Friday, December 29, 2006

Bush: Blame the Doubters


What's the problem with George W. Bush's policy in Iraq? He appears to believe that the issue is not that his administration is doing anything wrong but that folks simply don't understand what's at stake in Iraq. After meeting with his national security team in Crawford, Texas, on Thursday, Bush, flanked by Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and General Peter Pace, issued a brief statement to reporters. He called Gates' recent trip to Iraq "an important part of coming to closure on a way forward in Iraq." And Bush thanked Gates for providing him with an "important briefing," but he provided no clue on which "way forward" he prefers, though news reports say Bush is considering increasing troops up to 20,000.

Bush went on to say:

And so we'll continue to consult with the Iraqis. I'm going to talk to Congress--not only will I continue to reach out to Congress, but members of my team will do so, as well. I fully understand it's important to have both Republicans and Democrats understanding the importance of this mission. It's important for the American people to understand success in Iraq is vital for our own security.

In a three-minute statement, Bush used the word "important" six times. And he revealed how views consultation with Congress. He's not interested in forging a policy with legislators. Instead, he wants to make sure they realize that what he's doing is "important." The same goes for American citizens--most of whom now believe that Bush was wrong to invade Iraq and that he has mismanaged the war. They don't get it, Bush seems to be saying, they just don't see how "important" this war.

Does Bush not understand that he has lost the PR war over the war and that it's a bit late to be arguing the importance of the mission. The public has turned on him and his war. He should worry less about persuasion and more about policy.

Posted by David Corn at December 29, 2006 11:56 AM

58 comments:

O'Reilly said...

Glenn Greenwald wrote a superb post back in August about the issues that now determine one's political orientation:

Throughout the 1990s, one's political orientation was determined by a finite set of primarily domestic issues — social spending, affirmative action, government regulation, gun control, welfare reform, abortion, gay rights. One's position on those issues determined whether one was conservative, liberal, moderate, etc. But those issues have become entirely secondary, at most, in our political debates. They are barely discussed any longer. Instead, what has dominated our political conflicts over the last five years are terrorism-related issues — Iraq, U.S. treatment of detainees, domestic surveillance, attacks on press freedoms, executive power abuses, Iran, the equating of dissent with treason.

It is one's positions on those issues — and, more specifically, whether one agrees with the neoconservative approach which has dominated the Bush administration's approach to those issues — which now determines one's political orientation.

Here's my point. If 9/11 wasn't simply an unabetted Al Quada attack but more than that, an event PNAC and NEOCON operatives nurtured, then our nation's political course and dialogue has been successfully directed in the specific way PNAC called for.

Unentended consequences are great and the deaths and suffering of 650,000 Iraqis and 3000 americans, 6000 including civilians in NY on 9/11 are a stain on the sould of those, who at the very least, failed to do their duty.

"Who would have ever thought, people would hijack an airline and fly it into a building?"

Seriously? Just about everybody in government thought that was a real possibility ... why do you ask?

Hajji said...

It is nothing new for this MALadministration to "blame the doubters".

Abu Graibh? Blame the reporters!

Illegal wiretapping uproar? Blame the reporters! (even though the papers squelched the reporters for over a year!)

Poor Katrina response? Blame the folks who didn't (couldn't) get out before the deluge! Blame the local gummint! Blame the media for constantly flashing the images of people begging for rescue...for relief!

Gerald said...

I call upon all Americans and even Nazi Americas, "Do not let yourselves be treated like mushrooms!" Please remove yourselves from the darkness and stopping eating the shit that is handed to you by Hitler Bush and his Nazi cabal.

Gerald said...

Do not let yourselves become full of shit like Hitler Bush!!!!!!!!!!

Gerald said...

2,996 American soldiers killed in Iraq, 10,0000 so severely maimed that they will never again live normal lives, a total of 25,000 soldiers injured!!!!!

A friend of my son was a reservist back in college under ROTC. He served three years in the military. Fifteen years later at 40 he was called back for a 15 month stint to Iraq. His wife is upset and he fears that she will leave him.

Do not believe Hitler Bush and do not be one of his disciples!!!!! Please break away from Hitler Bush and Lucifer!!!!! Do not let yourselves be glorified through mass murders and war crimes!!!!!

Return to Jesus Christ and His love and mercy!!!!! Pursue policies that stress justice and peace!!!!! Love and show mercy to all of God's children!!!!!

Gerald said...

Mahatma Gandhi and Nonviolence

Faith in God

[A living faith in nonviolence] is impossible without a living faith in God. A nonviolent man can do nothing save by the power and grace of God. Without it he won't have the courage to die without anger, without fear and without retaliation. Such courage comes from the belief that God sits in the hearts of all and that there should be no fear in the presence of God. The knowledge of the omnipresence of God also means respect for the lives even of those who may be called opponents....

Nonviolence is an active force of the highest order. It is soul force or the power of Godhead within us. Imperfect man cannot grasp the whole of that Essence-he would not be able to bear its full blaze, but even an infinitesimal fraction of it, when it becomes active within us, can work wonders.

The sun in the heavens fills the whole universe with its life-giving warmth. But if one went too near it, it would consume him to ashes. Even so it is with God-head. We become Godlike to the extent we realize nonviolence; but we can never become wholly God.

The fact is that nonviolence does not work in the same way as violence. It works in the opposite way. An armed man naturally relies upon his arms. A man who is intentionally unarmed relies upon the Unseen Force called God by poets, but called the Unknown by scientists. But that which is unknown is not necessarily non-existent. God is the Force among all forces known and unknown. Nonviolence without reliance upon that Force is poor stuff to be thrown in the dust.

Consciousness of the living presence of God within one is undoubtedly the first requisite.

O'Reilly said...

"It's important for [everyone else] to understand . . ." How many times has this President lectured us with those words to remind us of our ignorance and our inability to grasp what's important?

link

Gerald said...

See what happens wherever Hitler Bush goes

Gerald said...

Hitler Bush was a reservist and why isn't he called to active duty? Who gives a shit about his position! Let his body be used as cannon fodder!!!!!

Gerald said...

Hitler Bush, if Iraq is so IMPORTANT, why not return to active duty? Really, Hitler Bush, if Iraq is so IMPORTANT, let your body be used as cannon fodder for your IMPORTANT cause.

Gerald said...

All you are Hitler Bush in the whole scheme of life is a useless and a worthless mushroom!!!!!

th said...

I M P E A C H!


I M P E A C H!


