Don't count your chickens until they have hatched.

David,
"But I was slipped this info on "do-not-blog background." So...sorry."
You know, when you tease dogs like that they attack. Thank God we aren't dogs and thank God we have self control. (while blogging anyway)

KEEP 'EM COMING!

As Always

Thanks!

Kirk

I thought one of the stupidest and worst moments of Bush's administration and US foreign policy was when he said "Bring it on".... well it's coming, Mr. President.

I think the crew that lied KNOW they have something coming.

I like the 22 number but I would be surprised if that many indictments are handed down and I would be very happy with a bakers dozen~! HA!

capt

Well John Hannah is one of them and he's talking.
-----
Cheney aide cooperating with CIA outing probe, sources say

"A senior aide to Vice President Dick Cheney is cooperating with special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, sources close to the investigation say.

Individuals familiar with Fitzgerald’≥ case tell RAW STORY that John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John Bolton, was named as a target of Fitzgerald’≥ probe. They say he was told in recent weeks that he could face imminent indictment for his role in leaking Plame-Wilson’≥ name to reporters unless he cooperated with the investigation.

Others close to the probe say that if Hannah is cooperating with the special prosecutor then he was likely going to be charged as a co-conspirator and may have cut a deal."

Anyone noticed that news headlines often seen on web servers has been halted. MSN does not come up at all, at least on my home port. Not that I mind, just noticing this and wondered if any one has any info about this "headline blackout".

thanks,
th

All is working from the ABQ.

Maybe a local access issue?

capt

Ick Ick Ick
"Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

White House Watch: Cheney resignation rumors fly

"It's certainly an interesting but I still think highly doubtful scenario," said a Bush insider. "And if that should happen," added the official, "there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated –†another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP."

Said another Bush associate of the rumor, "Yes. This is not good." The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008.

"Isn't she pro-choice?" asked a key Senate Republican aide. Many White House insiders, however, said the Post story and reports that the investigation was coming to a close had officials instead more focused on who would be dragged into the affair and if top aides would be indicted and forced to resign...."

-----
I want a presidential election in 2006
I don't want that freakinng majority in Congress decideing who will be the next president. They are all lunkheads and scoundrals.

Sounds like people are falling all over themselves to talk to Fitzgerald.

It's let's make a deal time

"Reuters is speculating that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald may be offering putative defendants one last chance to make a deal in the Valerie Plame investigation.

The prosecutor investigating the outing of a covert CIA operative has yet to say whether he will bring charges, but he has decided to announce decisions in the case in Washington rather than Chicago, where he is based, his spokesman said on Monday....It is unusual for Fitzgerald's office to offer comment on any aspect of the case and Monday's statement led some observers to wonder if it might be a signal that a decision was imminent or that Fitzgerald was trying to increase pressure on potential targets to cut a deal.
It has to be a tempting offer for several of them.

The first reason is the expense of an Indictment. Those under the gun are not elected officials. Unlike Tom DeLay, and perhaps Karl Rove, for whom the radical right might spring to life, they may not be able to raise a significant amount of outside defense funds. It's one thing to represent someone pre-indictment in a criminal investigation. It's another to represent them post-indictment. I would guess anyone indicted in this case is looking at a minimum of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Many will be tempted to cut their losses now, particularly if they can plead to a misdemeanor, rather risk a felony conviction and mortgage their families' future.

The second reason is the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Even though the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Booker v. United States (pdf) that the guidelines are advisory rather than mandatory, judges still must compute the guideline sentencing range and give it substantial weight. The sentencing guidelines for charges like perjury, making a false statement and obstruction of justice most likely will be outside the range of straight probation. The Guidelines provide that some imprisonment is required except for those within Zone A or B of the Sentencing Table...."

Presidential election in 2006? I'm in!
-T

The Moose anticipates the Rove counter-attack.

"We will soon learn the fate of Mr. Rove. But what we already know is what his reaction will be if he or anyone else in the White House are indicted - he will unleash the dogs of war against Mr. Fitzgerald. Rove undoubtedly has his operatives in place and prepared to respond if the indictment comes down. The plan of attack has been signed, sealed and ready for delivery at a Fox News outlet in your neighborhood.

While the President has praised the Republican special counsel, that will not influence the Republican attack machine. If the GOP is so dissatisfied with Fitzgerald, why wasn't he fired? Or why was he hired in the first place?

No, if he indicts, nothing else will matter to the GOP smear team than sullying the reputation of the special counsel. Hopefully, he has no unpaid parking tickets, has never jaywalked or removed a label from a mattress. If he has committed these misdeeds, we will see them advertised as a screaming headline on Drudge. They will do a "South Carolina" number on Fitzgerald...."

----------
If they try this, I swear I will blog them to death. They don't know the meaning of troll.

David Corn, I hope that your sources are right. Believe me if they are right, there may be still hope for this corrupt, greedy, and lying country. My sources say wishful thinking.

Crooks and Liars has the Jon Steward doing a bit on the scripted news event with Bush and the soldiers. It is hilarious.

TDS: Theater of War

#14, Bush is the dumbest idiot to have ever lived. Bush is an embarrassment to every true American.

Assessing the President

There are generals and church people who say that George W. Bush was chosen to be president by God. I cannot prove or disprove what people are saying. So, I offer you my assessment with some trepidation.

George W. Bush and his regime have been an experiment in mendacity with the American people. His disciples claim that he is the messianic messenger but his message has obfuscated the American people. His character lacks the probity to be a leader and his actions are more reflective of a nefarious person. George W. Bush expects Americans and the media to obsequious to what he says because he says it.

Before I accept the hyperbole that George W. Bush was chosen by God to be president and that God speaks to him, he must possess the virtues of my God which are humility, love, mercy, and patience. Personally, Mr. Bush does not possess any of these virtues. I see him more as a controlling, punitive, and vengeful person, totally lacking in compassion.

George W. Bush displays a depraved indifference toward the killing of living human beings.

Assessing the President

There are generals and church people who say that George W. Bush was chosen to be president by God. I cannot prove or disprove what people are saying. So, I offer you my assessment with some trepidation.

George W. Bush and his regime have been an experiment in mendacity with the American people. His disciples claim that he is the messianic messenger but his message has obfuscated the American people. His character lacks the probity to be a leader and his actions are more reflective of a nefarious person. George W. Bush expects Americans and the media to obsequious to what he says because he says it.

Before I accept the hyperbole that George W. Bush was chosen by God to be president and that God speaks to him, he must possess the virtues of my God which are humility, love, mercy, and patience. Personally, Mr. Bush does not possess any of these virtues. I see him more as a controlling, punitive, and vengeful person, totally lacking in compassion.

George W. Bush displays a depraved indifference toward the killing of living human beings.

And wouldn't it be just delicious to see Mary Matalin go down?

Here's a really good assessment of the DeLay indictment. The man is toast.

UGLY BY A FROG
The definition of partisan hack

By Dara Purvis | RAW STORY COLUMNIST

"Every once in a while, politics hands you such a delicious contradiction that you can’¥ help but contemplate in slack-jawed bemusement why the politico in question wasn’¥ laughed off the dais. What amused me so much this past week was Tom DeLay’≥ characterization of Ronnie Earle, the Texas prosecutor who secured a grand jury indictment of DeLay for violating campaign finance laws in his home state of Texas, as "Pursuing a partisan vendetta."
I really can't do much better as a first response than what Earle himself said last year: "Being called partisan and vindictive by Tom DeLay is like being called ugly by a frog."
-------
The author described Ronnie Earle this way.

