That was no doubt an interesting debate, but I would hardly characterize it as "misleading."

In any event, we went with the best intelligence we had at the time. It's always easy to be the all-knowing "armchair quarterback" after the big game is over!

I propose that we will only know what happened to Saddam's WMD arsenal after we clean out that vipers nest in Syria and do some searching there.

David, I am one of the people who questioned the wisdom of invading Iraq in the first place. Even without the info congress had access to I knew that saddam had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9/11, and this was back when I believed the idiot propaganda bushco was catapulting. The fact that this war was planned well before 9/11 is something people like hitchens continually fail to acknowledge. The PNAC plan is also avoided, including the need, in writing, for an event to set it off, like a New Pearl Harbor. Important issues, constantly skirted and blown off. Is it any wonder we are facing a war of Armegeddon proportions? Is it any wonder more than half the US population doesn't have a clue what is going on right in their own backyard? Nothing but lies and half-truths, and a complicit media, will seal our fate.

Better watch that dissent Sal, you must conform. The gathering of data for future detention camp occupants will commence immediately, includes blogs like ours. Makes wiretaps look like childsplay. You WILL be indoctrinated and if you refuse, into slave labor camps making bullets out of DU. I cannot believe that the Constitution is debateable. Why is it that way with this gang of thugs? Now they are stratagizing a way to pass a law to make the Constitution fit the cabal, that way nobody broke the law, nobody gets punished, carry on as usual.

That was a fine example of their tortured logic... we didn't find any WMD's so therefore they must have had them!
oh yeahhhh, that's one for the books

Alan,

Ever heard of pristine crime scenes? No DNA, no fingerprints, no footprints, nothing! There's a DEAD BODY lying there, though.

By your reasoning there could not have been a murderer present because there's no evidence whatsoever he or she ever existed!!!

Get it now?

DEN,

I responded to your WTC Building 7 post on the other thread...

David, I implore you to get beyond hijinks in the lead up to war. Do not dismiss what is written here by us. 9/11 was a phoney event, a "Pearl Harbor" to drive every American into a state of FEAR. There are many more REAL threats to our great country, many have been stated here. We as true PATRIOTS need all the help getting the message across to the MSM. The country is entitled to know exactly what is going on behind their backs. Time is of the essence with the build up to bludgeon IRAN into submission. The Cabal is gaining more power every day, it is NOT going to get better unless WE make it better, PLEASE HELP!!

Ever heard of pristine crime scenes? No DNA, no fingerprints, no footprints, nothing! There's a DEAD BODY lying there, though.

haha nice try You're saying they found a WMD but don't know or can't prove how it got there?
You're logic sucks. There was no crime scene, let alone a pristine one.

*your

The only crime is how stupid Tim and his comments are.

Ever heard of pristine crime scenes? No DNA, no fingerprints, no footprints, nothing! There's a DEAD BODY lying there, though.

By your reasoning there could not have been a murderer present because there's no evidence whatsoever he or she ever existed!!!

Get it now?

Sadly, Im sure you do Tim.

LET's PLAY MATCH THE QUOTE TO THE CELEBRITY THINKER!!!
____________________

1)"...she said, "I go by logic," meaning that if Saddam once had WMDs (and if UN inspectors were saying that accounting discrepancies remained, as they were saying), then it was logical to assume Saddam still had WMDs. Proof was not necessary..."

2)"...Given that Iraq had possessed chemical and biological weapons in the 1990s, shouldn't a few have remained? In fact, he went on, the zero finding was so suspicious that it was not credible..."

3)"...To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, THAT is true knowledge..."

4)"..."Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know..."

"THINKERS"

a)Copernicus

b)Donald Rumsfeld

c)Crispy Bitchin's

d)Roofie Wedgiewood

1=?
2=?
3=?
4=?

You've got 60 seconds....GO!

Alan,

Well, duh. It's you who can't even get an analogy. Work with me here.

You, Alan are a police officer. You investigate a crime scene and see where someone was murdered with a weapon. There is no weapon to be found, there are also no footprints, no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing.

Now, logically what do you think at this point? Wouldn't you ASSUME that since there's a dead body with multiple stab wounds that the knife actually existed, even though there is now NO EVIDENCE of it? Well???

O.K., now stay with me here. There was ample evidence of Saddam's WMD program, his use of these weapons and his continued efforts to prevent us from finding them. Ask yourself now, "What does this mean?"

"...Ever heard of pristine crime scenes? No DNA, no fingerprints, no footprints, nothing! There's a DEAD BODY lying there, though..."

e)Dumbass

sorry, forgot one!

Now, logically what do you think at this point?

I think you're nuts, that's what I think. In order for your analogy to be relevant, you'd have to be standing there looking at a WMD. That's what I tried to point out to you in the previous post. That you can't think straight isn't my problem.
Wanna try another stuuuuupid analogy?

If you are a patriotic poster who opposes the war, how do you debate a moronic poster who favors the war? You might as well debate a wall.

I'm listening to Feingold at the NSA hearing, at cspan. He's just now confronting Abu Gonzales.

"So THEN, Alan, you blow up the apartment, render the neighborhood dangerous to life with depleted uranium, destroy the infrastucture of the city. Throw the entire State into civil war....

THEN you move on to the NEXT apartment building!"

You've GOTTA see the logic, now, ALAN!!!

L.A. Mayor Blindsided by Bush Announcement

L.A. Mayor Blindsided by Bush Announcement

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as "nonexistent." "I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor told The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president —†but somebody

Her name is B.J.

Thank you Mr. Nader for your open letter of July 28, 2005. You are able to express your thoughts through riveting words. I can only express my thoughts through nightmares.

My dreams are more like nightmares that I cannot shake. Here is one of my nightmares.

Her actual name is Barbara Jenna Doe. B.J. was an all American young lady - attractive, intelligent, a vibrant personality who made people feel good. She was planning to go to Yale in the Fall. B.J. did very well on her SAT and Act tests. Her summer was planned in preparation to attend Yale in September.

The military draft was reinstated and B.J. received her letter to report to boot Camp in mid-August. In December B.J. came home for Christmas. Her parents were excited to see her. Daddy had a gleam in his eye every time B.J. was home. Barbara Jenna looked sharp and impressive in her formal military uniform. Her parents were proud of her.

After Christmas B.J. returned to camp and in mid-January B.J. and her company received orders that they were going to attack Iran as part of bush's Christmas wish list through more lies. In mid-February her parents received the dreaded letter saying that Barbara Jenna Doe was killed in action. The letter did not reveal how she was killed but friends were able to find out that B.J.'s truck hit a land mine. The truck exploded and her one leg went through the window of a nearby building; her torso remained with the truck; and her head went through the windshield of the truck and rolled down the street and stopped at a curb. What a waste of human potential to be killed for the bush lies.

B.J. was not like one of bush sr.'s fourteen grandchildren who have never served in the military services. She was drafted and she had to serve in the military armed services.

Yeah, Paul,

THAT's because the mayor doesn't NEED to know about the ones that DIDN't happen, because if it DIDN't happen, then that suggests that it DID!

And since it DID happen, the mayor's to BLAME because he should've known what he didn't know!

Duh!

See! It is easy when you're ridiculously logical!

Have you ever heard about flinging shit? That's how Bush makes the news regarding ghost events. He wings it or better known as flinging shit. Just more lies from his basket of lies!!!

Paul, Saladin

The LA mayor wasn't the mayor in 2002. It would have been the outgoing mayor that would have briefed him on this information. Another disfunctional Democrat.

Hajji

Re 20

It's all so clear to me know.

Pathological liars must lie, the truth is not important to them, THEY are important to themselves. Know that the truth is the OPPOSITE of what was said.

I was in the audience last, though I'm a proud Brooklynite. Corn was clearly the hero and Hitchens the one the crowd loved to hate. Paraphrasing Corn: If there was any debate in the intelligence community, Bush had the moral responsibility to present the argument and publicly debate the merits of a war of choice. Hitchens and Wedgwood couln't refute that central point. Just went on about how Saddam was a bad guy.

DEN

I agree, pathological liars are impeached , disbarred, cheat on their spouse's, and then lie to a grand jury and then directly to the American public and confess that they did not have sexual relations with that women. However, it all depends on what the meaning of "is," is.

What a MAROON!

More info on heating one's house. A friend out here in mid Michigan has propane and just filled his tank to the tune of $778.47. He said when they first bought that house back in 1999 it was only 79¢ per unit. He said his salary certainly hasn't increased by 2½ times since then.

un-effing-real! when provided with an actual report by a renowned professor of physics regarding the collapse of WTC7 into it's own footprint complete with photos and actual mathematics, a certain someone still persists with the claim that all is hunky dory with the official fairytale! perhaps a certain someone should be made aware of the fact that WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein admitted that WTC7 had been pulled. he later tried to retract that statement, but there are no take backs on live TV!

Thank you Tim your crime scene logic proves the U.N. sanctions were working and clamping down with greater restriction this whole mess would have run its course.For now lets find more answers in the funny papers.

DESPERATE REPUBLICANS ( has potential for a new reality show)

David , I was thinking that in many ways it is a compliment when these folks start calling you crazy.. it proves they are getting desperate.

Buchanan knows the Bush administration lied, he was against the invasion, and knows the 2006 elections is looking questionable for the Republicans..he knows they are in trouble.

The Bush administration continues to "spin, spin , spin" and while they continue to spin they have set the stage for sanctions or military action in Iran.

John Bolton has been busy twisting "arms" and creating a way to trump the Iaea's process, if the security council does not vote for sanctions after Mr. El Baradei's report in early March.
----------------------------------------------------
All of this dancing around the facts just proves they are shameless.

We know "there were no WMD'S."

We also know that the Bush administration LIED and they have yet to be held accountable for those LIES.

WE know that Cindy Sheehan's son is dead... (dead Tim dead) along with over 2300 other american soldiers.

We know Fifteen thousand american soldiers are injured.

We know that over 100,ooo Iraqi people are...dead (funny Tim how the U.S. knows how many people Saddam killed, yet can't verify how many Iraqi people we have killed and injured).

Tim do you have kids? Can you imagine that your kid went to Iraq under false pretenses and died. Do you have one ounce of compassion or empathy in that skin of yours?

These arguments, facts, figures and opinions that we share and dispute here about the war in Iraq have nothing to do with being a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent.

I know that I am struggling with the LIES. The lies that the Bush administration told to american families, to the world that have resulted in senseless deaths, senseless destruction.

American and Iraqi parents will never see their children again, wives have lost husbands, husbands have lost wives, children have lost parents, children have lost parents.

I know that if I lost one of my three daughters to a pack of lies told by my elected officials. Those elected officials would need to be looking over their shoulders every minute, for the rest of their lives.

The lies that the Bush administration told have changed peoples lives forever and forever is a very, long time.

You have entered the Twilight Zone.
DEN, the homeland goons, the CIA, FBI, NSA, DEA, ATF, and any other facist US dept. of ultimate control of every living person in the US can KISS MY ASS!! That goes for all war mongering traitors like the DOT as well! Cowards, fools wolves in sheeps clothing, I can smell you a mile away. You better pray there is no hell. If there is I'm sure Lucifer is licking his chops waiting for you. Where is our Patrick Henry when you need one??

#1 Tim... no need to be an "armchair quarterback" after the game/invasion.

Before the pre-emptive invasion all you had to be was a "soccer mom" listening to BBc and NPR daily.

Before the war you could hear Scott Ritter, Robert MCNamara, Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Bryzinski, Arthur Schlesenger(sp?), Madeline Albright, CIA ANALYST, IAEA Mr. El Baradei, Genral Zinni and other military experts advice "don't do it"..."there are no WMD's" "we will end up in a quagmire"..."the right wing radical neo-cons are out of control"...

No Tim you don't have to be an "armchair quarterback after the game" to know that the Bush administration lied and lied and lied. You just have to be willing to fact the facts.

There were so many people forewarning of exactly where our nation finds itself. IN A QUAQMIRE.

Tim the war in Iraq was a war of choice, and deep down you know it.

