Mr. David Corn,

"But if he had been merely engaging in rhetorical excess, perhaps he should admit that--and his future statements can be judged accordingly."

I have always thought Lowry was full of it.

Great post! Buckley has obviously made a mistake. He is not in lock step and will likely be attacked from those crazy neoconmen. There are some distilling the con out of the neocon. I cannot believe it has taken this long.

Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

"commander in chief who is willing to stretch the truth"

Kind of odd hearing the author of "The Lies of GW Bush" back pedal to a willingness of the CIC to stretch the truth?

Is it getting to dangerous to call a spade a spade and a liar a liar if the liar is the CIC?

Have the Reich-wingnuts beaten you down until you can no longer use the word lie? Euphemisms are a social grace in conversation but in the political arena they come across as double-speak.

Either way, I think you get the prize for the funniest understatement you have made in a long time.

capt

David, just like the trolls who come here spewing out irrational rhetoric, Lowry has nothing else but insults and name calling, there is and never was any benevolent rationale for this war, it was always based on lust for power and money. Saddam may have been a tyrant but he was OUR tyrant, officially installed and armed by these good ole United States, paid for by John Q. Public and laid low when he stepped out of line by dumping the petrodollar in favor of the Euro. Lowry can answer this question, of all the cruel dictators in the world, why was saddam, a tinpot leader of a faraway country decimated by 10 years of santions, chosen as the baddest of the bad guys and given top priority as the harbinger of a mushroom cloud? And a better question, why did most of congress fall for such blatant bullshit?

whoops, sanctions.

The respected W. Buckley says:

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed.... speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samara and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that "The bombing has completely demolished" what was being attempted..

Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven't proved strong enough. No doubt they are latently there, but they have not been able to contend against the ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols.
===================================================
Patience is not a Western virtue and perhaps will NEVER BE. One thing the passing years since Bush took office is that clearly, the Iraq War is part of the overall global War on Terror; just as Bush & Co. said it was after 9/11. Belatedly, Europe now knows that it is part of this War whether Old Europe has any troops in Iraq or not.

Buckeley is entitled to his past Skepticism and current Pessimissm/Defeatism. But he, and others that are to his left, perhaps have forgotten that it took Korea (with continuing US Troop presence) over two decades to evolve from a dictatorship to a full blown democracy, something similar in time for Thailand to evovle into a constitutional monarchy, Taiwan (with direct US military support) also took decades, Japan took almost 100 year (with US Military presence), etc... Why do critics expect Iraq, with its additonal complications of religion and ethnicity, to take as little time as between one or two of our election cycles?

This article is a good brief on the fundamental beliefs of modern conservative thought and an interesting profile of some noteworthy intellectuals in the conservative movement. The fight over how this country is governed is not fought only at the ballot box.
____________________________

Point Man for the 'Fifty-Year Project'

For decades conservatives have viewed America's university system as a dangerous cradle of radicalism. Frank Chodorov, founder of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), was among the first to propose a campaign to assert right-wing influence over universities as a central tactic in the conservative movement's grand strategy.

"What the socialists have done can be undone, if there is a will for it," Chodorov wrote in his 1962 autobiography, Out of Step. "Individualism can be revived by implanting the ideas in the minds of the coming generations.... It is, in short, a fifty-year project."

(read on) ...Princeton Tilts Right

Here's some more conservtive thought for your pleasure...

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
-Cardinal Bellarmine

David,

A swift kick to the testicles of M.Lowry, please, from those of us who watch our children go off to facillitate this insanity.

Not only do we speak out of fear for the lives and well-being of our own kids and others', we speak out so the world may know that such actions are hardly the will of the American people!

We've been supporting out troops personally, intimately while simultaneously cursing the men and women who have power to stop the madness, but stand like silent eunichs as the powers that be loot and shame our nation.

So please, a little "rochambeaux", fom Jill and I, next time!

-T

Oh, Vanity! To presume to fathom the well-spring of a Lowry or a Buckley, or trace the machinations of their art. Permit them one moment of privacy, sir, so they might prepare some civil explanation for the sopping bed clothes. You see, Buckley was enjoying some lemonade in bed, when Lowry uttered something hilarious.

O'Reilly,

To quote a former WCOG Pastor, just before his "retirement"...

"C'mon! We ALL know where babies, even baby Messiahs come from, don't we?"

-T

It's Usually About Money

Now, a respected Arab journalist does not believe that America's hostility to Iran has anything to do with the bourse, scheduled to open in March. Her reason for that statement is that she is sure Bush has no understanding whatsoever of world financial affairs. I tend to agree with her. I think our hostility toward Iran is made in the same place our hostility toward Iraq was made – in Israel.

Nevertheless, we as Americans should be more concerned about the fate of the dollar than the fate of Iran or Israel. The present monetary system, based on a fiat dollar and a privately owned central bank misnamed the Federal Reserve System, is a handy way to rob the American people of the fruit of their labor.

Even creeping inflation that we have suffered since World War II in effect steals money from our paychecks, our pension checks, our savings accounts and our insurance policies. Many years ago, when I bought a $10,000 life-insurance policy, $10,000 was a good sum of money. Today it will buy about $2,000 worth of goods and services. The federal process of deficit spending and monetizing the debt has stolen the remaining $8,000.

The federal deficit and the huge trade deficits do mean something. They mean we are heading for big trouble that we won't be able to bomb our way out of.

More HERE

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

Each and everyday our nation borrows money to service the growing debt. We are digging the hole deeper. This is not managing the economy this is economic suicide.

capt

Don from last thread, agreement is not necessary, my opinion is just that, an opinion. bushco might as well be from another planet, their tactics and behavior are totally alien to the histoty of this country. That just goes to show that surface labels work, the people are fooled and the damage is done. Call them republicans, neocons, christians, conservatives or whatever, none of those titles means a damn thing, it's just window dressing.

only 21 more shopping days until the proposed iranian oil bourse!

as always, click my name to view the informative video 'LOOSE CHANGE 2nd edition'

Exaggerating the case for war is not the reason our Iraq adventure has failed. I opposed the war from the start but it's possible we could have attained the secondary goal of establishing a stable democracy there, if Bushco had not done everything possible to bungle the post-war period. A partial list of errors:

--Failure to secure known munitions areas, resulting in at least 280 tons of conventional munitions falling into the hands of insurgents

--Treatment of Iraq citizens as criminals. House-to-house searches, arresting people in the middle of the night without cause, detaining thousands based on little or no evidence against them.

--Torture

--Attempt to install Chalabi as Hussein's successor

--Failure to prevent looting in the early days and general lawlessness since then (apart from insurgents and coalition deaths, Iraqis are contending with sky-high crime rates.)

--Development of 14 permanent bases in Iraq, giving the appearance that we are staying for a long time.

--Torture

--Shutting down anti-coalition media (Muqtada al-Sadr rose to prominence after his little newsletter was shut down, leading to the Fallujah violence.) and bombing al-Jazeera's offices.

--Disrespect for Islamic culture, typified by the Quran-in-the-toilet episode.

--Multiple episodes of hair-trigger guards killing Iraqi citizens and others at checkpoints

--Torture, and Bushco defense of torture

As I say, this is a partial list. Even if there had been WMDs a-plenty, it would not have changed the situation we now face. If anything, the botched execution of the war is stronger evidence of Bushco's negligence, cruelty and incompetence than their push to go to war in the first place.

40 florida voting machines recorded votes cast 2 weeks early - '04 election

Pasting Buckley [and all other patriots who advocate phased troop redeployment] as a "DEFEATIST" is akin to pasting "stay the course" advocates as "IMPERIALISTIC BLOOD-LUSTING MURDERERS."

I don't buy either characterization but notice who picked up the rock first.

It is my sincere hope Iraqi's are better off than four years ago. We, for our part, have spent a national treasure of $300 billion dollars including over 2500 American and 100,000 Iraqi lives. (I wonder, has our elective war of preemption killed more Iraqis in three years than Saddam Hussein did during his reign of thirty?)

I don't think we lost this war, I think we won. We disarmed Hussein of his nuclear weapons and other WMDs. We stayed to keep security while Iraqi's formed a government. Now, it's reasonable to ask the question: At what point does the security of the Iraq government and the Iraqi people become an Iraqi responsibility? Take the question literally. It's a policy question, not reasonably delegated to field commanders.

UH, WHAT nuclear weapons and WMD's did we disarm him of? I must have missed that headline.

Sal, It happened at night when the embedded journalists were sleeping.

OH. :-)

My point about "disarming" Iraq was to reference the original intent, AKA the mission. Disarming Hussein was the mission. It has been "accomplished." Now the conversation about 'mission accomplished' reasonably includes discussion of redeployment.

Is it me, or is it incredible that the media does not ask the President these questions EVERY SINGLE DAY?

That's the liberal press for ya, constantly picking on our glorious leader!

Patricia Goldsmith: 'One nation, under psy-ops'

Tom Blackburn: 'Friendly criticism can be torture: British blunt about U.S. tactics at Guantanamo'

Sometimes, your friends have to tell you that you are wrong. Unless you were in Britain the past two weeks, you may have missed what Sir Andrew Collins said about us in his courtroom.

What he said was: "America's idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilized nations." That stings, and it wouldn't sting if it weren't true.

Sir Andrew is a 63-year-old judge, which the British call a justice, on the high court but which is not the highest court. He is well-known, not least for infuriating Tony Blair's home secretary, David Blunkett, with his rulings. Like someone we know, the Blair government doesn't bear up well to being told by judges that it is breaking the law. But when governments break a law, who else will tell them?

More.

ReddHead from Firedoglake is on AirAmerica at 2pm EST.

Click here to go there

He's Welcome in Pakistan
By Ahmed Rashid
The Washington Post
Sunday 26 February 2006

Lahore - When President Bush lands in Islamabad later this week, it may be the closest he ever comes to being in the same neighborhood as Osama bin Laden. His nemesis is probably only a few hours drive away in Pakistan's Pashtun belt, now considered to be al Qaeda Central and one of the world's most dangerous regions.

During the past 12 months or so, CIA and Pentagon officials have quietly modified the line they employed for three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - that bin Laden was hiding out "in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border." Now the same officials say with some confidence that he is "not based in Afghanistan." Whatever ambiguity there was in the past is gone: Bin Laden is in Pakistan.

What's left is the question: What are the United States and its ally, Pakistan, doing about it?

Not enough, according to high-ranking Afghan, Pakistani and Western officials I've spoken to here. Indeed, the disastrous policies of the United States and Pakistan, starting with the aftermath of the war in 2001, have only hastened the radicalization of northwest Pakistan and made it more hospitable to bin Laden and his Taliban allies. The region has become a haven for bin Laden and a base for Taliban raids across the border back into Afghanistan which they had fled.

Not that you'd be able to tell any of that from what Bush administration officials have been saying. Almost everything the administration claims about the al Qaeda leader is tinged with bravado and untruthfulness. "We are dealing with a figure who has been able to hide, but he's on the run," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this month. Here in Pakistan, however, the view is different. Bin Laden is not considered to be on the run, but well protected by friends who are making his life as comfortable as possible.

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

So, just how deep are the ties between ISI and CIA, and the Taliban, and, and.................

O'Reilley #16

[I wonder, has our elective war of preemption killed more Iraqis in three years than Saddam Hussein did during his reign of thirty?]

The answer is no. Respectable human rights groups generally agree that Hussein was responsible for 300,000 Iraqi deaths, not counting those killed in his war with Iran.

The number of Iraqis killed by coalition forces might be around 100,000 but that estimate usually comes from opponents of the war. Even Bush acknowledges there have been at least 30,000 deaths and presumably there are many deaths that have not been counted. Whether the true number is 50,000 or 100,000, Hussein still deserves the title Butcher of Baghdad.

Hussein still deserves the title Butcher of Baghdad. - eggman

That begs the question, "whose butcher?"

The Ba'athists were installed primarily to counter a leftist trend in Iraq, and Hussein was an asassin of Communists...

Have been busy with some other political activism. I know I appreciate being able to come to the Corn site, for many like minded people.

Although it is always refreshing to find many like minded people out there in middle america. I have been out on the streets again with americans audio taping. It is amazing to hear what people are thinking...first hand.

Many folks are really pissed off ( I was in malls) about the PERSISTENT LYING THAT HAS COME OUT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. I really believe Congressman Strickland will be elected Governor in Ohio this fall, and if Diebold is not in control of the votes, Ohio will flip to the Democrats in 08..

Here is the latest e-mail from our dear friend Peggy Gish with the Christian Peace Maker Team who has been serving in Iraq for over 2 years. Her statements confirm what some have speculated..that the U.S. has had influence in these bombings.

Sure is fascinating how the U.s. military has done little to stop the violence.


Resistance to Sectarian Violence
24 February, 2006
By Peggy Gish
?

An Iraqi human rights worker was interviewing members of our team for her radio show, when we heard the news. The Shia Al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, had been heavily bombed early that morning. All around Iraq, groups of angry men gathered to march and protest or retaliate by attacking Sunni mosques and leaders.
?

We heard that gun-battles had erupted in many Baghdad neighborhoods. Police began to close bridges. In a neighborhood where Iraqis of Palestinian origin live, two rocket-propelled grenades exploded. We talked on the phone with a Christian priest who had been injured in his leg by shrapnel when a group of men shot into the church building. We canceled later appointments for the day. Everywhere people were fearful that this would escalate into sectarian war.
?

Out on the streets people lined up at food shops to stock up supplies before they closed for the three ?days of mourning? declared by Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari. He called on Iraqis to ?close the road to those who want to undermine national unity.? Ayatollah Sistani called it ?Black Wednesday and called for seven days of mourning. We bought an extra supply of food, water, and phone cards and then limited our going out the rest of the day. Some of us were able to use the limited electricity to send quick messages back home, asking friends and family to join us in prayer for the situation.
?

