Zarqawi surely had a lot of number 2s

Click on over for the list:

blogenlust.net : A List of Captured or Killed al Qaeda in Iraq #2�s:

I've tried to make it easier to list all of the al Qaeda in Iraq #2's I've been keeping track of for the last year. Here's the complete list to the best of my knowledge. As of today, there are 39.

Reason Finally Strikes Back.

Provided humankind survives what it has already wrought upon the earth, the time has come for inventory-taking, house cleaning. We must decide what we will take with us on our journey through the new millennium.

Religions which demand blood sacrifices are off our list of things to carry.

Being an Atheist in America Isn't Easy - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com:

Sept. 11, 2006 issue - Americans answered the atrocities of September 11, overwhelmingly, with faith. Attacked in the name of God, they turned to God for comfort; in the week after the attacks, nearly 70 percent said they were praying more than usual. Confronted by a hatred that seemed inexplicable, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson proclaimed that God was mad at America because it harbored feminists, gays and civil libertarians. Sam Harris, then a 34-year-old graduate student in neuroscience, had a different reaction. On Sept. 12, he began a book. If, he reasoned, young men were slaughtering people in the name of religion, something that had been going on since long before 2001, of course, then perhaps the problem was religion itself. The book would be called 'The End of Faith,' which to most Americans probably sounds like a lament. To Harris it is something to be encouraged.

American Man Appears on Tape With Zawahiri

Tells Americans to convert to Islam.

Yeah, like that's gonna happen. We have our own brand of religious insanity to endure for now, and that is one too many.

American Man Appears on Tape With Zawahiri:

CAIRO, Sept. 2 -- An American thought to be an al-Qaeda activist appeared in a videotape with the network's deputy leader Saturday and called on his countrymen to convert to Islam.

The 48-minute video, posted on an Islamic insurgent Web site, contained footage of al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and of Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American who the FBI believes attended al-Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and served as an al-Qaeda translator.

Democrats see support for anti-Rumsfeld vote

Don't stop with Rumsfeld.

Don't stop 'til you get to the top.

Democrats see support for anti-Rumsfeld vote:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A resolution demanding the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after he compared Iraq war critics to Nazi appeasers has strong support among U.S. Senate Democrats, a senior Democrat said on Sunday.

A resolution against Rumsfeld, long a lightning rod for criticism of the Iraq war, would struggle to be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and would anyway not be binding on the administration of President George W. Bush.

Oh, Look! A Court Decision FOR Dissent!

Bush IS a great anti-drug message. Just look at him.

Simply Left Behind: Oh, Look! A Court Decision FOR Dissent!:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. student who sued school officials after he was made to censor his T-shirt that labelled President George W. Bush 'Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief' and a former alcohol and cocaine abuser won an appeal on Wednesday to wear the T-shirt to school.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Zachery Guiles, who through his parents claimed his free speech rights had been violated when school officials made him put duct tape over parts of his T-shirt that showed a Bush image surrounded by cocaine, a razor blade, a straw and a martini.

Guiles, who as a seventh grader in 2004 wore the T-shirt to Williamstown Middle High School in Vermont once a week for two months after purchasing it at an anti-war rally, appealed the case after a lower court ruled in favour of the school.

The school argued the images were offensive because they undermined the school's anti-drug message.

I no longer have power to save Iraq from civil war, warns Shia leader

Men of peace are never listened to when the crazies take over.

Telegraph News I no longer have power to save Iraq from civil war, warns Shia leader:

The most influential moderate Shia leader in Iraq has abandoned attempts to restrain his followers, admitting that there is nothing he can do to prevent the country sliding towards civil war.

Aides say Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is angry and disappointed that Shias are ignoring his calls for calm and are switching their allegiance in their thousands to more militant groups which promise protection from Sunni violence and revenge for attacks.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani :
'I will not be a political leader any more,' he told aides. 'I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters.'
It is a devastating blow to the remaining hopes for a peaceful solution in Iraq and spells trouble for British forces, who are based in and around the Shia stronghold of Basra.

Iraq, US at Odds Over Military Handover - New York Times

Embarrassing isn't the word for it, after over three years of nothing but screwups.

Iraq, US at Odds Over Military Handover - New York Times:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States and Iraq were at odds on Saturday over the transfer of operational control of Iraq's military to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, forcing a delay of a handover ceremony.

Saturday's ceremony to transfer control of Iraq's army from U.S. commander General George Casey to the Iraqi Defense Ministry had been hailed by U.S. officials as a big step toward Iraq taking responsibility for security.

`There is a disagreement on the wording of the document that outlines the new relationship between Coalition Forces and Iraqis,'' U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson told Reuters late on Saturday evening.

`It is embarrassing, but it was decided it was better not to sign the document,'' he said, adding that objections to the wording had been raised by Maliki's government.

The U.S. military, suffering almost daily casualties, has been training Iraq's fledgling military so that it can gradually extract itself from Iraq's increasingly sectarian violence more than three years after the 2003 invasion.

`They are not going to go ahead with the document until the language is agreed upon. It's not a matter of major substance, but they're not happy with the wording of the document,'' Johnson said, adding that it would be signed ``in a matter of days.''

Clinton, 9/11 and the Facts

The misinformation about to be put out by ABC in the film, the Path to 9/11, could have the effect of smacking a hornets nest.

Millions of Americans no longer buy the official conspiracy theory.

The airing of this piece of trash could just be the final straw.

Clinton, 9/11 and the Facts:

Roger Cressy, National Security Council senior director for counterterrorism in the period 1999-2001, responded to these allegations in an article for the Washington Times in 2003. 'Mr. Clinton approved every request made of him by the CIA and the U.S. military involving using force against bin Laden and al-Qaeda,' wrote Cressy. 'As President Bush well knows, bin Laden was and remains very good at staying hidden. The current administration faces many of the same challenges. Confusing the American people with misinformation and distortions will not generate the support we need to come together as a nation and defeat our terrorist enemies.'

Measures taken by the Clinton administration to thwart international terrorism and bin Laden's network were historic, unprecedented and, sadly, not followed up on.

Consider the steps offered by Clinton's 1996 omnibus anti-terror legislation, the pricetag for which stood at $1.097 billion. The following is a partial list of the initiatives offered by the Clinton anti-terrorism bill:

U.S. says Iran behind trouble / Officials say Bush is lying.

What a shock!

Bush wouldn't know the truth if it bit him the butt.

Analysis: U.S. says Iran behind trouble:

CAIRO, Egypt -- Top U.S. officials have made strong charges in recent weeks that Iran is directly stirring up trouble in Iraq. But inside Iraq, it's hard to see any change and some American officials in Baghdad say privately the evidence is not that clear.

Most experts on Iran say there is no question that Iran is funneling support to certain Shiite political parties in Iraq, groups it long supported when they were fighting Saddam Hussein.

Ironically, most of that aid appears to go to the same Shiite parties in Iraq that the American government supports and that are part of the government. The more militant Shiite groups are equally critical of U.S. and Iranian influence in the country.

Nevertheless, the anti-Iran rhetoric from Washington has escalated sharply.

Polls show opposition to Iraq war at all time high | csmonitor.com

It will be interesting to see if the Bushites' latest hyperventilating and name-calling works to build back any support for their nutty damn policy that is destroying this country, or if Americans are now through with the Greedy Old Pukes.

Polls show opposition to Iraq war at all time high csmonitor.com:

A series of polls taken over the last few weeks of August show that support for the war in Iraq among Americans is at an all-time low. Almost two-thirds of Americans in each of three major polls say that they oppose the war, the highest totals since pollsters starting asking Americans the question three years ago. Many of the polls were conducted in advance of the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.

