It consisted of largely sending Jay Garner and his organisation to sit in Kuwait until the military forces had moved into Baghdad, and then going to Baghdad and other places in Iraq with no other purpose than to deliver a little humanitarian assistance, perhaps deal with some oil-field fires, put Ahmed Chalabi or some other similar Iraqi in charge and leave. - Larry Wilkerson

It also lead, as I recall, to the firing of anyone from Jay Garner's team who so much as read the massive after conflict civil planning report prepared by the State Dept. Why no comment by Powell or Wilkerson concerning that?

David, now that the SCOTUS has dropped the ball on the Sibel Edmonds story, will you please pick it up?

Any other regulars want to join me in this request?

Robert, I second that motion! It is WAY past time for people to get behind that courageous woman in her efforts to get the truth out there. She has very important pieces of the 9/11 puzzle, and we, as American citizens, have a right to see them, state secrets be damned! The only reason to keep her gagged is to keep her quiet. That is reason enough for suspicion as to who knew what and when regarding 9/11, the very foundation of the hellhole known as Iraq.

In fact, 9/11 is the foundation for all the bullshit we have been forced to deal with, like this:

American Police State: The Frog Has Cooked
Miami cops to stage sieges, randomly check ID's, ride buses and trains

Paul Joseph Watson | November 29 2005

How do you boil a frog?

You don't throw the frog into a pot of boiling water, it would immediately jump out. You let the frog sit in warm water and slowly heat the pan until the frog boils to death.

How do you erect the infrastructure of a police state?

You incrementally condition both the police and the public that relinquishing liberty in the name of security is necessary because 'we live in dangerous times.'

Be sure to make Grandpa remove his shoes at the airport but let that cargo through without inspection every time. The truth is that the mythical 'war on terror' was never meant to be won and can never be won because it doesn't exist.

The real terror is being waged against ordinary people by our own government.

To say we live in a police state is no longer an alarmist cliche. Perception has clearly and permanently shifted from the police being there to serve the people to the police being there to control the people.

The Associated Press reports today,

Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats.

"This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It's letting the terrorists know we are out there," Fernandez said.

Both uniformed and plainclothes police will ride buses and trains, while others will conduct longer-term surveillance operations.

"People are definitely going to notice it," Fernandez said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears."

Here we have American police chiefs using military terminology and directing it against American citizens. The random sieges, ID checking and public transport casing is the very benchmark of a police state.

During a recent trip to the States I realized that the 'land of the free' is in many ways less free than the quasi-Socialist European cesspit I call my home.

You have to carry your ID everywhere in America, it's almost impossible to get by without it. Buying a pack of cigarettes, renting a canoe, using any public service, requires you to show your ID. Americans are so used to being asked for it that the kind of random sweeps being planned in Miami won't raise an eyebrow. The frog has been sitting in the pot carelessly boiling to its death for too long now.

The Miami model is the very definition of a pervasive police state based on the fear of terrorists and the fear of being identified as a terrorist if you do not comply with every demand, no matter how much it brutalizes every notion of what it is to live in a free society.

And where are the terrorists exactly?

Those goatherders and shoemakers being tortured at Gimo?

The Pakistani citizens grabbed in the mountains and sold to the US as terrorists by Taliban gangsters for $25,000?

The whole pantomime is quite pathetic but it is being scripted to convince Americans that giving up their rights aids the baloney war on terror.

The phantom terror cells waiting to strike inside America are about as real as Saddam Hussein's intercontinental biological weapons drones. They don't exist.

Yet the semi-retarded police chiefs and foot soldiers who salivate over the Miami model do so in the warped fundamentalist belief that they are protecting America from the evil Muslims.

The government terrorists that blew up trains and buses in Madrid and London chose those targets because they want to move the police state into areas which affect all of us on a day to day basis. That way the dictatorship has the excuse to be up close and personal.

If we do not radically increases our efforts to stop this horror, in a very short time America is going to look like a combination of 1984, They Live, The Running Man and 'V' all rolled into one.

Showing your ID to the federal stormtrooper as he cases the bus with an M16 will be the least of your concerns.
------------
This isn't a movie script, or a fiction novel, this is right here, right now.

I agree entirely about picking up the Sibel Edmonds story - - if any journalist worth his salt at all were to pick that up it would be the beginning of the end - but that will never happen because it would lead to the great unmentionable topic of 911 -

I guess some people think it's ok that the History Channel and the Discovery Channel et al can run their little propaganda films and call them "the true story of that fateful day" and what-not, but an increasingly larger percentage of the population feels that a cover-up is being perpetuated -

god-forbid anyone should want to get at the truth

"We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without a congressional hearing". Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) quoted in:

Mike Whitney: 'Bush's fascist Valhalla'

James, have you heard about hollywoods new and improved efforts to spin 9/11 into what they want us to believe? And what's really pathetic? The sheeple will swallow it!
Robert, did you read the story about the woman riding a public bus in Denver who now faces court for refusing to show her ID on a random sweep by the storm troopers? What I find ironic is that the bushbots would be screaming bloody murder if this scenario were being played out under a dem administration.

First, to address the post.

..."Beginning? It's not too late for that either. Now when will Colin Powell speak as frankly as his former deputy?"...

It is telling that the liars, themselves, are beginning to admit to their lies!

Some call it conscience, but it will be spun by the bushbots that it is just "sour grapes" from "disgruntled former employees".

I, personally don't know how these murderers can sleep at night, knowing what they've done. Myabe I underestimate the power of denial.

sigh...

(1) Go to www.80s.com
(2) Click "Entertainment"
(3) Scroll down and click "Valley URL"
(4) Type in any URL (David's, for example) and hit "Enter" on your keyboard, and...
(5) You get the website translated into Valley Girl talk! Like, it's totally a riot, fer sure!!!

From the grody swamps of Arkansas, Ivory Bill Woodpecker

Colin Powell -- literally -- holds the straw that could break the camel's (read: cabal) back. Some people still put some faith in Powell's credibility. For those of us who have no faith in his integrity/honesty, he could rehabilitate himself if he stood up like a man and told the country what he knows.

I think it just might do it -- if he reclaims his cajones.
****************************

BTW, where is Scottie McClellan these days?

He first made headlines several weeks ago by accusing Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld of running a "cabal" that seized control of national security decision-making in the Bush administration prior to the Iraq war.

and there you have it! - what would this mysterious cabal be called? PNAC! it's not even a bleedin secret! what IS a secret is why the topic is STILL BEING IGNORED TO THIS DAY even though this mysterious cabal and their PUBLICLY STATED principles/goals called for a "New Pearl Harbor" which they miraculously and coincidentally got with 911 -

I like how you put the word "cabal" in quotation marks - maybe to ensure that any mention of PNAC remains a "wacko conspiracy theory"

James, David's on our side, remember? He makes his living doing this, so he needs to be more cautious than you or I; we don't have reputations to maintain. ;)

From the swamps of ill repute, Ivory Bill Woodpecker

Ivory Bill, he also has a boss to answer to. No stepping over the line. I know he has to be careful but I must admit, it is frustrating to me the boundaries that are set on the truth.

oops I meant "he"

"I think it just might do it -- if he reclaims his cajones."

