Mr. David Corn,

Novak said he would reveal all?

I have not believed a word from him in ages. Never really listened to him and could not stand reading his stuff.

Great post! As always.

Thanks for all of your work!

Kirk

The notion that reporters must protect sources in all circumstances is a holdover from a time when reporters and governmnet officials did not collude to deceive the public. Bushco has used this journalistic principle to manipulate the news.

Judith Miller is the most obvious case in point: Cheney's office leaked information on WMDs to her. A reporter with integrity would have asked, if this information is correct, why leak it instead of announcing it? An editor with integrity would have asked, why does the White House have to leak information that supports its policy goals? The only possible answer is that the source knows the information is false and does not want to be responsible for it. But Miller and her paper did not ask these questions because they wanted the scoop and they wanted the information pipeline, as tainted as they knew it was, to continue. After the story runs, Cheney then got on the weekend political shows and used the report the HE LEAKED to bolster his WMD claims. Miller, seeing this, did not make the obvious connection that she had been used to funnel false information to the public in order to make a phony case for war.

The rule of thumb should be that sources can never be anonymous if the information supports the source's public goals. A reporter who accepts this has sacrificed his or her true mission of telling the public the truth. This is so obvious that it's embarrassing to have to state it. But reporters, even good ones like David and formerly great ones like Bob Woodward, are so cozy with their politico cocktail buddies that they can't see the harm they have done. And they wonder why people don't trust the media.

Wayne Madsen

The original reason for the CIA leak was Ambassador Wilson calling Bush's major reason for invading and occupying Iraq -- that nation's supposed desire to obtain yellowcake uranium ore from Niger -- an outright misrepresentation of the truth. That White House lie, which Wilson called them on, has resulted in the deaths of over 2500 American military personnel, the wounding of 40,000 military members, the deaths of nearly 150,000 Iraqis, and the transformation of Iraq, the Cradle of Civilization, into a hell zone. That is not a case of mere political corruption and corporate fraud. Mr. Fitzgerald especially owes an explanation for his molasses-like investigation to the families of dead and wounded U.S. servicemen and women about his failure to carry out justice is a timely and forthright manner. Fitzgerald may be an honorable man. But he is dealing with the most dishonest and reprehensible people to ever hold public office in this country. The Special Counsel should stop giving the White House breaks or resign and provide a full explanation of what has transpired to the American people. For it is the American people, not Mr. Bush, not Mr. Cheney, not Mr. Rove, not Mr. Luskin, and not Bush's attorney Jim Sharpe, to whom Mr. Fitzgerald is ultimately responsible for his actions.

Sounds to me like an elaborate ruse to cover the treachery and illegality of the WH, pretending to act on this issue all the while pleasing his reichfuherer.

So long my beautiful country, I will miss you.

Israel launches offensive inside Lebanon

7 Israeli troops die in fighting; soldier kidnappings called an act of war

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon - The Israeli army on Wednesday said seven soldiers were killed in fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas after a cross-border raid in which the Lebanese group captured two other soldiers and dozens of Israeli troops crossed the frontier with warplanes, tanks and gunboats to hunt for the captives.

Israel's Channel 10 reported Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz authorized a campaign of air strikes targeting Hezbollah guerrilla installations and Lebanese civilian infrastructure a second front in the fight against Islamic militants by Israel, which already is waging an operation to free a captured soldier in the Gaza Strip.

The report described the planned blitz as part of Israel's response to the capture of two of its soldiers and killing of several others in a Hezbollah border raid earlier in the day.

More HERE

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

I hope calmer heads prevail and this does not escalate. If it gets out of hand - I do not want to even think . . .

capt

Texas Tribe Sues Abramoff, Reed

It's still unclear whether Ralph Reed has anything to fear from Justice Department prosecutors, but he's not going to get away without at least one legal headache.

Jack Abramoff hired Reed to squash any competition to his casino owning tribal clients. Now one of those tribes wants to get even. So they're suing him, along with Abramoff and other members of his team, for "fraud and racketeering."

The basis of the tribe's suit against Reed seems mainly to be that he's a hypocrite. I'm not sure what chance they have of winning, but I do anticipate the prospect of Ralph Reed being forced to explain under oath that, even though he was being paid by a rival casino, the work was really motivated out of Christian virtue. That would be a fun cross-examination to watch.

More HERE

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

Ralph Reed NOT Lt. Gov., not even a SGT-Gov.!

Just another demagogue two faced political criminal GOPher operative hiding behind his fake Christianity while he steals millions. I hope the tribes clean his clock.

capt

Robert Novak, traitor to his country; traitor to his profession

_________________

The upshot here appears to be that Novak lied to everyone in order to betray his country on behalf of Rove and company. First he revealed the name of an active CIA officer, blowing any and all operations with which she has ever been involved, costing the country millions, and possibly endangering lives despite the specific request from the agency that he not do so. That’≥ all here.

Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed.

Harlow said that after Novak's call, he checked Plame's status and confirmed that she was an undercover operative. He said he called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame's name should not be used. But he did not tell Novak directly that she was undercover because that was classified.
____________________

...and he's got BUSH-y eybrows, too!

-T

Karl Rove is a perfect example of what is wrong with our legal system and why the poor and the middle class are incarcerated and not the rich and the powerful. Libby will not see a day in prison.

Halliburton: The End of An Era

Today's Washington Post brings big news: the Army has decided to end a multi-billion open-ended contract with Halliburton ($7 billion last year) for logistical support. Halliburton also lost a $1.2 billion contract to restore Iraqi oil fields.

Why? Was it because of audits that turned up $1 billion in "questionable costs?"

Because the Defense Department's investigative wing thought Halliburton's oil contract was so sketchy it deserved the attention of criminal prosecutors?

According to the Army's flack, they just decided that it's better not to have "all our eggs in one basket," because, the Post paraphrases, "multiple contractors will give them better prices, more accountability and greater protection if one contractor fails to perform."

You might call that a tacit admission that maybe this whole Halliburton thing hasn't worked out so well. Either that, or the Army has just discovered the advantages of competitive bidding.

More HERE

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

Guaranteed! Halliburton will not be the name of the company that will rip us off at the trough of public money for the wealthy. Carlyle Group? Bechtel? Call it anything it will be the same criminals. Call the Soprano's the Alto's - Tony would still get his. Same for the Bush's, Rumsfeld's, Cheney's et al.

capt

FCC combing air tapes for dirty words
Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:34 AM ET
By Brooks Boliek

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - In its continuing crackdown on on-air profanity, the FCC has requested numerous tapes from broadcasters that might include vulgar remarks from unruly spectators, coaches and athletes at live sporting events, industry sources said.

Tapes requested by the commission include live broadcasts of football games and NASCAR races where the participants or the crowds let loose with an expletive. While commission officials refused to talk about its requests, one broadcast company executive said the commission had asked for 30 tapes of live sports and news programs.

"It looks like they want to end live broadcast TV," said one executive, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "We already know that they aren't afraid to go after news."

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

"Fuck, shit, piss, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits," once said George Carlin, "and tits doesn't even belong on the list."

Why are so many repugnants guilty of treason???

#9 Robert Schwartz, will the FCC add such dirty words as Bush, Chainey, Rummie, Condi, Alberto Gonzales. Colin Powell, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and Hannity to the list???

Good article David, you just left two things out-

NO ONE WAS INDICTED OR FOUND GUILTY OF LEAKING VAL PLAMES IDENITY.

