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Bush Shirked First Response Responsibility

in case you Cornbots were not thinking as usual.

The aftermath of Katrina has produced a debate over poor Americans. There are about 37 million people living below the poverty
line right now. The issue was described this way by Newsweek reporter Evan Thomas, a liberal guy but not alone, who writes,
"Liberals say the Bush administration was indifferent to the plight of poor African-Americans. It is true that Katrina laid bare society's
massive neglect of its least fortunate."
Massive neglect??? Let's take a look at that bit of overstatement.
Halfway through President Clinton's tenure in office in 1996, the poverty rate was 13.7 percent. Halfway through President Bush's
tenure, the rate is 12.7 percent, a full point lower.
In 1996, the Clinton budget allotted $191 billion for poverty entitlements. That was 12.2 percent of the budget and a whopping
amount of money. That's why Bill Clinton was called the first black president by some.
However, the Bush 2006 budget allots a record shattering $368 billion for poverty entitlements, 14.6 percent of the entire budget, a
huge increase over Clinton's spending on poverty entitlements.
Did the elite media mention that? Jesse Jackson mention that? Of course they didn't, because it's much more convenient for Evan
Thomas and others to imply America under President Bush has turned its back on the poor, but it's absolute nonsense.
Even in the midst of the war on terror, this country's spending a massive amount of money trying to help the poor. So why the lie?
Because political gain can be made off the suffering of others, that's why.
Those who oppose the Bush administration don't care about the truth. They only want to advance their own agenda. So once again,
the no- spin zone rides to the rescue.
Hard-working Americans are providing the poor with Medicaid, food stamps, supplemental security income, that's free money, child
nutrition programs, welfare payments, child daycare payments, temporary assistance to needy families, foster care, adoption
assistance, and health insurance for children.
But it will never be enough for the Paul Krugmans, David Corns, Jesse Jacksons and Howard Deans of the world ... never!!! If they
told you the truth. They would go out of business.

Snow Job
Bush's economic numbers keep getting flakier.
By Lawrence Mishel

[...]So, how do an administration and its friends tiptoe through these tulips? Very selectively.

Consider this point in a new ad widely distributed on the Internet, titled "Working to Keep America Working," which hypes the Bush administration's record: "Unemployment rate after Bill Clinton's third year, 5.6%. Unemployment rate after G.W. Bush's third year, 5.6%." True, but isn't it gutsy to say this seeing as the unemployment rate was about 4 percent when Bush was elected (therefore it rose 1.6 percentage points to 5.6 percent) and was 7.5 percent when Clinton was elected (therefore it fell almost 2 percentage points to 5.6 percent)?

Here's another quote from the ad: "US Economic Growth: 'Strongest in Nearly 20 years' (CNN, October, 2003)." This sounds impressive, and it is -- for the one-quarter of growth last summer to which CNN, in late October, was referring! Somehow overlooked is the fact that the economy has grown more slowly (3.5-percent annual rate) in the first 11 quarters of this expansion than in those of the prior eight expansions (5.7-percent annual rate).

Another part of the ad makes it seem as if poverty has been reduced by the current administration: "Poverty in Clinton's years, 10.5%; Poverty in G.W. Bush's years, 9.5%." You would never know that the poverty rate was 8.7 percent in Clinton's last year (2000) and rose to 9.6 percent in 2002 (the latest year of available data). In contrast, poverty was 11.9 percent in 1992 when Clinton was first elected and fell to 8.7 percent, a drop of more than 2 percentage points. [...]

I'm looking forward to the debate between Galloway And Hitchens myself...

Reality time, soko!

* Homeland Security: bush's budget "improves" spending to protect public and private infrastructure, such as transit, ports and chemical plants, by about $300 million. However, these improvements are made at the expense of cuts of about $500 million or 38 percent in first responder grants to state and local governments.

MORE REALITY ABOUT BUSH'S BUDGET:

Veterans' Benefits: The bush budget plan slashes benefits for veterans by eliminating funding for state programs that provide veterans with long-term care, more than doubling prescription drug co-payments for some veterans, and requiring them to pay an annual enrollment fee of $250. The bush plan would also trim nursing home care by $351 million, which would eliminate approximately 5,000 beds in nursing homes run by the Veterans Administration.

...AND EVEN MORE REALITY ABOUT BUSH BUDGET:

Law Enforcement Grants to States: The Administration's budget proposes to cut these grants by $1.3 billion. Funding is virtually eliminated for the COPS program, which has helped states and local agencies hire 100,000 police officers. Funding is also eliminated for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, Justice Assistance Grants, and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant.

A LITTLE MORE REALITY...

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): This premier public health agency is hit the hardest in the Administration's health and human services budget. The President proposes a $500 million cut, including slashing preventive health and bioterrorism preparedness grants to state and local health departments.

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, THIS REALITY...

bush's budget sets a new, record-setting deficit of $427 billion. It wipes out the $5.6 trillion surplus President Bush inherited from President Clinton just four years ago. The budget pretends to reduce the deficit in half over five years, but it doesn't even start. bush's budget omits the cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan ($80 billion), the true cost of making the bush tax cuts permanent ($1.6 trillion), modifying the Alternative Minimum Tax which is hitting increasing numbers of middle class taxpayers ($774 billion), or the $4.5 trillion cost of his Social Security plan.

Robert,

You have (911) obviously (get him dead or alive) let (terrorist threat) the facts (45 minutes and mushroom clouds) confuse (stockpiles of nerve gas) you (Al Qaida).

Just (911) because (Yellow cake from Niger) Clinton (BJ) left (liberals hate America) a better (Monica) economy (Osama) and created 22 million (Halliburton) new jobs (Davis Bacon) does not (North Korean Nukes) mean (Iranian enrichment) Bush (lying jerk) cannot make points (spin machine) by feeding (poverty up 12.7%) the mindless (troll/ditto headed) echo chambers (You’re either with us or with the terrorists) with more lies (Rush on Oxy) to keep (silly putty for brains) the blind (blue dress) and feckless (spreading democracy) base (Rove is a traitor) supporting (baby killers and fags) his (pretzel please) failed (like father like son) policies.

All should seek and hail Bush the neo-messiah:

Hold your arm aloft in religious ecstasy and :

"Seek, hail. Seek, hail. Seek, hail."

"War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent." ~ George Orwell, 1984

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." ~ George Orwell (1903 - 1950), 1984 Book 3, Chapter 3

capt

Mr. David Corn,

I am very glad that you are willing to be in our trenches, fighting the good fight.

Even as the poll numbers slowly roast the lies of Bush and his supporters out of the foul flesh of illegal war and mindlessness, we have far too few like you to stay on top of the gross spin and continued mendacity.

Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

Mr. David Corn,

Oh yeah, on the "flying planes into the WH" being a complete surprise?

Check out the 1974 hijacking by Byck.

The Secret Service has used the scenario as a traning tool for 30 years. The SS has drills for evacuating the WH to protect the prez from the exact thing they claim to have never heard of?

30 years, every administration, every president and all WH staff have been drilled. A more obvious lie has never been spoken by Bunnypants or neo-Condi.

Thanks again

Kirk

What is with these mindless FUX?

Seem like it is always too difficult to provide a source for the spew?

Nevermind. It is a lost cause.

capt

Schumer the schmuck is ROASTING Roberts for not answering questions.

Roberts is a weasel and he is a liar. Oh, this is not going to be good for America.

It seems to me, any Dems supporting this WH in appointing this jerk are making the same mistake as the Dems that voted to give Bush the option of military action in Iraq.