Cynthia McKinney ROCKS!! Check out this video

On the heating note....

Keeping a fire in the fireplace, from sunset until bed-time has cut the winter electric consumption (but not the increased bill!) in half.

I live about 20 miles from the Oconee Nuclear power station and Duke Energy's biggest hydroelectric dams. Not clear on how much of my electric is provided by each, but I suppose that once it is on the grid, everybody on that grid shares the same percentage of individual generation methods.

I'm up to my uhm, eyeballs in downed trees, especially after the torado last summer and the ice storm just before christmas. (although I'm wondering what to do with all the pine...summer bonfires, I suppose) I've given my brother, a woodcarver, select pieces, especially the cedar.

I wonder how much my wood-burning contributes to global warming, compared to my percentage of coal-fired, hydroelectric and local nuclear? Financially and aesthetically, it makes a lot of sense for me to burn the wood. (I cook a LOT with propane, but the good BBQ is always hickory charcoal.)

The double-wide mansion is on a hill, facing SSW, so the sun does a good job during the day.

The temps here have been averaging low 30's at night and 50 -60's daytime highs.

This would be a PERFECT spot for solar, but who's got the cash on hand for conversion?

Soakin' up the Rays in SC,

-T

Buchanan knows the Bush administration lied, he was against the invasion,....

yes, but why doesn't he just come right out and say it? they (buchanan, et al) cannot continue to beat around the bush, to have their cake and eat it too, to not call a spade a spade - until he and others REALLY speak out they are complicit.

On the personal note, Spc.Spanky called last night from (DELETED), in Northern Iraq. He was issued good body armor and their vehicles are all factory or up-armored. His job is all about making sure that people who leave the base come back with everything they left with (Hummers, rocket-launchers, fingers, toes, heads, etc) and no more.(local ladies, liquor, those long lost WMD's) He couldn't really say much, even though we talked for almost an hour.

He hopes he can still pull the night shifts when it gets hot. Says the temps there right now are similar to Carolina winters.

I told him to tell everybody that even us "Librul Lefties" are thinking of them and doing whatever we can to get them home, safely.

Drop me an e-mail, if you want to recieve Spc.Spanky updates in the future...

Click on my name...

-T

David,

I only read the first part of your piece and already have a comment. Using their logic, one could argue that because Bush is a mad-man and because the US definitely HAS WMD's, which we've definitely used before and because we were an agressor in the Iraq war, therefore, it would be appropriate to invade the US to take out GWBush before he strikes again (Iran).

Scary.

Hajji,

1 = d
2 = c
3 = a
4 = b

I didn't look to see if anyone else answered this...

flan

You really need to stop drinkin that kool-aid!

James Ha,

...dance around the mulberry, upend the Irishman, dally in the dell, lickity-split to the open safe, google the nightwatchman, take pictures...

a good cliche' is a beautiful thing!

-T

flan,

It was a rhetorical quiz...

I read the Copernicus quote in "Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader." and was reminded of Rummy-nose's stupid attempt at getting there...and then Timmy, who's wife rides a tractor, came about and...

Well...it was something to make me go..huh?

-T

Cynthia McKinney gave a very impressive speech but is anyone listening?

Look at the bust and you will note that there is no outdate.

President Bush Forever

Mr. David Corn,

That is what I am talking about. You expose the lies, their only repsonse is "Saddam bad, Busheney good" and people are listening and watching.

Keep up the good fight for the truth!

Thanks

Kirk

Finally, my words are getting out to the America people. THERE WILL BE NO 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!!!!! I'm not always be right but I'm never wrong!!!!!

"The trouble with most folks isn't so much their ignorance, as knowing so many things that ain't so." : Josh Billings - [Henry Wheeler Shaw] (1818-1885) American humorist and lecturer

=
"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -­ kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervour ­- with the cry of grave national emergency. Always, there has been some terrible evil at home, or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.": General Douglas MacArthur - (1880-1964) WWII Supreme Allied Commander of the Southwest Pacific, Supreme United Nations Commander 1957

=
"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it: Milton Mayer - Excerpt from pages 166-73 of "They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955

=
"A radical is one who speaks the truth." : Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. - Congressman, father of famous aviator - June 15, 1957

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Bush Administration Officials’†Lies about Iraq’≥ Supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction in Their Own Words

Here is a taste :

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
- Dick Cheney, speech to VFW National Convention, Aug. 26, 2002

Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.
- George W. Bush, speech to UN General Assembly, Sept. 12, 2002

No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
- Donald Rumsfeld, testimony to Congress, Sept. 19, 2002

The world is also uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by Iraq.
- George W. Bush, Nov. 23, 2002

If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world.
- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, press briefing, Dec. 2, 2002

We know for a fact that there are weapons there.
- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, press briefing, Jan. 9, 2003

What we know from UN inspectors over the course of the last decade is that Saddam Hussein possesses thousands of chemical warheads, that he possesses hundreds of liters of very dangerous toxins that can kill millions of people.
- White House spokesman Dan Bartlett, CNN interview, Jan. 26, 2003

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent…Æ The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.
- George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more.
Colin Powell, remarks to UN Security Council, Feb. 5, 2003

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

Pages and pages of more and more outrageous lies.

capt

Corporations and the military armed services will never ever permit Bush to leave the WH. He is forever the emperor of an evil nation and Nazi Americans give homage to him as their savior.

When I reflect on my predictions in my dreams, I wake up in a cold sweat for never being wrong.

1.5. Finding WMDs [via Center for American Progress, CAP]

FLIP 5/29/03 - [Bush]: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories...for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."IN SHORT:Yay! We found the weapons of mass destruction
.
FLOP 2/7/04 - [Bush]: "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons. And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there's theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find out." IN SHORT:Er, I guess we have NOT found the weapons of mass destruction.

I know that my predictions are very good; now if I can prepare my soul to be very good, then I will really be happy.

Exclusive: Bush Wanted To Invade Iraq If Elected in 2000

Two years before 9/11, candidate Bush was already talking privately about attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer

Houston: Two years before the September 11 attacks, presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq, according to his former ghost writer, who held many conversations with then-Texas Governor Bush in preparation for a planned autobiography.

"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. "It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency."

Herskowitz said that Bush expressed frustration at a lifetime as an underachiever in the shadow of an accomplished father. In aggressive military action, he saw the opportunity to emerge from his father’s shadow. The moment, Herskowitz said, came in the wake of the September 11 attacks. "Suddenly, he’s at 91 percent in the polls, and he’d barely crawled out of the bunker."

More HERE

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

The accidental liar? Sure we all believe that!(NOT)

capt

Rewriting History

In his debate with John Edwards, Dick Cheney had a brand-new version of the events that led to war

Oct. 6 - With virtually all of the administration’≥ original case for war in Iraq in tatters, Vice President Dick Cheney provided shifting and sometimes misleading arguments in last night’≥ debate with John Edwards about Saddam Hussein’≥ ties to terrorists and his access to weapons of mass destruction.

Cheney, responding to moderator Gwen Ifill’≥ first question, said that "concern" about Iraq before the war had "specifically focused" on the fact that Saddam’≥ regime had been listed for years by the U.S. government as a "state sponsor of terror," that Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal operated out of Baghdad, that Saddam paid $25,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers and that he had an "established relationship" with Al Qaeda.

But except for the allegation about Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda—° claim that is now more in question than ever—¥he other examples cited by Cheney in Tuesday night’≥ debate never have been previously emphasized by Bush administration officials, and for good reasons.

More HERE

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

A little trip down memory lane before it is swallowed whole by a sink hole. (or is that stink hole)

capt

On Hardball tonight Barney Franks called what took place before, during and after the flooding in New Orleans "Ethnic Cleansing by Inaction". That the lack of funding for lower income housing will leave New Orleans " whiter and richer." He was on a roll.

He indicated that Rove sees the circmustance in New Orleans as an opportunity to flip Lousianna to the Republicans.( if the african american population does not make it back) Doesn't this sound like Rove ( just what is his position with the reconstruction( or lack of) in New Orleans?

Now this one gets to me, on MSNBC and on Lou Dobbs the new call to the american taxpayer is to donate to the INTREPID FALLEN HEROES FUND.
While I completely support soldiers receiving every means to support themselves, medical coverage, college education and any type of rehabilitation (both mental and physical that they need.

It is so absurd to me that after the Bush administration demanded that the public SUPPORT THE WAR..SUPPORT THE TROOPS (even though they were cutting funding and services for soldiers). Now the private sector is asking the american taxpayer that have given their family members, their money and their souls, they are now asking for more money for a new facility for the soldiers that have lost limbs..

THE FUCKING BUSH ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE PAYING FOR THE ARMS, LEGS, AND BODY PARTS OF THESE SOLDIERS...CHENEY, BUSH , RUMSFELD , WOLFOWITZ, AND THE REST OF THE NEO-NAZI CONS SHOULD PAY FOR THESE SOLDIERS MASSIVE LOSSES.

THESE FUCKS SHOULD HAVE TO SPEND YEARS IN THESE REHABILITATION CENTERS AS ORDERLIES.

YES THIS IS IT ...INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM IN JAIL MAKE THEM DO COMMUNITY SERVICE IN THIS NEW REHABILITATION CENTER OR WALTER REED HOSPITAL. SO THAT THEY CAN SEE THE RESULTS OF THEIR DECISIONS.

DAMN I HOPE THERE IS A HELL..FOR THEM.

Olberman reported that Bush got the name wrong of the building in L.A. that was not bombed. He also announced that the mayor of L.a. had no idea that the President was going to say this on the news.

I bet that Mayor was getting some phone calls today.

Democracy Now Headlines

Less Than Half of Reviewed Gitmo Detainees Accused of Violence
The news comes as a new study based entirely on Pentagon data shows that of 500 Guantanamo detainees whose cases were reviewed, fewer than half of them have been accused of committing violent acts against the United States or its allies. The study, carried out by lawyers for two detainees, found that the government has identified only 8% of the detainees as al Qaeda fighters. Of the rest, the study found that 40% have no connection with al Qaeda at all and 18% are have no affiliation with either al Qaeda or the Taliban. Meanwhile, 60% of the 500 detainees have been detained "merely because they are 'associated with' a group or groups the US government asserts are terrorist organizations."
--------------------
Now, read my next post.

Report: Hunger-Striking Gitmo Detainees Strapped Down, Forced-Fed
The New York Times is reporting authorities at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have resorted to a series of tough measures to force-feed hunger-striking detainees. Dozens of detainees have held the fasts to protest their prison conditions. Prison guards have strapped detainees into "restraint chairs" for hours and force-fed them with tubes down their throat. The Times says over two dozen detainees quit their hunger strikes after "having their feeding tubes inserted and removed so violently that some bled or fainted." Thomas Wilner, a lawyer for several detainees said: "It is clear that the government has ended the hunger strike through the use of force and through the most brutal and inhumane types of treatment."
-------------------
Somewhere along the line this system got really, really screwed up. I would say it has a lot to do with the leadership.

#74 Boyd (previous thread)..I am truely sorry for your loss. Keep her memory alive.... Hold these Liars accountable.

#36 James Ha. I have heard Buchanan say it out loud. He completely disagreed with the pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. Go read some of his articles at the AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE AND ANTIWAR.COM.

SALADIN..CHENEY IS GOING,,,GOING,,,G_ _E

Hajji,

Thought you would like this link. It is from the Stars & Stripes Newspaper. A map of Iraq with locations of FOB's & camps.

Stars & Stripes

Glad to hear Grant is doing well.

great article over at Findlaw/John Dean on "V.P. Cheney fight for inherent Presidential Power"

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

Libby specifically claimed that in one instance he had been authorized to divulge portions of a then-still highly classified National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to correspondence recently filed in federal court by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war.

More HERE

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

Oh my, time for a new veep, eh?

Exposing a covert agent working on WMD proliferation during a time of war[sic] - if that is not a high crime nothing is.

Maybe we start by impreaching the VP, an so on.

capt

I guess my own stating-the-obvious humor didn't come through on that one. Sorry. guys.