Haji,

My opinion is that these 'bushbots' are not only in denial, but are in full blown delusional thought disorder. Compounding matters of group delusion, there is also a group character disorder.

We are living in the story The Lord Of The Flies.

If Col. Wilkerson really has the goods on President Cheney and can actually trace the memos and directives authorizing "questionable" detention practices to Cheney's office that led to U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners, then it would seem that General Colin Powell -- Mr. Military -- should, through the call of duty, set the record straight.

Powell has a moral obligation to come forward. The credibility of United States military is at stake. Why should Powell allow the corrupt Cheney/Bush regime ruin the reputation of the U.S. military?

Come on Colin. Be a man. Your own man.

...meanwhile, bush is not getting much traction on his latest snakeoil tour...seems his guest worker/border security *plan* stinks just like everything else that comes out of his regime.

They can't get anything right.

Bad news for the lefties. Looks like Dem Sen Joe Lieberman says we must stay in Iraq and finish the job. The new Va Gov Mark Warner agrees with Joe. This is bad news for the screach Howard Dean. I guess he isn't the leader he thought he was. Last but not least, John McCain has admitted twice since being release from Vietnam that torture works-he knows from personal experience. Looks like you lefties are just going to have to except the fact that we are in Iraq, we are going to stay there until the job is done and toture will be used if needed. Now get over yourselves and enjoy the ride.

I must go get some sleep now. Sayonara, all--IBW

Sibel Edmonds' overt muzzling? Yes, yes, by all means, please keep pushing for the revelation of all she knows.

-T

Davids got quite the fan club here, must be at least five to ten regular fans that use this site. He must be getting funding from that Boys and Girls club that made an illegal loan to Air America to keep him on the internet. It's good for you lefties though since no one else would listen to your wack-job theories.

I know that he's on our side....that's probably why he allows us these unrestrained comments - I bet there are a good number of strangers who view these comments every day even if they don't leave a comment of their own, so I always try to make my point every day:: 911 was an inside job - PNAC are the bad guys - the mcMedia are lying corporate whores and so is congress -

click my name!

Looks like Dem Byron Dorgan may be the next victom of Jack Abramoff's dirty money. An attorney for the indian tribes said that they gave Dorgan $20,000 to buy votes from him. I have a funny feeling that Harry Reid & Nancy Pelosi will be next, their silence speaks volumes on this matter.

John McCain has admitted twice since being release from Vietnam that torture works-he knows from personal experience.

he has also admitted twice that torture does NOT work - I guess that makes him a two-faced lying shill

which 911 highjackers snuck across the canadian border baf? - - did Mohammed Atta cross the canadian border on his way to one of his many visits to Abramoff's floating casino?

I suppose our resident headache is arguing for removing corporate lobbying money from the political structure.

I say expose the money trail wherever it leads - it should be noted that Dorgan's vote though, was for Tribal School construction.

I listened to McCain on the radio the other day. He stated clearly "Torture does NOT work."

Got that? Torture No worky. No good. Not right.

Anyone who defends torture has serious issues in the mind, the heart and the soul.

McCain is about as vocal an opponent of torture as you can find.

Torture's Terrible Toll
By Senator John McCain
Newsweek
25 November 2005 issue

james

Why do you waste so much time and energy on this 9/11 conspiracy? You can't change the past. The families of the 3000 dead aren't concerned about any conspiracy. They are concerned about stopping it from happening again. Did you have someone close to you die on 9/11? This would seem to be the only logical answer to your obsession, if not, then you have problems that need to be addressed. I am worried about you man!!!

It's OK, John McCain is confused. In his autobiography- "Faith of my Fathers" McCain writes in detail how the enemy totured him and extracted information that he was not supposed to devulge. The torture was no medical treatment for his wounds. In 1973 when McCain just got released he gave an interview with US News & World Report and again detaailed the torture that drove him to give up info he regretted giving them. I know he is against it now, but he is on record admitting it works.

EU Threatens Sanctions for States Operating Secret CIA Camps
Agence France-Presse
Tuesday 29 November 2005

European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini threatened sanctions for any EU nation found to have allowed secret CIA prison camps to operate on their soil.

"Should the accusations be accurate, I would be forced to draw serious consequences," Frattini said at a security conference in Berlin.

He said that any EU country found to have harboured one of the reported prison camps could have their voting rights in the Council of Ministers, the body which groups the 25 EU heads of government, suspended.

Frattini said the operation of such camps on EU soil would violate the bloc's rules governing freedom and human rights.

The EU had made contact several days ago with the White House about possible secret CIA activities in Europe, but Washington had "unfortunately not yet given any formal assurance" that the reports were untrue, he said. More.

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

I never bought that "Truth, Justice & the American Way" line anyway...

It's OK, John McCain is confused. In his autobiography- "Faith of my Fathers" McCain writes in detail how the enemy totured him and extracted information that he was not supposed to devulge. The torture was no medical treatment for his wounds. In 1973 when McCain just got released he gave an interview with US News & World Report and again detaailed the torture that drove him to give up info he regretted giving them. I know he is against it now, but he is on record admitting it works.

Wilkerson refers to the interrogation of Sheikh al-Libby. Is this guy related to Scooter? Just asking.

actually baf, many of the 3000 victims families believe that 911 was an inside job and have signed a petition to reopen the investigation -

YOU are the one who claimed that the highjackers snuck thru the northern border, not me - I'm just calling you on your nonsense - and while I can't change the past, I can do my best to keep it from being swept under the rug, so you can either deal with it or blow me -

Goo goo ga joob!

I am not sure I understand corrnut parlance.
does "Cabal" mean "Top Adm Officials"?

RS #25

Removing corporate money has already been tried and is a joke, just ask your billionare buddy George Soros. My point is that both parties are corrupt in this environment and the guilty parties should be removed like Cunnigham, like Dorgan, like Reid and anyone else that is corrupt. If you lefties had any integrity, you would be saying the same. But no-its all about the Republicans being corrupt. I guess the brain washing fron Howard Dean and the Dem party is working on you.

I am not sure I understand cornnut parlance.
Can any one help.

Does CABAL mean "inner ring of adm officials"

just asking?

james

You're not my type, you should hook up with Anita for that blow. I here she likes guy's like you. She also works well on small jobs, so you're good-man!!!

ON TORTURE

_____________
Dailykos.com – November 28, 2005

Here's a story that will disappear until bloggers start talking about it. Only PBS Frontline and Democracy Now! have dared to interview U.S. interrogator Tony Lagouranis, who reports widespread torture and abuse throughout Iraq.

He admits:
- frustrated US soldiers torture Iraqi families at length in their homes - including flesh burning, bone breaking, and ax attacks - with impunity
- no matter how obvious their innocence, detainees are always treated as guilty and sent to Abu Ghraib
- officers filed unfounded reports to bolster the claim that Fallujah dead were foreigners
- actually the Fallujah corpses included numerous women and children
- Lagouranis's multiple official abuse reports, ignored by CID and commanders for over a year, were suddenly re-filed after he appeared on Frontline
- torture has produced no useful intelligence, and efforts to legalize it are "the worst thing we could do."