You also left out the original source of Novaks article-

LYING JOE WILSON!

Keep pushing the Bush said he would punish, blah blah blah, cuz that's all you got!

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

I once mentioned the seven words to a pal, he had no idea what I was talking about. Made me feel old.

capt

Thank you, Dear, John

Keywords from the link at #9:
contemporary community standards

The question is which community? There are so many across the country. If they pick a conservative enough standard say goodbye to the Axe and Tag commercials, or maybe even Dancing with the Stars because a few find dancing to be indecent.

Lord Levy arrested

The cash-for-peerages affair took a dramatic twist tonight, as Labour's chief fundraiser, Lord Levy, was arrested by police.

Lord Levy, a tennis partner of Tony Blair's and the PM's personal envoy to the Middle East, was later released on bail without charge, with his spokesman complaining the police had over-reacted.

He "vigorously denies any wrongdoing", his spokesman added.

Lord Levy becomes the second person - and the most closely connected to the prime minister - to be arrested by Scotland Yard in its inquiry into the allegations that Labour lenders were recommended for peerages.

More HERE

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

Not just here but everywhere. These lying cheating politically connected make me sick.

He "vigorously denies any wrongdoing", his spokesman added.

That is what a hired mouthpiece is suppose to say.

capt

It's about time.

Yesterday, the White House reversed its irresponsible detainee policy when it announced that all prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay are protected by U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions.

Of course, it took a Supreme Court rebuke of George Bush's illegal military tribunal system to get even this mild concession. The White House would have you believe that their secret tribunals, which allowed evidence obtained by coercion and gave suspects virtually no legal protections, are a vital part of the War on Terror. Here's what they don't want you to know. Nearly five years later, these military tribunals have not resulted in a single trial or a single conviction.

This is the definition of incompetence.

For more than four years, the Bush-Cheney Administration has invited the ire of the world over its treatment of terrorist detainees at Guanatanamo. Our ability to win the hearts and minds of Muslims across the world has been irrevocably damaged. For what? No trials. No convictions. And now we are back to square one.

I am outraged.

This week, the U.S. Senate begins hearings on creating a legal framework for trying terror suspects. I wish I could say I'm confident that Republican senators will support a responsible policy that keeps terrorists behind bars without undermining the rule of law. But a six-year record of rolling over at the behest of George W. Bush suggests otherwise.

You already know how Republicans are going to respond to Democratic efforts to rein in this runaway White House. They'll wrap themselves in the flag and say that we're weak and that we want to coddle terrorists. This, from the same people who have desecrated the meaning of the American flag by countenancing torture, illegal detention and illegally spying on our citizens. The same people who have now disbanded the special task force to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

No one disputes that we are at war with a ruthless and intractable enemy. But this is America. And in America, we don't judge ourselves by the standards of our enemies. Our behavior is governed by a higher standard, and anything short of that is an assault on the core values on which this country was built.

We need competence and accountability in Washington. And that won't happen until Democrats retake the Senate. I've heard about the work that you, the DSCC's online community, have done to help our cause. Believe me, we'd never be able to win without your support.

We cannot afford two more years of an unchecked Bush Administration. Their incompetence and their disregard for the rule of law have done untold damage to this country at home and abroad. The future of America is at stake.

Sincerely,

Sen. Patrick Leahy, DSCC

Mamas do not let your babies grow up to be soldiers

Eye's,

"The question is which community?"

I just found out a week or two back that here in ABQ we have an law against cheerleaders baring their midriffs? OMG? What next?

This is not America, not even close.

capt

Enron witness found dead in park

A body found in north-east London has been identified as that of a banker who was questioned by the FBI about the Enron fraud case.

Police said they were treating the death in Chingford of Neil Coulbeck, who worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland until 2004, as "unexplained".

He had been interviewed by the FBI as a potential witness.

Three ex-workers of RBS subsidiary NatWest are being extradited to the US on Thursday to face fraud charges.

The extradition has sparked a political row, with opposition parties and human rights groups claiming the treaty under which they are being sent to the US is one-sided as the Americans are yet to ratify it.

More HERE

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

I wonder how many more bodies will turn up?

Seems Enron is a poison pill, a silver bullet that might still be finding its mark.

capt

Gerald, #11, their indecent visages will continue to haunt our t.v. screens...

#21, their faces on our t.v. screens are even worse than the words.

I applaud David's honesty by saying:
"As a journalist who would not fancy doing hard time to protect an administration official, I am reluctant to judge another journalist's decision on such a matter."

Yes-but-however....does he mean only THIS admin's officials or does he mean all generic admins' officials??? IF the former, is he limiting his Bushco sources' willingness to leak to him? IF the later, limiting future admins' officials' willingness to leak to him?

No matter, a gutsy & admirable statement! Reminds me of my tiff w/Citizen X on shooting threatening people in the back (where he wouldn't hesitate).

This whole Plame/Wilson thing isn't as `murky' as some alleges! I concluded long ago, now confirmed by Novak, it all started inadvertently. It is totally plausible that a remark was made during a long interview w/Novak's "primary source" on Wilson's Niger trip being his CIA-wife's idea! No one involved checked to see if her employment was "classified" info! Joe Wilson is about as dumb as can be to ?inadvertently? lead to his wife's outing! On the other hand, he could've been incredibly cunning to `out' his wife, leading to publicity and his wife's fat book deal!

I suppose "..Karl Rove leaked classified information.." is technically true but in the real world, to confirm something when others contact me is very different than if I proactively gossiped/leaked something (that turned out to be confidential)! e.g.: Those of us that have/had employees, are often asked to confirm employment!

eggman #2,

Great, succint comments. I couldn't agree more.

The rule of thumb should be that sources can never be anonymous if the information supports the source's public goals.

This would indeed be a good rule of thumb. At the very least, if a source lies or purposely provides bad information to a reporter, the source should then be publicly identified and discredited.

It's The Conservatism, Stupid

Ask a conservative what the biggest problem in America is today, and you'll get answers like overtaxation, a sexualized culture, lack of respect for authority, insufficient church-going or big government running amok. But if you then asked the conservative what the real source of the problem was the beating heart pumping blood to each and all of these socio-politico-cultural wounds you'd get the same answer: liberalism.

On the other hand, you could ask a liberal a hundred questions about the problems facing our country before you'd get to an answer that placed conservatism at the heart of the nation's ills.

And conservatives learn these messages when still young. What does a "campus liberal" do? Well, it depends what his or her issue is: fighting sweatshop labor, or environmental degradation, or the Iraq war, or any of a dozen other problems about which liberals are concerned. What, on the other hand, does a "campus conservative" do? Fight liberals and liberalism.

More HERE

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

This piece does explain quite a bit (including some for the so-called Cons that post their hate here)

capt

I keep trying to get a point across, this is what I get as a reply:

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence. We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

*****

Well no kidding, I have a sneaking suspicion that Bunnypants cannot spell "response" let alone the other difficult multi-syllabic words above.

HA!

capt

Yes, David, they successfully stonewalled -- as they have in the past and will surely do in the future. (Think Cheney stonewalling GAO!) Bob Novak is a pal to lots of Repugs.

Hey, let's remember that some of these thugs are alums from the Nixon Administration, where stalling and stonewalling worked for months, getting them past one election before all hell broke lose. Rove et al. know that stalling always creates the possibility for other events to change the dynamics as a potential scandal unfolds.

