Corrupt Elections, Corrupt Government, Etc.

A lot of things have bugged the hell out of me since the first time I was old enough to vote.

** I hate the two party system. At least 99% of the time I have had to chose the lesser of two evils. We should have at least a half dozen parties to even pretend to start representing the people of this country. Some people say this would create a mad house in Congress. In my opinion, a madhouse would provide welcome relief from the self-aggrandizing Millionaire Good Old Boy's Club that currently exists.

** Down with the electoral college..... Direct election of the President & VP is a must. The words electoral college is a misnomer if ever there was one. The people of this country are intelligent enough to choose their elected officials. We don't need any winner take all or the 'go betweens' (electoral college) who may or may not vote according to the wishes of the people. A national election should have national totals.

Back to the old system of electing a President with the guy who comes in second being the VP.

When the Founders of the American Republic wrote the U.S. Constitution in 1787, they did not envision a role for political parties in the governmental order. The electoral college was supposed to insulate the new republic from political parties and factions. http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/election04/parties.htm . But since we have evolved into the very thing the forefathers tried to prevent some things need to change.


** The instant run-off method of voting, where one votes for their first, second, third, etc., choice of candidates, might be ideal for promoting honest and verifiable elections.


** Forget the phony primaries where a half dozen states decide who is going to be president. Bush & Cheney are the best example ever, of two people who give us a good argument for changing the system where one thug buys the primaries, then selects his own personal crook to assist him in his rotten agenda.

** A political party must be recognized by 51% of the states in order to have a presidential candidate on the ballot. States could determine the limitations/qualifications to be recognized as a legitimate party thereby preventing every Tom, Dick & Harry Party from appearing on the ballot.

** In the National elections, the only thing appearing on the ballot would be President, Vice president & Congressional candidates. State & local elections will not be conducted on the same day as the national elections.

** Electronic voting machines were designed with fraud in mind . Let's go back to paper ballots & counting them in each precinct by hand then transmit the totals to multiple sources, election officials, news sources,etc., for grand totals and confirmation. These paper ballots would be counted publicly with an area where citizens can observe the counting process. The confirmed precinct totals would then be publicly checked at every state level with precinct totals read aloud, displayed publicly for easy checking. These totals could be transmitted electronically but with checks and double checks all along the way. A simple majority wins.


** Public funding of elections is a must. Get the corporations out of our electoral system and out of government by prohibiting all donations.

** Speaking of corporations, whatever laws that were passed that gave them the same rights as a person should be rescinded. Let those jokers get back to running their businesses. If they don't spend money bribing Congressmen then they should be able to lower the prices of their products.

** Women should be president for the next 43 elections then we could alternate ! We have elected 43 male presidents and they have not lived up to the idea of a Democratic government of the people, by the people, for the people. It's time for the women to show us how it should be done! Yep, we can already hear the screams of righteous indignation from the Good Old Boys!

** And speaking of presidents, the person elected to the office of president & vice president should be prohibited from campaigning for members of their own party since he occupies an office that is supposed to represent all the people. Once again George Bush is a prime example of a presidency gone bad. Combining vacations, campaign trips, & humping for the rabid right religious nut cases, we U.S. taxpayers have been stuck with a huge bill for a job not done. In the case of this current, fraudulent president that might be money will spent. If he had been on the job full time the world might be nothing but charred remains like Iraq.

** We should adopt some of Great Britain's parliamentary procedures in our Congress. Can you imagine the fun we could have if Bush had to appear before Congress for a grilling on a regular basis? And speaking of Bush, this little dictator should have his presidential powers stripped down to bare bones basics. It's time for this sorryass congress to do the job for which it is handsomely paid.


For sure elections would be more interesting if we were not stuck with just the
two pathetic, greedy, self-serving parties in today's 'market'.

AND I'd bet millions (if I had millions) that the general citizenry would be a thousand times more interested in politics & more likely to vote! We the citizens, who have been screwed for generations, could watch the heads roll as we conduct real, legitimate, and verifiable direct presidential & congressional elections.

Ah.... what a grand day that would be!

Proud Liberal Bitch........ still dreaming, still hoping.

Are You Buying Into It? --How the Dimocrats are Gaming You

Are you buying into the confirmation vote record of Alito as evidence of the Dimocrat Congress being staunch, firm, fierce, and loyal? Yes? Congratulations, you just got hosed. That little caper, wherein it was made to seem that only four were Party traitors, was merely a mild form of PsyOps (Pyschological Operations). Do you remember what came just before that? That's right: a 72-to-25 Senate vote to end debate, bring cloture, and vote to confirm Samuel Alito. That was what guaranteed Alito his passage: all those joyously delivered Dimocratic cloture votes. Now, all you have to do is sit back and listen to the machinery endlessly bleating (because the quisling Congressionals will never say it with their own mouths) about "the poor, brave, hard-fighting, disconsolate Dims worrying about re-election chances in Red States"...hence their outrageous ballot-casting.

From there, you start buying into their re-education process. However, if you do accept venality that easily, there's no reason to read further; this article will make little sense to you. In fact, it'll probably piss you off.

The way the media - all the media; let me say that again: ALL the media - inferred it, was that there was still a filibuster opportunity after the cloture vote. There never was. There couldn't be. ‘Cloture' means ‘a closing' and it cut off any further procedural possibility of debate and, thus, filibuster. A congressperson can only filibuster while debate is open, not during the actual vote. But, um, you weren't really told that, were you? Certainly not by the Right press and...not by the Left either. This should be disquieting.

So, the Dims made absolutely sure there would be no filibuster at the very same time they were telling you that it was a wide open possibility. But think about it: most Dims voted for cloture absolutely knowing it would guarantee Alito his spot on the court. No doubt about it. Then they began the theater work, "standing firm", "supporting the rank and file", "holding strong to American principals" when it all was absolutely devoid of meaning. Didja fall for it?

Ah, but there was also the fusillade of diversionary role-playing all the while. The Sunday before, Minority Whip Dick Durbin informed the press he had 37 of the 41 votes needed to clinch the filibuster. What happened? No one cared to follow up his allegation, Right or Left. If Durbin's claim was indeed a truism, yet so jaw-droppingly many Dims voted for cloture - voted against filibuster - what went on there? Might Durbin have been lying? If not, was he being lied to? Without a micron of doubt, blatant prevarications were being told, it only remains to determine exactly where. I know what I think.

Note, too, that all eight Dims on the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted against Alito before the nomination appeared on the floor. That is, the Dimocratic members of a committee totally devoted to jurisprudential candidate fitness overwhelmingly rejected him on all fronts...and yet...the committee's comrades elsewhere were about evenly split on the question of filibuster. Isn't that interesting? Were they paying attention at all? The most involved Dim members as much as said "Drop this idiot like a scalding anvil!!!" and they were ignored...by their own.

John Kerry once again waffled. Early on, he was against filibustering, following the futile hope that his primary silence wouldn't be broached; then, at the last minute - hmmm, almost at the exact same time the entire PsyOps scheme would have been coming together - he flew in "valorously" to push for something it appears he may well have known hadn't a hope in Hades. Where'd he wing it from? Ah, well that was ignored too, again: by both Right and Left press. It was the Davos Conference, where the richest people on Earth gather to decide the fate of the globe. John Kerry, who married into immense wealth. John Kerry, who wouldn't raise even the feeblest leg up on a hideously obvious Vote Fraud and who caved in, in what may have been a world's record in concessions, amidst very public and very heated knowledge that something was criminally amiss in the electoral process...just as...hmmmm...just as Al Gore had also done during the last Vote Fraud. What a coincidence! Are we seeing a pattern here?

But also: John Kerry, who was once an icon, protesting the VietNam War and cracking open the biggest financial scandal in world history (BCCI), and now appears to be no more than an actor with lines written by divers hands, playing a Centrist role to attenuate the malefactions of what may not be a party opposite him, after all.

