Bush Spying in Context

Bush defends spying without warrant tactic

TONI LOCY
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration formally defended its domestic spying program in a letter to Congress late Thursday saying the nation's security outweighs privacy concerns of individuals caught up in the surveillance.

In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the Justice Department said President Bush authorized electronic surveillance without first obtaining a warrant in an effort to thwart terrorist acts against the United States. ...

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No one above the law?
Donald A. Lykkebak

December 25, 2005

"They that can give up esssential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Benjamin Franklin

Recent revelation that President Bush provided personal authorization to bypass judicial review of electronic eavesdropping and wiretaps of U.S. citizens is alarming. It is also illegal. ...

... It is doubtful we will ever know the extent of this fishing expedition. Nor will we discover which of our neighbors were targets for this invasion of privacy. If this information were held up to public scrutiny, we may learn the worst about our government. Was your contribution to an Islamic charity sufficient to catch their attention? Perhaps, you may have criticized the candor, motive or methods of the government or its leaders. Maybe it was simply your critical letter to the editor that sparked government interest in you.

The president and his aides say, "Trust me." Is this still good enough? We trusted them when they said there were good reasons for war in Iraq. Those arguments proved to be "faulty intelligence" or outright lies. The president now says he was mistaken about WMD. To what end? Current events suggest that a deterioration of our moral resolve as a nation may be a less obvious, but equally troubling consequence. CIA torture of prisoners, rendition, secret prisons and now warrantless spying on U.S. citizens within in our own borders are all apparent consequences.

Is it still true that in our country no one is above the law?

There must be no exceptions. We are asked to trade our privacy and our freedom from warrantless snooping and exchange it for promises of security.

Remember Benjamin Franklin. His warning is prophetic. We may be left with neither liberty nor safety.

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You might read that and say "Lose our liberty? It couldn't happen here." I suggest you read the following articles and then see if you can still say "it couldn't happen here".

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STATE DEPARTMENT OPENS FILES ON ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR

... "The documents provide clues to the fate of 'disappeared' citizens in Argentina by an unchecked security apparatus, and tell the story of a massive and indiscriminate counterinsurgency campaign carried out by the military dictatorship targeting real or imagined subversives including thousands of labor leaders, workers, clergymen, human rights advocates, scientists, doctors, and political party leaders" said Carlos Osorio, director of the National Security Archive's Argentina Documentation Project. ...

Dirty War

Project Disappeared

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ACLU: Protesters placed in terror files

By ANSLEE WILLETT [The Gazette - Colorado Springs, CO]
December 09, 2005

The names and licenseplate numbers of about 30 people who protested three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado said Thursday.

The Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest and a 2003 anti-war rally under the Freedom of Information Act.

ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources generating files on "nonviolent protest."

"These documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked ‘counterterrorism,’" he said.

"This kind of surveillance of First Amendment activities has serious consequences. Law-abiding Americans may be reluctant to speak out when doing so means that their names will wind up in an FBI file." ...

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The Terror of Our Ways
Conflating environmentalists and terrorists is all the rage
By Michael J. Kavanagh

Just Joshin'
Electric-car driver was not an eco-terrorist, FBI admits

Miami Police Take New Tack to Deter Terrorists,
Staging Random Shows of Force at Hotels, Banks
By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Writer

America's enemy within

Armed checkpoints, embedded reporters in flak jackets,
brutal suppression of peaceful demonstrators. Baghdad? No, Miami
Naomi Klein - Guardian
Wednesday November 26, 2003

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And you don't even have to be a protester

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Next Stop: Big Brother
... One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand. ...

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In "Fascism Anyone?," Laurence Britt identifies 14 characteristics common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism."

Wake up and smell the fascism

Depleted(not)Uranium=Genocide

the pain and suffering ahead is staggering. not only have we rendered Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan uninhabitable, we are poisioning our troops, their loved ones and future children. this is has been done in our name since Gulf War I and continues....tons of this WMD have been spread on our planet, in our name. why do they hate us??????

Heads roll at Veterans Administration
Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed
by Bob Nichols
Project Censored Award Winner

Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can truly be called a nuclear war.
Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.
Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.”
Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.”
He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.
full article

Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets
A death sentence here and abroad
by Leuren Moret
At an April press conference, a group of New York Army National Guard vets raised their hands when asked if they have health problems. The soldiers, all from the 442nd Military Police Company, are complaining of headaches and fatigue after what they think is exposure to depleted uranium during their recent tour in Iraq.Photo: www.americanfreepress.net
“Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” - Henry Kissinger, quoted in “Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW’s in Vietnam”
Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.
full article

(At an April press conference, a group of New York Army National Guard vets raised their hands when asked if they have health problems. The soldiers, all from the 442nd Military Police Company, are complaining of headaches and fatigue after what they think is exposure to depleted uranium during their recent tour in Iraq.Photo: www.americanfreepress.net)

ACLU Ad: No President Is Above the Law

Still - Out of Touch

It never ceases to amaze me that so many Americans are so out of touch with reality.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- More than four years after the
attacks of September 11, 2001, many U.S. adults still believe some of the
justifications for the invasion of Iraq, which have now been discredited,
according to a new Harris Poll. For example:

 -- Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. adults believe that Saddam Hussein had
    "strong links to Al Qaeda."
 -- Twenty-two percent (22%) of adults believe that Saddam Hussein "helped
    plan and support the hijackers who attacked the United States on
    September 11."
 -- Twenty-six percent (26%) of adults believe that Iraq "had weapons of
    mass destruction when the U.S. invaded."
 -- Twenty-four percent (24%) of all adults believe that "several of the
    hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11 were Iraqis."

But on a more hopeful note;

ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Dec. 15-18, 2005. N=1,003 adults nationwide. Results below are among registered voters. Fieldwork by TNS.
					.
"If the election for the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2006 were being held today, would you vote for the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate in your congressional district?" If other/unsure: "Would you lean toward the Democratic candidate or toward the Republican candidate?" Options rotated
					.
		Republican	Democrat	Neither/ Other (vol.)	Unsure	Won't Vote (vol.)
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/15-18/05	41	51	4	4	1

I'm guessing that the 41% who think 'Saddam had "strong links to Al Qaeda"' are the same 41% that would vote for a Republican candidate... what do you think?