Who needs soap operas. Life here IS a soap opera. Just keeping up with all the plots and twists and turns of government and Big Business since 2000 has got me hooked. Can't wait to tune into the next day's episode. I compare all the facets of the life of this country to a soap opera because it is and we're as helpless to change a thing just like we can't control the soap opera plot.

What diverse plots did I see latetly:

1. Bush put something in the budget that will tamper with SS. He's going to do what he wants even though everyone else has said no. (More King George, the powerful)

2. Heard the government was going to "permit" health care providers to no have to treat people who can't pay the deductible. (hey, it would make a great plot on TV, but real people are involved here)

3. The Bush gang saved Los Angelus from a shoe bomber in 2002. (hmmm.....)

4. Medicaid and Medicare are being cut. (there's more poor & old people every day)

5. Update: White House lists 10 foiled attacks

6. Big Business is talking about charging for e-mail. (kiss my ASS!)

7. Husband heard that "they" want to cut out the SS burial benefit, which is a couple hundred dollars, and they want to cut out the benefit of a couple hundred that your young kid's get if you die. (evil bastards!)

8. Then there's all this crap about Iran. Saber's rattling. (so sick of that shit)

Bush Plan Would Trim Survivor Benefits

WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts.

If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.

Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits — no matter how small — could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.

"There they go again," Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs his party's campaign committee, said Tuesday of the administration. "They can't resist trying to cut Social Security and to cut a survivor's, a widow or widower's benefits; it just shows how warped the priorities are in this budget."

More HERE

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

And there you go!

capt

Democrats worst nightmare,

Dick Cheney resigns prior to 2006 elections.
Condaliza Rice is named as Vice-President.
Condaliza decides to challenge for the 2008
Republican nomination for President.
Condaliza wins, chooses Alberto Gonzales as running mate.

Neither Cheney or Bush are running in 2008. Be
careful of what you wish for.

Thanks, Capt. I'm going to print the article out for Bob.

Learn to spell Condi's name.

You are insulting minorities if you think that having Ms. Con-di and Mr. Alberto on the Republican ticket would guarantee a successful campaign.

They have more sense than to fall for THAT.

Here's a good Bill O'Reilly stupid quote. Even he was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole.

O'Reilly wants Sharpton in chains...

By the time the next Presidental Election hits no one in this administration will be asked to be on the ticket. They are looking uglier to the American people with every passing day.
Alan, what do the polls say?

Abramoff says Bush met, even joked, with him
Statement follows White House claim that president does not know lobbyist
__________________

WASHINGTON - Jack Abramoff said in correspondence made public Thursday that President Bush met him “almost a dozen” times, disputing White House claims Bush did not know the former lobbyist at the center of a corruption scandal.

“The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows,” Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Kim Eisler, national editor for the Washingtonian magazine.
__________________

"...I did NOT have, uhm, meetings with that man...uhm Jackoff..."

Who'd believe a confessed felon, anyway?

-T

Some perceptive reporters seem to have noticed that the cons plan to try to distract from their wake of death, destruction, and destitution by casting the Dems as "angry liberals" this election year.

Let them try. The Dems need only utter 3 words to immediately remind people what pack of phonies and hypocrites the cons are: Go Find Yourself.

And Cheney spewed his obscenity at a U.S. Senator, right there on the Senate floor, which makes jr.'s SOTU plea for civility seem more than a little ridiculous.

Anyone ever hear of a Democrat using obscenities on the Senate floor? So you tell me which party has the anger management problem.

J.C. Watts Sr. -- the father of the former (used up) congressman -- is quoted as saying that a black man voting for a Republican "is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders." Or, as Colin Powell more gently put it on Fox News, the GOP is "certainly not seen as the black guy's party."

Thanx for the map, TRH,

It might be a little outdated. The Tal Afar offensive was last July, I think...

Y'know, for a place where we aren't planning any permanent bases...There sure seems to be a lot of "There" there!

-T

Hajji said, "Who'd believe a confessed felon, anyway?"

Hey, they believe them when they rat out their cell mates.

Hey, Hajji. No fireplace here, but I have a bonfire pit 50 feet out from the house. Our house faces south. Always wanted to put solar panels on the roof, but.....$$$$$

Carol,

An old friend I visited in LA did a TV story on Solar, got a free rooftop FULL of panels and passive pool heater. I guess being in the media has it advantages. In the summer, the 'Lectric company pays HIM!

He says it about evens out in the winter, but THAT's in LA, where the sun ALWAYS shines...unless you're traveling with my sister, who seems to be followed by rainclouds!

-T

Oh, and we have several places for outdoor fires, here, depending on the season and situation...

My favorite is out at the NorthWesternmost point of the hill...looking up at Table Rock, and the rest of the NC/SC border.

-T

Hajji,
My sister has the same mysterious raincloud issue. She's had planes struck by lightening. She's had tornadoes go through the airport in O'Hare and in Los Angelus. She moved temporarily to Washington DC and they had so much snow it was collapsing the roofs of buildings. Amazing.
She went on a road trip with a friend from college. He was the type of guy who had incredible luck. It was spooky. She said they were driving down a road in Montana and there were rain clouds on her side of the road and sunshine on his side.

I guess it wouldn't pay because in Michigan in the winter you don't get much sun. Especially THIS winter. There's hardly ever been a sunny day. I think in January we had something like 14 minutes of sun.

Besides Grant being "there" that is the only other reason I "figgured" you would be interested in that "there" map.

Caroline,

Is that any different than a Clinton/Richardson ticket in 2008? I didn't say it would succeed.
The only reason Clinton wasn't convicted of his impeachment charge was specifically because the Repubs knew that would give Bore a two year head start toward 2000.

Conda/Condo/Condi, leeza, leza, liza, I have seen it spelled many different ways. Get off your high horse and realize what you are dreaming of will never happen.

Predictions

Dear Cornposters:

When will start to believe? Here are more predictions. There will be more Nazis elected in 2006 to House and Senate seats through Nazi American rigged elections. There will be no 2008 presidential elections. We are witnessing the Nazi American way and Nazi America's manifest destiny. The enslavement of Nazi Americans takes hold after the 2006 elections. The bushians with their bushianity religion are in total control of Nazi America. Hatred, murders, torture, war crimes, corruption, greed, decadence, and lies prevail across all of Nazi America and these evils will spread all over our planet through wars and depleted uranium.

Sincerely,

Gerald

I would have loved to attended that one.

Anyone read this yet?

By Murray Waas, National Journal

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information

http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0209nj1.htm

May the United States of America rest in peace!!!!!

Stunning news coming out of Madrid this day, where Russia's president Putin announces, to the dismay of the west, that he will receive HAMAS leader in Moscow for a submit, stating that a duly elected political parties deserve recognition.

In Letter to President Bush, 1/28/06, which was CC to President Putin, I stated:

"Derrick Michael Reid" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Recognize the STATE of Palestine NOW!!
To: "GOP USA" , "President George W. Bush"
CC: "Bill GATA Murphy" , "Bill OReilly" , "Jim Pinkerton" , "Editor Orange County Register" , "Dana Rohrabacher 46th US" , "Editor New York Times" , "London Times" , "Fred Barnes" , "PM Tony Blair" , "John Campbell 48th US" , "Ann Coulter" , "Darrell Issa 49th CAL" , "Charles Krauthammer" , "Rush Limbaugh"

President Bush, GOP, 1/28/06
Recognize Palestine Now!
The victory of Hamas, in my view, is actually a very good thing. If Hamas remains out of power, Hamas will only continue their terror. But now there is a chance for a real break from the mud march along the misleading road map. Militant Islam in Palestine will have to make some tuff choices, and in the end, I think, Hamas and the Palestinians will decide prosperity is better than bombs, and the democratic forces will bring that militant wing into civility. With ruling responsibility for their population, Hamas will understand that democracy and freedom carries with it responsibility, and will opt for better lives, and increased interconnectiveness with the rest of the world in the never ending path towards global confluence. The global confluence moves in an irresistible force, and this move will be seen in Palestine at this day, and is a very good thing.
What you need to do is civilize Hamas, and pressing, but not for disarmament of Hamas, as that would demean them and their democracy victory in their eyes, but rather, their integration into the Palestine security forces. In this way, you give Hamas pride and encourage integration into a single political system. Sure, I know they are evil at times, but it is a great victory to turn an enemy into a friend, without demeaning them. Remember these words, "with malice toward none", during reconciliation. I dont really care if Hamas feels that it was their terrorism that led to the Gaza withdrawal, and if Hamas wants to believe that, who really cares, that is old news. Where do we go from here is the question. There is a tremendous opportunity knocking right at your feet. Dont loose this chance with hostile threats, but rather embrace Hamas with words of cooperation to promote peace. We know they are ruthless killers, everyone does, but so were the Texas rebels in the Wilderness 5/4/1861, get it? As Bobby Lee said, Texans always move them, and there is Southern Pride in a hard fought war. Give to Hamas whatever it takes, to get them to move toward civility.
You are correct, no money support and aid should be given to Palestine, as long as ruling Hamas insist on Israel's destruction. The world must be united on this. But use the money this way, in that, the USA will support peace, including Hamas' efforts to promote peace. You have a golden opportunity here, to move Hamas from a war terror posture into the ranks of civilized cooperation, if played correctly. Use the carrot and stick, and shrewd diplomacy, and get Hamas into mainstream civility. Encourage integration of the militia into government security forces, and get Hamas leadership to change its stance, one little step at time, and push for peace and prosperity. These are the words you should always use. Get off the terrorist organization rant, and tell Israel to reduce the hostile rhetoric, but rather, use only positive terms, in your public discussion. This is an opportunity, and can be of great benefit, if you play it well.
Here is how you do it. First, I would like to remind of Lincoln's problem with cabinet member Chase and Stewart in January 1863, when they were hostile toward each other. The hostile one, Chase would belittle the cabinet behind everyone's back, but when put in front of Lincoln's cabinet for all to hear, well, he started doing some back stepping, and Lincoln, the political master, solve a political problem, much worst that the losses on the battle field. You should learn from his example. I believe you are the BOLD leader of the free world, and will take bold action when persuaded. And so, here, you have the ultimate objective of defeating militant Islam, of which Hamas is a tiny but significant part. You must come out and say that the USA strongly supports peace and democracy, and will support any democratically elected Palestinian political leader that wants to promote peace. Say to Hamas that the USA will support the Hamas government if it supports peace and democracy. Understand that Palestine needs at least two strong political parties to engage in true debate, and the stage is set with opposing Fatah and Hamas political parties, as they are the only game in town, and that is just great. Next, we only need to nudge Hamas into the civilized camp, and with the cease fire over the last two years, that is really not much of a move, and you should use the PEACE and AID rhetoric to do this. You have control over the purse strings, and the rhetoric, used them wisely.
Now, for the BOLD move. President Bush, I believe in you, and will ask you now, are you really the bold leader of the free world? I would suggest you forthwith, preempt the road map to peace, or should I say leap over it. Israel is withdrawing behinds its walls. That fits the plan. With Israel having defensible borders, there is no threat for a massive Palestinian invasion into Israel proper. Israel would win any artillery duel. As such, why wait ten more years more to accomplish your objective. When a Hamas leader is recognized in Palestine, you should then recognize THE STATE OF PALISTINE, with its capital in Ramalla, and get Mr. Bolton in the UN to invite the Hamas leader to the UN to address the UN general assembly as a welcomed recognized state. Now, look at what might happen, as with the Iranian President. If the Hamas leader goes on a terrorist rant, you simply are proved again to be correct, in no uncertain terms, for the whole civilized world to see the potential dangers of militant-islam, and that would build your necessary support in the confrontation with Iran. You would then remove all economic support for the State of Palestine, impose diplomatic sanctions, and let Fatah and Hamas stew in civil confrontations until the Palestinians themselves resolve the issue.
Israel's Sharon masterfully and effectively out maneuvered the Palestinians by the withdrawal and building a wall, forcing the Palestinians to live with themselves, and Sharon should be remember for this bold move. If Hamas leader goes on a reconciliation plead before the UN, well then, you could continue economic support and recognition and bring Palestine into the fold of civilized nations. By recognition, you will accelerate the integration of the Hamas militia into national security forces and bring them to negotiations rather than terror as a recognized state. This can be a great win and no loss political victory for you, if you are the bold leader I believe you to be. President Bush, if you are bold, if this truly is democracy century, if you can see the strength and wisdom of democracy as the means to resolve conflicts within a people that will eventually reject guns in favor of diplomacy, then you should move now and recognize Palestine and put them on a pedestal at the UN for all to see and scrutinize. Doing this, I am sure it will bring them into civility, without the need for marching down an endless muddy road with a soiled map. President Bush, you have but a couple of years left to make your mark in history. The world needs your bold leadership now more than ever. I notice you pathetically stammer in front of whole world, taken back by this victory, and it seems you are not well served by middle east analysts. This reminds so much of how the US intelligence completely misjudge how easily and quickly the soviet empire fell, yet I predicted it, as night followed day, two years in advance. I can see this failure of lack of creative thinking happening all over again with the USA government. Please sir, take advantage of this opportunity, and make the bold move, and do it now.
Thank You for Serving.
God Bless
Derrick Michael Reid
=========================================
Excuse me for being a dreamer, but it seems that Putin likes my objective views, especially were he can make political points, in the Islamic world, seeking to regain lost political prestige. This is another apparent COINCIDENTAL reaction to my suggestions.

