Hi David,

You're up late. Sorry to hear about the computer problems. I know how that goes. I ran the computer department in a professional services firm for 12 years. I hope have good resources that will advise you well and that little or nothing was lost in the crash.

We're trying to keep the swill to a minimum. TRhanks for the forum.

John Dean's now #2 NYT best-selling new book
Conservatives Without Conscience

"...One of the central points he makes is highly relevant here -- that what is called the "conservative movement" these days has no real unifying or cohesive ideas, but instead, what binds it and defines it is an authoritarian impulse to identify the Enemy (the Terrorist, the Liberal, the Communist, the illegal immigrant), followed by a swarming, hateful, rage-fueled desire to destroy it:

"Given the rather distinct beliefs of the various conservative factions, which have only grown more complex with time, how have conservatives succeeded in coalescing as a political force? The simple answer is through the power of negative thinking, and specifically, the ability to find common enemies. . . . Today's conservatives. . . define themselves by what they oppose."

(link)

David, you said it more professionally and diplomatically than I did, but I wondered the same thing two threads back, which I will re-post because it fits:

84
Alan, I'm with you regarding Arlen Spector -- he talks like he's going to do the right thing, then capitulates. In a way, he does exactly what the busheviks do -- say one thing, then do another once the "claim" of the day is out there embedded in the minds of non-critical Americans.

Take the Tony Snow "apology" on murder: What a sorry spectacle. Snow trotted out that word murder because that was part of the propaganda plan from General Rove. Snow was just following orders. He is a whore. Snow is so full of s**t he'd better watch out or his colostomy bad will blow.

Posted by: micki at July 25, 2006 11:16 AM

PS I think Laura has given up talking to George. She knows nothing sinks in, so why bother. Not talking to the SOB, decreases her level of frustration -- and probably her blood pressure.

In the neoconservative mind, wars happen because we don't annihilate enough people, because we are insufficiently "ferocious," because we place limits on the "the full measure of our military power." Those who oppose such unrestrained destruction are, to use Bill Kristol's description from his new column yesterday, "weak horses"

In his Townhall column yesterday, Thomas Sowell takes that a step further and, in the context of Israel's bombing of Lebanon, identifies the real problem as being that we don't "annihilate" our enemies -- using that word twice within two paragraphs:

Was World War II ended by cease-fires or by annihilating much of Germany and Japan? Make no mistake about it, innocent civilians died in the process. . .

There was a time when it would have been suicidal to threaten, much less attack, a nation with much stronger military power because one of the dangers to the attacker would be the prospect of being annihilated. . . .

One can find this sentiment everywhere among neoconservatives, who have now really released their war-loving id. The true enemy are those who stand in the way of all-out war, and all-out war is the only way to achieve peace. Peace is War and War is Peace. Listen to Sowell:

"Peace" movements are among those who take advantage of this widespread inability to see beyond rhetoric to realities. Few people even seem interested in the actual track record of so-called "peace" movements -- that is, whether such movements actually produce peace or war.

An aggressor today knows that if his aggression fails, he will still be protected from the full retaliatory power and fury of those he attacked because there will be hand-wringers demanding a cease fire, negotiations and concessions.

(link)

Talk about controlling the narrative!

The "kidnapping" of the Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah is being reported by virtually all news outlets as happining near the Israeli/ Lebanon border on the Israeli side.

The only original source so far that I can find for that account is the Israeli government.

AFP, AP and others have reported that the soldiers were captured in Lebannon, after an invading Israeli tank was destroyed and six Israeli soldiers killed.

In this age of indy media and video tape, you'd think this very crucial distinction of where and under what circumstances the Israelis were captured could be at least investigated and discussed, if not actually documented with photographic evidence and corroborrating witness stories.

Does one need a suspicious mind to wonder if political calculations were involved?

Good question. The answer is no. You know the pattern. Bush loves to be the Moral Ayatolloah of the USA, especially in an election year. Murder bad. Snowflake good. Rove is a genius wih political icons.

Never mind the 400,000 eggs in fertility clinique eggs destroyed every year. Never mind Rove's disengenuous and false claim about adult stem cell research.

Where does this policy leave the people suffering from debilitating disease like parkinsons, alzheimers, diabeties and spinal injury? With less hope.

Where does this leave the medical ethics experts in this country? On the sidelines.

Jims, the location of the kidnapping is shrouded in the fog of war. It's tempting to think this detail is the clue that would reveal who started this and their the motive. (I contend but not all agree) that this clue is obscured. BUT, there are many clues on which to base your own conclusion. Consider Israel's disproportionate response. We're talking full scale war, bombing from aircraft and tanks, bunker buster bombs and not just in the south near the Israeli boarder but in the captal Beirut, their international airport, highways, transportation centers, television and radio stations. If Israel did not start this war, she was surely ready to fight it. Ask instead, why is my own government vetoing security council resolutions to cease fire? and looking the other way when over 300 innocent Lebonese civilians are killed as collateral damage? Hezbollah has her own behaviour to account for. There are no clean hands here.

hey we were told that a 757 was highjacked and rammed into the pentagon on 9/11 but i don't see a 757 anywhere. do you?
HUNT THE BOEING pentagon
hey we were also told that a 757 was highjacked and the passengers fought back causing it to plow into the ground on 9/11 but i don't see a 757 anywhere there either. do you?
HUNT THE BOEING shanksville
---
why does a structural engineer working as a professor of mechanical engineering say that the 9/11 commission's explanation of the destruction of wtc1&2 is not physically possible?
http://janedoe0911.tripod.com/BilliardBalls.html
---
why does the professor emeritus at texas A&M univ and former chief economist at the u.s. dept. of labor say that 9/11 was an inside job?
morgan reynolds' no more games
---
why did a search of the BTS (bureau of transportation) database reveal that 2 of the 4 planes supposedly highjacked on 9/11 were not even in service that day?
flights 11 & 77 ?
-----
but much more perplexing is why have the american people tolerated the highjacking of our govt by the bush crime family and why do some commentors on this very blog distract from said crime family's criminal acts and even go so far as to support them?
what the fuck is wrong with you america?

oh ya: all comments using my name and url subsequent to this comment should still be considered to be forgeries.

I Love Bush

Dear Cornposters:

There are Nazis trolling this website saying that I do not like Bush. From my posts regarding Bush I can appreciate what you are saying. Yet, from time to time I must clarify some of your mistaken views surrounding my posts. Let me say this comment most emphatically, "I love Bush!"

Yes, I love Bush! Love for me means that I want the very best for a person or persons. I want the best for Bush. I also want to say that Bush and his Nazi cabal will not read my posts. Hopefully a few Nazi trolls will take a few moments to read this letter.

If Bush read my post, I would hope that he would take sometime and reflect on my words. While Bush is reflecting on my words, we may also want to reflect on the destiny of his soul. I do not desire to judge him but I can only give you my perceptual opinion of Bush.

If Bush will reflect on his eternal soul, he may come to realize that he must save it. If I did not love Bush, I would care less and less about his eternal soul. What is best for the soul, salvation or damnation? So, you, Nazi trollers what is best for Bush, salvation or damnation? It is your call! Life (heaven) or death (hell)?

Sincerely,

Gerald

Mr. David Corn,

I hope you saw the 5 point overnight drop in Bush's polls numbers?

I think he thinks he is walking the fence but miscalculated (again).

Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

The spirit of resistance

[..]

For Hezbollah - as well as for Hamas - "winning" means not being disarmed and/or exterminated, the avowed goal of the State of Israel. Apart from Mao Zedong in China and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Hezbollah may have also learned a lesson or two from the battlefields of Chechnya - as it configures itself, like the Chechens, as one of the only guerrilla groups in the world capable of facing an extremely powerful state army.

In Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was forced to issue a fatwa denouncing the Israeli assault. This means that Sistani knows very well Iraqi Shi'ites may be on the verge of turning all their anger against - who else - the occupying Anglo-American axis.

The fatwa may not be enough to appease them. Israel's rampage has even unified Baghdad's parliament; Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds took a unanimous vote condemning Israel and calling for a ceasefire. Fiery nationalist Muqtada al-Sadr, whose rising influence rivals Sistani's in US President George W Bush's "democratic" Iraq, hinted what may happen when he said at his Friday sermon in Kufa, "I will continue defending my Shi'ite and Sunni brothers, and I tell them that if we unite, we will defeat Israel without the use of weapons."

As if the few thousand Sunni Arab guerrillas bogging down the mightiest army in history were not enough, Muqtada's Mehdi Army has all the potential to make life even more hellish for the Americans in Iraq.

More HERE

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

A very straight forward piece.

capt

People, I know that you would love for the low life Nazis to lose the House and hopefully the Senate. This hope will never ever come to fruition!!! Our elections are rigged!!!!! Plus, never, ever, underestimate the stupidity of the American public and the American voter!!!!!!! Stupid does as stupid is !!!

NAZI SWASTIKA COMPLEX AT CORONADO NAVAL BASE SENDS THE WORLD A MESSAGE!

Adolf Hitler promoted a "New World Order" and planned to implement it as his Third Reich came to power. Is this the same "New World Order" that George H. Bush Sr., Gary Hart and Bill Clinton speak of? What possible reason could there be for a building to have been constructed on a military base with this horrifying reminder of hate and genocide?

google maps verification

San Francisco Helps the Uninsured; National Leaders Ignore the Problem

"We want to put health care on the front burner," says San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano. The Board of Supervisors is poised to approve, for the second and final time, legislation that would extend health coverage to 82,000 uninsured San Franciscans. Last week, the Board voted 11-0 in favor of the plan on its first reading. Ammiano and his fellow Supervisors, Mayor Gavin Newsom and policymakers in Massachusetts and Vermont, understand that the American health care system is broken –†it costs too much and leaves too many without coverage –†and they are taking action.

The San Francisco universal healthcare plan emerged from a fast-moving, complex political process characterized by productive compromise. Newsom created the Universal Healthcare Council in early 2006 to develop the parameters of a program to provide healthcare services to uninsured San Franciscans. The council recommended the San Francisco Health Plan, a locally developed, State-licensed plan that already provides care to Medi-Cal clients, and expanding the role of the existing public provider network. Newsom and Ammiano forged a compromise between this plan and alternative visions that emphasized employers’†responsibility for health coverage. The final legislation establishes health coverage for the uninsured and requires employers to help finance the program through a per-worker, per-hour assessment. Consumer contributions, through premiums and copayments, and city funds will also contribute to program costs.

More HERE

It has been a long day and so at 2:00 AM it is time for some sleep.

Typing at ya' from the swamps of Laguna Madre... just returned from a wunnerful trip to the motherland. Took a couple of minutes to acquaint myself with the latest happenings on the Cornblog. Snafus all around, from computer glitches to swilldumps from the CornCOB (Cult Of Bush) element of the Cornblog.

Must be brief because I'm working off somebody else's network. Won't be home till the weekend.

Seems Mr. Corn has snagged another fine example of doublespeak from the dingbats on the right that never seems to make sense. Dumping a blastocyst is not "murder;" it's something very much like it, maybe a notch above "killing," but a smidge below "execution." Tony Snow as faceman for MiniTrue has to "rectify" the historical comments of the past to conform with the most convenient lies of the present.

MiniPlenty has made it clear that gas is not in short supply; and while the prices are closing in on historical highs, relief will come to those who need it most in the form of tax breaks on high-end SUVs, yachts and personal submarines (which are all the rage amongst the sybarites of America).

Meanwhile MiniPax has announced that there is a "new" plan to win the war with Eastasia. Reports that the old plan was not working were wrong insofar as the goalposts have been relocated to a secret bunker in the deserts of Eurasia.

“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed.”
--1984, G. Orwell

Sounds like Clueless, eh? Reid is under investigation, Atta blew up a bus in Israel and was released by the Clinton administration and Ollie North had a conversation with Osama. Deliberate lies like all the rest of the "swill" from the right. Buckley, Bainbridge, Sully, Noonan, Buchanan and the rest of the apologetic right have come to the gloomy conclusion that Mr. Bush has damn near singlehandedly destroyed the conservative movement. Requiescat in Pace.

Will be back in a flash with Tuesday night (Wednesday morning) funnies.

never underestimate the power of yosemitesam!

The Late Night Crew is hittin' it and hittin' it hard. Too many jokes for one night. Will post the rest tomorrow night.

"White House press secretary Tony Snow says that when President Bush was told he was recorded saying a four-letter word, he rolled his eyes and laughed it off, which is ironic. Bush is now reacting to himself the way everybody else does."
--Jay Leno

"The situation in the Mideast is not looking good. Yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney said when it comes to war, Americans need to know where he stands. I don't even know where he stands with those seven deferments. I think it's near the back."
--Jay Leno

"A lot of military experts are wondering how the U.S. can stop Israel from getting bombed. Israel? We can't even stop Pete Coors from getting bombed."
--Jay Leno

"Since the bombing began, Israel has tried to make it clear Hezbollah and Syria are to blame for Lebanon's current nightmare. To that end, Israeli warplanes have dropped thousands of leaflets on Beirut over the last few days showing a caricature of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as a cobra threatening the Lebanese capital. And really, what a great idea, because if there's anything that calms the Arab world down, it's a cartoon."
--Jon Stewart

"President Bush says he is personally working on a solution for global warming. He says thanks to Republicans, soon every American will receive a voucher for a free popsicle."
--Jay Leno

Jon Stewart: Apparently our fearless leader caused quite a stir at the G-8 Summit when microphones captured him in an unguarded moment... Do you know how lucky we are that that's all that was caught? I'm impressed the president was on topic.... Some of Bush's other comments, however, were less focused:
Bush: 'I'm not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long.'
Stewart: Come on Condi, you got to crumble the Ritalin into his food or he's not taking it."

"The FBI has busted three guys who stole secrets from Coca-Cola and were going to sell them to Pepsi. Espionage. ... I mean Osama bin Laden is still running around, but by God we got these guys."
--David Letterman

"Evidently, low approval ratings can be contracted through saliva."
--Stephen Colbert, on the effect of President Bush kissing Joe Lieberman (Watch video clip)

"At a joint press conference with President Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a 'de-escalation of Mid-East violence.' Later, Bush called for both sides to 'de-angrify' and 'de-hurt' each other."
--Conan O'Brien

"President Bush is in Germany right now. One embarrassing moment when he asked the German Chancellor if he could see the site where they filmed 'Hogan's Heroes.'"
--Jay Leno

And some additional funny from the Comedian in Chief, Mr. Bush himself:

"One thing is clear, is relations between America and Russia are good, and they're important that they be good."
--George W. Bush, Strelna, Russia, July 15, 2006

"I've reminded the prime minister-the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 29, 2006

"We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 27, 2006

Dontcha just love the internets?

Congrats to Mr. Hajji for getting his familia back in one spot. Saying hey to Bro-Tex and the rest of the folks on the Cornblog.

Gotta go detoxify... too many litres of Tequila. Muchas gracias to the Cancunians whose hospitality was served in tall glasses. Cheers.

Secret 2001 Pentagon Plan to Attack Lebanon

Bush's Plan for "Serial War" revealed by General Wesley Clark

"[The] Five-year campaign plan [includes]... a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan" (Pentagon official quoted by General Wesley Clark)

According to General Wesley Clark--the Pentagon, by late 2001, was Planning to Attack Lebanon

"Winning Modern Wars" (page 130) General Clark states the following:

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

He said it with reproach--with disbelief, almost--at the breadth of the vision. I moved the conversation away, for this was not something I wanted to hear. And it was not something I wanted to see moving forward, either. ...I left the Pentagon that afternoon deeply concerned."