Oh, and remember "Hot Again, Cold Again" Dianne Feinstein, the corporatist's dream? You may recall the Dims were quietly, and not so quietly - certainly not on Feinstein's part - whispering that Alito was a "done deal" and that filibuster was foolish, until public pressure ratcheted up, then suddenly very grudgingly mouthing the public position, saying they'd support a filibuster, simultaneously stating such could never succeed. Say what??? Gentlemen and ladies, movies have been made about the filibuster as the most wildly successful ace-in-the-hole in American history. Does the name "Mr. Smith" ring a bell? How about "Jimmy Stewart". The Dims were hoping you never saw the flick. Maybe you didn't.

What, exactly, would be the only thing that could have defeated the confirmation process once it started, and at exactly what point? Filibuster, right at the cloture juncture and nowhere else. Oh, I forgot: neither the Right nor the Left press much cared to state that clearly enough. Odd, no? Well, as exculpatory nonsense currently goes, they probably "didn't even think of it!". Are you buying into that? They certainly hope so and, if polls (God help me, now I'm referring to the damn things!) are correct, you did. Or...did you? After all, what's prompting the polls, who's being poled [sic], what were the questions, and who are these faceless bastards running them? Doesn't matter, as any unwillingness to initiate the filibuster at all was a clear signal of collusion with the Repuglican status quo. The rest is horse manure. All the Dims now have to do is obfuscate that fact as much as possible, and that's what they're doing.

And by the way, where was "rebel" Howard Dean during all this? Did you like his weak-kneed from-the-closet Dim performance?

Merrily joining the flip-floppers, Barack Obama was said to have criticized filibustering, then, at the very last moment, pledged to vote it in. Note what went on there: one doesn't vote for a filibuster, one votes against cloture, then a filibuster just occurs. But that's not what Obama said. He was referring to something that doesn't exist. Makes for a good excuse later on. Let's see now, is he a lawyer? Obama didn't like the filibuster at all, instead averring, "There's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court...reflect [Dimocratic] values and that's to win elections." So, voting for anything but candidates is a mistaken action, is that it, Mr. Obama, and screw anything like, oh, issues, law, Supreme Court Justices, and such trivialities? That's an alleged verity I find surprising in an American.

Joe Biden was equally cagey, gritting his teeth as he said, "I think a filibuster makes sense when you have a prospect of actually succeeding...I will vote one time to continue the debate." Pardon me? Condescending to follow the will of the people...one time? Because it perhaps goes against one's own private interests? Let me check again and see what Party Biden belongs to. He, all along, was heralding that "the fact of the matter" was that Alito's confirmation was - and one has to wonder where this came-from-nowhere sentiment originated - a done deal. Is that a "D" I see next to is name? Must be a typo.

Alito got through because the Dimocrats allowed it and for no other reason. The Repuglican vote was the only "done deal", and there was a possible several-member dissent there almost from Day One, which means the Dims could still have handily thwarted the necessary 60 vote halt. They didn't. Why?

You can either listen to their inane blather, delivered pontificatingly as received wisdom (and wisdom is gaining its hoariness in mere nanoseconds nowadays, it appears), amidst welters of hand-wringing, choked-back tears, looks of exhaustion, and other stage effects, or you can look at the facts, decide what's really going on, and quit regurgitating back the cue lines Dims are feeding you. That's where the PsyOps can be found - an' it ain't jes' yer down-home Repugs who're peddling it to ya, Jeeter. It used to be called propaganda...but that's what propaganda is: PsyOps. Goebbels knew it, Mussolini knew, Rove knows it, and now the Dimocrats know it.

Do you know it?

by Mark S. Tucker
February 3, 2006
-----------------------

Mark S. Tucker, a critic, has written for numerous magazines and presently writes for Perfect Sound Forever on-line, as well as this forum. He can be reached at progdawg@hotmail.com. This article is originally published at opednews.com. Copyright Mark S. Tucker, but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.



Toll Free to Congress -888-355-3588, 888-818-6641 or 800-426-8073

Comment From Cyberspace

In a different context or under other circumstances, I'm quite sure I'd like you guys and would enjoy spending time with you and tossing ideas back and forth - on faith, on governance, on compassion and suffering, on football. That's sincere, not a rhetorical deception. But I don't like you now. I am deeply angry and dismayed at the moral and intellectual positions your partisan or nationalist loyalties have led you to.

You accept, with almost no reflection, nearly anything and everything this adminstration you support tells you from the small details to the large "mottos".

Abramoff was an "equal money dispenser", said Bush. It was a lie. You bought it, or at least excused it. How many more such inaccuracies and deceptions have I seen you swallow and parrot?

"They want to destroy our way of life and Western Civilization", says Cheney. You guys suck that in and it gives you meaning and purpose even while that consequence from that cause is so nearly impossible as to be laughable. There are how many of these guys on camels with rifles? The combination of Germany, Italy and Japan - highly technically and militarily advanced nations with millions of trained soldiers and huge military machines didn't pose the threat described above, though they posed something real but much smaller. In fact, it is our modern culture and militarism which poses that threat to the cultures of the desert arabs. Perhaps it ought to, but at least you should get the whole picture right side up in your thinking.

You argue that the media doesn't tell the good news about the war. But the media has been almost completely sterile and devoid of the realities of this war. Have any of you seen even a single picture of a blown apart innocent Iraqi child? Have any of you heard them screaming for the two days it took for their burned bodies to expire? I don't want to witness this either, but we should be forced to witness exactly this.

You justify and excuse torture, though you define what has happened as something else even when if your parents of siblings suffered these acts, you would consider it nothing other than inhuman. Or you justify it as necessary and think "turn the other cheeck" and "let him who has no sin throw the first stone" are notions as quaint as the international rules on torture. Do you imagine Christ committing such acts? Do you imagine Christ condoning such acts? Do you imagine Christ dropping a cluster bomb?
................Blatham

 
 

Narcissism, the public, and the President

Bush spoke last week to wounded soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center and uttered these immortal words indicating a lack of true appreciation for the suffering of the gravely wounded, often permanently disabled soldiers he was speaking to:


"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a Cedar. I eventually won. The Cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel."

At a time when the number of severely wounded soldiers is rising, this lack of appreciation is disturbing and portends badly for adequate resources being made available to care for damaged soldiers and veterans over the coming months, years, and decades.

This episode was far from the first time Bush uttered bizarre sounding comments in response to the injuries of others. Who can forget his remarkable message to the hundreds of thousands of people, many poor and black, whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Katrina:

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

While Bush's comments to wounded GIs were uttered together with the usual platitudes expected on such occasions, these quotes illustrate Bush's greatest strength and also his greatest weakness, his narcissism.

Narcissism

At an observable level, narcissism involves a self-centeredness that makes one oblivious to the emotional existence of others. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (IVth edition: DSM-IV) defines its pathological extreme (narcissistic personality disorder) as:

"A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy."

In the odd DSM manner, this condition is diagnosed by having a threshold number of the following symptoms (5 out of 9), regardless of which five symptoms they are. (To be diagnostic of a clinical condition each symptom should be possessed to the extent that it interferes with functioning or causes distress):

"Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

"Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

"Believes that he or she is "'special"' and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

"Requires excessive admiration

"Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

"Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

"Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

"Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

"Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes"



full article at: http://www.opednews.com

Comments from Cyberspace

Our army is getting it's butt kicked in Iraq, and the commander-in-chief is a maniac. A narcissist psycho who knows nothing because he loses it when he hears something he doesn't like, he lives in a dream world. He's not the only one. His pals live in a dream world too. In the gulf war Iraqi army was no match, and when it was ruined, Iraq suffered ten ormore years of bombing and enbargoing by Americans, mostly killing children (thanks Bill) . Yes, Iraq was easy pickings, but they're fighting back. Syria and Iran won't be pushovers like Iraq.

Iran has a gigantic defense machine, a navy and missiles poised on the mountains overlooking the the Hormuz Straits. Both Syria and Iran are supplied ofmilitary by both Russia and China. Iran has contrrolled missiles that fly at 5.5 mach that can destroy large navy vessels, and we have nothing that can match that. In a war with America, both Russia and China would backIran, they could care less about Israel. An overworked right-wing mantra is the world is dangerous. Well yes, when we don't behave ourselves, it could even get more dangerous. Americans should learn not to vote maniacs into the office of president.


