Thursday, June 22, 2006
Politicizing the Pentagon and Other GOP Nonsense
Rummy is as much a political operative as Rove and anyone who thinks otherwise either hasn't been paying attention or is a fool.
Attytood: Politicizing the Pentagon:
"The meetings were followed by the distribution of a 74-page briefing book to Congressional offices from the Pentagon to provide ammunition for what White House officials say will be a central line of attack against Democrats from now through the midterm elections: that the withdrawal being advocated by Democrats would mean thousands of troops would have died for nothing, would give extremists a launching pad from which to build an Islamo-fascist empire and would hand the United States its must humiliating defeat since Vietnam.
Republicans say the cumulative effect would be to send a message of weakness to the world at a time of new threats from Iran and North Korea and would leave enemies controlling Iraq's vast oil reserves, the third largest in the world. (The book, including a chapter entitled 'Rapid Response' with answers to frequent Democratic charges, was sent via e-mail to Republican lawmakers but, in an apparent mistake, also to some Democrats.)
So let's get this straight: Over in the Pentagon, they are busy managing troops that are now overtaxed not just by the endless insurgency in Iraq but also by a 'reinvigorated' Taliban in Afghanistan and a missile threat from North Korea; planning operations like the recent search for two kidnapped and ultimately murdered American soliders, securing more body armor, and so on and so on.
Yet somehow they found the time to write a 74-page briefing book with the sole purpose of trashing Democrats? It's hard to separate government and politics, but certain branches should be above the partisan fray, and that includes intelligence but also the folks who actually wage the wars. A lot of these same generals may be taking orders from a Democratic president (we said 'may') in January 2009, after all."
"High Infidelity" among GOP Presidential Hopefuls
I any of these guys were Democrats, Karl Rove would be starting rumors that they are rapists.
"High Infidelity" by Steve Benen:
"Lurking just over the horizon are liabilities for three Republicans who have topped several national, independent polls for the GOP's favorite 2008 nominee: Sen. John McCain (affair, divorce), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (affair, divorce, affair, divorce), and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (divorce, affair, nasty divorce). Together, they form the most maritally challenged crop of presidential hopefuls in American political history.
Until relatively recently, a self-confessed adulterer had never sought the presidency. Certainly, other candidates have been dogged by sex scandals. In the 1828 presidential election, John Quincy Adams questioned whether Andrew Jackson's wife was legitimately divorced from her first husband before she married Old Hickory. Grover Cleveland, who was single, fathered a child out of wedlock, a fact that sparked national headlines during the 1884 election (though he managed to win anyway). There have been presidential candidates who had affairs that the press decided not to write about, like Wendell Wilkie, FDR, and John F. Kennedy. And there have been candidates whose infidelities have been uncovered during the course of a campaign: Gary Hart's indiscretions ultimately derailed his 1988 bid, and in 1992, during the course of his campaign, Bill Clinton was forced to make the euphemistic admission that he 'caused pain' in his marriage. "
(Read On ^)
TheAgitator.com: Scholar Cited by Scalia in Hudson Not So Thrilled to Have Been Cited by Scalia: Comments
Why doesn't Professor Sam Walker sue the crap out of Scalia for attributing to him the exact opposite of what he said, in official court documents, no less?
TheAgitator.com: Scholar Cited by Scalia in Hudson Not So Thrilled to Have Been Cited by Scalia: Comments:
"Scholar Cited by Scalia in Hudson Not So Thrilled to Have Been Cited by Scalia
Actually, 'not so thrilled' is putting it mildly.
I just spoke with Prof. Sam Walker, one of the most respected criminologists in the country, and an expert on police tactics and procedures. Justice Scalia cites Walker in his opinion in Hudson, quoting him directly on page 12:
There have been 'wide-ranging reforms in the education, training, and supervision of police officers.' S. Walker, Taiming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice 1950-1990, p. 51 (1993).
Scalia preceded the Walker cite with this thesis sentence:
Another development over the past half-century that deters civil rights violations is the increasing professionalismof police forces, including a new emphasis on internal discipline."
(Read On ^)
Emissions of CO2 are up 78% since 1960 in Wisconsin
Judging from what wev'e seen in the last 5 years, at least, perhaps mankind is not fit to survive.
The Capital Times:
"Emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, thought by most scientists to be a cause of global warming because it tends to trap the sun's heat near the Earth, rose 78 percent in Wisconsin from 1960 to 2001, according to a new analysis of government data by the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.
WISPIRG found that emissions from coal-powered power plants made up 38 percent of the increase, while vehicles caused 32 percent.
Using data compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the organization examined trends nationally and in Wisconsin and found that: (Read On ^)
Bush disaster in Iraq is just one of many failed policies
The Capital Times:
"Bush has lied and deceived us into a conflict that has caused 2,500 of our soldiers to die and thousands to be maimed, as well as totally destroying a country's infrastructure and killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Then he has the unmitigated gall to say, 'better to fight them there than here.' That goes beyond the pale.
And the war is just one small part of this disgraceful administration. Bush, like other failed presidents, has totally divided this country, governed erratically and has left this nation worse off than when he came to office: disastrous domestic policies, foreign policy blunders and military setbacks, executive misconduct, and a crisis of credibility and public trust.
If Karl Rove doesn't think that Bush should 'apologize' for stumbling badly in every one of the key issues in this country, if he doesn't see that Bush has totally squandered the public's trust and credibility, then I don't know what more you can say."
"Bush has lied and deceived us into a conflict that has caused 2,500 of our soldiers to die and thousands to be maimed, as well as totally destroying a country's infrastructure and killing tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Then he has the unmitigated gall to say, 'better to fight them there than here.' That goes beyond the pale.
And the war is just one small part of this disgraceful administration. Bush, like other failed presidents, has totally divided this country, governed erratically and has left this nation worse off than when he came to office: disastrous domestic policies, foreign policy blunders and military setbacks, executive misconduct, and a crisis of credibility and public trust.
If Karl Rove doesn't think that Bush should 'apologize' for stumbling badly in every one of the key issues in this country, if he doesn't see that Bush has totally squandered the public's trust and credibility, then I don't know what more you can say."
Democrats want change in Iraq
Boxer speak for us!
The Bush/Cheny Iraq policy is a freakin' disaster, the proportions of which most Americans have not, yet, begun to realize. But they will, when it is too late.
Democrats want change in Iraq - Yahoo! News:
"'The public is very happy about the fact that we have not been attacked since 9/11,' Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), the second-ranking Senate Republican, said, even though polls show voters are weary about the war that's in its fourth year.
'Americans want an exit strategy,' countered Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. 'The status quo is a disaster.'
The GOP-controlled Senate was poised to vote Thursday on two Democratic proposals to start redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq this year, a week after both houses of Congress soundly rejected withdrawal timetables.
Both proposals, offered as amendments to an annual military bill, were expected to be defeated, mostly along partisan lines."
The Bush/Cheny Iraq policy is a freakin' disaster, the proportions of which most Americans have not, yet, begun to realize. But they will, when it is too late.
Democrats want change in Iraq - Yahoo! News:
"'The public is very happy about the fact that we have not been attacked since 9/11,' Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), the second-ranking Senate Republican, said, even though polls show voters are weary about the war that's in its fourth year.
'Americans want an exit strategy,' countered Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. 'The status quo is a disaster.'
The GOP-controlled Senate was poised to vote Thursday on two Democratic proposals to start redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq this year, a week after both houses of Congress soundly rejected withdrawal timetables.
Both proposals, offered as amendments to an annual military bill, were expected to be defeated, mostly along partisan lines."
Veteran Critic of White House Turns on 'Gullible' Press Pack
Helen could not be more right.
The Washington press corp is as reponsible for the quagmire abroad and the horrendous mess at home as the administration is.
When will they be held accountble?
Maybe they should change their ways, before it is too late for them.
Veteran Critic of White House Turns on 'Gullible' Press Pack:
"For almost five decades, White House reporter Helen Thomas has been covering America's leaders with a healthy dose of scepticism and an endless string of pointed questions.
Along the way she has ruffled presidential feathers and, since becoming a columnist in 2003, she has made clear her views on some of those incumbents - including George W Bush who she has described as the 'worst president in all of American history'." ( Read On ^ )
The Washington press corp is as reponsible for the quagmire abroad and the horrendous mess at home as the administration is.
When will they be held accountble?
Maybe they should change their ways, before it is too late for them.
Veteran Critic of White House Turns on 'Gullible' Press Pack:
"For almost five decades, White House reporter Helen Thomas has been covering America's leaders with a healthy dose of scepticism and an endless string of pointed questions.
Along the way she has ruffled presidential feathers and, since becoming a columnist in 2003, she has made clear her views on some of those incumbents - including George W Bush who she has described as the 'worst president in all of American history'." ( Read On ^ )
Nonprofit Health Care Often Better: Study
What moreis it going to take, people, before we take back out nation and its capitol?
Nonprofit Health Care Often Better: Study:
"For-profit nursing homes and hospitals on average provide an inferior quality of care compared with their nonprofit peers, according to an extensive review of studies published on Tuesday.
Authors writing in the journal Health Affairs found that a systematic analysis of 162 studies of nonprofit versus for-profit health care providers supports the concept that a facility's ownership status makes a difference in outcomes and in the cost of health care.
'Their work should lay to rest claims that little distinguishes nonprofit versus for-profit health care,' University of Michigan professor Jill Horwitz wrote in editorial also running in the policy journal.
The analysis found a pattern of differences between nonprofits and for-profits in cost, quality and accessibility, said Bradford Gray, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute -- a nonprofit research group -- and lead study author.
For-profit ownership is climbing in most sectors of health, from hospitals to hospice care. For example, for-profit hospitals accounted for 11 percent of all hospitals in the early 1990s and now account for 16 percent.
HCA Inc. is the biggest U.S. hospital chain, with about 180 hospitals and $24 billion in revenue, and is for- profit. The third-biggest hospital chain by number of facilities, after the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, is Tenet Healthcare Corp., also for-profit."
Nonprofit Health Care Often Better: Study:
"For-profit nursing homes and hospitals on average provide an inferior quality of care compared with their nonprofit peers, according to an extensive review of studies published on Tuesday.
Authors writing in the journal Health Affairs found that a systematic analysis of 162 studies of nonprofit versus for-profit health care providers supports the concept that a facility's ownership status makes a difference in outcomes and in the cost of health care.
