Friday, June 29, 2007

Lonely Dick






The following item was written by Matthew Blake, a Nation magazine intern:


This past week The Washington Post ran a four-part, as much-depth-as-you-can-take series on Vice President Dick Cheney. It unflinchingly documents Cheney's unprecedented power and secrecy. His wide-ranging (and often undercover) influence stretches from encouraging the use of torture during interrogations of suspected terrorists to orchestrating a massive fish-kill in Oregon. (For the full, super-sized account, read the series here.)

The articles so thoroughly reinforces the image of Cheney as a dark, ruthless powerbroker that the question is not "How awful is this guy?" but, "Who can now defend him?" While Cheney has earned a reputation for dismissing public opinion, he has long enjoyed support from conservative and neoconservative pundits and advocates. Surely, then, some of his ideological pals must have come to his rescue, denouncing the Post series (written by Barton Gellman and Jo Becker) and poking holes in this obvious liberal claptrap. I went looking to find out who in neocon and conservative circles were standing by their man.

First, I turned to Fox News, but its Web site contained nary a word on the Cheney series. No acknowledgment of its existence--and no counterattack. Next, I visited The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times . Nada. The Web sites of these centers of conservative opinion were letting their champion in the White House dangle in the wind. (If the editorial section of the Journal could not defend Cheney in the face of the liberal media, what good is it?) The crusading neocons of The Weekly Standard , I figured, must be firing back. After all, Cheney helped bring about the war in Iraq they had craved for years. And a Weekly writer, Stephen Hayes, has been working on a positive Cheney bio. (Good timing!) The Standard could set the world straight on the real Dick Cheney. But its Web site, updated daily with conservative opinions from both staff writers and the blogosphere, offered nothing on Cheney.

Could it be that conservatives were cutting-and-running on their great torchbearer. I performed a Lexis-Nexis search for every article with "Dick Cheney" from newspapers, wires and blogs for the days the series ran. Once again, there was no one defending Cheney. I Googled "the case for Dick Cheney." That produced several articles entitled, "The Case Against Dick Cheney."

Nearing despondency, I was comforted by the realization that I had overlooked a key source. I hadn't checked the National Review . With 50 years of principled conservative commentary, NR would not be intimidated by a report loaded with named sources in the liberal media. And it looked like I had struck pro-Cheney gold. On the magazine's Web site, Jonah Goldberg had posted a column with the courageous title, "Confessions of a Cheney Fan." Goldberg was giving voice to the voiceless, telling the virtual world that "Cheney is pretty much the only guy out there who walks the walk. He truly doesn't care what people think about him. I love that." Finally, a conservative willing to stand up for the Big Guy. But in ensuing paragraphs, Goldberg betrays his love and tosses Cheney overboard. "It becomes clear," he wrote, "that the Cheney method leaves a lot to be desired." Goldberg concluded that Cheney's shadowy, uncompromising approach to government is "ultimately counterproductive."


I was shocked. With this assault on Cheney, Goldberg was practically giving aid and comfort to the terrorists. (Don't the evildoers want Americans to despise the vice president?) And at this point, I gave up. The message seemed to be, Dick, you're on your own. Good thing he has an entire branch of government to himself.


YOUR TAX DOLLARS NOT AT WORK. This week the House armed services committee released a report that noted the United States has spent more than $19 billion on training and equipping 346,500 members of the Iraqi military and police force. The report concludes that many of the Iraqi security forces are not yet up to speed. That's after the Bush administration has spent an average of $55,000 a person. Maybe we'd better off if we just pull out and airdrop bales of money.

Posted by David Corn at June 29, 2007 12:27 PM

42 comments:

Gerald said...

I do not know if Hitler Cheney is lonely. I have come across an article in the opednews that says Hitler Cheney's brilliance rests in the fact he lets Hitler Bush think he is the president.

capt said...

Mr. David Corn,

The item by Mr. Matthew Blake is excellent. A promising perspective and interesting point of view. He should write more.