Don Phelps
California

_________________________________________________________________


I almost can't stomach watching the judiciary proceedings without having my emotions getting wrung dry. Although I vote Democratic, I find almost everything Republican has a stain of repugnant dishonesty about their hypocritical behavior trying to showcase Alito as pillar of the community type when in reality, he is a rightwing anti-abortion pro-corporation extremist who supports an imperial presidency and I just can't link this kind of cesspool methods to Democrats.

During the judiciary hearing I hear straight forward questions from Democrats with Alito giving evasive answers or not answering the question at all, then comes a Republican softball question that allows him slime through his anti-abortion stance as something that protects Democracy, but in reality it forces women to accept health care concepts as practiced by intelligent design instead of medical science.

This nominee should be rejected and quit wasting the people's money for a performance in which the votes have been cast before the hearings began. The Republicans haven't asked Judge Alito not one question of substance. The Democrats must be unanimous in their rejection of Samuel Altio, and if necessary, filibuster. The future of our nation is at stake.

Larry Little

Over 50, Have SIA , Kiss My Grits !

My cyber friend, Les, wrote this amazing, insightful commentary this morning and it's too good not to share:

From: Hubmaster@aol.com

I’ve been a different man since I developed SIA.

You know, when you’re young, you’re easily intimidated by the so-called mores of our society that dictates how you are supposed to act, what you are supposed to wear and what you are inclined to say.

All my life I heard from my two spinster aunts (no one would marry these viragos, harridans, “castrators:,” whatever God rest their heartless souls!) about all of the things that I was doing wrong and how I was rapidly becoming the black sheep of the family. Everyone in my family did things better than I did, it seemed. Exactly right; not really an ego-building environment because all of the ego was already used up.

Whatever I managed to accomplish, they accomplished it better, faster and smarter!

I guess that was the reason I was so eager to get away from everybody, left home young, joined the Army, became an adviser and disappeared for four years plus!


When I got out, I lived in California, Florida and Boston before coming home for a fortnight before moving out to my own pad and my own freedom and a home that I was never to return to.

And you know what?

Somehow, despite all of my failings, I actually was able to survive. Without all of the guidance, without all of the minute directions and details of what I should do and without

Becoming an activist in the First Church of Science where my aunt was a mucky-muck!

Now, my old age is proving the happiest time of my life.

Why?

Like I said before, after I developed SIA.

And I have to tell you, it’s contagious.

For those of you not familiar with SIA, let me explain.

It usually accompanies your AARP subscription. It means that you are now in your fifties, and you don’t have to explain anything to anybody anymore. You don’t have to smile when you don’t want to. And you don’t even have to be nice. On your time off, you can laze around in your underwear or your bra and panties. You can listen to the worst music on the air. You can rob the refrigerator; you can eat with your hands standing up, you can burp without fear~….and you can live.

Most importantly, I don’t have to put up with anyone’s bullshit. I can tell it like it is without fear of having somebody toss it back at me. And I can ignore anyone who is a complete asshole. I don’t have to be nice to my son-in-law’s parents, and if they don’t like it, who gives a rat’s ass. That’s what SIA is all about!--which is short-hand for Screw It Anyway…

My guiding philosophy.

Under a heightened condtion of SIA, I have told clients to pack their bags, I have turned down jobs, I have chosen to let my wife go visit the kids while I indulge in all of those cheap B movies that I love, I can cook all those heart-wrenching great foods that cut down on your life, I can get on the Internet and stay as long as I like and I can tell some idiot to suck lemons if that’s how I feel.

Ah yes, old age has its blessings.

Between you and me, I’ve never felt so good in my whole bloody life as I do now as an old codger. And I make sure that I go on the record in my local newspaper, and during all the meetings I participate in. Over all, I have never changed the fact that I am a curmudgeon. Why am I curmudgeon. Because I was once an Idealist. Idealists always become curmudgeons in their old age.

In fact, I wrote something the other day that I got back a few days later from Joe with a picture of Andy Rooney. I read it before realizing that I had written it originally.

But it sounded just like Andy Rooney. In fact, it sounded so much like him, that I sent it to him. If I sound like Andy Rooney, I feel I am in pretty good company.

But between you and me, I’m having a field day. So there….

Hurry up and get old and then join me in expressing yourself any way you like!...

It’s the nearest thing to Heaven!

Les Aaron

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com


Les,

ROTFLMAO ! I have been reading your commentaries for several years now and as the years rolled by I started noticing that you were writing more and more like I was thinking without the "kiss my ass" routine that I usually insert when I try to write what I am feeling.

When I got to your sentence "It means that you are now in your fifties, and you don’t have to explain anything to anybody anymore", I literally ROTFLMAO because it was exactly what I have been saying for over ten yrs now!

I have had a great case of SIA for over 10 yrs. and I am loving it! I didn't know what it was called but I damn sure have it! It took a couple years after 50 until I got into the real swing of SIA but damn it has been fun since then.

And all this time some people almost had me convinced that I was a bitter old lady! Bitter my arse! I'm the Proud Liberal Bitch!

YeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaawwww and now I have a cyberSIAmate! What more could one ask for in their old age? LOL

By the way what do you call a female curmudgeon? hehehehehe!

I have to post this at my Proud Liberal Bitch blogspot! If you don't like it sue me!

HOW the NeoCons Stole Freedom

HOW the NeoCons Stole Freedom

Our pRes Is A liar

Our president Is A liar!

He was lying then and he is lying now!

A must watch 5 minute video: Windows media and Flash format

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11348.htm



Angry About the Strike? Then Where's Your Outrage at Politicians & Goldman Sachs?

And if you believe the city and state governments are in such financial dire straits that they can't afford $20 million, then how do you feel about the city and state governments recently giving away $2 billion of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars to Goldman Sachs, one of the wealthiest, profitable investment banks on the planet?

That's right, New York - your hard-earned taxpayer dollars were handed over to Goldman Sachs so they could build themselves a new palatial office.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/from-it-was-legal-to-i_b_12692.html


You'd think Americans would wake up to the idea that Republicans are always keeping us in deep doo-doo. Eisenhower kept sending spyplanes over the Soviet Union. They caught us. Nixon, well you know about Nixon, Republican as hell. Then Reagan's Contras and death squads in Central America, and now this idiot. Who's going to be next, Rush Limbaugh? How dumb can we be? Why not try someone who's smart? It can't get worse.

Don Phelps

To the ID's (Intelligent Designers): How come God put nipples on Adam?

..........................................

“This is the right thing to do for the country,” Schumer said after the deal had been announced. “To let the Patriot Act lapse would have been a dereliction of duty.” http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10562008/

Once again the Democratic "leadership" rescued defeat from the jaws of victory. What a sell out!.......... Jay Hubbell, Democracy Depot
..................................


ECONOMY -- TREASURY SECRETARY CLAIMS CLINTON'S SURPLUS WAS A 'MIRAGE': Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary John Snow called the $127 billion budget surplus left by President Clinton a "mirage." Upon entering office, President Bush immediately whittled away the Clinton surplus, running up a deficit of $319 billion in 2005 primarily through handsome tax cuts for the wealthy. But Snow incredulously believes "the president's legacy will be one of having significantly reduced the deficit in his time." "Snow's comment would be laughable if it weren't so pathetically and obviously inaccurate," said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution. Snow's economic analysis that Clinton's surplus "wasn't a real surplus" ranks up there with Vice President Cheney's prior claim that "deficits don't matter."

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/


The ‘Most Corrupt' Congress EverIncluding Elements of the Black Caucus
by BC Publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble


The term "corruption" is vague, as is "theft" and "fraud" and other crimes. The "pork" that seems to be the princely meal savored by American legislative gluttons, is but one aspect of corruption. Putting aside the bid to fund "bridges to nowhere" in Alaska, the most gruesome (and lucrative) manifestation of endemic corruption is the Iraq war and occupation - a cash cow for favored corporations, and even companies that did not exist previous to the war and the promise of "reconstruction" of Iraq. However, even the rip-off of billions in this scam (and the theft of billions in Iraqi oil revenues) does not come close to describing the enormity of the crime: an attempt to steal the resources of a vast swath of the Earth, far beyond the boundaries of Iraq, and to transfer the proceeds to private hands, all the while billing the American public for the military muscle required.

