"Now that the neoconservative moment appears to have passed, the United States needs to reconceptualize its foreign policy in several fundamental ways." -- Fukyama

I don't know about neo-cons, but the Clash of Civilizations -- which refuted Fukuyama's End of History -- appears to be more evident today than it was when Huntington wrote the article in Foreign Affairs. Fukuyam's moment appears to have passed even before 9/11.

"In the first instance, we need to demilitarize what we have been calling the global war on terrorism and shift to other types of policy instruments." -- Fukuyama

Why? AQ hasn't demilitarized. They are at war with the US, and give every indication of remaining at war for years if necessary.

"We are fighting hot counterinsurgency wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and against the international jihadist movement, wars in which we need to prevail." -- Fukuyama

True.

"But "war" is the wrong metaphor for the broader struggle, since wars are fought at full intensity and have clear beginnings and endings." -- Fukuyama

OK. Certainly the label "Global War On Terrorism" needs to be replaced. Let's simply declare war on AQ.

"Meeting the jihadist challenge is more of a "long, twilight struggle" whose core is not a military campaign but a political contest for the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims around the world." -- Fukuyama

It will certainly be a Long War, and in fact, the Defense Department has begun using those very words to describe its prospects.

"As recent events in France and Denmark suggest, Europe will be a central battleground in this fight." -- Fukuyama

We will see an ugly side of Europe that hasn't surfaced with any significance for 60 years. It's been there, just under the surface, waiting for the right conditions, and those conditions are emerging. Leaders like Le Pen will rise in status and power.

"All in all, a very engaging and useful essay. But compare those sentiments to the ideas contained in the following lines: . . . That was Fukuyama's position in 2001--quite different from what he wrote in the Times." -- DC

Yep. Huntington's words don't have to change, though. He got it very right 15 years ago.

The week after 9/11, the Project for a New American Century--the neocons' central command, headed by Bill Kristol--sent a letter to Bush, urging him to respond to 9/11 by militarily confronting Iraq.

the week AFTER 911? - please. you make it seem as if PNAC and the neocon skodes were merely reacting to and capitalizing on events instead of creating and manipulating events ahead of time in order to capitalize on them.

"It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, the safety...of our friends and allies like Israel ...and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard.
In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power." - Jan. 1998

let's see just what else PNAC had to say::

"To preserve American military preeminence in the coming decades, the [DoD] must move more aggressively to experiment with new technologies and operational concepts, and seek to exploit the emerging revolution in military affairs.
...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor." - Sept. 2000

The Neocon who wasn't

David's article reminded me of another essay I read, back in October 2005

Fukuyama was once a neoconservative’s neoconservative, but it would be difficult to classify him thus today. “The Neoconservative Moment,” his devastating 2004 National Interest article on Charles Krauthammer, opened the rupture. By November 2004, Fukuyama was alienated enough to have voted for John Kerry. And last month, Fukuyama’s new journal, The American Interest, which he helped found after breaking with the National Interest, debuted. The American Interest does not represent a wholesale repudiation of the past; the premier issue did publish the work of stalwart neocons and war supporters (The Atlantic’s Robert Kaplan, Anne Applebaum of The Washington Post). But it also featured Zbigniew Brzezinski and fellow Iraq War apostate Eliot Cohen. Fukuyama’s own essay in the volume was a withering critique of Bush administration foreign policy, which, he wrote, has “squandered the overwhelming public support it had received after September 11.” And in April he is publishing After Neoconservatism, a book drawn from a series of lectures he gave at Yale this past spring in which he again critiqued neoconservative hubris.

only in the new american century could bushco claim that 19 arabs were responsible for a "new pearl harbor" and then turn around and sell the operations of 6 US ports to an arab company.

It seems FF's eloquence is due in no small part, being a flip-flopper. Then a NeoCon, now, poof, he's a smacker!

FF Now says:
"By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadist terrorists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at..."

Two issues: 1) Bush said VERY CLEARLY we will "take the fight to the enemy and fight on their ground!" So, what is his point now? 2) Who are suffereing the bulk of the attacks? American targets? NO, Iraqi civilian and security forces! DumbAss.

FF Now says further:
"The United States still has a chance of creating a Shiite-dominated democratic Iraq, but the new government will be very weak for years to come; the resulting power vacuum will invite outside influence from all of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran. There are clear benefits to the Iraqi people from the removal of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, and perhaps some positive spillover effects in Lebanon and Syria."

Two more `issues': 1) The previous power (Saddam) was trouble to its multiple neighbors and corrupting our so-called Allies for what, two decades? 2) FF conveniently leaves out actual known spillover effects in Libya, Kuwait, UAE, Quater...

James Ha

James are you OK with letting an Arab company take over the ports since you believe they had nothing to do with 9/11?

#5
Oooowwww.
The smearing of Francis Fukuyama has begun. He's probably going to need to apologize soon.

Fukuyama's article was well thought and certainly provocative. As your other commenters have said, he's hardly in a position of any great wisdom, having ridden along with the Neoconservatives far too long. But, born again is better than still in the soup. I thought his clarification of his END OF HISTORY was clear and actually useful. But the thing that bothered me was his forgetting to mention that the Administration that largely came from the halls of ARI and PNAC were a bunch of unprincipled thugs. John Bolton, Douglas Feith, Michael Ledeen, even Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle are hardly exemplary intellectuals. They may talk the talk, but they are on the bottom end of the integrity scale. Fukutama doesn't talk about the fact that his lofty thoughts about history and the governance of mankind were turned into an absolutely devastating war, bankrupcy, and policies like tortur and domestic spying. Any thoughtful person should have known that the Neoconservative "ideals" would have been a carte blanche for power hungry, inept, and incompetent politicians. As smart as he obviously is, he's in no position to make suggestions about what we do next. What would help would be some suggestions about how to get these clowns out of power!

chickenhawk-in-chief

bush's war of choice is no laughing matter, but it's time to start reminding everyone that IT IS COMING UP ON THREE YEARS AND COUNTING that bush and his neocon buddies started this mess.

Remember, "Mission Accomplished?"

I saw Francis Fukuyama sharing an ice cream cone with Teddy Kennedy on a park bench the other day. Michael Moore kept bugging them for a dollar so he could get one, but they just laughed and told him he needed to stay away from the sweets as he is getting WAY too fat.

Sonofabush in full regalia

Remember when bush "branded" his fraternity pals?

Well, here he is "branded" with "oil patches"

FF: The problem with neoconservatism's agenda lies not in its ends, which are as American as apple pie, but rather in the overmilitarized means by which it has sought to accomplish them.

The only possible response to that is, Duh and Duh. This guy's an intellectual?

But at least he's got the integrity to acknowledge his own stupidity. This is in sharp contrast to people like David Brooks and Tom Friedman, who still insist that invading Iraq was a fine idea but whine that the busheviks just didn't do it right. Well Duh again.

Tom Friedman - Ick.

I'm living the American farce.