?The following day was calmer, but reports of the widespread violence were sobering. Sunni organizations said that ten Sunni Imams had been killed and 168 Sunni Mosques had been attacked. The forensic morgue in Baghdad received 80 new bodies, and in areas east of Baghdad, 47-50 were killed. Even in the next day?s curfew, sporadic violence continued.
?

The news that did not get widely circulated, however, was the many actions to demonstrate and foster unity. On Wednesday, Sunni and Shia marched together from the Al Mansour neighborhood to the Khadamiya district in Baghdad calling for peace. In another Baghdad neighborhood Shia residents protected a Sunni mosque. Sistani urged Shia not to attack Sunni Muslims or their holy places. ?Muqtada Sadr also called for an end to the sectarian violence and commissioned the Mehdi Army in Basra to go to the Sunni mosques to protect them. The Iraqi people generally agree that they have had enough and want to get on with their lives.
?

Many here believe that those who bombed the shrine were trying to incite more division and hatred between Shia and Sunni. Some Iraqis speculate that this was encouraged by U.S. leaders in order to discredit the Jaaferi government to pave the way for putting in leaders more supportive of U.S. policies. One Iraqi neighbor told me that behind this are all the leaders, Iraqi and American, who want to use this to grab more power.
?

Sectarian violence has the potential of causing horrendous damage to Iraqi society. We are encouraged, however by the resistance here to that, among the leaders as well as the Iraqi people.

CURFEW, February 25, 2006
by Allan Slater
?
You may know that Baghdad was under a day time curfew on Friday, February 24. ??Our neighbours told us that it was imposed to prevent large crowds from gathering at mosques.? People were prevented from moving between communities, especially in cars.
?
At first we were a bit apprehensive about venturing out, not knowing what sort of curfew enforcement might be in place.? It was a beautiful spring day without the normal pall of pollution.? From the roof we could see that our neighbours were enjoying the sun out on our street.? I walked down to join in a conversation with our friend Abdul and four other neighbours.? They were discussing the various points of view being expressed about the recent violence.? I am sure they were worried but they were in a jovial mood, talking about who might be benefiting from all the violence.
?
I walked on down to our main street.? It is normally jammed with cars.? There were almost none to be seen.? Most shops were closed.? The mood could only be described as festive.? People were strolling with babes in arms and toddlers at their sides.? Groups of people were chatting.? The actual street had been taken over by boys playing soccer and boys careening by on their bicycles equipped with radios blasting out loud music.
?
The spirit of these people never ceases to amaze me.? They are able to summon up the hope and courage to face each day as it comes.? When they are handed even one day of blessed relief from the chaos and violence they sure know how to make the most of it.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

When I hear about confrontations between pharmacies and their patrons who are denied the opportunity to buy the medicine (such as birth control) because the pharmacy has decided the medicine is immoral, I'm tempted to conclude the people running the business are complete crackpots.

But the more I read about the fundamental beliefs of conservative thought, the more I understand how these crackpot decisions are consistent with their beliefs.

The concept 'natural law' seems to justify a 'moral correctness' that 'authorizes' them to subject (inflict) their moral standards on others in business practices and law. This is the face of the culture war. The results are no more and no less the diminution of your personal rights. Here's a case in point:

WAR ON BIRTH CONTROL

IN SPITE OF THESE FACTS: "Researchers estimate that widespread use of EC (emergency contraception) could potentially prevent up to half of the approximately 3 million unintended pregnancies that occur annually in the U.S., and one study has suggested that broader use could help prevent as many as 700,000 pregnancies that now result in abortion. - Kaiser Family Foundation."

Last year, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (who believes that "The Pill" is the same thing as an abortion) chose St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin to serve as the Chair of the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners. Martin is now receiving national publicity, but it's not for any effort to modernize the City of St. Louis' elections system. Instead, Martin is being featured for his role in trying to restrict women's access to birth control.

In today's Washington Post, Martin is quoting talking about the national effort to restrict access to emergency contraception and the pill. "Basically, every state now has an effort going to either make Plan B more easily available or to slow it down or make sure that pharmacists don't have to dispense if they oppose it," said Edward R. Martin, a lawyer and lobbyist with Americans United for Life, who has helped put together some of the proposed "conscience" clauses.

Read on (link)

American Soldiers

2,560 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

Actor Dennis Weaver dead at 81

Wow, that's 3 of my favorites right in a row. If I didn't know better I'd be wondering if this wasn't a mass exodus!

Is the situation in Iraq better or worse now than it was a year ago?
Worse 73%
Better 12%
No change 11%
Don't know 5%
Total Votes: 79,252

Do you think the U.S. should send more troops to Iraq?
No 73%
Yes 18%
Maybe 9%
Total Votes: 65,719

Should the U.S. quickly pull troops out of Iraq?
Yes 56%
No 32%
Maybe 12%
Total Votes: 36,073

Do you think the U.S. can use diplomacy to defuse Shiite-Sunni tensions?
No 70%
Maybe 19%
Yes 12%
Total Votes: 35,029

Do you think the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq?
No 71%
Yes 23%
Maybe 6%
Total Votes: 34,015

Should the National Guard and Army Reserve be expanded, as authorized by Congress?
Yes 48%
No 44%
Not sure 8%

Would expanding the guard and reserves improve disaster preparedness?
Yes 39%
Probably not 23%
Probably 20%
No 18%
Total Votes: 43,515

#26 Are you serious? You want to argue about who killed more Iraqi civilians? What's your rationale: The US killed fewer Iraqi civilians than Hussein so we hold the moral high ground?

Iraqi Civilian Deaths Increase Dramatically After Invasion

Civilian deaths have risen dramatically in Iraq since the country was invaded in March 2003, according to a survey conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Columbia University School of Nursing and Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. The researchers found that the majority of deaths were attributed to violence, which were primarily the result of military actions by Coalition forces. Most of those killed by Coalition forces were women and children.

David you stated in your latest post "What about Francis Fukuyama, the end-of-history intellectual who recently slammed the neo-cons (with whom he once allied himself) in the New York Times Magazine?

As I pointed out on your blog on Feb.21 Francis Fukuyama continues to participate in a big way with the neo-cons. Unless you do not call being on the Libby Defense Fund Advisory board being involved with the neo-cons.

Fukuyama presently serves on Libby's defense fund committee. I do not call that "with whom he once allied himself".

LIBBY LEGAL DEFENSE TRUST.....ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Ambassador Mel Sembler Chairman
Mel Sembler is the Chairman of the Board of the Sembler Company, a real estate and shopping center development company. He served as United States Ambassador to Italy under President George W. Bush from 2001 through the summer of 2005.

The Honorable Spencer Abraham
Spencer Abraham is Chairman and CEO of The Abraham Group, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC. After being nominated by President-elect George W. Bush, Spencer Abraham was sworn in as the tenth Secretary of Energy in United States history on January 20, 2001

Mr. Lawrence E. Bathgate II
Mr. Bathgate is the senior partner at Bathgate, Wegener and Wolf, attorneys-at-law, Lakewood, NJ. The firm represents many domestic and multi-national corporations in a variety of business-related matters.

The Honorable Wayne Berman
Wayne Berman is a Principal at the Federalist Group. He also was the founder of Berman Enterprises, a business development consultancy that merged with the Federalist Group in January 2004.

Ambassador Stuart Bernstein
Stuart Bernstein was sworn in as Ambassador to Denmark on August 16, 2001 and served through January 2005. As Chairman of the Bernstein Companies, Stuart Bernstein was a recognized leader in real estate development, investment and management in the Mid-Atlantic region, with the focus of his business efforts centered in Washington, DC.

Ambassador Richard Carlson
Richard Carlson is Vice Chairman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism. He has experience in journalism and diplomacy and is a former United States Ambassador.

Mr. David Flaum
Mr. Flaum is a leading real estate developer in upstate New York and is the founder and CEO of Flaum Management Company, Inc. of Rochester, New York.

Mr. Steve Forbes
Forbes is Editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. Forbes was a candidate in the U.S. Presidential Republican primaries in 1996 and 2000.

Mr. Sam Fox
Sam Fox is chairman, chief executive officer, and founder of Harbour Group, Ltd., a privately owned company with a remarkable record of success in acquiring and building high-quality companies.

Professor Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama is Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University, and the director of SAIS’†International Development program.

Mr. Shelly Kamins
Mr. Kamins is a Washington area real estate developer, venture capital investor and a long-time Republican activist.

The Honorable Jack Kemp
Former Vice-Presidential candidate, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Congressman from New York, Jack Kemp has been one of the nation’≥ leading advocates for strong economic growth, free markets and lower tax rates.

The Honorable Jeane Kirkpatrick
Former United Nations Ambassador Kirkpatrick was called ҡ giant among the diplomats of the worldӠby former President Ronald Reagan.

Ambassador Howard Leach
Howard Leach was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to France on July 16, 2001. He arrived in Paris on July 17, 2001, and presented his credentials to President Chirac on September 4, 2001.

Professor Bernard Lewis
Professor Lewis is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University and the author of The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; The Emergence of Modern Turkey; The Arabs in History; and What Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, among other books.

Ms. Mary Matalin
Mary Matalin served as assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney from January 2001 through January 2003, and was the first White House official to hold that double title.

Frederic V. Malek
Fred Malek is Chairman of Thayer Capital Partners, a Washington D.C. based merchant bank. Mr. Malek formed Thayer Capital Partners in 1993 to acquire operating companies of divisions of larger companies.

The Honorable Bill Paxon
A member of Congress from 1989 to 1999, Bill Paxon played a key role as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee in electing and re-electing the first House Republican majorities since the 1920s.

Ambassador Mercer Reynolds
Ambassador Mercer Reynolds III is the co-chairman of Cincinnati-based investment firm Reynolds, DeWitt & Co., and Chairman and CEO of Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Georgia.

Ambassador Dennis B. Ross
Ambassador Dennis B. Ross served as Special Middle East Coordinator, from 1988-2000, playing the leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and in dealing directly with the negotiations.

The Honorable Alan Simpson
Alan K. Simpson served as a Senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997. From 1985 to 1995 he was Republican Whip in the Senate and also served as Chairman of the Veterans’†Affairs Committee.

Mr. Allan Tessler
With a specialization in the area of turnaround financing, Mr. Tessler combines extensive management experience with proficiency in corporate and securities legal matters.

The Honorable Fred Thompson
A former United States Senator from Tennessee (1994-2002), former prosecutor and accomplished film and television actor, Thompson currently appears in the Emmy Award-winning drama series Ҍaw & OrderӠas the District Attorney.

The Honorable R. James Woolsey
Former CIA Director, R. James Woolsey joined booz Allen Hamilton in July 2002, as a Vice President and officer in the firm's Global Assurance practice located in McLean, Virginia.

Mr. Michael Green, Trustee
Michael Green is a partner in the Washington, DC office of the law firm Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP.

Posted by: kathleen at February 21, 2006 04:54 PM

24

Saladin, I am really sad to hear the news about Dennis Weaver. This guy was an amazing enviromentalist/activist.

I was able to hear him speak at an enviromental conference called "Windstar" in Aspen Colorado. His dedication to the enviroment was infectious. He walked his talk, by promoting recycled materials in homes. He had built several homes completely out of recycled materials in southern Colorado. He also (along with his wife) donated time and money to enviromental issues.

What a loss for our planet and our nations conscience.

100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, says study

Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday October 29, 2004
The Guardian

About 100,000 Iraqi civilians - half of them women and children - have died in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of airstrikes by coalition forces, according to the first reliable study of the death toll from Iraqi and US public health experts.

______________
100,000 Dead In Iraq
(link)
"The risk of death was estimated to be 2-5 fold higher after the invasion when compared with the pre-invasion period," notes the story in The Lancet. Extrapolating from this data to the nation as a whole, that translates into a minimum of 100,000 war dead among civilians, the researchers said...

"Indeed, the study directors believe the estimate of 100,000 deaths may be conservative. (Fallujah, for example, was not counted due to the extreme level of violence in that city.)

Graduates versus Oligarchs
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times
Monday 27 February 2006

Ben Bernanke's maiden Congressional testimony as chairman of the Federal Reserve was, everyone agrees, superb. He didn't put a foot wrong on monetary or fiscal policy.

But Mr. Bernanke did stumble at one point. Responding to a question from Representative Barney Frank about income inequality, he declared that "the most important factor" in rising inequality "is the rising skill premium, the increased return to education."

That's a fundamental misreading of what's happening to American society. What we're seeing isn't the rise of a fairly broad class of knowledge workers. Instead, we're seeing the rise of a narrow oligarchy: income and wealth are becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small, privileged elite.

I think of Mr. Bernanke's position, which one hears all the time, as the 80-20 fallacy. It's the notion that the winners in our increasingly unequal society are a fairly large group - that the 20 percent or so of American workers who have the skills to take advantage of new technology and globalization are pulling away from the 80 percent who don't have these skills.

The truth is quite different. Highly educated workers have done better than those with less education, but a college degree has hardly been a ticket to big income gains. The 2006 Economic Report of the President tells us that the real earnings of college graduates actually fell more than 5 percent between 2000 and 2004. Over the longer stretch from 1975 to 2004 the average earnings of college graduates rose, but by less than 1 percent per year.

So who are the winners from rising inequality? It's not the top 20 percent, or even the top 10 percent. The big gains have gone to a much smaller, much richer group than that.

A new research paper by Ian Dew-Becker and Robert Gordon of Northwestern University, "Where Did the Productivity Growth Go?," gives the details. Between 1972 and 2001 the wage and salary income of Americans at the 90th percentile of the income distribution rose only 34 percent, or about 1 percent per year. So being in the top 10 percent of the income distribution, like being a college graduate, wasn't a ticket to big income gains.

But income at the 99th percentile rose 87 percent; income at the 99.9th percentile rose 181 percent; and income at the 99.99th percentile rose 497 percent. No, that's not a misprint.