'Their work should lay to rest claims that little distinguishes nonprofit versus for-profit health care,' University of Michigan professor Jill Horwitz wrote in editorial also running in the policy journal.
The analysis found a pattern of differences between nonprofits and for-profits in cost, quality and accessibility, said Bradford Gray, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute -- a nonprofit research group -- and lead study author.
For-profit ownership is climbing in most sectors of health, from hospitals to hospice care. For example, for-profit hospitals accounted for 11 percent of all hospitals in the early 1990s and now account for 16 percent.
HCA Inc. is the biggest U.S. hospital chain, with about 180 hospitals and $24 billion in revenue, and is for- profit. The third-biggest hospital chain by number of facilities, after the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, is Tenet Healthcare Corp., also for-profit."
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Until this issue is burning on the mind of every citizen� -- Words of Power Interviews Mark Crispin Miller
This country is finished if we don't make it our national obsession to stop these Democracy-hating thugs
Words of Power: SPECIAL EDITION: �Until this issue is burning on the mind of every citizen� -- Words of Power Interviews Mark Crispin Miller:
"If there is a future for the U.S., and reality-based history is a part of it, Mark Crispin Miller's contribution to the ongoing struggle of these last few years will be acknowledged as vital and uniquely important. With his one-man shows, and his books, and his blog, Notes from the Underground, Miller has provided invaluable context and continuity during this strangest, and most disturbing episode in the life of the nation.
His three books, Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, and Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them), taken as a whole, offer a profound overview of what is wrong with our body politic, how it all went so bad, and who is responsible.
In my reading of Bush Dyslexicon and Cruel and Unusual, two themes dominate:
The Bush-Cheney cabal, along with much of the right-wing movement that the cabal has co-opted for its own gain, is psychologically unhealthy, dangerously so." (Read On ^ This is more important than anything you have read yet)
Santorum lies that WMD were found in Iraq
Rick Santorum is the most vile kind of liar.
He expects that his voters are idiots with ADD.
I guess we shall see if they are.
Crooks and Liars:
"WMD scam by Santorum
Rick held a press conference carried by FOX during John Gibson's show today to say they found WMD's in Iraq. Sources in Washington are saying that these are artillery shells that predate the gulf war...as TP notes:
The Bush administration commissioned the Iraq Survey Group to determine whether in fact any WMD existed in Iraq. After a year and half of meticulously combing through the country, here's what the administration's own inspectors reported:
While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible Indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad's desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.
Bill Kristol came on with 'Five in the Noggin 'Gibson and was beside himself because the administration fought to keep these findings secret. I seem to remember that the key point Dick Cheney made was a mushroom cloud would appear over Cleveland because Saddam had reconstituted his program.
CHENEY: Well, I think I've just given it, Tim, in terms of the combination of his development and use of chemical weapons, his development of biological weapons, his pursuit of nuclear weapons.---We know that based on intelligence that he has been very, very good at hiding these kinds of efforts. He's had years to get good at it and we know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.
These are pre-Gulf war shells."
He expects that his voters are idiots with ADD.
I guess we shall see if they are.
Crooks and Liars:
"WMD scam by Santorum
Rick held a press conference carried by FOX during John Gibson's show today to say they found WMD's in Iraq. Sources in Washington are saying that these are artillery shells that predate the gulf war...as TP notes:
The Bush administration commissioned the Iraq Survey Group to determine whether in fact any WMD existed in Iraq. After a year and half of meticulously combing through the country, here's what the administration's own inspectors reported:
While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible Indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad's desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.
Bill Kristol came on with 'Five in the Noggin 'Gibson and was beside himself because the administration fought to keep these findings secret. I seem to remember that the key point Dick Cheney made was a mushroom cloud would appear over Cleveland because Saddam had reconstituted his program.
CHENEY: Well, I think I've just given it, Tim, in terms of the combination of his development and use of chemical weapons, his development of biological weapons, his pursuit of nuclear weapons.---We know that based on intelligence that he has been very, very good at hiding these kinds of efforts. He's had years to get good at it and we know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.
These are pre-Gulf war shells."
Only if they have the right stuff
Say What?
Only if they have the right stuff:
"QT Early Warning System:
Saudi Arabia has announced scholarships for young Saudis who want to study civil aviation in the United States."
Ranking Democrat Slams Phone Company Legislation
Maybe Net Neutrality is not dead....
That would be nice, but don't count on it.
The corporations are the government.
Advertising Age - Ranking Democrat Slams Phone Company Legislation:
"WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- Comments today from a top Senate Democrat are raising the possibility a net-neutrality fight could yet derail phone companies' hopes for congressional action this year that will make it easier for them to compete against cable TV."
The Perfect Stonewall
The lawlessness of this White House will come back on them in a way that will be horrendous for them and, more importantly, for this country.
The fish always rots from the head down. Lawlessness at the top leads to lawlessness at the botom, and everywhere in between.
TomPaine.com - The Perfect Stonewall:
"Future presidents and press secretaries will owe much to George W. Bush and Scott McClellan, that is, if they ever want to mount a cover up. A week after Karl Rove's lawyer announced he was no longer under investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, it's rather clear that Rove and the White House pulled perfected the art of stonewalling. They, and this caper, will be an inspiration to spinners everywhere.
In July 2003, when columnist Bob Novak (first) and Time magazine (second) published stories disclosing that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer, and cited administration officials as their sources�the White House responded with a simple denial. McClellan, who had just inherited the White House press secretary position from Ari Fleischer, said of this leak, 'That is not the way this president or this White House operates.' There was no wiggle room in that statement.
Months later, once the news broke that the Justice Department, acting in response to a CIA request, would be investigating the leak, the White House got more specific. Scott McClellan stated that any White House aide who leaked information on Valerie Wilson would be dismissed, and he asserted that neither Karl Rove nor Scooter Libby had been involved in the leak. Months after that, Bush reaffirmed that the leaker, if discovered, would be booted from his White House.
This was all unambiguous. It ain't us. It ain't Rove. It ain't Libby. And if we knew who had done this, he'd be run out of town. This straight talk got the White House all the way through the 2004 elections."
The fish always rots from the head down. Lawlessness at the top leads to lawlessness at the botom, and everywhere in between.
TomPaine.com - The Perfect Stonewall:
"Future presidents and press secretaries will owe much to George W. Bush and Scott McClellan, that is, if they ever want to mount a cover up. A week after Karl Rove's lawyer announced he was no longer under investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, it's rather clear that Rove and the White House pulled perfected the art of stonewalling. They, and this caper, will be an inspiration to spinners everywhere.
In July 2003, when columnist Bob Novak (first) and Time magazine (second) published stories disclosing that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer, and cited administration officials as their sources�the White House responded with a simple denial. McClellan, who had just inherited the White House press secretary position from Ari Fleischer, said of this leak, 'That is not the way this president or this White House operates.' There was no wiggle room in that statement.
Months later, once the news broke that the Justice Department, acting in response to a CIA request, would be investigating the leak, the White House got more specific. Scott McClellan stated that any White House aide who leaked information on Valerie Wilson would be dismissed, and he asserted that neither Karl Rove nor Scooter Libby had been involved in the leak. Months after that, Bush reaffirmed that the leaker, if discovered, would be booted from his White House.
This was all unambiguous. It ain't us. It ain't Rove. It ain't Libby. And if we knew who had done this, he'd be run out of town. This straight talk got the White House all the way through the 2004 elections."
Soldiers agree with Murtha
1010 WINS - On-Air, Online, On Demand:
"JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- While Staff Sgt. Randy Myers was dodging roadside bombs in Iraq, his congressman was calling the war a lost cause.
Sixteen-term Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran and military hawk, has become the face of the Democrats' anti-war movement since he called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops last fall. His oft-repeated criticism of the Bush administration's war policies also has earned him the wrath of Republicans.
In Murtha's southwest Pennsylvania district, however, many share the war critic's views.
At a welcome home ceremony this week for Myers and other troops from the Johnstown, Pa.-based 876th Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman's behalf.
Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict." (read On^)
Troops charged with murdering Iraqi civilian - Yahoo! News
....and what about the war criminals who sent these guys over there is the first place? When are they going to be charged?
Troops charged with murdering Iraqi civilian - Yahoo! News:
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The military on Wednesday charged seven Marines and a Navy medic with premeditated murder and other crimes in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi civilian in a village west of Baghdad, the U.S. Marine Corps said. "
Dispute charges at your peril
Dispute charges at your peril:
"If you've ever reversed the charge for a dubious credit card transaction or online purchase, your name could be on a secretive overseas database that consumer advocates say may violate protections guaranteed under U.S. law.
The database is maintained by a Panama company named Goldwell Corp., which runs an online service called ChargeBack Bureau (chargebackbureau.org).
Chargebacks are a right provided to U.S. consumers under the Fair Credit Billing Act. The system allows people to reverse credit card payments for goods or services that were unauthorized or end up being different than advertised.
Most chargebacks involve a consumer bringing a disputed transaction to his or her credit card issuer. The issuer, in turn, takes up the matter with the merchant, often requiring repayment of any funds involved. " (Read On ^)
"If you've ever reversed the charge for a dubious credit card transaction or online purchase, your name could be on a secretive overseas database that consumer advocates say may violate protections guaranteed under U.S. law.
The database is maintained by a Panama company named Goldwell Corp., which runs an online service called ChargeBack Bureau (chargebackbureau.org).
Chargebacks are a right provided to U.S. consumers under the Fair Credit Billing Act. The system allows people to reverse credit card payments for goods or services that were unauthorized or end up being different than advertised.
Most chargebacks involve a consumer bringing a disputed transaction to his or her credit card issuer. The issuer, in turn, takes up the matter with the merchant, often requiring repayment of any funds involved. " (Read On ^)
AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours
If you are doing business with AT&T, cancel!
AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn't yours:
"AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.
The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'
The policy also indicates that AT&T will track the viewing habits of customers of its new video service -- something that cable and satellite providers are prohibited from doing. "
Progressive Unity on Iraq: Redeployment Must Begin Immediately
Rethugs will be the end of this country.
The good news: maybe we will never have to see Bill "Cat Killer" Frist's ugly, smug face again
Think Progress � Progressive Unity on Iraq: Redeployment Must Begin Immediately:
"Today, the Senate will debate a pair of amendments that urge the administration to begin a phased redeployment of American troops out of Iraq. Increasingly, progressives and conservatives are unifying behind two very different approaches to resolving the Iraq conflict. Progressives across the spectrum believe that redeployment of U.S. forces must begin immediately:
[Sen. Jack] Reed (D-RI) said redeployment should begin, as quickly as possible, to ease the strain on the troops, but added that the measure does not establish a pace.
