oh, these republicans:
1. "The national forest planning rules are like the Constitution for our national forests, and the Bush administration tried to throw out the Bill of Rights," said Earthjustice lawyer Trent Orr, who argued the case before the court on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
2. IT LOOKS LIKE another story of endangered ethics on the Bush administration's environmental staff. Last week the Interior Department's inspector general submitted the results of an investigation of Julie A. MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, to congressional overseers.They should investigate for themselves the document's troubling descriptions and take action to ensure that Ms. MacDonald and other managers at Interior make policy fit the science, not the other way around.
31 March, 2007
30 March, 2007
republicans work fast
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan on Wednesday over allegations that she tried to give a no-bid job to a business associate, intervened in a contract dispute with a technology company, and had a White House official brief top political appointees at the agency on targeting Democrats and helping Republicans in 2008. All that in just 10 months running the agency.
republicans and the law
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sought more information yesterday about a presentation by a White House aide given to political appointees at the General Services Administration that discussed targeting 20 Democratic congressional candidates in the next election.
Six political appointees at the GSA who participated in the videoconference said Doan asked at the conclusion how the agency could help GOP candidates win in the next elections, according to a letter Waxman sent to Doan. This may violate the law.
Six political appointees at the GSA who participated in the videoconference said Doan asked at the conclusion how the agency could help GOP candidates win in the next elections, according to a letter Waxman sent to Doan. This may violate the law.
how republicans govern
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sought more information yesterday about a presentation by a White House aide given to political appointees at the General Services Administration that discussed targeting 20 Democratic congressional candidates in the next election.
At a hearing Wednesday about the GSA, Waxman said the presentation and follow-up remarks allegedly made by agency chief Lurita Alexis Doan may have violated the Hatch Act, a law that restricts federal agencies and employees from using their positions for political purposes.
At a hearing Wednesday about the GSA, Waxman said the presentation and follow-up remarks allegedly made by agency chief Lurita Alexis Doan may have violated the Hatch Act, a law that restricts federal agencies and employees from using their positions for political purposes.
republican religious hypocrisy
To her detractors, Monica Goodling was an enforcer of political loyalty who was not squeamish about firings -- of interns or of senior officials. "She forced many very talented, career people out of main Justice so she could replace them with junior people that were either loyal to the administration or would score her some points," said a former career Justice official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
Goodling, now on an indefinite leave, most recently served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and as Justice's liaison to the White House.
Her name appears on several e-mails about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are eager to ask her about those dismissals.
Goodling enrolled in law school at American University but transferred to Regent, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson in Virginia Beach.
Apparently, she is one of those hypocritical religious republican conservatives that tout their "faith" but refuse to tell the truth by taking the fifth and refusing to testify.
Figures!
Goodling, now on an indefinite leave, most recently served as senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and as Justice's liaison to the White House.
Her name appears on several e-mails about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are eager to ask her about those dismissals.
Goodling enrolled in law school at American University but transferred to Regent, founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson in Virginia Beach.
Apparently, she is one of those hypocritical religious republican conservatives that tout their "faith" but refuse to tell the truth by taking the fifth and refusing to testify.
Figures!
republicans and voting
The charge against these republicans is not that they fired prosecutors for 'political' reasons.
The charge is that they fired Federal prosecutors for not using their law enforcement powers to help the Republican party.
A destructive pattern of partisan political actions at the Justice Department started long before this incident, however.. Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.
The charge is that they fired Federal prosecutors for not using their law enforcement powers to help the Republican party.
A destructive pattern of partisan political actions at the Justice Department started long before this incident, however.. Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.
Iran & neocon republicans
Former CIA Officer Philip Giraldi chillingly noted that the Pentagon's plans to attack Iran were drawn up "to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States." Writing in The American Conservative in August 2005, Giraldi added, "The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons.
Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites ... As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States.
Chew on that one a minute.
The Pentagon's plan would be in response to a terrorist attack on the US, but not contingent upon Iran actually having been responsible. How outlandish is this scenario: another 9/11 hits the US, the administration says it has secret information implicating Iran, the US population demands retribution and bombs start dropping on Tehran.
Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites ... As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States.
Chew on that one a minute.
The Pentagon's plan would be in response to a terrorist attack on the US, but not contingent upon Iran actually having been responsible. How outlandish is this scenario: another 9/11 hits the US, the administration says it has secret information implicating Iran, the US population demands retribution and bombs start dropping on Tehran.
27 March, 2007
more on Nazi Germany USA
In addition to the OFAC list, there exists a
TIDE List , (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment), for Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the list is a storehouse for data about individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States.
Each day, thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world -- field reports, captured documents, news from foreign allies and sometimes idle gossip -- arrive in a computer-filled office in McLean.
The watch lists fed by TIDE, used to monitor everyone entering the country or having even a casual encounter with federal, state and local law enforcementr. But they have become a source of irritation -- and potentially more serious consequences -- for many U.S. citizens and visitors.
TIDE is a vacuum cleaner for both proven and unproven information, and its managers disclaim responsibility for how other agencies use the data.
TIDE List , (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment), for Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the list is a storehouse for data about individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States.
Each day, thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world -- field reports, captured documents, news from foreign allies and sometimes idle gossip -- arrive in a computer-filled office in McLean.
The watch lists fed by TIDE, used to monitor everyone entering the country or having even a casual encounter with federal, state and local law enforcementr. But they have become a source of irritation -- and potentially more serious consequences -- for many U.S. citizens and visitors.
TIDE is a vacuum cleaner for both proven and unproven information, and its managers disclaim responsibility for how other agencies use the data.
Nazi Germany USA
Private businesses such as rental and mortgage companies and car dealers are checking the names of customers against a list of suspected terrorists,
Office of Foreign Asset Control's list (OFAC List) made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list.
Businesses have used it to screen applicants for home and car loans, apartments and even exercise equipment, according to interviews and a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.
The lawyers' committee has documented at least a dozen cases in which U.S. customers have had transactions denied or delayed because their names were a partial match with a name on the list, which runs more than 250 pages and includes 3,300 groups and individuals.
The lawyers' committee documented other cases, including that of a couple in Phoenix who were about to close on their first home, only to be told the sale could not proceed because the husband's first and last names -- common Hispanic names -- matched an entry on the OFAC list.
Reminds me of Nazi Germany, republican (Bush-Rove-Cheney) style.
Office of Foreign Asset Control's list (OFAC List) made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list.
Businesses have used it to screen applicants for home and car loans, apartments and even exercise equipment, according to interviews and a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.
The lawyers' committee has documented at least a dozen cases in which U.S. customers have had transactions denied or delayed because their names were a partial match with a name on the list, which runs more than 250 pages and includes 3,300 groups and individuals.
The lawyers' committee documented other cases, including that of a couple in Phoenix who were about to close on their first home, only to be told the sale could not proceed because the husband's first and last names -- common Hispanic names -- matched an entry on the OFAC list.
Reminds me of Nazi Germany, republican (Bush-Rove-Cheney) style.
26 March, 2007
liars all?
Gonzales said earlier this month that he had not seen any memos or participated in discussions about the removal of eight U.S. attorneys, characterizing himself as detached from the details of the plan. But the new documents released by the Justice Department late Friday show that Gonzales held an hour-long meeting with his deputy, Paul J. McNulty, and three aides just 10 days before seven of the dismissals were carried out, on Dec. 7.
The documents are the latest disclosure to conflict with the Justice Department's version of events. They undermine days of effort by the White House and the department to shift attention away from the issue.
The documents are the latest disclosure to conflict with the Justice Department's version of events. They undermine days of effort by the White House and the department to shift attention away from the issue.
republican spin
The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.
more republican lies
Although President Bush said Saturday that he wants Gonzales to remain in his post, political support for that position continued to erode yesterday because of the disclosure Friday that Gonzales had chaired a November meeting where the firings were discussed -- contrary to Gonzales's past assertion that he was "not involved in any discussions about what was going on." Why don't we just admit "HE LIED." like they all do.
tip of the iceberg?
Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates.
The committee's examination of the Jan. 26 videoconference could raise questions about the role of Jennings, the White House official who works for Rove.
After Jennings and Doan spoke during the videoconference, one regional GSA administrator offered the suggestion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could be excluded from the opening of an environmentally efficient federal courthouse in San Francisco, which Pelosi represents, according to Waxman's letter. GSA manages the nation's federal courthouses.
Jennings's name has recently surfaced in investigations of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys around the country. He communicated with Justice Department officials concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released this month.
For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher.Jennings is a longtime political operative from Kentucky.
He served as political director for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2002 before joining the White House. The stink grows.
The committee's examination of the Jan. 26 videoconference could raise questions about the role of Jennings, the White House official who works for Rove.
After Jennings and Doan spoke during the videoconference, one regional GSA administrator offered the suggestion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could be excluded from the opening of an environmentally efficient federal courthouse in San Francisco, which Pelosi represents, according to Waxman's letter. GSA manages the nation's federal courthouses.
Jennings's name has recently surfaced in investigations of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys around the country. He communicated with Justice Department officials concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released this month.
For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher.Jennings is a longtime political operative from Kentucky.
He served as political director for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2002 before joining the White House. The stink grows.
25 March, 2007
republican ignorance of Iraq
The longer the Americans remain in Iraq, the more violence the Americans bring down on Iraq, and the more the Americans are seen as facilitating the persecution of the Sunnis by the Shiites, the more legitimate the call of the Wahhabi fanatics become.
While Republican strategists may speak of the rise of al-Qaida in Iraq, this is ignorance of what is really happening. Rather than foreigners arriving and spreading Wahhabism in Iraq, the virulent sect of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading on its own volition, assisted by the incompetence and brutality of an American occupation completely ignorant of the reality of the land and people it occupies. This is the true significance of Baghdad,
While Republican strategists may speak of the rise of al-Qaida in Iraq, this is ignorance of what is really happening. Rather than foreigners arriving and spreading Wahhabism in Iraq, the virulent sect of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading on its own volition, assisted by the incompetence and brutality of an American occupation completely ignorant of the reality of the land and people it occupies. This is the true significance of Baghdad,
supporting the troops?
Three troops a day are killed in Iraq in their civil war each month approximately 500 are listed as casualties (ten times more are unlisted casualties who suffer physical, emotional and mental injuries from Iraq) and countless numbers of Iraqis are killed every day.
So, when we call for a withdrawal by August 31, 2008, it means there will be 1,500 more U.S. troops killed, more than 8,000 officially injured and many tens of thousands of Iraqi children, women and men killed. In 2007, if the supplemental passes, Congress will have appropriated $165 billion, and in 2008 it is likely much more will be spent.
AND still the republicans resist. How are THEY supporting the troops?
So, when we call for a withdrawal by August 31, 2008, it means there will be 1,500 more U.S. troops killed, more than 8,000 officially injured and many tens of thousands of Iraqi children, women and men killed. In 2007, if the supplemental passes, Congress will have appropriated $165 billion, and in 2008 it is likely much more will be spent.
AND still the republicans resist. How are THEY supporting the troops?
update Iraq
The number of only U.S. Military Personnel sacrificed (officially acknowledged) in America'sWar On Iraq to date is 3,236, and counting.
justice, republican style
In the aftermath of the surprise firing of U.S. Attorney Margaret M. Chiara, questions outnumber answers. Was she dismissed for political reasons? For poor performance? To make way for someone else? Western Michigan's legal community does not know what to think.
Michael H. Dettmer,a lawyer in Traverse City, Michigan, described Chiara as "a very competent manager." Asked about the assertion by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty that Chiara's forced resignation stemmed from poor performance, Dettmer said, "It's not performance-related unless you're not performing as a puppet for the people in Washington in the Justice Department."
Michael H. Dettmer,a lawyer in Traverse City, Michigan, described Chiara as "a very competent manager." Asked about the assertion by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty that Chiara's forced resignation stemmed from poor performance, Dettmer said, "It's not performance-related unless you're not performing as a puppet for the people in Washington in the Justice Department."
24 March, 2007
common sense vs.more lies
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales met with senior aides on Nov. 27 to review a plan to fire a group of U.S. attorneys, according to documents released last night, a disclosure that contradicts Gonzales's previous statement that he was not involved in "any discussions" about the dismissals.
Some of the prosecutors have objected to McNulty's assertion that the firings were related to their performance, and two have alleged that they were pressured by elected officials over the political corruption investigations of REPUBLICANS they were conducting.
Republican Attorney General Gonzales and other Justice Department officials have said that his chief assistant Sampson quit because he withheld information from other officials and Sampson's action may have led them to give misleading testimony before Congress.
Sampson's attorney has disputed that characterization and has said that others in the Justice Department were fully aware of "several years" of discussions with the White House about dismissing the prosecutors.
Common sense tells us that more lies will be forthcoming.
Some of the prosecutors have objected to McNulty's assertion that the firings were related to their performance, and two have alleged that they were pressured by elected officials over the political corruption investigations of REPUBLICANS they were conducting.
Republican Attorney General Gonzales and other Justice Department officials have said that his chief assistant Sampson quit because he withheld information from other officials and Sampson's action may have led them to give misleading testimony before Congress.
Sampson's attorney has disputed that characterization and has said that others in the Justice Department were fully aware of "several years" of discussions with the White House about dismissing the prosecutors.
Common sense tells us that more lies will be forthcoming.
torture
To the amazement of the audience, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, with a twinkle in his eye, that "Americans don't mind torture, they really don’t." Then he smiled broadly, almost gleefully, and said that the US had used certain interrogation techniques on "Shaikh Mohammed, one of the "high value" targets," techniques that "you really don't want to know about, but they got really good results."
So what's the problem? With torture, you can get a subject to confess to anything and everything just to stoop the torture.
That's the problem, AND it is a sick society that condones it.
So what's the problem? With torture, you can get a subject to confess to anything and everything just to stoop the torture.
That's the problem, AND it is a sick society that condones it.
Afghanistan
Marines accused of shooting and killing civilians after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan are under U.S. investigation, and their entire unit has been ordered to leave the country early, officials said Friday.
A spokesman for the Marine unit, Maj. Cliff Gilmore, said that it is in the process of leaving Afghanistan but he declined to provide details on the timing and new location, citing a need to preserve security.
As many as 10 Afghans were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made an escape. Injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians as they sped away.
A spokesman for the Marine unit, Maj. Cliff Gilmore, said that it is in the process of leaving Afghanistan but he declined to provide details on the timing and new location, citing a need to preserve security.
As many as 10 Afghans were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made an escape. Injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians as they sped away.
iraq
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 3,234
23 March, 2007
our greatest danger
Only with the complicity of Congress have we become a nation of pre-emptive war, secret military tribunals, torture, rejection of habeas corpus, warrantless searches, undue government secrecy, extraordinary renditions, and uncontrollable spying on the American people.
The greatest danger we face is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a people made fearful by distortions of facts. Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home.
The greatest danger we face is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a people made fearful by distortions of facts. Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home.
use Justice to get Hillary?
Some of the thousands of pages of e-mails released this week underscore the extraordinary planning and effort, at the highest levels of the Justice Department and White House, to secure Rove aide Griffin, a job running one of the smaller U.S. attorney's offices in the country.
New documents also show that Justice, Rove and other White House officials were preparing for President Bush's approval of the appointment as early as last summer, five months before Griffin took the job.
