How Could They Be So Dumb?

Soon: The Razing of Fallujah

"...the number of dead and wounded will probably reach levels not seen since Vietnam."

- A senior surgeon at the Marine camp outside Fallujah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If the government insists on having a war, then we will fight. This city has seen lots of battles, lots of bombings, and we don't want more. There are conditions, however, that we cannot meet."

- A young cleric known only as Sheik Mohamed, the imam of the popular al Badawi mosque in Fallujah

Most Fallujah militants are Iraqis who are wary of the foreign extremist elements but bound by custom to accept offers of battlefield help from men they consider brothers in Islam. - Knight Ridder news

Soon: The Razing of Fallujah


U.S. Central Command reissued an invitation to media to embed with U.S. forces, saying it is the "safest place for reporters in Iraq". A psy-op campaign is already under way, with an AM radio station broadcasting messages about the intent of U.S. forces and instructions to residents of Fallujah, telling them "they have friends out there who care about them, who may have to attack." (As if they're going to believe that). Soldiers and Marines will first isolate Fallujah to prevent insurgents from entering or leaving, while perhaps directing fleeing civilians to refugee camps. (They've been fleeing for weeks - many displaced citizens being directed from the shelter of their homes to desert camps).

The Iraqi government is setting up a shadow administration to run Fallujah if a combined force of U.S. Marines and Army soldiers is ordered to assault the insurgent stronghold, the military said Thursday. Should the attack succeed, Iraqi troops will be the primary force keeping order inside the city and Iraqi administrators will be put in control "as soon as it's safe".


From Informed Comment:

Juan Cole says that one of the reasons given for the Fallujah campaign is to allow elections to proceed. But the campaign itself may reinforce Sunni clerics' calls for a boycott. If the Sadr movement gives up the idea of a boycott and participates, as some signs indicate it will, then the Shiite turnout should be high. A Sunni Arab boycott would then be disastrous for the legitimacy of the outcome.

Knight Ridder reviews the pros and cons of the coming US attack on Fallujah for caretaker Prime Minister Allawi. If the attack is swift and successful, Allawi will be strengthened. If it is prolonged, the protests within Iraq and in the Arab world could mount and cause a diplomatic disaster. Juamn Cole believes the razing of Fallujah is precisely the sort of action that may provoke an al-Qaeda response and will in any case aid in al-Qaeda's ability to recruit angry young Muslims.


UPDATE: Kofi Annan warns against Fallujah raid

Embeds are back for the big show so fat-assed couch potatoes can watch on FOX News as they munch on popcorn.

And some still think about Howard Dean...

And some still think about Howard Dean...

We'll never know. As a Deaniac, I can't say I don't wonder myself.

PLEASE SEE MY ESSAY FROM LAST DECEMBER.

Excerpts:

"James Madison warned that the majority must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. His warning rings true today. He made no provision to stem the tide of undue special interest-influence because it did not exist in the scope or magnitude that it does today. Yet, the spirit of his commentary and advice lives on. We need to render these special interests far less able to carry on this oppression through the channel of the government owned by the American People...."


"...If you do not listen to these words with an eye upon sheer reason, you may as well get on board with George W. Bush's re-election team at this juncture.."

Markos (Kos) Moulitsas: The good doctor's medicine, The Guardian, November 2, 2004

"...the Iraq disaster gave rise to a new face in national Democratic party circles: Howard Dean...Dean ultimately faltered in the Iowa cornfields, but not before the good doctor had fused a new backbone into the Democratic party. Opposing the president - once viewed as political suicide - was suddenly en vogue. The strategy of "Republican lite", wielded by Democrats to disastrous consequences in the 2002 midterm election, was finally dead."

Kos: Bush's True Mandate

Kos: Bush's True Mandate
It ain't all it's 'talked up' to be, so don't let anyone try to spin-scam you about it.

Kerry Shouldn't Have Conceded So Fast

"I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry."

- Greg Palast

Kerry Shouldn't Have Conceded So Fast

Who gave Kerry this horrid advice?

Kerry had no business conceding so fast, say many Americans. Spontaneous Arising is doing some tenaciouis study on the subject of stolen state elections. So is Holden. (Computers losing ballots in NC). Mother Jones on Diebold's year-old promise to deliver Ohio.

Greg Palast can show you that, hands down, Kerry won. He knew, even before the election began, that it was an Election Spoiled Rotten Mr. Palast had predicted:

"So we can call Ohio and New Mexico for John Kerry—if we count all the votes.

But that won't happen."

Why Did CNN Change Their Exit Poll Data for Ohio After 1:00 AM?

And why does the Chicago Tribune's Vice President ( whose paper had endorsed Bush ) blame bloggers for releasing the information that was actually available in exit polls? Bloggers are not held to his newspaper's rules, sorry. I think he's afraid people are taking the opinions of bloggers too seriously. Who ever said we were treated with the same credibility as newspapers? If we are, is it our problem or the reader's problem? Is there a particular reason the Tribune needs or wants to discredit bloggers? Methinks we're kicking his ass on some scoops.

Graciousness at war with reality

Graciousness at war with reality

"The Bushes are always gracious until they don't get their way. If W. didn't reach out after the last election, which he barely grabbed, why would he reach out now that he has what Dick Cheney calls a "broad, nationwide victory"?"

-Maureen Dowd

Josh Marshall made an astute comment yesterday and I feel compelled to repeat it here.

"Yesterday, in an overnight post, Andrew Sullivan wrote, President Bush "deserves a fresh start, a chance to prove himself again, and the constructive criticism of those of us who decided to back his opponent. He needs our prayers and our support for the enormous tasks still ahead of him."

I thought about this when I read it. And, to put it simply, I didn't agree. What I considered writing was that given the track record he's compiled and the way he ran this campaign, he's really owed no fresh start. That would be graciousness at war with reality.

I thought about the words of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas at the Francis Boyer Lecture for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research at Washington, D.C. on February13, 2001:

"..by yielding to a false form of "civility," we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us. As I have said, active citizens are often subjected to truly vile attacks.... To this we often respond (if not succumb), so as not to be constantly fighting, by trying to be tolerant and nonjudgmental, i.e., we censor ourselves. This is not civility. It is cowardice, or well-intentioned self-deception at best."

This is the time to fight.

Graciousness loses when bitter reality shows us that our nation is at peril.

A Message to the Edwards Family

A Message to the Edwards Family

I am sorry to hear about Elizabeth's cancer and I hope she will get through the chemotherapy or radiation treatment comfortably, if it is required. I have recently supported my mother as she has undergone chemotherapy and I understand everything the process entails. It's not an easy road, but modern medicine has made it incredibly tolerable and effective. I believe that God works through science. I've seen it in the graceful gift which science has given my mother and my own family. A gift of life. A gift of hope.
God bless you during this difficult time. My prayers are with you.

Jude Nagurney Camwell

For readers:

Early detection is your best prevention.
*A message about the importance of self-examination is here

For much of her adult life, Carol M. Baldwin has been known as the mother of the world's most famous acting family. What is less known about Carol, is her struggle with breast cancer which nearly took her life.
You may donate to the Carole M Baldwin Research Fund here

Press Conference: Don't Expect Bush to be a Uniter

Message From Today's Press Conference:
Don't Expect Bush to be a Uniter

" Now that I've got the will of the people, I'll be enforcing a one question rule."