Of course, this is fully consistent with the US Neocons' master plan, "Rebuilding America's Defenses," published in August 2000 by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC)

And, as PNAC's website (http://www.newamericancentury.org) notes, that the lead author of that plan, Thomas Donnelly, was a top official of Lockheed Martin--a company well acquainted with war and its profit potential.

It's no surprise that Republicans are starting to talk about withdrawing troops from Iraq; the troops will be needed in Lebanon. And maybe Sudan and Syria?

Note:

More on General Clark--and his failure to mention all this in his pre-Iraq war commentary on CNN--is in Sydney Schanberg's 9/29/03 article "The Secrets Clark Kept: What the General Never Told Us About the Bush Plan for Serial War" at Village Voice

More HERE

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

If the "plan" dates that far back I doubt what side of the border anybody was on. Two soldiers or not, if the plan was in place the so-called kidnapping were ancillary at best.

Kind of like the non-existent WMD's. An excuse not a reason.

"Any excuse will serve a tyrant." ~ Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Wolf and the Lamb

capt

Pande!

So good of you to stop by.

Nobody even tried to do much in the way of funnies while you were out. The trolls have made their standard jokes of posts but none are funny just so sad it is tragic for them.

We need a laugh.

capt

"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion ..."

Context:

The treaty was drafted and negotiated jointly by Joel Barlow, American consul to Tripoli, Richard Henry O'Brien, an ex-prisoner of Algeria and diplomat, and Jussof Bashaw Mahomet, Bey (provincial governor) of Tripoli, in November of 1796. The treaty was then sent to the United States and ratified by the Senate with President Adam's approval on June 10, 1797. The authorship of this introductory clause of Article 11 has often been misattributed to George Washington and has been quoted by separationists in the Church/State debate. Historians suspect that among the drafters of the treaty, Joel Barlow was the author of Article 11. Barlow was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson and later in life he was known, like Jefferson, for being a proponent of Deism and strict separation of Church and State; and like Jefferson, was often accused of being an atheist. Interestingly enough, similar sentiments as to that of the introductory clause of Article 11 are absent from all other treaties

Courtesy: Eigen's Political & Historical Quotations

Thanx for the funnies, Pande.

...not to metion the good wishes for Spanky. Yesterday, he was up and at 'em at 0500...one day of beer-swillin' temporary civillian life and he's still down 'n out after 8am...go figgur.

Anywhoo...Israel bombed a UN compound that's been in the same place since the 1970's, (UN and Hezzbollah, how to tell the difference? Bright blue helmets, bright blue flags...)

Hezbollah's showing that a real ground offensive won't be in the best interests of Israel, when the body bags start coming home, the people start (Americans included, but slowly, quietly) asking questions like "why?". Never good for a gummint to be asked questions.

Anywhoo...gonna float down a river today...maybe get some sun on the boy. Seems the Army won't let 'em wear shorts and short-sleeves in this, latest war. What kinda of tradition is that?

-T

UN: Precision missiles hit UNIFIL post
___________________

UN military personnel on the ground along the Israel-Lebanon border say the munitions that hit the UNIFIL position early Wednesday were precision-guided, a UN source told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Furthermore, the source added, the strike came after repeated requests by UNIFIL commanders to the IDF not to strike that specific position.
The IDF spokesman told The Jerusalem Post that the army was looking into the allegations and that it deeply regretted the "tragic death" of the UN personnel.
_________________

Hajji, I heard that news on the Today Show this a.m.

Matt Lauer was speaking with William Bennett in an obviously rehearsed interview, and asked how the UN could claim such a thing without an investigation. This then led to a discussion of the "Bush Doctrine" (You're ether with us or with them, the terrorists) Why don't they come out and say "You are either a state (US)sponsored terrorist, or you are a terrorist with no class and we won't recognise you"?

The level of journalistic incompetence on such a mainstream show has never been lower. William Bennett is Ann Coulter in her man suit.

They went on to criticize al Maliki for his comments that the US needs to stop Israeli aggression against Hisballah and Hamas.

Blood for oil, war for profits.

Paint the streets red. Business as usual.

Death Squads in Baghdad?

Echoes of Honduras.

What do they have in common?

Can you spell Negroponte?

Can you spell Bush?

#18
Pandemoniac wrote:
Tony Snow as faceman for MiniTrue has to "rectify" the historical comments of the past to conform with the most convenient lies of the present.
-----------
It's the only exact science they believe in.

#26
Maybe Bill Bennett and Ann Coulter are the same person. I put nothing past these weird android type machines.

#27
I have issues with spelling but let me try.
Ehem.....
N..E...O...C..O.N.

Hajji,
Democracy Now had a good show again today. The bombing does indeed sound deliberate. One guest said the Israelis have deliberately targeted before. They don't care. What a way to win the hearts and minds of the world. I don't think Israel understands how under the microscope middle east has become because of the US war in Iraq. People understand that 'terrorism' or Muslim unrest can happen quickly all over the world. People don't like watching innocent children killed. They don't like watching civilized countries bombed to hell. It's becoming harder and harder to tune out. And with this little skirmish in Lebanon the Palestinians are looking less like war mongers and more like victims of war. If Israel bombs Lebanon this way maybe they have been destroying Palistine the same way all these years. Hmmmm.

"if Bush doesn't care that much about what his press secretary says, why should anyone else?"

The doofus Scott McClellan comes to mind here.

A good rule of thumb with these morons is to just believe the opposite of everything they say, especially when it's "the president has promised to do everything he can".

Back to the other burning issue...global warming

Heat wave has senator sticking to beliefs -- Jim Inhofe, (R-OK)

"...In an interview, he heaped criticism on what he saw as the strategy used by those on the other side of the debate and offered a historical comparison.

"It kind of reminds . . . I could use the Third Reich, the big lie," Inhofe said.

"You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy."...
+++++++++
This Inhofe idiot must be suffering real bad from the heat.

Micki,
I think Inhofe is like that all the time. I can say that because he goes from air conditioned room to air conditioned room. His collars always look crisp just like the rest of the gang. There is no global warming in the halls of congress. It's a very controlled climate.

Should Hezbollah Be Next? Daniel Byman From Foreign Affairs, November/December 2003

From the above article, Nov/Dec 2003:

"...If the United States can successfully defuse Hezbollah's militant activity, the organization might well move more squarely into the political arena. Such a shift would set off a virtuous cycle, as Hezbollah's continuing political success would depend on its ability to bring stability and prosperity to its Lebanese constituents instead of on its violent efforts against Israel and the United States. Hezbollah would remain a force in Lebanon, but it would no longer be a "terrorist group of global reach." Given the moral rhetoric of the war on terror and Hezbollah's bloody history, this outcome may not be entirely satisfying -- but it is the only realistic option available."

American Soldiers

2,891 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

18,500+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his evil lies.

55,000+ of the 140,000 American soldiers are suffering from PTSD. Stress disorder has increased and the percentage is now around 40%.

Over 350,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.

Contamination from depleted uranium may have affected 125,000+ American soldiers and several million Iraqis.

Are you feeling more safe and secure with Bush in the WH and Cheney as his chief hatchet man overseeing Nazi America and her citizens?

Our military men and women are used as cannon fodder for a terrorist Nazi American government.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, AND NEITHER DO WE. George W. Bush, August 5, 2005

Rigged elections doom American democracy. American soldiers are being killed and maimed TO PROMOTE A NAZI AMERICAN STATE.

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

Nazi America is a mirror image of Hitler Bush.

Nazi Americans continually justify sin.

Nazi Americans are accomplices with Bush for his murders and war crimes.

