Bush: Covering Blair's Sorry Bum
So Bush will meet with familes of dead British soldiers to help his buddy Tony Blair.
Yet this is what Bush has allegedly said of his predecessor Clinton: Some close to the president say another reason he has not expressed more public sympathy for individual soldiers killed in Iraq is his determination to let families have their privacy. He was offended, his friends say, by what he saw at times as President Bill Clinton's exploitation of private grief for political gain. link
(Bush the bloody hypocrite)
Bush has shown full willingness to meet with victims of Saddam Hussein (from 20 years ago) for access to the political keys to justifying the driving of his war machine. link
(Bush the war whore).
But so far, unless anyone can correct me, I count families of FIVE dead American soldiers with whom Bush has met
(Camp LeJeune in early April 2003..photo-op). Yes, I said FIVE.
(Five out of 400 and thousands more wounded.)
He wouldn't even mention the fifteen who died on that Chinook helicopter in public on the day it happened.
He likes to keep them hidden.
I hope he thinks about that while covering Tony Blair's political back during his UK visit.
Snapshot in Time...
Six months After 9-11 / NYC
photo by iddybud
"My Dad"
I see a face, a face of God
He's smiling down on me and my mom.
My dad is up there smiling too.
When his tower collapsed he was trapped
Inside a fiery inferno with nowhere to go
Except heaven.
Hilary Strauch, at 12 years old
The Funnies:
When Moms get wired..
Oh, Nooooooooo!
"....Really, the blog is just a record of what I think about the world and how I spend my free time," Widmar said. "In other words, exactly the sort of information that no 30-year-old wants his mom to have access to..."
Take a peek at Blogger's answer- "What to Do When Your Mom Discovers Your Blog"! :)
Chickenhawk Down by Tom Tomorrow-A must-see! ;)
Looking back:
What FOOLS we were to let them go...
"One year ago: "US army sacks gay Arabic experts""
We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the sacking of two Arabic translators from the U.S. Army.
This, to me, is a very sad and disturbing story. As stated in the BBC article, 'the decision comes when American military and intelligence services are suffering from an acute lack of translators and interpreters needed for their war on terror'
and 'the US Government has been frantically trying to recruit more Arabic speakers.'
I wish Mr. Gamble and Mr. Hicks great success in their personal and professional civilian lives.
Their removal is a shame and a loss for this nation, especially in light of all that has occurred this past year.
The services of these men would have been very valuable at such a dangerous time for our troops.
Ask yourselves:
Why do we place a higher value on the focus of what people
do in their bedroom vs. what they could have done to avert terror and save lives?
Changing the rules When the Games Don't Go Your Way-
The Mark of People Who Lack Character;
the Mark of UnAmerican Political Leaders
Who Will Allow the Balance of Power to Suffer In Order to Win
The Republicans are on the floor of the Senate as we speak... attempting to change long-standing traditions that will make it certain that the Dems (at this time) will not be able to filibuster to keep a judge from getting an easy up/down vote in a majority Senate.
It shouldn't be that easy.
Face it.
The balance of power between all branches should always be the primary concern, and when you take away the power from the Judiciary committee, you offset the balance of power between the Executive and the Judiciary.
The current make-up of the Senate (regardless of majority) will prove there is no clear mandate for such a drastic change in the delicate balance of power.
I mean, it's a complete "NO-DUH" that the majority Republicans will
allow these ideolgues to sail in on the partisan breeze if they succeed in changing a rule (since they couldn't win any other way...the awful babies).
*This is Mitch McConnell:*
It will work to the GOP's complete detriment should the Senate balance be shifted to Dems and a bunch of left-wing extremists are given an easy ticket to the higher-court benches. They would not want this to happen, I'm sure. They'd best be careful what they wish for.
photo by Iddybud
My son with President Clinton
photo by Iddybud
My son..six months after 9-11 in New York
Here's some real news from Iraq.
You may bypass the media filter altogether by going here.
Ed Kinane is a mamber of the Syracuse Peace Council who works with Voices in the Wilderness in Iraq. He returned there in August to experience the US “liberation” firsthand. 'Voices' is a grassroots network based in Chicago that relays the voices of the Iraqi people back to the U.S.