"Obviously, you didn't listen to the will of the people. I said ONE question."


--President Bush, to journalists in a press conference today

At a press conference today, President Bush made it clear he would not tolerate too many mind-boggling questions at one time since he now has a mandate. Is he using a mandate to silence the press and legitimize his disdain for them?

Thus began the new Bush presidency. The one where, this time, gawl dang it, he has the will of the people ( a fraction of a majority more than the record-setting millions who voted against him). Almost half the nation can go screw themselves. That's what I heard today.

For Democrats looking for an outstretched hand, President Bush gave horrifying answers today. When asked how he planned to unite America, he said he would expect Democrats to participate in promoting his agenda. When pressed on the question of how he'd unify America through his relationship with Congress, he referred to the "No Child Left Behind Act", the one in which he hoodwinked Ted Kennedy. Choosing to hoodwink a dead man's memory this time, he's invoking the name of Daniel Patrick Moynihan in order to look like a bipartisan leader. I wish Moynihan were here to defend himself. I'd imagine he'd be spinning in his grave like chicken rotisserie if he knew Bush was using him in this particular way. Bush said he thinks Democrats agree that they have a responsibility to govern and expects they will have "good will" from here on in. I hope he doesn't forget who has the majority to 'stick it' to the nation with the ease of rightwing disdain.

President Bush wonders why Washington D.C .is bitter. He still wonders that, after four years? Is he daft? Is he that much of an overly sensitive boob? Does he not understand that he has had a direct effect on the DC mood and environment?

When asked about future judicial nominations, he recommended that we should look at his past. Oye, we're in trouble.

Progressive Dems: The Party / The Message

Progressive Dems: The Party - The Message

Our side lost in this election.

I guess I don't have to jab that stick in your eye again, and maybe you need a few days to gather your thoughts.

But we lost, and we shouldn't have lost, by all that is rational and realistic.

The Democratic party is in serious trouble. We can clearly see it.

Republicans have found a way to net the idiot vote (pardon the expression, I realize I make no friends in bluntly saying it). We can't seem to do that.

Today I heard Bill Bennett, of all people, invoke the names of Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller, and Evan Bayh as the faces of "decency" in the Democratic party. While I do not begrudge what I see as decency (which, in freedom's light. I see as too incredibly personal to legislate), I do bitterly regret that major assholes like 'Bettin' Bill Bennett' are dictating who the faces of the Democratic party are going to be.

We are the ones who should be doing the dictating. If we're passive, the insane Zell Millers, and dead-skunk-in-in-the-middle-of-the-road Evan Bayhs will move in to take over the Democratic party. And the Democratic party will continue to bitterly fail as lame Republican-wannabes.

Who we are and what we care about needs to have a messenger who can directly strike and capture the hearts and souls of the American people.

At Scrutiny Hooligans, Asheville's 'Uptown Ruler' asks you to think about that...and asks you who you are and what you are doing to help make that change.

Sometimes we have to challenge ourselves - and ask some hard questions of ourselves.

Now could be no better time to do it, in the face of this embarassing and horrific loss for ourselves, and for the world.

I keep thinking about how easily Kerry conceded, turning in OUR right to wait for all votes to be counted, and forwarding the hope and opportunity for Bush to be a unifier of the nation at a civilly volatile time. At today's press conference, Bush STOMPED on that opportunity. I can't help feeling raped by Kerry's willingness to abandon the race and his surrenduring of trust to Bush, assigning responibility to Bush to unite America. It opened an old wound. It reminded me of Kerry and many other Dems trusting Bush to act rationally by giving him the authorization to deal with Iraq in October, 2002. That should have taught Kerry never to trust Bush again.
(See Raw Story article today-election questions are already being asked.)

If Democrats do not stand up to Bush with extreme force, the Democratic party will lose supporters. People will naturally bail when they work their asses off and they see it's detrimentally futile because their representatives cave like ragdolls. Even in light of Bush's "mandate", we have every right to expect our Democratic representatives NOT to kiss Bush's ass. (Mandate is in quotes considering the record election turnout, with a record number of people voting AGAINST him as well as FOR him.)

Bush is using this win to play dictator. I seriously question his understanding, ability, and stability as leader of this nation.

"W. doesn't see division as a danger. He sees it as a wingman.

The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel.."

-Maureen Dowd, Nov 4, 2004

Bush Still President - Don't Expect Him to Change

Bush Still President - Don't Expect Him to Change

It simply boggles the mind: we've already had four years of some of the most appalling and abusive foreign and domestic policy in American history, some of the most well-documented atrocities ever wrought on the American populace and it's all combined with the biggest and most violently botched and grossly mismanaged war since Vietnam, and much of the nation still insists in living in a giant vat of utter blind faith, still insists on believing the man in the White House couldn't possibly be treating them like a dog treats a fire hydrant...

...It is a weirdly embarrassing time to be an American...

...This much is clear: We are not, with a grim Bush victory, headed for buoyancy and friendship and sincere hope for something new and refreshing. We are not, with another four years of what we just endured, headed toward any sort of easing of bitter tension, a sense of levity, or sexual openness, or true education, or gender respect, or a lightness of spirit and of step.

- Mark Morford

August 29, 2004 NYC

Remember their spirit and commitment.
Let's not feel sorry for ourselves.
Let's not falter.
This is still the soul of our nation we're talking about saving.
John Kerry lost, not us.
We shall not lose as long as we have heart, soul and commitment.

Taiwan Guy's Prayer

Taiwan Guy's Prayer


"Jesus, may it come to pass
Though he wants to eat my ass
That this lion come to thee
And from beastly sin be free......"

AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!


Poem and dramatic "AAGGGHHHH!" by Iddybud


tip o'the hat to Scrutiny Hooligans for the photo

Morning Star

Morning Star

The morning star appears in the sky while it is still night. Darkness broods over all nature. Its appearance is almost prophetic. It tells every student of the heavens that, though it is still night, there's a new day coming, and its dawn is just at hand.

So it is with us, dear readers.

So it is with us.

Keep your eye on the morning star.

Kerry Concedes

Kerry Concedes
"No retreat, baby, no surrender"

I think the John Kerry campaign gave up too easily on counting ALL the votes in Ohio, electing to not wait for the final tallies.

I understand his desire to unite America, but if we're uniting under a tyrant, what good is done for the American ideals concerning the balance of power which our founding fathers set down long ago? (That little tyrant Bush, by the way, was going to give a victory speech regardless of whether or not Kerry was willing to concede. Some f**king uniter!)

What are we all so afraid of? Why is counting every vote frowned upon? We really should ask ourselves. The vote is the citizen's mouth- the citizen's heart - the citizen's privilege - the citizen's loudest/most effective voice.

What happens when/if stories pour in about Ohio voter fraud and improprieties?
(And will media cover up these stories under pressure from the White House?)

Regardless of whether or not Bush won a nationwide popular vote, I highly suspect that Ohio wasn't "over". Provisional ballots could show surprises, regardless of the soothing comments Kerry made in his speech. Perhaps the final news about them will never be shared with the American public.


Note: I wholly concur with Josh Marshall's comments HERE.

We can feel disappointed, but let's not let it stop us.

Bush ready to Jump On Victory

Bush ready to Jump On Victory

True to form, it looks like Bush is ready to pounce on victory, insensitive to the fact that half the nation voted for the other guy and wants to see every vote counted in Ohio.