Robert Scheer: Labor Pains of a Stillborn Foreign Policy

The Bush foreign policy, from coddling Pakistan's nuclear bomb-making to cheerleading Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, is in a free fall of such alarming consequence that it may be difficult to grasp.

Certainly that is the case for President Bush, who has been reduced to helplessly hoping the United Nations can get Syria "to stop doing this s---," and for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who blithely announced Monday that we are just watching the "birth pangs of a new Middle East."

By Rice's logic, Hurricane Katrina was just the labor contractions of the new New Orleans. All the Mideast needs now, apparently, is a nice epidural and some ice chips to suck on.

More HERE

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

A very insightful piece!

capt

The clouds look ominous but the whiting and red drum of the laguna await....

A few links before heading out to the bay:

I just happened to have a volume of the most popular essays of the Age of Enlightenment with me on my vacation. I also read a weird biography of Rousseau. A little commentary for the eggheads. A paler shade of Victor Davis Hanson.

Larry Johnson reminds us of the last battle against Eurasia or was it Eastasia. Go ask MiniPax.

I noticed that while I was gone, BTK-Timmie made an appearance to whine about the mean-spirited folks on the Cornblog. Surely he didn't mean me.

And speaking of the whiny titty-baby contingency of the GOP, the story of the mystery GoOPer who wailed about the unfair disadvantage he had to deal with having that Scarlet Letter "R" on his chest is too funny for words. Yeah, it was Steele.

And as Capt pointed out, Mr. Bush's approval ratings took a serious nosedive recently as our little democracy experiment has officially blown up in the middle east. How can you tell the fire is getting a little too hot? Even the folks at FauxNews are having a little tantrum. They think Olbermann is mean. Mean liberals? Sounds like a common complaint. I guess the Conservatives can dish it out but they can't take it. Roger Ailes? King of the Whiny Titty Babies. I like his crown.

And yes, Tweety Matthews has gone off the deep end (again). I can't tell who's more demented, him or Ben Stein. Former speechalists gone wild. MTV needs to get a celebrity death match going with these two goofballs.

Looks like Coburn (R- firelit Cave) is gonna need his faceman to rewrite his quotes. Here's some more science for ya' from the GOP, Jeanne.

And it sure seems like the new Wak-a-mole strategerization in Western Iran is a lot like the old Wak-a-mole strategerization. No worries. Field Marshal von Rumsfeld has everything all under control. Those throes shouldn't last much longer, eh?

Good thing too, because that rASSmussen poll that Capt. mentioned is looking pretty pathetic. I should've suspected something was off when they didn't post their daily update for 3 whole days. These guys have a long history of being dishonest with their numbers. I guess they couldn't paper over the fact Americans have come to a consensus that Mr. Bush and his administration just don't know what the hell they're doing. Good thing they still have Clueless:

"Damn, what are the Dems going to do now? Rasmussen Poll: Bush JA @ 45% Rasmussen Reports ^ President Bush Job Approval For the first time since April 13, the PresidentÔøΩs Job Approval rating has moved up to 45%."
Posted by: LBH at July 19, 2006 02:32 PM

What will the Dems do? Laugh their asses off? 37%? It was 38 or 39% before our guys killed the one-legged Jordanian. Republican support for Bush just dried up after that. Do Republicans love the terrorists? Just funnin' you guys. I know it cracks you up when I use the GOP rhetoric.

This was too precious to overlook, though:
Ignorance is the assumtion (sic) of ignorance. ...Har har har!
Posted by: LBH at July 25, 2006 05:20 PM

Those are some pretty big words for ya', dude. Here, let me help you, A-S-S-U-M-P-T-I-O-N. Funny you got the ignorance part right.

Must fight the giggles. Fishing is hard work when you get the giggles.

Get yer umbrella and slicker, folks. It'll be raining swill when the CornCOB element shows. Be back later with the Wednesday Night Funnies.

Molly Ivins: Run Bill Moyers for President, Seriously

AUSTIN, Texas Dear desperate Democrats:

Here's what we do. We run Bill Moyers for president. I am serious as a stroke about this. It's simple, cheap and effective, and it will move the entire spectrum of political discussion in this country. Moyers is the only public figure who can take the entire discussion and shove it toward moral clarity just by being there.

The poor man who is currently our president has reached such a point of befuddlement that he thinks stem cell research is the same as taking human lives, but that 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians are progress toward democracy.

Bill Moyers has been grappling with how to fit moral issues to political issues ever since he left Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and went to work for Lyndon Johnson in the teeth of the Vietnam War. Moyers worked for years in television, seriously addressing the most difficult issues of our day. He has studied all different kinds of religions and different approaches to spirituality. He's no Holy Joe, but he is a serious man. He opens minds he doesn't scare people. He includes people in, not out. And he sees through the dark search for a temporary political advantage to the clear ground of the Founders. He listens and he respects others.

More HERE

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I think Molly is on to something.

capt

Pande,

Been missing you!

Tee-Hee - good post!

capt

Snow made that stark comment a week ago, on July 18, and it received a fair bit of press coverage. Yet Bush didn't immediately call Snow into the Oval Office and tell him that he had rather dramatically mischaracterized his position on a major hot-button issue.

The man has said before that he doesn't read the paper, and I seriously believe that Bush's staff shares information with him on a strictly "need-to-know" basis. He's the idiot boy-king. Hmmm...IBK; I like the sound of it.

"He's the idiot boy-king. Hmmm...IBK; I like the sound of it."

IBK? very good indeed.

capt

There would have never been a PLO or Hamas or Hezbollah if the Zionists had been content to stay within the agreed upon borders for their new state. But they are never content and have been using terrorist tactics for 75+ years to get what they want. The results are what we see today. There will never be peace until Israel decides to live in peace with their neighbors. Invasion and occupation will always be a recipe for war, no matter who stirs the pot. And the innocent will always suffer for it.

The Washington Times magazine is running a "Dump Condi" piece.

It is a Rovian deflection (always is) to blame the State Dept. for the failures of policy and the mistakes that have led us into WW3.

capt

US sidelined in Iraq's sectarian war

WASHINGTON - The United States has been reduced to the role of passive bystander as a new stage of sectarian civil war has begun in Iraq, marked by military units with heavy weaponry carrying out mass killings.

Last week's bloody massacre in Mahmoudiya illustrated both the new level of sectarian violence and the US role as passive observer, even as the administration of President George W Bush acknowledges that the primary problem in Iraq is sectarian violence, not the Sunni insurgency.

"Sectarian violence has now become the significant challenge to Iraq's future," US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 13.

However, the unwillingness of the US military to intervene against sectarian attacks on civilians casts a new light on the primary argument by administration and other opponents of a timetable for withdrawal - that the presence of US occupation forces is the only thing preventing an even higher level of sectarian civil war and chaos.

More HERE

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Who would have thought the US would be sidelined by sectarian violence? Civil wars are very contained. This is what everybody was predicting, everybody except the warmongers and their cheerleaders.

capt

Red Cross ambulances hit

Two Red Cross ambulances were hit by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.

Several people, including six paramedics, were injured in the attack late Sunday night. Israel blamed Hezbollah for operating in a civilian area.

"The incident in which vehicles were hit last night occurred in an area known to be one of the main sources of the launching of hundreds of missiles," an Israeli army spokesman said Monday.

More HERE

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Just another accident of a very dark and stark message?

capt

An accident waiting to happen

With the Israeli bombing of a United Nations camp and the killing of four UN peacekeepers, we really do seem to be in a "deja vu all over again" phase. Already UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is under attack for condemning the "apparently deliberate targeting by Israel Defense Forces [IDF] of a UN observer post".

