whole truth comes out about 9/11, it will be the end of the Goopers power for generations.
E. J. Dionne Jr. - Why Bill Clinton Pushed Back - washingtonpost.com:
Bill Clinton's eruption on 'Fox News Sunday' last weekend over questions about his administration's handling of terrorism was a long time coming and has political implications that go beyond this fall's elections.
By choosing to intervene in the terror debate in a way that no one could miss, Clinton forced an argument about the past that had up to now been largely a one-sided propaganda war waged by the right. The conservative movement understands the political value of controlling the interpretation of history. Now its control is finally being contested.
Bush on Defensive
Well, I guess this means that can't do another false flag op.
After this NIE, it would surely be blamed on them.
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide:
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said today that fighting in Iraq isn't making Americans less secure at home.
``This argument buys into the enemy's propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we are provoking them,'' Bush said in his weekly radio broadcast. ``We do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism.''
This is the seventh week in the past eight that Bush has made the war on terrorism the topic of his radio address. His comments capped a week in which Democrats used the findings of a National Intelligence Estimate to argue that the Iraq invasion has made the U.S. less safe from terrorist attacks.
After this NIE, it would surely be blamed on them.
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide:
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said today that fighting in Iraq isn't making Americans less secure at home.
``This argument buys into the enemy's propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we are provoking them,'' Bush said in his weekly radio broadcast. ``We do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism.''
This is the seventh week in the past eight that Bush has made the war on terrorism the topic of his radio address. His comments capped a week in which Democrats used the findings of a National Intelligence Estimate to argue that the Iraq invasion has made the U.S. less safe from terrorist attacks.
Revolt of the Generals
We are with you, Sirs
Revolt of the Generals:
A revolt is brewing among our retired Army and Marine generals. This rebellion--quiet and nonconfrontational, but remarkable nonetheless--comes not because their beloved forces are bearing the brunt of ground combat in Iraq but because the retirees see the US adventure in Mesopotamia as another Vietnam-like, strategically failed war, and they blame the errant, arrogant civilian leadership at the Pentagon. The dissenters include two generals who led combat troops in Iraq: Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack Jr., who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division, and Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the First Infantry Division (the 'Big Red One'). These men recently sacrificed their careers by retiring and joining the public protest.
Behind Public Optimism on Iraq, Administration Had Doubts
So, again, why is Rumsfeld still there? He could have left at the end of the first term, but No.
So why has Bush not excepted his resignation or fired him?
We still say the reason has to do with 9/11.
Behind Public Optimism on Iraq, Administration Had Doubts - washingtonpost.com:
In May, President Bush spoke in Chicago and gave a characteristically upbeat forecast: 'Years from now, people will look back on the formation of a unity government in Iraq as a decisive moment in the story of liberty, a moment when freedom gained a firm foothold in the Middle East and the forces of terror began their long retreat.'
Two days later, the intelligence division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff circulated a secret intelligence assessment to the White House that contradicted the president's forecast.
Instead of a 'long retreat,' the report predicted a more violent 2007: 'Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year.'
A graph included in the assessment measured attacks from May 2003 to May 2006. It showed some significant dips, but the current number of attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi authorities was as high as it had ever been -- exceeding 3,500 a month. (In July the number would be over 4,500.) The assessment also included a pessimistic report on crude oil production, the delivery of electricity and political progress.
On May 26, the Pentagon released an unclassified report to Congress, required by law, that contradicted the Joint Chiefs' secret assessment. The public report sent to Congress said the 'appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007.'
So why has Bush not excepted his resignation or fired him?
We still say the reason has to do with 9/11.
Behind Public Optimism on Iraq, Administration Had Doubts - washingtonpost.com:
In May, President Bush spoke in Chicago and gave a characteristically upbeat forecast: 'Years from now, people will look back on the formation of a unity government in Iraq as a decisive moment in the story of liberty, a moment when freedom gained a firm foothold in the Middle East and the forces of terror began their long retreat.'
Two days later, the intelligence division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff circulated a secret intelligence assessment to the White House that contradicted the president's forecast.
Instead of a 'long retreat,' the report predicted a more violent 2007: 'Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year.'
A graph included in the assessment measured attacks from May 2003 to May 2006. It showed some significant dips, but the current number of attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi authorities was as high as it had ever been -- exceeding 3,500 a month. (In July the number would be over 4,500.) The assessment also included a pessimistic report on crude oil production, the delivery of electricity and political progress.
On May 26, the Pentagon released an unclassified report to Congress, required by law, that contradicted the Joint Chiefs' secret assessment. The public report sent to Congress said the 'appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007.'
Friday, September 29, 2006
War in October?
If Bush does this, without a Declaration of War by Congress, it will be the final nail in the coffin of American Democracy.