The bush administration is riddled with people who have no shame; the sleaze factor is no big deal to them because their constitutents are just as sleazy. Totally unethical is okay with them. Technically legal is okay with them. Illegal is okay with them. Whatever works.

Puh-thetic! (I can't say that as well as Hajji does.)

Confluence of Hurdles Hampers Panel’s Iraq Probe
By Tim Starks, CQ Staff

A Senate panel investigation into the use of intelligence leading up the the Iraq war remains in limbo after almost three years of politically charged clashes over the content and conclusions of the inquiry.

Nonetheless, Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, set still more deadlines Tuesday for finalizing some of the work despite those differences.

With midterm elections looming, the investigation is mired in fundamental issues, such as lawmakers’ squabbling over the scope of the investigation and whether it should draw conclusions. It is also slowed by intelligence community resistance and a pending Pentagon inspector general investigation, lawmakers said.

Even under the new deadlines, the investigation would have virtually no chance of being completed before the fall elections.

More.

micki, from the previous thread: I know essentially nothing about stem cells, and furthermore I know that I know essentially nothing, and furthermore I know that I know that I know...

The world rebuilds it, Israelis destroy it - again and again and again

What's wrong with this picture?
Beit Hanoun's veteran bridge builder shrugged off his latest misfortune: the Israelis destroyed the main span into town three years ago. The European Union rebuilt it. And overnight the Israelis destroyed it again.

"I'm sad but what can I do," said Wagih Elbity, the city's 59-year-old civil engineer, after an air strike jolted him out of bed on Tuesday morning and turned another of his beloved concrete bridges into a steaming mound of rubble and sewage.

Elbity said Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza town of 20,000, would appeal again to the EU for funds to rebuild. But with the Hamas-led Palestinian government facing a Western aid boycott, he said: "This time, they cannot give us any money."
I have a novel idea. Make Israelis pay for it.

The air and ground offensive has also devastated Gaza's infrastructure, compounding Palestinian hardships and upsetting international donors who have poured millions of dollars into rebuilding it after earlier Israeli offensives.

* * *

Swedish, British and other envoys have stepped up pressure on Israel in recent days. Even the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, is complaining about strikes against bridges and power stations, some built with U.S. taxpayer money.
Israelis are allowed to kill women and children with impunity, but when it affects bankers' pockets the world takes a stand.

Since the bombing began on June 28, two of the largest donors to the Palestinians -- the European Union and Japan -- have seen several large projects destroyed or damaged. The Japanese government just launched a $19 million programme to rehabilitate and widen Gaza's Salahudeen Road, badly damaged by previous Israeli raids, when the Israelis bombed it again.

Not even Washington has been spared. Gaza's main power plant, bombed on the first night of the offensive, was insured for up to $48 million by an arm of the U.S. government.
Why not? As long as someone else picks up the tab.

"This is frustrating," said Eliasson of Sweden, whose government provided two of the six electric transformers that were destroyed on June 28 -- at a cost of $1 million each.

"We are very concerned that installations we financed for the well-being of the people of Gaza are being wasted," he said.

Former Palestinian public works minister, Abdel-Rahman Hamad, said international reconstruction projects will have to be put on hold until Israel agrees not to strike them in future. [which they will never do]

"How do you convince donors to fund a bridge when the Israelis are going to just destroy it again?" asked Hamad as he peered through the gaping holes blasted in the Beit Hanoun bridge. "It is a waste of time and money."
That's the whole plan. Reduce Palestinians to a slave race with no economy of their own and nowhere to turn for assistance.

With more than $300,000 in EU funding, the four-lane bridge was just two years old when it was bombed on Saturday.

But one lane survived. Early Tuesday morning, Israel finished the job with two missiles, witnesses said.

Now only one bridge remains standing in Beit Hanoun. "After two or three nights, maybe Israel will destroy this bridge too," Elbity said.
You can count on it.
--------------
Armageddon is brewing and you are writing about Novak, AGAIN? Karma is waiting for Israel. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Micki,

I posted this a couple of days ago, but it bears repeating, and since you mentioned the Nixon Alumna...

U.S. reaps what the Army sows
David R. Irvine

Recent headlines from Iraq are ugly: Marines charged with murdering Haditha civilians. A crippled man killed by Americans, who then planted a rifle and shovel near the body as if he had been burying roadside bombs. And a particularly gruesome charge that U.S. soldiers raped and killed an Iraqi woman, killed her family, and burned the bodies to cover the crime.
If these atrocities are carefully investigated, the likely deficiency may be sufficient command leadership and discipline. A recent book (May 2006) speaks to the issue of leader accountability with stunning eloquence. Tiger Force is a documented account of 120 U.S. soldiers who, between May and November of 1967, rotated through an Army special operations platoon. This platoon, Tiger Force, wreaked its vengeance in the vicinity of Duc Pho and Chu Lai in South Vietnam.
Operating largely on their own and only passingly accountable to a chain of command that rarely ventured into the jungles and paddies, these soldiers ruthlessly murdered hundreds of unarmed men, women and children. One soldier cut off a baby's head with a knife. Victims' ears were regularly sliced off, collected and fashioned into necklaces which some soldiers proudly wore. Other victims were scalped. Some were tortured. Teeth were kicked out to retrieve the gold from fillings. Virtually all of the civilian deaths were reported as "Viet Cong," even though, oddly, no weapons were ever found and none were ever reported. No officer in command ever questioned this glaring disparity.
That part of Tiger Force is grim enough. What the Army then did with the evidence is shocking, and what was covered up in 1974-75 may have sowed the headlines we are reaping in 2006. One of the most thorough Criminal Investigation Division (CID, the Army's internal FBI) investigations ever conducted, meticulously gathered the facts surrounding the war crimes committed by Tiger Force. The evidence was voluminous, certain and had been obtained at the risk of a few investigators' lives.
In 1974-75, Richard Cheney was a special assistant to President Ford. Ford's chief of staff was Donald Rumsfeld. The secretary of defense from 1973-75 was James Schlesinger. The case was made to disappear by these men who served presidents Nixon and Ford - probably out of considerations of politics. There were never any charges filed against the soldiers or the officers who ordered and participated in the routine killing of civilians.
The only reason the case file ever became public was that the CID officer who directed the investigation, and who later commanded the Criminal Investigation Division, kept a copy of the investigation file, and prior to his death in 2002 made provision for the file to be delivered to a reporter with the Toledo Blade.
Thirty years later, Mr. Rumsfeld refuses to discuss the Tiger Force case. Mr. Cheney declines to discuss much of anything. Mr. Schlesinger conducted one of the see-no-evil investigations at Abu Ghraib. The senior leadership of the Army and the nation prefers to characterize war crimes as the work of a few "bad apples." My Lai was pinned to Lt. William Calley, who suited the bad apple role.
Tiger Force was far larger, killed three times as many people, but involved too many "bad apples" and too much gore to maintain the right story line.
The common thread which runs from Tiger Force through My Lai, to Guantanamo, Bagram and Abu Ghraib, to a hundred episodes of sadistic brutality inflicted by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, is the remarkable fact that the official responsibility for all these tragedies never runs higher than the lowest-level trigger-pullers or body-stackers.
But suppose in 1975 that Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney had made a different decision. Suppose the CID Tiger Force investigation had been permitted to charge the perpetrators and their superior officers with war crimes. Suppose a court-martial inquiry had asked why no battalion commanders bothered to check out the reports of Tiger Force ear collections? What if a colonel or two had been found guilty of failing to adequately control the troops under their command? For starters, those cases and leadership lessons would have been part of today's core curriculum in ROTC and at West Point.
This administration never holds anyone in senior positions accountable for derelict performance. However, unless there is full accountability for the war crimes of Iraq - wherever the evidence leads - there is a high probability that the lessons today's lieutenants and captains need to learn about the law of war and command leadership will never be sufficiently absorbed to make the crucial difference when those men and women become colonels and generals.

