Monday, November 20, 2006

Neocons Turning/Darfur Exposed





How long before the neoconservatives endorse Hillary Clinton for president?




I'm not saying that's going to happen, but don't laugh. Sunday's Washington Post front-paged a story on the neocons' abandonment of the Bush administration. The Post is a little late on this. The NCs have long been pissed off at the Bush crowd for making a mess of the war they had advocated for years. This group initially focused its ire on Donald Rumsfeld. The Weekly Standard called on him to resign in April 2004. His sin: sending too few troops to Iraq. Now with Rummy finally on the way out and the debacle in Iraq seeming more a debacle each day, who else can the not-my-fault hawks blame? George W. Bush, the fellow they once heralded as a visionary, and Dick Cheney, their main man at 1600 Pennsylvania. Anyone but themselves.




But back to my opening question. The neocons are well-practiced at turning on political allies. After the first President Bush--with James Baker by his side--dared to apply a slight bit of pressure on Israel, several neocons rushed to endorse Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992, hoping this Democrat would be more hard-line in supporting Israeli policies, including Israel's controversial expansion of settlements in disputed territories. Yes, it might be a stretch to imagine this band contemplating a political dalliance with Clinton's wife--especially when she's slowly drifting toward opposition to the war, while John McCain is calling for more troops in Iraq (troops that don't exist and that might not do much long-term good, according to various military experts). But these folks can spin on a dime if politics and ideology demand it. I'm just waiting for the Standard to call for impeaching Bush and Cheney.




NEVER AGAIN? In the summer of 1941, if someone had projected on to the Washington Monument film footage of German troops locking 3000 Polish Jews into the Great Synagogue of Bialystock and burning it down, would such a move have caused decision-makers in Washington to react to the Nazi's incipient genocide campaign and take action? That's the thought I had the other night when I attended an exhibit at Provisions Library featuring grim and gut-wrenching photographs and videos from Darfur. There were many photos of villages being burned as part of the government-backed genocide campaign there. The most harrowing footage was of a man whose eyes had been gouged out during a raid on his village by the Janjaweed militia supported and enabled by the Sudanese government. At the end of the video, this man was hugging a boy--five years old or so--who clung tightly to the man and whose eyes registered a haunting incomprehension of the horror that has defined his young life.

These images are part of a traveling exhibit entitled "Who Will Survive Today?" that was organized by Darfur/Darfur, a nonprofit group created by a collection of concerned individuals--architects, filmmakers, lawyers, and such. The outfit is aiming to have this show hit 24 cities in 24 months. (You can see the schedule here, and for more on the show, read Suzanne Charle's review at TheNation.com.) The point is obvious: raise awareness.

In Washington, starting November 20, the exhibit will do this in an unusual fashion. For a week, each night (from 5:30 p.m. to midnight) wall-sized versions of the images will be projected on the outside of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Kudos to the museum--which two years ago declared a "genocide emergency" in Darfur--for connecting the past to the present. "Once you see photos of a murdered three-year-old little boy whose face has been smashed or the body of a one-year-old girl who has been shot you cannot honestly look at your own children without doing something to stop this killing," says Darfur/Darfur founder Leslie Thomas, a Chicago-area architect. Thomas, a mother, was obviously speaking for herself. If only that were true for everyone.




For more information on the Holocaust Museum event, click here.




Posted by David Corn at November 19, 2006 11:30 PM

88 comments:

O'Reilly said...

Billary for president? That's a haunting photo without thinking about politics.

Saladin said...

I think the neocon intention was to destroy the last vestiges of conservative republicanism, they are actually neoliberals with serious fascist leanings, then turn to the dems to complete their vision of America. hillary's talk of war opposition is just talk, she is a rabid Israel supporter as are most of the dems. When they receive their marching orders from the neocon Zionists don't doubt for a second that they will do what they are told. The North American Union will proceed and the borders will not only stay wide open but will be completely dissolved and the US will only be an idea, not an actual place. The shocking thing is that many people actually think that is a GOOD plan!

Saladin said...

o'reilly, I saw your comment about the VW. We drive a 1994 Wolfsburg edition Jetta with a VR6. We wouldn't trade that car for anything!

Saladin said...

Charlie’s Just Crazy About Bullet-Stopper Slavery

Kurt Nimmo
Another Day In The Empire
Monday, November 20, 2006

Of course, reinstating the so-called draft will not put an end to the occupation of Iraq or the impending shock and awe campaign against Iran. But it will make the apparently vindictive Rangel feel a bit better, especially if a whole lot of young middle class people, many who oppose what the neocons are doing in Iraq, suddenly begin receiving draft notices.

Naturally, a whole lot of Rangel’s constituents will receive notices as well, but that’s the nature of shared sacrifice. Everybody will get a chance to experience the wrath of the neocon meat grinder, except those who are offered “the alternative of a couple of years of public service with educational benefits,” Reuters reports. It will be interesting to see who gets a tour (or repeated tours) in the depleted uranium hell of Iraq and who gets “alternative service.”

