Bush is responsible for setting off the chain of events that has turned Iraq into a land of bedlam and blood. The terrorists and sectarian murderers of Iraq, of course, are guilty for their crimes. But it was the invasion and, most important, the Bush administration's complete and utter botching of the post-invasion challenges that gave the killers the opportunity to serve their bloodlust. - David Corn

How important is the botching of the job of occupation; allowing the looting, ignoring the arms caches, disbanding the police and army as well as the de-Ba'athification of Governmint and civil servants down to the level of ordinary Iraqis compared with the decision taken to illegaly and immorally go to war?

And who profits from the decision thus taken.

As for:

The fact that regions of Iraq have turned into a nightmare is no secret. But most Americans do not experience this reality viscerally. Many have no connections to a killed or wounded American soldier.

The Army is in the habit of drafting its own, now. Just ask Hajji about Sgt. Spanky. Yesterday on the train home I met an hispanic woman who just found out her son is going to Iraq. She was proud of his service to this country, which was giving her economic benefit, but, against this war, totally.

There were millions in the streets, in this country and around the world, in opposition to this war. Most were ignored, and belittled, even in this space.

Yesterday, 71 people were arrested in acts of civil disobedience.

Today, Cong. Joe Wilson defended the use of waterboarding on Washingtoon Journal.

The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime!

I hope you know David, I've had to spread my gems elsewhere. Can't keep them to myself. I kept coming here though. You can be sure of that.

Mr. Corn, thank you for a great article!!! However, the psyche of Nazi Americans love to see screaming women who are on fire.This sight makes Nazi Americans feel sooooo good because they feel more safe and secure in their homes that are protected with the bushgod in office!!!

I have added one more name to the Hall of Honor. His name is Father Bob Edgar. I heard him on the Diane Rehm show and he was great. I believe he has a book out titled, "Middle Church."

David,

True.

Thanx,

-T

Mr. David Corn,

Powerful post.

"it will look like just a comma"

Makes me wonder what kind of real big screw-up he has planned that could make Iraq look like a comma by comparison.

Perish the thought.

Thanks

Kirk

Shock and Awe, brutal cowards, chickenhawk dictators, death, torture, brutality.

Hall of Honor

Dear Cornposters:

I am announcing a new category for worthwhile people. Recognition is given to persons who have been attacked verbally and criticized by Nazis, fascists, scumbags, slime balls, neocons, and religious right groups. The new award is called Hall of Honor. I will add more names as they become available to me and as I can recall more names. You may assist with names as well. Politicians' names are excluded because most politicians are attacked verbally and criticized by some group or groups. I am also excluding names of my foxes. They are very special and deserving of a separate place for honors and accolades. Members of the Hall of Honor are persons who are a thorn in the side of the above-mentioned groups.

Here are the names of the recipients of this award.

David Corn***Bishop Thomas Gumbleton***Father John Dear***Greg Palast
Al Franken***Michael Moore***Bill Moyers***Jon Stewart***Sidney Blumenthal
Glenn Greenwald***Daniel Ellsberg***Richard Clarke***Paul O’éeil***Stephen Sherrill***Father Bob Edgar

Sincerely,

Gerald

Bush is right. Someday this will be a comma in history. But right now it's people and their lives. What family member of the injured and killed, both our military and the citizens of Iraq, want to be thought of as expendable? They are commas, simply there to further the good of America. Oh and maybe to smile at the notion of democracy even though we, the citizens of the US are watching the shreading of democracy here.

That statement that this war is just a comma in history is Bush at his lowest. He is trying desperately to downplay a disaster and he's willing to ignore the suffering of others to take the burden off his shoulders. Listen to the generals. They suffer for every death in war. You never hear them talking about people being commas. And if they do, they don't belong in a leadership role because it puts those that serve under them in a very vulnerable spot.

Mad, Bloodthirsty Cowards are all born with a Silver Spoon in their mouth.

The 'compromise' bill passed by the senate gives the president the right to determine if something is offensive and violates Convention 3.

Does this protect and insulate him for his war crimes?

Maybe the UN is as gutless as the right says they are. Bush should have been arrested on the spot.

Video: Daily Show examines Bush power to legalize torture
David Edwards
Published: Wednesday September 27, 2006

Close inspection of a compromise bill on detainee rights shows that the only The President of the United States will have the ability to define which detainee interrogation techniques are legal under the Common Article 3 of The Geneva Conventions. Harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding and stress position are considered forms of torture by many experts. However, the compromise reached be Republicans in the Senate gives the Bush Administration the power to legalize questionable form of torture interrogations.

In the following video report, Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, takes a look at the compromise bill agreed to by Republican Senators who had initially "revolted" against the Bush Administration's hard line.

"And the administration isn't just getting it from the Supreme Court, but from within their own party, in the form of Republican Senator Judas, Benedict Arnold, and, of course, Whiney McTraderface who openly defied the president by supporting anti-torture legislation the president vowed to block," Stewart said, referring to GOP Senators Lindsey Graham, John Warner and John McCain.

"Would the Senators hand the president a huge victory and the keys to Washington?" asks Stewart. "Or would President Bush be allowed to put the Electrodes of Freedom onto the Testicles of Terror?"

Stewart also highlights statements by Secretary Condoleezza Rice, who attempted to cast doubts on President Clinton's claim that the Clinton administration passed plans to the Bush Administration for combating al Qaeda. Jon Stewart concludes that Rice's attempted smearing of Bill Clinton may be be less than truthful.

Paul O'Neil is one of the honorees to the Hall of Honor.

He is in the Hall of Honor because Bush fired him. Mr. O'Neil has some great ideas in protecting social security. Being fired by Hitler Bush is in itself a great honor.

Another great moment captured live and posted on crooks and liars was Frist downplaying torture on This Morning with George Stephanopolis.

He kept wiggling around the issue by using the argument that we safer because we used the torture and will be safer in the future if we use the torture. Even though it has been proven over and over that torture doesn't work and in our present way of working we have no idea how many totally innocent people are in custody right now being tortured.

And again, as with Bush, we Americans are being told to turn a blind eye on the criminal behavior we are witnessing so that we might remain safe. The message to the rest of the world? You are expendable. Thank you.

Now, if I'm seeing that, what is the rest of the world thinking?

Robert and Others...

Thank you too

-T

"I am not accusing anyone in the news business of purposefully downplaying the terror in Iraq. But our media culture generally cannot maintain sustained shock and outrage."

Did you see the different covers for Newsweek?

I do not know if it is downplaying Iraq but the different covers really do speak to mass media manipulation.

capt

Middle Church

When media turn to Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell to speak for Christians, who do they represent? You?

Mr. Corn,
If this were a paper handed in by an undergraduate student I'd give it back to him and ask him to reduce the number of "absolute" statements.

Bush is responsible for setting... Yes, everything in the world is his fault. Everyone is a robot that simply unthinkingly responds to Bush's actions.

can only succeed if there is distance
Really? No other way, huh? Put on your thinking cap and try really hard to think of another way. C'mon, you can do it.

