After all, he picked Cheney, and he does seem to have a thing about admitting mistakes.

It was my understanding that Cheney picked Cheney. Just sayin'.

In this regard, Bush has indeed been a transformational president.

Finally, he's a uniter and not a divider.

I posted the cheney retirement rumor a couple weeks ago, I guess Coral Snake, the blogger I got it from, has a reliable inside informant.

Mr. David Corn,

Great post! Rich is your b****! You have him dead to rights.

I fear if Cheney retires he could be more of a threat (if that is possible). This WH does not care about breaking the law but there are some constraints, not so much if he was working for Carlyle Group or Halliburton.

As with everything else - we are screwed either way.

Thanks

Kirk

Do I look like Spiro Agnew to you?

I'm progressive and I'm HAPPY, very happy.

Time to set truth free

Lying has become such a pervasive part of political culture that those who lie don't even consider it dishonest. It's "spin" or "our side" or "our position." Truth has no bearing, carries no credence, and lacks even consideration.

Suppose, for a moment, that when confronted with questions on the Watergate break-in, Richard Nixon would have said "yes, some of my staff got over-zealous and out of hand and I've accepted their resignation." A little uproar but the matter would have faded into history while Nixon completed his second term.

Suppose Bill Clinton, when confronted with questions on Monica Lewinsky, would have looked at the press corps and said "yes, I did have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." Then it would have become a matter of adultery between him and Hillary but it probably would have blown over (pun fully intended).

Carrying this fantasy even further, suppose Bush had told Congress and the American people that "we don't have any real proof that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction but we think he does, based on past history, and we're pretty sure he conspired with Osama bin Laden to plan the 9/11 attacks." Congress might have told him to go back and get the facts before launching an attack that has cost more than 2,200 American lives, countless Iraqi civilian casualties and destroyed America's credibility on the world stage.

Then again Congress, caught up in the post 9/11 bloodlust, might have said "go ahead. Saddam's a bad man. Bomb him back the stone age."

We'll never know what decisions "might" have been made because the decisions that were made were based on lies, not truth.

Bush claims he launched the war to "free the people of Iraq."

What we really need is a war to free an outmoded concept called truth.

More HERE

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

I think lying is high art on the hill. All successful politicians are expert liars, those that have not mastered the art are not politicians for very long. We end up with only the best liars. We get what we deserve, I guess.

capt

Nattering naybobs of negativity!

HA!

VP Cheney may or may not retire after the fall Elections! He is such a strong VP, perhaps strongest in History, he will do what he pleases. This, I agree with most of your Lefty posters.

Cheney is smart! With Karl Rove, if their mutual decision is that he can help the GOP more by having a `Presidential' VP takes his place, that is what the loyal Cheney will do. He has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn't give a shyt what non-GOPers think and that IS the core of his strength. You Lefties can conjure up all sorts of reasons, if Cheney exercises the Boomer dream of Early Retirement, and in all likelihood, you would be wrong as to the real reasons and of course, you will underestimate the (positive) effects of such a retirement will create.

Gotta Go!

Socrates: I mean to say, that the producers of those things which the author of the song praises, that is to say, the physician, the trainer, the money-maker, will at once come to you, and first the physician will say: "O Socrates, Gorgias is deceiving you, for my art is concerned with the greatest good of men and not his." And when I ask, Who are you? he will reply, "I am a physician." What do you mean? I shall say. Do you mean that your art produces the greatest good? "Certainly," he will answer, "for is not health the greatest good? What greater good can men have, Socrates?" And after him the trainer will come and say, "I too, Socrates, shall be greatly surprised if Gorgias can show more good of his art than I can show of mine." To him again I shall say, Who are you, honest friend, and what is your business? "I am a trainer," he will reply, "and my business is to make men beautiful and strong in body." When I have done with the trainer, there arrives the money-maker, and he, as I expect, utterly despise them all. "Consider Socrates," he will say, "whether Gorgias or any one-else can produce any greater good than wealth." Well, you and I say to him, and are you a creator of wealth? "Yes," he replies. And who are you? "A money-maker." And do you consider wealth to be the greatest good of man? "Of course," will be his reply. And we shall rejoin: Yes; but our friend Gorgias contends that his art produces a greater good than yours. And then he will be sure to go on and ask, "What good? Let Gorgias answer." Now I want you, Gorgias, to imagine that this question is asked of you by them and by me;

Gorgias: What is there greater than the word which persuades the judges in the courts, or the senators in the council, or the citizens in the assembly, or at any other political meeting?-if you have the power of uttering this word, you will have the physician your slave, and the trainer your slave, and the money-maker of whom you talk will be found to gather treasures, not for himself, but for you who are able to speak and to persuade the multitude.

