Tuesday, July 03, 2007

GOD BLESS AMERICA * SCOOTER SCOOTS

Please listen to the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show Saturday at 9:00 AM PST. Each week we have lively commentary, well known guests and call in segments that enhance the show. Don't forget Saturday at 9:00 AM PST for the Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk Show





The 4th of July 2007 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! It can only get better.

Scooter Libby Roundup

FACE THE FACTS: The reason Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence was SO LIBBY WOULDN'T TALK. Bush “guaranteed not only that Libby wouldn’t talk, but retaining Libby’s right to invoke the Fifth. This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.” Now, the Bush administration is legally protected from having to answer questions. If Libby had been in prison, anyone could have gotten to him. Now, no one can get Libby to say a word about the real culprits, which are obviously Rove and Cheney/Bush.


photo All Hat No Cattle.com

(check out Basham & Cornell.com for our videos and Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World: George W. Bush)

**First of all, it's vitally important to understand what Valerie Plame was actually doing, and how her "blonde good looks" were a perfect cover for the dangerous work she was doing in finding nuclear weapons in enemy territory. Along with Plame, what we never hear about is that this entire CIA covert program is now gone and several other CIA agents lost their jobs and their cover.

The reason this whole thing is different than any Clinton pardon is because this is a White House-related crime. You can't pardon or commute the sentence of someone who is directly related to your office!!

** Bush gleefully sent people to their deaths without commuting a single death sentence as governor of Texas. He sent mentally retarded children to their deaths. He probably sent innocent people to their deaths.

Doug Basham says: "Bush freed Libby... this is your “law and order” “strong on national security” republicans in action again. They have no problem outing someone who was working on nuclear proliferation issues, and then they have even less problem pardoning the person who leaked it. Well, at least Bush (Cheney) made sure Libby wouldn’t flip on them, and start talking."

According to Marcy Wheeler, Bush “guaranteed not only that Libby wouldn’t talk, but retaining Libby’s right to invoke the Fifth. This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.”

And the worst part of this is… we’re now going to have to listen to all the right wing media hosts and their fellow propagandists tell us once again, that no crime was committed, even tho’ republican prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said there was.

They will tell us it’s Patrick Fitzgerald who should’ve gone to prison, and that it was Richard Armitage who told Robert Novak, even tho’ Libby told at least 2 other reporters. So what if it was Novak who reported it? Libby leaked the name of a covert CIA operative to at least 2 other reporters, whether they reported it or not! So yes, a crime was committed. He just wasn’t charged with the crime of leaking.

Bush did not consult with the Justice Department or special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald before commuting the sentence of former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, according to Tuesday’s Washington Post. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence for perjuring and other crimes related to his role in the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

This is the first time in Bush's presidency that Bush commuted a sentence without going through his lawyers at the Justice Dept. Bush didn't even ask the Prosecutor in the case Patrick Fitzgerald, for his opinion as has normally been done in the Justice Department.

"First, President Bush said any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration. Nonetheless, Scooter Libby didn’t leave office until he was indicted and Karl Rove works in the White House even today."

President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility of an eventual pardon for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

"As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out," the president said a day after commuting Libby's 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case.

Bush openly proclaimed on national television that "any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration." Libby now is free, awaiting a full pardon and Karl Rove is still directing the steps of the Bush administration.

Survey USA conducted a quick, automated survey to gauge response to President Bush's decision to commute former White House aide Scooter Libby's prison sentence.

According to the poll:

17% say Bush should have pardoned Libby completely.
60% say Bush should have left the judge's prison sentence in place.
32% of Republicans agree with the President's decision, compared to 14% of Democrats and 20% of Independents.
26% of Republicans say Libby should have been pardoned completely, compared to 21% of Independents and 8% of Democrats.
.

A wide majority of Americans are against letting Libby go free. The Bush decision regarding Scooter Libby portrays the conclusion that he will do anything to protect those within his inner circle.

Equal Justice Under Law is a phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. This phrase was apparently first written in 1932 by the architectural firm that designed the building. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes subsequently approved this inscription, as did the United States Supreme Court Building Commission which Hughes chaired.

