In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Have a great week. I'll be off line until the 23rd or so, but don't worry Michael will still be here... and maybe others.
- rob 5:46 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Nader: A tool of the corporate rich
If in 1974 Nader traveled to 2004 he'd lead a campaign to stop 2004 Nader. It is all so sad.
Top Massachusetts Bush donor contributed to NaderHopkinton computer tycoon Richard Egan, the Bush campaign's finance chairman in John Kerry's home state, has personally contributed the maximum amount allowed by law -- $2,000 -- to Nader's presidential campaign.
Egan's son John and daughter in law have each also "maxed out," bringing the family's total to $6,000.
Bush backers are hoping Nader will siphon enough votes from Kerry to tip the election to President Bush.
The co-founder of data storage giant EMC Corp. and Bush's former ambassador to Ireland, Egan is legendary in Republican circles for his ability to collect hundreds of thousands in campaign dollars.
- rob 5:45 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Neo-cons sure now how to pick them: Chalabi switching sides?
Chalabi Returns to Iraq, Expecting Arrest but Vowing to Fight in CourtIn an appeal to poor Shiites, his staff printed posters with his face and the words, "We'll be back to stop the massacre at Najaf," the city where the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has been under siege by American and Iraqi forces since last week.
As for Mr. Chalabi's relationship with Mr. Sadr, Mr. Musawi said that the two men "are not that close. Yet."
- rob 5:42 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Bush: Occasionally Rice or Rove comes to visit me in my room and tell me how much I'm loved and how I'm doing all the right things. That makes me happy. I want to be loved and do good. I'm President you know. Sometimes on trips I see only people who love me lining the streets. One reporter said that people who didn't love me weren't allowed to come, but Rove tell me that isn't true, and how could it be? This is America, people are free to say they don't like what I'm doing... but they don't because I'm doing so well. Dick tells me he just can't believe how well I'm doing, and that he is so proud. He brought me another video of bombings in Iraq again... those are always just so cool. They love me there too.
Bush: America better off with his leadershipLOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- President Bush said Thursday that America is "absolutely" better off today than it was four years ago -- on both the national security and domestic fronts.The question of a war leader actually having experienced a war and thus knowing the true costs of war and knowing of the responsibility of the leader to make sure the war needs to be fought, that it is fought well, and is a just war is not really relevant. I mean we've all seen Platoon, it can get bad... I mean poor Charlie Sheen, what he must have gone through.
"The world's safer. ... Libya's no longer a threat. Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror," Bush said in an exclusive interview on CNN's "Larry King Live."
"There are 50 million people that once lived in tyranny now living in societies which are heading toward democracies," he said.
Bush also promoted improvements at home.
"The economy is growing."
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Bush said he believes Kerry's tours of duty in Vietnam were "honorable service" -- but he also suggested his military record was not terribly relevant to the core choice voters need to make in November.
"Senator Kerry is justifiably proud of his record in Vietnam and should be. It's noble service," Bush said. "The question is who can best lead the country in a time of war. That's really what the debate ought to be about. And I think it's me, because I understand the stakes."Bush also said he thinks the characterization of the American electorate as angry, uncivil and bitterly polarized is an overstatement, based on what he has seen traveling the country.How could there be anger or polarization...Bush is a uniter, not a divider.
"I think there may be handfuls of people that are very emotional, but I think by far the vast majority of Americans are wanting to know whether they're going to be able to work and whether or not the government's doing its job of protecting the country," he said. "I don't have a sense there's a lot of anger."
- rob 5:40 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Institutionalized Religion = consecrated stupidity
8-year-old's first Holy Communion invalidated by ChurchBRIELLE, N.J. - An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine.I'm no religious scholar but what the hell? Search the bible - no where in the bible does it say the grain used to make the bread that was served at the Last Supper. Sometimes they ate bread made of barley back then. And if it is wheat... is it the same variety of wheat grain you use today... I'd doubt it. And you know what... it shouldn't matter.
Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition - celiac sprue disease - should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.
"In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac," said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 30. "It's just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It's just rice versus wheat."
It's more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper.
When a religion becomes a structure and the structure becomes the means of teaching religion you have basically left much of the meaning of the original so far behind that the church is nothing more than an institution decrying rules and laws and edicts that have nothing to do with the original intended spirituality. If Christ did exist and he were to say something to us (you know when he isn't too busy speaking directly to George Bush and Pat Robertson) I think he'd say to the church "Oh for Christ Sake! It's BREAD!"
- rob 5:28 PM - [PermaLink] -
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September 10, 2002- Thursday, August 12, 2004 -
For a Friday the Thirteenth treat, here's what I was thinking one year after 9/11:
Subject: 9/10/02
Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 12:58 PM
So here we are a year later and what do we know for sure?
1) That history may be nothing more than what a handful of harebrains do in their rage and their wrath.
2) That the Age of Irony is not over.
3) That journalists are no longer allowed to cover U.S. wars.
