[BREAK] The Conga line for beginning a new war, with Iran, was short of dancing Americans. The Bushies believe the drumbeat of fear was lacking, so they've had their supplicants in Congress press for more money for the intell services. Only difference is, this won't be money the intell services can use as they deem necessary for their mission of collecting info from areas that their best judgment tells them represents the greatest and most immediate threat to the US. Oh, no! This will be strictly directed funding, forcing the agencies to produce a constant drumbeat of info on a single target: Iraq. Even if we had as much good sourcing as, say the CIA, believes it needs, it will now have to spend funds on less reliable sources, thereby garnering less reliable but possibly more sensational/fanciful reports on the threat posed by the Iranians. With luck, the Bushies will find a source like Curveball, whose drum solo can be so good that it can have frightened Americans dancing to the fearful tune well through both the 2006 and 2008 elections. By then, through war spending and constant tax cuts to the wealthy, our government will be totally bankrupt, forcing a default on all Social Security and pensions guaranteed through government funded insurance, and will end all social safety net programs. Then, our great and generous mega-Corporations will be able to ride to the rescue with employment for everyone, from 6 to 96 years of age. China and the 3rd world nations will no longer be the first choice for employees of the international corps. Our wages, safety regulations and health care in America will, at best, equal that of ANY of these sweat shop nations. The poor will have little time to think about politics, and election days will be celebrated as every other day, with 16 hours of work followed by stumbling into bed. For light reading, Dickens will be the choice. In the 4th Bush White House, a whistler can be heard "Wouldn't it be loverly . . . loverly?" JB ===== [/BREAK]

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'Significant gaps' in American intelligence on Iran 'Significant gaps' in American intelligence on Iran Julian Borger in Washington Thursday August 24, 2006 The Guardian A congressional report yesterday warned that the US was facing "significant gaps" in its intelligence on Iran that could be as serious as the shortcomings in its prewar knowledge about Iraq, leaving Washington ill-prepared to assess Tehran's military capabilities. The warning came as the Bush administration struggled to hold together an international coalition to force Iran to give up its nuclear programme. On Tuesday, Iran rejected a UN security council ultimatum to give up uranium enrichment by the end of this month, responding instead with a 21-page proposal for "serious talks". US diplomats said yesterday they were consulting their European allies on how to treat the proposal, in the face of Russian and Chinese reluctance to impose strong sanctions.

[BREAK] The credit for this goes to Springer on the Radio! (Speakers/headset needed.)

Also, see Media Matters, here!

[/BREAK]

[BREAK] Americans between puberty and middle-age, BEWARE! South Africa law is a giant step towards a draft here in the US. Remember, corporate mercenaries represent the 2nd largest armed force in Iraq, and have surpassed the number of British troops in our meager "Coalition of the Billing!/Leaving". [/BREAK]

BBC NEWS | Africa | MPs approve new SA mercenary bill Suspected mercenaries handcuffed in court in Zimbabwe South Africans were among the group arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004 South Africa's National Assembly has approved a law requiring that citizens working as security staff abroad must seek permission from the government. It will also make South Africans seek permission to serve in foreign armies. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the law was to prevent mercenaries from subverting democracy across Africa but opponents say it is too stringent. More Here

[BREAK] Barb and I watched Keith Olbermann deliver this chilling piece. For those of you who read beyond the mainstream media, he adds nothing truly new. But he used prose that strikes a group of chords that could lead to a truly patriotic harmony. And his passionate but reasoned delivery emphasizes how close we are to it being TOO LATE to stop the true fascist juggernaut that is mightily churning through the homes in America, while the right-wing noise machine is kept at a volume that deafens many to the Repugnant juggernaut's explosive razing of all that's good about our country while it raises the country's once minor faults to where it is all that others, even in many country's that once were considered friends, can now see. If the American people don't forcibly take back the juggernaut's controls, either in the upcoming elections, or, assuming that the "fix" is in, by taking to the streets in protest, within but months we'll be at war with Iraq/Islam and the blood of our kids, their kids and kids unconnected to any of the machinations will forever stain the pages of our history. But not for long. Because, even with a school system in which students hear nothing of true history, civics or even get to use the critical thought process produced by a reading of simple geography, the history texts that are now available at the college level will be so sanitized that future generations in Amerika will be reading of the commie ideas of George Washington (democracy), Thomas Jefferson (public schooling, democracy), Abraham Lincoln (strong unions), Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (health care), Franklin D. Roosevelt (EVERYTHING!), Dwight D. Eisenhower (Corporatocracy warnings), John F. Kennedy (Peace Corps), Lyndon B. Johnson (Civil Rights), Richard M. Nixon (EPA) and Jimmy Carter (human rights and honest government), while being treated to stories of the heroism, intellect and military mastery of the Bush/Cheney (AWOL/Draft Dodgers, war crimes, Patriot Act horrors, Katrina, 9/11) dynasty. Wake up, sheeple!!! (And pass the link below on to every Republican in your address book . . . AFTER you pass it to everyone else!) ===== [/BREAK]

Crooks and Liars � Keith Olbermann Delivers One Hell Of a Commentary on Rumsfeld - - - SNIP The confusion we — as its citizens - must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note - with hope in your heart - that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light… and we can, too. The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this Administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought. And about Mr. Rumsfeld’s other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism." As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that — though probably not in the way he thought he meant it. - - - End of SNIPPET

[BREAK] In an op-ed in today's NY Times, Andrew Rosenthal writes of the lack of large protest marches against the Bush regime in general and Bush's Baghdad Blunder in particular. When he bemoans the lack of campus outrage, I somewhat share his pain. But he also seems to give short shrift to general, more generic, protests. He states:

Now, people find protesters vaguely embarrassing and don’t want to make too much noise.

On that, I both differ and agree. While I certainly think there needs to be more protest in America, I wonder if Mr. Rosenthal has been locked in a cave for the past 6 years? He also mentions that

"There was a brief burst of protest when America first invaded Iraq."

No, there were near a a quarter-million "noisy" people in NYC, and many millions around the world, protesting the month BEFORE we began committing war crimes under Bush. And there have been many protests since, from large ones like at the Repugnant's convention in NYC and marches in Wash DC, through smaller ones organized though Code Pink and at Camp Casey [Sheehan]. Sure I'd love the younger generation to be protesting on the campuses, ala the 60's. And, I believe that if the media covered protests/war now even half as well as they did back then, you'd have a much larger protest community and many more marches. Hell, I'll go further. If the media covered Iraq as well as it did Vietnam, and Bush as well as they did Johnson/Nixon, there would have been impeachment hearings long ago. Iraq would be over, if ever it began. And, the more informed Mr. Rosenthal would have been aware of the protests AND would NEVER have believed "Mr. Young’s call for impeachment is over the top,", but would have joined in the chorus of the [informed] majority that would be in harmony in calling for Bush's ouster from the people's White House! [/BREAK]

There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone? - New York Times By ANDREW ROSENTHAL Published: August 31, 2006 It was almost painful the other night to hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sing about a war whose purpose Americans never really understood, started by a president who didn’t tell the truth and then waged the war ineptly. And that was before they sang about Iraq. The audience rose for Neil Young’s blast at George Bush, “Let’s Impeach the President,” and sang the words displayed on a huge TV screen, even the 20-something in front of us who had been text-messaging throughout the concert. That same screen also displayed thumbnail photos of slain soldiers while a counter ran up the most recent toll. It takes longer than you might think to count to 2,600. More Here

[BREAK]
Karl Rove sycophant Bob Novak first released Valerie Plame's status as a CIA operative, and then exposed her cover company, Brewster, Jennings & Associates, as being a CIA front. By doing so, Novak and his sources assured that not only would Plame's career be ruined, everyone who had any contact with Brewster Jennings would now be in danger. As we now know that Plame was the head of a large group that was gathering intelligence on any WMD program in Iraq, you could safely guess that any Iraqis known to have spoken with anyone associated with Brewster Jennings, as well as all those CIA assets who worked under that cover company, were placed in jeopardy by Novak and his hydra of traitorous sources!

[BREAK] Disney has this new propaganda film on 9/11 (“The Path to 9/11”)that puts the blame on Clinton. (So far, 9/11 Commision members and Richard Clarke, amongst others, have come out saying the 2-part, commercial free miniseries is full of lies.) For example, they show Clinton refusing a CIA request to kill bin Laden when they had him in their sites. In reality, the CIA says Clinton authorized the killing of bin Laden many times, every time the CIA asked.