Now, that's corruption, by anybody's definition.

www.BlackCommentator.com
12/22/05

The Prodigal Frog Sez'

After being asked to leave by the end of next year, The Bush Administration has already began its bombardment of pathetic excuses why we can't! This began with Condi Rice stating today that she didn't think Iraq could handle terrorism in its OWN country WITHOUT our help in that short a time span! The difference between the Bush view and Iraq's view cannot be better illustrated than by what Iraq ALSO said yesterday! If you read the WHOLE article* as opposed to JUST what was under the pictures (Placed there for Republican benefits) then you would ALSO understand Iraq ordered all of its citizens released that were not already sentenced or had sentences pending with a court date! This stems from Bush's attempt to stamp out all resistance whether they are actually terrorists or not by phosphorous bombing or napalming them or attacking them conventionally! The survivors, innocent or not, are then rounded up and jailed indefinitely without the benefit of trials! Iraqi's understand this and distrust Americans for this reason! It seems Bush came to Iraq, intent on stopping the torture of its citizens by torturing them himself! In fact, it appears Iraq has learned well from its occupiers, ALREADY torturing people in dungeons! Iraq ALSO made it abundantly clear, that Iraqi's participating in bombing incidences had a legal right to do so as long as INNOCENT arab's were not targeted! Well, when we THINK about that, that ONLY leaves Foreign born terrorists and American citizens which they now VIEW as legitimate targets for insurgents! So it seems Bush is intent on keeping our troops there for years while the Iraqi Govt excuses KILLING them! One can ask why Bush would do this?

Of course the answer is simple: Regardless of the govt Iraqi's want (Pro Iran/Islamic Law) Bush does not have the Govt HE wants there yet! (Pro American Business) Bush needs American Corporations to be able to FORCE their feet in the Middle East's oil and to be able to sell American products there! Bush KNOWS that if he leaves before he has an American Puppet in Charge, they will TOSS American's and their greedy corporations OUT on their ears and his wars will have been for NOTHING! This was the ORIGINAL reason I was against the war to start with! Down thru the decades of my life, I have learned that almost ANYTIME our country starts a war, it is for something that will be a net gain for our Godless corporations who have interests seeded thru out our govt thanks to their billions! At least this has been the case post WW2. This is of course true for the Democratic party too but in the past, they have been at least reluctant to involve us in wars over economics, though they have passed trade treaties just as bad for Americans! It seems our corporations are out to do ANYTHING to seize control of America and the World to increase their profits! The eventual aim is a One World Govt under fascism! Eventually we will WORK for the company Store, Live in the Company subdivision and BUY from the company store all designed to make us Economic slaves to them! They will even control our wages because they can raise the prices of their rent and products to offset any wage gains! By doing this, it keeps money FLOWING into the corporation and AWAY from workers!

Meanwhile Back in Iraq, Our boys are over there becoming LEGAL targets of the Same Govt we just installed, sorta, to increase profit margins for our corporations! We can also DIE for the company store it seems! Already 2000 plus American's have died for this STUPID Bush Policy! How can anyone THINK this is about terrorism anymore? It began with 911. They used the "Rebel Yell" to unite Americans into one massive mind set and then perverted the deaths of our very own citizens into their agenda! Like Rumsfeld said, "There are no interesting targets in Afghanistan!" and every since then, Bush has down played Afghanistan's importance, drawing troops from that terrorist laden country into Iraq! Afghanistan was a SECONDARY target!Remember O'Sama Bin Laden? Well, he's STILL over there even though recently Bush announced pulling 4000 troops from there in favor of Iraq! In fact, at the time Iraq HAD NO TERRORISTS and DIDN'T so until long AFTER the invasion. The terrorists became so put off by our ignoring them that they began pouring across the borders and ENTERING Iraq to GET to us! That's pretty bad when Bush says he's going after terrorism and misses them so badly that terrorist have to relocate to GET to us! In fact Iraq is NOW becoming a terrorism BREEDING ground and Bush has merely miscalculated their resolve! Why do you think Bush entered Iraq so unprepared? Not enough troops, no body armor, no armor for MOST of our military vehicles! I say its because he THOUGHT there were no terrorists in Iraq (A correct assumption at first) and didn't see the need for protection! All he wanted was to Force open Iraq's oil fields thereby lowering the cost of oil and Iraq was easy pickings because they had an Iraqi army that was basically demoralized by losing two major wars! He assumed Iraq would be a cake walk and NEVER contemplated terrorist relocating to get to us in massive relocation programs! He also never calculated Iraqi's JOINING in against him. He is an idiot though and MAJORLY wrong! Iraq IS an Islamic country! 2/3's are arabs and only an idiot would think an arab would side against another arab to help blue eyed Americans pilfer their resources to increase the profit margins of Haliburton and Exxon! What a BUMBLING Idiot! What's amazing to me is that these corporations backed Bush at all, but they needed an average looking Joe Blow like Bush to win! (Corporations think Bush is an average american and 52% of the really ignorant in America BOUGHT into that scenario! He looked great Against Kerry with all his billions! Don't get me wrong. Kerry is better than Bush and grew up in the middle class so he better than Bush knows how the Average American lives but the Democrats guessed wrong on one count! They didn't calculate Kerry coming off as a billionaire and Rove is a master at lying and making people think they've seen the truth!

So where do we go from here? Of Course I am biased having a daughter AND a nephew now serving and BOTH returning recently from Iraq! (My daughter leaves there in a week) But that is not my only reason for wanting to withdraw! I love America too. We must weigh our net gains with our net losses and CHANGE the way we think!

First off, we have to change our foreign policy! The First thing we have to do is NEVER again use our military for economic reasoning! I have NOTHING against helping to free the world's people and HIGHLY believe in freedom. But, if you do that, you do it for freedom alone and you never do it by launching wars! You get the people oppressed to free themselves and you do it without attaching stipulations such as doing Business with us! That is selfish and TWO faced and is exactly why our countries image has and is being damaged! Freedom is its own reward and security in the world is best based on democracies! This is best based on allowing a people to free its self by supplying them with money and assistance! When you do this and DON'T stick in selfish reasons, those people will THANK you later! We must also recognize that not ALL govts that are NOT democratic are evil! There are hundreds of examples of non democratic govts in the world and in the past that in fact were quite good and did lots for their people! You only need to worry about those that are NOT free and that Harm MOST of their people! Lots of govts are monarchies, socialistic and democratic and do WELL for their people! If they are successful, LEAVE them alone! Because a govt has ONE leader, doesn't make it evil! Europe and south America have many examples of these countries! Even China is an example. Though China is not perfect yet, they ARE moving in that direction and I believe sooner or later they will be ok. They are the way they are because our Govt NUDGED them in that direction but did NOT go to war to FORCE them! Wars are highly destructive and SELDOM solve any problems! They should be reserved for TRUE self defense and in the case of extreme genocide! America cannot afford to be the world's police either economically or thru its sons and daughters due to limited man power!

Secondly, we need to change our govt at home! We are very two faced to the world! we preach about helping the oppressed and poor souls of the world but we treat our own people no better than many of today's unsuccessful govts! We deprive them of decent wages while we breed billionaires in excess! 44 million can't even afford health care! Why do we do this? It is thru greed! The wealthy know there is a limited amount of money here and recognize they can only remain billionaires if MOST of Americans are poor! So they use the power of their wealth to lobby laws to make it EASIER for them to keep their wealth! Don't be fooled! Most of their money is not EARNED: It's STOLEN! Stolen from workers who they vastly under pay for their services! When it comes down to it, workers are business owners too. Their widgets are hours they work and they should have the same rights as a Business when determining prices! Prices are determined by supply and demand but wages are NOT! At least not Legally! They are interfered with in MANY instances! One example is the FED! When raises rise too fast, the FED raises interest rates clamping down on the money supply which has the effect of cutting off capital needed for the rise of wages! CEO wages have gone up astronomically the past 4 decades but nobody interfered in that? Why should they interfere in the wages of lower paid Americans? And if the govt's allowed to do that, Then the govt SHOULD set a basic wage that ALLOWS Every American to have at least the basics! No One should be paid a wage so low, he cannot possibly live on it and thereby be FORCED to live off welfare JUST so some billionaire can make 100 million as opposed to 40 million! A basic Federal minimum wage should be high enough and KEPT that way automatically being adjusted for inflation to insure the Following:
1. Reasonable Healthcare
2. Housing
3. Transportation (To get to work and back)
4. Education (So that today's workers can keep up when a corporation dumps them)
5. Food
6. A little for savings for a rainy day!