4) That war is good and peace is bad, that down is up, that back is forth, that ignorance is strength, that slavery is freedom, that surplus is debt, that a dollar today buys a dollar tomorrow, that a 50% jump in unemployment in one month = economic recovery, that civil liberties are unpatriotic, that big government is bad--which is why its powers must be radically expanded and broadened, that spending is conservative, that hatred is love, that intolerance is compassion, that opaqueness equals trust, that privacy must be suspended to protect freedom, that public services (i.e., discretionary federal spending: Social Security and Medicare) must be privatized (i.e., the trust funds must be depleted), that irresponsible is responsible, that thievery is honesty, that enemy combatants are just who we say they are, that a man may be presumed guilty under any circumstance, that the police are your friends, that innocence is relative, that morality is Christian.
5) That drilling for oil solves all our problems.
6) That America has free elections.
7) That God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies.
8) That most Americans don't really care all that much about any of the above.
8/13/04, 10:49 AM: Some things never change.
- Michael 10:42 AM - [PermaLink] -
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To follow up on the first post today about Bush pulling all sorts of stunts to fund pharma.
Well here's a stunt you won't believe: Bush's African AIDS Initiative is all about giving money to big Pharma
Aids Drugs Move a Set-BackThe lives of more than 40,000 people in East Africa hang in the balance, following the removal of three generic antiretrovirals from the World Health Organisation's list of drugs.
This decision will have far-reaching implications for the control of HIV/Aids in the whole of Africa, the continent that bears the brunt of this scourge.
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The UN special envoy for Aids in Africa, Mr Stephen Lewis, has supported the use of these generics in Africa, putting him on a collision course with President Bush's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief which is against the purchase of these drugs using funds provided by the plan.
This unwillingness by the Bush initiative to support the use of generics, has set back the WHO's goal to put three million people on ARVs by the year 2005.
In essence, it means that countries that will benefit from the Bush funds will have to put their Aids patients on branded drugs, which are four times more expensive than the generics. There is no gainsaying the implications of this on poor Aids patients, who constitute the majority in Africa.
Your tax dollars aren't going to fight AIDS in Africa as much as they are funding big Pharma.
- rob 1:15 PM - [PermaLink] -
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There's no W in Leader.
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White House Has Some Terror Experts Worried
Officials here and overseas say U.S. alerts and release of information could hinder broader investigations.
BERLIN — Heightened terror alerts and high-profile arrests of suspected Islamic extremists have international security experts and officials concerned that the Bush administration's actions could jeopardize investigations into the Al Qaeda network.
European terrorism analysts acknowledge that the U.S. and its allies are under threat by Al Qaeda, but some suggest that the White House is unnecessarily adding to public anxiety with vague and dated intelligence about possible attacks. Some in Western Europe suspect the administration is using fear to improve its chances in the November election.
Of course he is. It is all part of the war on terror. If Bush loses we all lose, so to make sure he wins he'll stop at nothing, reveal every source, cry wolf every day, cheat in every way until America is secure with George in his second term.
- rob 1:10 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Kerry Rocks On
::.Kerry’s Numbers Improve After Convention(CPOD) Aug. 11, 2004 – John Kerry is now the top contender in the 2004 United States presidential election, according to a poll by YouGov published in The Economist. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the Democratic nominee, while 43 per cent would support Republican incumbent George W. Bush.
- rob 12:47 PM - [PermaLink] -
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We've seen terrorist warnings being used for political ends- Wednesday, August 11, 2004 -
Now terrorist warnings are being used to reward big Pharma companies for all their work on behalf of Bush and the GOP
FDA Warns of Terrorist Drug TamperingWASHINGTON (AP) - ``Cues from chatter'' gathered around the world are raising concerns that terrorists might try to attack the domestic food and drug supply, particularly illegally imported prescription drugs, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford says.Ohhh sounds serious!``While we must assume that such a threat exists generally, we have no specific information now about any al-Qaida threats to our food or drug supply,'' said Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for the Homeland Security Department.Oh it isn't serious, its just more baloney about how the Canadian Allegra (or Celebrex or Zocor or....) will some how destroy America's pharma industry, the economy, and the future well being of America but American Allegra (or whatever) will bring good health, prosperity, long life, raises, and shiny cars to Americans.
Crawford said the possibility of such an attack was the most serious of his concerns about the increase in states and municipalities trying to import drugs from Canada to save money.
Free trade is sacred to the GOP unless it might mean actual competition to a campaign contributor and then special sanctions are required. In the case of prescription drugs the competition is itself. You buy Canadian Celebrex the same company (though maybe a different division or a different company via a licensing agreement) makes some money, it just will be less... and big Pharma wants it all. You buy a Canadian drug you are also not only getting the same drug, you are probably getting the drug made in the exact same manufacturing plant, just place in a different box.
But the federal government has made it illegal to buy the cheaper foreign drugs, they say it is because of safety concerns, but that's bogus. They want to make sure big Pharma gets big money. Heck they've even made it so this new big giveaway to pharma the Medicare prescription plan can't even negotiate with the Pharma companies to get reduced rates (isn't that the whole advantage of bulk buys... the Veterans administration does it).
