Someone said something about a song for every occaision...

...and I avoided the obvious "Boy in the Bubble"

But I can't resist:

Love Me, I'm a Liberal
By Phil Ochs

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
Of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
As long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crane?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democtratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

[ANSWER...consistently substitutes labels....and mischaracterization of others' views for substantive political debate or problem solving]

Maybe they've been getting tips from O'Reilly. Or the White House.

Robert, 198 last thread. (Sorry, I posted this before I saw the new thread) I read an article about America's apathy towards 9/11. Sibel Edmonds is part of that apathy. I've concluded that people simply don't want to know the truth. There are very intelligent and honest people right on this blog, including David, who believe the official story in spite of the mountain of obvious lies making up that story. Sibel Edmonds has to be kept quiet. If people knew the truth they would feel obligated to get up and do something about it, and that would interfere with Monday night football, or whatever.
WTF, if Faux news says everything's groovy, then it must be true!

Mr. David Corn,

I never thought A.N.S.W.E.R was the answer and was further conviced by your writing.

Truth is truth no matter the flavor of the day!

"I'm not going to say I told you so, but"

You get to say so because you were right.

Thanks!

Kirk

So we are still searching for answers?

Not answers just more distractions, while they erode our civil rights, and take away our freedom. Get ready it is going to get much worse by the time the mid term elections come along. Ever notice that the repugs aren't worried about them? Think they know something we don't? Worried here!!!

WTF, I'm not worried, I've already accepted the inevitable. You have a good plan though!

Everyone has an agenda! American and Iraqi lives are being terminated in a wrong and an immoral war but the agenda is more important than lives.

We seem to be a country where the looney birds control the agenda on the left and the right and lives continue to be terminated.

Examples of looney birds on the right are Bush, cheneygod, fried Rice, lapdog Powell, the dummie named Rummie, the group PNAC, the elites, are some names of looney birds on the right.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. ArticleII, Section 1, US Constitution, that "Goddamn piece of paper". No wonder chimpy wants it to go away.

The far right and the far left are not much different = both looney.

After all, the most prominent antiwar figure these days is Representative Jack Murtha, the conservative and hawkish Democrat. - David Corn

IF this is a statement of fact, how is it so? Only because of the milquetoast press reports. Let's face it, without folks like Cindy Sheehan, Murtha would still just be another appropriator for the war machine, who rarely met a weapons appropriation he didn't like.

Now I know David didn't like A.N.S.W.E.R. before, and he doesn't now. Fine. But to say, "Antiwar Movement (Belatedly) Dumps ANSWER" is to be calling the United for Peace & Justice folks the whole of the Anti-War movement.

On the A.N.S.W.E.R. position on Slobodan Milosovec, this is a really tricky one, one that I don't have clear in my mind yet, but for now, let us suffice to say it is an unusual situation that had us supporting the KLA who in turn were getting fighters, heroin and cash from the Taliban, who we were fighting in Afghanistan. It is complicated, no doubt.

Meanwhile, let's do the usual left-wing circular firing squad.

#6 WTF, with rigged elections in favor of the repugs why should they even worry?

There is a bit more history with A.N.S.W.E.R. - But I assume you are familiar with it.

I would never march with them but my reasons are personal, so not applicable in an objective discussion.

capt

The FairTax Plan

You know how the govt. is always coming up with a cutesy label for another plan to rip us off? Well, this is the king of all those plans!

The FairTax Plan

The FairTax Plan is currently pending in Congress under the name of "The Fair Tax Act of 2005." It is a consumption tax in the form of a national sales tax of 23 percent on new goods and services. Although it would "not be imposed on used or previously owned items," it would apply to all new goods and services: medical procedures, haircuts, new cars, new homes, gasoline, food, medicine, Internet purchases, and electricity. (This tax is actually 30%)

The Problems of the FairTax

Problem #1:The FairTax hides the amount of sales tax being paid.

Problem #2:The FairTax is progressive. Boortz correctly identifies a progressive income tax with Karl Marx.

Problem #3: The FairTax is an income redistribution scheme.

Problem #5:The FairTax creates new taxes.

Problem #6: The FairTax creates new taxpayers.

Problem #7: The FairTax makes it easier for the federal government to raise taxes.

Problem #8: The FairTax makes it easier for state governments to raise taxes.

Problem #9: The FairTax has unknown and potentially huge transition costs.

Problem #10:The FairTax makes certain exceptions while supposedly having none.

Problem #11: The FairTax has great potential for fraud.

Problem #12:The FairTax has the potential to turn thousands of law-abiding Americans into criminals.

Problem #13: The FairTax does not repeal the Sixteenth Amendment.

Problem #14: The FairTax does not eliminate all federal taxes.

Problem #15: The FairTax is not at all about lowering the amount of taxes the government collects.

Problem #16: The FairTax doesn't even begin to address the root of the problem.

Problem #17: The FairTax makes welfare universal.
-------------
Maybe this is how they plan to fund new digital TV's for everyone! If you want to educate yourself on this "new and improved" govt. rip-off, read this. Here is problem 18, this will in no way ease the tax burden for the working poor, it will make it worse.

WTF, in case you missed my post on the previous blog.

Listen Carefully

Please listen carefully to Bush whenever he is asked about not being able to run for a third term. Bush has never responded to the question. I have heard that question asked of him at least three times and he never did respond.

Bush has no intention of ever leaving the WH and I mean never.