"Ronnie Earle, on the other hand, can fairly be called an idealist. His criticism of corporate corruption of politics is well-documented. But he is also an extremely even-handed prosecutor: since his election in 1976, of the now-16 politicians that have been indicted under his supervision, only four, counting DeLay, were Republicans. His unbiased examinations of corruption have even extended to himself- detailed in a profile by the Washington Post this past weekend, after Earle realized that he had been one day late in filing a report detailing donations to his own campaign, he not only filed charges against himself, but requested that the judge fine him rather than excusing his extremely trivial misdeed."

Jeane,
Wasn't you that passed on a link that condi could be named to replace cheney? Anyway...who will 'keep an eye' on Bolton if she takes over as vp?

Bad to worse and hell in a hand basket. KeeRIST in heaven!

Awake

Th,
Ick. I have two words for you. Mushroom Cloud.

Bolton had to have had a hand in the false documents. Wasn't he the one who was abusing his staff and demanding certain results. What a mental case.

Anybody know a fat lady with a good voice?

She could borrow these lyrics:

The Harder They Come
by Jimmy Cliff
Well they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry

CHORUS:
So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine
And then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all

Well the officers are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done

CHORUS

ooh yeah oh yeah woh yeah ooooh

And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you're dead you can't
But I'd rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave

CHORUS

Yeah, the harder they come, the harder they'll fall one and all
What I say now, what I say now, awww
What I say now, what I say one time
The harder they come the harder they'll fall one and all
Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall one and all

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

Till tomorrow all.

What kind of religion is this?

If anyone can counter that the prez and first lady are not so vulgar and obscene, please share with us your info. Thank you!

The Grove

I had an opportunity to listen to Alex Jones from Austin, Texas. He is a person who searches for the truth since his college days. He has shown an interest in knowing about the trilateral commission, new world order, and one world government. His recent interest has become the doings at the Bohemian Grove, a luxurious resort, for people who are interested in promoting one world government. People from all governments and corporations meet for a ritual that is called, "Cremation of Care," the intent is to destroy a person's conscience. They meet from July 15 to July 30 at this resort just outside of Monte Rio, California just northwest of San Francisco in California's wine country. At this resort the group is involved in satanic cult rituals and the worship of Lucifer. George Bush, Sr. and George Bush, Jr. are members of the Hillbillies Lodge. There are about 70 lodges of the rich and powerful. I do not wish to judge any one person or persons but my perception of George W. Bush is that he is lacking in compassion and a conscience.

I find Mr. Jones" comments bizarre but plausible. Both rich and powerful Republicans and Democrats are part of this group so Mr. Jones does not seem to favor one party over another party.

Alex Jones has a website at www.infowars.com. Maybe someone more adept at the use of the computer can locate more information regarding the Bohemian Grove and one world government. What was once a concept in someone's imagination is a reality that has far reaching consequences. Will all of humanity be brainwashed into believing and thinking one way? I believe that there are dark forces who want to control all human beliefs and thought processes.

Will elections matter and will our vote really count? Who should receive our vote? Is there anyone whom we can trust? Will the worshippers of Lucifer expect us to worship the devil in order live? These are frightening questions but I do believe that a continuous battle wages on between good and evil. I take my vote serious and it is a gut-wrenching experience for me. All human beings must persevere to the end but such perseverance is very tiring. With all the hate and killing that the world faces only Jesus and His mother, Mary, can help us through this quagmire.

Warfare for Decades to Come

Brothers Grim

Just returned from a few days in Canada...

So Ms. Miller had a DoD security clearance when she was embedded? Maybe the mystery man in this is Rummy? I mean, afterall, he is The Secretary of Defense, head honcho at the Pentagon. Maybe he's going to be indicted.

Playing connect the dots here...Miller had ties to the civilians in the Pentagon -- Rummy, Wolfowitz, Feith. She was involved with the Middle East Forum. Her *misleading* WMD stories were largely based on Pentagon assertions, including the Office of Special Operations, the
*intel manufacturing group* organized by Rummy & Feith that was given the task of providing the
*pretext* for war that the busheviks were looking for.

Her pal Chalabi was closely tied to civilians at the Pentagon; he provided info for her WMD SCOOPS, which mostly turned out to be false. When she was "embedded" she challenged -- some say threatened -- senior officers and said she would go directly to Rumsfeld and complain.

When she returned to the States, after being "embedded" in Iraq she had a meeting with Scooter Libby. Maybe it was at this meeting, they set the wheels in motion to figure out how to cover their asses, to contain the political/criminal fallout from being exposed for their lies, and the lies of the NYT.

The circle closes back with Rummy...

The Lord's Prayer

Never forget that we all fall under the umbrella of being interconnected and interdependent as brothers and sisters in God.

I would like to start with the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

As Christians, when we recite the Our Father, we must remember that the prayer is more than just words. The prayer is a powerful prayer.

Let us look at the words beyond rote memory. When we say the Our Father, we are acknowledging God as the Father, Our Father. This acknowledgement means that God is the Father of all His children but it is more than the fact that we are His children. We are united in God as brothers and sisters. We are all brothers and sisters.

We know that God is in heaven and that His name will be revered on earth as in heaven. His kingdom is the earth and heaven. We are also asking God for nourishment. As we ask God for nourishment to sustain us, we are asking God to forgive any transgressions and we are to also forgive people who have transgressed against us. Father John Corapi in his lectures equates the daily bread with the Eucharist that Catholics receive at daily Mass. Catholics have a double concern when they recite the Our Father and for Catholics to want to kill their brothers and sisters is a clear indication of irreverence to God. As I have said in some previous posts, that irreverence to God is eternal perdition. I have asked that all of God’≥ children to never show irreverence to God but I especially appeal to my brothers and sisters to never worship a false god which would show irreverence to the true God.

We are also asking God to not be sinful but to keep us away from sin.

The prayer is not just words but it is a powerful statement that we are accepting God as Our Father and as Christians we are united in God as brothers and sisters.

To recite the Our Father and to hate, kill, and revel in wars we really are not Christians. We are instead dishonoring God and we are separated from Him through our sinful ways. To separate ourselves from God, we are on the road to eternal damnation.

In praying we must ask ourselves the question. How can I give glory to God? We can give glory to God by loving and showing mercy to all our brothers and sisters. We are united with God as a family and a community as His children for all eternity.

I read this in a Canadian paper yesterday, a portion of an obit for Jill Metivier, a woman from Toronto.

The writer included things that Jill hated: "...people feeling sorry for themselves, losing her independence as her health began to fail, the nuns who schooled her, Barbie dolls and U.S. President George W. Bush."

I sure don't want to offend the Blog Proctor, so y'all will have to go to the Rude Pundit's site to read the rest of this...not intended for prudes. :-))

10/17/2005
Judy's Side (Rude Version):
Prison's gonna be rough for a man who voluntarily tells people to call him "Scooter," especially since that man's last name is the same as a brand of fruit. Yep, there's gonna be a mighty throwdown in the cellblock to see who gets to pull the poptop on I. Lewis Libby's can of peaches. And in the end, once Scooter's peaches are plundered, he's gonna be sold for a few packs of cigarettes to the homies by the b-ball court. Let's not even anticipate the penitentiary of horrors awaiting a man who lets another man call him "Turd Blossom."

There are 22 files that Fitzgerald is looking at.