This has NOTHING to do with Roe V. Wade, this has to do with honesty, integrity, and doing the right (correct) thing.

Does anyone know if Roberts has been asked about his ruling he proffered regarding the unlimited power of the executive to name and hold American citizens with out due process and established legal doctrine?

capt

Most of the attendees raised an arm, perhaps 70 percent or more. Well, Lowry said, I know where I stand.

Heh-heh. Lowry doesn't have the resources to build Potemkin town hall meetings like Dear Leader.

You can tell the right is almost out of ammo when they start to equate opposition to the war with dishonoring the troops. They, like Bush, cannot admit what a huge mistake it was to go to war in Iraq. Unfortunately there are some very prominent democrats with the same problem.

Soko,
News flash. A rising poverty rate is not a good thing especially in this piss poor economy. In Clinton's era the poverty rate went down.

In a debate a person wins with the truth. David Corn gave the audience the truth and he could not lose. As the truth filters out slowly, bush looks more and more like a liar, a murderer, and a war criminal.

So David, do you suppose anyone in our newly redeemed press corps. will ever get around to asking Shrub or Scotty McClueless why that particular passage of the 9/11 commission report was redacted? What intelligence interest was served by hiding that sentence?

Sure, we all know they'll come up with some lame line of patter about "sources and methods" or some such nonsense, but at least they should be forced to do so. Continuing to simply ignore this kind of sleazy CYA amounts to tacit acceptance of it.

Read a great article!!!

What would Jesus do?

"Scotty McClueless"

HA!

You almost made do the drink through the nose thing!

HA & HA!

capt

#13 Good question, capt...I haven't seen any questioning in-depth about this. Sure, privacy, religion, affirmative action, women's rights are important, but a ROBERTS COURT could possibly make its mark in history by giving unprecedented, extraordinary powers to the commander-in-chief (whether its bush or subsequent presidents) on other matters of importance to our Republic.

Will a Roberts Court (aided by bush's next scotus nominee) be inclined to defer to the president on matters of civil liberties and international treaties? Will a Roberts Court put a strong check on bush when he moves to override congressional objections, international treaties and civil liberties?

Looks like Roberts is one of the boys to me.

25 WAYS NOT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/13/23-ways/

What's the sense in asking questions, if Roberts gives these types of responses! He took lessons from little "Beam me up" Scottie McClellan in how to dodge giving an answer.

Hey soko
riddle me this
With the disaster caused by over govt's response to Katrina laid bare, where exactly did all that post 9-11 money and effort go to?
Your guy rises and falls with the safer now than ever before 9-11 creed...well 9/11 part deux is around the corner and Katrina pretty much proved that we are no more prepared, no safer
Forget Libs, Forget Neocons...your guy is a joke
sadly you missed the punchline, we didn't

I know very little about the United Catholic Church. I am a Roman Catholic and the silence of the Roman Catholic Church in the USA against murder, torture, and war crimes saddens me deeply.

Screw it this guy roberts will be confirmed and the next droid for the shrub will too. There isn't any opposition of any sort in DC we are screwed by these guys, it is like the mafia is in charge of my country. What do you do?

Roberts Gives Hints on Property, Race, Death Penalty

Equal Protection

On civil rights, Roberts agreed on a pair of issues with Massachusetts Democrat Edward Kennedy. Roberts said he had no reason to question the constitutionality of a Voting Rights Act provision that relied on a legal approach Roberts criticized as an attorney in the Reagan administration in the 1980s.

Roberts also said the Supreme Court properly considered the impact of affirmative action in 2003 when it upheld a race- conscious admissions program at the University of Michigan Law School. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's majority opinion in that case said affirmative action had helped the military achieve a racially diverse officer corps.

``You do need to look at the real world impact in this area and I think in other areas as well,'' Roberts said.

*****end of clip*****

The "real" world impact on rich, well connected white guys. That is the type of concern he shares with Bunnypants.

capt

http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=322338

"Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle" ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Some quotes are too true.

capt

Gerald - pro-life too often is equated with pro death penalty and pro-war. I am not a Catholic, yet it disturbs me that the church is progressing toward the dark ages. The leadership needs to look towards a policy of tolerance. If we have both Islamic fundamentalists and Popes practicing a religion of "Heaven for us and Hell to you" we are heading toward more world chaos.

Micki - you rock.

Soko back to Waco. Where did you get those preposterous numbers? I think you actually believe we are better off after dumping 20 trillion dollars into the pockets of the wealthy and powerful. The Bush economy is based on fiction, and so are your numbers. I read an ad today asking people to call their reps and ask them to pu an end to the death tax. "It doesn't benefit the rich, the rich don't pay taxes". Right. We must pass this so all of us po people who's estates are valued over the million dollar exemptions and don't have trusts can help drive our fiscal picture from the fiction section to the Sunday funnies.

Roberts sounds like the person we all want to lead the supreme court. He is so smooth and comes across so polished and intelligent. But his rhetoric does not match his writings or his rulings. That makes him a fraud and we do not need the veil of deceit on the highest court. When Clarence Thomas was confirmed at least we could see him for what he was, so with Scalia, and Ginsberg and the rest.

Since it is obvious the the Repugnants are so much more polished than the Democraps they are probably smarter as well, having locked up the 2004 election with 3 million more votes (a slippage of 8 million from exit polls) you may want to check this out - particularly you Soko

http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

Bolton, our unsupported and unconfirmed UN Ambassador, showed up at the UN with 38 pages of changes he thinks the UN should adopt. Aside from dubya, who is backing this shit?

Bush spoke already. War on terror. War on Iraq. With us or against us. Same old shit.

geof01,
I agree with you on Roberts. I don't trust the guy. By the way, love the website.

Prior to the 2004 election, my church stressed 5 moral issues, such as anti-abortion, anti-embryonic stem cell research, anti-gay, anti-death penalty, and anti-euthanasia. They were silent on health care, prescription drugs, environment, education, fraudulant corporations, etc. Today they are silence on the 5 moral issues. They will surface again in 2006 and 2008 as wedge issues.

Gerald, thats why it is important to Bush that they be deemed faith based.

#33 geof01, that is why many churches are silence. They want money from the government because the various congregations do not have the money because bush has screwed them with tax cuts for the wealthy. The middle class will be extinct in 10 years.

By 2008 we'll be saying Heil Mine Fuehrer and bending over for the poker to be rammed up our rectums.

Well I for one want to thank Soko. For a while I have suspected we as a nation would be better off if George W. Bush left to take over the leadership of Al Qiada. I'm convinced now. So I want to thank our anonymous pigeon. Seriously how can you be so proud of a fellow whose primary claim to being a good president is that he didn't get fellatio in the Whitehouse?

David,

I am a conservative who supported removing Saddam from power and still support the continued mission there. Regretfully, my support hinged on the belief that we had learned the lessons of fighting "politically correct" wars like we fought in Viet Nam after the Gulf War in early 1992. We began the war with Iraq very much like we fought the gulf war, but have continually fought a protracted uprising and terrorist insurgency in as indecisive a manner that I have ever witnessed. There are good things going on with our mission in Iraq. But the longer we continue to tip toe around Iraq the bolder those who are fighting against us will get. My point is, in the words of Neil Young, "When I fight, I fight to wipeout whoever it is. If you are not willing to do that, then there is no sense in fighting at all." (Rolling Stone interview)

Regarding your position on Iraq. I respect your opinion and from what I have read, you have maintianed your position all along. I would not call anybody "unpartiotic" regardless of their opinion on this war or anything else in with regards to America. That is what this country is about. The only thing I could think of that I would consider to be "unpatriotic" would be to take up arms against your own country. After all, this is a democracy. We have the power of the vote to fight our fights.