_________________

james

You and the other five cornut fans might make a difference and keep it from being swept under the rug. Just keep telling yourself that and thinking good thoughts. I am curious if David Cornhole has written anything on this, since it is of such seriousness. I am sure that he has you on his redial to trade info on this matter, right?

34 And a John Belushi Holiday turkey to you too, sir!

More good news for the lefties!!! Lefty Ramsey Clarck is coming to Sadamms defense!! He didn't like the way Saddam was treated when first captured from his demorat hole. Jeanne, looks like your buddy Saddam has more fans than just you. What a friggin traitor, this jerk should be tortured just for the hell of it!!!!

Jeez, Baf, goes to show how little you know about those you comment on.

You've called me a coward, my passport's got a Visa Stamp for Afghanistan in January 2002, does yours?

I didn't vote for Gore in 2000, because I acknowledge the corruption within the Democratic party, I voted for Nader, and I only voted for Kerry after seeing the many more magnitudes of degree of corruption within the GOP leading to 9/11 and the wars which followed.

No the removal of corporate money has not really been tried - the whole damn structure is corrupt - and the overthrow of the GOP in 2006 can only be seen as a first step in the clean-up which must involve Democrats as well.

Man, it is really annoying when you pay good money to have a nice meal at a restaurant and the family at the next table can't or won't keep their ill mannered children quiet.

NPR reports that videos and photographs of Christian Peace workers, kidnapped in Iraq last week have been released.

I hope all will join me in thoughts, hopes and prayers for their safe return. Nothing is more noble than the cause of peace.

-T

hajji # 39

What a bunch of friggin crap, you're pathetic to even post such garbage. Accussing our children of such horrible crimes by some F_ _ cked up interrogater. Wheres the proof? Post some facts ass_ ole. It's scum like you that allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place. If it weren't for scum lke you we wouldn't have to be Iraq- so screw you-traitor!!!

RS #43

You voted for Nader? I take it back, you're not a traitor, you're an idiot!!!

sSaladin, Capt, Jeanne..all. Our dear friends peggy and Art are about to board their planes for Aman Jordan. Peggy is fine...and still going to Iraq to continue to be part of the support team.

In regard to my frustration with even alternattive media. I contacted many new outlets today including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman (for the 4th time). she immediately called ARt and Peggy in San Francisco, and talked with them. THANK YOU AMY. SOME IN THE MEDIA WILL RESPOND. I HAVE HAD NEIL CONAN ( i DONT'T ALWAYS AGREE WITH THESE FOLKS ..BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY ACCESSIBLE) AND SCOTT SIMON, AND DIANE REHM RESPOND TO OTHER ISSUES.

JUST WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE MEDIA RESPOND BEFORE THERE IS A CRISIE. THE WORK OF CPT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE MEDIA YEARS AGO.

I STILL SAY THANK YOU AMY GOODMAN FOR RESPONDING.

HERE IS ART AND PEGGY'S LATEST E MAIL FROM SAN FRAN
Dear Family and Friends,
We are thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving time here in the San Francisco area.
Most of you by now have heard the news that four CPTers were kidnapped in Baghdad on Sat. afternoon. Since then the remaining team has been working hard along with many Iraqi and international persons and groups to try to find them and get their release. We are obviously very concerned and are keeping those kidnapped, their captors, and others working on their behalf, in prayer.
I have been in discussion with the team about what I do now. We have decided that I should proceed with my flight today to Amman, Jordan. I may stay there for a time and be a support person from there, or I may soon go to Baghdad and support the rest of the team from there. I will let you know as plans develop. Art will immediately be traveling on to Hebron
I apperciate your love and concern and invite you to join us in prayer for all involved.
With love, Peggy and Art

Message 2 of 582 (New)

you're not a traitor, you're an idiot!!!

Ah, such eloquence, such erudition.

ya baf...WHERE'S THE PROOF that muslims did it?
idiot. I still say blow me.

the dog that did not bark

James

Jeanne say's theres nothing to blow-so give it up fool!!!

RS # 49

"I voted for Nader"

Ah such eloquence, such erudition.

Four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq!!

I thought the insurgents were the good guy's?
Maybe our troops that Hajji accussed of burning the flesh off of innocent Iraq's will be able to save them before they are beheaded by the lefties mis-understood heroes!!!

"I am a graduate of West Point currently serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Infantry. I have served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, one each in Afghanistan and Iraq. While I served in the Global War on Terror, the actions and statements of my leadership led me to believe that United States policy did not require application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. On 7 May 2004, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's testimony that the United States followed the Geneva Conventions in Iraq and the "spirit" of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan prompted me to begin an approach for clarification. For 17 months, I tried to determine what specific standards governed the treatment of detainees by consulting my chain of command through battalion commander, multiple JAG lawyers, multiple Democrat and Republican Congressmen and their aides, the Ft. Bragg Inspector General's office, multiple government reports, the Secretary of the Army and multiple general officers, a professional interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, the deputy head of the department at West Point responsible for teaching Just War Theory and Law of Land Warfare, and numerous peers who I regard as honorable and intelligent men.

Instead of resolving my concerns, the approach for clarification process leaves me deeply troubled. Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of these abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is a tragedy. I can remember, as a cadet at West Point, resolving to ensure that my men would never commit a dishonorable act; that I would protect them from that type of burden. It absolutely breaks my heart that I have failed some of them in this regard.

-Cpt. Ian Fishback, US Army Infantry in a letter to Senator John McCain

N.C. Judge Declines to Protect Voting Machine Maker Diebold Inc.; Vendor May Pull Out
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. Nov 28, 2005 — One of the nation's leading suppliers of electronic voting machines may decide against selling new equipment in North Carolina after a judge declined Monday to protect it from criminal prosecution should it fail to disclose software code as required by state law.

Diebold Inc., which makes automated teller machines and security and voting equipment, is worried it could be charged with a felony if officials determine the company failed to make all of its code some of which is owned by third-party software firms, including Microsoft Corp. available for examination by election officials in case of a voting mishap.

The requirement is part of the minimum voting equipment standards approved by state lawmakers earlier this year following the loss of more than 4,400 electronic ballots in Carteret County during the November 2004 election. The lost votes threw at least one close statewide race into uncertainty for more than two months. More.

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

These machines have got to be decertified and rejected. All monies spent by states and the federal govt. through HAVA must be returned.

From my Collins GEM Webters Dictionary New Edition, 1990:
Cabal (ke-BAL)n. Small group of intrguers; secret plot .

The statement was, as I read it, a quotation from Larry Wilkerson.

Sorry about the typ, that was "intriguers" not intrgeuers.

Pardon the typo..not "typ" . OK I'm signing off now. My hand is injured after I tripped over the cat.
Don't worry Capt, Junior The Cat is fine. Little brat ;)

Funny how much worse the REPORTING of the crimes is to the morally challenged than the COMMISSION of these crimes, ain't it?

-T

Sunnis Accuse Iraqi Military of Kidnappings and Slayings
By Dexter Filkins
The New York Times
Tuesday 29 November 2005

Baghdad - As the American military pushes the largely Shiite Iraqi security services into a larger role in combating the insurgency, evidence has begun to mount suggesting that the Iraqi forces are carrying out executions in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods.