Every problem that has arisen in Iraq since the invasion was predicted... Really? Every single one? Wow, those CIA guys are brilliant! Maybe we should allow them to torture people since they're so smart.

Yet none of the warnings were heeded..Wow, not a single one? By the way, how do you know this?

Because of their negligence, preteens are burning to death in Baghdad. Again, you absolve everyone else of their responsibility. No matter what evil is committed, in your view it is Bush's fault. Your powers of analysis are astounding.

It is a cheap calculation to compare the monthly civilian death toll in Iraq with that of 9/11. But yet you go for it anyway. Nice work!

Perhaps it's because in this new media universe it's so damn easy to surf past such troubles. Your faux outrage is disgusting.

In a previous post I stated that i liked your work. This column has gone a long way to changing my mind.

I am shocked a once respectable magazine would be so crass as to offer a diffreent cover to their international editions.

If I subscribed to Newsweek I would be canceling my subscription.

People will have to stop supporting these BS MSM sources that support our dictator.

capt

"No matter what evil is committed, in your view it is Bush's fault."

If Bush did not LIE to start an UNNECESSARY and UNWISE and ILLEGAL invasion, none of the EVIL would be his fault. He DID so it is.

Get over yourself. Bush CANNOT be ABSOLVED of HIS responsibility. There is blood on HIS hands for every death, every dead child, every one of our dead troops. Tens if not hundreds of THOUSANDS of "collateral damage" for his HOBBY war?

The BUCK STOPS at Bush, not Corn.

capt

Even though it has been proven over and over that torture doesn't work

Jeanne, can you explain how something like that is "proven"?

Although you say it's been proven "over and over" can you cite for us even one study that "proves" that torture doesn't work?

It isn't hard to imagine a situation where torture would work. I'm faily certain I'd break in less than 15 seconds. Admitting torture works doesn't mean it's a good policy. There are better ways of getting reliable information than torture but to say torture "doesn't work" is silly.

Why is it that most pertinent news comes to us from outside the USA?

Mary....it doesn't work anymore. The evidence is clear. The generals are speaking. The CIA is speaking. The FBI is fuming. And they are all leaking like a sieve. It's like they love their country more than they love the president. Fancy that. Anyway, David Corn has over the years, as have many on this blogsite, given more than enough evidence to support all those claims. Your comments however provide me with no backing to your argument.

Sooooo...why don't you do that? With links please.

Bush is an incompetent loser who became the 'winner' by cheating. And look where he led us.

Mary,

Can you come up with ANYTHING that would support a position that torture DOES work?

capt

Hitler Bush has created a monster in Iraqization!!! There will be more Iraqizations throughout the world.

The Torture Myth

Just for a moment, let's pretend that there is no moral, legal or constitutional problem with torture. Let's also imagine a clear-cut case: a terrorist who knows where bombs are about to explode in Iraq. To stop him, it seems that a wide range of Americans would be prepared to endorse "cruel and unusual" methods. In advance of confirmation hearings for Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales last week, the Wall Street Journal argued that such scenarios must be debated, since "what's at stake in this controversy is nothing less than the ability of U.S. forces to interrogate enemies who want to murder innocent civilians." Alan Dershowitz, the liberal legal scholar, has argued in the past that interrogators in such a case should get a "torture warrant" from a judge. Both of these arguments rest on an assumption: that torture -- defined as physical pressure during interrogation -- can be used to extract useful information.

But does torture work? The question has been asked many times since Sept. 11, 2001. I'm repeating it, however, because the Gonzales hearings inspired more articles about our lax methods ("Too Nice for Our Own Good" was one headline), because similar comments may follow this week's trial of Spec. Charles Graner, the alleged Abu Ghraib ringleader, and because I still cannot find a positive answer. I've heard it said that the Syrians and the Egyptians "really know how to get these things done." I've heard the Israelis mentioned, without proof. I've heard Algeria mentioned, too, but Darius Rejali, an academic who recently trolled through French archives, found no clear examples of how torture helped the French in Algeria -- and they lost that war anyway. "Liberals," argued an article in the liberal online magazine Slate a few months ago, "have a tendency to accept, all too eagerly, the argument that torture is ineffective." But it's also true that "realists," whether liberal or conservative, have a tendency to accept, all too eagerly, fictitious accounts of effective torture carried out by someone else.

By contrast, it is easy to find experienced U.S. officers who argue precisely the opposite. Meet, for example, retired Air Force Col. John Rothrock, who, as a young captain, headed a combat interrogation team in Vietnam. More than once he was faced with a ticking time-bomb scenario: a captured Vietcong guerrilla who knew of plans to kill Americans. What was done in such cases was "not nice," he says. "But we did not physically abuse them." Rothrock used psychology, the shock of capture and of the unexpected. Once, he let a prisoner see a wounded comrade die. Yet -- as he remembers saying to the "desperate and honorable officers" who wanted him to move faster -- "if I take a Bunsen burner to the guy's genitals, he's going to tell you just about anything," which would be pointless. Rothrock, who is no squishy liberal, says that he doesn't know "any professional intelligence officers of my generation who would think this is a good idea."

More HERE

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

Under torture anybody will say anything they think will make the torture stop. Not reliable information, not by a long shot.

capt

Robert Swartz, The Daily Show is the only place to get the news in its purest form.

This morning, Fox and Friends even played the clip of Stewart serving tea and twinkies to Musharaf and then immediately asking "Where is Osama Bin Laden".

Military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan are divided about whether the tactics and technology used in suicide bombings and roadside bombs have been brought from Iraq, where they are so common, or if insurgents here are simply copying those tactics.

Canadian and American soldiers on operations in the southern province of Kandahar last week said they saw a clear connection with tactics in Iraq. One called it the "Iraqization" of the insurgency here, whether through personal contacts or the Internet.

Canadian soldiers, for instance, said they recently found a scarecrow by a roadside rigged with explosives. In Iraq, insurgents have rigged corpses beside roads with explosives.

THE INSURGENTS COME UP WITH SOME INNOVATIVE IDEAS!!!

#20
Mary,
You're kidding right. I'm a linking machine. Lots of evidence out there.

One Day After Complete Exoneration, Maher Arar Yet to Receive Apology From Canada, US for Year-Long Imprisonment, Torture in Syrian Jail

Attorneys Argue Senate Bills Would Allow for Lifelong Detention Without Trial, Torture Without Accountability
----------
These two interviews make strong statements about torture. Maher Arar admitted to anything the torturers wanted even though he and the torturers knew it was a false confession. That to me is more dangerous than a 'terrorist' being torture for information because we have no idea what is real solid information. We don't even have any idea whether the Syrians were torturing Maher Arar to give Bush evidence he wanted to hear or whether they were 'obtaining' information they wanted Bush to hear.

Yes, I already did. I'm the evidence. I would sell out my own mother if I were being tortured. I'm not proud of it but I'm being honest. I'm a wimp and would crack in heartbeat.

