Credit: The Atlantic On Line
Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Britiain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon is looking more like a liar by the day.
Dr Kelly's wife has a diary of his final days....and not trusting Hoon, apparently, she intends to send it to Sir Kevin Tebbit, the Permanent Secretary at the MoD.
We're getting a bit closer to the truth...the truth behind the 16 words and Bush's lies.
"....Dr Kelly spoke to fellow members of his church over his concerns about the way the intelligence used by the Government in its Iraq weapons dossiers had been "interpreted".
Geeta and Roger Kingdon, who follow the same Bahai faith as Dr Kelly, said the scientist gave a talk to fellow worshippers in which he said he was uncomfortable with the way the intelligence material was presented...."
Short blames government 'abuse of power' for David Kelly's death
In the article, Clare Short says:
"We all ended up mesmerised by Alastair Campbell
attacking the BBC. In the course of that, Dr Kelly felt so pressured he
felt the need to take his life. It has got enormous significance." But
she hoped "some good" might yet come out of the tragedy, if the
Government abandons spin and changes the way decisions are made."
To the 21 Victims of the Dongfeng Mine Disaster in Henan Province, China and To Their Loved Ones....
O Great Compassion, we take refuge in you.
This tragedy makes us better appreciate the preciousness of life,
That each of us is like a snowflake: unique, beautiful and fragile;
Therefore, guide us to entrusting faith, Great Parent of all things,
Make us your servant, your breath and your core,
Empowered by Other Power, we dedicate our lives, practice and faith,
To kindle the Light of Dharma in all beings,
For those who have fallen into the gloom of sorrow.
Namo Amida Buddha
I say either get them the hell out of Iraq NOW or get on our knees and beg the United Nations for forgiveness, their help, and a new resolution.
Bush--you were dead wrong.
It's time to admit it.
Jane Eisner asks:
Troops keep dying -- but for what?
"....The ranks of the killed and injured inch upward, toward a time when the whole nation will have to ask itself: How many casualties are too much?"
"U.S. soldiers in Iraq are escaping from Iraq under the guise of Kurdish citizens, wearing the famous Iraqi and Arab al-Dashdasha (loose headdress) which has become mush sought-after recently, Iraqis told IslamOnline.net Sunday, July 27.
However, a U.S. colonel categorically denied that 2,500 U.S. soldiers have escaped from duty so far, noting that it was a rumor propagated by the Baathists and the loyalists to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein....."
Have a look at this one.
US troops turn botched Saddam raid into a massacre
By Robert Fisk July 28th
"Obsessed with capturing Saddam Hussein, American soldiers turned a botched raid on a house in the Mansur district of Baghdad yesterday into a bloodbath, opening fire on scores of Iraqi civilians in a crowded street and killing up to 11, including two children, their mother and crippled father. At least one civilian car caught fire, cremating its occupants."
Buh-Bye!
Conservative voters had best decide if they wish to continue to support American facism.
Conservative Congressional Representatives had best watch how loyally they cling to facist tactics used by this President and his administration.
Article: A pattern of deception
By WALTER WILLIAMS
Did President Bush lie to the American people in his State of the Union Message when he said: ''The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa''? Technically, no, because ''the statement that he made was indeed accurate,'' said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on July 13. ``The British government did say that.''
Rice speaks the literal truth, just as her boss does, to distort what is meaningful. Outright lying is not the administration's modus operandi; willful deception is.
DUPING THE NATION
Bush's statement on Iraq shows his telltale MO. Moreover, duping the nation into war is only one case of the pattern of calculated deception that has gone on since the outset of his administration.
We need to go back to Feb. 27, 2001, when Bush introduced his first tax cut proposal in a televised speech to Congress and the nation, to see the early duplicity. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman observed on March 28: ``I can't think of any precedent in the history of American economic policy (when an administration was) quite this shameless about misrepresenting the actual content of its own economic plan.''
I noted in a March 16 Seattle Times column that what stands out in the Bush speech is the use of the ''Big Lie.'' Such a statement is a technically accurate claim that distorts rather than reveals the truth. Looking into Bush's MO in his tax legislation illuminates the pattern of deception as used in Iraq.