I don’t know if Mr. Rangel has grand kids, but if he does I bet they’ll get “alternative” servitude. As for Jenna and Babs Bush, they’ll get light duty in Texas, as did their old man, if indeed they get anything at all, as rich folks have “other priorities,” as did Cheney during the Vietnam War. Ditto Chelsea Clinton.

“There’s no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm’s way,” said Charlie, apparently taking the vast majority of Americans for idiots.

Of course, “members of Congress and the administration,” consisting primarily of the Richie Rich class and servants of the multinational corporate plutocracy, will never be sent to Iraq or Iran, no matter how many draft induction centers are opened in the months ahead.

Rangel expanded on the “alternative” component of his scheme. He said “young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to this great republic, whether it’s our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals,” in other words, a whole lot of them will work for the Ministry of Homeland Security, looking high and low for Osama and his cave dwellers, and unable to track down any Islamic miscreants they will probably be deployed to keep tabs on the American variant, for instance environmentalists and antiwar Quakers, even “semi-communistic” Catholics, as the NSA did a while back and of course continues to do.

I’m not sure what draftees would do in hospitals and schools, except displace workers. But then workers should be accustomed to this, what with all the illegal aliens streaming over the border, willing to work for pennies on the dollar.

Even Senator Lindsey “Fifth Column” Graham chimed in.

“I think we can do this with an all-voluntary service, all-voluntary Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. And if we can’t, then we’ll look for some other option,” Graham told Bob Schieffer.

Graham said he believes the all-voluntary military “represents the country pretty well in terms of ethnic makeup, economic background,” a comment so out of touch with reality as to be a ticket to a psychiatric exam, something Graham should get routinely as both a Congress critter and an Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals judge.

Naturally, Lindsey is mum on the issue of enforced bullet-stopper slavery, as he will likely preside over the court martial of slackers and deadbeats who will, as things likely get much worse after the invasion of Iran, be sent to Camp Gitmo or taken out back and shot. We already know what he thinks about “fifth columnists,” or that is to say people who oppose the “war,” more accurately described as Phase Two of the sort of violence and destruction that will ultimately result in the “geostrategic” slicing and dicing of several Arab and Islamic nations, if the Israel First neocons have their way.
===========
Oh yeh, the SUPERdems will save us from OBL and the boxcutter wielding, cave dwelling terrorists!

capt said...

When correctly viewed, everyone is screwed



Here we are, nearly two weeks after the mid-term elections that were supposed to turn things around for this country and make us all feel better.

And what do we have? Chaos would be a good word. Utter chaos would be two, better words.

The bloodbath in Iraq is escalating (and "bloodbath" is the word even the ultra-cautious Associated Press used in its headline today), Democrats continue to snipe at each other, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger calls the Iraq war unwinnable and Bush foreign policy disastrous and the Pentagon has a new plan for the war.

At least another 112 have died in Iraq today as sectarian violence increases and the country plunges headlong into an uncontrollable civil war.

Back here in the US of A, Democrats try to contain their own civil war in the aftermath of incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's humiliating defeat at the hands of colleagues who rejected her choice for majority leader.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who trounced Pelosi's choice, the ethics-challenged Pennsylvania war critic John Murtha, for the job, admits he is worried about retaliation from the catty Pelosi.

"We're going to talk about that," Hoyer admitted when asked if he feared reprisal from the new Speaker. But he added that retaliation would be a mistake for Pelosi because his supporters would retaliate against her.

"One of the reasons it's going to not happen is that there are a lot of them," Hoyer said of his supporters. "It's one thing ... if you have a margin of one or two or five or even 10, but when you have a margin as decisively as the caucus made a decision, then it's time to move on."

Where I come from, those are called fighting words.

Speaking of fighting words, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says all the fighting in the world won't won the Iraq war.

More HERE

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

I really hope some good will come from the new congress. Maybe it is in the way other countries see us. The last election might have given us (the USA) a chance to reestablish some of our standing in the world. That could make a huge difference in some places.



capt

capt said...

Bush’s approval rating in N.M. dips following election



President Bush’s approval rating among New Mexicans has dropped sharply in the past month, according to anew SurveyUSA/Eyewitness News 4 poll.

600 adults in each state were polled by phone between Nov. 8 and Nov. 11.

New Mexicans were in the middle of the pack in the net approval rating, the difference between the number of people who approve of the job Bush is doing and the number of people who disapprove.

In New Mexico, Bush’s net approval rating is -28 percent, slightly lower than the average of -26 percent and significantly lower than last month’s net approval of -14 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

But among states that Bush won in 2004, New Mexico has the third-lowest net approval rating. Missouri’s net approval rating is -30 percent, and Ohio’s is -31 percent.

The president’s net approval rating is highest in Utah and Idaho at 12 percent in each of those states.

His lowest rating is in New York, where it’s -50 percent, much lower than last month’s -37 percent rating.

SurveyUSA conducted the poll on behalf of television stations around the country including Eyewitness News 4.