The continuing soap opera: 1. "Patriot Act Compromise Clears Way for Senate Vote." (big deal, and reading about it makes you just shake your head) 2. Libby said he was "authorized" to devulge classified info to reporters and that was how Valerie Plame's name was divulged. (gee, like this info will mean anything....nothing will happen to Scooter, or rather nothing will happnen to the Bushies) 3. Derrick Michael Reid is still around Tune in tomorrow.

Gerald, here is my prediction. A great power, after much enmity and struggle, will declare peace and security, then all hell will break loose, because you can't trust a politican as far as you can throw them. We are in a transition that can't be avoided. It's called evolution, however painful. We will either survive, or not. If the earth is lucky, we will go the way of the Dodo.

Are the following assertions made by POTUS false?

Example 1: "Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors."

Example 2: "Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas, or biological weapons."

Example 3: "And so we had to act and act now. Let me explain why. First, without a strong inspection system, Iraq would be free to retain and begin to rebuild its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs in months, not years."

Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms
Frist denies protection was added in secret

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.

The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member.
====================
caught in more strong-arm/secret tactics and lied their azz off when confronted with it

*typical stinkin' repug corruption

Frist has so much rotten/smelling baggage, how do they still talk about him running for president?!!

If only the masses could SEE the manipulation.

Every side of a struggle is capable of producing media events to advance their causes. I think it finally behooves us to consider just what , exactly is worth getting all worked up about.

For me, this is easy......it is the grab for and the consolidation of POWER by this ADMINISTRATION.

They would errode our individual rights, and rejoice in the ability to have done so.....with their ringer jurists looking on.

They own the Supreme Court, and without any doubt they own the Attourney General.

Are we ready to vote YET???????????

a. Does the average American feel safer because we participate in torture?

b. Does any American feel our borders are well protected?

c. Our ports?

Wake up AMERICA, this idiot isn't making you safer, he is stealing your liberty with every stroke of his mighty pen.

He is also bankrupting the country. And be warned, he is itching to go for Iran.

Ever notice the lack of Bushian saber rattling with Nations that Have nukes?

Shurb boy won't touch Korea with Long Tongs.......but he feels absolutely free in regularly threatening Iran.....Interesting, from a purely human rights perspective.

Seems to me, Shrub is your average playground bully.

Pay back is often a real bitch.

every little bit helps...

Official Resigns Public TV Post

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — The top television executive at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Thursday that he would be stepping down. This is the latest in a string of departures of officials and consultants who played central roles in an effort by conservatives to bring what they viewed as more balance to public television and radio.

Feinstein and Durbin are caving, with only minor "cosmetic" changes.

Key Democratic and G.O.P. Senators Are in Accord on Extending Patriot Act

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — Four recalcitrant Senate Republicans said Thursday that they had reached agreement with the White House on the broad antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, and two leading Democrats said they would now support the bill. The moves possibly clear the way for passage of the legislation, which has been bottled up in a dispute over civil liberties.

(snip)

Critics said the changes were cosmetic.

"A few insignificant changes just doesn't cut it," Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said in a statement. "I cannot support this deal, and I will do everything I can to stop it."

Well, they obviously need this guy's testimony during Phase 2.

Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq
Intelligence 'Misused' to Justify War, He Says

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 10, 2006; Page A01

The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade.

"It has become clear that official intelligence was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between [Bush] policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized," Pillar wrote.

Pillar's critique is one of the most severe indictments of White House actions by a former Bush official since Richard C. Clarke, a former National Security Council staff member, went public with his criticism of the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and its failure to deal with the terrorist threat beforehand.

It is also the first time that such a senior intelligence officer has so directly and publicly condemned the administration's handling of intelligence.

(snip)

Pillar wrote that the prewar intelligence asserted Hussein's "weapons capacities," but he said the "broad view" within the United States and overseas "was that Saddam was being kept 'in his box' " by U.N. sanctions, and that the best way to deal with him was through "an aggressive inspections program to supplement sanctions already in place."

"If the entire body of official intelligence analysis on Iraq had a policy implication," Pillar wrote, "it was to avoid war -- or, if war was going to be launched, to prepare for a messy aftermath."

The Adulation of Ignorance

The explosive situation in the Middle East needs to be defused, not aggravated. The United States gains nothing by confirming its image as the hegemonic Great Satan.

Nothing is gained by the deaths and maiming of thousands and tens of thousands more people whose lives are thrown away to the purposes of blind propaganda.

Nothing is gained by the US wasting more hundreds of billions dollars that are desperately needed for important and legitimate purposes.

Nothing is gained by the US pressuring with threats and bribes other countries to line up with what they know to be a wrong and dangerous policy.

Nothing is gained by endangering oil flows and a western transportation system dependent on the internal combustion engine.

Bush’≥ approach is insane. It serves no legitimate purpose. There is no reason for it.

Why is it happening?

More HERE

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

No legitimate purpose, no reason for it. Why is it happening? I think as long as Bush is considered a politician and Bolton is considered a diplomat what do you expect?

capt

It's Friday and alot happened yesterday.News came out that Libby testified to a grand jury in charges filed last month by Fitzgerald that he was ordered by his superiors to leak Valerie Plame's identity. Also yesterday chimpy mcflightsuit revealed the thwarted plan to run an airliner into the LA Liberty Tower (pronounced library). Shrubs timing was obvious to grandstand or at least mitigate damage by the Libby news. Ah how transparent its so refreshing, it stinks.

..then it was logical to assume Saddam still had WMDs.

It was logical to so assume unless military action and international sanctions had been directed at these WMD programs. This woman was on the law faculty at Yale?

Publisher’s Note: The greatest sleazeballs of the 21st century

Dick Cheney is trying to push through the Senate a bill that would create a national trust fund for victims of asbestos poisoning. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? It does until you realize he’s doing it to cover his and Bush’s butts.

A little background:

While he was CEO of Halliburton in 1998 he negotiated the purchase of Dresser Industries for $7.7 billion. The Bush family has owned and controlled Dresser since the 1920s. There’s no evidence of a lot of cash turning over, so it could be assumed that the Bush family got stock in place of cash for the sale. So, it looks like the mouse ate the cat. It looks like Dresser ended up controlling Halliburton.

Cheney said at the time, the merger was a "win-win" situation. The stock market thought otherwise. Halliburton lost more than a third of its value on news of the deal. Some of the liabilities that Dresser brought to the table were 200,000 lawsuits for damages as a result of asbestos poisoning. Halliburton now estimates its asbestos liability at $2.2 billion with about $1.6 of that covered by insurance. Wall Street analysts think it’s much higher, and the stock has taken a hit of about $4.5 billion directly related to the asbestos problems.

The Hatch bill in the Senate would void many of the legal settlements and reduce Halliburton’s overall liability from $4 billion down to $450 million.

It’s kind of heartwarming to know that even though Bush and Cheney are busy with a lot of other important matters they can still take the time to screw widows and orphans to put money in their own pockets.

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

There is an ad that is running here in Albuquerque where they talk about the asbestos issue as if it is about veterans. It says the "asbestos victims deserve to be compensated" and that the "fund" will be created without any government money.

One more thing that chaps my leathery hide.

capt

Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq
Intelligence 'Misused' to Justify War, He Says

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 10, 2006; A01

The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade.

"Official intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs was flawed, but even with its flaws, it was not what led to the war," Pillar wrote in the upcoming issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Instead, he asserted, the administration "went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq."

"It has become clear that official intelligence was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between [Bush] policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized," Pillar wrote.

Pillar's critique is one of the most severe indictments of White House actions by a former Bush official since Richard C. Clarke, a former National Security Council staff member, went public with his criticism of the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and its failure to deal with the terrorist threat beforehand.

It is also the first time that such a senior intelligence officer has so directly and publicly condemned the administration's handling of intelligence.

Pillar, retired after 28 years at the CIA, was an influential behind-the-scenes player and was considered the agency's leading counterterrorism analyst. By the end of his career, he was responsible for coordinating assessments on Iraq from all 15 agencies in the intelligence community. He is now a professor in security studies at Georgetown University.

White House officials did not respond to a request to comment for this article. They have vehemently denied accusations that the administration manipulated intelligence to generate public support for the war.

"Our statements about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein were based on the aggregation of intelligence from a number of sources and represented the collective view of the intelligence community," national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said in a White House briefing in November. "Those judgments were shared by Republicans and Democrats alike."

Republicans and Democrats in Congress continue to argue over whether, or how, to investigate accusations the administration manipulated prewar intelligence.

Yesterday, the Senate Republican Policy Committee issued a statement to counter what it described as "the continuing Iraq pre-war intelligence myths," including charges that Bush " 'misused' intelligence to justify the war." Writing that it was perfectly reasonable for the president to rely on the intelligence he was given, the paper concluded, "it is actually the critics who are misleading the American people."

In his article, Pillar said he believes that the "politicization" of intelligence on Iraq occurred "subtly" and in many forms, but almost never resulted from a policymaker directly asking an analyst to reshape his or her results. "Such attempts are rare," he writes, "and when they do occur . . . are almost always unsuccessful."

Instead, he describes a process in which the White House helped frame intelligence results by repeatedly posing questions aimed at bolstering its arguments about Iraq.

The Bush administration, Pillar wrote, "repeatedly called on the intelligence community to uncover more material that would contribute to the case for war," including information on the "supposed connection" between Hussein and al Qaeda, which analysts had discounted. "Feeding the administration's voracious appetite for material on the Saddam-al Qaeda link consumed an enormous amount of time and attention."

The result of the requests, and public statements by the president, Vice President Cheney and others, led analysts and managers to conclude the United States was heading for war well before the March 2003 invasion, Pillar asserted.

They thus knew, he wrote, that senior policymakers "would frown on or ignore analysis that called into question a decision to go to war and welcome analysis that supported such a decision. . . . [They] felt a strong wind consistently blowing in one direction. The desire to bend with such a wind is natural and strong, even if unconscious."

Pillar wrote that the prewar intelligence asserted Hussein's "weapons capacities," but he said the "broad view" within the United States and overseas "was that Saddam was being kept 'in his box' " by U.N. sanctions, and that the best way to deal with him was through "an aggressive inspections program to supplement sanctions already in place."

"If the entire body of official intelligence analysis on Iraq had a policy implication," Pillar wrote, "it was to avoid war -- or, if war was going to be launched, to prepare for a messy aftermath."

Pillar describes for the first time that the intelligence community did assessments before the invasion that, he wrote, indicated a postwar Iraq "would not provide fertile ground for democracy" and would need "a Marshall Plan-type effort" to restore its economy despite its oil revenue. It also foresaw Sunnis and Shiites fighting for power.