Joint statement of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): 'Our troops have done their job in Iraq. It is time to redeploy, to help increase stability in Iraq, and more importantly, to strengthen the national security of the United States.'
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI): '[The amendment] does urge that a phased redeployment begin this year, partly as a way of moving away from an open-ended commitment and a way of avoiding Iraqi dependency on a U.S. security blanket.'
Conservatives, however, remain wedded to Bush's stay the course (over a cliff) rhetoric, unwilling to make any promises of a near-term departure from Iraq.
In defense of Bush, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) said:
Retreat is not an option. Those calling for an early withdrawal of American troops from Iraq utterly fail to understand the potentially catastrophic implications of their proposal."
News Alert: Bipartisan House Committee Passes Resolution Demanding Bush Reveal Role in Illegal Phone Surveillance
Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Bush isn't going to listen to Congress until somone drags his sorry ass out of the White House for a little mano-mano.
News Alert: Bipartisan House Committee Passes Resolution Demanding Bush Reveal Role in Illegal Phone Surveillance:
"In a bold move, the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution calling on the Bush Administration to disclose its role in the NSA's telephone monitoring program.
Several Republican congressmen joined Democrats in approving the resolution in a voice vote today. Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) even challenged Bush by threatening to put the measure up before the full House if the Administration does not comply.
In an exclusive statement provided to BuzzFlash.com, House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) said, 'six months ago it was warrantless wiretapping, last month phone records, and now today eavesdropping on internet traffic. Until this Congress asserts its oversight authority and investigates what the NSA is doing and whether it is legal - much less effective - the Administration will continue to expand its ability to spy on average Americans.'
BuzzFlash was told by a Democratic source on the Hill that the vote is representative of a growing trend of Republicans becoming weary of White House privacy infringements. Just yesterday, twenty-three Republicans broke ranks to support an amendment that would prohibit electronic surveillance without a warrant. "
Bush isn't going to listen to Congress until somone drags his sorry ass out of the White House for a little mano-mano.
News Alert: Bipartisan House Committee Passes Resolution Demanding Bush Reveal Role in Illegal Phone Surveillance:
"In a bold move, the House Judiciary Committee passed a resolution calling on the Bush Administration to disclose its role in the NSA's telephone monitoring program.
Several Republican congressmen joined Democrats in approving the resolution in a voice vote today. Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) even challenged Bush by threatening to put the measure up before the full House if the Administration does not comply.
In an exclusive statement provided to BuzzFlash.com, House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) said, 'six months ago it was warrantless wiretapping, last month phone records, and now today eavesdropping on internet traffic. Until this Congress asserts its oversight authority and investigates what the NSA is doing and whether it is legal - much less effective - the Administration will continue to expand its ability to spy on average Americans.'
BuzzFlash was told by a Democratic source on the Hill that the vote is representative of a growing trend of Republicans becoming weary of White House privacy infringements. Just yesterday, twenty-three Republicans broke ranks to support an amendment that would prohibit electronic surveillance without a warrant. "
CEOs earn 262 times pay of average worker - Yahoo! News
There ought to be a law against this kind of ...well.... I am not sure there is a word for it.
We have endured "sin taxes' in this country for years. Why not a greed tax? After all, that one IS mentioned in the Bible. It is one of the 7 deadlies, as I recall.
CEOs earn 262 times pay of average worker - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chief executive officers in the United States earned 262 times the pay of an average worker in 2005, the second-highest level in the 40 years for which there is data, a nonprofit think-tank said on Wednesday.
In fact, a CEO earned more in one workday than an average worker earned in 52 weeks, said the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
The typical worker's compensation averaged just under $42,000 for the year, while the average CEO brought home almost $11 million, EPI said.
In recent years, compensation has been a hot issue with shareholders who have been bombarded with news stories about chief executives who are given multimillion dollar bonus and pay packages even if shares have declined."
We have endured "sin taxes' in this country for years. Why not a greed tax? After all, that one IS mentioned in the Bible. It is one of the 7 deadlies, as I recall.
CEOs earn 262 times pay of average worker - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chief executive officers in the United States earned 262 times the pay of an average worker in 2005, the second-highest level in the 40 years for which there is data, a nonprofit think-tank said on Wednesday.
In fact, a CEO earned more in one workday than an average worker earned in 52 weeks, said the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
The typical worker's compensation averaged just under $42,000 for the year, while the average CEO brought home almost $11 million, EPI said.
In recent years, compensation has been a hot issue with shareholders who have been bombarded with news stories about chief executives who are given multimillion dollar bonus and pay packages even if shares have declined."
Another GOP Pervert; so what else is new?
The Monitor - McAllen, Texas: "EDINBURG � Political consultant and ad producer Carey Lee Cramer is expected to testify today defending himself against charges he sexually molested two young girls.
Cramer, 44, took the stand shortly before court recessed at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. He will likely continue today before Visiting Judge Homer Salinas in Auxiliary Court A, where his trial began June 7.
Cramer, who gained national notoriety with an anti-Al Gore commercial in 2000, is facing several counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
He is the second witness defense attorney Charles Banker called to rebut the testimony of the two 15-year-old girls who testified Cramer sexually molested them when they were younger."
Cramer, 44, took the stand shortly before court recessed at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. He will likely continue today before Visiting Judge Homer Salinas in Auxiliary Court A, where his trial began June 7.
Cramer, who gained national notoriety with an anti-Al Gore commercial in 2000, is facing several counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
He is the second witness defense attorney Charles Banker called to rebut the testimony of the two 15-year-old girls who testified Cramer sexually molested them when they were younger."
Bush made decision to let bin Laden escape
Bush had no wish to capture Osama. That would have been the end of the all out war on terror. There would have been no invasion of Iraq, nor bombing hell out of Iran.
Besides, isn't Osama a friend of the family?
No wonder Osama wanted Bush to win the 2004 election. Kerry might have changed course and Osama would be a dead duck.
Crooks and Liars:
"'Not only was the information and decision elevated to the White House, but that the CIA specifically told the president that the local forces weren't capable and shouldn't be relied upon to get Bin Laden. Yet George W. Bush, when presented with the choice of committing US forces to go in and get him, or doing nothing and letting the inevitable happen, chose to let the local forces do it, and then saw Osama get away.'"
Besides, isn't Osama a friend of the family?
No wonder Osama wanted Bush to win the 2004 election. Kerry might have changed course and Osama would be a dead duck.
Crooks and Liars:
"'Not only was the information and decision elevated to the White House, but that the CIA specifically told the president that the local forces weren't capable and shouldn't be relied upon to get Bin Laden. Yet George W. Bush, when presented with the choice of committing US forces to go in and get him, or doing nothing and letting the inevitable happen, chose to let the local forces do it, and then saw Osama get away.'"
The Cheney Supremacy
Oh boy, betwen Suskind's new book and Frontlines expose', Cheney is definitely being thrown under a bus.
Can't help but wonder if this is with or without Bush apporval.
The Cheney Supremacy:
"The part of Ron Suskind's new book that's getting all the attention this morning is his chilling disclosure that al-Qaeda apparently planned, then called off, a hydrogen cyanide gas attack in New York's subway in 2003.
But the longer-term significance of Suskind's new book -- his second major expose of the Bush White House in three years -- will likely be how it documents Vice President Cheney's singularly dominant role in the foreign policy and national security decisions typically attributed to President Bush.
Where other journalists smarmily imply that Cheney is in charge, or credulously relate White House assurances that he's not, Suskind appears to have gotten people with first-hand experience to actually describe how Cheney operates -- and what he has wrought.
I haven't yet seen a copy of it myself, but starting with its title, Suskind's new book, 'The One Percent Doctrine,' looks to be all about Cheney.
Writes Suskind on his Web site : 'What is the guiding principle of the world's most powerful nation as it searches for enemies at home and abroad? The One Percent Doctrine is the deeply secretive core of America's real playbook: a default strategy, designed by Dick Cheney, that separates America from its moorings, and has driven everything -- from war in Afghanistan to war in Iraq to the global search for jihadists.'"
AT&T seems to be hiding another government spy room
This time in St. Louis
AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth:
Seriously.
That company needs to be made a lesson of and taken down.
It looks like they may be spying on our Internet traffic from this facility, or at the very least on the Internet traffic of all of their customers.
In a pivotal network operations center in metropolitan St. Louis, AT&T has maintained a secret, highly secured room since 2002 where government work is being conducted, according to two former AT&T workers once employed at the center.
In interviews with Salon, the former AT&T workers said that only government officials or AT&T employees with top-secret security clearance are admitted to the room, located inside AT&T's facility in Bridgeton. The room's tight security includes a biometric 'mantrap' or highly sophisticated double door, secured with retinal and fingerprint scanners. The former workers say company supervisors told them that employees working inside the room were 'monitoring network traffic' and that the room was being used by 'a government agency.'"
'Dark Side' sheds light on Cheney
If Darth has a light shown on him, will he die or melt or something like that?
'Dark Side' sheds light on Cheney - The Boston Globe:
"Frontline' delivers a devastating look tonight at the efforts of Vice President Dick Cheney to gain control of the war on terror after 9/11. In doing so, the show purports, he compromised the integrity of America's intelligence system.
'The Dark Side' is riveting television, heavily reported, that exemplifies what 'Frontline' does best: go inside a major story and give us context. The title is a ripe double-entendre that applies both to Cheney and the turf on which the war against terrorists is fought. 'We have to work the dark side, if you will,' we hear Cheney say. 'Spend time in the shadows of the intelligence world.'
To many, Cheney is the dark side of the Bush administration, and this program will only cement that judgment. ``Frontline' chronicles the brutal campaign by two consummate political in-fighters -- Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld -- to decimate the CIA, politically emasculate Secretary of State Colin Powell, and construct a near-limitless concept of executive power during war. While many of these strands are familiar, they have not been assembled as effectively before on television to present a coherent picture of what happened after 9/11." (read On ^ and then watch Frontline with all your friends)
Bushites use data brokers to get around warrants to spy on Americans.
AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth:
"Surprise surprise surprise. Remember that story we helped explode back in January about how your phone records were for sale online to ANYONE for $100? We even bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records to prove the point. As a result, there was a big media uproar, the US House passed legislation unanimously, 409-0, to fix the problem, and the Senate was even considering legislation.