So making it illegal wasn't enough... now they are trying to SCARE you out of buying Canadian drugs. Ridiculous.
- rob 10:35 AM - [PermaLink] -
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Who took the money
Who took the money away?
Halliburton Questioned on $1.8 Billion Iraq Work
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pentagon auditors have concluded that Halliburton Co. failed to adequately account for more than $1.8 billion of work in Iraq and Kuwait, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing a Pentagon report.
The amount represents 43 percent of the $4.18 billion that Houston-based Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root unit has billed the Pentagon to feed and house troops in the region, the newspaper said.
It is things like this that will make this election so nasty... millions will be spent because billions of dollars are in the offing. This audit will not go anywhere until there is a new administration in Washington.
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Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry - Simple lies
Why are the accusations from this good old fashioned hit piece getting any coverage? It is getting a lot more coverage then the year 2000 hit piece Fortunate Son by James Hatfield (he committed suicide in 2001) which alleged a cocaine arrest in 1972 that led to Bush's public service work (a fascinating piece of the GWB biography - sudden unexplained community work). Hatfield had a checkered past and that proved his book's undoing... not really what he wrote.
This time not only is the past of the people involved somewhat unseemly... the story doesn't check out at all either.
First there are the authors: Jerome Corsi and John O'Neill.
John O'Neill never served with Kerry. He used to be the clerk for William Rehnquist and was first assigned to the role of Kerry hater by Nixon. If he seems good at slandering Kerry its because he's been doing it for over 30 years. John did serve on the same boat as Kerry... AFTER Kerry left.
Jerome Corsi says nice things like:And other nice things. I think he's got a buggering boy fetish.
- So this is what the last days of the Catholic Church are going to look like. Buggering boys undermines the moral base and the lawyers rip the gold off the Vatican altars. We may get one more Pope, when this senile one dies, but that's probably about it.
- Islam is a peaceful religion - just as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered and the infidels are killed
Number 1 in this week's conservative idiots sums up the whole situation excellently. Please read.
The main vehicle for this slander is the advertisement by the swift boat veterans for Bush's lies. It is nice to have sleazy rich friends isn't it Mr. Rove. The reason why this is getting attention is because, quite frankly, Bush is hurting and there is a lot at stake if he loses for a lot of folks... so any slime that might stick is slime that'll be reported. Fortunately it won't stick if the truth is outed. Unfortunately that requires a viable free press. Instead we get the Hardball host Chris Matthews ("tweety" as he is often referred to in blogs) saying things like "gee this is bad and powerful stuff... and if it isn't true, gosh why is it on the air." (and I'm not really that far off from what he did say). How pathetic has the press become?
Alas, the only accurate reporting on the subject is again from the Daily show. Please watch this segment, its as hilarious as it is sad, and is the most truth you'll get on television about this story. (its worth watching even on a home line... just be very patient thought).
- rob 4:41 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Planting the Seed for a Coup (the 2nd in a row)- Tuesday, August 10, 2004 -
Terrorism as a Political Tool
Bin Laden hints major assassinationU.S. intelligence officials say a high-profile political assassination, triggered by the public release of a new message from Osama bin Laden, will lead off the next major al Qaeda terrorist attack, The Washington Times has learned.Ohhh... a Washington Times exclusive. Its important that such important news is imparted by a paper that is owned by a guy who sells subs to North Korea... definitely a friend of America there.The planning for the attacks to follow involves "multiple targets in multiple venues" across the United States, one official said.Wow, Khan was a great source wasn't he. He was even working with Pakistani intelligence to get us more information, oh, well that is until the Bush Administration revealed his name.
The new details of al Qaeda's plans were found on a laptop computer belonging to arrested al Qaeda operative Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan of Pakistan."We're talking about planning at the screwdriver level," one official said. "It is very detailed."Screwdriver level being defined as not telling us Who, Where, or When."The goal of the next attack is twofold: to damage the U.S. economy and to undermine the U.S. election," the official said. "The view of al Qaeda is 'anybody but Bush.' "Ahh, now we get it! If there is no terrorist attack Bush is making us safer, if there is a terrorist attack it was because the terrorsts don't want Bush to be President (and we'll have to delay or cancel elections because of the distruption this attack caused).
Let's state the facts here: al Queada wants Bush to win.
- Bush has strengthened hatred of America in the Arab world a hundred fold. Bin Laden has become a hero.
- Recruitment has never been stronger for al Qaeda.
- Bush's incompetence (like leaking Plame's name and Khan's name) and willingness to use terrorism warnings for political gain ("wolf wolf") has made America weaker.
- Rather then squeeze al Queada when we actually had a chance (in Afganistan) Bush moved attention to Iraq.
- Bush has strengthened hatred of America among our allies ten fold.
UPI has picked up the story (surprise another moonie outfit), and it now seems to be topic number one on many fox affiliate websites (all including the "view of al Qaeda is 'anybody but Bush'" crap).