Pillar wrote that the intelligence community "anticipated that a foreign occupying force would itself be the target of resentment and attacks -- including guerrilla warfare -- unless it established security and put Iraq on the road to prosperity in the first few weeks or months after the fall of Saddam."

In an interview, Pillar said the prewar assessments "were not crystal-balling, but in them we were laying out the challenges that would face us depending on decisions that were made."

Pillar wrote that the first request he received from a Bush policymaker for an assessment of post-invasion Iraq was "not until a year into the war."

That assessment, completed in August 2004, warned that the insurgency in Iraq could evolve into a guerrilla war or civil war. It was leaked to the media in September in the midst of the presidential campaign, and Bush, who had told voters that the mission in Iraq was going well, described the assessment to reporters as "just guessing."

Shortly thereafter, Pillar was identified in a column by Robert D. Novak as having prepared the assessment and having given a speech critical of Bush's Iraq policy at a private dinner in California. The column fed the White House's view that the CIA was in effect working against the Bush administration, and that Pillar was part of that. A columnist in the Washington Times in October 2004 called him "a longstanding intellectual opponent of the policy options chosen by President Bush to fight terrorism."

Leaked information "encouraged some administration supporters to charge intelligence officers (including me) with trying to sabotage the president's policies," Pillar wrote. One effect of that, he said, was to limit challenges to consensus views on matters such as the Iraqi weapons program.

When asked why he did not quit given his concerns, Pillar said in the interview that he was doing "other worthwhile work in the nation's interest" and never thought of resigning over the issue.

Pillar suggests that the CIA and other intelligence agencies, now under Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, remain within the executive branch but "be given greater independence."

The model he cites is the Federal Reserve, overseen by governors who serve fixed terms. That, he said, would reduce "both the politicization of the intelligence community's own work and the public misuse of intelligence by policymakers."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

OOPS SORRY ALAN YOU ALL READY POSTED THIS...

Justin Raimando, Julian Borger...so many journalist were hitting the nail on the head long before the pre-emptive invasion...

TIM TIM TIM...are you going to keep your head in the sand?...

Before the pre-emptive invasion all you had to be was a "soccer mom" listening to BBc and NPR daily. Before the war you could hear .... Madeline Albright,,"..."there are no WMD's" ... Tim the war in Iraq was a war of choice, and deep down you know it. Posted by: kathleen at February 9, 2006 06:43 PM >>Albright 'Surprised' at Failure To Find WMD (She believes Iraq had a WMD program) NY Sun ^ | 9/22/03 The Bush administration got a boost from an unexpected quarter yesterday when President Clinton's secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, said she was surprised that weapons of mass destruction had not been discovered in Iraq. Mrs. Albright, who would have been privy to intelligence similar to that which President Bush used in making the decision to invade Iraq, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press program yesterday. She was asked whether she was surprised American troops had not found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I am surprised, she said...>>

#65 TRH...There is no possible way that Ms.Condi Rice could win, SHE HAS A MUSHROOM CLOUD HANGING OVER HER HEAD. That statement that image the results of her LIES will bury her.

#92 Alan..I so wish Cindy Sheehan would run against Feinstein. Her husbands/her profits from this war are a scandal and very little is being written about this.

She holds a seat on the Phase 2 SSCI (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence). I really wonder what role she may be playing in blocking this investigation from moving forward in some subtle way?

Senator Feingold is a treasure.

#85 Derrick Michael Reid...It is amazing how people seem to conveniently forget that most leaders of the Israeli government came out of what many consider terroist organizations. Why not the Palestinians..Hamas

#100 Patrick
Bridges, Bombs, or Bluster?
Madeleine K. Albright

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration has pressured every country in the world to make a simple choice: Are you with the United States or with the terrorists? But by casting the choice so starkly--and expanding the war on terror to include its campaign in Iraq--Washington has alienated many natural and potential allies and made the fight against al Qaeda more difficult. It didn't have to be this way. The White House has acted as if it doesn't care what others think, and the country is paying the price for its mistake.
Read

#100 Patrick.................

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we would all agree that it is a threat within the region, which is one reason that the sanctions regime that was put in after the war has been held fairly tightly and something that we supported all along.

I think that Dr. Kissinger answered very well. It is not a direct threat to the United States, which is why, I think, we need to have a discussion about whether we are - will be or would be better off with an attack or a preemptive attack on Iraq from where we are now, where, in fact, I believe that Iraq and Saddam Hussein are contained pretty well within this sanctions box.

#100 Patrick ...I did not link Madeline Albright directly with "there are no WMD'S". I heard her warn on many occasions that the invasion would be a mistake.

You can attempt to "spin" all of the warnings
that many experts shared prior to the invasion all you want. Their voices, their wisdom and experience were completely ignored by the Bush administration.

The endless repetition of the LIES BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ABOUT WMD'S drowned all of them out.

Patrick keep "spinning" you are just going to make yourself dizzy living in the state of denial.

Plugging Leaks

More details emerge on the Plame investigation, as Karl Rove's testimony is revealed for the first time

President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, told the FBI in an interview last October that he circulated and discussed damaging information regarding CIA operative Valerie Plame with others in the White House, outside political consultants, and journalists, according to a government official and an attorney familiar with the ongoing special counsel's investigation of the matter.

But Rove also adamantly insisted to the FBI that he was not the administration official who leaked the information that Plame was a covert CIA operative to conservative columnist Robert Novak last July. Rather, Rove insisted, he had only circulated information about Plame after it had appeared in Novak's column. He also told the FBI, the same sources said, that circulating the information was a legitimate means to counter what he claimed was politically motivated criticism of the Bush administration by Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Rove and other White House officials described to the FBI what sources characterized as an aggressive campaign to discredit Wilson through the leaking and disseminating of derogatory information regarding him and his wife to the press, utilizing proxies such as conservative interest groups and the Republican National Committee to achieve those ends, and distributing talking points to allies of the administration on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. Rove is said to have named at least six other administration officials who were involved in the effort to discredit Wilson.

More HERE

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Now that we know Valerie was a covert agent, Rove admitted to treason, or am I missing something?

capt

PJ,

Thank you for pointing out the statement by Ms. Halfbright. Good luck with these folks, though. They never met a fact they couldn't ignore, dismiss as never actually happened, or simply attack the person pointing it out!

Kathleen,

Hypothetically whether you believed there were weapons in Iraq before we invaded or not, you stood a 50/50 chance of being right. In other words, NO ONE KNEW for sure beforehand! This is just an incontravertible fact. The fact that some people now SEEM to have been prescient is just an illusion and I don't put any stock in what they have to say because they are just trying to make themselves look smart. It's totally political on their part.

Kathleen,

Look, people on both sides of the pre-war debate argued their points from the best intelligence and their own analyses at the time. Anyone who claimed then or claims now to have known with 100% certainty the status of Saddam's secret WMD's is simply being intellectually dishonest.

It all boiled down to a judgement call based upon a belief in what we saw at the time. To try and cast this as a lie by the President is PURE POLITICS, nothing more.

600 million Arabs. Living in a political hell. Bush, the GOP, Blair and soldiers doing all the heavy work, and all the left does is throw hissy fits. Iraqis have a chance, thanks by and large to the lives, deaths and sweat of mostly evangelical, Republican soldiers. And what equal sacrifice have the lefties done other than to hang out in mid-town coffee shops? Nothing, nada, zip save bitch, bitch, bitch. Why doesn't the left embarrass the right, show them how it is done? Why don't you lefties take on North Korea, Tibet, Cuba? You know, make a statement and like President Kennedy, say by such and such day, so and so will be free? Hitchens is right, and every one in the world knows it, lefties are physical cowards.

When in doubt, "Shock 'n Awe" Them to death by the thousands. Invade and destroy infrastructure to the point where 3 years later the electric's STILL not back up to speed.
Ignore the warnings and reccomendations from your own state department and create a practice ground for insurgent guerilla tactics and kill thousands more.

Yeah, that's the way I'd play a 50 - 50 chance.

Who cares if I had to delete opinions of those opposed to such outrageous mass-murder the nattering nabobs kept putting in my breifings.

"THERE IS NO DOUBT." "WE KNOW RIGHT WHERE THEY (WMDs) ARE!"

Still, Timmy, you follow blindly such men who'd bankrupt your nation in persuit of lies. Your ears are only open for appologists and party hacks. Proven liars are your Kings and Queens.

But still you refuse to see, to hold them responsible.

But still you blame those who've consitently gotten it right.

Puh-thetic.

kisses to the Misses!

-T

SERIAL LIAR BUSH FINALLY GETS CAUGHT

"Many of these politicians have put exclamation marks where we put question marks." ~ Former Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix.

DETROIT -- That astute remark came in an interview in which Dr. Blix also offered his belief that President Bush's re-election campaign would contort and distort his reports on Saddam Hussein's arsenal of weapons to justify the brutal and unnecessary war in Iraq. Asked if the Bush crowd would attempt to alter the meaning of his findings, Dr. Blix said flat-out, "I'm sure they will."

People in the Bush administration belittled and vilified Blix and his work in Iraq. Time has shown the value of his efforts, and his assessments of Iraq's capabilities were honest and forthright and far more accurate than anything that the Bush administration claimed with dramatic exclamation marks.

The simplicity of Blix's political punctuation insight is intriguing and most instructive when applied to just about anything that comes out of the Bush administration. Whatever the president and his minions declare with a great exclamation mark, just apply a question mark and you'll be much closer to the truth.

Last May, Bush told Polish reporters, "We found the weapons of mass destruction!"

Really?

Those phantom weapons, of course, were the primary justification for the war, and each day more Americans and Iraqis die because of the bogus claims. His cockiness went even farther when he assured the Polish journalists that "we'll find more weapons as time goes on!"

When?

The evidence Bush pointed to at the time was "mobile labs to build biological weapons."

He dismissed critics who questioned his assertions and said, "For those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong. We have found them!"

Where are they?

Eight months after George W. made those bold claims, the world now knows they were simply not true. The evidence Bush was so certain about turned out to be trailers used to store helium for weather balloons.

More HERE

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Bush is a serial liar and has been caught in numerous lies. No surprises.

capt

"......Iraqis have a chance, thanks by and large to the lives, deaths and sweat of mostly evangelical, Republican soldiers....."

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!!! Kill 'em All, let GOD sort them out! Kill them diaper-heads for the glory of GOD! HALLELUJAH!

-T

Ed Garvey: To tell the truth is not George W. Bush's game

Bush knew this would not be a war. It was target practice on live targets.

Now the apologists are saying, ironically, "give us more time and we will find" those weapons. The last guy who said that, Blix, was vilified by the administration. But suppose they find some. What's the point? They had no capacity to deliver them, and the proof was that in total defeat such weapons were never used.

But one rule of President Bush is to never admit a lie and never apologize for your actions. He lied about weapons of mass destruction in order to invade Iraq to grab the oil fields, create profit for Halliburton and Bechtel, and tell the world that we are No. 1.

This is a tragedy of almost unimaginable proportions. The United States will be viewed for generations to come as a country that will lie to gain its ends. We, as a nation, are missing that little voice we call a conscience. If the world needed proof, listen to Bush and Rummy say that we invaded for "democracy." But, of course, we will impose democracy on our terms. We liberated them, and by God we will democratize them.

As for those who suffered collateral damage, or lost a son or daughter, well, no one ever said liberty comes without sacrifice.

More HERE

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Bush lie? That is all he knows how to do. It is his style to always lie. He always has and always will.

capt

They Knew

Despite the whitewash, we now know that the Bush administration was warned before the war that its Iraq claims were weak

If desperation is ugly, then Washington, D.C. today is downright hideous.

As the 9/11 Commission recently reported, there was "no credible evidence" of a collaborative relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda. Similarly, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. With U.S. casualties mounting in an election year, the White House is grasping at straws to avoid being held accountable for its dishonesty.

The whitewash already has started: In July, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee released a controversial report blaming the CIA for the mess. The panel conveniently refuses to evaluate what the White House did with the information it was given or how the White House set up its own special team of Pentagon political appointees (called the Office of Special Plans) to circumvent well-established intelligence channels. And Vice President Dick Cheney continues to say without a shred of proof that there is "overwhelming evidence" justifying the administration’≥ pre-war charges.