Um, David? Your source is apparently the same one who also spoke to former CIA agent and Plame/Wilson colleague Larry Johnson: "Had lunch today with a person who has a direct tie to one of the folks facing indictment in the Plame affair. There are 22 files that Fitzgerald is looking at for potential indictment." Kinda similar language, I gotta say.

Or maybe you were all sitting at the same table, huh? Just thought I'd share....

It's VERY rude. Some one sent me the 1st paragraph to me, I should have looed first...oops. Don't go there. I just looked at it.

Mr. Corn, and many other people, are HALLUCINATING.

Cheney and Rove are untouchable. UNTOUCHABLE. Expect underlings like "Scooter" to be ensiled alive and fed to the livestock, they are expendable. Someone will pay, but it will NOT be Cheney and Rove. Take it to the bank.

Bob in North Dakota

Rove is a DEFINATE.

We can only PRAY for Cheney.

Bob, I think I agree with you. This whole miller thing is boring, boring, boring!! She gets an award, gives it away, and goes on an indefinite leave of absence, big surprise. The pardons are already written because they saw this coming many moons ago. The WHIG goes totally unmentioned by David, the NY Times, and everyone else. The AIPAC spy scandal is somewhere off in the bushes, franklin and ledeen are seemingly off scott free and cheney has a get out of jail free card. You are all dreaming if you think anyone is ever going to pay for this. They may move on, but they will never be out of the picture. They have been under the radar for most of this evil planning, they can keep working like that as well. We are so f**ked, most people just don't know it yet. David, when will you address the fact that this country is bankrupt and on the edge of economic destruction? If you disagree with me, tell me, how will we ever pay off this debt that is pitching us into a bottomless pit? Judy Miller? Old news already. Cheney, rove libby, yeh, right, terrorist bomb anybody, maybe bird flu? They have lots of options.

We also have the potential of Hurricane Wilma to distract the masses.

Gerald, your post regarding the Bohemian Grove is not likely to get much in the way of comments. People are way to focused on the potential dems who may or may not save the day to worry about some crazy NWO psychos, even if they are in charge. This is why this country is going down, it won't be long now. Do I sound too negative? Wow, I wonder why. Can't wait for hillary or kerry to come along and fight that war on terrorism much mo betta! Maybe they can get some Brit or American soldiers to do a better job of not getting caught dressed as Arabs blowing up innocent people to perpetuate this stupid fucking war.

You get what you focus on.

What the fuck is WRONG with hoping for justice?

What the fuck is WRONG with believing in good?

What the fuck is WRONG with wanting a better world?

I recall something from "Bonfire of the Vanities":

"Cynicism is such a cowardly form of superiority"

Cheney's going down I'm telling you. Fitzgerald doesn't care who he is. He's doing his job and Cheney was arrogant and sloppy and he thought he was above the law. Fitzgerald is the law and he is not sloppy.
Amen.

Jeez, Saladin, have you heard of Zoloft?

If the indictments come back, Bush may indeed get his pardon pen out. But all those f**kers will be out of office and they'll carry the weight of their guilt with them for the rest of their lives.

If natural law follows there may be a feeding frenzy with the intent of cleaning house. Those repugs in the House and Senate are not deaf dumb and blind. And there goes the WHIG, AIPAC, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Rummy, et al. They may even take a hint from HBO's Maher and institute some New Rules.

I say keep it up. Smash them bastards.

The American Conservative has just put out an article on the corruption in Iraq. It is one of the most thorough and damning pieces I've ever seen on the subject. It just goes on and on. It spares no one. For those who are interested Simone Ledeen, daughter of Michael was discussed. Another crony appointment. Inept, in over her head and useless but given a job as senior adviser for Norther Iraq at the Ministry of Finance in Baghdad. Really... how hard could the job be?

----------
Money for Nothing Billions of dollars have disappeared, gone to bribe Iraqis and line contractors's pockets.

by Philip Giraldi

The United States invaded Iraq with a high-minded mission: destroy dangerous weapons, bring democracy, and trigger a wave of reform across the Middle East. None of these have happened.

When the final page is written on America's catastrophic imperial venture, one word will dominate the explanation of U.S. failure-corruption. Large-scale and pervasive corruption meant that available resources could not be used to stabilize and secure Iraq in the early days of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), when it was still possible to do so. Continuing corruption meant that the reconstruction of infrastructure never got underway, giving the Iraqi people little incentive to co-operate with the occupation. Ongoing corruption in arms procurement and defense spending means that Baghdad will never control a viable army while the Shi’©te and Kurdish militias will grow stronger and produce a divided Iraq in which constitutional guarantees will be irrelevant.

The American-dominated Coalition Provisional Authority could well prove to be the most corrupt administration in history, almost certainly surpassing the widespread fraud of the much-maligned UN Oil for Food Program. At least $20 billion that belonged to the Iraqi people has been wasted, together with hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Exactly how many billions of additional dollars were squandered, stolen, given away, or simply lost will never be known because the deliberate decision by the CPA not to meter oil exports means that no one will ever know how much revenue was generated during 2003 and 2004.....

Not only is the Bush administration corrupt but they demand that Americans support the troops in Iraq, they continue to demand that America stays the course and yet this same administration leaves the soldier, Marine, National Guard high and dry when the military personal are wounded or dealing with PTSD. This is a disgrace.
--------
Returning US soldiers face financial, medical difficulties. Critics say government is 'turning its back' on veterans because of need for money in Iraq.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

Wounded US soldiers who have returned home are increasingly finding that they are being referred to credit agencies by the US military because of discrepancies in pay or "failure to pay" for lost equipment.
The Washington Post reported Saturday the story of one soldier, Robert Loria, victim of a bombing in Iraq, who had spent months in an Army hospital. He was not aware that he had not been "downgraded" in his pay scale –†once soldiers leave a war zone, their pay goes down.

The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate ... or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack.
But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing.

The Post reports that the US military recently identified 331 other soldiers who accumulated the same kind of "military debt" after they were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. The military says they have forgiven the debt of 99 of the soldiers. The other 232 cases "have not been resolved."

"This is a financial friendly fire," charged Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R) of Virginia, chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, which has been looking into the issue. "It's awful." Davis called the failure systemic and said military "pay problems have been an embarrassment all the way through" the war....

#42 Go, Don Smith!

In defense of Saladin - and then some....

Reading a book by Chalmers Johnson - " The Sorrows of Empire".

You're right that we should elevate this conversation above the Judy Miller / Valerie Plame incident. But you're not going far enough. It's not Hillary, Kerry, the WHIG - these are just our current distractions. It's the move towards fascism, totalitarianism as predicted by George Orwell that is still gathering steam and will only end with our republic turned into a despotism and maybe then redeemed by another glorious and idealistic revolution - but we've already done that. More likely we're on our way down like Rome.

There is a very serious amendment Senator Stevens is attempting to attach to the "McCain Amendment" that would make this law worse than it currently is.

Beware the "Augmented" McCain Amendment!

The Conference Committee that will consider and reconcile the Senate and House defense appropriations bills is scheduled to meet this coming week. The Senate bill contains the "McCain Amendment," which would prohibit all U.S. personnel from engaging in cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees -- i.e., engaging in conduct that would "shock the conscience" under Due Process Clause doctrine -- anywhere in the world.

