DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Apr 22, 2006 9:33:40 GMT 4
[glow=red,2,300]Just Whose Back Is It Bush Has Got? [/glow]A BUZZFLASH.com NEWS ANALYSIS A blog recently noted that the United Arab Emirates, who Bush gave a six billion dollar "port security" contract to (and then pulled back on, for the moment) is very cozy with Iran. In fact, they are the best of friends and swear mutual allegiance and support, as well as ongoing commerce and trade. Okay, so that means Bush was going to give a contract to protect Americans to a country that is best buddies with the country Bush wants to nuke. Doesn't that strike even some Republicans as odd? The reality is that the Bush Administration has long been playing a double game with the American people, as if they had two different sets of playing cards. For domestic consumption, Bush has trumpeted (as scripted by Rove) a fierce nationalism and sense of nationalist fear. He has played the "patriot" card to the hilt. But on foreign policy, what is most important to the Bush Administration is not what is in the best interests of the United States; it is what is in the best interests of large multi-national businesses, which is to say Republican contributors. In short, we have entered an age when multi-national corporate financial interests supersede our national interest. This is something the Busheviks won't tell the American people, and it is why the negotiations and details of the United Arab Emirates/Dubai deal are still being kept secret. Bush goes to war to allegedly protect us (while enriching the defense industry who are Republican campaign contributors) -- and then cuts financial deals that undercut our security and sovereignty. He's doing the same thing with China right now. Besides which, we, as a nation, are in hock to so many countries that Bush has to cede sovereign interests at times, because otherwise these countries can request the payment of their loans and the U.S. would go bankrupt. Funny that we don't read about such things in the daily papers or see them on television news. Wonder why? A BUZZFLASH.comurl] NEWS ANALYSIS
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
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Post by DT1 on May 3, 2006 22:38:52 GMT 4
Endgame for the ConstitutionBy Paul Craig Roberts 05/02/06 buzzflash.com The Bush administration has done more damage to Americans and more harm to America's reputation than any other administration in history. Yet, a majority of Republicans still support Bush. This tells much about blind party loyalty. By encouraging the move offshore of American jobs and manufacturing, Bush has run up tremendous trade deficits that have undermined the world's confidence in the dollar as the reserve currency. Recently, both Chinese and Russian government officials warned of the dollar's shaky status. The fall in confidence in the dollar is evidenced by the sharp run-up in the price of gold. In January 2001 the price of gold was about $240 per ounce. Today the price is $660 per ounce. The price of gasoline has risen from around $1.30 per gallon to over $3.00 per gallon. Obviously, Bush's war in the Middle East did not ensure the oil supply. On Bush's watch, three million US manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Tens of thousands of highly qualified US engineers have lost their employment. US job growth has fallen six to seven million jobs behind population growth. Recent college graduates are employed as waitresses and bartenders. Illegal immigration has continued to explode. While Bush spends $1 trillion and many lives trying to control borders in the MIddle East, America's borders remain undefended and over run. Bush advocates amnesty for the illegals who have invaded America while Bush invades distant countries. On false pretenses Bush invaded Iraq, a country that comprised no threat to America. American high explosives have devastated Iraq and its infrastructure and killed at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians, people who Bush claims to be bringing freedom and democracy. All stability has disappeared from Iraq. Iraqis now live in fear of one another as well as fear of American troops. On April 28 Iraqi vice president Adil Abdul-Mahdi said that 100,000 Iraqi families have been uprooted by the sectarian violence unleashed by Bush's overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Not content with the uncontrollable mayhem he has brought to Iraq, Bush hopes to expand the catastrophe by attacking Iran. The US Secretary of State, sounding like the warmonger she is, says the US may ignore the United Nations and attack Iran on its own initiative. This would be the second time that the Bush administration initiated wars of aggression--war crimes under the Nuremburg standard established by the US. Bush claims that he is higher authority than both US law and international law. In the past, US presidents vetoed laws with which they disagreed. Bush signs the laws and ignores them. Bush has declared himself to be the sole judge of the limits of his powers--a claim that violates Bush's oath of office to uphold the US Constitution. Bush has set aside the Bill of Rights by detaining people indefinitely without charges, by kidnapping and torturing people, and by spying on Americans without warrants. These are actions that are illegal under law as well as unconstitutional. All of these violations of law and the Constitution are serious impeachable offenses. Yet. Congress is supine as the Bush regime exercises dictatorial powers. The exercise of these dictatorial powers by the executive is a far greater danger to American liberty than are Muslim terrorists. Bush's apologists claim that only terrorists have anything to fear. However, unaccountable executive power is inconsistent with free societies. America is no exception. Unless Bush is impeached and turned over to the war crimes court in the Hague, Americans will never reclaim their liberties from an executive branch that has established itself as the sole judge of the limits of its powers. As Jacob Hornberger, president of the Future of Freedom Foundation wrote last month, "we now live in a nation in which the president has the omnipotent power to ignore all constitutional restraints on his power." Bruce Fein, a Justice Department official in the Reagan administration said that Bush "is moving us toward an unlimited executive power." The Bush regime's practice of excessive secrecy and denial of information to Congress allows the regime to avoid judicial review of its power claims. Bush ignores Congress and evades the courts. When President Richard Nixon made excessive claims for presidential powers, principled Republicans revolted and helped to bring down Nixon. Today's Republicans are loyal only to power. They have no principles. By supporting Bush, Republicans are bringing down America.