It has become increasingly clear that in Bush's America, there is no "Equal Justice For All.

180 comments:

  1. The revolution starts now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clif, wil you repost those White House phone numbers?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Busy, busy those numbers in DC! Wonder if they are even accepting calls?! ; (

    The rhetoric and abuse of the court system doesn't leave anything positive for the younger generations to look up to.

    Although "all" presidents free those that are in their favor when they leave office, this is a new one, and one that turns in the face of all the court system is supposed to be about.

    Lastly, as there are too many points everyone is talking about, the "right" (wrong) continue to say libby has to pay $250,000 when in reality, none of that money is ever going to come out of his pocket.

    Aaarghh!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Coffee:

    Not only will Libby not pay a dime, but Bush is insinuating he will pardon him later on.

    ReplyDelete
  5. How does this NOT surprise me?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jacq,

    Nothing should surprise us regarding Bush.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, GREAT POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mike:

    You know Lydia is an excellent writer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have to agree with Joe Wilson's assesment of Bush's ignorant pardon of Scooted I mean Scooter. President Bush's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence proves that "this administration is corrupt to the core," said Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the former diplomat whose wife was at the center of the CIA leak investigation that sparked the Libby case. In denouncing the Bush administration, Wilson told NPR,
    "I would only hope that Americans now realize, with this subversion of our system of justice and the rule of law in this country, just exactly how corrupt they are."
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11689369
    Replacing our order with what they call a new order is all that matters. I am so sick of this underhanded misadministration destroying our accepted norms and then like Libby did, get off scott free and laugh at us. I am so sick of this. I'll be nice! This was only part of my post as a reminder why everyone must get involved in any way in the 9/15 March in Washington DC to Impeach Bush and Cheney.
    It is scheduled to coordinate with General Petraeus's report on the "failed" surge. I bet they cancel that report to deflate our efforts. There is a letter from Ramsey Clark you may have seen but he wanted the word spread. This is the best way I have to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Excellent article Lydia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Patriot:

    I agree and since Bush has taken it to this level, it will be the rule of law, for the elite.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I wonder if Bush will finally talk about the faltering economy, since he needs people to forget his wars and pardons.

    General Motors's 24 percent slide in sales led a sharp decline for Detroit carmakers in June as Japanese firms ramped up incentives and grabbed more market share, sales reports showed Tuesday.

    Toyota reported a 6.1 percent jump in monthly sales to 245,739, just below that of number two Ford.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Larry said...
    Mike:

    You know Lydia is an excellent writer."

    Of course Larry, but this article was hard hitting, timely and addressed all of the key points.........and deserves to be recognized.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The death toll for private contractors in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has topped 1,000, a stark reminder of the risks run by civilians.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mike:

    Go read Patriots latest post.

    ReplyDelete
  17. AP:

    Late payments on home equity loans climbed to a 1 1/2-year high in the opening quarter of this year, while delinquencies on credit card bills fell, painting a mixed picture of how people are managing their debt.

    The American Bankers Association, in its quarterly survey of consumer loans, reported Tuesday that late payments on home equity loans rose to 2.15 percent in the January-to-March quarter. That was up sharply from 1.92 percent in the final quarter of last year and was the highest since the late summer of 2005.

    "There are still signs of consumer financial distress, which will continue throughout most of this year as the worst of the housing problem works its way through the economy," said James Chessen, the association's chief economist.

    Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due. The survey is based on information supplied by more than 300 banks nationwide.

    The survey also showed that the delinquency rate on a composite of other types of consumer loans, including those for autos and boats, home improvement and for certain home equity loans, increased to 2.42 percent in the first quarter. That was up from the fourth quarter's 2.23 percent delinquency rate and was the highest since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was in a recession. The rise for the composite was driven by home-equity loan delinquencies, Chessen said.