"$19 billion on training and equipping 346,500 members of the Iraqi military and police force."

$55K per AND how many bodies should be in the calculation? Should we include the collateral deaths and unintended civilians? How about the number of Iraqis that die because of the hospitals being blown up or not supplied? Maybe we should add the number of deaths due to poor or no water, electricity, sewerage or other domestic services?

$55k per might seem a bargain if we could take the death out of the equation. Heck, if we could just take the deaths of OUR troops and all the lost limbs and such out of the equation $55k per almost sounds good.



Thanks for all you do.

Kirk

capt said...

Do not miss Glenn Greenwald HERE


He is on the same subject and although not as fun as Mr. Matthew Blake - GG is always a good albeit serious read.


capt

Gerald said...

From the last paragraph of John Dean's article on Hitler Cheney's brilliance in letting Hitler Bush think that he is the president.

It has long been apparent that Cheney's genius is that he lets George W. Bush get out of bed every morning actually believing he is the President. In fact, his presidency is run by the President of the Senate, for Cheney is its true center of gravity. That fact has become more apparent with every passing year of this presidency, and anyone who thinks otherwise has truly "misunderestimated" our nominal president and his vice president.

Gerald said...

Lockerbie

Gerald said...

Embarrassment

Mr Megrahi's first appeal, in 2002, was rejected. But now a Scottish review board has said the case must be re-examined.

The fallout will be significant.

Even before the board's ruling, Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the bombing, expressed his deep frustration to the Scotsman newspaper.

"Scottish justice obviously played a leading part in one of the most disgraceful miscarriages of justice in history," he said.

"The Americans played their role in the investigation and influenced the prosecution."

Megrahi and the Libyan government will be quick to claim that he is innocent, as they have claimed all along.

He may seek to sue either the Scottish or the British authorities for wrongful conviction.

Libya could demand the return of the $2.7bn in compensation it paid to the victims' families - without ever accepting guilt.

Because of the magnitude of the case, there will be considerable embarrassment in both Washington and London.

Will we ever know who was behind the Lockerbie bombing?

Oliver Miles, former British ambassador to Libya, has his doubts.

"No court is likely get to the truth, now that various intelligence agencies have had the opportunity to corrupt the evidence," he told the BBC.

The review board, however, insisted it had "found no basis for concluding that evidence in the case was fabricated by the police, the Crown, forensic scientists, or any other representatives of official bodies or government agencies".

Almost two decades on, the Lockerbie puzzle has come back to haunt those originally tasked with solving it.

I HAVE THIS UNEASY FEELING THAT THE CIA FAMILY JEWELS IS NOT TELLING US THE TRUE STORY OF ITS COVERT OPERATIONS. WE ARE TREATED LIKE MUSHROOMS IN NAZI AMERICA. WE ARE KEPT IN THE DARK AND WE ARE FED SHIT.

I ALSO FEEL UNEASY WITH THE FACT THAT WE ARE A TOTALLY EVIL EMPIRE.

Gerald said...

Hitler Cheney readies himself for the final act

Gerald said...

Put away the flags

Gerald said...

How many times have we heard President Bush tell the troops that if they die, if they return without arms or legs, or blinded, it is for "liberty," for "democracy"?

One of the effects of nationalist thinking is a loss of a sense of proportion. The killing of 2,300 people at Pearl Harbor becomes the justification for killing 240,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The killing of 3,000 people on Sept. 11 becomes the justification for killing tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And nationalism is given a special virulence when it is said to be blessed by Providence. Today we have a president, invading two countries in four years, who announced on the campaign trail in 2004 that God speaks through him.

We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.

We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.

Howard Zinn, a World War II bombardier, is the author of the best-
selling "A People's History of the United States" (Perennial Classics, 2003, latest edition). This piece was distributed by the Progressive Media Project. Email to: Progressive Media Project using our contact form.

Gerald said...

When will this crap end???