But as author Flannery O’Éonner noted, "Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." That means no matter how much defensive spin spews from the White House, the Bush administration cannot escape the documented fact that it was clearly warned before the war that its rationale for invading Iraq was weak.

Top administration officials repeatedly ignored warnings that their assertions about Iraq’≥ supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and connections to al Qaeda were overstated. In some cases, they were told their claims were wholly without merit, yet they went ahead and made them anyway. Even the Senate report admits that the White House "misrepresented" classified intelligence by eliminating references to contradictory assertions.

In short, they knew they were misleading America

More HERE

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Bush not only lied, he knew he was lying.

capt

Tim L wrote:

Thank you for pointing out the statement by Ms. Halfbright.

This is amusing. You use Albright's assertion that she was "surprised" by the lack of WMD to justify the Bush administration's rationale for the war in Iraq while at the same time mocking the woman by using a derogatory play on her name. Can you see why one might simply scroll past your posts, Tim?

Blair and Bush 'conspired to go to war regardless of United Nations'

PM knew President was only going through the diplomatic motions, claims new edition of book

Tony Blair knew that George Bush was only "going through the motions" of offering support for a second UN resolution in the run-up to the Iraq war, it was claimed last night.

According to reports in The Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister and the US President decided to go to war regardless of whether they obtained UN backing. The allegations will undermine claims that the final decision to go to war was not made until MPs voted in the Commons a day before military action. It will also bolster claims that the President and Mr Blair decided to go to war months before military action began.

(Subscription required for the rest)

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Bush and his merry band of moronic neocons lied to start an unnecessary, unwise and illegal military occupation of a country that could not threaten us.

capt

Ms. Albright is consulting for the Carlyle Group.

No surprise.

What is surprising is the neocons that once howled about her now embrace her "surprise?"

They seem to miss the fact that she is surprised because like so many others she believed Bush when he was lying through his upper-lipless pie-hole.

His lies are surprising to many, just not the troll because "Bush NEVER lied?" Right, I am so sold.

capt

Lefties are physical cowards? Better a physical coward who doesn't murder thousands of innocents and poison millions more than a intellectual half-wit and moral reprobate!

Another lie to add to the mountain!

Saladin,

I hate to be a stickler for facts but "half-wit" is too generous by half, other than that, you are on the money (as always).

capt

Two U.S. Employees Injected
With RFID Microchips
At Company Request
Government Contractor Adopts Controversial
VeriChip Implant In Workplace

Cincinnati video surveillance company CityWatcher.com now requires employees to use VeriChip human implantable microchips to enter a secure data center, Network Administrator Khary Williams told Liz McIntyre by phone yesterday. McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID," contacted CityWatcher after it announced it had integrated the VeriChip VeriGuard product into its access control system.

According to Williams, a local doctor has already implanted two of CityWatcher's employees with the VeriChip devices. "I will eventually" receive an implant, too, he added. In the meantime, Williams accesses the data center with a VeriChip implant housed in a heart-shaped plastic casing that hangs from his keychain. He told McIntyre he had no qualms about undergoing the implantation procedure himself, and said he would receive an implant as soon as time permits.
----------
So, this is how it begins? Forced to take it or lose your job? It seems fitting that employees at a video spy agency would be the first to face this choice.

I usually read the contributions here, although I do not post much anymore. Now, however, a message: it is important to contribute to "www.antiwar.com" which is about to go off the e-waves. I read it regularly. It is one of the better blogs out there.

Twenty-Three Intel Experts Say LA Terror Plot a Sham

Paul Joseph Watson/Prison Planet.com | February 10 2006

Related: Bush Plays Terror Card With Bogus LA Attack Plot

Following yesterday's highly suspiciously timed announcement that the US government had foiled a 2002 terror plot against the Los Angeles Library Tower, intelligence experts and White House reporters have uniformly debunked the story.

As we reported yesterday, in an orchestrated set-up, George W. Bush announced that a plan to fly a plane into the LA Library Tower was thwarted in 2002 and within minutes news networks were showing footage of the same building being destroyed in the movie Independence Day.

After the mayor of LA, Antonio Villaraigosa, immediately went public with comments of his absolute bewilderment concerning the alleged plot, no fewer than twenty three intelligence experts told Capitol Hill Blue that President Bush was "cheapening and politicizing their work" by creating a "fantasy world" of discredited terror alerts and using them for political points scoring.

Both current and former NSA and FBI officials vented their fury with George Bush, one telling Capitol Hill Blue that he was "full of shit."

The LA attack plot arose from the same discredited informant who said that Washington and New York financial institutions were being targeted, which led the White House to raise the terror alert right as the 2004 election campaign was beginning.

In June 2004 John Pistole, the FBI's counterterrorism director, said he was "not sure what [the CIA] was referring to," after a CIA counterterrorism official who testified under the alias "Ted Davis" said that the US had prevented aviation attacks against the east and west coast.

Even former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, before he was replaced by Michael Chertoff, stated that the White House would raise the terror alert with zeal based on the flimsiest evidence.

White House press reporters questioned the timing of the bogus attack claim Thursday evening in light of the NSA spying hearings, after Bush claimed NSA surveillance was key in preventing the alleged attack.

"But is it just a coincidence? You had February 6th circled on the calendar for the hearings, the NSA hearings. Is it just a pure coincidence that this comes out today?" asked one journalist.
--------------
All you thumb-sucking crybabies can come out from under the bed now, they were just lying, AGAIN! You're safe from those mean ole cave dwelling terrorists.

Intel pros say Bush is lying about foiling 2002 terror attack

Outraged intelligence professionals say President George W. Bush is "cheapening" and "politicizing" their work with claims the United States foiled a planned terrorist attack against Los Angeles in 2002.

"The President has cheapened the entire intelligence community by dragging us into his fantasy world," says a longtime field operative of the Central Intelligence Agency. "He is basing this absurd claim on the same discredited informant who told us Al Qaeda would attack selected financial institutions in New York and Washington."

Within hours of the President’s speech Thursday claiming his administration had prevented a major attack, sources who said they were current and retired intelligence pros from the CIA, NSA, FBI and military contacted Capitol Hill Blue with angry comments disputing the President’s remarks.

"He’s full of shit," said one sharply-worded email.

More HERE

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Bush lie? What a surprise!

I thought Bunnypants was opening a can of worms when he mentioned the 2002 plot. Of course he is lying that is what he does.

capt

F**k Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

AL-CIA-DUH!
Most harebrained plot EVER!:

He said that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, had already begun planning the West Coast operation in October, just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One of Mohammed's key planners was Hambali, the alleged operations chief of the al-Qaida related terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Hambali found Southeast Asian men who would be less likely to arouse suspicion and who were sent to meet with Osama bin Laden, Bush said.

Under the plot, the hijackers were to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower, Bush said.

How stupid can you get? Even the White House press picked up on how stupid this is:

Q Scott, I wanted to just ask a follow-up about the LA plot. Is there something missing from this story, a practical application, a few facts? Because if you want to commandeer a plane and fly it into a tower, if you used shoe bombs, wouldn't you blow off the cockpit? Or is there something missing from this story?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know what you're referring to about missing. I mean, I think we provided you a detailed briefing earlier today about the plot. And Fran Townsend, our Homeland Security Advisor, talked about it. So I'm not sure what you're suggesting it.

Q Think about it, if you're wearing shoe bombs, you either blow off your feet or you blow off the front of the airplane.

MR. McCLELLAN: There was a briefing for you earlier today. I think that's one way to look at it. There are a lot of ways to look at it, and she explained it earlier today, Alexis, so I would refer you very much back to what she said, what she said earlier today.

Most idiotic White House ever, as well.

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." - Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999 "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of delivering them." - Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002 "We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002 "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002 "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002 "The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." - Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002 "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002 "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002 "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002 "We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002 "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003 Still think Bush lied? Game. Set. Match. Checkmate, too.

Thank you for contacting the Republican National Committee. Your comments will be included in the daily report to the Chairman. We appreciate your input.

-----Original Message-----
From: Derrick Michael Reid [mailto:w2_5hs_3c_xfers@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 10:44 AM
To: GOP USA; President George W. Bush
Cc: Mort Kondracke; Charles Krauthammer; Bill OReilly
Subject: Bolton UN Ambassidor, a good appointment

President Bush, my beloved president

It seems that your appointment of Mr.Bolton as UN ambassador was a good one. Russia is calling for a more assertive UN role to stop global terrorism. France and Germany is pushing investigation into Lebanon's PM murder by the Syrian. France and Germany are standing tuff on Iranian Nuke development. UN general secretary Anan seems more inclined for UN reforms as Bolton pushes investigation into oil for food scandals. He seems to be working magic at the UN.

FINALLY!!!

Derrick Michael Reid

Laguna Beach CA

It was announced this day, that Mr. Bolton, who the dem opposed as UN ambassitor, requiring a Presidential appointment, was nominated for the Nobel Peace prise for exposing the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Programs.

I just can not stand those nay saying, whimpy ass Dems, and I just puke at the sight of REID and PELOZI, FEINSTEIN, and BOXER, a gang of thugs that will piss on anything American at the drop of a budget cut.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Dear Friend,

A few months ago we asked our supporters for input on taking the national Democratic message local. The response was overwhelming, and it has informed our operations here ever since. You have seen some of the ideas submitted from others in the DCCC community in action (more letters to the editor campaigns, more direct interactions with Democrats in Congress), and you'll see plenty of others over the next 10 months. Together, we've captured the momentum and are poised to take the fight to the Republicans all through 2006. Democrats are up more than 15 points in Congressional polls already. But we will only capitalize on our successes by working together, by becoming a movement. That's why we need your feedback, why we need to hear from you. Click here to take the DCCC survey.

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You can take a survey and give the DCCC a piece of your mind. It is like keyboard activism, when done there are a couple of petitions to sign.

capt

A culture of Corruption.

I just die laughing each time the news wire flash, Senator REID, (no-relation, thank God), took money from Abramoff, and then wrote legislation in favor of Abramoff's client.

REID is such a whimpy ass joke, NV should be proud, of that jerk-off.

Impeachment: The Cure For Executive Excess

In politics, as in kindergarten, the all-important word is 'no.'

Once upon a time, in the middle of a nasty constitutional crisis in Washington, a most unlikely hero emerged -- a lawyer from one of Texas' notoriously discriminated-against racial minorities.

Think how lucky we were. It is one of the most famous sentences in all of American rhetoric: "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total."

But what catches the eye today is the sentence that followed that famous declaration, the sentence that makes one so ashamed for Al Gonzales. Barbara Jordan's great, deep voice brought the impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon to an awed silence when she vowed, "And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."

Thirty years ago, this state could produce Barbara Jordan -- and now we send that pathetic pipsqueak Al Gonzales. Enough to provoke a wailing cry of "O tempera, O mores!" even from the depths of Lubbock.

As a New York Times editorial succinctly put it, Attorney General Gonzales' Judiciary Committee appearance was a "daylong display of cynical hair-splitting, obfuscation, disinformation and stonewalling."

How fortunate that Republicans running the committee did not insist the chief law enforcement officer of the United States take an oath before testifying. God forbid that he should actually be held to the truth. I realize it's a cliche for those of us who remember the Beach Boys to mourn the days when giants roamed the Earth and all was on a grander and finer scale. But I knew Barbara Jordan, and I know Al Gonzales, and it is damned depressing -- he's too lightweight to even be a mediocrity.

It seems to me the trumpery excuse for a hearing raised graver issues than those of 30 years ago.

More HERE

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When there is a power grab that would create any authority over the coequal branches of government tyranny is at hand and must be stopped.

capt

Wassup cornbloggers!!

The evil thugs are starting to turn on each other!
Heckuva job Brownie!Heckuva job Scooter!

The bushbots on this blog now are just... sad. Not even fun to argue with they are so weak. So sad.

Robert S, Don, Rob

I am ready now for that apology about Herry Reid being in bed with Abramoff. I did say it was only a matter of time until you trolls were exposed to being fools for supporting this loser!!!