It is reminiscent of the trouble his predecessor Boutros Boutros-Ghali got himself into last time the Israelis tried shock and awe on Lebanon in 1996, when he failed to suppress a report that said pretty much the same thing about the IDF shelling of the UN post in Qana, which killed some 106 Lebanese civilians.

It is worth remembering that of all UN secretaries general, Annan has done most to end Israel's isolation in the organization and maintained the closest relations with Israel's friends in the United States. In the end, however, he is also a head who sets great store by protecting UN staff, and so the palpable anger of his statement is entirely understandable.

More HERE

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Just an accident?

capt

No Massage, Thank You, Mr. President.

Angela Merkel was the unwilling recipient of a quickie neck massage at the hands of President George W. Bush. Was it sexual harrassment?

The look on her face said it all. Angela Merkel was not happy. The German chancellor, the only woman at a gathering of powerful world leaders, was the unwilling recipient of a quick neck massage at the hands of President George W. Bush.

The scene, which played out at the Group of 8 summit meeting in St. Petersburg, became an Internet sensation, mostly because of Merkel's reaction. The chancellor hunches her shoulders, throws up her arms, and flashes a look of utter dismay. Women everywhere feel her discomfort.

More HERE

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Heck I felt her discomfort.

capt

Something occurred to me in the shower. I think it's time to reconsider whether George W. Bush was AWOL or a DESERTER.

I believe, if the facts could be uncovered, it would be proven that George W. Bush was a DESERTER.

Who in their right minds would follow the "lead" of a faux CIC who was a deserter in a time of war?

Something occurred to me in the shower. I think it's time to reconsider whether George W. Bush was AWOL or a DESERTER.

I believe, if the facts could be uncovered, it would be proven that George W. Bush was a DESERTER.

Who in their right minds would follow the "lead" of a faux CIC who was a deserter in a time of war?

ooops..oh well, it was worth saying twice.

DESERTER

THE STORY OF GEORGE W. BUSH AFTER HE QUIT THE TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD

SUMMARY

An examination of the Bush military files within the context of US Statutory Law, Department of Defense regulations, and Air Force policies and procedures of that era lead to a single conclusion: George W. Bush was considered a deserter by the United States Air Force.

More HERE

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You can copy scans of most all related documents at the link.

capt

Those are some pretty big words for ya', dude. Here, let me help you, A-S-S-U-M-P-T-I-O-N. Funny you got the ignorance part right.

Pandemoniac

Dude, let me help you: you know what they say about asumming -

It makes an ass of YOU and ME-xcans!

Ignorance is the A-S-S-U-M-P-T-I-O-N that you're funny. He he he

#49
Micki,
That's interesting. I think Greg Palst first brought that story out in the british press. The Brits never backed down on it as CBS did.

Israel should pull completely out of Lebanon. They should do their fighting like no one seems to mind, or at are bothered enough by to constantly complain about.

Israel should fight like Hezbollah, Hamas and many of the Lebanese people, who have actually built missile launching pads in their homes in order to aid Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Israeli military should just stay in Israel, and fire off missiles blindly into heavily populated areas of Lebanon like Hezbollah, Hamas and most of the Lebanese people are doing now to Israel, without condemnation from most.

If Israel fought this way, no one could say Israel is over reacting, just responding in kind. I'm sure no one here would complain about Israel if they did this, because even you people must believe it is OK if you defend yourself by at least responding in kind.

Miki, your thoughts about the President are kind of off the mark. The one good thing is, He was not a proven coward and TRAITOR, like John Kerry

Lieberman’s Allies Blame the Bloggers

The conventional narrative of what may become Joe Lieberman’s final campaign for public office—parroted faithfully by pundits and politicians who admire the Connecticut Senator—is a moving tale of courageous dissent in the very maw of fanatical extremism. It is the story of a supremely decent public servant, purged by party activists with a mean-spirited, shortsighted, single-issue obsession. And it is a fable with a familiar moral, supposedly proving once more that the Democratic Party cannot be trusted to protect America.

Compelling as this account of the beleaguered Democrat’s travails may sound, it is very much like his position on the war in Iraq: wrong, superficial and divorced from reality.

According to the standard version, Mr. Lieberman is the victim of ferocious "liberal bloggers" from around the country. Dispersed across the United States, these meddling left-wing activists somehow conspired to launch Ned Lamont’s primary challenge, and then somehow mesmerized voters, perhaps via the Internets, to reject the Senator they had chosen three times before. Combining Internet technology with progressive ideology, the miasmic and unwholesome blogosphere now threatens to swallow poor Joe in a cloud of angry, buzzing bytes.

More HERE

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Bloggers are people too. Right or left Americans are Americans. Joe Lieberman just does not get it.

capt

What really threatens us

"President Bush has yet to acknowledge the true state of affairs ... but the growing income gap — and the rise of the super-rich — demands attention. It is making America a less fair society, and a less stable one."

What really threatens us

"President Bush has yet to acknowledge the true state of affairs ... but the growing income gap — and the rise of the super-rich — demands attention. It is making America a less fair society, and a less stable one."

56 - styley

john kerry volunteered to serve in vietnam where he served with distinction while george bush using his pedophile father's influence managed to get himself assigned to the texas nat. guard where he didn't even show up for part of his dangerous stint and was instead found dancing naked on a bar-stool for the perverse pleasure of his equally cowardly peers.

Feds Eliminate 157 Auditors of Rich Taxpayers

"This is not a game the poor will win, but the rich will," said John Hruska, another IRS estate tax lawyer in New York who, like Phillips, is active in the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers.

Colleen Kelley, the national union president, said: "If these lawyers are not there to audit the gift and estate tax returns, then a lot of taxes that should be paid will go uncollected, and that impacts every taxpayer who is paying their fair share."

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If 50 or more percent do not have a stake in their country, why should they fight for a country who is bent on enslaving them???

Capt-57

It's they culture today. The it's not my fault it's that's person's fault.

55 ashley
The Israeli military should just stay in Israel, and fire off missiles blindly into heavily populated areas of Lebanon like Hezbollah, Hamas and most of the Lebanese people are doing now to Israel, without condemnation from most.

if you look closely you will see that israel is firing off precision guided munitions and hitting their marks every time including grain silos, electrical supplies, hospitals and red-cross ambulances, schools, the U.N. and even fleeing civilians who are fleeing as they've been ordered to. by israel.

In a real world, but not in the Bush world

After years of failure, the man who would be king announced yet another "new" plan to stop the death and bloodshed in Iraq.

We've said this before, but in the world of private business, no CEO could get away with this level of incompetence, ineptitude, failure and blockheadedness. As a stock price sinks to record levels, the CE0 is either fired or given a nice severance package and kicked out.

But not in America. We are stuck with the losers who stole the White House and rule through a barrage of propaganda, lies and wedge issue emotional manipulation.

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We will suffer as a nation for believing in the bushgod!!!

You know, if the US demanded a cease fire and put substance behind the words like there would be a progress toward finding a solution. For instance, cease the fighting or we stop giving aid and sending weapons.

Instead they send Condi, an expert in finding the right pair of shoes for every outfit even in times of crisis.

Here is why Nazi America will suffer dearly!!! Nazi America will rue the day that she permitted Hitler Bush and his cabal to steal the presidential election. You will see a nation in total and absolute suffering!!!
---------------

Of course, after being informed by an intelligence aide in August, 2001, that al-Qaeda planned attacks in the United States, Bush's response was irritation that his vacation plans might be disrupted, followed by more vulgarity. As journalist Robert Parry noted:

"The CIA tried to warn Bush about the threat on Aug. 6, 2001, with the hope that presidential action could energize government agencies and head off the attack. The CIA sent analysts to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to brief him and deliver a report entitled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US.'

"Bush was not pleased by the intrusion. He glared at the CIA briefer and snapped, 'All right, you've covered your ass,' according to [Ron] Suskind's book.