State Politics - WA 42nd District

Washington State House of Representatives
42nd LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT
Jasper MacSlarrow (D) is challenging Doug Ericksen (R)

Bush - screwing up the war on terror

Egged on by his bat-shit crazy neo-con cronies, Bush's arrogant over-reaching spying policies hasn't caught any terrorists but has lost him the trust of the American people.

Some fear eavesdropping could undermine work of spy agency

By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay - Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The White House decision to order surveillance of international phone calls by U.S. citizens without a warrant violated longstanding practices and could undermine a key U.S. intelligence agency that's critical in the struggle against terrorists, former senior intelligence officials and other experts said this week.

The super-secret National Security Agency, which eavesdropped on the Soviet Union's leaders and scored other intelligence coups during the Cold War, has spent three decades recovering from domestic spying scandals in the 1970s.

Now, with its electronic ears and vast computer banks turned primarily to intercepting suspecting terrorists, the officials said they fear that the NSA once again will bear the brunt of congressional scrutiny and public outrage, complicating its mission.

"The damage it's done to NSA's reputation is almost irreversible in my view," said a longtime top intelligence official with intimate knowledge of the agency's workings.

Those concerns are part of a broader backlash in the intelligence community against some of the Bush administration's tactics in the war on terror. ...(more)

Speedier trial?

It seems Tom DeLay thinks he's entitled to special rights... ain't that a hoot!

DeLay takes case to state's highest criminal court

By LIZ AUSTIN - The Associated Press

AUSTIN -- In a last-ditch effort to secure a speedy trial, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's attorneys asked the state's highest criminal court Friday to dismiss the charges against him or order a lower court to try him immediately.

DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin took the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals a day after a lower appeals court denied his request to send the case back to the trial court or expedite it through the appeals process.

DeLay was forced to step aside as House majority leader after he was indicted on money-laundering and conspiracy charges in September. He denies wrongdoing and has been pressing for a quick resolution to his case so he can regain his post before his colleagues call for new leadership elections.

His case was put on hold, however, when prosecutors appealed a judge's partial dismissal of the charges. ...(more)

A New Year is on the way

In Generalissimo Georgie's neo-America; he says his power eclipses the Bill of Rights, the Congress and the Supreme Court.


In Generalissimo Georgie's neo-America; he says Citizens can be spied on without warrant, imprisoned without charges, tortured and tried using secret evidence.




But WE THE PEOPLE say, cut out the BU(LL)SH(IT)!

Evolution takes science honours

By Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter

Research into how evolution works has been named top science achievement of 2005, a year that also saw fierce debate erupt over "intelligent design".

The prestigious US journal Science publishes its top 10 list of major endeavours at the end of each year.

The number one spot was awarded jointly to several studies that illuminated the intricate workings of evolution.

The announcement comes in the same week that a US court banned the teaching of intelligent design in classrooms. ...(more)

Tom sets the record straight

as the white house and their shills scramble to rewrite history, muddy the issue and quiet the masses as they shread the constitution.....

Power We Didn't Grant
By Tom Daschle
Friday, December 23, 2005; Page A21
In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda. On Tuesday, Vice President Cheney said the president "was granted authority by the Congress to use all means necessary to take on the terrorists, and that's what we've done."
As Senate majority leader at the time, I helped negotiate that law with the White House counsel's office over two harried days. I can state categorically that the subject of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens never came up. I did not and never would have supported giving authority to the president for such wiretaps. I am also confident that the 98 senators who voted in favor of authorization of force against al Qaeda did not believe that they were also voting for warrantless domestic surveillance.
full article

back away from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge..

good news today.....dems and some repubs are stepping up......

Senate Blocks Alaska Refuge Drilling
By H. JOSEF HEBERTThe Associated PressWednesday, December 21, 2005; 2:29 PM
WASHINGTON -- The Senate blocked an attempt to open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling Wednesday, foiling an attempt by drilling backers to force the measure through Congress as part of a must-have defense spending bill.
It was a stinging defeat for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, one of the Senate's most powerful members, who had given senators a choice to support the Alaska drilling measure, or risk the political fallout of voting against money for American troops and for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
full article



thank you Senator Cantwell for clarity and strong leadership on this one!!!!

...........Once again, we commend Senator Cantwell for her tremendous leadership on this very important issue. It is imperative that we prohibit drilling or development of any sort in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, of the world's greatest untouched wildernesses. We will gain nothing from opening up the Refuge to drilling - and we will lose a lot. There isn't even a tradeoff. This is without a doubt, an attempt to sell out one of America's national treasures to greedy oil companies.
full article

many questions remain about the oil to be recovered and i've heard it said because of the quality of the oil there it would go to Asia.....sort of eliminating the argument that we could be rescued from our appalling over consumption.....

Arctic Refuge: How Much Oil? Both Sides On Drilling Issue Tout Estimates, But Volume, Quality Of Resources UnclearDecember 21, 2005
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- President Bush calls it the most promising source of untapped oil in America and the key to greater energy independence. But how much oil is there in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

Nobody really knows for certain.
full article

dicked again.....

dick grinch gives the American people a christmas to remember.....one finger victory salute to the needy, welfare to the greedy....

UPDATE 1-Cheney breaks Senate tie to pass US budget bill
Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:26 PM ET
........It's an attack on the middle class and those in greatest need on behalf of lobbyists for the powerful," Reid said.
Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of five Republicans who opposed the bill, called it a "a cynical piece of legislation that punishes our most vulnerable citizens."
full article

who cares about our security????

yo sheeple!!! if you're counting on the bush crime family to keep you safe, wake up!!! these people don't give a damn about us......where will the "anthrax" turn up next now that the "patriot" act needs renewal???...Hmmmmmm...........

MISSING RADIOACTIVE VIALS COULD PRESENT A DANGER
Officials were still searching for two vials of radioactive material that went missing earlier this month as they were being shipped by truck from Albuquerque to Kilgore, a press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services said Monday night.
full article

and then this......

Explosives missing from site again
Updated 2:45 p.m. In the post-Sept. 11, 2001, era, one might assume bomb-making materials would be under the tightest possible security.
In fact, they sit unattended in the New Mexico desert, guarded by little more than lock and key.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White says he doesn't understand it.
"You have to question the logic behind federal regulations that prohibited you from carrying nail clippers onto an airplane, but allow you to store high-grade explosives in a poorly protected site in the middle of nowhere," White said.
full article

and then they have the nerve to tell us they are circumventing the law and our civil liberties for our security.......JEZ!!!!!