WorkingForChange-War in October?:
Bush positions strike group in Gulf prior to midterm elections
It's an empirical fact that in modern America, two rhetorical devices must be used repeatedly by our president before we can invade another country. First, that country must be conflated with its leader, so that we are bombing one person, not, say, 70 million people. Second, that leader must be demonized. He must be Worse-Than-Hitler, an evildoer, a charter member of the Axis of Evil, a 'devil,' if you will. That stench in the streets of whichever country we've targeted isn't the smell of napalm in the morning. It's sulfur.
Sometimes, our president can meet both propaganda objectives in the same phrase. As when, in the run-up to the Gulf War, Bush Senior would threaten to attack 'Sodom' Hussein.
And, so, I've been holding out the vain hope that the Bush administration is incapable of launching a new war against Iran. How can we nuke Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when most Americans can neither spell not pronounce his name? The Prince of Darkness has many names, but most roll easily off the tongue.
Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq - New York Times
The latest Woodward War Tome looks like it might contain a few major bombshells
Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq - New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The White House ignored an urgent warning in September 2003 from a top Iraq adviser who said that thousands of additional American troops were desperately needed to quell the insurgency there, according to a new book by Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter and author. The book describes a White House riven by dysfunction and division over the war.
Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill - washingtonpost.com
Other than codifying King George's right to do as he damn well pleases, the Senate, yesterday, granted him and his cabal of crooks a legislative pardon for everything at which he has already been caught.
In so doing, the Senate has taken us far beyond a point of no return, as it severely limits legal accountability for this appallingly corrupt administration.
Many Rights in U.S. Legal System Absent in New Bill - washingtonpost.com:
The military trials bill approved by Congress lends legislative support for the first time to broad rules for the detention, interrogation, prosecution and trials of terrorism suspects far different from those in the familiar American criminal justice system.
President Bush's argument that the government requires extraordinary power to respond to the unusual threat of terrorism helped him win final support for a system of military trials with highly truncated defendant's rights. The United States used similar trials on just four occasions: during the country's revolution, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and World War II.
Included in the bill, passed by Republican majorities in the Senate yesterday and the House on Wednesday, are unique rules that bar terrorism suspects from challenging their detention or treatment through traditional habeas corpus petitions. They allow prosecutors, under certain conditions, to use evidence collected through hearsay or coercion to seek criminal convictions.
The bill rejects the right to a speedy trial and limits the traditional right to self-representation by requiring that defendants accept military defense attorneys. Panels of military officers need not reach unanimous agreement to win convictions, except in death penalty cases, and appeals must go through a second military panel before reaching a federal civilian court.
The USA is no more! The terrorists have won.
Senate OKs detainee interrogation bill - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation that Republicans intend to use on the campaign trail to assert their toughness on terrorism.
The 65-34 vote means the bill could reach the president's desk by week's end. The House passed nearly identical legislation on Wednesday and was expected to approve the Senate bill on Friday, sending it on to the White House.
The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but grant the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.
The White House and its supporters have called the measure crucial in the anti-terror fight, but some Democrats said it left the door open to abuse, violating the U.S. Constitution in the name of protecting Americans.
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation that Republicans intend to use on the campaign trail to assert their toughness on terrorism.
The 65-34 vote means the bill could reach the president's desk by week's end. The House passed nearly identical legislation on Wednesday and was expected to approve the Senate bill on Friday, sending it on to the White House.
The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but grant the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.
The White House and its supporters have called the measure crucial in the anti-terror fight, but some Democrats said it left the door open to abuse, violating the U.S. Constitution in the name of protecting Americans.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Bush contends with 2 reports refuting Iraq gains on Yahoo! News
Good God Amighty, Dems, how much more of an invitation do you need?
If you don't jump on this, we are all lost!
Print Story: Bush contends with 2 reports refuting Iraq gains on Yahoo! News:
An intelligence report showing an upsurge in Islamic militancy put the White House on the defensive on Wednesday in an election-year debate over whether President George W. Bush has made America safer.
In a second blow to the president, a new U.N. report said the Iraq war was providing al Qaeda with a training center and fresh recruits, and was inspiring a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan hundreds of miles away.
Bush ordered the release of parts of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Tuesday to try to stamp out a political fire after a leaked portion said the Iraq war had increased Islamic extremism.
But a key judgment in the declassified version that could backfire on Bush said intelligence experts believed activists identifying themselves as jihadists 'are increasing in both number and geographic dispersion.'
The report, prepared in April, also said the Iraq war had become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.'
The U.N. report released on Wednesday jibed with the NEI's conclusions.An intelligence report showing an upsurge in Islamic militancy put the White House on the defensive on Wednesday in an election-year debate over whether President George W. Bush has made America safer.
n a second blow to the president, a new U.N. report said the Iraq war was providing al Qaeda with a training center and fresh recruits, and was inspiring a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan hundreds of miles away.