There are some who would love to see bush/cheney hanging from a tall scaffold like saddam. Not me. I would prefer to do some public castigations. The kind where the perpetrator has to sit face to face wih their victims and listen to the stories of the victim, over and over and over again. Is that too harsh? Maybe for the victim... but there are so many victims of this misadminiistration, I'm sure a healing victim support group would be formed. Oh but that would be a political party wouldn't it?

Later,
th


PS,

Sorry for the intermitent posts. I'm on sattelite hook up, signal gets blocked by snowfall. (YAH!!) Good thing I'm not a day trader,eh?

Carey said...

I urge you all to click on Gerald's link See What Happens Wherever Hitler Bush Goes.

The title is misleading. This will bring tears and it is the year-end piece.

I don't celebrate New Year's Eve, but to all of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let us hope and pray that 2007 will bring some sort of peace.



I condemn the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Sorry, I'm irrevocably against capital crime.

capt said...

Gerald Ford and James Brown: Brothers in Funk



When great men die, how do we craft our coverage? Perhaps, we think not of answers, but of questions. What is greatness, and how does a man achieve it?


Gerald Ford saved the nation, it is said, by getting us out of a funk.

James Brown saved it by getting us into one.

Not since the coincidental deaths of Ronald Reagan and Ray Charles has destiny revealed two such divergent paths to American greatness. Whose death deserves greater coverage in the news? Could I, as a journalist, a person and an American, decide which man was greater?

Gerald Ford was from the Midwest and carried the name of an American automobile. James Brown was from the South and had a name that could describe the color of his skin.

Gerald Ford played football for Michigan but became an object of satire when, during his presidency, he started to fall down. James Brown played the drums for the Famous Flames, but stepped up to the mic, and became the object of gentle satire for his raspy discourse and gliding feet. One fell down a lot. The other floated across the stage.

More HERE

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

I thought this piece was a little funny, my sense of humor is a little odd at times.



capt

PS - no death for anybody. State sponsored murder is still murder.

Saladin said...

Hi everybody! I'm home from Portland and want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
Capt, you changed the Corn post format! It looks professional! BTW, I love all the links, great choices.
Carey, If saddam deserves to hang what does bushco deserve?

capt said...

"Herein lies a riddle: How can a people so gifted by God become so seduced by naked power, so greedy for money, so addicted to violence, so slavish before mediocre and treacherous leadership, so paranoid, deluded, lunatic?" : Philip Berrigan - Source: Hell, Healing and Resistance Veterans Speak

=
Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive: Henry Steele Commager - (1902-1998) Historian and author

=
Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder.... the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish their corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace....They are continually talking about their patriotic duty. It is not their but your patriotic duty that they are concerned about. There is a decided difference. Their patriotic duty never takes them to the firing line or chucks them into the trenches. Eugene V. Debs

=
War Is A Racket : I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher- ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service: Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
http://tinyurl.com/9vl8d

===

Read this newsletter online http://tinyurl.com/dy6yy


Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

Saladin,

Very good to hear you made it back in good order!

I was like a woman with a new haircut wishing someone (anyone) would notice but a little scared to ask for fear they hated the new look!

HA!


capt

Carey said...

No one deserves capital punishment. Not even Hitler. As Carol says (via God) Thou shall not kill. PERIOD.

One and all,

The New Year will first bring in total chaos in Iraq. This execution will bring hell on wheels in spades etc. to Iraq. Major uprisings now in the offing. The military can be on 'high alert' all it wants. You want an official start to the Civil War?? HERE! (Being sarcastic but oh, so angry.)

Once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, sort of, considering what's about to come down.



What about men and their fears of reactions to their new haircuts?

capt said...

Impeachment Good for Republicans and Democrats



[Opinion] Both parties stand to lose by failing to pursue Bush


A debate is raging as to whether the U.S. should impeach George W. Bush, but it's not a partisan debate. Democrats and Republicans fall on both sides of the issue.

Members of both parties opposing impeachment seem to be worried that pursuing impeachment will hurt their chances in the 2008 presidential elections and beyond. Given that the argument seems to be turning on whether impeachment is good for winning elections, it seems odd that so many members of both parties are in agreement about opposing it. Obviously, one of the parties will get a political bump.

While few reasonable people can doubt that Bush has done more than enough to warrant impeachment from a constitutional perspective, it looks like some Democrats and Republicans won't be motivated to impeach until they can see why it's good for their political futures.

Therefore I'm going to put aside the fact that holding Bush accountable for his numerous mistakes is the ethical thing to do. I'm also going to put aside the way impeachment massively increases the chance of Congress undoing his rubberstamped legislative damage, and that impeachment is the only way to deter future presidents from continuing from where Bush leaves off. That's right -- even ignoring all this, impeachment is still a good idea, and for both parties.

Democrats, up until now, you've had a Republican majority in the Congress. When people criticized the government, you could claim with some credibility that there was nothing you could do about it. But now you have both houses of Congress.

The people voted to put you in office in good measure not because your party expressed a coherent and positive vision for America's future, but because they were concerned about what's been going on under Republican control. If you fail to hold this president accountable now, you're out of excuses. People will look back and say that both parties were complicit and opportunistic -- and they'll be right.

You only maintain the moral high ground if you defend the Constitution in contrast to the Republican controlled Congress. Members of Congress, it might be good to remember that this was the oath you swore to when you took office.

If you fail in this, the public will see you as no different from those you replaced, and you will lose your precious elections.

Ten years from now, when your child asks you what you did to stop Bush's systematic destruction of the foundations of our democracy, you'll have to say, "well, nothing, honey. We had an election to win." Actually, you may want to make sure you tell them in person, to avoid the wiretap surveillance.

And Republicans, you're like the football coach who pridefully refuses to pull a player off the field after everyone else can plainly see the need. The sooner you pull the man, the more highly respected you'll be. The longer you wait, the more you tie your party's future to the corruption and incompetence that has already been attributed to this administration.

So whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, it's time to join together on impeachment. All who do will reap the spoils. Those who do not will be subject to the judgment of history.

More HERE

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

The idea of taking any law "off the table" is insane. Let the investigation take its own proper course.

Bottom line - assuming the GOP senators will vote strictly along party lines is just too bizarre. If impeachment comes down to a dozen senators - the D's should get some discipline - vote as a block and let the slugs tell the coward from Crawford he has to resign - just like Nixon - only this time no pardon for Dumya or president Cheney.



capt

Hajji said...

Capt,

Nice dye job! (did you get new contacts, maybe a little "eye lift"...c'mon admit it! You have TOO had a little work done, din'tcha?!