I've seen no evidence that Cheney's arrogance and personal agenda have any limits. He won't leave. He needs to be impeached if we are civilized.

RS,

I've figured out how to make the Physicians my slaves...now setting sights on the money-makers!

The senate members are a bit too thick to be reasoned with.

-T

That's why you need to target the money-makers...

Bush: Bin Laden helped me!
______________
"I thought it was going to help," Bush said. "I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush."
______________

Inadvertently, my tushie!

-T

Iraq: The wages of chaos

As a senior intelligence aid to former Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L Paul Bremer explained to a colleague of mine when asked about why US forces failed to rebuild in years what it took Saddam Hussein to do in months after the first Gulf War in 1981, "There's an old Arab proverb: If you starve a dog he'll follow you anywhere."

In other words, why bother fixing a country when your strategy is to break the will of its people so they accept a post-occupation system, tailored to US interests, that they would otherwise not tolerate? Indeed, with Bush on record saying that the United States would leave Iraq if asked to do so, a primary consideration of US strategy has had to be making sure that the Shi'ites and Kurds never felt comfortable enough to pop the question.

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

It is clearly no accident that the rebuilding of Iraq was actually a fleecing scam on the American tax payer also not a surprise.

capt

Bush: Iraqis Must Choose 'Chaos or Unity'

President Bush on Tuesday decried the latest surge in sectarian violence in Iraq and declared that for Iraqis "the choice is chaos or unity."

Five attacks rocked Baghdad on Tuesday, killing more than 40 people, continuing a recent surge of violence.

Bush spoke after an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, shortly before was to leave for a five-day trip to India and Pakistan.

For his part, Berlusconi said that he would stand by plans to withdraw all of Italy's 3,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

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

I posted before that by the time it is over Commander Bunnypants would be blaming the Iraqi’s for the mess her made.

Those darned Iraqi’s - if they would just get together and quit all that infighting they could tells us the leave. I am sure that is what Bunnypants really wants.

capt

"Her made" or "he made"

Freudian slip?

capt

FMNN POLLS
Emerging reports have it that few of those at Guantanamo are really terrorists. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair calls the prison "an anomaly." Should it be closed?

yes 83%

no 17%

Bush on cross-culturalism:

Man, you guys sure got lotsa cows here in India, how's about an ole' fashioned Texas Bar-B-Que...

More Bush in India:

Let me introduce my Guru, Karl Rove. he told me to chant this mantra. It gives me power.

9-11, 9-11, 9-11 repeat until enlightened, or at least empowered.

"What's up with that Dot, lady?," you get kicked in the head by a Bull you wuz milkin' TOO!"

-Dumbya in Indjya

Lee Hamilton 9/11 Commission Member

Commission vice chairman and former congressman Lee Hamilton was appointed to replace former senate majority leader George Mitchell (CFR), who like Kissinger declined to disclose potential conflicts of interest and resigned. Hamilton, a CFR member since at least 1988, was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Select Intelligence Committee.
In 1987, House Speaker Jim Wright (who later resigned in disgrace) appointed Hamilton to chair a committee investigating the Iran/Contra affair. When a question was raised about CIA/Contra drug smuggling, the response was release by Hamilton of a cursory review that concluded there was no truth to the charges. The CIA recently released a report (that received almost no publicity) admitting the drug connection.
-------------
In an interview on TV hamilton was asked his opinion of govt. complicity in 9/11, he stated that he nad seen NO evidence to support that claim. When questioned about whether he knew of the David Ray Griffin books, he said yes, had he read them? No. Another lying traitor caught red handed, and not for the first time.

Bush in India: Just Not Welcome
Arundhati Roy

On his triumphalist tour of India and Pakistan, where he hopes to wave imperiously at people he considers potential subjects, President Bush has an itinerary that's getting curiouser and curiouser.