TOP GOON

The A(W)OL picture that David posted earlier today really looked like TOP GOON!!!

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION IS ALIVE AND WELL. AND GUESS WHAT NOT ONE OF THE NEO-CONS HAS A FAMILY MEMBER SERVING IN THE MILITARY.

If the neo-con era is over what is this persistent focus on Iran's supposed nuclear developments. The spotlight was turned immediately on Syria and Iran after the invasion of Iraq.

The neo-con train is still going down the track slower but still moving....towards sanctions or some type of military strike in Iran. Never say never to this bunch. And as Scott Ritter has said the nation is "sleepwalking" into another disaster in Iran and the MSM is complicit once again with the Bush administrations agenda.

On every MSM news program that I have listened to (yes NPR too) every american reporter refers to Iran's illegal nuclear developments with no questions ...they just repeat the Bush administrations claims about Iran....no question asked

DEJA VU

Mr. David Corn,

Good Stuff! Seems a bit odd that some have claimed to know nothing about PNAC. I gues they are incurious or full of it.

"the neocon way of life and war"

You nailed it, for the neocons the way of life is war. Pro-war is not pro-life or pro-troops.

Thanks for all of your work!

Kirk

Drewp,

He is an intellectual for coming from the neocon position back to reality.

Simply brilliant (for a neocon)

capt

Entering the Era of Deep Politics-Defining existential politics.

"I believe that the initial entry into deep politics is marked by the appearance of these incipient features of a revolutionary crisis:

"The political legitimacy of a ruling group has suffered serious erosion. The economic basis of their rule is becoming untenable. Increasingly brazen covert operations provide overt reasons to support this rule. Conversely, overt operations provide a "cover story" for black budget operations. Legitimacy has become entirely ironic; it is based on denial and the "big lie."

"This Big Lie in our time is, of course, the cover-up of the truth about 9/11—the mother issue of the current phase of deep politics. A prodigious amount of evidence demonstrates that the official story is an obvious farce, so much so that a shocking percentage of New York state citizens canvassed in a recent Zogby poll hold the opinion that officials consciously allowed the attacks to happen—including 49 percent of residents of New York City. Yet the official consensus about 9/11 still provides the spin and the cover story needed to launch two imperial wars, plus the rest of the now-familiar list of Bush administration maladies."

War of the Quailhawks

How Cheney's hunting mishap puts the Iraq invasion in a new light

Over a week ago, Vice President Cheney managed to put a couple of hundred pellets of birdshot into his 78 year-old friend and Texas Republican Party builder, Harry Whittington. As the event turned into a national joke, edged with anger, and a late night spectacle, it was natural that the subject of Iraq would arise. After all, given the sorry state of affairs in that country, the thought that the Bush administration (like the Vice President in Texas) shot first and looked only later came quite naturally to mind; but there are other ways in which Dick Cheney's strange encounter of a quail kind on the 50,000 acre Armstrong ranch in Texas might help put the invasion of Iraq in a new light.

Let's start with the quail on what the New York Times calls that "game rich property." (How could it be otherwise when so much of the "game" is raised and released there?) Fragile looking little birds, usually with ET-like plumes dangling off their tiny heads, they hang out in flocks -- coveys, to be exact -- and, unlike the Republicans who bag them at the Armstrong ranch, aren't high fliers. Now, hunting is generally a highly ritualized activity, no small part of which should be consumed with finding your prey or waiting (sometimes fruitlessly) for it to appear -- but this doesn't apply to the fair-weather version of fowl hunting the Vice President tends to practice, as he did to a storm of criticism in December 2003 at a private game club in Pennsylvania. There, "more than 500 farm-raised ring-necked pheasants were released for the vice-president and companions. Cheney shot 70 of the birds, plus some mallard ducks and had them plucked and vacuum-packed before returning to work in Washington." A companion that day, Texas Senator John Cornyn described it as more "Tyson's" than hunt -- that is, a slaughter.

Due to the accident at the Armstrong ranch, a mecca for top Republicans including the President ("rivaling Hyannisport, Kennebunkport, and the Hamptons as a setting where important relationships [among the corporate and power elite] have been nurtured"), we know a good deal about what this kind of hunting entails. The ritual seems to be that you spend your time with high-toned, well-connected friends (in Cheney's case, Party-builder Whittington, ranch owner and lobbyist Katherine Armstrong, a Bush-Cheney "Pioneer," which means she raised $100,000 for the last presidential campaign, and ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Pamela Pitzer Willeford, old Bush family friend and a somewhat more modest contributor to Republican campaigns); you're served a catered lunch (sweetbreads, "charbroiled nilgai, an Asian antelope... raised and shot on the Armstrong spread," and jicama salad); you kick back with a beer or two, "freshen up" back at the ranch house, climb into a jeep or SUV, drive across the fields to the spot where you already know the birds will be located -- and you know because you're on a ranch that raises just these birds for you to kill and has two groups of "outriders on horseback" and "about a dozen American pointers and Labrador retrievers" already locating them for you. Some of the hunters remain in the vehicles; others step out for the "hunt." Eventually, the dogs flush the quail. They panic and fly -- not very high or very far -- and you blast away with your fancy gun (in Cheney's case, an Italian 28-gauge Perazzi shotgun). In fishing terms, imagine that someone put a bluefish on your hook just before you dropped your line over the side.

More HERE

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

The Quailhawks may be better than Chickenhawks.

capt

If you all want a really good book on the neocons try "The War for Muslim Minds" by Gilles Kepel. He nails so much of what is happenning now. Thanks David, I admire your consistent tenacity and excellent delivery of details. Not bad for free.

THE SCOOTER LIBBY DEFENSE FUND....

Since September 11, 2001, Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been one of the unsung heroes in fighting the war on terror, working diligently and making countless contributions on some of the most critical life and death issues that our country has faced. For the past five years, Scooter Libby served selflessly as an Assistant to President Bush and as the Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser to Vice President Cheney.

But Scooter's great service to our country has now been cut short, and his good name attacked. A distinguished group of friends, business leaders and former government officials have joined The Libby Legal Defense Trust to help Scooter defray his legal costs from the recent charges. We hope you will join us in supporting this effort. -Ambassador Mel Sembler

Hello calling David Corn...is this the same Professor Francis Fukuyama who is serving on the ADVISORY COMMITTEE for the "LIBBY LEGAL DEFENSE TRUST?" HIS NAME IS ON THE LIST

LIBBY LEGAL DEFENSE TRUST.....ADVISORY COMMITTEE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the NYT: "Francis Fukuyama teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University"

Why is it that the SAIS seems like such a breeding ground for notable neocons:

-Fukuyama
-Wolfowitz, the former dean
-Ruth Wedgwood, an international law professor who helped justify Operation Fubar
-Danielle Pletka, an AEI "scholar" with an SAIS master's degree, she was once a highly visible proponent of OpFu but seems to be lying very low lately.

The place is almost like an annex of AEI. Might be interesting to find out who SAIS's biggest benefactors are.