    Maybe this will take Bush's mind off a pardon.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hate to hijack the thread here.......so i'll be brief, went to see Michael Moore's "SICKO" today and I think the Reich Wing may be trying to sabotage the Movie.......the Move started around 15 minutes late, and right in the middle the Movie just cut out and ended, the theater people said about 8-10 times for the next half hour that its a minor glitch and it will be fixed in 1-3 minutes, they then blamed the film amd the loading of the film.......now mind you it was a brand new just built premium high end theater and it was a new film, so i'm not buying that crap and if the film was threaded wrong it wouldnt be fine for the whole first half of the movie then just go out instantly like it was a power failure.

    I think some little Reich Wing prick was trying to throw a wrench into the message Michael Moore is trying to get out and sabotage the movie.............and i'm curious if similar things are going on around the country.

    ReplyDelete
  19. On his blog or the one here...........because the one Patriot posted here was a great post!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey guys I really like Lydias article here today

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mike:

    I was talking about his blog. He has written 6 books, has two kids in Iraq and Afganistan.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Google was trying to undermine Sicko in the add department, so they may be trying to ruin it in the theatre.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Keith Olberman is going to demand Bush and Cheney resign Tonight............the "DECIDER" will be steaming after that one.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Olbermann is the only "newsman" with any guts and grit.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I was seriously pissed at the theater Larry I gave em hell...........I can feel some littlr REich Wing prick was trying to sabbotage the movie and Michael Moore.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sicko has been getting wide acclaim, until CNN started attacking Moore yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow, Joe Wilson just shredded the Bush Administration on Hardball!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Larry said...
    Mike:

    I was talking about his blog. He has written 6 books, has two kids in Iraq and Afganistan."

    Wow, I didnt know he wrote six books.......i thought he was working on his first, i'll go check out his blog again tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Bush basically said he'll pardon Libby in the future............he spit in the face of justice and the rule of law again!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wilson pulls no punches, but I doubt he will get Scooter or Cheney on the stand, in his lawsuit case.

    ReplyDelete
  31. well if he doesnt, sworn deposition will be the next best thing..........it will show what liars they are.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I don't know why Bush didn't pardon Libby now, he is going to do it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  33. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  34. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Fidelity National Information Services, a financial processing company, said Tuesday a worker at one of its subsidiaries stole 2.3 million consumer records containing credit card, bank account and other personal information.

    The employee sold the information to an unidentified data broker who sold it to several direct marketing companies, but the data were not used in identity theft or other fraudulent financial activity, Fidelity said in a statement.

    About 2.2 million records stolen from Certegy Check Services Inc. contained bank account information and 99,000 contained credit card information, Fidelity said.

    This happens an awful lot. One of my 401 K's is with Fidelity.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Reuters:

    Pending sales of existing U.S. homes hit the lowest level in more than five years in May and factory orders dipped modestly, according to data on Tuesday that suggested the economy was struggling.

    In addition, Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Chrysler Group and General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported lower U.S. sales for June as high gas costs, fierce competition and the housing slump took a toll on the industry.

    The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales -- a forward-looking gauge -- slumped 3.5 percent in May to 97.7, its lowest since September 2001.

    Separately, the Commerce Department said factory orders eased 0.5 percent in May after an upwardly revised 0.5 percent April gain.

    Another example of the faltering Bush economy.

    ReplyDelete
  36. READ MY LIPS.


    The pardoning of Scooter Libby is going to be the downfall of Bush.

    Not by itself,but because of the spotlight it put on him. Did you guys see the evening news tonight? Especially NBC? People see Bush like Nixon now thanks to this clemency for Libby.

    But more than public opinion, it opened a flood gate of investigations, ones that have already launched, and ones yet to be launched.

    It appears the reason Bush commuted Libby's sentence was because he was afraid of Libby talking in prison to get out of prison. And that scared Bush so he commuted the sentence, which is conspiracy to obstruct justice.

    Bush is SCREWED!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Chimpy's downfall (if indeed there is one) will be, IMHO, in pulling the security clearances of the investigators looking at "Electrode Al" Gonzale's role in the illegal wiretapping.

    That's a bonafide obstruction of justice. Ask Shooter what kind of problems that'll cause you.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Keith Olbermann is the greatest American alive today.