Bush bypassed compliant court on wiretapping
Warrants rarely denied
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff December 20, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The court that authorizes wiretaps on terrorism suspects had not rejected a government request for a warrant in its 22-year existence to 2001, when President Bush issued an order allowing agents to wiretap citizens without judicial approval.
full article

how many "evil-doers" arrested so far????????? what are they hiding???

What's wrong with this picture?

Everett Herald - Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2005

All-mail balloting voted down - for now
Democrats say they will revisit the issue once they have a majority in January.

By Jeff Switzer
Herald Writer

A pitch to switch to all-mail elections was rejected by Snohomish County Council Republicans on Monday, but Democrats vowed to revisit the issue in January when they are in the majority. ...

... GOP members of the council forced a vote on the proposed all-mail legislation during their morning meeting, yanking it from Democrat Dave Gossett's afternoon operations committee.

"I'm not willing to disenfranchise 40 percent of the voters," Koster said. Voting is a precious right and mail-in ballots should be the exception, not the rule, he said.

The trend is going the other way, however.

Thirty-two of the state's 39 counties have switched to all-mail elections since the state Legislature relaxed rules this spring.

Nelson criticized mail voting as a source of fraud. He said 1,779 mail ballots were rejected during the general election.

A report shows that of those ballots, 1,176 were rejected because they were postmarked too late. ... (full article)

Isn't it interesting how desperately the Republicans want to keep their black-box voting machines. WA state Republicans have become knee-jerk slanderers... They make a habit of screaming voter fraud but never have a single real case to point to.

Obviously the electronic voting machines magical qualities are what attract the Republicans.

Evidence Of Election Irregularities
In Snohomish County, Washington, General Election, 2004

	Absentee ballots composing 2/3 of the total ballots showed a Democratic lead of 97044 to 95228 votes, while the remaining 1/3 of the votes, on touch screens, showed a Republican lead of almost 5% (50,400 Republican to 42,145 Democratic).
	Vote-switching and machines freezing up occurred in 58 polling locations out of approximately 148 total. There is a high correlation between the problem machines — as reported by KING5 news — and the Republican percentages the machines reported.
	Statistical analysis of machines that recently had their CPUs repaired shows a propensity for Republican voting that is present but weak on the individual level but strong at the polling location where the machines were placed.
	The average of the 58 polling places reporting vote switching, freeze-ups, or repairs within two weeks of the election was 11.58% more favorable to Republican Dino Rossi than absentee voters did, and averaged 10.8% more votes than Gregoire on election day, while RossiÂ’s overall spread among all electronic voters at all polling locations was under 5%.

Culture of corruption, greed and abuse of power

just when you think the corporatists have topped it, they go ya one more.....these arrogant, cruel bullies will not stop until they are stopped.
wake up sheeple!! they've taken over our assets and are using them to steal other people's assets............

How the Media Is "Authorizing" The Abuse of Government Power

The story of President Bush deliberately breaking the law to create a domestic spy operation is a lot of different things: it is a tale of power abuse, arrogance, and contempt for the law by an out-of-control president. But it is also a story of how today's major media behaves with near total deference to power and its own profit motive. What we are watching, even in the seemingly small details of the coverage, is the media's complicity in helping estsablish a quasi-legal framework for what was a clearly illegal abuse of government power. Put another way, we are watching the media being used as a tool of state power in overriding the very laws that are supposed to confine state power and protect American citizens.
full article

So what the H*%% does that mean?

Yesterday in a Seattle Times article about a "poor taste" item

offered for sale on the WA state Democrats website, State Rep. Doug Ericksen was quotes as saying:

State Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham, put out a news release Tuesday criticizing the Democrats for posting what he described as an "anti-Christian" symbol.

"It's just amazing that they have people sitting in their office who think that way," Ericksen said. "You would never see anything on a Republican Web site demeaning Judaism or the Islamic faith."

Articles in the Bellingham Herald and on the KGW-TV website cut it down to: "State Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham, called it an "anti-Christian" symbol."

Now I just gotta ask, what the hell is Doug saying?
Firstly, He's described something as "anti-Christian" that would more fittingly be called anti-pompous hypocrite. But that's not unexpected...

The puzzler is switching religions in mid-put-down: ["You would never see anything on a Republican Web site demeaning Judaism or the Islamic faith."].... Is he intimating that the Republican Party IS the Christian Party? How did Muslims and Jews get mixed up in this flap?

P.S. I see that WorldNutDaily has a garbled article about this 'sticker stink'.

Detached from REALITY Sis-boom-ba

Bush thinks he's back cheerleading at the big game! In his speech today he stumbled off script and said "our guys played" and then corrected himself and said "performed great".

In the summer of 2004, we discussed the growing problem in Najaf with Iraq's
political leaders -- and the coalition and Iraqi government decided to
retake control of the city. And we did. Together, coalition and Iraqi forces
routed out the militia in tough, urban fighting. It was an intense battle,
our guys (played per) performed great, and so did the Iraqi forces. Together with the
Iraqi government and the Shia clerical community, we forced the militia to
abandon the shrine and return it to legitimate Iraqi authority. The militia
forces agreed to disarm and leave Najaf.

Click the link in the quote to hear the audio clip.

c-span has audio of the whole speech. [02/08/07 Update: the c-span audio is no longer online - Video of the speech is available on the Whitehouse website]

Citizensteve's 15 seconds of fame

Early Monday morning, I got a mention on Air America Radio's "The Rachel Maddow Show". Rachel took a comment I'd made on her show blog and developed it into a news commentary. And what's more, she said I'm one of her favorite bloggers. (Aah, gee whillikers)

letter to the editor

citizen steve weighs in after a local spews lies about the "do nothing" left......