They tried to cover their tracks and mislead Congress That has turned this into a fiasco for them. I think the others were just part of a smoke screen Why? read on.
Documents show that Arkansas Federal Attorney Cummins was clearly a target of Sampson's. He was recommended for removal as early as March 2005.
Within days, the e-mails show, Justice officials had arranged to hire Griffin into a political position in headquarters, at a salary of $142,900, then transfer him immediately to work in the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock and await his nomination.
Did these Republican Neocons use the US Attorney's Office to move a Rove political operative into Arkansas because of Hillary Clinton? Use your common sense
New documents also show that Justice, Rove and other White House officials were preparing for President Bush's approval of the appointment as early as last summer, five months before Griffin took the job.
They tried to cover their tracks and mislead Congress That has turned this into a fiasco for them. I think the others were just part of a smoke screen Why? read on.
Documents show that Arkansas Federal Attorney Cummins was clearly a target of Sampson's. He was recommended for removal as early as March 2005.
Within days, the e-mails show, Justice officials had arranged to hire Griffin into a political position in headquarters, at a salary of $142,900, then transfer him immediately to work in the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock and await his nomination.
Did these Republican Neocons use the US Attorney's Office to move a Rove political operative into Arkansas because of Hillary Clinton? Use your common sense
22 March, 2007
update Iraq
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 3,228
Limbaugh and hell
I have heard some awful comments from Rush Limbaugh but his comments about the John Edwards and Mrs. Edward's cancer are the most despicable I have ever heard from a commentator. He must surely be going to hell with the rest of his ilk.
political justice?
"Q Sir, are you convinced, personally?
"THE PRESIDENT: There's no indication whatsoever, after reviews by the White House staff, that anybody did anything improper."
That's a far cry from saying: I am personally convinced there was no political pressure. Bush didn't deny that there was political pressure or that he was aware of it. All he denied was the existence of any "indication" that anyone did anything he considers "improper."
Much like "torture", which he refuses to define, the president didn't say what he means by "improper" or "indication" yesterday.
Among the many lessons of the Scooter Libby trial is this one: That when the White House issues squirrelly statements under fire, the most cynical interpretations may well be the closest to the truth.
So there's really no longer any excuse for letting President Bush get away with carefully parsed denials, hairsplitting and non-answers.
"THE PRESIDENT: There's no indication whatsoever, after reviews by the White House staff, that anybody did anything improper."
That's a far cry from saying: I am personally convinced there was no political pressure. Bush didn't deny that there was political pressure or that he was aware of it. All he denied was the existence of any "indication" that anyone did anything he considers "improper."
Much like "torture", which he refuses to define, the president didn't say what he means by "improper" or "indication" yesterday.
Among the many lessons of the Scooter Libby trial is this one: That when the White House issues squirrelly statements under fire, the most cynical interpretations may well be the closest to the truth.
So there's really no longer any excuse for letting President Bush get away with carefully parsed denials, hairsplitting and non-answers.
neocon republican justice
The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case.
Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's office began micromanaging the team's strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government's claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.
"The political people were pushing the buttons and ordering us to say what we said," Eubanks said. "And because of that, we failed to zealously represent the interests of the American public."
"Political interference is happening at Justice across the department," she said. "When decisions are made now in the Bush attorney general's office, politics is the primary consideration. . . . The rule of law goes out the window."
The most stressful moment, Eubanks said, came when the three republican appointees ordered her to read word for word a closing argument they had rewritten. The statement explained the validity of seeking a $10 billion penalty. "I couldn't even look at the judge," she said.
Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's office began micromanaging the team's strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government's claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.
"The political people were pushing the buttons and ordering us to say what we said," Eubanks said. "And because of that, we failed to zealously represent the interests of the American public."
"Political interference is happening at Justice across the department," she said. "When decisions are made now in the Bush attorney general's office, politics is the primary consideration. . . . The rule of law goes out the window."
The most stressful moment, Eubanks said, came when the three republican appointees ordered her to read word for word a closing argument they had rewritten. The statement explained the validity of seeking a $10 billion penalty. "I couldn't even look at the judge," she said.
20 March, 2007
Iraq blunders
TOP 10 NEOCON REPUBLICAN BLUNDERS IN IRAQ
10. Refusing to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when his incompetence and maliciousness became apparent in the growing guerrilla war and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
9. Declining to intervene in the collapsed economy or help put Iraqi state industries back on a good footing, on the grounds that the "market" would magically produce prosperity effortlessly.
8. Invading and destroying the Sunni Arab city of Fallujah in November, 2004, thus pushing the Sunni Arabs into the arms of the insurgency in protest and ensuring that they would boycott the January, 2005, parliamentary elections, a boycott that excluded them from power and from a significant voice in crafting the new constitution, which they then rejected.
7. Suddenly announcing that the US would "kill or capture" young nationalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in spring, 2004, throwing the country into massive turmoil for months.
6. Replying to Baathist guerrilla provocations with harsh search and destroy missions that humiliated and angered ever more Sunni Arab clans, driving them to support or join the budding guerrilla movement.
5. Putting vengeful Shiites in charge of a Debaathification Commission that fired tens of thousands of mostly Sunni Arab state employees simply for having belonged to the Baath Party, leaving large numbers of Sunnis penniless and without hope of employment.
4. Dissolving the Iraqi Army in May, 2003, and sending 400,000 men home, unemployed, resentful and heavily armed.
3. Allowing widespread looting after the fall of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003, on the grounds that "stuff happens," "democracy is messy," and "how many vases can they have?"-- and thus signalling that there would be no serious attempt to provide law and order in American Iraq.
2. Plotting to install corrupt financier, notorious liar, and shady operator Ahmad Chalabi as the soft dictator of Iraq, and refusing to plan for a post-war administration of the country because that might forestall Chalabi's coronation.
1. Invading Iraq.
10. Refusing to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld when his incompetence and maliciousness became apparent in the growing guerrilla war and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
9. Declining to intervene in the collapsed economy or help put Iraqi state industries back on a good footing, on the grounds that the "market" would magically produce prosperity effortlessly.
8. Invading and destroying the Sunni Arab city of Fallujah in November, 2004, thus pushing the Sunni Arabs into the arms of the insurgency in protest and ensuring that they would boycott the January, 2005, parliamentary elections, a boycott that excluded them from power and from a significant voice in crafting the new constitution, which they then rejected.
7. Suddenly announcing that the US would "kill or capture" young nationalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in spring, 2004, throwing the country into massive turmoil for months.
6. Replying to Baathist guerrilla provocations with harsh search and destroy missions that humiliated and angered ever more Sunni Arab clans, driving them to support or join the budding guerrilla movement.
5. Putting vengeful Shiites in charge of a Debaathification Commission that fired tens of thousands of mostly Sunni Arab state employees simply for having belonged to the Baath Party, leaving large numbers of Sunnis penniless and without hope of employment.
4. Dissolving the Iraqi Army in May, 2003, and sending 400,000 men home, unemployed, resentful and heavily armed.
3. Allowing widespread looting after the fall of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003, on the grounds that "stuff happens," "democracy is messy," and "how many vases can they have?"-- and thus signalling that there would be no serious attempt to provide law and order in American Iraq.
2. Plotting to install corrupt financier, notorious liar, and shady operator Ahmad Chalabi as the soft dictator of Iraq, and refusing to plan for a post-war administration of the country because that might forestall Chalabi's coronation.
1. Invading Iraq.
Betrayed
If you want to know what these neocon republicans are doing and have done to Iraquis and how they have and are bungling the war, read the article in the New Yorker Magazine titled "Betrayed, The Iraqis who trusted America the most." It will turn your stomich if you care about people.