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on May 11, 2006 16:57:18 GMT 4
DNC: Abramoff Documents As Incomplete As A Half Full Skybox5/10/2006 7:20:00 PM WASHINGTON, May 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee Press Office: This evening, Secret Service documents detailing White House visits made by convicted Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, were obtained by Judicial Watch after it won a US District Court ruling last month. However, the "Secret Service records made public Wednesday show just two White House visits in the past five years by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff." (AP, 5/10/06) This record is clearly incomplete, as the White House has acknowledged that Abramoff attended a number of meetings with White House staff, a few holiday receptions and has appeared in photos with President Bush attending at least one event with his clients. "It is clear that these records are incomplete and do not detail the full extent of Abramoff and his associates' access to the Bush White House," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "What is this White House hiding? The Bush Administration needs to quit stonewalling and tell the American people how many times convicted former Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates visited the White House and with whom they met. Abramoff and his associates are central figures in the Republican scandals in which policy outcomes were traded for political cash, and influence peddling. The American people deserve the truth, not stonewalling about the Republican culture of corruption."The DNC also filed a lawsuit this week asking for more comprehensive records related to Abramoff and his associates. The DNC's lawsuit seeks the release of all other documents requested in its January 30, 2006, FOIA request, including Secret Service records detailing the entry and exit to and from the White House Complex between January 20, 2001 and May 12, 2005 for Abramoff, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, Patrick Pizzella, Michael Scanlon and David Safavian. Abramoff Visited The White House On Multiple Occassions Former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan: Abramoff Went To White House Meetings And Also Attended White House Holiday Receptions. Mr. McClellan: "Yes, I said it's possible that they would have met at a holiday reception or some other widely attended gathering. The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him." (White House Briefing, 1/4/06) Mr. McClellan: "I think it's very few times that he's been here, in addition to any holiday receptions." (White House Briefing, 1/4/06) Mr. McClellan: "Again, there were -- I checked on this. What I was asked is to go and check on this, and I did. And there were only a couple of holiday receptions that he attended, then a few staff- level meetings on top of that. And that's the way I would describe it." (White House Briefing, 1/17/06) Mr. McClellan: "Well, I did do a check, and I indicated to you exactly what I just told you. I indicated to you that there were a few staff-level meetings that he attended at least -- he attended two holiday receptions, in 2001 and 2002. There are some 400 to 500 people at each of those gatherings. And of course there's a photo line at those holiday receptions. The President has participated in tens upon thousands of photo lines or pictures in photo lines over the course of the last five years. He's taken pictures with many of you. But like I said, we're just not going to get into a fishing expedition that has nothing to do with the investigation. Though we have been very straightforward about that, when asked about it." (White House Briefing, 1/23/06) Photograph Shows Bush At Meeting With His Clients, Bush, And Rove At The White House. "Now, finally, the first such photo has come to light. It shows a bearded Abramoff in the background as Bush greets an Abramoff client, Raul Garza, who was then the chairman of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Bush senior advisor Karl Rove looks on. The photograph was provided to TIME by Mr. Garza. The meeting took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House on May 9, 2001." (Time Magazine, 2/11/06) No Records Of Abramoff Attending Meeting He Was Pictured In, White House Did Not Know How Abramoff Got Into White House. "Mr. McClellan said that Mr. Abramoff's name had not appeared on the invitation list of the May 2001 meeting and that it was unclear how the lobbyist had entered the White House grounds. A spokesman for Mr. Abramoff had no comment on the photograph or on his contacts with Mr. Garza." (New York Times, 2/12/06) --- Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.A datailed dirty laundry list on Abramoff is available above: Reply #20 on Jan 29, 2006, 9:31am JACK ABRAMOFF, MISANTHROPIC CRONY OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATIONAlso of interest:CREW SUES SECRET SERVICE OVER ABRAMOFF-RELATED VISITOR RECORDSMay 9, 2006 Secret Service Refuses to Hand Over Docs To Ethics OrgWashington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today for its failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on documents detailing Abramoff-related visits to the White House, the executive office buildings and the Vice President’s house. On February 2, 2006 CREW sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Secret Service, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, asking for records relating to any visit that Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, Neil Volz, Tony Rudy, Shawn Vassell, Kevin Ring, Edwin Buckham and Patrick Pizzella made between January 1, 2001 and February 2, 2006. CREW has not received any documents from DHS regarding the FOIA request. “We are trying to discover the extent of the ties between Abramoff and his colleagues and the Bush administration. Unfortunately -- as has become commonplace -- the administration is stonewalling,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. “The American people deserve to know the truth about Abramoff’s influence with the Bush administration, something the administration is clearly trying to hide.” The CREW FOIA and suit against DHS are available at www.citizensforethics.org. *** Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/press@citizensforethics.org. ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN:CREW Sends FOIA Request to United States Secret Service, 02/03/2006 Source: www.citizensforethics.org/press/newsrelease.php?view=128
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Jun 28, 2006 13:26:34 GMT 4
Here's the curriculum vitae of our LOOSER IN CHARGE with an intro from Henk Ruyssenaars of the Foreign Press Foundation. Of course the American Press never printed any of this. It might not be available now but it was previously. Even I have a full copy of Bush's military service record; got it right off the Internet, guess our journalists here aren't that savvy. I'm going to suggest that you all copy this and hand it out to G.W.'s supporters. Mail it to your Congressional reps too and and tell them you're considering writing up a similar c.v. for them also.......MichelleResumé - George W. Bush c.v. Thursday, June 22, 2006 ''All records of my tenure as governor of Texas, the records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies, and all records from meetings that I, or my Vice President, attended regarding public energy policy, are now in my father's library, sealed and not available for public view.''LAW! WHERE IS THY STING? FPF-intro - June 22nd - 2006: This is not only about the US war machine and their inhuman gun boat diplomacy: it concerns your country and your life and the way you live as well, where ever you are in this world. It's a pity that at present criminals like these can not be jailed yet, and many around the world wonder where the so called 'moral leaders' are? OR IS THE GLOBAL 'NEW WAR ORDER' PROPAGANDA MEDIA SILENCING THEM TOO? HAVE THEY BEEN DROWNED IN THE BLOOD OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA?What about all the 'law enforcement' people everywhere? Not only those in the US war machine, but all other countries too. Whom we all pay by our tax money. And that includes all those unifomed and other armed people too, whom we pay to protect us, and protect our civil rights in a constitution they have sworn allegiance to? And who now again use the by us - with extorted taxes - paid for weapons of all kinds against us: not protecting but attacking our rights to live like human beings, and daily committing war crimes in our name? With all the military, the police, secret services, 'Special Forces' and other commercial mercenaries from the countries taking part in the present genocides and illegal wars; with their secret jails, torture centers and CIA renditions: what has happened? What have 'they' done to the people in all those countries, and their - again - so called 'moral' and/or other leaders? Where are the by us paid 'state prosecutors' and 'law professors' now, when every form of law and global conventions - nationally as well as internationally - nearly has been destroyed? When murderous idiots throw the law book at us? Flush it, as if it was a Holy Koran in a Guantanamo toilet? - Where is their decency? Does anybody know any form of papal condemnation, or has anybody heard or seen any loudly protesting arch- or other bishops, deacons, gurus, 'holy' women or men, priests, rabbis, talking heads or similar jesters making a living on make believe stories sometimes called 'religion'? Or is 'PNAC' - what this mad group in the US tries to enforce as global strategy - the shortened form of: 'Project for a New Autistic Century'? Some sort of global neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in marked problems with social relatedness, communication, interest, and behavior resulting in global genocide? AND WE PAY THOSE BETRAYERS OF HUMANITY, THOSE GLOBAL WAR CRIMINALS? WHY? If you are silent concerning injustice, you're complicit. Guilty of war crimes like all 'sell outs', the vile creatures working for the war propaganda industry and against humanity. Those 'media megaphones' are utterly complicit and criminal war propagandists - the 'Judas Millers' of which many formerly called themselves 'journalists' - but without whom's lies and brainwashing all the massacres and the horrible silence NEVER would have been possible.
Being mute is the resort of cowards.