Beware The NIE
TomPaine.com - Beware The NIE: "A rollicking controversy has developed over the leaked U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism, apparently the first comprehensive U.S. intelligence product on terrorism since the 1990s. So far, nearly all of the coverage—and the superheated political debate around it—has revolved around the NIE’s reported conclusion that the war in Iraq has inflamed anti-American passions in the Middle East and the Muslim world. Paraphrasing the NIE, and stating its conclusions in its own words, The New York Times , which broke the story on Sept. 24, reported that the war and the occupation of Iraq has “helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism” and adds that “the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.” The headline in the Times proclaimed: “Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat.”
That conclusion, that the war in Iraq is creating terrorists, was treated as manna from heaven by Democrats, and not surprisingly. At first glance, the NIE seems to drive a stake through the heart of President Bush’s central argument for the continuing war in Iraq—namely, that the war is making Americans safer. Ted Kennedy used a similarly grim metaphor, calling the NIE “the final nail in the coffin for President Bush’s phony argument about the Iraq war.”A rollicking controversy has developed over the leaked U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism, apparently the first comprehensive U.S. intelligence product on terrorism since the 1990s. So far, nearly all of the coverage—and the superheated political debate around it—has revolved around the NIE’s reported conclusion that the war in Iraq has inflamed anti-American passions in the Middle East and the Muslim world.
That conclusion, that the war in Iraq is creating terrorists, was treated as manna from heaven by Democrats, and not surprisingly. At first glance, the NIE seems to drive a stake through the heart of President Bush’s central argument for the continuing war in Iraq—namely, that the war is making Americans safer. Ted Kennedy used a similarly grim metaphor, calling the NIE “the final nail in the coffin for President Bush’s phony argument about the Iraq war.”A rollicking controversy has developed over the leaked U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism, apparently the first comprehensive U.S. intelligence product on terrorism since the 1990s. So far, nearly all of the coverage—and the superheated political debate around it—has revolved around the NIE’s reported conclusion that the war in Iraq has inflamed anti-American passions in the Middle East and the Muslim world.
Congressman Wants FBI Anthrax Briefing
We need to support this!!!!
We know who was behind the anthrax attacks! How the hell could we not know?
Ah, yes, the Grassy Knol, and all that.
Bullshit!
It is not us, who are mad.
We are, rather, the observers of madness:
Up close and personal, 'tis part of our duty to chronicle the madness.
Humanity will survive, as it always does, whatever climatological hell we are all about to enter, due to our own stubborness and denial.
Hopefully, the ones who are left: learned the lesson and do not sleep until the message is passed on , like the Gospel, to future generations, though we understand it will someday be abused just as the current Gospel is.
It's the way of mankind, to take the word of God and find a way to use it against others, to take dominion over others and to project onto God, one's own horrendous, fragmented psychic structure.
Congressman Wants FBI Anthrax Briefing:
A New Jersey congressman said Wednesday it should have taken the FBI days, not years, to determine the anthrax used in 2001 that killed five people was much less sophisticated than believed.
Democratic Rep. Rush Holt asked FBI Director Robert Mueller for a classified briefing about the status of the bureau's investigation into who was behind the attacks.
Several published reports this week said the FBI had acknowledged the anthrax used in the attacks was commonly available and not weapons-grade.
In his letter to Mueller, Holt said the FBI's failure to determine what kind of anthrax was used meant that 'resources were diverted and countless agents wasted their time investigating a small pool of suspects, instead of the broader search we now know was needed.'
The FBI has conducted 9,100 interviews and issued 6,000 subpoenas.
It's another terrorist attack! Given the infomation in the public domain, especially contemporaneous reporting, we all know that the anthrax attacks were perpetrated by people who were complicit in 9/11; whomever they were, right?
We know who was behind the anthrax attacks! How the hell could we not know?
Ah, yes, the Grassy Knol, and all that.
Bullshit!
It is not us, who are mad.
We are, rather, the observers of madness:
Up close and personal, 'tis part of our duty to chronicle the madness.
Humanity will survive, as it always does, whatever climatological hell we are all about to enter, due to our own stubborness and denial.
Hopefully, the ones who are left: learned the lesson and do not sleep until the message is passed on , like the Gospel, to future generations, though we understand it will someday be abused just as the current Gospel is.
It's the way of mankind, to take the word of God and find a way to use it against others, to take dominion over others and to project onto God, one's own horrendous, fragmented psychic structure.
Congressman Wants FBI Anthrax Briefing:
A New Jersey congressman said Wednesday it should have taken the FBI days, not years, to determine the anthrax used in 2001 that killed five people was much less sophisticated than believed.
Democratic Rep. Rush Holt asked FBI Director Robert Mueller for a classified briefing about the status of the bureau's investigation into who was behind the attacks.
Several published reports this week said the FBI had acknowledged the anthrax used in the attacks was commonly available and not weapons-grade.
In his letter to Mueller, Holt said the FBI's failure to determine what kind of anthrax was used meant that 'resources were diverted and countless agents wasted their time investigating a small pool of suspects, instead of the broader search we now know was needed.'
The FBI has conducted 9,100 interviews and issued 6,000 subpoenas.