Tim H

Little Difference

As we enter the twenty-first century, I have come to the realization that there is little difference between the Democrats and the War Party of the bushits. Even with little difference between the two parties I may still vote because I do not want to give up my right to vote.

The reason for me voting for Democrats is the Democrats will give you a bone but at least they keep some meat on the bone so the soup can have some flavor. The bushits will give you a bone but they scrape all the meat off the bone. How you enhance the flavor of your soup that’≥ for you to figure out. With either party in power it will be important for the 90% of Americans to master the art of making soup. Each home will be a soup kitchen for the poor and disenfranchised 90% of Americans.

In trying to find out the difference between the Democrats and the bushits there is another difference that keeps me voting for Democrats. The Democrats will ram a poker up your ass but the poker is straight so when they pull the poker out there will be some inflammation. With ointment the inflammation will heal in time.

The bushits will ram a poker up your ass but the poker is straight and attached to the poker is a curved section as we see with some fireplaces to spread the burning wood. This poker goes in but when the bushits pull the poker out of your ass, your rectum is shot to hell. Healing of the rectum takes a long, long time.

Either party is going to screw the 90% of Americans but the Democrats operate with a little more class. But either way you look at it you are going to have a poker rammed up your ass.

Yes, but he did get blown by Katrina.

Strange coincidences. Zarqawi, according to the MSM, calls his group Al Qaida in Iraq. Google seems to prove this is a figment of MSM. Since Al Qaida means 'The Base', isn't it strange that Bush refers to his 'Base' so frequently?

Al Qaida in Washington supports the nomination of Roberts as Chief Justice.

Oh Oh. More bad news for DeLay. I guess he's hanging around a bad crowd.
Indictments Added in GOP Fundraising Case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/13/AR2005091301724.html

From October 2002 through May 2005 we heard that the world will be, and is better off without Saddam in Iraq.

From June 2005 until November 2006 we will hear that Iraq will be better off without Bush.

I can't keep track of this Zarqawi thing. Is he alive or dead? Is he brilliant or just a small time thug? Did he die in Afghanistan or is he alive as an insurgent in Iraq? Is he a propaganda tool for the Bush administration or is he real? Do we have sightings of him?

Jeanne, when Delay goes down, and he is going down, and he screams out to Al Qaida in Washington to "Save my life, I'm going down for the last time", the echo of silence from his party will be total.

It has always been a trait of the British to avoid fellow aristocrats in times of scandal, and these fellows have grown quite obese from their ritual of eating their own kind.

Jeanne, he is a figment of the intelligence community. As we die to promote democracy in Iraq, remember that there is no free press there. You are either embedded, or a target to be fragged. 49 reporters dead in the past two years.

Today, following reports of nine bombings in Baghdad (500 KG of explosives in one car - hardly compares to the firepower of an air strike guided into a village killing 200 people) it was reported that Zarqawi took credit on his offical web site.

Out of curiosity, what is that website? It does not come up when I google, and Zarqawi comes up in thousands of MSM hits.

He is more allusive than the one armed man in the Fugitive. He is always a step ahead of counter intelligence. He can tunnel out of a town faster than we can destroy it.

Nine car bombs on the day Bush speaks to the UN, what a way to boost his popularity!

The depth of my contempt for Rice was once again reached with that insulting disclaimer: that no one could have anticipated piloted aircraft could be used as suicide weaponery.

I remember wondering if all America had forgotten the price paid by our bluejackets off Okinawa in WW2. Or wondering why, then, anti-aircraft batteries had surrounded the Italian summit in the Spring of 2001?

It was a despicable utterance. Yet another deliberate Big Lie, intended to shield both her personal incompetence, and that of her criminal associates.

How the the Bushites escaped a firestorm of derision for that remark is something I'll never understand. And now they dare say: no one could have anticipated the levee's of New Orleans buckling.

Goddamn them, and goddamn those who support them. They are as a malignant cancer in the body of republic.

If Bush & Co. required the information about a 9/11 warning to be kept secret (not long before the presidential election) then it seems to me this ought to be sufficient evidence to impeach Dubya and throw him out of office. Lying to the public about an issue such as this through redacting is incredibly arrogant and horrible.

Sonoma, Condi can be characterized as anything except incompetent. This is like acknowledging that someone who just killed his whole family is insane and sheltered from punishment. If my family ahd been massacred on 9/11 I would have long ago filed a criminal negligence suit against her and the whole vacation gang in Crawford in August 2001.

While Senator Coleman claims to have uncovered much corruption from the sale of oil from Iraq by Saddam Hussein, the link to Chevron and Condi always seems to be omitted.

Sonoma, Condi can be characterized as anything except incompetent. This is like acknowledging that someone who just killed his whole family is insane and sheltered from punishment. If my family ahd been massacred on 9/11 I would have long ago filed a criminal negligence suit against her and the whole vacation gang in Crawford in August 2001.

While Senator Coleman claims to have uncovered much corruption from the sale of oil from Iraq by Saddam Hussein, the link to Chevron and Condi always seems to be omitted.

Sorry Dave, this is not a malicious comment by an abusive poster.

The Storm That Ate The GOP

Who will pity the soulless Republican Party now that Katrina is mauling their regime?

Can you hear that? That low scraping moan, that painful scream, that compressed hissing wail like the sound of an angry alligator caught in a vise?

Why, it's the GOP, and they're screaming, "No, no it can't be, oh my God, please no, this damnable Katrina thing is just an unstoppable PR disaster for us!"

After all (they wail), who woulda thought dissing all those poor black people and letting so many of them die in filth and misery in the Superdome while our pampered CEO president enjoyed yet another vacation would cause such an ugly backlash, such harsh criticism of the glorious, rich-über-alles GOP creed?

*****end of clip*****

An interesting little piece.

capt

MarkH, you can endure a few hours of historical documentaries on the History channel or National Geographic, or A&E. If you do, the producers will help you complete the connections necessary to be certain without any doubt that 19 Saudi students and strongmen, trained by Osama in Afghanistan, infiltrated flight schools, paid cash for interstate flights in their own names and attacked the WTC, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

I'm not sure that this would hold up in court as they don't show up on passenger lists and the hijack-pilot of the pentagon crash couldn't fly at all. They show them passing security, yeh and Colin Powell had audio tapes and satellite photos of WMDs. They even claim they bought box knifes at walmart and show the security photos of two unrecognizable figures (male or female?).

The only real evidence they have is that it was provided to them by the FBI and interviews with former security people in the government (former like before 2001)

capt. good satire. But I can bet Fox MSM is telling everyone how great the restoration is going.

"It really wasn't as bad as first believed."

When Katrina got done blowing, Bush forgot to read teh "Do not flush" sign over his popularity.

David,

I heard a good one recently.

What is Bush's position on Roe V. Wade?
He doesn't care how those folks got out of NO!

I will admit one good thing about Clinton. Had he still been President, NO would have never flooded. He would have had a finger (or cigar) in that dike!

Tim H

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Sept. 14) AP - More than a dozen highly coordinated bombings ripped through Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 160 people and wounding 570 in the capital's bloodiest day since the end of major combat. Many of the victims were day laborers lured by a suicide attacker posing as an employer.
__________________________________
It always gets me when I see those words "Mission Accomplished" or "end of major combat" -- excuse me! bush has accomplished nothing and when 160 people are killed and 570 are wounded, is that "minor" combat?