Feb. 20, 2006 0:05 | Updated Feb. 21, 2006 13:16
Georgia denies US 'putting out feelers'
By KSENIA SVETLOVA JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT AND YAAKOV KATZ
Moscow

Following the Post's report that the US was considering using military bases in Georgia as a platform for a possible attack on Iran, the Georgian chief of General Staff denied the claims.

"This is utterly absurd," Levan Nikoleishvili, the Georgian chief of the General Staff told Russian news agency Novosti following the Monday morning report.

The Jerusalem Post was told that American officials have been quietly probing whether Georgia, situated just northwest of Iran, will be willing to allow Washington to use its military bases and airfields in the event of a military conflict with Teheran.

The Americans have been putting out feelers, a high-ranking Georgian government foreign affairs official told the Post, in advance of a possible military strike to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.

JPOST.COM HIT LIST
See JPost.com's hottest articles this past week [click here]

American reports in recent months, speculating about the possibility of a campaign against Iran because of the failure of diplomatic efforts to thwart a potential nuclear weapons program, have suggested that sustained military action, rather than a single strike, may be required given the number of Iranian nuclear facilities, their divergent locations and Iranian defenses.

Georgian government officials said that Tbilisi fears harsh Iranian military retaliation against the Georgian republic if US forces were to use its territory as a base for strikes against Iran, but nonetheless may feel obligated to accede to such a request, given the country's heavy reliance on US aid and support. The US maintains its own military bases in Georgia.

While the Americans have been testing the waters lately in this direction, the source indicated, no official request of this kind has yet been made.

Georgia is also worried about the possibility of civil unrest, citing the strong opposition by its Muslim minority to the country's participation in the war in Iraq, where there is a limited Georgian military contingent.

Ohhh Kathleen,
You tenacious creature, you.

The man can't have it both ways, can he? Either he's a dissenter or he's one of the pac.

Will anyone dare say it? Richard Cheney, vice president of the United States, shot Harry Whittington in the face as a show of farce, a tragicomedy with the improbable plot. Force? Or farce?

As with most things in this Administration, their stories about the shooting are riddled with holes (otherwise known as lies). Why should any aspect of this story be believed? They are accustomed to dealing in discrepancies, falsehoods, lies, propaganda, manipulation, disinformation, And getting away with it.

It is rumored that when -- and if -- Dick Cheney and George Bush agree to another press conference, they will be armed and loaded (maybe in more ways than one). Karl Rove has decided that the media got a little too uppity over the vice president shooting a man in the face, so he figures that if Dick and George are armed, fewer reporters will even bother to show up. Cuts down on a lot of questions. Bam!

W aides' biz ties to Arab firm

WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the 9/11 hijackers.

"The more you look at this deal, the more the deal is called into question," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said the deal was rubber-stamped in advance - even before DP World formally agreed to buy London's P&O port company.

Besides operations in New York and Jersey, Dubai would also run port facilities in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore and Miami.

The political fallout over the deal only grows.

"It's particularly troubling that the United States would turn over its port security not only to a foreign company, but a state-owned one," said western New York's Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. Reynolds is responsible for helping Republicans keep their majority in the House.

Snow's Treasury Department runs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which includes 11 other agencies.

"It always raises flags" when administration officials have ties to a firm, Rep. Vito Fossella (R-S.I.) said, but insisted that stopping the deal was more important.

The Daily News has learned that lawmakers also want to know if a detailed 45-day probe should have been conducted instead of one that lasted no more than 25 days.

According to a 1993 congressional measure, the longer review is mandated when the company is owned by a foreign government and the purchase "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S."

Congressional sources said the President has until March 2 to trigger that harder look.

"The most important thing is for someone to explain how this is consistent with our national security," Fossella said.
----------------
Show me the money.

Bush Says Arab Co. Port Deal to Proceed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Tuesday that a deal allowing an Arab company to take over six major U.S. seaports should go forward and that he would veto any congressional effort to stop it.

The Senate's Republican leader had promised just such an effort a few hours earlier, and the House's top Republican called for "an immediate moratorium" on the deal.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We'll treat you fairly.'"

........."The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist, R-Tenn. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."

.......House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., joined Frist, saying the administration needed to "conduct a more thorough review." Without offering details, Hastert said in a letter to Bush that "this proposal may require additional congressional action in order to ensure that we are protecting Americans at home."

Other members of Bush's party also reacted critically. Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, during a tour of Baltimore's port on Tuesday, called the deal an "overly secretive process at the federal level."
------------------
I wonder if reality is beginning to find it's way into the lives of these dopes.

On December 19, 2006 the Iraq war will be the same length as WW II, 45 months with no end in sight because the NSA will have five permanent bases in Nazi America's 51st state.

Malkin: Stop the Port Sellout
By Michelle Malkin

Hon, you been had.

*****Attention Cornnuts****

I think you all need to rethink this whole port thing now that Jimmy Carter has thrown his hat in, once again, and supports the sale to an Arab Co.. Or, you could back Chucky Schumer who wants Halliburton to get the bid to run our ports.

Just one more reminder of how the neo-cons are on there way out.....NOT..

Privatizing the World Bank?
By CHAN CHEE KHOON

In a recent article entitled "Reforming the World Bank: Creative Destruction" (Foreign Affairs, January/February 2006), Jessica Einhorn, dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS, Johns Hopkins University), called for the de facto disbandment of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Addressing her remarks to the World Bank's new president, Paul Wolfowitz (and its major funders), she called for an end to the bank's lending to middle-income countries, and for a focus instead on the poorer member countries who have little or no access to private capital markets as credit sources for development financing.

Einhorn, who retired in 1998 as managing director of the World Bank (shorthand for the "World Bank Group" which includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), lending to the governments of middle- and lower-middle income countries at commercial rates, the International Development Association (IDA), which provides easier credit terms and grants (with conditionalities) to the poorest countries, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which promotes private sector involvement in development and its financing) may seem to have found common cause with NGO critics campaigning against the Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs).

Their motivations in fact are quite the opposite. Groups such as Focus on the Global South regard the BWIs as instruments of metropolitan capital by and large, as enthusiastic purveyors of the neo-liberal agenda, and call for their dismantling and replacement by more accountable and people-responsive institutions for development financing.

Einhorn, who echoes the call to wind down the IBRD, seeks however to extend the neo-liberal agenda to the World Bank itself (in effect, outsourcing the IBRD's lending activities to private capital markets), with her call for "targeted" development financing:

In the World Bank's first years of existence, the IBRD dominated the institution. Now, however, lending to middle-income countries has diminished in both size and emphasis:
influence is on its way out.....

MORE AT ANTI WAR

It's fuuny how certain people on this blog like to spew out crap without backing it up.