I am afraid this is a pretty lame retreat by David and an attempt change the subject.

David was the one proclaiming a violation of the law. He was wrong. And it now sounds like the ones most responsible for Novak's disclosure are Armitage, the CIA media guy, and Wilson himself lising his wife's name in the Who's Who publication, which is not anything like what David alleged and has pushed all these years.

For him to now attempt to change the subject to Novak's behavior in the investigation and his mischaracterization of Bush's pledge (while phrased inartfully at times, it in substnce was if someone violated the law they would be fired), is hardly an straightforward approach on issue on which, overall, David was wrong.

#29 Dr. B! How refreshing! I love it when people willingly admit to not knowing something rather than pretending or being willfully ignorant.

#31 RS - thanks. I'm going right now to read that article.

Conservative Scarborough: 'Accidental' leak story 'garbage'
David Edwards

Has anyone actually seen that listing in Who's Who?

DB,

That means you are wise. That is worth more than a bunch of stuff. I do not really know, and I know I do not really know, but that is what I think! HA!

Micki,

"I can't say that as well as Hajji does."

Nobody can, Hajji RAWKS! (you do too)

capt

Micki,

It can be accessed very easily (Marquis Who's Who) offers a one week free trial.

I did not set up an account because I know it has Valerie Plames name in it, it does not have nor has Novak claimed it had her NOC status or employement - Just her name.

Read Novak's BS piece (of crap) he says that is where he got her name, nothing else - a not-so-red herring.

capt

#34,

I think that might actually touch on the truth. No leak of the magnitude is "accidental" not even!

capt

#31 "...In 1974-75, Richard Cheney was a special assistant to President Ford. Ford's chief of staff was Donald Rumsfeld. The secretary of defense from 1973-75 was James Schlesinger. The case was made to disappear by these men who served presidents Nixon and Ford - probably out of considerations of politics. There were never any charges filed against the soldiers or the officers who ordered and participated in the routine killing of civilians....

But suppose in 1975 that Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney had made a different decision. Suppose the CID Tiger Force investigation had been permitted to charge the perpetrators and their superior officers with war crimes. "
++++++
Robert S -- well for one thing, Rumsfeld and Cheney wouldn't be sitting where they are today if the case had seen the light of day back in 1975.

A SMOKING GUN: PRESIDENT’S CLAIM THAT TAX CUTS PAY FOR THEMSELVES REFUTED BY ADMINISTRATION’S OWN ANALYSIS
By James Horney

In remarks on July 11 touting revised deficit projections in the Mid-Session Review of the Budget, President Bush once again claimed that tax cuts pay for themselves:

“Some in Washington say we had to choose between cutting taxes and cutting the deficit….Today’s numbers show that that was a false choice. The economic growth fueled by tax relief has helped send our tax revenues soaring. That’s what has happened.”[1]

These remarks mirror previous statements by the President, the Vice-President, and key Congressional leaders that the increase in revenues in 2005 and the increase now projected for 2006 prove that tax cuts “pay for themselves” — that the economy expands so much as a result of tax cuts that it produces the same level of revenue as it would have without the tax cuts.[2]

Economists and budget analysts outside of the administration have explained that these claims are not supported by data or economic theory.[3] Now a Department of Treasury analysis presented in the Mid-Session Review itself confirms what outside experts have consistently said — tax cuts do not come remotely close to paying for themselves.[4]

More, and footnotes.

******************************8

Speaking of More, here's another Pink Floyd song off the Album, More.

Cymbaline

The path you tread is narrow
And the drop is shear and very high
The ravens all are watching
From a vantage point nearby
Apprehension creeping
Like a tube-train up your spine
Will the tightrope reach the end
Will the final couplet rhyme

And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me

A butterfly with broken wings
Is falling by your side
The ravens all are closing in
And there's nowhere you can hide
Your manager and agent
Are both busy on the phone
Selling coloured photographs
To magazines back home

And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me

The lines converging where you stand
They must have moved the picture plane
The leaves are heavy around your feet
You hear the thunder of the train
And suddenly it strikes you
That they're moving into range
Doctor Strange is always changing size

And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me

And it's high time
Cymbaline
It's high time
Cymbaline
Please wake me

Oliver Laurence North was a member of the United States Marine Corps who achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He rose to national prominence because of the Iran-Contra Affair, during which he was a key Reagan administration official involved in the clandestine selling of weapons to Iran in order to generate proceeds to support the Contra rebel group in violation of the law ó specifically, a provision known as the Boland Amendment.

In November 1986, President Reagan fired North, and in July 1987 he was summoned to testify before televised hearings of a joint Congressional committee formed to investigate Iran-Contra. During the hearings, he admitted that he had lied to Congress, for which he was later charged among other things. He defended his actions by stating that he believed in the goal of aiding the Contras, whom he saw as freedom fighters, and said that he viewed the Iran-Contra scheme as a "neat idea".

North was tried in 1988 in relation to his activities while at the National Security Council. He was indicted on sixteen felony counts and on May 4, 1989, he was convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents by his secretary, Fawn Hall, on his instructions. U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell sentenced him on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service.

Nothing to see here, move along. . . Just another covert Republican criminal operating out of the White House.

RS,

Great posts (always informative)

Excellent lyrics - I am a Floyd fan.

Thanks

capt

#39 - well for one thing, Rumsfeld and Cheney wouldn't be sitting where they are today if the case had seen the light of day back in 1975. - Micki

You'd at least like to think so, but I'm not quite sure. After all, My Lai made the papers, and Lt. Calley was tried, convicted, and even briefly imprisoned but an Army Major who was complicit in the cover up of the incident went on to become Sec. of State - Colin Powell.

Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners."

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands. . .

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center. This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified. I was censored in the US from all later reports.

Posted by: LBH at July 12, 2006 12:37 PM
-------------------

Please link to your source or STFU.

Excellent lyrics - I am a Floyd fan. - Capt.

Me too. And I'd been looking for a vinyl of "Piper at the Gates of Dawn," at a reasonable price for a while now...oh well.

Records still rock.

#2 eggman

I agree with you up to a point.

Sources should always be able to keep their anonymity if they fear repercussions. Some leak because they believe they are serving the public good, but whistleblowers can have their whole lives destroyed. The Bush Administration is known for it's vengeful, juvenile behavior. So are many others such as the U.N. Secretary John Bolton.

In this particular CIA leak case, it became clear that your arguments did indeed apply. Reporters had a civic duty to release their sources because the leaked information threatened national security and the lives of those involved with Valerie Plame's work. There has been more than just dark talk about how murders have occurred as a result of Rove's, Cheney's and Stephen Hadyn's (sp?) leaks. This is where the line has to be drawn on the rule of thumb for revealing sources. The public good outweighs the individual's good, in this case. The whole fiasco was poltically motivated and despicable.