Especially when mutiny is needed.HR ******************************************************************************************** Resumé - George W. Bush GEORGE W. BUSH 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington , DC 20520 EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE LAW ENFORCEMENT I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine , in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available. MILITARY I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam COLLEGE I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader. PAST WORK EXPERIENCE I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland , Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas . The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas . ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union . During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money. I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history. With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida , and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record. I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week. I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury. I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history. I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period. I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period. I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month. I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations. My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron. My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision. I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed. I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history. I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history. I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government. I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history. I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission. I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S . "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention. I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election). I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television. I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history. I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history. I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind. I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community. I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime. In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends. I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security. I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden [sic] to justice. RECORDS AND REFERENCES:All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view. All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view. All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review. I am a member of the Republican Party. PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY VOTER YOU KNOW. [Andend] - Rense Url.: www.rense.com/general72/resume.htmFPF/HR - STRONGLY RELATED LINKS - Url.: tinyurl.com/gkgrb* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.htmlFOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION forpressfound.blogspot.com/Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars tinyurl.com/amn3qThe Netherlands fpf@chello.nl
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Jun 30, 2006 12:00:39 GMT 4
Published on Thursday, June 29, 2006 by CommonDreams.org Derailing Dictator Dubya by Bob Burnett Many progressives view the November mid-term elections as a referendum on the Presidency of George Bush and the ineptitude of his rubber-stamp Republican Congress. Voters have an opportunity to express their views on the war in Iraq, the economy, and immigration. Yet lurking behind these serious problems is an issue that most Americans are only vaguely aware of: Bush's ruthless drive to increase the power of the Presidency. His plan to move the US away from a system with three equally powerful branches of government-the executive, legislative, and judicial-and replace them with an omnipotent, "unitary," President. The critical issue to be decided on November 7th is whether or not Congress will stand up to Dictator Dubya. In a May interview in the Washington Post, House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, gave some indication of what Democrats plan to do if they take back control of the House in the November Elections. She said that during their first week in power Dems "would raise the minimum wage, roll back parts of the Republican prescription drug law, implement homeland security measures and reinstate lapsed budget deficit controls." Pelosi went on to promise "a series of investigations of the Bush administration" including their use of intelligence data to justify the invasion of Iraq. It is the threat of these investigations that has riled Republicans. They don't want the public made aware of Bush's power grab. They don't want average Americans to comprehend that Dubya has become a greater threat to democracy than the terrorists he frequently warns us about. In a recent article in the The New York Review of Books, veteran political reporter Elizabeth Drew described the elements of Administration's design for an omnipotent presidency. The first is the widespread use of the "signing statement." First described in a Boston Globe article, Bush has amended more than 750 laws by attaching a statement saying that because, in his opinion, the law in question impinges on the power of the Presidency, he considers it "advisory in nature." In other words, George Bush doesn't veto laws; he signs them in carefully-orchestrated photo-ops and later attaches a signing statement indicating that he plans to ignore the provisions in the law he doesn't agree with. The fact that Bush consciously subverts the will of Congress is, in itself, the basis for public hearings and national dialogue about his abrogation of the separation of powers. But "signing statements" are just one of the devices that Dubya has used to expand the power of the Presidency. According to Republicans, since 9/11 the United States has been in a perpetual state of war and this justifies George Bush's repeated use of his constitutional powers as "commander in chief." First, the Administration created the designation of "enemy combatant" for those captured in Afghanistan. The White House decided that combatants were not to be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions or to be accorded the due process rights give to defendants in the US; most were lodged in Guantanamo or in CIA-administered prisons outside the United States. At the same time, the President decided that it was permissible to torture these detainees in order to determine whether they knew of any plans to attack the US. The fact that the Administration condoned torture influenced the interrogation techniques used in Iraq, resulting in the scandals at Abu Ghraib and other facilities. Subsequently, Congress passed "the McCain amendment," which banned cruel, inhuman, or degraded treatment" of POWs. After he signed the McCain amendment, George Bush attached as signing statement: "The executive branch shall construe [the torture provision] in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judiciary." In other words, Bush would do what he thought was best, regardless of the intent of Congress. In December, The New York Times revealed that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to monitor domestic phone calls in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Bush justified this both on the basis of his war powers as commander-in-chief and his contention that the FISA act was illegal as it limited the "inherent powers" of the Executive branch. (On June 22nd, the Times reported that Bush authorized the CIA and Treasury Departments to monitor all flows of funds in and out of the US.) Since 9/11, George Bush and his closest advisers have seized upon the threat of another terrorist attack as the basis for an unprecedented expansion of Presidential Powers. A Republican-controlled Congress is unwilling to check this power grab because they are beholden to Bush the politician for much of their financial support. Thus, Capitol Hill "business as usual" has seen the GOP ignore Dubya's dictatorial designs. That's why it so important that Democrats seize control of one or both wings of Congress in November. Our democratic form of government is at risk and someone needs to do something about it. Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. Email to: bobburnett@comcast.net ###
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Aug 9, 2006 3:10:36 GMT 4
CYA Agents: Bush Hit Men Running ScaredPosted by: Chris Floyd on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - therebel.org/ Like a gang of twitchy hit men afraid they've botched the job, the Bush Regime is creeping back to the scene of the crime: the Congressional backrooms where they thought they'd put the kibosh on the American Republic once and for all. But it seems there is still a flicker of life in the victim -- and thus a threat that the gangsters might have to face the music somewhere down the line. So they went back to the bagmen on Capitol Hill this week, ordering their minions to provide retroactive legal cover for the rank offenses committed by the big boys at the top when they devised their torture regimen -- in knowing, deliberate violation of the U.S. War Crimes Act, which was passed by acclamation in the Republican-led Congress in 1996, and toughened up the following year with the support of the Pentagon, the Washington Post reports. The moribund Republic, which the Bush gangsters had slowly tortured for years, was thought to have been finally bludgeoned to death when the Bushists brought out the blunt instrument of the "unitary executive" earlier this year. After the Regime's patently illegal domestic spying programs were revealed, the Regime at last dropped all pretense and openly declared a presidential dictatorship, insisting that any action ordered by the "Commander-in-Chief" is beyond the reach of law. When this extraordinary usurpation of the Constitution did not produce angry crowds in the street demanding the return of their liberties -- and nothing more than a prissy "Well, I never!" from the oozing invertebrates in the Democratic opposition -- it seemed that the Republic was well and truly dead. But then last month, the Supreme Court's decision in