Another Halliburton overcharge!
OOPS-They did it again!
Halliburton Co. allegedly overcharged more than $16 million for meals at a U.S. military base in Kuwait
This occurred during the first seven months of last year, according to a published report Monday, citing Pentagon investigators auditing the company's work.

What Do You Think?
"In general, I think the FCC does have a role in promoting some reasonable standard of decency. However, considering what's on television these days, I think the FCC is being pretty silly about investigating this."
--Howard Dean, about the Janet Jackson/Justin Timerlake/Superbowl FCC probe

N.Y.Times editorial
Come back, little Deaniacs

....Many of the young people who heeded Senator McCarthy's antiwar message in 1968 spiraled away from politics forever when Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic nomination. The young Deaniacs could easily add to the near majority of eligible voters in America who find politics a waste of effort. One of the most important missions of the Democratic nominee this year is to help keep young people interested when the campaign boils down to the deeply pragmatic politics of the summer and fall...

I wonder why the New York Times editorial staff believes 2004 will be any different than 1968. I think the words "pragmatic politics" are just code-words for something far more insidious than simply pragmatic.
You see, the primary season is far from over, and the New York Times is already counting Dean out of the race.
Obviously, the NY Times has their crystal ball poised and ready.. and they're already planning on how the leftover Dean supporters will fit into the 2004 election. I'll bet they even have them slated for their own favorite establishment candidate, which has never been Governor Dean. For them, the writing's on the wall.

If the writing's on the wall, I ask you:
Who's doing the writing?

On some far-off day when the writing is done by the people and the pragmatic result equates to the writing of the people, I will understand the new York Times' hope for keeping these young kids in the system. Consider, however, what these kids see happening before their very eyes. They see an alleged front-running candidate who is paying for his commercial time with his filthy-rich wife's money and contributions from specal interests. They see Terry McAuliffe trying to cut their candidate off at the pass...issuing the date in which Governor Dean will be officially the "undead" candidate, as CNN's political mouthpiece Bill Schneider has been touting all this past weekend. These kids see their hard-earned small contributions wasted because of a media who would choose to mock their candidate by spurting nonsense about him repeatedly on the news networks and who chastise his wife for being her own person.
I'm a Dean supporter and I'm no innocent kid..I've been around this block before. Frankly, I believe we're going to see a replay of 1968...in spades. This is far more than "disillusionment". It's an established political system that does not appreciate being challenged. I'm thinking seriously of parting from the Democrats myself. Any candidate in November will be better than Bush, but at the same time, this was the supreme chance to show America that we people are ready for a change.
The powers-that-be have stopped us at nearly every turn. The media and the Democratic powers virtually ignored Dennis Kucinich's candidacy. There will be a political price for them to pay, I'm afraid.

N.Y. Times/Bob Herbert
Keeping It Real-
Getting Out the Low-Income Vote

One of the biggest reasons politicians continue to trample on issues of crucial importance to low-income Americans -issues like jobs, education and access to health care - is the traditionally poor voting habits of that segment of the population. The percentage of people who vote (and the level of attention they get from politicians) rises steadily as you scale the income ladder.

Most Americans are unaware of the extent of the suffering that has fallen on the bottom 20 percent or so of the population. Many low-income Americans are leading lives of grim and sometimes painful determination, struggling to survive from one day to the next. The contrast between the real lives of families sinking beneath the weight of economic distress and the headlines that continue to insist that the economy is doing famously is extraordinary.

The idea is to make low-income voters a force too strong to be ignored. A recent study commissioned by the center showed that small increases in voting by low-income people could be decisive in several strategically important states.

Media's Greatest Sin:
The Dean Scream:
The Version of Reality You Didn't See on TV

SEE THE VIDEO HERE

.....we collected some other tapes from Dean's speech including one from a documentary filmmaker, tapes that do carry the sound of the crowd, not just the microphone he held on stage. We also asked the reporters who were there to help us replicate what they experienced in the room.
Reena Singh, ABC News Dean campaign reporter: "What the cameras didn't capture was the crowd."
Garance Franke-Ruta, Senior Editor, American Prospect: "As he spoke, the audience got louder and louder and I found it somewhat difficult to hear him."
Dean's boisterous countdown of the upcoming primaries as we all heard it on TV was isolated, when in fact he was shouting over the roaring crowd.
And what about the scream as we all heard it? In the room, the so-called scream couldn't really be heard at all. Again, he was yelling along with the crowd.