On Judith Miller, one has to wonder. I think her huge ego got in the way of her thinking and reasoning capabilities. And her politics. She most likely assured her New York Times editors that her leaked information was johnny-on-the-spot. She did get it from the top.

You remember some of those leaked letters "Scooter" wrote her in jail. They were pals. You can't be pals with your sources.

Reporters have to hobnob with their sources to a certain degree or they'll never get anything worth reporting. I was an old-style journalist, raised by old-style journalists. Only at the local level though. Still, hobnobbing yielded grand results, while sticking to old-fashioned, truthful journalistic rules and ethics. It can all be fused together. It's not that hard. Laziness in journalism cannot be tolerated. That's what riles you and it is rampant in today's journalistic circles.

Carrie,

To this day, Oly says he lied to congress because he is a patriot.

What a slug, eh?

capt

#44 - Ailes, LBH will do neither, if convention holds.

But, I've been gotten to thinking of him as:

Arnold Layne...

From the previous thread:

#146 TurdBlossom

Yeess! Oh God, I loved him. He was such a jazz to watch, slicking back his hair and forever checking himself out in that ever-present mirror. Music was hot too. Morris Day. He's gotta be still around?

#148 Gerald

You are such a good soul. I completely understand your need to post--I share that with you. Realize that it comes from a real love of humanity. I'm sure you know that.

Oliver North is the living embodiment of all things icky.

eggman, nice-sounding but absolutely ridiculous statement! Sorry, you faux pased! Tell your buddy at #24 that you are sorry that he fell for it!

#2 eggman: "The rule of thumb should be that sources can never be anonymous if the information supports the source's public goals."

I'll wager all my $worth that in EVERY instance, a source/leaker has "public goals". I'll also bet that in most cases, the sources/leakers also have private goals.

It lokoks like the progressive bottom feeders are feeding on one of their own... Where will you Cornnuts get your news now?

Is the Daily Kos About to Implode?

Real Clear Politics ^ | July 11, 2006 | Noel Sheppard

It appears that the post-Yearly Kos month from hell is continuing for Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the proprietor of the Internet's premier liberal blog Daily Kos. After receiving some extremely negative press from major publications such as the New York Times, The New Republic, and Newsweek immediately following his seemingly successful bloggers' convention in Las Vegas, Kos is now faced with an even greater challenge: dissension within his ranks.

Such internal squabbling comes at the same time that many prominent Democrats seem to be privately expressing concern about the direction the "netroots" - the self-described Internet grassroots movement of liberal bloggers and their loyal followers - are taking the Party. This seemingly inconvenient planetary alignment is not only threatening the long-term viability of this crusade, but also is putting Kos in an uncomfortable position just as his notoriety is skyrocketing.

As reported here on June 30, revelations about Kos's friend and former business partner Jerome Armstrong - from stock fraud allegations to accepting consulting fees from not so liberal candidates - have cast a cloud over the blog and its leader. This pall has also undermined the stellar relationship Kos has had with the traditional media up to this point.

Yet, maybe more important, these revelations - along with the way Markos and his Kossacks reacted to them - have caused some prominent DKos bloggers to question the behavior of Zuniga and his devotees. Such a civil war within the liberal blogosphere certainly has the potential to further discredit it, while likely making the mainstream media as well as the candidates they revere less apt to associate with this developing train wreck.

Is the Daily Kos taking a cue form Cornnutland?

Isn't this how you lefties forced poor Saladin off the site?

Can't we all just get along? Ha Ha!!

109
LBH -- get a life.

Senator Al Gore of Tennessee was not a member of the United States Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition and therefore did not take part in the questioning of any witnesses before the Committee.

Your asinine screed was debunked YEARS AGO! Lies, lies, lies. You'd better update your GOP Talking Points Notebook.

Posted by: micki at July 12, 2006 12:55 PM

- - - - - -
LBH is a lying dollop of whaleshit. The lowest of all excrement. It sinks to the ocean floor.

This is how Murtha wants to bring our troops home:

Irey to Murtha: Do you Approve of Using Fallen Soldiers as Democratic Fund-Raising Tools?

Irey for Congress ^ | July 12, 2006 | Irey for Congress

(MONONGAHELA, July 12) – Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey – responding to a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising video using images of caskets of fallen American soldiers – today released the following statement:

“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week sent out a fundraising video using images of caskets of fallen American soldiers. Raising campaign cash off the deaths of our honored dead is revolting. Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel should be ashamed of themselves – and so should any Democrat who stands for this.

“Consequently, I have a new question for Jack Murtha today: Do you approve of exploiting fallen American heroes for political fundraising purposes? If not, will you join me in demanding that Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel apologize, and then insist that the DCCC forward any funds raised off this disgusting solicitation to appropriate charities?”

Part 1

The Rest of Murtha's FBI Tape

By David Holman
Published 7/12/2006 12:09:33 AM

What is on the rest of Congressman Jack Murtha's now infamous FBI tape? Much more than the available video reveals.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of conservative media and blogs in January and February of this year, many readers now know or remember that Congressman Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the "Abscam" investigation of the late 1970s and 1980. (I wondered where the mainstream media's outrage was over Murtha's murky lobbyist relationships, besides the L.A. Times's lone, forgotten piece on the subject.)

In recent weeks, Murtha's Abscam past has enjoyed renewed attention in the higher echelons of conservative media, with even Rush Limbaugh and Bob Novak joining the chorus.

Still, only a brief, 13-second snippet of a tape of the FBI's undercover meeting with Murtha is widely available. The agent tells him, "I went out, I got the $50,000. OK? So what you're telling me, OK, you're telling me that that's not what you know...." Murtha replies, "I'm not interested. I'm sorry. At this point [emphasis Murtha's]."

In his column, Novak hinted at the content of the tape. "The videotape showed Murtha declining to take cash but expressing interest in further negotiations, while bragging about his political influence." We have seen him declining the cash and expressing interest, but not the bragging. What is on the rest of the tape?

An article from the August 6, 1980, Washington Post, inexplicably unavailable on LexisNexis, fills in some of the gaps. Written by Jack Anderson, the sometimes controversial yet Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative columnist, the article details Murtha's conversation with the investigators and sheds further light on his status as an unindicted co-conspirator. Anderson's reporter, Gary Cohn, apparently reviewed the tapes.

Part 2

Anderson framed Murtha's performance as "perhaps the saddest scene on the secret Abscam videotapes.... He refused to take the money, but his reason was hardly noble." The column continued:

"I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period.... After we've done some business, well, then I might change my mind...."

..."I'm going to tell you this. If anybody can do it -- I'm not B.S.-ing you fellows -- I can get it done my way." he boasted. "There's no question about it."...

But the reluctant Murtha wouldn't touch the $50,000. Here on secret videotape was this all-American hero, tall and dignified in a disheveled way, explaining why he wasn't quite ready to accept the cash.

"All at once," he said, "some dumb [expletive deleted] would go start talking eight years from now about this whole thing and say [expletive deleted], this happened. Then in order to get immunity so he doesn't go to jail, he starts talking and fingering people. So the [S.O.B.] falls apart."...

"You give us the banks where you want the money deposited," offered one of the bagmen.

"All right," agreed Murtha. "How much money we talking about?"

"Well, you tell me."

