An easy way for him to show his good faith would be to appoint, say, a prominent Democrat of strong reputation (I assume one can be found) to oversee this endeavor and to name an ombudsman of impeccable credentials.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Really, David, you kill me. Are you practicing your stand-up again?

Mr. David Corn,

I hope it is not true but think of how well it could give Kkkarl cover?

Bunnypants would have to care what those in the opposition think, he does not. It will be all crony, all corporate pals all the time. Well into the next two invasions.

Thanks for another good post!

Kirk

Czar Gore?

Czar Witt?

Maybe someone--a Liberal--without a four-letter one-syllable name.

Czar Streisand?

Well, here's an idea that would de-politicize the project -- select someone from one of the poorest countries in the world, an African nation -- Mozambique to head the "historic restoration effort." Here's why...

Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga writes in the Monitor, a daily newspaper in Kampala, Uganda, that Africans and those of African descent around the world should not put much faith in the United States.

"Whether you are in peril in Darfur, Sudan, Ruhengeri, Rwanda or New Orleans, saving your black behind isn't a priority for the American government, founded on a doctrine of white supremacy," he writes. He concludes that the Gulf coast disaster could well deplete funds committed to the global fight against poverty and disease.

London-based writer Joseph Hanlon, writing for the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Mozambique) in Maputo, says that in responding to flood crises, the United States has much to learn from Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world. Hanlon says 550,000 people were displaced by flooding in 2000 in southern Mozambique. Only 700 people died.

The country had undertaken extensive preparation by training personnel and stockpiling goods including food, medicines, tents and plastic sheeting. When the disaster hit, local leaders evacuated people to tent cities on high ground, in intact neighborhoods. Forty thousand others were saved with small boats.

The country also used NGOs such as Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders, the South African air force and UNICEF. Helicopters were flying in one day and rescued some 14,000 people.

Y'all may think that's a nutty idea.

But try it on just for shits and grins.

Toward the end of the last thread I placed an English translation I made (rapidly, and with some typing and other errors) of the speech Hugo Chavez made in the recent General Assembly meeting. I will not repeat it here because it is quite long for a posting. But I believe it should be read and sent on in email chains. It is being largely censored in the international press. This is just so that those that did not see it before can go back to the old posting.

Colin Powell should be nominated/selected as the reconstruction coordinator for the Gulf coast. The president owes him a job of this magnitude; or if not Powell, any of several old generals who have not yet faded away.

Colin Powell? No way. You must be kidding. He is tainted goods. (And has been ever since being Caspar Weinberger's boy.) A toady. A disgrace. He had his chance for (semi-) greatness and rolled over for expediency.

He has faded away. Good riddance.

Don, I agree with much that you say...but not this. Or maybe you were just joshin'?????

Powell's Widening Credibility Gap

By Robert Parry
September 17, 2005

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell appears to have widened his credibility gap with his latest attempt to shift the blame for bogus evidence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction onto mid-level intelligence analysts Рand away from himself and other senior officials.

In an interview with ABC News, Powell fingered "some people in the intelligence community who knew at that time that some of these sources were not good, and shouldnմ be relied upon, and they didnմ speak up. That devastated me."

But he spared from criticism high-ranking Bush administration colleagues as well as then-CIA director George Tenet. As for his personal feelings about his false WMD testimony before the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, Powell told ABCճ Barbara Walters that he saw the incident as a "blot" on his reputation.

"It was painful," Powell said. "Itճ painful now."

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

"It was painful," Powell said.

Was painful, now how could it have been painful when he made the statements unless he knew he was lying?

capt

Hi David. Nice post. There is a very clear reason Karl Rove is in charge of the reconstruction. There will be $200 billion pouring into the Gulf to do the reconstruction. Right now there are too many Democrats running the show down there. Karl's job is going to be to smash the fuck out of all the DEM's reputations and bring high-profile neo-cons in to run against them in the next elections. You can bet that there will be at least a 95% turnover of ALL DEMS within two years. You can bet that not one REPUBLiCAN will be defeated. The money spigot will then flow and the Bush cronies will be awash with cash. Why else would the LA governor and NO mayor be kissing the Prez's arse?