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Bush Isn't Taking America's Security Seriously
Washington's Gift to Bomb MakersThere is no bigger and more urgent threat to the security of every American than the possibility of nuclear bomb materials falling into the wrong hands. That is why it is astonishing, and frightening, that the Bush administration is now pushing to strip the teeth from a proposed new treaty aimed at expanding the current international bans on the production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. With talks on the new treaty set to begin later this year, the administration suddenly announced last week that it would insist that no provisions for inspections or verification be included.
This reversal of past American positions - ignoring Ronald Reagan's famous cautionary advice, "Trust, but verify'' - is all the more disturbing because it guts a treaty that could have significantly advanced President Bush's oft-stated goal of "keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous regimes.'' After raising the alarm on this terrifying problem, the White House now says Americans and the rest of the world are better off trusting empty, unverified promises.
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Des Moines Register Spells out the obvious
Admit it: tax cuts have failed to create jobs
The American public has heard it over and over the past three years: Cut taxes and job growth will ensue. The Bush administration has repeatedly pushed the theory that cutting taxes would result in more jobs and better pay for average Americans.
The opposite has happened. The jobs aren't there. American workers are making fewer dollars, on average. So it's time to get honest about the best way to create jobs in this country and change strategies to accomplish that goal.
There are 1 million fewer jobs today than there were when President Bush took office. Last month, employers created about 32,000 jobs, not even enough to provide work for the new people entering the job market as population grows. It's one-tenth of what would be needed on a monthly basis to meet the early promises of the Bush administration.
Private-sector incomes are down. Accounting for inflation, hourly wages are down 1 percent since late last year.
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to follow up on yesterday's post (and comments) about the revealing of an al-Qaida source.
Leak Allowed al-Qaida Suspects to EscapeISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The disclosure to reporters of the arrest of an al-Qaida computer expert allowed several wanted suspects from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s terror network to escape, government and security officials said Tuesday.
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Finally George W. Bush Speaks From Experience
Rich just dodge tax, says BushUS President George W. Bush today said there was no point in taxing the rich because they just dodged their tax bill anyway.
"Real rich people figure out how to dodge taxes," he said during a campaign stop in suburban Washington.
So is Bush saying the poor are saps because they pay taxes? Is he saying his tax cuts are pointless because the rich don't pay taxes anyway? Maybe he is saying he is fine with the rich dodging taxes because he has done one thing to force them to pay taxes.
This is part of Bush's standard campaign speech. WTF?
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Ashcroft: I'm willing to set a 9/11 suspect free, rather than work with an "ally."- Monday, August 09, 2004 -
(not a real quote of course - or at least I hope not)
Ashcroft is soft on terrorism and weak on the process of Justice
U.S. denies 9/11 trial access to suspectsHAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Washington has barred German judges access to al Qaeda captives in the retrial of the only September 11 suspect ever convicted, a Hamburg court has heard, throwing the case into doubt.
Mounir El Motassadeq, 30, is charged with plotting the 2001 attacks with Mohamed Atta and others, and membership of a terrorist organisation.
His first conviction was overturned because judges had no access to a key al Qaeda figure in U.S. custody.
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In February 2003, Motassadeq became the first person anywhere to be tried over the September 11 attacks and he remains the only person convicted. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
In March this year a higher court ruled the verdict unsatisfactory as judges had no access to testimony from Ramzi bin-al Shaibah, a key member of the al Qaeda Hamburg cell who was captured in Pakistan in 2002. It ordered a new trial.
The German authorities asked the United States in May to give them access to six key witnesses including bin al-Shaibah, but the U.S. letter said even information on whether a given individual was in custody was classified as secret.
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The issue has led to tension between Germany and the United States, which clearly wants a conviction in the case but is unwilling to allow testimony from the interrogation of al Qaeda captives to be aired in open court.
Washington reacted angrily when Motassadeq was freed from custody in April, describing him as dangerous.
- rob 9:22 AM - [PermaLink] -
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Bush Leadership: Weakens American Security
How to lead accoring to BushU.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'
- While worried about a Kerry convention bounce announce a terror alert
- Scare New Yorkers who are already suffering from Post Tramatic Stress Disorder
- Admit the alert was based on information that was up to four years old
- React in mock horror that anyone could even suggest the alert was just for politics
- Try to prove you aren't acting out of politics by leaking the name of the informant
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani intelligence sources have said.
Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.
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Then on Friday, after Khan's name was revealed, government sources told CNN that counterterrorism officials had seen a drop in intercepted communications among suspected terrorists.
Officials used Sunday's talk shows to defend last week's heightened alerts, amid widespread claims the White House disclosed Khan's arrest to justify raising its terror alert level.
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"The Pakistani interior minister, Faisal Hayat, as well as the British home secretary, David Blunkett, have expressed displeasure in fairly severe terms that Khan's name was released, because they were trying to track down other contacts of his," Schumer told CNN.
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Read
The Case Against George W. Bush
by Ron ReaganThe son of the fortieth president of the United States takes a hard look at the son of the forty-first and does not like what he sees
Way too much good stuff to choose from so just go and read it already.
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Bush, doing right by our allies in the war on terror, Pakistan
Pakistan protests over US stingPakistan has protested to the United States over what it says was an FBI sting operation involving a fake plot to kill Pakistan's UN envoy.