For Bush's March 2 pit stop in New Delhi, the Indian government tried very hard to have him address our parliament. A not inconsequential number of MPs threatened to heckle him, so Plan One was hastily shelved. Plan Two was to have Bush address the masses from the ramparts of the magnificent Red Fort, where the Indian prime minister traditionally delivers his Independence Day address. But the Red Fort, surrounded as it is by the predominantly Muslim population of Old Delhi, was considered a security nightmare. So now we're into Plan Three: President George Bush speaks from Purana Qila, the Old Fort.

Ironic, isn't it, that the only safe public space for a man who has recently been so enthusiastic about India's modernity should be a crumbling medieval fort?

Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings, who in India go under the category of "eminent persons." They're mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.

So what's going to happen to George W. Bush? Will the gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs recognize a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that Bush isn't traveling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?

Oh, and on March 2, Bush will be taken to visit Gandhi's memorial in Rajghat. He's by no means the only war criminal who has been invited by the Indian government to lay flowers at Rajghat. (Only recently we had the Burmese dictator General Than Shwe, no shrinking violet himself.) But when Bush places flowers on that famous slab of highly polished stone, millions of Indians will wince. It will be as though he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi.

More.

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

And we all shine on, like the Moon and the Stars and the Sun...

Well, Right you are!

Ultimately, it's not about security - it's about money. In the multinational corporatocracy's "flat world," money trumps the national good, community concerns, labor interests, and the environment. NAFTA, CAFTA, and WTO tribunals can - and regularly do - strike down local and national laws. Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" are replaced by Antonin Scalia's "Rights of Corporate Persons."

Profits even trump the desire for good enough port security to avoid disasters that may lead to war. After all, as Judith Miller wrote in The New York Times on January 30, 1991, quoting a local in Saudi Arabia: "War is good for business."

from: When Americans No Longer Own America
By Thom Hartmann
Common Dreams

It makes no sense that cheney would be forced to resign because he's a detriment to bush. They intend to keep lifting their middle finger to the American people. They don't give a damn what their image is -- THEY love their image!! bush and his boyfriends intend to hold on to their power. Rumors of cheney's resignation are greatly exaggerated. Business as usual....

Elizabeth Bumiller, NYT: "But even some Republicans are now questioning whether Mr. Cheney should stay on the ticket. As one House Republican said, conspiratorially, outside the House chamber this week, 'Watch Cheney.' Another Republican member of Congress said that Mr. Cheney was increasingly viewed as a political liability." Then she cites Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, who, after stating Bush needs to shake up his campaign, concludes: "Cheney may need to watch his back." New York Times, July, 2004

"Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice." US News & World Report, October 18, 2005

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: "Cheney Resigning Tomorrow?"
NRO, John Podhoretz, January 31, 2006

Cheney Resignation Would Present Advantages, Problems, for Both Sides
By Martin Frost, FOXNews.com, Friday, February 17, 2006

Ela Gandhi is granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. In her own political activism, she was under house arrest for over eight years by the apartheid government of South Africa. After the fall of apartheid, she was elected to the South African parliament.
She said today that "Gandhiji's entire philosophy was based on two fundamental principles, among others: one the belief that people can change -- that people, groups and communities can transform, and two that the force of truth and love or Satyagraha driven by the spirit, or soul force, can make a huge difference in the world, in bringing about transformation. So when Bush who is planning to lay a wreath on the Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi, during the year when we celebrate the centenary of Satyagraha, performs this act, I hope and pray that this
act may help towards changing his beliefs and attitudes. I can only hope and pray that maybe some truth and some possible transformation in his own philosophy is driving him to this sacred place.
"I pray that this contact with the spirit of Gandhiji may inspire him into changing his position on war and violence. I pray that this
gesture may help him to see that he must desist from committing the same error he did with Iraq, with Iran or any other country or peoples. I
hope he will be inspired by Gandhiji's implicit belief in the fact that wars cannot solve the problems of the world, they only aggravate them.
We need peace, we need some sanity in the world. Gandhiji said, 'An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.' That truth should help caution Bush against war and the use of war and violence for any purpose. I truly and deeply hope that the spirit of Gandhiji will help to transform his views and he will stop using violence and war. If Bush really wants to honor Gandhiji he will lay a wreath at the memorial and
in so doing commit himself to renounce his use of violence and war."