-T

capt said...

Hajji,

No, really - it is not a toupee - that is my real hair!


HA!

capt

gerald said...

Hitler Bush is preparing to bomb Iran

gerald said...

Bush has never wanted peace with Iran. There will be no win-win situation with this president and Iran, because Bush is playing to win on his terms alone, the way that he was able to play Libya's recent capitulation to the West.

But Iran's not doing the Gaddafi shuffle. It's always had more support in the region than Gaddafi ever did. Iran's been a fly in the American ointment since 1979. And now, after being rebuffed repeated in a quest for peace, Iran is back on the nuclear path.

So people, get ready. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can talk all day long about the first hundred hours. We can start considering our options for the 2008 presidential primary. Hey, what are your plans for the New Year?

George W. Bush is going to bomb Iran.

capt said...

Hajj approaches spiritual climax



More than two million Muslims have taken part in a prayer ceremony on Mount Arafat - one of the main events in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

The pilgrims will also hear a sermon modeled on the one the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have given at the site about 1,400 years ago.

The ritual forms the spiritual climax of the Hajj.

More HERE

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

No "I" on this Hajj or I would have a field day!



capt

capt said...

THE DEATH OF CASH



RIP MONEY BORN 640BC DIED 2007 AD Payment by phone is here


MONEY talks - and in the very near future it will be talking through your mobile phone.

Fumbling for coins in your pocket will be a thing of the past as the latest technology lets you load up your phone with credit and pay by simply pointing it at the till.

It's further proof that new technology is killing off hard cash.

In the coming year, even the smallest purchases will be paid for electronically after credit card giants Visa and Barclaycard struck a deal to create the next generation of "wave and pay" cards for purchases of less than £10.

Users will simply wave the card across a scanner to pay for small items for which they would normally use coins, such as their Daily Mirror or a pint of beer.

But the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona has taken the technology one step further by having tiny data chips implanted surgically under customers' skin.

The VeriChip then allows clubbers to pay for drinks by waving their arm across the counter.

Already more purchases are made on plastic than in cash, and a study by retail analyst Datamonitor suggests that cards could replace cash altogether within 10 years.

More HERE

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

I have serious concerns about a cash-less society. Maybe I am just a stick in the mud.



capt

Saladin said...

Capt, I think your concerns are well founded. When everyone's money exists only in some imaginary computer account it will be as easy as pie to keep the people from rebellion, just shut down their accounts and they will be helpless. That verse in Revelation about no buying or selling without a mark is starting to sound very creepy all of a sudden.

Saladin said...

Smoking Mirrors.


Yeah, it Feels Just Like Vietnam All Over Again.
You get the feeling we’ve been here before? Oh, some of the personnel are different, but some of them are the same. Some of them are a lot more inarticulate and incompetent but that’s how far we’ve come in a few decades. One should never under estimate the impact of progress even if it’s in the wrong direction.

Yeah….. ummm… hmmm... Smell that? Smells just like Vietnam doesn’t it? Weren’t they fighting for democracy over there too? Ostensibly I mean. What’s the word for ‘gook’? Is it ‘towel-head?’, ‘camel fucker’? How do you say, “I give you long time G.I.” in Arabic?

You see, according to The Emperor Chimp, the result of the recent election was not to pull out of Iraq, it was to find new ways to win. It begs the question of why the old ways didn’t win and brings up the ugly fact that no way won in Vietnam; except of course we didn’t stay the course.

Yes, it’s escalation time. It’s also time to “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” The three card monte boys have set up shop around the corner and it’s a new and improved game. It’s the ‘same thing only different’. You got to love it. The only difference between the movies that were and the movies that will be is that in real time Kurtz was/is in the White House. Think of the ironies if they send Martin Sheen after him now.

Come January, the trained seals will be honking and flapping their flippers, balancing colored balls on their noses and pushing their stomachs in shopping carts right into the main Wal-mart store on Capitol Hill.

Of course there won’t be any real impact until 2008 and they could get a handful of thousands over there in the short term and then the attacks would go up and nothing would change except that things would get worse. Rahm Emanuel did his best to funnel the campaign money to war supporters and he’s hoping that will help when it comes to public perceptions of how important it is that we get victory with honor out of this no win situation.

Meanwhile there’s the big time international conversion of oil money from dollars to petro-Euro and the pending housing crash as well as the indications of runaway inflation… and… what I want to know is; who does central casting have in mind to play Jimmy Carter?

Most of the American public and a much larger percentage of the rest of the world KNOW that the American neo-cons, the administration of the cigar store Indian president and assorted thugniks and sundry interests were behind 9/11, so the war isn’t about what the war is about any way. A large amount of the public the world over knows that this war and the pending Iranian assault are the result of Israel’s control of American foreign policy. Nothing is what it is presented as, the same as Vietnam.

You got to feel for the American people. They turned out to vote in such vast numbers that not even Diebold could make a difference and now they’re gripping the cell bars again with their pants around their ankles and not a tube of KY in sight. Well, they’re used to it.

Hey, anybody seen George P. Bush? He was making news for awhile and now he’s just plumb dropped out of view. You know George P. would look right smart in a helmet and fatigues and… talk about a photo-op career move. Somebody ought to get a big banner printed up and photo-shop that sucker above his head on the QE2. The banner could say “Mission Bypassed” or something… “Mission Not Attempted”? You know what to do.

Somebody ought to get some yearbook photos of all those smiling sons and daughters of American politicians and make them known for their sacrifice in this demanding hour. I realize that Israel is pretty tied up with their land-grab genocide in Gaza but they too ought to do a little more than just blackmail Congress and yoke rob the media. After all, this is their war.

Has anybody noticed how much Donald Rumsfield looks like Robert McNamara? I just thought I’d throw that in.

The never ending war for never ending reasons; you got to love it. Bodies bursting in air, the sand reeling drunk with blood; it’s a good thing it’s already laying on the ground because it could hardly get up.

Oh, there are some differences between Vietnam and Iraq. The terrain and the languages and a few other things but the blood’s still red and the pain is the same. Of course no one has figured out a way to make an omelet without breaking legs so I guess we just need to stay the course but we’re going to call it something different.

Oh the ironies, the ironies… chicken-hawks who wouldn’t fight and who profit from the deaths of those too callow to see the face of the real enemy still send others to die for their bank accounts. Wars are still manufactured for lies and swag. It’s a video game isn’t it?