A new Associated Press/Ipsos poll that surveyed the country, and more specifically residents of Washington and New York, shows that many feel the cost in blood and money in Iraq may already be too high and that Osama bin Laden will never be found. The poll also showed that 60 percent of Americans believe that the war in Iraq has increased the chances of a terrorist attack in the US.

Donald Rumsfeld's Dance With the Nazis By FRANK RICH

Rumsfeld is in serious need of medication, and a long vacation; like until death, in comfy orange jumpsuit.

donkey o.d.: Donald Rumsfeld�s Dance With the Nazis By FRANK RICH:

PRESIDENT BUSH came to Washington vowing to be a uniter, not a divider. Well, you win some and you lose some. But there is one member of his administration who has not broken that promise: Donald Rumsfeld. With indefatigable brio, he has long since united Democrats, Republicans, generals and civilians alike in calling for his scalp.

Last week the man who gave us 'stuff happens' and 'you go to war with the Army you have' out-did himself. In an instantly infamous address to the American Legion, he likened critics of the Iraq debacle to those who 'ridiculed or ignored' the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s and tried to appease Hitler. Such Americans, he said, suffer from a 'moral or intellectual confusion' and fail to recognize the 'new type of fascism' represented by terrorists. Presumably he was not only describing the usual array of 'Defeatocrats' but also the first President Bush, who had already been implicitly tarred as an appeaser by Tony Snow last month for failing to knock out Saddam in 1991.

More GOP Districts Counted as Vulnerable

I just hope that, for once, Americans won't fall for the negativity and bullying of the GOP.

This nation is in deep trouble. Leaving the crooks, who enabled Bush and Cheney to run it into the ground, will only make things worse, perhaps beyond repair.

Nothing will change in the middle east until all of the architects of that disaster are held accountable for what they've done. That process begins with removing the obstacles to that process.

More GOP Districts Counted as Vulnerable:

Privately, many Republican strategists fear there may be no way to prevent the Democrats from winning the House, where Republicans hold 231 of 435 seats. One prominent consultant -- who like many of the people interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid appraisals -- put the odds of a Democratic takeover at 75 percent. Another strategist who has worked as part of Bush's campaign team said he believes there is a 9-in-10 chance that Republicans will lose their 12-year-old House majority.

Other GOP officials, while nervous, believe they can hold the House with aggressive local campaigns and a national effort to focus on terrorism and security to raise voter fears about the consequences of Democratic control.

All predict one of the most negative midterm elections in memory, with virtually no positive advertising from the national GOP committees or individual GOP candidates.

Death Squads Behind Spike in Iraq Killings

When did the death squads start?

Was it while Negroponte was in Iraq?

I seem to remember that he knows quite a bit about death squads, especially when it comes to looking the other way

ABC News: Death Squads Behind Spike in Iraq Killings:

Sept. 1, 2006 - Sectarian violence in Iraq has become the 'core conflict' in Iraq and has created a security situation American military commanders believe is more complex than any they have faced at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2003, a sober Pentagon report released today says.

Death squads, both Shiite and Sunni, 'locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife,' have been the cause of most of the rise in violence, according to the the most recent of the congressionally mandated reports that are released every three months and provide the Pentagon's assessment of the ongoing situation in Iraq.

'It's a pretty sober report this time, the last quarter has been rough,' Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman said.
He noted that the spikes in violence and its sectarian focus are 'particularly acute and disturbing.'

FBI Role in Terror Probe Questioned

Yes, and as more information emerges out of London, we might find that all the terrorists were part of the same cell, along with the guy who planned to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge with a blow torch.

FBI Role in Terror Probe Questioned:

But court records released since then suggest that what Gonzales described as a 'deadly plot' was virtually the pipe dream of a few men with almost no ability to pull it off on their own. The suspects have raised questions in court about the FBI informants' role in keeping the plan alive.

The plot featured self-proclaimed militant religious leaders who referred to themselves as kings, talked of establishing their own nation inside the United States, called their headquarters an embassy and discussed plans to train their recruits to use bows and arrows. One of their quixotic notions was to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower.

Poll: Signs of Doubt Cloud War on Terror

There should be doubts. Major doubts!

Where is bin Laden?

Where is that madman al Zawahiri?

Where is the anthrax missive mailer?

Who is running our ports?

Why aren't "nukular" plants more secure and chemical plants?

Why is DHS a freakin' pork factory?

Why are gas prices higher than ever and where are the alternatives.

If we are so upset about the possibilty of a bioweapons attack, why isn't everyone insured?

Oh, and what the hell are we doing in Iraq, except making everything worse, to the tune of billions?

Poll: Signs of Doubt Cloud War on Terror:

WASHINGTON -- Doubts about the war on terrorism are growing. Most people worry that the cost in blood and money may be too high, and they don't think al-Qaida kingpin Osama bin Laden will ever be caught, an AP-Ipsos poll found.

Five years after the attacks of Sept. 11, fully one-third of Americans think the terrorists may be winning, the poll suggests. Worries fed by the war in Iraq have spilled over into the broader campaign against terrorists who directly target the U.S.

Bomb hits oil pipeline south of Baghdad - Yahoo! News

There goes Cheney's oil!

Bomb hits oil pipeline south of Baghdad - Yahoo! News:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bomb targeting an oil pipeline south of Baghdad exploded Friday, sparking a fire and cutting supply to a major electricity station, but causing no casualties, police said.

The bombed pipeline was on the outskirts of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, police Col. Salah Salman Mudir said.

The pipeline feeds Musayyib's electricity station, which provides power to the cities of Karbala, Najaf, Hillah and Diwaniyah, he said.

The damage will lead to longer power cuts in the cities, said Ahmed Hassan, the chief engineer of the Babil province electricity department. He said the power supply would now be cut for six-hour stretches and be turned on for two hours, rather than the previous four hours off and two hours on.
'If this pipeline is not fixed within three days, the hours of power cuts will be increased,' he added.

Iraqis have faced severe fuel shortages since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster in a U.S.-led invasion, and insurgents have frequently targeted pipelines and oil refineries.

AWOL soldier surrenders 19 months later

We should be keeping up with this young man.

AP Wire 08/31/2006 AWOL soldier surrenders 19 months later:

KILLEEN, Texas - A year and a half after going AWOL before his second deployment to Iraq, a soldier surrendered at Fort Hood on Thursday with a dozen war protesters by his side.

Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson said he was tired of running and sought help from Cindy Sheehan's protest camp in nearby Crawford, which helps educate soldiers about their rights as war resisters.

'I just could not in good conscience go back to a war I felt was wrong,' Wilkerson, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said at Sheehan's camp before the 40-mile trip to the post near Killeen where he had been stationed.

After the group arrived, Wilkerson spoke briefly with two military officials near the visitors' center, talked to the news media, hugged his supporters who wiped away tears, then walked toward the post.

Wilkerson will not be confined to a cell or other facility when he returns to his unit, said Maj. Joe Edstrom of the post's public affairs office. He said he did not know if Wilkerson will be restricted to the post or what punishment he faces, but said his company commander will decide.

'He's back in the United States Army as a soldier again,' Edstrom said.

Wilkerson, who said he never left the country but won't reveal where he was, heard about Sheehan's efforts to help war resisters after he already decided to surrender. He is the first absent-without-leave soldier to come forward as part of her group.