I am so happy that everyone is ignoring the idiot trolls, HURRAY!! They won't stick around for long if they don't get fed.
Capt, please don't malign Quail, our place is positively swarming with them, they are one of the cutest birds I have ever seen, they don't deserve to be used as an insult for bushco! :-)

Paul,
The amazing thing is...even Repugs like Frist and Hastert are going ape over this latest Bush money making scheme. Michelle Malkin is freaking out. How do you explain to the people of New York, NJ, NO, that their ports are no longer really going to be safe?
How do these drips who have supported Bush as he stole 2 elections, started an illegal war, encouraged torture, spied illegally- how do they deal with this? How do they walk down the streets of this nation when the terror they have been scaring the public with and supporting the President on will perhaps come back to the shores of this nation in the form of a real estate deal that the President and his men pushed through?
Why exactly did we go to war Rep. Frist? Why are we making all the sacrifices?
(James, most people think 9/11 was terrorism and that's the point I'm making.)

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Conyers' Bill for Select Committee to Investigate Impeachment

Support Conyers bill to create a select committee to investigate possible crimes and make recommendations regarding grounds for impeachment

In recognition and appreciation of Rep. John Olver's agreement to co-sponsor HR 635, and due to the overwhelming response we have received from our members in support of impeachment, we urge you to contact your Congressional member to ask for their support.

The resolution calls for creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.

This resolution was introduced by Rep. John Conyers and has an additional 23 co-sponsors. We also request that you ask your member to support HR 636 and HR 637 calling for censure of the President and Vice President. If your member of Congress has already signed on, let him/her know how much you appreciate it. Find your Congress member here. If not, please follow this link to send an email.

Please take action today. We are building up steam and need your help!

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Some keyboard activism from the PDA.

capt

W aides' biz ties to Arab firm

WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the 9/11 hijackers.

"The more you look at this deal, the more the deal is called into question," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said the deal was rubber-stamped in advance - even before DP World formally agreed to buy London's P&O port company.

Besides operations in New York and Jersey, Dubai would also run port facilities in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore and Miami.

The political fallout over the deal only grows.

"It's particularly troubling that the United States would turn over its port security not only to a foreign company, but a state-owned one," said western New York's Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. Reynolds is responsible for helping Republicans keep their majority in the House.

Snow's Treasury Department runs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which includes 11 other agencies.

"It always raises flags" when administration officials have ties to a firm, Rep. Vito Fossella (R-S.I.) said, but insisted that stopping the deal was more important.

The Daily News has learned that lawmakers also want to know if a detailed 45-day probe should have been conducted instead of one that lasted no more than 25 days.

According to a 1993 congressional measure, the longer review is mandated when the company is owned by a foreign government and the purchase "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S."

Congressional sources said the President has until March 2 to trigger that harder look.

"The most important thing is for someone to explain how this is consistent with our national security," Fossella said.

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What part of cronyism does not permeate from the WH these days.

Jeeze, you might think it is hard work moving all of those mountains of money from the public coffers to the pockets of pals.

I guess if the price was right Bunnypants would sell anything including the stuff that is bolted down. Maybe OBL could make a bid for the White House? If he offers enough we could always lease it back from him. That sounds about right.

capt

A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. -- James Madison, letter to W.T. Barry 4 August 1822

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Today the world is the victim of propaganda because people are not intellectually competent. More than anything the United States needs effective citizens competent to do their own thinking. -- William Mather Lewis - President ,George Washington University 1923 -1927

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Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like the evil spirits at the dawn of day. -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Pierre S. du Pont de Nemours, 24 April 1816

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Fortunately, many people would prefer to live a simple life in a good society than a life of riches and power in a horrible society. -- Randy Schutt, Inciting Democracy

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Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Call me paranoid, but this supposed rift with Frist et al. over the port deal smells like an election year ploy.

With Bush's support plumbing new lows, the cons running for re-election badly need to show that they aren't just mindless admin toadies after all. What better way to distance themselves from Bush than to stage a public feud over something guaranteed to make them look like heroes. After all, they're sparing our ports from the terrorists.

Bush has got nothing to lose by backing this deal. He's not running again, and he obviously doesn't care how history will judge him. And it's now obvious that nothing motivates him like keeping himself and those like him in power.

Methinks the cons in Congress doth protesteth too loudly.

Musharraf losing his grip

KARACHI - Low-profile government-sponsored rallies to condemn publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed have swiftly escalated into a campaign directed against Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf.

In this respect, the Shah-i-Mustafa (in respect of the Prophet Mohammed) rallies have already turned into a nascent Tehrik-i-Nizam-i-Mustafa movement - that is, to enforce Prophet Mohammed's way of life, or sharia law, on to society.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of the six-party opposition religious grouping the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), who was briefly detained on the weekend, has set a deadline of March 23 to depose Musharraf, but there are clear signals that within a matter of weeks the military regime could have further lost some of its grip on power.

More HERE

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This could be some real trouble. Pakistan has nuclear technology, missiles and submarines. Those make for some bad mojo.

capt

Drewp,

I think you have nailed it. Heather Wilson was calling for an investigation into the wiretaps. It is election cycle ploys.

They are going to need something bigger to sweep in 06. You can count on more theatrics.

capt

Drewp,
I think Frist is running scared. We have watched him back anything the President wants him to back. We have seen him jump down Democrat's throats and call them unpatriotic every time one of them disagrees with the president. The Republican's have been using the terrorist card against the Democrats forever.
Now Bush pulls this. He is inviting terrorism into the US. A major, major problem with Homeland Security continues to be the ports and how does bush and co fix the problem? He hands them over to the UAE. The nation has been had.
I am sure if this deal goes through, the Republicans have lost in '06' and Bush doesn't care.
I don't think it's just about their re-election chances, it's about living in the United States and not being chased out by angry mobs. This is a big deal. Why did we go into Iraq? Why we made the sacrifices we have made? This could cause real, big time anger and resentment and Frist knows it. This is big.

re: Pakistan flair-up,

I can just hear Condi saying, "No one could have predicted Musharraf's overthrow..."

Planes flying into the WTC, levees breached, Hamas winning... Nukes falling into terrorists hands in Pakistan...Same old rhetoric.

It is just amazing how the Rove weapons of mass distraction machine just keeps tossing the issues out one after another.

If folks had any questions left about who Bush is working for( obviously not the american people or economy)... this port issue should once again leave no doubts.

#41 Drewp, everything this year is an election year ploy by the repugs.

PERSONALLY, I WOULD FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE ABOUT THIS 2006 YEAR ELECTION BUT I AM AFRAID THAT THE DIEBOLD ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES SOLIDIFIES MORE GAINS FOR NAZIS ELECTED AND NOT LESS OF THEM GOOSESTEPPING AROUND WASHINGTON, D.C.

IF YOU LOOK VERY CAREFULLY, YOU ARE SEEING THE DEMISE OF THE USA AND REPLACED BY THE NSA.

Anybody figure out why we are outsourcing port security in the first place? Sure the Brit comany was bought by UAE company but who gave our security away to the Brits. You would think with unemployment the way it is an AMERICAN company could handle this. This whole thing is lunacy........Capt, Pakistan COULD be real messy if Musarif gets the boot, yikes!