Oh, that's right...those dead & wounded are "those" people over there...

Fuck bush. He's a disaster.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Sept. 14) AP - More than a dozen highly coordinated bombings ripped through Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 160 people and wounding 570 in the capital's bloodiest day since the end of major combat. Many of the victims were day laborers lured by a suicide attacker posing as an employer.
__________________________________
It always gets me when I see those words "Mission Accomplished" or "end of major combat" -- excuse me! bush has accomplished nothing and when 160 people are killed and 570 are wounded, is that "minor" combat?

Oh, that's right...those dead & wounded are "those" people over there...

F**k bush. He's a disaster.

Texas put another notch on their hypo needle today. Frances Newton was pronounced dead today at 6:17 pm.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/3354357

Gerald, #19
Thank you for posting the article on What Would Jesus Do? And, beyond Jesus, I believe this could be attributed to almost every true Mystic and Spiritual Prophet. The Truth is the Truth, and no amount of legislation or fear-base rationalization will change it. The Power of Non-Violence is infinite and unstoppable. What creates the wars and conflicts in this world is the belief in our separation: from each other and from our Source. Once we believe that we are our bodies, our possessions, our countries, our communities, we begin to create ways to protect what we value from those outsiders we believe are after our limited supply of you-name-it. What we are all about is control; what Jesus is about is surrender. To live in Trust of the unlimited supply that is available to us. This may not be the proper venue for this piece, but I sense that there are people here who do "listen" and respond to reason and compassion.

I have had the honor to be in the presence of a Master Teacher whose connection with the Spirit of Christ is quite extraordinary. And, what he teaches from the core of his being is that We Are One and Love is the only answer. Fear is real, but fear is a call for Love. It is not outside of God, which is a loving, compassionate, non-judging energy which allows all Its creations to make any choices we desire. Fear is a call to action, to examine its roots and make new decisions that melt it into non-existence. Love is inclusive; fear is exclusive. Love expands; fear contracts. To transcend fear, recognize it, acknowledge it and breathe into it. As it softens, peace replaces the inner conflict and opens the heart to new possibilities.

May you each know that Peace that is present within each of you, Brothers and Sisters in Spirit.
St. John

Tim H.
my support hinged on the belief that we had learned the lessons of fighting "politically correct" wars like we fought in Viet Nam after the Gulf War in early 1992.

If your support hinged on this then why do you still support the mission? Didn't you just contradict yourself? On a lighter note, please advise us when you intend to write comedy. You are so good I had to wipe coffee off the monitor. The only response I could come up with was, I hope hajji breaks the Santa thing to him gently.

John Benson,

I appreciate your style and your posts. I still support the mission because we are still there. If we are to continue the mission "git er done!"
as Larry the Cable guy would say. If not, lets pull out now. We seem to be taking steps forward but then looking over our shoulders hoping we are not offending anyone.

Re comedy. Those came from a few e-mails I received recently. Only in America will the humorists start making light of a tragedy so soon. I was in the military in 1986 when the Challenger disaster occurred and it wasn't a week later when jokes were flying around the base.

Re Hajji

I love his humor and wit. And above all, he is also loved because he is family.

Tim H

You guys are not going to believe this.

The Leader of the Free World jots a note to the Secretary of State during a summit on the UN.

This is fucking classic!

If you haven't seen this article, in its entirety, please read. But, before you do, see if you can see the benefit to what occured. There are some very powerful stories and possibilities for healing a nation in disrepair and disrepute. Our leaders, so-called, are living in a state of fear and acting out from that place. The survivors, who have every right to be angry and express that toward their captors and perpetrators, are acting more for the support of each other than to damage those helpless representatives of the status quo. Think about the previous article from Gerald, WWJD #19, and see who more represents that teaching.
St. John

http://www.inlander.com/topstory/284189484302702.php

Didn't he ever have to raise one or two fingers in his classroom?

Reuters Photog Appears to Capture Bush at U.N. With 'Bathroom Break' Note

By E&P Staff

Published: September 14, 2005 7:35 PM ET updated 10:55 PM ET

NEW YORK In what seems destined to become one of the most yakked about photos of the month, if not year, a Reuters photographer today seems to have captured President George W. Bush scribbling a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a session at the United Nations. On the note is a message revolving around the need to take a "bathroom break."

The photo by Denver-based Rick Wilking, taken over a man's shoulder, shows an official -- identified in the caption (at Reuters' official site) as President Bush -- scribbling in pencil on a small white piece of paper that already contains the words: "I think I MAY NEED A BATHroom break?"

The caption at the Reuters photo site reads:

"U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's vision of freedom from want, persecution and war."

The photo, which naturally is already making the rounds of the Web, can be found here.

Wilking, a former Reuters staffer in Europe, took several other photos today at the U.N. posted at the Reuters site. He recently covered the hurricane disaster in the Gulf, and on Sept. 2 was profiled at E&P Online.

He told E&P's Jay DeFoore at that time that he decided to leave New Orleans only after his laptop and two cameras were stolen from his car parked near the convention center. But he vowed to return to cover the "human tragedy."

One online bio of Wilking describes him as a "presidential photographer" with 12 years experience shooting pictures in Washington or on various White House assignments. It says he started his career as a photojournalist for the Colorado Daily in 1974.

I just linked to the story.

Tim H.
To be honest I usually disagree with your opinions, but I give you credit for usually knowing the difference between opinion and information.

I can see your point to a certain degree, my concern about the war in Iraq from the beginning was that it would turn into a civil / colonial war unless we had extremely limited objectives. To me your belief made about as much sense as Santa coming down the chimney. This whole war was predicated on falsehoods and misrepresentations.

While I can respect your opinion, I am incredulous that you believed the stories we were told. This was presented to us as a best-case scenario and there never seemed to be any kind place for contrarian's positions. Given the way things have gone can you accept that some of the lefts concerns about going in had merit? I'm not happy about how things have gone, and I think about the families of service people who have had their lives ripped apart all the time. It would be better for the left to have been wrong in this case, but this has unfolded pretty much as a number of people thought it would.

And I think your cousin seems like a decent fellow.

You are such suckers. That is actually a photo of Al Gore penning a note to Warren Christopher while monitoring the 2000 recount. The take "piss breaks" in Texas, and they don't ask, they just do it.

Tim H

The [sic] take "piss breaks" in Texas, and they don't ask, they just do it.

So if the photographer had panned out, we would have seen a puddle under Dear Leader's chair?

Of course, I meant "zoomed out" and that ruined my feeble attempt at humor.

But, boy, that photo is great, isn't it?

John Benson #62

I didn't believe we should have gone into Iraq because of what George Bush said in 2002. Nor Clinton in 1998. I believe he should have been gone long ago. I don't deny that there were many mistakes made in interpreting intelligence and even in having "boots on the ground" to gather credible intelligence in Iraq pre-invasion. I sincerely believed that the mission would be accomplished in such a manner as we booted his troops out of Kuwait. That was accomplished this time, however once the "mission was completed" we began the old "Viet Nam tapdance" around really getting the job done.

Re Hajji

He is really a decent fellow. You are the perceptive one.

Don #64

I would at least like to think the puddle would be under the desk he is writing on. If not, the President has a serious problem. Maybe the First Lady could clear that up.

Tim H

Don #64

I would at least like to think the puddle would be under the desk he is writing on. If not, the President has a serious problem. Maybe the First Lady could clear that up.

Tim H

Tim H #68,

Of course, we could contemplate on the color of the puddle as well, but I won't go there...

Don #69

Me neither. That's enough bathroom humor for one night.