the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case effectively overturned the Bushists’ "unitary executive" fantasies by ruling that the Geneva Conventions -- which have been incorporated into U.S. law and are the basis of the War Crimes Act -- applied to Bush's Terror War. This was the nightmare scenario that Attorney General Alberto "The Fixer" Gonzales and Dick Cheney's capo, David "The Enforcer" Addington laid out in legal memos for George W. Bush in early 2002, when Bush, Cheney and Pentagon warlord Don Rumseld were signing off on the various tortures they would inflict on their captives. The legal minions told Bush that they could all be prosecuted, even executed, under the War Crimes Act for what they were doing -- if the Geneva Conventions were upheld. Gonzales thus advised Bush to issue a presidential order stripping Terror War captives of the Geneva protections, the Post reports. Only this bit of weasel-wording could provide a "defense against future prosecution," Gonzales wrote. What he forgot to say was that this defense would only work in a presidential dictatorship under the legally baseless "unitary executive;" otherwise, the president would still be bound by America's strict laws against torture. Thus any president who ordered interrogation techniques that violated those laws could be prosecuted; and if those techniques resulted in the murder of prisoners, then that president, and his minions, could be executed. So far, at least 35 Terror War captives have been killed in military or CIA custody, Human Rights Watch reports. But Bush duly wrote the unconstitutional presidential order anyway, thereby committing himself to full, personal responsibility for the criminal system that followed. For the U.S. War Crimes Act not only forbids "murder, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture," it also specifically criminalizes "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." Gonzales and the other Bushist legal perverts have tried to define away torture, claiming that anything less than outright murder or "pain approaching, but not equal to, that experienced during organ failure" is not really torture, but just a kind of extending tickling or good-natured horseplay. Thus, they say, there is no torture in the gulag. Yet even if you accept these ludicrous and frankly evil formulations, and even if you ignore the overwhelming evidence of systematic beating, water-boarding, hostage-taking, deprivation and other actions acknowledged by any sentient human being as torture, there is no escaping the fact that the Pentagon and the CIA have openly instigated interrogation techniques centered around outrages upon personal dignity and humiliating, degrading treatment. Indeed, they're proud of it; they brag about it. And yet these techniques -- planned, approved and celebrated at the highest levels of government -- are patently illegal. The military's own lawyers know this -- and have long known it. Albert Mora, the Navy's general counsel throughout the Terror War until last December, told the Pentagon that some of the specifically approved techniques "violated domestic and international legal norms," with legal responsibility for the crimes running "along the entire length of the chain of command," the Post reports. And just last month, the Air Force's chief counsel, Major General Jack Rives, told Congress, under oath, that "some of the techniques that have been authorized and used in the past have violated" key portions of the Geneva Conventions: the very portions that are the foundations of the U.S. War Crimes Act. As the Post noted, "the top military lawyers for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, who were seated next to Rives, said they agreed" with his analysis. That's why the Bushists are now roaming the back alleys of Congress again, looking to fire a few more slugs into their victim. Bush wants the "unitary executive" autocracy he created in secret to be restored -- in public -- by Congress. There is brutal arrogance behind this of course -- but blind panic too. For the bloodsoaked thugs of the Bush Regime now realize they have no choice: if law and the Constitution are allowed to prevail, they could all be doing hard time -- or even find themselves strapped down and stretched out, waiting for the executioner's needle. To save their hides, the Republic must die, for good this time, forever. Source: Chris Floyd
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Aug 18, 2006 9:18:52 GMT 4
Mod's note:I thought I would share some musings from the keen mind of Ralph Nader.Love him or hate him,he is a true humanitarian,and,in my opinion,commands great respect...
Published on Thursday, August 17, 2006 by CommonDreams.org Bush -- "Take Your Time" by Ralph Nader Open letter to President George W. Bush: The widespread destruction of a defenseless Lebanon-its civilians, its life-sustaining public services, its environment-is a grim and indelible testament to your consummate cruelty and ignorance. Nearly two weeks ago when your tardy Secretary of State met with the Israeli Prime Minister, the message she carried was summarized in a large headline across page one of an Israeli newspaper, "TAKE YOUR TIME." Yes, take your time, says George W. Bush, pulverizing fleeing refugees in cars full of families, bombing apartment buildings, hospitals and the poor huddled in large south Beirut slums. Take your time, says George W. Bush, in destroying bridges, roads, gasoline stations, airports, seaports, wheat silos, vehicles with medical supplies, clearly marked ambulances taking the wounded to clinics, even a milk factory . Take your time, says George W. Bush, while shelters are demolished with bodies of little children together with their mothers and fathers buried in the rubble. Take your time, says George W. Bush, while the number of fleeing refugees nears one million Lebanese, many exposed to hunger, disease, lack of potable water and medicines. All this in a country friendly to the United States, which played by your rules, protested the Syrian army back into Syria and was trying democratically to put itself together. Take your time, says George W. Bush, while he speeds more supplies of precision missiles containing deadly anti-personnel cluster bombs which will claim the lives of innocent children for years into the future. The phosphorous bombs laying waste to fields growing crops and horribly burning innocents come from the U.S.A. under your direction. Do you think the taxpayers of America would approve of such shipped weapons were they ever asked? Are there words in the English language suitable for the impeachable serial war crimes you are intimately involved in committing not only in Iraq but also now through your encouragement and supplying of the once again invading Israeli government? Are there words to describe your strategic stupidity which will further increase opposition and peril to the United States around the world and especially in the Middle East? Your own Generals and former CIA Director, Porter Goss, among others in your Administration, have declared that your occupation of Iraq is a magnet attracting the recruiting and training of more and more "terrorists" from Iraq and other countries. And so now this will be the case in Lebanon. All this is a growing "blowback," to use the CIA word for a boomeranging foreign policy, that is endangering the security of the United States. The calibrated Israeli terror bombing of Lebanon comes in three stages. With its electronic pinpoint precision bombing and artillery, the Israeli government goes after civilians, their homes, cities, towns and villages. Then after telling some to abandon their neighborhoods, it cuts population centers off from each other by destroying transportation facilities into and inside Lebanon, making both refugee flight and delivery of emergency relief efforts either impossible or very difficult. Then its planes, tanks and artillery endanger or destroy what food, water and relief efforts manage to get through to the injured and dying. Warehouse food supplies are incinerated. About four hundred small fishing boats north of Beirut on the oil-polluted coastline were demolished as well. All the above mayhem and much more have been reported in the U.S., European, Lebanese and Israeli media. The bulk of the fatalities in Lebanon have been civilians. The bulk of the fatalities on the Israeli side have been soldiers. Very fortunately for the Israelis, the Hezbollah rockets are very inaccurate, the vast majority falling harmlessly. Unfortunately for the Lebanese, the precision American armaments of the Israelis are very accurate, which serves to account for why the total casualties and physical destruction are 100 times greater in Lebanon than in Israel. Most of these accurate munitions come from your decision to send them. Knowing they will be used for offensive purposes, including the lethal demolition of a long-established UN compound, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act which you have sworn to uphold, places the responsibility of being a domestic law breaker squarely on your shoulders. There is another law that is not being enforced-the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act of 1996 sponsored by then Republican Senator Robert Dole. Foreign aid is supposed to be cut off to any nation that obstructs the provision of humanitarian aid to another country. As one example, press reports that two tankers, each with 30,000 tons of diesel fuel critical for operating Lebanese hospitals and water pumping stations, are idling in Cyprus from fear of the totally dominant Israeli navy and air force. There are only a few days left of fuel in Lebanon, which is heading for a larger wave of secondary casualties. They and other critical suppliers need safe passage which the U.S. Navy in the area can readily provide, should it receive orders from the Commander in Chief. You heard high Israeli officials accurately say on the day the massive bombing of Lebanon began, followed not preceded by Hezbollah rockets, that "nothing in Lebanon is safe." That huge over-reaction to the recent Hezbollah border raid, in addition to many more previous air, sea and land border violations by the Israeli government, certainly put you on public notice. Since you view yourself as a reborn Christian, and since you have the power to stop the Israeli state terror assaults on Lebanon, you may wish to reflect on Leviticus 19:16 "Neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor." Lebanon was a friendly country to you and you have stood by not just idly, but willfully aiding and abetting its devastation.