Four more years of Bush will be disastrous for America.

I'd like to project something optimistic right now, but frankly, I think America is in trouble. I feel badly for her, as I would for a beloved friend.

A Weird Time to Be a Blogger

A Weird Time to Be a Blogger

Bloggers, too, find themselves in a frustrated wait

In their first big election, online pundits suddenly found they didn't know what to say... LINK

Zogby latest: Kerry likely to win BIG

Zogby latest: Kerry likely to win BIG

Utica, NY pollster John Zogby is predicting a clear win for John Kerry:

Bush 213 electoral votes
Kerry 311 electoral votes
Nevada and Colorado - still too close to call.

Early exit polls predict Kerry will be victor

UPDATE: 5pm

New Exits Keep Kerry Up
Early exit polls predict Kerry will be victor

Florida: 50/49 - KERRY, Ohio: 50/49 - KERRY, Michigan: 51/47 - KERRY, Pennsylvania: 54/45 - KERRY, Iowa: 50/48 - KERRY, Wisconsin: 51/46 - KERRY, Minnesota: 57/42... Developing..

Sen. John Kerry looks to make a victory of the electoral college, according to all three sets of exit polls conducted by a consortium of six media organizations (the National Election Pool) that RAW STORY has acquired and confirmed with myriad sources.

Here are the first exit polls, confirmed from sources in both parties, as leaked to RAW STORY. The first number is the percentage of voters supporting Kerry, the second are those supporting Bush.

AZ 45-55
CO 48-51
LA 42-57
MI 51-48
WI 52-48
PA 60-40
OH 52-48
FL 51-48
MICH 51-47
NM 50-48
MINN 58-40
WISC 52-43
IOWA 49-49
NH 57-41

Here are the second polls:

U.S.: 50-49
FL: 50-49
OH: 50-49
CO: 48-50
NM: 50-48

Here are the third polls:

FL: 52/48 - KERRY
OH: 52/47 - KERRY
MI: 51/48 - KERRY
PA: 58/42 - KERRY
IA: 50/48 - KERRY
WI: 53/47 - KERRY
MN: 57/42 - KERRY
NH: 58/41 - KERRY
ME: 55/44 - KERRY
NM: 49/49 - TIE
NV: 48/49 - BUSH
CO: 49/50 - BUSH
AR: 45/54 - BUSH
NC: 47/53 - BUSH

Wall Street affected by blog reports of predicted Kerry win

Wall Street affected by blog reports of predicted Kerry win

Amazing.

Colorado Newspaper Up to Dirty Tricks?

Colorado Newspaper Up to Dirty Tricks?

"With all precincts reporting, Bush wins Colorado, 41-34 percent", paper reports – except election hadn’t started yet!

LINK

Early Exit Polls Show Kerry Winning

UPDATE: 3 pm

Early exit polls predict Kerry landslide, though early polls not considered reliable
LINK

Kerry ahead in MI 51-48, WI 52-48, PA 60-40, OH 52-48, FL 51-48

Woman in NJ Has Vision - It will be President Kerry

The banner on the Ace of Coins card gives the cue meaning Prosperity

Woman in NJ Has Vision - It will be President Kerry

In a Tarot-card inspired vision link, a NJ woman has seen a Kerry presidency.

"I saw the 'Hangman' card for President Bush," said the woman. "I said, 'Oh my God.' In other words, his career was going to be over as the president."


*Tip o'the hat to Moderate VoiceModerate Voice

No More Poll Thuggery!

Twits practicing poll thuggery


Remember these twits?

If there's one lesson we've learned from the 2000 election hijacking-hijinx, it's never to let poll thuggery occur without it being put under a public and legal microscope.

Republicans are trying desperately to suppress the American vote.

Why do you suppose they're doing it?

It's simple.

They know [and fear] the candidate for whom the crowds are waiting to elect as they stand in three or four-hour lines.

What to do at polls

What to do at polls

Whether you are a first-time or longtime voter, casting a ballot can be a confusing process. Here are some tips to make sure your vote is counted today:

1. Don't panic if you registered to vote and you can't find your name on a list. Get help from a poll worker.

2. Bring photo identification with you to the polling place, along with a current utility bill or something else to show who you are and where you live. Voters who registered by mail and are voting for the first time are required to provide this information. If you have no identification, you may sign a statement declaring who you are and where you live.

3. Read the signs on how to use the voting machines, a list of your voting rights and how to file a complaint if your voting rights have been violated.

4. Vote between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to avoid long lines. Know when polls close in your area. If you are standing in line at the time when the poll is scheduled to close, you will be allowed to vote.

5. If your name is not on the polling place's list of registered voters, you are entitled to a provisional ballot that will allow you to vote. It will be counted later, after election officials confirm your status as a registered voter.

6. When finished voting, check your ballot to make sure you voted the way you wanted to.

7. If you feel your rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with your state election officials. Every polling place must be able to provide contact information about where you can file the complaint.

8. If you experience problems, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE. That's the hot line being operated by the Election Protection Coalition, which is composed of many organizations including the League of Women Voters. You can also call 1-866-747-1471. That's the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

--Source: League of Women Voters and U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Bush doesn't deserve re-election!

Bush doesn't
deserve re-election!
He has lied to America - and the only promise he's kept is to stay the disastrous course in Iraq.
I recognized Bush's lies, hubris, and destructive determination long ago

This is nothing more than a repeat of an Iddybud post from September 8, 2003. It's here to show you that Bush was wrong THEN, and he's wrong TODAY.

He's never attempted to change course in Iraq (and let's face it - it's FUBAR); nor did he ever once try to foster genuine cooperation from the world community.

Never.

He turned Iraq into his bitch, causing it to become the center of terror while he was lying to American citizens about a Saddam-9/11 connection. Most of Bush's supporters still believe there was a connection.
*(Beyond belief, but they really do).

Now Osama Bin Laden is back to taunt us; he's mocking Bush. Bin Laden, by his appearance on that tape, seems to have transformed from sickly, skinny Islamic fanatic to a tanned, rested politician for many Muslims to reconsider in what he hopes will be a serious light. He wants to look like an important man in the eyes of the Muslim world. The frightening part is, thanks to Bush , he might. Why? Because he was able to get the better of America under Bush's [failure to] watch!

Had we not blindly barged our way, in the darkness of unnecessary and poorly planned and unprepared warfare, into Iraq and caused disastrous strife, destruction, and death, the heart of the Muslim world (at least the centrist part) would have been calling for Bin Laden's head for what he did on 9/11.

Instead, many young Muslim men are taking Bin Laden seriously.
*(Beyond belief, but they really do).

We cannot allow Bush to escape accountability for 9/11 being an overwhelming success for the hijackers, for allowing Bin Laden to remain a free man (enabling him to encourage and inspire al Qaeda), and recruiting thousands of new terrorists with his horrific foreign policy.

Anyone who goes into the voting booth tomorrow should read what I wrote well over a year ago.

This is a man who will not change.

You cannot correct mistakes if you cannot admit that you made mistakes to begin with.