"Well, let me find out what is a reasonable figure that will get their attention," said Murtha, "because there are a couple of banks that have really done me some favors in the past, and I'd like to put some money in....["]

The dialogue continued as follows:

Amoroso: Let me ask you now that we're together. I was under the impression, OK, and I told Howard [middleman Howard Criden] what we were willing to pay, and [This is where the available videotape begins]I went out, I got the $50,000. OK? So what you're telling me, OK, you're telling me that that's not what you know....

Murtha: I'm not interested.

Amoroso: OK.

Murtha: At this point, [This is where the available videotape ends] you know, we do business together for a while. Maybe I'll be interested and maybe I won't.... Right now, I'm not interested in those other things. Now, I won't say that some day, you know, I, if you made an offer, it may be I would change my mind some day.

It is damning stuff. But the mainstream media has yet to question Murtha aggressively about that short snippet of tape, much less the full reel. After my February article questioned Murtha's ties to defense contractors while chairing the defense appropriations subcommittee, John McLaughlin interviewed Murtha on his obscure One on One program. Besides suggesting that my article originated with a "sinister genius at the White House," McLaughlin asked Murtha about the tape:

MR. MCLAUGHLIN: ...Murtha was approached by an undercover FBI agent, and you're on tape telling the agent, quote, unquote, "I'm not interested." Is that true?

REP. MURTHA: Not only that, John; they pulled a drawer out and they had $50,000 there and I said, "I'm not interested." I said, "I'm interested in investment in my district, period."

Not interested, period? The only "period" that Anderson reported Murtha using in the conversation was, "I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transaction at all, period." No wonder Murtha has kept a generally low profile through most of his political career.

This is how Murtha wants to bring our troops home: - LBH

He then proceeds to post about a video with images of caskets.

Are you saying that Murtha wants our servicemembers dead?

As far as fundraising goes, in the effort to unseat the warmongers, images of caskets are the real-dead costs of this folly, and are legitamate to use.

Far better that than refusing to show the war dead, keeping reporters away from Dover, so no images allowed.

The WAR is the Obscenity, not the images...

hmmm, it seems to me that someone on this blog has said many times that another terror attack would occur and this time be blamed on a joint iranian/syrian op as a pretense for bombing the tar out of both countries (look at maps of the region) - anyway, i don't recall who's actually said that many times and it's not important who really, but i would imagine that right about now that person is saying "i told you so".
---
ROSTOCK, Germany (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday demanded the immediate release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas and blamed Syria and Iran for the attacks.

"We condemn in the strongest terms Hizbollah's unprovoked attack on Israel and the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers," said Frederick Jones, spokesman with the White House National Security Council.

"We call for immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers," Jones told reporters in Germany, hours before President George W. Bush was to arrive for meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We also hold Syria and Iran, which directly support Hizbollah, responsible for this attack and for the ensuing violence," Jones said.
---------
wow. syria and iran sure must be morons to practically invite a sound recrimination by way of a massive bombing campaign. morons.

RS - I agree with your post. I'd like to remind you and everyone here lbh isn't here to engage in anything more than piffle, distraction and prevarication. If it gives you some satisfaction, tear him a new one but don't waste your time and energy responding unless you get something out of it.

I attribute the climb in fortunes to my personal genius despite the failures (all that ball dropping) of the Bush Administration. This is where I'd put one of those sidewise smiley faces. I don't do sidewise smiley faces.

You don't do peronal genius either. When are you going to learn to link? Show us some of that personal genius. No one expects it. Try it. My money's on you. Pande says you can't learn it. He thinks you're learning disabled.

It's The WRONG ATTA!

Following the September 11, 2001 Attacks in the United States it was initially thought that Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta was one of the hijackers on board the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. This led to the harsh questioning of US immigration authorities and the intelligence community, because it was felt that they had failed to stop a known terrorist from entering the country under his true name. However his identity was confused with the Egyptian militant leader Mohammed Atta who was actually on board the flight.

Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta's current whereabouts are unknown.

More HERE

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

Memories must be short. This is standard boiler plate troll. Distract with information they KNOW to be false.

Please quit posting to them, even asking for clarification. None will ever clarify, they just muddy up the water.

capt

If you feed the trolls you can expect them to show up for food.

They do not post anything that contributes to the discussion or is even informative. That is unless you think "wetback" and "idiots", personal attacks and useless invective are what passes for political discourse? (they do if you let it happen)

You can do the math. Ignore the ignorant it is the only right thing to do.

But what do I know?

capt

From the Terrorist ATTA's Wiki

Mistaken identity

Initially, Mohamed Atta's identity was confused with that of a native Jordanian, Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta, who bombed a bus in 1986 on the Israel-occupied West Bank, killing one and severely injuring three. Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was subsequently deported from Venezuela to the United States, extradited to Israel, tried and sentenced to life in prison. The Israeli supreme court later overturned his extradition and set him free; his whereabouts are unknown. He is 14 years older than Mohamed Atta. After the September 11 attacks, a general furor arose over the supposed failure of immigration authorities and the U.S. intelligence community to stop a known terrorist from entering the country under his true name. Eventually, The Boston Globe reported details from records at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals detailing the detention and subsequent extradition of Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta from the U.S.

More HERE

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

Understand why the trolls just post spew, never link or cite their source is because in doing so they expose the fact that they are WRONG - something they cannot admit without a tantrum.

capt

My sister (bless her GOP heart) sent me the email about Atta, they pass this kind of disinformation to each other in "chain letters" it is too pathetic for words. (also very creepy)

The fact that they believe the crap they are spoon fed offends anybody that has respect for what it right or what is factual or appreciates the truth. They do not think - they believe - that way they do not have to conflict with reality.

They are a waste of time. Well a waste of my time.

capt

Re #64: capt, even with a tantrum.

News of the Day: Late Edition

The permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible punishment, after becoming fed up with Tehran's refusal to begin "serious" negotiations.

The Israeli military mobilized armored vehicles and tanks on the Lebanon border in response to the killing of seven Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of two by Hezbollah. Israel's Prime Minister said the militant's attack was an "act of war." The kidnapping is the second such event in recent weeks.

The French soccer star who may have cost his team victory in the World Cup by head butting an Italian player apologized publicly "to all the children." Zinedine Zidane said that the Italian defender had insulted his mother and sister, but declined to reveal the specific insult.

A U.S. Treasury official said that the Bush administration wants U.S. banks to turn over all data on customers international wire transfers. Such data used to be kept secret. The change in policy, however, will go through a public comment period, unlike the previous effort to acquire wire transfer data sent through the international banking system called Swift. Republicans yesterday attacked the White House for failing to brief them on the formerly secret Swift program.

After a piece of concrete fell and killed a woman, a full review of Boston's "Big Dig" has been ordered.

Virginia's governor pardoned a woman convicted of witchcraft through a "witch ducking trial" 300 years ago Tuesday. The Witch of Pungo, Grace Sherwood, was convicted in 1706 after colonists threw her in the Lynnhaven River and she floated a clear indication of witchcraft. Sherwood served seven years in jail and lived to be 80. Former pig farmer Belinda Nash worked to secure Sherwood's much belated pardon by threatening to call the governor's office every two hours unless a pardon was issued.

More HERE

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

All of these topics - fresh and pretty interesting. Yet the troll brings the "Joe Wilson frog walk" and an Atta that has be exposed as the wrong Atta for YEARS? WHY?

To distract not discuss, not learn no the troll says he teaches? Again we all know the math on that! HA!

capt

DB,

Touche'

HA!

capt

No one forced anyone off this site. Each one of us makes our own decisions.