In his February address, Bush said: ''People with the smallest incomes will get the highest percentage reductions.'' The literally true assertion hid that the tax cut provided little help for most people and that the big winners were the top 1 percent of the taxpayers.
Tax-savings calculations under the Bush proposal made at the time indicated that a young childless couple earning $20,000 would have its taxes reduced by 41 percent. A middle-aged couple with $1 million in earnings would receive a 15 percent reduction. Just as Bush said, the lower-income couple had its taxes cut by a much larger percentage than the wealthy couple.
But Bush's Big Lie covered up that the young couple would save $410 in taxes, or about $34 a month; the older couple would benefit by $47,114, or about $3,900 a month. The wealthier couple's tax savings would amount to over twice as much as the other couple's total annual income. Suggesting that lower-income families fared better than the wealthiest ones surely qualifies as world-class deception.
The Bush MO used to justify the Iraq invasion finally created a veritable firestorm of criticism directed at the president. Things became so bad that CIA Director George J. Tenet took full responsibility for not warning Bush about the shakiness of the British assertion: ``These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president.''
Tenet's statement accepting responsibility, however, also noted that in the fall of 2002, months before the president's 16 words on the British claim, the CIA ''expressed reservations'' about their validity both to the British and to members of Congress. And the top Bush operatives knew nothing about the uranium story being highly unreliable?
There is much controversy over how the alleged uranium purchase surfaced in the Bush speech. But to me, the strongest candidate is that the 16 words were too tempting to pass up. They fit the president's MO to a T -- unwarranted by the evidence and hence deceptive, yet offering the cover of technical correctness.
USING PROPAGANDA
A hard truth appears to have escaped the notice of the public and received scant attention from the media: Bush is the first president in American history to use deceptive propaganda as his main means of communications in selling his policies. His pattern of deception continues unabated and in direct conflict with the notion of the public's informed consent that is central to American democracy.
Walter Williams is professor emeritus at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs.
2003 The Baltimore Sun
Though The Heavens Fall
"The political fortunes of the Bush administration are never so strong as when people are dying."
The article includes a soldier's thoughts found on an internet sports website chat-area.
I have added photos for emphasis.
"IM STILL ALIVE ! WE GOT A HALF A PEICE OF INTERNET NOW....BOUT DANG TIME...DIGITAL DIVISION MY A**..."
"IVE BEEN IN IRAQ SINCE LATE APRIL.... BEEN SHOT AT TO MANY TIMES TO COUNT..."
"I HAVE SEEN THE DARKSIDE AND THE EVIL MEN DO, GUYS THIS AINT NO JOKE..."
"FOLK GETTIN SHOT UP OVER HERE EVERY DAY..."
"IRAQII'S TRYIN TO INFILTRATE OUR PERIMETERS...VEHICLES GETTIN HIT BY RPG'S ..."
"AND RUMOR HAS IT BUSH IS TELLIN THEM TO BRING IT ON....WHAT THE HELL?!"
"3ID IS GETTIN SCREWED BIG TYME....GOD KNOWS WHAT THEY GOT IN STORE FOR US...."
"ITS A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE AND ALL I WILL SAY IS OUR LEADERSHIP AINT NOWHERE NEAR THAT LINE .."
/ 
"...KNOW WHAT IM SAYIN...THERE ARE SOME HOSTILE INDIVIDUALS OVER HERE....VERY VERY HOSTILE..."
"NO WMD....."
"NO WMD"
"NO NOTHING....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"....death is a growth stock for George W. Bush. Death gives him political cover to ramrod through his extremist policies. Death makes Americans fear to question him. Death makes for good television. In Iraq, death fills the coffers of corporations like Vice President Cheney’s Halliburton...."
William Rivers Pitt
Baltimore Sun
"....AMONG THE LARGEST 500 companies, more than 300 - and eight of the top 10 - have had policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation. But when one more firm recently adopted such a policy, it was front-page national news. That's because when Wal-Mart speaks - for better or worse - America pays attention.
World-conquering size does that. The 41-year-old firm is now the world's largest corporation and private employer, with more workers in uniform (1.3 million worldwide) than the U.S. Army. It's also the world's largest retailer, grocer, purchaser of manufactured goods, importer, shipper and warehouser.