Personally, in today's job market I think it should be some where between $12-15 an hour with healthcare provided by the job or the govt! It should also be tied to inflation rising with it without any votes! If the cost of living is 2% then the next year it automatically rises that much! Congress just voted them a 7% pay raise and has received pay raises every year just about for awhile! They also get free healthcare and Pensions if they serve a minimum amount of time!

I can hear them now! Oh, That will hurt business! The poor will suffer. LOL The poor are already suffering and I dont care if it DOES hurt business! America is NOT in the business of helping corporations that HURT their workers! If they cant make a buck without screwing their workers, I say tough shit! You shouldn't be in business anyhow! Sure some will go under and it will take a transition period but a few years down the road we will be much better off than we are now! This bleeding heart Liberal doesn't bleed for billionaires or millionaires! People today act like going from a billionaire to a millionaire is so sad! I should have such rotten luck!

The Prodigal Frog

*Iraqi Leaders Call for Timetable for U.S. Withdrawal, by SALAH NASRAWI , AP

Boozer Bush

W. gets by with a little help from Jack and Jim.

It doesn’t explain everything, but it explains a lot: George Bush, our president, is hitting the bottle again. The drinking rumors have been making the rounds for months, and even before that people speculated that Bush’s “accidents”—choking on a pretzel, dropping his dog, crashing his bicycle—were “alcohol-related.” For someone who makes such a point of flaunting his physical prowess, his habitual clumsiness is somewhat suspicious. After all, Bushie (his wife Laura’s pet name for him, just as it’s his pet name for her, which is a bit creepy) first gained prominence as a high-kicking, back-flipping sis-boom-bah male cheerleader at Yale.

Of course, we are all familiar with Bush’s epic battle with the bottle: He boozes his way through college; he is persistently liquored up through his 20s (failing to show up for National Guard duty, but never missing booze-drenched weekend barbecues with his Texas buddies); into his 30s, he is so continuously sloshed that he screws up every sure-thing business venture his daddy sets up for him; at 40, so the story goes, his wife gives him the made-for-the-movies sound-bite ultimatum, “Bushie, it’s me or Jim Beam,” and the chastened former cheerleader renounces alcohol forever. (In a medium shot, we see Bushie mournfully pouring out the last of a fifth of bourbon onto the patio pavement, while Laura witnesses the act with a wifely look of affection, relief, and secret triumph.)

Bushie’s renunciation of booze has gained such mythic status that many people (Republican true believers) conveniently overlook the fact that his renunciation of adult beverages was hardly a redemptive turn of fortune. All that happened was that Bush the obnoxious drunk became Bush the obnoxious teetotaler, proclaiming that his life was now in the hands of Jesus Christ, not Jim Beam.

But the recent revelations about Bush slugging down Southern Comfort as Iraq goes down the tubes and New Orleans goes down the drain calls into question whether he actually gave up booze and gave his life to Jesus in the first place. That Bush continued to hit the sauce after taking the pledge explains a good deal of his weird behavior, one minute scared s—tless, the next, after a secret swig of Early Times, inflated with Texas swagger.

One minute Bush goes limp with fright when desperate aides inform him that planes have crashed in the World Trade Center; the next minute, stiff with bravado, he boasts of his resolve to get Osama “dead or alive.” One minute, when he hears Hurricane Katrina howling, he cringes like a scaredy-cat behind his Mama; after a few pops of Old Granddad, he’s full of phony bluster, telling his feckless FEMA chief, “Brownie, you’re doin’ a heckuva job.”

Other creepy traits of our commander-in-chief make sense when seen in the light of his unacknowledged alcoholism. There is his adolescent habit, for instance, of conferring nicknames on all who come within his ken. We all know drunks who, deep in the throes of inebriated bonhomie, bestow terms of affection on friend and foe alike.


One can almost feel Bush’s sticky breath and his humid embrace as he christens his confederates, immortalizing them with his own special brand of corny wit: Turd Blossom (Karl Rove), Lima Green Bean (Karen Hughes), Number One (Barbara Bush, who is no doubt relieved that Junior did not name her Number Two), Guru (Condoleezza Rice), Big Time (Dick Cheney), Balloon Foot (Colin Powell), Ali (Barbara Boxer), Big O (Olympia Snow, who may or may not wonder at the cheekiness of Little G’s presumption regarding the magnitude of her orgasms), and last but not least, Pootie Poot (Vladimir Putin, who in times past might have launched the Doomsday Machine upon receiving a moniker with connotations of the female genitalia).
Bush’s prolonged sousitude also explains his verbal miscues, his syntactical insurgencies, his grammatical catastrophes. It’s as if the bourbon marinade left deadly lacunae in his already diminutive brain, making it impossible for the most elementary thought to navigate its way through the decimated labyrinth of his frontal lobes.

Then there are the quirky smirks, the bug-eyed glares and goofy grimaces, his words and facial expressions so out of sync that you are reminded of a badly dubbed Japanese monster movie. Finally, what about all those lip gyrations when Bushie is under stress, the tiny mouth working this way and that as if it were engaged in attempting to remove the cap from a bottle? It must be the sauce.


http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2005/deep_2005-10-06.cfm


Dissent is the highest form of patriotism

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.-Thomas Jefferson

Correcting Mistakes - New York Times style.

TO: Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. October 2, 2005
Publisher, New York Times

Dear Mr. Sulzberger,

I quote from an article by Ms. Gail Collins in today's editorial section:

"We correct all errors, from heart-stoppingly egregious to sublimely insignificant, because we believe that The Times should take its reputation for accuracy seriously. But mistakes of significance are much more urgent than minor ones. They need to be corrected quickly, and in a way that guarantees the fix is seen by as many people who read the original piece as possible."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/opinion/02collins.html?hp

So, would you explain to me why you are not correcting all the lies written by Ms. Judith Miller in support of the illegal war in Iraq but instead you are shown escorting her from jail and putting her on a pedestal as a symbol of virtue among journalists?

Doesn't the hypocrisy create a massive gag reflex?

If the Times had an ounce of integrity left, it would have fired Miller months ago, perhaps even before you fired the young black journalist for lifting the work of other writers.

Please explain why one set of rules for the young black man and a different set of rules for the rich white liar?

Your actions demonstrate that "mistake of significance are much more urgent than minor ones" & "they need to be corrected quickly" is a joke.... a nasty joke played on the American people.

An earlier statement from your newspaper "Judy has been unwavering in her commitment to protect the confidentiality of her source" is so laughable that it defies the imagination. The only thing that Ms. Miller seems to be committed to is one bald face lie after another. The only question that remains is how long will the Times continue to make excuses and cover her backside. That woman is just as responsible as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc. for the murder and mayhem that has been going on in Iraq for the past two years.

Your endorsement of this corrupt woman thereby makes your hands just as bloody as the ones who planned and carried out this illegal military action.

The only conclusion I can reach as a reader of the NY Times is that it's really true that the media become nothing more than a propaganda machine that doesn't even blink at the lies anymore?

Shame on you for treating your country in this manner.

Pig Farm Quickly Vacated- Pretend Concern for Katrinas's Victims

Bu$h couldn't get out of Crawford fast enough after Hurricane Katrina. He pretends that he is making a great sacrifice by shortening his 50th vacation by two days! Then.... Off he goes to make a speech to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VJ Day which he obviously thought was more important than bothering with those pesty poor people who were wading in water and human feces in New Orleans.

Along comes hate mongering Matt Drudge, doing what he does best and posting bald faced lies about the German people & others that he thought were not providing the lockstep, kiss ass service that he considered necessary to stay in his good graces as if any thinking human being gives a damn what Drudge thinks.


This morning Der Speigel ran the following article which mentions among other things the hundreds of hate mails they received thanks to Drudge's hog wash.


Katrina Demonstrates How Wide the Atlantic Really Is---By Charles Hawley in Berlin

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372565,00.html

I sent my own feedback to Der Spiegel:


Please allow me to speak as an American with eyes wide open.