WTF????? Kinda makes one think that tape was a plant...

Bush: Bin Laden helped me, book says

Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Posted: 12:42 p.m. EST (17:42 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Bush said his 2004 re-election victory over Sen. John Kerry was inadvertently aided by Osama bin Laden, The Washington Examiner newspaper reported Tuesday.

The al Qaeda leader had issued a taped diatribe against Bush the Friday before Americans went to the polls.

Bush said there were "enormous amounts of discussion" inside his campaign about the 15-minute tape, which he called "an interesting entry by our enemy" into the presidential race.

Bush's comments in the Washington newspaper were excerpts from the new book "Strategery" by Bill Sammon, a longtime White House correspondent.

"What does it mean? Is it going to help? Is it going to hurt?" Bush told Sammon of the bin Laden tapes.

"Anything that drops in at the end of a campaign that is not already decided creates all kinds of anxieties, because you're not sure of the effect.

"I thought it was going to help," Bush said.

"I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush."

From previous thread # 155

Dear Harry,
God and fate work their mysteries despite our desires. Dick Cheney is a mortal. He is so mortal. His body is failing him. And all his shenanigans, all his secrets, all his deceits are floating toward the same whirlpool. I have noticed that the current is picking up.

What Dick Cheney has done has been to destroy what had been a wonderful country. In his twisted mind, I suppose, that is an accomplishment. The only way the Dick Cheneys of the world are successful is when there is no one to report the failures. Even a squeak gets heard by somebody. As time goes by, and as more people are hurt or disadvantaged by his rampage, they begin to talk and report and scream and write and sing and bellow and, lucky for us, they also blog. Dick can't stop that. No one can. Maybe he rules the world, maybe not. Maybe he holds power but not all power. And he never will. For somebody like him it's all or nothing.

I know why he shot you in the face. It's visible to everyone. The reminder is there. It says, "I shot Harry and got by with it. What's going to stop me from shooting you or spying on you or invading another country? I'm Dick Cheney. I live on free passes."

Why was Cheney was so insistent that the sheriff knew why you were shot in the face? I don't know the landscape of the Armstrong Ranch. I don't know if you were in a gully or whether the land sloped away. I don't know what quails do. Birds usually fly up. What I do know is you were shot. Who cares where the shot landed? Maybe the fact that you were shot in the face was the 'smoking gun' so he had to give a reason why it happened the way it happened. Otherwise none of it made sense. Why, with Cheney's explanation no one needed to check things out.

Now I could say poor Dick Cheney. He shoots somebody in the face and nobody lets it go away. It's such a small thing, an accident. But this is how Dick Cheney lives his life. Really, how many accidents can one man have? I have learned over the years that an accident is random and infrequent. All I've seen with this administration is reckless driving and injury. Take the man's license away.

Dick Cheney controls the world until we say he doesn't. Power in numbers.

Cornposters, Chainey will not step aside. These are rumors started by the Nazis to have patriotic Americans let their guard down. Chainey is probably the most hated creature in Nazi America. Chainey will not step down because why should he as the president of the Nazi States of America step down? He rules the country. Bush is only a bobblehead, a figurehead, and a puppet.

If cheney DOES step down it will be only to engage in even worse crimes under the radar. He is one sick puppy.

American Soldiers

2,562 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

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

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

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

Nazi America is a mirror image of Hitler Bush.

Confucius spoke that before you seek revenge dig two graves.

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

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

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

What Me Worry?

It's Puke Time Again

Veterans Face Health Care Cuts

Gerald,
I like the post #34 so much I decided to copy paste some of it.
----------

Ask yourself: Why do government officials monitor anti-war protests and demonstrations? How likely is it that a person who is planning a terrorist attack is going to be speaking at or demonstrating at a public anti-war rally, where he knows that cops, secret agents, and cameras are all over the place?

The problem is that, as their policies begin to fail, the increasingly paranoid and fearful government officials come to believe that their "enemies" include those who are exposing the lies and false realities generated by the government. In the mind of the government official, telling the truth about government policy decreases morale and empowers the enemy.

Thus, people who oppose the government's policies and tell the truth about such policies increasingly become part of the "problem." They become a "threat," one that can more easily be monitored and targeted than genuine terrorists can be.