In just the last decade, Wal-Mart's sales have grown fivefold. Now, with 3,400 U.S. outlets and 1,300 abroad, its sales last fiscal year reached $245 billion - about the size of Switzerland's total economy. ..."
WE ARE WHAT WE CONSUME. AND DO WE EVER CONSUME.
HOW MANY OF THESE DO WE TRULY NEED?
HAVE YOU SEEN THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE WAL MARTIAN-AMERICAN?
WE ARE A WAL MART NATION.
WE HAVE A WAL MART MAJORITY IN CONGRESS.
HAVING A PRIMAL URGE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR BUSINESS, BELIEF IN THE BOTTOM-LINE OVER AMERICAN QUALITY,
MISOGYNISTIC, UNION-HATING, "FAMILY-VALUED",
CENSOR-WANNABES, QUICKLY ENCROACHING UPON WHAT WAS ONCE GOOD AND RECOGNIZABLE ABOUT AMERICAN COMMUNITY,
LOW-BUDGET, LOW-QUALITY, LOW EXPECTATION ALTHOUGH SOLD CHEAP,
SEAN HANNITY AND JESUS SMILING TOGETHER ON THE BOOKSHELF.....
WE HAVE A WAL MART PRESIDENT.
WE HAVE A WAL MART ATTITUDE.
WE ARE BEING STUCK WITH WAL MART POLITICS.
WILL OUR FLAG SOON BE CHANGED TO THAT HORRIBLY ANNOYING YELLOW SMILEY-FACE?
Meanwhile, In Iraq, We Are ARRESTING Journalists!
I'll start out with a superb article about an excellent investigative journalist-- Greg Palast.
(here)
Excerpts:
.....Palast is disappointed, but not surprised, by what he perceives as US newspapers functioning more as distributors of information that is given to them, rather than aggressively trying to find and pursue leads on their own. "Why aren't papers trying to find that material for themselves?..."
"...For observers of the US since September 11, the compliance of the American media has played a pivotal role in stoking patriotic fervor which has given the Bush administration the benefit of the doubt several times, while failing to represent the voices of Americans who see things differently - including Palast.
For Palast, the state of alarm in the US since the attacks of September 11 is not necessarily unwarranted, but it conveniently serves the interests of the ruling elite. "America was attacked by maniacs. Our president didn't do anything to prevent it and hasn't done anything since. The truth is America is still a safe place - but the administration doesn't like that image because they think it's easier to control people when they're afraid...."
".....Palast is obviously dismayed by American media in the post-September 11 age, characterizing it as "gone to hell in a handbag". Palast views news in the US, television in particular, as being disproportionately affected by the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News. "It's 'Foxification', they've gone from news to viciousness, barely disguised racism and pseudoentertainment intended to be taken as news - and every station is now trying to follow that formula," he said...."
~~~~~~~~~
GAME TIME!
FIND THE LYING FOX....
Is it this guy?
Or Is It This Guy?
~~~~~~~~~
I'm sure you've probably heard about Merle Haggard's new political country song by now.
On his website editorial, Haggard says, in part:
"...I'm suspicious, I'm paranoid, and I'm afraid. And the person who says he isn't has not looked up or around lately.
I don't even know the Dixie chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching. Whether I agree with their comments or not has no bearing...."
Here are some of the lyrics to his new song, "That's The News":
"Suddenly it's over, the war is finally done
Soldiers in the desert sand still clinging to a gun
No one is the winner and everyone must lose
Suddenly the war's over, that's the news."
The song ends with the lines:
"Politicians do all the talking
soldiers pay the dues
Suddenly the war is over,
that's the news."
See related article here
~~~~~~~~~~~
Careless mediafolk who decide to toss glib and meaningless comments about Howard Dean are being called on it each and every time.
They helped to damage Al Gore quite wrecklessly and unfairly before the 2000 Election...and look at the wretch we wound up with as a selected President.
The Dean defenders will not allow slapdash writers go shabbily off at the mouth about political buzzphrases that have no real meaning.
Dean is McGovern Redux, Dean is a leftist, Dean is a liberal, Democrats want Centrists and Dean's not a Centrist,
Dems want someone who'll win/Dean can't win .......blah..blah..blah....BLAH.
