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::fuzzy and blue --political musings by a proud Democrat::
::Author::  Name::Tina From::United States Married college graduate and parent who lives in the Mid West View my complete 
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005  Jesus said: Will you be a peacemaker OR a warmonger? Here is a list of Jesus' commandments for peacemaking. 
ChristianPeacemakerTeams: CPT confirmed on 11/29 that the 4 human rights workers went missing in Baghdad on 11/26. CPT is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite Churches (USA & Canada). The Baptist Peace Fellowship, Every Church a Peace Church, On Earth Peace and The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship are also sponsors of CPT. "We were very saddened to see the images of our loved ones on Al Jazeera TV. We are deeply disturbed by their abduction. We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon. We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the US and UK govts due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. CPT has worked for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused by the US govt (read CPTers letters here documenting their good works). We were the 1st people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of US forces, long before the western media admitted what was happening at Abu Ghraib. We are some of the few internatls left in Iraq who are telling the truth about what is happening to the Iraqi people We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the speedy release of our beloved teammates." While it is sad that anyone is kidnapped and/or murdered by their kidnappers in Iraq, this kidnapping is doubly sad b/c these are people who truly try to live as the 4 Gospels (that detail the peaceful, tolerant and loving Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth) ask them to live. These people are selflessly spreading the word of The Prince of Peace thru humanitarian aid-- they are not spreading the corrupt and sinister words of the nefarious god of the Religious Fright-- and don't let the lying God Squad tell you otherwise.
 Pix courtesy of Space Buddy 008.
epluribusMedia: "Parsley is working with Rev Russell Johnson & 900 other pastors to form a powerful religious-political coalition called the Ohio Restoration Project (ORP). They aim to establish a team of 2000 “Patriot Pastors” to guide their congregations in support of conservative Christian candidates, who will presumably move the OH legislature toward an agenda based on biblical text rather than on constitutional law. To achieve that, the ORP is diligently working to get one of its strongest proponents, Sec of State Kenneth Blackwell, elected Gov. But Parsley’s call to action has led other religious leaders in OH to speak out against the efforts of the ORP: "I know I’m not the only pastor that feels this way- the real silent folks are people of faith who are stunned by the direction this country has taken. The ORP is dismissive of non-Christians and of the poor. It’s incredibly hurtful, and I find it insulting to my faith. Parsley’s interpretation of what is moral and correct is just that- an interpretation. The danger is when they say it is the Truth, with a capital T. Then you end up with a narrow definition. Combine that w/rampant natlism like the religious rt is trying to do, and you get exactly what the Taliban does w/the Koran," said Rev Dr John Lentz Jr, pastor of Forest Hill Presbyterian Church- Cleveland Hts, OH. Why OH? In an interview w/ Focus on the Family, Parsley said that "OH is a hotbed. I believe very much in the geographic locating abilities of the Holy Spirit." Great, as if I needed more reasons to be afraid in OH. But could this be a ray of hope that sanity may be restored by keeping the wall of separation firm between church & state? Personally, I wouldn't mind throwing these "christian" fascists to a den of lions.
Ya have to read this insanity for yourself. My words can do it no justice: SFGate: Rummy says don't call 'em insurgents & what is he smoking?: "By golly the people who've been denigrating the Iraqi security forces are flat wrong." Wrong just like every 1 of your pre-war claims, asshat?
IndependentUK: Under Cheney's protection, "the Sec of Def moved out to do what they wanted to do in the 1st place". Asked whether Cheney was guilty of a war crime, Col Larry Wilkerson said it was it was certainly a domestic crime "to advocate terror", and "I would suspect it is for whatever it's worth, an internatl crime as well." Maybe the WH knows how complicit The Big Dick is in this, and that's why they aren't allowing any pilots to fly over his new house, even when he's not there, and why the WH will do whatever it takes to keep these images outta your hands: Ya have to see these pix to believe it. They are nasty. Hat tip to Waiting for Lefty.
WashPost: "When was the last time that Bush spoke in a forum open to citizens who are representative of the diverse array of views in the country? Certainly not since last Oct's presidential debates, and not often before then, either. During last yr's campaign, WH advance teams began screening audiences at Bush events to insure that only supporters were allowed in. After the election, that policy gave way to a new, "invite only" approach, in which tickets to so-called public events were distributed largely by Repub and business groups. Now Bush is in phase three, where almost everyone he appears before is either on the fedrl payroll or a Repub donor." This policy infuriates me for so many reasons. WE the people own this govt. WE the people own the WH. Not the prez. Not 1 single political party. Why should WE taxpayers fund presidential events to which the public is never welcome? If the thin-skinned & punk-ass bitch Bush can't handle dissent and discussion, then he should have never swore to uphold our Constitution b/c that document guarantees that WE the people have the right to dissent and the right to redress our grievances publicly... whether Bush the Girly Man can handle it or not.
 Yes, and it seems that McCain has to try to earn suck-up points with the Religious Fright and Opus Dei Catholics thru Santorum.
Just in case any of you ever foolishly doubted that McCain was truly a moderate and a NON wingnut GOPer, feast your eyes on this from Santorum's website: AZ Sen John McCain will attend fund-raisers this week in PA for fellow Repub Sen Rick Santorum, a Santorum spokeswoman said Sunday. "Sen McCain asked how he could help Sen Santorum in his re-election effort, and Sen Santorum is pleased that Sen McCain is willing to support him in this capacity." I know... try not to hurl vomit upon reading this tidbit of news. I knew McCain had zero integrity after he and his wife & adopted daughter were gangbanged by BushCo during the 2000 Election AND THEN McCain sawed off whatever testicles he had left w/a butterknife and appeared w/ the bells and whistles on for Dubya at the GOP Convention, but campaigning for "Man on Dog" Santorum? That simply goes beyond the pale. Even whores have standards.
BostonGlobe: "Former Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson said Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of postwar planning, and that underlings exploited Bush's detachment and made poor decisions. Wilkerson blamed Cheney, Rumsfeld and like-minded aides. He said Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, b/c "otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard." (Well, sometimes ya just have to call it like ya see it). Cheney's office, Rumsfeld aides and others argued "that the prez of the US is all-powerful, that as commander in chief the prez of the US can do anything he damn well pleases," Wilkerson said. He said he has almost, but not quite, concluded that Cheney and others in the administration deliberately ignored evidence of bad intelligence and looked only at what supported their case for war. Wilkerson, who left govt w/Powell in January, worked for Powell for 16 yrs, and said this in regards to Powell: "What he seems to be saying to me now is the prez failed to discipline the process the way he should have and that the prez is ultimately responsible for this whole mess." Again... ya have to call it as ya see it.
NYTimes: Let us pause and count the ways the conduct of the war in Iraq has damaged America's image and needlessly endangered the lives of those in the military: 1) Multilateralism was tossed aside. 2) The post-invasion fiasco muddied the reputation of military planners and caused unnecessary casualties. 3)The WMD myth undermined the credibility of US intelligence and Bush himself, and 4) The abuse of prisoners stole America's moral high ground. Now the use of a ghastly weapon called white phosphorus has raised questions about how careful the military has been in avoiding civilian casualties. It has also further tarnished America's credibility on internatl treaties and the rules of warfare. The US restricted the use of incendiaries like WP after Vietnam, and in 1983, an internatl convention banned its use against civilians. In fact, 1 of the many crimes ascribed to Saddam was dropping WP on Kurdish rebels and civilians in '91. The US should be leading the world, not dragging its feet, when it comes to WP or torture - because it's right and because all of us, including Americans, are safer in a world in which certain forms of conduct are regarded as too inhumane even for war.