“As we were watching, we were trying to think how they could have misinterpreted the 9/11 commission’s finding the way that they had,” Mr. Ben-Veniste said. “They gave the impression that Clinton had not given the green light to an operation that had been cleared by the C.I.A. to kill bin Laden,” when, in fact, the Sept. 11 commission concluded that Mr. Clinton had.

[BREAK] For many people, being a "witness to history" is a goal. Being present when important events go down, events that shape the future and will be recorded in our texts/videos, is an exciting thing. Well citizens of River City, I'm here to tell you that, as the Chinese say, you live in interesting times. You are "witnesses to history . . . being revised." The Disney/ABC 9/11 movie is just one of many recent attempts to rewrite our past in order to shape thought in the future. (And Disney claims it avoids partisan outlooks???) As FAIR points out, it ain't just a slowly dying broadcast TV Network that is putting it's integrity in jeopardy in order to shape a national debate. The once prestigious NY Times recently gave us a half-hearted apology for allowing Mata Hari Miller (Judy) to manipulate their readers into supporting a push to war. But, as luck would have it, most readers of the Times are also familiar with other sources of news, and had realized that, based on the length the lie kept running, the front page placement of many chapters of the lie AND the financial costs and human anguish caused by the lie, the Times/Judy needed to give a much more sincere, open and moving apology. As luck would have it, once again,the NY Times saw that we are in an astrological period wherein the planet Reality is being rocked by the exaggerated "spinning" of its moon, Corporatocracy. In Astrology, they refer to the phenomenon as "The Spin." In this scenario, Corporatocracy will allow "The Spin" to take reality wherever Corporatocracy wishes. Hence, while the paper must apologize if it led folks to believe Saddam HAD WMD, it doesn't need to give any "Sorry's" to the unwashed masses if the people can be made to believe we only said:

"The possibility that Saddam Hussein might develop "weapons of mass destruction" and pass them to terrorists was the prime reason Mr. Bush gave in 2003 for ordering the invasion of Iraq."

You see, when referring to the reasons we attacked, invaded and occupied Iraq, putting in cavernous wide caveats like "possibility" and that Saddam might "develop" WMD's and might "pass them to terrorists" can make folk forget Judy's "THEY HAVE NUKES, BUBONIC PLAGUE and KLINGON LIGHT SABERS THAT BEHEAD ANY CHRISTIANS (INCLUDING CUTE WHITE CHRISTIAN BABIES) WITHOUT ANYBODY HOLDING THEM!" (A bit of poetic license, that. But, with the fear running around the town square back then, [and continuing through today]it could be said to be an accurate representation of Judy's stories effect.) So, the Times need not apologize IF the reasons Bush gave for an illegal war were factual. And, if we get to rewrite the reasons 3 years later, why wouldn't they now be reasons we could defend? And, with Bush well into "attack Iran" mode, we just have to grant him some credibility in his last push to war, even if that leaves poor reality-based History raped, bleeding and gasping with last breath in the alley of fraud. So, now we can wait for the anniversary of that September day in 2001 that Hitler attacked America, Liberals lined the streets cheering the terrorists in the planes and watching entranced as their fellow Americans jumped from the upper floors of the Twin Towers. The same times that GW Bush saved the US Constitution by protecting it with the Patriot Act and TIA program, and finally gave the tools (cattle prods, iron ladies, water-boarding kits, etc.) to our Justice system that it had long needed, and that we found, in recently discovered diaries, our founding fathers had originally written into the Constitution . . . but was deleted by a nefarious and (you guessed it) stinkin' LIBERAL printer! What's that? Oh, I see. Sorry 'bout that, Chief. My mistake!
That movie doesn't come out until September 2007! [/BREAK]

[BREAK] IF you think you're reading too much in the blogosphere about the "Path To 9/11", you're not paying attention. Remember, Bush has suddenly requested a live 15-20 minute interruption of the film's final hour (Eastern Time) to give a speech to the nation. The Repugnants are really scared . . . scared that voters will come out against them in numbers that may be hard to overcome just by corrupting the ballot count in certain areas. Well, if you don't realize how your neighbor can still be swayed by irrational fear, Karl Rove does. So, they have a movie that blames Dems come out, sans commercials, just prior to primaries across the nation and weeks before a big election. Blaming Dems for letting attacks take place (during Bush's presidency?) helps make that neighbor fill a Republican ballot. He'd rather live under a trult fascist regime, rather than chance death defending the Constitution under a Democrat who seems to be in the party at fault for the 9/11 ataacks. Sounds crazy, I know. But with the country divided, just a few confused voters can bring the Repugs close enough to steal another election. Remember, the Dems need a real landslide if they want to be sure of winning; the Repugs are well satisfied with a fairly close [but easily turned] loss. Which brings us to how that same fear can lead to the granting of powers, powers that make the Constitution moot, to someone who promises to keep the bogeyman out of your closet. Let's hope we're rid of our own bogeyman, and get back our country, real soon!! As this writer for the UK Independant reports, we started on a fear/revenge road to America's ruin just a week after 9/11. His whole piece, portions of which I cut into the "Continue reading" part of this entry (below), is well worth a read. While it points to the mess we Americans have managed to make of the planet in the last 6 years, his final paragraph highlights what, to me, is the hope and dream of every patriotic American - to be rid of a President who puts the Constitution in the drawer while he allows America's power to be misused around the globe and her troops to be abused in order to maintain corporate profits of his buds!

- - - - - - - - SNIP Were the Democrats to gain control of the House of Representatives and/or the Senate in the November mid-term elections (not very likely but certainly possible), that would at least restore the separation of powers, allowing a Democratic legislative branch to check and balance the Republican executive. Unless and until that happens, the Bush administration is likely to go on using the images and memories of September 11 to reinforce and justify the enormous boost of power it received on September 18. What further discord this turbocharged presidency may engineer here and in the larger world between now and January 2009 is the stuff of international bad dreams. - - - - - - - - End of SNIPPET

Of course, it's rather bittersweet, reading what you've known to be sad but true
. . . and then finding that only the foreign mainstream media publishes/gets it!

===== [/BREAK]

[BREAK] If the parents did this to their daughter (and it sure looks as though they did - or they were mentally residing on another planet), I wouldn't wince if they were flogged and hung in Foley Square - and I'm against the Death Penalty. However, I don't believe I've ever read such a biased, singularly one-sided piece of journalism in my life. I realize America is in a state of transition. I can smell the brimstone and I see the torture and explosive death we're now so proud of dealing. And I sure know the Times is not above using its pages to help foster the new agenda. (Say "Judy Miller!") But come on! I doubt that, even just a few short years ago you could have gotten the prosecutor in a case like this to write such a blistering attack on the defense attorneys. In most cases, if the defense gets unusual delays granted, you'll find some prosecutorial flaws helped sway the judge. Here, you'd think the Sainted prosecutors were sent directly from heaven to garner justice in the case, and were still losing to Satan's third team legal group. This reporter must have been blushing when writing "Outside the courtroom, neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would openly discuss their strategies." Because, I wouldn't be surprised if the prosecution team was having pizza at the reporter's place while this piece was put together. It's part of our decline, I guess. Now we find comfort in not only denying innocent detainees in secret foreign prisons any human rights; we now deride our court system for abiding those silly dictates of that oh-so-old and irrelevant Constitution. But for the wealthy - take Ken Lay for instance - we're satisfied to let him steal thousands of people's retirements while raping the tax payers and rate payers for California electricity, and spend years living in his castle until he dies a free man. But when we find poor felons, EVEN THOSE RESIDING IN PRISON, getting trial delays, it is "Off With Their Heads" we scream in the streets. Let's face it folks. If you've kept aware of this case, you know that damn near everyone failed this little girl. Including many people who belong to the same bureaucracy as the prosecutors here. So, by throwing such an emotion stirring barrage of words against the defense, a lot of city workers can gain coverage from a storm they helped bring about. Luckily for them, our citizens are so caught up in the debate about whether water boarding should replace time outs in our schools and homes, granting fair trials is an anathema to our Zeitgeist. "Amerika, Amerika, God shields his gaze from thee!" ===== [/BREAK]