Bush Plays al Qaida Card to Bolster Support for Iraq Policy
By Jonathan S. Landay
McClatchy Newspapers

Thursday 28 June 2007

Washington - Facing eroding support for his Iraq policy, even among Republicans, President Bush on Thursday called al Qaida "the main enemy" in Iraq, an assertion rejected by his administration's senior intelligence analysts.

The reference, in a major speech at the Naval War College that referred to al Qaida at least 27 times, seemed calculated to use lingering outrage over the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to bolster support for the current buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq, despite evidence that sending more troops hasn't reduced the violence or sped Iraqi government action on key issues.

Bush called al Qaida in Iraq the perpetrator of the worst violence racking that country and said it was the same group that had carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

"Al Qaida is the main enemy for Shia, Sunni and Kurds alike," Bush asserted. "Al Qaida's responsible for the most sensational killings in Iraq. They're responsible for the sensational killings on U.S. soil."

U.S. military and intelligence officials, however, say that Iraqis with ties to al Qaida are only a small fraction of the threat to American troops. The group known as al Qaida in Iraq didn't exist before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, didn't pledge its loyalty to al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden until October 2004 and isn't controlled by bin Laden or his top aides.

Bush's references to al Qaida came just days after Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and George Voinovich of Ohio broke with Bush over his Iraq strategy and joined calls to begin an American withdrawal.

"The only way they think they can rally people is by blaming al Qaida," said Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of the CIA's Counter-Terrorism Center who's critical of the administration's strategy.

Next month, the Senate is expected to debate the Iraq issue as it considers a Pentagon spending bill. Democrats are planning to offer at least three amendments that seek to change Iraq strategy, including revoking the 2002 resolution that authorized Bush to use force in Iraq and mandating that a withdrawal of troops begin within 120 days.

Bush's use of al Qaida in his speech had strong echoes of the strategy the administration had used to whip up public support for the Iraq invasion by accusing the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of cooperating with bin Laden and implying that he'd played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. Administration officials have since acknowledged that Saddam had no ties to bin Laden or 9-11.

A similar pattern has developed in Iraq, where the U.S. military has cited al Qaida 33 times in a barrage of news releases in the last seven days, and some news organizations have echoed the drumbeat. Last month, al Qaida was mentioned only nine times in U.S. military news releases.

In his speech, Bush referred only fleetingly to the sectarian violence that pits Sunni Muslim insurgents against Shiite Muslim militias in bloody tit-for-tat attacks, bombings, atrocities and forced mass evictions from contested areas of Baghdad and other cities and towns.

U.S. intelligence agencies and military commanders say the Sunni-Shiite conflict is the greatest source of violence and insecurity in Iraq.

"Extremists - most notably the Sunni jihadist group al Qaida in Iraq and Shia oppositionist Jaysh al-Mahdi - continue to act as very effective accelerators for what has become a self-sustaining struggle between Shia and Sunnis," the National Intelligence Council wrote in the unclassified key judgments of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq (PDF) published in January. Jaysh al Mahdi is Arabic for the Mahdi Army militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

The council comprises the top U.S. intelligence analysts, and a National Intelligence Estimate is the most comprehensive assessment it produces for the president and a small number of his senior aides. It reflects the consensus of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

In his speech, Bush made other questionable assertions.

He claimed that U.S. troops were fighting "block by block" in Baqouba, a city northeast of Baghdad, as part of an offensive to clear out al Qaida fighters.

But Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. ground commander in Iraq, said earlier this month that 80 percent of the insurgents American troops expected to encounter in Baqouba had fled before the operation began, including much of the insurgent leadership.

There was little heavy fighting. Out of 10,000 U.S. troops involved, only one has been killed.

Bush categorically blamed al Qaida for the Feb. 22, 2006, bombing of the Askariya mosque, a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra whose destruction accelerated sectarian bloodshed.

But no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and U.S. officials say there's no proof that al Qaida in Iraq was responsible, only strong suspicions.

Critics of the war are questioning the administration's increasing references to al Qaida.