CNN: Rep Randy Cunningham said Monday he is resigning from Congress after pleading guilty to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes in a criminal conspiracy involving at least 3 defense contractors. He acknowledged a conspiracy to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion, and Cunningham had taken bribes from contractors, which enabled him to buy a mansion, a suburban Washington condominium, a yacht and a Rolls Royce. Oddly enough, on the same day that 1 corrupt GOP Congressman admits his crimes, another corrupt GOP Congressman denies his crimes, has a rally and bashes Dems: DeLay criticized Dem leaders and told supporters at a rally Monday not to lose faith as he faces charges of campaign finance violations. DeLay and 2 GOP fund-raisers are accused of illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate donations to GOP candidates for the TX Legislature yet DeLay blames Dems for his problems: "They won't win by criminalizing politics or by the politics of personal destruction because we'll fight them every step of the way." I can only pray that DeLay (after a lengthy prison stay w/ lonely burly men) will come to be known as The Hummer instead of The Hammer.
It Has Been a Helluva Busy Weekend....  Aren't these 2 Christmas trees gorgeous? These trees belonged to Bill & Hillary Clinton in the '93 WH but I did put up and decorate 2 trees of my own this wkend: 1 for the family rm & 1 for the living rm, plus Hubby and I did gift shopping & we strung lights on our trees and bushes in our front yard and decorated the porch. Yeah, this decorating took ALL wkend long after we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our home for our familes but we wanted to get all of our decorating done asap to get it out of the way. Then when I sat down to post on my blog Sunday night-- to my horror-- my blog was completely locked up and I had to choose a new template to salvage my archives. So, maaany hrs later, and w/ a full fledged migraine that Imitrex is not even touching, I am only going to post this and then give it a go tomorrow w/my new look for Fuzzy and Blue. And oh yeah: I now have to completely redecorate the 1 Christmas tree b/c BabyGirl was chasing our poor kitty. Kitty is very fuzzy, very fat and very declawed, so when she tried to escape the clutches of BabyGirl (who hugs, squeezes, and kisses the poor cat 24 hrs a day), Kitty leapt for high ground... directly into the freshly decorated tree... which could not handle her 10lbs nor her futile attempts to "claw" her way up the tree, so the poor tree toppled over and half of my lights and ornaments are now destroyed. I am crawling into bed now but not before I take another Imitrex and half of a pain killer left over from when Hubby broke his foot early in 2005. 'Night all... and I'll be back tomorrow.
 Guess the Royal Marines forget the rules of Fightclub, eh?
SundayTimesUK: An investigation has been launched by the Ministry of Defence after the publication of a video apparently showing a violent initiation ceremony for Royal Marine recruits. In the film, naked marines are shown reportedly cheering as 2 new recruits are ordered to fight each other. Nekked Fightclub in the Royal Marines? Who'd a thunk it.
Reuters (via Rawstory): Former prime minister Iyad Allawi: "Abuse of human rights in Iraq is as bad now as it was under Saddam, if not worse. People are doing the same as (in) Saddam's time and worse. It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These are the precise reasons why we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things. We are hearing about secret police, secret bunkers where people are being interrogated. A lot of Iraqis are being tortured or killed in the course of interrogations." Gee Dubya... what spin will you put on this? Oh that's right, it'll just be the same old same old... you spin and lie while your numbers and your beloved war continues to circle the bowl.
TelegraphUK: A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked 2 investigations after it was posted on the internet. The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in UK or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of 100s of innocent Iraqis. Oh yeah... this will certainly win over the hearts and minds of Iraqis and Muslims. B/c I guess sodomizing them w/chemical lights and attaching electrodes to their nuts is not bad enough, huh?
Frank Rich's latest column "Dishonest, Reprehensible & Corrupt" bitchslaps the Bush WH hard on the spun lies about Iraq that are backfiring on this administration almost daily: "Each day brings slam-dunk evidence that the doomsday threats marshaled by the administration to sell the war weren't, in Cheney-speak, just dishonest and reprehensible but also corrupt and shameless. The more the pres and vice pres tell us that their mistakes were merely innocent byproducts of the same bad intelligence seen by everyone else in the world, the more we learn that this was not so. The web of half-truths and falsehoods used to sell the war did not happen by accident; it was woven by design and then foisted on the public by a PR operation built expressly for that purpose in the WH."
I like Dennis Kucinich for many reasons, but his absolute gift for cutting thru the GOP crap and calling a spade a spade is the quality I most admire about him. OneWorldU.S.Net: A budget-cutting bill that passed the House of Reps last wk has left countless groups (esp those advocating on behalf of the poor and the environment) devastated by what they say is irresponsible favoritism of rich individuals and corporations. Congressman Kucinich said: "If a budget is a statement of priorities for a nation, this budget bill speaks volumes about the misplaced priorities of this Congress. This budget chooses war over education, tax cuts over health care, special interests over need of the nation and rich over poor. This budget bill attempts to balance the deficits caused by the war in Iraq and the tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans squarely on the backs of poor and working class Americans."
 Something is seriously wrong w/Ohio's elections. And it has been on-going since at least the '04 Presidential Election. Pix courtesy of BigPath, which also takes an indepth look at some of the glaring inconsistencies in OH's elections. If this doesn't change, there is no hope of a democratic future for my state & America, or a Democratic future for my party.
CommonWonders (via BradBlog): The Columbus Dispatch’s survey of voters, conducted by mail, has historically been a reliable poll; it has been cited for its precision in the scholarly journal Public Opinion Quarterly and is considered far more accurate than telephone surveys. We know there’s cause to worry about the state of our democracy because of the historical accuracy of the Columbus Dispatch voter poll and the amazingly unexpected OH '05 election results. Of the 5 proposed amendments on the OH ballot, only Issue 1 was not related to the conduct of elections, unlike the other 4 proposed amendments and oddly enough its results were accurately forecast in the poll (predicted yes vote: 53%/ final yes vote: 54%). Issue 2 would have made absentee voting easier in OH, and all polls indicated high support for it. Prediction: 59% yes/ 33% no/ 9% undecided. The actual result: 36% yes/ whopping 63% no. Issue 3 would have lowered the campaign-contribution limits that a lame-duck legislature had raised a yr ago. Prediction: 61% yes/ 25% no/ 14% undecided. Actual result: 33% yes/ 66% no. Issue 4 would have controlled gerrymandering by establishing an independent board to draw congressional districts. Prediction: 31% yes/ 45% no/ 25% undecided. Result: 30% yes/ 69 % no. And for Issue 5, which would have establish an independent board instead of the secretary of state’s office to oversee elections, a 41% predicted yes vote shrank to 29%, while the no vote ballooned from 43 to 70%. Something stinks in OH's voting results... about as badly as they stunk in Nov '04.
 Here is the view from my family room's sliding glass door. It is 12 degrees outside as I post this, and we have several inches of snow covering everything in our backyard. We had a great Thanksgiving-- and I hope all of you did as well. I'm too tired, too cold, and too unmotivated to even think about early morning Christmas shopping marathons.
Please read Cindy's open letter to Bush that really rang true to me after I read this article in the Oregonian. Here is what Cindy has to say to the Prez: "George, you had everything handed to you on a silver platter. I don't blame you for using your family influence to get out of serving in Vietnam. I don't blame anyone for trying to get out of that disastrous and totally evil war. What I do blame you for is killing my son in another disastrous and evil war." Here is what Fran Rauschkolbs had to say about her son Jan: "Jan was in S Vietnam in 1969. The morning of May 25, he penned this note to his parents after his company had set up an ambush of the Vietcong: ". . . It's my job to search the bodies for papers and weapons. It was pretty gruesome touching stiff corpses with no heads or arms, and trying to take off packs was awful. . . I wish I could have had a camera to show someone what war is really all about if I am ever asked. The dead were nothing but kids of about 16." By 4 that afternoon, Jan was dead, killed in a mortar attack. "This," his mother says as she waves her hand around his bedroom that is still filled w/all of his belongings as he left them in 1968,"is what's left." But now, as the death toll in Iraq rises, Fran finds herself with the familiar sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thinks about the families, and how they will struggle, numb, through this season. More than turkey, more than pies, more than smooth gravy, all that anyone in those families can think of will be this: where they were when the car with those officers pulled in their driveway." How many more families have to suffer this fate?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2005 
 I know... Fuzzy and Blue is a song that Grover & Cookie Monster sing... but c'mon... ya know roasting Bird Bird is funny.