This is how Murtha wants to bring our troops home: - LBH

He then proceeds to post about a video with images of caskets.

Are you saying that Murtha wants our servicemembers dead?

He's making money off it isn't he? I say join me in asking him to stop making money off our dead soldiers. What an asshole!!

The WAR is the Obscenity, not the images...

Murtha is the obscenity, not the images....

My sister (bless her GOP heart) sent me the email about Atta, they pass this kind of disinformation to each other in "chain letters" it is too pathetic for words. (also very creepy)

The fact that they believe the crap they are spoon fed offends anybody that has respect for what it right or what is factual or appreciates the truth. They do not think - they believe - that way they do not have to conflict with reality.

They are a waste of time. Well a waste of my time.

capt

Capt, I only posted this to show how fucking loony you guys are in posting bullshit 9/11 conspiracies, Rove being indicted, Cheney going to jail, blah blah blah! All lies that you trolls have told with no truth to them what so ever. I believe the crap sent in an email as much as any crap you've ever posted on this site.

At least your sister got the brains in the family! Ha!

Pande says you can't learn it. He thinks you're learning disabled.

I know, Pandy likes to discriminate against black people and the disabled. Whats new?

I get a kick out of your Liberals and your conspiracy theories. If you can't win something or prove something, there has to be a conspiracy. WHen you have to face the real world and realize that most of America is not like you, you may have to face the ugly truth. You are not mainstream America. You are left-wing nuts and a very small minority in America. If the amount of regular posters on this site is indicative of numbers, I fear nothing from the Liberal movement. Is that why you keep calling yourselves Progressives? Don't like the fact that your ideas are truly Liberal?

Capt,

Heres a good one:

It's been said, by some, that Clinton let Atta stay the night in the Lincoln bedroom for a small campaign donation.

All of these topics - fresh and pretty interesting. Yet the troll brings the "Joe Wilson frog walk" and an Atta that has be exposed as the wrong Atta for YEARS? WHY?
Capt

Actually the French soccer story is very interesting. It shows what a bunch of friggin babies with no sportsmanship qualities soccer players are and then they still get the best player award. Sounds like the UN was in charge.

"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist." ~~Winston Churchill

=
"The mission of the Gestapo expanded steadily as, from 1933 onward, 'political criminality' was given a much broader definition than ever before and most forms of dissent and criticism were gradually criminalized. The result was that more 'laws' or lawlike measures were put on the books than ever." - -- Shelia Fitzpatrick - Source: Accusatory Practices: Denunciation in Modern European History, 1789-1989, 1997

=
"Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity." Lord Acton - [John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton] (1834-1902), First Baron Acton of Aldenham - Source: Letter, 23 January 1861

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

LBH is a lying dollop of whaleshit. The lowest of all excrement. It sinks to the ocean floor.

By OReilly

OReilly is the bottom feeder that laps up the whale shit like it's candy and can't get enough!

I even get a bigger kick out of the fact that very few of you on this site will even admit you are Liberal. That is how rotten that way of thinking has become. I am Conservative and proud of it. Notice that it is only the left who try to label conservatives other than to who they are and Liberals are the ones who label themselves something other what they truly are. Funny a liberal can only come up with neo-conservative. Yet, for themselves, they change the whole word. Why not neo-Liberals? Nah!

What is up with the nutmeg quotes? Trying to prove you are not a Liberal or trying to prove you are? Original thoughts please. Copy/Paste, quotes, etc are boring. Links, I enjoy.

Pinochet 'sold cocaine to Europe and US'

Augusto Pinochet's $26m (?14m) fortune was amassed through cocaine sales to Europe and the US, the general's former top aide for intelligence has alleged.

In testimony sent to Chilean Judge Claudio Pavez, Manuel Contreras alleges that Pinochet and his son Marco Antonio organised a massive production and distribution network, selling cocaine to Europe and the US in the mid-1980s.

According to Contreras, once Pinochet's ally and now a bitter enemy, Pinochet ordered the army to build a clandestine cocaine laboratory in Talagante, a rural town 24 miles from Santiago. There he had chemists mix cocaine with other chemicals to produce what Contreras described as a "black cocaine" capable of being smuggled past drug agents in the US and Europe.

Pinochet denied the charges. His son also denied the charges and said he would sue the former head of intelligence whom he called "a liar" and "a monster".

More HERE

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

Drugs? You mean like illegal drugs? Well that come with a criminal enterprise. Why do you think they keep drugs illegal? Because they can turn a better (off books) profit. The ends justify the means so anything goes!

capt

I hate to have to break this news to you David, but Liberals do not buy books. Especially those on this site. They let the government buy them for them and then use their local library to check them out. That is the Liberal way. Good luck on sales, otherwise. That is the Capitalist way.

Military Justice Idea Rejected for Alleged Terror Defendants

WASHINGTON -- Bush administration lawyers today rejected congressional suggestions to try alleged Al Qaeda and Taliban war criminals in the U.S. military justice system, saying military courts provide protections for defendants that are unwarranted in the war on terrorism.

In their most detailed description of administration policy since the Supreme Court struck down the Pentagon's special war crimes tribunals last month, the lawyers said their ability to introduce evidence gathered through coercion or through sensitive intelligence sources would be compromised if they were forced to use the Uniform Code of Military Justice to charge Al Qaeda defendants.

Key lawmakers in the debate —†including Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina —†have argued that the Supreme Court ruling directed them to use the military code as the legal framework for war crimes courts. They have offered to amend the code to deal with some of the administration's concerns.

Lawyers from the Defense and Justice departments told a House Armed Services Committee hearing today that such a plan was unworkable. They urged lawmakers to adopt wholesale the system put in place by President Bush four years ago, despite the court's finding that it did not provide the accused with the basic rights that are guaranteed by U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions.

Daniel J. Dell'Orto, the Pentagon's principal deputy general counsel, said hundreds of changes to military laws would be required if Congress insisted on using the military code as the basis for new war crimes courts. "That is a gutting of the manual for courts-martial and the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Dell'Orto said.

The insistence that Congress readopt the administration's old war crimes commissions is the latest sign that —†despite the historic Supreme Court ruling and Tuesday's acknowledgment that the Geneva Conventions apply to all Pentagon detainees —†the administration is likely to be just as aggressive in asserting its authority over detainee treatment as it has been in the past.

More HERE

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

These neocon-men will not listen to anything or anyone that does not already agree with them. That is the problem with true believers.

"They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness." ~ Louise Erdrich

capt

Pink Floyd's Barrett dies

Syd Barrett, a founder of Pink Floyd and one of the legendary lost souls of rock 'n' roll, has died at his British home.

He died "several days ago" of complications from diabetes, said a family spokesman. He was 60 and had not recorded for many years.

Barrett formed Pink Floyd in 1964 with classmate Roger Waters, Nicky Mason and Rick Wright, and was widely considered the main force behind the band's unique early sound.

His sweeping electronic compositions often ran 20 minutes or more and helped usher in the the era of free-form "psychedelic" rock with songs like "Interstellar Overdrive."

Barrett also embraced the psychedelic drugs that were part of that culture, including LSD, and he began zoning out in concerts, strumming one chord for an entire evening or just staring at the crowd.

In 1968, after he had walked out of a recording session, he was asked to leave the band.

Producer Richard Buskin later said he had suffered a "complete mental breakdown," and he disappeared for almost 20 years before he turned up living with his mother.