AMERIPAC TRUMP AIPAC

SO HERE IS THE PLAN OF ATTACK FOR THE AIPAC CONFERENCE COMING UP....

FOLKS NEED TO GET THE WORD OUT AND CALL THEIR REPRESENTATIVES ASKING THEM TO VOTE AGAINST H.R 4681...THE ROS-LEHTINEN-LANTOS BILL

LET YOUR REPRESENTATIVES KNOW THAT IF THIS BILL IS PASSED THAT THIS WILL ONLY FURTHER ISOLATE THE PALESTINIANS....

Isolation of Hamas, Iran focuses
of AIPAC’≥ upcoming conference
By Ron Kampeas
February 20, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (JTA) —†Activists attending this year’≥ American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference will pause briefly to savor Iran’≥ long-awaited isolation —†and then get to work making sure the Palestinian Authority gets the same treatment.
A central focus of this year’≥ policy conference will be legislation that includes the toughest conditions to date for American assistance to the Palestinian Authority, in the wake of Hamas’†landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections last month.

Ҕhe Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (H.R. 4681) will ban direct aid and severely limit indirect assistance to the P.A. until the president certifies that the P.A. is not controlled by a terrorist group and until Hamas agrees to fight terrorism and recognize Israelճ right to exist,ӠAIPAC spokesman Josh Block said this week in a statement. ғimilar legislation is currently being worked on in the Senate.Ӡ

The policy conference, taking place this year from March 5-7, draws between 5,000 and 6,000 activists to Washington and is the annual centerpiece for the pro-Israel lobby. The final day of the conference is reserved for lobbying on Capitol Hill, and organizers tell JTA that lobbying for the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act will top the agenda.

That presents a change from recent years, when the principal focus of such lobbying was Iran’≥ nuclear program; last year, the conference featured a virtual tour of an Iranian nuclear weapons lab.

Iran will still play a major role at the conference. The opening plenary, featuring former nuclear inspector David Kay and John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is on ҈ow the International Community Can Stop Iran.Ӡ

The very title suggests the sea change in recent months: There is no longer any question that the international community wants to stop Iran. And with the Islamic republic referred this month to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, AIPAC’≥ long and at times lonely fight seems vindicated.

Now the focus is on Hamas. Last week, AIPAC distributed talking points to Congress members promoting legislation initiated by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) that would stifle aid for the Palestinian Authority and for non-governmental organizations.

The Palestinian Authority would have to prove it is not employing a single member of Hamas or any other group on U.S. terrorism lists; dismantle all terrorist groups; halt all anti-Israel incitement in any sector it controls and replace it with materials promoting coexistence; and ensure democracy and financial transparency.

Those certifications go beyond the reporting requirements in place under current U.S. legislation. For instance, the Palestinian Authority would have to prove that it is a transparent democracy before the first dollar arrived, instead of merely showing progress. P.A. officials would have to show that incitement had been crushed and replaced by coexistence, instead of simply pulling occasional inciting school texts and broadcasts.

The provisions are also much tougher because they extend to indirect assistance, cutting off non-governmental organizations. The only exception is for humanitarian assistance. It also reduces U.S. payments to the United Nations commensurate with the percentage of the U.N. budget that goes to the Palestinian Authority.

The legislation also tightens President Bush’≥ options for circumvention. It omits any national security waivers related to aid, and requires a 15-day waiting period before humanitarian aid goes forward.

The administration is fighting the bill, partly because it impinges on Bush’≥ fierce protection of his foreign policy prerogative.

ҏf course, the White House would like to have more waivers in the bill because of national security concerns,ӠRos-Lehtinen acknowledged in a Feb. 2 news conference announcing the bill. ҉tճ going to be an ongoing discussion.Ӡ

In an attempt to slow the bill, the administration got its friends in Congress to rush through a non-binding resolution that calls for a ban on direct aid to the Palestinian Authority as long as a party calling for Israel’≥ destruction controls more than half the legislature.

Under the provisions of the resolution, which passed both houses overwhelmingly, the simple ouster of Hamas would be enough to allow direct aid; indirect aid would not be affected at all.

The resolution was initiated two weeks ago by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and shepherded through the House of Representatives this week by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Hyde is close to the State Department.

Voting for the resolution could provide a degree of cover for members of Congress when AIPAC activists swarm congressional offices next month pressing the much tougher Ros-Lehtinen-Lantos bill.

In a Feb. 15 floor speech, Hyde suggested he would use his powers as committee chairman to slow down the other bill.

Ҕying the hands of this administration is not in the interests of national security,Ӡhe said. ҈urting the Palestinian people will reward terrorist regimes like Syria and Iran, which seek to exploit the suffering of the Palestinians for their own selfish reasons.Ӡ

In any case, Hyde said, Ros-Lehtinenճ bill would not be considered ҩn advance of the formation of the new Palestinian Cabinet, which is likely to occur in the coming weeks.Ӡ

By then the bill could be significantly transformed, as negotiators address elements that the administration considers impractical. For instance, should an earthquake hit the Palestinian areas Bush would have to wait 15 days before he could fly in humanitarian assistance.

Another administration worry is that the bill seems aimed less at Hamas then it is at tying the administration’≥ hands, no matter who runs the Palestinian Authority.

Existing law on designated terrorist groups already bans aid to any Hamas-led government. And the Palestinian Authority has not received direct aid for years, a consequence of its pervasive corruption. Funds are currently administered solely by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and paid only to non-P.A. contractors.

Ҕhe administration has a whole range of problems with the Ros-Lehtinen bill, ranging from all stick, no carrot to it being a blanket lifetime ban of aid even if reforms are enacted,Ӡsaid one senior congressional staffer who asked to speak anonymously because the legislation has yet to come to the floor.

The bill’≥ proponents say its toughness is proportional to the failure to contain Hamas by leaders that the United States considered moderate, including P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas.

Ҕhings keep getting worse which is why congressional conditions keep getting more stringent,Ӡsaid a senior staffer for a Democrat in Congress who strongly favors the bill. ҙou now have a terrorist organization running the Palestinian Authority.Ӡ

Crooks and Liars .com has a good piece by Cafferty on the port issue. We are at a crossroads.

Peninsular and Oriental and DP World set approval by the U.S. security committee as a condition for the sale. In regulatory papers, the companies said either the committee must agree not to formally investigate the purchase or Bush must not move to block the sale for national security purposes.

That is an interesting graf (above) in this article from www.lloyds.com -- "not to formally investigate"???? Hello?

Supposedly, the UAE-based company would operate equipment at the ports but security and access would still be under the control of the U.S., in particular the U.S. Coast Guard for security. Employees of the operating company, who would work at the U.S. ports would be vetted by U.S. "standards" -- well, that's not too reassuring, is it?