 Please pray to Our Lady of Thanksgiving. May she bless you with relief when you have indigestion from happily overeating.
 Hubby and Baby Girl in summer 2005
 Hubby and Baby Girl in summer 2003... and one of my most favorite and treasured pix of them. Yeah... daddy is so wrapped around her tiny finger. And because of them, I count my blessings everyday.
 What I wouldn't give for a case of avian flu to pop up. Funny, but turkeys are the only things Bush has ever pardoned from a death sentence. And what about this poor turkey? How will he ever show his beak to the other turkeys? He'll be lucky if the other turkeys don't peck him to death for appearing next to this jackass in the suit and tie & goofy smile.
NatlJournal (via BoomanTribune): Murray Waas unveils that Bush and Cheney, as well as Condi Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell, and their undersecretaries, had solid info there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 or Al Qaeda, but have refused to date to share this knowledge, contained in a President's Daily Briefing distributed 10 days after 9/11, and refused to share this w/members of Congress. The administration has refused to provide the Sept. 21 President's Daily Brief, even on a classified basis, and won't say anything more about it other than to acknowledge that it exists. Guess that shite that "we all had the same intelligence when we decided to vote for war" is blown right outta water, eh? But I'm sure yet ANOTHER lie will be spun to cover their asses on this, too & we can add this to their list of crimes.
The Wrinkled Prune speaks and you could fertilize your lawn with it: MSNBC: "Judging by her words Tues (the 1st after avoiding the public for 3 days) Schmidt doesn't understand what the fuss is about, and sees herself more as victim than villain. "I am amazed at what a natl story this has become. I have been attacked very personally, continuously since Fri evening." Tsk tsk... the wicked witch doesn't like it when the house falls on her. She recalls her Friday phone conversation w/Col Danny Bubp somewhat differently than he does: "I wrote down what he was saying. He did ask me to send a message to Congress, and he also said send a message to 'that congressman.' He did not know that congressman's name, but I did. Neither one of us knew he was a Marine." Schmidt said she had not noticed the numerous references to Murtha's military background in the newspaper, radio and TV accounts of his troop w/drawal proposal, made Thursday. "They keep us pretty busy." Yes, so busy being a Bush bitch-minion. And what about her beloved Bubp- the guy who campaigned for her in his Marine dress uniform, rebuking Schmidt's Iraq war veteran opponent Paul Hackett for criticizing "their commander in chief"? Well, he says this: "The comments and concerns I shared w/ Schmidt were never meant as a personal reference to Murtha. We never discussed anyone by name and there was no intent to ever disparage the congressman or his distinguished record of service for our nation." Hmm, nice suck up there Danny Boy, but I've looked and looked at the Marine regulations for the range of dress uniforms, and I don't see where one is allowed to whore out the uniform for a politician's campaign. Hmm, ya didn't know Murtha was a Marine... should we add doesn't know Marine uniform regulations, too?
GuardianUK: The attorney general Tues night threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents of a document allegedly relating to a dispute between Tony Blair and George Bush over the conduct of military operations in Iraq. Richard Wallace, editor of the Daily Mirror, said: "We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hrs later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]". Hmm... I wonder how long it will take before Sigfrido Ranucci, who made the "US used White Phosphorus in Iraq" documentary for Italian TV 2 wks ago, said that a US intelligence assessment had characterized WP after the first Gulf War as a "chemical weapon" but now claim that when the US uses it, it is not a chem weapon?
Gay.Com: Focus on the Family, which has a long history of opposing gay rts, plans to distribute 5000 stress balls at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade carrying the address of the organization's advice Web site. Focus on the Family said: "Our objective with this campaign is to reach as many of those people as possible (those who FotF say are living their lives in quiet desperation, hurting & struggling thru troubling situations because they just aren't sure where to turn for help) and offer them the help they desperately need." Hmm, that sounds so nice doesn't it? Until you visit TroubledWith.com and click on the homosexuality category, users will read long-discounted theories on sexuality, such as: "Male homosexuality is a developmental problem that is almost always the result of problems in family relations, particularly between father and son." Perhaps people have stress in their lives b/c Dobson and his Hate Crew want gay people to be hated, discriminated against, and barred from certain civil rights. The site also espouses these 3 main points: "homosexual behavior is against the design of human nature," "the tree of homosexuality bears bad fruit," and "to refuse limits on sexual desire is to make an idol of lust." I seriously hope some 6ft 4in drag queen bounces one of these stress balls off of the FotF members' heads OR lifts up his skirt and shows them HIS stress balls.
This story just pisses me off at so many levels, that I don't even know where to begin. Do ya all remember the pregnant high school senior who was barred from attending her graduation ceremony at her Catholic high school b/c she dared to have pre-marital sex YET the father of her baby was allowed to attend and participate in the event? Hmm, this boy admitted he was the father, so that would mean that he also engaged in pre-marital sex. So, if he wasn't guilty of this act, then how did she conceive?... immaculate conception? Well, this news outta NY is very similar to the hypocrisy of the above mentioned story. NYDailyNews: An unmarried rookie teacher at a Queens parochial school confessed to her principal she was pregnant - and was promptly fired for violating "Catholic morality." Now 26yr old Michelle McCusker has lost her health insurance and her $30K a yr job & she is suing, saying she was unfairly bounced just a month into her 1st full-time job as a preK teacher: "I don't understand how a religion that prides itself on forgiving and on valuing life could terminate me because I'm pregnant and choosing to have this baby," she said in between sobs w/her parents by her side. Said NYCLU's head of Reproductive Rights Anna Schissel: "The school fired her ostensibly for engaging in nonmarital sex but neither the school nor the diocese that runs the school enforces this policy against men." Church leaders said McCusker agreed to rules in their teacher personnel handbook, which states "a teacher is required to convey the teachings of the Catholic faith by his or her words and actions, demonstrating an acceptance of Gospel values and the Christian tradition." Hmm... how many teachers live their lives according to that? And how many priests live their lives according to that policy? If they did, I guess children would not have been raped and molested, eh?
The DemocraticDaily: Listen to Ed's interview w/John Kerry. Kerry bitchslaps the Bush WH in many ways, but he nails it when he says that when millions of people have and are (GM for instance) losing their jobs AND BushCo have and are pimping their beloved wealthy tax cuts to people who live off of the sweat of the mid class, and that borders on criminal behavior. Yep... as do so many things that this Bush WH does.
 Pop a few more pills Rush... but it still won't make your lie that Col Danny Bubp served in Iraq as a Marine on the ground true. Bubp NEVER served in any battle EVER.
Rush Limbaugh claimed this ABSOLUTE lie on his 11/21/05 show: RUSH: "I think they (Democrats) are all cowards. I think they get very defensive here. In fact, let me play this audio sound bite for you of Jean Schmidt on the floor of the House w/her message from Marine Col Danny Bubp... The House will be in order! Oh, the House was not in order because somebody -- a United States Marine on the ground in Iraq -- had the guts to get a message to the Dems in the House of Reps. "Cowards cut and run; Marines never do," and she prefaced it by saying, "I got a message for Congress and Murtha." These people on the ground over there, these people in uniform in Iraq, make no mistake about it: this kind of stuff offends them. They are volunteers. They have not been conscripted. They've not been sent over there against their wishes or against their will." Really Rush? Bubp WAS NOT nor was he EVER in any battle of any kind. Bubp's very own bio states that as a fact: 2003 - Served on the J-3 Staff at United States Central Command, Tampa, Florida for General Tommy Franks in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So Rush, was Bubp a Marine ON THE GROUND... in Tampa FL perhaps, ya drugged up fuckwit? Check the FACTS and give REALITY a try asshat. And by the way you self bloated drug addict... Bubp is now claiming that Jean the Wrinkled Prune Schmidt got their conversation all wrong, and Mean Jean is in complete hiding. Watch WKRC's news story here (includes the SNL spoof of her!)