WTF, Bush will declare martial law in 2008 and the elections will be suspended.

The Pentagon and the CIA are currently working on plans for another terrorist attack inside the USA. It is uncertain as of now which governmental organization will conduct the domestic terrorist attack so Bush can declare martial law.

#14 Saladin, thank you for a thought provoking post!

2006 super-majority - What to do, what to do?

If they are rigging the elections they will make that move unless the dempublicans are compliant.

Being a progressive will be seditious and any question of the Reich will be prosecutable. Treasonous seditious thoughts will likely be illegal with a death penalty because it is treason to question Caesar er.. um.. Fuhrer .. I mean Bunnypants.

We all might be rounded up for all of our crimes against the state. Consider the verbiage offered by our ineloquent trolls?

Empower the fascist brown-shirts and putting that back into Pandora’s box is nearly impossible.

Prepare for the worst anything less will be good fortune.

capt

"The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it contains until it destroys." ~ Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

We might already be past the tipping point when corporations get billions in tax breaks because they cannot attain perfect profit beyond their wildest dreams as children starve and lack basic medical care.

capt

Gerald, if you could manage to buy "used food" it wouldn't be so bad! Imagine, anyone who performs any kind of service, babysitting, lawn mowing, etc. will become a "revenuer!" And if you fail to collect said tax and give it to the govt. you will officially become a tax dodging criminal! Could they have possibly come up with a more ridiculous plan? And to call it "fair" makes me LOL! 30% is a lot of money, especially if you are looking at heart surgery. I wonder, will health insurance cover that extra cost? And if so, how much will that increase the already unaffordable insurance rates?

I might add that Heinlein characters typically overpaid their taxes so as to avoid attention to their other enterprises that would offend the powers that be.

I think it was Jeanne who said we will become a nation of sharecroppers. I think she hit the nail right on the head!

After Williams, a new dilemma for governor
Next: Gravely ill and blind man, 75, scheduled to die
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Clarence Ray Allen, the next inmate scheduled to die in San Quentin State Prison's execution chamber, may pose a quandary as vexing for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Stanley Tookie Williams.

Allen, who has spent more than a quarter-century on Death Row, is slated to die by lethal injection Jan. 17. He would be the oldest and most infirm prisoner executed in the United States since the death penalty was restored in 1977, according to his lawyers.

Allen, who turns 76 on Jan. 16, uses a wheelchair. An advanced case of diabetes has left him legally blind. He suffered a heart attack Sept. 2.

His lawyers filed a 33-page petition for clemency Tuesday with the governor's office in Sacramento.

"He's the oldest inmate on California's Death Row. ... He's enfeebled," Michael Satris, one of Allen's lawyers, said in an interview. "No prisoner in the state of California has ever been executed at that age.

"It's almost unprecedented worldwide," Satris said. "There hasn't been an execution in this country for more than 50 years of someone as old as Ray Allen."

Several condemned inmates at San Quentin are in their 70s, and more than two dozen are in their 60s.

The state says Allen's deteriorating health is irrelevant.

"He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death, and the law requires that his sentence be carried out regardless of his age or health," said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "It's the same for any other inmate, whether you are sentenced to death or to 10 years in prison. The law requires that you serve your sentence and pay the penalty."
-----------
More proof that the state is run by brain-dead morons! The "guvinator" can kiss that post goodbye.

From: BBC News

No inquiry into 7 July bombings

Aldgate was one of the stations damaged in the bomb attacks
There will be no public inquiry into the 7 July London bombings which killed 52 people, the Home Office has said.
Ministers will instead publish a definitive account of what happened in a written narrative.

The account will include material gathered from intelligence and security agencies and the police.

But some Muslim groups and victims' relatives have expressed anger, saying a wider public inquiry is essential for understanding what happened.
--------------
Tossed into the round file, with 9/11. "This is what WE say happened, and you will believe it!"

Saladin,

It is the same logic that puts the condemned man on a suicide watch, so as to insure that he does not take matters into his own hands and deny the state the privilege of killing him.

I agree David the association between United for Peace and Justice and Answer was not a wise one. But it really did not matter...THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA BASICALLY IGNORED THE ANTI INVASION MARCHES FROM THE BEGINNING. In October of 2002 the first large march in D.C. the media barely covered the tens of thousands of mainstream americans who were there. NPR BARELY TOUCHED THE MARCH.

In the subsequent marches THE MSM would air the 20 people who had black hoods over their heads over and over again. They did not interview the families, the blue collar workers, the teachers, the thousands of vets, the old people in wheel chairs. No the mainstream showed the most radical folks at these marches. We just witnessed this once again with the anti-Bush marches in South america. On Msnbc they showed people kicking in glass windows at banks for 20 minutes not once interviewing any of the 30,ooo people marching who I am sure were a mix of people.

I really am not sure if it matters who put those marches together most of the people there did not know anything about ANSWER'S AGENDA. And the MSM were not showing the rest of the world who was there anyway.

I sure wish you could get back to an issue that is more critical at this time... PHASE II OF THE SSCI...THIS IS YET ANOTHER SERIOUS TOPIC THAT THE MSM IS CONTINUING TO IGNORE

Join Congressman Murtha's Call for a Real Debate on Iraq

"Because we in Congress are charged with overseeing the safety of our sons and daughters when the President sends them into battle, it is our responsibility, our obligation to speak out for them. This obligation has not been met. That's why I am speaking out now.