But, another possibility is simply that bush and his boyfriends have stronger allegiance to the global elite than to the American public. Who knows with this gang? I don't trust Bill Frist to EVER do the right thing. Any Repug that is making negative noises about this port sale deal is carrying water for the busheviks -- it's all about keeping up the level of distraction.

to the editors I am writing to voice my dissapointment with some of the citizens of ----------- . Those of us who have not raised our voices in opposition in response to "our" government's utter disdane for the law,lack of accountability for thier actions and erosion of our Bill of Rights. I believe that our way of life is threatend if we allow our nations policys to continue on it's current path. War is not and has not been the answer to solving the differences between our country and the people we differ with. I ask that we not live in fear of the people our government calls our enemies but that all of us take a more humanistic view of our world and perhaps fear those who would govern us. I think Mark Twain said it well when he opined "respect your country allways respect the government when they deserve it" This bunch in washington deserves little of our respect I beleive, and is becoming true of all we give power to-let's throw tyhe bums out. would your paper print this or a resonabl facsimily Jeanne ?

#35 Saladin...I hope you read 49.

Chip,
it sounds good. Give me a second.

Don't worry everybody, the UN has promised to save us from all the worlds ills if we will only relinquish our sovereignty and go along with the game plan! "Peace and security" for everyone, everyone that is who doesn't make a fuss, and that means all you free thinking, independent people out there. Nose to the grindstone, vote on your diebold machines and don't ask questions! Everything's gonna be just fine, trust us. ( Libertarian socialists need NOT apply.)

Kathleen, I read it, and my response is, let Israel practice what it preaches, but I'm not holding my breath.

The Voice of the White House

February 19, 2006: I have been informed recently by three different Beltway people in positions of knowledge, that important Republican backers are afraid that the perceived gross incompetence of the Bush Administration cannot be reversed and will only increase.

Therefore, they have decided that Vice President Dick Cheney must be made the focus of growing public anger directed at the endless and senseless war in Iraq, the rising prices of gasoline, the slumping eonomy, the very valid perception of the Bush Administration as corrupt and inefficient and must go and that for the next three years, Bush needs to have a moderate and saleable Republican vice president that can effectively run in '08.

Also, with the Mid-Terms coming up in November, they feel that if Cheney isn't booted out, now, that the Republicans may well lose one, or both, houses as a result of these elections.

Fear and loss of power is a wonderful motivator.

Cheney is an arrogant shit who pushes the weaker Bush around, pays no attention whatsoever to his staff and does exactly what he pleases, when he pleases.

He was the man behind the disastrous Iraqi war, the torture of prisoners, the subversion of both Georgia and the Ukraine, a strong voice for the invasion and neutralizing of Venezuela, the destruction of Hamas in Palestine, total support for Israel, has pushed frantically for a universal draft and in general has done terrible damage to the image of not only the White House but the country.

He will never abandon his power position voluntarily and will only grow more truculent and domineering as challenges to his person increase so the question now going around the upper circles of Washington and the top Republican leadership in Congress is how to oust this dangerous boor without Cheney fighting back, using inside knowledge that would not only wreck Bush but his administration and the prospects of the Republican party as well

The growing press attacks on Cheney are being orchestrated by Those On High and in actuality, no one cares if he had a few drinks and then shot his friend at point blank range during a quail hunt. His actions, and those of his staff, immediately after the incident, would lend credence to the strong rumors that Cheney has too much to drink and overreacted to someone running towards him with a weapon. His utter arrogance in not bothering to inform the President or even top White House staff after the incident and his obvious determination to ignore the unfortunate accident is typical of the man. His behavior has reflected negatively, not only on his own character but has made the White House look like it was run by liars, obfuscators and fools.
-------------
HA!

Chip,
Check your email. If my email didn't get you you let me know.

chip,
my yahoo says it didn't deliver. Click on my name get my address and email me. I think your letter was great.

To the editors,

I am writing to voice my disappointment with some of the citizens of ---. Those of us who have not raised our voices in opposition to "our" government's utter disdain for the law, lack of accountability for their actions, and the erosion of our Bill of Rights are doing so now.

I believe that our way of life is threatened if we allow our nations policies to continue on its current path. War is not and has not been the answer to solving the differences between our country and the people we differ with. We should not live in fear of the people our government calls our enemy but take a more humanistic view of our world.

I think Mark Twain said it well when he opined "respect your country, always respect the government when they deserve it." This bunch in Washington deserves little of our respect.
Throw the bums out.
Chip
--------------
Chip,
I just changed a little.

Check your newspaper and see what the word limit is. Mine is about 200.
I have other pointers. Just email me.

President Bush said Tuesday that a deal allowing an Arab company to take over six major U.S. seaports should go forward and that he would veto any congressional effort to stop it.

Carol called this Molly Ivins' essay to my attention earlier today. We can all yammer and yak about all the bullshit our there until we're blue in the face, but unless something meaningful is done about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ factor in politics, ain't nothin' gonna change...just sayin'

Corruption goes unchecked

Molly Ivins - Creators Syndicate

02.21.06 - AUSTIN, Texas — Cynics are fond of meditating on the evil done in the name of reform. I'm a great believer in perpetual reform myself, on the theory that political systems, like houses, are always in want of some fixing. However, I have seen some pluperfect doozies passed off as reform in recent years, starting with "Social Security reform."

Conservatives used to oppose reform on principle, correctly regarding it as a vile plot by goo-goo good government forces to snatch away their perks. This once led to a colorful scene in the Texas legislature in which the letters R*E*F*O*R*M appeared on the rear ends of six female members of a baton drill team, who turned and perched their derrieres pertly on the brass rail of the House gallery.

Reform follows scandal as night the day, except in these sorry times when it appears we may not get a nickel's worth of reform out of the entire Jack Abramoff saga. Sickening. A real waste of a splendid scandal. When else do politicians ever get around to fixing huge ethical holes in the roof except when they're caught red- handed? Do not let this mess go to waste! Call now, and demand reform!

Sheesh. Tom DeLay gets indicted, and all the Republicans can think of is a $20 gift ban. Forget the people talking about "lobby reform." The lobby does not need to be reformed, the Congress needs to be reformed. This is about congressional corruption, and it is not limited to the surface stuff like taking free meals, hotels and trips. This is about corruption that bites deep into the process of making laws in the public interest. The root of the rot is money (surprise!), and the only way to get control of the money is through public campaign financing.

As long as the special interests pay to elect the pols, we will have government of the special interests, by the special interests and for the special interests. Pols will always dance with them what brung them. We have to fix the system so that when they are elected, they got no one to dance with but us, the people — we don't want them owing anyone but the public. So the most useful reform bill is being offered by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Rep. Barney Frank, D- Mass. — public campaign financing. We, the citizens, put up the money to elect the pols. This bill won't cost us money, the savings will be staggering.