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Says Democrats countered terrorists
The writer of the letter headlined "Says left's policies caused deaths too" had a lot to say, but as Sen. Patrick Moynihan said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."
The "Butler Report" found "the intelligence available was 'insufficiently robust' to prove Iraq was in breach of the United Nations' resolutions."
On Sept. 21, 2001, Bush was told in a briefing that there was no evidence linking Saddam to the attacks nor Iraq to al-Qaeda.
Results of the "Bush Doctrine": Osama bin-Laden and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi still on the loose, Iraq in chaos, 2,100 Americans dead.
Claiming Democrats don't respond to terrorist attacks is just plain silly:
Response to USS Cole attack: The planner killed with a hellfire missile. Three sentenced to death, four others sent to prison.
African embassy bombings: Four sentenced to life.
1993 World Trade Center bombing: Six sentenced to 240 years each.
Millennium bombing plot: thwarted! The "bomber" sentenced to 22 years.
We know about the August 6, 2001, presidential daily briefing entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S." and that after reading it Bush did nothing.
The "do-nothing policy" that resulted in 3,000 deaths on 9/11 was Bush's policy.
citizen steve


original letter-
Says left's policies caused deaths too
The dishonest coordinated assertion is, "Bush lied, people died." The British "Butler Report," which overviewed British intelligence leading up to war with Iraq - even now - asserts that Iraqi officials sought uranium in Niger. This supports Bush's infamous "16 words" in his State of the Union address.
Also the war against "militant Islam" is a war we were losing, because these extremists remained nomadic and claimed no national affiliation while enjoying insulation in de facto host countries from Syria to Pakistan - across the Middle East. Addressing these terrorist gangs effectually required engaging the host countries directly (the Bush Doctrine). That was obvious when Congress supported the war in Iraq and before Monday-morning quarterbacking became an art form of elected leaders of the Democratic Party.
Why Iraq: a) The Bush Doctrine. b) Saddam had used biological and chemical weapons that were not verifiably deactivated as called for in United Nations sanctions.
Not responding to attacks: the USS Cole, embassies in Kenya, the World Trade Center (1993), etc. - do-nothing policy ad infinitum resulted in 3,000 deaths on 9/11.
Doing nothing was and remains a policy decision favored by the redundantly described "far left" ... and people died.
Stuart Andrews
Bellingham

BushCo - rotten to the core

FBI reopens its inquiry into forgery leading to Iraq war

By Peter Wallsten, Tom Hamburger and Josh Meyer

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON - The FBI has reopened an inquiry into an intriguing aspect of the pre-Iraq war intelligence fiasco: how the Bush administration came to rely on forged documents linking Iraq to nuclear-weapons materials as part of its justification for the invasion. ...

Report Accuses EPA of Slanting Analysis
Hill Researchers Say Agency Fixed Pollution Study to Favor Bush's 'Clear Skies'

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A08
The Bush administration skewed its analysis of pending legislation on air pollution to favor its bill over two competing proposals, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Oct. 27 analysis of its plan -- along with those of Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.) -- exaggerated the costs and underestimated the benefits of imposing more stringent pollution curbs, the independent, nonpartisan congressional researchers wrote in a Nov. 23 report. The EPA issued its analysis -- which Carper had demanded this spring, threatening to hold up the nomination of EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson -- in part to revive its proposal, which is stalled in the Senate. ...

State Department using ideological litmus tests to screen speakers

BY WARREN P. STROBEL AND JONATHAN S. LANDAY

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The State Department has been using political litmus tests to screen private American citizens before they can be sent overseas to represent the United States, weeding out critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to department officials and internal e-mails. ...


Gonzales Defends Approval of Texas Redistricting by Justice

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A04

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday defended the Justice Department's 2003 decision to overrule a staff recommendation and approve a congressional redistricting map for Texas, arguing that subsequent court rulings and election results show that the plan did not harm minority voters.

A December 2003 internal memo shows that eight members of the Justice Department's voting section unanimously concluded that the Texas plan would violate the Voting Rights Act by diluting the electoral power of blacks and Hispanics. Political appointees in the department disagreed and allowed the plan to go forward. ...

Summarizing bushes America

oh man, this guy nailed it......
Tom Gilroy 12-1-05

What would you do if your country was under attack? If your government was under siege by an occupying force with utter disregard for the well-being of your fellow citizens? Would you ‘cut and run’? Or would you take up arms against the invaders as a true patriot?
No, this is not some clever peacenik defense of the Iraqi ‘insurgency’—common citizens using the dire means at their disposal to eject an occupying enemy.

I’m talking about America; what if some foreign force that supported torture and opposed human rights and your constitution—a force not unlike say Kuwait, or Saudi Arabia, or Turkey—suddenly invaded Washington. What would you do? Act like a patriot or a girly-man?

Well, it’s happened.
read full article

No more lies - Time to "Stop the War"

The Harris Poll. Nov. 8-13, 2005. N=1,011 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
.

"Do you favor keeping a large number of U.S. troops in Iraq until there is a stable government there OR bringing most of our troops home in the next year?"


Wait for Stable Government - - - 35%
Bring Home In Next Year - - - - - 63%
Unsure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3%

Protest Reassembles in Crawford
Opponents of War in Iraq Plan to Remain Near Bush Ranch

By Rosalind S. Helderman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 26, 2005; Page A05

CRAWFORD, Tex., Nov. 25 -- Cindy Sheehan has returned to the dusty town of Crawford, where she was transformed from a grieving mother into a symbol of the movement against the Iraq war. ...

"Are you confident that Iraq will be successful in developing a stable and reasonably democratic government?"

Yes - - 32%
No - - 61%
Unsure - 7%

Santa Rosa lawmaker heralded movement to withdraw troops
By Jim Puzzanghera

Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Long before the issue of withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq exploded in Congress earlier this month, a Bay Area congresswoman had been leading a sometimes lonely fight to bring the troops home.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Santa Rosa, was the first to introduce legislation calling for withdrawal, on Jan. 26, making the 68-year-old grandmother the unofficial matriarch of the movement in Congress. ...

"Do you believe the insurgents in Iraq are being contained by security forces or are they getting the upper hand?"

.
Being Contained - - - - 41%
Getting Upper Hand - - 44%
Unsure - - - - - - - - - - 14%

Defense hawk Dicks says he now sees war as a mistake

By Alicia Mundy

Seattle Times Washington bureau

...

...Dicks says the Pentagon should begin a phased withdrawal and leave some troops to help maintain order and train a new Iraq army. "We've got to be very concerned that Iraq comes out of this whole," he said.

But he added, "We can't take forever."

Some people say it takes eight to nine years to control an insurgency, Dicks said.

"I don't think the American people will give eight to nine years, and I sure as heck won't."

Can we be a "SuperPower" if our economy sucks rocks?