Why don’t they just kill the people who start these wars? That’s the thing I don’t get. Shouldn’t there be some kind of constitutional amendment that says when a demagogue and a bunch of business interests get together that they should be put up against a wall and shot? Doesn’t that make perfect sense? I realize that the people in the wings won’t make as much from the pay per view sales but the outlay is so much less and… wait a minute… oh yeah, they make the guns and the bombs and the uniforms and the body armor and the pharmaceuticals and on and on and on. Stupid me.

That’s how it is down here. It’s about controlling the markets. Everything that follows is collateral damage and that’s easily amortized. By now that portion of us with a brain remaining know who is behind all of this. It’s uncanny isn’t it? Out of that whole Congress, where are the men and women standing up and crying, “Hold, enough!”? Where are the powerful voices of the powerful ringing out across the airwaves? You telling me all we got are the Dixie Chicks? Do you mean to tell me we have got to listen to Michael Kingsley Lite and Noam ‘wrong way’ Chomsky parse reality into bite sized canapés for our collective consumption? Where did all these watered down genuflecting piss ants come from? Where is the grass roots surge so great that it will topple this mountain of snakes into the angry sea? What’s up in condo-land? What is that horrific sense of despair that wanders like the wraith from The Frighteners along the shopping lanes of Mall-World in this festive hour?

Yeah, it’s like Vietnam but it’s not too. It’s a little worse and a little uglier because of what’s on the blueprints. You can’t see it in the framing or the concrete pour. We haven’t gotten to the fascia yet. I’m hoping Santa has a great big bag of coal for this Christmas Eve. I’m watching and I know how it ends because I’ve seen it before. It always ends the same way. The one thing you can count on is how quick the makeover happens for the ones who got away and took the plastic surgeons with them when they went.
===========
"Bodies bursting in air, the sand reeling drunk with blood"

I love his essays, but God they're painful.
Carey, I have to admit I would not shed a tear if they lined up all the war mongering psychos and shot them right in the head! And good riddance!

Saladin said...

Sell-Out Democrats Have Walked
Right Into A Bush Trap On Iraq
By Dave Lindorff

The Democratic Party and its feckless leaders in Congress are about to fall into a trap. The trap is being sprung by President Bush and his too clever brain trust, but the sad fact is that it was actually laid by the Democrats themselves.

Taking over the Congress on a wave of popular revulsion at the twin catastrophes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democrats could have issued immediate calls for an end to those wars, a return of the troops, and investigations into the criminal causes of those costly fiascos. They could have initiated efforts to halt funding for further war and foreign occupation. Of course, taking such stands and actions would have opened them to charges of being "soft on terror," but the public clearly isn't buying that crap any more. With a little courage and leadership they could have handled it, and come out winners.

Instead, they took what they thought was the easy road, condemning not the criminal policies themselves, but only the administration's handling of the wars. This led some to call not for an end to the wars, but for more troops.

Now, Bush has called their bluff by proposing just that: more troops for Iraq (the so-called "surge" option), and a major expansion of the army over the longer term--the better to allow the president to invade other countries even as the nation is already mired in two losing wars.

And what are the Democrats in Congress going to do? Devoid of any principles, their chance to demand an end to reckless imperialist military adventures squandered, they are likely to fall in line and vote to fund both an escalation of the Iraq War and an expansion of the military.

It's a double win for Bush. He gets the funding for more war right through the end of his second term of office, allowing him to hand the Iraq quagmire to the next president, making it someone else's job to take the blame for the eventually unavoidable loss. And he gets a bigger defense budget and more troops to play with--perhaps as much as a 10 percent increase in total combat troops.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the allegedly liberal, allegedly anti-war incoming speaker of the House, and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry "send-in-the-cavalry" Reid can kiss their much touted "First 100 Hours" progressive agenda goodbye. With all the new money that will have to be thrown into the Pentagon sinkhole, there won't be a dime for domestic spending.

The Pentagon budgeters claim deceptively that every increase of 10,000 new troops adds another $1.5 billion in defense costs, which makes a 50,000 increase in troop strength sound like a manageable $7.5 billion extra--a drop in the bucket of a $500-billion defense budget. But this figure is grossly misleading. First of all it doesn't include the back-end costs of pensions, benefits and support costs, and the interest on the debt, which taken together at least double the figure to over $15 billion a year. But more importantly, it doesn't factor in the costs when those extra troops are actually sent into battle, where the costs of support, equipment, equipment replacement, medical and long-term care can explode. And make no mistake, the purpose of adding troops to the U.S. active-duty roster is to use them for further war-mongering and further imperial adventurism.

Singer John Fogerty had it right: this is déjà vu all over again.

"Surge" is the new escalation, and we're set to repeat this tragedy, with Democrats (the new "sucker"), who had a chance to call a halt to the nonsense, instead stupidly joining the mad charge.

The end result of this betrayal of the electorate, which has made it clear it wants an end to the Iraq War, will be a collapse of the Democrats in 2008, with the party losing both houses of Congress and probably the White House too. It will be a richly deserved collapse.

While the hour is late, there is yet a slim chance for the public to rescue the Democrats from this course of political suicide and the nation from disaster. If masses of committed people from all walks of life take to the streets on January 27, when United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and Impeach for Change are planning a major demonstration against war and against the crimes of the Bush administration, maybe enough Democrats in Congress will realize the intensity of public opposition to further pointless mayhem and slaughter in the Middle East, and will realize the only option is to pull the plug on the president's imperialist megalomania--and to initiate impeachment hearings against the president.

I realize counting on Democrats to do the right thing, even in their own self-interest, is a thin reed on which to rest hopes for a return to national sanity, but we need to grasp it.
==========
Is anyone still holding their breath?

capt said...

Bush takes shelter during tornado threat



U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife were moved into an armoured vehicle on their ranch Friday after a tornado warning was issued for central Texas.

The vehicle was driven to a tornado shelter located on the ranch, but George and Laura Bush never went inside, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said.

They waited out the storm in the vehicle with their two dogs, Stanzel said.

More HERE

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

I really only worry about the safety of their dogs. I guess I am a bit petty, eh?



capt

Carey said...

I have to admit I would not shed a tear if they lined up all the war mongering psychos and shot them right in the head! And good riddance!--Sal

Well, now that you mention it....
Still, laughs aside, I'm upset by this execution.

Saladin said...

Carey, they had to get rid of him, ya know, dead men tell no tales, and I'll bet he had plenty to tell. The whole fiasco was to shut him up, if they executed all tyrants the world would be a better place. Tyranny had nothing to do with it, as we all know, the biggest and most murderous tyrants in the world right now currently reside in DC.

capt said...