And I'm fairly sure that I'm not the only person who would crack while being tortured. It's great that you think you're tough enough to withstand torture and not give the enemy useful information but I think you're the exception rather than the rule.

To be clear---I'm not in favor of torture. I'm against it for all governments and groups because it's morally reprehensible.

Again, admitting torture works is not the same as endorsing the action.

I believe that you and I are on the same side in the anti-torture argument. Maybe just for different reasons. Either way, I'm glad we agree that our gov't shouldn't be using that tool.

sighted: bro.tex

Why Torture Doesn't Work

Remarkably, of the nation's major newspapers, only the Wall Street Journal has editorialized in support of torture as a useful tool of American intelligence policy. Regrettably, that position does a huge disservice to the nation and its soldiers. There are really only three issues in this debate, and the Journal carefully turned a blind eye to all three: (1) is torture reliable, (2) is it consistent with America's values and Constitution, and (3) does it best serve our national interests?

No one has yet offered any validated evidence that torture produces reliable intelligence. While torture apologists frequently make the claim that torture saves lives, that assertion is directly contradicted by many Army, FBI, and CIA professionals who have actually interrogated al Qaeda captives. Exhibit A is the torture-extracted confession of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an al Qaeda captive who told the CIA in 2001, having been "rendered" to the tender mercies of Egypt, that Saddam Hussein had trained al Qaeda to use WMD. It appears that this confession was the only information upon which, in late 2002, the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state repeatedly claimed that "credible evidence" supported that claim, even though a now-declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report from February 2002 questioned the reliability of the confession because it was likely obtained under torture. In January 2004, al-Libi recanted his "confession," and a month later, the CIA recalled all intelligence reports based on his statements.

More HERE

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

Torture is just an expression of evil. When you control another persons freedom by detaining that person mistreatment is evil plain and simple.

Torture simply does not work for reliable intelligence. Consider the fact that Bush took us to war on BAD INTELLIGENCE some attained by torture. So now Bush wants to be able to BLAME his actions on his poor tactics and methods?

Such have proven unreliable because of the methods.

We are Americans and TORTURE is not an American value, it is immoral and evil.

capt

Bro.tex!

WHAZZUP?

capt

YO!
Checked out Wm.Branigin's article " Three Retired Officers Demand Runsfeld's Resignation" yesterday. Anyone with a speck of sense knows that the wheels done fell off long ago on the Iraq Follies.

If Iraqization comes to America, I may never attend another funeral.

If Iraqization comes to America, I may never attend another funeral.

What we should not have is a CIC (coward in Crawford) that WANTS to torture.

How evil can the SOB get?

The petty dictator thinks it is a good idea to torture. By doing so he puts our troops into the hands of torturers justified by the actions and statements of one knuckle-head dry-drunk Andover Cheerleader wannbe cowboy.

Says more about his weakness than his strength, eh?

capt

ANNOY A CONSERVATIVE: THINK FOR YOURSELF

h/t Pat for the bumper sticker!

Same ol' thang, CAPT. Pops is feeling great. Hope all of my dear friends on the blog are ok. I'm working a later shift at work, so now I can get some computer time at the library again.

I appreciate the links but I believe you've missed my point.

I don't disagree with the assertion that torture doesn't result in useful info 100% of the time. If 100% is your minimum standard of "working" then you win the argument. Congratulations!

However, if actions have to succeed 100% of the time to be considered "working" then not many (if any) actions will ever fit into that category and discussing whether anything "works" is fairly pointless.

No More Torture

As Congress debates the meaning of provisions of the Geneva Convention, religious and human rights leaders are repeating their plea to eliminate torture as a tool of U.S. policy.

#29
Mary,
If you are going to argue my point, please read my point. Yes, you would sell your own mother. So would I. But you're making the assumption that the 'information' you are offering them, and they are feeding, is real information.

And which military family are going to tell that torture is ok if their loved one gets caught.

And, by the way, you have proven my point in my post above concerning Frist. He is under the assumption that Americans support this legislation because we want to be safe. That statement tells the rest of the world that they are expendable. They can be tortured, murdered, whatever to keep us safe.

Now, Mary, I've been reading about people posting on liberal websites while working within offices of elected officials. You wouldn't be one of those people would you? You can tell us. We can keep a secret....even if tortured.

JUNIOR: The clandestine life of America's top Al Qaeda source.

Anticev, Cloonan, and Coleman three men who have spent countless hours debriefing Al Qaeda operatives all take issue with the kinds of rough interrogations that have characterized the Bush Administration's approach since September 11th. Anticev says, "Just building a relationship with a person, and knowing your subject matter, is what works."

Coleman, for his part, believes that "people don't do anything unless they're rewarded." He says that if the F.B.I. had beaten a confession out of Fadl with what he calls "all that alpha-male shit," it would never be able to talk to him now. Brutality may yield a timely scrap of information, he conceded. But in the longer fight against terrorism such an approach is "completely insufficient," he says. "You need to talk to people for weeks. Years."

Cloonan, too, is a skeptic about the Bush Administration's commands to handle terrorism suspects roughly. (In 2001, Vice-President Cheney declared that it was time for the U.S. to enter "sort of the dark side.") Few suspects, he acknowledged, are as eager to confess as Fadl was. Nevertheless, he suggested, there is always the possibility that other people with useful information about Al Qaeda will consider becoming informants. "You think all of this stuff about torture is going to make people want to come to us?" Cloonan asked. "That's why I get upset when I hear people talking about stress positions, loud music, and dogs." Looking back, he said, "There's a lot of stuff Junior talked about in casual, non-threatening moments." He smiled. "You could talk about everything with Fadl. That's the beauty of it."

More HERE

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

The best, most reliable information and actionable intelligence we have gotten on Al Qaeda has come from turning Junior. He was not tortured. The guys that know do not think very highly of Bush and his torture fantasies.

Torture does not work, not 1% - Zero - Zilch - Nada.

Torture is a way to make certain NOBODY ever brings any good information forward voluntarily.

No 100% BS test, you are clueless and have no earthly idea of what you are speaking.

capt

Is God Green

For more than a decade, the National Council of Churches and other middle-church groups have been singularly devoted to their calling of taking care of the earth.

#39
Mary,
Some of the evidence offered as a reason to go into Iraq was obtained through torture. It was false. And I believe, but can't be sure that you can find background this this in the book 'Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War' by David Corn and Michael Isikoff.

Mary,

Gravity works!

"What the world needs is not dogma but an attitude of scientific inquiry combined with a belief that the torture of millions is not desirable, whether inflicted by Stalin or by a Deity imagined in the likeness of the believer."
~ Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

As Americans we have always had great distain for any government that would resort to torture. Only since the Trotskite eastern European neocons has America tried to torture and then justify that torture.

It does go hand in hand with the complete lack of respect for the law, personal privacy, the shredding of our rights and the constitution, our secret gulags, kangaroo military courts and show trials.

Neocons and their communist BS makes me sick. America used to be better than that. We should send these slugs to the gallows for their crimes against humanity.

capt

Colors

Dear Cornposters:

Most people who can see do not take the time for colors. Colors are an everyday experience and so it becomes second nature to us. In the summer there is green for the trees and the grass. Some people will also say that God is green because God loves the earth and all her living beings.