    A True Patriot!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Good evening. A president who lied us into a war and, in so doing, needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors; a president whose administration initially tried to destroy the first man to nail that lie; a president whose henchmen then ruined the career of the intelligence asset that was his wife when intelligence assets were never more essential to the viability of the republic; a president like that has tonight freed from the prospect of prison the only man ever to come to trial for one of the component felonies in what may be the greatest crime of this young century." -- Keith Olbermann, intro to the 7-2-07 show

    These are the words of the Greatest American alive today.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Olberman really knocked that one out of the ballpark.

    Now the MSM needs to pick it up, and show clips of it on the evening news.

    Its now in the medias court. If enough pressure is excerted, Bush will be forced out prior to impeachment.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Ok, so a friend of mine edits an Impeach Bush newsletter out of the Sioux City IA area. The writer of this particular newsletter went to a Bush Rally last fall and held up an Impeach banner and looked Bush right in the eye. Security apparently threw him out ... nice thing is it's been immortalized on YouTube.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSvXgnRzdl4

    ReplyDelete
  42. Olberman Smashed that one Sooooooo far out of the park they should frog march Bush and Cheney right out of the White House immediately and charge them with treason!

    ReplyDelete
  43. MCH said...
    Ok, so a friend of mine edits an Impeach Bush newsletter out of the Sioux City IA area. The writer of this particular newsletter went to a Bush Rally last fall and held up an Impeach banner and looked Bush right in the eye. Security apparently threw him out ... nice thing is it's been immortalized on YouTube."

    its sad to say things like this are a common occurence with these brown shirt thugs who came to power 7 years ago!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Is the United States an Empire?



    Definition of an Empire:

    A nation-state that dominates other nation-states and exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:

    1) Exploits resources from the lands it dominates

    2) Consumes large quantities of resources in amounts that are disproportionate to the size of its population relative to those of other nations

    3) Maintain a large military that enforces its policies when more subtle measures fail

    4) Spreads its language, literature, art, and various aspects of its culture throughout its sphere of influence

    5) Taxes not just its own citizens, but also people in other countries

    6) Imposes its own currency on the lands under its control

    ReplyDelete
  45. Those are certainly indications of an empire Larry.........................The sad thing is that empires NEVER last they are extremely fleeting if we had any brains we would revert to being a republic again because it was that freedom and democracy that made us special and made us so successful in the 20th Century.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Mike:

    If you notice every thing on the list has come true, and once Bush starts the North American Union the list will be complete.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Ok, not to play devil's advocate or anything but ... didnt we fit most of these qualifications BEFORE George Dubbledumb Bush and Herr Cheney take over?

    English has been the international language of trade for decades, the American dollar is and has been the standard for world wide currency, we've been the primary military force since World War 1, etc ...

    ReplyDelete
  48. Bush is a ignorant street thug, running this country like a criminal empire........We would be much better off with Sammy the Bull Gravano running our country than GWB.

    Bush and Cheney have no honor and integrity and no soul's.......Gravano may be a stone cold killer but he has far more honor that Bush and Cheney.......who have the deaths of almost a million people on their hands for NO LEGITIMATE REASON>

    ReplyDelete
  49. MCH said...
    Ok, not to play devil's advocate or anything but ... didnt we fit most of these qualifications BEFORE George Dubbledumb Bush and Herr Cheney take over?

    English has been the international language of trade for decades, the American dollar is and has been the standard for world wide currency, we've been the primary military force since World War 1,"


    He didnt say those were "ALL" the signs of an empire.....merely SOME of the signs......if you want to read about MORE signs of an empire go back and read the last blog I wrote!

    ReplyDelete
  50. We know the Rethuglicans in charge are trying to hide stuff and most of us only think we have an idea of how much crap they're keeping from us, not to mention Congress. We need to do every single thing we can to have these people held accountable. I would like to request a favor of all bloggers who see this comment. Please visit this impeachment post and help us spread the word.  Simply follow the directions. Every blog helps.