More HERE

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

The state-wide numbers are better than the numbers here in Bernalillo county. Makes it seem a bit odd that Heather would even come close let alone win.



capt

O'Reilly said...

"Don't let anybody kid you, gang. The Republicans are in total meltdown. They can write as many "DISASTER FOR THE DEMS!!" headlines as they want and take bitchy little swipes at Nancy Pelosi until they go blue in the face, but the reality of our current circumstance is this: Republicans are fucked. And it's their own damn fault."

(link)

Saladin said...

Republicans have undergone a mutiny, they are extinct now, except for the lone hold out Ron Paul, and what I wouldn't give for those old fashioned republicans to come back. Today we have the following choices, neolibs of the fascist variety or right-wing libs of the socialist variety, either way we're screwed. pelosi deserves all the swiping she gets from either side, she is a traitor, and a multi millionaire traitor at that.

capt said...

Iraq death toll hits 1,370 for November



BAGHDAD, Iraq — Assassins killed a popular TV comedian and a college professor but failed in attempts to kill two Iraqi government officials as the country's leader met with Syria's foreign minister about improving security and reopening diplomatic relations.

In all, 21 Iraqis were killed in a series of attacks in Baghdad, Ramadi, Baqouba and near the Syrian border, and the bodies of 26 Iraqis who had been kidnapped and tortured were found on the streets of the capital; in Dujail, north of Baghdad; and in the Tigris River in southern Iraq, police said.

The attacks raised the November death total to at least 1,370, well above the 1,216 who died in all of October, which was the deadliest month in Iraq since The Associated Press began tracking the figure in April 2005.

More HERE

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

It is not even Thanksgiving yet.



capt

Saladin said...

Use of human shields continues in Gaza | Jerusalem Post

"These human shields will not stop us from reaching every target of ours," an IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. "If we can't get to the target by air due to the human shields, we will reach it by ground and the Palestinians will pay a heavy price."
"We are obligated to reach every single target whether from far or up close," the officer said. "It might be harder now due to the human shields and require more planning but we will not give up our moral values and principles."
=========
Oh yes, those Israelis are the absolute epitome of moral values and principles! Please excuse me while I gag.

capt said...

"we will not give up our moral values and principles."


Not even if they are wrong, twisted, perverted, confused, misplaced?


The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.
~ Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)





capt

Saladin said...

"wrong, twisted, perverted, confused, misplaced?"

those appear to be the most popular kind!

Gerald said...

saladin, great comment on Charlie Rangel! A new military draft would create endless wars. Choose diplmacy and dialogue over wars. No normal person will choose war over peace.

capt, in Nazi America it's B.O.H.I.C.A. time over and over. For a short review BOHICA means bend over here it comes again. That fireplace poker is beginning to hurt more and more.

O'Reilly said...

Traitor! Millionaire. Zionist. This is not the political conversation I am accostomed to having here among cornbloggers. I choose not count myself among the disenfranchised. I believe there is good in our leaders. I believe we can use our political power for the greater good. I reject your labels of traitor and millionaire.

Gerald said...

Iraq Reconstruction Fraud

Gerald said...

The Next Act

David B. Benson said...

O'Reilly --- You know that Saladin sometimes gets carried away...

But the general tenor of "things are not going right" certainly seems correct.

Gerald said...

Hunger is no longer in the American Dictionary

We know that Nazi America does not believe that there is hunger in the world. Now Nazi America joins the ranks of a hunger free state. With the snap of the fingers hunger has disappeared from our planet.

Gerald said...

What's not to love about Nazi America? Nazi America has eliminated hunger from our world and nation. Nazi America has a new set of Ten Commandments, such as Thou shall kill, Thou shall lie, Thou shall steal, and Thou shall covet your neighbors oil, natural gas, and ntatural resources as some examples.

What's not to love about a warmongering country, like Nazi America?

O'Reilly said...

thanks db,

I agree things are not going well. I'd like to give our newly elected congress some time before we call them corrupt failures. The term starts in January.

They seem to be organizing themselves with all deliberate speed. They also seem to be prioritizing their agenda.

Popular support will be an essential ingredient in the success of their work.

Gerald said...

When I think of Nazi America, I envision the dismemberment of human body parts flying all around us with our bombs, nuclear bombs, bursting in air.

Gerald said...

Some people say that shit sinks to the bottom of a toilet bowl but in Nazi America shit rises to the top. A good example is Hitler Bush.

Gerald said...

The glory of Hitler Bush is man fully and totally dead. The glory of Nazi America is our planet fully and totally destroyed by our nuclear weapons.

Saladin said...

Reject all you want, it's the truth. I am not carried away, you talk as if these new congress people just dropped out of the clear blue sky with no prior record with which to judge potential actions. Are you saying pelosi is not a millionaire? Or that she is not completely faithful to the state of Israel? On what do you base these opinions? Do you know what it means to be a Zionist, which pelosi certainly is? I don't mean to goad, I really want to know. I have already seen her and most of this "new" congress in action, now I will see if they intend to change their ways or simply pick up where bushco left off, why should I think they will do things differently then they have so far? I guess a draft would be new!