Islamabad called the operation bizarre and mind-boggling.
A spokesman said it had endangered the life of Munir Akram, Pakistan's permanent envoy to the United Nations.
Two men are being held in the US for allegedly laundering money for an agent posing as a militant who wanted to use a missile to kill Mr Akram.
Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan asked why the US authorities had not picked an American "target" instead.
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It's monday: The Top Ten Conservative Idiots, No. 165 - Democratic Underground2. Dick Cheney
Back in 2000, George W. Bush used rising gas prices as a campaign issue. He said, "I think the president ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say, 'We expect you to open your spigots.' … The president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price." Meanwhile, spokesman Scott McClellan was telling reporters that rising gas prices were an example of "failed leadership." Well guess what? Now that oil is more expensive than it's ever been, it's suddenly somebody else's fault - specifically, John Kerry and John Edwards. Whuh? How did that happen? At a campaign event last week, Dick Cheney "blamed his Democratic opponents and their opposition to the Bush administration's energy policies" for rising gas prices, according to the Los Angeles Times. If you feel like pounding your head against your desk at the unbelievable temerity of that statement, please, go ahead. Okay, so let's get this straight - when Bill Clinton was in office, rising gas prices were a sign of "failed leadership." Now that George W. Bush is in charge, rising gas prices are a sign of, um... hey! Look over there! It's John Kerry's fault! Ah, the Responsibility Administration is hard at work once again...
3. Florida GOP
The Florida Republican Party made a total ass of itself last week when organizers had to apologize for producing a campaign brochure which encouraged voters to use absentee ballots this fall. The brochure read, "The liberal Democrats have already begun their attacks and the new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount. Make sure your vote counts, order your absentee ballot today." Whoops! See, Gov. Jeb Bush has been trying his damndest to convince everyone that touch-screen voting machines are the best thing since sliced bread, and then along comes the Florida GOP to undermine all his hard work. Ha ha! So which is it? Do Florida's Republicans really believe that the computerized voting machines are screwed? Or was it all just a giant public relations SNAFU? "Have no doubt that we are confident of Florida's elections system, and that means the entire electoral system is accurate and secure," said Joseph Agostini, spokesman for the Florida Republican Party. He added, "Um... but you should probably all get absentee voter ballots just to be on the safe side. Did I just say that? My bad. Everything's fine. Vote Bush. Absentee ballots. Wink."
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The Election is coming up! Be Prepared (to be frightened)
GSA - National Preparedness Month-September 2004Overview
Throughout September 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross, American Prepared Campaign, the National Association of Broadcasters, the US Department of Education and other partners, will host a series of events to highlight the importance of citizen emergency preparedness.
This Modern World has a lot more on this:September is about to become "National Preparedness Month."
Heck, this Red Cross page flatly states that Tom Ridge will make the official announcement on September 9th.
Whoa.
(Why September 9th? That's awfully late, if it's supposed to be the entire month. My guess, thinking like Karl Rove: this year's 9/11 anniversary falls on a Saturday, so an announcement on the date or even Friday would only get a burst of free media on a weekend. But by timing it for the 6 pm news on Thursday, it'll reach the Friday papers, and thus be fully-injected into all of the emotion-laden anniversary coverage, plus the Sunday morning talk shows.)
The idea, obviously, is to throw a large amount of focus, possibly for weeks on end, on the only issue on which Bush outpolls Kerry. And of course this will come on the heels of the GOP convention. So where the Democrats' post-convention media got blitzed with terror warnings based on years-old intelligence, the Republicans' afterglow might well be favorably extended, implied message being:
"Why, with George Bush and enough shovels, we'll all be just fine."
...
Other September Surprises: a whole "educate the family" campaign, with kits available at various retailers; an in-school "Ready Deputy" duck-and-cover training program; and a website called Readykids.gov (not yet online), all launched in the first week.
Brilliance. Tie the concept of Bush's only winning issue to family and children. Unspoken, deniable implication: "vote for Bush if you want your kids to live." Nice.
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Irony still lives
Bush opposes 'legacy' college admissionsWASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Friday he opposes the use of a family history at colleges or universities as a factor in determining admission.
Said Bush "Think about it, if a man gets into a college just based on his name he could trade on that unearned scholarship for the rest of his life. Imagine a world where ignorance is promoted just due to family relations." (the horror.. .and yes I just made that last bit up.)
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We interupt this lunch crazed frenzy of posting to announce its Monday, and that means a new bumpersticker (this time two)!
and 
Bumper Sticker - FEAR MORE YEARS > ThisCenturySucks.com Store
Half Size Bumper Sticker - THIMK TWICE! > ThisCenturySuckds.com Store
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An article that may make Michael (he of the passionate posts vs. me of the cut and paste posts) feel better
International team to monitor presidential electionWASHINGTON (CNN) -- A team of international observers will monitor the presidential election in November, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was invited to monitor the election by the State Department. The observers will come from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
It will be the first time such a team has been present for a U.S. presidential election.