None of these labels apply, nor do they have much relevance to current reality. They seem to be no more than lazy lies told by a pliant media refusing to understand or recognize the force of history as it budges them along like the moss-laden stones they've allowed themselves to become. They've come to take themselves far too seriously to even notice the reformation of the political forces all about them.
See this article for an example...Dean Defense Forces: Lobbing E-Mail at the Enemy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today we learn that the US is arresting journalists in Iraq.
It was a complete JOKE to see Britt Hume interviewing Paul Wolfowitz this morning on the Sunday morning Fox news show. Hume asked Wolfowitz what our government planned to do about our obvious unhappiness about the 'biased' journalism in Iraq. Wolfowitz pulled no punches, saying that he was unhappy about the free press in Iraq. (See related article here)
Hume asked Wolfowitz, even if the media SEEMS biased, is that reason to cut off a free press if you're promoting democracy? (All the while you could just TELL that Hume was thinking about the tables turned...and knowing his own network is seen as biased).
See comments regarding Wolfowitz's statements here.
Excerpt:
"..."We know that our coverage in Iraq is balanced and unbiased and we are not instigating any violence,'' Salah Nejm, Al Arabiya's news director told Reuters.
Wolfowitz said in an interview on Fox News Sunday the two channels were guilty of "very biased reporting that has the effect of inciting violence against our troops.''
But Al Jazeera responded by accusing U.S. soldiers of intimidating its staff in Iraq.
"In the past month alone, Al Jazeera's offices and staff in Iraq have been subject to strafing by gunfire, death threats, confiscation of news material and multiple detentions and arrests,'' Al Jazeera said in a statement which it said had been sent to the U.S. embassy in Qatar, where the station is based. .."
".....Al Jazeera, whose critical reporting has managed to win it millions of viewers and raise the ire of most Arab governments during its eight years on air, gained international fame after the September 11 attacks and the ensuing war in Afghanistan.
Shouli said Washington was angered at Al Jazeera's coverage because it ``exposed U.S. activity in Iraq, which otherwise goes unreported by most U.S. media.''
"Americans are irritated that we are clarifying the facts. Arab networks were reporting the news in Iraq as it happens,'' he said.
Wolfowitz said in Sunday's interview Washington was talking to unnamed governments to try to get more "balanced'' coverage of Iraq...."
Read a real-life story about the problems of real Iraqi journalists in US-occupied Iraq. (here) Excerpt:
"...The Iraqi press is neck deep in a news agenda diametrically different to that pursued to by the internationals. While the western media tackles the issues of economic (read oil) development and the increasingly routine assassinations of US soldiers, the Iraqi media is trying to deal with agonising stories of more direct consequence to its readers.
What to do, for example, about the chaotic courts system, which as Amnesty researchers note, can keep a traffic offender in a detention pen with murderers for days before his US and British guards can locate him and deliver him before a judge?
Or the failure of the authorities to stop the unchecked sale of looted medicines in street markets, sold by the illiterate to the desperate, a trade that poisons, maims and claims lives every day? Or the violent outbursts of exhausted US troops, far too long 'in country' for anyone's good?
None of this is on the PAOs' agenda, whose mission is to spread the good news about the US-British presence in Iraq......"
Saturday, July 26, 2003
"Who Made George W. Bush Our King?"
*He Can Designate Any of Us an Enemy Combatant*
"This is an unprecedentedly serious assault, folks, on the core of our system of justice. As Judge Motz said in her passionate dissent, "[This court's] decision marks the first time in our history that a federal court has approved the elimination of protections afforded a citizen by the Constitution solely on the basis of the Executive's designation of that citizen as an enemy combatant, without testing the accuracy of the designation. Neither the Constitution nor controlling precedent sanctions this holding." (Emphasis added). "
(see Village Voice article here)
Oh---
he was also the Secretary of the Navy.
Cancer is rough stuff. I know from personal family experience. My heart goes out to this family.
I can't help but wonder if the stress regarding the stretching of our military and the exposed lies about Iraq contributed to this man's sorrows and burdens.
Do you agree?
"Last week I asked sixteen questions about the war in Iraq that must be answered if the American people are to understand the truth around the rush to war and the failure to plan for peace.