More.

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

But, Americans keep chasing the "Dream", you, too, can make it to the top.

"But, first you must learn to smile as you kill..." - John Lennon

from DEN's #411 on the last thread...

The Pope, who grew up facing the evils of Hitler and Stalin, knows evil when he sees it.

You post alotta good stuff DEN, but that wasn't one of 'em. The new pope was actually a nazi soldier! The quote above from the article insinuates he was fighting against such evil, when he was clearly part of it.

My repetitive success smacking down you liberal loonitics is a fete-cmplee and now very boringsome. You should all get jobs and move out of your mothers basement. For once in your life, be a patriot and support your president. Now, I have to go make lots and lots of money.

fait accompli or faux accompli?

Alan, the article referred to Pope John Paul.....Sal chastized me a bit for that one too. She doesn't like the catholic church any more than I do. I thought it was interesting article and might provoke a response and it did.

Troll is projecting again.

LBH: "My repetitive success smacking down you liberal loonitics (sic) is a fete-cmplee (sic) and now very boringsome (sic).

You are one sic little cretin. Do you even have a native language?

It's about time people from various political persuasions are engaging in a more serious debate (critique?) of bush's War of Choice in Iraq.

But, David, Rich Lowry is not likely to engage in self-critical reflection. Afterall, he is a moral agent for the cause. He undoubtedly is one of those "thinkers" who believes that our violence is less wrong than "theirs." Lowry believes as many neo-cons do, that real power is shown in the military defeat of enemies, because they see diplomacy or attempts for mutual understanding as "doing nothing." Real power, to them, is not expressed in preventing military conflict, but in using it, even it if means creating instability in the process.

So don't hold your breath waiting for Lowry to alter his position, or eat his words.

James, you're #13... is that a NEW version of that video? Or is the one I've seen?

Alan, the article referred to Pope John Paul...

The quote from it I posted was talking about the NEW pope.

Make the Case for Impeachment!

The President of the United States should not be sending people to be tortured overseas. He should not be illegally spying on U.S. citizens, and he should not be lying to the American public to lead us into war. I urge you to join me, the Center for Constitutional Rights and a growing number of your fellow Representatives in calling for an investigation into the impeachment of President George W. Bush.

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

Some keyboard activism.

capt

#44 Micki you hit the nail on the head... Although I support David for rubbing Lowry's nose in his own hypocritical crap.

Whatha hell? Rude mo/fo, nobody would ever hit one of your links from here just cause you force it on us. The web gods swept it off the last time, and will do the same. Quit wasting your time, dipshit.

A joke from David Letterman:

Osama says we will never get him alive. That’s probably true. He’ll die of old age is more like it.

I'm so sorry Mr. Corn that you have been rattled. It seems to happen quite often now to sane people who actually demand reason. Yes, as Saladin said a few threads back, we should all be standing on our rooftops and yelling. Forego the imagery of New Orleans.

It won't stop. They think they have a handle on the total control thing. They keep lying and lying. You wrote a well-needed book on this.

Did anyone hear that Chertoff is trying to slam the airline industry, it's in USA Today. This is the administration's way of getting our attention away from Bush's port deal. It's just all smoke and mirrors, all the time, isn't it? I think, certainly in this blog, we are writing about what we expect the next president to do. And I think we have reached a consensus. NO MORE BULLSHIT!

The other day I sent the link to Bill Moyers' speech, to the Nick Lampson campaign manager. (Nick Lampson is running against Tom Delay here in Texas) He had seen what I sent before, but emailed back anyway to thank me, and to keep sending anything anyway, in case he hadn't seen it before. That was nice of him. So anyway, I just got a reply on the Bill Moyers speech and they hadn't seen it.
"Thanks alot for the tip off and help."

hey hey

Kathleen @49: #44 Micki you hit the nail on the head... Although I support David for rubbing Lowry's nose in his own hypocritical crap.

Kathleen, I agree with you and support David, too, for challenging Lowry.

We live in a time when lies are accepted. The politics of lying is undermining intelligent discussion and deliberation. We need a better "language" before we can beat back the bushies -- I wish someone would come up with the perfect mix of words that explained CLEARLY AND CONCISELY what this corrupt politics is doing to our country and the world...something to grab the people!

Any ideas?

DEN 41, I didn't intend my comment to be taken as a chastisment, I was just making a observation. I understood which pope you were referring to, my comment was about the church in general. Did you know the papacy was considered the anti-Christ from the late 17th century through the early 1900's by the early prostestant reformers? I guess that's what happens when you go around torturing people into seeing things your way.
I have happy news, my daughter Rachael called me this morning to let me know my third grandson is preparing to make his entrance into the world. This has cheered me up considerably and I wanted to share it with all my friends here on the Corn blog.

Camp Casey and Germany

Congratulationss Sal!!!!! #3? wowser!

Back to the Pope, the Catholic Church lost my attention after spending 8 years in Catholic School, made it thru un-molested. Nuns beat the crap out of me though, mean nasty and vicious.

Saladin,

A grand-baby is something else, entirely! I've grown to treasure every moment of my all-too infrequent time with Allie B.! Allie will be welcoming a baby sister this spring...working title is "Libby".

Love 'em like every day is your last and then love them for a million tomorrows!

-T

The Samarra Bombing and its Aftermath: A New Face on the Civil War?

"...The bombing and the spike in violence afterwards provides the latest proof of the failure of the U.S. military occupation to bring security, let alone "democracy," to the people of Iraq. The declared U.S. strategy of training an Iraqi counter-insurgency military force to replace U.S. and "coalition" troops (not to mention the U.S. effort to enforce "security" in Samarra by surrounding it with a huge earthen wall) is a failure. A Congressional decision to pass the administration's latest supplemental spending bill authorizing about $62 billion for the Iraq war (especially for training Iraqi troops) would represent a complete acquiescence to this utterly failed policy."

"...me know my third grandson is preparing to make his entrance into the world..."

YAY! I'm sending my CONGRATS toooo!
My daughter Randi is just beginning that journey. The doc says she's 8 weeks preggo. I have a grandson coming up on 2 yrs from my other daughter Stefani.

#57 Hey, Grandma! I'm glad to *see* you smile! Best to you, Rachel, baby and all the family!!

A Great Article

ooops -- and it was right in front of me!
Rachael...

DEN,

12 years at Holy Family, here. Had one priest, late in school who became a pretty good friend. Camping, paddling,(in a BOAT, you naughty boy) etc... He tolorated our penchant for breaking the rules and we showed him where all the cool caves were.

He was one of the first to admit that the whole thing might well be revealed to be a sham, someday and that the most reasonable course would be to live according to the golden rule, karma, whatever it took to be good to other humans and good to Gaia, mother earth, etc...

-T

Trained Demolition Experts Blew the Shiite Mosque in Samarra
Source: Bellaciao
URL Source: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10638
Published: Feb 27, 2006
Author: Mike Whitney
Post Date: 2006-02-27 13:33:56

The AFP is reporting that the bombing of the Golden Domed Mosque "was the work of specialists" and that the "placing of explosives must have taken at least 12 hours."
Construction Minister Jassem Mohammed Jaafar said, "Holes were dug into the mausoleum’≥ four main pillars and packed with explosives. Then charges were connected together and linked to another charge placed just under the dome. The wires were then linked to a detonator which was triggered at a distance."

Clearly, the bombing was not carried out by rogue elements in the disparate Iraqi resistance. This is the work of highly-trained saboteurs and bomb-experts who were executing a precision-demolition to incite sectarian violence. The blast bears all the hallmarks of a covert Intelligence agency-operation.

Who benefits from such a vicious attack on the foundations of Islamic identity and culture?

Henry Kissinger summarized the current Iraq strategy best when he offered his remedy for the ongoing conflict between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s. Kissinger said blandly, "I hope they kill each other."
--------------
kissinger is a disgusting creature.
The Muslims are not falling for this.

Drewp #43

Sorry to disappoint you drewp, but post #39 was not me. I have not posted here since last Friday.

I will no longer post here, I've already had my fun and now must get back to reality. Just in case anyone uses my name and email address again in the future(cowards).

Good luck to all you Cornnuts in trying to get Bush impeached or whatever it is your trying to prove. I'm sure you'll still be here 2 years from now still pissing and moaning about life under Bush. Also, good luck with next years election, you're going to need it!

Farewell & Good Luck and Good Night!

Thanks everyone, I am both happy and hopeful while at the same time concerned for the future being created for all these beautiful, bright-eyed babies. I told my daughter it's all her fault my hair has begun to go gray, I'm only 43, that's not supposed to happen til I'm like, 80! Or so I thought.

Finally, we know who the chief is?

I know whatcha mean, Saladin. I don't know what I'll do if I EVER start to go gray!

-T

The Case for Impeachment
Why we can no longer afford George W. Bush
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006. An excerpt from an essay in the March 2006 Harper's Magazine. By Lewis H. Lapham.

A country is not only what it does, it is also what it puts up with, what it tolerates. Kurt Tucholsky

Mr. Lapham makes an excellent case.

This article is right on the money

Moment of Truth

Congrats Saladin!

There are going to be some smart and savvy kids in the generation right behind us that will be good and honest and they will clean up some of the mess our generation has made of things.

Maybe they will find America again.

Happy news!

capt

Gerald, I read that article this morning. As you know that is one of my top 5 major rants!

Saladin, #57 very funny. Yes, but don't get me started on The Church. I just now finished reading the weekend's thread. I live in San Diego on the coast in La Jolla. It sounds like you live in wine country. My glasses just broke so I'm handicappped for the moment.

A very interesting article

Congress Poised to Pass Bill Taking Away Right to Know What's in Your Food
Source: OCA
URL Source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/labeling.cfm
Published: Feb 27, 2006
Author: Ronnie Cummins
Post Date: 2006-02-27 15:10:22

Tell your Congressman or Congresswoman to vote "No" on House of Representatives Bill H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act"

The House of Representatives will vote this week on a controversial "national food uniformity" labeling law that will take away local government and states' power to require food safety food labels such as those required in California and other states on foods or beverages that are likely to cause cancer, birth defects, allergic reactions, or mercury poisoning. This bill would also prevent citizens in local municipalities and states from passing laws requiring that genetically engineered foods and ingredients such as Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) be labeled.

The House will vote March 2, 2006 on a bill that would gut state food safety and labeling laws. H.R. 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food Act," lowers the bar on food safety by overturning state food safety laws that are not "identical" to federal law. Hundreds of state laws and regulations are at risk, including those governing the safety of milk, fish, and shellfish. The bill is being pushed by large supermarket chains and food manufacturers, spearheaded by the powerful Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Big food corporations and the biotech industry understand that consumers are more and more concerned about food safety, genetic engineering, and chemical-intensive agriculture, and are reading labels more closely. They understand that pesticide and mercury residues and hazardous technologies such as genetic engineering and food irradiation will be rejected if there are truthful labels required on food products. Industry-sponsored H.R. 4167 is gaining momentum and must be stopped! Act now! Preserve local and regional democracy and protect yourself and your family from unsafe food by sending an email or calling your Representative and urging them to vote "No" on H.R. 4167.

Please Take Action Now--Send a Message to Your Congress Member in the House of Representatives to Vote "No" on H.R. 4167

And please call your Congress Member at 202-224-3121
-----------
GOD how I HATE this "of the money, for the money" govt!!!

"There is nothing like a newborn baby to renew your spirit - and to buttress your resolve to make the world a better place." ~ Virginia Kelley

Why do you journalists have to get personal? Can't you disagree over an issue without calling the other guy a traitor, or a terrorist, or disloyal? If the war is wrong, is is wrong because it was based on multiple deceptions. Period. Troops die in combat. That is what war is about. Let's cut our losses and get out. We are already the joke of the civilized world.

Carey, we have a good friend in La Jolla! I am in Bishop, far away from wine country, in the high desert at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mtns. If you aren't familiar with it you may recognize the town of Mammoth Lakes, a big ski resort about 25 miles north of us.

Saladin, congrats on the new grandbaby. I only have granddogs, grandcats, grandferrets and that's fine with me. Neither of my kids are married or have any kids, or plan to have any and they're in their 30's.

T, sounds like you lucked out, I was turned off about school because of the Nunzillas.My parents thought they were right to pound on me if I misbehaved, been misbehaving ever since. Take no priznors!! ARRRR!

Carol, I hate to say it but that might be a very wise decision on their part. God only knows what will be left for the coming generation and I have a bad feeling it won't be pleasant. I feel so lucky to have grown up where and when I did. Thanks for the comment.

#31
I love Dennis Weaver. *sad face*

OMG the Humanity of it all!!!The Forest Service is outsourcing SMOKEY THE BEAR!!!! Is nothing sacred? Read all about it.

Twelve years of Catholic school for me. I came out ok; I don't go to church and have nothing but disdain for organized religions everywhere.

Sal #70

When I told my mom that my wife was pregant she looked at me and said that I better start buying her hair coloring right away. Dont worry about the gray hair. Im 34 and have a 10 year old and a two year old. I have been noticing my hair getting gray.

anyway congrats.

DEN, I could never understand their penchant for abuse, and what's up with the self flagellation? And the celibacy? And worshipping Mary, and all the fancy garb, the tons of money, the overt idolotry, something I understand is strictly forbidden in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. Where did they come up with the idea of limbo and pergatory, it isn't found anywhere in the bible, who made that stuff up? I know there are a great many good and honest people who are members of that church, but I could never understand what the attraction is to worshipping under the mandate of fear of hellfire and eternal damnation, that turns me RIGHT off! And why would a just and loving God extort worship in such a way? It doesn't make sense to me. It makes him sound more like a tyranical dictator than a loving, benevolent creator. Or maybe that's just me.

# 80 Saladin, our Nazi government wants to kill off her Nazi citizens!

#37
Every college student should read this column. I think many understand and no longer buy into the "I will get rich with the right degree" dream. It's a stupid dream that benefits no one.