First of all Matt Drudge is one of the worst hate mongers in the United States. That vile excuse for a man has never met a lie that he didn't love. If he can't find a suitable lie from sources like Fox New's Bill O'Reilly or similar source, he simply manufactures his own lies.

Matt Drudge and his ilk do not represent the U.S.

Secondly, if other countries choose not to help the U.S. I can certainly understand why since we sat on our backsides allowing the so-called leaders of this country to run roughshod over most of the world and saying, "there's nothing we can do about it".

Thirdly, if other countries did want to send people to help, I shudder to think what they would have to go through to gain entrance to this country with George Bush and his gang of paranoid thugs in charge. I can just visualize a large number of helpers being held incommunicado in some secret prison because one of those fools may decide that he is a terrorist.

Please don't think that the oceanic divide is as wide as fools like George Bush and Matt Drudge would have you believe. Most citizens of the United States are decent and caring people. We just happen to be caught in a spot with a fraudulent president who thinks he is some kind of god, and loud mouthed, lockstepping fools like Drudge pretending to speak for the entire country. Unfortunately the media in this country are either owned by goosestepping conservatives or controlled by them and aided and abetted by the likes of loud mouth Drudge.

They don't even speak for one third of this country. I apologize for the hate mongers who have decided to attack you. I don't even blame your politicians for pointing out the obvious; that George Bush does not give a royal hoot about the environment and seems total oblivious to science or anything else that contradicts his screwed up thinking.

Please note that while New Orleans was sinking into the mud along with it's poorest citizens, Bush was giving meaningless, say nothing speeches as usual. A New York Times editorial says, "George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom.....Nothing about the bu$h's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis........... Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/opinion/01thu1.html

And The Union Leader said: "Bush carried on with his plans to speak in San Diego, as if nothing important had happened the day before." http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=59785

As you can see we are fully aware as to what an incompetent, corrupt, leader we have. What we haven't figured out yet is how to get this 'don't give a damn person', through the rest of his term without starting WWIII and/or totally bankrupting our country. One thing that would help is for more world leaders to speak out against this war criminal and demand that he & his gang of thugs be brought to justice instead of coddling him and being fearful of saying anything that might hurt his feelings.

Frankly, I am sick of world leaders rolling over and playing dead for this schoolyard bully just as our own Congress has done. No one seems to give a damn about the distruction & misery he has created. Stop the non-sense. George Bush is as corrupt as the day is long. He doesn't give a damn about you or me.

Somewhere on Pig Farm Road.................

Yesterday evening a common thug barreled down Pig Farm Rd just outside that phony ranch and mowed down the rows of white crosses that honored our fallen soldiers. The jerk who did this was caught a short time later with evidence still hanging on his truck. He was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief.

MISCHIEF??? How about attempted murder?

Did you hear that on Friday or Saturday morning when bu$h and his gawd forsaken caravan were hot 'rodding' out of the ranch for his fund raiser (or meeting) they tore past the camp at 5:30 am with all the horns blaring full blast till they were out of sight. How childish can that bastard get? Did anyone hear that mentioned on the news?

Oh it's so much more important to drown us in the damned Gaza strip crap. And where is that treasonous Karl Rove? What else is that ffffffffing idiot up to behind the doors of the pig farm.

I must say that all the driver of the pickup truck was doing was following the example set by his illustrious leader who seems to think that he and his goons are above the law of this or any other country. Both bu$h, the gun toting bu$h lover and the thug in the pickup truck were cheered on by Faux Spews, some idiot named Gallager, the usual hate sites and more than likely Karl Rove & george bu$h!

Keep on asking questions people. Who benefits from 9-11? Who lied & lied and lied about the reasons for this illegal & illicit war? Who benefits from all these activities?

Who is scared to death of a poor mother who is asking too many questions about the "noble causes" of one george bu$h?

From True Majority:

Stand Up With Cindy Against This Intimidation

Last night a pickup truck dragging chains ran over the rows of white crosses on the side of the road next to Cindy Sheehan's vigil in Crawford, Texas.[1] And you probably already saw the news yesterday about President Bush's neighbor firing a shotgun into the air trying to scare the mothers of fallen soldiers who have gathered around Cindy.

Cindy and the other moms in Crawford have vowed to stay, and now a neighboring rancher, who is a veteran, has offered them some of his nearby land if they need it. He is standing up. Tomorrow night all of us can do the same, at more than a thousand candelight vigils across the country.

Here's a page where you can find the vigils planned near you: http://political.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=24&search_distance=30&search_zip=32507&submit=Search

Don't let the Coward of Texas & his hate mongering supporters have the last word on this illegal & murdering war.


Speaking of George, I understand that he was riding his bike yesterday out at the ranch. (I hope no London Bobbies got in his way). He took a 2 hour bike ride and when he got back, he was asked how he could go for a two hour bike ride when he doesn't have time to meet with me, and he said: "I have to go on with my life." (Austin Statesman, August 14) WHAT!!!!!????? He has to get on with his life!!! I am so offended by that statement. Every person, war fan, or not, who has had a child killed in this mistake of an occupation should be highly offended by that remark. Who does he think he is? I wish I could EVER be able to get on with my life. Getting on with my life means a life without my dear, sweet boy. Getting on with my life means learning to live with a pain that is so intense that sometimes I feel like throwing up, or screaming until I pass out from sorrow. I wish a little bike ride could help me get on with my life. I can't believe that someone who is the figurehead of an administration that has killed tens of thousands of innocent people doesn't spend his days hiding under his bed in shame, let alone riding his bike. ..... Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Texas... somewhere on Pig Farm Rd.


Christian Conservative take on the PNAC agenda. "So we are spending money that we do not have in a country that was not a threat with an eye towards other military targets in the same region. Based on the encouragements in the letter above and recent statements from the administration we seem to be following the agenda of the PNAC rather than the American people and our elected officials who are apparently mute or just plain ineffective about this matter. This situation is probably in part the result of the pervasive fear the citizens of this country felt after 9/11. We are willing to trade many of our liberties for a measure of security. We, by our sheep-like silence, must also be willing to give up the last vestiges of our constitutional republic in favor of becoming an empire builder. As the vulture-like war hawks circle overhead, we must also be prepared to give up our Judeo Christian heritage for questionable dominance over those too weak to fight our counterfeit superiority. I can almost discern the death rattle." http://www.theconservativevoice.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6554


AND OF COURSE


Nothing Is Ever The President's Fault By Reggie Rivers

Each new Bush administration story reminds me of the scene in the movie "Good Will Hunting," when Robin Williams' character, a counselor, has a breakthrough with Matt Damon's character.
"It's not your fault," Williams says over and over to the brilliant but troubled Will Hunting, whose overly aggressive, angry, self-destructive behavior constantly lands him in trouble. Hearing that it was not his fault, Hunting eventually breaks down, sobbing uncontrollably. He's finally on the path to redemption.

In America's version of this drama, President Bush lacks Hunting's brilliance but he's got the aggression and destruction mastered. He insults, dismisses, attacks, denies and disappears - usually to his ranch in Texas, where he has so far spent 20 percent of his presidency on vacation.

This week, Bush bypassed the Senate and appointed controversial figure John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton had been the subject of five months of debate in the Senate, because many people suspected he manipulated intelligence prior to the war in Iraq when he was the undersecretary of state for arms control.

Rather than turn over requested documents that might have exonerated Bolton or nominate a different candidate, Bush decided to wait until the congressional session ended and install Bolton through an infrequently used provision that allows the president to make recess appointments.
Bush's critics have charged him with abandoning the political process and misusing a process that was designed for emergencies, not controversies. But Bush doesn't worry about his critics. Instead, he focuses on his supporters, who always give him absolution.

"It's not your fault," they've told Bush. The blame, they say, lies with partisan Democrats who held up Bolton's appointment. Bush had no choice but to ignore the Senate.

So far, nothing in Bush's 4 1/2 years in office has been his fault. He's either been ignorant of problems that developed within his administration or he was forced by outside groups to take drastic action.