It's another terrorist attack! Given the infomation in the public domain, especially contemporaneous reporting, we all know that the anthrax attacks were perpetrated by people who were complicit in 9/11; whomever they were, right?
E.J. Dionne: 'Silent majority' won't help
E.J. Dionne: 'Silent majority' won't help: " What could prove to be the most important factor in the 2006 elections is overlooked because it is unseen: The Republicans cannot try to curry favor with a 'silent majority' that favors the Iraq War because a majority of Americans, both vocal and quiet, has come to see the war as a mistake.
President Bush's defenders from Donald Rumsfeld to Karl Rove have tried hard to cast opponents of the war as supposedly weak on terror. But the charges have not taken hold because most Americans don't agree with the premise linking the two."
President Bush's defenders from Donald Rumsfeld to Karl Rove have tried hard to cast opponents of the war as supposedly weak on terror. But the charges have not taken hold because most Americans don't agree with the premise linking the two."
House approves bill on terror detainees - Yahoo! News
House approves bill on terror detainees - Yahoo! News:
"WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.
The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come. Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear.
Even as the House debated the bill, senators of the two parties agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical measure, all but ensuring its passage on Thursday.
Republican leaders are hoping to work out differences and send Bush a final version before leaving Washington this weekend to campaign for the Nov. 7 congressional elections.WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.
The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come. Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear. (and what the hell else is new?)
"WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.
The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come. Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear.
Even as the House debated the bill, senators of the two parties agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical measure, all but ensuring its passage on Thursday.
Republican leaders are hoping to work out differences and send Bush a final version before leaving Washington this weekend to campaign for the Nov. 7 congressional elections.WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.
The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come. Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear. (and what the hell else is new?)
That is all they have, now; fear. Watch how fast they jump on that fear button at the slightest provocation. Only people who are cowards, and chicken littles in the first degree, would see the Republicans as the answer to terrorism.
Listen, little authoritarian sheeple; you have been lied to, in a very major way. You have been deceived, just as your own scripture predicted you would be, according to your own interpretation of that scripture.
The Great Deceiver has come, but he is not bin Laden. Whatever Osama may be, he deceives no one. He doesn't seem to try.
He is a self-righteous individual, if I ever saw one. He believes what he says, no matter how nutty it might seem to us. He is so trustworthy a witness to the world situation that his words are now quoted by the war preznit, himself.
The French say that Osama is dead. The French resistance says that. Ah, yes, the leakers.
Don't much care whether he is or isn't. But, it sure seems like someone does.
WHY?
Michael Klare, Why Oil Prices Are Falling
Yet another reminder that the people we are up against are not as infallible or as secure as they would have us believe. They are scared! Wouldn't you be, if you were them? Even a sociopath feels his own pain and fear, when he is brought face to face with consequences.
They will fight against whatever or whomever they perceive as a threat,
Just allow me to say, that scared is much scarier to me than the "they are evil" meme. That one is so widely used, against so many people, some of whom I actually know and do not find in the least evil, as to be meaningless anymore. As a matter of fact, the "evil" people I know, mostly "libruls" in this country, aren't even scary.
Scared people are usually not at their best, mentally or emotionally. Scared people are fookin' scary, as my inner Scot would say.
What one might do, as a very scared person, is the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it, Mate.
TomDispatch - Tomgram: Michael Klare, Why Oil Prices Are Falling:
The price of crude oil, which this summer threatened to top $80 a barrel, briefly dipped under $60 for the first time in six months yesterday, a 23% decline from July highs. In the Midwest, where gas not long ago had soared to $3 at the pump, it now averages, according to the Energy Department, a nationwide low of $2.20 a gallon ($1.89 at one Jackson, Missouri gas station).
At the same time, another set of figures rose precipitously. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 42% of Americans 'agreed with the statement that the Bush administration ‘deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections.'' Two-thirds of those respondents were registered Democrats for whose party the price at the pump has proved a potent issue. The price of crude oil, which this summer threatened to top $80 a barrel, briefly dipped under $60 for the first time in six months yesterday, a 23% decline from July highs. In the Midwest, where gas not long ago had soared to $3 at the pump, it now averages, according to the Energy Department, a nationwide low of $2.20 a gallon ($1.89 at one Jackson, Missouri gas station).
At the same time, another set of figures rose precipitously. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 42% of Americans 'agreed with the statement that the Bush administration ‘deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections.'' Two-thirds of those respondents were registered Democrats for whose party the price at the pump has proved a potent issue.
They will fight against whatever or whomever they perceive as a threat,
Just allow me to say, that scared is much scarier to me than the "they are evil" meme. That one is so widely used, against so many people, some of whom I actually know and do not find in the least evil, as to be meaningless anymore. As a matter of fact, the "evil" people I know, mostly "libruls" in this country, aren't even scary.
Scared people are usually not at their best, mentally or emotionally. Scared people are fookin' scary, as my inner Scot would say.