"I am asking you to join me in demanding a real discussion of the war in Iraq from the U.S. House of Representatives."
-- Congressman John Murtha (PA-12)

http://dccc.org/get_involved/petitions/murtha/

I just got online and I see my name. My ears must have been burning. Yes it was me who wrote that we have become a nation of sharecroppers.
That new tax scheme is a JOKE. The rich pay less in yet another way. The poor pay more. The elderly pay more. The disabled pay more.

My mother just got a call from the county about the perscription drugs my dad will have to start paying for. He has Alzheimers. The woman insisted that he had to pay and would be charged. My mom went to the nursing home and talked to two people who take care of the accounts and both seperately explained to her that my dad did not have to pay. The drug benefit plan is another JOKE. It is impossible to figure out. The most saavy consumers are the elderly and they ain't getting it. Some states have 50 plans. It is way too complicated.

Kathleen, I admire your commitment to this cause, but how serious do you think they will ever get? The survivors of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty are STILL attempting to get a hearing, but all their pleas have fallen on deaf ears, 40 years later. Did you miss the sharon quote I posted on the last thead? Israel literally gets away with murder, and our govt. will NEVER do a damn thing about it. The Liberty is proof positive of that fact.

By the way I went to 5 of the anti-invasion marches in Wash and to 2 marches in New YOrk.

I audio taped over 1000 individuals. The crowds were made up of a real cross section of the american public. Many people were really well informed.

AT one of the New YOrk marches I stayed with the close to 1500 vets marching together. Four of these soldiers were in their 90's they had all served in WWII.
They were amazing and such an inspiration...these are the folks who have been interviewed by the MSM...they did not care who was sponsoring the march...THEY WERE AGAINST THE INVASION...AS WELL AS THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS ACCUMULATIVELY MILLIONS WHO WERE AGAINST THE PRE-EMPTIVE INVASION.....

Jeanne, whatever benefits the govt. claims will come with any new plan, you can count on the very opposite being the reality. I am confident that this new tax scheme will pass, because that will be the straw that breaks the middle class and working poors back. We can all look forward to working for a monthly food stamp card in the near future!

#19 Saladin, we now have Bush and his cabal stressing for us to eat shit. Would shit qualify as used food?

The squabble between UFPJ and ANSWER is between leftists who have different ideas about how to effectively stop imperialism. Corn exploits these differences not on behalf of UFPJ, but on behalf of his own scuzzy agenda, which is a pastiche of Democratic Party opportunism and knee-jerk redbaiting. It boggles my mind how anybody can take Corn or Cooper seriously. They are scribblers who have never organized a demonstration or a strike in their sorry lives. Read about John Reed if you want to find out how a committed journalist functioned. Cooper and Corn are modern versions of Max Lerner in his anti-Communist dotage.

Jeanne, Sorry to hear about your Dad's illness. My Dad has it too. He is in an advanced stage and cannot swallow fluids or food anymore. The end of his 82 year life is near. Its hard to see him go.

Stop the Patriot Act

The "USA PATRIOT Act," meant as a temporary, emergency roll-back of American civil liberties after the 9/11 attacks, may become permanent this week. Senators from both parties are resisting the removal of these freedoms, but they need our support right now.

The only redeeming feature of the PATRIOT Act was that the repeal of these liberties would be temporary. However, now that the expiration date for those restrictions has arrived, Congressional leaders are trying to push through a new version which would extend the lifetime of some of them and make the others last forever.

Tell your Senators not to make the PATRIOT Act's emergency measures permanent. Use the form on the right to take action.

Six senators—¥hree Democrats and three Republicans—°re taking a stand on behalf of our civil liberties. They have announced that they will filibuster the bill when it is brought to the floor this week. This bi-partisan group is urging their colleagues to vote instead for a bill that would give the Congress time to fix the legislation by extending the expiring sections of the PATRIOT Act for three months.

The notion that Congress must rush to act without full consideration of the implications makes less sense now than ever. The responsible step to safeguard our heritage as Americans is to stop the PATRIOT Act re-authorization and provide more time to think this through.

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

Some keyboard activism for those who go in for that sort of thing!

capt

The consumption tax plan will not pass. Social Security reform (aka privitization) will not occur.

The sleeping giant has awoken and we are it.

Saladin...I agree it is frustrating. I do not know if our congress will hold these people accountable...but I will stay committed to this particular issue for the next few years.

I stay on this topic and one other, due to the distracting nature of the media and so many events that are worthwhile. I personally believe that it is important to pick just several issues for each of us to stay focused on. The downfall to so much information is the "divide and conquer" phenomena....

I believe PHASE II is one of the most critical issues that continues to be ignored by the MSM at this time.. HOLDING THOSE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE FALSE INTELLIGENCE IS SO IMPORTANT. I know the LIberty issue is unresolved..but who knows. I will go look at the last thread.

signing off until later tonight....

thanks for all of the work and commitment BY so may people who are truely interested in TRUTH..JUSTICE AND COMPASSION it is an inspiration.

#27 Jeanne, thank you for alerting us to the prescription drug plan that is a big mess for anyone to figure out!!!

kathleen, keep up the good fight!!! I only wish my heart was strong enough to be more actice in justice and peace causes.

#30 Saladin, Bush and his cabal will enslave the masses that is a definite plan from the elitists!!!