Sad times.

Sad times? Wimp.

Fuck, I was born in the wrong century.

Okay! Okay! Powell nomination withdrawn! It just seemed he had an excellent record as an army man and could carry the load of this new debacle.

Jeez, I just sent one of my regular emails to Senator Boxer. Hope I didn't do as bad there. Said she should vote No on Roberts.

Thanks for the input, capt, Micki.

Don

Colin Powell is only a lap dog and a lacky. He has disgraced his pitiful self, for now and for history.

Karen, thank you for the translation. I read bits and pieces about Chavez over the last few days, but reading the speech clarified a lot of the puzzling omissions.

Don, you were kidding about Colin Powell, right? He has always been a political opportunist - charming yes, and he's had a chance to come clean but chose not to. He KNEW the intelligence was being fixed but he still chose to lie and so he's dealing with his pain. Does it bother him how much pain and suffering he was party to?

Pat: see #12 above.

During the runup to Iraq the speech Powell gave at the UN was hard to swallow, and it never did go down because he spoke too forcefully at cross purposes with the inspection teams. However, my impression at the time was that he was doing the bidding of his boss and his military experience led him to give Bush the right of decision as to the veracity of the charges being levied against Iraq. That he continued to be loyal to the commander in chief is not something I held to his negative account.

We have the perfect hindsight vision now as we consider historical events. I believe Powell had the misfortune to learn that his boss had f**ked him while he was still stuck inside the mobile. At the first opportunity he was out the door. If I may be allowed one more small impression, after the guys on the ground found nada, its unlikely Powell wasted any time putting his letter of resignation on Bush's desk. The res was then announced at the end of term 1.

I don't truly believe Powell was a lapdog or any of those other nasty names. He was a good man who got sucked into the asylum and had his pocket picked by the crazies.

I know many other people who've been taken advantage of in various ways, myself among them. Since the divorce rate is still around 50% there is a chance half of us have been fooled at least once.

Miki, I like your ideas. I hope more people do.

David C.
You are amazing, too. Thank you.

Karl Rove will ensure that the dollars that fall off of the money wagons on their trip between Washington and New Orleans get picked up by the right people.

I wonder how effective he'll be operating without security clearance from prison?

Karl Rove will ensure that the dollars that fall off of the money wagons on their trip between Washington and New Orleans get picked up by the right people.

I wonder how effective he'll be operating without security clearance from prison?

OOOOPS... The first post returned an error message.

Sorry, all.

The trouble with base closings

They're all in the USA. America is already an empire. More foreign bases, like the 17 bases in Iraq, will span the planet. Unless America returns to the true God and Shalom, all the bases on the planet won't save America. Keep a close eye on the rigged elections and Diebold and see the demise of America unfold before your eyes.

This site sucks.

David Corn sucks.

Everybody reading my comments suck.

#12 Hey, Don! Good for you for pulling your Powell nomination -- you can admit making a mistake! ;-) Boxer will definitely listen to you on Roberts!!

But, I just wanted to say that Colin Powell's once-sterling reputation was never earned or deserved, IMO. When he carried water for the Nixon crew in the My Lai cover-up, then for the Reaganites on Iran-contra, I was convinced he was a man without a moral compass. He became the epitome of the career opportunist -- and now he is the epitome of the failed opportunist, in my mind. He should have engraved on his tombstone: ME LIE

#16 Thanks, Dan V

President Bush is sure making efforts to restore confidence in his administration by appointing Karl Rove to this position. He is just so quick to demonstrate how he takes responsiblity for the slow response to Katrina by giving Karl Rove this job. (Karl was just so great at recommending reconstruction plans in Iraq) I mean when you appoint someone like Karl Rove who is willing to kick around grieving war mothers such as Cindy Sheehan. When you appoint such a "bleeding heart" such a "compasionate conservative" as Karl this can only serve to build confidence in the Bush Administration. These obvious mistakes makes one wonder just who these criminals are working for? It certainly is not the american people.