Speaking of 69, how fast can you go on Highway 69?

Lickety split!

Tim H

For the record, every day for the last three or four I have been sending email to Senator Diane Feinstein (D CA), who sits on the Judiciary Cmte, asking her to query Judge Roberts re: the tribunal decision Roberts made for Bush, and to ask further if he made that decision in hopes of receiving the SCOTUS nomination in return.

Nothing heard in return so far, nor any question on this subject from the Lady Senator.

I have also emailed Senator Boxer, my other D-CA, and suggested she Vote No! on Roberts. My next email to either one or both will be to suggest the filibuster, asking them to invoke it, full speed ahead and let's see the balls of the Repug who trips the Nuclear Option.

Just a suggestion; I would be happy to do these deeds if I were in the Senate.

The "Bathroom Break" note just made Drudge. Give the guy a break! At least he didn't throw up on the Prime Minister of Japan!

Tim H

All right guys, clean it up. There are ladies in the room.

Alan,
I read your post. What a tragedy. From what I could tell the woman was innocent and the evidence they had was tainted. I hate capital punishment.

Jeanne #73

My sincerest apology. You have my word, as an officer and a gentleman, I will never post dirty again.

Tim H

I believe military historian Kurt Vonnegut had it right when he noted that it was a stupid notion to believe that we could invade, occupy and transform a country with no discernable borders, with neighboring countries full of incurable idiotic zealots, a country with a pop. of 28 million folks (who have a looong history of murderizing each other to death) with a force of under 200K troops.

State Dept. warned CENTCOM that a major upfuck was in the offing. Wes Clark warned before, during and after that time was on our side and we needed to learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time. These assholes can pick our guys off, one at a time.

"The military instrument is meant to defeat and destroy the will of a nation to fight, and the war material it uses to fight with. A military instrument in combat stance cannot win a political endstate. It is not a failure of troops to fail to secure a politcal victory, because it is not their mission to do so."

With the ongoing mission creep in Iraq, which "mission" are we meant to support?

Chimpy had an excuse: too much Kofi.

By the way guys, I'm just kidding. Be as gross as you want.

On another note, Iraq had one of the bloodiest days.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than a dozen highly coordinated bombings ripped through Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 160 people and wounding 570 in the capital's bloodiest day since the end of major combat. Many of the victims were day laborers lured by a suicide attacker posing as an employer.

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attacks in the name of Sunni insurgents, saying it was a retaliation for the rout of militants at a base close to the Syrian border.

It'a all right Tim. My post just above was written before you responded but I'm working a project and was unable to post.

Pande,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. I get it.

Jeanne said... "From what I could tell the woman was innocent and the evidence they had was tainted."
=================
She sounded innocent to me too. The Texas Innocence Project (linked to Barry Scheck's original Innocence Project) was able to find out about more than one gun being found. Shady stuff was going on for a long time in that crime lab too. It's really more of the 'poor people' thing. You get the lawyer you can pay for, ya know? And public defenders are appointed by the court and the ones that don't get in the way of a smooth stroll thru procedures tends to get more cases thrown his way, dontcha know. I seen the same kinds shyt in my divorce court, but this is life and death! She was the 13th (one other article said 14) this year, and we have 9 more scheduled this year.
*the death penalty for me is a toughie There's some people that are surely guilty and very much deserve it, but damn... I wanna KNOW FOR SURE that person is guilty. A real trial with competent lawyers would be a start.

Afghanistan is a Russian Word, it Means "Iraq".
Yes it is.

My two cents worth, (not on the subject)

FEMA, La. outsource Katrina body count to firm implicated in body-dumping scandals
Miriam Raftery

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has hired Kenyon International to set up a mobile morgue for handling bodies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, RAW STORY has learned.

Kenyon is a subsidiary of Service Corporation International (SCI), a scandal-ridden Texas-based company operated by a friend of the Bush family. Recently, SCI subsidiaries have been implicated in illegally discarding and desecrating corpses.

Louisiana governor Katherine Blanco subsequently inked a contract with the firm after talks between FEMA and the firm broke down. Kenyon's original deal was secured by the Department of Homeland Security.

In other words, FEMA and then Blanco outsourced the body count from Hurricane Katrina -- which many believe the worst natural disaster in U.S. history -- to a firm whose parent company is known for its "experience" at hiding and dumping bodies.

The Menorah Gardens cemetery chain, owned by SCI, desecrated vaults, removed hundreds of bodies from two cemeteries in Florida and dumped the gruesome remains in woods frequented by wild hogs, investigators discovered in 2001. In one case, a backhoe was used to crack open a vault, remove corpses and make room for more dead bodies.

SCI paid $100 million to settle a lawsuit filed by outraged family members of the deceased.

RAW STORY calls to FEMA were not returned.

Waltrip, chairman of SCI, is a longtime friend of Bush's father, former President George Herbert Walker Bush. The firm's political action committee donated $45,000 to George W. Bush's 1994 gubernatorial campaign.

The company also contributed more than $100,000 for construction of the George H.W. Bush presidential library.

Why FEMA chose to outsource mortuary services to a paid contractor is also mystery to Dan Buckner, co-owner of the Gowen-Smith Chapel in the Gulf area. Buckner had planned to serve with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Responses Team, which reportedly told Buckner's partner, Gary Hicks of Paducah, KY, to expect up to 40,000 deaths from Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Upon learning of Kenyon's contract, Buckner expressed puzzlement. He told the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, "Volunteers would have gone at no charge."
-----------------
Is the hurricane old news? I have been out of the loop. Seems like the same old bushshit, different day.

yeah Sal, Kenyon is definitely well-connected, but they are supposedly the only company in the world with a fully mobile morgue. They have 4 in fact and they respond with 'em all over the world, not just here. Volunteers are great, but they would have to have equipment, so this company was needed, I'd say. Least till they get something permanent cleaned up and running.

My luck with lighting up links lately leaves a lot to be desired. I have firewalled myself into near non communication. http://www.greatdreams.com/suspicion.htm

But I found this an interesting and thought provoking piece. I hope you will take a look.
The addy is correct even if it doesn't light up.

Using links is a bad idea anyway. Type the addy in, much safer. All sorts of neffarious crap can be placed in links.

Just a little food for thought.

Dave, If you get hit with another DNS attack, consider changing servers. Possibly just for the blog portion.

Simple physics says that a moving target is inherrently harder to hit.

Saladin,

Hell no Katrina is Not old news. What we Don't know yet probably exceeds the countless hours of press time this has gotten.

Follow the link I posted above, for an interesting insight into the "grand plan".

Control the Oil, control Congress, let the poor die. All part of the plan.

Political appointments? Yeah, but..........why?

Can you say operatives?????

Our poor have begun to feel like actual citizens, we sure as hell can't have this in Bush's America. We need Mexicans and El Salvadorians to do the scut work. They are grateful because they think they escaped a worse tyrant. What the hell do they know? They are newbies, and therefore...........meat.

The grand rebuilding of New Orleans is beginning to sound like a nifty new theme park. We cannot have the tourists see poor people.........it might harsh their buzz.

So the very people who might have had the most to gain by working the recovery effort are now in DC. Texas, freeking Minnasota, I ask you how the hell are life long Cajuns going to adapt to freeking Minnasota???? Anyone care? These people arrived at their destination in shorts and t shirts, and very little else. The government so far has helped a few in Texas to get funded. They aint even announcing a plan for the rest of these poor abandoned Americans.

Look closely at the Red Cross and you won't give em the time of day, let alone money.