Wayne Madsen Reports

December 14, 2005 -- Yesterday, WMR reported on Vice President Dick Cheney's involvement with a Philippine espionage ring operating out of his White House office that provided Philippine opposition figures with damaging classified information on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gleaned from U.S. intelligence sources, including communications intercepts. Cheney was miffed that a company tied to his old firm Halliburton was prevented by Macapagal-Arroyo from employing and recruiting thousands of low wage slaves from the Philippines for dangerous work in Iraq.

Today, there are reports from Manila that a retired general, Fortunato Abat, has illegally named a "transition government" to replace that of Macapagal-Arroyo.

Arroyo-Macapagal was in Kuala Lumpur attending an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at the time of the coup attempt. Last week, the building housing the offices of Macapagal-Arroyo's husband was strafed by gunfire and the leader of a 2003 attempted coup against Macapagal-Arroyo, Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon, was allowed by his military guards to escape from prison and join Abat's forces. Last May, there was yet another military uprising against Macapagal-Arroyo.

U.S.-influenced media in the Philippines is calling for the President to step down, citing dubious opinion polls. It appears that even revelations that Mr. Cheney's "work up" on Macapagal-Arroyo and provision of sensitive U.S. intelligence to Philippine opposition forces did not dissuade him from continuing his plan to topple Macapagal-Arroyo and replace her with a client willing to send Filipino workers back to Iraq. That plan is currently underway in the Philippines and a military government is looming on the horizon.

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

Is there anyone addressing the issues revolving around U.S.-Philipino history/relations?

Alzheimer's disease is known as the long good-bye. You know that death will come but our loved ones will not say good-bye. We will wait for their time schedule and it varies from person to person. It took my mother four years. Seeing loved ones with the disease is very sad.

The odd and troubling origins of today’s anti-war movement

by David Corn

In a telling sign of the organizers’ priorities, the cause of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the taxi driver/radical journalist sentenced to death two decades ago for killing a policeman, drew greater attention than the idea that revived and unfettered weapons inspections should occur in Iraq before George W. Bush launches a war. Few of the dozens of speakers, if any, bothered suggesting a policy option regarding Saddam Hussein other than a simplistic leave-Iraq-alone. Jesse Jackson may have been the only major figure to acknowledge Saddam’s brutality, noting that the Iraqi dictator "should be held accountable for his crimes." What to do about Iraq? Most speakers had nothing to say about that. Instead, the Washington rally was a pander fest for the hard left.

If public-opinion polls are correct, 33 percent to 40 percent of the public opposes an Iraq war; even more are against a unilateral action. This means the burgeoning anti-war movement has a large recruiting pool, yet the demo was not intended to persuade doubters. Nor did it speak to Americans who oppose the war but who don’t consider the United States a force of unequaled imperialist evil and who don’t yearn to smash global capitalism.

This was no accident, for the demonstration was essentially organized by the Workers World Party, a small political sect that years ago split from the Socialist Workers Party to support the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. The party advocates socialist revolution and abolishing private property. It is a fan of Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba, and it hails North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il for preserving his country’s "socialist system," which, according to the party’s newspaper, has kept North Korea "from falling under the sway of the transnational banks and corporations that dictate to most of the world." The WWP has campaigned against the war-crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. A recent Workers World editorial declared, "Iraq has done absolutely nothing wrong."

Officially, the organizer of the Washington demonstration was International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism). But ANSWER is run by WWP activists, to such an extent that it seems fair to dub it a WWP front. Several key ANSWER officials — including spokesperson Brian Becker — are WWP members. Many local offices for ANSWER’s protest were housed in WWP offices. Earlier this year, when ANSWER conducted a press briefing, at least five of the 13 speakers were WWP activists. They were each identified, though, in other ways, including as members of the International Action Center.

The IAC, another WWP offshoot, was a key partner with ANSWER in promoting the protest. It was founded by Ramsey Clark, attorney general for President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. For years, Clark has been on a bizarre political odyssey, much of the time in sync with the Workers World Party. As an attorney, he has represented Lyndon LaRouche, the leader of a political cult. He has defended Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, who was accused of participating in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Clark is also a member of the International Committee To Defend Slobodan Milosevic. The international war-crimes tribunal, he explains, "is war by other means" — that is, a tool of the West to crush those who stand in the way of U.S. imperialism, like Milosevic. A critic of the ongoing sanctions against Iraq, Clark has appeared on talking-head shows and refused to concede any wrongdoing on Saddam’s part. There is no reason to send weapons inspectors to Iraq, he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: "After 12 years of brutalization with sanctions and bombing they’d like to be a country again. They’d like to have sovereignty again. They’d like to be left alone."

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

Agree or disagree I think David detailed his reasons with facts not petty piffle.

capt

"A generation which ignores history has no past and no future." ~ Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988), The Notebooks of Lazurus Long

The Tax Fair Scam

The Death of Children

The Death of Children

Gerald, Sorry to hear about your Mom. You are right, it is the long goodbye. I tell my friends "my Dad doesn't recognize me but he still likes me, so that's a plus" I thought the end would be easier, having endured the loss of him over the last five years. It isn't. My Mom is well and I have six brothers and sisters, three nieces and a nephew. We are close, we'll be there for each other.

ha - the london 7/7 bombings. the powers that be will write their 'official' account, fully ignoring the eyewitnesses who claim that a bomb exploded upward into the subway cabin from BELOW the train - another nail in the coffin of truth.