Hundreds of accounts of killings and abductions have emerged in recent weeks, most of them brought forward by Sunni civilians, who claim that their relatives have been taken away by Iraqi men in uniform without warrant or explanation.

Some Sunni men have been found dead in ditches and fields, with bullet holes in their temples, acid burns on their skin, and holes in their bodies apparently made by electric drills. Many have simply vanished.

Some of the young men have turned up alive in prison. In a secret bunker discovered earlier this month in an Interior Ministry building in Baghdad, American and Iraqi officials acknowledged that some of the mostly Sunni inmates appeared to have been tortured. More.

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

Sounds just like the Salvadorian option that was discussed as John Negroponte went first to Iraq and then to head the US Intelligence operations overall.

Jesus Mary and Joseph Wilkerson and all.. I repeat.....How in the hell could a 53 year old soccer mom living in south eastern ohio..just by listening to the BBc and NPR and going on the web daily..know that the intelligence was bad.

Christ Almighty...help us...I heard Mr. el Baradei in early march of 2003 at the UN tell the world the Niger documents where falified documents and bad ones at that.

Holy Mackerel... I heard an endless stream of CIA analyst including Ray Mcgovern tell us it was more than likely that the intelligence was false. I heard Scott Ritter before the invasion say it over and over and over again. I heard Jimmy Carter, General Zinni, Robert Mcnamara for god sakes Robert McNamara say don't do it...they all warned against the quagmire.

I know some of our Reps and the military were given more hogwash than the mainstream media was stuffing down the americans collective throats. But don't these people get out?

Maybe Wilkerson and the others should hang out with soccer moms and the millions of people who were protesting against this invasion. Maybe they should have listened more to the BBc, NPr and reading Justin Raimando (of anti-war.com) who was on target and way ahead of the MSM and the Left stream media with his information about the false intelligence. Along with Julian BOrger of the Guardian etc.

Jesus Mary and Joseph...how did many americans and people around the world know just by listening to the news well not the MSM who just kept showing Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, Rice, Wolfowitz, and others link 9/11 and Al queda over and over again prior to the invasion .

Yes some journalist were investigating..some). David, Arianna, THE GUARDIAN THE INDEPENDENT..ANTIWAR.COM MOTHER JONES...AND OTHERS...I THANK YOU...

Geez maybe these military folks and other mainstreamers should get out a bit and listen and read other information beside what the MSM provides them with.... But Npr is the MSM and there were plenty of dissenting voices on their programs before the invasion....plenty

SOME LIVES WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED....HEY DAVID WHEN ARE YOU FOLKS GOING TO DO A SRORY ON THE DIFFERENT REPORTS..LANCET..ROBERT FISK..OF JUST HOW MANY IRAQI'S HAVE DIED.

THESE NUMBERS JUST MIGHT PUSH THESE CRIMINALS OFF THE WORLDS COLLECTIVE CLIFF.

Hajji #34 --

I assume that "goo goo ga joob" was directed at me. Congratulations on spelling this correctly - I occasionally get a "koo koo ka choo" but rarely see the thing done right.

Colin Powell is too gutless to speak out against the Bush and his cabal. Remember Powell at one time was part of the cabal.

I finally feel vindicated from my statements that Bush and his cabal are murderers and war criminals. I can only hope and pray that the American people will believe me when I say that anyone who voted for Bush is an accomplice to murder and war crimes. The majority of Americans are guilty of treason to humanity and they are on par with Hitler and Stalin.

Hajji, you related to scooter?

I'm a BIG fan of Craig Stadler, eggman!

-T

A Growing Wariness about Money in Politics
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
The Washington Post
Tuesday 29 November 2005

For several years now, corporations and other wealthy interests have made ever-larger campaign contributions, gifts and sponsored trips part of the culture of Capitol Hill. But now, with fresh guilty pleas by a lawmaker and a public relations executive, federal prosecutors -- and perhaps average voters -- may be concluding that the commingling of money and politics has gone too far.

After years in which big-dollar dealings have come to dominate the interaction between lobbyists and lawmakers, both sides are now facing what could be a wave of prosecutions in the courts and an uprising at the ballot box. Extreme examples of the new business-as-usual are no longer tolerated.

Republicans, who control the White House and Congress, are most vulnerable to this wave. But pollsters say that voters think less of both political parties the more prominent the issue of corruption in Washington becomes, and that incumbents generally could feel the heat of citizen outrage if the two latest guilty pleas multiply in coming months.

No fewer than seven lawmakers, including a Democrat, have been indicted, have pleaded guilty or are under investigation for improper conduct such as conspiracy, securities fraud and improper campaign donations.

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

On voting Nader in 2000 - in the safe state of California - No Regrets.

Off now for a thrillingly short 8hr shift in the local ER. Set some new records for patient processing during 16 hrs yesterday. I'm thinking that we could use a 24-hour non-acute care clinic across the street or something.

In the face of dwindling ability for US citizens (and it AIN'T just those "welfare moms", either) to purchase and maintain comprehensive health care insurance, the Emergency Departments of our cities' hospitals have taken the place of familiy doctors.

The unpaid bills of all those people who come for non-urgent care are directly reflected in the escalation of the cost to everybody!

So...got feverish child? C'mon down!
Sprain your ankle? C'mon down!
"Just not feeling well?" C'mon down!

I'm sure you're gonna feel MUCH better after a 5-hour wait in a tiny, crowded, virus and bacterial incubator we call the WAITING ROOM!

C-y'all later!

-T

American Soldiers

American soldiers are being killed like flies for Bush's lies. To date 2,356 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

OF COURSE, NONE OF THEM WAS GOING TO GET SHOT AT. NONE OF THEM WOULD HAVE TO ANSWER TO THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS OF DEAD SOLDIERS AND MARINES. GENERAL SCHWARZKOPF

DON'T PATRONIZE ME WITH TALK ABOUT HUMAN LIVES. COLIN "LAPDOG" POWELL

It sounds like human lives are not important to Lapdog.

If anyone thinks Powell is a honorable person, he or she is full of human dung.

Behind Colin Powell's Legend -- My Lai
By Robert Parry & Norman Solomon

A Pattern of Brutality

While a horrific example of a Vietnam war crime, the My Lai massacre was not unique. It fit a long pattern of indiscriminate violence against civilians that had marred U.S. participation in the Vietnam War from its earliest days when Americans acted primarily as advisers.

In 1963, Capt. Colin Powell was one of those advisers, serving a first tour with a South Vietnamese army unit. Powell's detachment sought to discourage support for the Viet Cong by torching villages throughout the A Shau Valley. While other U.S. advisers protested this countrywide strategy as brutal and counter-productive, Powell defended the "drain-the-sea" approach then -- and continued that defense in his 1995 memoirs, My American Journey. [...]

[...]By late 1968, Powell had jumped over more senior officers into the important post of G-3, chief of operations for division commander, Maj. Gen. Charles Gettys, at Chu Lai. Powell had been "picked by Gen. Gettys over several lieutenant colonels for the G-3 job itself, making me the only major filling that role in Vietnam," Powell wrote in his memoirs.