As Time Stands Still in Court, Justice for a Broken Girl Waits - New York Times By MICHAEL BRICK Published: September 23, 2006 The friendless death of Nixzmary Brown in Brooklyn last January demanded a reckoning. She was broken and starved, 7 years old, left in a den her brothers and sisters called “the dirty room.” Child welfare workers, teachers, the police and the parents all came under scrutiny. In some quarters, consequences were swift. A week after Nixzmary was found, the child welfare agency suspended or reassigned six city workers. Soon hundreds of children were placed in foster care, the police commissioner was summoned before the City Council, and the mayor created and filled a new position for the protection of children. - - - SNIP At a hearing on Feb. 1, Ms. Santiago was ordered held without bail, but after that her case slowed considerably. Ever since, she has been joined in court by Robert W. Abrams, leader of an expanding, contracting, secretive and highly combative defense team. His rhetorical specialty is the considered restatement. “I’ve tried to get her to change her mind by writing her and saying, ‘Please change your mind,’ ” Mr. Abrams said of one potential witness. “Well, I didn’t say, ‘Please change your mind,’ but I asked her to reconsider.” Mr. Abrams wears a floppy fedora and, over his right eye, a black patch under his glasses. He enlivens legal memorandums with sarcastic quotation marks. - - - End of SNIPPET

More Here

[BREAK] So, we illegaly strip searched and subjected the Venezuelan Foreign Minister to a rough interrogation First, you must remember that the US does not submit to any International Law. Hell, we've reneged on a passel of signed treaties since Bush took over, never mind something as hampering as International Law. Acting like a "good neighbor" is something for lesser [wimp] countries. Second, Bush is trying to constantly goad Chavez, so Bush will have red-meat, provocative" quotes to hide behind when we either assassinate Hugo or invade Venezuela, our #1 supplier of imported oil. Of course, as with every policy decision made since the Bush regime coup in 2000, the first reaction was to spout lies:

Chavez: U.S. Detained Foreign Minister - washingtonpost.com By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON The Associated Press Saturday, September 23, 2006; 10:09 PM CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's foreign minister was detained by U.S. authorities at a New York airport for more than hour Saturday as he tried to return to the South American country, President Hugo Chavez said. U.S. and U.N. officials called the incident regrettable but said Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro had been identified for "secondary screening," a security check that can kick in when a passenger arrives without a ticket.

So, as of 10:09 PM last night, we said the Ambassodor was only subjected to a "secondary screening that can kick in when a passenger arrives without a ticket." Well, if a strip search, threats and rough interrogation awaits everyone who arrives at JFK without their ticket, I'd advise you to MAKE DAMN SURE YOUR TICKET IS STAPLED TO YOUR BODY! Of course, this morning the Bushies realized that about the only area where America has improved security is at the airports, which seems to mean there is at least one, if not many, security cameras covering every square inch of the terminals. And, I'm guessing that they then realized that unlike mythical WMD, the Foreign Ministers story would only take minutes to verify. Hence, this morning's about face, with the Bush regime suddenly issuing an apology for an incident it, and the UN, denied ever happened. Now, put on your thinking caps. Try to imagine Bush's reaction had Condi Rice been forced through a strip search and rough interrogation on an official UN business trip in Venezuela. (Never mind telling me that Laura Bush would be amuzed. I meant "Try to imagine GW Bush's reaction . . . ") [/BREAK] =====

Wonder where the Democrats went to, after 9/11/01? Do certain bloggers and supposed "Liberal" media commentators/hosts confuse you with their sudden change into a cheering squad for Democrats who seemingly support Bush's Baghdad Blunder, or the bankruptcy bill that puts a boot on the throat of middle-class families suffering through major medical crisis?

Read this, (Antiterrorism Bill on Detainees, Geneva Conventions - Rushing Off a Cliff - New York Times), this (House Approves Bill on Detainees - washingtonpost.com), this (Don't Suspend Habeas Corpus - Los Angeles Times) and this!

Then think about where we're headed and what you need to do to change our course!
(My view was expressed here.)

[BREAK] Go read BuzzFlash here!

UPDATE:

Go Here to see how the Bushies are already starting to put a full court press on the Federal Judiciary. You see, we don't need no stinkin' judges in the new Bush/Cheney Amerika! (I'm guessing that were a judge to rule against Bush in one of the cases, he'd instantly have proved he "supported terrorism", and he'd be secretly kidnapped, incarcerated under the new rules and never be heard of again!)

END OF UPDATE!

We now return you to your regular program. ===== Now, for those idiot Repugnants (not true Republicans, but those who hijacked their party and turned into an echo of . . . here it comes . . . a certain party in the Germany of the 1930's) who want to throw "traitor" and "unpatriotic" around, here's my BS. Viet-vet, (volunteer) Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bronze Star, 2 Air Medals and a bunch of other pretty ribbons. Married 36 years, 2 grown kids. Never charged with taking bribes, pedophilia, shooting a friend and have had no affairs with interns (male or female). And I was coherent enough to march with other combat veterans on February 15, 2003 against Bush's Baghdad Blunder! In brief, it is obvious that I can't be a Repugnant Party member. Until yesterday, I had been a Democrat for 41 years. And, for almost all of those years I was a proud Democrat. I'll be switching my registration to Independent If I am forced to associate myself with a political party, it won't be one that capitulates with the torture of America's ideals while pretending to stand for those very ideals. Why associate with the Dems if they won't even filibuster a bill that will make legal the arrest of someone, many of whom will be innocents (based on the release of hundreds of detainees from Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere) WITH NO RIGHT TO BE CHARGED OR RIGHT TO GO BEFORE A JUDGE, will make legal the torture of an innocent AND would them deny that innocent the right to go to court and sue the torturer. Of course, some will say, "If we don't stay with the Democrats, the Republicans will do whatever they want." Wake the fuck up! The Republicans ARE doing whatever the Hell they want. You are just satisfying yourself with some psychic pacifier, sucking at the Democratic teat while your mom, America, is being beaten, raped and left to lie in a pool of her own blood. If it isn't time for a non-violent revolution in this country (general strike?), then we should officially declare those dumb rebelling bastards in powdered wigs of the late 18th Century with being sociopathic terrorists who led this country astray with an evil Constitution. Those men risked their fortunes, their lives, their families lives in order to grant us, their heirs, a right to have a judge approve of our detention, to force our accusers to step forward and face us, IN THAT COURT, to have a right to council and a right to be treated as a human being! Yesterday, the Democrats played with themselves while those rights were shredded and burned. They played pocket pool while the rape of a detainee, innocent or guilty, by the US personnel holding them became something less than torture. While the Geneva Conventions were reinterpreted to become a document whose meaning is solely decided by the Bush/Cheney Torture Team. As Bush signs this horrific assault on America, please recall one very important fact. The House and Senate of the United States, with the tacit applause of the majority of their fearful voting constituents, have surrendered America and her venerated Constitution to 19 young maniacs who brought some cheap box cutters on to 4 US passenger airliners. After fighting the mightiest militaries on the planet, in the late 1770's on up to the early 1940's, 19 young fanatics found America's soft underbelly just when America's population had lost the will to fight against an enemy they feared . . . albeit the smallest enemy every to defeat a world power. We now have, in the reality based world, no Constitutional protections. The only "persons" in America whose protections, from Constitutional ones to those bankruptcy protections, are still in effect are the mega-Corporations. Oh, and a fetus. The rights of an American are sacrosanct to the Repugnants, UNTIL BIRTH! Individual American citizens CAN be "disappeared" from our streets, if Bush thinks their statements provided support for any of his supposed "enemies". They CAN be jailed and tortured FOREVER, without EVER getting to see a judge or speak with a lawyer. AND THE WEAK-KNEED DEMOCRATS NOT ONLY FAILED TO FILIBUSTER, HARRY REID REFUSED TO EVEN ATTEMPT ONE. Of course, calling for a filibuster would have exposed the names of every one of the Democrats who now remain hidden behind a wall of "no filibuster was called for." Finally, the removal of legal rights was not the ONLY thing this bill accomplishes. It granted some startling new rights . . . to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, Bill Frist and Halliburton. They are now granted immunity from any past war crimes they, or their employees may have committed. I'M NOT PROUD OF AN AMERICA WHEREIN OUR LEADERS NEEDED RETROACTIVE IMMUNITY FROM WAR CRIMES??? I'M NOT PROUD OF A POLITICAL PARTY THAT REFUSES TO FILIBUSTER SUCH A BILL BECAUSE SOME OF THEIR MEMBERS CONDONE SUCH A BILL? That's not my America. That's NOT a political party to which I want to be associated. ===== Go here to see how your Senator and Member of Congress voted on torture:
Senate here!
House here! [/BREAK]