It's increasingly clear that the strategy of McCain's opponents -- the Vice President and his congressional supporters -- will be to amend the McCain Amendment in the Conference Committee so as to exempt the CIA from the prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees. The Senate delegation to the Conference Committee presumably will include three of the nine Republicans who voted against the McCain Amendment -- Ted Stevens, Thad Cochran and Kit Bond. A recent Congressional Quarterly article, reprinted here, reports Stevens -- who would "lead the Senate's conferees" -- as saying that "he can support McCain's language if it's augmented with guidance that enables certain classified interrogations to proceed under different terms." "'I'm talking about people who aren't in uniform, may or may not be citizens of the United States, but are working for us in very difficult circumstances,' Stevens said. 'And sometimes interrogation and intimidation is part of the system.'"

What this barely veiled statement means is that Senator Stevens will support inclusion of the McCain Amendment in the final bill only once it has been "augmented" to exempt the CIA from the prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. (Stevens's reference to persons who "may not be citizens of the United States, but are working for us" suggests that he also intends to include a carve-out for foreign nationals acting as agents of the CIA, such as the team of the CIA-sponsored Iraqi paramilitary squads code-named Scorpions.) If Stevens (read: Cheney) is successful in this endeavor, and if the Congress enacts the Amendment as so limited, it will be a major step backwards from where the law currently stands. This can't be overemphasized: If Stevens is successful at adding his seemingly innocuous "augment[ation]," it would make the law worse than it currently is....

Sorry about the above link. Here it is.
Beware the "Augmented" McCain Amendment!

smith #42 -

guilt? not a chance - some of them should be just crushed and buried under the guilty weight of what they did on 911, yet they continue to smile and lie convincingly to themselves and each other -

Bohemian Grove?...that's the faggiest goddamn thing I've ever seen!

...Richard M. Nixon

brent wrote:

More likely we're on our way down like Rome.

Depressing. Hate to say that I agree, but... excuse me, I have to bolt; they're showing reruns of Survivor on the Game Show Network!

guilt?

These bastards have no shame, no character, no values and no morals. I doubt they are capable of feeling guilt, if they did the guilt would have long ago rendered them useless to the cause of democratic fascism.

There is no judicial action that can instill a real sense of right and wrong in these amoral evil jerks.

Sure I hope they all go down, that they all have to answer for their crimes but I fear the worst of it is set deep in the foundations of our government and institutions.

22 or 44 indictments will have little effect on the totalitarian control from the money.

If the current legal issues completely dismantled the GOPhers we would still have a corrupt form of government to deal with.

We would still have every issue that we faced and continue to face other than the Plame affair.

I hate to be the skunk at the picnic but as much as I would celebrate the traitors being held to account for Plame the leak is really just a symptom of a corrupt system. Post indictment we still have an illegal war, a police state, a federal government that has grown into the monster that wields fear like a magic wand and a fear filled base of mindless drones jumping to the calls from the right to hate.

As good as it will be for the "system" to flush a few of the wounds inflicted by the jerks in power the names might change but the song remains the same.

IMHO

capt

It is interesting that some of the very people who claim to loathe Bushco and his War of Choice, also dismiss Judith Miller as irrelevant.

My wife, who has a stronger constitution than I, visits conspiracy-theory chat rooms on occasion and she notes that the conspiracy theorists dismiss Judith Miller as irrelevant. The chatroom regulars claim that Miller is boring, boring, boring. What explains this dichotomy? Here is a woman who has been demonstrably involved in Bushco's false justification for war and has strong, perhaps intimate, ties with Bushco actors, yet the conspiracists want to divert attention from her? What is going on with that?

Re: Alex Jones

The ONLY person who was RAILING about a "terrorist" attack on our citizens BY OUR GOVERNMENT before 9/11 was Mr. Alex Jones.

Check his site infowars.com.

I have been listening to his show on the radio for years. I used to think he was a bit batty. He has been one of the ONLY voices that has been telling the truth all along.

I do not agree with Alex on everything but the guy has been right about some of the most crazy sounding things. He has and keeps my attention.

capt

At this exact moment I am standing on my desk, completely naked, and typing these comments with my 24" dong. Which is black, by the way (from all the rubbing that Capt. gives it).

You dong is gone. You are just refusing to see it. We are going down, you can keep joking until they pull you out and shoot you. And then tell them you posted for Gearge W.

When Journalists Join the Cover-ups

By Robert Parry
October 18, 2005

As embarrassing as the Judith Miller case is for the New York Times, the fiasco underscores a more troubling development that strikes near the heart of American democracy – the press corps’ gradual retreat from the principle of skepticism on national security issues to career-boosting "patriotism."

Miller – and many other prominent Washington journalists over the past quarter century – largely built their careers by positioning themselves as defenders of supposed American interests. Instead of tough reporting about national security operations, these reporters often became conduits for government spin and propaganda.

In that sense, Miller’s prominence at the Times – where she had wide latitude to report and publish whatever she wanted – was a marker for how the "patriotic" journalists had overwhelmed the competing "skeptical" journalists, who saw their duty as bringing a critical eye to all government information, including national security claims. [For more on that broader history, see Secrecy & Privilege or Lost History or Part II of this series.]

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

Nothing that has or will happen with the Plame affair will change the corporate influence in the mainstream media.

Although I am uplifted when I see and hear so many people that have quit believing the MSM. Now if we could all boycott their sources of income and put their sorry butts out of the business of lying.

My personal quixotic aspirations. To dream the impossible dream. *sigh*

capt

When Journalists Join the Cover-ups

By Robert Parry
October 18, 2005

As embarrassing as the Judith Miller case is for the New York Times, the fiasco underscores a more troubling development that strikes near the heart of American democracy – the press corps’ gradual retreat from the principle of skepticism on national security issues to career-boosting "patriotism."

Miller – and many other prominent Washington journalists over the past quarter century – largely built their careers by positioning themselves as defenders of supposed American interests. Instead of tough reporting about national security operations, these reporters often became conduits for government spin and propaganda.

In that sense, Miller’s prominence at the Times – where she had wide latitude to report and publish whatever she wanted – was a marker for how the "patriotic" journalists had overwhelmed the competing "skeptical" journalists, who saw their duty as bringing a critical eye to all government information, including national security claims. [For more on that broader history, see Secrecy & Privilege or Lost History or Part II of this series.]

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

Nothing that has or will happen with the Plame affair will change the corporate influence in the mainstream media.

Although I am uplifted when I see and hear so many people that have quit believing the MSM. Now if we could all boycott their sources of income and put their sorry butts out of the business of lying.

My personal quixotic aspirations. To dream the impossible dream. *sigh*

capt

Check out:

http://pabloonpolitics.com/

Sad and funny at the same time.

capt

Jeanne, the article in #44 mentions the 400,000 soldiers who have been over there to fight, and an article from the other thread mentions that of all returning soldiers, 25% said they were directly responsible for at least one civilian death. Does that include "shock and awe" and other aerial bombings and strafings? I dunno, but it gives us a hella hint at really how many innocents have been killed. A hundered thousand would just be a good starting point.

I listened to MarketPlace on NPR this evening and heard Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, describe how the mutual fund industry and capitalism in general has gone far away from being a positive force in society.

I couldn't help but draw parallels from his main themes (see below) about how this also reflects the individual person's "investement" or "ownership" in our government. We don't think this is our government anymore, and we have the anti-government mantra of the republicans to help us with that. Do you see some parallel's too?

Main themes from Bogle regarding US capitalism:

People with money at risk aren't in charge anymore, the owners have somewhat disappeared, stocks used to be heavily owned by individuals/direct investors and now they are heavily owned by financial institutions.