O'Reilly said...

You have access to the truth like a clairvoyant? Pray tell.

"...now I will see if they intend to change their ways or simply pick up where bushco left off, why should I think they will do things differently then they have so far?"

Why wait for their turn. Judge them now. You have access to the truth.

Remember that character on Loony Tune cartoons, Snaggle Puss? "Oh me, Oh My" Snaggle puss always believed things would turn out for the worst.

O'Reilly said...

"People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed only
if there is light from within."

Saladin said...

o'reilly, I am not going to argue with you, I have the same access to their history as anyone. Refusing to look at it doesn't make it null and void, that is a micki argument. Clairvoyance is not a prerequisite, I do not want to get fooled again. As Capt said, save the party hats until we have reason to party, if that is expecting a negative outcome so be it. I'm tired of being lied to. And I'm tired of politicians putting the interests of Israel above those of our own country. The conflict in the Middle East has it's very foundation in the brutal and inhumane treatment Israel has been dishing out to the Palestinian people for decades, and until both dems and repugs are able to fact that fact and stop this blind support it will NEVER end.

Gerald said...

If Hitler Bush ever leaves the WH, people will make billions writing about this low life screwball.

The picture of Billary must go; it's freaking me out!

O'Reilly said...

OHIO SCANDAL
Noe gets 27 months in federal prison for illegal Bush contributions
By MIKE WILKINSON
BLADE STAFF WRITER


Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio's biggest political scandal in a generation, was sentenced today to 27 months in a federal prison for illegally funneling money into President Bush’s re-election campaign.

U.S. District Court Judge David Katz also ordered Noe to pay $136,200 in fines for sending more than $45,000 into a 2003 Bush fund-raiser by using two dozen friends and associates — including several current and former local Republican elected officials — in violation of federal election laws.

(link)

O'Reilly said...

The picture of Billary is CREEPY.

Gerald said...

Nazi Israel has been criticized again for using cluster bombs. Nazi Israel should be investigated for the genocide of Palestinians and the Lebanese people.

Gerald said...

Noe will be out in 13.5 months. Half of 27 is 13.5. Generally sentences are cut in half for good behavior. If Noe bends over frequently in prison and he does not complain that means good behavior for him.

Gerald said...

Molly Ivins drinks beer from the bottle and saladin drinks beer from the can. Any woman who drinks beer from the bottle or can is my kind of woman.

Gerald said...

First Step on Iraq

Gerald said...

Who says the MSM is liberal?

Gerald said...

By contrast, here's how they've comforted the Republicans over the same time period: "G.O.P Gears up for New Leadership Fight;" "Trent Lott Wins Back Senate Leadership Spot;" "House Republicans Pick Boehner As Leader;" "House G.O.P. Re-Elects Leadership Team for New Congress." Can you hear the marching music playing in the background?

The words "Republican" and "leader" almost leave me wondering who really won the election. The Times is betting that it can cow and scare Democrats just like it has scared American voters with wildly under-reported stories about WMD's in Iraq.

"Fracture and destroy" is the motto for the next two years.

Why do I single out the New York Times, when the other media organizations are even worse? To make a point. If even the Times will betray the common people and pick up the banner of the Corupublican Party, who can we trust?

Independent media.

Gerald said...

The Madness of Hitler Bush

Gerald said...

The malignant egophrenia epidemic is happening right in front of us, for all who have eyes to see. If we don't look at what's happening, if we turn away, ignore it, and contract against it, we are lying to ourselves. Then we're colluding with and unknowingly feeding the disease. Our looking away is a form of blindness. Our looking away is a form of ignorance. Our looking away, our contraction, IS itself the disease. Our resulting complacency and inaction is, in fact, an expression of our lack of compassion. To quote Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. "One who passively accepts evil [allowing it to happen] is as much involved in it as the one who perpetrates it."

Gerald said...

A Taste of Right-Wing Hate Mail

Gerald said...

Paul Levy makes a good case for Nazi Americans to be certified as having daily psychotic episodes in their lives. Is Nazi America and her citizens on the verge of a psychotic break-up? Are all Nazi Americans insane?

O'Reilly said...

Today, the democratic leadership announced their agenda for the first 100 hours by passing bills that directly affect the pocketbooks of working-class and middle-class people, including
* raising the minimum wage,
* cutting interest rates for student loans and
* allowing the Medicare program to negotiate lower drug prices.

Other top priorities for January are
* lobbying reform,
* implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and
* rolling back subsidies to the oil industry.

Pelosi said restoring the draft will not be on that list and was not something she supported.

No word or Iraq policy.

You reaction? What's missing?

David B. Benson said...

O'Reilly --- That starter list needs to include

OUT OF IRAQ NOW!

...and then some environment stuff for the next 100 hours...

Saladin said...