Um,

DC and or Crawford.

capt said...

The Power of Propaganda



Gen. Augusto Pinochet served as president of Chile during a troubled period of that country’s history. His fate was to become the world’s most demonized person in the last quarter of the 20th century, and his death on December 10, 2006, was met with a new outpouring of denunciation by the international left.

Just as the neoconservative Bush regime had no factual basis for its demonization of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein as a threat who would arm terrorists with weapons of mass destruction to be used against America, the international left has scant evidence in behalf of its demonization of Pinochet.

Unlike Bush’s war on terror in which US troops are fighting abroad, Pinochet was confronted with an indigenous terrorist movement. Chilean terrorists engaged in assassinations and bombings of public infrastructure. Pinochet was able to put down real terrorist movements with less damage to Chile’s civil liberties than Bush’s trumped-up "war on terror" has caused to America’s.

According to the Rettig Commission, Chile’s struggle with terrorism resulted in 2300 (both sides) dead and missing. Pinochet’s detainees number less than Bush’s, and the torture used against Chilean terrorist suspects was perhaps less draconian than that used by the United States against suspected Muslim terrorists. The Bush regime is responsible for many multiples of the deaths for which the Pinochet regime was responsible. Yet, Pinochet is the demonized figure.


More HERE

capt said...

"All of us have heard this term 'preventive war' since the earliest days of Hitler. I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing: Dwight Eisenhower - Source: Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, Bush and America's Willing Executioners would be Guilty at Nuremberg, The Free Press (Columbus, Ohio), 3/2/03

=
A people living under the perpetual menace of war and invasion is very easy to govern. It demands no social reforms. It does not haggle over expenditures for armaments and military equipment. It pays without discussion, it ruins itself, and that is an excellent thing for the syndicates of financiers and manufacturers for whom patriotic terrors are an abundant source of gain: Anatole France, pseudonym for Jacques Anatole Thibault (1844-1924)

=
"The misapprehension springs from the fact that the learned jurists, deceiving themselves as well as others, depict in their books an ideal of government -- not as it really is, an assembly of men who oppress their fellow-citizens, but in accordance with the scientific postulate, as a body of men who act as the representatives of the rest of the nation.

They have gone on repeating this to others so long that they have ended by believing it themselves, and they really seem to think that justice is one of the duties of governments.

History, however, shows us that governments, as seen from the reign of Caesar to those of the two Napoleons and Prince Bismarck, are in their very essence a violation of justice; a man or a body of men having at command an army of trained soldiers, deluded creatures who are ready for any violence, and through whose agency they govern the State, will have no keen sense of the obligation of justice. Therefore governments will never consent to diminish the number of those well-trained and submissive servants, who constitute their power and influence."

Leo Tolstoy -- Source: Writings on Civil Disobedience and Non-Violence (Signet Books, 1968), pp. 238-239.

===

Read this newsletter online http://tinyurl.com/dy6yy

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

Crash Warning



John Succo, a hedge fund manager, addressed a letter to the New York Times, explaining:

"The Federal Reserve creates credit through its open market operations like REPOS and coupon passes. If the Fed wants to inject liquidity (credit) into the system, they simply call up large broker dealers and buy some of their bonds with credit they create out of thin air (this expands their balance sheet). The dealer then passes this credit on to ‘the market’ by making loans to mortgage companies or margin accounts or whatever. Because each layer of lender is only required to keep marginal capital on hand, a $1 billion REPO done by the Fed eventually creates as much as $100 billion in new credit to the consumer.

"That credit creates the liquidity for additional consumption in the U.S., but these days we are buying our stuff from China (other countries too but we will just say China to make it easy). When a Chinese company receives dollars in trade, this normally would drive up U.S. interest rates: the company goes to the central bank of China to exchange Yuan for dollars; the central bank of China would normally sell those dollars into the currency market for Yuan thus driving up U.S. interest rates. But in our world of today these dollars are being sterilized: the central bank of China prints the Yuan to give to the company and takes the dollars and buys U.S. securities.

"It is not the excess savings of Chinese investors that are buying U.S. securities. It is central banks creating credit themselves to buy those securities. The tick data that measure foreign inflows of money does not distinguish between private investors and central banks going through brokers to buy U.S. securities. We believe that as much as 90% of foreign money buying U.S. securities (not just Treasury bonds, but corporate bonds, mortgages, and yes, stocks) is not private investment, but central banks.

"In order for other central banks like China's to print the Yuan necessary, they too must create credit. Public debt in Asian countries is expanding as a result and creating worries: this is why Thailand came out essentially raising margin requirements to reduce speculation that is occurring as a result. Notice how they were quickly slapped down by their trading partners who do not want to rock the boat at this time.

"This situation is very unstable in the long run. The Federal Reserves' balance sheet this year alone has expanded by $30 billion in this way and created $3.5 trillion of new credit in the U.S. Public debt around the world is growing exponentially and total debt in the U.S. now stands at nearly 3.6 times GDP (1929 was 2.8 times).


More HERE

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

I have a hard time understanding how the markets and credit system has not collapsed already. There is a very painful correction coming down the pike. We all must crash-proof ourselves as much as possible.



capt

capt said...

Saddam's Execution -- and US Complicity in his Crimes



Saddam Hussein's execution on Dec. 30 prevents him from being put on trial for his most serious crimes – genocide against the Kurds and the use of poison gas in the Iran-Iraq war. As many as 100,000 Kurds were killed in 1988. Why then was Saddam executed for killing 148 men and boys in the northern town of Dujail in 1982?

Human rights activists say the answer is clear: the Bush White House wanted to prevent Saddam from offering evidence of US complicity in his crimes as a defense. It's the same reason the Saddam trial was held under Iraqi auspices rather than in the International Criminal Court: ''It's to protect their own dirty laundry,'' Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times in 2004. ''The U.S. wants to keep the trial focused on Saddam's crimes and not their acquiescence.''

Human Rights Watch has done more to document Saddam's genocide of the Kurds than any other organization. Their 1993 report remains the most detailed and meticulous account, based on extensive interviews with eyewitnesses and analysis of Iraqi government internal communications. During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam had lost control of Kurdish regions because all his troops had been sent to the battlefields. But as that war came to an end in 1988, he launched his campaign against the Kurds, leveling thousands of their villages and killing 50,000-100,000.


More HERE

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

Saddam knew his card was punched. A death sentence is not a way to punish. Death is the release from any punishment. If there is an afterlife any death sentence is actually a liberation of the soul.