We're also looking for a way to control the system of earmarks, which has gotten completely out of hand. "The rush to revise ethics laws in the wake of the Jack Abramoff political corruption scandal has turned into more of a saunter," reports The Washington Post. The Republicans keep dicking around with the gift ban idea (opposed by those stalwarts who claim "you couldn't accept a t-shirt from your local high school"). But the best anti-reformer is Rep. John Boehner, R- Ohio, the new House majority leader, elected as a "reformer" (puh- leeze), a man after Tom DeLay's heart. Boehner argues that gift and travel bans would amount to members of Congress being "treated like children." (Actually, children are seldom offered golfing vacations.)

The lobbyists, of course, have pulled together to work against efforts to control them. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. Tom Susman, chair of the ethics committee of the American League of Lobbyists (it is a concept), is reported in Legal Times as saying a gift ban would lead to "unnecessarily awkward dividing lines between lobbyists and members." God forbid.

The House Democratic leadership has proposed reinforcing a gift and travel ban with an attempt to control earmarks by prohibiting "dead of night" provisions — inserting language into a law without a chance for review. Members would be given 24 hours to read bills (which they don't, but their staffs can).

The cosmetic fixes — gift ban, travel ban, disclosure and slowing the revolving door between staff, Congress and the lobby — cannot stop the effects of the K Street Project. That's the cozy arrangement whereby lobbyists are Republican activists and Republican activists are lobbyists, and they underwrite campaigns in return for special privileges under the law — tax exemptions, regulatory relief, tariff dispositions, etc.

One of the most dangerous things about this whole corrupt system is that people who are given special privileges inevitably come to regard them not as special but as natural and right, and will fight furiously if you try to take them away.

It is this endless series of earmarks — special little set-asides for one special interest, one home district after another — that is behind the hemorrhaging in the federal budget. Those who remember when conservatives called for fiscal restraint may get sour amusement from the situation. But what is truly not funny is the pathetic spectacle of the United States of America, a nation with the greatest political legacy the world has ever known, letting itself be gnawed to death by the greed in a corrupt system that can be so easily fixed.

Information Is Power

Sometimes it's the small abuses scurrying below radar that reveal how profoundly the Bush administration has changed America in the name of national security. Buried within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is a regulation that bars most public access to birth and death certificates for 70 to 100 years. In much of the country, these records have long been invaluable tools for activists, lawyers, and reporters to uncover patterns of illness and pollution that officials miss or ignore.

In These Times has obtained a draft of the proposed regulations now causing widespread concern among state officials. It reveals plans to create a vast database of vital records to be centralized in Washington, and details measures that states must implement- and pay millions for- before next year's scheduled implementation.

The draft lays out how some 60,000 already strapped town and county offices must keep the birth and death records under lock and key and report all document requests to Washington. Individuals who show up in person will still be able to obtain their own birth certificates, and in some cases, the birth and death records of an immediate relative; and "legitimate" research institutions may be able to access files. But reporters and activists won't be allowed to fish through records; many family members looking for genetic clues will be out of luck; and people wanting to trace adoptions will dead-end. If you are homeless and need your own birth certificate, forget it: no address, no service.

......Some of state officials around the country are questioning whether the new regulations themselves illegally tread on states' rights. But the feds have been coy. Richard McCoy, public health statistic chief in Vermont, one of the nation's 14 open records states, says, "No state is mandated to meet the regs. However if they don't, then residents of that state will not be able to access any federal services, including social security and passports. States have no choice."

But while the public loses access to records, the federal government gains a gargantuan national database easily cross-referenced in the name of national security. The feds' claim that increased security will deter identity theft and terrorism is facile. Wholesale corporate data gathering is the major nexis of identity theft. As for terrorism, all the 9/11 perpetrators had valid identification.
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Wow, this is no small thing. I'm sending this to my senator and congress person.

People hear "reform" and think improvement when all they mean by reform is change. It would never sell to say "we want to change Social Security" but call it reform and is sounds better.

In you mind when you read "reform" think change and it will temper any false hopes of improvement and an understanding that by reform they mean change and that is not always for the better.

A friend used to always say "progress is not necessarilly headed in the right direction.

On money - no kidding. Nothing will be for us as long as our government is selling our best interests to any bidder.

capt

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill to designate the corner of West 66th Street and Columbus Avenue as "Peter Jennings Way" in honor of the late ABC News anchor.

West 66th Street and Columbus Avenue is home to ABC News world headquarters.

The new street sign was unveiled today, February 21, 2006.

Agreed that he was was certainly a fair-weather neocon, he flees pretty swiftly and assertedly. My post on the article is at www.taylorowen.com. would be very interested in your comments.

Action Alert

Stop U.S. Nuclear Proliferation
Urge your Congressmen to support Lynn Woolsey’≥ resolution H. Res.373

Scorning the legacy of this month's 60th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, President Bush has launched a systematic assault on the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a pact signed by nearly 200 nations

In a recent opinion piece in The Guardian, George Monbiot wrote:

Ҍast month the Senate approved an initial $4m for research into a Բobust nuclear earth penetratorՠ(RNEP). This is a bomb with a yield about 10 times that of the Hiroshima device, designed to blow up underground bunkers that might contain weapons of mass destruction. (You've spotted the contradiction.) Congress rejected funding for it in November, but Bush twisted enough arms this year to get it restarted. You see what a wonderful world he inhabits when you discover that the RNEP idea was conceived in 1991 as a means of dealing with Saddam Hussein's biological and chemical weapons.Ӡ

But on July 20 Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey introduced a resolution calling for the president to fulfill his obligation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty by beginning "verifiable and irreversible reductions in the United States strategic and tactical nuclear weapons and their delivery systems." "There will be no security for America or our world," Woolsey said, "unless we take all steps necessary for nuclear disarmament."

Woolsey's H.Res.373 aims to fulfill one of the objectives outlined in the Promise: "To re-build US alliances around the world, restore international respect for American power and influence, and reaffirm our nation's constructive engagement in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations." Woolsey’≥ voice is especially critical at this moment when America's international relations continue to be sullied by the unilateral arrogance of Bush and Bolton.

Please write to your representatives and urge them to support Woolsey’≥ resolution.

#64 capt, how right you are. Semantics is quite a game and the "reformers" can come up with novel meanings for almost ANY word, usually to their advantage.

The Frank Luntz curse. The SOB's fingerprints are on every twisted lie with clean ait meaning worse air, etc.

He should hang with the traitorous bastards. He is very involved in the word play.

capt

Ait? I need a proof reader - I mean AIR.

As for terrorism, all the 9/11 perpetrators had valid identification.

and yet, not one of them was listed in any flight manifests or passenger lists

I need an opinion.

What is your opinion of my post #63? I was agast when I read it and yet the comments on the original post site were sometimes for it. Like the government was all about protecting their idenity. I just don't believe that.

One Thousand A Month Tortured To Death In Iraq

Dr. John Pace drops a bombshell that translates as a whisper through obscure Maltese paper

Proving that Abu Ghraib and Gitmo are the tip of the iceberg, the outgoing UN human rights chief dropped a bombshell when he told an obscure Maltese newspaper that as many as a thousand detainees a month are being tortured to death in Iraq.