With human beings we have the colors white, black, brown, red, and yellow. Even organizations have colors, such as Gold Star Families for Peace and Code Pink.

I would like to introduce you to the color blue. Blue is Mary’≥ color. Mary is the mother of Jesus. She has a special relationship with God. God will never fail to grant a request from Mary. God has said that if the world prayed to Mary, there would be peace.

I am not a person who desires for any person to join or enlist into the military service because the military service teaches a person to hate and murder another human being. Yet, I am asking you to join and enlist with me into Mary's blue army for peace. Let us pray for peace as part of Mary's blue army! You can be one of the FEW, the PROUD, and a BLUE ARMY MEMBER FOR PEACE.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Lets flip the table over and look at the other side.

What if we have a prisoner or terrorist suspect captured and we need to know what he knows.

What would happen if we were to lavish his existence with cable TV, gourmet meals, hookers and all the trappings of a real American hospitality suite.

After a week of this, interview him and let him know you need certain information that you believe he has. Tell him he could be part of the rich American lifesyle like he just experienced should he co-operate.

Tell him if he chose not to co-operate he would be returned to solitary confinement and would never again see the light of day again.

Would he likely give you the information in return for comfort or would he choose instead to be sent to solitary.

TORTURE

Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, deterrence, revenge, punishment, sadism, or information gathering. It can be used as an interrogation tactic to extract confessions. Torture is also used as a method of coercion or as a tool to control groups seen as a threat by governments. Throughout history, it has often been used as a method of effecting religious conversion or political re-education. Torture is almost universally considered to be an extreme violation of human rights, as stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Signatories of the Third Geneva Convention and Fourth Geneva Convention agree not to torture protected persons (enemy civilians and POWs) in armed conflicts, and signatories of the UN Convention Against Torture agree not to intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on anyone, to obtain information or a confession, to punish them, or to coerce them or a third person. These conventions and agreements notwithstanding, it is estimated by organizations such as Amnesty International that around two out of three countries do not consistently abide by the spirit of such treaties.

******

And - No - there is no such thing as "a little" torture. Torture is an extreme violation of human rights no matter who does it or how much they do.

capt

Den,

Did you read the New Yorker piece above "Junior"?

That is how you turn someone into an information asset.

capt

Watching Cspan a few minutes ago. Someone ran into the House of Representatives yelling at the Republicans about torturing people. Protesters at the White House are being arrested every day. So much is happening lately that the "liberal" media just keeps ignoring. We are the majority of the American people, yet the powers that be keep trying to convince us otherwise.

Cool piece Mr. Corn.

Good to see capt., bro tex, Jeanne, DEN, hajji, and everybody still fighting for truth justice and the American way!

Corky,

Don't be such a stranger - Have not seen your posts in a while.

capt

From Does torture work?:
Books written by Jim Risen and Ron Suskind during the past two years provide compelling accounts that torture against people, particularly Khalid Sheikh Mohamad (KSM), was ineffective. Suskind recounts that KSM, one of the masterminds behind the 9-11 attack, was waterboarded–a technique designed to make you feel like you are drowning. Interrogators also threatened to rape and murder his family. KSM reportedly replied, "Do what you will, my family will be with God".

Oh yeah, torture was real effective there.

Capt,

Yep!

You posted it but no response, so I continued the thought.

Time to think outside the bush box.

"Hell has no benefits, only torture."
~ John Milton (1608 - 1674), Paradise Lost

capt,

wasssssup! Been busy slaving away making money for my Republican master! I have five bosses (four of them Bush lovers) torturing me all day long because they know I am not in thier cult. All I can do is drink myself into a stupor when I get home.

I just read something about Kieth Olbermann recieving a death threat letter filled with white powder! I think events like that point out the true nature of our present "political discourse". As much as we hear "crazed left wingers" and such, Democrats dont do stuff like that.

"Soldiers who are not afraid of guns, bombs, capture, torture or death say they are afraid of homosexuals. Clearly we should not be used as soldiers; we should be used as weapons."

~ anonymous, Letter to the Editor, The Advocate

Corky,

No kidding.

Just be sure not to drink their (your bosses) koolaid. I hear it tastes like crud and makes people CRAZY!

capt

Capt, would that make flaiming fairies more effective than napalm?

Eye's

Soooo much hhhhhhhhotter!

HA!

capt

flaiming = flaming

That task became harder when....

ya real harder. the war on arabs including depleted uranium continues.

You guys know I am no liberal, until fairly recently I would not even call myself a Democrat. These thugs have crossed too many lines. They are the enemy of freedom, democracy, and the U.S. Constitution.

#41 Jeanne

Chuckle, snort. That's funny. I was thinking the same thing myself about this "Mary" person. Certainly doesn't have a valid email address, that's for sure.

Hon, if I had known that you thought the Comments section wasn't working I would have emailed you to click on the time to get into this section!

Mr. Corn,

One beautiful essay. Just in time for someone like our new guest "Mary" to read it. However, I don't believe she/he is actually reading our posts all that carefully.

Your timing couldn't be better. Now if only campaigning Democrats would follow Clinton's and your excellent testament on what to say while campaigning.

Cornfriends,

You all have been quite eloquent today. I love your idea Den, turning the tables over and looking at information plowing techniques at another angle. Brilliant!

I just saw this in "The Notion", The Nation's blog.

The Just Don't Get It!

Republicans have sunk to a new low in their campaign to retain control of the House and Senate in 2006. They've apparently decided to claim the image and stature of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as exclusively their own.

That reminds me of the tabloid article I saw once about a group of gay Taliban fighters that wear pink nail polish into battle.

Corky,
How can anyone love Bush? Hajji, I guess gravity is working overtime.

"I saw once about a group of gay Taliban fighters that wear pink nail polish into battle."

Now THAT would be torture for their manicurists.

capt

Carey,
I was getting stuff done that had to get done anyway. I have noticed that the Crooks and Liars site has better comments now. They are informed and interesting. They used to be about people's sex life. It might be fun to watch but it sure is boring to read about. Most the time it's boring to watch too. It's more fun to participate. I'm off topic. Sorry.

Carey, I turned the table over and found old gum stuck to it. HA!

The Democrats are just a political party. The Republicans are just evil.

Capt,

Dont those nails get in the way when they pull their little triggers?

David,
You commented on not seeing the war in Iraq. The site Today in Iraq has at least one photo from the war each day.

Today in Iraq

I'll link one article from the site.

U.S. raid kills Iraqi civilians

The army, which called the deaths “unfortunate”, said that it was unsure how many of those killed were fighters.

But witnesses and relatives said all the dead were civilians, including seven members of a family and one neighbor.

Neighbors also said that the U.S. strike came as they were preparing for the pre-dawn Ramadan meal.

"I was inside preparing for Ramadan morning meal. I heard explosions and shooting and I ran out," Anaam Jassim, a young women told Reuters.