But a test soon confronted Maj. Powell. A letter had been written by a young specialist fourth class named Tom Glen, who had served in an Americal mortar platoon and was nearing the end of his Army tour. In a letter to Gen. Creighton Abrams, the commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam, Glen accused the Americal division of routine brutality against civilians. Glen's letter was forwarded to the Americal headquarters at Chu Lai where it landed on Maj. Powell's desk. [...]

[...]Glen's letter contended that many Vietnamese were fleeing from Americans who "for mere pleasure, fire indiscriminately into Vietnamese homes and without provocation or justification shoot at the people themselves." Gratuitous cruelty was also being inflicted on Viet Cong suspects, Glen reported.

"Fired with an emotionalism that belies unconscionable hatred, and armed with a vocabulary consisting of 'You VC,' soldiers commonly 'interrogate' by means of torture that has been presented as the particular habit of the enemy. Severe beatings and torture at knife point are usual means of questioning captives or of convincing a suspect that he is, indeed, a Viet Cong...

"It would indeed be terrible to find it necessary to believe that an American soldier that harbors such racial intolerance and disregard for justice and human feeling is a prototype of all American national character; yet the frequency of such soldiers lends credulity to such beliefs. ... What has been outlined here I have seen not only in my own unit, but also in others we have worked with, and I fear it is universal. If this is indeed the case, it is a problem which cannot be overlooked, but can through a more firm implementation of the codes of MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) and the Geneva Conventions, perhaps be eradicated."

Glen's letter echoed some of the complaints voiced by early advisers, such as Col. John Paul Vann, who protested the self-defeating strategy of treating Vietnamese civilians as the enemy. In 1995, when we questioned Glen about his letter, he said he had heard second-hand about the My Lai massacre, though he did not mention it specifically. The massacre was just one part of the abusive pattern that had become routine in the division, he said.

Maj. Powell's Response

The letter's troubling allegations were not well received at Americal headquarters. Maj. Powell undertook the assignment to review Glen's letter, but did so without questioning Glen or assigning anyone else to talk with him. Powell simply accepted a claim from Glen's superior officer that Glen was not close enough to the front lines to know what he was writing about, an assertion Glen denies. More.

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

No expectations of Powell from this corner...

HI'YA!!
Wilkinson has also quoted that "Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because otherwise, I have to declare him a moron, an idiot, or a nefarious bastard."

Of course, you all know that there will always be troll MF's who'll follow bushco to the end, who love to listen to pom-pom waving, skirt- wearing cronies, pundits and media whores who were scared to fight "'Ol Ho & 'Da Cong" (Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Scooter, Frist, Lott, Hasert, Novak and other bitch-made clowns, come on down).You too Limbaugh, with your 4F for boil on fat asscheek, and over 3,000 pills of Oxy, which should get you at least 10yrs Fed for Posession With Intent To Distribute.

Drink your f$%kin Kool-Aid. Bottoms up, bitches!!

RS #66

Voting for Nader -in the safe state- no regrets

Then why are you defending your vote with the little caveat -in a safe state- I am sure you wouldn't want anyone to think you were dumb enough to waste a vote on Nader, so you throw that in. Have you ever questioned Nader what he did with all those millions of dollars he took from corporations suing them? Nah! What for, I'm important I have a passport.

Thank you, Shepherd Bliss

RS

Boy, I sure would love to see you take that passport to Afganistan and tell all the troops there how you and Hajji trash them back home on the internet instead of using it to bring home all that opium to your Cornob buddies.

Then why are you defending your vote with the little caveat -in a safe state - baffled

Knowing full well this is worthless...it is simple logic, the Dems are mildly bad, as a generalization, and the GOPhers are horrific.

A protest vote that indicates displeasure at the Dems and does not empower the GOP.

Sadness will never end in America

Hey all you lefties out there!!!

Any thoughts or words for the terrorists that captured four peace activists in Iraq today. Maybe you would like to recite the Geneva convetion rules to them about torture (beheadings in particular) or threaten them with the ACLU. Now I know these are the terrorists and not American troops so you can go easy on them- we'll understand.

Atrocity Fatigue

My energy level is down in part to my health problems but now I find out that I might be suffering from atrocity fatigue. Since I am only 66 years old and the military can call me until I am 68 years old, can I receive a derferment for atrocity fatigue?

I didn't think there would be any takers. It's a little awkward when the terrorist that you call freedom fighters turn the tables on you and don't play by your rules, isn't it?

The Grave Threat

RS #74

There you go again, defending your vote.

I guess winning the White House in 2000 and the House in 2002 and the Sen back after being stolen from the Dems after that doesn't empower the GOP- ya, if you say so!!

RS

That protest vote was real effective!!

Baf,

I am a real person, with a real passport. And you have just accused me with a real crime.

You have called me a coward...perhaps you will let me know who you are so I can sue your ass.

Otherwise, maybe David will provide me with your I.P. address so I can persue this matter.

Ah, on second thought, the good general is not going to reclaim his cajones...in his book "My American Journey", Colin Powell explained the
*practice* of murdering unarmed "MAM" Vietnamese.

"I recall a phrase we used in the field, MAM, for military-age male. If a helo spotted a peasant in black pajamas who looked remotely suspicious, a possible MAM, the pilot would circle and fire in front of him. If he moved, his movement was judged evidence of hostile intent, and the next burst was not in front, but at him. Brutal? Maybe so. But an able battalion commander with whom I had served at Gelnhausen (West Germany), Lt. Col. Walter Pritchard, was killed by enemy sniper fire while observing MAMs from a helicopter. And Pritchard was only one of many. The kill-or-be-killed nature of combat tends to dull fine perceptions of right and wrong."
*********************

Powell was Caspar Weinberger's toady...I guess he's too far gone to expect him to act honorably.

RS

You can't sue someone for telling the truth. If the kitchen too hot then get the hell out and quit whining-whiner!!!

I believe that the time has come for the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands to hold a trial against all Americans who have voted for Bush. I believe the the Court would rule that the majority of Americans are guilty of crimes against humanity as murderers and war criminals.

I believe that the time has come for the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands to hold a trial against all Americans who have voted for Bush. I believe the the Court would rule that the majority of Americans are guilty of crimes against humanity as murderers and war criminals.

yawn.

"post invasion planning", which was as inept and incompetent as perhaps any planning anyone has ever done.

Next invasion, we will put the cornnuts in charge, but only after they first agree to dust off their crystal ball.

This is our tax money at work!!!

Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?

Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq?

Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating?

Did you know that 25 Iraqi students departed for the US in Jan 05 for the reestablished Fullbright program?

Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operatinal? They have 5-100 ft patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a navy infantry regiment.

Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which include 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?

Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a commando Battalion?

Did you know that the Iraqi police service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?

Did you know that there are 5 police academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?

Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going in Iraq? They include 364 schools, 64 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilites, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.

Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?

Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid-October?

Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in raq and phone use has gone up 158%?

Did you know that Iraq has an idependent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?

Did you know that the Bagdad Stock exchange opened in June 2004?

Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidentail election had a televised debate recently?

OF CORSE WE DIDN'T KNOW! OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US!!

Oh ya and according to Hajji all were doing is burning the flesh off Iraqi's.

So, as I understand it, the cabal sat around and try to figure out the worst way to conduct this unique invasion whilst misleading to maximum.