'It's amazingly scary to do what he's doing,' said Sheehan, who did not travel to Killeen on Thursday. 'He has all of our support, but when he gets to Fort Hood, he's going to be by himself.'

Ohio GOPer cannot defend Bush; Rumsfeld should go

Yes.

He should go.

He should to prison, right along with Bush and Cheney

The Columbus Dispatch - Local/State:

Like many Republicans seeking re-election this year, U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi is distancing himself from President Bush.
Tiberi, of Genoa Township, said yesterday that he does not support Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and thinks new leadership is needed at the Pentagon. He also fired some shots at Bush.

'I can't defend how the president laid out the need for (going to war in Iraq). I don't support Rumsfeld,' Tiberi said.

The comments from the three-term congressman came during a meeting before the Dispatch editorial board with challenger Bob Shamansky, whose spokesman revealed that the Bexley Democrat has committed more than $1 million of his own money to the race.

Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald?

Is Fitz about to drop a legal bomb on the W.H.?

Dare we hope?

NO QUARTER: Wrecking Patrick Fitzgerald?:

Looks like Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney charged with investigating the leak of that identified Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA officer, has hit a real nerve and is on the verge of dropping a new legal bomb on the Bush Administration. How else to explain the sudden surge of criticism directed against Mr. Fitzgerald? A story in today's New York Times by David Johnston is the latest salvo in what looks like a coordinated assault on the steely-eyed prosecutor. Plameologist EmptyWheel has a terrific post at The Next Hurrah dissecting Johnston's shoddy attempt at journalism. His piece, at best, is speculative analysis. Unfortunately, it is uninformed analysis.

Now, I'm up front about my bias in this case. Valerie Wilson is an old friend and colleague who was an excellent case officer until Robert Novak, citing Bush Administration sources, flagged her as a CIA employee. Until that day in July 2003, her husband and her friends (who were witting of her true employment status) protected her cover. She was in the process of shifting from 'non-official cover' status to 'official cover'. Both types of cover are protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

Iran offers to back Lebanon cease-fire

Watch the White House ignore this....

Iran offers to back Lebanon cease-fire - Yahoo! News:

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran offered to help support the cease-fire in Lebanon in talks Saturday with U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and insisted that diplomacy is the only way to resolve Tehran's nuclear dispute with the West.

The talks came two days after Iran defied a U.N. deadline to halt uranium enrichment, opening the door to consideration of sanctions to reinforce Western demands that the Islamic republic rein in its nuclear program and allay suspicions it is working on atomic weapons.

Before the Security Council discusses the issue, the European Union is taking another stab at diplomacy this week, and Annan said before arriving that he hoped sanctions could be avoided so as to keep from adding to tensions in 'a region already subjected to a great stress.'

The tone from Annan's first meetings in Tehran was positive. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, described his talks with the U.N. chief as 'constructive' and said 'both sides agreed that problems should be solved through negotiations.'

The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens

BUY THE BOOK

The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens (Paperback):

In The Impeachment of George W. Bush, Holtzman and her coauthor, acclaimed journalist Cynthia L. Cooper, have written a clear, lucid and damning legal brief that reveals that the 43rd President of the United States of America has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

This book focuses on four articles of impeachment: The Offense of Wiretapping Surveillance in Defiance of the Law; the Offence of Lying and Inducing America to Support a War; The Offense of Reckless Indifference to the Lives and Welfare of American Troops; The Offense of Torture in Violation of U.S. Laws and Treaties. It also provides an invaluable guide to how citizens can get involved in campaigning for impeachment, as well as an important historical analysis of impeachments past. The publication of this book is a summons to action in this process.'

GOP Advantage On Security Evaporating | TPMCafe

The GOP has done nothing in the way of HMS.

They have done everything they can to stir up more danger in the world.

Where is bin Laden, al Zawahiri and the athrax missive sender.

GOP Advantage On Security Evaporating TPMCafe:

In the 2002 midterm congressional campaigns, after Sept. 11 and before the Iraq invasion, Mr. Bush used Senate Democrats' opposition to legislation creating the Homeland Security Department to question his foes' credentials on national security...Republicans defied the traditional pattern of midterm losses for the president's party, restoring their Senate majority to an enlarged 55-45 margin.

This year looks to be different. Recent polls and maneuverings in close congressional contests suggest some reasons the security issue may not help Republicans as much this year.

Most simply put, time has worn the public's patience on Iraq -- and with it the Republicans' edge on security issues. With Democrats noting that the war soon will exceed the length of U.S. involvement in World War II, and with Iraq on the verge of sectarian civil war, the unpopularity of the war has become the year's central issue. Not since March 2004 has a Journal/NBC poll shown that a majority believed the Iraq invasion was worth the cost and casualties. Now polls consistently show a majority thinking the war was a mistake. Majorities favor troop reductions, though not immediate withdrawal. Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Mr. Bush's handling of foreign policy, and of Iraq specifically...

Rocky Anderson kicks Bush in the teeth

Where has this man been all our lives?

Salt Lake Tribune - Transcript of Mayor Rocky Anderson's speech:

A patriot is a person who loves his or her country.
Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?

And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?

Let's hear it: 'Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!'

Let no one deny we are patriots. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, his administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our great nation.

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

Blatantly Boasting War Profiteers

These jackasses should be tried right along with the war criminals in the White House, when the time comes.

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Blatantly Boasting War Profiteers:

Like Sen. George 'macaca' Allen in a crowd of white Virginia Republicans and Rep. Katherine 'God chooses our rulers' Harris with a reporter for a Baptist newspaper, defense executives tend to let their hair down in conversations with investment analysts.

In their glossy annual reports, military contractors are typically modest about how much loot they've gotten from a bloody and increasingly unpopular 'War on Terror.' But read the transcript of virtually any Q&A session with Wall Street and the truth comes out. While millions are suffering from the human and economic costs of the Iraq war, the violence has been very good for the bottom lines of military contractors and their top executives.

The Clash of Civilizations Doesn't Exist... Yet

Amen!

AlterNet: War on Iraq: The Clash of Civilizations Doesn't Exist... Yet:

The neocons who are pushing a Clash of Civilizations are mirror-images of the terrorists that inspire their hyperbolic fear -- they are just as irrational and just as great a threat to our security.

Rumsfeld reaches out to Democrats

Eff you, Rummy.

You have insulted us for the last damn time with impunity.

Just keep up your demented ranting and see what happens, you stupid old fool.

Rumsfeld reaches out to Democrats - Yahoo! News:

Senate Democrats were expected to meet Wednesday to discuss several issues, including whether they will try to force a vote of no confidence on Rumsfeld. Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., has vowed to push legislation next week calling for Rumsfeld to resign.

'Nothing can change the fact that Secretary Rumsfeld insulted the patriotism of the American people, and he needs to be held accountable for it,' Boxer said Friday.

Bin Laden in cold-case files

He is probably making a new video for Karl Rove.

The midterm elections aren't looking so good for the GOP.

New York Daily News - Breaking News:

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN BORDER (AP) -- The al-Qaida terror camps are gone from Afghanistan, but the enigma of Osama bin Laden still hangs over these lawless borderlands where tens of thousands of U.S. and Pakistani troops have spent nearly five years searching for him.

Villagers say the CIA missed by only a few miles when it targeted bin Laden's top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, with a missile strike in January. Then in May, U.S. Special Forces arrested one of al-Zawahri's closest aides, suggesting the trail has not gone entirely cold.

As for bin Laden himself? He may be nearby. Yet hopes of cornering the Saudi-born al-Qaida leader seem distant as ever. The last time authorities said they were close to getting him was in 2004, and in hindsight those statements seem more hope than fact.