"Then, putting the CIA's warning in the back of his mind and ordering no special response, Bush returned to a vacation of fishing, clearing brush and working on a speech about stem-cell research."

As we have pointed out many a time, Bush just might have prevented 9/11 from happening if he had ordered heightened security steps to prevent hijackings after the August, 2001, briefing, but he was too eager to relax on his month-long vacation.

As Maureen Dowd observes in her July 26 column: "That's what is so frustrating about watching him deal - or not deal - with Iraq and Lebanon. There's almost nothing to watch. It's not even like watching paint dry, since that, too, is a passage from one state to another. It's like watching dry paint."

And America and the world suffer as a result.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

#65 Jeanne, it's too bad that you and micki and Carey and kathleen and etc. aren't columnists because all of you would be added to my foxes' list.

Micki & Jeanne,

I believe you're right, Jeanne, about Greg Palst. Bush having any sense of patriotism....paleeze?! Or any morality, especially after he had the balls to stand next to Maliki yesterday (who pretty much told him off). What a freakin' jerk! Now he wants to send more troops to Iraq? Can anybody spell Hitler-like pyschocrazy?

Capt, thanks for the nice links to Scheer and Ivins.

Hi Gerald. How ya doing?

Randi Rhodes did a powerful monolouge on Wayne Madsen yesterday. She cited everything he's been writing about on the current situation. He's the only one I care to read at this point. He's on target as to the larger picture of what's going on.

Now forgive me friends. I've not gotten much sleep, and I'm way too hassled at the moment, but...

Styley,

Just tell me in what incident is Bush not a proven coward? Then you'd be more on target. But you sound to me to be one of those who doesn't bother yourself with actual thought or even a moment to read a thing or two.

Now as you spout off the supposed times Bush has not been a coward, Google John Kerry and his record.

A traitor he is not. But then again, you're very use of the word indicates to me that you should not be wasting our valued time on this blog with your robot-like dribble.

Talk about a nonpatriot! You toy with a real war hero's reputation while tossing in with a born deserter and a coward? Seems to me you don't really know what horrid things war entails. It's not all bluster and talk. It's about death and destruction.

As we know, the whole Mideast "crisis" is just a small part of the larger plan for the New American Century. Iran is next, once Lebanon is pulverized. Then all you whiney babies will understand what the Great Depression was about. You're about to be plunged into one by your silver-spooned President. Oh, and don't worry, he'll go down crying that it was someone else's fault. Sound a touch familiar? "It's all Clinton's fault. But I have usurped all power to the executive. Still, it's not my fault."

Ashley, Israel coined "terrorist" tactics. The country was founded on terrorism. It threads throughout Israel's history. Read up on that first before you claim that Israel should fight like Hezbollah. Hezbollah, Hamas etc. learned from Mossad's tactics.

That's not to say that Israel didn't need some of those tactics to survive it's early history. But it surely doesn't need them now.

Nothing good can come from this war

Now it is not a secret anymore: this war has been planned for a long time. The military correspondents proudly reported this week that the army has been exercising for this war in all its details for several years. Only a month ago, there was a large war game to rehearse the entrance of land forces into South Lebanon - at a time when both the politicians and the generals were declaring that "we shall never again get into the Lebanon quagmire. We shall never again introduce land forces there." Now we are in the quagmire, and large land forces are operating in the area.

The other side, too, has been preparing this war for years. Not only did they build caches of thousands of missiles, but they have also prepared an elaborate system of Vietnam-style bunkers, tunnels and caves. Our soldiers are now encountering this system and paying a high price. As always, our army has treated "the Arabs" with disdain and discounted their military capabilities.

That is one of the problems of the military mentality. Talleyrand was not wrong when he said that "war is much too serious a thing to be left to military men." The mentality of the generals, resulting from their education and profession, is by nature force-oriented, simplistic, one-dimensional, not to say primitive. It is based on the belief that all problems can be solved by force, and if that does not work - then by more force.

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Immaturity keeps us fighting and killing. When will we become mature to know that war does not resolve conflicts, it only creates more problems.

#27 geof01

You too must have been listening to Randi Rhodes yesterday. She went to town about death squads and Negroponte.

"Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he's gonna go through it with death squads!"

From this war nothing good will come - not for Israel, not for Lebanon and not for Palestine. The "New Middle East" that will be its result will be a worse place to live in.

This is the last sentence of the article, "Nothing good can come from this war."

My God give us the wisdom to believe in your words!!! "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God"!!!

All of our blood is given to us from the same God. He is precious and special and so is our blood that God gave to us. Let us not waste a drop through the killing of human beings!

56 styley

Thanks for your post. It is the first post I have ever seen on this blog that actually inspired me to write.

I am with you on the Kerry situation. I do not think it is to late to have John Kerry brought up on charges for treason and cowardice. We could all join together in a campaign to put out the factually undisputed, undeniable proof that Kerry committed treason and cowardice under fire.

This will be great. We can organize people, place ads in papers, make calls to radio and television stations to get people up and running. Hell, we even need bumper stickers.

Kerry should not only be known through out history as the traitor and coward that he is, but all GOOD AMERICANS will want to deal with John Kerry, as we deal with any other traitor during war.

No INTELLIGENT PERSON would argue against it. The ultimate penalty should be handed out to despicable low life form's of sub human creatures like John Kerry.

This will be great. Let's all get going on this project, and MAKE IT HAPPEN. Lets get going on it. now. !!!

#57 Capt

Have you read that Daily Kos is ruled by special interests? (Wayne Madsen.) It's ironic that Alexander Cockburn has pointed this out, even if it was in a hyperbolic vein, with that sideswipe at our own David Corn. (Counterpunch.).

At their Las Vegas convention, at which one of my heroines, Barbara Boxer, spoke, the issue of war/occupation in Iraq never really came up.

Try as they might, those following Rovian tactics will not sway us from the prime topic of Iraq occupation in November. That does not mean we'll overcome the shenanigans planned for official vote counts, or the fact that the mass media will be bogged down with the "Iranian threat" and the accompanying bombing of that country.

73 gerald,

All of our blood is given to us from the same God. He is precious and special and so is our blood that God gave to us. Let us not waste a drop through the killing of human beings!

Tell that to Hezbollah, Hamas and the many supposed civilians in Lebanon, who are actively helping Hezbollah and Hamas, kill innocent civilians in Israel.

At the heart of the Lebanon crisis

Diplomacy has had a difficult task from the start, in part because the US is not seen as an honest broker, but as too closely aligned with Israel. Washington has long been pro-Israel, but under President Clinton and the first President Bush there was an effort to be seen as a plausible mediator. Not under George W. Far from keeping lines of communication open with Hizbullah's two key patrons - Syria and Iran - they have been cast into outer darkness, branded as spokes, or satellites, of the axis of evil. As a result there has been no mechanism to restrain Hizbullah. Now, when the US needs Syria's help, it may be too late. Damascus will extract a high price, no doubt demanding the right to re-enter, in some form, Lebanon. The White House can't grant that - not when it considers Syria's ejection from Lebanon in 2005 one of its few foreign-policy successes.

But the record of failure goes deeper than that. It began in the president's first week, when Bush decided he would not repeat what he perceived as his predecessor's mistake by allowing his presidency to be mired in the fruitless search for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Even though Clinton had got tantalisingly close, Bush decided to drop it. While Henry Kissinger once racked up 24,230 miles in just 34 days of shuttle diplomacy, Bush's envoys have been sparing in their visits to the region.

The result is that the core conflict has been allowed to fester. Had it been solved, or even if there had been a serious effort to solve it, the current crisis would have been unimaginable. Instead, Bush's animating idea has been that the peoples of the Middle East can be bombed into democracy and terrorised into moderation. It has proved one of the great lethal mistakes of his abominable presidency - and the peoples of Israel and Lebanon are paying the price.

val

Give me a freakin' break! Kerry brought up on charges of cowardice and treason?