On Friday, September 29, It's Mourning in America | BuzzFlash A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL Just as it is hard to fully comprehend the grief of a beloved friend or relative killed needlessly in an accident, it is excruciatingly painful to try to come to terms with the pernicious betrayal of our Constitution and liberty that occurred in the Senate on Thursday, September 28. In the past week alone, we have seen factual evidence that belies the need for the power play/pre-election attack on our Constitution. In fact, these developments indicate that giving Bush even more unprecedented power is not only unconscionable; it puts the national security of the United States of America in peril: Bush’s newly "revamped" top 16 intelligence agencies reached the conclusion that the Iraq War had become a primary cause in the growth of terrorists and the increased threat of terrorism to the United States. Bush called the report of his own top intelligent agencies "naïve." Meanwhile, a second U.N. report came to the same conclusion as the American spy agencies. The U.N. also reported that more Iraqis may now be being tortured under U.S. occupation than were tortured under Saddam Hussein. - - - SNIP Today, tears would flow down the olive robe of the Statue of Liberty if she were human. But she is just an inanimate symbol. We are the ones who have to cope with the pain of a democracy destroyed in a political play for power and permanent one-party rule, which is not a Constitutional form of government. That is called a dictatorship. And the one thing in common with dictators through history, whether Communist or fascist, is their state-sanctioned ability to torture people at will. Beyond the overwhelming facts this week that Bush has endangered the national security of the United States of America with his failed and costly fanatic ignorance, we are left with this sad fact. With the law passed on September 28th by Congress, we have become the Republic of torture. We not only have lost our claim to be a civilizing force among nations and abandoned our Constitution, we have appeased the terrorists by doing so. Because isn’t it Bush who keeps telling us that the "terrorists hate us for our freedoms"? So, to appease those same enemies of America, the White House and the Republicans have abandoned civilized standards of behavior and taken freedoms away. We are only beginning to grieve for the great beacon of democracy and justice that we lost yesterday. - - - End of SNIPPET

Read the whole BuzzFlash Editorial here!

[BREAK] The title of this blog means something to me. I wasn't always sitting at a computer while on disability. I'm proud of the work I did, and of the people I had the privilege of working for, with and/or over. When people found that I was a hard hat who was once the Treasurer of NYC Mensa, they often ask "How was it working with the people in the construction trades?" And, while I always found the question offensive, I always answered honestly. "I found more intelligent people in construction than I did at Mensa meetings." That's true! That's why I was horrified as I've watched, in shanties on high rise building construction in Manhattan, on oil refinery platforms in Canada, in nuclear plants in Ohio and New York, in paper mills in Maine and rocket fuel refineries in Baltimore, the morphing of once strongly Democratic blue collar, union workers into Republican cheerleaders. The reasons are, of course, many. Some are reasons for the switch do the Democratic Party proud. (i.e.: Anger at job losses due to desegregation of construction unions lost some Dem workers to the GOP.) But what seems to be a big reason is the "wimp factor." The men and women toil with their muscle, in outdoor conditions that make the complaints of office workers about how cold the walk from the heated parking lot to their heated office seem a bit shrill. There is little time for in depth conversation when welding steel on a parapet 90 feet above a cement floor, or while humping heavy pipe into place within confined spaces. So, these folk speak rather plainly. Nuance is not a constant companion. As the work is often dangerous, a blunt and factual intercourse is most appreciated. Long winded conversations are saved for lunch of after work at a local gin mill. The Republicans, while screwing these folks through the tax codes, loose pension regulation and anti-union legislation, did one smart thing. They stayed on message; they came up with easily understood points and fought for them even when they knew they would lose. Democrats tried to be all things to all people, and wound up being ill defined and seemingly weak. In just a few sentences, a newly minted Republican blue collar worker could give you a synopsis of the Republican Party that, while it might appeal to the lower, more base, prejudices and feelings of his/her audience, they made the listeners think that they'd be a part of a powerful movement. When was the last time a Democrat felt that she/he was part of anything powerful? For me, it goes back to JFK's inaugural speech . . . a time before most Americans were born. And, lately, the feeling of weakness is overwhelming. So, as I mentioned on this blog yesterday, it's time to change. While many of the Liberal mega-blogs, and many of the hosts on Air America, are frantically attempting to hide the fact that the Democratic Party could have stopped this heinous bill from being passed, thankfully, some see through the BS, including The Nation takes a stand and tells it like it is.

Did John McCain and his GOP colleagues cave? Yes. In particular, they betrayed the courageous military officers and Pentagon lawyers who for months fought for the rule of law. But the refusal of many Democrats to confront this constitutional crisis is more scandalous. For weeks Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders enjoyed the luxury of sitting on their hands while McCain and other Republicans publicly bucked the White House. But when vigorous Democratic opposition might have slowed the bill until a saner, less politicized moment after the election-season recess, a tepid Senator Reid refused to stand in its way: "We want to do this. And we want to do it in compliance with the direction from the Supreme Court. We want to do it in compliance with the Constitution." Never mind that the whole bill is out of compliance. As more than 300 law professors wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders, the enemy-combatants debate is "an urgent test of our nation's constitutional and democratic values." Democrats as well as Republicans have failed the test.