"When I came back I saw all my family killed. My father -- four women and three men. All of them, including my brother and his pregnant wife. They took two of our family away, a man and a woman. They were wounded," she said.

Gay Taliban? I must have missed something. Can anybody verify the attack on Kieth Olbermann? I think it was in The New York Post, not exactly reliable.

Seven New Beatitudes to Change the World

I believe there are millions of Americans--faithful Christians, Jews and Muslims--who are tired, fed up and angry. They want this country to once again be the beacon of moral clarity it once was. They want this nation to lead when it sees fellow human beings dying of hunger and disease. They want this nation to lead when it sees melting glaciers and rising oceans due to global warming.

They want this nation to reflect the best of their religious traditions when it comes to taking care of our brothers and sisters no matter where they live, of taking care of this planet that God created and entrusted to us to cherish and respect.

Corky, it may have been the Weekly World News. It's the same paper that published pictures of Bat Boy assisting marines in Afghanistan.

Here's an post from Dahr Jamail about Iraq.

A Broken, De-Humanized Military in Iraq

While the deranged chicken-hawks who "lead" the US continue their efforts to wage another unprovoked war of aggression, this time against Iran, what's left of their already overstretched military continues to be bled in Iraq.

When the situation is so critical that even the corporate media is forced to report on it, you know it's bad.

...What does this look like for US troops on the ground in Iraq? Here is an email I received just last week from a mother whose son is serving in the US military in Ramadi:

My son cannot bear what he is forced to do, and has probably through sheer terror, confusion, and split-second decisions, killed innocent civilians. He is well aware of this, and I have witnessed the consequences first hand. He probably carries innocent blood on his hands. The killing of innocent people is virtually unavoidable. He is in Al-Anbar region. You are the ONLY person in the media who has responded to my emails. The other emails I sent to news organizations questioning why so little news out of Al-Anbar were unanswered. I believe that it is because the US has lost that region, and is suppressing that news to the American public. My son called me last week from Ramadi and said the war is lost - they are just going thru the motions, again, forced to carry out orders and risk their lives for an unobtainable and unjust goal. I continue to read your web site, as well as others, while I pray for my son's safe homecoming in spring.

K.O. in the Post

42 (prev. thread)
....Can there possibly be a bigger asshole on this blog than happy? What a disgusting person. I hope you choke on your money you little fascist.

Posted by: Saladin at September 27, 2006 11:50 AM
=================================================
Thanks, you've made my day! I always knew you read posts! Your post, unless short and sweet like 42, AND I have some of that thing you have in overabundance, time, I DON'T read.

YOU are a simple minded two-dimensional idiot: as the worst living Jew-hater I've encountered and also the biggest "Sky is falling, We are all screwed/doomed!" chicklittle. What about that Iranian oil bourse?

Me, I'm Happy to be thought of as a moneygrubber and whatever else makes you Happy! I want to be your worst nightmare and when Conservative comes to mind, you'll think Happy!

Nazi America's religion is bushianity. Bushianity only talks about Jesus' birth and death but never about His life and His words.

1. Blessed are the faithful risk-takers. Too many faith leaders are silent on matters Jesus cared about deeply. My evangelical friend, Tony Campolo, laments that he can't quote Jesus in churches these days because folks don't want to hear about loving your enemies or overcoming evil with good. Faith leaders should be grounding their message from the pulpit in the deep waters of Jesus.

#75
Aren't those 'newspapers' usually in black and white? Therefore color of nails can't be substantiated.

The image that cries out; I just ate my cat!

The image that cries out; I just ate my cat!

Here

I do. I believe in my hopeful heart of hearts there are millions like me who want to reclaim the values this country once held dear. We've been distracted recently. We need to get back to the Greatest Commandment, the Sermon on the Mount and the Jesus who reached beyond the boundaries of his society to include everyone. Father Bob Edgar

HERE

Some days! What ya gotta go thru for a joke, WHEW!

LOOKOUT JEANNE!!

"WASHINGTON - Republicans have chosen the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul — in the politically pivotal Midwest — for the 2008 presidential convention, GOP officials said Wednesday.

Jeanne, that's true but their satellite picture of dinosaurs on Mars looked so authentic how could you not believe it?

Moving away from the silliness here is more proof there are no plans to exit Iraq.

Rumsfeld: Unclear when Iraq troops can replace U.S.
TIRANA (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday that American operations in Iraq would end when Iraqi security forces were able to take over the job, but he would not estimate when that might be.

An exit strategy need not include a "timetable" as many are demanding. A concrete checklist of goals would satisfy many but the administration won't even provide that.

More chuckles and snorts from Capt. and Den!

I posted a few threads back a tidbit on Sen. Allen's racism in his college days and Capt also posted about it. At that time I wrote that Sen. Allen was soooo dead. Now I'm not so sure.

I saw Dr. Larry Sabato's rather forceful discussion of George Allen's racism on Monday's Hardball. It was a pretty strong validation of what was perfectly clear to me--that Allen is a racist. Shoot--he has a fetish for Confederate flags and displays those and a noose in his office. It's rather obvious what he is.

Sabato has since "clarified" those remarks to state that he himself had never heard Allen utter the n-word. (He went to school with him.) What he did say though, and it's not pointed out in the blurb below, is that Sabato absolutely thought Allen was a racist because he knows him. "I know he's a racist."

But then Allen's opponent, Jim Webb, comes along and comments, when asked about Allen's racist tendencies and if Webb had any, that he thought that everyone raised in the South has probably used a racial slur at one time or another. Allen was not raised in the South, of course, he was raised right here in California. Webb is Southern. Still I thought that an unwise qualification to make considering how much of a boost Webb could have gotten by going after Allen on issues of race.

Sabato 'Clarifies' Remarks About George Allen's Racism

_______________________________________

I meant to tell David Corn that Chris Matthews has objected to the lack on press coverage of Iraq several times. Sometimes Matthews surprises me, other times I could kill him.

You know folks, I'm as slow as a three-legged turtle today. Can't figure out why. Got to get out and git my exercise.

Mary has a point. Just read John McCain's book about his experiences in the Hanoi Hilton. Capt, I'm sorry, but it's you who don't have a clue.

I think some of you are missing the point and besides, this thread is starting to sound like a seriously broken record.

First and foremost the terrorists we are holding are NOT covered by the Geneva Conventions in the first place! They are not members of any sort of recognized armed forces of a nation as defined in the conventions. They are at best mercenaries and even that isn't a proper definition. In other words, they are simply people who decided to take up arms against us - "illegal combatants" as it were.

You think I'm splitting hairs? Not so. The terrorists are damn lucky to be getting the treatment they are getting - ie. voluntarily adherence to the Geneva Conventions even though they aren't entitled to it.

Remember club Gitmo! Kosher meals! Soccer! The Quoran! Directional signs pointing to Mecca!

You cornnuts need to get real...

Shalom

Here is what America and the world need in order to attain peace and justice on our planet for all of God's children. Here is also what I believe God wants for His children and His vision for the world.