"We cannot attribute all the violence in Iraq to al Qaida," retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq before becoming an opponent of Bush's strategy there, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. "Al Qaida is certainly a component, but there's larger components."


-------

capt said...

Who Will Rock the Vote in 2008?


In 2004, a handful of grassroots music activism organizations registered over 1 million new voters. As many of these groups struggle for survival, who will use music to reach out to 50 million Millennials in 2008?

In 2004, over 4 million new young voters turned out at the polls on Election Day. By a 10 percent margin, those voters chose John Kerry over President Bush, becoming the only age demographic to choose Democrats over Republicans, a reversal of previous presidential elections in which Democrats and Republicans split the youth vote. In 2006, young voters again picked Democrats by increasing margins, proving that this was a trend, not a fad, a cultural shift in the politics of the Millennial generation.

In part, that shift was driven by the work of hundreds of musicians and a handful of nonprofit organizations which, for over a year leading up to the 2004 election, delivered peer-to-peer, and sometimes issue-oriented, messaging at concerts. Combined, these organizations claim to have registered well over 1 million new voters in 2004 (Rock the Vote alone claims 1.2 million). Just as important, by delivering hard-hitting progressive messages that linked politics to the daily lives of millions of punk, hip-hop, indie rock, and jam band fans, they reached many young people who were traditionally ignored by our electoral system. Together, they politicized live music communities to a degree unseen in decades and helped to reengage a new generation in politics.

Four years later, many of the organizations that helped drive that cultural shift are closing up shop or scaling back just as the Millennial generation is beginning to come into its own. In 2008, 50 million Millennials (those aged 18 to 31) will be eligible to vote. Some studies show Millennials are already rivaling Baby Boomers in size.



More HERE

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

There is hope for the future.



capt

capt said...

"By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion." -- Lord Acton [John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton] (1834-1902), First Baron Acton of Aldenham Source: The History of Freedom in Antiquity, 1877

=
"But to manipulate men, to propel them toward goals which you -- the social reformers -- see, but they may not, is to deny their human essence, to treat them as objects without wills of their own, and therefore to degrade them." -- Isaiah Berlin - (1909-1997) Source: Two Concepts of Liberty, 1958

=
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." -- Samuel Adams - (1722-1803), was known as the "Father of the American Revolution."


===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

Obama: Impeachment is not acceptable



WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out list of political shortcomings he sees in the Bush administration but said he opposes impeachment for either President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney.

Obama said he would not back such a move, although he has been distressed by the "loose ethical standards, the secrecy and incompetence" of a "variety of characters" in the administration.

"There's a way to bring an end to those practices, you know: vote the bums out," the presidential candidate said, without naming Bush or Cheney. "That's how our system is designed."

The term for Bush and Cheney ends on Jan. 20, 2009. Bush cannot constitutionally run for a third term, and Cheney has said he will not run to succeed Bush.

Obama, a Harvard law school graduate and former lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago, said impeachment should not be used as a standard political tool.

"I think you reserve impeachment for grave, grave breeches, and intentional breeches of the president's authority," he said.

"I believe if we began impeachment proceedings we will be engulfed in more of the politics that has made Washington dysfunction," he added. "We would once again, rather than attending to the people's business, be engaged in a tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, non-stop circus."

Obama, son of a Kenyan father and American mother, spoke at a weekly constituent breakfast he sponsors with Illinois' other senator, Dick Durbin. He was asked about impeachment.



More HERE

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

Read between the lines - The Democratic candidates that are against impeachment want to be able to violate the law just like Bunnypants.

I will not be voting for Obama. NEXT!



capt

capt said...

I guess accountability died when Bubba got a blow job.

How are we the people suppose to accept that doing nothing is the status quo and THAT is somehow acceptable?

Talk about "throw the bums out" I say without a doubt throw them ALL out. Democrats and Republicans and Independents.

No incumbency - no return to power for the slugs that do nothing.


capt

capt said...