The Founding Fathers would not believe that, while America rolls back the clock to where a Monarchy again rules this land, and detention, torture and lack of legal redress once again soil America's skirts, Briton Cites 'Divergence' With U.S., with her top legal official taking pains to differentiate her justice with America's willingness "to do things beyond the law." It is a shame that blogs and organizations that gained trust by speaking honestly and directly about problems in America are now so tied into the Democratic Party that they have become a new DLC - The Democratic Liberal Chorus, instead of an independent voice. There is no hiding the fact that Harry Reid cut deals that failed the American people, Liberals and the standing of America in history. It is time for a Move-On, KOS, or Atrios to speak up for what is right, not what is politically convenient. It's time for Air America hosts to stop toeing the DLC line, and quit telling us "Democrats do speak up. Just turn on CSPAN3 and you'll hear them." While there is certainly a right-wing bias in the media, and Dems get much less face time on political talk TV, the Dem leaders DO get some time. And, they use it to again echo the GOP lines, but with a little sad violin accompaniment. Sure, you'll get a Russ Feingold or Carl Levin occasionally. But the vast majority of air time afforded Dems goes to the likes of Harry Reid and (once a firebrand, now a tumbleweed) Nancy Pelosi. And they both use the time poorly. So poorly, that things like Legislating Violations of the Constitutiongo virtually unnoticed by the majority of Americans. Sadly, it seems that the more popular the TV show, the less likely a Democratic leader will say anything that would distinguish her/him from a moderate Republican. (With that in mind, I was shaking my head as Lincoln Chaffee, a Republican, voted AGAINST an awful Republican bill on torture and detainment, but a bill on which the Democrats couldn't even muster a filibuster.) Things have gotten so bad, I wouldn't be surprised if Democrats somehow turned the new Woodward tome into a plus for Bush. By parroting the "We must put winning the 2006 election" above all of our important principles, we only play an electoral version of "Leave No Democratic Politician Behind", which may someday garner a political win, but you'll hardly recognize the candidate/party you've won with. The knee-jerk "Must Win" process allowed Clinton to bend over on flawed and vindictive Welfare Reform, instead of a bill providing training, child care and hope for those trapped in poverty. Of course, as this was pre-Katrina, many Democrats had fallen for the con from Republican (and Democratic Repug-Lite politicians) that there were only a few lazy "Welfare Queens driving their Caddies (Lexus's?) to pick up Welfare Checks" that would be effected by the bill. Clinton also signed the disastrous telecommunications bill, that left us with hate radio on so many stations across America, where now there are more different faces of right-wing talk radio than there are different (local) news broadcasts. Now, an operation like Clear Channel can produce a single radio news spot that will be run in hundreds of cities and towns, providing only that news that a huge media outfit would like their customers to hear. Now let me be clear, Clinton held back the fascist tied for 8 years, and accomplished much when faced with external forces and internal havoc. But he knew how far he could go without having his feet held to the fire by his left-wing. And that IS a problem. Both during and since the Clinton years, we (in the Democratic Party sense) have been gaining momentum in a slide to the bottom. While the worst, and most unappetizing group of fascist/theocratic thugs are riding roughshod over the true Republicans who still remain in that party, we seem to have mastered losing the unloseable elections. While Clinton was peaking in popularity, we lost the House. We needed to turn a Republican Senator, just to bring that body into a tie between Dems and Repugnants. And we then lost the Senate, giving the coming little coward an America who was hogtied and unable to resist the torture the little psychopath was looking to inflict. We ran a sitting vice-President (who had viced under an unbelievably popular, yet fully viced himself, President) against a cowardly pip-squeak who had trouble stringing two syllables together and would need help finding America on a map. We lost. Our candidate, many say, did the gentlemanly thing by not contesting the fraudulent election process, and standing by as a rogue Supreme Court decided that it, and not the voters, should decide Presidential elections. Should Gore have tried a coup? Maybe not. But shooting off a few paragraphs of fact and passion at the eulogy to democratic elections in America might have been appropriate. Gore could have, legally, been that single Senator that members of the Black Caucus so desperately needed in order to force a look into that fatally flawed election. But, we are the well-behaved Democrats in a school full of bullying sociopath Repugnants, and we wouldn't think of raising a fuss. Would we? We ran disabled war veterans (Max Cleland) against ugly, racist thugs, and lost. In 2004, all those mega-blogs told us we could NOT lose! We had a hot-damn honest-to-God war hero we'd run against the Howdy Doody on steroids playing landscaper in an ass-ugly, weed-covered farm in Crawford, Texas. Of course, our hero had to play the same game that Harry Reid and the Accessories played on this torture bill. He'd have to get so close to Republican positions that, were both sides in the foxholes one should expect in a political battle for the life blood of our country, if one sneezed the other would be wiping snot from their face. Kerry took that plan and ran with it. He played Repug-lite on Iraq. More troops? Sure! More money? Of course! Say anything about a totally illegal invasion? Nope! Criticize the tactics of fear? Not so much! Tell the flat out truth to the followers who so wanted a true leader? ARE YOU CRAZY! That's not how you play politics. So, after another miserable day of losing poll numbers, we were left to whine about "Election Fraud!", as if that was a brand new happening in American politics. For Christ's sake, I'll bet there was some finagling back during the early Greek democracy. Instead of whining for the passed 2 years, someone should have taken the entire membership of the Dem party, sat them down and screamed "You don't win elections by showing your people how closely you can follow every asinine thing your opponent does. You win elections by showing folks true leadership qualities. And, for a political party to inspire people, the party must stand for something. And NOT by standing up for something as meek as sitting on its hands when the country is imperiled! Do you really expect busy, overworked, underpaid Americans to look forward to standing in a line at a polling place in order to elect people who will, when America is about to be assaulted, cut deals that prevent the members of that party to try and stop the assault? Sure there's election fraud. But Democrats outnumber Republicans nationwide, and if you would only show that by electing Democrats our country would/could change, there would be such an outpouring of support that it would be near impossible to switch enough votes to turn the election with impunity. Instead, we get told "Forget what you just saw happen." If you'll only hold together and vote Democratic, after winning the election we Dem politicians will run into the nearest phone booth and switch to our Super Hero tights. Well, phone booths are hard to find, and after watching the Democrats, tine after time, capitulate and/or enable atrocity after atrocity to be enacted upon our Constitution and our ideals (from Patriot Act through Bankruptcy Bill, from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib), many of us don't believe the Dems would know what to do with such powers. They'd likely ask the Repugnants for advice. So, as I said in yesterday's post, I'm switching registration. Green or Independent, I'm not yet sure. That certainly doesn't mean that I'll vote for a candidate from my new party who might have little or no chance of winning. But, if I'm only offered a Repugnant against a Dem-Lite, that yes I'll vote for neither. And the Democratic Party will change, or more and more Democrats will help form a party that actually follows the principles that made the Democratic Party great, and, for too short of a time, helped make America great! For now, I'll vote for anyone, from whatever party, who sincerely wants to get us back on track AND isn't afraid to stand up for what is decent and just . . . without looking to cut deals that lead to naught but Pyrrhic victories and leaving America hoist on a Republican-lite/Democratic petard. =====

Accessories to Torture These are grim days for the Constitution. The House and the Senate have passed the catastrophic "compromise" negotiated by senators McCain & Co. to the President's "enemy combatants" bill. The only thing compromised is the rule of law; the bill still strips detainees of the right to appeal, broadens the President's unilateral powers to decide who is an enemy and which interrogation methods violate the Geneva Conventions, and fatally undermines the War Crimes Act. The bill was rushed to passage just days after the Canadian government exonerated Maher Arar, "rendered" by the United States to Syria, imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year. Go here for the whole article!

[BREAK] Crooks And Liars has a great post up today, Culture Warriors In Action and I salute Nicole Belle on her putting together of a hat trick of recent fundamentalist attempts to keep our kid's minds walking some straight and narrow path, with blinders and earplugs so they are never allowed to view/hear any aspects of life on our planet that does not conform with the exact faith-based dictates of that family's religion. (It is also nice to see reporting on something other than the child molesting Congressman Foley. If all you read are the headlines in our nation's newspapers, you might mistakenly think Iraq was peaceful (Attacks in Baghdad Kill 13 U.S. Soldiers in 3 Days) and that nothing of import was happening elsewhere on the globe (Al-Qaeda's Far-Reaching New Partner). Even George Will, with George F. Will - What Goeth Before the Fall, weighs in on Foley today, putting today's top story in its Republican/religious context:

To a Republican Party increasingly defined by the ascendancy of the religious right, the Foley episode is doubly deadly. His behavior was disgusting, and some Republican reactions seem more calculating than indignant.

But on Crooks and Liars, at least one story never mentions the Florida Republican . . . and I give thanks for that. As one who believes religions have, overall, done more good than harm in the course of human history, I find myself compelled to vainly attempt to keep the good/bad scales of religious contribution heavy on the good side by pointing out when man's flaws have him misusing faith in a manner that throws those scales out of whack. Like the attempts highlighted by Ms. Belle, in which parents seem to believe that their God is ashamed of the bodies He/She created, wanted children to be bereft of imagination and wonder and would like to attend bonfires, if the right books were being torched. I might agree with those who would say I've been crying "Wolf!" for way too long now on this issue of primarily math/reading education (aided by the unfunded No Child Left Behind . . . or No Child Left Sentient?), with no classroom introduction to anything requiring more than a rote playback of the teacher's/book's words/text . . . except THERE REALLY IS A WOLF (see Jennifer Booher-Jennings - Rationing Education for just one example), he's expanding his territory daily and he's been busy snacking on much of our future generations' critical thought portion of their gray matter. (And I'm not even going into the cultural bias aspect or the military recruitment aid of the NCLB act.) But this wolf doesn't come in sheep's clothing. He comes as governmental regulation that forces history, civic, geography, literature and the arts to be left out of curricula. He also comes as a "man of God", one who will quickly testify that she/he is surely not trying to remove knowledge from the reach of the children; he/she only wants to purify that knowledge through a moral filter in order to have it conform to the dictates of an ancient and important instrument of his belief system. Thus, evolution, carbon dating, archeology, geology, medicine -from stem cells through euthanasia - and other areas of knowledge must be removed, or worse, altered so it fits into the subject knowledge of a handful of men who authored portions of a book over two millennia ago. CAUTION: Suicidal blogger will attempt to more firmly grasp this live third rail here, and try to come away unharmed. [/BREAK]

