Harry Taylor - American Icon

Harry Taylor - American Icon





*credits and text to follow

Leaker in Chief

"If there's a leak out of this administration, I want to know who it is."

- G.W. Bush

Bush Misleads Again

Bush Misleads Again
He's got to be nuts if he thinks we believe it's all Harry Reid's fault

Immigration reform has fallen victim to severely divided ideology among members of the Republican party. Yesterday, the measure in the Senate was shelved because of Even Senator John McCain voted "NO" to the Hagel-Martinez amendment because of differences in philosophy that transcended party lines. Rather than following party lines, the Senate vote followed the line of individual conscience. Finally, the Senate was acting in a way in which they should have been acting for the past five years (when istead, Republicans were Bush's "rubber stamp".)

So what does President Bush do? He blames Harry Reid and the Democrats!

He used his bully pulpit today to unfairly attack the Democrats. These days, that "bully pulpit" has been reduced to the corner Pinocchio is sent to when his nose begins to grow. Public polls show that he's not a credible leader. His words bounce off the walls of the isolated and marginalized corner he's created for himself. During his weekly radio address, Bush said:

"I call on the Senate minority leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill."

Most Americans look at Bush today and understand that if he's moving his lips, it's a lie based on the one thing that has counted the most to him throughout his presidency: his own political gain and that of the Republican party. The rest of us are chopped liver. We're nothing to George W. Bush except punching bags with minds and mouths he regrets we were born with. This is just one more example that he will do or say  anything to divide America for his own political benefit. But it's backfiring. If he thinks we're buying it and that the Republican party has no responsibility or accountability for the divided part they've played, not only do I think he's despicable, but frankly I think he's tetched.

I certainly hope that the mainstream media would not fall into Bush's lie about Democratic obstruction. If they  perpetuate the lie, they are not doing the job the Fourth Estate is meant to do. Granted, Fox News will likely pick up the ball and run with the great lie because they are the 'Republican News Network.' If they do then they, like our own President, will be telling a political lie of which they should be morally ashamed.

The beauty is (at least my HOPE is), the majority of America is on to their lies.

Iran and U.S. on a Path to Unnecessary Danger?

Iran and U.S. on a Path to Unnecessary Danger?

"I think Iran has a secret nuclear-weapons program—I believe it, but I don’t know it." - Richard Amrmitage to Seymour Hersh during G.W. Bush's first term

Seymour Hersh has written a very important story about the pros and cons of Washington going to war with Tehran.Read it here. I'll start with a quote from a European diplomat. If you, like Harry Taylor of Charlotte, North Carolina, are deeply concerned and perhaps even afraid of the decisions coming from the Bush administration, pay close attention to this:

"Everyone is on the same page about the Iranian bomb, but the United States wants regime change," a European diplomatic adviser told me. He added, "The Europeans have a role to play as long as they don’t have to choose between going along with the Russians and the Chinese or going along with Washington on something they don’t want. Their policy is to keep the Americans engaged in something the Europeans can live with. It may be untenable.."[..]"If the diplomatic process doesn’t work, there is no military ‘solution.’ There may be a military option, but the impact could be catastrophic." [my emphasis]

If you remember the lead-up to the Iraq war, you will be very disturbed to see what is currently happening in D.C.:

In recent weeks, the President has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of Congress, including at least one Democrat. [my emphasis - and gee, I wonder if that lone Dem might be Joe "Hawk-o" Lieberman of Connecticut?] A senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, who did not take part in the meetings but has discussed their content with his colleagues, told me that there had been “no formal briefings,” because “they’re reluctant to brief the minority. They’re doing the Senate, somewhat selectively.” [my emphasis - as always, keeping our representatives out of the loop based on partisan considerations]

The House member said that no one in the meetings “is really objecting” to the talk of war. “The people they’re briefing are the same ones who led the charge on Iraq. [my emphasis] At most, questions are raised: How are you going to hit all the sites at once? How are you going to get deep enough?” (Iran is building facilities underground.) “There’s no pressure from Congress” not to take military action, the House member added. “The only political pressure is from the guys who want to do it.” [my emphasis] Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”

This is no way to lead our country to another possible war. The method is secretive, unAmerican and wanton. I'm beginning to think that the President is truly deranged - he certainly cares little for the rule of law or the spirit of the Constitution - and I am extremely worried for our nation. Those who do not voice objections are either gutless or codependents in his Messiah complex.

The Bush administration are diplomatically retarded. An adviser shows us that the foreign policy road we're on - good at threatening manly violence/crappy at diplomacy - is a pathway to potential catastrophe and that we can change now or risk WWIII. If they continue down this path, get your sons and daughters ready for the draft, because they'll be desperately needed

“The whole internal debate is on which way to go”—in terms of stopping the Iranian program. It is possible, the adviser said, that Iran will unilaterally renounce its nuclear plans—and forestall the American action. “God may smile on us, but I don’t think so. The bottom line is that Iran cannot become a nuclear-weapons state. The problem is that the Iranians realize that only by becoming a nuclear state can they defend themselves against the U.S. Something bad is going to happen.”

Deja vu all over again?

The Administration’s case against Iran is compromised by its history of promoting false intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. In a recent essay on the Foreign Policy Web site, entitled “Fool Me Twice,” Joseph Cirincione, the director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote, “The unfolding administration strategy appears to be an effort to repeat its successful campaign for the Iraq war.”

Michel Samaha, a veteran Lebanese Christian politician and former cabinet minister in Beirut, told Mr. Hersh that an Iranian retaliation against a U.S. attack might be focused on exposed oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

“They would be at risk,” he said, “and this could begin the real jihad of Iran versus the West. You will have a messy world.”