I condemn the television networks for this overplaying of a specially-selected video. I found the tone of ABC and FOX to be particularly unapologetic in this article. CBS is the most anti-1st amendment network I've seen (besides FOX the right-propagandists). CBS has censored a Moveon.org commercial this week and has refused to show programs such as a movie about the Reagans. In this instance, they have apologized after they did their damage to Governor Dean.
As long as the media acts as a gaggle of clowns, the American public will be little more than clowns discussing what they've seen the night before at water coolers across America.

Bush Wants a Cover-up, Not an Investigation

"Bush, under mounting political pressure, will sign an executive order to establish a full-blown (RIGHT!) investigation of U.S. intelligence failures in Iraq... By setting up the investigation himself, Bush will have greater control over its membership and mandate. (and ability to cover his great sin!) The senior White House official said it would be patterned after the Warren Commission (whose report on JFK's assassination is believed by no one)... David Albright, a former weapons inspector, said the administration could use the commission as a way to delay judgments about the intelligence community and the administration's use of the intelligence information. 'The bottom line for them [the Bush administration] is to delay the day of reckoning about their use of the weapons of mass destruction information,' Albright said. 'David Kay can blame the CIA and say 'Oh, I made all these comments based on what I heard from the intelligence community.' Bush can't do that. He's the boss.'"

Washington Post
Twin Bombings Kill at Least 56 in Northern Iraq
Suicide Attacks Strike Both U.S.-Backed Kurdish Political Parties in Irbil

Two suicide bombers with explosives wired to their bodies struck the offices of the country's two main Kurdish parties in nearly simultaneous attacks Sunday, killing at least 56 people and wounding more than 235 in the deadliest assault in Iraq in six months. The attacks struck in the Kurdish heartland and took a heavy toll among senior leaders of Iraq's most pro-American ethnic group.
Although Iraq has suffered numerous suicide bombings in recent months, the attack Sunday marked the first time perpetrators have worn explosives rather than using vehicles.

Paul Bremer says there's no proof at this point who is responsible. It could be Ansar al-Islam...or could be al-Qaeda. It could be any of a number of foreign terrorist groups operating in Iraq. Why? Because Bush's war has proven to be a terror-growing war rather than a terror-abater...and no matter who was behind these blasts, tensions will now likely heighten between the Kurds and Sunni Arabs.

244 Muslim Pilgrims Die in Hajj Stampede

The devil-stoning is the most animated ritual of the annual pilgrimage and often the most dangerous. Many pilgrims frantically throw rocks, shout insults or hurl their shoes at the pillars - acts that are supposed to demonstrate their deep disdain for the devil. But clerics frown upon such action, saying it's un-Islamic.
Last year, 14 pilgrims were trampled to death during the ritual and 35 died in a 2001 stampede. In 1998, 180 pilgrims died.

The annual hajj, which began Thursday, climaxed Saturday as some 2 million Muslim pilgrims listened to Saudi Arabia's top cleric denounce terrorists, calling them an affront to Islam. However, he defended the kingdom's strict interpretation of the faith.
Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Sheik said in his sermon there were those who claim to be holy warriors, but were shedding Muslim blood and destabilizing the nation.
"Is it holy war to shed Muslim blood? Is it holy war to shed the blood of non-Muslims given sanctuary in Muslim lands? Is it holy war to destroy the possession of Muslims?" he said, adding that their actions gave enemies an excuse to criticize Muslim nations. A large number of the victims of suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq and elsewhere have been Muslims.
Al-Sheik, who is widely respected in the Arab world as the foremost cleric in the country considered the birthplace of Islam, spoke at Namira Mosque in a televised sermon watched by millions of Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Al-Sheik also criticized the international community, accusing it of attacking Wahhabism, the strict interpretation of Islam that is applied in Saudi Arabia: "This country is based on this religion and will remain steadfast on it."