Dr. John Pace told the obscure Times of Malta newspaper,

"The Baghdad morgue received 1,100 bodies in July alone, about 900 of whom bore evidence of torture or summary execution. That continued throughout the year and last December there were 780 bodies, including 400 having gunshot wounds or wounds as those caused by electric drills."

Pace echoed previous estimates in stating that 80 to 90 per cent of those rounded up and taken to prison camps were completely innocent. As we have highlighted before, Iraqis are arrested for dastardly crimes such as not showing their papers at checkpoints, selling alcohol and shouting anti-coalition statements.

Footage of US army personnel seizing a taxi cab and destroying it with an Abrams tank was broadcast two years ago on PBS. The crime? Stealing firewood.

Regular bombing raids that indiscriminately target large groups of what appear to be protesters have also been circulated on the Internet.

Pace's comments underline the fact that Abu Ghraib is just one of many torture camps that have been used throughout the country since the "liberation" of Iraq and the so-called end of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime of rape rooms and torture camps - and is tame in comparison to the real horrors taking place beneath the media radar.

More than half of Iraqis now say life was better off under Saddam and 47% support insurgent attacks on US forces.

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

And Bunnypants said we do not torture. Like anybody could believe anything he says now.

capt

Jeanne,

On privacy. In America it is suppose to be personal privacy of citizens protected from the government and government transparent to the public. This misadministration is of course backwards promoting secrecy (privacy) for the government and corporations while forcing transparency on the citizens.

It is totalitarianism an antithetical to American history.

We have to impeach Busheney for their crimes. Until we do the this is not American, not by a long shot.

IMHO

capt

Here we go again...

The fundies are revving up a new wedge issue -- gay adoption. To distract from bush's failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, Social Security, jobs, the economy, the religious right hopes to make gay adoption an election issue in states where close races are expected this fall.

Social conservatives in at least 16 states are pushing for state laws or constitutional amendments banning homosexuals from adopting.

Backers of bans on adoption by homosexuals say they are simply concerned about children's welfare.

"Now that we've defined what marriage is, we need to take that further and say children deserve to be in that relationship," said Greg Quinlan of the Pro-Family Network in Ohio, one of the states on the list.

Man o man, the Repugs must be REALLY worried about Ohio.

"He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder." ~ M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972)

Jeanne 72
I think 63 is effin scary! they make it sound like they're all benevolent, but I don't believe they are - here's something similar::

blueprint for a prison planet

"Backers of bans on adoption by homosexuals say they are simply concerned about children's welfare."

Sure they are. Just like all homophobes are ALWAYS just worried about something other than a persons sexuality.

They can dress that hate up as a princess and put some lipstick on it and it is as ugly as hate can be.

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true." ~ Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

capt

"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that!" ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )

"Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it." ~ Unknown

James,
I printed it off. Thank you.

jeanne, you printed all that out? can't you just save the link and go back to it any time? I see that you have yahoo, don't they have like a 'favorites' list or a 'bookmark' or whatever?

Focus

Dear Cornposters:

I would like to share with you three areas of focus and concern that I have. You need to focus and be concerned about these areas to understand the omnipotent power of the Nazis and the Nazi Party in Nazi America.

The Nazis are actually the master race in these areas. They are masters of smoke and mirrors and bait and switch tactics. In smoke and mirrors the Nazis try to confuse you with words and certain behaviors so that you have the feeling that they are not depraved, demented, and deranged creatures. In bait and switch the Nazis will use words that sound good and you focus on their words and while you are focusing on their words, they switch to what their real goal has always been and that they want more power and they want to enslave the 90% of American citizens.

The third area of focus and concern should be on the rigged electronic voting machines that have no paper trail and can be manipulated to solidify more Nazi power over Americans. Rigged elections dehumanize Americans, our democracy, and our freedoms and rights.

Make no mistake in that a battle is going on in America for the minds and souls of her citizens. The Nazis and the Nazi Party are evil and vile institutional creatures. They prowl our nation and the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Focus

Dear Cornposters:

I would like to share with you three areas of focus and concern that I have. You need to focus and be concerned about these areas to understand the omnipotent power of the Nazis and the Nazi Party in Nazi America.

The Nazis are actually the master race in these areas. They are masters of smoke and mirrors and bait and switch tactics. In smoke and mirrors the Nazis try to confuse you with words and certain behaviors so that you have the feeling that they are not depraved, demented, and deranged creatures. In bait and switch the Nazis will use words that sound good and you focus on their words and while you are focusing on their words, they switch to what their real goal has always been and that they want more power and they want to enslave the 90% of American citizens.

The third area of focus and concern should be on the rigged electronic voting machines that have no paper trail and can be manipulated to solidify more Nazi power over Americans. Rigged elections dehumanize Americans, our democracy, and our freedoms and rights.

Make no mistake in that a battle is going on in America for the minds and souls of her citizens. The Nazis and the Nazi Party are evil and vile institutional creatures. They prowl our nation and the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Sincerely,

Gerald

"Even the best internal-combustion engines still waste more than 80% of the energy created by burning gasoline."
HONDA CHAIRMAN TAKEO FUKUI

Y'all needa see Letterman's "Big Bowl Of Bad" about Chain-ee.

Emergency war supplemental hides millions

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Buried in last week's $72.4 billion emergency supplemental appropriation bill for the war on terror is nearly half a billion dollars worth of military construction.

The bulk of the $485 million requested will go "to fund various military construction projects to support U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," according to the supplemental. "The requested funds," the document goes on, "will provide force protection measures, enhanced airfield operations and safety, power distribution, water treatment and distribution infrastructure, operational facilities and improved logistics, and associated planning and design efforts."

But the supplemental also includes $35 million new money for the expansion of the National Security Agency's top secret listening post at Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, England, and authority to spend $700 million appropriated in previous years for construction or expansion of NSA facilities in Augusta, Ga., and Kunia, Hawaii.

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

Too much money to be just hidden under a rug, eh?

capt

New "Impeach Bush & Cheney!" bumper stickers are now available! The sticker is a 11 1/2 inches by 3 inches, black with white lettering. Below the message is "Progressive Democrats of America" and www.pdamerica.com, along with the union bug. Centered in bold white lettering across the middle of the sticker is: "Impeach Bush & Cheney"!

We're selling the bumper stickers for $30 for a pack of 20 stickers (including shipping and handling). Suggested resale is $2.00 per sticker. Orders are being accepted now. Expected delivery time is 3-4 weeks.

Initial supplies are limited!
IMPEACH BUSH & CHENEY Bumper Stickers

I'm posting the very end of this one to show yet another example of how dumb he is.

Bush Admits to 'Mixed Signals' Regarding Laboratory on Renewable Energy

Mr. Bush was a voice of optimism on the panel, where he tried to cut through the scientific jargon and nudge the experts into nontechnical sound bites f