19 March, 2007
more lies
The U.S. attorney in San Diego notified the Justice Department of search warrants in a Republican bribery scandal last May 10, one day before the attorney general's chief of staff warned the White House of a "real problem" with her, a Democratic senator said yesterday.
Lam "sent a notice to the Justice Department saying that there would be two search warrants" in a criminal investigation of defense contractor Brent R. Wilkes and Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who had just quit as the CIA's top administrator amid questions about his ties to disgraced former GOP congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
The next day, May 11, D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, sent an e-mail message to William Kelley in the White House counsel's office saying that Lam should be removed as quickly as possible, according to documents turned over to Congress last week.
And these neocon republicans are denying politics was the cause--defies logic and common sense.
Lam "sent a notice to the Justice Department saying that there would be two search warrants" in a criminal investigation of defense contractor Brent R. Wilkes and Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who had just quit as the CIA's top administrator amid questions about his ties to disgraced former GOP congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
The next day, May 11, D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, sent an e-mail message to William Kelley in the White House counsel's office saying that Lam should be removed as quickly as possible, according to documents turned over to Congress last week.
And these neocon republicans are denying politics was the cause--defies logic and common sense.
update Iraq
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged)In America'sWar On Iraq 3,218 and counting
15 March, 2007
pray it's not too late
The neocon republicans like Mr Cheney are discredited and facing various congressional investigations. They are badly damaged by the Libby trial, which exposed their ruthless mania and use of lies to justify a war gone wrong.
But the larger factor in their demise is that their neo-conservative hypotheses have been falsified by events. Invading Iraq did not catalyse a new Middle East; isolating North Korea advanced its nuclear programme, and high-handed unilateralism has reduced American power.
At the outset of his presidency, Mr Bush thought himself lucky to have a number two who did not aspire to his job. We hope he now grasps the hazard of lending so much power to Cheney and to the neocon republicans with no incentive to test their views in the political marketplace. We hope it is not too late to repair the damage they have done to our country.
But the larger factor in their demise is that their neo-conservative hypotheses have been falsified by events. Invading Iraq did not catalyse a new Middle East; isolating North Korea advanced its nuclear programme, and high-handed unilateralism has reduced American power.
At the outset of his presidency, Mr Bush thought himself lucky to have a number two who did not aspire to his job. We hope he now grasps the hazard of lending so much power to Cheney and to the neocon republicans with no incentive to test their views in the political marketplace. We hope it is not too late to repair the damage they have done to our country.
liars all
The inconsistencies between Justice's positions and the documents are numerous. On Feb. 23, for example, a Justice legislative affairs aide wrote to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) that the department "was not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin."
But internal Justice e-mails show that "getting him appointed is important" to Rove and was closely monitored by political aides in the White House.
Last week, senior Justice official William E. Moschella told a House Judiciary subcommittee that the White House was not consulted on the firings until the end of the process. But the documents released this week show that the plan began more than two years ago at the White House counsel's office,
Schumer argued this week that Sampson "may well have obstructed justice" by not disclosing his communications to Congress and other senior Justice officials, who had said for weeks that the White House had only a limited role in the removals.
"There has been misleading statement after misleading statement, and these have been deliberately misleading statements," Schumer said yesterday.
But internal Justice e-mails show that "getting him appointed is important" to Rove and was closely monitored by political aides in the White House.
Last week, senior Justice official William E. Moschella told a House Judiciary subcommittee that the White House was not consulted on the firings until the end of the process. But the documents released this week show that the plan began more than two years ago at the White House counsel's office,
Schumer argued this week that Sampson "may well have obstructed justice" by not disclosing his communications to Congress and other senior Justice officials, who had said for weeks that the White House had only a limited role in the removals.
"There has been misleading statement after misleading statement, and these have been deliberately misleading statements," Schumer said yesterday.
14 March, 2007
impeachment?
It is true that second-term mass firings are unheard of. More importantly, this was not a mass firing -- it was a politically motivated hit job directed to certain AGs who conducted corruption investigations that involved -- hold your nose -- GOP leaders.
They also refused to bring bullshit cases regarding voter "fraud," a largely false issue used by republican partisans who are seeking to discourage the poor and minorities from voting.
Gonzales has been involved in some of the worst scandals of Bush's Presidency -- illegal wiretapping, torture guidelines, flouting of Geneva Convention rules, now making our justice system political, all reasons Gonzales must go, and the real culprits, Bush and Cheney, must go with him. Impeachment?
They also refused to bring bullshit cases regarding voter "fraud," a largely false issue used by republican partisans who are seeking to discourage the poor and minorities from voting.
Gonzales has been involved in some of the worst scandals of Bush's Presidency -- illegal wiretapping, torture guidelines, flouting of Geneva Convention rules, now making our justice system political, all reasons Gonzales must go, and the real culprits, Bush and Cheney, must go with him. Impeachment?
all liars
I'm-accountable-but-I-didn't-know-anything news conference yesterday, Gonzales said he knew the White House had suggested canning all 93 U.S. attorneys, rejected that idea and then left things to his chief of staff. "I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on," he said. "That's basically what I knew as the attorney general."
Translation: "I'm going to tell you I'm responsible, because that's what they tell me I have to say. But of course I'm not. It's all Kyle Sampson's fault. I'm hoping that if I say I'm accountable often enough, no one will actually hold me accountable."
Ousting a group of top federal prosecutors isn't some minor, inconsequential act. It's the sort of thing that a responsible attorney general would be deeply immersed in. Gonzales's depiction of his own marginality is the most damning evidence of his unfitness for the job. They are all LIARS.
Translation: "I'm going to tell you I'm responsible, because that's what they tell me I have to say. But of course I'm not. It's all Kyle Sampson's fault. I'm hoping that if I say I'm accountable often enough, no one will actually hold me accountable."
Ousting a group of top federal prosecutors isn't some minor, inconsequential act. It's the sort of thing that a responsible attorney general would be deeply immersed in. Gonzales's depiction of his own marginality is the most damning evidence of his unfitness for the job. They are all LIARS.
13 March, 2007
exile possibility?
Halliburton is trading Texas for the Persian Gulf, relocating its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai which will give them additional tax breaks. We've all been wondering where Cheney would seek exile after a well-deserved impeachment for lying us into Iraq?
Halliburton insulting us?
Over the weekend, the company known as Halliburton announced that its chief executive, Dave Lesar, would move to a new corporate headquarters in Dubai to focus on business in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. Halliburton received more than 90 percent of its Pentagon contracts in 2006.
The announcement sparked warnings from members of Congress, who suspected that the company once run by Vice President Cheney was trying to trim its tax bill and remove itself from the limelight here, where it has come under fire about the way it obtained and executed government contracts, especially those connected to troubled reconstruction projects in Iraq.
It's an example of corporate greed at its worst. This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years. At the same time they'll be avoiding U.S. taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold, hard U.S. cash." Remember, over $9 million dollars are unaccounted for in Iraq. Nice, isn't it.
The announcement sparked warnings from members of Congress, who suspected that the company once run by Vice President Cheney was trying to trim its tax bill and remove itself from the limelight here, where it has come under fire about the way it obtained and executed government contracts, especially those connected to troubled reconstruction projects in Iraq.
It's an example of corporate greed at its worst. This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years. At the same time they'll be avoiding U.S. taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold, hard U.S. cash." Remember, over $9 million dollars are unaccounted for in Iraq. Nice, isn't it.
more dirty every day
Seven U.S. attorneys were fired on Dec. 7, and another was fired months earlier, with little explanation from the Justice Department. Several former prosecutors have since alleged intimidation, including improper telephone calls from GOP lawmakers or their aides, and have alleged threats of retaliation by a Justice Department official.
While it is unclear whether the documents will answer Congress's questions, they show that the White House and other administration officials were more closely involved in the dismissals, and at a much earlier date, than they have previously acknowledged.
I recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. Attorneys," Sampson wrote to Harriet Miers in January 2006.Now she has resigned from the White House. You remember her, she was rejected primarily by the Republican Senators for the Supreme Court. Another fall guy(lady).
The documents also provide new details about the case of Griffin, a former Rove aide and Republican National Committee researcher who was named interim U.S. attorney in Little Rock in December.
E-mails show that Justice officials discussed bypassing the two Democratic senators in Arkansas, who normally would have had input into the appointment, as early as last August. By mid-December, Sampson was suggesting that Gonzales exercise his newfound appointment authority to put Griffin in place until the end of Bush's term.
Karl Rove had an early conversation with Miers about the idea of firing all chief prosecutors and did not think it was wise. Aha, the dirty hands of Rove, and Bush didn't know anything. "Ya, right!
The neocon republicans get more dirty every day.
.
While it is unclear whether the documents will answer Congress's questions, they show that the White House and other administration officials were more closely involved in the dismissals, and at a much earlier date, than they have previously acknowledged.
I recommend that the Department of Justice and the Office of the Counsel to the President work together to seek the replacement of a limited number of U.S. Attorneys," Sampson wrote to Harriet Miers in January 2006.Now she has resigned from the White House. You remember her, she was rejected primarily by the Republican Senators for the Supreme Court. Another fall guy(lady).
The documents also provide new details about the case of Griffin, a former Rove aide and Republican National Committee researcher who was named interim U.S. attorney in Little Rock in December.
E-mails show that Justice officials discussed bypassing the two Democratic senators in Arkansas, who normally would have had input into the appointment, as early as last August. By mid-December, Sampson was suggesting that Gonzales exercise his newfound appointment authority to put Griffin in place until the end of Bush's term.
Karl Rove had an early conversation with Miers about the idea of firing all chief prosecutors and did not think it was wise. Aha, the dirty hands of Rove, and Bush didn't know anything. "Ya, right!
The neocon republicans get more dirty every day.
.
12 March, 2007
more to come
When HBO produced an acclaimed (and apolitical) documentary last year about military medics’ remarkable efforts to save lives in Iraq, "Baghdad ER," Army brass at the last minute boycotted planned promotional screenings in Washington and at Fort Campbell, Ky. In a memo, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley warned that the film, though made with Army cooperation, could endanger veterans’ health by provoking symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The General Kiley who was so busy policing an HBO movie for its potential health hazards is the same one who did not correct the horrific real-life conditions on his watch at Walter Reed. After the Post exposé was published, he tried to spin it by boasting that most of the medical center’s rooms "were actually perfectly O.K." and scapegoating "soldiers leaving food in their rooms" for the mice and cockroach infestations.
That this guy is still surgeon general of the Army — or was as of Friday — makes you wonder what he, like Mr. Libby, has on his superiors.
The General Kiley who was so busy policing an HBO movie for its potential health hazards is the same one who did not correct the horrific real-life conditions on his watch at Walter Reed. After the Post exposé was published, he tried to spin it by boasting that most of the medical center’s rooms "were actually perfectly O.K." and scapegoating "soldiers leaving food in their rooms" for the mice and cockroach infestations.
That this guy is still surgeon general of the Army — or was as of Friday — makes you wonder what he, like Mr. Libby, has on his superiors.
update Iraq
They have admitted to 3190 sacrificed (McCain's word) but who knows with so many lies and such deceit.
10 March, 2007
longterm cost est. $2.5 trillion
At the beginning of this year, the Pentagon was putting out a figure of roughly 23,000 wounded, but the VA was quietly saying that more than 50,000 had, in fact, been wounded.
Matters did not rest there. Despite its independence from the Pentagon, the VA is run by Robert James Nicholson, a former Republican Party chairman and Bush's loyal political appointee. Following it coming to light that the VA was admitting more wounded than was the Pentagaon- on 10 January, to be precise - the number of wounded listed on the VA website dropped from 50,508 to 21,649. The Bush administration had, once again, turned reality on its head to concur with its claims.
"The whole thing is scary," one observor said. "I have never been conspiracy-minded, but watching them change the numbers on the VA website - it's extraordinary."
So far, more than 200,000 veterans from the current Iraq or Afghanistan wars have been treated at VA centers. Twenty per cent of those brought home are suffering from serious brain or spinal injuries, or the severing of more than one limb, and a further 20 per cent from amputations, blindness or deafness, severe burns, or other dire conditions.
Furthermore, every person injured on active duty is going to be a long-term cost of the war now estimated to be over $2.5 trillion.
Matters did not rest there. Despite its independence from the Pentagon, the VA is run by Robert James Nicholson, a former Republican Party chairman and Bush's loyal political appointee. Following it coming to light that the VA was admitting more wounded than was the Pentagaon- on 10 January, to be precise - the number of wounded listed on the VA website dropped from 50,508 to 21,649. The Bush administration had, once again, turned reality on its head to concur with its claims.
"The whole thing is scary," one observor said. "I have never been conspiracy-minded, but watching them change the numbers on the VA website - it's extraordinary."
So far, more than 200,000 veterans from the current Iraq or Afghanistan wars have been treated at VA centers. Twenty per cent of those brought home are suffering from serious brain or spinal injuries, or the severing of more than one limb, and a further 20 per cent from amputations, blindness or deafness, severe burns, or other dire conditions.
Furthermore, every person injured on active duty is going to be a long-term cost of the war now estimated to be over $2.5 trillion.
we have been shocked and awed
In six years, the neocon republican administration achieved the near-impossible. It made the US a pariah state alienating the whole Muslim world and vast numbers more everywhere including growing numbers at home with George Bush's approval rating at numbers approaching the lowest ever for a US president.
Its policies of permanent war on the world, repression at home, entrenched corruption, worship of wealth and privilege, and indifference to human needs and the people he was elected to serve already destroyed any notion the country is a model democratic state or that Bush and his neocon fanatics should be governing it.
Their imperial arrogance accelerated the country's fading global hegemony well advanced since the 1970s and likely irreversible. They buried the nation's influence and dominance in Iraq's smoldering sands and Afghanistan's rubble that are now both graveyards for US ambitions in those regions and beyond.
If the they attack Iran, all bets are off on what's to come. The echoes of Waterloo could turn George Bush's Middle East adventurism into his inadvertent Samson option by expanding the Iraq conflict to a regional one with impossible to predict consequences that won't be good for Western interests and especially US ones.
It will inflame the region and produce a tsunami of Shia rage and solidarity enough to inflame and unite the whole Muslim world in fierce opposition to America, its culture and people. It may irrevocably transform the region making it unwelcome for decades or longer to anything Western.
There are none more dangerous than these neocons republicans who are so unpopular but remain in control of our country.
Its policies of permanent war on the world, repression at home, entrenched corruption, worship of wealth and privilege, and indifference to human needs and the people he was elected to serve already destroyed any notion the country is a model democratic state or that Bush and his neocon fanatics should be governing it.
Their imperial arrogance accelerated the country's fading global hegemony well advanced since the 1970s and likely irreversible. They buried the nation's influence and dominance in Iraq's smoldering sands and Afghanistan's rubble that are now both graveyards for US ambitions in those regions and beyond.
If the they attack Iran, all bets are off on what's to come. The echoes of Waterloo could turn George Bush's Middle East adventurism into his inadvertent Samson option by expanding the Iraq conflict to a regional one with impossible to predict consequences that won't be good for Western interests and especially US ones.
It will inflame the region and produce a tsunami of Shia rage and solidarity enough to inflame and unite the whole Muslim world in fierce opposition to America, its culture and people. It may irrevocably transform the region making it unwelcome for decades or longer to anything Western.