There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone? - New York Times

There have been protests; millions have protested.

Protests are no longer covered in this country.

There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone? - New York Times:

It was almost painful the other night to hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sing about a war whose purpose Americans never really understood, started by a president who didn't tell the truth and then waged the war ineptly. And that was before they sang about Iraq.

The audience rose for Neil Young's blast at George Bush, 'Let's Impeach the President,' and sang the words displayed on a huge TV screen, even the 20-something in front of us who had been text-messaging throughout the concert. That same screen also displayed thumbnail photos of slain soldiers while a counter ran up the most recent toll. It takes longer than you might think to count to 2,600.

It was a surprisingly political moment for a rock concert in 2006. But when those four men sang their protest songs four decades ago, their lyrics echoed and personified a powerful political movement sweeping America. Now they are entertainment, something to leave behind in the concert hall.

Bush warns Iran anew on nuclear program - Yahoo! News

There he goes again. "Grave threat."

Bull shit.

There is a grave threat alright. That grave threat is to this god-awful administration and it comes from us; Americans who see the truth and do not plan to rest until that truth is used to hold these incompetent riminals accountable.

Bush warns Iran anew on nuclear program - Yahoo! News:

"SALT LAKE CITY - President Bush said Thursday that Iran has responded with defiance and delay to demands to stop enriching uranium and said 'there must be consequences' for Tehran.

Bush put the nuclear standoff with Iran in a larger context, saying the violence in Lebanon this summer makes Tehran's designs on the world stage clear. He blamed Iran for supporting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, for helping to destabilize Iraq by sponsoring insurgents and supplying components for improvised explosive devices, and for denying basic human rights to millions of its own people.

'The world now faces a grave threat from the radical regime in Iran,' the president said. 'We know the depth of suffering that Iran's sponsorship of terrorists has brought. And we can imagine how much worse it would be if Iran were allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.'

Bush delivered his starkest threat yet to Tehran in a speech to thousands of veterans at the American Legion convention.

'There must be consequences for Iran's defiance,' he said, 'and we must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapons.'

Rove's Word Is No Longer G.O.P. Gospel

They probably never liked having to be at events with Bush's fat-frog Rasputin. anyway.

I couldn't stand being in the same room with that kind of evil all evening.

Rove�s Word Is No Longer G.O.P. Gospel - New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, is struggling to steer the Republican Party to victory this fall at a time when he appears to have the least political authority since he came to Washington, party officials said.

Mr. Rove remains a dominant adviser to President Bush, administration officials say. But outside the White House, as President Bush's popularity has waned, and as questions have arisen among Republicans about the White House's political acumen, the party's candidates are going their own way in this difficult election season far more than they have in any other campaign Mr. Rove has overseen.

Some are disregarding Mr. Rove's advice, despite his reputation as the nation's premier strategist. They are criticizing Mr. Bush or his policies. They are avoiding public events with the president and Mr. Rove.

Republican Advantage on Issue Of National Security Erodes

It's about damn time!

Say NO, to the protection racket and yes, to finding and prosecuting international criminals.

WSJ.com - Republican Advantage on Issue Of National Security Erodes:

In both national elections since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Bush and congressional Republicans successfully played the national-security card to win big victories against the odds. Now, with their party's control of Congress at stake, Republicans are betting on the issue again. But it may not be the trump card it used to be.

The public's patience has frayed as the Iraq war grows bloodier in its fourth year, eroding confidence in Mr. Bush's stewardship of national security. Mismanagement of the response to Hurricane Katrina contributed. Democrats, having ceded the security issue to Republicans in the past, now are on the offensive. They're attacking the administration's competence at home and abroad and fielding candidates with military experience.

The Big Picture: Moving the Goalposts: Fugly NFP

Behold! A very bad moon is a rising.

The Big Picture: Moving the Goalposts: Fugly NFP:

The Human capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze. If you ever hear me spouting the same sort of $%#* I heard on CNBC at 8:31am, grab me by the lapels, throw a glass of water in my face, slap me HARD across the face, and yell 'WAKE UP MAN, YOU'RE DELIRIOUS!'

How this month's NFP was labelled 'perfect' is simply beyond my ken. The only rational explanations I can think of are an unwitting influx of Psylociben or perhaps blunt head trauma. Steve Liesman was the notable exception, as he came away rather unimpressed with the data.

Let me say the nicest things I can say about NFP first: it was consistent with consensus expectations of Wall Street economists. The prior two months were revised higher, and the the unemployment rate fell slightly. Business and professional services companies' payrolls rose 26,000. Commercial construction added 17,000 (4,000 from residential!), making up for some of the losses in Home Sector (including residential building, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, contractors, etc.).

Rumsfeld's Enemy: It's Us - Early Warning

Arkin should be given a medal for this blog.

In all of the outrage displayed in the blogosphere, both pro and con the apeasement loonacy, we may have all missed Rummy's real message.

The perceived enemy of the Bush administration is anyone who disagrees with the failed Bush policy in the middle east. Rummy is from a generation in which the words he uttered were fighting words. They still are. He knew exactly what he was saying and the effect he wanted it to have.

But are we missing the real message?

I can assure you that the wingnutters are not.




Rumsfeld's Enemy: It's Us - Early Warning:

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld delivered a fire-and-brimstone speech at the American Legion's annual convention yesterday -- after acknowledging young soldiers serving in Iraq and giving the boy scouts a shout-out, the secretary wove an elaborate picture of an enemy made up of terrorists, morally misguided Westerners, disagreeable military strategists, and a cynical news media.

Rumsfeld stated there could be no appeasing the enemy and any 'any moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere.'

The 'who' Rumsfeld is talking about is himself.

Rumsfeld is the 'who' that is right, and everyone who disagrees is not only wrong, but a danger to freedom.
Within minutes of the conclusion of Rumsfeld's speech yesterday, I received an e-mail from Thayer C. Scott, the secretary's speechwriter, serving up talking points.

The Defense Department then took the unusual step, usually reserved for its broadsides against Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker, of issuing a statement saying that the Associated Press coverage of Rumsfeld's Salt Lake City remarks mischaracterized them.

In Latest Push, Bush Cites Risk in Quitting Iraq - New York Times

We are again staring at the twin pillars of the gates of hell: fear and deceit.

If the American people fall for this again, those are exactly the gates we will walk through.

In Latest Push, Bush Cites Risk in Quitting Iraq - New York Times:

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 31 - President Bush said Thursday that withdrawing now from Iraq would leave Americans at risk of terrorist attacks 'in the streets of our own cities,' and he cast the struggle against Islamic extremists as the costly but necessary successor to the battles of the last century against Nazism and Communism.

Loose talk / The Bush rhetoric on Iraq is sounding desperate

We could not agree more.

This is irresponsible, crazy talk.

It had better stop. Now.

Editorial: Loose talk / The Bush rhetoric on Iraq is sounding desperate:

What would be most useful for America at this point is that its 2006 electoral campaign be waged on the basis of truths -- about its economic situation, of primary importance, as well as the current position of the United States in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. Feeding lies into the system -- with claims that advocacy of withdrawal is disloyalty, 'Islamic fascism' is the problem or the situation in the Middle East is like that in 1930s Europe -- is stupid and counterproductive to useful debate among competing candidates. It needs to stop now before it goes any further.

Arguments for war with Iran are surreal

No Shit!

It's like a horrible flashback, with Nazism thrown in for color.

The Bushites seem desperate in the extreme.