Shalom translated means peace but it is much more than peace. Shalom is a vision of social wholeness; a state of well being for all, where everyone has access to the goods of creation intended to meet the needs of all. Shalom is the substance of the biblical vision of one community embracing all creation where all enjoy the resources that make communal harmony joyous and effective.

Shalom is nothing less than God's intended vision of the world, a dream of God that resists our tendencies for division, hostility, fear, lust, and misery. If there is to be well-being, it will not be just for the isolated and insulated individuals, it is security and prosperity granted to the whole community: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the tax collector and the sinner, the despised and the rejected, young and old, the have and the have nots, the powerful and the dependent. We are in it together. Together we stand before God's blessings and together we receive the gift of life. Shalom comes only to the inclusive embracing community that excludes no one.

Imagine (My Version)

Imagine there's a Heaven
It's easy if you try
And a hope of no hell below us
Above us the sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And a religion of brotherly love too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can

Bush's response to warnings about threats of a terrorist attack on the U.S.?

Do nothing.

Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina?

Do nothing.

Bush's response to the skyrocketing budget deficit?

Do nothing.

So tell me again, what are we playing this guy $400K a year for? To protect us, you say?

Bill Clinton was too kind when he pointed out that Bush "didn't try" to stop Al-Qaeda from attacking the U.S. Bush did absolutely nothing. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Squat (Unless you consider taking the longest vacation in presidential history doing something).

I said it in a published letter to the Seattle Times editor days after 9/11, and I'll say it again: History will hold Bush criminally negligent -- derelict in his duty to protect Americans -- for his role in the 9/11 attacks.

And if the Dems don't take Clinton's cue and hammer this point home mercilessly, they don't deserve their paychecks either.

As an aside, is it just me or does Capt seem to have a corncob up his ass today?

I mean seriously, he seems irate as opposed to his usual "I'm Mr. cool and condescending!"

Drewp,

You have it almost exactly BACKWARDS my ignorant corn poster! It was President Clinton who TWICE could have had Bin Laden but chose to let him go!

1. The Sudan offered him up to us - Clinton said no. Bin Laden was thrown out of their country to land in Afghanistan.

2. He was in the sights of an armed predator drone - Clinton said no.

There's a whole lot more, but these are just two of the most important chances President Clinton chose to let slip by.

Who decides what people are terrorist's? The Supreme Cousrt? NO...Congress? NO...

Only one man does. "The Decider" himself, Emperor G.W. Bush decides who is a terrorist.
Once he is given the power to suspend the Geneva conventions, he can torture ANYONE he wants with total impunity. Soldier, protester,political opponent. Once you surrender your rights, they are very hard to get back. The Republican Party used to stand for our freedom. Now they work tirelessly to take it away.

"Unless government is limited, man is not free...as government expands, liberty contracts"
Ronald Reagan

Hmmmm.

President Clinton - 8 YEARS
President Bush - 8 Months

Well, duh! I thought even cornnuts could do math!!! Anyway, Drewp and others may try, but there's no denying the facts. President Bush's biggest blunder right after he was first elected was TO LEAVE CLINTON'S CRONIES in place! Yes, it's true. Clinton's CIA was still screwing things up when 9/11 occurred.

30 percent of our population lives in the Fox news bubble. Tim is one of them. He really does believe what has been spoon fed. Even as ridiculous and and untrue as his assertions are.
Live on CSPAN:
People are still running into the congress, yelling at the torure Nazis! The Dems are actually doing a great job at pointing out how unamerican this law is.

Corky,

You haven't been paying attention have you?

Club Gitmo! Torture? Give me a friggin break!

Corky,

Nice try, junior. I don't watch Fox news...

If the law passes, Bush will officially be a dictator.

Im sorry Tim, I cant live in the Fox Bubble with you.

Corky,

It's been fun, but your post at #98 pretty much seals it and I generally get bored real quick trying to converse with morons...

He can tap ANYONES phone. Only Bush has the power to decide who. He can torture ANYONE. He is the unilateral decider.

Ronad Reagan is rolling in his grave.

Ronald

Bye Tim! You have a good day. Go torture some kittens or mail soap powder to journalists.

Please assist me in stating the date that Iran will be nuked by Nazi America and her psycho ruler, George Warmonger Bush!!!

Gallup poll today:

Who do you blame for Osama not being captured?

53 % Emperor George W. Bush
36% Bill Clinton

The Psycho Has Been Here

Were the suicides at Gitmo real or a coverup of something else?

Yemeni Gitmo detainee’s body emptied prior to repatriation Al-Salimi’s Gitmo suicide denied
Najeeb Ghanem, former Minister of Health and head of Parliament’s Health and Population Committee, declared that Salah Addin’s body was emptied of all that could provide information about his death, including his blood vessels, bowels, brain, heart and liver, which he alleged U.S. specialists intentionally removed.

He further noted that the U.S.-issued death certificate states Al-Salimi was dead as he hung himself stressing that HOOD might consult international experts to investigate into this matter.

Ghanem asserted that the difficult situation Guantánamo detainees experience would kill them before they’d resort to committing suicide, which Islam prohibits. He also called upon all tolerant and peace-loving nations to act to close Guantánamo and other U.S. detainments.

Gerald,

If Congress remains a rubber stamp for the Emperor after November, anything could happen. America will be a dictatorship.

#108 corky, THERE WILL BE NO 2008 ELECTION!!!!! WE NOW HAVE A DICTATORSHIP!!!!! THE 2006 ELECTION IS ONLY 50-50!!!!! THERE WILL BE NO 2006 ELECTION IF HITLER BUSH NUKES IRAN BEFORE NOVEMBER 7, 2006!!!!!

Broken Promises

The End Result of Broken Promises

Congress Should Reject Detainee Bill

Denies Right of Habeas Corpus, Defines Enemy Combatant Too Broadly (Washington, D.C., September 26, 2006)

The U.S. Congress should vote down the draft military commissions and detainee treatment bill, Human Rights Watch said today. In denying the fundamental right of habeas corpus to detainees held abroad, defining "unlawful enemy combatants" in a dangerously broad manner, and limiting protections against detainee mistreatment, the bill would undermine the rule of law and America's ability to protect its own citizens from unjust treatment at the hands of other governments.

The right to habeas corpus is one of the oldest and most fundamental of human rights protections. By stripping the courts of habeas jurisdiction over detainees, the U.S. would be signaling to the rest of the world that it is not bound by the rule of law in its treatment of them.

Human Rights Watch

Worthy reading.

This is our life and our eternal lifetime with Hitler Bush

Warner, McCain, and Graham caved into their Nazi American roots. They are truly three lost souls who are glorified with scenes of torture and the possibility of a Bunsen burner applied to a man's genitals.

On The NewsHour

THREAT ASSESSMENT

Ray Suarez reports on recently released parts of a previously classified intelligence report and what it tells us about the state of affairs in Iraq. Then, Suarez speaks with two analysts: Daniel Benjamin, who was formerly a counterterrorism official on the National Security Council staff under President Clinton; and, Michael Rubin, who worked on Iraq policy in the Defense Department from 2002 to 2004 and advised the U.S.-led occupation authority in Iraq.