MirrorUK: "A 'Top Secret' Number10 memo reveals that Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, but he was talked out of it at a WH summit by Tony Blair, who said it would cause worldwide backlash. On Monday, former Labour Def Min Peter Kilfoyle challenged Downing St to publish the 5pg transcript of the 2 leaders' conversation: "It's frightening to think that such a powerful man as Bush can propose such cavalier actions. I hope the Prime Minister insists this memo be published. It gives an insight into the mindset of those who were the architects of war." Bombing news stations in friendly nations? Oh that's right... Bush is just pissed that he can't buy off those reporters.
 I grew up in a home that revered JFK. You didn't dare speak ill of him b/c my parents respected his intelligence and eloquence above so many others of his time. My dad would frequently say this JFK quote w/bitter regret in his voice: "Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House." There was a porcelain plate of JFK that hung in our dining rm, so every meal I had was enjoyed w/the Prez. I don't care how many women he slept with (that was strictly personal business between him & Jackie) but what I wouldn't give to have a president like him now. May he forever rest in eternal peace. "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."--JFK. Visit here for more amazing JFK quotes.
Gee Congressman Murtha... how will the Repugs smear you now?: AlJazeera: "Iraqi leaders have put persistent differences to one side and agreed on their first joint statement, calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. Christian, Shia, Sunni and Kurdish leaders ended their 3day meeting sponsored by the Cairo-based Arab League, and the Iraqi leaders called for the w/drawal of US and British forces from Iraq by immediately setting a timetable for gradually rebuilding Iraq's armed forces. They also condemned attacks on Iraqi civilians, govt institutions and oil installations and called for the release of all detainees held w/out trial."
If the one legged Al Zarqawi even still exists (and I say this NOT in reference to the claim this past wkend that he may have been among the dead in Iraq, but rather to this March 2004 report that he WAS actually killed) b/c God knows the Bush WH would never lie or twist the truth for propaganda purposes, eh?... but if he exists (he is one fast on-the-run 1 legged man, no?) maybe this is why he hates us so much and hates the Jordanians so much: Zarqawi was regularly tortured by Jordanian intelligence officers. His former cellmate says this about Zarqawi: "He hated the intelligence services intensely." The former cellmate also added that maybe someone helps Zarqawi plan his terrorist operations b/c he wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box: "He had very little education, only medium intelligence. But he was very brave." Gee, it makes ya wonder how many of the people the US has tortured will turn around and seek vengeance on America? It also makes you wonder what kind of govt turns a blind eye to the blatant use of torture? Mark Fiore wonders about that too. Watch his answers here w/Knuckles the Torturer in "Hide & Go Secret".
Please read the op/ed in the Boston Globe on Bob Woodward's disappointing fall from grace: "And why shouldn't you be disturbed by Woodward's fall? As Watergate was about the war in Vietnam, so the Valerie Plame affair is about the war in Iraq. Woodward turns out to have been just another embedded reporter, doing the war-work of the Bush administration while pretending to be independent of it. But, speaking generally, the press has not been independent since the traumas of the autumn of 2001." Ain't it the truth? And please read formerFL Sen Bob Graham's piece called "What I Knew Before the Invasion." It blows the Bush bullshit of "the Dems had exactly the same intelligence info as me" right outta the water.
 These are Iraqi children playing on the destroyed remains of a radioactive tank. Just imagine American kids playing on something like this... Oh, nevermind... American kids have been playing on the contaminated remains of Abrams tanks... in the plains of Kansas.
SanFranBayView: UA taxpayers paid to ship the Abrams tanks to Iraq and to return them for disposal or re-building in the US. The tanks are 12 ft wide and weigh 70 tons, or 140,000 lbs. And across the plains of Kansas, these destroyed, radioactive Abrams tanks are perched on railroad flatcars; just sitting there and contaminating the KS environment w/depleted uranium, and they will be radioactive forever. From America to Iraq and back, these giant radioactive hulks can only sicken and kill Americans. On top of the sheer, unrelenting stupidity of playing w/ radiation w/unsuspecting soldiers, now the Neo-Cons are involving everyday citizens in their radiation madness. The Pentagon can't even follow simple radiation hazard instructions: Dr Doug Rokke is the Pentagon's former dir of the Army DU Project, & he said this about the radioactive tanks in KS: "The radioactive damaged Abrams tanks that were left unsecured on a KS railroad track are a perfect example of exactly how not to ship damaged radioactive equipment and how not to protect our Army's Abrams tanks from possible sabotage and compromise of classified battle systems." Oh yeah... BushCo has certainly made us all safer. And as far as KS goes, they are 1 of the reddest of the Red States AND they are waging an "intelligent design" war against science. Guess when their residents start popping up w/rare cancers due to DU exposure, they might rethink loving Bush and hating science, huh? Oh who the fuck am I kidding? They'll just pray for the cancer to *poof*!.. miraculously go away.
Despite all of the claims that the US does not torture, torture IS happening by us and right under our noses. W/the discovery of Iraqi torture rooms being used by Shia against Sunni prisoners, memories are evoked of the work of Saddam. The techniques, including the use of drills, were apparently taught to Iraqi police by Brit soldiers. The NYTimes editorial page sees the irony in Bush calling for an investigation into the Shia torture rooms, and it's apparently not buying into the Bush "We do not torture" line. And then there is this bombshell: CNN: Former Sec of State Colin Powell's aide Retired Army Col Larry Wilkerson said that Cheney provided the "philosophical guidance" and "flexibility" that led to the torture of detainees in US facilities that the practice of torture may be continuing in US run facilities. Wilkerson said: "There's no question in my mind that we did. There's no question in my mind that we may be still doing it. There's no question in my mind where the philosophical guidance and the flexibility in order to do so originated-- in the vice pres of the US' office. His implementer in this case was Donald Rumsfeld and the Defense Dept." At another pt in the interview, Wilkerson said "the vice prez had to cover this in order for it to happen and in order for Secretary Rumsfeld to feel as though he had freedom of action." Hope your insurance is all paid up Larry... b/c it is time for you turn up dead due an unfortunate "apparant suicide" or for a dead girl and a live boy to pop up in your bed.
AssocPress: The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in N America w/ an estimated membership of 1.5 million. Of the 3 major streams of US Judaism (Orthodox and Conservative are the others) it is the only 1 that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same sex couples. More than 2000 delegates of the Union for Reform Judaism voted on Sunday to oppose Alito's nomination to the Supm Crt, saying Alito would "shift the ideological balance of the Supm Crt on matters of core concern to the reform movement" on women's rts, abortion rts, civil rts and the scope of fedrl power. And Sen Biden dared to use the F word... yes... filibuster: The views that Alito expressed on reapportionment in a 20yr old document that was "to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly." Alito said: ""I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the govt argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a rt to an abortion." But as troubling as Alito's views were about abortion, racial/ethinic issues, Biden said he was most troubled by Alito's comment about reapportionment under the Supm Crt when it was led by Chf Just Earl Warren: "If he really believes that reapportionment is a questionable decision; that is, the idea of Baker v Carr, 1 man/1 vote-- then clearly, you'll find a lot of people, including me, willing to do whatever they can to keep him off the crt. That would include a filibuster, if need be," Biden said. Good to hear it... now have the balls to stick to it.
AssocPress: Rabbi Eric Yoffie, pres of the Union for Reform Judaism (the same Jewish Union that just voted to not support Alito's nomination) said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person." Rabbi Yoffie, the leader of the largest branch of US Judaism, blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's: "We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the 1st things that he did was ban gay organizations. Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry. What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's natl assembly in Houston, which ran thru Sunday, and the audience of 5000 responded to the speech w/enthusiastic applause. To that dear Rabbi, I say Mazal Tov! and if I had a glass of Manischewitz, I'd raise it to you.