LBH= paid bushbot,

Harry Ried sucks. So what. Nobody here blindly supports politicians the way you do. Anyway the now de-bunked Ap story about Ried does nothing to distract from the Abramoff emails that are spreading like wildfire.

You want an apology? I am sorry that you are so deluded.

Saladin

You sound like that angry old Hillary Clinton-you need to tone it down abit!

Libby Rats Out his Bosses

In a Jan. 23 letter to Libby's lawyers, Fitzgerald said Libby also testified before the grand jury that he caused at least one other government official to discuss an intelligence estimate with reporters in July 2003. Libby has also admitted giving reporters the name of Valarie Plame, a covert CIA operative who is also Wilson's wife.

"We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors," Fitzgerald wrote.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to comment. "Our policy is that we are not going to discuss this when it's an ongoing legal proceeding," he said.

More HERE

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Of course the lack of moral fiber and good character is what defines the cowardly criminals. There is no honor among thieves.

Remember way back when things like what is right and what is the truth mattered?

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, popular, or political; but because it is right." ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

capt

Corky

Are you Robert S, Don, or Rob? And yes, they have, and do, blindly support Harry Reid. I just take great pleasure in exposing the you fools that do support this idiot.

Corky

An apology isn't necessary. Just knowing that I am right and they were wrong is good enough for me.

Sal-

My own conspiracy theory is that they are brainwashing Americans, Eloi-like, to come running for our flu shots, and that is when they will inject the chips. Why ask permission? Just create a flu-pandemic hysteria.

I am ready now for that apology about Herry Reid being in bed with Abramoff.

who the fuck is harry reid? I didn't support him - the only thing I have to apologize for is my use of the offensive word 'fuck'-

Hillary sucks too. She is more of a republican than anyone in the Bush administration.

Hey LBH=paid bushbot,

Abramoff says he was Bush's buddy

Obviously Fitzgerald has the goods on these guys....Libby flipped now we are waiting for the flop.. Geez where have I heard this before?

I DO NOT BLINDLY SUPPORT ANY POLITICIAN. THAT DELUDED THINKING MADE THE THIRD RIECH. BLIND LOYALTY IS UN-AMERICAN.

EXCLUSIVE: Abramoff Photos of President Bush, First Lady just Sitting In His Office

In an interview yesterday, Washingtonian editor Kim Eisler confirmed to ThinkProgress that he has viewed several photographs of President Bush with Jack Abramoff. Eisler, who authored a book on tribal politics and is an associate of Abramoff's, says he saw the photos during a visit to Abramoff's house where they were "just sitting in his office."

The White House has continually refused to release photos of President Bush with Jack Abramoff. Moreover, Press Secretary Scott McClellan has said that if photos of the two together exist, they are shots taken at "widely attended" Hanukkah receptions in 2001 and 2002. But according to Eisler, none of the photos in Abramoff's office were taken at Hanukkah receptions.

One photo at Abramoff's home depicts Bush shaking hands with Abramoff in the Old Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the West Wing of the White House. Another photograph shows Bush with Abramoff at what appears to be the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. A third photo, which previously has not been disclosed, is of Abramoff's wife with Laura Bush.

This was first reported in our morning newsletter The Progress Report (sign up in the box to the right). Check ThinkProgress later today for more new details on the Abramoff scandal.

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

Ken Lay? "Never met the guy" and Jack who?

Everybody knows Bunnypants is lying again.

capt

Evil always turns on itself. Both Hitler and Stalin learned this. Bush will too.

James Ha

Do you lefties have A.D.D. or what? Is your name Robert S, Don, Or Rob? If you still can't get this then go to the DNC web site and order your free Hooked on Phonics, available to all you angry lefties that can't read!!

He cant even get the name of the building right during another PR terror scare announcement. So sad. The only thing more pathetic is watching his cult followers foaming at the mouth trying to defend his morally bankrupt actions.

LBH,

You have a little foam on your cheek...No the other side...

US plans massive data sweep

Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far?

The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity.

The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy.

"We don't realize that, as we live our lives and make little choices, like buying groceries, buying on Amazon, Googling, we're leaving traces everywhere," says Lee Tien, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We have an attitude that no one will connect all those dots. But these programs are about connecting those dots - analyzing and aggregating them - in a way that we haven't thought about. It's one of the underlying fundamental issues we have yet to come to grips with."

The core of this effort is a little-known system called Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight, and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE). Only a few public documents mention it. ADVISE is a research and development program within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), part of its three-year-old "Threat and Vulnerability, Testing and Assessment" portfolio. The TVTA received nearly $50 million in federal funding this year.

More HERE

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

This is the real reason Busheney want the ability to wiretap and search without a warrant. It is impossible to implement such a program without throwing out the constitution (yeah that GD piece of paper)

capt

Corky,

The word "lickspittle" comes to mind?

HA!

capt

Corky

Don't you have a job to go find or something?

LBH,

As I stated before, the people on this post are not blind followers of someone elses political movement. Calling them "lefties" or "commies" just makes you sound silly. Blind loyalty is yours alone.

CAPITOL TESTS NEGATIVE FOR NERVE AGENT

I really can't decide if congress-critters are just dumb, or if if they are truly scared for their lives:

Just hours after sensors in a U.S. Senate office building detected a nerve agent, a number of key Senators announced a capitulation to the White House's demands on the renewal and expansion of the police-state USA PATRIOT Act.

are you cornnuts figuring out how this works yet?
the original patriot act had absolutely no chance of passing, so voila! an anthrax attack on democratic senators ONLY (remember tom dashle?) and suddenly the patriot act is not only passed, but expanded. well, it was set to expire the other day and senators were willing to compromise and pass it with some stipulations, when voila again! a 'nerve agent' scare in the senators house - now it has passed with flying colors -

is this truly the political world that you choose/endorse LBH?

Day off. First one in 8 days. Although one could make a career of pointing out the gigantic mass of lies and misdeeds of the Neoconservative empire. You have some more foam hanging from the corner of your mouth.

capt.

Do you think the data mining story is meant to scare us into submission?

Sal, Cap'n, Haji,

Half-wits? So, evil white protestant capitalist run the most prosperous economy in the history of the world, and the most complex, flexible military power in the history of the world. That's a fact, Jack. And you, ye of shimmering perfection and odor of patchouli oil, your equivalent accomplishments are????
.
Anyways, how is that 40-year-old 'Free Tibet' campaign going? Stil doing spray paint hit and runs on west side dumpsters? No Lincoln Brigades for you, eh? Soft, soft, soft and everyone knows it. They can sense it. Leftist Eoli.

A message from bizzaro world aka Florida.

James Ha

There were only a handful of Senators that were in the building when that happened. These evacuations have become routine, so nice try but your theory is about as good as the 9/11 joke.

You also assume that the Patriot Act was not going to pass.I assume you believed that the Democrtas had complete victory over this. The Democrats have not won a National Security issue since 9/11 and will never because they come across as cowards. Good try though!

Why dont you go sign up to serve in that "flexible military power" that Bush is running into the ground, Paul.

Even with our ineffective corporate controlled media, it amazes me how misinformed people are.

just die laughing each time the news wire flash, Senator REID, (no-relation, thank God), took money from Abramoff, and then wrote legislation in favor of Abramoff's client.

Provide evidence, please. If you have none (which of course you don't), I'll give you a chance to say you are mistaken before I call you a liar.

The destruction of the Constitution

Pathetic pipsqueak Al Gonzales snows Judiciary committee on domestic spying

AUSTIN, Texas -- Once upon a time, in the middle of a nasty constitutional crisis in Washington, a most unlikely hero emerged -- a Texas lawyer from one of our state's notoriously discriminated-against racial minorities. Think how lucky we were.

It is one of the most famous sentences in all of American rhetoric: "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total." But what catches the eye today is the sentence that followed that famous declaration, the sentence that makes one so ashamed for Al Gonzales. Barbara Jordan's great, deep voice brought the impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon to an awed silence when she vowed, "And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."

Thirty years ago, this state could produce Barbara Jordan -- and now we send that pathetic pipsqueak Al Gonzales. Enough to provoke a wailing cry of "O tempera, O mores!" even from the depths of Lubbock.

More HERE

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

Show me a politician from any party that cares more about the constitution than their incumbency and I will show you a politician that will be voted out of office. That is what American politics has come to.

Might makes right - an old clich? but true today as it ever was. We are living in a time where the most vicious and low-down no holes barred junk yard dog, the one that will slime and smear and lie the most (or most effectively) wins?

Is that the kind of character that represents Americans? It is rewarding bad behavior, promoting more of the same, preserving the status quo, damaging our reputation as it bleeds away any pretense of moral high ground or noble purpose.

capt

Bush ignored the memo entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike U.S.". His incompetence caused 9/11. Katrina showed the true nature of the Republicans inability to keep us safe.

I think Colin Powells former aide had it right when he said this bunch of incompetent cronies would allow the U.S. to return to the days of the late 1700's if we were attacked. Katrina was a wake up call. Security my ass.

I would like nothing better to see Harry Ried get indicted and step down. Unfortunately he will remain at his position because HE DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG. Bummer. No indictments.

Libby Says Leaks Authorized, Papers Show

WASHINGTON - A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, disclosed to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate in the summer of 2003.

The NIE is a report prepared by the head of the nation's intelligence operations for high-level government officials, up to and including the president. Portions of NIEs are sometimes declassified and made public. It is unclear whether that happened in this instance.

In a Jan. 23 letter to Libby's lawyers, Fitzgerald said Libby also testified before the grand jury that he caused at least one other government official to discuss an intelligence estimate with reporters in July 2003.

"We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors," Fitzgerald wrote.

More HERE

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

Those darn lying cowardly papers. Making a fuss about the VP telling his chief of staff to break the law?

capt

This is, however, what a real crime looks like:

Dick Cheney harms our national security

Sorry capt., I think I put out a link to the same article.

The nerve agent scare should be no surprise to anybody knowing the level of extortion/blackmail associated with being on Rovers BLACKLIST, which he acknowledged by his own statement(threat). Nothing in the book is TOO low for the Cabal.

corky,

I'm not interested in carrying water for Reid, either. My point in defending him is to demonstrate that the right-wing Wurlitzer continues to obfuscate the fact that the Abramoff scandal is a Republican scandal. Again, if any Democrats are proven to be involved in influence-peddling, throw the bums out. The MSM may continue to insist on attempting to make this a bi-partisan scandal, but the simple truth is that Abramoff was interested in Republican consolidation of power. The trolls on this blog can blow all the smoke they want, but when it comes down to it this particular scandal is indeed all about the Republican culture of corruption.

Don

Harry Reids office admitted yesterday that they helped write lesilation for Abramoff clients. I guess having Harry admit it still isn't proof enough for ya! The Kool-Aid your drinkin must be good!!!

Should we expect the COLOR CODE to change any minute? CODE BLACK ...CODE BLACK.

I really did notice that Mrs. Cheney looked weary at the SOTU. THE TRUTH MUST BE TAKING A TOLL......

The al-qaeda pilot who got cold feet and quit the mission -- is this bush's VERSION of thwarting an attack?

A Malaysian pilot recruited by al-Qaeda to fly a hijacked airliner into the tallest building on the US West Coast pulled out of the plot when he realised it was a suicide mission, security officials in South-East Asia said today.

Further details emerged of the plan to target the iconic 73-storey US Bank Building in Los Angeles, revealed by President Bush yesterday in an address to rally support for the War on Terror.
+++++++
Excuse me while I blow up my hands or feet so I can get control of this aircraft...

Corky

Indictments for Reid to follow, just wait-I have time. Funny, this sounds like what I said to Don, Robert and Rob.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200602100001

You can get off the Reid/Abramoff claims now.

Some people sure get desperate when their repug leaders get scooped up in a scandal dont they. By the way lets talk numbers here, repugs guilty of taking bribes-almost all, dems-one or two. Big friggin deal, the numbers dont lie. Repugs win by a HUGE margin in the race for money.