There are none more dangerous than these neocons republicans who are so unpopular but remain in control of our country.
mess we have created
The mess we have created:
This administration seems to be getting ready to make -- at a much more significant, escalated level -- the same mistake we made in Iran that we made in Iraq. If Iraq has been a disaster, this would be multiple times Iraq. The extent to which this could be the horror of the twenty-first century is hard to exaggerate.
Even in the best-case scenario, the disaster we're seeing now is nothing compared to the disaster that we'll see after we leave. The real issue here is American interest: The longer we stay, the more people we get killed. I don't think the longer we stay, the better we make Iraq. Probably the reverse.
People are talking about a reconciliation process, but Iraqi Shias don't want to compromise with the Sunnis. They don't have to. There's going to be a genocide of Sunnis in Baghdad. The Shia have the numbers to do it; they can absorb all the Sunni car bombs it takes. The Americans aren't capable of stopping it; they can't tell a Sunni from a Shia. The best you can hope for is that it doesn't spill into the neighboring countries.
Whatever else happens, our country's international standing has been frittered away by these neocon republicans who don't have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment.. If a they are stupid, it makes a big difference.
This administration seems to be getting ready to make -- at a much more significant, escalated level -- the same mistake we made in Iran that we made in Iraq. If Iraq has been a disaster, this would be multiple times Iraq. The extent to which this could be the horror of the twenty-first century is hard to exaggerate.
Even in the best-case scenario, the disaster we're seeing now is nothing compared to the disaster that we'll see after we leave. The real issue here is American interest: The longer we stay, the more people we get killed. I don't think the longer we stay, the better we make Iraq. Probably the reverse.
People are talking about a reconciliation process, but Iraqi Shias don't want to compromise with the Sunnis. They don't have to. There's going to be a genocide of Sunnis in Baghdad. The Shia have the numbers to do it; they can absorb all the Sunni car bombs it takes. The Americans aren't capable of stopping it; they can't tell a Sunni from a Shia. The best you can hope for is that it doesn't spill into the neighboring countries.
Whatever else happens, our country's international standing has been frittered away by these neocon republicans who don't have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment.. If a they are stupid, it makes a big difference.
09 March, 2007
should not be tax exempt
Among the leading GOP contenders, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani favors abortion rights and domestic partnerships for gays and has a messy marital history. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and shifting positions on social issues have raised eyebrows of Christian fundamentalists.
And Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose loss to Bush in 2000 was helped along by the coalition after he called TV preachers Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance," is viewed skeptically by many religious conservatives.
Even by its own admission, the coalition, which was founded by Robertson and which for years served as a key ally for conservative candidates, faces a changed landscape. Scads of other conservative Christian organizations concerned with many of the same issues, with opposition to abortion and gay marriage at the top of the list, now vie for candidate attention and may offer endorsements.
With no overarching conservative Christian group anointing a candidate, this season's GOP primary process is "much more open, much more decentralized and, frankly, much more complicated," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Institute's Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Robertson launched the coalition as he ran for the White House in 1988. While his candidacy for the Republican nomination faltered, religious conservatives were emboldened to demand a greater voice in the GOP. Led by its charismatic and politically shrewd executive director, Ralph Reed, the coalition gained influence in the early 1990s.
After Reed stepped down in 1997 to court Christian conservative voters for Bush's 2000 campaign, that influence began to wane. In 2001, Robertson severed ties with the coalition to concentrate on his ministry. Randall Balmer, a religion and politics expert at Barnard College, said that when Reed left the coalition, "they lost their best strategist."
Add to that a whiff of impropriety stemming from Reed's ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and it shows that once-powerful Christian conservative personalities "are not the kind of moral avatars that they claim to be," Balmer said. "The religious right is simply collapsing beneath its own weight."
Money also has been a problem. Records show the coalition had $17,498 in cash and $1.7 million in debt at the end of 2005 after raising $2.3 million. A year earlier, it had $150,921 in cash and debt of $2.2 million, with only $1.1 million donated. Theses groups ought to be declared a political party and donations should NOT be tax exempt.
And Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose loss to Bush in 2000 was helped along by the coalition after he called TV preachers Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance," is viewed skeptically by many religious conservatives.
Even by its own admission, the coalition, which was founded by Robertson and which for years served as a key ally for conservative candidates, faces a changed landscape. Scads of other conservative Christian organizations concerned with many of the same issues, with opposition to abortion and gay marriage at the top of the list, now vie for candidate attention and may offer endorsements.
With no overarching conservative Christian group anointing a candidate, this season's GOP primary process is "much more open, much more decentralized and, frankly, much more complicated," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Institute's Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Robertson launched the coalition as he ran for the White House in 1988. While his candidacy for the Republican nomination faltered, religious conservatives were emboldened to demand a greater voice in the GOP. Led by its charismatic and politically shrewd executive director, Ralph Reed, the coalition gained influence in the early 1990s.
After Reed stepped down in 1997 to court Christian conservative voters for Bush's 2000 campaign, that influence began to wane. In 2001, Robertson severed ties with the coalition to concentrate on his ministry. Randall Balmer, a religion and politics expert at Barnard College, said that when Reed left the coalition, "they lost their best strategist."
Add to that a whiff of impropriety stemming from Reed's ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and it shows that once-powerful Christian conservative personalities "are not the kind of moral avatars that they claim to be," Balmer said. "The religious right is simply collapsing beneath its own weight."
Money also has been a problem. Records show the coalition had $17,498 in cash and $1.7 million in debt at the end of 2005 after raising $2.3 million. A year earlier, it had $150,921 in cash and debt of $2.2 million, with only $1.1 million donated. Theses groups ought to be declared a political party and donations should NOT be tax exempt.
07 March, 2007
neocon republicans lied us into war
Could it be that Cheney feared that if the country knew it was his inquiry that led to the Africa trip then he, the president’s right-hand man, could be expected to have gotten a full report on the trip’s findings.
In that case, Cheney would have known a year ahead of time that there was no deal by Saddam Hussein to buy uranium yellowcake in Niger.
He should therefore have kept the president from making that assertion in his 2003 State of the Union that "British intelligence" reported a Saddam effort to buy uranium from Africa.
That assertion of a nuclear threat from Iraq is what tilted this country toward war.
In that case, Cheney would have known a year ahead of time that there was no deal by Saddam Hussein to buy uranium yellowcake in Niger.
He should therefore have kept the president from making that assertion in his 2003 State of the Union that "British intelligence" reported a Saddam effort to buy uranium from Africa.
That assertion of a nuclear threat from Iraq is what tilted this country toward war.
lies and liars
The charges against Mr. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide and alter ego, have unfolded over the last two years as an overwrought Washington opera, rich with White House intrigue, insider journalism and the polarized politics and lies justifying the Iraq war. Let’s add it up.
Prosecutors played a tape of Mr. Libby testifying to a grand jury that Mr. Cheney had asked Bush to declassify an intelligence report selectively so he, Mr. Libby, could leak it to sympathetic reporters
Nine conversations about Wilson’s wife with eight different people. Mr. Libby claimed to remember none of them. He had a motive to lie, and the motive to lie matched up exactly with the lie. That’s where your common sense kicks in. What's the big deal. They have been lying since they took office.
Prosecutors played a tape of Mr. Libby testifying to a grand jury that Mr. Cheney had asked Bush to declassify an intelligence report selectively so he, Mr. Libby, could leak it to sympathetic reporters
Nine conversations about Wilson’s wife with eight different people. Mr. Libby claimed to remember none of them. He had a motive to lie, and the motive to lie matched up exactly with the lie. That’s where your common sense kicks in. What's the big deal. They have been lying since they took office.
sacrificed up in Iraq
Admitted----------3185(up 16 in 3 days) sacrificed and 32,544 wounded,(hasn't changed in a week--I don't believe it) not including "contractors" and innocents in Iraq.