Gerald, I want to make a minor correction, I NEVER drink beer from a can unless it is Guiness Stout! It's microbrews from a bottle for me!
David B, exiting from Iraq should be the First, Second and Third priorities, with an exit from Afghanistan close on it's heels. Raising the minimum wage is moronic and won't do a speck of good, lower interest rates would be good if they actually do it, medicare is a lost cause with a horrific unfunded liability I have no idea how they will ever find the money for, implementing the 9/11 commission BS means they will continue with the whole 9/11 cover-up fiasco and the police state will move forward with a war on freedom which should go a long way in appeasing those muslamiacs who hate our freedom. Is this duopoly really what people consider democracy? I guess I am just a Jim Hightower styled malcontent who is fed up with politics as usual, the same shit spewed out by the usual suspects. DOUBLE UGH!!
Anyone who thinks I am WAY too negative should check out DEN'S blog, everyone who is pissed at me and Capt is there with a very rosy view of the future and everybody agrees with everybody else, very paeceful. In their world, the dems will probably make sure we all live happily ever after. I sure hope they're right. I have never wanted so badly to be wrong.

David B. Benson said...

Saladin --- Yes, DOUBLE UGH! And no, I have a vision of the future as being even more horrid than now, with the four horsemen galloping ever faster and closer...

O'Reilly said...

I didn't know Den had a blog. What's the link? I'd like to visit to say hi to some of the cornbloggers. Tell me Happy's there and I won't bother.

O'Reilly said...

Out of Iraq is #1 for Sal and DB. What's 2 and 3 for you guys?

O'Reilly said...

Bush Gets Grounded
Posted on Nov 19, 2006
By Andy Borowitz

In yet another setback for President George W. Bush, his father, former President George H.W. Bush, appeared in the Oval Office today and demanded that his son give back the keys to the White House at once.

For the elder Mr. Bush, who has largely taken a hands-off approach during his son’s first six years in office, the decision to demand the keys to his erstwhile residence was regarded as extraordinary.

But according to witnesses to the unprecedented confrontation, the senior Mr. Bush also demanded the keys to Air Force One and informed his son that he was “grounded for life.”

After the 41st president reprimanded the 43rd president for invading Iraq, the younger Mr. Bush attempted to offer a defense for his unilateral action, telling his father, “All of my friends said that it was a good idea.”

“Oh, and if all your friends told you to go AWOL from the Alabama National Guard, would you do that, too?” his father thundered. “OK, well maybe that wasn’t the best example, but you get the point.”

Speaking to reporters later, the 41st president said that he forbade his son from spending time with Vice President Dick Cheney, calling him “a bad influence.”

“I told George to spend the weekend mowing that big lawn in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “I want him to think long and hard about what he’s done.”

Elsewhere, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group issued recommendations for winning the war in Iraq, including putting former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in charge of the insurgents.

(link)

David B. Benson said...

O'Reilly --- #2 has to be the restoration of the Magna Carta. #3 has to be restoration of the great writ: Habeus Corpus.

º¿carol said...

Here is DEN's blog link, O'Reilly.

Dancing With Fools

capt said...

"It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.": Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher

=
"A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers -- and this is the basis of all human morality.": John F. Kennedy - (1917-1963) 35th US President

=
"If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless, since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience the injustice of our fellows.": Molière - [Jean-Baptiste Poquelin] (1622-1673) French playwright

=
"Man's character is his fate.": Heraclitus - (c.540-480 BC) Greek philosopher

===
Read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

O'Reilly said...

The influence of Magna Carta outside England can be seen in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Indeed just about every common law state has been influenced by Magna Carta, making it one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy.


-wiki

Saladin said...

I agree with David B, reinstate our constitutional foundation, what are we without it? And #3 for me would be to boot those thugs at the Federal Reserve and their henchman the IRS out of power, I think you would find this country much better off without a bunch of crooked, greedy, war mongering bankers in charge! Raising the minimum wage would not be necessary if we didn't have this never ending, counterfeit money inflation to deal with! Back to the gold standard and a govt. issued currency, as the constitution intended, NO MORE FAKE MONEY!! JEEZ, how can such an intelligent people be so clueless??

O'Reilly said...

A writ of habeas corpus is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a prisoner be brought before the court for determination of whether that person is serving a lawful sentence and/or whether he or she should be released from custody. The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

Currently, under a recently passed US law, US citizens suspected of being 'enemy combatants' have no right to petition the court to determin eif they are being help lawfully.

----
DB, I'd put Habeas Corpus #2 and the Magna Carta #3 unless you mean the Constition/Bill of Rights when you say Magna Carta.

Saladin said...

I just read DEN'S blog, I rest my case. No one disagrees, it is all light and harmony, as long as you don't dissent or say anything negative, god forbid you have a doubt about the "new and improved" congress critters! Give them a chance to fuck up first, 'K? Then we can..... uh, I'm not sure. What CAN we do? DEN, I really like you, and I wish I felt comfortable posting there, but for the sake of the peacefulness of your site I won't. No making waves, our country really has no room for trouble makers like me.

capt said...

Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.
~ David T. Wolf (1943 - )


The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
~ George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Saladin said...

Erling, maybe the reason they reject the reports is because they haven't failed. They wanted chaos and total destruction and that is just what they got. To create a cauldron, and faster please.

Saladin said...

US is unfriendly to visitors: survey
November 21, 2006 - 10:29AM

The United States is the world's most unfriendly country for international travellers, a survey suggests.

The global survey showed the US was ranked "the worst" because of rude immigration officials and long delays in processing visas.

More than half of the travellers surveyed said US immigration officials were rude and two-thirds said they feared they would be detained on arriving in the US for a simple mistake in their paper work or for saying the wrong thing to an immigration official.

Twice the percentage of travellers nominated the US as unfriendly, compared with the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent.

The survey, of 2,011 international travellers in 16 countries, was conducted by the polling firm RT Strategies for the Discover America Partnership, a business-backed group launched in September to promote travel to the US and improve the country's image abroad.

"The entry process has created a climate of fear and frustration that is keeping foreign visitors away," said Geoff Freeman, executive director of the Discover America Partnership.

"The survey shows there is more fear of our immigration officials than of terrorism or crime."

© 2006 Reuters
=========
Pretty soon we will be so oppressed all those mean ole freedom hating terrorists will stay away, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Who needs a stinkin border wall? Unless it is to keep us IN!

Saladin said...

IDF admits targeting civilian areas in Lebanon with cluster bombs
Haaretz

According to testimony of an MLRS battery commander published in Haaretz, MLRS rockets were heavily used, even though they are known to be very inaccurate - the rockets may deviate up to 1,200 meters from their target - and a substantial percentage of the bomblets are known not to explode, thus becoming mines. In light of this, most experts view cluster ammunitions to be "non-discerning" weapons prohibited for use in a civilian environment.
According to the officer, in order to compensate for the rockets' lack of precision, they were told to "flood" the area with them. "We have no option of striking an isolated target, and the commanders know this very well," he said.
==========

Saladin said...

Selective Service: Ready for a draft

Thom Patterson
CNN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Although Congress is unlikely to follow calls from a top Democrat to bring back the military draft, the United States does have a plan, if necessary, aimed at inducting millions of young men for service.

The Selective Service System, an agency independent of the Defense Department, says it's ready to respond quickly to any crisis that would threaten to overwhelm the current all-volunteer military.

"We're the fire department," said spokesman Pat Schuback at the service headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the Democrat who likely will head the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the next congressional session, said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" he plans to propose a new military draft next year.

But virtually no one expects the bill to have any chance of passage, and incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday the Democratic Party's House leadership would not support Rangel's proposal.

CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said every poll he's seen in the past year or two indicates Americans young and old don't want to return to the draft.

"And those who are calling for a draft, of course, know that it's unpopular," Schneider said. "They believe it may be the fastest way to end the war, and to keep the United States out of future wars."

They also say any major attack against the United States would certainly result in a surge of additional volunteers that would make a draft unnecessary.

If needed, the U.S. Selective Service System says it's ready to pull the trigger on a new draft. According to the Selective Service, here's how a draft would happen:

A crisis occurs that overwhelms the current all-volunteer military, forcing Congress and the president to authorize a draft system.

Selective Service starts a lottery, based on birth dates, beginning with men age 20.

Those who are assigned low lottery numbers are "ordered to report for a physical, mental, and moral evaluation at a Military Entrance Processing Station to determine whether they are fit for military service," according to the Selective Service's Web site.

They have 10 days to claim "exemption, postponement, or deferment," that would excuse them from service.

Compared to the Vietnam War era, any future draft would allow "fewer reasons to excuse a man from service," according to the Selective Service.
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A crisis, like yet ANOTHER Pearl Harbor?

kathleen said...

That is really something David for someone who is Jewish to mention that other people died in the WWII Holacaust. I have always considered this a real problem in our media when over and over we only hear or read about the 6 million Jews who were brutally killed in that war. In our media it is seldom mentionedd that 3 million Polish people, 1 million gypsies, 20 million Russians, and more were killed in this war. It is incredibly arrogant, disrespectful and stupid not to mention all peoples who have been systematically or brutally murdered in a war.

The show that you mentined that is focused on Darfur sounds amazing and needed. While people around the world need to see the brutal reality of what is taking place in Darfur, Americans need to see, and hear about the brutal reality on the ground in Iraq. A genocide is taking place in Iraq 650,000 people have been killed.

When you wrote some time ago about your wife's art show being pulled around Washington neighborhoods. All I could think about is how effective it would be to take some photographs of Robert Fisk of the brutal reality on the gournd in Iraq in a traveling show with bullboard sized photos....how that might smack some people in the U.s. out of this american dream and help them wake up to the nightmare that we created for the Iraqi people

kathleen said...

Saladin, several individuals from Amnesty International who have been on the ground in Lebanon and Israel during Israel's invasion of Lebanon were just in Athens.