What one might do, as a very scared person, is the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it, Mate.
TomDispatch - Tomgram: Michael Klare, Why Oil Prices Are Falling:
The price of crude oil, which this summer threatened to top $80 a barrel, briefly dipped under $60 for the first time in six months yesterday, a 23% decline from July highs. In the Midwest, where gas not long ago had soared to $3 at the pump, it now averages, according to the Energy Department, a nationwide low of $2.20 a gallon ($1.89 at one Jackson, Missouri gas station).
At the same time, another set of figures rose precipitously. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 42% of Americans 'agreed with the statement that the Bush administration ‘deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections.'' Two-thirds of those respondents were registered Democrats for whose party the price at the pump has proved a potent issue. The price of crude oil, which this summer threatened to top $80 a barrel, briefly dipped under $60 for the first time in six months yesterday, a 23% decline from July highs. In the Midwest, where gas not long ago had soared to $3 at the pump, it now averages, according to the Energy Department, a nationwide low of $2.20 a gallon ($1.89 at one Jackson, Missouri gas station).
At the same time, another set of figures rose precipitously. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 42% of Americans 'agreed with the statement that the Bush administration ‘deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections.'' Two-thirds of those respondents were registered Democrats for whose party the price at the pump has proved a potent issue.
TomPaine.com - Showdown Over Habeas
We must fight this bill with whatever tools we have.
This is the bill that will define America for generations to come, unless there is an uprising of the people, with the intent of holding major criminals accountable for major crimes and, therefore, removing the present authoritarian regime from office.
It seems we are going to be left with no choice.
TomPaine.com - Showdown Over Habeas:
Sen. Patrick Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee. This is the text of his statement to the panel from Monday, September 25, 2006.Sen. Patrick Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee. This is the text of his statement to the panel from Monday, September 25, 2006.Sen. Patrick Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee. This is the text of his statement to the panel from Monday, September 25, 2006.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
2001 memo to Rice contradicts statements about Clinton, Pakistan
Lying Rice gets gobsmacked in less than 24 hours after latest lies.
The Raw Story 2001 memo to Rice contradicts statements about Clinton, Pakistan:
A memo received by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shortly after becoming National Security Advisor in 2001 directly contradicts statements she made to reporters yesterday, RAW STORY has learned.
'We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda,' Rice told a reporter for the New York Post on Monday. 'Big pieces were missing,' Rice added, 'like an approach to Pakistan that might work, because without Pakistan you weren't going to get Afghanistan.'
Rice made the comments in response to claims made Sunday by former President Bill Clinton, who argued that his administration had done more than the current one to address the al Qaeda problem before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She stopped short of calling the former president a liar.
Is Junior trying to keep Poppy out of jail?
Clinton could have persued this particlar Rethug criminality, but chose not to, when he came into office. Instead, he chose to let bygones be bygones, and the very same Rethugs then attackd him for 8 long years.
Proving once again, that it is not good for the country to allow criminal actors in high places to get away with their games.
They must all, finally, be held to account!
Gerald Plessner:
September 25, 2006 -Will George W. Bush have to pardon his father so that George H. W. Bush may never be prosecuted for participating in a criminal conspiracy and violating Federal law in the months before the election of Ronald Wilson Reagan to the presidency and George H. W. Bush to the vice-presidency of the United States?
This question, which brings into question the legitimacy of the Reagan presidency, is much more significant than the details of an Arkansas land deal. They are raised by the facts contained in documents recently discovered by Robert Parry, an outstanding journalist who exposed many of the details of the law-breaking Reagan-Bush years, including the Iran-Contra scandal.
Americans who are upset by the criminal ethos of current Republican politicians need to understand that the Republican principles and conduct are nothing new.
The truth is that what happened to Al Gore in 2000 involves many of the same players and tactics involved in the defeat of Jimmy Carter in 1980 --- that a Republican criminal conspiracy assured the victory of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush for president and vice president of the United States. But like all things Republican, the story wouldn't be complete without a cover up.September 25, 2006
-Will George W. Bush have to pardon his father so that George H. W. Bush may never be prosecuted for participating in a criminal conspiracy and violating Federal law in the months before the election of Ronald Wilson Reagan to the presidency and George H. W. Bush to the vice-presidency of the United States?
Rep. Woolsey and 15 Other Congress Members Hold Hearing on Iraq
Gen. Odum speaks on the Hill, Dome trembles.
Rep. Woolsey and 15 Other Congress Members Hold Hearing on Iraq AfterDowningStreet.org:
Odom again spoke about what would happen when/if the United States pulls out. The aftermath is going to be great, he said. It was going to be great the day you went in, but the longer you wait the greater it will be. And, Odom added to noticable effect, this will be the greatest strategic defeat in American history.
Congressman Rothman said that he had voted for the war because he had believed Bush and Rumsfeld, and that he now understood they had been lying. He said he saw the same approach now underway with Iran, and that he thought it was aimed at the coming U.S. elections.