06 March, 2007
tax exempt organizations
Mr. Haggard resigned as president of the 30-million-member National Association of Evangelicals in November 2006 and was removed as senior pastor of the New Life megachurch after a former male prostitute said that he had had a three-year sexual relationship with Mr. Haggard and had helped him obtain methamphetamines.
In the wake of a scandal involving its founding pastor, the Rev. Ted Haggard, the New Life Church in Colorado Springs has been forced to lay off 44 of its 350 workers to offset a sharp drop in donations.
Apparently, their revenue for 2006 was approximately almost $16 million, WHICH WAS FEDERALLY TAX EXEMPT, and at least some of which went to fincancing their political agenda. We need to audit these exempt organizations.
In the wake of a scandal involving its founding pastor, the Rev. Ted Haggard, the New Life Church in Colorado Springs has been forced to lay off 44 of its 350 workers to offset a sharp drop in donations.
Apparently, their revenue for 2006 was approximately almost $16 million, WHICH WAS FEDERALLY TAX EXEMPT, and at least some of which went to fincancing their political agenda. We need to audit these exempt organizations.
05 March, 2007
more lies
From Fort Dix in New Jersey: "Scare tactics are used against soldiers who will write sworn statement to assist fellow soldiers for their medical needs."
From Fort Campbell in Kentucky: "There were yellow signs on the door stating our barracks had asbestos."
Sandy Karen was horrified when her 21-year-old son was discharged from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego a few months ago and told to report to the outpatient barracks, only to find the room swarming with fruit flies, trash overflowing and a syringe on the table.
"The staff sergeant says, 'Here are your linens' to my son, who can't even stand up," said Karen, of Brookeville, Md. "This kid has an open wound, and I'm going to put him in a room with fruit flies?" She took her son to a hotel instead.
Stories of neglect and substandard care have flooded in from soldiers, their family members, veterans, doctors and nurses working inside the system. They describe depressing living conditions for outpatients at other military bases around the country
Sgt. William A. Jones had recently written to his Arizona senators complaining about abuse at the VA hospital in Phoenix. He had written to the president before that. "Not one person has taken the time to respond in any manner," Jones said in an e-mail. (Isn't McCain a senator from Arizona)
AND where has the AMERICAN LEGION been? Too busy parroting the neocon republican agenda, that's where!
On top of all that, America was told by these neocon republicans who have controlled everything for the past 5 years that the wounded were being taken care of. They even lied about that.
From Fort Campbell in Kentucky: "There were yellow signs on the door stating our barracks had asbestos."
Sandy Karen was horrified when her 21-year-old son was discharged from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego a few months ago and told to report to the outpatient barracks, only to find the room swarming with fruit flies, trash overflowing and a syringe on the table.
"The staff sergeant says, 'Here are your linens' to my son, who can't even stand up," said Karen, of Brookeville, Md. "This kid has an open wound, and I'm going to put him in a room with fruit flies?" She took her son to a hotel instead.
Stories of neglect and substandard care have flooded in from soldiers, their family members, veterans, doctors and nurses working inside the system. They describe depressing living conditions for outpatients at other military bases around the country
Sgt. William A. Jones had recently written to his Arizona senators complaining about abuse at the VA hospital in Phoenix. He had written to the president before that. "Not one person has taken the time to respond in any manner," Jones said in an e-mail. (Isn't McCain a senator from Arizona)
AND where has the AMERICAN LEGION been? Too busy parroting the neocon republican agenda, that's where!
On top of all that, America was told by these neocon republicans who have controlled everything for the past 5 years that the wounded were being taken care of. They even lied about that.
Iraq escalation only
During a White House meeting last week, a group of governors asked President Bush and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about their backup plan for Iraq. What would the administration do if its new strategy didn't work?
The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. These neocon republicans cannot admit that they were and are wrong ,so, this is the same old escalation with no alternatives. How nice.
The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. These neocon republicans cannot admit that they were and are wrong ,so, this is the same old escalation with no alternatives. How nice.
04 March, 2007
killing innocent women and children
merican troops opened fire on a highway filled with civilian cars and bystanders today, American and Afghan officials said, in an incident that the Americans said left 16 civilians dead and 24 wounded as they fled the scene of a suicide car bombing in eastern Afghanistan. One American was also wounded.
And there were differences in some of the accounts of the incident, with the Americans saying that the civilians were caught in crossfire between the troops and militants, and Afghan witnesses and some authorities blaming the Americans for indiscriminately shooting at civilian vehicles in anger after the explosion.
Yet some of the wounded interviewed in the hospital by news agencies said the only shooting came from the American troops. A hospital official, who asked not to be named, said all the wounded were suffering from bullet wounds and not shrapnel from the bomb explosion.
"They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and was shot twice in his right hand. "They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot."
Some of the wounded interviewed by The Associated Press said the soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on passing cars and pedestrians on the busy main road.
"When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. "It was a convoy of three American Humvees. All three Humvees were firing around."
And there were differences in some of the accounts of the incident, with the Americans saying that the civilians were caught in crossfire between the troops and militants, and Afghan witnesses and some authorities blaming the Americans for indiscriminately shooting at civilian vehicles in anger after the explosion.
Yet some of the wounded interviewed in the hospital by news agencies said the only shooting came from the American troops. A hospital official, who asked not to be named, said all the wounded were suffering from bullet wounds and not shrapnel from the bomb explosion.
"They were firing everywhere, and they even opened fire on 14 to 15 vehicles passing on the highway," said Tur Gul, 38, who was standing on the roadside by a gas station and was shot twice in his right hand. "They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot."
Some of the wounded interviewed by The Associated Press said the soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on passing cars and pedestrians on the busy main road.
"When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said 15-year-old Mohammad Ishaq, who was hit by two bullets, in his left arm and his right ear. "It was a convoy of three American Humvees. All three Humvees were firing around."
more republican lies
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) had previously declined to comment in detail, but told the Associated Press that he had "no idea" who had contacted Federal Attorney David Iglesias, who is one of eight federal attorneys who have been fired, one just to make room for one of Karl Rove’s cronies.
After Congress is investigating and issued subpoenas, Domenici admits that he did call to “inquire” about the status of an ongoing corruption probe of Democrats, saying he regretted the call but claims "never pressured him nor threatened him in any way."
After Congress is investigating and issued subpoenas, Domenici admits that he did call to “inquire” about the status of an ongoing corruption probe of Democrats, saying he regretted the call but claims "never pressured him nor threatened him in any way."
who controls the USA
Today's America is no democracy -- it's a degenerating tyranny, disfigured by its military-industrial-governmental cancer. Our people are increasingly ashamed and terrified of their government, and rightly so, because we have no control over it, and it's become a deceitful monstrous danger to us and to the health of the planet.
under control of the few elite
Imperial Rome had its elite praetorian guard to protect and serve its emperors. The CIA here works the same way as a private army for the President that in the end will go his way as it did producing phony intelligence the Bush administration used to justify war with Iraq. It has secret units and mercenaries operating in countries around the world including Iran AND it's not alone.
Last year the Pentagon took a super-secret spy unit at Fort Belvoir, Va., from the Army and put it under direct control of the Pentagon. The unit, code–named Task Force Orange and now under the Pentagon specializes in infiltrating foreign countries, tailing people and intercepting communications. Operatives have dug up fiber-optic telephone lines overseas and attached a listening device for the National Security Agency.
The task force features veteran warriors, intelligence officers and technical wizards who use electronic devices in innovative ways. It maintains its own fleet of airplanes at a Washington-area
Last year the Pentagon took a super-secret spy unit at Fort Belvoir, Va., from the Army and put it under direct control of the Pentagon. The unit, code–named Task Force Orange and now under the Pentagon specializes in infiltrating foreign countries, tailing people and intercepting communications. Operatives have dug up fiber-optic telephone lines overseas and attached a listening device for the National Security Agency.