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Aug 30, 2006 13:26:44 GMT 4
THE UNFEELING PRESIDENTBy E.L. Doctorow East Hampton Star (East Hampton, NY) September 9, 2004 www.easthamptonstar.com/20040909/col5.htmI fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear. But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man. He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the 2,700 dead ( updated ) young men and women who wanted to be what they could be. They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of aborted life . . they come to his desk as a political liability, which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq. How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that, rather than controlling terrorism, his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice. He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to. Yet this president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing -- to take power, to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends. A war will do that as well as anything. You become a wartime leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent becomes inappropriate. And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite, he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children. He is the president who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead, he does not feel for the 35 million of us who live in poverty, he does not feel for the 40 percent who cannot afford health insurance, he does not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their bills -- it is amazing for how many people in this country this president does not feel. But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is relieving the wealthiest 1 percent of the population of their tax burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the quality of air in coal mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a-half benefits for overtime because this is actually a way to honor them by raising them into the professional class. And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it. But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It was extraordinary, that spontaneous aroused oversoul of alarm and protest that transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over he world most of the time. But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct, who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive war. The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble. Finally, the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail. How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves. --The novelist E.L. Doctorow has a house in Sag Harbor. www.allenroland.comAllen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Sept 9, 2006 15:20:09 GMT 4
Running SouthBy Dave Lindorff 9-9-6 At least you assume that there's honor among thieves. Not, apparently, in the Bush administration, where political expediency has trumped the basic courtesies of notifying your allies and fellow conspirators when you're doing something you all need to hide from your supposedly democratic "subjects." In this case it was Bush's secret gulags for alleged terrorist suspects. Reporters, human rights investigators and officials from the European Union have long been digging into the story that the U.S. government has been holding hundreds of people in secret "black" prisons in places like Eastern Europe, Portugal, and other former dictatorships that had in place excellent hell holes for use as gulags complete with already-equipped torture facilities. One of the best clues about this program was a long list of flights by unmarked jet aircraft flying in suspicious routes that were traced to the CIA and CIA front companies. The Bush administration, until this past weekend, had denied that it had any rendition program to send captives from Iraq, Afghanistan and even perhaps the U.S. to such a secret network of prisons, and that it was torturing them. And governments in Europe, including Britain, Germany, and Poland, all denied that they had knowingly been involved in any such criminal activity. But now Bush, desperate to find a way to galvanize support for his sagging regime and party in the run-up to November elections, has disclosed publicly that, yes, in fact the U.S. does have secret gulags around the world, and he is going to take 14 of the prisoners who have been held for years in some of those places and bring them to Guantanamo to face some kind of military tribunal, yet to be established. His admission has caught America's ostensible allies in Europe in an embarrassing spot. According to EU officials who had been investigating the secret flights, they were told point-blank by Bush and White House officials that the U.S. was not operating a system of secret prisons and torture centers. And that's what they told the citizens of Europe, who understandably are upset at the idea, having lived through an era, not too long ago, when such activities were commonplace. Some Americans may not give a damn that some terrorist responsible for killing Americans was held in secret detention and was waterboarded, or had his toenails pulled out, in order to get information out of him, but that's because such people have a pinched and short-sighted view of things. Countries that authorize torture cease to have any moral authority to stop torture by others, which is what Bush has done to America. Moreover, after already ramming through an illegal war against the wishes of most of America's important allies in Europe, the last thing that America needed was another affront to the sensibilities of the people of that region. In suddenly, for personal gain, announcing that indeed the U.S. does have a rendition program, and does maintain a network of secret torture centers around the globe, Bush has created a major political crisis for virtually every government in Europe. Those countries' governments deserve that crisis, for no doubt there were at least elements in each that well knew about the program, and the secret flights, and the existence of prisons and transfer cells on their own territory. But a good gangster would not rat out his buddies at the first sign of pressure. Our fake-macho President Bush has shown himself to be the worst kind of stoolie, spilling the beans as soon as it became apparent that he needed to cover his electoral ass. Clearly far more important to Bush than good relations with his allies in Europe and elsewhere is making sure that Congress doesn't pass into Democratic hands, at which point he could find himself seriously called to account for his crimes against the Constitution. So he's betrayed his co-conspirators in Europe. Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch, is author of several recent books ("This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book, coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press, May 2006). His writing is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net www.thiscantbehappening.net
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Sept 18, 2006 15:09:21 GMT 4
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 09/18/2006 - 6:01am. Guest Contribution A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION by Brent Budowsky Thomas Paine and his fellow traitor to the Crown and champion of democracy George Washington must be standing at the Gates of heaven and pounding the table while they call down to us with outrage about what we do. This is the first in a series of notes that will be followed by actionable suggestions on matters such as the future of Air America and its possible alliance with grassroots and blogs for mutual empowerment; a call to action against dangers of scandal or outrages in a Congressional election that could be a repeat of 2000; and ending the Republican Senate cover-up of the remainder of the Intelligence Committee report that could prove false statements, potentially before Congressional Committees involving pre-war intelligence, that must not be covered up until after the election. Here, we set the stage, and define the mission: Never before in the history of the Republic have the politics of fear been used so ignobly to put our freedoms under basic attack. Never before in the history of the Republic have those freedoms been surrendered so casually, so fearfully, so timidly. and so meekly by a society that so easily forgets about the rivers of blood of American heroes who died to give us what we so casually, so fearfully, so timidly and so meekly surrender today. One personal note. I have faced enough danger in my life, as have many of you. And I live and work at the epicenter of the next major terrorist attack, if and when there is one, yards from the World Bank, blocks from the White House, and if there is a significant terrorist attack in our capital I might well be dead. But I will tell you this: I will be damned if I will surrender even one of my rights, even one of your rights, even one of America's first principles, for somebody else's politics, or somebody else's fear. And I do not believe you would either. I do not refer to what might happen. I refer to the freedoms that have already been surrendered, largely without a fight, though I propose that those who cannot decide whether voting is worth the effort, consider what these people would do if there is another terrorist attack, a prospect that would make George Washington tremble with anger and make Tom Paine pound his fist with rage. George Washington crossed the Delaware with troops risking death in a river frozen with ice on a Christmas Eve, rallying them to courage, on behalf of a banner of freedom that they hoped, and prayed, and fought to make timeless. George Bush implores our people to be afraid, and wants people to think: we may not be comfortable with a President who claims the unilateral power to abrogate the Bill of Rights and violate Federal Law at will with a signing statement, but he makes us feel a little bit safer, so it's ok. And so it happened. Praise the Lord that the troops that crossed the Delaware with Washington were made of sterner stuff than those who let this happen. George Washington lived with his troops at Valley Forge, where many died of famine, while others died with their bare feet bleeding into the ice, and he rallied them with bravery, for a cause greater than themselves, greater than their lives, greater even than the Nation they created and the times they lived in. George Bush