Seems like every knucklehead that speaks to NOT impeaching has reasons. Always with the "it is bad for the party" or I believe if we began impeachment proceedings we will be engulfed in more of the politics that has made Washington dysfunction," he added. "We would once again, rather than attending to the people's business, be engaged in a tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, non-stop circus.

Always something but you never hear any of them say: "Not impeaching is what is best for the COUNTRY"

Since when does America take a back seat to party or anything else?

I would love to hear any argument that not impeaching a criminal enterprise such as the Bush crime family is somehow good for America.

Convince me of that one point and I would support the Bush presidential library.

(sound of crickets chirping)


capt

capt said...

Bush presidential library = oxymoron

capt said...

Agency's Strangeloves altered mind of a girl aged 4


[...]

Only the tip of a large iceberg had been previously released by the CIA under Freedom of Information Act provisions.

Yesterday's acknowledgments will comfort those who have long campaigned for truth and restitution.

The nature of the experiments, gathered from government documents and testimony in numerous lawsuits brought against the CIA, is shocking, from testing LSD on children to implanting electrodes in victims' brains to deliberately poisoning people with uranium.

"The CIA bought my services from my grandfather in 1952 starting at the tender age of four," wrote Carol Rutz of her experiences.

"Over the next 12 years, I was tested, trained, and used in various ways. Electroshock, drugs, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, and other types of trauma were used to make me complain and split my personality (to create multiple personalities for specific tasks). Each alter or personality was created to respond to a post-hypnotic trigger, then perform an act and (I would) not remember it later.

"This Manchurian Candidate program was just one of the operational uses of the mind-control scenario by the CIA.

"Your hard-earned tax dollars supported this."

The US began these experiments after World War II when it made a grab for hundreds of Nazi scientists and doctors who had been researching mind control in concentration camps, fearing they would fall into Soviet hands.

US military intelligence leaders were paranoid that they were falling behind the communist bloc in the brainwashing race.

The programs, though carefully hidden, continued into the 1970s - when Helms ordered much of the documentation to be destroyed.

Some conspiratorial theorists believe the CIA completed its goal, initially outlined in the early 1950s, of altering a personality and having someone "perform an action contrary to an individual's basic moral principles".

The attorney for Sirhan Sirhan, Lawrence Teeter, has said his client was programmed to assassinate Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, volunteered to take part in CIA mind-control experiments when he was a student at Harvard University in the late 50s.


More HERE

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

An open mind is important when considering how dastardly and nefarious our government is.



capt

Carey said...

Please excuse the change of subject. I'm sure everyone knows by now my husband died recently from a massive heart attack. I want to relay several important things I've experienced in the last month and a half while they're still fresh in my mind.

Yes, of course, you feel like you've been hit by a train: A combination of shock, trauma, fear, physical pain, the list goes on. You absolutely cannot think at all properly. Thoughts stream furiously at a maximum pace. Total self-monitoring is essential. You have to constantly direct your brain where it should go but it can't cooperate. The body becomes just as confused. The thought processes are so intense they become noisy, like static--a high level static and frequency. The best way to describe it is a feeling you've been drugged with a hallucinogenic. You physically don't see things correctly. Your vision is blurred somewhat and making up things by itself. The noise level in your head is so intense. It's not like voices, but many thoughts streaming. All accompanied by a feeling of being loved, warmed and hugged. A feeling of okayness.

This physical and psychological reaction is, I feel, critical to understanding the metaphysics of it all. Yes, you're not going to avoid the feeling of abandonment and lonliness. I am now absolutely assured that in a traumatic and life-changing event like this a person receives spiritual help.. This would be your relatives and friends on the other side. It felt clearly to be a group effort. How do I know this? The question for me is how do you not know it? How could one avoid this kind of spiritual awakening and guidance. This was brought to me. I was in no shape to know anything. It came to me. This I know. You don't have a say in it. It's there, period. After this experience I have no doubt, absolutely, whatsoever that we are helped during the huge crises in our lives.