Ed returned home to Syracuse in November and was one of many political activists who spoke to a large group of citizens at a townhall meeting in Syracuse last night.
I was there.
Not one Federal representative chose to attend or send a representative to listen to what Syracuse had to say.
I found that very, very disappointing.
Besides the SPC, others represented at last night's meeting of concerned Syracuse citizens:
AFSC (American Friends Service Committee)...NYCLU ..NOW..CCA..Syracuse United Neighbors..Planned Parenthood..CAN (Citizens Awareness Network)..SEIU 1199..Pax Christi..Sierra Club..ASLF(Atlantic States Legal Foundation)..the Muslim Community (supporters of Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a local pediatrician who has been wrongly imprisoned for 10 months-a story I plan to tell very soon)... our good (outgoing) city auditor Minch Lewis..and many more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some excerpts from Ed Kinane's website writings:
"....Very few soldiers I've met truly want to kill. It's not a question
of bravery. They're some of the bravest people I've ever seen. But few want
to be here. Most are reservists who signed up for the job and tuition benefits,
hoping not to have to go to war."
Joel Preston Smith, photojournalist
"..there are things that come out in interviews with Iraqis that I don't write
about. This is out of consideration for them and sometimes out of a
concern for their security. If it weren't so cumbersome, I'd be
tempted to keep a separate set of books."
Ed Kinane, Syracuse Peace Council
"...What happened to you – the supporters and the followers of the Christ (peace be upon him).
What happened to you – the followers who love peace, what happened to you? …”
From “Call of Peace”
Sayed Muktade Al-Sadur, spiritual/political leader in Iraq
Syracuse Peace Council Newsletter available here
Wesley Clark: 'Big Blog' Debut
See the Clark Community Network for more information.
Gen Clark claims the "internet made him do it" ( run for Prez, that is :)
I'd like to see Clark and Dean ( and their campaigns) limit a lot of future squabbling and run together.
What a marvelous team they'd make.
Molly Ivins Proudly Invites You To: "Call Me a Bush-Hater"
"....Among the more amusing cluckings from the right lately is their appalled discovery that quite a few Americans actually think George W. Bush is a terrible President...."
GO FIGGER! ;)
".....Poor Bush is in way over his head, and the country is in bad shape because of his stupid economic policies.
If that makes me a Bush-hater, then sign me up...."
HEY-PASS THAT PEN AND PAD OVER HERE WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED!
ART ZIMMER- Central New York Resident Finds Success His Own Way
Farmboy Turns Into Millionaire
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 12, 2003
Mr. Zimmer is owner of the Syracuse New Times, one of the best alterative newspapers in America.
Read his story.
US Senate backs Syria sanctions
After Iraq, I would have hoped the Senate would know better than to give unbridled authority
to the already-proven untrustworthy Bush administration.
Damn if they haven't done it again.
We are taking the wrong path.
Cutting off our own noses to spite our American faces.
Blowing an opportunity for cooperation and creating a resentful and hungry people instead.
When the hell will we learn?
In 2002, Syria provided the United States with much information on potential terrorist attacks and was one of the CIA's most effective intelligence allies in the fight against al-Qaeda. The hawks of the Bush Administration are willing to
shut down this major channel of information... even though al-Qaeda remains a serious threat.
CIA Director George Tenet has allegedly fought a losing battle to keep Syria as an intelligence source against
members of the Bush Administration who'd obviously prefer confrontation with Damascus over help against al-Qaeda. Bottom line, they regard Syria as a problem because of its support for Hezbollah, the organization that forced
Israel out of southern Lebanon.
Yet they will likely come out the loser for it when it comes to stopping al-Qaeda.
And our Senate are willing to let them do it...no questions asked.
The vote was 89-4.
Senators Byrd, Jeffords, Chaffee, Enzi were the only ones with brains and guts enough to dissent.
Read Seymour Hersch's New Yorker piece titled "The Syrian Bet" for more information.
Jack Straw is breaking ranks with us over Iran.
Seventeen Italian soldiers have died in Nasiriyah. I'm certain this will affect Italian resolve regardless of
what Berlusconi is saying this morning.