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall August 30, 2006 10:01 AM

Mexico Leftist to Create Parallel Gov't

Well, here's a thought!

Mexico Leftist to Create Parallel Gov't:

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, convinced he won't be awarded the presidency, has vowed to create a parallel leftist government and is urging Mexicans not to recognize the apparent victory of the ruling party's Felipe Calderon.
While his party lacks the seats in Congress to block legislation, Lopez Obrador can mobilize millions to pressure his conservative rival to adopt the left's agenda, or to clamp down and risk a backlash.

Both scenarios are possibilities as the former Mexico City mayor lays out plans to create his own government to rule from the streets, with the support of thousands who are already occupying protest camps throughout downtown Mexico City.

Some predict his parallel initiative, which Lopez Obrador's supporters call the 'legitimate government' , could turn those protest camps into the core of a violent revolt, especially if the government tries to shut it down.

Put on the Hip-boots. Here it comes!

Three speeches full of fear, dread, terror and outright threats by the emperor.

I can only hope that that is as far as the Bushites will go. Hope they understand that another terrorist attack will be attributed to them by over half of America


Bush links Iraq success to U.S. safety - Yahoo! News:

"NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Linking success in Iraq with the future safety of America, President Bush said Wednesday that withdrawing U.S. troops too quickly would lead to a terrorist state more dangerous than Afghanistan in the grip of the repressive Taliban regime.


Bush, who is beginning a series of speeches on Thursday to counter opposition to the war, spoke at a political fundraiser, which raised more than $1.5 million for the Tennessee GOP and Bob Corker, who faces a tough Senate race against Democratic nominee Harold Ford Jr.

If the United States leaves Iraq prematurely, Bush said, it would embolden an enemy that wants to harm Americans and shred U.S. credibility internationally.

'If we leave Iraq before the job is done, it will create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a terrorist state much more dangerous than Afghanistan was before we removed the Taliban, a terrorist state with the capacity to fund its activities because of the oil reserves of Iraq,' Bush said.

Embattled Santorum blasts Bush over visa for Ex-Iranian President

Santorum has more in common with the Iranian Mullahs than he does with liberal democracy.

The Raw Story Embattled Santorum blasts Bush over visa for Ex-Iranian President:

Embattled conservative Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) blasted the Bush Administration today for allowing a former Iranian president to visit the United States, RAW STORY has learned.

'I am outraged,' Santorum said of the administration's approval of Mohammad Khatami's request for visa. 'Mohammed Khatami is one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic Fascist regime... I believe that granting a visa to Khatami so that he can travel around the United States and mislead the American people is a mistake.'

Senate moves to give Bush more power to wiretap

Arlen Specter is a jackass, surrounded by bigger jackasses.

The Raw Story Senate moves to give Bush more power to wiretap:

A bill that expands President Bush's ability to wiretap American phones and conduct other forms of domestic surveillance will likely appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Thursday, RAW STORY has learned.
The bill, which was written by judiciary chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), and which has been widely and publicly excoriated by Democratic members of the committee, contains provisions, such as the institution of program-wide warrants, and warrants that do not expire for a year, that would weaken the strict limits that currently govern the FISA courts.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was written nearly 20 years ago and offers guidelines about the legal use of wiretaps on phones inside the United States. It includes provisions for the use of courts to issue warrants if the government's case against a suspect meets legal scrutiny.

Why does the GOP hate the Military?

Brain Damaged Soldiers? Who Cares?

the stinging nettle: insights you can't ignore#115686433258101141:

... not the government, that's for sure.

More than any other war in American history, the war in Iraq is sending home young men and women who suffer from closed-head trauma. IEDs, mines, urban combat, traffic accidents: all these things can lead to head trauma, and are, in increasing numbers. As a result, an entire generation of soldiers is returning home suffering from the sometime's baffling effects of head injuries.

And your government is slashing the funding for their treatment.

Sayeth the Republican Party to America's wounded vets: 'Thanks for your service. Screw you.'

Behind the facade, a city left to rot

Until everyone forgets and the cameras move on; then, will the wealthy developers move in and create one more hideous all-American city of ugly concrete, glass and steel.

As we said a year ago, New Orleans is gone forever; our good times in that wonderful city are now just a memory, never to be re-created.

Guardian Unlimited Special reports Behind the facade, a city left to rot:

The late-night bars and jazz clubs are open in the French Quarter, as are the cafes in the elegant Garden District. One year after the worst natural disaster in US history, New Orleans is gamely giving the impression that the good times are rolling again.

But a couple of miles to the north or east, the Cajun bravura falls away like a cheap carnival mask, the streets fall quiet and the Crescent City becomes a dead zone.

These People Are Working for Us?

OVERSIGHT

RESPONSIBILITY

ACCOUNTABILITY

These People Are Working for Us? - Los Angeles Times:

IN A LITTLE MORE than 60 days, voters will choose the men and women who will represent them in Congress. There are two questions every voter should ask of each candidate.

First, if elected, do you promise to fulfill your constitutional responsibilities as a member of a separate, independent and equal branch of government?

Begat, Bothered, Bewildered

Administration FUBAR

Rozius: Maureen Dowd: Begat, Bothered, Bewildered:

Doing his stations of the Katrina cross, President Bush went for breakfast with Mayor Ray Nagin at Betsy's Pancake House.

As Mr. Bush tried to squeeze past some tightly placed tables, a waitress, Joyce Labruzzo, teased him, saying, 'Mr. President, are you going to turn your back on me?'

'No ma'am,' he replied, with a laugh and a pause for effect. 'Not again.'

It was a rare unguarded moment, showing that his towering Katrina failure is lodged somewhere in the front of his cerebral cortex, in a trip of staged, studiously happy settings, steering away from the wreckage of buildings and people so searing for anyone who loved the saucy and sauce-laden New Orleans of old.

W.'s anniversary contrition for the cameras was a more elaborate version of his famous Air Force One flyover a year ago, when he had to be shown a DVD of angry news coverage of apartheid suffering here before he belatedly and grudgingly broke off his five-week Crawford vacation.

Bush's Gruesome Nightmare in Iraq; even hospital patients aren't safe

Back to the GOP false choice:

Invasion and this godawful mess or Saddam in power.

If I were in Iraq, I think I might have preferred to wait for Saddam to die.

WP: Militias target Iraqi hospitals - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com:

BAGHDAD - In a city with few real refuges from sectarian violence -- not government offices, not military bases, not even mosques -- one place always emerged as a safe haven: hospitals.

So Mounthir Abbas Saud, whose right arm and jaw were ripped off when a car bomb exploded six months ago, must have thought the worst was over when he arrived at Ibn al-Nafis Hospital, a major medical center here.

Instead, it had just begun. A few days into his recovery at the facility, armed Shiite Muslim militiamen dragged the 43-year-old Sunni mason down the hallway floor, snapping intravenous needles and a breathing tube out of his body, and later riddled his body with bullets, family members said.

Richard Armitage's Role in Plame Case - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

How did Cheney find out about Plame?

Richard Armitage�s Role in Plame Case - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com:

Sept. 4, 2006 issue - In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, 'Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,' Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a 'senior administration official' who was 'not a partisan gunslinger.' Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was 'in deep distress,' says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. 'I'm sure he's talking about me.'

Chevron gets kicked out of Chad

Non-payment of taxes, apparently.

The Oil companies over here just are not used to paying taxes. They don't believe in it and the little emperor won't make them.

MySA.com:

"N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) -- The president suspended the oil minister and two other Cabinet members who negotiated deals with two foreign oil firms that he ordered out of the central African country over a tax dispute, officials said Sunday.