If Bush is re-elected, we are doomed to see more disaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 8, 2003 at IDDYBUD:

The Bush Speech-September 7, 2003
My questions and comments to Mr. Bush
Part I

1. "Nearly two years ago, following deadly attacks on our country, we began a systematic campaign against terrorism. These months have been a time of new responsibilities, and sacrifice, and national resolve and great progress. "

Iraq and its Saddam Hussein Regime never attacked us before your infamous pre-emptive strike, Mr. Bush.

Not two years ago. Not ever.


2. ".. we acted in Iraq, where the former regime sponsored terror, possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and for 12 years defied the clear demands of the United Nations Security Council. Our coalition enforced these international demands in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history."


Not the 9-11 brand of terror, Mr. Bush. Not in the case of Iraq. There was no Al Qaeda connection.

The UN was proceeding with the renewed search for WMDs and/or evidence of existing programs for WMDs.

Iraq was cooperating...allowing them in.

You were childishly impatient, Mr. Bush.

You haven't found WMDs yourself, Mr. Bush.



You call your campaign "humane"? Do you realize at least 7,836 Iraqi citizens and soldiers are dead?

Have you seen the photos of what you have wrought, Mr. Bush?

Allow me to provide a few:




Credit: RobertFisk.com

Credit: latimes.com



How do you feel now that you've burned so many international bridges with your ugly pride and hubris, Mr. Bush?


4. A. "We have carried the fight to the enemy. We are rolling back the terrorist threat to civilization, not on the fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its power."

B. (appeared later in speech) "Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places. Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there -- and there they must be defeated."


The central front of a war on terror? Do you mean Pakistan? Saudi Arabia--where most of the 9-11 hijackers came from? Are you speaking of the Phillipines? Indonesia? Iran? Georgia? Azerbijan?

Are you saying the heart of terror was or is in Iraq?

Or are you saying you carefully CHOSE Iraq because she was the weakest nation, knowing you would "bring on" the terrorists from all these other regions once the pre-emptive attack began?

If that is the case, and it appears it IS the case from all you have said, then you were immoral and the cause of the Iraq war was unjust.

You told us, Mr. Bush, that Iraq's regime posed an "imminent threat". That is what you said.

You lied.



5.This work continues. In Iraq, we are helping the long suffering people of that country to build a decent and democratic society at the center of the Middle East. Together we are transforming a place of torture chambers and mass graves into a nation of laws and free institutions. This undertaking is difficult and costly -- yet worthy of our country, and critical to our security.


Worthy of us? It would be far more worthy of us to take care of the dangers and the basic needs we face right here at home, Mr. Bush. Our all-too-compliant Congress should tell you to eat your request for $87 billion...and go begging to the UN for it instead. Take your battle for desperately-needed cash to the central front--the heart of the world's hope...the UN.


6. Our enemies understand this. They know that a free Iraq will be free of them -- free of assassins, and torturers, and secret police. They know that as democracy rises in Iraq, all of their hateful ambitions will fall like the statues of the former dictator. And that is why, five months after we liberated Iraq, a collection of killers is desperately trying to undermine Iraq's progress and throw the country into chaos.


In the view of the Iraqi resistance, I would beg to differ. They do NOT seem to understand this as you say they do.To them, you are no more than an occupier, Mr. Bush. We realize that you wish the ideals of these real people were as easy to take down as the statue of Saddam Hussein. They do not see themselves as a collection of killers, but as a collection of patriots trying to undermine your occupation of them.


7. "Some of the attackers are members of the old Saddam regime, who fled the battlefield and now fight in the shadows. Some of the attackers are foreign terrorists, who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other free nations. We cannot be certain to what extent these groups work together. We do know they have a common goal -- reclaiming Iraq for tyranny."



You represent tyranny to them, Mr. Bush. You have gone about this in a dangerous and entirely wrong way.


8. "Most, but not all, of these killers operate in one area of the country. The attacks you have heard and read about in the last few weeks have occurred predominantly in the central region of Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit -- Saddam Hussein's former stronghold. The north of Iraq is generally stable and is moving forward with reconstruction and self-government. The same trends are evident in the south, despite recent attacks by terrorist groups."



Sure, Mr. Bush...sure.

New explosion hits pipeline in northern Iraq


Ethnic Tensions Flare in Northern Iraq; at least 15 killed

US troops raid homes in Iraq's 'Sunni triangle'
27 August 2003
BAGHDAD: US troops hunting guerrillas and criminals raided homes overnight in Iraq's restive "Sunni triangle", the army said yesterday, as tension simmered among ethnic groups in the north and Shi'ite factions in the south.


10. " America has done this kind of work before. Following World War II, we lifted up the defeated nations of Japan and Germany, and stood with them as they built representative governments. We committed years and resources to this cause. And that effort has been repaid many times over in three generations of friendship and peace. America today accepts the challenge of helping Iraq in the same spirit -- for their sake, and our own."


Yes, we did this work before..in Europe. Unlike Iraq, 1940s Europe had been a place in which most basic structures (especially government-related) existed BEFORE the war.

A U.S. role in rebuilding Iraq should not exclude the assistance of and power-sharing with multilateral institutions. If you look at the period after World War II, our nation (the US) was the only nation that was feasibly able to rebuild Europe, so depleted of resources were the other countries that could possibly have helped at the time. If you look at history, however, the U.S. did the work in a rather new multilateral environment, for the time period, which included the UN, NATO, and what was once 'the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade'.

In the case of Iraq, other nations and institutions are available to help. And I know that they'd be ready if they believed our leader sincerely wished for an international cooperation based upon respect. The U.S. needs UN and international cooperation to lighten the overwhelming economic and military burdens.

Mr Bush, you also need desperately to counter these perceptions of U.S. unilateralism. Swallow this dangerous pride, Mr. Bush.
It's getting late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting late---and here we are --a year later-- with estimates of 100,000 Iraqi civilians (half of them women and children) dead, a shaky coalition with members dropping regularly because of insecurity, including intimidating, brutal beheadings, and Bush unwilling to admit he's made dreadful mistakes. On top of that, Bin Laden's back to laugh at him.

He doesn't deserve our votes.
I want to change horses before this one drowns all of us.

Wow. Like, I'm really shocked. Oil Prices Down

Wow. Like, I'm really shocked. Oil Prices Down.


"Hay-looooo, suckers!"

Geez, I never would have expected oil prices to go down just before the election!


"The smile on your face
Lets me know
That you need me
There's a truth
In your eyes
Saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says
You'll catch me
Whenever I fall..."

From a song by Ronan Keating, When you say nothing at all

Watch Message From John Kerry

A fresh start for America
By John F. Kerry | November 1, 2004

SHORTLY after Christopher Reeve passed away, his wife, Dana, stood with me on a stage in Columbus, Ohio. She wanted to talk to America about her gutsy, heroic husband and his dreams for the future. She told us, "He imagined living in a world where politics would never get in the way of hope."

Also with me that day was John Glenn, whose daring journey to explore the heavens made us hopeful again.

In the closing days of this campaign, I ask Americans to choose the vision John Glenn embodies and Christopher Reeve never abandoned.

On Tuesday, Americans face a fundamental choice: We can choose to continue the failed policies of the past four years -- or we can vote for a fresh start for America. For the past four years, George W. Bush has made the wrong choices for America. Nowhere is this more clear than in his catastrophic misjudgments in Iraq.