Remember what the president said early on: In the war on terrorism, you're either with us or against us. At some point, federal officials ask themselves the troubling question, "where do those who expose and oppose federal policies fall within that equation?" And inevitably they arrive at the wrong answer to that question.

Thus, the most likely reason that the president isn't going to the secret, rubberstamp FISA court to secure his warrants is that he and his minions know that the're targeting Americans for whom not even the rubberstampers on the FISA court would approve a warrant. That is, they're spying on and monitoring innocent Americans who aren't "terrorists" but who oppose the president's war on Iraq or his "war on terrorism" After all, since the secret FISA court rubberstamps virtually all warrant requests anyway, why else would the president not go through the motions of securing the rubberstamp?

Finally, it's important to keep in mind that all this spying and other violations of civil liberties are just part and parcel of the U.S. Empire and its interventionist policies. That is, the policies, including the president's invasion and war of aggression against Iraq, generate the anger and hatred that produce the terrorist counterstrikes, which then provide the president with the excuse to claim and exercise omnipotent power to fight the terrorists.

'Saddam signed 148 death warrants'

A meticulous paper trail alleged to link Saddam Hussein to the execution by hanging of 148 Iraqis was shown to a Baghdad court today as his trial resumed for a brief but unusually well-mannered session.

Saddam, it was announced, has ended a hunger strike for health reasons. Lawyers representing the former dictator and his seven co-defendants have given up a boycott of the proceedings.

In what was easily the most orderly hearing since the turbulent trial began in October, the eight accused took their seats in near silence. No-one was dressed in their pyjamas. No-one spouted vitriolic abuse at the judge.

Prosecutors used the rare opportunity for progress to begin outlining the documents which they allege connect Saddam and members of his inner circle to the murder of 148 Shia Muslims in the village of Dujail, in revenge for an assassination attempt in 1982.

Jaafar al-Moussawi, the leading prosecutor, told the court that the regime's detailed record-keeping had preserved evidence proving that Saddam and his aides sanctioned the massacre.

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

Kind of odd that Saddam signs 148 death warrants and it is called a massacre - Governor George Bush signs 150 death warrants (nine of whom were innocent) and it is called justice - go figure.

capt

RS,

The BBQ in India! HA!

That is why they did not include Cheney - the hunting comments might upset some of the locals.

"Do you Indians have any quail? Pheasent? Doves? What the hell do you guys hunt here?"

HA!

capt

Is Our National Security Being Blackmailed?

#36 Jeanne, there really is a lot of information out there. Trying to keep on top of this information is quite difficult.

Cornposters, FYI! One of the exercises to hold off Alzheimer's Disease is typing. I guess that I must keep on typing. My wife knits to help her.

The support the invasion rats all have blood on their claws, and many will be jumping ship.

PLEASE PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST H.R. 4681.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A conversation with Machiavelli's ghost: Controversial neoconservative Ledeen talks to Raw Story

In an exclusive series of interviews with Raw Story Managing News Editor Larisa Alexandrovna, controversial Neoconservative scholar and Iran Contra figure Michael Ledeen discusses his background, alleged controversies, and offers remarkable revelations regarding the Bush administration's "War on Terror."

Part one in this series of interviews focuses on current US foreign policy and how it relates to the neoconservative world view, as well as how such a policy can be seen against the backdrop of history. Ledeen speaks out against torture and calls for accountability at all levels, including the White House, should an investigation lead in that direction.

"Punish all the guilty parties, whoever they are, and do everything possible to prevent anything of the sort happening again," Ledeen says.
---------------
He talks about his feelings on Zionism. Sort of.

------------------more

Can I say something about how I view human nature? I think it will help at least part of this conversation. I have a pretty dim view of human nature, as I think any serious historian must. Most human activities aren't very pretty, most of the time we screw up, it's rare when you find an exceptional person and even in such cases they often fall from grace.

And I'm not sure Machiavelli was wrong when he said that "man is more inclined to do evil than to do good." So I don't have high expectations, and I consider myself fortunate to have lived and worked at a moment when there were several really exceptional leaders in the world, from Reagan and Thatcher to Pope John Paul II to Havel and Walesa and Mandela and so forth. Those moments are rare, and short-lived. You don't see many outstanding leaders today, in my opinion.