    ReplyDelete
  51. No self respecting mobster would lead such a screwed up fiasco as Bush does.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Thanks Robert, I'll go there and sign up.

    We need rid of the skank in Washington.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Relax guys .. I'm on your side, remember? The post I was responding to didnt say "some" or "all" but be that as it may ...

    I agree that the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents are on their hands and I further agree that they have no soul or conscience. My point is there were plenty of things going on with our country long before these bozos took over.

    Here is my concern with making blanket accusations and widely placing blame: if it gets too out of hand we run the risk of losing credibility. We definitely do not want to look like the Democratic versions of Limbaugh and Coulter. Bush and Cheney have committed plenty of treasonous and impeachable offenses that have been documented and verifiable, do we really want to lose focus on those without speculating on things such as attempting to create an empire?

    ReplyDelete
  54. MCH said...
    Relax guys .. I'm on your side, remember? The post I was responding to didnt say "some" or "all" but be that as it may ...

    I agree that the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents are on their hands and I further agree that they have no soul or conscience. My point is there were plenty of things going on with our country long before these bozos took over.

    Here is my concern with making blanket accusations and widely placing blame: if it gets too out of hand we run the risk of losing credibility. We definitely do not want to look like the Democratic versions of Limbaugh and Coulter. Bush and Cheney have committed plenty of treasonous and impeachable offenses that have been documented and verifiable, do we really want to lose focus on those without speculating on things such as attempting to create an empire?"


    I'm very relaxed and I agree that there ARE PLENTY of impeachable offenses that Bush and Cheney have committed and they CERTAINLY need to be focused on...............Now as for your allegation of merely speculating on their desire for empire.....go and read the PNAC manifesto then read the definitions of an empire and get back to us!

    ReplyDelete
  55. We of this time–and our leaders in Congress, of both parties–must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach–get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

    For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

    Resign.

    And give us someone–anyone–about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

    Words from a Great American: Keith Olbermann!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Olbermann sure said it all tonight!!

    Bush and Cheney resign!

    ReplyDelete
  57. Suzie:

    The Olbermann replay will be on shortly. Worth Tivo on that one.

    ReplyDelete
  58. They have it on TP. Its also on You Tube I believe Larry.

    Everyones talking about it.

    ReplyDelete
  59. TP has an entire thread dedicated to it.

    ReplyDelete
  60. This was the best "Special Comment" of all.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Indeed. Olberman is the Murrow of our time.

    ReplyDelete
  62. I am surprised the neocons haven't pressured GE to get rid of Olbermann.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Of course they won't resign we have to impeach those evildoers!

    ReplyDelete
  64. I'm all for that Suzie, if only Pelosi and Reid would do their jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  65. BARTLEBEE said...

    They have it on TP. Its also on You Tube I believe Larry.

    Everyones talking about it.

    8:54 PM
    --------------
    Bartlebee:

    Yes, it is on youtube and I just added it to my last post. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  66. Larry:

    We have to put pressure on Pelosi and Reid now!

    ReplyDelete
  67. Suzie:

    I can't believe Pelosi and Reid would be so stubborn when their own party has turned against them.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Suzie:

    Thanks for adding the "Special Comment" to your blog. It's easier to find there.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Larry said...
    I am surprised the neocons haven't pressured GE to get rid of Olbermann."


    I think they are afraid to touch him............he's the ONLY liberal voice on TV and if they cabceled his show a push to actually break up these media empires could really gain traction!

    ReplyDelete
  70. Mike:

    Suzie has Olbermann's comment on her blog now.

    Olbermann has more guts than the entire congress.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Here is the text of Olbermann's "Special Comment" which is a great post in itself:


    The protection of the environment is turned over to those of one political party, who will financially benefit from the rape of the environment. The protections of the Constitution are turned over to those of one political party, who believe those protections unnecessary and extravagant and quaint.

    The enforcement of the laws is turned over to those of one political party, who will swear beforehand that they will not enforce those laws. The choice between war and peace is turned over to those of one political party, who stand to gain vast wealth by ensuring that there is never peace, but only war.