Well, today we learn that the federal government and local police were using these questionably-legal online data brokers to get YOUR private phone records without the necessary search warrants.
Yes, the Bush administration once again didn't go to courts of law to get search warrants when it was supposed to."
(Read On ^)
"Surprise surprise surprise. Remember that story we helped explode back in January about how your phone records were for sale online to ANYONE for $100? We even bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records to prove the point. As a result, there was a big media uproar, the US House passed legislation unanimously, 409-0, to fix the problem, and the Senate was even considering legislation.
Well, today we learn that the federal government and local police were using these questionably-legal online data brokers to get YOUR private phone records without the necessary search warrants.
Yes, the Bush administration once again didn't go to courts of law to get search warrants when it was supposed to."
(Read On ^)
Probe Finds Iraqi Troops Killed 2 American Soldiers
Yep, things are going just swimmingly in Iraq....NOT
abc7.com: Probe Finds Iraqi Troops Killed 2 American Soldiers:
"SAN FRANCISCO. June 20, 2006 - Two California soldiers shot to death in Iraq were murdered by Iraqi civil-defense officers patrolling with them, military investigators have found.
The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt. Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004.
But the Army's Criminal Investigation Division found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the military did not plan to release the report until Wednesday.
The families of McCaffrey and Tyson were to be briefed on the report's conclusions Tuesday and Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Oscar Hilman, the soldiers' commander at the time, and three other officers."
News Alert: "Bush is Spending Like A Drunken Sailor and the Tax Payers are Being Stuck with the Bill:" Rep. Waxman Issues Report on Contract Waste
When will the American people rise up and say, NO MORE?
I can tell you that I am not paying for this mess. Neither should anyone else. Not until the Bush family, The Cheney family and all the rest of the wealthy hotshots in this administration have had their assets taken away and are living in trailer parks with the rest of the Faux news watchers.
Why should they stop screwing up when they have found screwing up to be so profitable?
News Alert: "Bush is Spending Like A Drunken Sailor and the Tax Payers are Being Stuck with the Bill:" Rep. Waxman Issues Report on Contract Waste:
AlterNet: GOP Kills Bill to Police Halliburton
These war-profiteers should all be imprisoned.
So should their enablers in Congress.
Harry Truman called war profiteering,"treason."
He was right!
Haliburton, Blackwater, KBR and others are robbing us all blind.
AlterNet: GOP Kills Bill to Police Halliburton:
"Republicans in Congress have made it clear they're willing to fight for military contractors' right to lie, cheat and defraud taxpayers. "
The Coming Political Revolution
AlterNet: The Coming Political Revolution:
"The era of corporate welfare and trickle-down economics championed by Republicans for 25 years is over. It's up to us to think of what will replace it. " (Read On ^)
"The era of corporate welfare and trickle-down economics championed by Republicans for 25 years is over. It's up to us to think of what will replace it. " (Read On ^)
Dave Lindorff: Ten Reasons To Impeach
We agree, but it isn't going to happen. The administration will just label every scrap of paper a state secret and the Unitary Executive Supremes will back them up.
The only way to bring this bunch to justice is to sit on them for the next two years and then arrest them 5 minutes after the new president is sworn in, in January 2009.
Dave Lindorff: Ten Reasons To Impeach:
"As prospects grow for a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives, and perhaps even the Senate, this November, the idea of impeachment is gaining attention. Yet even as polls show increasing numbers of Americans supporting the idea of removing Bush from office before the end of his term, Democratic Party leaders keep backing away.
This is not simply bad politics. It is cowardly, wrong and dangerous.
Let's look at the facts.
President Bush has committed grave offenses against the Constitution and against the people of the United States. Among these offenses are: " (Read On ^)
RFK, Jr. is filing a law suit against election thieves.
Good Luck, Bobby, we are with you all the way!
Public Relations News, Features, and Analysis - PR Week:
"This month, Rolling Stone ran an investigative feature claiming that Republicans used a systematic combination of voter disenfranchisement and fraud, centered in Ohio, to rob John Kerry of a win in the 2004 presidential election.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and son of liberal icon Bobby Kennedy, wrote the article, available, along with supporting research, at rollingstone.com. Kennedy spoke to PRWeek about the story.
PRWeek: How did you come to write this piece?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: I had not paid much attention to this issue. And then a number of books came out, and I read them because I [wanted to use them] to interview people on my radio show. And then I read the [Rep. John] Conyers report, [a 2005 Congressional inquiry into the election], and started talking with people in Ohio. And at one point, I said, 'Holy cow, this is real.' And then I talked to [RS editor] Jann Wenner about it. I encouraged him to do a piece, and he said 'We'll print one if you write it.'
PRWeek: Tell me about the process of putting the story together - it obviously took a while.
Kennedy: I read the literature out there, and read the articles. Then I interviewed voters in Ohio, and public officials, and people who were involved in the election from all over the country.
PRWeek: Why do you think this wasn't covered heavily by major media directly after the election?
Kennedy: I think the mainstream media took up the Republican echo chamber, and just echoed the right-wing "
(Read On ^ )
"Shill Wind " by Eric Boehlert
The MSM just keeps becoming more and more irrelevant. But, then, that's corporatism for you.
"Shill Wind " by Eric Boehlert:
"All of Washington's political reporters read ABC's The Note. That's why they keep missing the story. "
(Read On ^)
Cheney is a mad man
Cheney defends 'final throes' remark:
"WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday defended his comment last year, often ridiculed by administration critics, that the Iraqi insurgency was ''in its final throes.''
He said he was referring to a series of events -- including elections and the drafting and acceptance of a new Iraqi constitution -- that he believes history will show to be pivotal.
But the vice president did say that he underestimated the strength of the insurgency in some of his earlier remarks.
He said much of the continuing violence has its roots in ''the devastation'' that 30 years of Saddam Hussein's iron-fisted rule ''had wrought on the psychology of the Iraqi people.''
Cheney also said that aggressive U.S. action is responsible for preventing new terror attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes.
He credited a determined offense against terrorists abroad, improved intelligence-gathering and preventive steps at home for thwarting or discouraging attacks on U.S. soil. AP"
"WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday defended his comment last year, often ridiculed by administration critics, that the Iraqi insurgency was ''in its final throes.''
He said he was referring to a series of events -- including elections and the drafting and acceptance of a new Iraqi constitution -- that he believes history will show to be pivotal.
But the vice president did say that he underestimated the strength of the insurgency in some of his earlier remarks.
He said much of the continuing violence has its roots in ''the devastation'' that 30 years of Saddam Hussein's iron-fisted rule ''had wrought on the psychology of the Iraqi people.''
Cheney also said that aggressive U.S. action is responsible for preventing new terror attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes.
He credited a determined offense against terrorists abroad, improved intelligence-gathering and preventive steps at home for thwarting or discouraging attacks on U.S. soil. AP"
Drug Prices Up Sharply This Year - New York Times
This is outrageous and should be stopped immediately!
Surely this is something the Democrats can agree on, with the exception of marginal Democrat, Lieberman, who gets big bucks from Big Pharma.
Drug Prices Up Sharply This Year - New York Times:
"Prices of the most widely used prescription drugs rose sharply in this year's first quarter, just as the new Medicare drug coverage program was going into effect, according to separate studies issued yesterday by two large consumer advocacy groups.
AARP, which represents older Americans, said prices charged by drug makers for brand-name pharmaceuticals jumped 3.9 percent, four times the general inflation rate during the first three months of this year and the largest quarterly price increase in six years.
Price increases for some of the most popular brand-name drugs were much steeper; the sleeping pill Ambien was up 13.3 percent, and the best-selling cholesterol drug, Lipitor, was up 4.7 to 6.5 percent, depending on dosage.
Over all, AARP said, higher prices mean that the cost of providing brand-name drugs to the typical older American, who takes four prescription medicines daily, rose by nearly $240 on average over the 12-month period that ended on March 31."
Yet Another Election Year Stunt
Of course, this one could backfire, bigtime.... especially since all of our missle defense systems have failed miserably in the past.
U.S. weighs shootdown of N. Korea missile - Yahoo! News:
"WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is weighing responses to a possible North Korean missile test that include attempting to shoot it down in flight over the Pacific, defense officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. " (Read On ^)
Of course, our missle will miss, wipe out Tokyo or some damn thing, and the uber Right will hail Chimpy a hero, saying we should have wiped out Tokyo back in the 40s.
Something is going on here and it has nothing to do with God.
This is just out-right insane.
Do these people really believe that God, or Jesus, gives a holy damn about a bunch of grown men playing games for millions?
Me thinks that grown men playing games for a living take themselves and their "profession" way too seriously.
The Rockies Pitch Religion:
"In Colorado, there stands a holy shrine called Coors Field. On this site, named for the holiest of beers, a team plays that has been chosen by Jesus Christ himself to play .500 baseball in the National League West. And if you don't believe me, just ask the manager, the general manager and the team's owner.
In a remarkable article from Wednesday's USA Today, the Colorado Rockies went public with the news that the organization has been explicitly looking for players with 'character.' And according to the Tribe of Coors, 'character' means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. 'We're nervous, to be honest with you,' Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. 'It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs.' When people are nervous that they will offend you with their beliefs, it's usually because their beliefs are offensive.
As Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort said, 'We had to go to hell and back to know where the Holy Grail is. We went through a tough time and took a lot of arrows.' "
(Read On ^)
Do these people really believe that God, or Jesus, gives a holy damn about a bunch of grown men playing games for millions?
Me thinks that grown men playing games for a living take themselves and their "profession" way too seriously.
The Rockies Pitch Religion:
"In Colorado, there stands a holy shrine called Coors Field. On this site, named for the holiest of beers, a team plays that has been chosen by Jesus Christ himself to play .500 baseball in the National League West. And if you don't believe me, just ask the manager, the general manager and the team's owner.
In a remarkable article from Wednesday's USA Today, the Colorado Rockies went public with the news that the organization has been explicitly looking for players with 'character.' And according to the Tribe of Coors, 'character' means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. 'We're nervous, to be honest with you,' Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. 'It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs.' When people are nervous that they will offend you with their beliefs, it's usually because their beliefs are offensive.
As Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort said, 'We had to go to hell and back to know where the Holy Grail is. We went through a tough time and took a lot of arrows.' "
(Read On ^)
Hey Guys, It's Just a Game
If men want to get out on a football field and get their brains dashed out on a regular basis, that's fine with me, as long as I don't have to pay for their medcial bills.