"These questions are, however, only one piece of a far broader practice by this administration of misleading the American people and breaching the fundamental trust that they have placed in their elected leadership. This practice goes far beyond misleading the country and the world about the reasons for taking us to war in Iraq, this practice extends into the state of the nation's economy, its environment, its schools and beyond...."
Or: How to Sabotage, Damage, and Divide Your Own Political Party
Reed and From are at it again.
Creating "news" that is totally out-of-touch with most Democrats today.
They should be fired.
Immediately.
It all boils down to this point...a point which Reed and From are sorely mistaken and misleading:
They say, in this AP article from the NY Times:
"His {Howard Dean's} staunch opposition to the U.S.-led war against Iraq does not go over well with centrist Democrats, however, whose leaders circulated a memo in May that suggested Democrats could lose badly in 2004 if the former Vermont governor were their candidate.
On the eve of a Democratic Leadership Council summer meeting in Philadelphia, From said it was essential that the Democrats have a nominee strong on national security to be competitive with President Bush.'
A look at most recent polls will tell you that Americans are extremely doubtful about Bush's position on the Iraq war.
I dare say that Reed and From are being disingenuous, at best, to say that a Democratic candidate would have to cave in and agree with Bush on
Iraq in order to be competitive with him in 2004.
That is so far off-base it makes my head spin faster and more fluidly than Linda Blair's Exorcist dome.
The Democratic Party Needs An Exorcism
I hate to say this, but new RNC Chairperson Ed Gillespie is more accurate here than the DLC:
"In particular, Gillespie accused Senators John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida, John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut of switching their views on Iraq after the regime toppled in order to appeal to their party's liberal base. ''Their new rhetoric may be good positioning in a Democratic primary, but it will not make us safer as a nation,'' he said...."
To their detriment, the GOP is sucking every bit of mileage from 9-11 as possible: "Several Republicans who spoke made it clear that Bush's handling of Sept. 11 will be used as a shield against any criticism of his foreign policy." I wonder how long they'll go on thinking we're fooled and that we will forgive their criminal lies about Iraq's connection to Al Queda and Iraq's "great and imminent threat to America".
The DLC allows the GOP to duly criticize their wobbly stand on the wrong-minded Iraq folly.
The weak, unquestioning Democrats are now paying for the sin of not standing for what was right all along.
We need the Howard Deans to spit out the truth...unafraid..unashamed.
Read this snipe from a DLC candidate and be ashamed:
''Conspicuously absent from their attacks is Howard Dean. Eddie Gillespie goes to bed every night praying for the Howard Dean campaign,'' Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan said..."
It is easy to see through the DLC Democrats who voted for the Iraq resolution and, without serious question, helped to sell Americans down the wrong road to the unilateral preemptive strike on Iraq.The thing that would have made us safer as a nation would have been sticking with the United Nations instead of going off half-assed into a war for which we had the poorest intuitive strategy and a zero-endgame.
FIRE AL FROM AND BRUCE REED BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE TO REVIVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!!!
"I SEE DEAD PEOPLE"
Is it me..or is anyone else tired and disgusted at seeing Uday and Qusay's ever-swelling and bloating deadheads on the news every half-hour on the half-hour?
Using a Buzzflash quote, has anyone noticed that the 'gory photos of alleged sons of Saddam weren't meant for the Iraqi audience? They were meant to suck up television and headline coverage so that the 9-11 report wouldn't be seriously discussed?'
Good quotes from a recent Washington Post article (here):
"The idea is not to exploit but to report."
"As grim as the photos were, all the debate about the status of the brothers brought to mind a line sung by the Munchkin coroner in "The Wizard of Oz" regarding a wicked witch who had been crushed by a house:
"She's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead."
A Taxi Driver's Conversation With A Burly Bostonian
“To tell you the truth,” he continued, “any one of the current contenders would work for me. I just think your guy Dean has the balls to take on the Repub-lican machine. The thing is, we got to make Bush a one-timer. The greed, the lies — it’s killing the country.”
Scooting out towards Jericho, I glanced at this gruff old guy sitting next to me. This is a Democrat, I thought to myself. More than half the country voted for Gore in 2000, and they weren’t all effete, latté-sipping Volvo drivers. Not that I have anything against overpriced coffee or Swedish cars, but the media caricature of the “liberal Democrat” makes me want to scream.