tells us to be afraid watching our television sets from the safety of our living rooms, and wants us to think: we may be uncomfortable when tens of millions of us are spied on, when the Congress and Courts are not permitted to know, when even our newspapers of record are labelled as traitors, but it makes us feel a litte bit safer, so its ok. And so it happened. Praise the Lord that the Continental Army was made of men and women with sterner stuff than this. Thomas Paine wrote one of the great best sellers in human history, gave his money to the troops, and travelled with Washington and the soldiers into battle. At the most dangerous hours of what Paine called The American Crisis he would put pen to paper, believing that the sun never shined on a greater cause than this, and rallied the nation to greater heights of courage, while he rallied the troops to greater bravery in battle. Standing at the banks of the Delaware about to cross into what may be the single greatest epic battle for freedom in history, facing long odds and the prospect that defeat could spell doom for the cause they loved so deeply, Washington read to cheering troops these words by Thomas Paine as they prepared to man the boats and charge into battle: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of this country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly". George Bush implores us to be afraid, and unlike Washington quoting Paine to cheering soldiers, wants us to think like this: we may be a bit uncomfortable with an executive so unilaterally powerful it has much in common with the British crown, with secret after secret kept from the American people who like sheep are no longer allowed to know, with a Congress that accepts the treatment of the vassal, and courts that too often are no longer permitted to know any more than our people, but it makes us feel safer, so its ok. And so it happened. Praise the Lord that the patriots who rallied to the cause at Lexington and Concord were made of sterner stuff than this. George Washington faced many dark days when the Continental Army appeared doomed to defeat, when his advisors urged him to approve torture against the captured troops of the Crown. Washington said NO, we need not do these things to win, and if we do, we lose the specialness and power and wonder of what makes America America. Thomas Paine said, loudly and often, when the great notion of America was challenged from any direction: In America, the Law is King. George Bush beseeches us to be afraid, and wants us to think like this: we may be uncomfortable with the use of torture that is opposed and condemned by every leader of every democratic country everywhere in the world, we may be uncomfortable with tactics opposed by every branch of our military at every level of command, we may not be comfortable with abuses condemned by every leader of every religion except for the mullahs who advise the murderers, but it makes us feel a little safer, so it is ok. And so it has happened. Praise the Lord that those who rang that bell on that July 4 in Philadelphia, all called traitors in their time, were made of sterner stuff than this. George Washington believed that politics must be a noble profession, that the unity of the Nation is the first principle in the conduct of war, that power must be used wisely, and the greatest obligation of the most powerful is to know when to stand aside for the better interests of the country. When the Continental Army had triumphed Geoge Washington had the power to be the King, but he chose to go home instead, believing too much power is unhealthy for our democracy. When Washington served brilliantly as our first President, he had the power to remain President for life, but chose again to yield power and the presidency to others, in the higher interests of our democracy. George Bush implores our people to be afraid, and wants us to think like this: we may be uncomfortable with our nation so deliberately divided, with so much of our politics to be so disastrously disgusting and distrusted, with even heroes in the other party demeaned for their very acts of heroism, but if those who oppose him can be portrayed in the most grotesque ways as friends of the terrorists or enemies of the State, our country may more divided, but we are more afraid, so its ok. And so it has happened. Praise the Lord that the colonial armies that marched on Yorktown were made of sterner and nobler stuff than this. What is missing from our country at this time, is any serious debate on the enormous stakes that are involved, and the enormous dangers that await a continuation of a one party government, without any checks and balances, flouting the values that have been protected for more than two hundred years, with a nation more divided than at any moment since the Civil War, with policies that anger and alienate the decent opinion of freedom's friends throught the world, with actions that are alien to the first principles of our American democracy. The deadly sin of the Bush presidency, is that they mock George Washington by trying to make us afraid, and they use that fear, to mock what Washington and Paine and all others fought for. These are not differences of degree, or distinctions of policy. These are defamations against our democracy, the first principles of our freedom, the core of our constitution, the profoundly patriotic notion that in America the Law is the King, as Paine wrote, and that in America the King is Not the law, as the merchandisers of fear want the timid and afraid to so meekly accept. The Bill of Rights, the rule of law, the freedom of the press, the protection against the King knocking on our doors at night without warrant, the protection against government spying on us without Courts or the Congress being made aware, the notion of America as a family rather than warring clans of domestic enemies, the respect for first principles of democracies everywhere, the defense against practices that violate the common spirit of the great religions of the world, and more, and more. These matters go the heart of the character of our country, issues that determine whether we believe in the values and instituions of George Bush, George Washington or George III. Heaven help us, if we are attacked again, and those who merchandise the selling of fear in service to their ambition of the surrender of our liberties, use even that failure, to create even more fear, to seize even more power, to attack even more freedom, in their endless obsession to win at all costs, to rule without limits, and to demean their fellow patriots with no regard to honor, integrity and truth. What is striking is not only the Draconian danger of the merchandising of fear and monopolization of power that would follow another terrorist attack, but the Draconian fact of what has already happened, what fundamental freedoms have already been stripped away with barely a fight, and hardly a debate, about the first principles of freedom, democracy, liberty and law. The real heroes of America are sent to battle in faraway lands, wisely or not, while the society at home that pays no price for their sacrifice, makes no sacrifice of their own, cannot even provide them with enough bandages and helmets and armor, sits in the safety of our homes bartering away our freedoms, surrending so many of our rights, persuaded by the sales forces of fear while they listen to their IPODs or watch their television screens and so casually give away freedoms they esteem so lightly, which Paine said we must hold so dearly, and fight for so hard. For those who populate the Loyal Opposition, what is striking is their sense of business as usual, their internecine rivalries rather than a fight for our lives for the things that are most important, the lethargy of the leaders, the fippancy of the financiers, and the deadwood of insiderism of a party that too often appears too accustomed to losing, too weak to wage the fight to win, and too lacking in first principles to understand the magnitude of the stakes, or the urgency of the mission. I and others have written about how we can win, and we will have more to say as this epic event unfolds. The President's popularity is rising again; the forces of intimidation and fear are taking their toll; even timid television networks are capable of running films that exploit fear to corrupt our sacred moments in what border on propaganda films of the State; polls are beginning to show the race for Congress is narrowing and we now enter seven weeks in which they will throw at us an unprecedented barrage of slanders and fear. Each and every one of us will have to think and act, to work and dream, like George Washington reading those words of Thomas Paine to courageous colonists who pounded their fists, and jumped into their boats, and got off at the South Bank of the Delaware to charge into the fight they won, for the values we fight for today, and will no longer surrender to any one, on any day, any more. Each and every one of us can find our own barricade to man, our own battle station to defend, our own personal and individual way with our money, our time, our brains, our energy, our hearts, our soul, our feet and our spirit for our America and the America that has always a beacon of hope for our people and people everywhere. Dreaming of the American Revolution for freedom before the fight was even begun, Thomas Paine wrote these words, his vision that can be our vision, for the day this fight is finally won: "The air, purged of its poisonous vapors, was fresh and healthy. The dried fountains were replenished; the waters sweet and wholesome. The sickly earth, recovered to new life, abounded with vegetation. The groves were musical with innumerable songsters, and the long deserted fields echoed with the joyous sound...." That day will come. God Bless America. Brent Budowsky A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION Brent Budowsky served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, responsible for commerce and intelligence matters, including one of the core drafters of the CIA Identities Law. Served as Legislative Director to Congressman Bill Alexander, then Chief Deputy Whip, House of Representatives. Currently a member of the International Advisory Council of the Intelligence Summit. Left goverment in 1990 for marketing and public affairs business including major corporate entertainment and talent management. He can be reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.