President Idriss Deby suspended the three ministers on Saturday after ordering the two foreign firms - Chevron Corp. and Petronas - out of Chad for failing to pay taxes, government officials said on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Deby has accused the companies of failing to pay $450 million in taxes and said the two firms - which are part of an oil production consortium led by Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil - should immediately begin making plans to leave.
It was unclear how Chad might carry out the expulsion order, which Deby announced in a message broadcast on state-run radio Saturday. Chevron and Petronas have a skeleton staff of only three in the African country.

Iran's N-plans rely on reactor U.S. gave shah | www.azstarnet.com �

Surprise, surprise...Live by the sword... blah, blah, blah.

Iran's N-plans rely on reactor U.S. gave shah www.azstarnet.com �:

In the heart of Tehran stands one of Iran's most important nuclear facilities, a dome-shaped building where scientists have conducted secret experiments that could help the country build atomic bombs. It was provided to the Iranians by the United States.

The Tehran Research Reactor represents a little-known aspect of the international uproar over the country's alleged weapons program. Not only did the U.S. provide the reactor in the 1960s as part of a Cold War strategy, America also supplied the weapons-grade uranium needed to power the facility; fuel that remains in Iran and could be used to help make nuclear arms.

Katherine Harris: Congress to legislate "sin"

Or .....Cruella is batshit crazy, and it will be good for us all when she loses this senate race and none of us ever have to hear from her again.

Crooks and Liars � Katherine Harris: �a failure to elect Christians to political office will allow lawmaking bodies to �legislate sin.�:

Rep. Katherine Harris said this week that God did not intend for the United States to be a 'nation of secular laws' and that a failure to elect Christians to political office will allow lawmaking bodies to 'legislate sin.' The remarks, published in the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, unleashed a torrent of criticism from political and religious officials.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she was 'disgusted' by the comments 'and deeply disappointed in Rep. Harris personally.' Harris, Wasserman Schultz said, 'clearly shows that she does not deserve to be a Representative.'

New GOP scare tactics!

This time it's Frank and Conyers, not Osama and Saddam.

Issues Await if Democrats Retake House - New York Times:

"WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 - As the start of the fall campaign looms and House Democrats remain within realistic reach of reclaiming the majority, party leaders are beginning to explore the delicate question of what happens if they win.

Is Bush a Clear and Present Danger?

Oh, yeah!!!!

Consortiumnews.com:

Faced with George W. Bush's disastrous policies in the Middle East and his adamant refusal to change course, the question now arises whether the President has become a 'clear and present danger' to the security of the United States and, indirectly, to Israel.

Scoop: Lynn Landes Video: Caught On Tape, The Fix Is In

We can only hope the Dems are paying attention!!!

Can we make sure that everyone in Kings district sees this video several hundred times?

Scoop: Lynn Landes Video: Caught On Tape, The Fix Is In:

Aug 21: Philadelphia, PA -- Caught On Tape, The Fix Is In is a new online video about America's flawed voting process by freelance journalist Lynn Landes, producer of EcoTalk.org. In this 13-minute video Landes strongly urges all political candidates to not concede their races until they or their supporters have verified election results through the collection of voter affidavits or signed statements in some or all precincts. She calls these efforts, 'Parallel Elections'.

The video begins with a now-infamous clip of Congressman Peter King (NY-R) on the White House lawn just before the 2004 presidential election. ' The election is over. We won.' (Reporter's voice, ' How do you know that?') ' It's all over, but the counting. And we'll take care of the counting,' King boasts.

Let the Truth-Telling Begin

Firing Squad, I want an effing firing squad!!!!!

Let the Truth-Telling Begin:

Royal Masset, a Texas Republican political consultant who has been accused of being less than brilliant, recently had this to say about Karl Rove: 'I think we actually like Karl a lot more now than we did when he was more active locally.' He told the San Antonio Express-News he believed that Rove in Washington is remaining loyal to Bush while 'fighting the good fight. He's fighting budgets. He's fighting wars. He's doing conservative kinds of things.'

When Rove was in Texas, Masset continued, 'there was a real sense of him being a total self-centered [person] who didn't care about anybody. He would literally destroy people who tried to oppose him.'

Plenty of food for thought in that. But first we should maybe figure out how to smuggle Royal out of the country with a fake passport.

The Bushies are having the hardest time trying to un-lie now. For example, at his Monday press conference the president asserted, 'Nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the [Sept. 11] attack.'

How true: What Vice President Cheney in December 2001 said about links between 9/11 and Iraq was that it was 'pretty well confirmed' that hijacking ringleader Mohammed Atta had met with Iraqi intelligence. On June 17, 2004, Cheney said: 'We have never been able to confirm that, nor have we been able to knock it down, we just don't know. ... I can't refute the Czech claim, I can't prove the Czech claim, I just don't know.'

In July 2004, the CIA's own report stated the agency did not have 'any credible information' that the alleged meeting ever took place. The CIA said the whole concoction was based on a single source 'whose veracity ... has been questioned' and that the Iraqi official allegedly involved was in U.S. custody and denied the meeting ever took place....."

Bush Now Says What He Wouldn't Say Before War: Iraq Had "Nothing" To Do With 9/11

Now, could we please make the 50% of Americans who, for some odd reason (snark), believe the BS about Iraq being involved in 9/11, to watch this clip about 900 times, or until they get it?

Think Progress � Bush Now Says What He Wouldn�t Say Before War: Iraq Had �Nothing� To Do With 9/11:

President Bush was in the midst of explaining how the attacks of 9/11 inspired his 'freedom agenda' and the attacks on Iraq until a reporter, Ken Herman of Cox News, interrupted to ask what Iraq had to do with 9/11. 'Nothing,' Bush defiantly answered.

Calendars show Armitage met reporter - Yahoo! News

We always knew that Amritage was in this somehow, but he isn't the leaker-in-chief.

Calendars show Armitage met reporter - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - The No. 2 State Department official met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003, the same time the reporter has testified that an administration official talked to him about CIA employee Valerie Plame.

Official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, show then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage held a one-hour meeting marked 'private appointment' with Woodward on June 13, 2003.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has investigated whether Bush administration officials intentionally revealed Plame's identity as a one-time CIA covert operative to punish her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, for criticizing the administration's march to war with Iraq.

When contacted at home Monday night, Woodward declined to discuss his meeting with Armitage or the identity of his source in the CIA leak case. Instead, he referred to his statement last year that he had a 'casual and offhand' discussion about Plame with an unidentified administration official in mid-June 2003.

Bush: Leaving Iraq now would be disaster - Yahoo! News

Right! Better to wait util we are all insane, like the NeoCons and their retarded cheerleader.

Bush: Leaving Iraq now would be disaster - Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday the Iraq war is 'straining the psyche of our country' but leaving now would be a disaster.

Bush served notice at a news conference that he would not change course or flinch from debate about the unpopular war as he campaigns for Republicans in the fall congressional elections. In fact, he suggested that national security and the economy should be the top political issues, and criticized the Democrats' approach on both.

Many Democrats want to leave Iraq 'before the job is done,' the president said. 'I can't tell you exactly when it's going to be done,' he said, but 'if we ever give up the desire to help people who live in freedom, we will have lost our soul as a nation, as far as I'm concerned.'