If only we could keep their warlike behavior in football stadiums....
Hey Guys, It's Just a Game:
"More than half a century ago, Dwight Eisenhower famously said, 'The true mission of American sports is to prepare young men for war.' This is the undeniable downside of sports: the way teamwork, camaraderie and competition can be used to desensitize a population to the horrors of war. And it is particularly part of the sporting DNA of what Americans call football, where games are routinely referred to as 'battles' or 'wars,' and NFL quarterbacks are 'field generals' who throw bullet passes and bombs for the purpose of advancing on enemy territory.
Consider the bellicose posturing of American striker Eddie Johnson at the World Cup, a few days before his team managed to tie the favored Italians in an ugly match featuring three ejections. "
Hoping to emulate conservative success, Dem young guns launch journal of ideas
Maybe it's just me, but I don't believe that the Left will have much luck emulating the Right. The Left does no do lock-step very well, nor goose stepping for that matter.
Thinks tanks are fine, as are policy and idea publications.
I'm not sure what 'thrid way' means, but wake me when someone says fourth way, and I'm there!
Hoping to emulate conservative success, Dem young guns launch journal of ideas:
"Many Democrats now realize that they had ceded too much ground in the world of ideas since losing the White House in 2000.
'Progressives and Democrats find themselves without a terribly modern infrastructure to help spark the revival of ideas that we need,' Rosenberg said. 'We have to develop more institutions. We don't know which will become our version AEI or [the] Drudge Report or [Rush] Limbaugh. But we know that we need more tools.'
After the disastrous midterm elections in 2002, Democrats have started several political, media and policy outfits, including the Center for American Progress (CAP), a more traditional liberal think tank modeled after the Heritage Foundation; Air America, a liberal radio network; and Third Way, an 18-month-old group that coaches Democratic candidates in developing and presenting their message."
Thinks tanks are fine, as are policy and idea publications.
I'm not sure what 'thrid way' means, but wake me when someone says fourth way, and I'm there!
Hoping to emulate conservative success, Dem young guns launch journal of ideas:
"Many Democrats now realize that they had ceded too much ground in the world of ideas since losing the White House in 2000.
'Progressives and Democrats find themselves without a terribly modern infrastructure to help spark the revival of ideas that we need,' Rosenberg said. 'We have to develop more institutions. We don't know which will become our version AEI or [the] Drudge Report or [Rush] Limbaugh. But we know that we need more tools.'
After the disastrous midterm elections in 2002, Democrats have started several political, media and policy outfits, including the Center for American Progress (CAP), a more traditional liberal think tank modeled after the Heritage Foundation; Air America, a liberal radio network; and Third Way, an 18-month-old group that coaches Democratic candidates in developing and presenting their message."
Broadcasting disunity does not win elections
If there was ever a time to start building a third, viable Party, it is now.
Of course, their isn't time between now and Novemeber, so I will vote straight Democrat, and then immediately start working against both major political parties.
David Sirota:
"Call me crazy, but I just do not understand how the Washington Democratic Party establishment can publicly say that in advance of the 2006 elections, there needs to be no Democratic Party unity on the Iraq War - the most pressing national security issue of the day. To make such a claim, you have to be either dumb; totally out of touch with the majority of Americans who want an exit strategy; deliberately dishonest because you are embarrassed you supported the war in the first place; disdainful of voters' intellect; or all of the above. But, incredibly, that's what Democrats in Washington are telling the media, and consequently, broadcasting to the American people.
Stories like this one in the Christian Science Monitor only reinforce the public's image that the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. stands for nothing. In the piece, for instance, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi actually says 'We don't even have a party position on the war.' Why? Because 'We don't ask members to do one thing or another.' Right, why should they? They are only the leaders of the party? Why should they lead? Good god, what is wrong with these people - do they not see that their fear of actually leading and taking a real position is what is at the heart of voters' reservations about supporting them?"
Of course, their isn't time between now and Novemeber, so I will vote straight Democrat, and then immediately start working against both major political parties.
David Sirota:
"Call me crazy, but I just do not understand how the Washington Democratic Party establishment can publicly say that in advance of the 2006 elections, there needs to be no Democratic Party unity on the Iraq War - the most pressing national security issue of the day. To make such a claim, you have to be either dumb; totally out of touch with the majority of Americans who want an exit strategy; deliberately dishonest because you are embarrassed you supported the war in the first place; disdainful of voters' intellect; or all of the above. But, incredibly, that's what Democrats in Washington are telling the media, and consequently, broadcasting to the American people.
Stories like this one in the Christian Science Monitor only reinforce the public's image that the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. stands for nothing. In the piece, for instance, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi actually says 'We don't even have a party position on the war.' Why? Because 'We don't ask members to do one thing or another.' Right, why should they? They are only the leaders of the party? Why should they lead? Good god, what is wrong with these people - do they not see that their fear of actually leading and taking a real position is what is at the heart of voters' reservations about supporting them?"
Episcopalians reject ban on gay bishops - Yahoo! News
Let the conservatives leave, if they cannot live with an evolving church. Perhaps they need their fear and hatred, though I cannot imagine why, as it is against everything Christ taught.
The Christian Church has to change or die. It is time for a new Church that addresses the issues of the 21st Century as we have come to understand them with good, not junk, science.
So, let the conservatives leave. Then, perhaps, we will have that new church.
Episcopalians reject ban on gay bishops - Yahoo! News:
"COLUMBUS, Ohio - Episcopal delegates Tuesday snubbed Anglican leaders' request to temporarily stop electing openly gay bishops, a vote that further frustrated conservatives in the American church and could hasten a break with Anglicans worldwide. "
The real scandal is Bush hitting 755
Impeach Bush and Cheney now!
Boiling Mad: The real scandal is Bush hitting 755:
"It had been long established that Bush should be impeached for four high crimes and misdemeanors: 1. the fixing of intelligence to justify the United States' illegal, unjust, and costly invasion of Iraq; 2. the outing of a CIA agent in retaliation for her husband's exposure of Bush's 2003 SOTR lie; 3. the executive authorization of torture at Abu Ghraib and in Guantanamo Bay; 4. Bush's use of illegal wiretaps to spy on Americans in violation of the 1978 FISA Act and the Fourth Amendment.
But if you add Bush's use of signing statements to subvert Congressional law:
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.'--Bush challenges hundreds of Laws"
Bush has mentally ill man tortured
Which led to a panic over here, about absolutely nothing but the anguished false cconfessions of a tortured man.
In addition to what it costs us spiritually for this kind of thing to be happening on our dime and in our name and, supposedly, for our safety (LOL), I wonder how much this misadventure cost in terms of man hours, to chase down all of these false leads.
The entire Bush administration should be imprisoned for life!
Things I Learned Today TPMCafe:
According to Bart Gellman's review of Ron Suskind's new book the following things are true:
- Al-Qaedist Abu Zubaydah was captured in March 2002.
Zubaydah's captors discovered he was mentally ill and charged with minor logistical matters, such as arranging travel for wives and children.
- The President was informed of that judgment by the CIA.
Two weeks later, the President described Zubaydah as 'one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States.'
- Later, Bush told George Tenet, 'I said he was important. You're not going to let me lose face on this, are you?' and asked Tenet if 'some of these harsh methods really work?'
- The methods -- torture -- were applied.
- Then, according to Gellman, 'Under that duress, he began to speak of plots of every variety -- against shopping malls, banks, supermarkets, water systems, nuclear plants, apartment buildings, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty.'
- At which point, according to Suskind, 'thousands of uniformed men and women raced in a panic to each . . . target.
(Read On^)
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall June 20, 2006 07:48 PM
Bush has no plan for Iraq, except to stay thre long enough so that it becomes someone elses problem.
That shouldn't surprise anyone, since that is the story of his life.
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall June 20, 2006 07:48 PM
That shouldn't surprise anyone, since that is the story of his life.
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall June 20, 2006 07:48 PM
Americans don't want an empire
You can say that again, Father.
We are willing to help people find peace and life with dignity, but we don't want an American Empire, where we tell others what to with guns aimed at them.
Americans don't want an empire:
"The United States of America is a paper tiger. It reverses the dictum of Theodore Roosevelt. It speaks loudly and carries a small stick. Americans are told by their leaders that their country is the last superpower in the world, that we have the duty to bring democracy to the rest of the world, that we have the might and the right, the power and the virtue, to impose by ourself our will on the planet.
This is rubbish, not to use a more scatological word. The United States is not much good as an imperial power because it lacks two of the qualities essential for effective imperialism: a population that is ready to absorb serious casualties in the cause of the empire and leadership that is sufficiently cynical to abandon moralism when there is a chance to deal.
It will do no good to lecture the American people on their obligation to endure substantial loss of life in a cause that the leadership thinks is a national duty. Americans will rise up in righteous anger if they have been attacked and destroy the foe, make no mistake about that -- as the Japanese did in 1941. But they quickly become impatient with the endless, small wars, in which young Americans die without any clear purpose and without any 'light at the end of the tunnel.'"
We are willing to help people find peace and life with dignity, but we don't want an American Empire, where we tell others what to with guns aimed at them.
Americans don't want an empire:
"The United States of America is a paper tiger. It reverses the dictum of Theodore Roosevelt. It speaks loudly and carries a small stick. Americans are told by their leaders that their country is the last superpower in the world, that we have the duty to bring democracy to the rest of the world, that we have the might and the right, the power and the virtue, to impose by ourself our will on the planet.
This is rubbish, not to use a more scatological word. The United States is not much good as an imperial power because it lacks two of the qualities essential for effective imperialism: a population that is ready to absorb serious casualties in the cause of the empire and leadership that is sufficiently cynical to abandon moralism when there is a chance to deal.
It will do no good to lecture the American people on their obligation to endure substantial loss of life in a cause that the leadership thinks is a national duty. Americans will rise up in righteous anger if they have been attacked and destroy the foe, make no mistake about that -- as the Japanese did in 1941. But they quickly become impatient with the endless, small wars, in which young Americans die without any clear purpose and without any 'light at the end of the tunnel.'"