These institutions do not care about corporate goverances, because its not their money at stake but those who expect a return from them. These financial institutions are charging excessive management fees and taking too large of % of the returns, and have moved from long-term investmemnt to short term speculation. In 50 years in the business, Bogle observes that the portfolio turnover for mutual funds has moved from 16% a year to 100% a year... they are renting stocks instead of owning them.

Bogle says his senior thesis written in the 50s stated that the principle of the mutual funds was to serve as stewards, to manage the money, but today they have moved from management to marketing, or from stewardship to salesmanship.

-----

We have lost invididual participation and investment. I remember one older financial planner say "I never buy stock in a company that I wouldn't want to work for or say that I work for".

Oh yeah, did anybody see "Frontline" on PBS? The title was "The Torture Question" and it documents (with interviews) how we got to Abu Ghraib (sp ck), starting from 9/11. It's a good show, and I think is up on their web site already.

"A hundred thousand would just be a good starting point."

At even a smaller number it is a very grim statistic.

Add to that every casualty has a family. How many enemies are we making? Take the number times 3 or 4?

If the US military took over Albuquerque it would not take me three years or many friends or relatives killed before I would be an insurgent.

Imagine they killed your kid or your niece or nephew or even your neighbors kid?

Take away my water, electricity and leave me sitting in sweltering heat to stew on the horror of war and the oppression of occupation?

We need to get our troops out of there.

capt

Add to that every casualty has a family. How many enemies are we making? Take the number times 3 or 4?

I knowwww. It's at least that or more. Thinking of extended family members, or even tribal members that want revenge, etc...
Then there's the ones we didn't kill, just tortured. The lucky ones?? So that guy/woman/child and everybody he's talked to since then, hates us...
Capt, I'm with you and Cindy, bring 'em home now.

Miller's original story should not have been the identity of a CIA operative. The story, writ large on the front page, should have been, "Government Official Offers to Betray Country by Revealing the Identity of Covert Operative."
Get your story straight, New York Times!

Have y'all read today's Billmon? Here's the start...
The Poisoned Memo
Everyone knows how to catch rats -- you either set traps, or you put out poisoned bait. In the case of the White House conspirators who outed Valerie Plame, it looks like Patrick Fitzgerald is making use of both.

The traps we already know about -- Rove, Libby et. al. stuck their heads inside one every time they spoke to an FBI agent or testified before the grand jury. We'll find out in a few days whether the traps snapped shut on their little necks, when Fitzgerald either does or doesn't indict them for perjury, or making false statements, or whatever.

The poison, though, may be what nails the conspirators...
*and for Sal, farther down there is this...

Occasionally, my friend writes a story that gets picked up by the Israeli press, which translates it into Hebrew. And occasionally, these same stories get translated back into English so they can be run on an Israeli paper's English-language web site. As it happens, the same character in the Hebrew alphabet that is used for the western letter "P" is also used for the western letter "F." So when his stories appear on the Israeli paper's web site, the original "p"s are sometimes end up transformed into "f"s and visa versa.
===================
I'm still reading it... there's alot of source links.

Jeanne,
Bolton, like so many of the Bushco Mafia, has been a goulie with half-Nelson holds on his friends and foes alike. I just recall Condi's statement that in his current position as UN Ambassador, that her staff would be able to "supervise him". I found that statement laughable as yet another example of the cronyistic style of this administration.

I do not know about the documents, as I am still sifting through the layers of coverups by condi's mishandling of intel leading up to 911.

Keerist! It is hard work being an informed citizen! Especially at 4:30 a.m.

Thanks for your good posts.

The Conservative Manifesto

By DOUG THOMPSON
Oct 19, 2005, 05:58

Many plots exist around the world to overthrow The United States of America.

Some ferment in the caves of Afghanistan, others in terrorist hideouts throughout the Middle East and still more in the governments of North Korea, Iran and God-knows-where-else.

Yet the most dangerous threat to this country, to our very way of life, festers here at home, in the halls of Congress and the West Wing of the White House. It spills out daily in the rabid rhetoric of the extreme right wing –†the conservative cabal whose goal is no less than total seizure of our government and complete domination of the lives of all Americans.

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

Another good rant.

capt

In many long friendly conversations where beer is the labial lubrication (no, it ISN't dirty to say that, check your dictionaries!) the most common question among the thinkers I know is..."How the HELL are we letting "THEM" get away with "ALL THIS"!!?

Fiery friendship endings, family fueds and even bumpersticker-begat road rage all run rampant through American society daily.

In an attempt to understand how this could be happening, former WCOG pastor Dennis Diehl forwarded this paper, PARADIGM CONSPIRACY to me. I'm sure it will form part of the disgution over a few lunch-time beers today.

I can only hope to not return to any veterinary emergency crises THIS week!

-T

oh, yeah...A CLIP!
__________________
Governments are fully occupied with who has power over whom, who has the biggest budget, where money can be found, who wins which election or vote, etc. Developing the human potential of its citizenry is not a priority. If anything, it's not on the agenda at all. The insider's view that "the masses are asses" is music to ambitious politicians' ears, who then believe it's their manifest destiny to expand their personal power and become benevolent dictators. Dumb masses are easy to manipulate with slogans and half-truths. For their purposes, the less human potential the better.

As much as we value spiritual teachings, we can't say that religious organizations have much commitment to developing human potential either, though granted there are exceptions. Adhering to fixed doctrines, building congregations, raising money, meddling in the personal affairs of members, running down sectarian competitors, and using fear and guilt to exact obedience and tithing keep them busy enough.

Businesses and corporations certainly don't concern themselves with human potential, even though they sometimes pay lip service to it in the hopes of making employees more "productive." The bottom line is the bottom line, and if human potential comes up at all, it's considered a frill or luxury-"warm fuzzy stuff" that doesn't count in the "real world" of business except to mollify disgruntled workers or help them adjust to higher levels of stress.
__________________

Worth a read...

-T

...hmmm...

In retrospect, those clips don't offer anythig positive, so...

_____________

FIGHTING BACK
But no paradigm, even one that's used to having the last word, is the last word. The human spirit, being what it is, doesn't take kindly to soul-lobotomies and develops all sorts of responses. One is to join the lobotomizing dominators: do it to others before any more can be done to you. Another is to adopt roles and play along, to accept one's lobotomized lot in life.
Addictions make both responses easier. We can lay off 5,000 employees and numb the pain with a 15 million dollar bonus. Or we can take drugs to make it through the day in our Dilbertesque cubicles. Either way, numbing ourselves with addictions of process (money and power) or of substance (drugs and alcohol) makes us forget the pain of living in a control paradigm culture.
By numbing us, addictions serve the established paradigm well: insofar as we forget pain, we don't confront its causes. Lobotomizing systems go unchallenged, as long as we find ways to cope with being lobotomized.
That's why recovery from addictions begins with recognizing pain. Acknowledging what we feel in social systems is the first subversive step toward a cultural paradigm shift. A paradigm of control through externals unravels when we affirm the importance of what's going on within. When pain counts with us-when we refuse to ignore it, "to put up and shut up"-the days are numbered for the paradigm that's causing us pain.
_____________

What it says to me is that recognition of the situation is the first and most important thing. How we choose to DEAL with the issue either feeds the Paradigm, (addiction, lobotomy = numbness) starves the beast (admission, refusal to be "collectivised") or INFECTS the beast (communication with friends, family and ACTIVISM) matters most.

I, personally, choose to medicate the pain while engaging in infectious activism therapy.

-T

Hajji,

A good read indeed!