Once you experience it, you know it. I've experienced some of this phenomena when my parents died, but nothing like this. When it's your life partner that's making the departure, everything comes to the fore spiritually. Life is a continuous ongoing state. The physicality of it changes. This is true for animals, for all of nature.

We are all one. I write this with utter confidence infused with actual experience. This event has strongly reinforced things you know deep in your heart, but have trouble keeping the faith about. (Gee, in Bush's America?) Ken's death has resulted in a reaffirmation of spiritual faith. I don't mean religious faith. I mean faith in the goodness of things.

You feel it. There's no denying it. Absolutely, we are never alone on this planet. Life is so difficult here, we need all the spiritual friencs we can find.

Everyone, I believe, in all realms, is gathering strength to fight the big one--global warming. We may loose this fight. As Dr. B. constantly warns us, it's not looking good for the human species on this planet.

One other thing. I'm not the only one who feels that spiritual realms are in a state of flux. You've all sensed it too. Something big is going to happen sooner, rather than later. The universe has decided homo sapiens are just too stupid and selfish to maintain a wondrous place like Earth.

The human race is about to receive one massive lesson.



I want to add that it's not just spirits, it's angels lovingly surrounding you too. I don't know positvely but it sure kind of feels like it.

capt said...

Carey,

Great post, and I am with you on the whole thing.

"I don't know positvely but it sure kind of feels like it."

Feelings are as (or more) real than anything else. I truly believe feelings are the only real thing in this physical world. All the other stuff is a blur.


capt

Carey said...

Geez Capt. They're making it awfully hard not to impeach them. There's going to be no way to avoid it.

Each revelation is one step closer to inevitable impeachment it seems to me.

Still....I have those same fears Kirk. We've been burned to the core. Pelosi's position is always changeable, however. She just can't announce it for obvious reasons.

Carey said...

Thanks Capt. I'm distracted a little so there's some typos. Like human "race" vs species.

Carey said...

Did any of you get David's fundraising letter for The Nation?

This has been on Air America too, the devastating postal rate increases.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Matthew Blake,

Excellent. What a writer you are! Clearly, you have a future. I'll know to look for your byline in the future.

Carey Hickman

Hajji said...

Hey Gerald!

I think I've found you another "Fox" for your collection!

_________________
(forwarded from my sister with no link...)

Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Mary Morello and Cindy Sheehan Show [week 1]


The Nightwatchman is a firm believer that his mother, Mary Morello, and Cindy Sheehan have the greatest conversations. So from now on, every week or so, you will have the chance to read them!

This conversation took place last Tuesday, June 26, 2007


Mary: My name is Mary Morello and today we're going to discuss the servicemen who have been in Iraq and are against the war and have organized in the US .

Cindy: My name is Cindy Sheehan and I have a long history with the Iraq Vets Against the War. Their website is ivaw.net and I believe that in Viet Nam the soldier resistance is one of the main reasons that the war ended. I think that what the IVAW are doing is incredibly amazing.

Mary: They're organized across the country and right now there are eleven of them going to Charlotte and then they're going to hit towns where there are any kind of bases. They're not going on the bases and they're not going to wear their uniforms but they're going to try and talk to people who live around them and when servicemen come into town, they're going to talk to them. When my son, Tom, played in Washington DC last week they asked if they could speak before Tom played and a huge bunch went onstage. Four people went up and joined­­­­­­­­­­­­­, it was really crazy.

Cindy: I've seen them speak all over the country, they all call me mom. They're my sons and daughters, they're some amazing kids- I call them kids cause they're all the age of my kids. Every time they speak they have at least one vet come up and ask to join their organization. These are people who know what's going on in the war- just like the Veterans for Peace and the Viet Nam veterans against the war who organized after the Viet Nam war. They know the cost of war, they know the horribleness of war, they've seen it, they've been there and I think that their voices are important in the anti war discourse in our country. I really hoped that they would get more publicity and the networks and cable news would cover them more. Our mainstream media is so connected to this war machine and keeping the war going. I wish that their voices could be heard more.