ASK YOURSELF AMERICA, is this what you think your country should do to its poor? How is this not slavery all over again?

And when Barbara Bush declares its o.k. these people were poor anyway, they are better off now. What the hell Barb???

You know where all your relatives and loved ones are, you have a freeking debit card. You know where your next meal is. Shut up you eliteist Bitch!

"Let them eat Cake" ring any bells?????

I for one think it was more than a lack of management, I think it WAS management of a sort, I think it was genocide of the poor. Those damn pesky poor people. Again.

Can we count the bodies? Hell no. Will they have any sort of burrial? Well, we don't know for sure, but the guys who got the contract may well know where Hoffa is hidden. Its what they do. Personal friends of the first Shrub.

Its a tough time for Americans, it behooves us to be informed, however difficult that has become.

I started my research about 7 yrs ago when I googled the Carlylse Group. I got a worm almost immediately that ate me wimply little Emachine. I then got a Dell and an education in computer security, I never thought I would have.

First: PROTECT YOUR SYSTEM
Second: blog your ass off.

This one's funny, but pretty much sums up the Roberts hearing.

Ready? Cue the Sun...

Arlen Specter Welcome to Day 3 of the confirmation hearings of John Roberts. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind the nation of what a wonderful job I'm doing chairing this committee, and I'd like to let the ranking member tell me so.
Patrick Leahy Absolutely, Mr. Chairman! And let me kick off this morning's platitudes about the grandeur of our Constitution by quoting its first three words, "We the People." That means that here in America the people rule - except on issues like abortion, where their opinions don't mean spit.

What the F

What you do is simple; scream your head off, to anyone who might listen. Your local newspaper, your reps, your friends, talk radio, blogs etc.

In short; you STAY IN. Nothing gives these assholes more hope than taking out someone dedicated to telling the truth as they see it.

They fear this, and therein lies our power.

I may well be defeated, I accept this possiblility, but this is one old broad that will go kicking and screaming or not at all.

Fight all evil power.

This administration is more unreal and more toxic then your average week end in yahoo chat.

Roberts ability to NOT answer is a clue. He is a Bushbot. He is a ringer.

Look up ringer.

It should say Bushbot.

These are used like seasoning in the stew that is THE USA

If you read the op-ed above, then I hope you caught this one too. Here's another example of FEMA stopping private efforts.

Sick and Abandoned

Incredibly, when the out-of-state corporate owners of the hospital responded to the flooding by sending emergency relief supplies, they were confiscated at the airport by FEMA and sent elsewhere.
---
---
Bruce Gilbert, Universal's general counsel, told me yesterday, "Those supplies were in fact taken from us by FEMA, and we were unable to get them to the hospital."

STEM CELL RESEARCH

Get a damn grip. We are talking about medical waste, o.k.? Waste should be seen here as WASTE.

Stem cells are the center of the battle over life ending and dibilitating disease.

They could be the key to cure ALL DISEASE.

But for the religeous Right, who think that our scientists are out to clone crap.

Get a grip.

Stem cell could cure Cancer, Diabetes, Heart disease, etc.

You idiots are madly protecting the rights of ............Medical Waste.

To what end?

I wonder if they ever saw their child in the midst of an insulin reaction, convulsing, near death............I have.

SUPPORT STEM CELL RESEARCH.

Or shut the hell up.

Have an aging parent? Heart disease, Stroke, Diabetes, altzhimers, etc.

ITS MEDICAL WASTE. WILL BE BURNED. CAN SAVE THOUSANDS, MILLIONS. WE ARE FLUSHING THIS SO THAT A FEW RIGHT WING ASSHOLES CAN FEEL SUPERIOR.

Guess what? they aint. They are stupid to the max and I hope each and every one of em gets an incurable disease.

Sue me, Im a bit of a bitch on this subject.

My son is held hostage to the deeply illinformed.

This pisses me off.

Good job, Mr. Corn! Keep it up!

Yes, reading pays: As it happens, a book is a few inches away from my left hand. Its title is "30 secondes sur New York" (30 Seconds over NY), written by French -talkin' about frogs...- journalist and author Robert Buchard. It is a 1971 reprint of the first edition, 1969 (keep in mind the date), Éditions Albin Michel. The story is simple and straight: A mad colonel of the Red Chinese Army -the head of Chinese Secret Police- wants to destroy New York, and he knows quite well that a trick is badly needed. So, his men leave a bomb in an Air France regular flight to NY and, after the blowing to smitherens the AF Boeing 707, they put one of their own in disguise, carrying in its belly an atomic bomb. The Americans discover the trick but, alas, too late. Needless to say, NY vanishes in the final. "And that was just the beginning...", are the closing words.

It sounds familiar thirtysomething years later, doesn't it?

Well, what can we expect from a Pressident who cannot read a fugging clock? But Dr. Rice, please...

Remember after 9/11 when George Bush and Condi Rice said no one had ever imagined that terrorists could hijack airliners and crash them into targets in the United States?

^^^^^^^^^^6

I think that condibush misspoke... I'm sure that what she/he meant to say was that no one had ever imagined that terrorists could highjack a 767 and magically transform it into a 737 in mid-flight.

Anybody having issues with making hyperlinks:

How do I make a hyperlink?

A more complete list of html tags is available at:

List of HTML tags

For the more technical minded autodidactic among us a complete tutorial is available here:

HTML Tutorial

Friewall, anti-spam, anti-spyware, and anti-virus have nothing to do with hyperlinling in HTML. All webpages are written in HTML.

If you are having trouble email me, my address is a valid address and I will help you to link.

This is a courtesy to others as short URL’s (Universal Resource Locator) work nicely in the body of posted text, the problem is with very long URL’s will not post with a CR (Carriage return) and the blog will become too wide.

So, before you go and post a long URL please consider the impact of the blog.

I am here to help in any way I can. As are many others.

Thanks

capt

THE IRAQI CIVIL WAR HAS BEGUN

Yesterday was a turning point in Iraq, predicts old Bob in North Dakota....the day the Iraqi Civil War began. 150 dead, 540 wounded, and an actual declaration of war against the Shia.

Expect things to get only worse and worse in Iraq.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1781036,00.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article312735.ece

Bob in North Dakota

Statement of Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Committee on the Judiciary
H. Res. 420, Resolution of Inquiry to Attorney General Regarding CIA Leak

As a conservative I can assure you no conservative supports the insult in the oval office.

This misadministration is made up of neoconservatives. This neocon movement is based in the neo-liberal movement not conservative anything.

You can educate yourself HERE and you will find more HERE and the neocon have none of the classic conservative values. Not smaller government, no support for states rights, etc. .

There is nothing, NOTHING conservative about being radical. This is the most radical WH in the history of the nation. Nothing conservative about being radical.

Neocon can be used as a pejorative, I do not use it as such, nor do I use it as a label. There is a factual basis and neoconservative describes a political philosophy correctly.

I challenge anybody to correct me, I am always willing to learn. If you think this misadministration is conservative just list what you think makes them conservative. Supporting the president or his illegal and unwise decisions does not make anybody conservative. In my opinion it just make you sound stupid.

capt

Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows
By Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The federal official with the power to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina was Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not the former FEMA chief who was relieved of his duties and resigned earlier this week, federal documents reviewed by Knight Ridder show.

Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, Chertoff could have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state or local officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown had only limited authority to do so until about 36 hours after the storm hit, when Chertoff designated him as the "principal federal official" in charge of the storm.

As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost hundreds of lives.

But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director. [...]

*******

Looks like someone's got some 'splainin' to do...