They made is sound as if Amnesty is going to take mere serious steps with israel for committing war crimes in Lebanon.

I believe they said that Israel dropped 4 million cluster bombs in the last 78 hours of the invasion. That 1 million were still active and lying on the ground in southern Lebanon. And that Israel continues to refuse feleasing the maps of where those cluster bombs were dropped.

Saladin said...

Kathleen, or the brutal reality on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.

Saladin said...

Kathleen, if they make Southern Lebanon uninhabitable they will be able to seize the Litani River for their own. My number one objection to the current crop of leaders is the same as it was against the previous ones, their blind subservience to that little terrorist nation of Israel. I will never trust any politician who can stand up in front of AIPAC and pledge the never ending support, no matter what, of our country for Israel. pelosi did that and I will say right here and now she has NO right to speak for me or the rest of the country. She can pledge her own support, but she can just leave me out of it!

kathleen said...

Many of the radical Neo-cons could be taken care of if Phase II of the SEnate Select Committee on INtelligence would be fully implemented. If the Office of Special Plans,the White HOuse Iraq Group and the Counter-terroism group and all of those who created and dessiminated the false pre-war intelligence..these criminals would be going to prison instead of jumping from the Republican party to the Democratic boat. Hillary Clinton, Kerry, Obama; any of the wannabe presidents should make this a priority instead of embracing the psychopathic liar/kllers.

These wannabe's may not be fully aware that many Americans and people around the world are wating for Justice to take place in regard to the lies repeated and false intelligence used to lead to the illegal invasion of Iraq, and for the tens of thousands of deaths that have taken place in this unnecessary war!

kathleen said...

If the Aipac trial coming up in January (if it is not dismissed or delayed again) does not pull the some of the feet out from under the disproportiante amount of influence and power that the Israeli lobby has over U.s. foreign poiicy..nothing will!


Congressman Lantos is frightening! The other day on c-span he called the "Israeli Lobby" by Mearsheimer and Walt a "conspiracy theory".

O'Reilly said...

Of all the things to get excited about, I’ve never quite understood why conservatives seem a little fixated on animated cartoons.

The #1 movie in the country, the animated film “Happy Feet,” is “an entertaining story about a young bird’s journey toward self-acceptance.” But to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto it’s insidious “far left” political propaganda.

Cavuto saw the movie with his sons and found it “offensive.” Cavuto objected to the fact that penguins in the movie have trouble finding food because of overfishing and oil drilling. Cavuto called the film “an animated ‘Inconvenient Truth.’ I half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop-up.”

Indeed, this wasn’t just a random complaint. Fox News devoted a segment to the issue of whether “Happy Feet” is “promoting an agenda.” Cavuto interviewed entertainment critic Holly McClure, who complained about the movie’s “subtle messages.” Cavuto went on to tell viewers that Hollywood was “foisting [politics] on my kids,” which was “a big-time objectionable.”

(link)

O'Reilly said...

Following through on warmongering rhetoric
By Glenn Greenwald

Those who melodramatically compare Islamic jihadists to the Nazi threat and who insist that we are engaged in some World War II-like, epic existential struggle are not just hysterical and misguided but also incredibly insincere. Their chest-beating rhetoric is virtually never accompanied by any actual sacrifice or risk -- not just personal/physical risk but even political risk or even economic sacrifice.

All of these warmongers who have been dominating our political dialogue and our foreign policy over the last five years believe that our current occupation of Iraq is only a small fraction of the military commitments we ought to be making. They harbor dreams of military confrontation with Iran and Syria, at a minimum, and the most hawkish among them -- the John McCains and Bill Kristols -- want far more troop commitments in Iraq alone. And there is a consensus of military and intelligence officials that far more military resources are needed simply to avoid a complete collapse of Afghanistan. We clearly cannot sustain our military aspirations with the current size of armed forces that we have.

more

capt said...

Judge: FBI must correct disclosures on evacuation of Saudis after 9/11



A U.S. district court judge has ordered the FBI to correct disclosures regarding the US government's evacuation of Saudi royals and bin Laden family members after the September 11 attacks in 2001, a conservative watchdog organization announced today.

"Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to submit 'proper disclosures' to the Court and Judicial Watch by December 15, 2006 concerning the U.S. government's evacuation of Saudi royals and members of the bin Laden family from the United States immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks," the group said in a press release obtained by RAW STORY.

Judicial Watch notes that Judge Roberts criticized "the adequacy of redaction descriptions, the accuracy of the sworn statement submitted with the documents, the validity of exemption claims, and other errors in the FBI’s disclosures.

"The FBI’s 220-page annotated production and accompanying … Declaration together do not, as they must, provide sufficient detail or precision about the withheld information … the FBI’s motion for summary judgment will be denied and the FBI will be directed to file disclosures that fairly meet the requirements of [court precedent]," wrote Judge Roberts.

Judge Roberts added that one particular FBI exemption argument "strains credulity."