Mary: Last week from the Chicago Tribune there was this great article- totally pro-the-vet and they spoke and for instance they said that the head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars said that they had the right to speak. Do you know Liam Adam?

Cindy: Yes. He is active duty and he organized the petition for redress and that's for active duty soldiers to sign their petition to bring the troops home. Essentially that they've been lied to, that their mission is not valid and that they want to come home from Iraq . I would encourage people to look into the petition for redress also. Liam Adam is one of the lead organizers on that.

Mary: He's one of them who are going outside of the camp. But you know they're threatening him now. He has an honorable discharge but he's being threatened with a less than honorable discharge. They've done that to some of the men who have participated in the anti-war movement, who have uniforms on. Let me tell you about this one young man who was 80% disabled and he came up before the review board and they told him that if he wore any part of his uniform at any of the rallies he would be given a dishonorable discharge and his $1300 a month is what he gets- isn't it horrible- anyhow he doesn't wear his uniform anymore to rallies- his mom does.

Cindy: Oh good, that's a good thing. It's amazing to me how they're stiff ling their freedom of speech after they were sent to fight in this illegal war when so many people who support the war still say it's for freedom. And when I look at these IVAW kids I know how brave they are and how much it takes out of them to do this. It takes a lot out of me to do this. I think I'm suffering from post traumatic stress disorder too by my son's death. I think that if Casey survived he would have joined IVAW. He didn't want to go to war, he didn't agree with George Bush and the war but he didn't think that he had any options so he went and he was killed. So I just love them and I hope that this helps them get their voice out there so that people in America can hear that it's not rosy over there, like the mainstream media tells us.

Mary: They're the nicest young men, the ones that I saw at DePaul University in Chicago and then I looked at everybody and I just thought " I'm so grateful that you made it home" because so many don't and it's horrible. The president doesn't care at all about deaths- it's so crazy. If people die, he doesn't care at all! He and the people around him caused all this and if he would end it and then bring them home at least all of those people would survive. And the Iraqis and Afghanistanis would survive, ya know?

Cindy: Well that's the thing. There's people dying for no reason and congress could end it but congress is being real wimpy. Congress could take George Bush's money away from him to fight this war. George Bush is never going to end it. He's already said that he's not going to end it. He's just a callous, murderous imbecile. Congress could stand up to the plate- they could have courage and they could care more for the people who are dying for no reason. Over 85 of our soldiers have died already in June because this surge is just killing them and killing the Iraqi people. The congress keeps saying that they're against the war but then they give George Bush more money to fund it. I think it's their job to step up to the plate and end it now.

Mary: There's an excellent book to read "Inside the Red Zone" and Cindy wrote the preface to it. I'm finishing it now and I'm telling people about it. If you read that- the war doesn't make any sense at all.

Cindy: I'll just encourage people to go to the Iraq Veteran's Against the War website: IVAW.net- to make donations to them so they can continue their bus tour so that they an spread the message of peace along the way. Especially to people on active duty right now, to tell them that they do have alternatives to going to war. I would encourage people to do that. Next week we'll be talking about the people of Iraq who have no medicine, no medical supplies. The children's leukemia rate is up 242% since the first Gulf War. I believe it is the responsibility of the United States to take care of these people.

(Last statement by Mary was too fuzzy to be able to hear what she said. Bad connection.)
_____________________

-T

Gerald said...

hajji, I believe that you are right. Mary Morello is one of many foxes who are now speaking out and who can move our country forward.

Servicemen who are speaking out against a wrong and an immoral war are disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus needs many disciples.

Anonymous said...

Read between the lines - The Democratic candidates that are against impeachment want to be able to violate the law just like Bunnypants.

Undoubtedly that's true, Capt. Why would Dems, though, have that fear? Clinton violated no one except his marriage (the underlying crime as so many pundits like to say). Once clean up is launched and the investigations already under way and future ones dig up little gems, what's to stop the Repugs from doing it all over again once we win back the presidency? Abusing the constitution, bending and breaking it for their own profit. Just like Iraq.