Jesus Is Not a Republican
No one can tell the religious whackso off like one of their own who hasn't drank the kool-aid
The Chronicle: 6/23/2006: Jesus Is Not a Republican:
"The evangelical subculture, which prizes conformity above all else, doesn't suffer rebels gladly, and it is especially intolerant of anyone with the temerity to challenge the shibboleths of the religious right. I understand that. Despite their putative claims to the faith, the leaders of the religious right are vicious toward anyone who refuses to kowtow to their version of orthodoxy, and their machinery of vilification strikes with ruthless, dispassionate efficiency. Longtime friends (and not a few family members) will shuffle uneasily around me and studiously avoid any sort of substantive conversation about the issues I raise, and then quietly strike my name from their Christmas-card lists. Circle the wagons. Brook no dissent.
And so, since my chances of being invited back to Edman Chapel have dropped from slim to none, I offer here an outline of what I would like to say to the students at Wheaton and, by extension, to evangelicals everywhere.
Evangelicals have come a long way since my visit to Edman Chapel in 1972. We have moved from cultural obscurity, almost invisibility, to becoming a major force in American society. Jimmy Carter's run for the presidency launched us into the national consciousness, but evangelicals abandoned Carter by the end of the 1970s, as the nascent religious right forged an alliance with the Republican Party." (Read On ^)
The Chronicle: 6/23/2006: Jesus Is Not a Republican:
"The evangelical subculture, which prizes conformity above all else, doesn't suffer rebels gladly, and it is especially intolerant of anyone with the temerity to challenge the shibboleths of the religious right. I understand that. Despite their putative claims to the faith, the leaders of the religious right are vicious toward anyone who refuses to kowtow to their version of orthodoxy, and their machinery of vilification strikes with ruthless, dispassionate efficiency. Longtime friends (and not a few family members) will shuffle uneasily around me and studiously avoid any sort of substantive conversation about the issues I raise, and then quietly strike my name from their Christmas-card lists. Circle the wagons. Brook no dissent.
And so, since my chances of being invited back to Edman Chapel have dropped from slim to none, I offer here an outline of what I would like to say to the students at Wheaton and, by extension, to evangelicals everywhere.
Evangelicals have come a long way since my visit to Edman Chapel in 1972. We have moved from cultural obscurity, almost invisibility, to becoming a major force in American society. Jimmy Carter's run for the presidency launched us into the national consciousness, but evangelicals abandoned Carter by the end of the 1970s, as the nascent religious right forged an alliance with the Republican Party." (Read On ^)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere
Either Rummy is senile or a liar; maybe a senile old crook.
Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere:
"The topic was the largest defense procurement scandal in recent decades, and the two investigators for the Pentagon's inspector general in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office on April 1, 2005, asked the secretary to raise his hand and swear to tell the truth.
Rumsfeld agreed but complained. 'I find it strange,' he said to the investigators, on the grounds that as a government official 'the laws apply to me' anyway.
It was a bumpy start to an odd interview, as Rumsfeld cited poor memory, loose office procedures, and a general distraction with 'the wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan to explain why he was so unsure how his department came to squander $30 billion leasing several new tanker aircraft that its own experts had decided were ot needed.
Rice's Top Deputy to Leave State Department
Also the guy who helped turn the 9/11 commission into the Whitewash commission.
Rice's Top Deputy to Leave State Department:
"Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, one of the administration's most prominent figures in foreign and economic policy, said yesterday that he is resigning to join the Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Zoellick's interest in leaving his high-profile post had long been rumored, but it leaves a large hole in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's foreign policy team. Zoellick spearheaded efforts to end the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and was the administration's main interlocutor in the delicate relationship between the United States and China."
Gore Refuses to Back Lieberman | The Huffington Post
Once again, Gore doesn't dissappoint.
Wise move Al.
Lieberman is a disgrace to the Democratic Party and one has to wonder where his national loyalties lie as well.
The Blog Taegan Goddard: Gore Refuses to Back Lieberman The Huffington Post:
"Interviewed on Bloomberg TV, Al Gore refused to endorse his former vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), in his re-election race.
aid Gore: 'I am not involved. I typically do not get involved in Democratic primaries. Joe is my close friend, Joe and Hadassah are close to Tipper and me and it would be very difficult for me to ever oppose him."
Wise move Al.
Lieberman is a disgrace to the Democratic Party and one has to wonder where his national loyalties lie as well.
The Blog Taegan Goddard: Gore Refuses to Back Lieberman The Huffington Post:
"Interviewed on Bloomberg TV, Al Gore refused to endorse his former vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), in his re-election race.
aid Gore: 'I am not involved. I typically do not get involved in Democratic primaries. Joe is my close friend, Joe and Hadassah are close to Tipper and me and it would be very difficult for me to ever oppose him."
Richard Clarke calls BS on Al Qaeda NYC subway cyanide plot
Maybe I have just gotten to the point where I don't believe anything this administration, but I though that there was soething very wrong with this scenario, too.
Daily Kos: Richard Clarke calls BS on Al Qaeda NYC subway cyanide plot: (Full article at dKos)
What Clarke said:
Daily Kos: Richard Clarke calls BS on Al Qaeda NYC subway cyanide plot: (Full article at dKos)
What Clarke said:
There's reason to be skeptical,' said ABC News consultant Richard
Clarke, who is the former chief of White House counterterrorism. 'Just because
something is labeled in an intelligence report does not mean every word it is
true.'He says the information describing the plot would have been just one
of the hundreds of threats that would have been collected in 2003.
Furthermore, the specificity of the report is suspect, he said. 'Whenever you get reports that are this specific, they are usually made up.'
Clarke noted the report detailed a particular time period for the attack, and that Osama bin Laden's top deputy himself weighed in.
Clarke said Zawihiri and bin Laden are too isolated to have that kind
of direct control over a plot inside the United States. He also thinks the terrorists would have carried out the attack if the plot was as advanced as Suskind reported.
'Frankly if there was a team in the United States that was ready to do this, they would have done it,' Clarke said."
Monday, June 19, 2006
Please get the hell out!
WTF Is It Now??:
"Iraq's vice president has asked [Preznit Happypants] for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the US doofus president made a surprise visit to Iraq.
'I supported him in this,' President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday."
"Iraq's vice president has asked [Preznit Happypants] for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the US doofus president made a surprise visit to Iraq.
'I supported him in this,' President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday."
Reports: N. Korea on verge of missile test
Heads up, West Coasties!
Reports: N. Korea on verge of missile test:
"SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea appeared close yesterday to test-firing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, prompting the White House to warn of an appropriate response and Japan to threaten a 'fierce' protest to the United Nations.
North Korea was silent on the issue but vowed to bolster its 'military deterrent' in a burst of fiery rhetoric carried by its state news agency.
A test launch of what is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile would inflame a region already tense over the North's continuing nuclear weapons program.
'There are signs' of an imminent missile launch, said Jung Tae Ho, a spokesman at the South Korean president's office. He said security officials were 'closely watching the situation.'
North Korea last conducted such a launch in August 1998. It imposed a moratorium on testing long-range missiles in 1999.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday that the United States expected the North to abide by that freeze.
'We do not want to have a missile test out of North Korea,' Snow said on Fox News Sunday. 'The North Koreans themselves decided in 1999 that they would place a moratorium on this kind of testing, and we expect them to maintain the moratorium.'
Snow said North Korea had made a series of commitments in six-nation talks over its nuclear program in September, including that it would 'bargain in good faith.'
'We expect them to come back to the table,' Snow said. 'And we hope there's not going to be a launch.'
President Bush, national security adviser Stephen Hadley, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been in contact with more than a dozen countries and have communicated with North Korea through its U.N. representative, Snow said.
A negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis is within reach
Of course, who knows if the Bushites are interested in a solution. Bush doesn't seem to have a clue what to do about anything if it doesnm't involve sending in the military.
Even an outbreak of the Avian Flu requires military quarantine, according to the Bush plan for a Pandemic.
Let's face it, this is a black or white, all or nothing administration.
Wasn't it Lao Tsu who said if you say "this or that, you have missed the truth?"
This administration is very much into false choices.
Guardian Unlimited Comment is free A negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis is within reach:
The US must take three basic steps to defuse this confrontation. The consequences of not doing so could be grim. (will be grim)
The urgency of halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and moving toward their elimination, could hardly be greater. Failure to do so is almost certain to lead to grim consequences, even the end of biology's only experiment with higher intelligence. As threatening as the crisis is, the means exist to defuse it.
A near-meltdown seems to be imminent over Iran and its nuclear programmes. Before 1979, when the Shah was in power, Washington strongly supported these programmes. Today the standard claim is that Iran has no need for nuclear power, and therefore must be pursuing a secret weapons programme. 'For a major oil producer such as Iran, nuclear energy is a wasteful use of resources,' Henry Kissinger wrote in the Washington Post last year."
(Read On ^)
President Moron doesn't give a hoot....
....what the American people think or want.
In his defiant, hypomanic Rose garden apprearance, it was business as usual, and we are all just a focus group, again...still...whatever.
CQPolitics.com - Craig Crawford: Opinion-Proof Policy:
"If we learned anything about George W. Bush when he was in the Rose Garden last week, it was just how much he sees himself as utterly impervious to the obvious will of a majority of the American people.
A buoyant and at times defiant president met with reporters just a few hours after proving that Air Force One can indeed fly to Baghdad and back without incident. Energized by this technological feat, along with the killing the week before of al Qaeda�s leader in Iraq, Bush proceeded to explain why he simply does not care about the persistent parade of opinion polls showing that most Americans are as unhappy as ever with his policies in Iraq. 'Don't bet on American politics forcing my hand, because it's not going to happen,' Bush said.
There you have it, naysayers. The president has no intention of listening to you."
In his defiant, hypomanic Rose garden apprearance, it was business as usual, and we are all just a focus group, again...still...whatever.
CQPolitics.com - Craig Crawford: Opinion-Proof Policy:
"If we learned anything about George W. Bush when he was in the Rose Garden last week, it was just how much he sees himself as utterly impervious to the obvious will of a majority of the American people.
A buoyant and at times defiant president met with reporters just a few hours after proving that Air Force One can indeed fly to Baghdad and back without incident. Energized by this technological feat, along with the killing the week before of al Qaeda�s leader in Iraq, Bush proceeded to explain why he simply does not care about the persistent parade of opinion polls showing that most Americans are as unhappy as ever with his policies in Iraq. 'Don't bet on American politics forcing my hand, because it's not going to happen,' Bush said.
There you have it, naysayers. The president has no intention of listening to you."
Frontline: The battle between Vice President Cheney and CIA to control the 'dark side'
Dick Cheney is a paranoid jackass who needs to be studied.