According to Judicial Watch, US government documents reveal that 160 Saudis flew from the US between September 11 and September 15, 2001.

(A 19-page PDF of the Court's opinion can be read at this link)

More HERE

capt said...

Settlements 'violate Israeli law'



More than a third of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land, an Israeli campaign group has reported.


Peace Now says nearly 40% of the land the settlements sit on is, according to official data, "effectively stolen" from Palestinian landowners.

This, the group says, is a violation of Israel's own laws.

Settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, although Israel rejects this.

About 430,000 Jews live in these residential areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.


More HERE

David B. Benson said...

O'Reilly --- The Magna Carta was the first step to constitutional government, limiting the power of the king. To restore constitutional govenment, we simple need to remove those presidents (and their veeps) who fail to carry out their oath of office...

Gerald said...

I was watching an Ontario PBS program last night and the guests said that the neocons are disgruntled liberals who believe that America should impose her democracy on foreign countries even by force. The guests also said that forcing democracy upon people will not work.

Bush and his cabal are not neocons and they are not even traditional Republicans. No wonder Nazi America has an identity crisis because our Nazi rulers have failed to know whom they are.

What a country???

Gerald said...

That Billary photo still freaks me out!!!

Having to look at it is cruel and inhumane punishment!

Gerald said...

Cartoon of the Month

Gerald said...

Nazi Israel is guilty of genocide

Gerald said...

Beatitudes of Peace

capt said...

Gerald,

"Walk on! Walk forth!"

I like the change of words.




capt

DEN said...

Den Here, listen up!

I never intended my blog to compete with this one, rather I intended it to be a not-so-intense exchange of ideas without all the negative gloom and doom that is found here.

I write what is on my mind and if you agree OK, if not, Oh well.
Grinding through the same old crap over and over is not my way. This place is dripping with negativity, and is depressing not everyone likes that.

I try to remain upbeat about the election, that it can and will make a difference in Jan. when everyone is sworn in, calling the game now is a bit presumtive and unwise.

One thing nobody here can dispute the fact we are one hell of a lot better off with the Repugs getting kicked to the curb and gaining a Dem majority, than if the opposite would have occured.

Then you would really have something to bitch about.

David B. Benson said...

How about "Moonwalking out of Iraq"?

capt said...

Incumbents do have a record that can be spoken too, and about.

Only a handful of newbie congress-critters yet to be corrupted.

Sure, we can wait until January but it is silly to think the incumbents will change their spots because it is a new congress.

If anybody thinks there is dripping negativity here should consider making a positive post instead of just being negative about being negative.

Just a thought.




capt

DEN said...

When in Rome.....

capt said...

Partisan politics is blind - no matter which part of the partisan or party.

I have always disliked politicians in general. I have always complained and bitched about politics and politicians from both sides.

The problem has never been because of party but because of the actions of both parties.


"With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost."
~ William Lloyd Garrison (1805 - 1879)



capt

O'Reilly said...

There is a place for both natering nabobs and optimistic outlooks. The habit of being almost exclusively one or the other reflects more on the person than the situation. IMHO.

I'm happy to have this place to share my opinion and happy to have the company of those who also choose to come here and share theirs.

capt said...

I'm happy to have this place to share my opinion and happy to have the company of those who also choose to come here and share theirs.

I second that!


capt

David B. Benson said...

I third it!

capt said...

Hate Merchants



Salon (watch a short ad for a site pass):

Hate merchants: Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter, Beck, Savage, Ingraham and their ilk poison the airwaves and do the GOP's dirty work. Why are they given a platform by the media? And with so many right-wing liberal-bashers, why do reporters feel the need to pile on? Jamison Foser tackles the second question: "Given the magnitude of the Republicans' loss, we might expect the journalists and pundits who have so mercilessly mocked Democrats as bumblers and fools, the political equivalent of the Washington Generals, to turn their snide comments and patronizing jokes on the GOP. With Karl Rove apparently wandering around in a daze, wondering what the hell happened, surely his spectacularly incompetent reading of the electorate has earned him months, if not years, of ridicule by the likes of Norah O'Donnell, Chris Matthews, and Mark Halperin.

We all know how the pundits would chortle if Democrats took an electoral thumpin', then responded by elevating their most liberal members to the party leadership. We'd hear how their policies and their demeanor were anathema to "real Americans" — and how their reaction to defeat shows just how clueless these effete liberals are.

But those waiting for similar treatment of the GOP at the hands of the nation's political reporters and pundits shouldn't hold their breath. It isn't coming.

Read full article here


More HERE

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

I don't usually link to Salon but this is a pretty good piece.



capt

capt said...

I have seen men march to the wars, and then I have watched their homeward tread, And they brought back bodies of living men, But their eyes were cold and dead: Edmund Vance Cooke

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When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart." : Ralph Waldo Emerson

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God and a soldier all people adore In time of war, but not before; And when war is over and all things are righted, God is neglected and an old soldier slighted: Anonymous

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"If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom." : Robert Frost


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capt said...

New thread/post.

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