Bremer's probably on his way out of his position and the UN and Red Cross have scattered and gone from Iraq. General Sanchez is realistically telling us it's bad..he's worried.
I fear the policies of the Bush administration are not taking us toward any meaningful resolution anywhere in
the Middle East. Just the opposite, matter of fact. Seeing the good organizations of the world fall away from
Iraq while even Britain is beginning to distance themselves from Bush on Iran is not a good indicator of a war
that is going well.
No Mama-No Papa-No Uncle Sam:
A Veterans' Day Tribute to my Uncle Paul Nagurney
To Paul: a Veteran; a Patriot; a Great Man
~~~~~~~
"It is wrong to place our military in harm's way and not support them.
May God forgive those who did so in Bataan, and may God forgive those who forget the sacrifices of Bataan,
and those other Americans who rest here."
Maj. Richard M. Gordon (USA Ret.)
Adjutant
Battling Bastards of Bataan
Remarks at the Manila American Cemetery
-Ft. Bonifacio, Makati, Manila, Philippines-
April 2, 2002
Senator Inouye, Senator Stevens, Ambassador Ricciardone in attendance
~~~~~~
On this Veteran's day I wish to thank my Great Uncle Paul who died in 1981 at the age of 67...and whose sacrifices and stories I will not forget.
He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March of WWII.
He served 20 years with the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.
He was wounded December 10, 1941 while stationed at Nichols Field in the Phillipines.
He was evacuated to Bataan and then to Corregidor.
When Corregidor fell to the Japanese, he was taken prisoner.
He survived the Bataan Death March, thanks to his sheer will and a secret stash of quinine, which he shared with others to
help sustain them.
Hundreds of Americans died or were killed in that Death March.
Uncle Paul survived over three more years imprisonment by the Japanese. He was later awarded the American Defense Service Medal with a bronze star, a Distinguished Unit Badge with two oak-leaf clusters, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with a bronze star, the WWII Victory Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Phillipine Defense Ribbon with a bronze star.
"Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides tells one of the best stories about the Bataan incident.
Fourth Marine Mel Sheya, a Bataan survivor, wrote a first-hand accounting of Bataan in "The Battling Bastards of Bataan".
I am lucky enough to have an autographed copy of the book.
In one section of the book, Sheya writes:
"In our short stay at Cabanatuan, we had seen our comrades face the firing squad, hundreds die from dysentery, malaria, malnutrition, and shot by guerillas who were after the Japs.
When we left, the camp was in a precarious state, for many
men were lying around about to die. The camp looked more like a graveyard than a prison camp. Men weighed from sixty to eighty pounds and were unable to hold anything on their stomachs.
We bid them adieu, knowing that soon many would be buried.
Some of the dying would give buddies their sentimental valuables and ask them to give them to their wives or families when Uncle Sam liberated us.
The time for departure came and we lined up ready to march.
You wouldn't realize men could become so close in friendship until you could see the tears shed by the men whose close friends were leaving...."
He also wrote:
"Many nights I would dream of home..my Mom and the friends I would love to see, then I would be awakened by the sobbing of some boy that was less fortunate than I in concealing his emotions. There was alwas some one of us prepared to comfort and try to console these men that were still human enough to cry..."
and....
"Old Glory, to me, really means the flag of freedom and democracy.
May it forever fly proudly.
Damn the men that ever try to depreciate it."
Mr Sheya and my Uncle survived a living hell in captivity for
42 months under the Japanese. Corregidor was not only the bloodiest battle in the WWII Pacific, but was possibly the worst form of defeat ever inflicted in the U.S. armed forces.
There were very dark moments when these prisoners would feel they were forgotten and abandoned by the American generals. Lorcha Dock was where General MacArthur (realizing too late that he had spread his troops too thinly) uttered the words "I Shall Return", before departing for Australia. He had ordered a general retreat of his troops on Luzon to the Bataan Peninsula on the western side of Manila Bay. The American and Philippine Army troops scattered across eight of the other large Philippine islands were abandoned to the Japanese.
How might YOU have felt if you were one of those left behind?
Uncle Paul learned that, when all is said and done, we only have ourselves on which to rely upon for our own survival.