He took his eye off the ball -- diverting resources from destroying the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11 to rush to war against Saddam Hussein, who had no collaborative links to Al Qaeda and no links to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Bush administration now calls Iraq "a remarkable success story." Americans know better. Iraq is a mess: We see kidnappings and hostage-takings, cities too dangerous for our soldiers to enter, more than 1,100 brave American troops killed, and now the incredible failure to secure weapons and explosives -- at the Al Qaqaa complex alone, 760,000 pounds of explosives have disappeared. It took just one pound of these explosives to blow up Pan Am Flight 103.

And we see another set of Bush failures here at home. Bush has spent four years fighting for the powerful and well-connected, but his policies have squeezed our middle class and those struggling to join it.

He's let companies outsource jobs to Asia and given them tax breaks for doing so -- and he's the first president to lose jobs in 70 years. Four million more Americans have fallen into poverty on his watch -- 1.3 million of them children. He's ignored the runaway cost of college, let healthcare costs soar out of control, and driven gas prices up to $2 a gallon with an energy policy that punishes American families -- and rewards the Saudi royal family. And after raiding the Social Security trust fund, he's now vowed to privatize Social Security with a plan that will cut benefits up to 45 percent.

If the president thinks we're doing just fine, then he must believe that we shouldn't hope for something better.

It doesn't have to be this way. John Edwards and I will take this country in a new direction.

First, we'll get healthcare costs under control. That means covering all of our children and giving families access to the same private health insurance that members of Congress give themselves. It means allowing our seniors to import safe, FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada. And it means lifting the ban on federal funding for stem cell research.

Second, we'll fight to raise middle-class incomes by keeping and creating good-paying jobs in America. We'll roll back tax breaks for those who make more than $200,000 a year and give middle-class families tax credits to help pay for college, healthcare, and child care.

Third, we'll work to save Social Security. I will not privatize Social Security; I will not cut benefits; and I will not raise the retirement age.

Fourth, we'll make America independent of Mideast oil within 10 years. We'll do it by investing in technology and alternative energy sources and in cars and SUVs you only have to fill up once a month, not every week.

Finally, I will fight a smarter, tougher, and more effective war on terror. I will stop at nothing to hunt down, capture, and kill the terrorists. I will never give any nation or organization a veto over our national security. And I will always build and lead strong alliances so that America never has to go it alone.

If you join with me on Tuesday, we will both defend our country and fight for America's families. We will unite Democrats and Republicans to succeed in Iraq and restore America's leadership in the world. We will once again stand up for the middle class and all those struggling to join it. We will never again allow the politics of fear to obscure our hope for the future. And together, we will lift up this nation with the confidence that our best days are still ahead.

Senator John F. Kerry is the Democratic candidate for president.

Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

A Letter from a Soldier

"We appreciate your support, but we can't see those yellow ribbons from here. I ask that you let your vote show your support. I don't know what you go to bed thinking, but I go to bed wondering not how many more years of this administration I can
handle, but how many more days
I might survive."

A Letter from an American Soldier

A Matter of Survival
By George Sprague
Concord Monitor | Letter
Thursday 28 October 2004

When I was home in New Hampshire on leave last month, a lot of people approached me to tell what a good job we're doing here in Iraq.

I appreciate the support, but I don't need the media or those people to tell me what I see every day. We are not getting the job done.

People ask me, "How's it going over there?" Cities have been overrun and are in a state of lawlessness. My job brings me into the streets. I see these things as they happen. They aren't just headlines for me. All we are doing here is treading water, and at this rate we can't keep afloat much longer. I'm just a simple man, but I can see that everything this administration has done with Iraq has been dead wrong.

We appreciate your support, but we can't see those yellow ribbons from here. I ask that you let your vote show your support. I don't know what you go to bed thinking, but I go to bed wondering not how many more years of this administration I can handle, but how many more days I might survive.

George Sprague
Balad, Iraq

Battleground NE Ohio:I Never Would Have Imagined

An Iddybud Exclusive


This Tuesday, Americans who live in NE Ohio may be the ones who determine who our next president will be.


From the Battleground of NE Ohio:
"I Never Would Have Imagined"
One American citizen's journey toward the America of our dreams
by Todd J. Schneider
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Oct 05-30, 2004

It’s hard to know where to start reporting on the last month here in NE Ohio. These are simultaneously exciting and perilous times for our great land. And here in Ohio, all the storms that have hovered over our political landscape seem to have been drawn here by some great magnetic force. We have been told for decades (or at least since the advent of the ‘talking head’) how important our state is in national elections - that such and such never won such and such without carrying Ohio. But it always seemed like a thing of urban legend or misplaced pride. Until bush usurped the office of the presidency.

But I will try not to blab, but rather condense the political story of our home here in the Connecticut Western Reserve, and how it’s touched my family over the last weeks.



You may have read about Ohio’s voter registration phenomenon in a Sunday New York Times article about a month ago. Well let me relate just a few institutional and personal examples to describe how this has taken place. First, there is America Coming Together, the bold 527 that has changed the face of voter registration. Locally, it is run in Akron by Will Duby, but the first contact with our maverick, independent Summit Dems group was our friend Jessica Fischel. When our group first started back in February to put on armor to go into battle, we struggled with a way to boost voter registration until, all the sudden Jessica shows up at one of our early meetings to tell us about ACT. From there, we all just volunteered with ACT (me, doing data entry every Thursday evening) whenever we could. And the next to the very last day before the registration deadline on Oct. 4th, ACT blessed us with a visit by Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Julianna Margulies, Aidan Quinn and Steve Buscemi. They joined us to go ‘blanket register’ a senior citizens high-rise in Akron’s Opportunity Park. What a gas to look through a staircase window to see whether anyone was covering a floor and catch Steve Buscemi or Marisa Tomei knocking on someone’s door to ask them if they needed to register or maybe get an absentee ballot form.

With the Kerry campaign, under Laurie Depalo, we had a massive voter registration push through September, knocking on every door in Akron’s wards 3, 4 and 5 over one weekend, just as an example. Combine this with the dedicated programs of the NAACP and the unions, and the result was a flood of thousands of registrations at the Summit County Board of Elections. So many in fact, that a number of workers had to be hired, complete with the accompanying political intrigue surrounding the party affiliations of the hirees.

Finally, at the most basic level were folks like me. I had a modest goal back about 2 years ago, in the days when it seemed that the Republican juggernaut was unstoppable. I thought that the only way to fight the money would be sheer numbers of progressive voters, so I got a stack of registration forms to carry around in the back of my van. I really didn’t think I would get many more than ten people signed up, as I am nobody of any real consequence, but if Jim got ten and Heather got ten and Gary got ten.....you get the idea. That goal has been easily doubled, and so has Jim’s, Heather’s and Gary’s. But the coolest things about this was seeing our 14 year old son Eric get a neighbor who hadn't voted in all her 60 plus years to register for the first time. Or when a fellow worker, who I had registered, ended up registering 3 people himself - the last one on the VERY LAST DAY before the deadline!