Sistani: Iraq Cleric's Sense of History

Sistani's political activism has surprised many, even his supporters. In April, he issued statements insisting that the clergy play no direct role in politics. But he soon began weighing in with opinions that drove to the heart of Iraq's future.
Sistani's spokesmen have said he draws lessons for today from the six-month revolt in 1920 against the British occupation. Once it was put down, the Shiite clergy remained in opposition, rejecting participation in elections that followed and discouraging followers from entering the government and its institutions, which soon were dominated by minority Sunnis. That year "is like a complex in the hearts and minds of the Shiites," said Mohieddin Khatib, the secretary of the Governing Council. "It is a very deep regret, and he is saying you will not hear something like this from me."

Democratic Debate in Milwaukee February 15th

"We're all going to come together in Wisconsin and have the big showdown."
--Howard Dean

Lester Holt and Gloria Borger would not be my choice of panelists for a debate of such alleged importance.
Especially Mr. Holt. I found his last performance (at the Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum) positively dreadful. He made a shooting target out of Howard Dean, coming out of the starting gate harping on the "gotcha-of-the-moment" (where Dean criticized the Iowa caucus system on a tape from many years past). I wonder if Holt's mission is to try to pull a "gotcha" on Kerry next? If he doesn't, I wonder if Howard Dean will? If Dean "goes negative" on Kerry, I wonder if the press will get their jockeys in an uproar over "mean Dean"? How soon they forget Kerry's negative attack on Dean at the Iowa Brown and Black (where Kerry said Dean made public statements supporting a resolution that gave authority to Bush to go to war once diplomatic efforts had failed...his (dishonest) words were: "I think Governor Dean has had it both ways.") Boo! Mean negative Kerry.
In the same debate, Lester Holt was the one who raised from the near-dead the stench of the Confederate flag fiasco once again (after it had been already over-covered in prior debates). In my blog-entry of Janyaury 12, I had written: "Sigh. Lester Holt brought up the Confederate flag issue again. (Sadly creating division rather than drawing out some new ideas from these 9 candidates). "

American Prospect
Case Closed
Now we know Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction when we invaded. So how did the Bush administration get everything wrong?

This article leads me to believe we cannot separate the Bush administration's argument for war from even the sheerest possibility that dissent within the intelligence community was present and due diligence was not utilized to entertain and respect all of the intelligence-community's views before dragging the nation headlong into a pre-emptive strike.
Extreme diligence would have been required of the President and his administration because a pre-emptive strike is only as "just" and "legal' as its best and most fair and thorough possible intelligence review by the Commander-in-Chief and his cabinet.
Although not mentioned here, Imad Hage was another important "heads-up" warning to the Bush administration that war did not have to be the only option. Hage, too, was ignored. We need to take out the microscope and dissect this situation....it is in our nation's utmost security interest.
Bottom line, the buck stops with George W. Bush. He clearly didn't collect the entire body of facts available to him before taking our nation to war. If he did have the facts, I firmly believe his administration ignored them. This is a most serious charge, I realize, but we cannot progress as a trusting nation if such doubt hangs heavy over the heads of the most powerful.
Any Independent investigation will have to include a review of how the Bush administration developed their case for war..exactly how and to what extent they worked with Intelligence..and those of whom they may have negligently ignored in order to bolster their case.
The buck stops with Bush.
Americans want the truth.
We demand the truth.

Most importantly, though, is the fact that intelligence professionals who did offer dissenting opinions on the weapons program were simply ignored by the Bush administration, which listened to only the intelligence that reinforced its views.

[David] Kay, who resigned this week as head of the Iraq Survey Group, the CIA-led team hunting for Iraq's banned weapons, sees things differently. He insists the intelligence community, not the administration, is to blame..