... I noticed this story

U.S. to cut Canada lumber tariffs

MATTHEW DALY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Commerce Department said Tuesday it will comply with a NAFTA panel's order to drastically cut U.S. duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.U.S. officials said they disagree with the rationale behind the ruling but respect the panel's authority. Canada supplies about one-third of the U.S. market for softwood, which is easily sawed pine, spruce and other wood used in homebuilding. ...

And, I couldn't help but wonder why the Busheviks would suddenly start honoring international agreements. A little pondering brought me to the conclusions that it's an effort to off-set rising mortage rates and keep the 'Housing Market' from going (excuse the expression) teets-up... and dragging the rest of the economy with it.

As housing market cools off, so does employment growth

By DANIEL GROSS The New York Times

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005

There's a growing consensus that the housing market is cooling off. This month, Toll Brothers, the luxury home builder, warned that sales of McMansions were falling, and its highflying stock fell to earth. Last Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that housing starts, a reliable gauge of present activity, fell 5.6 percent in October from year-ago levels, while building permits, a reliable gauge of future activity, fell 6.7 percent. ...

... If the frothy regional markets go flat or if prices simply stop rising at the rates of recent years, there will surely be wide-ranging economic effects on consumer spending and on jobs. "Housing and the job markets are joined at the hip," Mr. Zandi said. "And if housing cools, so too will hiring and the job market more broadly, particularly in the more juiced-up housing markets."

If housing prices are flat in 2006 and residential investment falls 5 percent, there could be a direct loss of a few hundred thousand jobs related to real estate, Mr. Hatzius said. And the indirect effects will certainly be larger, Mr. Zandi said: "Housing is going to go from being a key contributor to the job engine to being a significant drag on job growth." ...

The biggest sectors of our economy are the "Housing Market" and "Consumer Spending". Consumer spending has remained high because House prices have been inflating, allowing people to keep 'refinancing' their homes to fuel their consumer spending... House prices stop inflating, consumer spending drops off.

McGovern

i really loved Dick's comment, an excerpt from the new movie "One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern"
DICK GREGORY: Nixon was good for black folk, because he scared white folk.

hear/read Amy Goodman interview with George McGovern at Democracy Now

Mark Morford

George W. Bush Gives Me Hope The astonishing collapse of the Bumbling One surely means healthy change is imminent, right?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, November 18, 2005 now part of stylesheet -->

Here's the good news: It really can't get much worse.
We cannot afford any more wars. The environment has been sold to the bone. The national spirit has been beaten like an Alaskan baby seal and the GOP has worked our last nerve, passed through the karmic blood-brain barrier, reached saturation to the point where even moderate Repubs and gobs of intelligent Christians are finally saying, Oh my God, what have we done, and how did it all go so wrong, and how much Prozac and wine and praying to a very disappointed Jesus will it take to fix it?
full article
Mark's archive

dicked again.....

it never stops....they steal from us to steal from us...jez!!!!!!

Cheney Sidesteps Travel Disclosure Rules
Unlike the rest of the White House, Cheney refuses to make his outside travel public

WASHINGTON, November 16, 2005 — Vice President Dick Cheney and his staff have been unilaterally exempting themselves from long-standing travel disclosure rules followed by the rest of the executive branch, including the Office of the President, the Center for Public Integrity has discovered.

Cheney's office also appears to have stuck taxpayers with untold millions in travel costs rather than accepting trip sponsors' funds that the rules would require to be disclosed.
full article

yikes!!!

US Congress moves to cut delays in death sentences
Thursday, November 17, 2005--
Web posted at: 11/17/2005 2:19:28Source ::: Reuters

WASHINGTON: Republicans in the US Congress said yesterday they were moving ahead with legislation that would speed up executions in the United States by limiting the ability of those sentenced to death to appeal to federal courts.
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter said he intended to bring the so-called "Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005" to a vote today in the Judiciary Committee which he chairs. A similar bill is also moving forward in the House of Representatives and could clear the committee stage soon.
full article

Riverbend

what a concept....an Iraqi's opinion on Iraq

............Americans constantly tell me, “What do you think will happen if we pull out of Iraq- those same radicals you fear will take over.” The reality is that most Iraqis don’t like fundamentalists and only want stability- most Iraqis wouldn’t stand for an Iran-influenced Iraq. The American military presence is working hand in hand with Badir, etc. because only together with Iran can they suppress anti-occupation Iraqis all over the country. If and when the Americans leave, their Puppets and militias will have to pack up and return to wherever they came from because without American protection and guidance they don’t stand a chance.

We literally laugh when we hear the much subdued threats American politicians make towards Iran. The US can no longer afford to threaten Iran because they know that should the followers of Sadr, Iranian cleric Sistani and Badir’s Brigade people rise up against the Americans, they’d have to be out of Iraq within a month. Iran can do what it wants- enrich uranium? Of course! If Tehran declared tomorrow that it was currently in negotiations for a nuclear bomb, Bush would have to don his fake pilot suit again, gush enthusiastically about the War on Terror and then threaten Syria some more.

Congratulations Americans- not only are the hardliner Iranian clerics running the show in Iran- they are also running the show in Iraq. This shift of power should have been obvious to the world when My-Loyalty-to-the-Highest-Bidder-Chalabi sold his allegiance to Iran last year. American and British sons and daughters and husbands and wives are dying so that this coming December, Iraqis can go out and vote for Iran influenced clerics to knock us back a good four hundred years.

What happened to the dream of a democratic Iraq?

Iraq has been the land of dreams for everyone except Iraqis- the Persian dream of a Shia controlled Islamic state modeled upon Iran and inclusive of the holy shrines in Najaf, the pan-Arab nationalist dream of a united Arab region with Iraq acting as its protective eastern border, the American dream of controlling the region by installing permanent bases and a Puppet government in one of its wealthiest countries, the Kurdish dream of an independent Kurdish state financed by the oil wealth in Kirkuk…

The Puppets the Americans empowered are advocates of every dream except the Iraqi one: The dream of Iraqi Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen… the dream of a united, stable, prosperous Iraq which has, over the last two years, gone up in the smoke of car bombs, military raids and a foreign occupation.
complete post Sunday, November 06, 2005

Republicans to investigate... Republicans!

The American people don't like people who expose our secret agents

WASHINGTON - The recent indictment of Vice President Cheney's top aide has struck a nerve with the American public. Four in five, 79 percent, said the indictment of former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on perjury and other charges is important to the nation, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Pew noted that in September 1998, 65 percent said President Clinton's lies under oath were important.