STOCK SCAMS

The NewsHour’s Economics Correspondent Paul Solman reports on the stock scandals embroiling a number of companies and explains how stock option scams work.


ECONOMIC UPTUCK

Gwen Ifill discusses what recent improvements in energy prices and soaring stock tables mean for the economy with guests including: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody'sEconomy.com; and John Kilduff, senior vice president for energy risk management at Fimat USA, a global financial services company.

Lapdogs to the torturer-in-chief, FAUX News.

WHY?

Fox News rallies behind Wallace, attacks Clinton

Summary: Fox News dedicated its coverage of an interview of President Clinton by Chris Wallace to portraying Wallace as the victim, while depicting Clinton as having a "complete meltdown," an "angry explosion," a "volcanic reaction," and as going on a "tirade" during the interview.

More here

Someone draw these overpaid news hacks a map!

Maybe that's where the idea came from in frying wieners!!!

He says he doesn't watch Fox but he obviously listens to Rush (from June 05):
Rush Limbaugh Plumbs New Depth Of Perversion; Releases Gitmo T-shirt Line
Limbaugh has been hawking a new line of caps, T-shirts and mugs that depict the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba as a holiday home.

The T-shirt above reads, "Your Tropical Retreat from the Stress of Jihad." Another reads, "I Got My Free Koran and Prayer Rug at G'itmo" and another, "My Mullah went to Club G'itmo and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt."

also:
Recall, this is the same Rush Limbaugh who last year said the Abu Ghraib prison guards were "just having a good time" and "blowing off some steam." The official official US Army report into Abu Ghraib lists the activities that Limbaugh defines as harmless fun. They include;

- Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees.

- Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light.

- Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture.

- Raping children. (SOURCE)

- A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee (rape)

- Beating detainees to death. (SOURCE)

Yup, the Gitmo experience sure is mild.

Corky @ 101:

"He can tap ANYONES (sic) phone. Only Bush has the power to decide who (sic). He can torture ANYONE. He is the unilateral decider."

Should be:
"He can tap ANYONE'S phone. Only Bush has the power to decide whom. He can torture ANYONE. He is the unilateral decider."

Please learn to use contractions and the third person objective case.

I find people who are linguistically lazy are also logically lazy.

I've been traveling through Counterpunch since I haven't read it for a while (I forgot to add it to my favorites list after my computer was up and running again). In an article by Joe Tripp (remember him, he was Howard Dean's 2004 campaign manager) posted Sept 16 he postulates three reasons why the GOP will take the Fall elections. Titled November Prognostication: Republicans Will Sweep!, his first reason is the rampant fear-mongering. The second is "...the Commercial Media is on Bush's side". They desire what the radical Republicans want, the disbanding of the FCC and legislation on copyright laws.

The third all-important reason the Republicans will shake off modest losses this midterm election, and then beat the Democrats to death with their own severed legs, is ELECTION FRAUD.

See, nothing has been done to fix the problems (other than miserable candidates) that lost the Democrats the last two national elections. Au contraire, as John Kerry would say. The evil electronic voting machines have been installed far and wide, although it has now been revealed that a mongoloid penguin could break into these devices, reverse any election result it wished, and be gone inside of four minutes, leaving nothing behind but a stolen election and the faint aroma of herring. Let us remember the apocryphal quote attributed to Joe 'Laughing Boy' Stalin: "It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people that count the votes". There are other problems, too. Gerrymandering has proceeded apace, sealing off entire slabs of the landscape from Democrats. Black people will find the nearest polling station is five hours from where they live (or used to live before the hurricane). And the whole anti-immigrant maneuver wasn't just a Republican faux pas-- it had a severe dampening effect on the desire to vote of persons of the recent immigrant persuasion, just as the anti-gay legislative efforts have a dampening effect on the desire to vote of homosexual queers. People don't vote for revenge. They avoid voting for revenge. That's why the elections are being decided by a tiny percentage of eligible voters.

So there is my reasoning for why the Republicans will enjoy a surprise resurgence at the polls this November. If one wanted to add a few categories, there's the perennial favorite God, who will command millions of witless Americans to vote for Republicans. There's hate, which will drive many Americans to vote against fags and macacas and towelheads, regardless of other factors. There's misinformation, as what we consider to be 'data' is actually 'balderdash' (see The Path To 9/11I, et al). In the end, however, it will be an overarching failure of will on the part of the American people that accounts for the astonishing, last-minute surge the Republicans enjoy at the polls, leading them to what the utterly guileless news media will narrate as a 'near-disaster-but-actually-almost-a- second-chance-referendum-to-continue-to-lead', or 'benefit of the doubt' (it's coming, and it will be mind-blowing).

Even a modest failure will be regarded as a mighty triumph for the Republicans this which will drive many Americans to vote against fags and macacas and towelheads, regardless of other factors. There's misinformation, as what November. And if there's one thing the Bush administration excels at, it's making triumph and failure interchangeable. So look out, Democrats. You can't win, even if you do-- but not to worry, because you probably won't.

YADA, YADA, YADA.

The Nazi media, talkshow hosts, politicians, and Americans are doing everything possible to win. If the Nazis lose which is a very remote possibilty, they are scared shitless through their loss of power. They are afraid that their shit-eating smiles will also be gone.

Da Vinci, John Lennon, Einstein have something in common.
Winston Churchill, Richard Branson, John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Picasso, Jackie Stewart, Agatha Christie, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Faraday, Henry Ford, Ted Turner, Walt Disney, Harrison Ford, John F. Kennedy, Enrico Caruso and an estimated one out of five people on the planet have one thing in common …Dyslexia.

Have you ever dialed the wrong phone number because you reversed two numbers? Ever read a paragraph and not completely understand what you just read? Ever write or type a word using letters out of order, have trouble balancing your check book, spell poorly; these are all forms of dyslexia. Most people have a mild case of it, while others suffer to extremes seeing letters that appear to be backwards and even upside down.

Seems like good company to be in.

Election fraud is truly the Nazi American way!!!

Nazi America' new rallying cry is "GIVE ME DEATH, SLAVERY, AND THE PURSUIT OF GOOSESTEPPING INTO HELL!!!"

We no longer cry out "Give life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinees!!!"

Carey,

#121 was not 4 U. 4 FC.

There is still a cry for "Give me your masses!!!"

Yes, give me your masses so they can help us fight Nazi America's endless wars!!!

I've been traveling through Counterpunch since I haven't read it for a while (I forgot to add it to my favorites list after my computer was up and running again). In an article by Joe Tripp (remember him, he was Howard Dean's 2004 campaign manager) posted Sept 16, he postulates three reasons why the GOP will take the Fall elections. Titled November Prognostication: Republicans Will Sweep!, his first reason is the rampant fear-mongering. The second is "...the Commercial Media is on Bush's side". They desire what the radical Republicans want, the disbanding of the FCC and legislation on copyright laws.