CNN: Ruben Cantu was 17 in '84 when he was charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a man during an attempted robbery in San Antonio. The victim was shot 9 times w/ a rifle before the gunman unloaded more rounds into the only eyewitness. Cantu had always professed his complete innocence, and now that lone eyewitness has recanted: The eyewitness, Juan Moreno, told the Houston Chronicle that it wasn't Cantu who shot him. Moreno said he identified Cantu as the killer during his '85 trial because he felt pressured and was afraid of authorities. Meanwhile, Cantu's co-defendant, David Garza, recently signed a sworn affidavit saying he allowed his friend to be accused, even though Cantu wasn't even w/ him the night of the killing. I have said it before, the death penalty in this country is waaaay overused and should be reserved for only THE WORST cases known to law. I think only the most heinous of crimes is worthy of the death penalty; cases such as serial killings, mass murders, and crimes that involve sexual predators killing children. But this did happen in TX, so should we be shocked?
 Chet Donnelly... impatiently waiting for his brother Danny Bubp to get ready to go to their Republican book- burning/ NRA meeting.
 Col Danny Bubp... Jean the Wrinkled Prune Schmidt's beloved Marine Reservist --who has never seen battle (unlike John Murtha) nor has he ever served in our current war in Iraq (a war Bubp claims "cowards" end)-- and he is Weird Science's gun-happy Chet's long lost twin brother.
The Wrinkled Prune said: "A few mins ago I received a call from Col Danny Bop, OH Rep from the 88th district in the House of Reps. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do. Danny and the rest of America and the world want the assurance from this body - that we will see this through." Who's Bubp? Read his bio here or read his own words: Bubp, who grew up in Sardinia, calls the 88th district a "good Christian community" that's against abortion and same sex marriage and protective of its right to bear arms. (Gun- loving!- just like Chet) "That's the kind of district I want to serve in," said Bubp. Hmm, I don't recall ever reading about Jesus & His Disciples packing heat, have you? Most interesting to me is this part of his bio: "1978-Present - Continues to serve in US Marine Corps Reserve as a Colonel of Marines." So a Marine Reservist who is a colonel has not and/or is not served in Iraq why exactly??? It would seem to me that a War Fan like Bubp would dance an Irish jig to fight in this beloved war, no? Should we ask the Wrinkled Prune why her oh-so-noble (yet never saw any combat- unlike John Murtha) Bubp isn't in uniform in the middle of that Bush Bloodletting or should we ask him?
LATimes: 5 senior officials from Germany's Fedrl Intelligence Srvc (BND), said that they warned US intelligence authorities that the Iraqi defector named Curveball never claimed to produce germ weapons and never saw anyone else do so. According to the Germans, Bush mischaracterized Curveball's info when he warned before the war that Iraq had at least 7 mobile factories brewing biological poisons, and then-Secretary of State Powell also misstated Curveball's accounts in his prewar presentation to the UN on 2/5/03. Curveball's German handlers for the last 6 yrs said his info was often vague, mostly 2ndhand and impossible to confirm, and they say they had told US officials that his info was 'not proven,' and were shocked when Bush and Powell used it in key prewar speeches: "This was not substantial evidence. We made clear we could not verify the things he said." And it gets better: The German authorities said that their informant suffered from emotional & mental problems. "He is not a stable, psychologically stable guy," said a BND official who supervised the case. "He is not a completely normal person," agreed a BND analyst. Great... so American nutcases took the word of an ex-Iraqi nutcase when launching us into a war. Ach du liebe!
Bush went to church in China. Isn't it strange that he went all the way to China to go to church, given that he so rarely goes to church in America? Anyhoo-- he pulled this stunt b/c he thought he was being cute, ya know... promoting religious tolerance in the Communist country. In the church's guest book, Bush wrote "May God bless the Christians of China." Under the prez's inscription, the first lady wrote: "And with love and respect, Laura Bush." Hmm... so I guess in his phony-baloney quest to plead for religious freedom, Bush prefers that only the Christians of China are to be blessed, while all other faiths in China aren't worthy of a blessing, huh? In an effort to promote religious freedom, it is so diplomatic for a head of state to write that, no? Even if we forget how insensitive his statement is, what about the blatant hypocrisy of this: Christians who don't worship in state-controlled churches in China are regularly arrested. In fact, a priest and 10 seminarians were arrested on the eve of the Bush visit. The president played the Chinese govt's version of "Church" by following the rules and going to church where the govt allows people to go. All the while, Catholics, Evangelicals and other "outlaws" sit in jails and prison camps thru-out the country, and the Chinese govt has unofficially declared that religious activities must be curtailed. I wonder if while sitting in a Chinese pew if Bush-- our pretend champion of the unborn-- brought up the issue of Chinese enforced abortions at any trimester?
 Hey Jean Schmidt! Oh sorry... I thought you were somone else.
 YIKES! Sweet Jesus, Jean... stop scaring the children.
In little more than 24 hrs, Hastert and Repubs decided to cherry-pick Murtha's proposal and put the question to the House. At one pt in the heated debate, Rep Jean Schmidt (the wrinkled GOP prune from OH) told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel: "He asked me to send Congress a message - stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message - that cowards cut and run, Marines never do," Schmidt said. Dems then booed and shouted her down - causing the House to come to a standstill. Schmidt was then forced to retract her comments, lest she be censured by the House leadership. House rules do not allow members to impugn the integrity of any other members. Murtha is a fucking 37 yr Marine vet who won a Bronze Star and 2 Purple Hearts in Vietnam. THIS is a coward? Look you disease infested douchebag, I wish he'd get into your wrinkled prune face just as he did to that pathetic chickenhawk Cheney: On Cheney's lack of wartime experience. "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there," Murtha said. "I like that. I like guys who got 5 deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done." Oh who the fuck am I kidding?... Murtha wouldn't be able to get into a fight w/Schmidt b/c she's too occupied w/that house that fell on her.
 Tell John Murtha I'm busy--- Jean Schmidt
In-Forum: The House on Fri overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop w/drawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by Repubs that was intended to fail. Dems derided the vote as a political stunt b/c it was a STUNT: The Repub alternative to Murtha's proposal simply said: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of US forces in Iraq be terminated immediately." BUT Murtha's ACTUAL proposal said this: Murtha's own resolution would force the president to w/draw the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." It would establish a quick-reaction force and a nearby presence of Marines in the region. It also said the US must pursue stability in Iraq through diplomacy. So, since Murtha's actual proposal and the simpleton piece of shit that the GOP hacked up were nothing alike, the House voted 403-3 to reject the resolution offered by the GOP that called for the military to just *POOF*!... pull out of Iraq. Gee no wonder that like most Dems, Murtha voted against the measure. He said it was not the thoughtful approach he had suggested to bring the troops safely home in 6 months. But since when did the truth ever matter to the GOP?
RollingStone: "The Pentagon had secretly awarded Rendon a $16 million contract to target Iraq and other adversaries w/ propaganda. One of the most powerful people in DC, Rendon is a leader in the strategic field known as "perception management," manipulating info & by extension, the news media, to achieve the desired result. His firm, the Rendon Group, has made millions off govt contracts since '91, when it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions for the removal of Hussein from power." Working under this extraordinary transfer of secret authority, Rendon assembled a group of anti-Saddam militants, personally gave them their name (Iraqi Natl Congress) and served as their media guru and "sr adviser" as they set out to engineer an uprising against Saddam." You have to read this entire article to truly appreciate how hard BushCo worked to sell this illegal war to the world.
Reuters: The Pentagon's inspector genrl has agreed to review the prewar intelligence activities of former defense undersecretary Douglas Feith, a main architect of the Iraq war. A Reagan WH criminal like Feith is to be investigated for wrongdoing? Say it ain't so. Oh I'm sure Pat Roberts will stonewall this investigation just as solidly as he has everything else that involves the scrutiny of the trumping up of evidence. And secondly, the Pentagon investigating the Pentagon doesn't scare the shit out of you?? And why exactly should we trust any inspector general that Bush has appointed? Just read this by Billmon and tell me why.