[BREAK] Today, we meet to sell highways to corporate interests. Instead of the fear of virtual toll stations on the Internet, there will be actual toll booths collecting dollars for share holders (who might get cut rate Easy Passes?) While a decade from now, with much luck - and more than a dollop of irony - you may still be pledging allegiance to the flag, you'll be paying for EVERYTHING on a single page bill to a conglomerate composed of Halliburton and, if they are lucky, a few other large political donor corporations. Gas, electric an telephone charges will be but a small portion of your monthly bill. The "National Corporate Conglomeration" will run a subsidiary for-profit corporation for the military, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for the environment, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for the National (FBI) and Local (NYPD) policing, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for the Fire Department, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for blood donor/seller centers, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for sanitation, a subsidiary for-profit corporation for adoption and foster care and a subsidiary for-profit corporation for motor vehicle affairs, etc., etc. and etc. (props to Yul.) Of course, a for-profit military will need to, as such armies have throughout world history, make conquests of countries that can pay a mighty tribute or aid in insuring the power/defense of the mother country/corp, or both. All other corporate-government agencies will need to produce no red ink on their ledgers, and all will be below the great and powerful military corp., probably named The Halliburton Marauders. There will be no more NAFTA, CAFTA or other free trade agreements. The All Earth rules, that disallow unions, minimum wages or other unpatriotic attempts to hinder corporate profits have been outlawed, making trade agreement superfluous. We'll probably still hold elections, but power and duties will have evolved in keeping with the new, and constantly changing/improving reality that morphs on corporate demand. The famous Wall Street bronze Bull has become a religious icon of the fast growing Church of Hedonistic Pleasures (CHP), where membership is dependent on your listing in Forbes. CHP generous offer to take over all education in the US has been gladly accepted by the Clinton/Bush administration, with both Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush gushing about all the modern, instantaneous DNA readers on lease from CHP, so that the children will learn how to use.the machines to make any and all purchases. Your corporate credit status is immediately viewed by merchants, and deductions for purchases are made without any financial instruments (cash) ever changing hands. Of course, employers use the same DNA scan to find your age, health history, genetic proclivities, school records (which now really are "permanent records") and all other personal info, prior to hiring anyone. (The "security" uses of such invasive technology raised many questions at the inception. In a stroke of genius, the uber-Corp declared that all activities that might cause a future employer concern, like protest marching, unacceptable speech and complaining about the great and powerful uber-Corp. as being illegal and punishable by a life sentence of working in one of the toxic areas of the planet wherein much of the poisonous, but necessary, goods/chemicals/petroleum plants are located. As the average human lasts but 3-5 years in the soupy environment, this quickly keeps the population of free speech troublemakers to a minimum. Our Presidency will mimic the British Royal Family. She/he will appear at ship launchings, supermarket openings and will ring the quaint old bell at Wall Street, on the 4th of July and Corporate Appreciation Day! The UN will be a place where similarly factotums will meet to discuss the recommendations from the 5 member uber-Corps as to where the next Olympics, World's Fair or uber-Corp board meeting will take place. They will send there views back to the mega luxurious space station Xanadu, where the uber-Corporate board members and the 400 or so trillionaires live a life of unheard of luxury, far from the earth bound, cancer ridden serfs on the depleted planet below. (They believe this is a charitable arrangement, as they'd rather avoid any jealousy that might arise when the starving masses see that, in the hidden class war, winning really was everything.) And to think, it all began when Halliburton began hiring mercenaries in Iraq and corporate toll booths popped up on the Jersey Turnpike! ===== [/BREAK]

Fiscal Advisers Due to Weigh In on Selling New Jersey Turnpike - New York Times By RICHARD G. JONES Published: October 10, 2006 TRENTON, Oct. 9 — For months, Gov. Jon S. Corzine — slipping now and then into the skin of the investment banker that he once was — has talked about finding new ways to generate billions of dollars to help close New Jersey’s growing budget deficits. Next week, state officials may begin to take their first steps using some strategies from Mr. Corzine’s Wall Street past to help shape New Jersey’s financial future. On Monday, a financial consulting company is expected to deliver several recommendations about whether New Jersey should sell off or lease some of the state’s assets, including the New Jersey Turnpike. More Here

[BREAK] This morning's Washington Post has a must read article by David Brown, that is derived from an AP report on a study conducted by a team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists. The article is titled Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000 .

A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred. The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government.

While polls seem to indicate that somewhere around 30% to 35% of Americans will read the horrible results of the study and come away smiling and praising the military genius of the Bush crime family (see: White House Briefing -- News on President George W Bush and the Bush Administration - washingtonpost.com), the other two thirds of the saner folk will walk a little more slowly, bow their heads a bit more lowly, this morning. (And, with recent revelations about Republica's running in Congressional and State elections, the "Values Voters" are beginning to wake up. And it's doubtful that "Staff" will be able to deflect heat from the high level Republican cover-up in the Foley affair(s). Surprise, surprise! When you use all the horrendous weapons of conventional war, from pretty colored, toy looking cluster bombs through depleted uranium munitions that throw radioactive dust all over the environment of the country you claim to love so much you'll waste thousands of our own soldier's lives and the taxes of many future generations . . . all sorts of SHIT HAPPENS! And if there's anything Amerika has become expert at in the past 5 years, it's turning shouted good intentions into works resembling the most evil whispers of demons. On the other hand, if you read the unadorned AP report in today's NY Times, the chilling figures of death are given short shrift as early as the second paragraph: NY Times:

The timing of the survey's release, just a few weeks before the U.S. congressional elections, led one expert to call it "politics."

The whole damn Attack, Invasion, Occupation thing is nothing but politics, so how could a body count be not?! Just yesterday McCain blamed North Korea's nuke ambitions on Bill Clinton, 6 years into Bush's grabbing of the wheel of the good ship US. Was McCain's attempt to look good to the Repugnant, anti-Clinton base political. Of course it was. Yet, if a Democrat points out that the Bush administration is In Search of a North Korea Policy - washingtonpost.com, that person would be pilloried with "You're just playing politics!" As the US has a Congressional election every 2 years, and campaigning for the next one often starts before the votes have been counted in a current one, just when the Hell is it convenient to hang out the Repugnant's dirty laundry without being accused of playing politics? With the Repugnants damaging the fabric of America daily, and the corporate media laying back and counting the money left on the dresser (FCC "deregulation" bucks!), getting any facts on what is going on is a blessing. Be it the day before, the day after or the day elections are deemed unpatriotic. And that last wasn't meant as exaggeration to make a point. It was fearful, sorrowful prognostication, if anything. For redacting and shredding the Constitution has become the raison de être of this Administration, and it has had willing accomplices in the Republican AND Democratic parties. As Keith Olbermann pointed out last night, only the 3rd Amendment is still in effect. We don't have the King's soldiers in our living rooms nor his horses/tanks in our stables/carports. All other Amendments are no longer in effect, according to Bills passed by our fearful, spineless AND treasonous officials.

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort that it values more, it will lose that too. -- W. Somerset Maugham

Invading non-aggressor nations, abrogating treaties and other agreements made under the bond of "America's bond", dissing all of our allies while enraging and empowering our enemies and, last but far from least, treating our troops as if they were literal cannon fodder, to be sent into battle for longer than they were prepared to fight, with insufficient munitions and supplies (including rationing their food and water, while Halliburton ran up huge and uncontested contract overages), then cast aside as an insignificant waste necessary in the pursuit of empire. That's ALL POLITICS . . . and shining a light on any of it, INCLUDING THE PRICE PAID IN BLOOD BY THE VERY PEOPLE WE CLAIM WE CAME TO HELP! Let's remember a very relevant and timely quote:

Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering, before committing suicide at the Nuremberg Trials, appeared to be advising the future neo-cons: Goering: "Why, of course, the people don't want war. why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in American, nor for that matter in Germany. that is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship." (interviewer) Gilbert: "There is one difference. in a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars." Goering: "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." —Nazi leader Hermann Goering, interviewed by Gustave Gilbert during the Easter recess of the Nuremberg trials, 1946 April 18, quoted in Gilbert's book, Nuremberg Diary

Controlling the media, especially by using the old dodge "We're at war, and even if the printed facts are true they hurt our country now.", or the present one which combines our War-time need for self censorship with the plea that bad news could influence an upcoming election, makes Goering's message all the more chilling. One must realize that the Bushies, lacking much intellectual initiative for innovation, has been clinging to playbooks from the past. They know how the country rallied behind Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor and gave him powers that allowed him to take on a war against 2 major powers. And how, after WW II, Roosevelt used that good will to push through policies not thought possible. From Social Security through a Marshall Plan that set up working social democracies in Europe and proved to the world that by taking care of the poor and cultivating a secure middle-class you can have a healthy economic engine the likes of which was thought impractical by most Republicans and fiscal insanity by many. So the Bush regime, fully aware of the philosophy expressed by Goerring, saw the opportunity handed them by 19 young fanatics who really did little more than hijack 4 American domestic airplanes (hardly as mighty an attack as Pearl Harbor). The Bushies stoked and stirred the cauldron of fear until it was boiling over. Once the people were so blinded by irrational fear, which was "politically" fueled by the ingenious misuse of color coded charts inspiring timely fear, they forgot the original American heroes who took on the mightiest army on Earth (the Brits) in 1776 to garner certain inalienable rights and desired freedoms for future generations, the Bushies began stripping those rights and freedoms with more skill than any of America's past enemies had ever dared believed possible. Some have taken notice:

"I think this is the worst government the US has ever had in its more than 200 years of history. It has engaged in extraordinarily irresponsible policies not only in foreign policy and economics but also in social and environmental policy." "This is not normal government policy. now is the time for (American) people to engage in civil disobedience. I think it's time to protest - as much as possible." American 2001 Nobel Prize Laureate for Economics George A. Akerlof, who teaches economics at the University of California in Berkeley. The 61-year-old scholar's areas of expertise include macro-economics, monetary policy and poverty.