It wasn't his fault that an impostor kept the Denver 3 from attending a March town hall meeting at the Wings Over the Rockies museum or that the Secret Service has refused to identify the man. It wasn't Bush's fault that his adviser, Karl Rove, was involved in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

The intelligence failures prior to Sept. 11 weren't Bush's fault. Neither was the bad intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. It wasn't his fault that he insulted and alienated U.S. allies who demanded proof of Iraq's guilt prior to the war.

The abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison weren't his fault, nor was the establishment of an extralegal camp at Guantanamo Bay where Bush abandoned the Geneva Convention. A few rogue soldiers committed all the abuses, and the terrorists created the need for Guantanamo Bay.

It's not Bush's fault that there was no post-war plan in Iraq. Nor can he be blamed for our skyrocketing national debt, budget deficits and war costs. He can't be blamed for the more than 1,800 U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq; the insurgents bear responsibility for that.
In the movie, the counselor said "It's not your fault" to Hunting exactly 10 times, and it worked, because deep down, Will Hunting believed that his miserable childhood and the actions of his abusive father were his fault.


President Bush has been absolved more times than we can count, but he's never going to have a moment of introspective clarity, because the public is only confirming what he already believes about himself. Nothing is ever his fault.

So why not start a war? Why not cover up for Rove? Why not ignore the Senate and appoint Bolton? Why not take another vacation? His supporters will never blame him for anything, so Bush may as well do whatever he wants.

(c) 2005 Reggie Rivers

Just wait till Jesus gets his hands on you, you little bastard...... Abbie Hoffman

Revolution At The Pig Farm

George bu$h said our son's & daughter's lives were taken for a "noble cause"...... Noble to him, the Coward of Texas but not to us, the parents of the children caught up in this quagmire, and certainly not to Cindy Sheehan whose son, Casey, was murdered in Iraq just over a year ago.

Cindy has been camped outside the pig farm, now known as vacation spot of the century, waiting for a lazy, don't give a damn person who calls himself the President of the United States, asking this cowardly, loudmouth to simply walk outside and talk to her.... to tell her just what is this "noble cause".


Come on george, you with the great smirk and the phony strut that makes you look as though your are nursing a diaper rash, what are you so afraid of? You seem to think that you are such hot schitt....you, the mighty bu$h! So why are you so afraid of one petite woman who simply wants to have a short discussion with you.


Cindy just wants to know how on earth you consider the murder of her son to be a "noble cause". Are you really so damned arrogant that you think it's noble to die for your bald faced lies? Have you ever had a conscience? Even as a child? What happens to turn a human being into such a brazen, corrupt, murdering thug with not a speck of conscience?

Whatever happened that made you turn out to be such an arrogant, self-serving SOB? You will have to answer for it someday and something tells me that Cindy Sheehan is going to do something that the cowed, corporate owned Congress doesn't have the guts to do. Her Revolution at the Pig Farm may bring down your high and mighty arrogant ass! I hope I live to see the day that you and your gang of thugs are frog marched into a prison for the rest of your lives.

It's the beginning, georgie boy. I can feel it now. In the coming days you will have you looking over your shoulder for a change. You will find that the laws of this country apply to you too. I just hope that the day your goons turn on you comes soon, to put a stop to the evil that will be forever connected to your foul name.


The Revolution at the pig farm is showing who really supports the troops and it ain't you george. We see that phony, pious face as you pretend to pray. We see the instantaneous smirk and smile before the "amen" makes it out of the preacher's mouth. We know that you wouldn't know the Ten Commandments if they slapped you in the face. You have flipped the Ten Commandments a bird as you continue your murderous rampage against two defenseless countries. You, the school yard bully, are the kind of person who makes one hope that there is indeed a god and that he is exactly what you and your rabid right wing fundamentalists claim because if there is, you will surely fry like a blob of lard in the deepest part of that hell which you use to frighten small kids & dumb fundamentalists.


To quote Shelia Samples in an article today at Lew Rockwell site, http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/samples5.html - - - "Bush might wish later that he had come out to meet with Sheehan upon her arrival Saturday when there was but a handful of supporters accompanying her. If the media covered the meeting at all, he would have been portrayed as a caring president, and by Sunday it would all have been over. But that isn't how Bush operates. He does not negotiate; remember, his will is strong, his resolve will not be broken. Bush is not satisfied until everything he touches turns into a steaming, odious pile of manure. So - as Bush likes to say, "history will show" the Revolution started on a steamy August day...at the pig farm.


Who knew? Who would have believed just a week ago that, after all our years of hard work, the crude and pitiless Bush would run out there, ram his middle finger in the face of a heartbroken mother, and jump-start the Revolution?

By the time Cindy Sheehan leaves her station at the pig farm, Bush will know that he was wrong."


Yeah george, I have to agree with Shelia Samples, you will truly know the meaning of the word "Mother". "Ultimately", Shelia says, "Mother will bring out troops home".

Another half dozen of our sons died yesterday, george..... 44 so far this month and we are not even half way through the month of August. But you don't give a damn do you george? It's just collateral damage to you isn't it? Collateral damage that you don't want to look at and that you don't want the American people to see. Heaven forbid that those coffins coming home by the plane load be shown to the American people as they might turn on your ugly arse overnight.


POWER TO THE REVOLUTION AT THE PIG FARM!

Just wait till Jesus gets his hands on you, you little bastard...... Abbie Hoffman

Cindy Sheehan - George's Nightmare on Prairie Chapel Rd

Dear Cindy,

Good for you. I could not be prouder if you were my own daughter or sister! Keep on being a thorn in the side of this lying administration. If I could afford the trip & the rental of a wheel chair, I would be in Crawford with you with my favorite bumper sticker printed out in huge letters, "I Served, Bush Deserted" !


Since I don't have the means to join you, I will publicize your good work every chance I get. In a few minutes I am going to call my Senator (Nelson - Florida) to ask that he and other members of this roll over Congress take immediate steps to put a stop to this silly little man from Crawford and his Nazi like actions when they threaten you with arrest for simply utilizing your guaranteed right to protest him or any other elected official who is abusing the powers of the office he occupies.


I am the mother of a son who served 14 months in Iraq and who managed to return safely. I, like you, supported my son and other soldiers, because I know they are not responsible for the insanity of our greedy, self-serving leaders.


I am also an Air Force Veteran and the widow of a Vietnam era Air Force officer. That does not in any way influence my opinion about George bu$h, his theft of the presidency, the lies about this war and dozens of other atrocious lies that have become the trademark of one, george bu$h.


This heartless administration and those who support their actions have the blood of thousands of innocent bystanders as well as that of our sons, daughters, or spouses on their vile hands. I, personally, will never forgive any of them for their support of this murderous, blood bath which has reduced two innocent countries, who posed no threat to us, to a pile of rubble.


I have never been more ashamed of my country's leaders and the actions of those leaders than I have been since this usurper was allowed to occupy an office to which he is not entitled. Added to this shame are the atrocities that this miserable excuse for a human being has committed in that name of this country and in the name of God, of course!


I know that I don't have to tell you that if there is a God he is probably cursing the day he allowed this little cretin to be conceived. Heaven knows that george bu$h is no Christian. He doesn't know the meaning of the Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" not does he care. He illustrated that in the arrogant way he lied us into war and in despicable way you and other military families who have lost loved ones have been treated.


This country is in grave danger of losing the freedoms our forefathers fought for so gallantly. We need to do everything we can to hang on to our Constitution and to see that those elected or appointed to public office abide by them also. No man is above the laws of this country and that especially means george bu$h.


Don't let that cowardly little weasel scare you. You have the support of millions, thanks to the internet and to the media which seems to be slowly awakening from a long slumber.


Give Him Hell Cindy! You have the truth & millions of other Moms (& Dads) on your side.

Magginkat

_______________________________________________________________


How to support Cindy Sheehan:

Monetary donations are needed and can be sent to:
Crawford Peace House
P.O. Box 710218
Dallas, TX 75371-0218

Come to Crawford: The Crawford Peace House is located in the center of Crawford, Texas on Hwy185 and the railroad tracks, 9142 5th Street, Crawford, Tx. 76638-3037.


The Vigil is on Prairie Chapel Road near the entrance to Bush's ranch. Email your support.