Congrats Sal! I have a grandson just over 2 yrs and now a 4 mon. grandaugter. As much as I love them I constantly worry about their future.

Carol, I think your children made a wise decision.

Sal, I think you will find at the beginning of the Catholic Church they adopted the Jewish philosopy for a base and modified everything....except the GUILT! They DO circumsize infants which they apparently liked for the abuse aspect. The insist that everone has to SUFFER, which is not very much like Jesus would have done, stand up, kneel down, sit, kneel down, stand, sit, pew aerobics. Go to confession then everything is ok till next week. Repeat prayers over and over and over, supposed to make a better person out of you, more sheeple if you ask me.

Sal,
Wow! I am happy for you.

Jeanne, remember that movie Duel where he was being chased by the semi-truck driver from hell? That was one of my fav movies when I was a kid and he was always one of the greats to me. I grew up watching Gentle Ben.
Carol 89, ditto!
Paul, thanks for the sentiment. I've been vacillating on the hair color notion, maybe I should just color it all gray and get it over with!

Andrea, thank you, it's good to hear from you!

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." ~ Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

Nazi America is on the verge of outsourcing Nazi America to other countries. No jobs will be here for our children and their children. Wake up you stupid Nazi Americans!!!

Gerald, I tend to agree with you. The religious right whines and cries over abortion and birth control but doesn't make a peep when this sort of overt health threat to all is announced. Maybe if it was approached as a risk for unborn babies they would raise a stink!

For me the greatest experience is the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the receiving of the Eucharist.

#101 Saladin, the religious right are hypocrites. If they really cared about the unborn, there would be help for mothers and their babies instead of cutting funding for mothers and their children. Hypocrisy reigns supreme in Nazi America. Names for Nazi America are Murder Incorporated and Hypocrisy Incorporated.

Nazi America is a barbaric police state that is intent on killing off 90% of her citizens.

The Great Amen! When the Eucharistic Minister says, "This is the Body of Christ," I respond as I receive the Body of Christ with an AMEN! Amen for the Bread of Life! The Eucharist means Life, eternal Life!

The glory of God is man fully alive. St. Irenaeus! When I receive the Eucharist, I become fully alive!

Two-Thirds in U.S. Back Abortion Rights

Angus Reid Global Scan) –†Many adults in the United States believe this is not the proper time to review the country’≥ abortion legislation, according to a poll by Gallup released by CNN and USA Today. 66 per cent of respondents would not like to see the Supreme Court overturn its landmark 1973 decision.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling gave American women the right to an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and regulated the procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health." In the third trimester, a state can choose to proscribe abortion, except when necessary "for the preservation of the life or health of the mother."

Last month, a legal memorandum showed that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito apparently favours overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling. In 1992, Sandra Day O’Éonnor—¥he justice Alito would replace—∂oted against rescinding the 1973 decision that legalized abortion. Alito has said the document reflects his role as a lawyer, and not the way he would vote on specific issues if and when he joins the Supreme Court.

On Jan. 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8—≥trictly along party lines—¥o send Alito’≥ nomination to the Senate for full approval. Democratic Massachusetts senator John Kerry has called for the use of the filibuster—•xtending debate to prevent an actual vote on the nominee.

Polling Data

Would you like to see the Supreme Court overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision concerning abortion, or not?

Jan. 2006 / Jul. 2005

Yes, overturn
25% / 28%

No, not overturn
66% / 63%

No opinion
9% / 9%

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

In spite of the lack of MSM coverage on the issue two thirds do not support overturning Roe v. Wade.

capt

Dennis Weaver was in those made for tv movies that were so good. He was .....
Peter Falk was Columbo.

My husband just said "Oh Tommy..Dennis Weaver...the truck guy died." Spielberg's first movie he directed.

McCloud.

He was Chester Good in Gunsmoke. My husband remembers the craziest things.

Afghanistan Prison Riot 25000 Protest in Pakistan

The Bush administration cannot even control the al-Qaeda operatives it has in prison! Much less the many walking around free because Bush wasted our resources on an Iraq War instead of polishing off al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, the furor over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad has not died down. Some 25,000 pretested in Karachi on Sunday.

Many Muslims are convinced that the caricatures of the Prophet and the attack on the Askariyah Shrine in Samarra were both US plots against Islam.

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

If we are not responsible for the chaos we are responsible for not stopping the chaos. Command Codpiece has the lose - lose plan.

capt

February Monday 27th 2006 (23h56) :
Ray McGovern says US in most danger ever, from its own government.
Bellaciao

A former officer himself, McGovern declared that the unprecedented movement towards a martial law mentality within government and military is a deeply unsettling one and that the US is hurtling toward a dictatorship.

"As I look at the top Pentagon brass, I have to conclude that unlike my days as a US army officer, those folks have been so politicized that if the US President told them to go ahead and exercise police functions in this country they would go ahead and salute and they would do it, and that’≥ really scary."

Moving on to the "war on terror", 27 year veteran McGovern concurred that staged terror has long been used by our governments in order to forward their own agendas at home and elsewhere:

"There’≥ lots of evidence that the government in the past has used these things for its own purposes, for overthrowing governments, as it did in Iran in1953 , and in Guatemala in1954 , the Gulf of Tonkin was a little different...LBJ did deceive Congress and the war went on for seven years."

Concerning 9/11 McGovern declared that although he is still in two minds, he is deeply suspicious of the official version of events and "there is certainly a cover up." The amount of unanswered questions and blatant lies told by Cheney and the NeoCons makes it very easy for him to believe the government was involved.

Moving on to the recent Askariya mosque bombing in Samarra, Iraq McGovern commented;

"The main question is Qui Bono? Who benefits from this kind of thing? You don’¥ have to be very conspiratorial or even paranoid to suggest that there are a whole bunch of likely suspects out there and not only the Sunnis. You know, the British officers were arrested, dressed up in Arab garb, riding around in a car, so this stuff goes on."

Ray McGovern is part of a collective of former Intelligence officers who call themselves Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). Their writing can be found on www.truthout.com
-------------
Chalk another one up for our side. More than anything else, lying indicates guilt, and is bushco ever guilty!

#107
If that gets overturned it will start revolution in this country. The youth will understand just how much the neocon christian group is trying to control everyone's lives.

"Exit Strategy"
by Barry R. Posen (link)

The United States needs a new strategy in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. The war is at best a stalemate; the large American presence now causes more trouble than it prevents. We must disengage from Iraq?and we must do it by removing most American and allied military units within 18 months. Though disengagement has risks and costs, they can be managed. The consequences would not be worse for the United States than the present situation, and capabilities for dealing with them are impressive, if properly employed.

Some people argue that the United States should disengage because the war was a mistake in the first place, or because it is morally wrong. I do not propose to pass judgment on these questions one way or the other. My case for disengagement is different: it is forward-looking and based on American national interests. The war as it has evolved (and is likely to evolve) badly serves those interests. A well-planned disengagement will serve them much better by reducing military, economic, and political costs.

Let us consider the facts of the case: Read on (link)

Dennis Weaver won the Emmy for Gunsmoke 1959.

Capt,
Democracy Now had a good segment on the afghani prisons. No legal reprsentation and terrible touture. When you couple that with Sal's article on post 112 you have a very frightening picture.

From #114,

"On the whole, the assertion that the announcement of a definite date for the disengagement of American ground troops would be favorable to the insurgency is simply speculation. But administration officials, who do not wish to admit their mistakes and develop a new strategy, make this argument to silence debate and discourage systematic analysis."

********

Very good article and the above really does sum it up in a nutshell.

Thanks

capt

38 Years Ago Today...and what have we learned?

Published on February 27, 1968 by CBS News
"We Are Mired In Stalemate..."
by Walter Cronkite/CBS News' Who, What, When, Why

Tonight, back in more familiar surroundings in New York, we’d like to sum up our findings in Vietnam, an analysis that must be speculative, personal, subjective. Who won and who lost in the great Tet offensive against the cities? I’m not sure. The Vietcong did not win by a knockout, but neither did we. The referees of history may make it a draw. Another standoff may be coming in the big battles expected south of the Demilitarized Zone. Khesanh could well fall, with a terrible loss in American lives, prestige and morale, and this is a tragedy of our stubbornness there; but the bastion no longer is a key to the rest of the northern regions, and it is doubtful that the American forces can be defeated across the breadth of the DMZ with any substantial loss of ground. Another standoff. On the political front, past performance gives no confidence that the Vietnamese government can cope with its problems, now compounded by the attack on the cities. It may not fall, it may hold on, but it probably won’t show the dynamic qualities demanded of this young nation. Another standoff.

We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds. They may be right, that Hanoi’s winter-spring offensive has been forced by the Communist realization that they could not win the longer war of attrition, and that the Communists hope that any success in the offensive will improve their position for eventual negotiations. It would improve their position, and it would also require our realization, that we should have had all along, that any negotiations s must be that—negotiations, not the dictation of peace terms. For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate. This summer’s almost certain standoff will either end in real give-and-take negotiations or terrible escalation; and for every means we have to escalate, the enemy can match us, and that applies to invasion of the North, the use of nuclear weapons, or the mere commitment of one hundred, or two hundred, or three hundred thousand more American troops to the battle. And with each escalation, the world comes closer to the brink of cosmic disaster.

To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy’s intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.

This is Walter Cronkite. Good night.

#69 "I will no longer post here...Farewell & Good Luck and Good Night!"

and goodbye.

#57 Congratulations Sal. You must be thrilled. I don't have grandchildren but my mother tells me they're great: You can love them and enjoy their company and when you're ready for some peace and quiet, send them home.

ignoring trolls whose only interest is to provoke annoyance works. Good riddance!

Thanks O'Reilly, unfortunately I won't have a lot of time with him because they live 800 miles away, I get up there as often as I can, but since my daughter works she's unable to vist me much. We do the best we can. I take whatever I can get.

119

#69 "I will no longer post here...Farewell & Good Luck and Good Night!"

and goodbye.
____________________
Unfortunately, he will surface under a different incarnation. We were supposed to feel insulted that he "left." Not!

All The World's A Stage

by Dennis Weaver

Though millions recognize Dennis Weaver for his roles in the long-running television series Gunsmoke and McCloud, the most important work of his life has not been performed in front of a camera. Since the early 1980s, he has dedicated himself to serving humanity and the environment. Now, Weaver shares the story of his life-his childhood and military years, his career as an entertainer, and his more recent success as a spokesperson and role model for social and environmental concerns. His ultimate goal: to remind us that only through collective spiritual growth, and understanding the interrelationship of all living systems, will humanity consciously step forward to preserve our world for future generations

Hello Everybody, This is Bob again. I just have one thing to say to you human folk. DON'T EVER FEED YOUR PET CHOCOLATE. Well I got to go run to the bathroom again. Baaah, Bob out!

Congrats Saladin..let's keep trying to make this a better world...oh at times it is oh so discouraging.

Tonight on Msnbc's Olberman Francis Fukuyama was on as a guest coming down hard on the neo-cons. He said that one of the the biggest mistakes "was the over-militarization of the means of spreading democracy".

When Laura O'donnell asked him what he thought other neo-cons were thinking or saying about him Fukuyama replied "they are probably sharpening their knives as we speak."

I still do not know how he can have it both ways. Francis Fukuyama is presently serving on the advisory board for the "LIBBY LEGAL DEFENSE TRUST" ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

Saladin,

My heartfelt congratulations to you and your daughter. I have yet to become a grangpa but I might as well be already. On 5-26-05 my son Mark was born. 2 days later, I took my 7 year old, Daniel, to my 18 year old son, Tyler's, graduation. My 14 year old son, Tanner, joined in the festivities. I was really feeling my age that weekend!

As for going gray, luckily for me, my hair is going gray from roots out. When I want to get rid of my gray, I get a haircut! A short haircut!

That should be not from the roots out!

#44 "Rich Lowry is not likely to engage in self-critical reflection. Afterall, he is a moral agent for the cause. He undoubtedly is one of those "thinkers" who believes that our violence is less wrong than "theirs." Lowry believes as many neo-cons do, that real power is shown in the military defeat of enemies, because they see diplomacy or attempts for mutual understanding as "doing nothing." Real power, to them, is not expressed in preventing military conflict, but in using it, even it if means creating instability in the process."

Touche micki.

I hope folks will take the time to call or e-mail their representatives about this critical issue. Aipac's conference is coming up on March 5th they will be lobbying hard for military action in Iran and for isolating the Palestinians even further. PLEASE TAKE ACTION

Tell Your Representative to Vote Against H.R. 4681

[http://www.cnionline.org/images/cnititle.gif]

CNI ACTION ALERT:

Tell Your Representative to Vote Against H.R. 4681

Anti-Palestinian Legislation Gains 68 Co-Sponsors

Date: February 22, 2006

Send a message to the President and your congressional representatives urging them to support Palestinian democracy and oppose H.R. 4681, the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006," a bill that would cut off U.S. aid and diplomatic ties with the Palestinians.

With the swearing in of the new Palestinian legislature on Saturday, the United States, in tandem with Israel, moved on several fronts to isolate and punish Palestinians for voting for Hamas in a democratic election:

- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has embarked on a three-country Middle East tour to lobby Arab governments to end all aid to the Palestinian Authority. Instead of support for an "isolate and punish" policy, her meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister was greeted by a call for allowing Palestinians "time to develop their own ideas."

- The U.S. State Department requested that the Palestinian Authority return $50 million in U.S. aid that was previously allocatted for development projects in the Palestinian territories, which the PA then returned.

- Last week the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to pass Senate Concurrent Resolution 79, which expressed the "sense of Congress" that no aid should be given to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas comes to power. The U.S. currently gives no aid directly to the Palestinian Authority, so the resolution was meaningless, except as a show of force by AIPAC on Capitol Hill. The House passed the same resolution 418-1 last week, with Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) being the only representative to vote against the measure.