Bomb Was UNDER
The Train Says Eyewitness
Closest To It

Bush can settle CIA leak riddle,(Robert) Novak says

Rob Christensen, Barbara Barrett, Jane Stancill and Dan Kane, Staff Writers

Newspaper columnist Robert Novak is still not naming his source in the Valerie Plame affair, but he says he is pretty sure the name is no mystery to President Bush.

"I'm confident the president knows who the source is," Novak told a luncheon audience at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh on Tuesday. "I'd be amazed if he doesn't."

"So I say, 'Don't bug me. Don't bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.' "

It was Novak who first revealed that Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA. Wilson had angered the Bush administration when he accused it of twisting intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat before the war.Disclosing the identity of a CIA agent is illegal; the disclosure set off a furor in Washington, resulting in an ongoing investigation by a special prosecutor and the indictment and resignation of Lewis Libby, the chief aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Woodward, a Washington Post editor, recently disclosed that he, too, had been told by an administration figure about Plame's secret identity -- probably, he said, by the same source who told Novak.

Novak said his role in the Plame affair "snowballed out of proportion" as a result of a "campaign by the left."

But he also blamed "extremely bad management of the issue by the White House. Once you give an issue to a special prosecutor, you lose control of it."

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

Does the brain-dead sycophant understand that he is calling the president a liar? Maybe he is trying to get Fitzgerald to call the prez to testify? Of corse Bunnypants knows and has known from the get go, but he lied (as usual) many times about the specific issue.

What an idiot, either way.

capt

#45 Neil, a close family is very important! My wife and I have to contend with neocons. They have a Bible in one hand and an oozie in the other hand.

Cornposters, The Death of Children is a must read article.

When God means to punish a nation He deprives its rulers of wisdom. Linda Schrock Taylor

God is really punishing America big time!!!

I agree with Gerald about the suspension of federal elections due to a state of emergency:: all the signs are there; from a leaked GOP memo claiming that a terror attack would be good for the GOP's fortunes, to quite a few congressional bigwigs stating their beliefs that another false flag terror attack will occur, and the pentagon's unprecedented drawing up of plans for the deployment of U.S. troops on U.S. soil in case of a declared state of emergency -

it put's the lotion on it's skin.

The Emperor Has Spoken

#33
Neil,
Sorry to hear about your dad. No matter what it is hard to see your dad die. It will be hard for me too. My dad is the root that planted me on this earth.

"A generation which ignores history has no past and no future." ~ Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988), The Notebooks of Lazurus Long

Agreed. As I said, this one is a very complicated issue, not one which falls easily into bumper-sticker slogans. I am not suggesting that I have the answers, just that I am posing the questions that seem to be ignored.

In that spirit I present an excerpt from Ramsey Clark's DIVIDE AND CONQUER.

Part II

A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF THE VIOLENT DESTRUCTION OF THE SOCIALIST FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA BY THE UNITED STATES AND NATO

VI With the Economic Collapse of the USSR and Eastern Bloc Nations the US and Several Western European Nations Intervened Internally In the Affairs of Yugoslavia And Its several Republics Supporting Secessionist Movements: 1990-

In November 1990, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation sponsored by the Bush Administration requiring the termination of all forms of U.S. credit and loans to Yugoslavia, if within six months each of the six republics within the federation did not hold separate elections. The purpose was to break-up Yugoslavia, creating an early incentive for secession by Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia. Under the guise of democracy, the US acted directly in the internal affairs of the federation.
This was a technique for regime change the US had employed before and since, most recently in 2003 in Liberia and Venezuela where it has insisted on new elections in violation of national constitutions despite the international certification of the fairness of the election of incumbent presidents.
The history of US attempts and successes at regime change is a history of tragedy for the countries involved. Consider only Iran in 1953; Guatemala in 1954; the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1962; South Vietnam in 1963; Chile in 1970 and 1973; Haiti and many other Western Hemisphere countries over the decades. US intervened in Nicaragua repeatedly in the 1980s and 1990s, effectively stole the country from the Sandinistas by combination of economic warfare, financing the Contras in military insurgency and financing opposition politicians.
In Angola the US demanded elections and a drastic 1/3 reduction in the Angolan Army to prevent intimidation of voters. After President Dos Santos, who was opposed by the US, won re-election by an overwhelming majority, hostile UNITA forces led by Jonas Savimbi invaded and over ran most of the Angola before being stopped. The cost in lives and property was enormous. In Rwanda in 2003 the US supported elections in which opposition parties and candidates were prevented from effective participation resulting in a claimed 95% vote for Paul Kagame to create the appearance of democracy.
At the same time the US legislation demanded separate elections in each of the six republics of Yugoslavia, it provided aid and assistance to Slovenia, Croatia, Muslims and Croats in Bosnia and to Macedonia to build support for secession and to train and provide arms to achieve it.
The US legislation addressed to Yugoslavia also provided that each republic which held independent elections would receive economic aid from the US, again by-passing the federal government in Belgrade and providing a strong incentive for separation. Economic support was specifically authorized for "democratic" organizations within the republics for "emergency humanitarian aid and protection of human rights."
This is a means used by the US to create internal opposition and destabilize governments the US opposes as it does in Cuba among many other places today. It is used against democracies more frequently than other form of government. It is a strategy for regime change that supports those who would take over government, but also supports existing governments challenged by parties, or leaders the US opposes. A US government agency, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) provides millions of dollars to frustrate self determination in countries where the US has an interest in elections.
Such unilateral interventions are destructive of sovereignty, independence, self determination and peace. They should be the subject of international criminal sanctions. US funding specifically and openly targeting the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was used to support secessionist movements in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia while the US acted in direct opposition to the federal government of Yugoslavia.
The same legislation directed US representatives in international financial and trade organizations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to use their influence to have those institutions adopt the same policies. This brought the enormous economic power of international finance into the service of US policies of political and economic subversion and discouraged unilateral support, loans, trade and investment for Belgrade from abroad.
The legislation was designed to bring about the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Germany, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and other European countries following the US lead, joined in the threat of the economic isolation of Yugoslavia by February 1991, unless multi party elections in each of the constituent republics were held promptly.
Arms were shipped to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia from European countries. Private funds were raised in the US and with public funds sent to the northern Yugoslav states for arms, supplies and training to enforce secession. On March 5, 1991, a federal army base at Gospic in Croatia was attacked.
The United Nations and its members seeking peace, political and economic independence and sovereign equality should have acted to preserve the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In the 1990s, forgotten were the dismemberment of Yugoslavia during World War II, the slaughter of its peoples and its heroic resistance far exceeding that of any nation wholly occupied by Axis forces. The re-emergence of Yugoslavia from the devastation of World War II strong, independent, and progressive, able to avoid domination by the East, or West during the Cold War, a leader in the non-Aligned and forty-five years of peace confirmed the viability of Balkan federation and its necessity for peace in Europe, east Asia, the Middle East and the larger region