Sirotablog: The Beltway's fear and loathing of democracy

Sirotablog: The Beltway's fear and loathing of democracy:

The Beltway's fear and loathing of democracy

You can tell how much Washington, D.C. is panicking by the rise of grassroots politics by looking at the now weekly declarations by politicians and pundits that they actually hate democracy. That's hyperbole, you say? Just take a look at a few comments that have come from the upper echelons of the political/media establishment - comments that finally admit to us how those who purport to legislate and report in our name really in their gut despise American democracy.

Two days after Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman in the primary, New York Times columnist David Brooks announced that voters shouldn't be allowed to decide elections. Yes, that's right - he wrote:
'Polarized primary voters shouldn't be allowed to define the choices in American politics.'

This week, New Republic editor Peter Beinart publicly celebrated the corporate-funded Democratic Leadership Council for its effort to insulate politicians from accountability to voters - actually claiming with a straight face that such insulation means politicians will better represent voters:

'The DLC remains an organization of politicians that believes the less beholden politicians are to grassroots activists, the better they will represent voters as a whole.'

Then, just a few days ago, the Bush administration quietly acknowledged it doesn't care about democracy in Iraq - that is, it doesn't care about the fake rationale the administration gave for the war after WMD were not found..'

Japanese warns of 'dangerous nationalism'

It's been over 60 years. Did anyone think Japan would be ever so compliant, forever?

Seems there is a group of wingnuts in every country.

United Press International - NewsTrack - Japanese warns of 'dangerous nationalism':

TOKYO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Japanese lawmaker whose house was burned down after he criticized the prime minister's visit to a World War II shrine has warned of dangerous nationalism.

Koichi Kato, a former secretary-general of the dominant Liberal Democratic Party, voiced concerns in an interview with Japan Times that diplomatic policies presented by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe - considered a likely replacement for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- are 'too naive.'

In today's Japan, I see a kind of aggressive nationalism without repentance (of Japan's militarism before and during World War II), like, 'We did nothing wrong in the last war,'' Kato told the Times.

Police believe a member of a Tokyo right-wing group was responsible for torching the house in Tsuruoka, Kato's hometown in Yamagata Prefecture. It was the same day that Kato had appeared on television talk shows blasting Koizumi for visiting the shrine on the 61st anniversary of the end of the war, the Times said.

No one was injured in the fire.

Two Strange Deaths in European Wiretapping Scandal

Hummm. This is not good news....

AlterNet: Two Strange Deaths in European Wiretapping Scandal:

European investigators are tracking the mysterious deaths of two security experts who had uncovered extensive spyware in their telecommunications firms.

Apocalyptic Ahmadinejad rattles sabre | News | The Australian

The Religiously Insane are not going to be happy until everyone on earth is sick from radiation poisoning, or about to give birth to two-headed babies.

Apocalyptic Ahmadinejad rattles sabre News The Australian:

IF some Iran-watchers in the US are to be believed, we could be 24 hours away from the day of judgment. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's President, has promised to deliver tomorrow his response to international demands that Iran stop enriching uranium for nuclear use.
Video: Iran holds wargames

By the Islamic calendar, Tuesday is also a holy date: the night when Mohammed rose to heaven from the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on a 'buraq', a fabulous winged beast with the body of a horse and the face of a woman, and reappeared in Mecca. Will Ahmadinejad seize the moment to unveil the possession of some new fissile material or weapons system - perhaps a nuclear-tipped one?

Bernard Lewis, the West's foremost scholar of Islam, has even warned that on such a symbolic date it would be wise to bear in mind the possibility of a 'cataclysmic' event such as a strike on Israel.

Congress Poised to Unravel the Internet

In addition to calling and writing reps and senators, it would be very good to see the companies, themselves punished; like, with a boycott.

Congress Poised to Unravel the Internet:

Lured by huge checks handed out by the country's top lobbyists, members of Congress could soon strike a blow against Internet freedom as they seek to resolve the hot-button controversy over preserving 'network neutrality.' The telecommunications reform bill now moving through Congress threatens to be a major setback for those who hope that digital media can foster a more democratic society. The bill not only precludes net neutrality safeguards but also eliminates local community oversight of digital communications provided by cable and phone giants. It sets the stage for the privatized, consolidated and unregulated communications system that is at the core of the phone and cable lobbies' political agenda.

In both the House and Senate versions of the bill, Americans are described as 'consumers' and 'subscribers,' not citizens deserving substantial rights when it comes to the creation and distribution of digital media. A handful of companies stand to gain incredible monopoly power from such legislation, especially AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon. They have already used their political clout in Washington to secure for the phone and cable industries a stunning 98 percent control of the US residential market for high-speed Internet.

Brittish Police hit out at FBI over leaks

When will the Brits get it? How many times does this have to happen?

Bush and Cheney would leak the whereabouts of their own wives to Osama bin Laden, himself, if it would help the GOP politically.

The Observer Politics Police hit out at FBI over leaks:

Anti-terror police in Britain have made an angry request to their US counterparts asking them to stop leaking details of this month's suspected bomb plot over fears that it could jeopardise the chances of a successful prosecution and hamper the gathering of evidence.

The British security services, MI5 and MI6, are understood to be dismayed that a number of sensitive details surrounding the alleged plot - including an FBI estimate that as many as 50 people were involved - were leaked to the media.

FBI sources confirmed to The Observer that the bureau had been ordered to stop briefing at the request of the British authorities. 'The shutters have come down,' a bureau source said. 'We have been told not to discuss the case any more.'

92% of Americans want WHAT? (updated)

Open election monitoring and vote counting, that's what!

Diary at Kos.

Daily Kos: 92% of Americans want WHAT? (updated)

Mass murder in the skies: was the plot feasible?

Or, just how stupid do they think we are?

Mass murder in the skies: was the plot feasible? [printer-friendly] The Register:

Binary liquid explosives are a sexy staple of Hollywood thrillers. It would be tedious to enumerate the movie terrorists who've employed relatively harmless liquids that, when mixed, immediately rain destruction upon an innocent populace, like the seven angels of God's wrath pouring out their bowls full of pestilence and pain.

The funny thing about these movies is, we never learn just which two chemicals can be handled safely when separate, yet instantly blow us all to kingdom come when combined. Nevertheless, we maintain a great eagerness to believe in these substances, chiefly because action movies wouldn't be as much fun if we didn't.

Now we have news of the recent, supposedly real-world, terrorist plot to destroy commercial airplanes by smuggling onboard the benign precursors to a deadly explosive, and mixing up a batch of liquid death in the lavatories. So, The Register has got to ask, were these guys for real, or have they, and the counterterrorist officials supposedly protecting us, been watching too many action movies?

We're told that the suspects were planning to use TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, a high explosive that supposedly can be made from common household chemicals unlikely to be caught by airport screeners. A little hair dye, drain cleaner, and paint thinner - all easily concealed in drinks bottles - and the forces of evil have effectively smuggled a deadly bomb onboard your plane.

Bush: It's 'Naive' to Believe the President Must Follow the Law - TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime

Freakin' naive, my butt.

Junior is about to find out all about naive.

Bush: It's 'Naive' to Believe the President Must Follow the Law - TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime:

Our ever-defiant president intends to continue wielding unbounded and unchecked executive power, regardless of what a court tells him about the law, and if you don't like it, you're naive.

'I would say that those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live,' Mr. Bush said in a question-answer session at Camp David, Md.

'This decision' refers to Judge Taylor's declaration that the NSA wiretapping program is unconstititutional (discussed here and here at TalkLeft). 'Those who herald the decision' understand the Constitution and the obligation of the president to obey the law. It's really pretty simple.

Sept. 11 plaintiffs wait for answers, resolution

Come to think of it, there were plenty of people not buying the official story of 9/11, early on.