 This was sent to me by my friend and fellow hard working Kerry/ Get out the Vote buddy Shane Brown. It is pure poetry, no? Pix courtesy of Church Sign Generator Com
You can watch the speech here, or read it at Stakeholder: Rep John Murtha (D-PA): "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. The US & coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq... Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action is not in the best interests of the USA, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region... The main reason for going to war has been discredited... The threat posed by terrorism is real, but we have other threats that cannot be ignored... The war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls. Our deficit is growing out of control... This is the first prolonged war we have fought w/3 yrs of tax cuts, w/o full mobilization of American industry and w/o a draft... Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the US can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home." Here's McClellan's smear of this Murtha: "He is a respected vet and politician who has a record of supporting a strong America. So it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Dem party. The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists. After seeing his statement, we remain baffled -- nowhere does he explain how retreating from Iraq makes America safer." And no where does staying in Iraq, killing, torturing, getting killed, maimed and squandering every tax payer dime make America safer either asshat.
ITV: "Admiral Turner, who ran the CIA from '77 to '81 said this when speaking of Bush's claims that the US does not use torture: ""I do not believe him". On Cheney he said "I'm embarrassed the US has a vice president for torture. He condones torture, what else is he?". Turner claims the secret CIA prisons used for torture known as 'black sites': terror suspects are picked up in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. "They are flown by CIA-controlled private aircraft to countries where there are secret interrogation centres, operating outside any country's jurisdiction. The Senate says torture should be banned - whatever the justification- but torture is condoned and even approved by the Bush govt. We have crossed the line into dangerous territory." Time for the old Admiral to be labeled unpatriotic by Scottie the Lying Dough Boy eh?
FinancialTimes: The US military on Weds acknowledged it might have killed civilians in Falluja w/white phosphorus munitions during the battle against insurgents a yr ago. Last wk, Italy’s Rai 24 news channel broadcast a documentary that alleged many civilians had been burned to death by the incendiary devices during the assault. It showed bodies burned to the bone inside clothes that remained intact. "The documentary offers no compelling evidence as to how the people in the various images actually died," said Lt-Col Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman. He said he was not aware of any US inquiry into the issue. Asked if it was possible civilians had been killed by white phosphorus, the Lt Col replied: "It would not be out of the realm of the possible." Gee, do you think? And what about the legal ramifications of that?
FEAST: & This truly falls into the OMFG category: Legislation to fund many of the nation's health, education & social programs went down to a startling defeat in the House, led by Dems who said cuts in the bill hurt some of America's neediest people. Dems, unanimous in opposing the legislation, said it included the 1st cut in education funding in a decade and slashed spending for several health care programs. "It betrays our nation's values and its future," said House Dem Whip Steny Hoyer. "It is neither compassionate, conservative nor wise." 22 Repubs joined the Dems to defeat the bill by a 224-209 vote against the $142.5 billion spending bill. FAMINE: & This falls into heartless GOP business as usual category: The House narrowly approved a broad 5yr budget plan that squeezes programs for the poor, for college students and for farmers. The plan, which would save the govt just under $50 billion, passed 217 to 215, w/14 Repubs joining all Dems in opposition. Ya have to ask yourself this: What fucking religion prides themselves on giving to the Rich by taking away from the Poor? Oh yeah: As far as the $452 million on 2 Alaskan "bridges to nowhere," the House & Senate decided Weds night to drop the bridges but let AK keep the money. Damn! I wanted to see Ted Stephens froth at the mouth again in another crybaby tirade.
Editor&Publisher: WashPost Ombudsman Deborah Howell has received 100s of calls and e-mails from readers since Weds's revelations about Bob Woodward's involvement in the Plame leak case, and none of them are positive: "I am getting a lot of reaction from readers, it is all bad. We are being barraged w/ calls. They think it was wrong for him not to tell his editors and wrong for the Post not to tell readers." Howell also pointed out that the e-mails "are all very different. I have not seen [an organized] campaign." Well, Joe Wilson certainly takes issue w/Woodward's 2 yr long lies: "It certainly gives the appearance of a conflict of interest. He was taking an advocacy position when he was a party to it." Wilson's sentiment is echoed at Fishbowl: "I admire the hell out of Bob, but this looks awful."- Charles Babington. "I think this whole affair of jrnlists and politicians using anonymity to trade info and then cast themselves as protectors of the common good stinks." - Robert Pierre. Arianna asks 15 key questions of Woodward, and I think she's dead-on about these. They need to be asked b/c Woodward had the nerve to keep his job at the WaPo, which was being actively investigated by Fitzgerald, WHILE he hid behind the prestige of a job that had access to the WH, where he acted as their mouthpiece yet did not tell his employers what he knew pertaining to the CIA leak. And the lies gets worse: On NPR Woodward said "There is not the kind of compelling evidence that there was some crime involved here." He consistently dismissed Fitzgerald, saying his behavior was "disgraceful". Yeh Bob... when it comes to disgraceful, you know all about it, don't you?
LATimes: Iraq's Shiite Muslim interior minister Bayan Jabr sought Thurs to justify the actions of security forces accused of starving and beating 169 mostly Sunni prisoners, saying that the prisoners had been legally arrested based on proper evidence and documents. Jabr added that in many cases, the prisoners were terrorists who had killed scores of innocent Iraqi children. (If the evidence indicates that they did kill scores of innocent Iraqi kids, then please-- convict them of these crimes and punish them-- but you don't torture them.) Jabr defended detaining these prisoners while acknowledging that at least 7 of the detainees had been tortured: "OK, there were signs of torture. And for that we will punish those responsible. But there were no killings and no beheadings, as some have said." Ohhhh... so no beheadings = nice kind of torture, huh? And then The Pot called The Kettle black: The US Embassy, however, reacted sharply, issuing a statement that warned, "Even 1 case is too much, anywhere, at anyplace and anytime, in Iraq." I know... try not to laugh outloud at that one.
 Here's what I think The Big Evil Dick was saying: "And as Republicans pointed out with Clinton, prosecuting for lying and coverup of an event is equivalent to admission of the original crime... err... just forget all that... err...what I meant to say was... err... for fuck's sake people... Don't make me rip off my human mask and hiss my forked tongue at you!
Americablog: Cheney is the newest attack dog Bush is sending out to chastize Dems for calling Bush and company liars. (WTF else is new? This is just The Big Evil Dick's old junkyard dog act revisited from the campaign trail... BFD.) The only problem? Cheney himself is one of the liars who repeatedly and intentionally misled the country in order to justify the war. Congressman Henry Waxman has a PDF document online detailing 51 times that Cheney misled the country about Iraq! (The Cheney stuff begins on pg 26 of the document, which is actually pg 32 of the pdf file.) Please check out John's partial laundry list of Cheney lies at Americablog... I just laughed and laughed when I saw The Big Evil Dick slither on his reptilian belly on stage in a tux and hiss thru his forked tongue: "For Democrats who contend that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq-- that accusation is 1 of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city." And in case all of the WH spew and lies has your head spinning, there is a great MUST SEE complilation of All Things Plamegate-- please check out Think Progress' "Smears, Lies & Videotape: A Leak Scandal Documentary".
HeraldTribune: After spending more than 2 hrs giving a deposition on the Plame leak, Bob Woodward apologized to WaPo exec editor Leonard Downie Jr for waiting 2 yrs to tell Downie that a sr Bush administration official had told him about the CIA leak, and Woodward said that he had held back the info b/c he had been worried about being subpoenaed by the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald. Yeah Woodward... guess sitting on that onfo for 2 yrs and spewing the WH-fed spin on the issue for 2 yrs still grants you access to your precious Bush, huh? I think Arianna prints up your laundry list of shameful deeds accurately and sums it up best when she says that your embarrassing decline will be remembered as this: "Woodward: Watergate Hero to Plamegate Goat".