So I'm not surprised when our leaders make mistakes, I'm surprised and delighted when they do great things. I think we should support free societies but I'm not surprised when an American president makes a deal with a dictator. And sometimes there isn't any better choice, by the way. I hate Stalin, but I think the wartime alliance against Hitler was the right thing to do, disgusting though it was.
However, I think that we should have been more vigorous against Stalin and his successors once the war was over, and in retrospect I think the Soviet Empire could have ended earlier.

I agree that our support for the Saudi Royal Family is a mistake, and I've said that, and I have always included them in my list of "terror masters," along with Saddam's Iraq, the mullahs' Iran, and the Assads' Syria.
------------
Part two goes on to talk about torturers. I can't wait to read that.

Dear Kirk,

Thank you for using the Union of Concerned Scientists Action Center. Your action telling Congress to protect food safety laws will make a valuable difference.

Please take a moment to tell friends, family, and co-workers that you think would be interested in this action.

http://ucsaction.org/campaign/02_28_06_food_safety/forward

To learn more about the Union of Concerned Scientists, visit our website at:

http://www.ucsusa.org

To see other action alerts visit the UCS Action Center at:

http://www.ucsaction.org

Dear Kirk,

Thank you for supporting a "Common Sense" budget.

Please forward this to anyone who may be interested in a federal budget with sensible priorities. The link for taking action is:

http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/commonsensebudget

Thanks,

The TrueMajority Crew

http://return.to/teensex1,[url=http://return.to/teensex1] http://return.to/teensex1 [/url], http://return.to/teensex1 http://teensex1.return.to

Don't let Congress hide from you

The same two Senators and two Representatives who gave us the Bi-partisan Campaign Reform Act now want to erect similar regulations to hamper grassroots lobbing organizations.

DownsizeDC.org is a grassroots lobbying organization. Congress wants to tie us up in regulatory knots.

There are currently four bills aimed at this purpose: S. 1398 and S. 2128 in the Senate, and H.R. 2412 and H.R. 4575 in the House. You can find details about these four bills by clicking the Background tab above.

Immediately below is the message we're sending to Congress on this issue. You can use it to borrow "talking points" that you can then put into your own words for your message to Congress. Below that is the form you can use to send your message.

Please oppose all bills designed to regulate grassroots lobbying organizations, specifically S. 1398, S. 2128, H.R. 2412, and H.R. 4575. These bills are a gross attempt to exploit the Abramoff scandal for the benefit of the elected members of Congress. The crimes of a few politicians do not justify imposing new burdens on innocent citizens and their use of innocent grassroots lobbying organizations. The existing laws are sufficient. They work. The guilty will pay for their crimes. Do not exploit this situation to further insulate yourselves from your constituents!

So-called campaign finance reform has already ended effective competition at the ballot box. Well organized grassroots lobbying organizations are the only tool citizens have left for influencing an out-of-control Congress. There must be some effective means by which citizens can assemble to petition Congress for a redress of grievances, or government will lose all legitimacy. You will lose all legitimacy!

The power to regulate is the power to destroy. Do not regulate grassroots lobbying. Do not erect further barriers between Congress and the people. Do not exploit Congressional crimes for Congressional benefit. Please act immediately. Ask the sponsors of the above bills to withdraw them.

Please use the form below to send your message to Congress opposing these bills.

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

More keyboard activism for those that agree.

capt

Page 2 of the ledeen article was about torture. Excellent interview. Larisa Alexandrovna held his feet to the fire.
*excited tone* And there's more next week.

"held his feet to the fire"

The smell of burning feces or feet-ies? (ew)

Inquiring minds want to know.

capt

Capt,
With that group it is a powerful smell.

Watchdog Group Questions 2004 Fla. Vote

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - An examination of Palm Beach County's electronic voting machine records from the 2004 election found possible tampering and tens of thousands of malfunctions and errors, a watchdog group said Thursday.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Petition

If you are waiting for a religious left to emerge to offset the power of the religious right, it may already be in your own neighborhood at a local church or synagogue. I stumbled across a branch of the religious left quite by accident recently, in Texas of all places, though the folks I met would say I was guided to them by the Lord.