That got me thinking about the tired mantra, “get government off our backs.” Ain’t that the biggest scam going? What — so unregulated corporate interests are free to shape every aspect of our country’s future?
Is that the deal?
Friday, July 25, 2003
The list of last week's dead included a good many American soldiers. I suspect, sadly, this will go on and on. The fact that there is no end-game for Iraq is glaringly obvious.We think ambushing and murdering Saddam's sons is the answer. To me, it sounds like something Ariel Sharon would do to Palestinians. Bombing homes and exterminating its occupants. No trials..no taking prisoners. We are sinking to the savage eye-for-an-eye level of war. Look where it's gotten Israel in their "quest for peace" these past 60 years. Not very far.
An Egyptian political analyst was interviewed this week (article here):
"The US administration is wrong to think that the murders of Saddam Hussein's sons or of Saddam will bring an end to the armed resistance against the occupation," Egyptian political analyst Mustafa Kamel al-Said said. "The reasons for antagonism remain, there is no foreseeable withdrawal of US troops, living conditions are still bad, and the Americans are vetoing any political forces they deem unacceptable," Said told AFP."
The list of the dead last week also included a decent-but-despondent British scientist who was used badly by the government for whom he
worked....his fine work perverted to fit a bag of dirty lies aimed at the public to convince them of some great Iraqi threat. You could say that the British government virtually murdered David Kelly. George W Bush's determined vengeance and war-thirst contributed to Britain's fatal abuse of Dr Kelly. I hope they're all proud. I'd like to know what David Kelly's widow told Geoff Hoon. Hoon isn't saying.......(see here).
They like to blame the BBC for asking pertinent questions. Blaming the press is the facist-style M.O., you see.
other references:
-What David Kelly knew
-Dr David Kelly Timeline
Topping the dead-list, from the media standpoint, were two sleazy brutes who happened to be the sons of Poppy B and Dubya's arch-enemy.
What happened to the rule of law? When did we decide it meant nothing? I enjoyed reading Sandra Mackey's editorial in this week's NY Times. (here)
"In giving up on the attempted capture of the Hussein brothers as too risky, the American administration of Iraq has ignored the dictates of Iraqi culture. At the same time, it also runs counter to the kind of country we want Iraq to become — one built around the rule of law..."
I'm sure Bush and his blind supporters believe that this will assuage the families of Americans who have lost sons and daughters in the war...yet I ask you this---will those families soon forget that it was a mountan of Bush administration lies and criminal exaggerations that caused our troops to be in that land to begin with? Will any of us soon forget Bush's refusal to make any of his administration responsible for these lies?
The fact that Stephen Hadley still has his job this week tells me that Bush is intentionally harboring criminals in his administration...and I ask you to question why he is doing this. It can only be that he supports their lying and covering-up for him.
Hadley story commentary references:
-The Likely Story
-Stephen Hadley-Can This Guy Do Anything Right?
Best yet, our tax dollars ($30 million) are being paid to the scum-of-the-earth villa-owner/Iraqi sheik who turned the Hussein boys in. (here)
It's become painfully clear that, in order to maintain a stranglehold on their false truth, the Bush administraton is willing to do anything
to duck responsibility for getting us into what is truly a quagmire in Iraq.
Two very recent examples:
-The soldiers from the 3rd Division who complained to ABC News are under threat of punishment. The ABC reporter is dismissed as a homosexual Canadian.
see Andrew Greeley article here.
-Joseph Wilson's wife was exposed by the Bush administration as a covert CIA operative. Why? Because her husband dared to breathe the truth about
Bush lies and cover-ups.
I suppose you all witnessed Rep Thomas' calling of the police on his colleagues in the House of Representatives?
Perhaps you did not...and you certainly never would have heard the real story on FOX News. I witnessed FOX news giving only the Republican version of "the truth" after the watching the post-House discussion/floor activity on CSPAN. Thank GOD for CSPAN. It's the only place to get the truth nowadays...because you hear it yourself and are thus able to draw your own conclusions. Did you see Thomas' crybaby confession on the House floor last Wednesday? He has truly lost it! *You definitely wouldn't have seen it on FOX News.*
Thomas' fake humility shone through when he said: (article here)
"Because of my poor judgment, those outside the House who want to trivialize, marginalize and debase this institution were given an opportunity to do so," he said. "Because of my poor judgment, the stewardship of my party . . . has been unfairly criticized."