The task force features veteran warriors, intelligence officers and technical wizards who use electronic devices in innovative ways. It maintains its own fleet of airplanes at a Washington-area
failure in Iraq
Baghdad's mayor lashed out at the United States yesterday – for spending huge sums on projects to collect rubbish and plant trees while his devastated war-torn city struggles without electricity. The city is not expected to have a proper electricity supply for another six years at least. At a meeting in the city's Green Zone the mayor, Sabir al-Isawi, interrupted US officials in the middle of a presentation to key Iraqi officials, to say these schemes are "not what the people want".
why Iran?
Consider the correlation of forces behind a new war.
Israel wants Iran attacked yesterday. The neocon republicans need a new war to make America forget the disaster that they wrought in Iraq. Democratic candidates must be seen as hawkish as Giuliani and McCain. And the deadline for Iran to comply with UN Security Council directives to halt its enrichment of uranium is Feb. 23. What then is holding us back from war?
It is the realization, even on the part of the noisiest republican hawks, that war on Iran could precipitate a disaster worse than defeat in Iraq. A Shia uprising against U.S. troops could turn the Green Zone into Dien Bien Phu. Attacks on tankers and pipelines could send oil to $200 a barrel. America would have no international support and would receive virtually universal condemnation.
And like the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, bombing Iran could unite Iranians behind their rulers. Shia insurgencies could be ignited against Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Hezbollah could bring down the Lebanese government and attack Americans in the Middle East and perhaps here in the United States.
And what would an attack accomplish besides setting back an Iranian nuclear-enrichment program that by most reports is a bust?
What is the threat? Iran has no missiles that can reach us, no atom bombs.
Though the Mullahs have been in power 27 years, they have yet to launch their first war. The war they fought was in self-defense. They can no more want a Sunni-Shia regional war than we, for they would be in the isolated minority. They want the Taliban kept out of Kabul and Iraq to remain united under a Shia.
I believe the real reason is: If Bush goes home with Iran’s nuclear program not shut down, his legacy will be Iraq and a failed presidency. The Bush Doctrine—no nukes in rogue states—will have been defied by Pyongyang and Tehran.
Israel wants Iran attacked yesterday. The neocon republicans need a new war to make America forget the disaster that they wrought in Iraq. Democratic candidates must be seen as hawkish as Giuliani and McCain. And the deadline for Iran to comply with UN Security Council directives to halt its enrichment of uranium is Feb. 23. What then is holding us back from war?
It is the realization, even on the part of the noisiest republican hawks, that war on Iran could precipitate a disaster worse than defeat in Iraq. A Shia uprising against U.S. troops could turn the Green Zone into Dien Bien Phu. Attacks on tankers and pipelines could send oil to $200 a barrel. America would have no international support and would receive virtually universal condemnation.
And like the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, bombing Iran could unite Iranians behind their rulers. Shia insurgencies could be ignited against Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Hezbollah could bring down the Lebanese government and attack Americans in the Middle East and perhaps here in the United States.
And what would an attack accomplish besides setting back an Iranian nuclear-enrichment program that by most reports is a bust?
What is the threat? Iran has no missiles that can reach us, no atom bombs.
Though the Mullahs have been in power 27 years, they have yet to launch their first war. The war they fought was in self-defense. They can no more want a Sunni-Shia regional war than we, for they would be in the isolated minority. They want the Taliban kept out of Kabul and Iraq to remain united under a Shia.
I believe the real reason is: If Bush goes home with Iran’s nuclear program not shut down, his legacy will be Iraq and a failed presidency. The Bush Doctrine—no nukes in rogue states—will have been defied by Pyongyang and Tehran.
03 March, 2007
neocon republican war
Admitted----------3169 sacrificed, 32,544 wounded, not including "contractors" and innocents in Iraq. British are drawing down their troops from Iraq but our neocon republicans are not only escalating but are wanting more war by talking regime change in Iran if they can't talk the Iraelis into doing it for us.
veterans vs the neocons
The Bush-Cheney regime is America’s first Neoconservative Republican regime. In a few short years, they have destroyed the Bill of Rights, the Separation of Powers, the Geneva Conventions, and the remains of America’s moral reputation in the world, AND the humane treatment of our veterans.
Our Armed Forces are stretched too thin so they are using our citizen soldiers that are not as well trained or equiped thus putting them in the short term and us in the long term at greater risk.
I don't know about you, but I am outraged at the treatment of our wounded veterans, not just at Walter Reed. All I heard for five years is " I am the Commander-in Chief, "I am the Decider"." Now he says, " Let me help fix it" like it is someone else's fault.
Pray that God shows us the way to get these people out of our government and return it to the will of the people.
Our Armed Forces are stretched too thin so they are using our citizen soldiers that are not as well trained or equiped thus putting them in the short term and us in the long term at greater risk.
I don't know about you, but I am outraged at the treatment of our wounded veterans, not just at Walter Reed. All I heard for five years is " I am the Commander-in Chief, "I am the Decider"." Now he says, " Let me help fix it" like it is someone else's fault.
Pray that God shows us the way to get these people out of our government and return it to the will of the people.
01 March, 2007
grounds for impeachment?
Are the below grounds to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney?
1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal "War of Aggression" against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization, and subjecting our military personnel to unnecessary harm, debilitating injuries, and deaths.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
6. Violating the Constitution by using "signing statements" to defy hundreds of laws passed by Congress.
7. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing honest elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
8. Violating U.S. law by using paid propaganda and disinformation, selectively and misleadingly leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation for political retribution.
9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing Presidential power by asserting a "Unitary Executive Theory" giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, and ignoring urgent warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior to Sept. 11, 2001.
1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal "War of Aggression" against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization, and subjecting our military personnel to unnecessary harm, debilitating injuries, and deaths.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
6. Violating the Constitution by using "signing statements" to defy hundreds of laws passed by Congress.
7. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing honest elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
8. Violating U.S. law by using paid propaganda and disinformation, selectively and misleadingly leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation for political retribution.
9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing Presidential power by asserting a "Unitary Executive Theory" giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, and ignoring urgent warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior to Sept. 11, 2001.
Republican tainted justice
David C. Iglesias, departing U.S. attorney in New Mexico, who said that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections, was fired after more than five years in office. He said he received the calls in October and believes that complaints from the lawmakers may have led the Justice Department to fire him late last year.
Iglesias produced statistics showing that his office's immigration prosecutions had risen more than 78 percent during his tenure and said the office prosecuted record numbers of narcotics and firearms cases as well.
Iglesias was among seven U.S. attorneys notified by phone on Dec. 7 that they were being fired without explanation. An eighth prosecutor, in Little Rock, also was removed in December, to make room for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove.
In addition to Iglesias's probe of Democrats, fired prosecutors in Arizona, Nevada and California were conducting corruption probes involving Republicans at the time of their dismissals.
Democratic-controlled House and Senate judiciary committees announced that they would issue subpoenas for testimony from Iglesias and other fired prosecutors if necessary.
Iglesias produced statistics showing that his office's immigration prosecutions had risen more than 78 percent during his tenure and said the office prosecuted record numbers of narcotics and firearms cases as well.
Iglesias was among seven U.S. attorneys notified by phone on Dec. 7 that they were being fired without explanation. An eighth prosecutor, in Little Rock, also was removed in December, to make room for a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove.
In addition to Iglesias's probe of Democrats, fired prosecutors in Arizona, Nevada and California were conducting corruption probes involving Republicans at the time of their dismissals.
Democratic-controlled House and Senate judiciary committees announced that they would issue subpoenas for testimony from Iglesias and other fired prosecutors if necessary.
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