In an attempt to change the subject and thinking they can smear Democrats, Frist & Delay want to investigate who told about CIA secret prisons... They're NOT interested in the secret prisons or what goes on inside.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Tuesday called for a congressional leak investigation into who told the news media about previously undisclosed U.S. interrogation centers abroad.

"If accurate, such an egregious disclosure could have long-term and far-reaching damaging and dangerous consequences, and will imperil our efforts to protect the American people and our homeland from terrorist attacks," Frist and Hastert said in a letter. ...

Nancy Pelosi says 'good' lets really get into abuses of classified information.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in reaction to news reports that Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Frist have called for a congressional investigation into who leaked to The Washington Post the existence of secret U.S. prisons abroad:

"If Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Frist are finally ready to join Democrats' demands for an investigation of possible abuses of classified information, they must direct the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to investigate all aspects of that issue. That includes the possible manipulation of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, and the disclosure for political purposes of classified information involving the identity of the CIA officer. There is plenty to investigate about the Bush Administrations' use and misuse of intelligence; the American people deserve the truth."

... And then! Trent Lott says 'Republicans done it'!!

CNN's Ed Henry: "Trent Lott stunned reporters by declaring that this subject was actualy discussed at a Senate Republican luncheon, Republican senators only, last tuesday the day before the story ran in the Washington Post. Lott noted that Vice President Cheney was also in the room for that discussion and Lott said point blank "a lot of it came out of that room last tuesday, pointing to the room where the lunch was held in the capitol." He added of senators "we can't keep our mouths shut." He added about the vice president, "He was up here last wek and talked up here in that room right there in a roomful of nothing but senators and every word that was said in there went right to the newspaper." He said he believes when all is said and done it may wind up as an ethics investigation of a Republican senator, maybe a Republican staffer as well. Senator Frist's office not commenting on this development. The Washington Post not commenting either."

Watch for record breaking back-peddling as the Republicans try to un-screw themselves.

brace yourself effie

here it comes again.
I just heard an interview Thom Hartmann did with Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans united for separation of church and state. He warned that the Delay crowd would be putting forward legislation to allow tax-exempt status to churches that endorse candidates within the next few months. No other charitable organizations would be receiving this status. And that doesn’t even go to the issue of how important it is for both( government and religion) to be separate. It is vital for both to thrive. Just hoping we can be out ahead on this disastrous proposal. These people are power hungry, morally bankrupt thugs. and that's the nicest thing i can think of to say about them...........

kick em' when they're down

this whole demonizing of the "other" got into full swing in the reagan years with the welfare queens and their caddies.....in a recent conversation with a lock-step republican loyalist "they" were referred to as if, well, everyone knows who we are talking about. the right wing hate mongers have provided a megaphone to get this message out and they have done their job. so now, as they borrow from future generations and steal, they have planted in many people's minds where to look for the blame. wake up sheeple, they are stealing all our treasure!

.............If the budget cuts passed by the US senate on Thursday are anything to go by, the whole thing will end in tears. Republicans - disgracefully - targeted most of the cuts on the elderly and the poor through restructuring (ie cutting) some Medicare and Medicaid programmes. Worst of all, part of the cuts originally aimed (creditably) at cutting America's ludicrously high agriculture subsidies was amended so the brunt would be taken by chopping $844m from food stamps for the poor rather than from farm subsidies. Meanwhile, Republicans are hoping to pass yet more tax cuts for the wealthy. An administration that can tackle a serious budget problem in this way deserves all that may be coming to it.

more.......
.......Race and gender discrimination may not be the most screwed-up thing about welfare deform, but it is one of the few areas in which legal rights exist. These rights give us some handles and could give us a legitimate opening into the welfare reauthorization debate. We could initiate actions to put race and gender discrimination on the welfare reform radar screen, demand and win resolution to key individual cases, and secure new regulations from state welfare agencies and federal agencies responsible for civil rights enforcement. After all, if work is going to be the "solution" to all that is wrong with welfare, then the work arena has to operate fairly.

the coming generational wars

or so they bush crime family would have us believe......as they borrow and spend/steal, they are charging our children and their children and then pitting us against them. how much longer will Americans stand by and watch them transfer our wealth to the haves and have-mores.(they make no bones about calling them "their base" )

The perfect economic storm
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Froma Harrop / Syndicated columnist
E-mail article Print view Search
Most e-mailed Most read RSS
America should prepare for a big fat war between the generations. It's going to be ugly. On one side is the baby-boom generation, which retires and claims a ton of government benefits. On the other are younger workers, forced to fund those benefits plus pay the bills their elders left them.
When the war comes, the Federal Reserve chairman will have to be general. That person will likely be Bush nominee Ben Bernanke. The question is, for which side will he fight?

Huffington Post bloggers index

great list!

Harry

watch Harry give em' hell

David Sirota on Harry's stand..........the timeline published in 2004 is meticulously sourced....beautiful!!!!!

...........The questions - still unanswered nearly 3 years after the war started - can be found in an article my former Center for American Progress colleague Christy Harvey and I wrote back in 2004 called "They Knew." It was an article that took forever to write because it meticulously and chronologically detailed how the Bush administration was selling the country a false bill of goods when it came to Iraq - and how they clearly KNEW they were selling America a false bill of goods. There's been many attempts to deflect attention from this core fact by conservatives - they want the public to believe that the Bush administration may have gotten the facts wrong about Iraq, but that the Bush administration didn't actually KNOW it was getting its facts wrong. But as the article shows, the cold, hard evidence shows that THEY KNEW.
full article

Declining support for Bush war

So much for the idea that the Military is more "Republican" than the rest of America.

Military shares public's declining support for Bush, war

10/28/2005

Associated Press

More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is handling his job and the war in Iraq.

The survey results were released today.

Of the 539 adults surveyed, nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's handling of his job. And 56 percent of that same group said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of his handling of the Iraq war.

Overall, slightly more than 53 percent of those surveyed did not approve of Bush's job performance, while 57 percent didn't approve of his handling of the Iraq war.

The telephone poll was conducted between Monday and Thursday and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus four-point-three percentage points.

It's unforgivable that the Busheviks lied us into a war of aggression and it's even more unforgivable that their management of the war is totally incompetent.

200 words

published (bellingham herald)friday oct 28...the same day the "scooter"was indicted....