Capt.,

It seems to me that words have their dictionary definitions, sometimes multiple definitions, sometimes multiple, contradictory definitions, sometimes with similar, and sometimes with competing etymologies.

Then they also have their symbolic meanings to certain populations, which may or may not relate to those dictionary definitions.

Welcome to civil war

Sep 16, 2005

By Pepe Escobar

Undeclared civil war in Iraq has been raging for months. Now it's "official": using the customary audio clip on a website, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - who may or may not be a cipher, but is certainly the leader of Monotheism and Holy War, or al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers - has declared "all-out war" on Iraqi Shi'ites.

To prove it, he unleashed Black Wednesday - including a horrendous attack in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood in Baghdad, with at least 112 dead and more than 200 wounded, all of them poor, helpless Shi'ite construction workers, many of them enticed toward the killer with promises of jobs before he detonated his lethal load. Baghdad was paralyzed on Wednesday, trying to cope with more than 150 dead and more than 500 wounded in a string of coordinated attacks marking the bloodiest day in the country since the end of major combat two years ago.

According to the Zarqawi audio, "The al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers [Iraq] is declaring all-out war on the Rafidha, wherever they are in Iraq". Rafidha is the pejorative Arabic term referring to Shi'ites as apostates. "As for the government, servants of the crusaders headed by [Prime Minister] Ibrahim al-Jaafari, they have declared a war on Sunnis in Tal Afar." So, following Zarqawi's logic, the civil war against Shi'ites is a response to what happened in Tal Afar.

Tal Afar is a poor northern town in the middle of the desert whose majority population of roughly 200,000 is 70% Sunni Turkmen and 30% Shi'ite Turkmen. Just as former prime minister Iyad Allawi was responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Fallujah, current prime minister Jaafari ordered what amounts to ethnic cleansing in Tal Afar.

*****end of clip*****

Of course the civil war started the day Doofus Maximus decided to invade Iraq and depose Saddam. Nearly every expert in the region warned that civil war would be the result.

Do not kid yourself for a second. Doofus Maximus and his merry band of moronic neocon-men are getting EXACTLY what they want.

Now if they can foment a little more civil "unrest" here in America. Hmmmm

capt

Alan,
I can't believe Mr. Conservative (Brooks) wrote that column. And there was no excuse for the way things were at the end.
titchaba,
Seriously, come on, what do you Texans think goes on during the winter in MN? We are not Siberia. You make me laugh. Yes, we can walk on water but only during the winter months. We can even build castles with the waters.
Yes, when we pray to God to drive out the pests he does it like clockwork every fall. No termites, mind you. No bad ants. Too cold.
But we do know how to get cozy.

#98

Word have meanings? Who would have thought such a thing is possible. HA!

capt

"I don't know what you mean by 'glory,'" Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't--till I tell you. I meant, 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"

"But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean do many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all." - Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

House GOP Derails Democratic Inquiries

(09-14) 12:38 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

House Republicans derailed Democratic attempts on Wednesday to force the Bush administration to surrender documents on prewar intelligence and the disclosure of the identity of a CIA operative.

Democrats have introduced several "resolutions of inquiry" to compel President Bush and members of his Cabinet to release all information relating to communications with British officials before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the Valerie Plame case.

The White House has taken heat since the disclosure this year of the "Downing Street memos," British documents that suggest the Bush administration had made up its mind by 2002 to invade Iraq. Administration officials also have been interviewed by a special prosecutor in his quest to determine who leaked Plame's covert identity to reporters.

Largely along party lines, the House International Relations Committee unfavorably reported two of the resolutions on Iraq and one resolution on the Plame matter. Earlier, the House Judiciary Committee "unfavorably" reported a similar Plame resolution.

Under House rules, the committees had to act on the resolutions within 14 legislative days of the resolutions' introduction. If not, sponsors could have forced the measures before the full House for a vote.

But the votes Wednesday against the measures all but prevented them from ever being taken up by the House.

*****end of clip*****

If there is nothing to hide why not let the sunshine in?

I can only assume there is something to hide.

capt

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0914/dailyUpdate.html

posted September 14, 2005 at 11:00 p.m.

Pentagon draft plan calls for preemptive use of nukes

Critics say plan is designed for possible attack against Iran.
_____________

Robert Schwartz: the shrubenfuherer will 'splain tonight when he reads the words his "speechalist" writes for him.
________________
Saladin: in your absence, capt and I had an exchange about SCI/Kenyon waaaaay back on Sept 8th. Having lived in Austin, I recalled the bushevik connex to SCI and smelled a rat.

WHO ELSE, OTHER THAN CONDI, IS BUYING NEW SHOES?

Rumors are buzzing that Cheney's absence for days after Katrina was due to his heart condition that got so bad that he had to purchase larger-sized shoes because his feet were so swollen. Rumor? Fact? Dunno. Could be, tho. The dick has had four heart attacks.

Or maybe he's just sick of covering for the shrubenfuherer's f**kups.

Bush to Focus on Vision for Reconstruction in Speech Tonight By ELISABETH BUMILLER
and RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: September 15, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 - President Bush is to pledge in an address to the nation from New Orleans on Thursday night that the federal government will provide housing assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina and also help reimburse the states for costs they have absorbed in taking in evacuees, a White House official said Wednesday. [...]

***************

Don't sound much like splainin' to me.

Ever seem like we are living in two worlds that they have only a small connection? How does this non government think it's policies are affecting the people "out there" and how we are reacting to their edicts. It is a game to them until the mobs are at the gate, then they just might start to realize that we cannot be controlled and aren't buying their bs anymore. The media is crap and they are not helping us being informed, too many people are just working to keep their heads above the debt burden, the credit card companies keep the interest rate so high that you are in slavery of a sort for as long as you carry those pieces of plastic. Get rid of them don't buy into the credit industry and their rating system. How the hell did they get the right to rate me? I never remember signing up for them to go and do that. I also don't remember signing up for this crowd of crooks to make laws that I don't agree with. Writing to them doesnt help. DO you seriously think that I don't write to them, call them, e mail, and try to get in touch with them in every way I can? To no avail it is like talking to my ex wife, nothing penetrates, until I just walk out, then a small reaction. What is it going to take to get their attention? I am open for ideas. ONe other question, what have we gotten for our 200 billion plus invasion of IRaq? What benefit is coming to me in this country? Not much as far as I can see just more cost for the veterans and their care, which must be paid for above the salary of the politicians. What a mess, and no answers that I can see, we are screwed no doubt until something big happens, which it might. LOok for another natural disaster before christmas. All signs point to that. Peace.

#55 St. John, thank you for your thoughts! Jesus has said "Be not afraid!" Fear and our insatiable wants of our possessions creat problems. Nothing on this earth is ours; it is on loan to us from God. God has given this planet an abundance of treasures for all to share in His Love for us, His children.

#73 Jeanne, that ain't no lady that's my wife.

#88 titchaba and Cornposters, remember to not answer questions is really answering questions. To not act to protect the poor and the disenfranchised is to accept to do nothing to help them. Our inactions can really say as much as our actions.

micki, in her spare time writes comedy to help us laugh in between her serious posts.

Please go to www.lewrockwell.com and read several good articles like So Long Empire, Away Recruiter, Love of Country, etc.