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Anwaar
Administrator
Speak the truth and keep on coming.
Posts: 463
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Post by Anwaar on Sept 18, 2006 15:28:43 GMT 4
What an inspiring write-up. Amazing, Awesome.
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Oct 9, 2006 8:10:38 GMT 4
God's TestDMFAer's diary (reprinted from dailkos.com) Oct 07, 2006 at 06:29:18 PM PDT God became interested in U.S. politics during the Clinton scandal, astounded that people living at the highest standards in the world could become so distraught over what was really just an issue between a man and his wife. So God decided to call in St. Politicus and said, "St. Politicus, I want to see what is truly important to Americans. We are going to do a test. I want you to do your best to shake them out of their complacency. When you do, please report the results to me." So, on God's orders, St. Politicus: 1) Had President Bush appointed rather than elected. RESULTS: Nothing 2) Had President Bush start a war based on WMD, costing thousands of lives, and then had it revealed there were no WMD. RESULTS: Nothing 3) Had an entire city flooded, with President Bush abandoning U.S. citizens on rooftops, bridges and the Convention Center for days with no food, water, or medical care. RESULTS; Nothing 4) Had Bush imprison hundreds of people with no charges and no representation, even changing the Geneva Conventions and Constitution to suspend Habeus Corpus and permitting extensive torture. RESULTS: Nothing 5) Had President Bush increase the deficit to such an unprecedented level that we owe more money than we bring in each month. RESULTS: Nothing 6) He has the war go on indefinitely, with experts agreeing that it is actually making the U.S. less safe, and has President Bush dismiss it as a "comma" in history. RESULTS: Nothing So, after six years of failing to stir the ire of the American majority, an exhausted St. Politicus went up to God and said, "I'm sorry to report that there just isn't anything that will shake the complacency of Americans. Nothing. I've tried everything! They even re-elected him. I just don't know what test to send them anymore." God answered, "Don't worry, St. Politicus, you were extremely thorough. I think I know the answer. Please leave it to me now." The next day, the Mark Foley story broke, resulting in the 24-hour non-stop media coverage, the resignation of one Congressman, the anticipated resignation of the Speaker of the House, and plummeting approval ratings for Republicans throughout the country. St. Politicus was astounded as he watched this unfold, saying, "God, I understand that the Mark Foley scandal and cover-up were bad, but 19- and 20-year-old soldiers are dying every day for no reason in Iraq. More than 3,000 have died so far. Why is this Mark Foley issue so important?" God placed his hand on St. Politicus' shoulder and said, "It's simple, my son. Sex sells." Mods'note:If it's not already on of your favorite websites,please go over and check out thedailykos.com. It is as essential asbuzzflash.com for finding out what's really going on.
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DT1
Moderator
You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
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Post by DT1 on Oct 22, 2006 9:32:17 GMT 4
Mod's note:I thought I would snatch this from Associated Press and post it here before it tumbles down the memory hole...Stories that matter tend to do that these days.
Diplomat Cites U.S. 'Stupidity' in Iraq Published: 10/22/06, 12:07 AM EDT By HAMZA HENDAWI BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A senior U.S. diplomat said the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq but was now ready to talk with any group except Al-Qaida in Iraq to facilitate national reconciliation.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera television aired late Saturday, Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department offered an unusually candid assessment of America's war in Iraq.
"We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," he said.
"We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the solution to the hell and the killings in Iraq is linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation," he said, speaking in Arabic from Washington. "The Iraqi government is convinced of this."
The question of negotiations between the United States and insurgency factions has repeatedly surfaced over the past two years, but details have been sketchy. One issue that was often raised in connection with such negotiations was the extent of amnesty the United States and its Iraqi allies were willing to offer to the insurgents if they disarmed and joined the political process.
Fernandez spoke to the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera after a man claiming to speak for Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party told the network the United States was seeking a face-saving exodus from Iraq and that insurgents were ready to negotiate but won't lay down arms.
"Abu Mohammed", a pseudonym for the man, appeared to set near impossible conditions for the start of any talks with the Americans, including the return to service of Saddam's armed forces, the annulment of every law adopted since Saddam's ouster, the recognition of insurgent groups as the sole representatives of the Iraqi people and a timetable for a gradual, unconditional withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops in Iraq.
"The occupier has started to search for a face-saving way out. The resistance, with all its factions, is determined to continue fighting until the enemy is brought down to his knees and sits on the negotiating table or is dealt, with God's help, a humiliating defeat," he said. The man wore a suit and appeared to be in his 40s but his face was concealed.
"There is an element of the farcical in that statement," Fernandez said of Abu Mohammed's comments. "They are very removed from reality."
Still Fernandez warned that failure to pacify the widening sectarian strife in Iraq as well as an enduring insurgency would damage the entire Middle East.
"We are witnessing failure in Iraq and that's not the failure of the United States alone but it is a disaster for the region. Failure in Iraq will be a failure for the United States but a disaster for the region."
Although the actual identity of Abu Mohammed remains unknown, the interview adds to growing indications that Iraq's Sunni insurgents sense the tide may be turning against the United States and the Iraqi government it backs.
Fernandez's comments, on the other hand, join a series of sobering remarks by President Bush and the U.S. military in recent days.
Bush this week conceded that "right now it's tough" for U.S. forces in Iraq and on Saturday met with his top military and security advisers to study new tactics to curb the staggering violence in Iraq. Three U.S. Marines were killed also Saturday, making October the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq this year.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said attacks in Baghdad were up 22 percent in the first three weeks of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan despite a two-month old U.S.-Iraqi drive to crush violence in the Iraqi capital.
On Wednesday, and again on Friday, Sunni insurgents believed to belong to al-Qaida in Iraq, staged military-like parades in the heart of five towns in the vast and mainly desert province of Anbar, including the provincial capital Ramadi. Some of these parades, in which hooded gunmen paraded with their weapons, took place within striking distance of U.S. forces stationed in nearby bases.