Of course, had Hitler stated, out loud, that, with the consent of a majority of both his people and the government officials of both his and the opposition's officials, he would destroy our Constitution, that he'd lock up Americans on a whim, with no regard for evidence (Habeas Corpus), that he'd torture those he arbitrarily chose . . . Japan might not have earned the dubious distinction of being the first nation to see only a mushroom cloud where a city once stood. Yet, here in Amerika, we allowed an elected leadership to turn America into something resembling the pre-Revolution colony of Royal subjects whose abuse in the name of the unjust regent was stirring the seeds of a glorious revolt. We, the silent citizenry who are turning our backs on the Washington's, Jefferson's and Lincoln's had both an Authorization For Force and a Patriot Act passed near unanimously, turning America into war-mongering freedom hating land. A further step back was the recent bill on Military Commissions that allows Bush to lock up Laura, if he likes, and she'd have absolutely no rights other than those King George would allow. (Thanks for your courage in opposition, Russ Feingold. May my nightmare of Hillary using you as her running mate to deflect the criticism of her jingoistic cheerleading for the illegal Iraq occupation, be something that scares me alone, and is never visited on the rest of our nation.) How then can we be told that any report that shows us exactly what we have become should be dismissed as "political?" Just because inconvenient truths are popping up all over now does NOT mean those truths were rushed, nor that they were held, just to harm the Republicans or help Democrats. Hell, I'd argue that most Democrats should carry those deaths over their heads as well. The harm those truths bring should have been front page news since prior to March of 2003, but should certainly be brought to light at whatever time the mainstream media finds itself with surplus testosterone . . . which, be it immediately prior to an election, may seem to be Divine justice for those who aided in the deaths so reported here. Remember:

"To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." -- International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, 1946

Should a country not hold those who began an illegal war responsible for that action? Or is it deemed only a fair election if the electorate goes into the booth wholly ignorant of the abominations performed by their elected officials in their names? ===== [/BREAK]

Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000 - washingtonpost.com A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred. The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government. It is more than 20 times the estimate of 30,000 civilian deaths that President Bush gave in a speech in December. It is more than 10 times the estimate of roughly 50,000 civilian deaths made by the British-based Iraq Body Count research group. The surveyors said they found a steady increase in mortality since the invasion, with a steeper rise in the last year that appears to reflect a worsening of violence as reported by the U.S. military, the news media and civilian groups. In the year ending in June, the team calculated Iraq's mortality rate to be roughly four times what it was the year before the war.

More Here

[BREAK] You looking for a good movie idea? Try this. Old Tom Jefferson, George Washington and John Adams are brought back to modern times. They're placed in a room, and have no idea where they are. They are told that, after being given a few facts, they will need to make an important choice. It will involve their giving their support to land "A "or land "B." Here are the facts they are given: Country A has been increasing their legal actions against the press, including jailing reporters for not revealing sources and threatening to imprison reporters who report "secrets" that embarrass the rulers. Country B has been increasing freedom of speech and is known for having a brutal and fearless press. Country A happily used deception and misdirection against its own citizens in order to start an illegal war against a non-aggressor. It also used its influence, great power and, some say, promises of future financial gains to the leader of country B, in order to garner Country B's verbal support. By not providing for the bloody aftermath of their illegal attack and invasion, Country A's occupation of the foreign land has led to over a half-million deaths, a future of illness from depleted uranium for both Country A's folks and the poor inhabitants of the occupied territory. Plus, a civil war rages as Country A stands as one of the causes. Country B let slip some memos and meeting minutes showing how Country A had used said deception, and casting aspersions on the sanity of the war criminal running Country A. Country A has had a string of "accidents" which involved munitions fired at/near reporters who had displeased the rulers of Country A . Country A has used both known and hidden cells (many in foreign countries) to illegally detain persons without charges, without legal representation and without trial. In many cases, Country A's representatives, military and/or civilian, have tortured and, occasionally, killed these individuals. Country B has publicly condemned Country A for violating the individuals rights, International Law and various treaties. Country A had their legislature place such torture and detention without charge and/or evidence into Country A's laws, and had the same legislature grant the rulers and their agents blanket immunity from war crimes committed prior to the legislature MAKING WAR CRIMES LEGAL! Country A's leaders, while pretending to lean towards a theocratic government at home, are reluctant to press for peace in a part of the world where 3 major religions were conceived and where violent death, in the name of a God, has become a constant. Country B pleads with Country A on this point, but finds a deaf ear. Country A's rulers believe themselves to be omniscient, and couldn't/wouldn't recognize a problem if it jumped up and bit them on their collective asses. In fact, instead of recognizing the problems, Country A's regime seems to be planning more aggressive wars, and has no apparent shame over what it has done to its subjects, or the rest of the planet. Well, there were many more such facts still to come, but the 3 bewigged gents had, by then, broken free of the room and were asking passerby where they could go to pledge allegiance to country B, Imagine the shocking end to the film, when our heroes find they are choosing Britain over the country they gave so much to birth. ===== [/BREAK]

High Court in Britain Loosens Strict Libel Law - New York Times October 12, 2006 High Court in Britain Loosens Strict Libel Law By SARAH LYALL LONDON, Oct. 11 — Britain’s highest court ruled Wednesday for the first time that journalists have the right to publish allegations about public figures, as long as their reporting is responsible and in the public interest. The ruling, a unanimous judgment by the Law Lords, is a huge shift in British law and significantly improves journalists’ chances of winning libel cases in a court system that until now has been stacked against them.

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[BREAK] Great news for America! Even better news for our military!! Devastating news for the already faltering world domination plans of the current Evil Empire administration!!! Britain's top military man, General Sir Richard Dannatt, delivered a broadside against the handling of the Iraq occupation, and pulled no punches as to the devastating effect it is having on the British military AND on Christian values in his homeland.

- - - SNIP His comments come after an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, where Sir Richard warned that the continuing presence of British troops "exacerbates the security problems" in Iraq and added that a "moral and spiritual vacuum" has opened up in British society, which is allowing Muslim extremists to undermine "our accepted way of life." The Chief of the General Staff believes that Christian values are under threat in Britain and that continuing to fight in Iraq will only make the situation worse. - - - End of SNIPPET.

Here's the DC take on this:

UK Troops Worsen Problems in Iraq: Army Chief - washingtonpost.com By Deborah Haynes and Peter Graff Reuters Friday, October 13, 2006; 5:42 AM LONDON - Britain's top army commander said the presence of British troops in Iraq was exacerbating security problems on the ground and they should be withdrawn soon. In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper, General Richard Dannatt criticized post-war planning for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and said the British presence in Iraq also hurt British security interests abroad, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair has repeatedly denied. More Here

Here's the Brits take, from the Daily Mail:

Army could be broken by Iraq, warns chief officer | the Daily Mail The Army could 'break' if it is kept too long in Iraq and British troops should be withdrawn 'soon', the head of the Army has said today. In a devastating broadside at Tony Blair's foreign policy, General Sir Richard Dannatt said: "I want an Army in five years time and 10 years time. Don't let's break it on this one. Let's keep an eye on time."

And, from this same Daily Mail article, we discover that the Gods of politics seem to love some irony. Check out the name of the British "Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman"!