You guys are precious!!

Yeah Baf, you got that right, was not Rummie's brief this day great.

Dad once told me, if youre not making mistakes, youre not doing anything. While I would agree things could have been done better, that is only with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. If rummie would have upgraded huvie armour, and there was no insurgency, you all would scream waste of tax-payer money. Get it? didnt think so.

DMR

Rummie was great! I loved it when he waited for the press to ask all their anti-america questions and he then asked them one - "How come no-one has asked one question about the Iraqi elections that will take place within a few weeks-not one question?" No on in the press room could answer this and looked like idiots-as usual!!

It is great you all live in the past and slam any action with your 20/20 hindsight, less, you might actually sense a need for vision, but then, I guess that is difference between leadership and habitual nay-saying. No vision, no leadership, just throw yourselves on the ground and cry. Look 04 is over, move on. How about the border issue in 06??? look foward, not half ass backyards.
Here, let me help YOU ALL WITH VISION and LEADERSHIP

As you Know, our great hero, and commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, leader of the free world, and the man having guts enough to take down the butcher of Baghdad, had a great news conference this day in El Paso re the border issue.

Now, hard-right republicans dont want any form of amesty, which is implied by Bushie's 3 year work visa plan, so, LISTEN UP GANG, forward thinking here, (try it sometime) I proposed the following to the GOP this day.

It is great you all live in the past and slam any action with your 20/20 hindsight, less, you might actually sense a need for vision, but then, I guess that is difference between leadership and habitual nay-saying. No vision, no leadership, just throw yourselves on the ground and cry. Look 04 is over, move on. How about the border issue in 06??? look foward, not half ass backyards.
Here, let me help YOU ALL WITH VISION and LEADERSHIP

As you Know, our great hero, and commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, leader of the free world, and the man having guts enough to take down the butcher of Baghdad, had a great news conference this day in El Paso re the border issue.

Now, hard-right republicans dont want any form of amesty, which is implied by Bushie's 3 year work visa plan, so, LISTEN UP GANG, forward thinking here, (try it sometime) I proposed the following to the GOP this day.

President Bush,

Great News Conference this day in El Paso TX! Bravo!!!!

Stay on the Border Issue, pound the table, and drive it home, its the winning issue in 06. I have been campaigning for John Campbell, here in the 48th Cal district, and he is a purported Border Hawk, and hence has my vote on 12/6/05 replacing Chris Cox. Here in laguna beach CA, the people overwhelming, from both parties, want that border shut down. Hard-right republicans equate your 3 year work visa plan to be "amnesty". To a limited extent they are correct, in that, illegal immigrants who cross illegally in the past, effectively get a reward of a temporary work visa.
I think you should counter this argument by saying that nationwide ruthless round-up at this time would be harsh, disruptive and cause economic and societal caos, and that the practical approach, it to encourage them to sign up, get registered, and reward the sign up with a return home with another work visa, and if they dont, the USA will round them up and throw them out, to never return for work again. After the first three years, THEN YOU START the round up. In this way, you approach the border problem of those already here, IN A COMPASSIONATE manner, minimizing social unrest, and yet provide a practical approach to a long term solution. You must also during this first three years SHUT DOWN all "safe haven" cities, such as Los Angeles, that protect illegals for immigration officials. This will help close the republican ranks behind your plan.

SO, update your plan with ROUND-UP after three years, and immediate shut down of safe haven cities.

As such, you keep gains in the Hispanic vote, while limiting social caos, during its implementation, for a long term solution, and provide leadership on the border issue. This seems like a win-win-win for the administration.

I am urging John Campbell to fully support your plan, when he takes his congressional seat in December.

ANYONE, I am suggesting a FUTURE COURSE of conduct. Try it, you might like it.

Why all the silence about the four peace activists taken hostage by the terrorists
(whoops, I mean freedom fighters)? Oh, I know, it's because they are christian peace activists, isn't it? You don't want to associate yourselves with anyone called christian-it all makes sense now!!

Thats it! I'm sick of these right wing wannabe goosestepping gestapo wackos invading this blog. If they can read they should study the Wolfowitz Doctrine (Bush Doctrine) then read the info on this website:http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ma05speed Keep up your support for the despicable nazis in charge because your ass will be as dead as us left wingers when these bastards are done. Better start praying idiots, your going to need all the help you can get. your dead bitches, just like the rest of us.

Merely echoing Bush's stand-down stand-up plan, couched in other words, IS NOT LEADERSHIP, by the way.

It just kill me (ROFLMAO) when the dem suggest its now time for a withdrawal, ddaaaaaaaaaaaaa,

despicable nazis or weak minded panderers, WOW, now there election I want to see. I go with the nazi, at least they STOOD for something.

How dare you all say such things of those who are protecting your butts. Talk about wacko?

Do you all really believe what you are saying about the "cabal"???? This is amazing. I reporting to gestapo HQ for unamerican activities.

"Thats it! I'm sick of these right wing wannabe goosestepping gestapo wackos invading this blog."

Am I sensing a temper tantrum? ROFLMAO

Here, let uncle Derrick wipe them little tears, and now now, dont worry, hero bush will protect your unappreciative butt, but you have to get 04, OK?

Den

So you don't agree with David Cornhole on the whole free speech thing-huh? I guess the only way you trolls can compete is if you sue-like RS, have your dogs attack-like Hajji, castrate all men-like saladin, pout like Dr Sulu (capt)
or spend all day looking for your man-hood like James wa wa, wait until late night when your competition is home with their family's to come out to play(lucky for you windows allows you to go from your favorite porn site to David Cornholes site without missing a beat. This must be why you lefties are so against the free market-your afraid of being bullied?

#61 - Kathleen

You are very right on. My position has changed little since before the war. Why? Because I read the Atlantic Monthly, listen to NPR, read many books as well as all the typical MSM. Guess what... the most salient & lucid information/analysis I read before the war that seemed to ring true ended up forming my opinions and these same sources are still just as viable and correct in their analysis today.

I tend to step around the argument of whether Cheney and team purposefully lied. Not because it can't be proven, but because even if they didn't, then they can still be charged as incompetent leaders. Assuming no lying/deception... then their behavior and words are showing them as so limited in their thinking processes (and vision) that they couldn't determine poor intelligence from good, nor do basic statistical analysis. They were incapable of making strategic changes in their thinking as new information became available (i.e. admit that they held some wrong suppositions).

The argument that they did share the same info with congress carries little weight. Because most of the info they share was wrong, and no one would expect congress to query into all the original sources (if we assume the WH admin leadership were competent and trustworthy). As I detailed in a past post a week or so ago, if the WH Admin stands by the argument that all information was truly shown to congress and that they expected congress to do their own complete analysis to match that of the WH admin, then Cheney and team were abdicating their authority to congress. Because you can't transfer responsibility without eventually transferring the authority to go with it.

Is the WH admin really asking for the bond of trust to be broken between these two branches? It's one thing to say that congress didn't ask enough questions, but to hold them equally responsible is an abdication of authority and Cheny and gang must now submit to daily detailed oversight by congress.