Thanks

capt

Finally these crooks are scurrying around trying to cover their asses. "Turd Blossom" My ass, this clown will love it in the joint. His cellie will love him a lot, he is valuable to the other cons. Nope this time it does look like something is going to go down, and sure there are presidential pardons but this early in the second term, hell he better keep them for members of his family, like mom and dad. Is there any limit on the number of pardons a president can give? I agree with Saladin there isn't much that can be done to save this country from financial ruin, all it is going to take is the chinese quit buying our bonds, end of story. The Fed is printing money to buy them right now. The biggest investors in the market are the hedge funds used by the wealthy to cover their investment losses and that manipulates the market. Plunge Protection Team, whether it exists or not the fingerprints are there for market manipulation and it is happening all the time. So we are not free now, and might not ever be again, wage slavery. Look at the new bankruptcy laws, and enjoy the chains that were put on you by the elected idiots in washington. Plus the minimum payments on your cards are going up in January. Enjoy your new lifestyle, it isn't going to be easy. IF they want third world wages here, why not third world rents, and mortgages? Any answers?

THE WH IS REALLY OFF MESSAGE!...I THOUGHT BUSH DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS 2 YEARS AGO...

New York Daily News -

http://www.nydailynews.com
Bush whacked
Rove on CIA leak
BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Wednesday, October 19th, 2005

WASHINGTON - An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.

"He made his displeasure known to Karl," a presidential counselor told The News. "He made his life miserable about this."

Bush has nevertheless remained doggedly loyal to Rove, who friends and even political adversaries acknowledge is the architect of the President's rise from baseball owner to leader of the free world.

As special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald nears a decision, perhaps as early as today, on whether to issue indictments in his two-year probe, Bush has already circled the wagons around Rove, whose departure would be a grievous blow to an already shell-shocked White House staff and a President in deep political trouble.

Asked if he believed indictments were forthcoming, a key Bush official said he did not know, then added: "I'm very concerned it could go very, very badly."

"Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."

Other sources confirmed, however, that Bush was initially furious with Rove in 2003 when his deputy chief of staff conceded he had talked to the press about the Plame leak.

Bush has always known that Rove often talks with reporters anonymously and he generally approved of such contacts, one source said.

But the President felt Rove and other members of the White House damage-control team did a clumsy job in their campaign to discredit Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, the ex-diplomat who criticized Bush's claim that Saddam Hussen tried to buy weapons-grade uranium in Niger.

A second well-placed source said some recently published reports implying Rove had deceived Bush about his involvement in the Wilson counterattack were incorrect and were leaked by White House aides trying to protect the President.

"Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way," the source said...

They are all such liars.

Micki,
I just read that article too. What struck me was

"Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."

Well....let's see. Is he dodging a bullet? Was he left to die in aftermath of a hurricane? The hurricane he's dealing with is of his own making. When I read a line like Karl is fighting for his life, I'm left with the impression that I'm supposed to either feel sorry for him or root for him. I won't. I hope he goes to prison. I really do.

Astroboy, #40, I never said there was anything wrong with hope, I'm just not holding my breath. With the list of shit they've gotten away with as long as my arm, and still no justice, there isn't much basis for a good outcome, but it's possible.
Don #42, being out of office does not put them out of power. They have been shaping the policies of this country for 20+ years, way before people had even heard of them. And AIPAC will never be gone, they have bought and paid for most of those traitors in office. Plus, I seriously doubt any of those monsters have anything even remotely resembling a conscience or any ability to feel guilty. But, by all means, keep pounding on them, the bushbots deserve to get some credit for what is happening.
brent #46, thank you, but I'm afraid that people don't want to see the bitter truth, they want to believe their team will win the game, despite all the evidence to the contrary. All the visible scandal and corruption isn't what will bring us down, and it isn't coming primarily from the WH. This is a deep, rotting cancer infecting the country through very long tentacles, and has been growing for 50 years. It's just now beginning to surface. And like most cancers, by the time you start feeling the symptoms, it is often too late. But there is always that elusive hope.
Capt #52, I wrote the comments above before I read yours, but DITTO! These indictments aren't going to fix what has gone so badly wrong in this country. It's just a drop in a huge scum filled bucket!
Anthony #53, Sorry, but miller IS boring compared to the crimes of 9/11 and the lies and forgery that started a war. If she broke the law, she should pay, but I see HER as the distraction, not the other way around.
WTF, that is the cancer I was talking about. They will keep printing money until we are all bankrupt. And there isn't a dem or a repub that can do anything about it. Go ahead and indict them all, throw them in prison, but it will not get us off the path to economic destruction.

it's not just economic destruction - we're being threatened with physical destruction as well -- check these out, especially part 2

MARTIAL LAW pt.1
MARTIAL LAW pt.2

From: Martial Law - Coming
To A Neighborhood
Near You? - Pt. 1
By Craig Roberts

In the 1990s, during the Clinton regime, when bases were being closed and Army divisions being cut, and tanks, planes and ships were being put in mothballs, a Pentagon general gave a speech to the CASQ officers command and staff class at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He said, paraphrasing, "with the build down of our armed forces, should we become committed to a two-ocean war, or be deployed to more than two foreign campaigns, and should a national emergency occur inside the continental United States, we will be forced to call upon foreign assets to patrol our streets."

From Part 2

Plans are now made for quarantining cities and towns, blocking major highways, shutting down airports, and relocating segments of the population-by force if necessary. Also, plans are in place to forcibly inoculate the population. This is a frightening thought in itself when we consider the track record of the federal government when it comes to such wonderful programs such as Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, experiments on GIs and sailors with gasses, poisons, and biological weapons, plus marching soldiers through nuclear test sites after bombs were exploded to see what would happen. This is also a government that now has a law that says it can experiment on the civilian population with chemicals and biological weapons without our knowledge or consent.
---------------
Yep, miller is pretty boring compared to what is under the surface.

Jeanne -

Yes, those words are astounding! "Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."

So, if he did it to help GWB, it makes it right no matter how devious, dishonest, or self-serving?

Low, amoral standards = bush white house

Do I think there is enough evidence to indict? Yes.

When I read "Money for Nothing" posted on #43, I see an administration with absolutely no desire to cover up any misdeed. Iraq was openly pillaged. It was flagrantly robbed. The arrogance that this administration set about to destroy Iraq for its own gain was as disgusting as any crime perpetrated in the same mindset. They are no different than a rapist who uses a violent power to take from an individual any semblance of security.

The belief that there may not be enough evidence to indict in the Plame outing seems unlikely. When I read the article posted in #43 I see arrogance, selfishness, psychopathic single mindedness, corruption, lack of leadership, inability to see or care about their own future much less the future of the countries of Iraq and the US.

Does this mentality protect itself from a little man like Joe Wilson? No. Especially when the minions were in place to keep the lies and deceits and misdeeds out of reach of the public just enough to make the public aware that they too could be mishandled and destroyed but that they would and could never receive justice. In other words scare the people into compliance but not get in trouble doing it.

It was a good gig while it lasted. I guess.

Hi all,

I would put it that Miller is a symptom of the problem and not the disease itself. We can look to history, and see that many of the folks implicated in the Iran/Contra affair, some of them actually convicted/pardoned, can resurface later on.

It is also observable that scandal can bring down a career, more or less permenantly, see for example, the case of Vice President Nolo Contendre.

Hopefully our wooden stakes are sharp and well focused at the hearts of the bastards, but vigilance is not a part time or short term endeavor.

As to the economic issues, yes we are spending ourselves into increasing deficit. Yes, that means increasing profits in interest to the bankers. And to think the Federal Reserve was formed in response to the depression...makes ones head fairly spin around considering...