- - - SNIP Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Michael Moore said: "This is the frankest assessment we have had about Iraq. It illustrates that the government has no clear strategy." - - - End of SNIPPET More Here

As Repugnants keep using the long ago pictures of the "purple fingers" of Iraqi voters as their proof that attacking, invading and occupying Iraq was a good thing, they always fail to mention that the government the Iraqis voted for was overturned by American puppets, and that more changes to the UNELECTED Iraqi government continue. More Here [/BREAK]

[BREAK] We finally know where River has been. Now, the more important questions are "Where are you? What are you doing?" I run a dinky little mailing list/service that pushes out news stories, articles and links to blog posts daily, for a bunch of activists, reporters, friends and relatives. (Okay, my wife gets hit with the full 50 to 75+ news articles I forward a day, while my daughter, whose boss believes she should read at home, can only suffer through a minimal list of about a dozen or so of the most important pieces.) I'd venture that everyone on the list is a Liberal, although some might seek the camouflage of the "Progressive" labeling. They all view the Bush admin as an enemy of all that was once good about America, and see through the Bushie use of fear as a political power enhancer.
They were well read, including reports in the international media.
Therefore, they were all against our attacking, invading and occupying Iraq. They are all good people, who work hard to leave the planet/country in as good a shape, if not better, than when they began helping to steer the ship of state. So, being that they are good people, I will unfairly use them as a sample for all the good people who complain about Bush, who think the Iraq war is farce - bloody, death dealing farce, but farce all the same - and who worry that future generations - including their own kids - will be deprived of the experience of knowing one lives in one of the most wonderful countries on the planet. While I fear this may look as a way of saying "I'm better than you", I mean nothing of the sort. For I believe that until I find a way to be part of something that stops our collective fall into a well of self-defeating insanity, I'm as much, if not more, guilty as anyone. If you've fought in an illegal war, as I have, you have a greater duty to prevent future illegal wars by your country. If you have children, your duty geometrically increases. If you possess any informational tools, such as my single typing finger or you have access to the much more powerful bullhorn of the Town Crier, mainstream media, and you waste such power in other, less worthy pursuits, guilt has to be your burden. (Not meaning to single out NOW, but this arrived in my mailbox, just as I finished reading the new Baghdad Burning entry. If, when studying the rise of . . . here it comes! . . . Hitler, we discovered that a major organization of opposition to Hitler's policies was sending out drivel like this instead of spending EVERY moment battling for the rights it stands for, we would be shaking our heads and wondering where the sanity of that group had gone. Come on, admit it! "LOVE YOUR BODY DAY!" It sounds like something from a Foley email that Hastert thought was just cute and friendly.) Here are some conclusions, based on my small sampling of good, compassionate people: Many "good people" avoid demonstrations/protests. for what I'm sure they view as legitimate reasons. Some have shared their reasons with me. Kids; fear of being seen by someone from work and, the number 1 reason, the organizers support other causes with which I disagree. The most recent protest I attended, a couple of weeks ago, was called for by The World Can't Wait. I was the ONLY member from my mailing list to attend.

Seems that:

• 1) it was held during working hours (though it continued until well after business hours.)
• 2) The organizers had some connection to either socialist or communist organizations.

# 2 was, by far, the most common excuse for avoiding the protest. Ironically, many of these folk would cheer those who battled against McCarthy, and would likely idolize those who provided help to the unfortunate souls who were blacklisted during the 50's. But to march in protest with folks who might have been on that list, or whose parents were on it, well, that would be just too much. On April 29, 2006 of this year there was a larger demonstration. Again, I was alone of my sample. (I should mention that my wife, on my right and holding the Military Families banner) also marches. I somehow think of her as someone more than a member of my sample.) Again, I found none of my associates there.

By August 16, 2005, attendance at protests were at a low. But a few of my list members did attend the candlelight marches in their neighborhoods.
Earlier on, there was more of a showing at marches. At the Republican Convention in NYC, the crowd was huge. And more than few of my mailing list members were there on August 29, 2001.

Barb and I at the Repugnant National Convention demonstration.
Of course, what should have been the most important demonstration of American sentiment of all, the February 15, 2003 (photo below) pre-attack march, was attended by the largest number of my sample. And, of course, it was when many of us discovered that the media had gone from biased propagandists to full out sycophantic whores for the Bush administration. Suddenly, a demonstration that could paralyze NYC on a weekend day was only attended by "thousands" of protesters, according to the NY Times. We, who were there, knew that the Times must have only counted people on one of the alternate/overflow avenues . . . and they must have only counted the "thousands" of crowd control cops there. But, the Times either wouldn't report, or couldn't conceive, that even after all of its front page lies about Iraq, and the barge loads of BS Judy Miller was transcribing Karl Rove's take on Ahmad Chalabi's fantasies, people, MILES AND MILES OF INTELLIGENT PEOPLE, still believed we had no business attacking Iraq.

February 15, 2003. A month prior to our illegal attack on Iraq. Why do I bore/chastise you with all of this? Quite simply, I'm looking for a way to do more to stop our country's decline into history's Hell. More Here [/BREAK]

[BREAK] This is a Goddamn sin!!!

EDUARDO CONTRERAS / Union Tribune Volunteer Marisela Helgeson (left) and Military Outreach Ministry associate director Patty Dutra prepared to distribute food to Marine families at Camp Pendleton. Behind them, some family members waited to pick up the donated items.

When I came back from Vietnam, Barb and I, along with other returning soldiers, had to spend a couple of weeks in a roach/spider/lizard infested motel near Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, until some base housing opened up. And I thought that was a poor way to treat guys returning from one of America's wars. Boy, was I spoiled! Today's soldier fights in a 360 degree war, with innocent civilians and deadly enemies just about everywhere. She/he is aware that our government has a plethora of plans for victory and/or defeat and/or withdrawal and/or permanent basing. He/she is sick of hearing of the latest Major Change Expected In Strategy for Iraq War, as he/she knows that the same folks promising change are those who had a "Mission Accomplished" banner hung way back in 2003. Just today, they'll read how a Shiite Militia Seizes Control of Iraq City, and that the militia controlling Amarah is run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. On top of that, they'll find that a two star General says mission In Baghdad falls short, which doesn't sit well while your playing miss that mine in a Humvee. If he reads much of the US mainstream media, he'll discover that much space is given to Republican claims that, in essence, say the coming Democratic majority will be giving terrorists maps to our best targets for dirty bombs, visas to get them in-country and police escorts after their bombs go off. And troop morale can't help but be lowered when, during the worst days of US casualties for the US military in Iraq since the siege of Falujah, she sees that the debate on who is or isn't gay in Congress is the main topic on Capital Hill. But to read this about his family back at home has got to be the hardest hit of all!

The women and children who formed a line at Camp Pendleton last week could have been waiting for a child-care center to open or Disney on Ice tickets to go on sale. Instead, they were waiting for day-old bread and frozen dinners packaged in slightly damaged boxes. these families are among a growing number of military households in San Diego County that regularly rely on donated food. - - - SNIP Too often, the supplies run out before the lines do, said Regina Hunter, who coordinates food distribution at one Camp Pendleton site. "Here they are defending the country. . . . It is heartbreaking to see," said Hunter, manager of the on-base Abby Reinke Community Center. "If we could find more sources of food, we would open the program up to more people. We believe anyone who stands in a line for food needs it and deserves it." - - - End of SNIPPET

The well-meaning, but none the less offensive "Ways To Help" box (text below) is a farce. The ONLY realistic way to truly help these families is to throw the damn Repugnicans out of office, impeach Bush and put him and the rest of the Bush Crime Family on trial! To do anything less would be unpatriotic, as this administration has bungled a war (Bush's Baghdad Blunder), mistreated our troops while enriching everyone else connected to Iraq, mishandled our domestic economy and shredded our Constitution. Here's the Repugnant way to help, if you believe our military families deserve to beg for milk and cheese!

Ways to help People interested in donating food, furniture or money to help military families in San Diego County can call: Military Outreach Ministry at Camp Pendleton: (760) 908-7043 Military Outreach Ministries at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station: (619) 843-8964

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[BREAK] Gee, with a supposed "Liberal-media" icon like the NY Times cheering us on, what more encouragement could we need . . . to blow our frigging brains out maybe? Editor & Publisher gives us an advance peek at an article in this Sunday's NY Times Magazine section by Noah Feldman. It is headed: "The Mere Midterms." The deck: "Even if voters send President Bush a strong message, he is not likely to listen." Somehow, this reporter, with the supposed premiere news media outlet on the planet, totally forgets or purposely deflates the powers of Congress.

"Nor," he points out, "can a Democratic Congress do much to make the Bush administration more competent," or block "hack" appointees to lower positions.

Well, I've worked in government, and blocking the top appointees is THE power you want, as the top sets the tone, direction AND politics of the body. (Yes, Virginia, there is politics in government agencies.) The competence is also influenced throughout by the team at the top. And, with Bush having instituted high bonuses for Federal employees, DECIDED BY THE GUY/GAL AT THE TOP, greed is also a factor. But the Times reporter really misses the forest by concentrating on what he believes is the sole tree standing, with this:

Finally: "What that leaves the Democrats is oversight--an idea that right now gets their hearts racing but whose limits will eventually become apparent....Government in the sunshine is a good thing--but a brightly lit Washington will still, mostly, be George W. Bush's Washington."

Oversight??? Can Noah Feldman have forgotten how lone Ken Star tied up our government for years, just because the Republican "majority" in Congress didn't like the President hiding his extramarital affair? Now, I would NOT advocate any impeachment hearing for GW Bush even if he were caught having sex with Condi AND Hastert. More of this post here! [/BREAK]