Hajji,

I wished you a happy 43rd birthday. I posted it late so you probably missed it.

Again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAJJI!

Gerald said...

carey, great post! What is positive you had feelings for your husband!

My barber, a Muslim, who converted to being an Orthodox Christian mentioned to me that two aunts who are Muslims had their husbands die within three months of each other. They were married over 40 years and when their husbands died it was their happiest day of their lives. Now that is sad.

Thom Hartmann may be right that he wants to be used up when he goes. I am more inclined to remember MacArthur's words, "Old soldiers never die they just fade away." When I go, I will just fade away,

Gerald said...

What do I love about Nazi America? Tell me how do I love thee!

I love thee because bj's will impeach you but you will go scot-free if you murder, torture, commit war crimes, and lie. That is why I love thee, Nazi America.

Hajji said...

Carey,

I thought I did thank you!

But then againn, I never know what I post.

Thank you for sharing your feelings. Those of us who've lost someone so close know well the mixed feelings.

It seems to me that time, for a short while, stands still, but only for me. Other people wondered how I could keep composure in such a situation. I think there's some kind of natural anesthetic released, for some, during such emotional trauma. It cushions a bit of the blow and allows you to feel still close, while analysing the loss.

Mixed emotions, mixed-up feelings...all real and all valid.

-T

Gerald said...

I agree; she was great on Bill Moyers Journal

Gerald said...

Dems throw American workers under the bus

Gerald said...

Patriotic Americans have nowhere to turn. They are headed for extinction in Nazi America. Only Nazi Americans will survive because they aspire to murder, torture, lie, and commit war crimes against God's children.

Gerald said...

3,578 killed American soldiers in Iraq. 12,000 soldiers maimed so severely that they will NEVER lead normal lives. This has happened because we accepted Bush's lies. Nazi Americans are murderers because they have become complicit in the murdering of God's children.

Gerald said...

The rich have outpriced us out of the outdoors

Gerald said...

When I was a child, I sang "America the Beautiful" and meant it. I was born in the Rocky Mountains and raised, at various times, on the coasts. The Big Sky, the rolling surf, the jagged, snow-capped, mountains: All this seemed to be my birthright. But now I flinch when I hear Woody Guthrie's line, "This land belongs to you and me." Somehow, I don't think it was meant to be sung by a chorus of hedge fund operators.

Gerald said...

This is what I believe!!! High sources inside our Nazi government are saying that the UK terrorists' operations are conducted by the CIA covert operatives. These operations will be held in Nazi America prior to the 2008 election so Hitler Bush can declare martial law and concel the 2008 presidential elections.

Gerald said...

Cancel ant not concel in the above post!

The Nixon Slide

Gerald said...

We must remain skeptical

Gerald said...

Actually, nothing is easier to fake than an amateur device like this. It takes little sophistication, and there is low risk of discovery.

The CIA has just released papers it terms the 'family jewels' which concern many dark matters from decades ago. While these papers are carefully selected to make the CIA look more ineffectual than it is and to give it a public-relations boost in light of its torture and kidnapping activities today, they still document a perfect willingness to engage in the most unethical behavior.

capt said...

The state has, in order to control us, introduced division into our thinking, so that we come to distrust others and look to the state for protection! But the roots of our individualism remind us that what we are is inseparable from the source from which all others derive; that coercive practices that threaten our neighbor also threaten us.: -Butler Shaffer

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I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends: Abraham Lincoln

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Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace: Martin Luther (1483-1546)

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The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions: Robert Lynd (1879-1949), Anglo- Irish essayist, journalist


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Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

Bob Geiger Saturday Cartoons

Never miss these.


capt

David B. Benson said...

In The Australian today is an article about the murder of Iranian cleric Hesham Saymary.

Special Forces op

or was it the

CIA?