I have always thought a life sentence should mean the convicted criminal stays in prison until they die. Taking their freedom away is the punishment not dying.



capt

capt said...

No Victory



It is probably the height of arrogance to think one's own judgments will be history's judgments and perhaps the hanging of Sadaam Hussein will be lost amidst the unspeakable tragedy of the hundreds of thousands of those who lie dead in Iraq, many most assuredly by his own hand, but I had to turn the TV off yesterday in the midst of the ghoulish execution watch and today I feel a bit dirty. There's a funny taste in my mouth and everything feels wrong and out of sorts. Perhaps it is not the final coda to the events of 9/11, but it is most certainly some sort of interstitial bookend and I cannot help but feel that as a nation we failed.

We are not what we pretend to be. As Americans we like to believe that we act with wisdom and good judgment, and those on the right who cheered on this war most vociferously did so out of a conviction that we are a nation possessed of indominable moral rectitude. Even as they claimed the right as the world's policemen to dethrone and execute Saddam Hussein for his crimes against humanity, they openly mock Jimmy Carter for his insistence that human rights be placed in the vanguard of American foreign policy considerations. For this he is considered weak and naive. In the end I just don't believe that more than one in a hundred Americans knew that Saddam was ostensibly executed for his role in the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite Muslims, nor did they care. I would be willing to bet more still believed that Saddam had ties to Al-Quaeda, a role in the 9/11 hijackings or god help us all, weapons of mass destruction. Somewhere in the distance between political opportunism and national bloodlust the reasons for his death can be found. It's a fetid pile of refuse I'm not particularly interested in picking at just now.

Any sympathy I might feel for Saddam's plight would find him standing at the end of a very long line of victims of this war, and it's not even an abhorrance of the death penalty that moves me today (all thouth I most certainly feel that this is nothing a civilized nation has any place engaging in). That sickened feeling in my stomach seems to mark some kind of new low to which we have fallen, murder as PR to inch the arctic approval ratings of the pathalogical boy king and his disastrous war incrementally upward. Codpiece justice and death-as-photo-op reign supreme. Perhaps this is just the last, gruesome swan song of a morally bankrupt right wing as it exits center stage, the perverse final chorus it sings in its death throes.

It is nonetheless hideous to behold.

More HERE

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

From/via : Glenn Greenwald

"One need not agree with each of Jane Hamsher's specific points here, but she has some of the best insight into the underlying meaning and creepiness of the Saddam execution -- the way it was done and the motives behind it far more than the act itself -- and she expresses those insights perfectly."




capt

Saladin said...

Capt, the Federal Reserve is the epitome of evil, it is by their actions, with govt. complicity, that our country will fall. While I was on vacation for 4 short days I didn't follow the news. When I came back and attempted to catch up it occured to me why the people are so clueless, they really don't know what is going on. What I wonder is, do they WANT to know? This is what worries me the most. So many put their trust in this party or that, but the truth is neither one is for the country and we are all being tricked. What are we going to do?

uncledad said...

New Uncledad effort!

Happy new year all.

Ivory Bill Woodpecker said...

Let's recap, shall we?

Our troops, and Lord knows how many innocent Iraqis, still get killed every day.

Osama still runs loose.

Our planet still simmers in its hyper-carbonated atmosphere.

Millions of our fellow citizens still live in poverty, which could be relieved if the political will to do it existed.

The right-wing morons who compose our misruling class want to force their will on the rest of the world, but are too damned cheap to pay for it, so they borrow godzillions of dollars [a "godzillion" is a number as big as Godzilla] to finance our "defense" apparatus. This leaves us in a situation where the Chinese and other creditors own our genitals, and not in any happy fun way, either.

But hey, we can still hang a has-been broken-down bargain-basement Stalin-wannabe! We rock! YOO-ESS-AY! YOO-ESS-AY! TEAM NEOCON FUCK YEAH!

Flying. H. Spaghetti Monster.

From the swamps of Arkansas, IBW

capt said...

Uncledad,

Nice song, sad theme.


Thanks

capt

capt said...

It is a very sad commentary on modern day media when a "has-been broken-down bargain-basement Stalin-wannabe" (thanks IBW) being hanged gets more press than the twenty (or so) troops that have been killed since Christmas day for no good GD reason.

In the larger scheme of things we all suck, eh?


capt

capt said...

U.S. trainers prepare Ethiopians to fight



U.S. instructors operate from a very small, fenced compound deep within the Ethiopian Training Academy, which itself encompasses miles of sparse scrub and rocky mountain ranges teaming with wildlife.

The barracks and classroom buildings were constructed by the former Soviet Union, a financial and military ally of Ethiopia’s ousted Derg regime. Concrete monuments bearing the communist hammer and sickle can still be found on base.

Among the minor diversions available to soldiers here is the feeding of dozens of hawks that circle and swoop over the compound daily. A pastime among the Guam Army National Guardsmen is to toss cooked hamburger patties or fried buffalo wings into the air and watch as the hawks attempt to catch them in their talons or swoop down and grab the chunks of meat that have fallen to the ground.

While the trainers at Hurso were not immediately aware of Ethiopia’s plans to wage war on southern Somalia’s Islamist militiamen, they did notice a sudden increase in troops at Hurso, as well as other preparations. It was roughly two weeks ago when soldiers here watched as Soviet-built Hind helicopters belonging to the Ethiopian Defense Forces fired rockets into the mountains on the edges of the camp.

"We were wondering, ‘why are they doing that,’ " Flippo [Sgt. 1st Class Bill Flippo, an instructor based at Camp Hurso] said. "Then a week later the war kicked off."

More HERE

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

So I see we are doing more than just giving a nod to the Ethiopians.

When I hear instructors or advisors it reminds me of Vietnam and many other conflicts and it give me the creeps.



capt

capt said...

The Criminality of the State


[...]

No, "democratic" State practice is nothing more or less than State practice. It does not differ from Marxist State practice, Fascist State practice, or any other. Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: you get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you. A citizenry which has learned that one short lesson has but little more left to learn.

Stripping the American State of the enormous power it has acquired is a full-time job for our citizens and a stirring one; and if they attend to it properly they will have no energy to spare for fighting communism, or for hating Hitler, or for worrying about South America or Spain, or for anything whatever, except what goes on right here in the United States.


More HERE

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

A MUST read for all of us.



capt

capt said...