I hope Bush's declining approval ratings means that people are waking up. A recent USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll put it at 39%. "Freedom on the march" sounds hollow and the newly coined "seeds of freedom" continue to get a lot of people killed. There is plenty to be afraid of. It's just not what the administration is peddling. America's precious resources are being squandered. The middle class is in a race to the bottom. The new bankruptcy bill in effect makes it harder for average citizens to get bankruptcy relief if they suffer a catastrophic health problem. At the same time corporations enjoy plenty of loopholes. They move on with "golden parachutes" for CEO's and dump their pensions responsibilities. At a time when all people of the earth should be coming together to address global warming and the earths resources, we have "kiss up, kick down" John Bolton representing us at the United Nations. The"culture of life" turns out to be the "culture of corruption" and lies. The"milestone" rhetoric about Iraq is a worn out substitute for real progress. Innocent Iraqis are dying. I hope we soon come together as if our children's and grandchildren's lives depend on it.
jpeg

Bellingham Herald oct 21,05

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Characteristics of a corrupt nation
Imagine a country...
...where dissidents and even groups potentially harmful to business interests are surveilled and infiltrated, the reading habits of its citizens are scrutinized, photos and damaging news stories are suppressed or buried by the government and a complacent media, land can be seized for the "common good," citizens are routinely roughed up by a brutal police force.
Imagine a country with questionable elections, a growing myriad of state secrets and outright lies, where citizens are held in jail indefinitely without benefit of trial, a country that invades other countries under pretext to grab natural resources, and practices war crimes in the eyes of most of the world and unbeknownst to its citizens.
Is this a Soviet, totalitarian regime?
No, it is Bush's United States of America.
When a frog is placed in a pot of slowly heating water, it doesn't notice until it boils to death.
It's getting hotter in here.
Diana Conover
Bellingham

Hypocricy Watch

And the winner of the Ms. Hypocricy U.S.A. contest isssss:

Hutchinson: Indictments Should Be “On a Crime and Not Some Perjury Technicality”

On Meet the Press, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson picks up where Bill Kristol left off:

I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.

Why is she the winner you might ask... Wellllllllll; back on Feb. 12, 1999 Senator Hutchinson voted to Impeach Pres. Bill Clinton based on two Articles alleging that the President had provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony !!!

Stephanie Miller

Stephanie Miller....documenting the apocalyspe and making it sound fun.

Mama on the rethugs reaching out to blacks....."It's kind of like the one finger victory salute."
hear her live on am 1090(seattle) 9am-noon

Still Looking for Answers - Friday Edition

Juan Cole is very busy this morning and sharp as a tack... as usual. He spotted this article about the feasibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq

'US can withdraw from Iraq while Army is being created'

Washington, Oct 14 (PTI) Former Secretary of Defence Melvin Laird has said the United States can withdraw from Iraq while Iraqi army is being created, as happened in case of Vietnam.

Laird noted in an article in Foreign Affairs that the United States managed to withdraw American forces while creating a viable South Vietnamese army.

The same approach, he claims, could work in Iraq today.

"I believed then and still believe today that given enough outside resources, South Vietnam was capable of defending itself, just as I believe Iraq can do the same now.

"For me, the alleged prison scandals reported to have occurred in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay have been a disturbing reminder of the mistreatment of our own PoWs by North Vietnam.

" The minute we begin to deport prisoners to other nations where they can legally be tortured, when we hold people without charges or trial, when we move prisoners around to avoid the prying inspections of the Red Cross, when prisoners die inexplicably on our watch, we are on a slippery slope toward the inhumanity that we deplore." PTI

And he expands on how lies that got us into war with Iraq went unquestioned

Miller and the Neocons

- at many levels.

More WMD Pie in the Sky

... How to explain Bush's strange agenda? Well, when someone doesn't read the newspapers and doesn't know anything about the wider world, and just accepts whatever close aides tell him, then he might easily believe 10 impossible things before breakfast. The real question is who his aides are really working for, who wants Bush to believe these dangerous fantasies.

Audio commentary

be sure to check out the "Pap Attack" for some really great short commentary.......the photo links are worth it!! Pap makes every word count!
can be heard on "Ring of Fire" with Bobby Kennedy Jr.....
Saturdays 5-7pm ET • Rebroadcast: Sundays 3-5pm ET

brownie to investigate brownie

brownie will be lookin' up brownie's brown growler ...hmmmm...boy that is sooooo reassuring. keep it up you arrogant, incompetent, criminal, bullies....... people are starting to notice.

6:44 p.m. (CBS) — CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate its response following Hurricane Katrina.

and this is an interesting piece.....

CRONYISM in the Bush Administration
HOW MANY MORE MICHAEL BROWNS ARE OUT THERE? TIME Probe Finds the Bush Administration is Putting Connections Before Experience For Some Positions

Posted Sunday, Sep. 25, 2005
New York – The Michael Brown debacle – the resignation of President’s former point man on disasters -- has raised questions about whether political connections, not qualifications, have helped an unusually high number of Bush appointees land vitally important jobs. ONLINE: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1109345,00.html
Among TIME’s examples:
-- At the Food and Drug Administration, TIME obtained internal e-mail messages that show scientists’ drug-safety decisions are being second-guessed by a 33-year-old doctor-turned-stock picker, Scott Gottlieb.
full article

and this from david brooks
.........And as I say that, you always got to go back to competence. And sometimes in my dark moments, I think he's "The Manchurian Candidate" designed to discredit all the ideas I believe in. And so he has to follow through on that. That's the crucial thing for the next two years for him.

and so it goes as they destroy our federal government... not suprising since they never liked it much....with the exception of all that military hardware and "assets", as they like to refer to the patriotic, brave citizens they use for their personal adventures. oh and the cash flow...they have really been enjoying that....wheeeeeeeee.......how much more will we put up with!??!

wake up sheeple!

Peace is on the march

here are some photos of the peace march in bellinham sept 21(till the batteries gave out..oops)
http://kali.memes.com/~ware/peggy/peacebhamsept/

and here is the seattle march of the nationwide march sept 24
http://kali.memes.com/~ware/peggy/peacesept24/

mark nails bushworld

mark just sums up where we are here in America with these thugs in charge.......