Odom again spoke of leaving Iraq and said 'It takes a very high level of ignorance to believe America can leave behind in Iraq any government that will not be anti-American.'
But Odom argued that staying longer in Iraq would make things worse, whereas getting out would dramatically improve America's standing in the world. Our standing went up as soon as we got out of Vietnam, he said.
'Beating the war drums on Iran,' Odom said, 'is a disaster that will make this one look small. 'Odom again spoke about what would happen when/if the United States pulls out. The aftermath is going to be great, he said. It was going to be great the day you went in, but the longer you wait the greater it will be. And, Odom added to noticable effect, this will be the greatest strategic defeat in American history.
Congressman Rothman said that he had voted for the war because he had believed Bush and Rumsfeld, and that he now understood they had been lying. He said he saw the same approach now underway with Iran, and that he thought it was aimed at the coming U.S. elections.
The Deep Breath Before the Plunge
We are watching our country fall to tatters, due to its own misdeeds under George W. Bush.
William Rivers Pitt The Deep Breath Before the Plunge:
The 'bunker mentality' is about to envelop all of Baghdad. American forces are in the process of sealing the city behind a ring of reinforced checkpoints, berms, trenches, barriers and fences. This has been tried already in the blood-soaked towns of Samarra and Fallujah, and both times, these efforts failed.
Another grim signal that this administration and its Iraq offensive have significantly undercut America's safety can be found within the armed forces itself. Senior Army officials have begun hinting that the size of the Army may be expanded by some 60,000 soldiers, an expensive proposition that has been consistently opposed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In the last several days, one Army brigade has been rushed back to Iraq a month earlier than planned, while another has had its rotation home delayed by six weeks.
'The reason senior Army leaders want to go to a bigger Army,' reported ABC News on Monday, 'is that they are worried about their ability to fight future threats. One official told ABC News, other than the troops now in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are only two to three combat brigades - that's 7,000 to 10,000 troops - who are fully trained and equipped to respond quickly to a crisis. 'If we keep forces in Iraq too long, we risk running into a situation where the force begins to break,' said former US Army officer Andrew Krepenevich.'The 'bunker mentality' is about to envelop all of Baghdad. American forces are in the process of sealing the city behind a ring of reinforced checkpoints, berms, trenches, barriers and fences. This has been tried already in the blood-soaked towns of Samarra and Fallujah, and both times, these efforts failed.
Pennsylvanians Rejecting Santorum's Multiple Efforts To Trick Voters
Santorum looks like toast, at this point, having pulled just about every huge lie imaginable out of his hat, Pennsylvanians aren't buying it.
JABBS: Pennsylvanians Rejecting Santorum's Multiple Efforts To Trick Voters:
A new poll from Rasmussen shows Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) trailing Democrat Bob Casey Jr. by 10 points.
It shows, perhaps, that Pennsylvanians are not buying into Santorum's hyperbole this campaign season. In spite of an onslaught of dishonest moves by Santorum in recent weeks, Casey actually added to his lead from Rasmussen's August poll.
-- They're ignoring Santorum's latest television advertisement, which makes false claims about who's donating money to Casey's campaign.
-- They ignored Santorum's lie about Casey's ties to Al Jazeera on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor.
-- They didn't pay attention when Santorum made misleading claims about discovering Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Santorum also hasn't been significantly helped by asking his supporters to pour thousands of dollars into the campaign of Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli. Rasmussen's poll has Romanelli at just 5%.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
NIE: Al Qaeda 'damaged,' becoming more scattered - Sep 26, 2006
Osama and Bush have inspired millions!
Thank you both, so much
Now, will you both please go to Hell!
CNN.com - NIE: Al Qaeda 'damaged,' becoming more scattered - Sep 26, 2006:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Islamist terrorists are adapting to global counterterrorism efforts, as the 'jihadist movement' is becoming more decentralized and spawning offshoot organizations with anti-American agendas, according to a declassified intelligence document released Tuesday.
Also, the National Intelligence Estimate on global terrorism trends states that the U.S.-led Iraq war has become a 'cause celebre for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.'
Earlier Tuesday, President Bush angrily lambasted a media report that said the document asserted the Iraq war had increased the terrorist threat to the United States.
He added that the media accounts of the leak of the National Intelligence Estimate were meant to 'create confusion in the minds of the American people' and promised to push Director of National Security John Negroponte to declassify the findings.
Thank you both, so much
Now, will you both please go to Hell!
CNN.com - NIE: Al Qaeda 'damaged,' becoming more scattered - Sep 26, 2006:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Islamist terrorists are adapting to global counterterrorism efforts, as the 'jihadist movement' is becoming more decentralized and spawning offshoot organizations with anti-American agendas, according to a declassified intelligence document released Tuesday.
Also, the National Intelligence Estimate on global terrorism trends states that the U.S.-led Iraq war has become a 'cause celebre for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.'