Send messages of encouragement to: crawfordpeacehouse@yahoo.com
Get the latest news from these websites: www.gsfp.org
www.crawfordpeacehouse.org



Just wait till Jesus gets his hands on you, you little bastard...... Abbie Hoffman

Harper's Weekly Review (excerpts - With Comments)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Vacation for George!

Ah.... August 1st and our magnanimous leader needs another vacation! This one will the 50th trip to the pig farm in Crawford, TX since he slithered into the Oval Office 5 yrs ago, never mind the vacations to Camp David and other places.


According to Scott McClellan, press secretary, george likes to spend time outdoors clearing the brush and riding his bike AND this year he will speak to Americans about being physically active! Wow! The anticipation! The suspense!


Has it ever dawned on him that most Americans don't have a yacht, a private pool, a gym, servants, and most of all don't have someone else to do their job for them?! Nah.... that was a dumb question. George doesn't read and doesn't think. That's Turd Blossom's job.


Clearing brush? Is that the same tree, posed on the side of the same ditch for the past 5 years?


I can see it now..... George struts down the side of the ditch with someone holding the back of his pants (off camera of course) so that he does not go crashing down on his face..... strikes a pose, (cut the camera) ....the chain saw started by someone who knows how and is handed to him (still off camera). Pose george, pose. Big smirk ..... a few pictures..... ah... that takes care of george's farming for the day. On to the next photo-op.


Mr. Magnificent has to be the most underworked and overpaid public servant in the history of this country. As previously mentioned and quoting from the mouth of the great one himself, he doesn't read. So it's no surprise that he doesn't have a clue what is going on in the country and the world.


If he did read he might know that National Geographic News is reporting that Rare Fossil Embryos dating back 190 million years were recently found in South Africa. But no, his handlers won't tell him about that because it interferes with his religious beliefs. You see george thinks that the earth was formed shortly before the birth of one Jesus Christ..... maybe a few thousand yrs ago!


National Geographic is interesting reading and even more interesting is what others are saying about george's plans for the world.


'Universal Democracy' Is the Goal As Congress Eyes New LegislationWhen senators return to Washington this September, they will be set to consider new legislation that would commit America to ending tyranny the world over.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=4264


What a goal! What at farce awaits him! One only has to look at what he has "accomplished" already. Take for example this film that illustrates so vividly what he has done to Iraq, it's people and to our soldiers who are forced to serve in this hell on earth..........

June, 2005 Video Release by the Iraqi Resistance - The Cowboys in Iraq
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id362.html


Bush and his team of thugs should be forced to watch this film every night before going to bed. They are most deserving of the nightmares that would surely follow. (Warning, this film is very graphic, especially towards the end)

If bu$h bothered to read he might know that most of the world is now aware that....
"This war has been advanced on lie upon lie. Iraq was not responsible for 9/11. Iraq was not responsible for any role al-Qaeda may have had in 9/11. Iraq was not responsible for the anthrax attacks on this country. Iraq did not try to acquire nuclear weapons technology from Niger. This war is built on falsehood."
- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, April 1, 2003

Or more correctly stated... this war was built on bald faced lies!


If george bu$h bothered to read he might have read this ad placed by one of his supporters in Pensacola Florida:

We have a chest freezer that works fine, however it is full of rotted meat from sitting without electricity after Hurricane Ivan. Yes, you read that right... it's been almost a year and it has been sitting in my garage. I'm too much of a girl to want to even consider dealing with it. I have decided to just buy a new one so I'm giving this away. It's been plugged in all this time so except for right after Dennis it has remained refrozen. It is absolutely disgusting however and will require some major, major cleaning.
But It's free!


Gosh, wouldn't that be a good job for king george to perform while on vacation. Just think what he could accomplish if he got rid of all the rotten meat in his administration. What a lofty goal for a vacationing pResident! If only he could read.

Isaac Peterson - in response to "What Pisses Us Off"

Here is a list of things that are guaranteed to put me in a worse mood than Judge Judy with a toothache:

1. I have not inherited the country I was promised as a kid. "Work hard and stay out of trouble and that's all you need to do to realize the American Dream." BULLSHIT

2. The dumbing down of the population. I spend an awful lot of time trying to counter the stormtroopers of stupidity. Willful ignorance is not a positive. It pisses me off more than words can express that so many have bought into the fiction that knowledge, critical thinking, freedom of though and expression, and just plain old-fashioned curiosity and asking questions are things that need to be discouraged and/or extinguished.

3. The entire far right wing agenda. Perpetual and "pre-emptive" war make my gums bleed. As does the push to exempt the obscenely wealthy from shouldering their fair share of this country's burden, with the expectation that the rest of us should shut up and welcome the opportunity to kiss their asses and call it ice cream just for their existing.And the dismantling of the social safety net.And the view that education is not a right, but a privilege.The same with health care.The erosion of our rights, freedoms, and liberties, as well as the perversion of what the Constitution is and what it stands for.The view that big business has more rights than I do and should be able to do whatever the fuck they want to me and mine (and yours, and all of us) in the name of maximizing profits.Etc, etc, etc, etc.


4. The religious right's stranglehold on top government officials The fact that so may are pushing for us to be a dumbed down theocracy, building a bridge to the Middle Ages, and the desire for our own American Taliban.


5. The myth of the "liberal media." I'm in the media and I'm here to tell you that people like me amount to one of the most under-represented minorities in the USA.


6. The co-opting of the media, and so many in the media's willingness to smooch this administration's ass. I highly resent the move to make the news "entertaining," with breathless coverage of celebrity flatulence, "human interest stories" that are NOT interesting (or even newsworthy), the "if it bleeds, it leads" emphasis on news, the over-reliance on flashy graphics at the expense of actually providing, facts, details, perspective, and context...The emphasis on "style" over substance...Don't get me started.

7. The fact that the Ann Coulters and Michael Savages can buy and sell me based solely on their willingness to lie, distort, fabricate, bloviate, and regurgitate the Republican spin of the day makes my teeth hurt. Also

7a. That so many people eat that shit up

7b. The demise of the Fairness Doctrine

8. George W. Bu$h. Just the sight of that sanctimonious wienie or the sound of his voice makes me want to lose not just my lunch, but every meal I've had since last Wednesday.

9. The transformation of EVERYTHING into a "commodity" that can be bought and sold: The environment, health care, etc.10. The transformation of citizens into "consumers." Or cannon fodder.That was all just off the top of my head. There's a lot more, believe me.--

"I pledge impertinence to the flag-waving jerks of America. And to the Republicans, which I can't stand, abomination, underhanded fraud, indefensible, with lip service and injustice for all."


But how could I have neglected to mention some of the fucksticks at the top of the list of things that make me want to grab an assault rifle: Creationists and the religiously insane, as well as their crusade to obliterate scientific knowledge and inquiry? And to have that intellectually bankrupt crap shoved down the throats of our schoolchildren and enacted into law?Also, the Trojan horse that calls itself "intelligent design"?


How is it that some of the dumbest bastards that ever existed on earth can claim the mantle of "intelligent" design, when there is so little intelligence evident in their ranks? If these brain dead bottom feeders ever encountered intelligence, it would be as strangers passing on the street. And what "intelligent designer" would design the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Arnie Schwarzenegger, Trent Lott, etc.?


Lifted from Isaac Peterson - Minnesota

Jackson Thoreau on the Treasonous Karl Rove

As right-wing criminals like G. Liddy mangle the historical record and hypocritically lecture us on ethics in the wake of the disclosure that former No. 2 G-man W. Mark Felt was Bob Woodward's Deep Throat, manypeople are ignoring an obvious connection, writes Jackson Thoreau.

The current occupants of the White House have long engaged in dirty tricks that make Liddy and co. look like the bumbling fools they largelywere. Bush engaged in similar actions as coordinator of the campaign of an Alabama Republican Senate candidate, while Rove was even paid byRepublican organizations to lead seminars on college campuses, lecturing young Republicans on how to engage in dirty tricks of their own.


You think all the phony fliers and dirty tricks in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 and other places were just coincidences? Theywere born during Rove's Watergate-era seminars.

http://jacksonthor.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/2/152726/6819


ATTN: Bush, Delay, Frist, et al...Just wait till Jesus gets his hands on you, you little bastard...... Abbie Hoffman