The Raw Story Frontline: The battle between Vice President Cheney and CIA to control the 'dark side':
"Tuesday's episode of the PBS public affairs series Frontline will probe the battle between Vice President Dick Cheney and the CIA to control the 'dark side,' according to a press release for the show.
'Amid daily revelations about prewar intelligence and a growing scandal surrounding the indictment of the vice president's chief of staff and presidential adviser, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, FRONTLINE goes behind the headlines to investigate the internal war that was waged between the intelligence community and Richard Bruce Cheney, the most powerful vice president in the nation's history,' says the press release.
The title for the show is derived from a television interview Cheney gave five days after September 11, 2001, when asked how the government might respond to the terrorist attacks by NBC's Tim Russert." (Read On ^)
That's Not Christian! : My Republican Father Hated This War
My Republican father, hated the Bushies!
That�s Not Christian! � My Republican Father Hated This War:
"My father isn't living this year, except in my heart. And so it is a sad day for me. But indeed, he helped me to understand the difference between right and wrong, and to recognize how the decisions we make today can affect the rest our lives�but also, and this is something that George Bush and his supportors either can't or won't admit, how those decisions affect the lives of other people, too.
My father called himself an 'old-fashioned fiscal Republican', meaning, he wasn't keen on social spending for the faceless public although, as was obvious to all who knew him, he could never say no to an individual in need, even at great cost to himself.
Daddy voted for both Bushes, but in the last years of his life, he grew increasingly unhappy with Bush Jr's war habit. Living for most of his life in a naval area, and having been a young sailor long ago in WWII, my father could really identify with all those fresh-scrubbed faces of military men and women flashed on the news, young people who used to be individuals but were now one of what some like to call 'a number': US casualties in Iraq. He didn't see them as just statistics, but as well-meaning kids who'd had no idea, when they signed up, what they were in for."
That�s Not Christian! � My Republican Father Hated This War:
"My father isn't living this year, except in my heart. And so it is a sad day for me. But indeed, he helped me to understand the difference between right and wrong, and to recognize how the decisions we make today can affect the rest our lives�but also, and this is something that George Bush and his supportors either can't or won't admit, how those decisions affect the lives of other people, too.
My father called himself an 'old-fashioned fiscal Republican', meaning, he wasn't keen on social spending for the faceless public although, as was obvious to all who knew him, he could never say no to an individual in need, even at great cost to himself.
Daddy voted for both Bushes, but in the last years of his life, he grew increasingly unhappy with Bush Jr's war habit. Living for most of his life in a naval area, and having been a young sailor long ago in WWII, my father could really identify with all those fresh-scrubbed faces of military men and women flashed on the news, young people who used to be individuals but were now one of what some like to call 'a number': US casualties in Iraq. He didn't see them as just statistics, but as well-meaning kids who'd had no idea, when they signed up, what they were in for."
Democracy an insult to those who live only for power
Jomentum ought to be terrorized!
If there is a God, he will lose and leave the country!
Journal Inquirer - Democracy an insult to those who live only for power:
"But first runner-up in the Spiro T. Agnew Foot-in-Mouth, Mind-in-Space Award this week is John F. Droney Jr., a former Connecticut Democratic chairman.
Droney said Sen. Joe Lieberman should bolt the Democratic Party and run as an independent.
'I think to be terrorized through the summer by an extremely small group of the Democratic Party, much less the voting population, is total insanity for a person who is a three-term senator,' Droney said.
Terrorized?
It's called an election, dude."
Iraqi Nervous Breakdown
...soon to be followed by the American nervous breakdown.
Hullabaloo:
"In a very straighforward descriptive style, Khalilzad writes that Iraqis must hide the fact that they work for the US or face ostracism or worse. Women are being treated only slightly better than if they were living under the Taliban in 1999 --- and they are being asked to wear clothing that Khalilzad admits was not even required by the most repressive Iranian Ayatollahs. They are losing their driving privileges and are considered suspicious if they use a cell phone --- they might be calling a lover, you see. (This is your fundamentalist religion working to 'free' women from the burden of being full citizens.)
People are being gouged for electricity, to which they barely have access anyway (in 115 degree heat!) They face kidnappings and violence every day of their lives. Sectarian divisions are showing up in all their social interactions, even among families. They must adopt separate customs, dress and manner of speaking to travel freely through various neighborhoods in Baghdad or risk violence. They cannot trust the security forces, who seem to be getting more hostile to the population, especially those who work for the US. Their anxiety is palpable as they feel their lives are hurling out of control.
Did I mention that the people he is talking about in this cable are all employees of the US embassy in Baghdad? That's right. These are the highly privileged, educated elite who work inside the Green Zone. Imagine what it's like out in the hinterlands. "
Hullabaloo:
"In a very straighforward descriptive style, Khalilzad writes that Iraqis must hide the fact that they work for the US or face ostracism or worse. Women are being treated only slightly better than if they were living under the Taliban in 1999 --- and they are being asked to wear clothing that Khalilzad admits was not even required by the most repressive Iranian Ayatollahs. They are losing their driving privileges and are considered suspicious if they use a cell phone --- they might be calling a lover, you see. (This is your fundamentalist religion working to 'free' women from the burden of being full citizens.)
People are being gouged for electricity, to which they barely have access anyway (in 115 degree heat!) They face kidnappings and violence every day of their lives. Sectarian divisions are showing up in all their social interactions, even among families. They must adopt separate customs, dress and manner of speaking to travel freely through various neighborhoods in Baghdad or risk violence. They cannot trust the security forces, who seem to be getting more hostile to the population, especially those who work for the US. Their anxiety is palpable as they feel their lives are hurling out of control.
Did I mention that the people he is talking about in this cable are all employees of the US embassy in Baghdad? That's right. These are the highly privileged, educated elite who work inside the Green Zone. Imagine what it's like out in the hinterlands. "
Another escape by the illusionist -- Newsday.com
Don't be so sure!
In a lawless land, there is more than one type of justice!
Count on it!
Another escape by the illusionist -- Newsday.com:
"Karl Rove was not indicted last week, shame on the special prosecutor. After lying to the grand jury, the White House adviser recanted, and was made to sweat and even to lose a few excess pounds. This contributed to the illusion that he was done for; there was hope in the land.
When the moment arrived to save the republic, however, the prosecutor lost his nerve. Patrick Fitztgerald refused to indict this most illicit of all ham sandwiches." (Read On ^)
Robert Dreyfuss, The Iraqi Insurgency and Us
TomDispatch - Tomgram: Robert Dreyfuss, The Iraqi Insurgency and Us:
"Remember Saddam's 'killing fields'? By now, the Bush administration has turned whole swathes of Iraq into a charnel house. Last week Hala Jaber, a fine British reporter, returned to Baghdad and visited one of today's killing fields -- that city's morgue into which, from what she calls 'the nightly slaughter,' approximately 6,000 corpses have been delivered since the first of the year. 'Each corpse,' she writes, 'tells a different story about the terrors of Iraq. Some bodies are pocked with holes inflicted by torturers with power drills. Some show signs of strangulation; others, with hands tied behind the back, bear bullet wounds. Many are charred and dismembered.'
Baghdad, she relates, is a city in which the 'main topic of conversation in most households is death -- who is the latest to have been killed, what depraved technique was used and whether it is safe to go out.'
It was into that city of death -- or rather its American death-lite version -- that our President flew last week, just over three years after he famously declared 'mission accomplished' on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. He landed at Baghdad's airport, helicoptered into the Green Zone, that heavily fortified American citadel, in 25 pounds of body armor, surprised the new prime minister, looked him 'in the eyes,' and declared himself 'inspired.' It was, as Sidney Blumenthal put it, 'mission accomplished' in a business suit.' "
(Read On ^)
"Remember Saddam's 'killing fields'? By now, the Bush administration has turned whole swathes of Iraq into a charnel house. Last week Hala Jaber, a fine British reporter, returned to Baghdad and visited one of today's killing fields -- that city's morgue into which, from what she calls 'the nightly slaughter,' approximately 6,000 corpses have been delivered since the first of the year. 'Each corpse,' she writes, 'tells a different story about the terrors of Iraq. Some bodies are pocked with holes inflicted by torturers with power drills. Some show signs of strangulation; others, with hands tied behind the back, bear bullet wounds. Many are charred and dismembered.'
Baghdad, she relates, is a city in which the 'main topic of conversation in most households is death -- who is the latest to have been killed, what depraved technique was used and whether it is safe to go out.'
It was into that city of death -- or rather its American death-lite version -- that our President flew last week, just over three years after he famously declared 'mission accomplished' on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. He landed at Baghdad's airport, helicoptered into the Green Zone, that heavily fortified American citadel, in 25 pounds of body armor, surprised the new prime minister, looked him 'in the eyes,' and declared himself 'inspired.' It was, as Sidney Blumenthal put it, 'mission accomplished' in a business suit.' "
(Read On ^)
Sirotablog: VIDEO: Embarrassing John Stossel on CNBC
Hilarious, in the extreme!
Sirotablog: VIDEO: Embarrassing John Stossel on CNBC:
"It's not everyday that you get to publicly embarrass a right-wing pathological liar like John Stossel on national television - but that's what I had the pleasure of doing earlier this week.
Now, after popular demand by those who saw the transcript of the interchange, Alternet's Don Hazen tracked down the video of the interchange, which you can now view here. It's pretty hilarious- so go check it out.
Frankly, I thought Stossel would be a lot smoother at trying to defend his lies - but he really was an unworthy adversary. He strikes me as someone who has gotten so lazy and so infatuated with the sound of his own voice that he thinks he can just spit out factually inaccurate nonsense and no one will call him on it. Well, at least this week, those of us fighting for the truth nailed him to the wall. " (Check out the video^)
The Raw Story | Fox anchor asks FBI official if American government fakes terrorist documents
No one knows what to believe anymore.
There have been so many lies, evasions and misleads.
Most of us have learned to just assume that anything the administration says is suspect.
A very sad state of affairs.... if not out-right infuriating.
The Raw Story Fox anchor asks FBI official if American government fakes terrorist documents:
"In an interview with an FBI official about a recently discovered Qaeda letter, Fox News Channel's John Gibson asked if the American government ever fakes terrorist documents, RAW STORY has found.
The American government doesn't fake terrorist documents,' FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs John Miller told Gibson on Friday. 'But again, John, I don't want to get pulled into a discussion that I'm not briefed on, so I can't talk about these particular documents, per se.'