The third all-important reason the Republicans will shake off modest losses this midterm election, and then beat the Democrats to death with their own severed legs, is ELECTION FRAUD.

See, nothing has been done to fix the problems (other than miserable candidates) that lost the Democrats the last two national elections. Au contraire, as John Kerry would say. The evil electronic voting machines have been installed far and wide, although it has now been revealed that a mongoloid penguin could break into these devices, reverse any election result it wished, and be gone inside of four minutes, leaving nothing behind but a stolen election and the faint aroma of herring. Let us remember the apocryphal quote attributed to Joe 'Laughing Boy' Stalin: "It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people that count the votes". There are other problems, too. Gerrymandering has proceeded apace, sealing off entire slabs of the landscape from Democrats. Black people will find the nearest polling station is five hours from where they live (or used to live before the hurricane). And the whole anti-immigrant maneuver wasn't just a Republican faux pas-- it had a severe dampening effect on the desire to vote of persons of the recent immigrant persuasion, just as the anti-gay legislative efforts have a dampening effect on the desire to vote of homosexual queers. People don't vote for revenge. They avoid voting for revenge. That's why the elections are being decided by a tiny percentage of eligible voters.

So there is my reasoning for why the Republicans will enjoy a surprise resurgence at the polls this November. If one wanted to add a few categories, there's the perennial favorite God, who will command millions of witless Americans to vote for Republicans. There's hate, which will drive many Americans to vote against fags and macacas and towelheads, regardless of other factors. There's misinformation, as what we consider to be 'data' is actually 'balderdash' (see The Path To 9/11I, et al). In the end, however, it will be an overarching failure of will on the part of the American people that accounts for the astonishing, last-minute surge the Republicans enjoy at the polls, leading them to what the utterly guileless news media will narrate as a 'near-disaster-but-actually-almost-a- second-chance-referendum-to-continue-to-lead', or 'benefit of the doubt' (it's coming, and it will be mind-blowing).

Even a modest failure will be regarded as a mighty triumph for the Republicans this which will drive many Americans to vote against fags and macacas and towelheads, regardless of other factors. There's misinformation, as what November. And if there's one thing the Bush administration excels at, it's making triumph and failure interchangeable. So look out, Democrats. You can't win, even if you do-- but not to worry, because you probably won't.

_________________________________________________

Thanks to those of you who have offered me help with the computer. My brother installed a firewall on it when he fixed it last and that has suddenly become an obstacle to getting online. So I learned to disable it. And then enable it once I'm on the internet. For the last 30 minutes though, I simply could not disable it. The other thing that's been going on since its repair, I think with all of the security devices Martin installed I fall offline more often, at the drop of a hat. I'll talk to him.

No Carol. We didn't go ahead and purchase a new computer. Martin has 20 years of computer maintenance experience. The handy-dandy was able to fix even this sick old computer.

Gerald,

You have finally discerned the truth.

The fix is in. The 2006 elections have been rigged!!

So, the only alternative is to refrain from voting, pull the covers back up over your head and go back to sleep. The Republicans will again be in control when you awake in the morning.

There's no sense posting any more, either, since all is lost.

You and Carey are wise to recognize the true state of affairs.

Oh! I don't know where I saw it. Here? Did you see that toxicity in the air from depleted uranium use in Iraq has floated over to Britain?

Eyes,

I also never said that what was done to the detainees at Abu Ghraib was justifiable. I have never equated Abu Ghraib with Club Gitmo. You probably missed that post.

Anyway, I don't listen to Rush either. He's on during the day, remember? I have to work for a living.

O.K., geniuses. What do we do with the detainees at Club Gitmo?

I really want to hear your solutions...

Doctor refuses to deploy

In the military, however, the priority is returning the wounded to the front lines. Therefore, the first to be treated are those with minor and non-critical injuries, often leaving those with critical injuries to die. Civilians, no matter how savable, are always attended to last. It is not surprising, therefore, that many doctors are unable to live with this arrangement, and believe it violates their hippocratic oath.

At Raw Story:

The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving the president to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.

The 253-168 vote in the House came shortly after senators agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical bill, all but assuring its passage on Thursday.

#129 Carey, in one of the articles I read there are 42 states in Nazi America that have contaminated land through the use of DU.

Here is a thought. Is America's spinach ecoli tainted from America's research of bio-chemical warfare???

Posting on David Corn's website is therapeutic!!!

Ok Tim the Gitmo>Abu Ghraib thing slipped past me as it was part of the same article showing Limbaugh's callousness. What do you have to say about the suspicious "suicide" at Gitmo? What to do about the detainees? Let's try to live up to traditional American values and give them fair trials instead of holding them in indefinite limbo. Secret evidence one can't defend against is not fair. Torture confessions are not credible which is a reason police can't torture criminal suspects. If found guilty lock them up in maximum security, if innocent let them go.

... And the Rush is on during the day excuse is pretty flimsy. Many workplaces allow listening to the radio including my own untill recently. Posting here does not mean somebody isn't at work either, I'm sitting at my workstation right now but it has been a slow day so I can work and post without falling behind.

We should set the detainees free and praise the Lord for His infinite mercy!!!

#131, You could invite them to your house for some beers and brats.

Thanks to Den @#77 for the link to the tidbit on Keith Olbermann. If I were Olbermann I'd be damned scared of an envelope filled with what appeared to be antrax. His commentaries are unreal! Just love him to death.

Den, I knew who you were directing your YADA's at.

Oh Factchecker, lookie here. I ended my
sentence with a preposition.

OH HAPPY......#57

You complete slimeball. Saladin didn't read your post--she saw the word "Diebold" and skimmed it. Same here.

You are utterly disgusting to brag about how much money you make. No one here cares. Really. What is truly obnoxious is that you make money off Diebold.

That is traitorous.

#85
Den,
Come November the Republicans will be looking elsewhere. It looks like a sweep. Minnesotans are a little frustrated with the Republican way of doing things.

No wonder Panty has been MIA during business hours! He had said it was easy to keep his employers' network running which gave him goggles of time to surf the Net. Guess USAA must be an early customer of this young venture capital backed company.

Folks, please note Maryland's status among time-wasters! That's where our nations' most active LEAKERS congregate chewing up our tax dollars! And it seems, most of them leakers are Dems!

Bad news for Internet time-wasters

Annapolis company's systems help to monitor employees' computer use
By ANDREW CHLDERS, Staff Writer

Marylanders know a thing or two about surviving the tedium of work, ranking among the nation's top time-wasters on the job.

.....ETelemetry in Annapolis specializes in business intelligence,.....The bane of office loafers everywhere, eTelemetry's Metron and Locate network trackers can pinpoint individual "bandwidth hogs" on a company's network, even tallying the time individual employees spend surfing the net.

......Maryland ranks 16th in the nation for time wasted at work, with 2.4 hours a day going down the tubes, costing employers an estimated $17 billion in wages annually. Missouri workers rank as the nation's loafing kings, with more than three hours of each workday squandered.</