Fine Wine For A Big Quake Sure a quake kit is a great thing -- if you can afford it. Too bad about everyone else
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, September 21, 2005


............As Katrina proved in no uncertain terms, if you're poor or from the lower classes and a massive natural disaster strikes, you are, of course, screwed, given how you do not have extra money, no cash reserves to spend on motels or plane tickets, no credit card numbers to keep written down in a safe place. You do not have a car. You do not own a cell phone. You do not have wealthy relatives in Miami with a few spare rooms in their beach house. When disaster hits, you simply do not have anywhere to go.
All of which means the Bush administration will consider you, essentially, trash, disposable, invisible -- except for when the TV cameras find you floating face down in the flooded street and suddenly Bush's poll numbers collapse and Dubya comes on to pretend he understands your plight and will have his mom send you cookies and a warm condescending hug ASAP.
full article

All the News that fits their agenda

Another prime example of the MSM being a day late and a dollar short (as it were).

TIME MAGAZINE - Sep. 26, 2005
Saddam's Revenge
The secret history of U.S. mistakes, misjudgments and intelligence failures that let the Iraqi dictator and his allies launch an insurgency now ripping Iraq apart
By JOE KLEIN

Why didn't TIME take up this story when Scott Ritter wrote about it over a year ago?

Published on Friday, July 23, 2004 by Tribune Media Services
Saddam's People are Winning the War
by Scott Ritter

Anybody got any theories?

Emotional Rather blasts 'new journalism order'
By Paul J. Gough

... occasionally forcing back tears, he (Dan Rather) said that in the intervening years, politicians "of every persuasion" had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a "new journalism order."

He said this pressure -- along with the "dumbed-down, tarted-up" coverage, the advent of 24-hour cable competition and the chase for ratings and demographics -- has taken its toll on the news business. "All of this creates a bigger atmosphere of fear in newsrooms," Rather said. ...

cheers all over again

here come the compassionate conservatives again....cheers
hope all will stand with barbara boxer for this new assault

Exceptions in new EPA rules would allow testing pesticides on children
By Andrew Schneider
Sun National Staff
Originally published September 14, 2005

.........."For the first time in our nation's history, the EPA has proposed a program to allow for the systematic and everyday experimentation of pesticides on humans," Rep. Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat and leading critic of the testing policies, said in a statement yesterday. "Moreover, the proposed program is riddled with ethical loopholes."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, another California Democrat, who also demanded improvements in protecting human test subjects, voiced similar criticism.
"The EPA proposed rule on human testing has several large loopholes that undermine the very purpose of the rule. No wonder the pesticide companies are saying such nice things about it," Boxer said.
"This is unethical and contrary to recent direction from Congress."

full article

more bush's America....

great article by Thom on bush's disasterous "energy policy"....

Carter Tried To Stop Bush's Energy Disasters - 28 Years Ago
by Thom Hartmann

In his recent news conference, George Bush Jr. suggested that our nation's "problem" with high gasoline prices was caused by the lack of a national energy policy, and tried to blame it all on Bill Clinton. First, Junior said, "This is a problem that's been a long time in coming. We haven't had an energy policy in this country."
This was followed by, "That's exactly what I've been saying to the American people -- 10 years ago if we'd had an energy strategy, we would be able to diversify away from foreign dependence. And -- but we haven't done that. And now we find ourselves in the fix we're in." As is so often the case, Bush was lying.
Consider President Jimmy Carter's April 18, 1977 speech. Since it was given nearly three decades ago, when many of the reporters in Bush's White House were children, it's understandable that they don't remember it. But it's inexcusable that Bush and the mainstream media (which, after all, has the ability to do research) would completely ignore it. It was the speech that established the strategic petroleum reserve, birthed the modern solar power industry, led to the insulation of millions of American homes, and established America's first national energy policy. "With the exception of preventing war," said Jimmy Carter, a man of peace, "this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0503-22.htm

bush's America

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. does a great job of outlining the perilious times we live in......the bush crime family is taking us full speed ahead over the cliff....the only conclusion i can come to is they must be criminally insane cuz they have children and grandchildren too. how can so many be affected by such severe anti-social personality disorder????? i hope they can be stopped......


Published on Friday, September 16, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Those of Us Who Know That America’s Worth Fighting for Have to Take It Back Now from Those Who Don’t
by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Speech delivered at the Sierra Summit 2005San Francisco, CaliforniaSeptember 10, 2005

..........This is the worst environmental president we’ve had in American history.
If you look at NRDC’s website you’ll see over 400 major environmental roll backs that are listed there that have been implemented or proposed by this administration over the past four years as part of a deliberate concerted effort to eviscerate 30 years of environmental law.
It’s a stealth attack.
The White House has used all kinds of ingenious machinations to try to conceal its radical agenda from the American people including Orwellian rhetoric. When they want to destroy the forests, they call it the Healthy Forest Act. When they wanted to destroy the air, they called it the Clear Skies Bill.
But most insidiously, they have put polluters in charge of virtually all the agencies that are supposed to protect Americans from pollution.
full article

riverbend returns

after no posts since july 15 riverbend has returned!!! her post on sept 11 puts our criminal foreign policy into words......
.......I remember almost immediately, Western media began conjecturing on which Islamic group it could have been. I remember hoping it wasn’t Muslims or Arabs. I remember feeling that way not just because of the thousands of victims, but because I sensed that we’d suffer in Iraq. We’d be made to suffer for something we weren’t responsible for.E. looked at me wide-eyed that day and asked the inevitable question,
“How long do you think before they bomb us?”
“But it wasn’t us. It can’t be us…” I rationalized.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s all they need.”

......It has been four years today. How does it feel four years later? For the 3,000 victims in America, more than 100,000 have died in Iraq. Tens of thousands of others are being detained for interrogation and torture. Our homes have been raided, our cities are constantly being bombed and Iraq has fallen back decades, and for several years to come we will suffer under the influence of the extremism we didn't know prior to the war. As I write this, Tel Afar, a small place north of Mosul, is being bombed. Dozens of people are going to be buried under their homes in the dead of the night. Their water and electricity have been cut off for days. It doesn’t seem to matter much though because they don’t live in a wonderful skyscraper in a glamorous city. They are, quite simply, farmers and herders not worth a second thought. Four years later and the War on Terror (or is it the War of Terror?) has been won:Score:
Al-Qaeda – 3,000
America – 100,000+

Congratulations.

sept 11,2005 post