Bush not guilty of international war crimes?

John Kerry a coward? This isn't even funny people.

I'm so glad you were finally inspired to "write".

Dear John Kerry, I want to thank you for serving in Vietnam with honor and valor and not like the Nazis' deserter king. Sincerely, Gerald

Bill Moyers for President

Absolutely!!! Maybe with Bill Moyers as presisident our devil incarnate nation would get Jesus back!!!

Let's get Jesus back

Absolutely and a big Amen!!!

If the "plan" dates that far back I doubt what side of the border anybody was on. Two soldiers or not, if the plan was in place the so-called kidnapping were ancillary at best.

Kind of like the non-existent WMD's. An excuse not a reason.

Posted by: capt at July 26, 2006 02:11 AM

I agree.

Senator John Kerry has made his 4-month combat tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of his bid for
the Presidency. His campaign jets a handful of veterans around the country, and trots them out
at public appearances to sing his praises. John Kerry wants us to believe that these men
represent all those he calls his "band of brothers."
But most combat veterans who served with John Kerry in Vietnam see him in a very different
light.

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth has been formed to counter the false "war crimes" charges John
Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to
accurately portray Kerry's brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant. We speak from
personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Kerry in combat as well as his
commanders. Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions,
we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore
exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.

We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support
one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat
or a Republican. However, Kerry's , his about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate
misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compel us to step
forward.

For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits,
drug addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the
Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.
The time has come to set the record straight.

WHEN YOU GO TO THE WEB PAGE:

http://www.swiftvets.com/index.php

Touch the photo to see which Swift officers support John Kerry, or click it to read more
The purpose of the photo is to correct the misleading use of our images - against our will - to further John Kerry's campaign.

Somebody doesn't want us to keep talkin' 'bout Israel, Lebanon and the fiasco that is Iraq.

None too "swiftly" either. Ahem...

(yawn)

74 val
We could all join together in a campaign to put out the factually undisputed, undeniable proof that Kerry committed treason and cowardice under fire.

ya we could have a down with john kerry picnic! you bring the potato salad and i'll bring the watermelon! weee! ha ha.
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many spots across the u.s. are having an electricity dilemma. imagine a time in the very near future that electricity is not taken for granted: new orleans is a good example.
now is the time that you should all be stocking up on food and supplies. do it now while they are still readily available. fore-go the new car, the new tv, the vacation, and instead spend your $$ wisely. imagine if something as basic as TP were in short supply. don't take your water supply for granted either: fill up all the plastic (clear plastic only) containers you can get your hands on with water and store them for a dry day. candles might be desirable some day if you exhaust your flashlight batteries. make sure you have plenty of dry dog food for any pets....bla bla bla.

any comments posted under my name and url subsequent to this one should be considered to be the work of the cowardly pretender that we have all grown so fond of as of late.

Five Myths That Sanction Israeli's War Crimes

And finally, there is a fifth myth I almost forgot to mention. That people like David Horowitz only want to tell us the truth…

Hajji,
I do believe you are correct.

Someone does not want us to talk about what Israel is doing, should be doing, is completely justified in doing, and must continue doing until Hezbollah, Hamas, and supposed Lebanese civilians disarm and quit what they started for no reason other than anti-Semitism

It's Disproportionate

Bush's endorsement of the violence that Israel is inflicting on Lebanon -- a sustained bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of civilians and can only be seen as collective punishment -- is truly astonishing. Of course Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah's rocket attacks. But how can this utterly disproportionate, seemingly indiscriminate carnage be anything but counterproductive?
---------

The evil stain on our soul will not go away easily.

Morality is not on our side

Wow! Here is an article from an Israeli professor.

Europe is currently suffering a second heat wave. A large portion of this year's crop is already ruined.

Why does this matter?

GM Reports a $3.1 billion loss

Honda Posts $1.22 Billion Profit on Fuel-Efficient Car Sales

To meet strong demand in the United States, Honda said it would open a $550 million factory in Greensburg, Indiana, in 2008. Last year, Honda doubled production at its plant in Lincoln, Alabama.

What's good for Honda is good for America?

#70 Carey,

Good for Randi Rhodes for talking about Negroponte, but that doesn't mean that his Captainship of the U.S.S. Honduras wasn't long known to many of us and commented about during his confirmation hearings for both D.N.I. as well as for Ambassador to Iraq.

Comments were also proferred at the time of the first whispers the "Salvadoran Option."

Excerpts from:
John Negroponte’s Human Rights Record Continues to Stir Debate

During Negroponte’s nomination hearing for the ambassadorship to Iraq, Sen. Harkin said: “We need someone in Iraq who has a sterling record, an unassailable record in terms of his or her support for fundamental human rights and for the rule of law, someone who has no blot on their career record of having been involved in the kind of abuses that have come to light recently in Iraq under our military jurisdiction. After the terrible revelations of the abuses under our watch at the prison at Abu Ghraib … I believe nominating Ambassador Negroponte to this vital post would send entirely the wrong message.”

Unfortunately, the “wrong message” was sent once again with Negroponte’s confirmation as national intelligence director. A man accused of ignoring credible intelligence in order to support Reagan’s Cold War foreign policies in Central America is now responsible for filtering and providing all intelligence to the Bush administration. Abuse and torture have been−and evidence suggests they continue to be−perpetrated by U.S. personnel in the name of obtaining intelligence. There is increased concern that programs like those that include warrantless domestic spying are usurping civil rights in the name of “national security.”

The national intelligence director has a questionable human rights record, has repeatedly stated that he supports renditions to countries that, according to the State Department, practice torture, and he refuses to disclose information on intelligence programs to elected lawmakers. In light of these facts, there should be great concern not only for the quality of intelligence gathered but also for the manner in which the government acquires information.

D B Benson
90
Europe is currently suffering a second heat wave. A large portion of this year's crop is already ruined.

Why does this matter?

IT DOES NOT MATTER. AT ALL !!!!

From Wayne Madsen:

July 26, 2006 -- Our intelligence sources report that the Israeli Defense Force attack on Lebanon is being carried out as a joint Israeli-U.S. military operation. Moreover, there are joint Israeli and U.S. war rooms coordinating the U.S.-supported Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The ultimate aim of Washington and Jerusalem is not only to eliminate Hezbollah as a political force in Lebanon but also to remake Lebanon as an American and Israeli client state. Israeli forces are pounding parts of Lebanon, especially in the north, where there are no Hezbollah units and primarily Christian populations. In addition, Israeli forces are being aided by the Bush administration with high-resolution overhead imagery from U.S. spy satellites and signals intelligence (SIGINT) intercepts from National Security Agency assets, including SIGINT satellites.

The result of U.S. intelligence support for Israel is directly linked to the targeting of particular locations, including the Israeli launch of 24 high-explosive missiles on a block of ten buildings in south Beirut. The entire block was leveled in the attack. The deliberate Israeli attack on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) outpost in southern Lebanon was the result of that post gaining information of Israeli atrocities committed against the civilian Lebanese population. The Israeli attack, called deliberate by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, killed blue helmet peacekeepers from China, Finland, Canada, and Austria. Israeli continued to attack the UN post even as rescuers attempted to locate survivors in the rubble of the building. The deliberate 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, an NSA spy ship monitoring communications during the Arab-Israeli Six Day War, was the result of the Liberty intercepting Israeli communications on the massacre by Israeli forces of surrendering Egyptian prisoners of war in Sinai. Israeli planes continued to attack the ship, even after it raised a large American flag. U.S. Navy and NSA survivors in the water were also strafed by Israeli aircraft.

WMR

87 ashley
Someone does not want us to talk about what Israel is doing,....what they (Lebanese civilians) started for no reason other than anti-Semitism

you want to discuss what israel is doing? good.
since you are now bandying the term anti-semite around, you should start this discussion that you are asking for by defining semite.

