U.S. Adopts Aggressive Tactics on Iraqi Fighters
**What the hell are we doing????**
"Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are justified, he said, because, "It's an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info." They would have been released in due course, he added later.
The tactic worked. On Friday, Hogg said, the lieutenant general appeared at the front gate of the U.S. base and surrendered."
This is the type of immoral activity that will come back and bite us in the ass.
If a moral appeal fails, I remind our nation of the rule of law that insures separation of civilization from the savage..
the Geneva Convention for starters:
Geneva Convention, Protocol I, Section III, Chapter I,
Art. 75
-"Fundamental guarantees":
2. The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in
any place whatsoever, whether committed by civilian or by military agents:
(c) the taking of hostages
If you do nothing else today, be sure you take some time to watch today's Senate Hearing on Iraq Reconstruction at CSPAN.org.
Go here. Watch Senators ask tough questions of Paul Wolfowitz. Get the truth for yourself instead of hoping to draw it from CNN/FOX/MSNBC gobbledygook.
FROM A GUY NAMED ED
(As seen on a Newsgroup today):
"Congress continues to fail in its role to check the President.
The Republicans continue to sacrifice America and Americans for the benefit
of their evil paymasters.
And the Democrats continue to do the same thing.
Mainstream media continues to fail in its role of keeping the public
informed as its first duty has become to distract the public from the
truth about its evil owners.
More people continue to die so a handful of very immoral, very powerful,
very wealthy individuals can concentrate their power over the people even
more.
Don't buy their B.S. More importantly, don't pay for it, either.
Ed
___________
LISTEN TO ED.
Murkily We Roll Along
Merriam Webster:
Main Entry: murky
Pronunciation: 'm&r-kE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): murk·i·er; -est
Date: 14th century
1 : characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke
2 : characterized by thickness and heaviness of air : FOGGY, MISTY
3 : darkly vague or obscure
- murk·i·ly /-k&-lE/ adverb
- murk·i·ness /-kE-n&s/ noun
Cambridge:
murk noun [U]
darkness or thick cloud, preventing you from seeing clearly:
It was foggy and the sun shone feebly through the murk.
murky adjective
1 dark and dirty or difficult to see through:
The river was brown and murky after the storm.
2 describes a situation that is complicated and unpleasant, and about which many facts are unclear:
He became involved in the murky world of international drug-dealing.
I don't want to get into the murky waters of family arguments.
~~~~~~~~~~
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Sunday defended the invasion of Iraq as an example
of how the United States had to be prepared to act on "murky intelligence" in its war on terrorism...."
~~~~~~~~~~~
What Paul Wolfowitz was actually saying *wink*:
1- The US had no evidence to justify the invasion of
Iraq.
2- The moral question was never a reason to go to this war the way we did.
3- It was never clear that Iraq was a security threat to the US.
4- The Bush administration wanted to invade and occupy Iraq and darn it, they just did it.
5- The WMD threat was just an excuse. ..an excuse all along.
________________
Well, well. Thanks for clearing up the murkiness there, Mr. Wolfy. Don't pull a Dr. Kelly on us, now. They'll be manning the suicide prevention hotlines should you feel guilty or despondent anytime soon about what you've wrought. You know....in case all those dead bodies begin to haunt your dreams.
Thanks to the disastrous, hypocritical, and discombobulated foreign policies of George W Bush, we have lost any positive diplomatic ties to Syria, I'm afraid.
From today's Reuters story:
"This administration is extraordinary. Maybe there have been some similar administrations in the past but not with this high level of violence and foolishness,'' Shara {Syria's Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara} told reporters....."
God....you know, I really hate agreeing with a Syrian Foreign Minister on this.....I mean, it feels almost sleazy...but damn, it's true!
A very recent issue of The New Yorker features an excellent article by Seymour Hersh entitled "The Syrian Bet" (You can read it in its entirety...learn how the Bush administration has burned potentially useful (if not perfect) intelligence-allies. With the status of British and American intelligence today, we need all the friggen help we can get!!
Excerpt:
"... American intelligence and State Department officials have told me that by early 2002 Syria had emerged as one of the C.I.A.'s most effective intelligence allies in the fight against Al Qaeda, providing an outpouring of information that came to an end only with the invasion of Iraq. (A number of the details of the raid and the intelligence relationship were reported by U.P.I. on July 16th.) Tenet had become one of Syria's champions in the interagency debate over how to deal with its government. His antagonists include civilians in the Pentagon who viewed Syria, despite its intelligence help, as part of the problem. "Tenet has prevented all kinds of action against Syria," one diplomat with knowledge of the interagency discussions told me.
Syria is one of seven nations listed by the State Department as sponsors of terrorism. It has been on the list since 1979, in large part because of its public support for Hezbollah, the radical Islamic party that controls much of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for, among other acts, the 1983 bombing of the American Marine barracks in Beirut, which left two hundred and forty-one Americans dead; it was implicated in the 1984 kidnapping of William Buckley, the C.I.A.'s Beirut station chief, who was tortured and murdered; and it has been linked to bombings of Israeli targets in Argentina. Syria has also allowed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two groups that have staged numerous suicide bombings inside Israel, to maintain offices in Damascus.