The real crimes against humanity



With the brutal hanging of Saddam Hussein in the pre-dawn hours Saturday, the transformation of the United States of America from world power to international exporter of terror is complete.

While one can argue that Hussein deserved to die for his many crimes against humanity, the question that history will ask is whether or not he deserved to die at the hands of a nation that invaded his country without provocation and orchestrated a trial to fulfill a political agenda of an American President who, himself, may be both a madman and greater threat to world peace.

The blood from Hussein's death, along with the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and nearly 3,000 Americans who have died since the illegal and lies-based invasion of Iraq stains forever the hands of President George W. Bush and, because of his position, this nation.

We did not invade Iraq to defend our shores. We did not invade to avenge the terrorist attacks of 9/11. We invaded to serve a personal and political agenda of one man who used lies and demagoguery to launch a war that should have him on trial for crimes against humanity.

Saddam Hussein may have died for his war crimes but the man who orchestrated his death - George W. Bush - is no less a war criminal and his criminal action will haunt this nation and the world long after Hussein becomes just a footnote in history.


More HERE

Saladin said...

Capt, I think it is a mistake to blame bush for this war. He is simply the face worn by the real planners, the neocons of the PNAC. The invasion and plunder of the middle east was in the planning stages when reagan was president, the complete distruction of an entire region takes time ya know! First you need a "New Pearl Harbor" to get the people all riled up, then you have to get your pre-selected crony contractors lined up, you definitely need a classic fall guy to take the heat, it also doesn't hurt to have a perpetual victim of a country to protect from the swarming Muslim hordes, and finally a successfully dumbed down and distracted populace who hasn't been paying much attention until it's too late. All this was a long time in the making. Incompetence? I think not. bush in charge of decision or policy making? That's the biggest laugh of all! He'll collect his reward and disappear, if the true policy makers don't decide to reward him with a dirt nap to keep him quiet. bush is a traitor but he certainly is NOT in charge. Not even close. He's not even a very convincing fall guy.

capt said...

John Edwards Asks Matthews What Planet Bush Is On



John Edwards talked to Chris Matthews yesterday and gave his views on the direction America needs to take, as well as some interesting views on Bush:

Video - WMV

Video - QT

Matthews: President Bush in his last press conference last week said that his idea was for America to go shopping. He literally said that. What do you make of that? As a way to engage the public in our national cause.

Edwards:What planet is he living on? I have absolutely no idea. This is the man who is in charge of this war in Iraq.


ConnecticutBLOG:

Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards has been the political talk in the media since he announced his intentions to run for President on Thursday. I planned to travel to New Hampshire and cover an Edwards event Friday night but I couldn't make it (CTLauryn was having none of daddy going away). To my delight, Edwards was also on Hardball Friday and gave a very detailed explanation for why he's the best qualified Democrat for President….read on

(H/T - ConnecticutBLOG for the video)


More HERE

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

Some of the things Edwards talks about and the way he talks is uplifting. I hope he moves the political debate in the right direction.



capt

capt said...

Saladin,

I think we are all guilty.

We spend more on military and war goods, personnel, weapons - by any measure - than any country or government in recorded history.

Did anybody really believe in their heart of hearts that would be necessary just to defend us?

We all accepted the notion that such a massive military power would keep us safe in the face of long term failed policies and ineffective efforts to manipulate other countries governments for a pipe-dream of American hegemony.

All we have ever tried is the increase in military spending, an increase in troops, a "surge" is the oldest most failed strategy.

We need a new direction, a new point of view and a new way of doing things so the new paradigm is to do more of the same. UGH!

More is just more, not better.

I fear the consumerism mindset will always settle for more.

DOUBLE UGH!



capt

capt said...

Um,

We spend more by any measure except Israel (per capita).

Israel spends more "per capita" on military (by far) than any other country.

Just sayin'


capt

capt said...

Americans Clearly Dissatisfied with Politics



(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few adults in the United States appear content with their federal administration, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. Only 16 per cent of respondents believe the government reflects the will of the American people.

George W. Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on Nov. 7. The Democratic Party will take control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. A victory for the Democratic candidates for the Senate in Montana and Virginia also gave the party a majority in the upper house.

On election night, Democratic California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who is to become the first female speaker of the House next month, declared, "Tonight is a great victory for the American people. The American people voted for a new direction."

On Nov. 8, Bush discussed the situation, saying, "I’m obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election, and as the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility. (...) The message yesterday was clear: The American people want their leaders in Washington to set aside partisan differences, conduct ourselves in an ethical manner, and work together to address the challenges facing our nation."

Polling Data

Do you believe that the federal government today reflects the will of the American people?

Yes - 16%

No - 68%



More HERE

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

Without regard to either party - the American people are not being represented by our politicians. THAT is why I did not see (still don't) how reelecting incumbents from any party as a "win" for the people.

Partisan perspective is a problem - R or D.



capt

capt said...

The price of House inaction



Congress passed only 2 of 11 appropriations bills. Now some federal agencies don't have the funds they need.


Right in the US Constitution it says that the government runs on appropriations made by law. So how come the departing Congress failed to pass most of the regular appropriations to run the government?

Last Wednesday, President Bush signed one of the last bills sent to him by the 109th Congress. It was, as you might expect, a bill that featured renewed tax cuts; also, as you might expect, opening the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. But appropriations for 9 out of 11 agencies - Defense and Homeland Security were the exceptions - were left on the cutting-room floor.

The bulk of the government was left to subsist on a stopgap spending authority called a continuing resolution. That allows the departments to spend at the same rate and for the same purposes as last year. That is not without cost. Agencies can't start needed new programs, nor scrap unneeded old programs. The Justice Department can't hire needed new attorneys and may have to furlough some of its current employees.

The Energy Department may have to lay off 960 employees. The FBI may have to lose 500 agents. The Department of Veterans Affairs is $3 billion short of what it needs to maintain current services; this according to The Washington Post, which also found a federally funded hospital in Perris, Calif., unable to buy $400,000 in equipment.

Another casualty of frozen appropriations is a $3 million item for AIDS and homelessness programs in San Francisco, and a center for public service in New York. Yes, the former is supported by Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi. And yes, Ways and Means chairman-in-waiting Charles Rangel supports a $3 million item to establish the center at City College of New York.

But these are small items and huge appropriations bills. The current continuing resolution for the year that started on Oct. 1 runs until Feb. 15. The new Congress convenes on Jan. 4. It is not likely that nine appropriations will be adopted and signed by Mr. Bush in eight weeks. But not to worry, they can always pass another continuing resolution.