If Cheney was running a legitimate company that had to truly survive in a free market world (unlike oil), he would have been fired by the board. Rumsfeld would have been fired or at least some direct reports for the PR fiasco of the prison torture scandals. But this Administration has no ability to self-discipline or learn, and are incapable of leading a diverse and transparent nation like the USA. Instead they seek to follow more in the steps of power-driven dictatorships that gain control of the masses out of fear.

Now I know why I have so much fun on this site-it reminds me of High School when I used to pick on geeks like you trolls on a daily basis. Good thing for me, none of you lefties turned out to be Bill Gates. Wow! what fond memories.

Now I know why I have so much fun on this site-it reminds me of High School when I used to pick on geeks like you trolls on a daily basis. Good thing for me, none of you lefties turned out to be Bill Gates. Wow! what fond memories.

This is david Corn's cite, and if he sends me a email requesting I no longer visit, I will respect his wishes. But, as far as you sheep are concern, I would have trouble letting you all continue with your disgraceful dream-world accusations at our BELOVED PRESIDENT, without giving you the benefit of my wisdom, wanted or not.

DEN, try to ignore them. There are just some people that love the idea of stormtroopers harrassing innocent citizens riding the bus to work and causing general panic among the masses. This, for some sick reason, gives them some kind of rush. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually HOPE for a terrorist attack so that they can have a sense of vindication. I really think they are that twisted.

Yelnat, I can respect that, and maybe you are right, cheney and rummie should be fired, and in 20/20 it seems that the war could have been prosecuted much better, but screams of BUSH-LIED and the cospirator cabal are just little over the top. But, I think they are well intentioned, with a long term vision of world movement, and we always disagree as to how competent they are. Sure, mistakes have been made, I will conceed that. Maybe we should have just nuke the whole rat's nest, and not loose 1 soldier.

After what has been described as the most foolish war in over 2,000 years, is there a way out of Iraq for President Bush

Tuesday November 29, 2005

There is a remarkable article in the latest issue of the American Jewish weekly, Forward. It calls for President Bush to be impeached and put on trial "for misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 BC sent his legions into Germany and lost them".
To describe Iraq as the most foolish war of the last 2,014 years is a sweeping statement, but the writer is well qualified to know.

He is Martin van Creveld, a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and one of the world's foremost military historians. Several of his books have influenced modern military theory and he is the only non-American author on the US Army's list of required reading for officers.

Professor van Creveld has previously drawn parallels between Iraq and Vietnam, and pointed out that almost all countries that have tried to fight similar wars during the last 60 years or so have ended up losing. Why President Bush "nevertheless decided to go to war escapes me and will no doubt preoccupy historians to come," he told one interviewer.

The professor's puzzlement is understandable. More than two years after the war began, and despite the huge financial and human cost, it is difficult to see any real benefits.

read on using the link

- - - - -

Puzzling? No clear direction or purpose. Was it knee jerk reactions, myopic or simplistic idealogies that don't translate well to wider groups?

Using Hanlon's Razor...

Cheney's Administration is either
a) Ignorant about leadership
b) Incompetent to lead
c) Malicious leaders

Either they have failed as good leaders

or

They have succeeded (or are succeeding) according to a set of goals that escapes America and historians.

#106

Thanks for the admission that you are a bully.

Now why don't you spend some of your time writing down why it is good to be a bully.

New, improved platitudes coming tomorrow...

MR. McCLELLAN: Iraq, yes. In terms of tomorrow, it's an important speech. It's the first in a series of speeches that the President will be making between now and the December 15th elections about our plan for victory in Iraq. We are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to defeat the terrorists and those trying to prevent democracy from advancing in Iraq. And the President believes that the American people should have a clear understanding of our strategy. And that means how we see the enemy and how we define and achieve victory. So as part of the speech tomorrow, we are going to be releasing a document called the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." It's an unclassified version of the plan that we've been pursuing in Iraq, and it will be made available to the American people. I think we'll also be posting it on our website, as well.

Q When is that -

MR. McCLELLAN: Early tomorrow morning is the goal, before the networks go on the air.

**********
check this out at whitehouse.gov

Please Don't Visit

From: The Toronto Star

Fascism then. Fascism now?

When people think of fascism, they imagine Rows of goose-stepping storm troopers and puffy-chested dictators. What they don't see is the economic and political process that leads to the nightmare.
Nov. 27, 2005. 01:00 AM
PAUL BIGIONI

Observing political and economic discourse in North America since the 1970s leads to an inescapable conclusion: The vast bulk of legislative activity favours the interests of large commercial enterprises. Big business is very well off, and successive Canadian and U.S. governments, of whatever political stripe, have made this their primary objective for at least the past 25 years.

Digging deeper into 20th century history, one finds the exaltation of big business at the expense of the citizen was a central characteristic of government policy in Germany and Italy in the years before those countries were chewed to bits and spat out by fascism. Fascist dictatorships were borne to power in each of these countries by big business, and they served the interests of big business with remarkable ferocity.

These facts have been lost to the popular consciousness in North America. Fascism could therefore return to us, and we will not even recognize it. Indeed, Huey Long, one of America's most brilliant and most corrupt politicians, was once asked if America would ever see fascism. "Yes," he replied, "but we will call it anti-fascism."

By exploring the disturbing parallels between our own time and the era of overt fascism, we can avoid the same hideous mistakes. At present, we live in a constitutional democracy. The tools necessary to protect us from fascism remain in the hands of the citizen. All the same, North America is on a fascist trajectory. We must recognize this threat for what it is, and we must change course.

Nuking the World

#109

Don't get distracted by extreme outcries often out of frustration or fear, stay focused on the facts. There used to be a fear of what was said when records were played backwards in various religious circles, but as some said just listening to them played forwards is enough to make a judgment.

Would you agree that this current administration showing extremely and costly incompetence in their leadership?

Is there a lack of accountability and discipline within the WH administration that a corporate enterprise in competitive environment would have tossed long ago? Are people not being held responsible for incompetent decisions and poor management? Has personal loyalty gone on long enough? Demanding loyalty is either a sign of immaturity or a mark of a unhealed wounded past, and neither situation is healthy for being a leader especially at the highest levels.

It appears that far more people have left this admin out of frustration in combating the top down driven political policy on all administration decisions (driven by Rove and Cheney) then as a result of discipline. As one departed official says "What you've got is everything--and I mean everything--being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis"

O'Neill, Whitman, John DiIulio, Powell and many others leave worn out in trying to serve their country.

Very few leave as a consequence of malfeasance or incompetence to the government... Perle, Michael Brown.

America's Sinister Shadow

America continues to dysfunction under an insane fuehrer.

Saladin; think it is a coincidence that the first jack boot thugs are doing their work in Jeb-boys state? Like I said and the trolls proved me right, bully and co.can go bother someone that gives a s**t what their little minds contain.

They've 'swift-boated' Muhammed Ali now.
giving Ali that medal was the nadir of Bush's career

Well ya know it was because he was a "man of peace". They hate it when you refuse to fight in an unjust war. Some just hid, others stood up and said they weren't going. Who's the 'girlie man' that hid? (that Alabama stint was "harrrrd work...so I got daddy to get me out early) Who is braver, I ask? Who got the medal too?