I welcome any measure of justice and will dance a jig if Fitzgerald does indict. It might be a small win in the larger scheme of things but still better than nothing.

I see the dry-rot in most of our government and many of our institutions.

The rot is to the core in too many places. In my estimation we could throw out nearly the whole lot of politicians and clean house big time we would still be faced with corporate demagoguery and we serfs and peons will not have gained a place at the table.

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962

capt

Robert, the Federal Reserve is an illegal entity and is the cause of all our economic problems. Why they allowed a bunch of foreign banker big wigs to take over America I will never know, but it was the beginning of the end for us. The depression, an artificially manipulated scam, was caused by those very same bankers. Thank god they invented the IRS to save the day!

Robert, the Federal Reserve is an illegal entity and is the cause of all our economic problems. Why they allowed a bunch of foreign banker big wigs to take over America I will never know, but it was the beginning of the end for us. The depression, an artificially manipulated scam, was caused by those very same bankers. Thank god they invented the IRS to save the day!

From WRH

No Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak
The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials said yesterday.
Posted Oct 19, 2005 08:10 AM PST
-------------
Comments by Mike Rivero

Ah, the tension is so think, you could cut it with a knife.
Okay, let's take a look at the scope of what is going on, and why I still am less than confident about Fitzgerald.

At the heart of the outing of Valerie Plame lies the White House Iraq Group, and the lies that tricked the American people into a war of conquest. Lying to a people to start a war is the very worst crime a government can commit against its own people, and one that renders the government illigitimate in most people's eyes. Nobody will obey or pay taxes to a government that lied us into a war when they can no longer deny that this is exactly what has happened.

Fitzpatrick WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT. It is a great deal to expect of the man to ask him to initiate a sequence of events that threatens his own job, and this is over and above the threats made against him last week.

I would like to see justice prevail in this country, because this may be the last chance to find a peaceful way out of the corruption.
-----------
This is just what I am afraid of too. No mention of WHIG or the Niger document, the smoking gun of all smoking guns. Will they all fall on their swords to prevent the complete truth from coming out?

From WRH

No Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak
The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials said yesterday.
Posted Oct 19, 2005 08:10 AM PST
-------------
Comments by Mike Rivero

Ah, the tension is so think, you could cut it with a knife.
Okay, let's take a look at the scope of what is going on, and why I still am less than confident about Fitzgerald.

At the heart of the outing of Valerie Plame lies the White House Iraq Group, and the lies that tricked the American people into a war of conquest. Lying to a people to start a war is the very worst crime a government can commit against its own people, and one that renders the government illigitimate in most people's eyes. Nobody will obey or pay taxes to a government that lied us into a war when they can no longer deny that this is exactly what has happened.

Fitzpatrick WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT. It is a great deal to expect of the man to ask him to initiate a sequence of events that threatens his own job, and this is over and above the threats made against him last week.

I would like to see justice prevail in this country, because this may be the last chance to find a peaceful way out of the corruption.
-----------
This is just what I am afraid of too. No mention of WHIG or the Niger document, the smoking gun of all smoking guns. Will they all fall on their swords to prevent the complete truth from coming out?

Robert, the Federal Reserve is an illegal entity and is the cause of all our economic problems. - Saladin

No fan of bankers, I. In fact, I'm one of those whose views might be considered downright pinko, by some. I'd give some pause to claiming that there is any one cause to all our economic problems. As to the legality of the Fed, well the law is whatever the court says it is. When Humpty Dumpty is on the bench a word means whatever s/he says it means.

Saladin, those are exactly the paragraphs I was thinking about -- here's another excerpt from pt.2:

China controls the Panama Canal, and has established the world's largest ocean shipping fleet (COSCO) and ocean transshipment center (Hutchinson-Whampoa at Freeport, Bahamas) just a few miles from Florida.

Meanwhile, over the past twenty years we have trained Russians and other former "Warsaw Pact" troops at Fort Polk, Louisiana in a project called Operation Cooperative Nugget. Most of the training concerned searching buildings in a combat town that looks just like downtown America. Most of this training was "house-to-house search and seizure" for arms and/or "insurgents." These units then took this training home to construct more combat towns (MOUT sites--for Military Operations in Urban Terrain), then train their own forces at home.

Other training concerned how to operate our equipment and weapons. As an intel type, this tells me that if I were to want to send my troops someplace, it would be easy to load them quickly if they didn't have to load equipment. If we can use pre-positioned trucks, tanks and aircraft, then we only need to worry about getting the troops to the zone of action. This is why we have a Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean with pre-positioned equipment and supplies. Is this why China has Freeport?

... our young soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen can not be trusted by the global-socialists of the New World Order gang to impose their will on us, that they will be more than happy to use "foreign assets" to police our streets-and us.

I have ammunition. If the right wing or MSM goes after Fitzgerald I am going to send this every single time I read it or hear about it.

Right-Wing Myths About The Leak Investigation

US stocks: The visible hand of Uncle Sam

There is abundant evidence adduced in the article. It is important to note that the authors are not against intervention per se. They note that letting plunging markets fix themselves could result in economic chaos. But they do warn that the secrecy and growing involvement of private-sector actors threatens to foster enormous moral hazards.

Major financial institutions may be acting as de facto agencies of the state, and thus not competing on a level playing field. There are signs that repeated intervention in recent years has corrupted the system.

This aggressive manipulation of the system took place on Alan Greenspan's watch as chairman of the FRB. The authors don't discuss the fact that Greenspan is to retire at the end of next January and the White House is having trouble finding a replacement in whom the markets will believe.

It may be that no credible candidate wants to take the baton from Greenspan at a time when it seems likely that the market will implode. Observers note that earlier changes of the FRB chair have generally been followed by much buffeting in the markets as they test the new maestro.

Market drops are common. Present risks include the American housing bubble blowing out, oil prices exploding, and inflation blowing in, at a time when the twin deficits of trade and budget are already in the troposphere.

This situation points to the likelihood that the Plunge Protection Team will be working overtime early next year.

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

For the full report, in pdf format:

http://www.japanfocus.org/423.pdf

I had not heard of the "Plunge Protection Team" before.

I am not knowledgeable enough to form an opinion. Seems good and bad. Interesting article.

capt

Robert, I agree, the constitution doesn't seem to pull any weight where these thugs are concerned. But I stand by my statement. The Fed is basically a huge counterfeiting outfit that has us by the short hairs because of the useless, unbacked paper they keep printing by the billions. Taking US currency off the gold standard was the worst political decision EVER! That's why I keep screaming, buy gold and silver, the REAL stuff, paper is going down, it always fails and always will.

The Line

Last night, I had some time for Centering Prayer. I sat in a relaxed position and I decided that the word for the prayer was heaven. I would concentrate on the word and wonder what would heaven be like. The process can be intense. In my prayer my guardian angel took me away in a vision to heaven. The angel did not take me directly to heaven because heaven is for the faithful who have died and performed good deeds and their Book of Life is open for everyone to see.

My angel brought me to the Gate of Heaven. At the Gate of Heaven there were many lines from different countries. In the line for the United States of America were three or four souls. The lines for Darfur, Niger, and Sudan had so many souls that I could not see the end of the line. I asked my guardian angel why are so few souls in the USA line and so many more souls in the Darfur, Niger, and Sudan lines? The angel said that Jesus has said that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

The angel went on to say that God has given the USA so much but that Americans are a wasteful people, a very wasteful people. He also said that in America, Americans have let hatred, killing, torture, and wars take over the American way of life. Many Americans have said before dying Lord, Lord but God reminded them that not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

When I returned from this vision, I was in a cold sweat. It was a frightening vision with so few Americans in the line to enter heaven.