On a weekend in mid-February, nearly 200 Evangelical Lutherans from all over the country came to Fort Worth for the Congregation-Based Organizing Strategy Summit or CBOSS. They talked, planned, and prayed about community organizing. They shared stories about what they had already accomplished through faith and hard political work.

They had demanded action from public officials and corporate leaders in their communities, and they were proud of their victories. Among the local triumphs some of them claimed were: affordable housing for thousands of families; guaranteed access to health insurance for all children; treatment centers instead of prisons for criminals; a new community center where a meth house used to be; free day-care centers; water and sewer lines for 150,000 rural poor who had none before; laws requiring public contractors to pay a living wage; surveillance cameras in police cars -- to watch the police themselves.

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

Toms Dispatch - a couple of good pieces there today.

capt

Jeanne,

I was scanning a previous post (call me a masochist) and saw you invoke my name...OUCH!

Unfortunately, when ICE is the cause of a fall, it also becomes a relief aid. I take it you didn't show signs of a major concussion (tunnel vision, lingering, deep headache, nausea) did you?

As I age, the little things that I could shake off in a few minutes seem to hang around for days.

"...And where's Hajji when you need him? HAJJI. I fell on my...on the ice. My head took a real knock..."

I was in Durham, NC this weekend, taking the keys away from Jill's mom. Not alzheimer's per se, but a form of vascular damage (we're not ready to call it "vascular dementia", quite yet) brought on after a cardiac event she suffered while traveling to Spec Spank's bootcamp graduation a few years ago.

We did a poor job of diagnosing her then...thought her inability to find the words for things and her penchant for standing in doorways and repeatedly having to move her here and there was simple exhaustion.

She's really a brilliant woman and a true friend to the 'cause. It was her sending me copies of "The Nation" that brought me to this blog, in the first place! I prize the books and newsclippings she's always sending me. She's kinda the analog Capt, actually, reading, clipping and commenting and sending it all along.

Anyhoo, to get back to the pain. Last night, just about at sunset, my donkey decided to go for a little run down the back side of the hill...(where a boy donkey lives) I chased after her for a while, got close and dove for the lead-rope she was trailing behind... For a few brief seconds I was Cowboy Stuntman, sliding through the forest, bouncing off trees and rocks.

Today, I feel like I've been run over by a tank.

Thank the gods for those "Physician Slaves" of mine and their script pads!

Hope you're feeling better!

-T

I thought this was good.

A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front ofthe Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.He asked, "What are all those clocks?"St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone onearth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands onyour clock move.""Oh", said the man. "Whose clock is that?" "That's Mother Teresa's", replied St. Peter. "Thehands have never moved, indicating that she nevertold a lie.""Incredible", said the man. "And whose clock is thatone?"St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock.The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abrahamtold only two lies in his entire life.""Where's Bush's clock?" asked the man."Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan.

HA!

In the Crosshairs

Dear Miss Jeanne:

I admire you for believing that it is possible to turn the tide so that American citizens can once again have a voice in matters of importance to our country.

To accomplish that, however, we are going to have to make some drastic changes in our thinking. We should not accept everything at "face" value. Again, I will go back to Dick Cheney shooting me in the face to try to make my point. In Texas, as in many parts of our country, we have a traditional reverence for guns and hunting that almost borders on a national mental illness. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not going to malign hunters. They are, by and large, good folks. But, it is the reverence, the attachment and devotion to guns and hunting and manly activities that is out-of-hand. This same reverence for guns and manly activities is an enormous lure for military recruiters.

I think if Dick Cheney had run over me with a Jeep or a Suburban, the American people would have been horrified. But, because ALL he did was shoot me while he was hunting birds, he is less culpable in our national thinking. Oh, an unfortunate accident! Let the poor fella be! He's been through enough.

It is at the point, because of this laissez-faire attitude about hunting accidents that if someone wanted to shoot someone in the face and get away with it, he'd do it on a hunting trip! No questions asked. The deliberate lack of interference by law enforcement in hunting accidents is a by-product of the "hunting/manly activities culture."

Anyway, Miss Jeanne, I wanted to call the article linked above to your attention because it has many parallels to the day when Mr. Cheney shot me in the face and got away with it. Take care of your arm and be sure that your noggin is OK.

There is still mystery surrounding the OKC bombing, typical FBI. Wonder how long it will take for them to get around to 9/11.