I write this post knowing that my friend's husband has just gotten back home from Iraq (and no, he did not re-enlist despite all the money offers) and he is suffering massive stomach problems now. When a 24yr old chugs from Mylanta/Pepto bottles 24 hrs a day (yet it does nothing to stop the incessant pains and swelling) something is not right. I do not mean him nor any other service member disrespect b/c these orders to torture came from the top: These criminal acts were ordered to be committed by our military by their superiors... not a few rogue troops. Just watch this CBC's The Fifth Estate report, "A Few Bad Apples" here in case you ever doubted this. This Canadian report makes 1 thing crystal clear: The US committed crimes in Iraq and we can't deny it. The Guardian UK nails the Bush LIES of "we don't torture/ we don't use white phosphorus": "We were told that the war with Iraq was necessary for 2 reasons. Saddam possessed biological/ chemical weapons and might 1 day use them against another nation. And the Iraqi people needed to be liberated from his oppressive regime. Saddam, facing a possible death sentence, is accused of mass murder, torture, false imprisonment and the use of chemical weapons. He is certainly guilty on all counts. So, it now seems, are those who overthrew him."
MSNBC: A criminal complaint unsealed in fedrl court on Weds alleges a web of corruption and bid rigging in Iraq by officials who worked with the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, the US led agency that ran Iraq for more than a yr after the 03 invasion. The complaint accuses a US-Romanian businessman, Philip Bloom, of paying officials "bribes, kickbacks and gratuities, amounting to at least $200,000 per month," in order to obtain reconstruction contracts through a bid-rigging scam. According to the complaint, Bloom "conspired w/US govt contract employees and military officials to obtain fraudulent govt contracts." The complaint says one of the US officials was the comptroller for the region in Iraq based in Hillah and controlled $82 million in cash. Hmm... I guess demoted whistleblower Bunnatine Greenhouse of the Army Corps of Engineers was dead-on about those shady no-bid contracts, huh?
The Rude Pundit has a great analysis on the "quotes" of the 3 Dems that Bush was whoring out & twisting in AK on Monday as "proof" that he never ever! mislead anyone about Iraq. When you read who the Dems are & what they really said, it certainly puts things into the proper perspective, but cherry-picking certainly is this WH's exclusive area of expertise. And BoilingMad makes excellent pts about Bush whoring out & twisting their words: "Bush claimed that Senators Jay Rockefeller, Carl Levin & Harry Reid, who have apologized for granting Bush authorization to use force in Iraq, "spoke the truth then and they're speaking politics now." On June 16 of this yr, Scott McClellan dismissed Rep John Conyers criticisms because he was "an individual who voted against the war in the first place." So... the Bush administration's message sums up as follows: Whether Dems voted for force against Iraq and later realized and admitted their mistake, or knew invading Iraq was a mistake all along, they should just shut up and let one party rule every facet of society." That's right... the Dems should just clam up and let Il Duce Bush be the dictator he wants to be b/c as he said on 12/18/00 when he spoke w/ Congressional leaders Hastert, Lott, Daschle, and Gephardt: "I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's okay. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier . . . just so long as I'm the dictator.
Reuters: Two convicted murderers were able to climb over a wall and escape from an IA prison because budget cuts left some guard towers unmanned, a state senator said on Tues. Officials at the IA Penitentiary in Fort Madison were unable to staff all of the prison's towers because of a lack of state funding and were relying instead on an electronic wire "that was supposed to take care of all the security problems," said Rep Eugene Fraise, (D-IA) The 2 men escaped on Monday night by tossing a rope on the wall around the facility, and police in IA, IL and MO were still hunting for them on Tues. Budget cuts haven't hurt the states, huh? Yeh right. And it is so pro-life of the GOP to hack into state funding so that convicted MURDERERS can escape, no?
 Pix courtesy of All Hat No Cattle.
WashPost: A document, obtained this wk by The WaPo, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Shell Oil and BP met in the WH w/Cheney aides who were developing a natl energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated. The WH doct shows that execs from big oil companies met with VP Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last wk by industry officials testifying before Congress. Sen Lautenberg (D-NJ), who questioned about the task force, said he will ask the Justice Dept today to investigate: "The WH went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in the Cheney task force." Cheney's spokesperson, declined to comment on the document. She said that the courts have upheld "the constitutional right of the pres and vice pres to obtain info in confidentiality." As for the execs who lied-- they were not under oath when they testified b/c Commerce Chrmn Ted Stevens (R-AK) decided not to swear them in (how shockingly fortuitous, no?) Hmm... combine the oil execs lying w/these maps that the Cheney Energy Task force made of Iraq. And by the way, Paul O'Neil, the former Secrty of the Treasury, mentions the maps in his book "The Price of Loyalty." He saw them 3 MONTHS AFTER BUSH WAS INAUGURATED IN 2001!
BBC: "The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja at all, but the Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used white phosphorus during last yr's offensive in Falluja. "It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said. (OK, that may be true, but that would then mean that all of those dead children & babies were enemy combatants, no?) Col Venable said a statement by the US state dept that white phosphorus had not been used was based on "poor information". The BBC's defense correspondent Paul Wood says having to retract its denial has been a public relations disaster for the US military." Yeah, and speaking of public relations disasters-- burning off the flesh of civilians has been such a winning approach to win heart and minds in Iraq, eh? Hmm... how will the WH spin this now to make that Lt Col and/or those absolutely correct Italians look crazy?
BBC: "Iraq's govt says it has begun an investigation into the alleged abuse of more than 170 detainees held by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad. The allegations are a deep embarrassment for the Iraqi govt, but despite being shocking, they will not come as a major surprise to many Iraqis b/c there have been persistent allegations of abuse by members of the Shia-dominated security forces. The prisoners-- most of whom are Sunnis-- were malnourished and showing signs of torture, were found when US troops took control of an interior ministry building on Sunday. The US raid followed repeated enquiries by the parents of a missing teenager." Oh yeh, this will go over well w/the already pissed off Sunnis. And since the Shia are the majority (just as they are in Iran) doesn't this worry anyone that the people doing this to fellow Iraqis will be running the country once we finally get the hell outta there? Deputy interior minister Hussein Kamal, who saw some of the abuse victims personally, said: "I've never seen such a situation like this during the past 2 yrs in Baghdad, this is the worst. I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating, 1 or 2 detainees were paralyzed and some had their skin peeled off various parts of their bodies." Oh yeah... the Sunnis will love this about as much as all of Iraq loved the Abu Ghraib pix.
I bet the pork is gonna fly in AK over this: SierraClub: The Senate Appropriations Comm removed earmarks for 2 controversial "bridges to nowhere" in AK: the Gravina bridge, which would connect Ketchikan to an island of 50 people, and the Knik Arm bridge, which would link Anchorage to a sparsely populated area. Sen Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has served as a strong advocate for the Gravina bridge despite the fact that her family owns 33acres of undeveloped land 3/4 of a mile from the pt where the bridge would touch down. Since the State will now decide how the money would be spent, her dad, Gov Frank Murkowski, will now face the same ethical scrutiny. The Exec Dir of the Sierra Club: ""Most Americans are risking their lives driving on crumbling roads and bridges that don't get fixed because there simply isn't enough money. That explains why there was such a visceral public reaction to the idea of wasting national tax dollars on 2 bridges to nowhere in AK. Removing the budget earmarks for these projects is absolutely the right thing to do, but it doesn't actually mean the money will go where it is needed most, namely to fixing our nation's existing roads and bridges." Hmm... I wonder what Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) will do since he said this in his crybaby tirade last month: "Stevens threatened to quit, to become a "wounded bull on the floor of this Senate," and he vowed that if his colleagues passed the bill, "I will be taken out of here on a stretcher." I'm hoping someone will need an ambulance soon.
2 must reads: 1) LATimes: Former Prez Jimmy Carter's op/ed "This isn't the real America". 2) Booman Tribune: Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson's letter to Bush (signed by 16 current/ former intellig officers).
 Despite all of the lies from the Pentagon, DU- depleted uranium does kill 1000s, sickens 1000s more, and causes horrifying birth defects. Yet Bush is still heralded as the champion of the unborn, eh?