The paper money argument has been around since at least the Articles of Confederation. Currency, as a medium of exchange, is basically a symbolic argreement as to worth. Unless one really needs the weight or conductivity that gold and silver provides, their intrinsic worth is really as a vanity item; one might as well be trading for cowry shells. Ya can't eat gold coins when the famine hits...you have to hope a farmer wants those gold coins, which he can neither plant, nor use as manure.

Jest a thought.

Oh so hilarious!!!

Bill O'Reilly calling it Quits?

The possible news made Keith Olbermann stand up and do a little dance.

Temptation to Gamble Is Near for Troops Overseas

By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Published: October 19, 2005

Military gambling is a big business. About $2 billion flows through military-owned slot machines at officers' clubs, activities centers and bowling alleys on overseas bases each year. Most flows back out as jackpots, but 6 percent remains with the house, about the same ratio as in Las Vegas.

Each year, the armed forces take in more than $120 million from on-base slot machines and $7 million from Army bingo games at home. These funds help pay for recreational programs for the troops.

But even military researchers have acknowledged that the armed forces are heavily populated by people who, like Aaron Walsh, may be especially vulnerable to gambling addiction: athletic, risk-taking young people who are experiencing severe stress and anxiety.

"And wartime is an environment that is probably creating more vulnerability than usual," said Christine Reilly, executive director of the gambling addiction research institute at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching institution for the Harvard Medical School.

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This seems like the epitome of cynicism.

capt

The Nightmare

I had a nightmare the other night and I dreamt of Americans becoming embedded in our federal government's preemptive war games, shock and awe bombings, military terrorism, and crimes against humanity. I awoke in a cold sweat. I needed to reread an article that I finished the other day in order to feel better. The article was on the word "Shalom."

Shalom translated means peace. It is a vision of social wholeness; a state of well being for all, where everyone has access to the goods of creation intended to meet the needs of all. Shalom is the substance of the biblical vision of one community embracing all creation, where all enjoy the resources that make communal harmony joyous and effective.

Shalom is nothing less than God's intended vision of the world, a dream of God that resists our tendencies for division, hostility, fear, drivenness, and misery. If there is to be well-being, it will not be just for the isolated, insulated individuals, it is security and prosperity granted to the whole community –†the poor, the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the tax collector and the sinner, the despised and rejected, young and old, haves and have nots, the powerful and the dependent. We are in it together. Together we stand before God's blessings and together we receive the gift of life. Shalom comes only to the inclusive embracing community that excludes no one.

We are in it together as brothers and sisters.

HA!

Happy happy joy joy!!!

Ding dong the witch is dead!

Very funny!

thanks

capt

Alright all you paranoid bloggers here's another bit of information to keep you up at night.

Printer paranoia

"How creepy is this? Many colour laser printers spew out a matrix of tiny dots - invisible to the naked eye - which identify the serial number of the printer and the date and time the printing took place.

A research team led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which broke the code, says the dot code was embedded in a deal struck between the US Secret Service and selected printer manufacturers some years back...."

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The comments are interesting too. Some have no objection to the US government having the ability to trace while others are very concerned and see the abuse it can permit.

Bush must find a way to declare martial law in order to protect himself from being tried as a war criminal.

Is Iran Next

From war with Iran will come the nuclear holocaust.

American Soldiers

As Bush sits in comfort drinking Jack and Jim as well as snorting coke 2,224 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush's evil lies.

Great news. Obviously the judge believes in equal rights.

Federal Court Blocks Photo ID Law at Polls in Georgia!

"A federal judge has just issued an injunction to keep the new Photo ID requirements at polling places in the state of Georgia from moving forward. As reported many times on The BRAD BLOG, the requirement for photo ID at the polls would disenfranchise anywhere from 10 to 20 million Americans who do not have driver licenses -- mainly the elderly, minorities, the poor and other urban dwellers.

The call for Photo ID at the polling place is the latest attempt by Republicans who hope to further disenfranchise Democratic-leaning voters across the country. The effort has been pushed hard by the self-declared "non-partisan" phony GOP "voting rights" group calling themselves the American Center for Voting Rights and was called for by the shameful Baker/Carter National Election Reform Commission, which was led by disenfranchisement expert and Bush family crony James A. Baker along with high-level GOP operatives from the ACVR.

This just in from AP...

ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal court has barred Georgia from enforcing a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In the ruling issued today, the U.S. District Court in Rome agreed with critics who claimed the law amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax.

The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August. The department said that while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did NOT object to the state's voter I-D requirement, the federal agency's approval did NOT preclude lawsuits against it.

The Republican-backed measure sparked racial tension during the state's legislative session last spring. Most of Georgia's black lawmakers walked out at the state Capitol when it was approved.

In a news release just issued to The BRAD BLOG, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), ranking minority member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, lauded the decision to stop what he referred to as "a modern day poll tax."

Says Conyers in the release: "Truth be told, the issue should have never reached this point - the Georgia Legislature should never have passed this modern day poll tax, the Governor should not have signed it, and the Justice Department should have intervened to stop it. That is why 21 Members and I asked the Department to prevent this law from taking effect.""

A Town Without Pity

Faith-Based War

Faith-Based War

Faith-Based War

Faith-Based War

George W. Bush

No Combat for Grannies Full of Fight
By Clyde Haberman
The New York Times

Truthout has this, from behind the Timesselect firewall...

[...]First in line was Joan Wile, 74. She carried a bucket of cookies. Behind her was Marie Runyon, a former state assemblywoman who has fought more left-wing battles than AARP has members. At 90, Ms. Runyon can barely see, but that did not stop her from banging on the booth's door, to the right of the poster of Uncle Sam pointing and saying, "I Want You."

"You" did not include her. "Are you hard of hearing?" Ms. Runyon hollered at the young men inside. "Let's get cracking here. We want to enlist. What's the matter with you?"[...]

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

I'm reminded of the Viet Nam era, more and more...

I REALLY DONT CARE ABOUT PARTY ANYMORE . I HAVE VOTED EVERY ELECTION SINCE I WAS18 AND AM NOW 64.PLEASE CAN I VOTE AGAIN FOR SOMEONE I REALLY CAN BELIEVE ABOUT SOMETHING!WMD,FEMA,HLS OR ANY OTHER ASSORTMENT OF BS. WHY CANNOT SOMEONE SAY OOPS I LOUSED UP AND GET ON WITH IT. NO! THEY LIE AND THEN BULLY THEIR WAY AHEAD AND TO HELL WITH THE REST OF US.WE ARE AT WAR,BUT ONLY A SMALL HEROIC BUNCHOF OUR SHILDREN ARE BURDENED IN IT. IN THE YEAR 1942 WE WERE ALL IN IT EVEN THE CHILDREN OF PRESIDENTS AND GENERALS WHO FOLLOWED A LEADER THEY TRUSTED TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR THE BETTER GOOD,NOT A BETTERPROFIT .WHAT LEADERS CHILDREN ARE IN THIS,IN ANY WAY AT ALL?PLEASE LET MR.FITZGERALD MAKE THE LIARS STAND UP AND LET US GET ON WITH FINDING ANYONE WE CAN TRUST TO LEAD US FORWARDED WITH OUR(THE USA) BEST INTEREST AS A GOAL.