Dude, let me help you: you know what they say about asumming - It makes an ass of YOU and ME-xcans! Ignorance is the A-S-S-U-M-P-T-I-O-N that you're funny. He he he
Posted by: Butt Head at July 26, 2006 12:00 PM

Please take your racial bigotry swill elsewhere.

We have a single troll with 15 different aliases on a single thread and two spoof posts (spoof posts of O'Reilly and Spy on This!) for good measure. That combined with the profane vulgarity means the troll has broken every one of the very few rules David Corn has for posting on his site.

Butt Head
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amazed to say the least
cookie
curious
deserved what she got
gethits
Important
jesus
keap lernin werds
MadAsHell
SAM
Spy On That
truth
vegas
veto
viewer

Many of my comments have a tendency to upset people but there are certain comments that need to be reposted. Below is such a comment!

The Formula

I am giving you a formula that I believe will bring about justice and peace. Actually, God has given me these ideas directly for a better world. You can accept what I say through Divine Providence or reject what I say. We are all given a free choice. The decision is yours alone.

1. Shalom translated means peace but it is more than peace. Shalom is God's vision of the world. It is God's dream that Shalom comes only to the inclusive embracing community that excludes no one.
2. In each of us there is a Jesus and a Hitler. We should always strive to bring out the Jesus in us.
3. Love is wanting the best for another person or persons.
4. Try to emulate Mother Teresa who saw in each human being the face of Jesus.
5. War is outmoded; no normal person chooses war over peace.
6. From James in the New Testament - Faith without deeds is worth nothing.
7. Practice your faith that believes in the true God. God wants us to love one another.
8. Read the Bible because it is God's love letter to us.
9. Read Mattie Stepanek's books on Heartsongs.
10. John Kerry says that it is not important for God to be on our side, what is important are we on God's side?
11. Read Matthew 25:31-46! When you do it to the least of my brethren, you do it for me.
12. Read Matthew 5:1-12! The beatitudes!
13. Read Luke 10:25-37! Who is my neighbor?
14. Read Luke 12:13-21! These verses warn us against greed.
15. Be aware of the Just War Theory! Are we in imminent danger?
16. Practice being a Conscientious Objector!
17. St. Ambrose says, "I shall pass this way but once, any good that I can do let me do it now, because I shall not pass this way again."
18. Totus Tuus means all yours. We are all God's children.
19. Paul Wellstone says that politics is not about power. Politics is not only about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people’≥ lives. It is about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and in the world. Politics is about doing well for people.
20. Mr. Bourn who built the Filoli Home and Gardens that is south of San Francisco says that we must fight for a just cause; we must love our fellow man; and we must live a good life.
21. When we recite the Lord's Prayer, we are acknowledging that God is the Father and we are all brothers and sisters.
22. The Cross is a sign of contradiction. It is not about death and hatred; it is about life and love.
23. St. Irenaeus says, "The glory of God is man fully alive." Man can only be fully alive when he loves God with his whole mind, body, and soul. And, when he loves his neighbor, as he loves himself.
24. Read the Psalms in the Bible because they offer us hope.
25. Love the poor and your life will be filled with sunlight and you will not fear the hour of death. St. Vincent DePaul, the first social worker

Many persons will have and will offer various formulas for justice and peace. The end result will center on whether or not we have love and mercy in our hearts. Justice and peace can never move forward unless we have a conversion of the heart.

Leo Buscaglia reminds us that the heart sees what the eyes fail to see. In life we may be called upon to see with our hearts. Our hearts must be filled with love and mercy.

The moral demise of a nation precedes the ultimate demise of a nation. America is in a state of moral demise because Americans do not believe in God. They have chosen the antichrist of money, nuclear weapons, and the words of Bush.

From Len Hart:

An existential choice is forced upon us. Bush told us that we were either for his regime or we were for the "evil doers". I see a different paradigm: either we are for freedom or we are for Bush. Bush is spoiling for a Constitutional showdown that will force the issue and consolidate a dictatorship beyond the ability of Americans to change short of violent revolution.

And

But, Bush Dean points out is not Nixon. In the same or a similar situation, Bush will not budge. Bush will defy the Supreme Court of the United States. In doing so, America will no longer have the legal recourse of removal; impeachment will be a dead issue. If impeached, Bush will not leave the office. Having subverted every protection afforded the people by our founders, Bush will leave us no choice but slavery under a dictatorship or a popular uprising. Bush will leave us, therefore, no choice but revolution.

More here

I liked the post where the bushbot said the Lebanon civilians build rocket launching pads in their homes so Hezbollah can use them at will. hahaha That's got to be a talking point from Powerline or Newsmax. These dumb non-thinking bots couldn't have thought that up themselves.
'Course brining up the Swift Boats was more proof of non-thinking. At least one of those swift boat liars for bush got his medal same as Kerry for the same battle on the same day, just a diff boat in the mission. Did the swift boat liar lie then, or is he lying now?
You decide miss bushbot.

Dot, these PAID trolls are a pain in the blog!

Gerald--here is my Bible quote for the day.

"Not all who sound religious are really Godly people. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but still won't get into Heaven. At the Judgement many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast our demons and to do many other great miracles.' But I will reply, "You have never been mine. Go away for your deeds are evil."

Matt VII: 21-23

Alan

he got his medal same as Kerry for the same battle on the same day, just a diff boat in the mission.

His different boat was the boat that stayed and provided cover fire for the guy in the water, after Kerry ran in the usual cowardly fashion Kerry had become known for among the swift boat crews, and anyone that knew Kerry.

95
you should start this discussion that you are asking for by defining Semite.

anti-Semite: In Webster's dictionary, there is a picture of YOU. That should be easy enough for even a Jew hating, anti-Semite, racist, ignorant bigot like YOU to understand.

100 Den

Mr. Corn may pay us trolls to, as he puts it, "stir up my Corn Nuts", but I do not see what business it is of yours to question how David runs his blog.

96
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BooHoo .... BooHoo .... BooHoo .... Poor little baby .dot is all upset because the big old troll is making .dot try his best to actually think, instead of just blather stupid crap he reads on far left loon web sites.

What is a semite? Here it comes:
Around 5000 years ago, the first cities started to emerge in the area between the rivers Eufrat and Tigris (todays Iraq). The citizens in this cities was called Sumer. This comunities became rich in trading all sorts of goods, and as time went on, nomades originated from the Arab peninsula, drifted to this populated areas and settled outside the cities. They also started trading, along with their traditional sheep herding. These nomades claimed that they were the direct decentants from Sem, the son of Noah. They called themselves: Semites.
After a thousand years or so, they spread out through the whole Midle East.
I don`t know when some of them started to call themselves jews, and other called themselves arabs. This has to do with religion,and in that matter I`m far from being an expert.
If we look at the situation today, the Jews in Israel is by a large number a mixture of Europeans and various Nations around the world.
Conclusion: The purest semites today is the Arabs. They have always been in the Midle East area, not wandring around for 2000 years like the Jews.
The term Antisemite emerged in the 1880`s when it labeled the socalled Progoms against Jews in Eastern Europe.
I`m not against either Jews or Arabs, BUT I`m strongly against the state of Israels behaviour in the area, both towards the Palestinians and the Lebanese people.
I also strongly oppose to what Hezbollah is doing. They are putting fuel to the conflict.
A lebanese told me yesterday that this is a war between the US and Iran, but it`s being fought by Israel and Hezbollah.
Condo Rice: We let them fight on for the time being, hopefully Israel will erase Hezbollah. She did`nt actually say these words, but this is what Bushco wants.

Hope this was clearifying.

Erling Krange, Norway. (Former UN peacekeeper in Lebanon)