"The U.S. is obliged to invite us, as all OSCE countries should," spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said. "It's not legally binding, but it's a political commitment. They signed a document 10 years ago to ask OSCE to observe elections."
Thirteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives, raising the specter of possible civil rights violations that they said took place in Florida and elsewhere in the 2000 election, wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in July, asking him to send observers.
After Annan rejected their request, saying the administration must make the application, the Democrats asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to do so.
The issue was hotly debated in the House, and Republicans got an amendment to a foreign aid bill that barred federal funds from being used for the United Nations to monitor U.S. elections, The Associated Press reported.
In a letter dated July 30 and released last week, Assistant Secretary of State Paul Kelly told the Democrats about the invitation to OSCE, without mentioning the U.N. issue.
Bah... why make Michael feel good, his posts would get boring... so we'll a linke to this editorial:
Not Scared Yet? Try Connecting These Dots"Pre-election period…pre-election plot…pre-election threats:" These rolled off National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s lips no less than seven times yesterday on CNN’s Late Edition as she discussed the likely timing of a terrorist attack. She stayed on message.
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Leaving no tree unmolested
White House Intercedes for Gas Project in National ForestCARSON NATIONAL FOREST, N.M. — Overriding the opposition of the U.S. Forest Service and New Mexico state officials, a White House energy task force has interceded on behalf of Houston-based El Paso Corp. in its two-year effort to explore for natural gas in a remote part of a national forest next door to America's largest Boy Scout camp.
George is doing this for the children.
- rob 1:57 PM - [PermaLink] -
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We went into Iraq because of the WMDs
Wrong
We went into Iraq because of the connection between Iraq and 9/11
Wrong
We went into Iraq because we won't to remove a man who tortured his citizens and replace him with a democratic government
Sadly Wrong
Ordered to just walk awayBAGHDAD -- The national guardsman peering through the long-range scope of his rifle was startled by what he saw unfolding in the walled compound below.
From his post several stories above ground level, he watched as men in plainclothes beat blindfolded and bound prisoners in the enclosed grounds of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
He immediately radioed for help. Soon after, a team of Oregon Army National Guard soldiers swept into the yard and found dozens of Iraqi detainees who said they had been beaten, starved and deprived of water for three days.
In a nearby building, the soldiers counted dozens more prisoners and what appeared to be torture devices -- metal rods, rubber hoses, electrical wires and bottles of chemicals. Many of the Iraqis, including one identified as a 14-year-old boy, had fresh welts and bruises across their back and legs.
The soldiers disarmed the Iraqi jailers, moved the prisoners into the shade, released their handcuffs and administered first aid. Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrickson of Albany, Ore., the highest ranking American at the scene, radioed for instructions.
But in a move that frustrated and infuriated the guardsmen, Hendrickson's superior officers told him to return the prisoners to their abusers and immediately withdraw. It was June 29 -- Iraq's first official day as a sovereign country since the U.S.-led invasion.
Our troops want to do the right thing... unfortunately the right thing is against Bush policy.
- rob 1:55 PM - [PermaLink] -
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The darlings of the neocons: Common Criminals
Iraq Issues Warrants for Chalabi, NephewAhmad Chalabi was somewhat marginalized when he was left out of the new interim government that took power June 28 but has since worked to reposition himself as a Shiite populist. At the helm of the war crimes tribunal for Saddam, the Ivy League-educated Salem Chalabi remains a central figure in Iraq.
...
The warrants, issued Saturday, accused Ahmad Chalabi of counterfeiting old Iraqi dinars, which were removed from circulation after the ouster of Saddam's regime last year.
Iraqi police backed by U.S. troops found counterfeit money along with old dinars during a raid on Chalabi's house in Baghdad in May, al-Maliky said. He apparently was mixing counterfeit and real money and changing them into new dinars on the street, the judge said.
The accusation is not Ahmad Chalabi's first brush with legal problems. He is wanted in Jordan for a 1991 conviction in absentia for fraud in a banking scandal. He was sentenced to 22 years in jail, but has denied all allegations.
- rob 1:41 PM - [PermaLink] -
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How to be an Asshole by Rodney Alexander
Alexander's switch could prove costly
A first-term congressman from Quitman, Alexander re-registered as a Democrat at the start of qualifying for the 5th Congressional District race on Wednesday. But on Friday afternoon, the last day of qualifying for the Nov. 2 ballot, he switched to Republican, leaving Democrats no time to enter a strong candidate in the race.
(he did this 15 minutes before the end of qualification).
Alexander reportedly had been offered a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee in exchange for joining the GOP.
- rob 1:18 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Free Speech under Bush
CIA author gagged on intel reformWashington, DC, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Mike Scheuer, the veteran CIA Osama bin Laden hunter whose anonymously-published, best-selling critique of the war on terror attacked the invasion of Iraq, has been gagged from speaking out against President George W. Bush's proposals for the reform of U.S. intelligence.
Bush's surrogates support Free Speech too
Iraqi Government Shuts Al-Jazeera StationBAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Police ordered Al-Jazeera's employees out of their newsroom Saturday after the Iraqi government accused the Arab satellite channel of inciting violence and closed its office for 30 days.
Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said the closure was intended to give the station "a chance to re-adjust their policy against Iraq."
"They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities," he said. "We want to protect our people."
Ahhh yes... the old "reporting bad news is the same as giving aid and comfort to the enemy" trick. Wow, these guys are well versed in contemporary American politics aren't they.
- rob 1:13 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Weird, someone in the GOP thinks fighting terrorism is more important then petty politics and in fighting.
(did he not get the memo?)
GOP San. comes to U.S. attorneys' defenseWASHINGTON -- In blunt, private letters, the Senate Finance Committee chairman has told Attorney General John Ashcroft he believes the Justice Department has retaliated against prosecutors in a Detroit terror trial because they cooperated with Congress.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has written Ashcroft or his deputies at least three times to accuse department officials of taking "hostile actions" and "reprisals" against the trial prosecutors.
...
Convertino, a 14-year career prosecutor, helped win the convictions of three men accused of operating a terror cell in Detroit last summer, but he came under investigation when his bosses learned Grassley's committee had subpoenaed him to testify, said Bill Sullivan, Convertino's attorney.
Bad bad Convertino, imagine him, helping Congress doing its Constitutional mandate of oversight. What was he thinking.
- rob 1:08 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Another success story from the reign of the "Uniter [not a divider]"
And so it beginsA vandal struck Joni Job's car while she shopped this weekend at a Fremont grocery store. It seems someone didn't like her Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker.
The vandal left his own political message on the side of her car. "Bush in 2004'" was scrawled in red paint.
Her car also has a new dent in the wheel well and a confederate flag slapped on the back.
- rob 12:53 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Deep Thoughts from our Fearless Leader- Sunday, August 08, 2004 -
"Tribal sovereignty means that. It’s sovereign. It’s...you’re...you’re a...you’ve been given sovereignty..." - Bush, last week.
click here to listen (its a small mp3, so even those of you at home can enjoy).
My favorite part, the audience laughing.
A NY Daily News take on it: Media didn't see much to like about WThat is why it was surprising, disconcerting and even a little frightening to listen to his opening remarks, punctuated by a strange syntax and mysterious logic.
"You can't read a newspaper if you can't read," the President said at one point when he spoke about the success his administration has had in teaching children how to read. When responding to a question posed by a Native American journalist on what he thought about the sovereignty of the Indian tribes in the U.S., Bush could only respond with something like "sovereignty is well ... sovereignty, and if you have sovereignty you are sovereign." Say what?
- rob 12:51 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Wild Talk
When someone with the eyes of a madman storms up to you with a raised hammer, you better believe it's coming down onto your skull if you don't move out of the way. You have about 1 second to think about it; there's no debate, no reasoning with the attacker. In a civil society, chances are that you haven't got a ready weapon.
In a paranoid, militant society, chances are you are armed and dangerous. Think about it for a minute: when faced with the constant threat that someone is going to attack you, what do you do? Unless you're willing to take them out yourself, you give someone else that authority, pretty much carte blanche. And carte blanche is where we are now. No one has much of an objection to the militarization of our society except a handful of "liberals" and "appeasers" and "antiwar pacifists" who are too "pussy" to "do the right thing" -- which is why Kerry keeps saying strength every third word, in a transparent attempt to out-macho the Republicans. The military is never strong enough in an election year: just check the speeches, all the way back to Lincoln. Well I've got news for you, the American military is the biggest, baddest superpower in the history of the planet, and no one says otherwise. We can out-pummel, outblast, outkill every motherfucker on every continent two hundred times and then some. So why the macho pose?
Here's why: money. It's all about the money. The guy with the biggest money wins. I was worried at first that the Bush fat cats had unending supplies of it, and that was the election right there -- who in god's name among the dems could possibly match Bush's warchest? Well now we know, our John. Life is a bowl of Kerrys. It's all good. So why do I have this sinking feeling?
Because America is different. When we started This Century Sucks, we felt the guy with the hammer smashed us in the brain and stole our country, and we wanted it back, even if we are brain-damaged on account of the struggle. But thanks to 9/11, there's no going back. That America is gone, forever. We are now in a new century, a new America, and it isn't because of George Bush. He just took advantage of it, like any enterprising opportunist. And he played us for suckers. And reaped a gigantic reward. And there's more where that came from.
But business is notoriously shortsighted. It only sees the meat in front of it. Never mind the consequences. Actually, fuck the consequences, as we see in Iraq. Who's gonna argue this? You patriots who want me to climb up into my pussy and fuck myself? Who's being fucked here? George Bush is "protecting my ass"? If that's true, then how come he keeps telling me "we are not safe"? When the president of the United States keeps hammering home the message that as a nation we are not safe, why are you telling me that we are? Where are you getting your information? Where do you get off? You can't have it both ways; either we're safe or we're not safe. In the black-and-white Bushworld, it's one or the other, buddy. So after a year of bombing the shit out of Iraq, the Dept. of Homeland Security is issuing Orange Alerts and telling us to "go about our business." Thanks, I'll remember to get off at the stop before the dynamite belt gets on the Fifth Avenue bus; that'll be easy -- I'll just consult my Magic 8-Ball. That should do it.