Half-Trillion Dollars

We are approaching $500 billion for three years of the Iraq war. With at least a 20 year occupation for now that means the cost for this war will approach $7 trillion. I must revise my earlier forecast of $2 to 3 trillion for 20 years. I should always realize that there are unintended consequences to wars.

Now I ask all the men to unzip their pants and piss on the people of New Orleans and the other Gulf communities. Bush and his cabal have just finished pissing on these communities and it is now our turn.

I'm surprised that anyone really cares about this - the average person in this country has no idea what ANSWER is. What should be pointed out to the average person though - and done loudly on the big media - is that while The Shrub has just said he "accepts responsibility" for the invasion of Iraq, he qualifies it by adding "based on faulty intelligence". In other words Bush is saying "I accept responsibility, but the CIA’s info was wrong so it’s not my fault.” This is absolute nonsense. The decision to go to war is the responsibility, and it is also the president’s responsibility to make sure he’s right in doing so. There is concrete proof that reports from the intelligence agencies to the president cast sufficient doubt on so many aspects of the Iraq war and the events leading up to it that make it clear Bush had no clear justification for invading, and no reasonable expectation for an acceptable outcome. The more I reflect upon The Shrub’s actions in office, and compare them to the charges against Saddam Hussain, the more I feel that the only difference between the two is geographical. Hussain preemptively invaded another country, and his military killed thousands of innocent people because some of them opposed his rule. Under Bush’s orders, the US preemptively invaded another country, and by his own admission 30,000 Iraqis have died because some of them opposed his rule of their country. If Bush wants to say he accepts responsibility for the Iraq war then he should prove it by accepting *FULL* responsibility. He should immediately resign as president, and go before an international court to defend his actions. Above all, the few people who are willing to take a stand against the right-wing media onslaught should stop fighting among themselves, stop pointing out (or even acknowledging) the weaknesses of those that agree with them (for whatever reason) and keep hammering hard on the real issues in words that the average American can understand. The President launched a preemptive war in violation of international law. The President’s administration has colluded with US industries to defraud the American government and people. The President’s administration has violated US laws to get revenge against those speaking out against it. The President’s administration has instituted a de facto police state - imprisoning US citizens without charges and holding them indefinitely without charges. The President’s administration has violated the Geneva Convention by taking prisoners during combat and holding them indefinitely, while refusing the Red Cross the right to visit them. If this is a “War on Terror” then they must be “Prisoners of War”. If it is not “War” then they are not under the jurisdiction of the US and must be returned to their home countries. The President’s administration has publicly advocated the use of torture on terror *suspects*, in spite of torture being against international law, in spite of conclusive studies that show that torture is not an effective method for getting accurate information, and in spite of the fact that those being tortured would not have been tried and have not been found guilty of any crime. The President’s administration has apparently been keeping “terrorism suspects” in secret prisons around the world, spiriting people away like the Soviet Union used to, without trial. The President’s administration is leading the country to economic ruin with massive budget and trade deficits, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and cutting benefits for the poorest. The Bush administration is the most evil and corrupt government since the downfall of the Soviet Union - maybe even since Nazi Germany - and at least half of the US public (including the media) are going along with it all like cattle to the slaughter. This is what should the public should be hearing - day after day, hour after hour. If the Neo-Cons can keep telling lies until the public believes them, then someone should be telling the truth over and over until the public believes it.

How's this for supporting the troops? From Military.com...

TRICARE Fee Increase

Defense Department officials have drafted plans to raise TRICARE enrollment fees and deductibles sharply over the next three years for military retirees under age 65 and their families, about three million beneficiaries.

If the changes touted by senior Defense officials are adopted, annual enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the military’s managed care option, would triple by October 2008 for working-age retired officers and double for enlisted retirees.

My father in law is only lucid on rare occasions. Mid-nineties (maybe even late 97?)

The most sad thing, he had a DNR due to numerous health issues, had a trip to the ER (about 5 years ago) the middle of the night and the Dr. did not know about the DNR and installed a pace-maker! ARGH!

The worst thing these days is he get all emotional and weeps for little or no reason. Very hard on his wife.