'Not to characterize them one way or the other, I just wasn't told this was going to come up and I've not read into those,' Miller continued.
Transcript of FOX interview:" (Read On ^)
How US hid the suicide secrets of Guantanamo
I have often said that death is, by far, not the worst thing that can happen to one in this insane, barbaric world.
But to be a killer and a torturer is.
The Observer World How US hid the suicide secrets of Guantanamo:
"After three inmates killed themselves, the Pentagon declared the suicides an act of 'asymmetric warfare', banned the media and went on a PR offensive. But as despair grows within the camp, so too does outrage mount at its brutal and secretive regime "
Amazing Grace: Woman to head Episcopal Church
It's about time!
Bishop breaks stained glass ceiling - World - Times Online:
"AN AMERICAN woman has become the first in the world to have equivalent status to archbishop after being elected to head the Episcopal Church.
After just five years as a bishop and twelve as a priest, the Right Rev Katharine Schori, 52, Bishop of Nevada, has succeeded the Right Rev Frank Griswold as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. She is firmly allied with the liberal wing of the Church, having voted for the consecration of the openly gay Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.
Yesterday the Bishop of Rochester, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, attending the General Convention of the Episcopal Church as a guest, said that worldwide Anglicanism had become 'two religions' with the divisions between liberals and conservatives so profound that a schism was inevitable.
Assuming that the Episcopal Church remains part of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Schori is now propelled into the heart of its governance. She will sit alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and 36 other male archbishops at the Primates' Meeting and take a leading role at the Lambeth Conference at Canterbury in 2008. "
Pardon talk for Libby begins
By all means, President Moron, pardon Libby and everyone else. Of course they, and you, would all be safer in prison, because the American people will not pardon any of you, by the time this nightmare is over, if it ever is.
Remember what happened to Mussolini....
Pardon talk for Libby begins -- Newsday.com:
"WASHINGTON -- Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation.
Speculation about a pardon began in late October, soon after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald unsealed the perjury indictment of Libby, and it continued last week after Fitzgerald chose not to charge Rove."
The sober reality: Bush and bumblers recklessly waged war - Roanoke.com
The sober reality: Bush and bumblers recklessly waged war - Roanoke.com:
The sober reality: Bush and bumblers recklessly waged war
Paul Hinlicky's rosy view of the Iraq mess ('Iraq differs from Vietnam,' June 5 commentary) will be judged by future events, but two points deserve an immediate response.
First, after granting respect to those who think the war cannot be won and call for withdrawal, Hinlicky says he supports the troops 'in their mission, as one who believes that American power must be used in the world soberly and in fashion governed morally and politically by greater goals of freedom, peace and social justice.'
That is unrealistic because the executors of the war, President Bush and his bumbling band, failed to act soberly or morally, and this blemish affects the whole effort. Bush, not the troops, determines the nature of the war."
The sober reality: Bush and bumblers recklessly waged war
Paul Hinlicky's rosy view of the Iraq mess ('Iraq differs from Vietnam,' June 5 commentary) will be judged by future events, but two points deserve an immediate response.
First, after granting respect to those who think the war cannot be won and call for withdrawal, Hinlicky says he supports the troops 'in their mission, as one who believes that American power must be used in the world soberly and in fashion governed morally and politically by greater goals of freedom, peace and social justice.'
That is unrealistic because the executors of the war, President Bush and his bumbling band, failed to act soberly or morally, and this blemish affects the whole effort. Bush, not the troops, determines the nature of the war."
How Hastert benefited from sale | Chicago Tribune
So, is Hastert going down, too?
The more Rethug crooks the better!
How Hastert benefited from sale Chicago Tribune:
"The complex structure of a real estate transaction in Kendall County last December left House Speaker Dennis Hastert with a seven-figure profit and in prime position to reap further benefits as the exurban region west of Chicago continues its prairie-fire growth boosted by a Hastert-backed federally funded proposed highway.
Instead of cash, Hastert (R-Ill.) took most of his share of the proceeds in land, some of it less than 2 miles from the parcels he and two partners in a land trust sold for nearly $5 million to a developer who plans to build more than 1,500 homes and commercial space on the property near Little Rock and Galena roads in Plano.
Hastert received five-eighths of the proceeds of the sale, which worked out to a profit of more than $1.5 million for him on property that he and his partners accumulated in a little more than three years.
Little Rock Trust No. 225" (Read On ^)
Cheney mum, but his money talks
I guess this is a bit like insider-trading. If you know where your administration has screwed up, you know how to avoid the big losses.
Cheney mum, but his money talks:
"Vice President Dick Cheney's investment portfolio got a little attention among bloggers recently. Nobody really jumped on it. The rules are different for Republicans.
In theory, you can tell what a person expects from how he invests. The theory hasn't been applied to important public officials much before. Kiplinger's Personal Finance applied it to the Cheneys' financial disclosure statement and printed the analysis under the provocative headline, 'Cheneys betting on bad news?'
The bad news would be of two kinds: A higher rate of inflation and a lower value for the dollar.
Kiplinger's got the inflation hint from the Cheneys' stakes in a fund that specializes in short-term municipal bonds, a tax-exempt money market fund and an inflation-protected securities fund. The first two hold up if interest rates rise with inflation. The third is protected against inflation. The disclosure statement provides ranges for the investments, so Kiplinger's could tell only that the Cheneys have between $10 million and $25 million in the municipal bonds, between $1 million and $5 million in the money market and between $2 million and $10 million in the inflation-protected securities.
The hint about a loss of value of the dollar comes from their $10 million to $25 million in a foreign, mainly European, bond fund. Of course, a weak dollar - which no government ever admits to encouraging - would help exports. That would help to cut the trade deficit. Not all 'bad news' is bad news for everybody in all respects."
Sunday, June 18, 2006
News From Underground
Regarding Election Stealing:
News From Underground:
"Two weeks ago, Rolling Stone came out with 'Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?' -- a masterful investigative piece by Robert Kennedy, Jr., arguing that Bush & Co. stole their 're-election' in Ohio, and pointing out exactly how they did it. Primarily because of Kennedy's good reputation, and the mainstream credibility of Rolling Stone, the article has finally opened many eyes that had been tightly shut to the grave state of American democracy.
One week after Kennedy's article appeared, Salon posted an attack upon it by Farhad Manjoo, the magazine's technology reporter. That piece contained so many errors of fact and logic, and was throughout so brazenly wrong-headed, that several hundred readers sent in angry letters, many of them brilliantly refuting some of Manjoo's misconceptions and mistakes, and quite a few demanding that Salon cancel their subscriptions.
A few days later, Joan Walsh, Salon's editor, tried to calm the storm with a defense of Manjoo's writings on the theft of the 2004 election -- a theft that he had frequently addressed before, as he had been trying to 'debunk'it ever since that infamous Election Day. Walsh did not answer any of the criticisms of Manjoo's attack, but merely re-asserted Salon's confidence in all his work for them."
Rove sits on his big fat ass and says stay the course.
Atta Boy Murtha, You tell 'em!
Crooks and Liars:
"Russert: Cutting and Running
MURTHA: He's in New Hampshire. He's making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside-saying stay the course. That's not a plan! We've got to change direction. You can't sit there in the air-conditioned office and tell troops carrying seventy pounds on their backs, inside these armored vessels-hit with IED's every day-seeing their friends blown up-their buddies blown up-and he says stay the course? Easy to say that from Washington, DC.
What was Rove's military service again?"
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship
Simply astounding...how Dumya can lie with a straight face. The man cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything.
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship:
"NEW YORK : The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked 'sensitive,' that it says show that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, 'the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees.'
This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, 'the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees' constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government.'
It's actually far worse than that, as the details published below indicate, which include references to abductions, threats to women's rights, and 'ethnic cleansing.'
A PDF copy of the cable shows that it was sent to the SecState in Washington, D.C. from 'AMEmbassy Baghdad' on June 6. The typed name at the very bottom is Khalilzad -- the name of the U.S. Ambassador, though it is not known if this means he wrote the memo or merely approved it. " (Read On ^)
Rove Sets Trap for the Dems
President Moron high on adrenalin?
More like hypomanic, if you ask me, and, ofcourse, inappropriate. But that's nothing new.
What the hell does the pink frogman, Rove know about war? Absolutely nothing! The same can be said of all the silly-vilians who are supposedly running the war in Iraq, and, definitely, runing this country over a cliff.
Maybe if any of them had bothered to go to Vietnam, they would have learned the lessons of that quagmire and we wouldn't be in this one. But they all had other priorities.
Maybe if Dubya had gotten some psychiatric help with his Daddy issues, instead of going on a 20 year dry drunk, if the drunk is still dry, we might not be in this never-ending nightmare.
It is time for the Democrats to tell the damn truth about everything. Don't pull any punches. Bullies tend to wet their pants when confronted with the truth about their behavior.
It would be nice if the media would cover what they say.
Clift: Rove Sets Trap for the Dems - Newsweek Eleanor Clift - MSNBC.com:
"June 16, 2006 - Our towel-snapping president is feeling better. He joked and jostled with the press for almost an hour, high on adrenalin after his secret trip to Baghdad. Thanks to skilled lawyering, his adviser Karl Rove is back in business framing the November election as a referendum on cut-and-run Democrats."
More like hypomanic, if you ask me, and, ofcourse, inappropriate. But that's nothing new.
What the hell does the pink frogman, Rove know about war? Absolutely nothing! The same can be said of all the silly-vilians who are supposedly running the war in Iraq, and, definitely, runing this country over a cliff.
Maybe if any of them had bothered to go to Vietnam, they would have learned the lessons of that quagmire and we wouldn't be in this one. But they all had other priorities.
Maybe if Dubya had gotten some psychiatric help with his Daddy issues, instead of going on a 20 year dry drunk, if the drunk is still dry, we might not be in this never-ending nightmare.
It is time for the Democrats to tell the damn truth about everything. Don't pull any punches. Bullies tend to wet their pants when confronted with the truth about their behavior.
It would be nice if the media would cover what they say.
Clift: Rove Sets Trap for the Dems - Newsweek Eleanor Clift - MSNBC.com:
"June 16, 2006 - Our towel-snapping president is feeling better. He joked and jostled with the press for almost an hour, high on adrenalin after his secret trip to Baghdad. Thanks to skilled lawyering, his adviser Karl Rove is back in business framing the November election as a referendum on cut-and-run Democrats."
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