Most seriously, the "Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006" (House Resolution 4681), a bill that would effectively end all U.S. aid and ties with the Palestinians, has gained 68 co-sponsors since being introduced by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) earlier this month. It threatens even more direct punishments of the Palestinians, as listed on our website.

Join with more than 1,000 CNI members that have already sent a message to their representative urging them to oppose this dangerous legislation. Please contact your representative today to tell them to "Vote No on H.R. 4681."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Council for the National Interest Foundation
1250 4th Street SW, Suite WG-1
Washington, District of Columbia 20024
http://www.cnionline.org/
http://www.rescuemideastpolicy.com/

Paper: Coast Guard Has Port Co. Intel Gaps

Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port operations might support terrorist operations.

The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports.

The Bush administration said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal, which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved.

The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

"There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an overall threat assessment" of the potential merger, the unclassified Coast Guard intelligence assessment said.

"The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities," the assessment said.

The Coast Guard said the concerns reflected in the document ultimately were addressed. In a statement, the Coast Guard said other U.S. intelligence agencies were able to provide answers to the questions it raised.

"The Coast Guard, the intelligence community and the entire CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States) panel believed this transaction received the proper review, and national security concerns were, in fact, addressed," the Coast Guard said.

That multi-agency government panel reviews foreign purchases of vital U.S. assets.

The report raised questions about the security of the companies' operations, the backgrounds of people working for the companies, and whether other foreign countries influenced operations that affect security.
---------------
Yes, but did the administration let congress know about the deal as it was happening?

Kathleen,

here's one for you.

Insight Mag: Cheney to retire after 2006 elections

Bird Flu

In an attempt to thwart the spread of bird flu, George W. Bush has just ordered the bombing of the Canary Islands.

john muldoon's Blog

Coast Guard Said It Couldn't Assess Risk in Port Deal (Update2)

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said questions about foreign influence, employees and operations made it impossible to assess the threat posed by a state-owned Dubai company's purchase of a firm that manages some terminal operations at six U.S. seaports.

``There are many intelligence gaps concerning the potential'' for assets owned by DP World or London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. ``to support terrorist operations,'' says a December intelligence assessment by the Coast Guard that was released at a hearing today of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The document wasn't given to an administration panel assessing the national security risks of the acquisition, but its concerns ``were addressed and resolved,'' Clay Lowery, an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department, said.

Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins was skeptical. ``This report suggests there were significant and troubling intelligence gaps,'' she told Lowery and Admiral Thomas Gilmour, an assistant commandant with the Coast Guard. ``I don't see how you were able to close those gaps so quickly,'' she said. The administration panel approved the deal in January.

Gilmour said he'd have to discuss classified information to respond. Collins, a Maine Republican, recessed the public hearing to convene a closed session where Gilmore and other Bush administration witnesses could more fully describe why they thought the DP deal didn't pose a threat.

more HERE

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

Sounds like Bunnypants and his merry band or morons did not even ask the Coast Guard? They would not want the "deal" to fall apart, $6.8 billion is enough to cover the cost of the Iraq debacle for almost five days! (at $1.5 billion a day)

capt

Hot button issue for Happy folks (successful economic conservatives), Partially Redacted to save David money:

McCain looks presidential on taxes
By Donald Lambro
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 27, 2006

Sen. John McCain, who has consistently opposed President Bush's tax cuts, recently voted to extend some of them...to further his White House ambitions.

The Arizona Republican, who is the early front-runner for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, surprised tax-cut proponents last week when he voted to continue Mr. Bush's tax cuts on capital gains and dividends and other tax breaks.....

His vote was a sharp departure from his anti-tax-cut posture. However, he has been aggressively reaching out to the Republican Party's conservative base, particularly economic conservatives......

"It looks political to me. It runs counter to his whole past behavior. He's got to appeal to the base of the party....." said Mr. Hunter, now a senior fellow at the Policy Institute for Innovation.

"He's certainly not a supply-sider. He doesn't subscribe to the Reagan economic approach that tax cuts stimulate increased growth," he said.

In a statement released by his office, Mr. McCain said..."American businesses and investors need a stable and predictable tax policy to continue contributing to the growth of our economy. These considerations lead me to the conclusion that we should not reverse course by letting the higher tax rates take effect".

Mr. Norquist said..."He's got two years to convince people that this is not a political ploy but a 'Road to Damascus' realization that tax cuts are a good idea."

Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low

CBS) The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they're opposed to the agreement.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that now it turns out the Coast Guard had concerns about the ports deal, a disclosure that is no doubt troubling to a president who assured Americans there was no security risk from the deal.

The troubling results for the Bush administration come amid reminders about the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and negative assessments of how the government and the president have handled it for six months.

In a separate poll, two out of three Americans said they do not think President Bush has responded adequately to the needs of Katrina victims. Only 32 percent approve of the way President Bush is responding to those needs, a drop of 12 points from last September’s poll, taken just two weeks after the storm made landfall.

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

The numbers are crashing and Bunnypants will show how much he cares by cashing in. So are the other robber baron’s and war profiteers. Shameful SOB’s.

capt

Setting sail away from America: The world finds it's too hard to do business with the US

Lucrative opportunities taken away on a political whim; the danger of being locked up by an over-mighty government agency; the brick wall of protectionism - the business community expects to do battle with all these things in an emerging market.

Yet this suddenly seems to be a description of doing business in that most developed of all markets, the United States of America.

In the UK, in the cash-rich Gulf states and in fast-growing India, different incidents in the past week have made people ask the same question: is it worth doing business with the US?

More HERE

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

Yeah, sure Crusader Dummypants is good for business anywhere but here in America. Once a greedy bastard has enough money to be a multinational he has no loyalty to any nation not America, not American allies.

capt

#136
Capt,
I wonder if the odds makers are waging how low it will go. And if he will get impeached.

David:

Had some time this past weekend and checked out your bloggingheadtv stuff with Markos along with a couple of other shorties you did w/another bloggin head.

The best part I saw was when you said you chose to watch your 6-yr old dance rather than attend some dime-a-dozen conference. Right choice!!

I wonder what would you say to your kids when he/she asks: "Daddy, everybody says you are a SNITCH, always accusing our country's leaders of lying this, covering up that...is that true?"

Someone is always lying in politics, it's part of the unwritten job description. UnCovering it, or covering it as a columnist, however, doesn't endear the `messenger' to a mass market. Woodward & Bernstein are obviously exceptions to your typical political BS. Odds are too long for that to happen to you, take my words for it!

Having become quite familiar with the topics of your posts over these past 2+ months, my impression is that you are similar to a local network TV reporter assigned to cover City Hall, or Crimes, or Accidents/Traffic and is still waiting to be `Discovered' so that you can become "Anchor" and expand the breadth of your daily grind of samo coverages.

You are still young, what, about 40, and there is a dearth of respected Let-Wing National columnists. Why not expand your topics and go national? Not counting Maureen Dowd, a joke and spinster, there is really just Tom Friedman and EJ Dionne. The Far Left you represent doesn't sell but to less than 10% (my guess, no source) of the country.

Up to 50% (my guess, no source) of the country probably enjoys or can stomach even outlandsih Right-Wingers like Rush and Hannity. Many more, including moderate Dems, can read Victor Hanso, George Will, Charles Krauthhammer, Thomas Sowell, etc.... Your observed style of these past two months, and the stunted stage of your web site, clearly shows the limitations of your chosen track so far.

You made your name with Bush Lied, fine, move beyond your run-of-the-mill "he lies, she lies..." Otherwise, in 3 years, your will be at the same BS but by then, it's Condi lies, McCain lies, etc...It DOESN'T SELL!!

Why do I bring all this up? It is not to jump on you. It is just that I NOTICED youR plugging yourself at least TWICE in that Markos video. Seems that you want more than what you have!

Lastly, saw something in a Doctor's office today that I thought I'd share:

Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the LORD...
And He will make your paths straight.

It worked for me and many other economic conservatives.

Happy, you are so smug thinking you're the smartest person you know. Well, you're an idiot. Just thought I'd point that out. When is your lord going to make YOUR path straight?

David,
You must be doing something right. You pissed off happy.

Iraqi Sunnis Rebuild Destroyed Shiite Shrine

BAGHDAD, February 26, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) - In a gesture of goodwill, Iraqi Sunnis in the northern city of Samarra are working tirelessly to rebuild the Golden Mosque, one of the holiest Shiite shrines which was devastated in an odious explosion last week.

"The initiative came soon after the explosion in solidarity with our Shiite brothers," Abu Oqba Al-Samarrai told IslamOnline.net Monday, February 27, after collecting golden pieces of the mosque's destroyed dome.

He said people of different age groups have volunteered to remove the ruble in a love demonstration.

"Elderly, women, children and men of [predominantly Sunni] Samarra rush to the tomb to remove the debris, using shovels and manual carriages," he explained.

Women provided food and water to exhausted men after a long day of hard work to get the job done as soon as possible.
--------------
I really think these people are capable of governing themselves.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

James 3:18
Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

(The reason everything Bunnypants touches turns to crud)

Matthew 7:18
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

capt

The case for complacency in Iraq

In fact, the worst outcome from the vantage point of Washington's interest would be a stable constitutional government in Iraq. Once Shi'ite elements controlled leading ministries, Iran would have unlimited means to meddle in the classic Middle Eastern style of infiltration, bribery and intimidation. Middle Eastern governments, after all, are not governments in the Western sense, but rather hotels in which different factions rent rooms. With footholds inside the Iraqi government, Iran could develop forces on the ground in depth and at leisure.

Full-scale civil war, however, would make it difficult for Iran to stand by while Shi'ites were slaughtered, yet open intervention in Iraq would give Washington the opportunity to make a horrible example of the Islamic Republic, with or without the issue of nuclear weapons.

More HERE

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

Heads they win - tails we lose.

capt

Here is somebody describing the Mosque explosion. -- This is from the Today in Iraq site.

Take a good look at the picture above because I will tell you what I see.

I see a damaged dome caused by an explosion set very professionally that the two minarets from the both sides weren't effected by the explosion.

Not even one single "gold plate"fall down from the minarets while the explosion was so heavy that caused the collapse of the dome.

Tell me, Is this work of few terrorists who wants to finish the job as fast as possible?

The one who did this, entered the mosque comfortably carrying explosions, he had all the time to study the construction of the building and find the perfect angles to set the explosions in a way that only the dome will be destroyed.

This is a professional, controlled demolition and the bombs set by demolition experts.
---------
He goes on to describe the death of Iraqi journalists.--

Now, let's talk about the death of the three Iraqi journalists.

TV anchor Attwar, age 26 years is a significant young woman born in Samarra, moved to Baghdad just 3-4 years ago, Attwar worked for Al-Jazeera first and then she moved to Al-Arbyia.

I am not writing Attwar's autobiography here but this has connection to the events, Attwar (I think you are smart enough to know that she is a Sunni) was well-known of her support for the Iraqi cause and blaming the occupation for the mess in Iraq.

One ex-Abu Ghraib prisoner tells this story about Attwar:

"When I came out through the gates of Abu-Ghraib there was TV team waiting outside asked me for an interview, I said yes, then came TV anchor Attwar and asked "How do you fell no" she couldn't finish her question because she burst in tears when she saw how do I look like, bare feet, torn clothes"

This is an example of Attwar mentality.

What the media didn't told on Attwar's death is this:

Attwar and her other two colleagues found dead but the TV team was four members, bad news four the US but one of the team survived the assassination to tell this:

Attwar being born in Samarra, her relatives and friends are still there, she managed to interview eyewitnesses on the explosion and people live in the area around the mosque.

Notice, they found the TV-team's bodies later but didn't found the documentary she made,

Who benefit from killing Atwwar, Sunnis? She is a Sunni. Resistance? She sympathise with the resistance. Shiite riot? Samarra is dominated by Sunnis.

The answer is simple, Attwar killed because she knew "too much".
-------------
I have heard that there is a desire to stop the news from getting out. Rumsfeld has his fingerprints on this.

Here is more about the mosque explosion from same site - Today in Iraq. http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/

Note: The third eye-witness (see previous posting), who emailed his version of what he saw before the above report, had said exactly that. Since it is in Arabic, I shall translate. "My name is Ahmad Al-Samarrai and I own an Internet Cafe in front of the shrine. The National Guard arrived at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and surrounded the shrine and prevented us from leaving, but we usually sleep at night in our shops fearing theft of the computers. The National Guards and the Americans surrounded the shrine and left by 9 p.m.. They returned about 11 p.m. and strolled around till 6 a.m. on Thursday when all left at 6:30 a.m.. Two explosions occurred, one at 6:40 a.m and the louder one at 6:45 a.m.".

White House Rejects Special Counsel

The White House on Monday rejected the call by more than a dozen House Democrats for a special counsel to investigate the Bush administration's eavesdropping program.

President Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan said those Democrats should instead spend their time investigating the source of the unauthorized disclosure of the classified program, which "has given the enemy some of our playbook."

"I really don't think there's any basis for a special counsel," McClellan also said.

In a letter released Monday, 18 House Democrats told Bush that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should appoint a special counsel. They said the surveillance of terrorists must be done within the bounds of U.S. law, but complained that their efforts to get answers to legal and factual questions about the program have been stymied - "generally based on the feeblest of excuses."

"If the effort to prevent vigorous and appropriate investigation succeeds, we fear the inexorable conclusion will be that these executive branch agencies hold themselves above the law and accountable to no one," wrote the lawmakers, led by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.

More HERE

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

Sounds so familiar, kind of Nixonian?

capt

Capt,
What mcclellen said is just insulting to the American people. The poll ratings are going to go very low.