Setting it up now for a 3-4 day a week hospice.

It is very sad and a very long good bye.

Peace and love to all that suffer and the families that suffer with them.

capt

My father in law is only lucid on rare occasions. Mid-nineties (maybe even late 97?)

The most sad thing, he had a DNR due to numerous health issues, had a trip to the ER (about 5 years ago) the middle of the night and the Dr. did not know about the DNR and installed a pace-maker! ARGH!

The worst thing these days is he get all emotional and weeps for little or no reason. Very hard on his wife.

Setting it up now for a 3-4 day a week hospice.

It is very sad and a very long good bye.

Peace and love to all that suffer and the families that suffer with them.

capt

#54
Amen. I'm with you.

Putin Calls Russia Defender of Islamic World

Sorry for the above, all the carriage returns got removed in posting. Here it is again in a more readable form.

-=-=-=-

I'm surprised that anyone really cares about this - the average person in this country has no idea what ANSWER is.

What should be pointed out to the average person though - and done loudly on the big media - is that while The Shrub has just said he "accepts responsibility" for the invasion of Iraq, he qualifies it by adding "based on faulty intelligence".

In other words Bush is saying "I accept responsibility, but the CIA's info was wrong so it's not my fault."

This is absolute nonsense. The decision to go to war is the responsibility, and it is also the president's responsibility to make sure he's right in doing so. There is concrete proof that reports from the intelligence agencies to the president cast sufficient doubt on so many aspects of the Iraq war and the events leading up to it that make it clear Bush had no clear justification for invading, and no reasonable expectation for an acceptable outcome.

The more I reflect upon The Shrub's actions in office, and compare them to the charges against Saddam Hussain, the more I feel that the only difference between the two is geographical. Hussain preemptively invaded another country, and his military killed thousands of innocent people because some of them opposed his rule. Under Bush's orders, the US preemptively invaded another country, and by his own admission 30,000 Iraqis have died because some of them opposed his rule of their country.

If Bush wants to say he accepts responsibility for the Iraq war then he should prove it by accepting *FULL* responsibility. He should immediately resign as president, and go before an international court to defend his actions.

Above all, the few people who are willing to take a stand against the right-wing media onslaught should stop fighting among themselves, stop pointing out (or even acknowledging) the weaknesses of those that agree with them (for whatever reason) and keep hammering hard on the real issues in words that the average American can understand.

The President launched a preemptive war in violation of international law.

The President's administration has colluded with US industries to defraud the American government and people.

The President's administration has violated US laws to get revenge against those speaking out against it.

The President's administration has instituted a de facto police state - imprisoning US citizens without charges and holding them indefinitely without charges.

The President's administration has violated the Geneva Convention by taking prisoners during combat and holding them indefinitely, while refusing the Red Cross the right to visit them. If this is a "War on Terror" then they must be "Prisoners of War". If it is not "War" then they are not under the jurisdiction of the US and must be returned to their home countries.

The President's administration has publicly advocated the use of torture on terror *suspects*, in spite of torture being against international law, in spite of conclusive studies that show that torture is not an effective method for getting accurate information, and in spite of the fact that those being tortured would not have been tried and have not been found guilty of any crime.

The President's administration has apparently been keeping "terrorism suspects" in secret prisons around the world, spiriting people away like the Soviet Union used to, without trial.

The President's administration is leading the country to economic ruin with massive budget and trade deficits, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and cutting benefits for the poorest.

The Bush administration is the most evil and corrupt government since the downfall of the Soviet Union - maybe even since Nazi Germany - and at least half of the US public (including the media) are going along with it all like cattle to the slaughter.

This is what should the public should be hearing - day after day, hour after hour. If the Neo-Cons can keep telling lies until the public believes them, then someone should be telling the truth over and over until the public believes it.

#56
Capt,
Those DNRs are hard to deal with. I'm sure you know all about them. If the doctor doesn't have the paperwork he has to treat the patient. There are certain guidelines the doctor and anyone working with the patient must adhere to. Hajji probably knows more about it. It is something everybody should understand.

#49 James Ha, there are a couple sayings, such as "look at the fine print" and "look between the lines or spoken words." Bush, his cabal, and his followers believe that he is God's messenger to kill off the people that he desires who are unfit to be part of the New Order. Please go to Your Christian President website and read the article Brothers and Sisters Awake.

#54
Hussain preemptively invaded another country, and his military killed thousands of innocent people because some of them opposed his rule.

you're referring to kuwait, yes? I'm not sticking up for saddam, but I was under the impression that he invaded kuwait(with the unofficial permission of the U.S.) because kuwait was slant-drilling across/under their border and extracting Iraq's oil - am I correct in this assumption? anybody?

Brothers and Sisters Awake

James Ha, #63,

I second that. Not only that,
the slant-drilling equipment - HALLIBURTON.

And wasn't Kuwait supposed to become a democracy or something...?

#54 James Ha, you are right Bush, elder, made a deal with Saddam Hussein and he reneged on it. He also made a deal with the Kurds to attack Saddam Hussein and America would help the Kurds. He reneged on that deal. Now Saddam Hussein is on trial because Bush, elder, lied throw his forked tongue.