My friends, Northeast Ohio has been a whirlwind. John Kerry and John Edwards have been here numerous times, and the impostor himself came to our little suburb a few weeks ago (derisively known as 'Caucasian Falls' for decades - so it was just the right place for him). In my wildest dreams, I would have never thought that I would see Michael Moore in our towns twice in the same week, or Jesse Jackson Sr. or Carol King, just to name a few of the luminaries that have visited us to impress upon our voters the importance of getting the ‘monkey’ off our backs. And the volunteer effort has been heartening beyond description. I was at a meeting for volunteers for ‘game day’ at Kerry headquarters last night, and the place was so full you couldn’t move - and it was the second such meeting of the day! The energy was so high you could get shocked if you weren’t careful, and as I looked around the room, I caught the faces of so many that I have come to know and love. In just the last 10 months, since the political season shifted into overdrive, there has been so much that has happened, and we have made friendships borne of necessity and a love for our Constitution that will last forever. It seems like a lifetime.



There are so many little stories I could tell from here in NE Ohio that would illustrate the importance of this campaign and its impact on us all. But there isn’t the space on any blog for all of them, so let me finish with one that really stands out. My friend Rob Lutz has been doing yeoman duty over at Dem Hq in Medina County (a rather republican county, by nature), and was there one day when an older man walked in and explained that he wanted to register to vote, but didn’t know how to read or write. Rob introduced him to the head of the Democratic Party, who happened to be there, and together, they filled out his form. The new voter signed with an 'x' and the form was initialed by the Dem Party head, according to law, and the gentleman went on his way.

This citizen felt the importance of voting against bush to be so important that he was willing to walk into a room full of strangers and say, “Hey, I’m illiterate, and I’ve never voted before in my life!” Doing what he felt was right and necessary for the future of our country was a more powerful force to him than any loss of face he might have encountered there in that office, and he came to us to help him be able to make his opinion heard!



Marissa Tomei in Ohio
photo courtesy Todd Schneider

Dear readers, my family and I are everyday folk. But fate and bush have landed us squarely in the lap of history and given us a new understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship. In my most fanciful thoughts, I never would have imagined that we would be part of a team that stood to take down a tyrant, but here we are. Ever since 9-11-01, the forces of the Right have wanted America to think of that day as the end of history, but for us it was the beginning of a journey of duty and service to our country’s way of life. Yes, a beginning of a new history of understanding what it means to take control of America’s political destiny, and what can happen if we don’t act. And for us, there’s no turning back.

Todd J. Schneider Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Which Leader Were You in a Past Life?

Which Leader Were You in a Past Life?
brought to you by Quizilla


I was Confucius!

Your life began in 551 B.C. in the
Chinese village of Zou. You worked as a
teacher until age 35, when you became advisor
to the exiled Duke Zhou for a time. Later you
became a magistrate and even the Grand Minister
of Justice of Lu Province for a time. After a
while, you took to wandering with your handful
of disciples and unfortunately found that
high-ranking nobles in many courts were
plotting to have you killed. You continued,
however, to speak on morality and honesty until
you finally retired and spent your remaining
days writing. You died at the age of
72.

Green Bay has sealed Kerry's win

Kerry wins
[If superstition rules, Green Bay has sealed Kerry's win]

The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins this afternoon, 28-14. Superstition and history dictate that the incumbent party will lose the White House.

You superstitious?

Dowd: Will Osama Help W?

Dowd: Will Osama Help W?

I pulled some juicy quotes from Maureen Dowd's latest column and illustrated them for extra effect.



Tora Bora, where Bush failed to capture Bin Laden when he had the best chance.


"The Bushies' campaign pitch follows their usual backward logic: Because we have failed to make you safe, you should re-elect us to make you safer."




He's baaa-aack..taunting and disproving the leader who keeps saying 'you can run but you can't hide'. Obviously, with George Bush at the helm, you can run. You can hide.


"Because we haven't caught Osama in three years, you need us to catch Osama in the next four years."





Bush is in deep Qaqaa over Al Qaqaa

"Because we didn't bother to secure explosives in Iraq, you can count on us to make sure those explosives aren't used against you."






"You'd think that seeing Osama looking fit as a fiddle and ready for hate would spark anger at the Bush administration's cynical diversion of the war on Al Qaeda to the war on Saddam. It's absurd that we're mired in Iraq - an invasion the demented vice president praised on Friday for its "brilliance" - while the 9/11 mastermind nonchalantly pops up anytime he wants."





"W. was clinging to his inane mantra that if we fight the terrorists over there, we don't have to fight them here, even as bin Laden was back on TV threatening to come here."





Wow. I feel safer. Don't you?

Young Mobile Voters Pick Kerry Over Bush, 55% to 40%

Young Mobile Voters Pick Kerry Over Bush, 55% to 40%
Rock the Vote/Zogby Poll Reveals: National Text-Message Poll Breaks New Ground

Thanks to Matthew Gross for the heads-up on this very important story!

6500 Troops Affected by Tour Extension

6500 Troops Affected by Tour Extension

The Army has extended by two months the Iraq tours of about 6,500 soldiers, citing a need for experienced troops through the Iraqi elections scheduled for late January. the Pentagon's public affairs office posted an article on its Web site Saturday that said 3,500 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and 3,000 from the 1st Infantry Division headquarters will remain in Iraq at least two months longer than planned. Many of these troops expected to be back home by Christmas to spend the holidays with their families. The troops are understandably frustrated over having their tours extended. Some of the soldiers had been told they would be leaving Iraq as early as November. Instead they will stay through January.

Headlines We Should See

Photo credit: Esoterically.net, a great blog to visit


Headlines We Should See
Grand Moff Texan, Daily Kos

I thought these were great:

What? We should reelect the man who's already been beaten by Osama?

Why is Osama still alive?

Whaddaya mean, 'rally behind the president'? The president already said he didn't care about this guy!

Why is Osama still alive?

Bush left Zarqawi alive, three different times, and now he's over there, merrily sawing the heads off of Americans. So I guess this is a pattern for Bush.

Why is Osama still alive?

America is still un-avenged, and Bush just prances around and calls himself a 'war president.' What a pussy!

Why is Osama still alive?

Considering that Bush is in the habit of leaving terrorists alive and leaving out weapons for them, do you think this is part of BC04's campaign strategy? To help terror so they can profit from terror?

Why is Osama still alive?

Who will be tougher on terror A pampered drunk, or a veteran and former prosecutor?

Why is Osama still alive?

Oh, and by the way, WHY IS OSAMA STILL ALIVE??????

Bruce Springsteen: Our power is embedded in truth

"He's shown us, starting as a young man, that by facing America's hard truths, both the good and the bad, that's where we find a deeper patriotism. That's where we find the power that is embedded only in truth to make our world a better and safer place."

- Bruce Springsteen, speaking of John Kerry in Madison, Wisconsin

Bruce Springsteen: Our power is embedded only in truth

Don't let the weekend pass without seeing this video.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe that this Salon.com article by Joan Walsh is one of the best I've seen: ( subs or one day pass req )
Memo to Kerry: Don't let Osama steal your thunder

"Keep going after Bush, the way the president should have pursued bin Laden at Tora Bora
Kerry has to help Americans face yet another hard truth: That we're led by a president who has mired us in nightmarish war and doesn't know how to make us safer. And before the ruthless and desperate Bush campaign can use the bin Laden tape to sow more panic among the American people -- the only way it can scratch out a victory on Tuesday -- Kerry must use the sinister video as one more exhibit in the case he has been forcefully making for Bush's incompetence."

Osama Is Back

Osama Is Back

If we'd concentrated on bringing Osama to a real and meaningful justice, he wouldn't have been on this tape today spouting this tripe four days before the election.