From Superpower to Tinhorn Dictatorship

America is headed for a soft dictatorship by the end of Bush’s second term. Whether any American has civil rights will be decided by the discretionary power of federal officials. The public in general will tolerate the soft dictatorship as its discretionary powers will mainly be felt by those few who challenge it.

The congressional elections this coming November are the last chance for for Americans to reaffirm the separation of powers that is the basis of their civil liberties. Unless the voters correct their mistake of putting both the executive and legislative branches in the hands of the same party and deliver the House or the Senate to the Democrats, there is nothing on the domestic scene to stand in the way of more power, and less accountability, being accumulated in the executive.

The Democrats have been a totally ineffective opposition and might not inspire any voter response other than apathy. Rather than vote for a cowardly party that is afraid to defend the Constitution, voters might simply not vote at all.

In this unfortunate event, the only check on the Bush regime is its own hubris.

Bush’s ill-fated invasion of Iraq has set in motion forces beyond his control. On February 23 the Asia Times reported that America’s Pakistani puppet, Musharraf, is "losing his grip." Some Pakistani provinces are already beyond Musharraf’s control, and the remainder are rioting against "Busharraf" as Musharraf is now known. The infantile American press misrepresents the riots as responses to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, but in fact the target of the riots is the American puppet.

By invading Afghanistan and Iraq and by threatening Syria and Iran, Bush has taught Muslims everywhere that they owe their humiliation to the Western controlled secular governments that suppress their aspirations. They are realizing that their power resides in Islam and that this power is suppressed by secular governments. Busharraf is probably dead meat, and when he goes so does the US military adventure in Afghanistan.

When Bush attacks Iran, the US army will be caught between the Iraqi Shia and the Iranian Shia and will be decimated in fourth generation conflict, so aptly described by William S. Lind. If a few thousand Sunni insurgents can tie down 10 US divisions, imagine the fate of US forces trapped in a Shia crescent.

The collapsing power of the US hegemon is everywhere evident. It is evident in the inability to successfully occupy Iraq or even Baghdad. It is evident in the growing military cooperation between North and South Korea, and it is evident it the revolt in the Indian government against Prime Minister Singh’s nuclear agreement with the US. Indians say this agreement subjects India to US hegemony and represents America’s attempt to block India’s pioneering research on thorium as a nuclear fuel. Opposition parties have told Singh that if he signs the agreement, they will bring down his government.

The entire world now recognizes that America has lost its economic power and is dependent on the rest of the world to finance its budget and trade deficits. The US no longer holds the cards. American real incomes are falling, except for the rich. Jobs for university graduates are scarce, and advanced technology products must be imported from China. The US is a rapidly declining power and may soon end up as nothing but a tinhorn dictatorship.

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

I wish more people would read and listen to PCR. I love to hear the regulars here speak of his work. I think he is a very important voice. I do not think he has been updated on the stealing of our elections.

capt

#146,

I sure hope those times are not right. I, in no way, want to believe that our once great nation could committ such dastardly and evil acts.

Just when I think our country could not stoop lower a new low sinks beneath me. Every time I think we have hit rock bottom the sand shifts again.

How much more? If we are to reap what we sow, there is going to be hell to pay for the crud that has been done in our name.

How do we atone?

capt

The Scandals Finally Break by Kevin Drum - September 2004 I saved an article with links before the last election that had 16 different writers predict what the likely consequences of a second term for Bush would be. I've purposely not read any of them until today. I picked one and here it is in case you're curious.

Never mind. Looks like the link has died.

Take Action
Take Action Against Anti-Palestinian Legislation
Some Members of Congress have urged that the United States adopt draconian economic and diplomatic measures against the Palestinian people. These calls have come following the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006 where Hamas won 74 of 132 seats. Of the several anti-Palestinian resolutions introduced by Members of Congress in the aftermath of the legislative election, the most far-reaching is H.R.4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) on February 1, 2006. The resolution currently has 68 cosponsors. Learn more about H.R. 4681 here.

Please join the AFSC and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation in opposing this anti-Palestinian resolution. You can:

1) Meet with your Members of Congress during the President’≥ Day week recess. Members of Congress are in their home districts for a work period February 20-24, 2006. Assemble a delegation and call your Member of Congress for an appointment today. Contact information for your Members’†of Congress district offices can be found at the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation's Congressional Report Card.

2) Send a letter to your Members of Congress about this resolution.

3) Get your organization to endorse a sign-on letter to Members of Congress. As of February 20th, more than 135 organizations have signed this letter. The deadline for signing on to this letter is Monday, Feb. 27, 2006.

4) Participate in a national call-in day, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006. Save the date!

Support the Palestinian Olive Harvest
Organize or attend a Ziyarat az Zeitoun gathering
For more information on organizing a gathering please see our online materials or contact olives@afsc.org.

The Scandals Finally Break - (another try)

Dear Miss Jeanne:

I have noticed that you bloggers refer to certain previous posts to make a point. I'm learning this process.

Well, Miss Jeanne, you referenced an article at #132 (I believe it was that number - but gosh, my memory is not as good as it was with all this birdshot in my head and body), but anyway. Miss Jeanne, do not believe for a moment that Mr. Cheney is going to resign after the mid-term elections because he is a detriment to Mr. Bush.

Really! Why would he do that? There is no compelling reason to resign because he remains in charge, and they have "ways" of staying in charge. Mr. Bush is NOT in charge and never has been. The only way Mr. Cheney is going to "resign" is because of death or being physically/mentally incapacitated.

I do not want to give the impression that things are hopeless, but I do believe that it is time for you to realize that Mr. Cheney and his court have quite thoroughly seized world power.

Shooting a man in the face and deflecting the blame to the victim and then, for icing on the cake, to portray the press as piling on is ingenious message manipulation.

No, Miss Jeanne. Mr. Cheney is not going away.

Well crap!

I can get to that article from my end, but I can't make it work from here. How weird. Well, good-night. It's late in Michigan.

American Soldiers

2,561 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Sir Winston Churchill

Henry Kissinger says that military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.

In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments. Napoleon Bonaparte

Nazi America is a mirror image of Hitler Bush.

Confucius spoke that before you seek revenge dig two graves.

When an illegal war is launched, every person killed and injured, every piece of property destroyed, and all environmental damage is a war crime. A war without borders and limits is a perpetual war. This war of aggression proliferates terrorism in proportion to its reckless widening, making the world ever more dangerous. TCR News

One cannot help but wonder: Where there alternative ways of spending a fraction of the war’≥ $1 to 2 trillion in costs that would have better strengthened security, boosted prosperity, and promoted democracy? Joseph E Stiglitz

G.K. Chesterton said that Jesus speaks sanity to a world of lunatics.

What If Bush Wins

By a panel of 16 writers

The Triumph of Anything Goes David Greenberg

The Plutocrats Go Wild James K. Galbraith

The Democratic Party Is Toast Grover Norquist

The Scandals Finally Break Kevin Drum

The Empire Strikes Out Gideon Rose

Hoover's Court Rides Again Cass R. Sunstein

Vengeance Is His Paul Begala

Bush Becomes a Moderate, Really Mickey Edwards & Nancy Sinnott Dwight

The Left Learns From Goldwater Todd Gitlin

The Deficit Conquers All Sebastian Mallaby

W. Takes On Global Warming Gregg Easterbrook

The Roquefort Cheese Wars Christopher Buckley

Decline of American Greatness Elaine Kamarck

America Gets Privatized E.J. Dionne

The Glorious Revolution: A Look Back Jeff Greenfield

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

I think this is what Carol was shooting for?

I hope so, I am always willing to help if I can.

capt

American Soldiers

2,561 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, because insane, American, traitorous, lefty liberals like Gerald, verbally aid and support the terrorists, thereby helping the terrorists kill American soldiers.

Gerald is an accomplice in the murder of 2,561 American soldiers.

103
#101 Saladin,

the religious right are hypocrites. If they really cared about the unborn, there would be help for mothers and their babies instead of cutting funding for mothers and their children. Hypocrisy reigns supreme in Nazi America. Names for Nazi America are Murder Incorporated and Hypocrisy Incorporated.

I am with Gerald,

If the religious right really cared, they would do like the pro lifers and pull the baby half way out of the mother and crush it's skull while it screams and crys for life.

Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300

Morgue Count Eclipses Other Tallies Since Shrine Attack

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.

Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies were sprawled with their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

"After he came back from the evening prayer, the Mahdi Army broke into his house and asked him, 'Are you Khalid the Sunni infidel?' " one man at the morgue said, relating what were the last hours of his cousin, according to other relatives. "He replied yes and then they took him away."

Aides to Sadr denied the allegations, calling them part of a smear campaign by unspecified political rivals.

By Monday, violence between Sunni Arabs and Shiites appeared to have eased. As Iraqi security forces patrolled, American troops offered measured support, in hopes of allowing the Iraqis to take charge and prevent further carnage.

But at the morgue, where the floor was crusted with dried blood, the evidence of the damage already done was clear. Iraqis arrived throughout the day, seeking family members and neighbors among the contorted bodies.

"And they say there is no sectarian war?" demanded one man. "What do you call this?"

More HERE

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

Every person killed, on either side is all because Bunnypants started an illegal and unwise invasion of a country that could not even threaten its neighbors.

Every single Bunnypants supporter has blood on their hands, hundreds of thousands have been killed, plenty of blood to go around, eh? You could think of the blind lemmings as enablers or even accomplices as their blind mindless support has made all of this vainglorious death dealings possible.

It is amazing to me that the supporters can function day by day with all of that blood on their hands. They do not even see it but it is there.

The Godly messianic idiot in the WH is not the only jerk that will have some explaining to do. What would Jesus say? Who would Jesus torture? How many would Jesus bomb and kill and injure?

A real easy answer, none. There is no exception for well meaning idiots that start wars and kills hundreds of thousands. No exception for anybody so effin stupid as to support the same.

"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ~ Herbert Agar

capt

I think Happy is a closet liberal. He sure hangs out here alot, wishing he could 'come out', but keeping his distance cause he's scared. It's alot like this article...

What's behind pastor's anti-gay messages?

By LEONARD PITTS JR.
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Allow me to share with you an epiphany. I think Fred Phelps is gay.

Not that I'd have any way to know for sure, and not that there's anything wrong with that. But it seems obvious to me that Freddie has spent a little time up on Brokeback Mountain, if you catch my drift. I'm thinking he's secretly into show tunes, interior decorating and man-sized love.

Granted, that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about the Fredster, who is defined by an apparently pathological hatred of all things homosexual. Perhaps you remember how his followers desecrated the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten and left to die on a prairie fence in Wyoming eight years ago. They showed up at the funeral bearing signs that said, "God Hates Fags."

Now Phelps has updated his act. His "thinking," if you want to use that word, is that the casualties of the Iraq war are divine retribution for this country's tolerance of homosexuality. So, he says, thank God for the IEDs, improvised explosive devices, that have sent so many American soldiers home in dead and broken pieces.

Phelps' followers — he pastors a church in Topeka, Kan., where most of the congregants are members of his family — have been showing up at military funerals to express this view. Picture it: As your son, sister, wife, brother is being consigned to the soil, these idiots pop up with signs, loudly celebrating his or her death.

Small wonder the state of Wisconsin enacted a law last week banning protests at military funerals. Or that more than a dozen other states are moving in the same direction.

Phelps has vowed to fight the restrictions on First Amendment grounds, and the unfortunate truth is that he has a point. His message is bizarre, grotesque and calculated to hurt, yes. But the Constitution carves out no exception for messages that are bizarre, grotesque and calculated to hurt. The right to freedom of speech is a precious thing that extends even here.

At this point, you're probably saying to yourself that next to this guy, Pat Robertson is a model of statesmanlike restraint. You probably think he's crazy. And not ordinary crazy, mind you, but 20 pages, typewritten, single-spaced, both sides of the page with scribbles in the margins crazy.

Well, I don't think he's as crazy as he seems. Heck, nobody could be. No, he's not disturbed. He's just gay.

Hear me out. How often have we seen public moralists railing against that which they themselves secretly indulge? Think Jimmy Swaggart with his prostitute. Think Dr. Laura's pose in the nude. And for goodness' sake, how many times have we seen homosexuality condemned by those who turned out to be closeted themselves? There was Pat Robertson biographer-turned-gay-activist Mel White; Spokane Mayor James West, who spent his days opposing gay rights and his nights in gay chat rooms; and Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, who founded a group that purported to cure people of homosexuality but gave it up when they fell in love with each other.

Consider all that, and then consider the sick ferocity of Phelps' attack:

God hates "fags."

Gays are vomit-eating dogs.

Gays are "worthy of death."

Can you say "self-hatred," boys and girls? Come on, isn't it obvious? The poor fellow is gayer than a Bette Midler AIDS benefit. In San Francisco.

He needs not our condemnation but our understanding. Maybe someday he'll find the strength to stop living this lie. He might just go on to be the greatest gay-rights activist this country has ever known. Maybe then, in the arms of the right man, he'll stop hurting.

Kind of chokes me up to think about it.

Of course, the Fredster will deny all this. He might even call me unpleasant names. Hey, that's his right. We may not see eye to eye on much, but on one thing we agree.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.
=================
This guy is in Miami, but our paper uses his articles 'bout once a week. I really like his style, and have written him about it. He always replies too.

Senator Feinstein's War Profiteering

The wishy-washy senator now claims Bush misled her prior to the invasion of Iraq. I don't think she's being honest with us, though. There may have been other reasons she helped sell Bush's lies. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Feinstein's husband Richard Blum has racked in millions of dollars from Perini, a civil infrastructure construction company, of which the billionaire investor wields a 75 percent voting share.

In April 2003, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave $500 million to Perini to provide services for Iraq's Central Command. A month earlier in March 2003, Perini was awarded $25 million to design and construct a facility to support the Afghan National Army near Kabul. And in March 2004, Perini was awarded a hefty contract worth up to $500 million for "electrical power distribution and transmission" in southern Iraq.

Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence, is reaping the benefits of her husband's investments. The Democratic royal family recently purchased a $16.5 million mansion in the flush Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. It's a disgusting display of war profiteering, and just like Cheney, the leading Democrat should be called out for her offense.

And that's exactly why the Bush administration is so darn bulletproof. The Democratic leadership in Washington is just as crooked and just as callous.

More HERE

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

War profiteering is not the only crime being committed by the Democrats - They are responsible in every way for all of their actions and crimes and their crimes of inaction.

I have never thought well of D. Feinstein but an article like the one above makes me want to devolve into some very foul and vile name calling.

"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury." ~ John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

capt

All hate is rooted in self loathing.

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us." ~ Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." ~ Lynn Lavner - as published in PFLAG

*******

I have never known a homophobe that was not suppressing their personal predilections and sexual insecurities. I have gay friends and straight friends and being straight (for heterosexuals) never required hating anybody to prove their orientation.

Just a thought.

capt

Justices to revisit remap
Court could toss out Texas' revised districts or uphold them

By PATTY REINERT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - The Texas congressional redistricting war, which led Democratic lawmakers to flee Austin, infuriated many minority voters and spawned the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, returns to Washington this week as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether partisan map-drawing has gone too far.

On Wednesday, the high court will consider the validity of the state's bitterly contested 2003 congressional districts map, which state lawmakers redrew at DeLay's insistence and which cemented Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the last election.

By July, the justices will decide whether to uphold the map or throw it out, potentially forcing a do-over of the March primaries in Texas and boosting Democrats' chances of taking back the U.S. House in November.

the rest is pretty good too

#135 Happy, I'm sad to point this out. McCain will never be president for two reasons, he suffers from the mental illness - a result of his POW incarceration - and he fathered an illegitimate child. Some people claim these allegations were made of whole cloth and disseminated via whisper campaign by George W Bush's political adviser Karl Rove but those same people blame Rove and Bush for everything from 9/11 to Katrina.

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their Party."

The Democratic party really, seriously needs to get it's act together.

We need to let Gore talk, let Kerry talk, let Murtha talk, etc. explore the possibilities.

As a Dem I am uncomfortable with Hill's chances.

I would like to see every vet planning to run for any office given public support, regardless of party. What we need Most right now is REALITY.

And sad as it certainly is, these Pork barrel pandering lobby pimps we have, for sure Aint doing the job.

There are a few incumbent Dems Id back. Boxer is one.
I like Ted but he has too much baggage.

I like Biden a lot intellectually. But his vote ..........well we all know about votes.

As a Dem, Im looking for NEW BLOOD. If I don't see it I'll go back to independent and screw the primaries.

It isn't like I have mad faith in the elections in this country. Perhaps some have forgotten, but I havent,,,,the password to the dibold voting machines was...........dibold.

Obama looks good if he can stay clean in D.C., quite the feat.

New Blood.

Do something Democrats, or shut up and quit calling me for contributions.

slippin' in a lil' humor. I dunno if Pande or Gerald will like this one better.

A Mexican family was considering putting their grandfather in a nursing home. Unfortunately, all the Catholic facilities were completely full so they had to put him in a Jewish home.

After a few weeks in the Jewish facility, they came to visit grandpa. "How do you like it here?" asks the grandson.

"It's wonderful! Everyone here is so courteous and respectful," says grandpa.

"We're so happy for you. We were worried that this was the wrong place for you. You know, since you are a little different from everyone."

"Oh, no! Let me tell you about how wonderfully they treat the residents here," grandpa says with a big smile.

"There's a musician here -- he's 85 years old. He hasn't played the violin in 20 years and everyone still calls him 'Maestro'!"

"There is a judge in here -- he's 95 years old. He hasn't been on the bench in 30 years and everyone still calls him 'Your Honor'!"

"And there's a physician here 90 years old. He hasn't practiced medicine for 25 years and everyone still calls him 'Doctor'!"

"And me......, I haven't had sex for 35 years and they still call me 'The F**king Mexican'.

John Sidney McCain III

He has eight children; John adopted first wife Carol's sons (Doug and Andy), and he and Carol had a daughter, (Sydney). John has four children by Cindy (Meghan, Jack - Brophy College Preparatory (2004), United States Naval Academy (2009), Jimmy, and James), plus he and Cindy adopted their youngest daughter (Bridget) after discovering her in a Bangladeshi orphanage run by Mother Teresa.

He has four grandchildren.

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

The so-called illegitimate black child is only brown and was adopted.

McCain will never be elected president because he has no spine, it was removed by a Rovian smear campaign that some informed still try to run up the flag pole.

Never let the facts get in the way of an inane and incorrect commentary on an open blog.

capt

You could classify this as humor too. An AOL poll about Scotty-boy.

Which side do you trust more?
The press corps 64%
The White House 36%
Total Votes: 135,854

Which side is more combative in press briefings?
The press corps 51%
The White House 49%
Total Votes: 78,473

Which side is more informative?
The press corps 69%
The White House 31%
Total Votes: 73,760

What grade would you give Press Secretary Scott McClellan?
F 43%
D 17%
B 15%
A 13%
C 11%
Total Votes: 72,838

What grade would you give the White House press corps?
F 29%
B 24%
C 24%
D 11%
A 11%
Total Votes: 69,472

This article comes from: Tom Flocco.com

Top-secret notes confirm congressional, 9-11 Commission & Pentagon cover up of Iraq war plans on day of Sept. 11 attacks

Date: Monday, February 27

Rumsfeld: "Hard to get a good case need to move swiftly. Near term target needs go massive (Sweep) it all up. Things related and not." (Stephen Cambone notes, 2:40 pm, Sept. 11, 2001 4.5 hours after the attacks)

by Tom Flocco

Washington, Pentagon notes written by Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone during a meeting with Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at 2:40 pm on the day of the September 11 attacks provide important evidence and historical insight into the inner circle of key players involved in the defense of the United States immediately following the worst attack on American soil in U.S. history.

Cambone's explosive written observations provide proof that a commitment to place Baghdad on the front burner was foremost on the minds of Bush administration officials almost simultaneously as the alleged "hijackers" attacked, revealing Rumsfeld's full fixation on finding a justification "related" to "or not" related to Iraq as 9-11 perpetrator.

The Bush administration wanted to create a "boogie-man" in Saddam Hussein as partly responsible for September 11 no matter what, all according to top-secret internal memos from key aide Cambone; however, both have not publicly explained before career prosecutors why Iraq had to become a perpetrator despite now-proven phony and non-existent evidence.

An explosive CBS News report on September 4, 2002 fully exposed the existence of Cambone's September 11 notes and explained their contents including the "go massive" and "things related and not" references to war against Iraq.

Congress and the 9-11 Commission obstructed justice by failing to publicly report the stunning revelations which represent meritorious evidence requiring grand jury testimony.

Cambone's notes became available as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made to DoD by citizen researcher Thad Anderson who filed the FOIA on July 23, 2005 and received a heavily redacted response from the Bush administration about two weeks ago on February 10, 2006 TomFlocco.com was provided with the documents after Anderson's FOIA response was published in a recent U.S. intelligence field report from the Special Operations Group (SOG) which passed them to us via intelligence authority Thomas Heneghan.The notes are also available at federal whistleblower Stew Webb's site, StewWebb.com, and Lenny Bloom's CloakandDagger.de

More HERE

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

Please take the time to read the piece linked above. If it does not leave you wondering about a few things I would be surprised. It includes proof Bush lied as a bonus!

capt

Dubai debacle spoiling what should be Bush triumph

LAUGH or cry? Hard to choose when it comes to the descent of the Bush White House into total incoherence over the Dubai Ports World contract. Once again we turn from weighty matters to ask: What did this president not know and when did he not know it?

From his vice president spraying a hunting buddy with birdshot to the negotiation of the politically charged ports contract, George W. Bush has had his spokesman fall back on his father's lame defense in Iran-contra: Me? I was out of the loop.

That's not a defense, Mr. President. That is confirmation of our worst fears —†especially when that declaration of prior ignorance follows an immediate, defiant threat to exercise the first-ever Bush 43 veto. That's shooting yourself in both feet.

More HERE

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

It is getting crazier by the day. I cannot understand how Busheney are still calling the shots. What have they done that was not a major screw-up?

capt

Prepare the noose for Bill Buckley, the cowardly traitor

Glen Greenwald compares Howard Dean's comment about losing the war in Iraq and it's vile response from bushbots... and gigs 'em to say the same shyt about Buckley for an identical comment. He notes they can't question Buckley's 'conservatism', so they'll pitch 'conservatism' aside and go with King George's idealogy.
They'll do or say anything to keep the shipwreck afloat. Rats, the whole lot of 'em.

I went to a couple of different Catholic schools during grade school. I was fortunate; I had very good nuns, priests, and lay folks for teachers. I wish I could say the same for high school. I went to a fundamentalist Baptist place. Horrible. My physical science text book was a screed on creationism. They used paddling as a form of discipline (and I was often on the wrong end of that damn piece of wood). I'm glad I liked to read on my own or it might have ruined me forever. I then went on to graduate from a Jesuit university (University of Detroit). I got a very good ejjimacation there.

Funny thing about my Baptist high school, though. It burned down a couple of years after I graduated. The school was moved to another building and, lo and behold, that one burned down. Shortly thereafter, our beloved (not) pastor got thrown in jail for arson and insurance fraud. Can I get an amen?

Oh, and by the way, congratulations on the grandbaby, Sal!

Amen!

Capt 164 swinestein has a pretty bad rep here in Cali, I don't know how she keeps getting re-elected!
165, my theory is that hate (against homosexuals) is what evolves out of worshipping a God that will burn you in hell for all eternity, worshipping a hateful god will produce hateful people, and those people always claim to be "Christian."
Thanks again everyone for the well wishes, "Dylan" arrived at 6:30 PM a healthy 9 pounder! Now the REAL work begins. Here's hoping that someday soon all babies will be welcomed into as happy and loving a family as Dylan.

Here's to wishing the newly arrived Dylan (Bob or Thomas?) a fantastic voyage!

-T

Health Care Cuts Under Bush Budget...
Associated Press | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted February 27, 2006 11:22 PM

Linked at Huffington Post

At least tens of thousands of veterans with non-critical medical issues could suffer delayed or even denied care in coming years to enable President Bush to meet his promise of cutting the deficit in half, if the White House is serious about its proposed budget.

After an increase for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing by leaps and bounds, White House budget documents assume a cutback in 2008 and further cuts thereafter.
----------
Thank you sick and maimed veterans for your sacrifice, now, please f**k off and die. Do you think the recruiter bothers to mention this minor detail to the kids they sucker into joining?

NINE POUNDS!

Kind of hard to call him "little Dylan"!

Congrats!

All best wishes from the ABQ

capt

Reichstag Fire Anniversary: A Precedent ?
2006-02-27 | The original Reichstag Fire in Berlin occurred seventy-three years ago, today. A small group of sociopaths, seeking world domination, set fire to a nationally symbolic building and blamed it on a group of misguided idealists, thereby inculcating a sense of fear into the nation and enabling the perpetrators to gain total control of the nation.
Sound familiar ?

Reichstag Fire Anniversary

From The UN Observer and International Report

Hitler left the fire scene and went straight to the offices of his newspaper, the Volkischer Beobachter, to oversee its coverage of the fire. He stayed up all night with Goebbels putting together a paper full of tales of a Communist plot to violently seize power in Berlin.

At a cabinet meeting held later in the morning, February 28, Chancellor Hitler demanded an emergency decree to overcome the crisis. He met little resistance from his largely non-Nazi cabinet. That evening, Hitler and Papen went to Hindenburg and the befuddled old man signed the decree "for the Protection of the people and the State."

The Emergency Decree stated: "Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed."

Immediately, there followed the first big Nazi roundup as truckloads of SA and SS roared through the streets bursting in on known Communist hangouts and barging into private homes. Thousands of Communists as well as Social Democrats and liberals were taken away into 'protective custody' to SA barracks where they were beaten and tortured.

"I don't have to worry about justice; my mission is only to destroy and exterminate, nothing more!" - Hermann Goring, March 3, 1933.
-----------
UH, yeh, that sounds REALLY familiar.

Congrats Sal!

Didn't want to put this in the same post:

Live Now! John 'Battalion 316' Negroponte on C-Span!

A true terrorist's terrorist! Talkin' bout the subject he loves...

72% of U.S. Troops Want Out of Iraq Within One Year
Bush says pulling out of Iraq would undermine our troops morale:

It is also important for every American to understand the consequences of pulling out of Iraq before our work is done. We would undermine the morale of our troops by betraying the cause for which they have sacrificed. [12/18/05]

U.S. troops say they want out of Iraq within a year:

A new poll to be released today shows that U.S. soldiers overwhelmingly want out of Iraq, and soon. The poll is the first of U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq, according to John Zogby, the pollster. Conducted by Zogby International and LeMoyne College, it asked 944 service members, how long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq? Only 23 percent backed Mr. Bush's position that they should stay as long as necessary. In contrast, 72 percent said that U.S. troops should be pulled out within one year. Of those, 29 percent said they should withdraw immediately.[NYT, 2/28/06]

American Progress has a plan that will drawdown the U.S. troop presence in Iraq within one year. If the troops support it, why can't their Commander-in-Chief?
----------
Imagine that! 3/4 of the troops are traitors, HA!
Thanks Robert.

Happy Birthday Jackoff (tomorrow HA!)

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! PHONE SCAM! 9 - 0 - # (on the telephone) PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a test on telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing you give the requesting individual full accessto your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons I have also verified this information with UCB Telecom,PacificBell, MCI, Bell Atlantic and GTE. Please beware. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information withEVERYONE I KNOW. PLEASE pass this on to everyone YOU know. If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organizations you are connected with, I encourage you to pass on this information to them. After checking with Verizon they said it was true, so do not dial (9),zero(0), the pound sign # and hang up for ANYONE.......I recieved this in an e-mail from a trusted freind, good advice.