Here's what I think. Because of Thomas' poor judgement, the even poorer judgement of his GOP colleagues came through loud and clear in the immediate aftermath of the incident. They were most fairly and deservedly criticized. This is a party which I believe has truly lost its collective sensible mind.
If Thomas were truly humble and honest, he would never have fallen on his sword alone. He was obviously under the Hastert gun.....obviously having been read the riot act.
A last comment:
It does not seem that impeachment of Bush will occur. (See article from Village Voice here).
"Speaking of "civil officers" besides the president: During the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, Congress made no effort to investigate and showed little interest in obtaining independent information; instead, it meekly endorsed the resolution to go to war. If there are high crimes and misdemeanors involved, Congress is complicit in them."
Our Congressional representatives failed our nation and all of American democracy last fall by their blind unquestioning complicity in giving Bush carte blanche to attack Iraq. The fact that the blindly partisan and vitriolically loyal GOP has the majority in the House and the Senate would also zero out the chance that Bush would be impeached (and he SHOULD be impeached by all that is just and reasonable in a democratic nation- look at this bit of sarcastic comparison to see how ridiculous we have become).
This nation is in trouble, my fine readers.
What will you do?
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
by Jack Balkwill- a Vietnam veteran
"On 9/11, when the nation needed leadership, Bush hid at an Air Force Base. The most protected person on the planet went into hiding, not because he was in danger, but because he is a coward. I cannot imagine another president who would have hid like that. Even the spineless Nixon would have seen it is the job of a president to go to the White House and assure the masses that everything is under control.
Big Texbush runs away when the going gets bloody.
He talks Texas talk; struts a chicken's walk.
The Democrats seem unable to locate an issue with which to oppose Bush, most having voted for everything he's requested to date. May I suggest the truth? The single image Bush has promoted is flag-waving hero of the Republic.
The evidence proves he is a coward.
Robert Scheer
'We now know, and perhaps the White House knew then, that the inspectors eventually would come up empty-handed because no weapons of mass destruction program existed — not even a stray vial of chemical and biological weapons has been discovered.
However, that would have obviated the administration's key rationale for an invasion, so lies substituted for facts that didn't exist.
And there, dear readers, exists the firm basis for bringing a charge of impeachment against the president who employed lies to lead us into war.'
Laurie Mylroie / Conspiracy Theorist
Today's Lesson: "Laurie Mylroie/Conspiracy Theorist"
SEE: It Happened in Baghdad
9-11, Oklahoma City—You Name It
by James Ridgeway
From the Village Voice July 15, 2003
"....Mylroie, who at one time was a consultant to the Department of Defense, said she thinks the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, a botched plot hatched in the Philippines to blow up a dozen American airliners, and 9-11 all were the work of Iraqi intelligence. Under this theory, the Iraqis faked intelligence files in Kuwait to create false identities for their key agents, including master terrorist Ramzi Yousef, who then were dispatched to the U.S. As for Al Qaeda, Mylroie contended that Saddam and bin Laden were in it together but that the Iraqi intelligence apparatus was the key. Bin Laden on his own never could have put together the attacks within the U.S., said Mylroie. Only operatives from an actual nation would have the knowledge and resources to do so. Her evidence is tenuous and circumstantial, but she claimed authenticity on grounds it was embraced by Israeli spooks and the former head of the New York FBI office.
Mylroie also wondered whether the anthrax attacks were the work of Iraqi intelligence, and she has speculated that the Oklahoma City blast was suspicious because it occurred after Terry Nichols, convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh's cohort, visited Mindanao, a hotbed of Muslim extremism in the Philippines, and supposedly attended a meeting with Ramzi Yousef and other terrorists........"
"....If the commission seriously entertains Mylroie's ideas, its investigations could take an alarming turn of direction—away from Al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein and Iraq—and in this way go down the drain for good."
Reference-recent articles by Mylroie:
The Baluch Connection
The Circle of Terror
**this one's a real beauty**
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMB: Who is Ramzi Yousef? And Why It Matters
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