...should one, as Kay insists, dismiss the reports that document just how much pressure the intelligence community found itself under from, among others, Cheney and the Pentagon?

Was the vice president a dispassionate observer, simply waiting for the intelligence estimate to arrive on his desk?" asks Joseph Cirincione, a nonproliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "No. There was a tremendous amount of activity within the vice president's office and within the office of the secretary of defense to shape the intelligence, to create their own intelligence, and to feed that intelligence directly to the president. And this, in great part, is what got us in the mess we are in today."

"In all kinds of ways, both subtle and major, the fact that the White House knew what answer it wanted from the intelligence community had a very large effect on the way the intelligence community presented information," says Greg Thielmann, who retired as the director of the strategic intelligence office at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) in October 2002.

"What appeared to happen is that a particular outcome dominated, and the dissents were relegated to footnotes. It wasn't in the primary text, and that's important. And it may be that individual analysts chose not to describe their uncertainty, or that through the process of writing and editing, that uncertainty was edited out.
Now one thing that does concern me is that the vice president has continued in recent days to make statements saying that 'we're going to find weapons of mass destruction material in Iraq.' And that really concerns me. Is he is so disconnected from the administration, or what do his comments mean, given the facts that have been revealed? That's really been bothering me."

--Anonymous longtime arms-control expert

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Re: Imad Hage-
SEE LINK (including the following quote) HERE:
....As has been widely reported, last March, as US troops gathered on Iraqi borders, Saddam sent a message to the Bush administration through Imad Hage, a Lebanese-American businessman, who had met with Saddam. It had first reached the office of the under secretary for planning and defense, in February. The message: Iraq has no WMDs, Saddam would permit US troops and experts to do a search of the country, and Saddam would even permit free elections – anything to avert a war. The same message was delivered in London a month later to Pentagon adviser Richard Perle..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a joke---Bush and Blair have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
After sending hundreds of soldiers to their death on the wings of a lie and failing to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush and Blair have been put forward to receive the Nobel peace prize.
Jan Simonsen, an independent member of Norway's Parliament, apparently had a brainfart causing temporary insanity and nominated them. Nobel watchers say neither Mr Bush nor Mr Blair has much chance of winning.
As nominees, they're in the company of former peacenik-nominees like Adolf Hitler, Slobodan Milosevic and Yasser Arafat. Yeeha!

Flashback--Campaign 2000
Americans--Are you getting it now?
Are you seeing the pattern?
From Reagan to Dubya-
Learn the code words for keeping the mightiest wealthy while sinking the weak
*Can you say "screw you?"*

"Of the more current usage of "compassion" by political figures — the patronizing, head-patting, de haut en bas concern of the mighty for the powerless — Reagan was blessedly free. This, the Great Communicator understood in his very bones and blood, is the land of opportunity. Who is powerless in America today may be mighty tomorrow. It follows that what is mainly owed by the mighty to the weak is not compassion — not official compassion, at any rate — but to keep open and well-dredged the channels of opportunity."

"At the risk of giving offense, I hope that the “compassionate conservatism” strategy is a deception, and of course I hope it will be a successful one. I hope George W. Bush will win the coming election; and I hope that I shall then have the satisfaction, early next year, of watching him fill the seats around his cabinet table with flinty-faced puritans wearing green eyeshades, with not a single teardrop of public compassion among the lot of them."

--John Derbyshire, Contributing Editor, National Review 7-31-00

Karen Kwiatkowski:
Bush as pontifex?? (It's a lot like bin Laden as pan-Arab caliph)

Nervous neoconservatives really do need to invoke the "American civil religion......."

Perhaps understanding George W. Bush as pontifex maximus, and civil religion as adoration of a strong central governing authority makes sense. It explains the "God picked me to be President" thing, and why Mr. Bush doesn’t need to read anything written on paper, preferring instead to get guidance – on blowing the budget, conducting military invasions, public prevarication, and spending billions of our hard earned money to encourage people to stop taking steroids and get married instead – directly from some higher power. Dick Cheney, perhaps.