More HERE

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

Rest in peace. A very sad day.

capt

Here is a perfect example of Liberal damned if you do, damned if you don't idiocy. That is why Liberalism is becoming extinct.

MSNBC

My guess is the writer of the article is also an idiot. There is usually a bush behind every skirt unless you are a cross-dresser.

I even get a bigger kick out of the fact that very few of you on this site will even admit you are Liberal

Liberals do not buy books.

emmerson, i'm not even sure what a liberal is so why don't you define it for me and i promise that if i am one i will admit it ok? but for the record, i live in a house full of books. in fact there are so many books here that i will never ever run out of firewood. but back to being liberal; you define it, i'll cop to it if i am one. deal?

82 I hate to have to break this news to you David, but Liberals do not buy books. Especially those on this site. They let the government buy them for them and then use their local library to check them out. That is the Liberal way. Good luck on sales, otherwise. That is the Capitalist way.

Posted by: emmerson at July 12, 2006 09:29 PM

----------
emmerson, what do YOU know about what liberals have in their libraries?

You claim to know things you have no way of knowing.

Here's something you could know but you probably don't: How is the public library in your city financed?

Since you want to disparage davidcorn liberals for not buying his books, do you own one? I don't think so. There's a link on this page (top right) where you can buy it. Why don't you buy it... or not. Either way, shut fuc% up.

You're a lying liar... "My friend Bill just got back from Iraq. He writes 'Did you know... blaa blaa"

No one here believes you anymore.

I do not have to define it, it has already been defined long before I became of political age. Either you are one or you are not. That is your choice, not mine.

New show on CBS this fall

Desperately Outing Housewives

Hosted by Joseph Wilson who is described as a former Ambassador when he was never an Ambassador and featuring his former covert CIA wife who has not been covert for many years and whose name was found in the Who's Who in America by a reporter. What is discovered is that it was the Bush Administration who had never heard of Joe Wilson or Valerie Plame but many in the D.C. Liberal dinner invitation circuit knew who they were. That is how Novak found out that Valerie worked for the CIA. He only confirmed the information with the CIA before reporting it. Since she was not "covert" they had no reason not to admit it.

Next show, Hillary admits all. Bill raped Juanita, fondled Kathleen, and smoked a soggy cigar after an encounter with Monica. Jennifer already got her money so she dismisses it as usual. Liberals respond positively and forgive her for her stance in the war on Iraq. Hillary still loses in 2008. Better luck in 2012.

ACLU get Oliver North's Conviction Overturned
On July 20, 1990, with the help of the ACLU , North's conviction was overturned by a three-judge appeals panel in advance of further proceedings on the grounds that his public testimony may have prejudiced his right to a fair trial. The Supreme Court declined to review the case, and Judge Gesell dismissed the charges on September 16, 1991, after hearings on the immunity issue, on the motion of the independent counsel.

======
STOP the ACLU !!!!!

I know what Liberals have in their library and I don't have to go into their houses to find it. I have seen posts on this site from people who have admitted that they have reserved a book that had already been checked out at the local library. Did I strike a nerve? And why are you posting to me anyway? Are you not following the orders of your captain?

How many times have the different definitions of Liberal been posted here over the years? What is wrong with giving a shit about your fellow man and your country? When the ignorant trolls get on that word you have to wonder about their motive, or more importantly, their sanity. IGNORE THEM! That Paul Waldman article posted above was excellent.

Philosophy of American liberalism

The philosophy of classical American liberalism owes a great deal to thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine, both quoted below. It favours restricted government and liberty of the individual.

Views about classical American liberalism
The philosophy of American liberalism is a celebration of the common man, and a recognition that honest, hardworking, law abiding Americans contribute more to society than kings and princes.

John Adams wrote, "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right... and a desire to know." (1765); "A government of laws, not of men." (1774); "The happiness of society is the end of government. (1776);

Samuel Adams wrote, "Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum." (1776)

Thomas Paine wrote, "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil." (1776)

Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Were it left to me to have a government with no newspapers, or newspapers with no government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. (1787); "Experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind; for I can apply no milder term... to the general prey of the rich upon the poor." (1787); "The care of human life and happiness ... is the first and only legitimate object of good government." (1809); "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." (1816) "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Some positions associated with American liberalism
freedom of the individual
freedom of the press
the rights of man
separation of church and state
equality for all regardless of race, age, religon, income, sex and sexual orientation.

Acceptance of the New York Liberal Party Nomination

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." ~ JFK

More HERE

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Liberal is not a bad thing but it is a label. I think most people are all over the spectrum of possibilities indexed by issue. The binary logic is too limited for reality. That is why the binary stinkers are not "base 36 thinkers."

Not to mention I am a liberal in many ways and yet am far more conservative than any I have heard that support this insult of a politician in the WH.

Not that it matters, my being a liberal also does not make any of the trolls a conservative so why would it matter to anybody except the most simplistic mind incapable of nuance and unable to hold two conflicting ideas in their heads at any one time.

capt

I know what Liberals have in their library and I don't have to go into their houses to find it.
LIE # 2867

I do not have to define [Liberal], it has already been defined
LIE # 2868

My friend Bill just got back from Iraq...
LIE # 2869

Posted by: emmerson at July 12, 2006 10:19 PM

1213=XP

Anyone?

capt

No thanks Capt. Thanks for asking.

I do not have to define it, it has already been defined... Either you are one or you are not. That is your choice, not mine.

oh i have to admit to something that you don't have to define? i did say that i wasn't sure what being a liberal actually entails but luckily for you emmerson, and myself, mr . @92 has defined it for us and even provided examples! do you agree with that assessment? i have to tell you that i always thought of myself as conservative as i strive to keep the books balanced and to pay as i go so to speak. i don't see the merit in cranking up a bunch of debt to be paid off later just so i can have loads of fun now. isn't that the basis of being a conservative? so i must be a conservative! on the other hand i see mr .'s examples of positions associated with liberalism and realize that i have always prided myself on abiding by those fine standards as well, so i must be a liberal! hmmm. am i a liberal conservative or a conservative liberal? is that actually a conundrum? it might be if i actually dwelled on it.
----
emmerson were you thinking of tricking me by saying "aha!" or something like that? because if so it won't work now as i'm hip to your little connivance!

96 - ha ha! you threw that back right in his face!

1213 = XP

The solution is posted on the thread above.

Another case of doing the math?

capt

emmerson, who knows what books I own and what books spy on this! owns despite never have entered either of our homes or ever having been briefed by us. HE'S A CLAIVOYANT!

What am I thinking emmerson?

That's right. You ARE a dick AND a liar.

Way to go captain. JFK was a Liberal. But there are few of them today that was like him. That is why they now call themselves Progressives. JFK believed in lower taxes, strong national defense, yet believed in government as the source of relief for societal ills. He and Nixon agreed on two of three things, on only the last of the three did they differ. JFK only won the nomination in '60 because he threatened to back Nixon if it wasn't given to him. He would not back the favorite of his own party, Lyndon Johnson. Source? Chris Matthews' book.

Call yourselves what you want, the sixties liberals after JFK gave you a bad name, not me, when they decided the War Hawk Johnson needed to pull troops out of Nam and the '68 nominee Humphrey, would not bow to the far left and commit to it. It is in your history, it is in your blood. Cut and run is inherited. That is why you have cut and run from the Liberal tag. Progressive is worse, it is only more cowardly than JFK, Johnson and Humphrey.