He was not angry at his nation for what happened to him.
He held no grudge.
He believed in the cause of true American democracy and freedom.
Yes, through it all, my Uncle Paul loved America for what he believed she stood for.
Freedom and democracy.
I learned many important lessons from Uncle Paul through the years I was lucky enough to have his
company and his counsel.
His thoughts, his patriotic love run through me and through all the words you see here on this page.
I intend, as long as I live, to never let his memory die.
The bottom line on Howard Dean and the Confederate Flag Issue:
"I intend to talk about race during this election in the South
because the Republicans have been talking about it
since 1968 in order to divide us...
and I'm going to bring us together!"
Howard Dean
Yes, this is me...a Northern girl who
came up through Connecticut Yanks over the past
375 American years. Just take a look at me..
posing in front of the "dreaded" symbol of
our nation's once-fragile and fractured unity.
How can I possibly be smiling, you ask?
Some would call it hope.
My hope for America rests with the People...
and for a leader who will help them understand how
to heal and find strong enough common ground
for the mending of our tattered civil and civic fabric.
We will never make the world a better place when
we cannot find a spot our own land solid enough to stand together.
Morton H. Halperin: Safe at Home
From: TAP/American Prospect online
11.1.03
-At the dawn of the Cold War, America's leaders created new institutions that made us safer.
Fast forward to the present.
Why isn't the Bush administration following their example?-
In this article, there is a definitive list and brief review of what we have done over the past two years which provides a basis for determining what needs to be done from this point forward to make the nation safer.
Excerpts:
"....President Bush got one thing right: The greatest threat to American security is a rogue state providing a terrorist group with a weapon of mass destruction and the means to deliver it in the United States. Unfortunately, almost everything he has done since September 11 has made this problem worse rather than better. We need new policies, new approaches and new institutions to reduce this risk...."
"....None of this argument is based on altruism. It is a straightforward claim that the administration's policies to date have failed to make us safer, and that a new approach is more likely than the path we are now on to prevent rogue states from sharing true weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery with terrorists who would wish us harm."
George Soros Rocks!
Soros's Deep Pockets vs. Bush
Financier Contributes $5 Million More in Effort to Oust President
~~~~~~
"We were disappointed. We thought a guy like George Soros could do more.
No....no....kidding!
It was thrilling."
Steve Rosenthal, CEO, America Coming Together
~~~~~~~
"...It is the central focus of my life," Soros said, his blue eyes settled on an unseen target. The 2004 presidential race, he said in an interview, is "a matter of life and death."
"....Neoconservatives, Soros said, are exploiting the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a preexisting agenda of preemptive war and world dominion. "Bush feels that on September 11th he was anointed by God," Soros said. "He's leading the U.S. and the world toward a vicious circle of escalating violence."
"..Soros believes that a "supremacist ideology" guides this White House.."
*OH, SWEET IRONY-
THE RNC: A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE--
"...It's incredibly ironic that George Soros is trying to create a more open society by using an unregulated, under-the-radar-screen, shadowy, soft-money group to do it," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson said. "George Soros has purchased the Democratic Party."
~~~~~~~~
For more on George Soros, see: "The Bubble of American Supremacy"
Twenty-Six House Democrats Push to Fire Rumsfeld
"...we're willing to stand up and say what so many policy makers know, that the first step to bringing our troops home is to send Donald Rumsfeld home."
Rep Charles Rangel-NY
OH NO----NOT AGAIN!
Condoleeza Rice: ''Most of this country is stable...''
WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THIS BEFORE?
PRESIDENT BUSH: ".. Well, first of all, we're just starting in Iraq. And a lot of Iraq is stable, and the life of the Iraqi people are better now than it was prior to the war.."
Speech at G8 summit May 29, 2003
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a July 8th, 2003 Washington Post editorial "Facing Reality in Iraq", Dick Cheney began: "Most of Iraq is stable..."
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 23, 2003
"Wolfowitz said that despite repeated attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, commanders on the ground report that the entire North and South of Iraq is stable."
Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample
American Forces Press Service
RIGHT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THERE IS COMMENTARY FROM THE WISE AND SKEPTICAL:
COMMENT FROM BUZZFLASH:
Subj: Iraq Stability
Every administration official comes out and says that most of Iraq is stable and quiet. Or, that problems are concentrated in the Sunni Triangle. I guess this is supposed to make us feel better about the occupation. Kind of like a doctor comforting a patient by telling him that the malignant brain tumor only affects 15% of his brain.
Turk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAYBE THIS SEEMS STABLE....
BUT FRANKLY, NO ONE LIVES HERE.
NOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, THESE GALS ARE TRIANGLE GALS
WHERE PEOPLE EXIST, WE'RE TENDING TO SEE INSTABILITY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
THEN THERE'S THE TOTAL MISINFORMATION THAT ALWAYS FOLLOWS:
Exhibit A: " Most prefer to concentrate on the violence taking place in the Sunni-triangle areas, which is Saddam's stronghold. By the way, the sunni-triangle area constitutes about 1% of the entire country of Iraq. *(see my note below*) Despite that American troops are being shot at in this area, the rest of Iraq is stable...."
Exhibit B: "-Most of Iraq is stable. Almost all U.S. casualties have happened in a part of Iraq(Sunni triangle) that makes up only 5 percent of the country..."
From : KEYS TO THE WHITEHOUSE site, 8-31-03
RIGHT!
*My Note- 20% of the Iraqi population lives in the Sunni triangle.
Iraq is not "stable" anywhere.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frist finds a way to protect his real master - The People be damned.Frist Freezes Senate Probe of Prewar Iraq Data
By Walter Pincus and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 8, 2003; Page A18
Angry about a leaked Democratic memo, the Republican leadership of the Senate yesterday took the unusual step of canceling all business of the committee investigating prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called on the author of the memo -- which laid out a possible Democratic strategy to extend the investigation to include the White House and executive branch -- to "identify himself or herself . . . disavow this partisan attack in its entirety" and deliver "a personal apology" to Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Only if those steps are taken, Frist said, "will it be possible for the committee to resume its work in an effective and bipartisan manner -- a manner deserving of the confidence of other members of the Senate and the executive branch."
Roberts followed Frist on the floor and said that unless the Democratic members "properly" address the issue, "I am afraid that it will be impossible to return to 'business as usual' in the committee."
A committee meeting scheduled for yesterday was canceled, and none has been scheduled for next week, according to a senior committee staff member.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), the committee's ranking Democrat, said he was "really disappointed" with the Republican action. "Whose advantage is it to derail asking the tough questions on prewar intelligence and the use and misuse of it?" he asked.
The GOP move follows a month of extraordinary maneuvering by Democrats and Republicans to take political advantage of the committee's look at how the intelligence community collected and analyzed intelligence on Iraq over the past decade.
FULL TEXT HERE
The People are supposed to be Frist's primary charge and consideration in his important position as Senate majority leader.
But, nooooo....
Frist is using petty politics to provide the usual escape-from-accountability for the Bush administration.
This is just another case of abuse of power and an abrogation of responsibility to the People.
Pat Roberts looks like nothing more than a drama queen.
I hope people are smart enough to call their Congresspersons to tell them this:
What we suspect the Bush administration has misled us about is far more serious than Pat Roberts' damned PRIDE.
~~~~~~
"It's a very grave issue if the president is manipulating and distorting intelligence. There must be high anxiety about this in the intelligence community, because they are chatting to the press."
Ivan Eland, senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California
June,2003
~~~~~~
Lives are being lost in the twisted tangle of the Sunni triangle while these drama queens play partisan politics.
The Dems have NOTHING to apologize for - the memo was completely straightforward in laying out Democratic options to get to the truth while the Republicans are trying to WHITEWASH the Bush's administrations treasonous manipulation of Iraq intelligence.
Good People of this nation:
If you aren't outraged, you simply aren't paying attention.
If Frist cannot lead, he should get out of the way!
Websites worth visiting--often
I found a couple sites today which I found interesting.
I wanted to share them with you.
Sinister Swing, also known as 'The Left Wing of the Web',
is a fantastic collection of current news articles, as well as left-related activism and information. Well-done.
Patriots for Peace is another site that's new to me..and one I highly recommend.