9/11 Revisited - Were explosives used?

YouTube.

Lot's of great 9/11 videos collected here.

Saladin,

Just about 40% of Spank's unit will be there under "stop-loss" by July. (His out-date was to be 7/18, he might get a home leave around then, but nothing is for sure.)

Now THAT's a big morale boost, I'm SURE!

-T

Strange goings on on the work 'puter!

-T

I'm sure the veterans benefits cuts will be sure to lift their spirits as well!

I'm watching 9/11 revisited and it is full of live interviews on the MSM with people who were there and still gagging and bleeding from the collapse, they have some very interesting things to say about explosions.

Oy! Rich Lowry is pissed at Bill Buckley!

The National Review's editors fire at their founder: "If Iraq ever descends into a real civil war, we won't have to debate whether it has happened. It will be clear for all to see. The military will dissolve into ethnic factions, and the government will collapse. That hasn't happened, and so declarations of defeat in Iraq -- of the sort our founder and editor-at-large William F. Buckley Jr. made last week -- are pre-mature. That view could ultimately be proven right, but there is no way to know with certainty at this point ... The outcome depends, as is always the case, on the choices made by the players, including ourselves. Even if our influence in Iraq is waning, our commitment -- and the specific forms it takes -- still matters very much. Defeatism will be self-fulfilling."

micki, it may not be civil war OFFICIALLY, but they're trying real hard to provoke one. I really hope the Muslim people see what's happening and unite against this tyranny.

For over 1400 years the Sunni and Shia have co-existed peacefully, often intermarried and respectfull of individual religious customs and rites.

An unfounded and unwise invasion and possibly even subterfuge has driven these people into civil war.

We are to blame.

-T

Bill Gallagher: 'Dubai deal reveals hypocrisy of Bush's phony security concerns'

[...]

"Rejecting this port security deal might have set back that trade pact," Sirota wrote at WorkingforChange.com. "Accepting the port security deal -- regardless of the security consequences -- likely greases the wheels for the pact. That's probably why, instead of backing off the deal, President Bush -- supposedly Mr. Tough on National Security -- took the extraordinary step of threatening to use the first veto of his entire presidency to protect the UAE's interest. Because he knows protecting those interests -- regardless of the security implications for America -- is integral to the 'free' trade agenda all his corporate supporters are demanding."

Sirota points us to an Inter Press Service story that highlights how much the whole issue pivots on trade. Daniel T. Griswold, the director of the Center for Trade Policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, told the news service, "The United States' trade relationship with the UAE is the third largest in the Middle East, after Israel and Saudi Arabia. The two nations are engaged in bilateral free trade talks that would liberalize trade between the two countries and would, in theory at least, allow companies to own and operate businesses in both nations. There are legitimate security questions to be asked but it would be a mistake and really an insult to one of our leading trading partners in that region to reject this commercial transaction out of hand."

Military contractors just love the UAE, especially Lockheed-Martin, which landed an $8.4 billion contract to deliver 80 F-16 fighter jets to the sheiks. The port in Dubai is vital for Halliburton's equipment logistics, and the airport there shuffles personnel from Vice President Dick Cheney's former corporation to no-bid, cost-plus U.S. military contracts throughout the region. The country is dripping in oil money, with the third largest petroleum reserves on earth and the fifth largest gas reserves.

The Carlyle Group, one of the most successful private equity groups in the world, is deeply involved in business deals with the UAE. Carlyle includes the military contractor United Defense in its portfolio, along with a number of projects and interests in the Middle East.

George H.W. Bush is a senior adviser for Carlyle. James A. Baker, the elder Bush's secretary of state and family valet, serves as a senior counsel for Carlyle, and his law firm, Baker Botts, maintains an office in Dubai. Bush, Baker and the UAE sheiks are thick as ... well, I'll just leave it at that.

Here's where things start getting entangled. Back in 2003, Carlyle bought CSX World Terminals, a port management outfit, for $300 million. At the time, Jack Snow, now the secretary of the Treasury and the man responsible for reviewing the Dubai Ports World deal, was chairman of CSX.

Just two years later, Carlyle sold World Terminals to the company that became Dubai Ports World for a cool $1.2 billion, turning a 400 percent profit. How could the value of the company grow so dramatically and so fast? You don't suppose someone might have whispered into the sheiks' ears that they could look forward to expanding their port business into the United States with no problems?

Dubai Ports World then bought out the long-established British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation, for $6.8 billion, and gained control of its U.S. ports operations.

Quite a few "friends and allies" made big money on these deals, among them George H.W. Bush and James Baker, both known to have a little influence in the White House.

The approval of the deal for Dubai Ports World was put on the fast track. Federal law requires that the 12- member Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, chaired by the secretary of the Treasury, review the transaction. If the deal could affect national security, the review period should be extended by 45 days and the president is required to make the decision. That did not happen because the skids had been greased for Dubai Ports World.

More....

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

So today a couple of toadies for the Wush Misadministration were on Washingtoon Journal. (Not yet up at C-span.org) One was a Coast Guard Rear Admiral, and another a flak from border and customs. They harped on how important this global trade was for our economy.

Let us strongly realize that while global trade and increased militarism are boosting the GDP, this is only translating to wealth for the wealthy. The GDP in no way measures the amount of economic activity in numbers of individuals or of percentages of individuals. It is an aggragate measure. Nothing more.

Subject: ENRON

Subject: How Enron Worked the President --

This is an interesting bit of information that you don't hear much about.

A) Enron's chairman did meet with the president & the vice president in the Oval Office.

B) Enron gave $420,000 to the president's party over three years.

C) Enron donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities.

D) The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times.

E) The corporation had access to the administration at its highest level & even enlisted the Commerce & State Departments to grease deals for it.

F) The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction. Scandalous!!

G) BUT...the president under whom all this happened WASN'T GeorgeW. Bush.

SURPRISE ... IT WAS BILL CLINTON!!!

Please pass this on so the whole Country will know.

THE MEDIA CERTAINLY WON'T TELL US !!

IMPEACH CLINTON NOW!!!

-dumbass

You think it is news that the DLC, the arm of the Democratic party that is mostly beholden to the corporatists, is/was in bed with corporatists?

That wing of the party is the part most like the Republicans, they just never really got support from the financiers, who were merely hedging their bets.

Why do you think so many of us are fed up with the Dems?

ps-Clinton is no longer the president, please pass it on.

Dang Hajji, that was sooo much more concise, and got the point across just fine.

Global credit ocean dries up
(Filed: 24/02/2006)

The cash machine that sustained a world boom is about to close, and it's going to get ugly, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

One by one, the eurozone, the Swedes, the Swiss and now even the Japanese, are turning off the tap of ultra-cheap credit that has flushed the global system for the past year, keeping the ageing asset boom alive.

The "carry trade" - as it is known - is a near limitless cash machine for banks and hedge funds. They can borrow at near zero interest rates in Japan, or 1pc in Switzerland, to re-lend anywhere in the world that offers higher yields, whether Argentine notes or US mortgage securities.

Arguably, it has prolonged asset bubbles everywhere, blunting the efforts of the US and other central banks to restrain over-heating in their own countries.

The Bank of International Settlements last year estimated the turnover in exchange and interest rates derivatives markets at $2,400bn a day.

"The carry trade has pervaded every single instrument imaginable, credit spreads, bond spreads: everything is poisoned," said David Bloom, currency analyst at HSBC.

"It's going to come to an end later this year and it's going to be ugly, even if we haven't reached the shake-out just yet," he said.

"People have a Panglossian belief in the march of global capitalism but that will change as soon as attention switches back to US financial imbalances," he said.
-----------
Looks like the power elite see their house of cards is becoming unstable. When these bankers pull the plug it will make the crash they caused in 1929 look like a picnic in the park. We are in line for a world of hurt.

If 9/11 was an "inside job" the chimpy cabal would have no qualms about letting the U$A$E run our ports would they? The threat posed by AlQueda has been highly exaggerated by the cabal to achive their goals. We obviously have more to fear from the chimpy cabal. Illuminati backscratching continues.

More on Economics for the less economically successful who thinks it's swell to get `Something for Nothig'! (Redacted)

February 28, 2006
Something for Nothing?
By Thomas Sowell

Suppose someone left you an inheritance of a million dollars -- with the proviso that every cent of it had to be spent...to go watch professional wrestling matches. If you happened to be a professional wrestling fan, you would be in hog heaven.

But what if you were not? How much would that million dollars be worth to you? Certainly a lot less than a million dollars.

What if there was a clause in the will which said that you could forfeit the million dollars and instead receive a cash amount of $100,000 to spend as you pleased? Many of us would take the hundred grand without strings....In short, money with strings is worth less than money without strings -- sometimes a lot less.

Many of us.....are learning the hard way the difference between money with strings and money without strings. For example, Social Security recipients have to be enrolled in Medicare, whether they want to be or not. "Universal" coverage means compulsory coverage, just with prettier political spin.

Those who are complaining about how hard it is to understand the new Medicare coverage seem not to realize that no government program voted into law by more than 500 members of Congress is going to be simple. Everybody in Congress has his own pet notions or his own little claim to fame, and ....The complications and restrictions are the strings attached to Medicare.

People who think that they are getting something for nothing, by having government provide ...are not only kidding themselves by ignoring the taxes that government has to take from them in order to give them the appearance of something for nothing. They are also ignoring the strings that are going to be attached to their own money when it comes back to them in government benefits.

That is not even counting the fact that government programs are usually less efficient than similar services provided by private enterprises.

Yet the illusion of something for nothing has kept the welfare state going -- and expanding. If there is something for sale in the marketplace for ten dollars and you would not pay more than five dollars for it, some politician can always offer to get it for you free -- as a newly discovered "basic right," or at least at a "reasonable" or "affordable" price.

Suppose that the "reasonable" or "affordable" price is three dollars. How do you suppose the government can produce something for three dollars that private industry cannot produce for less than ten dollars? Greater efficiency in government? Give me a break!

The fact that you pay only three dollars at the cash register means nothing. If it costs the government twelve dollars to produce and distribute what you are getting for three dollars, then the government is going to have to get another nine dollars in taxes to cover the difference.

One way or another, you are going to end up paying twelve dollars for something you were unwilling to buy for ten dollars or even six dollars. But so long as you think you are getting something for nothing, the politicians' shell game has worked and the welfare state can continue to expand.

...The illusion that Social Security can provide pensions more cheaply than a private annuity or other retirement plan is the grand something-for-nothing political triumph.

The baby boomers are going to pay the price big time.

Copyright 2006 Creators Syndicate

...and doesn't inspire/invite response, either!

but they just keep comin' anywhoo!

-T

Pssst...new thread.

I would like to reiterate the importance of the 9/11 revisited video, it is absolutely fascinating to listen to these people covered in dust telling about explosions in the basement and lower floors powerful enough to blow elevator doors off and fling people around like rag dolls.

Those who are complaining about how hard it is to understand the new Medicare coverage seem not to realize that no government program voted into law by more than 500 members of Congress is going to be simple. - Mr. Happy

No act of Congress voted into law by more than 500 members of Congress takes place with a three hour 15 minute vote in the wee hours of the morning.

News item...Bush's approval rating falls to 34%.

Bob Dole once quipped, in the late 70s...What is the difference between the Carter Administration and the Boy Scouts?...The Scouts have adult leadership.

Eventually, Reagan was so enfeebled, that wiser heads brought an old hand, some adult leadership, Howard Baker, in to salvage the end of his second term..at least to keep it limping on until the end.

The question is....will wiser heads in the Republican party, force out the current flock of fools that advise W, and force some adult leadership on the slow-motion trainwreck that is this current administration?

When you get to an approval rating of 34%, you are approaching the percentage of people that believe that Elvis is still alive.

Bob

From #140
Happy, you are so smug thinking you're the smartest person you know. Well, you're an idiot. Just thought I'd point that out. When is your lord going to make YOUR path straight?

Posted by: Carol at February 27, 2006 10:32 PM
=================================================
A Happy Idiot I am. It is just that my definition of a Happy Idiot is someone whose income and Networth, aided by God, is among the `smartest' of the people he knows well, is Self-Employed, is managing 7-figure assets and often makes 5-figure gains on a good market day. Yeah, I am a Happy Idiot. My politics and upwardly-mobil outlook even align with most of the country, my party will stay in power until I retire (early) by about 60. I intend to stay on my Happy, Idiotic way and enjoy a long, Happy life. George Will calls that "Pessimism", which is sweet!

As far as I am concerned, all of you are idiots as well, just not nearly as Happy as I am. Ha, Ha, Ha,....Remember, I even get paid at $100 per keystroke to post here.

GOP Party of lincoln Buckley weak on tyranny? Thats a laugh.

The GOP Party of Lincoln has been weak on tyranny since 1860 when the Marxist tyrant original jew puppet of Karl and Fredrick set the world stage by assembling the worlds largest army up to that point and pre-emtively invading and attacking a soverign peaceful nation called the American Confederacy where the nation of America was born anyway and where all its founding documents were wirtten and even the capital named after the great southerner Washington was coined the Father of Our Country.

How did America go astray from its original Founders that began with the corruption of the north and west with industrialism and cronyism and over taxation that caused the Southern founders to split away and caused Lincoln the budding commie to attack and destroy it that has led to the current conditions 145 yrs later and another Lincolnite GOP named Bush carpetbagger to do the same to the mideastern nations puppeted by the same commie forces.

" ... how some on the right try to bait those who don't fall into line with their lockstepping crusade."

Great piece, but please remember there are still a lot of us paleoconservatives who are as against this unconstitutional/imperial crusade as you are. And there are several of the left/liberal persuasion who support the war (Hitchens, Hillary, Lieberman, etc).