Gerald, reading between the lines seems to be the only way to learn things nowadays -

when I said 'it puts the lotion on it's skin', I was referring not to you my friend, but to John Q. Public in general; the sheople who don't believe that a police state is being implemented on us step by step, one degree at a time -

Saddam Hussein & the invasion of Kuwait

Direct negotiations were begun in July 1990, but they were destined soon to fail; along with reassurance from the United States making a claim that they would not get involved (the famous meeting of Saddam Hussein with April Glaspie, the United States Ambassador to Iraq, on the 25th of July, 1990). This was the go ahead that Hussein needed.

Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 1, 1990, but that session resulted only in charges and countercharges. A second session was scheduled to take place in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, but Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day.

Iraqi troops overran the country shortly after midnight on 2nd August 1990. The U.S. fell short on its claim to not get involved and instantly declared interest in keeping Saudi Arabia safe.

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

We gave him the wink wink nudge nudge. The Kuwait border dispute and oil ownership bassed on borders imposed by the Brits goes back to the British occupation.

No time now. Does anybody need anything from the store?

capt

halliburton again? of course.

#54 is a good post but I meant to post the number 63 and directly to James Ha.

if you say Halliburton backwards it sounds like "I am the anti-Christ" or is it the Carlyle Group said sideways?

#68 James Ha, if the people would open their eyes, they would see the transition in America from a democracy to a fascist state. We are too far along on the road to fascism to ever turn back. In 2008 Bush will be be a full fledged dictator. It is is already etched in stone.

Merry Christmas

Here is my Christmas saying for all the Cornposters.

Those we love are the snowflakes of life. None are the same, each is beautiful, and all bring something special to our world.

Merry Christmas to all, may there be peace on earth and good will toward men!

Robert #38

Here is a link to a brief history of the Filipino-US relations along with a link to a democracy now segment from three years ago discussing current relations.

It focuses on US Imperialism in the Philippines early on at the turn of the 19th century and the efforts to reestablish the military influence in the region. It has been viewed as gateway to Asia for both economic and military advantages, and a way to further US foreign policy.

http://www.historyguy.com/PhilipineAmericanwar.html

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/033244

Hope this is some of what you are looking for; I've got to get back to work and will see what I can come up with later.

Robert #38

Here is a link to a brief history of the Filipino-US relations along with a link to a democracy now segment from three years ago discussing current relations.

It focuses on US Imperialism in the Philippines early on at the turn of the 19th century and the efforts to reestablish the military influence in the region. It has been viewed as gateway to Asia for both economic and military advantages, and a way to further US foreign policy.

http://www.historyguy.com/PhilipineAmericanwar.html

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/033244

Hope this is some of what you are looking for; I've got to get back to work and will see what I can come up with later.

Tikbalang

Thank you for the links. I wasn't quite asking for information, I was asking who was including the Philipine situation in their analysis of world affairs, and that is the ANSWER coalition.

But, the links provide a background to what I was saying.

War is a dirty business, the torturous death of countless innocents. If we want to preach about that, we are most effective, when we step before our nation with clean hands. That always includes those with whom we choose to associate.

The ANSWER coalition are a bunch of fruitcakes. I know, I have spent time around them. I bothered to get off my fat ass and go to the rally on September 24, and ANSWER was just one of a great many organizations who showed up to protest Bush's campaign to turn the United States into some sort of plutocratic medievil serfdom. I think it would be great if the Democratic party and the press were actually doing thier job we would not have to wait for moonbats like ANSWER to organize opposition to an immoral and illegal government. Your piece about the Anti Bush rally still sucked Mr. Corn. Wether or not you were right about ANSWER you were wrong about everything else. So save your "I told you so " for the rest of your rich gas bag friends over in D.C. I wish I could use your hot air to pay my medical bills and get my buddies back fom Iraq. Since I can't, I will show up at the next anti- Bush rally, even if it hosted by Tom Cruise and the scientoligist's. All of your writing did not do jack shit to prevent Bush from being elected the last two times. If you elitist clowns continue to bash people who care about and are trying to save thier own country, I can promise you another four years of big business, war mongering, poor people hating, politicians running our nation into the ground in 2008. I will gladly say "I told you so".

Hey,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't David Cornwhole the FIRST to print Valerie Plame's name? MERRY CHRISTMAS, LOSERS!!!!

Or...the Anti-Bush Left vs. the Anti-American Left. Credit (albeit late) for UFPJ...

But a question- are the "anti-war" types against our actions in Afghanistan as well, or only Iraq? If not Afghanistan, wouldn't fair-mindedness dictate that, even as they disagree vociferously w/ the Bush Admin over Iraq, they credit the Bush Admin for the changes in Afghanistan?

Nah, true believers can never credit 'dem evil Neo-KKKon Repukes, right?

For an anarchist perspective on this subject go to Bill Weinberg's article here: http://www.ww4report.com/node/1337

We are approaching $500 billion for three years of the Iraq war. With at least a 20 year occupation for now that means the cost for this war will approach $7 trillion. I must revise my earlier forecast of $2 to 3 trillion for 20 years. I should always realize that there are unintended consequences to wars.

Now I ask all the men to unzip their pants and piss on the people of New Orleans and the other Gulf communities. Bush and his cabal have just finished pissing on these communities and it is now our turn.

We are approaching $500 billion for three years of the Iraq war. With at least a 20 year occupation for now that means the cost for this war will approach $7 trillion. I must revise my earlier forecast of $2 to 3 trillion for 20 years. I should always realize that there are unintended consequences to wars.

Now I ask all the men to unzip their pants and piss on the people of New Orleans and the other Gulf communities. Bush and his cabal have just finished pissing on these communities and it is now our turn.