In a recent poll conducted by the Gerald Polling Agency reveals that 99% of Americans believe that Bush is mentally deranged; 66% of Americans view Bush as a god; 54% of Americans would still vote for Bush; 51% of Americans would march into hell for Bush; yet 33% of Americans feel that America is headed in the wrong direction under the bushgod. With statistics like these no wonder the world views America as certifiably nuts! Would the real America be counted?

#119 Alan, medals from Bush are a joke! The medal that Bush deserves is a branding iron up his rectum.

from a link posted yesterday... this part of the "Wall of the Fallen" is about Pat Tillman.

And from beyond the grave, the administration's would-be propaganda puppet (who, it turns out was a major Noam Chomsky fan) had the last word – via the recollections of his close friend, Army Specialist Russell Baer, who served with Tillman in Iraq:

"We were outside of [a city in southern Iraq] watching as bombs were dropping on the town. We were at an old air base, me, Kevin [Tillman, Pat's brother] and Pat, we weren't in the fight right then. We were talking. And Pat said, 'You know, this war is so f____ illegal.' And we all said, 'Yeah.' That's who he was. He totally was against Bush."

Would you agree that this current administration showing extremely and costly incompetence in their leadership? No, too many variable in war to make that conclusion, but would agree that things could have been better planned.

Is there a lack of accountability and discipline within the WH administration that a corporate enterprise in competitive environment would have tossed long ago? Well possibly, but the presidency is not a corporate board room, it is a commander in cheif, and someone has to make A DECISION in a prepresentative democracy, and Geo Washington well understood.

"It appears that far more people have left this admin out of frustration in combating the top down driven political policy on all administration decisions (driven by Rove and Cheney) then as a result of discipline." The president sets HIS policy, and if you dont like, tuff, even if in the same party. When you vote in a president, you AUTHORIZE him to conduct HIS agenda.

I can understand the frustration, look at what they said about Lincoln at the time of civil war.
Sure, mistakes are made, war never goes to plan, people disagree, and get frustrated. I understand, but when you are boss, you got to be the boss, or you end up like Prez Carter. While Bush should respectfully listen to his advisors, and the party opposite, in the end, its his call, and though you may not like it, having a presidency is the only possible to conduct WAR. Someone has to be the commander in chief.

What I wonder is whether you all are just anti-establish, sour-grape dem losers in 04, or really believe the Bush-lied, Conspirator Cabal theories.
Clinton was no ideological fav of mine, but you known, I never slammed him, gave him respect as president, but then of course, when I found out about the dress, I said, hey, he can cum party with me any time!!! Bottom line, Bush aint perfect, no one is, and the presidency deserves our respect. I like the idea of you all watching out as a guard dog, and that is good, but think you all have cross the line, with the Bush-Lied conspirator cabal thing, that is an insult to the American Presidency. Would someone please put a sock in Pelozi's mouth, geeeewiiizzzz

From #116: "the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis." For the country's sake, I wish Dubya were more like Andy Taylor and less like Ernest T. Bass. I must prepare for work now. Those trees won't peck themselves, you know.---IBW

Sorry the polling results of America actually feel that 67% of Americans see America headed in the wrong direction.

DEN, I don't think it is a coincidence at all. Seems wherever there's a bush something awful happens! Funny, the trolls don't seem to mind this outrageous policy being inflicted on people. Just goes to prove my point, it's what floats their boat!

It seems more evident that Cheney is the target for the new investigation by Fitzgerald. An inside source and friend says that Bush was ruled out of the investigation process because he is too lame and stupid to know what is really going on behind his back.

#125 Sorry the polling results of America actually feel that 67% of Americans see America headed in the wrong direction.

This is kinda like the OReilly show. OReilly is politically centered, with is right of left, and so the left says he is ring.

This is kinda like those who say WITHDRAW NOW, or, PUT IN ANOTHER 100K troops to 250,000. Bush has 150K in there, so both sides disagree.

When you say not in the right direction, you have to be careful of what direction and viewed by whom?

Dont read to much into "Right Direction" poll.

The better poll is the one that ask which party has better leadership and vision, and there the republicans beat the dems 56 to 38.

I dont want either party in the WH for more than 12 years, and hope the dems can field a real leader in 08 or 2012, as I like it back and forth in the WH. Dem are great on social issues and Rep are good on business issues, and want the back and forth in control. Where is the old dem party that american needs???? Reps need a soul mate!!

It seems more evident that Cheney is the target for the new investigation by Fitzgerald. An inside source and friend says that Bush was ruled out of the investigation process because he is too lame and stupid to know what is really going on behind his back.

Robert Schwartz: "No expectations of Powell from this corner..."

Nor from this one. Good soldier, lousy human being. Military heroes are at least as corruptible and capable of self-delusion as the next guy. Look at "Duke" Cunningham.

Powell displayed the limitations of his conscience to all the world during his Baba WaWa interview. There's just no more there.

And for what it's worth, include me among those who would like to see David pick up the Sibel Edmonds story and run with it. The Vanity Fair piece a couple months ago was fascinating, but apparently there's a lot more to this.

This is a strange damn place, isn't it? John Murtha, who was so dead wrong about this war from the very beginning and actually helped make it happen, is now being lionized for finally opening his eyes. But the people who were dead right all along -- people like Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, and Bob Graham -- get not so much as a tip of the hat.

Apparently it's now better to be a repetant fool in this country than to be a wise man.

If Cheney OUTED plame, and knew it was wrong, he should get BOOTED ASAP!!!! Dang, Condi as VP, Im getting WET!!!!! She is so great!

We have received more information of the USA's missile network to preempt a missile launch upon Russia and China. Americans are not aware that in a secret agreement between Russia and China reveals that all their missiles are aimed at the mainland USA. Russia and China can never knock out America's missile network but they can do great harm and destruction to America.

Keep in mind the year 2015! Either that year or sooner will be the nuclear holocaust that will alter the world for centuries. Americans still living will see those glorious bombs bursting in air and on land and at sea. There will be contaminated air, water, land, food, and bodies. That, too, will be a glorious scene.

Personally, I sense that America desires such an attack because in the end America is still a winner in defeating Russia and China. Americans who survive can endlessly relish the victory.

One would assume that libs are always failures in life because they are always guilty of premature withdrawal, be it from Iraq or, you know, other places.

Second Thoughts

A former senior U.S. State Department official says he has come to doubt
whether President Bush's administration presented an honest intelligence case for the war in Iraq.
"You begin to speculate, you begin to wonder -- Was this intelligence spun? Was it politicized? Was it cherry-picked? Did in fact the American people get fooled? I'm beginning to have my concerns," Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said.

Wilkerson added that in recent days he's started to question a number of other deeply held personal beliefs, saying he now suspects that Madonna is not really a natural blonde, that many congressional campaign contributions are nothing more than thinly diguised bribes, and that the personal interactions shown on "reality" television shows are often scripted in advance.

"My years spent climbing bureacratic ladders at the Pentagon and in the State Department simply didn't prepare me to deal with such devious behavior," Wilkerson explained. "It's been a shattering experience."

...you know, other places.

You mean Bosnia/Kosovo?

also at Billmon...

Riding With the Bad Boys
U.S. officials have long been concerned about extrajudicial killings in Iraq, but until recently they have refraine