Earlier Tuesday, President Bush angrily lambasted a media report that said the document asserted the Iraq war had increased the terrorist threat to the United States.
He added that the media accounts of the leak of the National Intelligence Estimate were meant to 'create confusion in the minds of the American people' and promised to push Director of National Security John Negroponte to declassify the findings.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Global warming fear lights fire under Congress
......and that ain't nothing compared to the blaze that's gonna be lit if they don't start holding the psychopaths in the White house accountable for their many crimes.
Global warming fear lights fire under Congress:
(09-23) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Congress, it appears, is channeling Al Gore. After years of debating whether global warming was real or a hoax, the House and Senate staged six hearings this week on how the government should respond to climate change.
And the Bush administration, which has downplayed the threat of global warming during its six years in office, released a 244-page strategic report this week laying out plans to address the rapid warming of the planet.
Critics say the White House and the Republican-led Congress are not yet ready to take the politically difficult steps needed to combat global warming -- such as raising federal fuel efficiency standards or capping greenhouse gas emissions by electric utilities and other industries, as California did recently. (09-23) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Congress, it appears, is channeling Al Gore. After years of debating whether global warming was real or a hoax, the House and Senate staged six hearings this week on how the government should respond to climate change.
And the Bush administration, which has downplayed the threat of global warming during its six years in office, released a 244-page strategic report this week laying out plans to address the rapid warming of the planet.
Critics say the White House and the Republican-led Congress are not yet ready to take the politically difficult steps needed to combat global warming -- such as raising federal fuel efficiency standards or capping greenhouse gas emissions by electric utilities and other industries, as California did recently.
Libby to Lie About His Lying at Trial
WOW, what a surprise!
Libby Defense Fund: Report: Libby to Lie About His Lying at Trial:
Yes, the Washington Post reports that Scooter 'Betray America for the Bushevik/Cheney Team' Libby is going to testify at his own trial, claiming he never lied -- as in committed perjury. That is because, he will claim, he was too busy with important top-secret business to remember outing a CIA operative who specialized in tracking illicit Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In short, Libby will claim that he was too busy conducting a war to rid a nation of Weapons of Mass Destruction that didn't exist to recall helping to 'neutralize' a CIA specialist in whether or not Iraq and Iran had Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Isn't that sort of the 'I was so busy trying to protect America that I can't remember trying to help weaken it' defense?Yes, the Washington Post reports that Scooter 'Betray America for the Bushevik/Cheney Team' Libby is going to testify at his own trial, claiming he never lied -- as in committed perjury. That is because, he will claim, he was too busy with important top-secret business to remember outing a CIA operative who specialized in tracking illicit Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In short, Libby will claim that he was too busy conducting a war to rid a nation of Weapons of Mass Destruction that didn't exist to recall helping to 'neutralize' a CIA specialist in whether or not Iraq and Iran had Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Isn't that sort of the 'I was so busy trying to protect America that I can't remember trying to help weaken it' defense?
Review blasts Bush reading program - The Boston Globe
Is there anything BushCo hasn't screwed up...just one thing?
Review blasts Bush reading program - The Boston Globe:
WASHINGTON -- A scorching internal review of the Bush administration's billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted.
The government audit is unsparing in its view that the Reading First program has been beset by conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement. It suggests the department broke the law by trying to dictate which curriculum schools must use.
It also depicts a program in which review panels were stacked with people who shared the director's views, and in which only favored publishers of reading curriculums could get money.
In one e-mail, the director told a staff member to come down hard on a company he did not support, according to the report released yesterday by the department's inspector general.
The emperor has no sense
Reporting from Emerald City..
Talk about the gang who couldn't straight.
The emperor has no sense - Newsday.com:
Using nearly two years of reporting in the country for the Washington Post and an impeccable eye for the tragic and outrageous, Chandrasekaran unveils the occupation authority compound as a Middle East Oz, grossly out of touch with the harsh realities of the real Iraq. He draws a focused and ultimately fatal bead on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American regime in Baghdad between April 2003 and June 2004.
The book is an eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection and the perils of democracy-building, kind of like those college campus tours where the guide strides by the official sites and points out the salacious ones instead. The fleet of gleaming white Suburbans that rarely mixed with Baghdad's unruly, dirty traffic beyond the heavily fortified Green Zone. The idealistic American bureaucrats and 20-somethings, recruited through GOP connections and confined to the seven-square-mile compound. The JJ Store for Arab Photos, where CPA staffers could get their pictures taken in Arab robes and headdress. The disco, where some female staffers strutted in hot pants and heels over a Baath Party star embedded in the floor.
Talk about the gang who couldn't straight.
The emperor has no sense - Newsday.com:
Using nearly two years of reporting in the country for the Washington Post and an impeccable eye for the tragic and outrageous, Chandrasekaran unveils the occupation authority compound as a Middle East Oz, grossly out of touch with the harsh realities of the real Iraq. He draws a focused and ultimately fatal bead on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American regime in Baghdad between April 2003 and June 2004.