Hajji,
I am feeling better. My angle of mercy came to me on friday with a hypo full of morphine. They put me in a temp cast until I could see a bone doc. Saw him on Monday. He looked at my x-rays and told me that the break is small enough to keep from casting it. It's up near the elbow (yaoooweee). Anyway, he says that it is better to put it in a sling for a week and then get it moving. Range of motion you know. I can't do any pushing pulling lifting etc. for 6 weeks. That will be hard. You forget. (incidentally, this is kinda funny. The bone doc was examining my arm. He was pressing and saying "does this hurt? Does this hurt?" and I thought to myself not like on Friday night so I kept saying "Well...no." Finally I said. "Well I can feel it." just to make him happy and he stared for a minute and said. "You're a tough woman." I think he meant it. Either I heal fast or people are wimps.)

Anyway...sorry- very sorry to hear about Jill's mom. My dad has Alzheimer's. It is a long road. Isn't life fun? The shit always hits the fan at the same time. I have learned to take what comes. One thing...this is the only good thing about these diseases...I got to show my dad how much I loved him. This is when it really means something.

Den, 90# telephone e-mail is a hoax

#57
Angel of mercy. Jeez.

Jeanne,

Before this, Bobo was a real take-charge, go-getter. Some had real problems with her because of it. She's a lot more passive, now and unsure of herself. I didn't think I'd miss her personal assertiveness, but I kinda do. She believes this condition is temporary and might abate should her thyroid chemistry ever get back to normal...

...I guess everybody's gotta have something to hope for. I'll hope for her, too.

Saladin,

I've been hit pretty badly and I put my husband in jail. My 11 year old is with my sister. I'm not going to be reading for a while.

Carol, thanks for the info! I bookmarked the site you provided for future reference.

AMMENDED WARNING! AMMENDED WARNING! PREVIOUS POST BY ME REGARDING 90# IS INCORRECT!!! PLEASE IGNORE. Damn e-mail hoaxes, think youre doing a good deed and WHAMMO!!!!

Dear Harry,
As you can see from my post to Hajji, I am doing very well.
I read the article you link very carefully. It was a sad story. Many hard moments in the husband's life. One of the hardest was realizing that no one was going to have to take responsibility for this act. I saw many parallels.

You raised some very interesting points, some of which, I must say I had never thought of. The hunter mentality point...very interesting. It extends to the war mentality. Somehow our invading Iraq was ok because that's what we do.

Another interesting point was from the article. People from the area were so willing to let the shooter off the hook because he was a long time resident. I know how that works. I have always thought that the mentality behind it is 'make it go away'. Just end the sordid chapter as quickly as possible. Protect the person who knows the most people. Protect the person who's life butts up angainst my own (we have close friends or relatives). The husband of the woman killed was an outsider. His feelings could be sacrificed for the sake of stability in the community. He was as disposable as the victim was. In fact, I'm sure people got mad at the husband for making life unpleasant in the community. Yep, there's a parallel. Well, Harry, it's pretty sad when the victim has to step aside to make life easier for the shooter and his Republican cronie friends in the heart of Texas. It's really sad when you have to step aside so that everyone is 'comfortable'.

Carey,
Take care of yourself.

If the WH really wants to get rid of Cheney they will. And they will let us do the dirty work by simply leaking the Secret Service reports that prove Cheney was drunk when he shot Wittington.

Rumors will be spread, speculation will surge, and accusations will be hurled. It will snowball.

And then Bush can say to Cheney: "Sorry old boy, but it's out of our control. You're a political liability".

Then the Left will be to blame once again.

At 23, let him speak at Red Fort.

DEN, don't worry, I saw a snopes article that said it was accurate to a point, I figured that it didn't cost any money or cause anyone's computer to crash so a better safe than sorry warning is OK, no harm done. I appreciate it.
Carey, I am so sorry you are facing such awful problems, my thoughts will be with you, I have been through similar events, I know it hurts, take care.

My Country participates in torture. My Country is ignoring and abusing my civil liberties.

Dibold voting machines are only minimally more accurate than your average vending machine.

My President is functionally illiterate. I think he was finishing up My Pet Goat when Chaney shot a guy in the face.

The guy apologised.

Food for thought.

Seriously.