Monday, June 02, 2003

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'Billmon' has collected a number of interesting direct quotes from members of the Bush administration.
(Re: those 'elusive' WMDs)...


http://billmon.org.v.sabren.com/archives/000172.html
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OH, YEAH, YOU GOT THAT SOMETHIN'..I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND.
WHEN I...
FEEL THAT SOMETHIN'....................


http://a.abcnews.com/images/autowirestory/AP/XDG107060306.jpeg
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"WHERE IS BUSH LEADING US?" asks Gary Hart

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/153/oped/Where_is_Bush_leading_us_+.shtml

"Iraq represented no immediate or unavoidable threat to the United States. We
overthrew its government because key Bush administration officials convinced
the president it was the next step in the war on terrorism. But they had
decided Saddam Hussein must go a full decade before 9/11. The destruction of
the World Trade towers, which Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with, simply
gave them the excuse to resurrect an old agenda....."

"America is a republic. Throughout history, republics have never been
compatible with empire. Read the Romans, among others. When republics begin
to seek hegemony and expand the reach and scope of their power, they no
longer remain republics. America is still too young - and too noble - for
that."
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THE GOOD NEWS IS:
The Dow Jones industrial average hit the 9,000 mark for the first time since last summer, but that seemed to be a sell signal to a lot of trader.
Turning down sharply two hours before the closing bell, the Dow ended the day up 48 points at 8,897.81, after giving up two-thirds of its early gains



THE BAD NEWS IS:
Neither of the pieces of economic data reported today gave stocks much reason to move up so rapidly this morning. Construction spending fell unexpectedly and while manufacturing conditions improved, that sector of the economy still is cutting its losses rather than building gains.

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UMMM---THEY'RE CHEERING, ALRIGHTY---BUT NOT FOR WHOM YOU THOUGHT THEY'D BE CHEERLEADING...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2954096.stm


"BBC - Iraqis in Basra have taken to the streets to protest against a
British commander being installed as the de facto leader of the city.
The committee of utility experts charged with getting the city's
infrastructure back on its feet is headed by Brigadier Adrian Bradshaw,
the commander of the British Seventh Brigade, the Desert Rats. On
Sunday, when the committee met for the first time, protesters,
reportedly as many as 5,000, gathered outside the military base in
Basra, led by Shia Muslim clerics. They carried banners with "No to
British rule over Basra" and "We can rule ourselves" on them...."

RULE THEMSELVES? HOW DARE THEY PROPOSE REAL DEMOCRACY???
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OK---TELL ME---I GIVE UP ALREADY!!!

Where are the Real Patriots While Bush Rapes and Trashes America?
by Rob Kall

http://www.opednews.com/kall%20where_are_the_real_patriots_whil.htm

"It's so easy to line up mindlessly behind the president, to follow orders and feel like you are doing your duty. It must be. There are millions who are taking that route. But I wonder where the true patriotic conservatives are.

The main bulk of American patriots voted for Al Gore and have been watching in shock and awe as the Bush Regime loots and destroys our country's resources, defiles our values and pulverizes our economy. But, by now, it should be clear to real conservatives-- that the country is being run by fake neoconservatives-- radical right-wingers who are nothing like real conservatives."

NOTE: SEE MY RELATED BLOG ENTRY OF MAY 27th:
http://www.iddybud.blogspot.com/2003_05_25_iddybud_archive.html#94943492

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YO-- JACK 'N TONY GOT SOME 'SPLAININ' TA DO ABOUT
DA REASONS FOR GETTING THEIR WAR ON.....



http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,968603,00.html

"Mr Straw yesterday denied he had had a private meeting with Mr Powell on
February 4, the eve of the security council meeting where Mr Powell gave
a dramatic presentation of intelligence material purporting to reveal
hard evidence that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,968576,00.html

"Tony Blair is facing mounting pressure from across the House
of Commons to hold an independent inquiry into the Iraq war after Clare
Short leveled the incendiary allegation at the prime minister that he
had lied to the cabinet. As an increasingly exasperated prime minister
once again swept aside calls for a public inquiry into the failure to
uncover banned Iraqi weapons, the former international development
secretary accused Mr Blair of bypassing the cabinet to agree a "secret"
pact with George Bush to go to war."
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=411301

"INDEPENDENT, UK - Tony Blair's sensational pre-war claim that Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction "could be activated within 45 minutes" was
based on information from a single Iraqi defector of dubious
reliability, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. British intelligence
sources said the defector, recruited by Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National
Congress, told his story to American officials. It was passed on to
London as part of regular information-sharing with Washington, but
British intelligence chiefs considered the "45 minutes" claim to be
unreliable and uncorroborated by any other evidence. How it came to be
included as the most dramatic element in the Government's "intelligence
dossier" last September, making the case for war, is now the subject of
a furious row in Whitehall and abroad. "

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WCWJB?

"Whose Children Would Jesus Bomb?"

- Seen on a pickup truck in Colorado



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"All truly wise thoughts
have been thought already thousands of times;
but to make them truly ours,
we must think them over again honestly,
until they take root in our personal experience
."


~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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DEMOCRACY FOR IRAQ?
UH...HMMM...NOT JUST YET.....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraq2jun02,1,4584323.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

U.S. Increases Role in Picking Iraqi Leaders
Plans for a national conference are scrapped. Instead, the coalition will assemble a council to work quickly toward an interim government.

By John Daniszewski, Tyler Marshall and Michael Slackman, Times Staff Writers


"BAGHDAD -- In a major shift, U.S.-led occupation authorities Sunday abandoned the idea of letting a national conference of Iraqis select an interim government, instead opting for a plan that gives the United States a more direct role in choosing the country's leaders."

"......it risks undermining confidence in the interim administration if Iraqis see it as handpicked by the Americans and the British, rather than being selected by Iraqis in what was planned to be a conference of about 300 Iraqis from various political parties and groups."
NAH!!! YA THINK??!?

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HOWARD DEAN TRIES TO EXPOSE BUSH FOR WHAT
HE IS ACTUALLY ATTEMPTING TO DO--
MURDERING U.S. SOCIAL WELFARE



http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.witcover02jun02,0,483209.column?coll=bal-oped-headlines

"Former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, now a Democratic presidential candidate, invoked the theory the other day in a statement on the new Bush tax reductions and budget. "Let us be clear," he said. "The president's tax cuts are part of a radical agenda to dismantle Social Security, Medicare and our public schools through financial starvation."