So we can't go home again. Terrorism has arrived. I'm just as anxious as the next guy. Hell, I was there on 9/11. I saw that shit. I breathed the dust, it was all over me, I tracked it into my apartment, it stunk up my bedroom, I got asthma from it, the ashes of the dead. I have to use inhalers. It was my home, my backyard that got attacked. My city. Not some Texas asshole's, to profit from. Fuck him. Take a look at his face at the smoking pit, with the bullhorn and the fireman. He's got a big shit-eating grin. Why wouldn't he? That the Republicans picked New York City of all places for their convention is rubbing our noses in it -- something Bush especially loves to do. We're the city of Sodom. We're evil. Ask Newt Gingrich.
Which brings me to this troubling review. According to Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic,
For the virulence that calls itself critical thinking, the merry diabolization of other opinions and the other people who hold them, the confusion of rightness with righteousness, the preference for aspersion to argument, the view that the strongest statement is the truest statement -- these deformations of political discourse now thrive in the houses of liberalism too. The radicalism of the right has hectored into being a radicalism of the left. The Bush-loving mob is being met with a Bush-hating mob. Liberals are forgetting why liberals are not radicals. ... American liberalism, in sum, may be losing its head.
Really? Maybe it's because the liberals' heads have been bashed in. There's more:
The opinion that these are not normal times, that the Bush years are apocalyptic years, is quite common. ''We are no longer in the ordinary times we were in when the conservatives took out after Bill Clinton,'' Janet Malcolm recently explained in a letter to this newspaper. ''We are in a time now that is as fearful as the period after Munich.'' Life in South Egremont, Mass., may be excruciating, but Malcolm's knowledge of the period after Munich has plainly grown dim. And who, in her ominous analogy, is Hitler? If it is Osama bin Laden, then she might have a little sympathy for the seriousness of this administration about American security, whatever her views about some of its policies. If it is George W. Bush. . . . Well, she continues: ''Those of us who are demonizing George W. Bush are doing so not because of his morals but because we are scared of what another four years of his administration will do to this country and to the world.'' So whether or not Bush is Hitler, he is a devil. This is what now passes for smart.
All I can say is this: At least the Fuhrer motorcaded in an open vehicle. Just look at the films. Can you imagine for one minute George W. Bush riding around in an open car? Where's the love?
Liberals must think carefully about their keenness to mirror some of the most poisonous qualities of their adversaries. It was never exactly a disgrace to American liberalism that it lacked its Limbaugh. But demagoguery now enjoys a new prestige. Thus, a prominent liberal thinker writes a book against George W. Bush that refreshingly prefers ideas to innuendoes, and a sympathetic reviewer in this newspaper laments that ''instead of 'Reason,' which the left already has too much of, the Democrats need a book titled 'Brass Knuckles.' ''
If I had a hammer ...
The argument for liberal demagoguery is twofold, tactical and philosophical. There are those who believe the Democrats cannot succeed without the politics of the sewer. These are the same people who believe it is the politics of the sewer to which the Republicans owe their success. This view significantly underestimates the depth and the nature of George W. Bush's support in American society, and significantly overestimates the influence of the media and its pundit vaudeville on American politics.
Is that so, professor? Tell it to Clear Channel and Fox News Organization. Then ask the FCC, who spend their entire time trying to deregulate federal statutes so as to consolidate media into as few hands as possible. Vaudeville, huh? You know what they say, the Show Must Go On.
It is when politics becomes a competition in populist credentials that demagoguery, and the sophistry of the slippery slope, flourishes, and the voice of the common man is stolen. ... It will be disastrous, for liberalism and for America, if the indignation against George W. Bush becomes an excuse for a great simplification, for a delirious release from the complexities of historical and political understanding that it took the American left decades to learn.
And what was that? That the rug can be pulled out from under us at any time? I'd like to hear the voice of the common man on that one. What is "common" anyway? It's common to smash people in the brain with a hammer when they don't agree with you. What does Mr. Soft Knuckles think?
The good news is that the politics of Bush-hatred may be at odds with the culture of Bush-hatred. ... Whatever the merit of [Kerry and Edward's] opposition to the Bush administration, the spirit of their opposition is not dark. They are not taking the radical bait.
So that's the answer! Good news and sunshine! Just what got Al Gore elected!
Only he didn't win.
- Michael 8:04 PM - [PermaLink] -
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Newcomers to This Site
Check out the TCS archive (right margin on this page) -- we called it before it happened and continue to call it the same way: before it happens. See for yourselves! Welcome all (even those who ardently wish, "Why don't you climb up inside your pussy and fuck yourself senseless?" -- well, not really, but a little free conversation's always good, which is the whole point).
- Michael 2:50 PM - [PermaLink] -
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt
"Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of
its citizenship. If private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work
for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering
hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the
Government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make
fitting response."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions, but laws must and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain
degree."
- James Madison
"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves."
- John F. Kennedy
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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