The book is an eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection and the perils of democracy-building, kind of like those college campus tours where the guide strides by the official sites and points out the salacious ones instead. The fleet of gleaming white Suburbans that rarely mixed with Baghdad's unruly, dirty traffic beyond the heavily fortified Green Zone. The idealistic American bureaucrats and 20-somethings, recruited through GOP connections and confined to the seven-square-mile compound. The JJ Store for Arab Photos, where CPA staffers could get their pictures taken in Arab robes and headdress. The disco, where some female staffers strutted in hot pants and heels over a Baath Party star embedded in the floor.
The emperor has no sense
Reporting from Emerald City..
Talk about the gang who couldn't straight.
The emperor has no sense - Newsday.com:
Using nearly two years of reporting in the country for the Washington Post and an impeccable eye for the tragic and outrageous, Chandrasekaran unveils the occupation authority compound as a Middle East Oz, grossly out of touch with the harsh realities of the real Iraq. He draws a focused and ultimately fatal bead on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American regime in Baghdad between April 2003 and June 2004.
The book is an eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection and the perils of democracy-building, kind of like those college campus tours where the guide strides by the official sites and points out the salacious ones instead. The fleet of gleaming white Suburbans that rarely mixed with Baghdad's unruly, dirty traffic beyond the heavily fortified Green Zone. The idealistic American bureaucrats and 20-somethings, recruited through GOP connections and confined to the seven-square-mile compound. The JJ Store for Arab Photos, where CPA staffers could get their pictures taken in Arab robes and headdress. The disco, where some female staffers strutted in hot pants and heels over a Baath Party star embedded in the floor.
Talk about the gang who couldn't straight.
The emperor has no sense - Newsday.com:
Using nearly two years of reporting in the country for the Washington Post and an impeccable eye for the tragic and outrageous, Chandrasekaran unveils the occupation authority compound as a Middle East Oz, grossly out of touch with the harsh realities of the real Iraq. He draws a focused and ultimately fatal bead on the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American regime in Baghdad between April 2003 and June 2004.
The book is an eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection and the perils of democracy-building, kind of like those college campus tours where the guide strides by the official sites and points out the salacious ones instead. The fleet of gleaming white Suburbans that rarely mixed with Baghdad's unruly, dirty traffic beyond the heavily fortified Green Zone. The idealistic American bureaucrats and 20-somethings, recruited through GOP connections and confined to the seven-square-mile compound. The JJ Store for Arab Photos, where CPA staffers could get their pictures taken in Arab robes and headdress. The disco, where some female staffers strutted in hot pants and heels over a Baath Party star embedded in the floor.
Bush 'taken aback' by Musharraf comment - Yahoo! News
Bush says he didn't know...so, what's new?
Bush 'taken aback' by Musharraf comment - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday that if a U.S. official tried to strong-arm Pakistan into fighting the war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks, he didn't know about it.
Standing beside Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bush brushed off any idea of disagreement, praising Musharraf for pursuing terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
'We're on the hunt together,' Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with the general who is leader of the world's second-largest Islamic nation.
Musharraf has contended that after the Sept. 11 attacks, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb the country if it didn't become a partner in the war against terrorism.
Bush 'taken aback' by Musharraf comment - Yahoo! News
Bush says he didn't know...so, what's new?
Bush 'taken aback' by Musharraf comment - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday that if a U.S. official tried to strong-arm Pakistan into fighting the war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks, he didn't know about it.
Standing beside Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bush brushed off any idea of disagreement, praising Musharraf for pursuing terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
'We're on the hunt together,' Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with the general who is leader of the world's second-largest Islamic nation.
Musharraf has contended that after the Sept. 11 attacks, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb the country if it didn't become a partner in the war against terrorism.
U.S. conservatives frustrated by Republicans - Yahoo! News
Oh, bullshit!
This s what they always say. They always threaten and they always show up and vote for Goopers anyway.
These people lie like rugs.
U.S. conservatives frustrated by Republicans - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Religious conservatives voiced frustration on Friday with Republican Party leaders and their failure to push key social initiatives through the U.S. Congress and said it could hurt voter turnout in November's elections.
At a 'Values Voters Summit' sponsored by leading religious conservative groups, some activists said President George W. Bush and Republican leaders showed too much pragmatism and too little concern for issues like abortion, immigration and banning gay marriage.
'There is no question people are frustrated with the Republican Party. The message it sends is: 'We don't care where you stand, we just want you to be a Republican,'' said Phil Burress, president of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values.
Burress was a leader in the state's 2004 fight for a ballot initiative banning gay marriage, credited with helping turn out conservative support for Bush. He said he was not sure religious conservatives would turn out with the same vigor in 2006.
'There is a big number who may not show up to vote,' he said.
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times
Duh...it took a study for thm to realize this?
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times
Duh...it took a study for thm to realize this?
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