I posted this buzzflash animation about Depleted Uranium back in 3/05, but it needs to be seen again, plus it sums up this entire article, & if this article doesn't piss you off, you must not be human: SanFranView: The Amer Free Press dropped a “dirty bomb” on the Pentagon by reporting that 8 out of 20 men who served in 1 US unit of the 2003 military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40% of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months. Since these soldiers were exposed to vaccines and depleted uranium (DU) only, this is strong evidence for researchers and scientists that DU is the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome. Vaccines are not known to cause cancer, and in this war soldiers were not exposed to chemicals, pesticides, bioagents or other suspect causes this time to confuse the issue. Soldiers developing malignancies so quickly since 03 can be expected to develop multiple cancers from independent causes. This phenomenon has been reported by doctors in hospitals treating civilians following NATO bombing with DU in Yugoslavia in 98-99 and the 91 invasion of Iraq when the US military used DU for the 1st time. And it gets worse: In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in MS who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67% of their post-war babies were born w/severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases. In some vets’ families now, the only normal or healthy members of the family are the children born before the war. Read these accounts from April 04 of soldiers back from Iraq w/DU effects. I've posted this before, but just take a look at what and how DU does what it does to human beings... especially babies and children. And think about all of the female soldiers we have in Iraq. How many of them will have babies born w/deformities and/or develop breast/uterine cancer before their 30s?
It seems at least some at the NY Times have their heads out of their asses, as seen by this op/ed here in "Decoding Bush's Denials", but the lie factory just keeps spinning in Bush World: As Bush played let's rewrite history in AK-- spinning his lie-filled spew of "hey, I was wrong & 1000s have died-- but what about those Dems?", the Big Evil Dick and Rummy met with the WH's beloved intelligence spinner Ahmad Chalabi. The WH refused to allow coverage of the meeting... maybe they didn't want Curveball to feel left out when he saw the pix?
It hasn't been very often as of late, but some days, it just makes me so damned proud to be Catholic....NatlCatholicReporter: "What began as an attempt to punish ambassador Joseph Wilson for his report that, contrary to the president’s State of the Union Address, Saddam Hussein had not obtained uranium from Niger, has led to an examination of how Bush misled America into an unnecessary war and to the death that week of the 2000th American soldier in Iraq. This case is extremely important because it concerns the integrity of both the WH and the press, particularly The NY Times. The Times is our most thorough medium of info. The other media, especially TV news, take their headlines from the Times. If the Times doesn’t live up to its standards, the whole country suffers." Rock on, Padre. Keep throwing the truth in their faces.
Granted, Hubby and I both thought the commercials for issues 2 thru 5 were very confusing... and we happened to know what the issues were all about, but last Tuesday on Election night, we both could not believe that issues 2 thru 5 lost at such INCREDIBLY high numbers. Maybe this will unlock some of the secrets to that voting mystery b/c something is certainly not right when no paper trail exists for Ohio's voting machines, machines made by GOP whores Diebold and controlled by the Ohio GOP criminals, some of which have been indicted.
Given that the Repub/Neo-Con plan is to outprice education for anyone who is not wealthy, and all of their wealthy tax breaks and social programs destruction indicates that they are well on their way to succeeding on this evil venture, this is an inventive idea by a NV candidate. Dem Barry Michaels is running for Congress in NV, and he says this in regard to higher educ loans: "Fedrl loan programs be made available to anyone financially unable to attend college or professional school, as long as the individual is academically qualified. These new programs would include a debt forgiveness clause requiring the degree be completed and the individual be employed in his/ her profession for a period of not less then 10 yrs." I agree w/this idea & I'm sure most mid classers would, so why isn't this an all around Dem Party platform proposal? If ya don't educate your people, who will work & pay taxes? Cause it sho 'nuff won't be the wealthy or the rich corporations.
WashPost: A private missionary group has assigned a pair of fulltime Christian ministers to the Air Frc Academy, where they are training cadets to evangelize to their peers, according to a confidential letter to supporters. The letter makes clear that the organized evangelization effort has continued this yr despite outcry over alleged proselytizing at the academy that has prompted a Pentagon investigation, congressional hearings, a civil lawsuit and new Air Frc guidelines on religion: "Praise God that we have been allowed access by the Academy into the cadet areas to minister among the cadets. We have recently been given an unused classroom to meet with cadets at any time during the day," the husband/ wife team of Darren & Gina Lindblom said in the Oct 11 letter to their donors." Despite the AF's new rules regarding preaching, isn't it nice to see they are the rule-breaking sort of Christians?
 Here are just some of the many lies Bush Co repeatedly told us to sell the war. Oh yeh... the new claim that Bush did not mislead us is soooo believable. Then why can we all regurgitate these lies w/out even batting an eye? Pix courtesy of MiaCulpa.
AssocPress: On CNN's "Late Edition" natl security adviser Stephen Hadley said: "Turns out, we were wrong. But I think the point that needs to be emphasized ... allegations now that the president somehow manipulated intelligence, somehow misled the American people, are flat wrong." Hadley then went on to describe a hypothetical situation that imagined 1 of the Sept 11th terrorists had been arrested a few days before the attacks (b/c we just knew the old 9/11 card HAD to be thrown, huh?) Well if the intelligence wasn't twisted or w/held, then why did Bush have the security clearances pulled from at least 92 senators in Oct 2001? The extent of Bush's pre & wartime secrecy is of mammoth proportions, as is clearly shown in this post. Read the entire post- it is amazingly thorough. But even if this info wasn't extensively documented, the average American w/any semblance of sense would question these things: 1) No WMD's found. 2) Bush, Cheney, Rice painting the scary-ass picture of things like mushroom clouds, uranium from Niger, etc. 3) Cheney was repeatedly dispatched to CIA headquarters to twist the arms of analysts. It's obvious the intelligence was manipulated, by cherry-picking and intimidation. 4) Libby was indicted for lying in order to cover up Cheney's involvement in the CIA leak/ arm twisting/ cherry picking. People realize that the Plame was outed to get back at her husband Wilson the whistleblower. This all adds up to 100% bullshit and the average citizen is losing faith in any Bush credibility and it is all punctuated by these harsh numbers: over 2000 troops dead/ over 15K are wounded/ 1000s upon 1000s of Iraqis are dead, over $200 Billion hemorrhaged from US taxpayers' already thin wallets.
As if we needed any more definitive proof that the GOP is the most inhuman pack of sociopaths, predators and sychophants... CapitolHillBlue: A confidential memo circulating among sr Repub leaders suggests that a new attack by terrorists on US soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people." The closely-guarded memo lays out a list of scenarios to bring the GOP back from the political brink, including a devastating attack by terrorists that could "validate” the Prez’s war on terror and allow Bush to "unite the country" in a "time of natl shock & sorrow." The memo says such a reversal in the Prez's fortunes could keep the party from losing control of Congress in the 06 elections. Gee... hope for the death of 1000s of innocents just so you can keep your criminal asses in office, and keep your beloved Crime Boss Bush in good poll numbers? That is so patriotic and Christian of them, no?
As wrong as McCain is on so many issues, the senator is correct on the torture issue: on CBS' Face the Nation he said: "If we're viewed as a country that engages in torture any possible info we might be able to gain is far counterbalanced by the negative effect of public opinion." Terrorists are "the quintessence of evil," he said. "But it's not about them; it's about us. This battle we're in is about the things we stand for, believe in and practice. And that is an observance of human rights, no matter how terrible our adversaries may be." If the US keeps up w/these policies of torturing, it will only come back to bite us via the treatment of our own soldiers in the hands of enemies and by our tanking global reputation. As this CBS 60 Mins' piece shows, the rapidly descending situation in Pakistan is the perfect opportunity for the US to win over Muslim hearts and minds. But why would BushCo improve the US reputation and win hearts & minds w/charity and kindness when we can just keep killing and maiming?
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