We didn't concentrate on him, though. As a matter of fact, our inept fool of a president and his band of deceptive, raving lunatics hauled off stubbornly and willfully, against all reality, and attacked a nation whose government had no connection whatsoever with Osama ( while they boldly lied to us and insisted, in the face of all reality, that they did ).

We're about to stage a cold-blooded murder spree in Falluja which would make any thinking person's blood run cold. Most of these people in Falluja are Iraqis defending their ground. Osama is not in Falluja. Not now, not then, not ever.

What the hell has this president done to our country?

Consider this a lament for my poor, poor America.

I hope, with all hope, that Americans will unite in a new purpose. We require new leadership. Even if you want to support Bush and your party while soaking up all FOX News has to shell out to you, you must do what is right for the safety and integrity of our nation and the freedom of its people.

If we do not elect new leadership on Tuesday, not only will we be attacked from without, we will fall apart and die from within.

Now is the time to bite the bullet, swallow partisan pride, and remove the great barrier to our nation's future welfare and hope.
Now - before it's too late.

I'm not frightened by Osama. He's a misguided murderer. He made the worst decision a decent human being could ever make on 9/11. If there is a place of eternal damnation, he'll be on the top of the list.

I am saying this for the good of our nation.
I am not afraid of Osama Bin Laden.
You shouldn't be, either.
You should be comforted in the notion that you trust your leaders to effectively
and surgically remove the cancers like Osama Bin Laden with swift and determined justice, along with our world community. The problem is, we know we cannot trust Bush administration to get it done.

The only antidote to the divisive poison the bitter and careless Bush and Cheney have injected into the civil fabric of America is to elect them out of office and start anew.

They haven't made us safer. An Islamic terrorist group has admitted they have the explosives which they looted right under our Commander in chief's nose in an unnecessary war. While we saw grandiose pictures (along with dramatic music) of a falling Saddam statue and Bush strutting like a cock-of-the-walk in a flight suit, terrorists looted explosives to be used on our troops serving in a mission that was definitely NOT accomplished.

Vote them out of office.
It's not too late.


Josh Marshall reports that FOX News is calling this "Bin Laden's endorsement of Kerry".
To that, I can only think to reply:
"Fuck FOX News."
FOX News has gone too far, after doing more damage to the unity in this nation (with their deliberately-focused partisan journalism) than Osama Bin Laden himself.


See Osama's Election Editorial - by William Rivers Pitt


There are some who are thinking this might not actually have been Bin Laden at all. See this website.

Juan Cole weighs in on Osama's return to the limelight.

Dave Pell shows us that David Brooks is so consumed with partisanship that he's willing to abandon reason. David Brooks is no Christopher Hitchens. At least Hitchens was an intellectual who willing to admit, reluctantly, why he'd be voting for John Kerry. Brooks is just talking crazy.

And who is the scum who has played politics with this tape?

The best comment I've seen on Osama's comeback is from an unexpected source - Charles Kennedy, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats/British Parliament:

"The democratic process is the surest way to defeat this terrorist."

Whistleblower: Army favoritism to Halliburton

Whistleblower: Army favoritism to Halliburton at great cost to US taxpayers

Halliburton has given intimidating and misleading reasons for halting competition upon examination of their contract extension for Army troop support. The Army extended a Halliburton contract over the objections of a top contracting officer, even contending - and then withdrawing - a claim that U.S. forces faced an emergency if the company didn't get the extra work.

Army contracting official Bunnatine Greenhouse, who has said she was frozen out of decisions on Halliburton, went public last weekend with allegations that Army officials showed favoritism to the company. She had written a top general this month,
questioning KBR's extended troop support contract in the Balkans.

The Balkans contract was to have ended May 27 but has been extended through next April. The extension was so politically sensitive that a Corps official, William Ryals, sent a memo to Corps headquarters in July seeking high-level approval.


LINK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nothing speaks louder about their values and what they stand for than Halliburton. There is one thing you can be sure of: Halliburton's free ride will continue if George Bush and Dick Cheney get four more years. But if John Kerry's elected, it will stop and it will stop immediately."

-Sen. John Edwards, Oct 29, 2004 in Muskegon, MI

Karl Rove's Final Descent

Karl Rove's Final Descent


By Corey Anderson Corey Anderson
From: The American Street American Street ( where you can find my column every Thursday )

Bush let Osama slip through his hands at Tora Bora

Bush let Osama slip through his hands
at Tora Bora
Three years later, the top terrorist is back to taunt Bush and America.
OBL's proven he can run - and he can hide.
Great job, George Bush.

No matter what Bush's endorser Tommy Franks tries to feed you, Bush ( and Franks ) blew it at Tora Bora.

I found this discussion at Daily Kos:

The "OBL was never at Tora Bora" argument was a loser for Bush, but he never got pressed on it because the points weren't worth it...

..now, in light of Bush's shameful speech in Ohio, this must be broadcast throughout America.

[ "Unfortunately my opponent tonight continued to say things he knows are not true, accusing our military of passing up a chance to get Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora," an Afghan stronghold, in 2001, Bush told cheering supporters here. ]

Let's have the last 3 days over whether or not we let Osama go.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16?language=printer

Allow me to quote the article directly, in case some of you may have forgotten:

April 17, 2002

The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge..

The Kerry Campaign said tonight, in response to Bush's shameful speech in Ohio:

"America deserves a national security debate on the merits rather, than a president who desperately resorts to distortions, falsehoods and untruths on a regular basis. John Kerry was very clear tonight that we will stop at nothing to hunt down and kill the terrorists and that all Americans - Republicans and Democrats - are united in the war on terror. George Bush wasted no time in dividing us again."

Here is journalist Peter Bergen's "What REALLY Happened at Tora Bora".

Excerpt:

Luftullah Mashal, a senior official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, told me that based on conversations he had with a Saudi al Qaeda financier and bin Laden's chef, both of whom were at the battle, bin Laden was at Tora Bora. In June, 2003 I met with several US counterterrorism officials who told me, "We are confident that he [bin Laden] was at Tora Bora and disappeared with a small group." And Palestinian journalist, Abdel Bari Atwan, a consistently accurate source of information about al Qaeda, has reported that bin Laden was wounded in the shoulder at Tora Bora. Indeed, in an audiotape released on al Jazeera television last year bin Laden himself recounted his own memories of the battle. "We were about three hundred holy warriors. We dug one hundred trenches over an area of one square mile, so as to avoid the huge human losses from the bombardment." In short, there is plenty of evidence that bin Laden was at Tora Bora, and no evidence indicating that he was anywhere else at the time.

That being the case: Did the U.S. military throw away a golden opportunity to capture or kill bin Laden, during the one moment in the past three years that his location was known?

"9/11 Equals Saddam"

"9/11 Equals Saddam"

General Wesley Clark, appearing on tonight's Real Time with Bill Maher, told a story about his meeting with Pentagon generals 10 days after 9/11.
It goes something like this...

"One of the generals called me in and said, 'I got a joke for you.' And I said, 'Please, you guys don't have time for jokes.' And he said, 'Oh no, you gotta hear this one...'

'9/11 equals Saddam,' he said. 'Doesn't matter if he did it or not, we're going to get him.' And this was ten days after September 11th."