Den

First it was no Democrat took money from Abramoff. Now it's two or three? I guess it's no longer a Republican scandal, is it? So far it looks like Harry Reid did more for Abramoff than any Republican. You supporters could at the very least demand that old Harry give back the $63,000. Why is it every time you lefties get an issue to ride on, it falls apart before our very eyes?

Unfortunately the Ried-Abramoff thing is already debunked. I would like to see someone like Barbara Boxer be the Senate leader. I the chances of anything happening to Harry are equal to the chances of Emporer Bush correctly pronouncing the word "nuclear".

Constitutional threat level is at CODE RED.

Thanks, J-dub.

Josh Marshall is also doing a good job dismantling the AP story that LBH is using as a reference (although I doubt LBH actually read the article; he keeps insisting that Reid's staff has admitted writing legislation for Abramoff! LOL!) at Talking Points Memo.

The right-wing parrots simply can't differentiate between legal lobbying and illegal bribes. Failing that, they just make shit up.

LBH's wait for that Reid indictment is going to be a long one.

Ummm...Harry Ried sucks. So what. Abramoff is a REPUBLICAN. Abramoff, according to his emails is Bush's buddy.

The cabal found another avenue for raising funds. Under the guise of supporting rural schools, they want to sell prime forest land in California. Whats next, national monuments for rent or sale?

Making shit up is what they do best.

Den

The reason the Rebublicans are winning the race on money is because the Democrat supporters are tired of throwing money away. All they have left is Hollywood, which hasn't been making any money and taking pay cuts and George Soros who has already dumped millions down the toilet for lost causes.

Until they can come up with an agenda to run on besides being weak on defense, they will not get anymore support. It also doesn't help that Howard screech Dean has gone and spent all the DNC money in the coffers. You lefties sure know how to pick um.

LBH wrote:

First it was no Democrat took money from Abramoff. Now it's two or three?

No. It's still zero. Taking money from the lobbying firm that employed Abramoff is not the same as taking money directly from Abramoff.

I guess it's no longer a Republican scandal, is it?

Until you or someone else provides some evidence that Democrats were involved, it will remain a Republican scandal.

So far it looks like Harry Reid did more for Abramoff than any Republican.

It's really asinine to make this kind of claim without any evidence.

You supporters could at the very least demand that old Harry give back the $63,000.

Why? Was it an illegal donation?

Why is it every time you lefties get an issue to ride on, it falls apart before our very eyes?

Heh-heh. I don't think this one is going to fall apart. Indictments will be coming...just not the ones you expect.

Don

I hope they leave your hero, Harry, in his leadership role, even if indicted. Hell, we couldn't ask for a better incompetent fool that to compete with.

The AP article is just one of many brewing up of the Harry scandal, actually his own local paper in Vegas ran this story before AP and now the records are showing the paper trail that old Harry is having a problem of covering up. Like the billing records that show his direct contact with Abramoffs lobbying firm. Who's the blind faithful now?

Don

"Was it an illegal donation"

According to the Senate Ethics committee, the answer is yes.

LBH,

Again, I reiterate, again, nobody here blindly follows politicians the way that you do.

John Solomon, the co author of the debunked AP{ story that you are so desparately clinging to, is a well known GOP hack in the tradition of Judith Miller, Jeff Gannon and Armstrong Williams.

John Solomon is a GOP Hack

Don

How far are you going to bend over for old Harry?

You're a little old to be on your knees so much.

OK I claimed one or two dems because the possibility exists, however we will have to wait and see what turns up in the investigation, it might be ZERO, for now it looks like ZERO. Some cranially challenged trolls are here to mock all that is said regardless. Corky is right, LBH=Paid to troll, pest.

"My hero?"

Funny, it seems like the "pending" Reid indictment is YOUR obsession, LBH. I'm sure you'll keep us posted. (Does anyone else remember when some in the wingnutosphere suggested that David Corn and even Joe Wilson himself would be indicted in the Plame matter? LOL!)

Corky

Name one politician that I have blindly followed? Is it Bush that I have critized for his deficit spending? Or, how about Tom Delay who I have said should go to jail if convicted and agreeded that he should step down? How about the weenie ass Reb. Senators that blow? Or, how about the comment I made about the Democrats need to take back the House, move to the center and challenge the Rebs.on spending? Hmm, who could it be that I blindly follow?

Corky, I missed the part about you getting a job, hope its better than your last one.

How far are you going to bend over for old Harry?

You're a little old to be on your knees so much.

Nothing like mature debate! You're a demented little coward. I've made my point and now I'll go back to ignoring you.

Yeah, I have yet to see anybody here blindly supporting Harry Ried. Blind loyalty to political figures is very un american. It is for Nazi's, religious extremist's and communist's. And the GOP.

Go easy on poor LBH=Happy=Paid Bushbot. The news today is shaking the very foundations of his Bush personality cult. He is desperately clinging to anything that can convince his own subconscious that he was terribly, terribly wrong.

When Hitler invaded Russia, Stalin ignored it for a long time. He did not want to admit that he had made a huge mistake by making a pact with Hitler. So thousands of his troops were killed as a result. Sound familiar?

Den

"Let's wait and see what turns up in the investigation"

Well holy shit! Imagine that a leftie troll that wants to wait and see what the investigation brings out, if anything. That's a first!!!

DEN,

Thanks! Being a working man during the Bush administration always sucks, no matter which rich pig you work for.

Corcky

"I have yet to see anyone here blindly support Harry Ried."

Like I said Corky, there medication for ADD.

I heard on the news today that Ambramoff has admitted to meeting with Bush at least a dozen times. Hmmm...another lie that Bush has been caught in. I truly hate the bastard and all he stands for--hypocrisy. He had his days and years of fun--the drinking, carousing, snorting, and God only knows what else. He starts to get a little older, finds "religion," and then tries to impose his beliefs on the world.

Also, the Republican party needs to stay out of the private lives of the people of this country. They're so caught up in who's sleeping with whom, who's doing what with their pants down, what's going on behind the closed doors of the bedroom and doctor's office, who's talking to whom (and you'd better believe they're not just listening to al Quida), and condemning everyone for everything--all in the name of religion.

Remember, Jesus taught but he didn't then force anyone to do anything. He left us all to our own free will. What makes any of the Republicans think they know better than Jesus? And if it's truly peoples' souls you're so worried about, spend a little more time praying for them and a little less time condemning them. Damn hypocrites!

LBH,

The religious extremists in this country now control your party. I order you to stop writing about homosexual behaviour. It is making me uncomfortable.

Corky

No matter which rich pig you work for.

Boy, thats the attitude. I couldn't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to hire you. You sound like a real go getter!!!

"Like I said corky there medication for ADD"

Maybe you should go check out the "Hooked on Phonics" offer you were refering to earlier. It might make it easier for us to decifer your unintelligible postings.

There is some foam on your chin again.

LBH,

I call it like I see it. I live outside the rich pig bubble that you cower inside.

Mock Mock Mock

Apparently the GOP thugs did another "sneak stuff into a bill in the middle of the night". This time they snuck presents for the pharmacuetical industry into a defense appropriations bill.

Sneaky bastards

I hope Frist does some serious time for his insider stock trades. Another rich pig.

David

A suggestion on how to respond to attorneys who don't answer the question directly (as Wedgewood did in your example above)...do what they do, put words in their mouth.

In the above situation, a great response by you could have been, "Since you failed to answer the question that I asked, I can only assume that you agree with me on the fact that Bush mislead the public, othewise you would have responded differently."

Attorneys like to get witnesses pissed off so that they will mis-speak; do the same thing to them. Heck, most attorneys take entitlement and privilege to the max and hate being corrected and/or challenged (traits that are dominant in seemingly all members of the adminstration); so correct and challenge them, get them pissed off so they will be off-balance and say something stupid.

look at what Carville did to Novak (on what, MSNBC?); same principle.

I wish reporters would do it much more.

Here is a story about the Senate leader who really did commit a serious crime:

Bill Frist investigated for illegal activity

Here is a good article in the post about the WMD lies:
CIA Official speaks out

"I dont think anyone anticipated the breech of the levees"

Thou shall not lie

Okay try this one instead:

Thou shall not lie

LBH, what do you mean good try? I wasn't trying anything - the anthrax attacks of a few years ago only attacked lefty senators after it was discovered that they didn't approve of the patriot act - it was set to expire last week and got a 1 week extension - when it was discovered that senators were once again dubious of extending it, there is a sudden 'nerve gas' scare in the senate, and lo-and-behold, the patriot act is not only passed again, it has been expanded on - -
I wish you would stop trying to make everything left v. right - todays world has gone way beyond petty politics and it's time to do away with that left/right crap -
can't you see that bushco is using and manipulating both the right and the left to get what they want?

" I don't know Jack Abramoff"

Thou shall not lie

Good point James!

Its not abot left and right, its about good and evil!

So much for the PR offensive!

Bush's approval rating stuck near bottom

"There is no such thing as global warming"

Thou shall not lie

This definitely deserves another go'round. Think it was DEN that posted it yesterday. Thanksss!
My email friends luv'd it. A college kid said her friends were now passing it around. *cool

Who are we, and what have we become?
It's the Cynthia Mckinney speech.

If I ain't mistaken, she was the 'whistleblower' that exposed the big gun made by the Carlyle Group's company was secretly put back in the Pentagon's budget after it was deleted because the fkn Pentagon didn't even want it.
That's how she lost her next election, from a smear campaign and a repug black lady recruited to change parties and run against her with repug support. The locals must have seen their sleight-of-hand and the results it produced... because she got her seat back in the very next election.

Brian Lehrer played bits of the debate today. I thought you did a good job of refuting "Take off my pants" Hitchens.

LBH, tell us please about your job.....what is it? how much do you make a year, what influence do YOU have?

Corky has been employed non stop for many, many years in spite of hardships, and he, in spite of how little he makes, contributed to his party to try to facillitate change.

What have you done for Your party lately? and why?

You sir are a dillusional pissant.

enough said.

Re A Misleading Debate:
The problem with what Hitchens and Wedgwood said about how there were no WMD but that logically we had to think there were misses the point about burdens of proof. Who has the burden of proof in arguing for war? Most of us would agree that the burden falls on those who want war. After all, war is amazingly destructive, deadly and expensive.
When weapons inspections fail to uncover weapons before the war, well, you keep looking -- you don't pull inspectors out so you can wage war to get at what they haven't found. When there are doubts by intelligence experts, those make the argument of pro war folks less persuasive.
The only other question is, What should be the burden of proof? Lawyers use, in ascending order, Reasonable Suspicion? Probable cause? Preponderance of evidence? Clear and convincing? Beyond a reasonable doubt? With war, it seems to me it should AT LEAST be clear and convincing.

This is the "logic point" missing from the debate, and a point on which Wedgwood and Hitchens utterly fall down on.

- Brian Foley

COULD SOMEONE TELL ME IF THIS IS A JOKE...THIS STORY IS OVER AT HUFFINGTON POST.

Is this from National Enquirer or is this for real?

The above photo shows Vice President Dick Cheney speaking to reporters at the bedside of the man who he "accidentally" shot this weekend while on a hunting trip in Texas (full story).

A spokesman for the vice president identified the shooting victim as Harry Whittington, but sources close to the incident suggest "Harry Whittington" is a Secret Service code name for Cheney's indicted former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"Honestly, I didn't mean to shoot Scoot-- I mean Harry," the vice president told reporters in "Mr. Whittington's" hospital recovery room.

The shooting occurred several days after it was revealed that Mr. Libby told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald he was ordered by Vice President Cheney to leak classified national security documents to the press. The revelation could cost Cheney his job and whatever remains of his reputation amongst both Democrats and Republicans.

An EMT who attended to "Mr. Whittington" told the Huffington Post that, during the ambulance ride, he overheard Cheney mumbling, "Who's leaking now, f***ker?" and, "F***ker survived. Gotta work on my aim."

The EMT later remarked to the vice president, "Harry Whittington? That sounds like a made-up name." When contacted for clarification on Cheney's reply, the Huffington Post has learned the emergency worker has disappeared.
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