News from Behind The Facade
By John Pilger
[...]Behind The Facade, the destruction of democracy has been a long-term project. The millions of poor, like most of the people of New Orleans, have no place in the American system, which is why they don't vote. The same is happening under Blair, who has achieved the lowest voter turnouts since the franchise. As with Bush, this is not his concern, for his horizons stretch far. Selling weapons and privatization deals to India one day, preparing the ground for attacking Iran the next. Under Blair, the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, ran Operation Mass Appeal, a campaign to plant stories in the media about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Under Blair, young Pakistanis living in Britain were trained as jihadi fighters and recruited for the first of his wars - the dismemberment of Yugoslavia in 1999. According to the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, they joined this terrorist network "with the full knowledge and complicity of the British and American intelligence agencies."

In his classic work, The Grand Chessboard, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the godfather of American policies and actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, writes that for America to dominate the world, it cannot sustain a genuine, popular democracy because "the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion... Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization". He describes how he secretly persuaded President Carter in 1976 to bankroll and arm the jihadis in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a means of ensuring America's Cold War dominance. When I asked him in Washington, two years ago, if he regretted that the consequences were al-Qaeda and the attacks of 11 September, he became very angry and did not reply; and a crack in The Facade closed. It is time those of us paid to keep the record straight tore it down completely.

Iraq slams US detentions

America is really guilty of murders and war crimes. Bush cannot leave the WH or Iraq because he will come before the International Criminal Court at The Hague as a murderer and a war criminal. Bush is a cold blooded murderer.

#110 Robert Schwartz, many of America's past evils are coming back to haunt us. America is a TERRORIST NATION WHOSE POLICIES AND PRACTICES DESIRE HATRED, KILLING, TORTURE, AND WARS, PREFERABLY NUCLEAR WARS.

This is Gerald posting from well inside enemy territory of the world's most terrorist nation. Please go to www.antiwar.com and read gtreat articles like Why this soldier can't support this war, The united gates of America, Building any case against Iran, Aid to Afghanistan: The gift that keeps on taking, and many others.

Gerald,

So what else is new?

The list of Jesus' disciples keeps on growing from my wife, Jo, to Cindy Sheehan whose Gaelic name means peacemaker, to Sgt Kevin Benderman, his wife, Monica, and Captain Justin Gordon. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD!

Hey howcome they could get the trailers prestaged for Ophelia, but not Katrina. Can you learn from mistakes if you don't make any?

Jeanne,

Who you calling a Texan?

Im aware of the weather in your part of the country and in December it is radically different than your average Cajun is accustomed to. Not exactly shorts and t shirts territory.

Nits sufficiently picked yet?

Capt wrote:

"As a conservative I can assure you no conservative supports the insult in the oval office."

You must be a moron then Capt, b/c 62 million people voted for that "insult". And if you think YOU are a conservative, then you are a doofus maximus. Capt, how are you a conservative!?!? You're pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro-ACLU, pro-terrorist, pro-U.N, anti-tax cuts for the "rich". So Capt, just how are you a conservative??

"This misadministration is made up of neoconservatives. This neocon movement is based in the neo-liberal movement not conservative anything."

A Neo-Con is a liberal w/ strong foreign policy views. Certainly social conservatives such as Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld aren't Neo-Cons. And I have a question for you:

John Kerry and John Edwards BOTH VOTED for the Iraq war, and John Kerry said in August of 2004 that he would have INVADED IRAQ, even KNOWING there were no WMDs!! So does Kerry and Edwards support for the Iraq war MAKE THEM neo-cons too!?!? And being the HYPOCRITE you are, you voted for them!! How do you explain that??

"There is nothing, NOTHING conservative about being radical. This is the most radical WH in the history of the nation. Nothing conservative about being radical."

Let me give you a tip you are obviously unaware of. The Kerry and the Democrats LOST, b/c they are too far out of the mainstream, i.e. radical. The democratic party has been hi-jacked by the Far Left. Soros, Moore, Dean, not mainstream democrats. The kinds of people that SHOULD be running the Democratic party are: Evan Bayh, Ben Nelson, Mary Landieu, Mark Warner, Bill Richardson, etc. Moderate democrats, not liberals.

You see, a progressive CAN NOT win a national election b/c their views don't appeal to mainstream Americans. Why do you think Hillary is moving to the center? Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 are conservative Republicans who have WON the Presidency. Walter Mondale, Micheal Dukkakis and John Kerry are liberal Democrats who LOST the Presidency. Carter and Clinton were MODERATES! Conservatism by default, is more in line with America that Liberalism. Liberalism is the anti-establishment, you want to CHANGE America.

"Supporting the president or his illegal and unwise decisions does not make anybody conservative. In my opinion it just make you sound stupid."

Saying the Iraq war is illegal make you sound stupid, since the Iraq war is legal. Saddam Hussein violated the 1991 Cease Fire Agreement he SIGNED. He violated 17 U.N. resolutions, including, 1441, 687, 678.

See Capt, your qualms with Bush are based on false assertions. You think he lied about the Iraq war when he didn't, the intelligence from the US and other countries were wrong, and the Iraq war is legal. So maybe if you stopped believing these false assertions, you wouldn't have so much disdain for the President.

No chit sherlock?

Capt. if you know of any more free tutorials Im on em. I just love my puter.

Jabba the Dell rocks. and I have kept this puppy clean for 5 years. So I kind of rock too.

The link thing, I really did tie to firewalls, as you pointed out probably wrongly.

But..........I chat. And I have pissed off several hackers.

So Im a little paranoid.

I love all the guidance I can get. Not a bit insulted by puter knowledge.

Please understand you have a receptive audience here.

Im all over making my system safe, while still expressing my opinions freely. Anything that helps me do this, helps me help others to do this so is valuable.

Im almost over being called a...............Texan.

Time heals all wounds. I don't even own a gun.

Also Im pretty convinced that html was written by aliens.

I have the book and can't remember the last time I was this confused.

Aliens wrote Adobe too.

little green guys.....

yeah.

still I can run ip config from a dos prompt. So Im o.k. I know when and how to reformat my puter.

I know how to back up.

But spyware is kicking my little butt.

The antispyware utilities seems as buggy as nothing.

Ive found three password dialers in two years. Antivirus was a walk in the park.

At this crucial juncture, the most efficient way to fight Iranian Islamic fundamentalism would be to free President Saddam Hussein- maybe the French or the Russians could give him political refugee status for a while.

The man had class to spare, always very elegant in his dark grey suit and tie- whereas “Grand” Ayatollah Al-Sistani always wears a dirty Persian silk napkin on his head!

Saddam knew how to shoot straight from the hip, he had a tasteful penchant for vintage handcrafted European rifles such as the ManuFrance triple-barreled Buffalo-Mittraille (a masterpiece), and he certainly knew how to make good use of it notably on renegade Shiite fundamentalists.

Dr Victorino de la Vega
The Middle East Memo
http://www.mideastmemo.blogspot.com/

My goodness. All this wailing about Katrina and wholesale slaughter in Iraq have caused us to lose our prime focus. What IS the latest report from Aruba?

Robert in Washington

Its time for recall elections for all local state and federal offcials in the country. I understand the president must be impeached and can not be recalled but what about the congress and senate? Its time for new elections with third parties and paper ballots. Why wait until terms end for those who have driven the country into the ground?Its time for new blood in goverment and the radical idea that the people repersent themselfs rather than be ruled by blue blooded familes attached mind body and soul to the muti-national companies detroying our country.Its time to vote out the republican and democratic parties,each has sold thier souls and closed thier collective minds.The world they live in is devoid of new ideas or even a basic understanding of the people they pretend to protect.Recall elections for every offical in the land! for those we can't recall at least we can try to surround them with new faces and perhaps elect those who may lack experience but bring new ideas,rational debate, and most importantly a backbone.....jlm