Nevertheless, after September 11th the Syrian leader, Bashar Assad, initiated the delivery of Syrian intelligence to the United States. The Syrians had compiled hundreds of files on Al Qaeda, including dossiers on the men who participated-and others who wanted to participate-in the September 11th attacks. Syria also penetrated Al Qaeda cells throughout the Middle East and in Arab exile communities throughout Europe. That data began flowing to C.I.A. and F.B.I. operatives.
Syria had accumulated much of its information because of Al Qaeda's ties to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic terrorists who have been at war with the secular Syrian government for more than two decades... "
To Our Dearest Bob,
Thanks for the memories.....
"Life is eternal and love is immortal;
and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight."
--Rositer Raymone
Focus For Election 2004--
"It's The Fascism, Stupid!!!!!"
A Kind of Fascism Is Replacing Our Democracy
By Sheldon S. Wolin
Excerpts:
"....Supposedly ours is a government of constitutionally limited powers in which equal citizens can take part in power. But one can no more assume that a superpower welcomes legal limits than believe that an empire finds democratic participation congenial...."
"... The American system is evolving its own form {of fascism}: "inverted totalitarianism." This has no official doctrine of racism or extermination camps but, as described above, it displays similar contempt for restraints......"
".....Americans are now facing a grim situation with no easy solution. Perhaps the just-passed anniversary of the Declaration of Independence might remind us that "whenever any form of Government becomes destructive ..." it must be challenged. "
See recent related article:
A pattern of deception
By WALTER WILLIAMS
Hey--DLC--"It's The Fascism, Stupid!!!"
I am watching the Philadelphia DLC Convention on CSPAN. They are NOT doing much dynamic challenging...it seems they have settled and complied with the new American facism, and are feebly attempting to effect change while being locked in their little Bushbox. Instead of reassuring any of us Democrats that there is still a sense of total respect for democracy out there, I hear them warning theie little choir that the "ideological left" is a THREAT to them.
(See this article----) Excerpt: "...DLC leaders have criticized former Vermont governor Howard Dean, whose antiwar rhetoric fueled his rise to prominence in the Democratic presidential race, and today, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), the DLC chairman, warned that the party is "at risk of being taken over by the far left." The choice for Democrats, Bayh said, is, "Do we want to vent or do we want to govern?"
**We can and we NEED to have it all, Evan, baby...say it every way we mean it...vent it to the heavens and the earth... show the American public the truth about the very real threat of neo-fascism here in this country. What's wrong? Can't you chew gum and walk at the same time? Vent and govern....where is the great sin, Evan Bayh? We need to look up to someone who is willing to loudly and proudly advocate open government and intelligent (multilateral) foreign policy..and we need to hear that neither of these are presently occurring with the Bush administration.
Don't you and the DLC forget this, Evan Bayh... or the name "LOSER" will be forever tatooed on your wimpy DLC foreheads!**
The DLC leaders are LOST.....LOST.....LOST.
I pray that someone in power begins to genuinely care about American democracy.
There is no Democrat who will win the next Presidential election while not fully accepting, admitting and talking firmly about the damage that has been done to American democracy these past few years..... damage to which Democrats contributed when they gave an ignorant rogue President the authority to make a preemptive strike on Iraq with no plan...no end-game.
In the old days, we were blessed with the knowlege that "it was the economy, stupid"....politics were far simpler before 9-11. The DLC has not come around to the fact that this is not "politics-as-usual" anymore...and never shall be again, I'd imagine.
Today, "it's the fascism, stupid!!!"
Virginia governor Mark Warner was one exception to the dreadful DLC rule in his talk in Philadelphia this morning.
He said: "When Democrats talk about the future, Democrats will win."
The DLC is living in the past and won't get out until they see the totality of the American landscape for the American people who pepper its plains and move about its mountains. Bush has definitely forgotten the people... and the DLC is not convincing me that they will bring about a whole lot of successful change because they aren't showing any of us the all-important contrasts between what has been so wrong about America these past few years and what could be so right about it's democratic future.
Regarding Dr. Kelly
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'm literally sick of hearing about our troops dying for this lie.
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?"
I wonder how much of this can be believed?
"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."
Condoleeza Rice Should Resign Immediately
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
WAL MART R US
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?
The Media Is Being Watched Closely--Many Journalists Being Seen as They Are (As the Lazy Recipient and Relayers of Facts Handed to Them)--Many Being 'Called' On Their Bias---Cable News Networks Being Seen For The FOXinated Fools They Have Become--
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......"
Nat Hentoff asks:
"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)
July 26, 2003- Oil executive was found dead at his ranch..Ruled a suicide(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?
From the Howard Dean Weblog: "The President Has Misled Us"
"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...."
DLC's From and Reed Shut Out Candidates from DLC Meeting in Philadelphia
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!!!
/ 