From the families of the victims, to various witnesses from New York, Shanksville and D.C., to Americans around this country, plenty of them, who do not have a history of paranoia, are talking to their friends and are a little surprised when they finally come right out and say it, in a gathering of friends, and everyone agrees that something really stinks about 9/11.

I am talking about some of the most ordinary, down to earth people I have ever known, some with college degrees, others without one, some with money and people with much of it, across gender and race, Americans are questioning 9/11.

Why? Because when nothing makes any damn sense anymore, it is usually a very good idea to return to the place and time, with the gift of hindsight, when everything stopped making sense, especially the leaders of this nation.


Sept. 11 plaintiffs wait for answers, resolution - The Boston Globe:

'It was always about accountability,' Carie Lemack said of the lawsuit. Her mother, Judy Larocque of Framingham, died on Flight 11, which originated in Boston. (Jay Premack for the Boston Globe)


Sept. 11 plaintiffs wait for answers, resolution. Nearly 5 years later, lawsuits are stalled

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, a tiny percentage of people who lost loved ones or were injured in the attacks sued the aviation industry, spurning a federal compensation fund that ultimately distributed more than $7 billion to more than 5,500 victims.

GAO report stings Bush's faith-based initiative

Who the hell didn't see this coming?

This was as predictable as the NOLA levees breaking.

This is almost as bad as taxes going to kill innocents in Iraq and other places for a failed foreign policy that could only have come out of minds never touched by anything but theories of war and control.

It is against everything I believe, it is against my experience on this earth, it is against my consicous, the very fiber of my being, to, in any way, support fundamentalist evangelizing on the public dime.

WorkingForChange-GAO report stings Bush's faith-based initiative:

For years, President Bush has being going around the country touting his faith-based initiative, claiming that it has been achieving remarkable results delivering social services to the needy. Few reporters bothered to ask what the president he meant by 'results.'

Well, the results are in on the president's Faith-Based Initiative and it doesn't look good for Team Bush. A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has affirmed what many critics of President Bush faith-based initiative have long asserted: too many religious groups that have received government grants have been mixing religious activities with their social work; and the government has not yet established a concrete process to monitor grant recipients to see if they are being effective.

The Frank Rich Smackdown of Lieberman. Must. Read.

Frank Rich, as always, nails a lid on their coffins.

Daily Kos: The Frank Rich Smackdown of Lieberman. Must. Read.:

Tonight Frank Rich took a steak knife out of his kitchen drawer and sharpened it. Then he filleted the entire right wing support for Lieberman, laid it out on the table and read the entrails. As usual, Mr. Rich finds meaning few other do. Here's a sample:

A similar panic can be found among the wave of pundits, some of them self-proclaimed liberals... Whatever their political affiliation, almost all of
these commentators suffer from the same syndrome: they supported the Iraq war
and, with few exceptions (mainly at The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard), are now embarrassed that they did. Desperate to assert their moral superiority after misjudging a major issue of our time, they loftily declare
that anyone who shares Mr. Lamont's pronounced opposition to the Iraq war is not really serious about the war against the jihadists who attacked us on 9/11.

Weapons spending has doubled since 9/11/01

Well, do tell.

What you want to bet it is even more. They route defense spending through the Department of Energy, Education, and others. Almost all of that money goes toward R&D of weapons; the kind of weapons most decent people wouldn't want to even think about.

Daily Kos: State of the Nation:

WASHINGTON -- The estimated costs for the development of major weapons systems for the US military have doubled since September 11, 2001, with a trillion-dollar price tag for new planes, ships, and missiles that would have little direct role in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The soaring cost estimates -- disclosed in a report for the Republican-led Senate Budget Committee -- have led to concerns that supporters of multibillion-dollar weapons programs in Congress, the Pentagon , and the defense industry are using the conflicts and the war on terrorism to fulfill a wish-list of defense expenditures, whether they are needed or not for the war on terrorism.

The report, based on Defense Department data, concluded that the best way to keep defense spending in check in the coming years lies in ``controlling the cost of weaponry,' especially those programs that the Pentagon might not necessarily need.

The projections of what it will cost to acquire 'major weapons programs' currently in production or on the drawing board soared from $790 billion in September 2001 to $1.61 trillion in June 2006, according to the congressional analysis of Pentagon data.

Why is the W.H. not foaming at the mouth, bout the "AP traitors"

Who leaked to the AP?

Why isn't Cheney, and every bird-brain at Fox, calling for their immediate execution as traitors?

Why isn't Gonzalses hauling these reporters into court, to demand that they reveal their sources?

Want to take an educated guess?

TPMmuckraker August 18, 2006 01:03 PM:

The Bush administration hates leaks, especially when they involve classified information. They and their allies have made that abundantly and forcefully clear (Plame affair aside). Attorney General Al Gonzales has mounted an investigation into a classified leak to the New York Times; the president and vice president have said the paper's publishing of classified information has been 'very damaging' and 'disgraceful.' One GOP lawmaker even charged the paper with treason.

That's why my antennae started buzzing when I read this paragraph from an Aug. 12 AP story about U.S. government efforts to trace possible domestic links to the recently-foiled London terror plot:

Two. . . U.S. counterterrorism officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said the British suspects placed calls to several cities in the United States before their arrests. At least some of the calls were placed to people in New York, Washington, Chicago and Detroit, one official said. The suspects are all British citizens, mostly men in the 20s and 30s of Pakistani descent.

GOP Sees Strategic Advantage in Court Loss on Wiretapping - Los Angeles Times

The GOP and false choices:

We can have our constitution, in tact, preserved by a Judge (when Congress fails to do their damned jobs), or we can listen in on Al Qaeda phone calls and, therefore, prevent attacks on our homeland.

What about listening in on Al Qaeda with oversight? Is that such a novel idea?

Hell no, it isn't.

It's the law.

You can be secure or you can be free. So, what's your pleasure? There is no such thing as total security. There are more Americans killed on the highways and byways of this contry every year than are killed by terrorist in any given year.

Why don't we outlaw cars? (Especially the urban assault ego vehicles)

The fact is, there will always be terrorism. As long as man doesn't think twice about inflicting all manner of horror on his fellow man, there will be terror. It matters not if terror comes in the form of planes flown into buildings or shock and awe in Baghdad. Terror is terror.

We will never be entirely safe from someone who is pissed off to the point of being deranged. Terrorism did not begin in Munich, 1972 and it will not end now, or in the near future. (Can we spell Tim McVeigh?)

As a matter of fact, BushCo has made it even more likely than it was 6 years ago.

The Bush administration has been listening in on phone calls, reading emails and tracking money tranfers for almost 6 years, that someone who has never even thought about killing anyone, will snap and blow some of us to kingdom-come. That person may or may not be Arab/Muslim or homegrown crusading crackpot.

How many arrests have there been as a result of the illegal wiretapping? How much good has actually been done?

If Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are really the only targets of all ths scrutiny, why can't we have oversight?

GOP Sees Strategic Advantage in Court Loss on Wiretapping - Los Angeles Times:

WASHINGTON - This week's federal court ruling that declared the president's warrantless wiretapping program unconstitutional was a blow to the Bush administration and a victory for its critics. But in a reversal, it is Republicans who are highlighting the decision and Democrats who are sidestepping it.

A day after a Detroit judge said the president 'blatantly disregarded' the Constitution when he authorized the domestic surveillance program, top Republicans issued a stream of memos discussing her ruling and released a new Web ad accusing Democrats of being against terrorist surveillance.