LINK

Raw Story Exclusive: Bush Campaign Uses 9/11

Raw Story Exclusive: Using 9/11 - Bush campaign pulls out the stops, frightening Pennsylvania in last ditch effort to secure vote

SEE: Raw Story, 10/29/2004
In final hours, Bush mailings display images of burning World Trade Center







When we think about the ways the Bush administration furiously flipped and flopped while trying to avoid the formation of an independent 9/11 Commission, this newest flyer should make us particularly sick to our stomachs.

100,000 Here and Gone

100,000 Here and Gone

Some are saying there were close to 100,000 people at the Kerry rally yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. Look at the photo below and imagine those 100,000 people suddenly gone, the street silent and empty. John Kerry and Bruce Springsteen standing on a stage speaking to no one on an October afternoon.

Now, imagine that 100,000 civilians were killed by coalition force bombings since the beginning of the Iraq war. Can you?
Actually, no need to imagine.
It happened.

Fundie Falwell Fries Fitfully on CNN

Fundie Falwell
Fries Fitfully on CNN


Warning: Hateful little crusader
under the JesusHat

"Blow 'em all away IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!"

-Jerry Foolwell Falwell on CNN today

Perhaps that wasn't the exact quote, but it was awfully close. Today in a debate with Rev. Jesse Jackson on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, Falwell said something which paradoxically proved him devoid of Christian sensibility: "Let's go over there to the Middle East, even if it takes over 10 years, and blow up those barbarians in the name of the Lord."

Crusades will not bring America to the doorstep of successful globalization.

Falwell melted down today in a Fundie fit. It isn't the first time that's happened. I'm sure it won't be the last. He's positively drowning in religion; it's blinding him to all common sense; and I just thought I'd bring that to your attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE:


See: New ad with the names of 200 Christian leaders condemning Falwell's theology of war.

Frank Rich - Decision 2004

"After three years of nonstop thrills, Americans will just have to decide on Nov. 2 whether there could be fates even worse than spending the next four years being bored."

Frank Rich - Decision 2004: Fear Fatigue vs. Sheer Fatigue

Frank Rich hits the nail on the head with this one. It's all about America's short attention span.
I also think we should ask ourselves: Do we want to have terror as a nuisance or terror as the cause of Armegeddon? We really do have control over the issue, even though Cheney (Dr. Doom) and Bush would like to frighten us into submission in order to gain endless and futile warfare.

Excerpts:

"..The triumphalist cinema that had led up to it, culminating in the toppling of the Saddam statue, was, like "Mission Accomplished" itself, too slick. It whetted our appetite for sequels. But what came instead were pictures by upstart independent filmmakers hawking an alternative scenario to "Shock and Awe": the charred corpses of civilian contractors strung up in Fallujah, the beheading of Nick Berg, the tableaux vivants of Abu Ghraib, the neat rows of 49 slaughtered Iraqi recruits decomposing in the sun. The scenes the administration created to counter them all backfired."

"..There isn't a person in the world, including our enemies, who doesn't know that we have fewer troops than we need, now or in perpetuity, and that we're too broke to spring for more. As Mr. Bush said of the war to Matt Lauer in a rare moment of candor, quickly rescinded, "I don't think you can win it." Especially if you've so bought into the myth of your own invulnerable star power that you failed to secure nearly 380 tons of explosives destined to blow up American troops. So Karl Rove does what any director does to bolster a weak script - pump up the ominous chords on the soundtrack. He sends out Dick Cheney to keep telling us that it's only a matter of when, not if, a nuke will go off in the middle of one of our cities.."

The Humpty Dubya Presidency Nears an End

The Humpty Dubya Presidency Nears an End

....all the excuses
from all Dubya's men
couldn't get Dubya selected again.

Regarding the al Qaqaa missing explosives:

There's rhetoric...

It's the Iraqis' problem; We didn't know about it; They were gone when we got there; NBC News reported they were gone when we got there; The explosives were hidden, not looted; Explosives were not a priority; We've secured 400,000 tons of munitions..

...and there's reason and reality, which the Bush administration clearly disdains because it bursts their political fantasy bubble.

See a compilation of both fact and fiction-for-excuse at the Center for American Progress.

Paul Krugman discusses the Bush administration's Al Qaqaa excuse-wheel. He'd also like to remind us that Al Qaqaa is "hardly the only tale of incompetence and mendacity to break to the surface in the last few days." Mr. Krugman also points out that "the news media have spent the last few days discussing substance. And that's very bad news for Mr. Bush."

In the LA Times, Jonathan Chait says that, for Bush, it is far too late in the election campaign season to expect any honesty from him on the Al Qaqaa issue. ( What would possess him to start being honest now, anyhow? )

The Humpty Dubya presidency is nearing its much-anticipated end.

I can't wait until the bloviating liar and his pack of inept war-wolves, with the meat of 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and 1109 trusting US troops in their fangs, go back to the ranch to clear brush and ignore more terror warnings while John Kerry sends the best and most appropriate of our defenses ( along with genuinely solid multilateral international participants ) to go after the real terrorists (like that scummy little turd who threatened us on the most recent video, providing he isn't actually a Bush crony faking us out under that kaffiyeh ).

Bruce Rocks with Kerry and 80,000 in Madison

Bruce Rocks with Kerry and 80,000 in Madison







Credit:AP photos



Credit: NYT

Wesley Clark Blasts Giuliani for Blaming Our Troops

Wesley Clark Blasts Giuliani for Blaming Our Troops
Kerry/Edwards blog

"For President Bush to send Rudolph Giuliani out on television to say that the 'actual responsibility' for the failure to secure explosives lies with the troops is insulting and cowardly.

“The President approved the mission and the priorities. Civilian leaders tell military leaders what to do. The military follows those orders and gets the job done. This was a failure of civilian leadership, first in not telling the troops to secure explosives and other dangerous materials, and second for not providing sufficient troops and sufficient equipment for troops to do the job..."

Read more at link above

See Wesley Clark's statement from October 27th about Bush's own very compelling and thoughtful argument for why he should not be reelected -

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Juan Cole also skewers Giuliani and others who blame the troops:

A new low was reached in the Republican Party, out of panic at this story, by Rudi Giuliani, who blamed our troops for the al-Qaqaa catastrophe, saying, ''No matter how you try to blame it on the president, the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?" So let's get this straight. Bush sends only 100,000 US troops to Iraq, when 500,000 are needed to secure the country. Then when the troops don't have te personpower to do their jobs properly, you blame them? The refreshing thing about Giuliani's remark is its honesty. Surely a lot of fatcat Republicans who are always draping themselves in the flag and exploiting the heroism of US troops actually view them as little more than kitchen help, who can be blamed if the banquet doesn't come off as brilliantly as hoped. Remember the images of Bush in white tie toasting his "base" among the super-wealthy, in Fahrenheit 9/11? It is not the corporals in the US army whom he was toasting.

100,000 Iraqi civilians dead

100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, says study
Guardian Oct 29, 2004
Sarah Boseley, health editor

It's nothing but a God-forsaken shame.
100,000 Iraqi civilians - half of them women and children - have died in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of airstrikes by coalition forces.

Knowing the war was unnecessary, and knowing our leadership lied to get us into it, we should all be losing a hell of a lot of sleep.

In a nation where we're free to choose our leaders, we share culpability.

Bush/Cheney, simply, must go.

Sinking

sinking