More HERE

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

When we the people empowered the congress to empower themselves we also empowered them to do nothing.



capt

Saladin said...

The US and Israel, coincidence? We seem to be connected at the hip, mutual parasites. I agree, we are all to blame. Butler had it right, war is a racket and was never intended to protect anyone from anything, it's sole purpose is profit, all the blood spilled in the past 150 years of this country's history was spilled in the name of money. It always boils down to that. The dems are not going to make a speck of difference in the big picture. pelosi and her pitiful crumbs for us peasants is a joke. What good is a few more cents an hour or lower college loan rates if all our young people are drafted to die for the psychos in charge? They sure won't have to worry about paying off loans or scraping by on minimum wage! And both left and right will continue to reap billions on the backs of the people. It makes me sick. How can the people keep falling for this bullshit?? How much shit will they be willing to swallow before they snap out of it? Will they EVER snap out of it?

Saladin said...

Highway Robbery
Counterpunch

Governor Jon Corzine intends to sell New Jersey's toll roads to private investors for $10 billion. Selling or leasing publicly owned toll roads degrades our public and financial security. Toll road takeovers led by Goldman Sachs, where Governor Corzine was the Chairman and CEO before taking elected office, prove the point.
Goldman Sachs took the Indiana Toll Road and the Chicago Skyway private in 2005. Goldman invested its own money in both deals. Goldman worked every side of these deals, collecting fees as lobbyists, deal makers and investors.
=========
You know what's coming don't you? We the people are getting the shaft. They are selling off publicly owned assets to the highest bidders and we will be forced to pay forevermore. FUCK this pisses me off!!

capt said...

2007 -- Year of Madness



[…]

Saddam was a symbol of the frustration of restraint.

The most revealing story in HUBRIS: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, by Michael Isikoff and David Corn is this: "'Do you want to know what the foreign policy of Iraq is to the United States?' Bush asked angrily. The president then answered his own question by raising his middle finger and thrusting it inches in front of Sen. Daschle's face, according to a witness, 'Fuck the United States!' Bush continued. 'That's what it is - and that's why we're going to get him!'"

Saddam was protected by the most sacred tenet of international law: the sanctity of the sovereign state and its national boundaries.

Bluntly stated - except in self-defense or with a Security Council resolution - the invasion of foreign country is a war of aggression. A war of aggression is a war crime. After World War II, we hung Germans and Japanese for doing that. The principle was additionally codified in the UN Charter. The UN Charter has the status of a treaty. According to the Constitution "all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

The reason that starting a war - a war of aggression - is a war crime is that it contains within it all the other crimes of war. If there was any doubt of the horrors released by war, or if we have somehow forgotten them, this war in Iraq is a clear reminder. There have been somewhere between 70,000 and 600,000 more Iraqi deaths than there would have been if the regime of Saddam Hussein had continued. Murder, dismemberment, rape, torture, bombings, disease and chaos are common fare. There have been additional deaths from the lack of medical services and medical supplies, of electricity, clean water, transportation and emergency services. All of this clearly unleashed by the American invasion.


More HERE

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

An interesting mention of HUBRIS: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War.



capt

capt said...

The Crucible of Impeachment: If Not Now, When?


[…]

David Corn of The Nation was only half right when he said that impeachment is an extreme action. He should have said it is an extremely rare action, which has been used only nine times in the history of the nation.

But the Framers never intended impeachment to be either extreme or rare. It was meant to be used forcefully and unapologetically and as often as necessary to check the excesses of power or wanton corruption of the temporary occupants of the White House.

That it has been so rarely used has led us to the unconscionable level of abuse by the Bush administration. They proceed as though they have nothing to fear, as if the Constitution is powerless to hold them accountable. It is this lack of fear that is sounding the death knell of our democracy; the final taps at the twilight of the Republic.

John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment writes, "The founders of the American experiment, who expressed deep fears about the corruption of elections and the elected, saw in impeachment not a challenge to democracy but a tool for its rejuvenation in those periods when decay would set in."

We cannot hope to rejuvenate a decaying democracy unless we have the fortitude to endure the unpleasant political process of impeachment. Citizens will be pit one against the other, tempers will flare, friends will disagree and scream, issues will be discussed and debated, pundits will pontificate, and the talking heads will incite while politicians monitor the direction of the wind.

If, in the end, elected representatives still lack the political spine to see the impeachment process to its conclusion, the nation will have passed through the crucible and fear it less and be more willing and quick to light the fire under the caldron . . . to the peril of the abusing power.

Our Republic was forged in the crucible of a revolution and strengthened in the crucible of a civil war. The blood and the gold of past generations were mixed in the caldron to that end. This generation should expect to offer no less.

But if not now, when?

More HERE

capt said...

6 Bush Scandals To Come



The curse of the second term — it’s been around for decades. Clinton had Monica. Reagan had Iran-Contra. Nixon had Watergate. So what will be the "best" scandals of the Bush administration in the coming year or so? Here’s a look ahead.

Carlyle-gate. The Al Jazeera network reveals (and The New York Times confirms) that shortly before the recent election, the board of the Carlyle Group — the gargantuan global investment firm that counts the elder George Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker as advisers — voted George W. Bush a seat on its board. A sitting president on the board of a company that owns military contractors and can benefit from his decisions? The White House calls it an innocent mistake and that Carlyle’s board had passed a resolution guaranteeing Bush a spot on the board in the "unlikely event" that he was defeated. "Seems as if there was a typo in the resolution that was finally approved," a White House spokesperson explains. "And after the election, Carlyle simply forgot about it. By the way, they didn’t even bother to tell the president about it."

More HERE

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

From 2004.

What a difference two years makes?

Five more at the link.



capt

capt said...

Again from 2004 (Mr. David Corn):

"During the campaign, I happened to share a long airplane ride with one of Kerry’s top advisers. Several hours into our conversation, he told me that every once in a while Kerry would ask him, "What the fuck are we going to do?" Kerry had in mind Iraq and a Kerry victory. Thanks to Ohio, he does not have the burden of devising an answer to his own query. But Bush does — and not merely on Iraq. He’s facing a boatload of ugly challenges and dilemmas. Democrats ought not to be too giddy about this, for Bush has demonstrated that when the going gets tough he is perfectly able to commit gigantic blunders with bad consequences for all and no punishment for him. But he is not going to be able to escape his problems by hitting the campaign trail. As an in-over-his-head president once said, "It’s hard work."

*****

Sounds more like a case FOR impeachment?


capt

capt said...

Fresh thread!