It also helps explain all the Lincoln and Churchill iconolatry that goes on in the private sitting rooms of the nanny-cons. I am now able to better appreciate the J. Alfreds in Washington, whispering and wondering if they’ll have the strength to force the moment to its crisis, or press the universe into a ball. Decisions, more decisions, plans and possibilities.

Life’s getting tougher for neoconservatives. Every day, more Americans reject the George W. Bush brand of "conservatism." This of course is dangerous and threatening to the neoconservatives he has appointed to power. I suggest they pray to their gods, idols and pontifices while they still can.....

In Bush's Own Words

"We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have."
--George W. Bush, President Radio Address 10/5/2002

“The Iraqi regime possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons.... If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?"
— President George W. Bush, Cincinnati, Oct. 7, 2002

--"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."
--George W. Bush, President, State of the Union Address, 1/28/2003

"In Iraq, a dictator is building and hiding weapons that could enable him to dominate the Middle East and intimidate the civilized world -- and we will not allow it."
--George W. Bush, President, Speech to the American Enterprise Institute, 2/26/2003

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
--George W. Bush, President, Address to the Nation, 3/17/2003

"But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."
--George W. Bush, President, Interview with TVP Poland 5/30/2003

“We based our decisions on good, sound intelligence, and the — our people are going to find out the truth. And the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
— President George W. Bush, July 17, 2003

"I want the American people to know that I, too, want to know the facts."
--President George Bush, January 30, 2004 when asked asked point-blank on Friday about an independent commission to investigate whether the United States used faulty intelligence information when it decided to go to war

Additional credit: what a tangled web

Arab-American Political Action Committee Endorses Dennis Kucinich
"It was not a strategy endorsement, it was an endorsement of principle.The argument we had yesterday was should we stand by our principles or cast a vote based on electability. But this was a group that voted for (President) Bush in 2000 and were stung by the Bush administration. They decided that they needed to make it clear that this community will vote for the candidate that best represents its interests, not necessarily the one that may be elected."
--Osama Siblani, editor-in-chief of The Arab-American News.

Zell Miller: Famous supportive words of a fool/August, 2002

"Today, I am proud of our President. He has said we are at war with terrorism and with states that sponsor and harbor terrorists. I agree with that. But let's face it - that means an ever-increasing, wider war.
And as far as I'm concerned, it means at some time going after Saddam Hussein.
We don't have to prove he was involved with September 11 or with Al Qaeda. We know he hates the United States. We know he has weapons of mass destruction..."

Let's face it, unfaithful Democrat, you were duped.

In fairness to Zell, I appreciate these words from the same speech:

"It is a system that Cuisinarts individual thought into a blind party goose step. A system that expects one to go along with the team even if the quarterback is calling the wrong signals.
And one of these days someone smarter and younger and more articulate than I is going to get through to the American people just how really messed up it has become.
And when that happens, the American people are going to rise up like that football crowd in Cleveland and run both teams off the field.
Because as Churchill said, "Democracy is based on reason and a sense of fair play" and there is nothing reasonable or fair about this system.

And yet...Zell's reasoning totally collapsed when he threw his 2004 endorsement to Bush. A person can have wise ideas, yet not have the common sense to understand how to create conditions under which the ideas can flourish. With his endorsement of Bush, possibly the worst divider in Presidential history, Zell perpetuates the problem and betrays the very independent thinker he claims to be. He betrays all Americans by promising more of that which he claims to abhor.

The Nation/Katha Politt:
Judy, Judy, Judy
I think this is the best article written (to date) about the First-Lady-go-round.

Guardian:
US officials knew in May Iraq possessed no WMD

Intelligence sources, policy makers and weapons inspectors familiar with the details of the hunt for WMD told The Observer it was widely known that Iraq had no WMD within three weeks of Baghdad falling, despite the assertions of senior Bush administration figures and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The new revelation came as White House sources indicated that President George Bush was considering establishing an investigation into the intelligence, despite rejecting an inquiry the previous day.(hmmm...)