The parades proved to be a propaganda success, with TV footage of Wednesday's parade shown in many parts of the world, a likely embarrassment for the U.S. military as well as the embattled Iraqi government
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DT1
Moderator
You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
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Post by DT1 on Oct 25, 2006 8:24:55 GMT 4
Why is the White House so Eerily Confident about the Coming Elections? posted by Lyn Davis at Huffingtonpost.com All week I've been reading in disparate sources from Drudge to US News and World Report about Bush, Rove and Cheney being overly confident about the midterm elections. Even Republican strategists are increasingly concerned because the White House doesn't have a plan if they lose. This lack of planning shouldn't surprise anyone, but if you really think about it a creepy, crawly feeling grows in your gut. Here are some questions: Are these guys simply narcissistic idiots Rove-ing around in some never-never land bubble or do they know something we don't? Have they planned a grab bag nose punch of an October/November surprise? Or have Diebold, ES&S, and local state secretaries assured them that they will do "whatever it takes" to get a Republican Congress elected again? Or are they just planning to outspend us? Karl Rove recently told the Washington Times, "For most Americans, particularly the marginal voters who are going to determine the outcome of the election, it started a couple of weeks ago... Between now and the election we will spend $100 million in target House and Senate races in the next 21 days". That is $30 million a week in 15 or 16 key races. Knowing this group, the answers must lie in a clever blitzkrieg combo of all of the above. When I asked Gore Vidal at dinner why the White House seemed so serene and at ease about the vote, he replied that, this time around, the Bush-Cheney henchmen could simply call on martial law. He glumly noted that we are so far down the road toward totalitarianism that, even if Democrats do win back the Congress, it would take at least two generations before the last six years of damage to the nation could be reversed. Gore frankly despaired that any amount of time could ever return the country to where and what it previously was. This prediction left me reaching for some Fernet Branca. We all know the neocons won't cede power easily. They have to be aware that if the tide of Congress turns, Bush's last two years will be mired in gridlock and perhaps even be punctuated by several embarrassing congressional investigations. Of course, Cheney did say last week that everything in Iraq is hunky dory, which leads one to believe that after James Baker's devastating report and the escalating mass destruction of the war, Dickey-boy has simply lost it. But whether it is hubris, loony tunes, or both, the White House's freakish calm about the elections makes me as nervous as the hell we seem to be headed for. Therefore we should all be on alert. If for whatever reason we don't win back Congress in November the only real answer will be to take to the streets.
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Oct 27, 2006 12:43:37 GMT 4
Failed Empire? George Bush's War of the WordsBy Tom Engelhardt For Homer, those epithets attached to his heroes and gods were undoubtedly mnemonic devices -- the fleet-footed Achilles, Poseidon, the Earth-shaker, the wily Odysseus, the ox-eyed Hera. But isn't it strange how many similar, if somewhat less heroic, catch words and phrases have adhered to key officials of the Bush administration these last years. Here's my own partial list: President George ("Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job") Bush, Vice President Dick ("last throes") Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald ("stuff happens") Rumsfeld, then-National Security Advisor, now-Secretary of State Condoleezza ("mushroom cloud") Rice, CIA Director George ("slam dunk") Tenet, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul ("[Iraq] floats on a sea of oil") Wolfowitz, Centcom Commander Gen. Tommy ("We don't do body counts") Franks, then-White House Counsel, now-Attorney General Alberto ("quaint") Gonzales, withdrawn Supreme Court nominee and White House Counsel Harriet ("You are the best governor ever") Miers, and most recently Dennis ("The buck stops here") Hastert. You know a person by the company he or she keeps -- so the saying goes. You could also say that you know an administration by the linguistic company it keeps; and though George Bush is usually presented as an inarticulate stumbler of a speech and news-conference giver, it's nothing short of remarkable how many new words and phrases (or redefined old ones) this President and his administration have managed to lodge in our lives and our heads. Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been not so much the planet's lone "hyperpower" as its gunslinger in that great Western ("dead or alive") tradition that George and Dick learned about in the movies of their childhood. But fast as they've reached for their guns (and may do so again in relation to Iran after the mid-term elections), over the last years they've reached for one thing faster: their dictionaries. And of all the words that came to their minds post-9/11, the first and fastest was an old one -- "war." Within hours of the 9/11 attacks, it was already on the scene and being redefined by administration officials and supporters. We would not, for instance, actually declare war. After all, who was war to be declared on? We were simply "at war" and that was that. Since then, according to George Bush and his associates, we have either been fighting "the Global War on Terror" (aka GWOT), "the long war," "the millennium war," "World War III," or "World War IV." We not only entered an immediate state of war, but one meant to last generations, and with it we got a commander-in-chief presidency secretly redefined in such a way as to place it outside any legal boundaries. We were, then, at war. But the first war we were "at" was a war of the words and at its heart from the beginning was the status of the people we were capturing on or near various battlefields, or even kidnapping off the streets of European cities, and exactly what we could do to them. If John F. Kennedy is remembered for saying, "Ich bin ein Berliner," perhaps when history shrinks George W. Bush to a soundbite, it will be, "We abide by the law of the United States; we do not torture." To say those words -- repeatedly -- he has had to mount not a soapbox, nor even the TV or radio version of a bully pulpit, but a pile of torn, trampled dictionaries. If you don't believe me, go back and read, for instance, the infamous "torture memo" of 2002 in which the top legal minds of the Justice Department and the White House Counsel's office labored over how to define "severe" and "pain" in such a way that almost no inflicted pain in a prisoner's interrogation would ever prove too "severe." Whole sections of that document sound like they were cobbled together by a learned panel for a new edition of some devil's dictionary. ("The word 'profound' has a number of meanings, all of which convey a significant depth. Webster's New International Dictionary 1977 [2nd ed. 1935] defines profound as..."). In the end, these experts defined "torture" to suit administration needs in the following pretzled fashion: "Must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." And though, under pressure, the "torture memo" was finally disavowed, the President has been able to claim that "we do not torture" only by adhering to its ludicrous definitions. (Even then, this administration's interrogators have tortured prisoners.) This was in fact a typical Bush era document of shame, symbolic of the bureaucratic lawlessness let loose at the heart of our government by officials intent on creating a pseudo-legal basis for replacing the rule of law with the rule of a Commander-in-Chief. Never has an administration rolled up its sleeves and redefined our terms more systematically or unnervingly with less attention to reality. When a dynasty fell in ancient China, it was believed that part of the explanation for its demise lay in the increasing gap between words and reality. The emperor of whatever new dynasty had taken power would then perform a ceremony called "the rectification of names" to bring language and what it was meant to describe back into sync. We Americans need to lose the emperor part of the equation, but adopt such a ceremony. Never have our realities and our words for them been quite so out of whack. READ THE REST:www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=128588
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