WMD: How it went wrong

In a series of interviews, senior former US intelligence officers, members of the weapons community and former senior US policy advisers have told The Observer that it was well known in intelligence and senior administration circles by the first week of May that it was extremely unlikely that any weapons would be found. The allegations pose serious questions for Downing Street and the Prime Minister, raising the possibility that Blair and his officials began their feud with the BBC and Andrew Gilligan after it had become known that the intelligence used to justify Britain's involvement in the war was largely incorrect.....why did Bush and Blair press on for months with their insistence that the WMD existed, after it was clear that the intelligence was hugely flawed?
...'What is so remarkable is that it became very quickly apparent in the post-war interviews with scientists and other officials, that no one even admitted that even plans such as those existed.....
"'I know for certain that there were analysts in the Defence Intelligence Agency and the State Department and the CIA who took an alternative point of view. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and ultimately George Bush chose to ignore their cautions. Worst-case scenarios were being taken by policy makers who were picking and choosing intelligence."
--Larry Johnson, former CIA anti-terrorism expert

God is to us everything that is gode amd all thing
that is made

In this same time our lord shewed to me a ghostly sight of his homely loveing. I saw that he is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us. He is our clotheine that for love wrappith us,(halseth) us and all beclosyth us for tender love, that hee may never leave us, being to us althing that is gode, as to myne understondyng. Also in this he shewed a littil thing, the quantitye of an hesil nutt in the palme of my hand; and it was as round as a balle.
I lokid thereupon with eye of my understondyng and thowte:
"What may this be?"
And it was generally answered thus:
"It is all that is made."

--Julian of Norwich

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


adventures of confessions of saint augustine bear

Comedy Central
John Stewart on WMDs/David Kay/Condoleeza Rice
You've got to see this video! Often these days, the fake news drives the point home far better than the real!
~~~~~~~~~

The Onion:
Bush 2004 Campaign Promises to Restore Honor and Dignity to White House

~~~~~~~~~

And they say Howie's a screamer!?

~~~~~~~~

Two Trailers Containing Bio-material FOUND!

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Karl Rove's Been Seen Sneaking Out at Night...

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Why Is Dean So Angry?

N.Y. Times
9-11 Commission: Extent of government's failures coming to light
Bush and GOP prefer political protection to completion of investigation

The panel faces a May 27 deadline. It wants two more months to complete its work but faces resistance from House GOP leaders and the Bush administration. They fear the process could become too politicized if it's released in the days near the November elections.

Arianna Huffington moved by Judy Dean's heartfelt declaration of independence from our "Thing" Culture

"There is a way that leads from all-colors
to colorlessness. Know that the magnificent variety
of the clouds and the weather comes from
the total simplicity of the sun and the moon."
-Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, I, 3462-3485

People like my mother and Judy Dean stand in stark contrast to our national obsession with consumption. Our "Supersize Me!" society has so elevated the manufactured over the meaningful that when somebody dares question the value of our collective covetousness we react like they've impugned the legitimacy of the sacred scrolls of the scriptures.
In their rejection of our fixation on the fashionable, these anti-Trumps suddenly become the little boy pointing out that despite our designer clothes, top of the line SUVs, and plasma TVs, we're really just a bunch of emperors in expensive birthday suits, trying unsuccessfully to buy our way to happiness.....

...Consumer debt is at an all-time high as are the number of people filing for bankruptcy.....
Of course, this culture-wide shopping spree is happening on the watch of our conservative leaders. Conservatism is supposed to stand in clear counterpoint to the excesses of the counterculture -- with responsibility, self-discipline, and living within one's means replacing the "if it feels good, do it" ethos. But George Bush and his corporate cronies have sacrificed these values on the altar of consumption: "If it feels good, buy it!"

...What also struck me about the not very thingy Judy Dean was the sense of contentment and comfort she radiated with who she is -- and who she isn't.

...she'd make one hell of a First Lady.... I would love to have a very different kind of role model front and center in the national spotlight. One who loves her job, puts her family first, doesn't equate split ends with mortal failure, doesn't mind getting a rhododendron for her birthday, and doesn't even have cable TV.