    And now, when just one cooked book gets corrected by an honest auditor, when just one trampling of the inherent and inviolable fairness of government is rejected by an impartial judge, when just one wild-eyed partisan is stopped by the figure of blind justice, this President decides that he, and not the law, must prevail.

    I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

    I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

    I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

    I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

    I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but to stifle dissent.

    I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

    I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

    I accuse you of handing part of this Republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

    And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.[...]

    It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them—or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them—we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

    We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

    For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

    Resign.

    And give us someone—anyone—about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

    ReplyDelete
  72. Stand Up For Your Rights

    Sorry to blogwhore, Lydia, but this one is juicy.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Larry, that piece you posted (I'm assuming you copied it from SLB) is only a small portion that I excised.

    Click on the title at my place and read the entire thing.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Thanks Carl, I did take it from your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Carl:

    You're right the article on your blog is juicy.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Olbermann: Bush, Cheney should resign
    ‘I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.’
    SPECIAL COMMENT
    By Keith Olbermann

    “I didn’t vote for him,” an American once said, “But he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

    That—on this eve of the 4th of July—is the essence of this democracy, in 17 words. And that is what President Bush threw away yesterday in commuting the sentence of Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

    The man who said those 17 words—improbably enough—was the actor John Wayne. And Wayne, an ultra-conservative, said them, when he learned of the hair’s-breadth election of John F. Kennedy instead of his personal favorite, Richard Nixon in 1960.

    “I didn’t vote for him but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

    The sentiment was doubtlessly expressed earlier, but there is something especially appropriate about hearing it, now, in Wayne’s voice: The crisp matter-of-fact acknowledgement that we have survived, even though for nearly two centuries now, our Commander-in-Chief has also served, simultaneously, as the head of one political party and often the scourge of all others.

    We as citizens must, at some point, ignore a president’s partisanship. Not that we may prosper as a nation, not that we may achieve, not that we may lead the world—but merely that we may function.

    But just as essential to the seventeen words of John Wayne, is an implicit trust—a sacred trust: That the president for whom so many did not vote, can in turn suspend his political self long enough, and for matters imperative enough, to conduct himself solely for the benefit of the entire Republic.

    Our generation’s willingness to state “we didn’t vote for him, but he’s our president, and we hope he does a good job,” was tested in the crucible of history, and earlier than most.

    And in circumstances more tragic and threatening. And we did that with which history tasked us.

    We enveloped our President in 2001.And those who did not believe he should have been elected—indeed those who did not believe he had been elected—willingly lowered their voices and assented to the sacred oath of non-partisanship.

    And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point and stabbed this nation in the back with it.

    Were there any remaining lingering doubt otherwise, or any remaining lingering hope, it ended yesterday when Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence of one of his own staffers.

    Did so even before the appeals process was complete; did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice; did so despite what James Madison—at the Constitutional Convention—said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes “advised by” that president; did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder: To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish—the President will keep you out of prison?

    In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental com-pact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens—the ones who did not cast votes for you. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party. And this is too important a time, Sir, to have a commander-in-chief who puts party over nation.


    This has been, of course, the gathering legacy of this Administration. Few of its decisions have escaped the stain of politics. The extraordinary Karl Rove has spoken of “a permanent Republican majority,” as if such a thing—or a permanent Democratic majority—is not antithetical to that upon which rests: our country, our history, our revolution, our freedoms.

    Yet our Democracy has survived shrewder men than Karl Rove. And it has survived the frequent stain of politics upon the fabric of government. But this administration, with ever-increasing insistence and almost theocratic zealotry, has turned that stain into a massive oil spill.

    The protection of the environment is turned over to those of one political party, who will financially benefit from the rape of the environment. The protections of the Constitution are turned over to those of one political party, who believe those protections unnecessary and extravagant and quaint.


    The enforcement of the laws is turned over to those of one political party, who will swear beforehand that they will not enforce those laws. The choice between war and peace is turned over to those of one political party, who stand to gain vast wealth by ensuring that there is never peace, but only war.

    And now, when just one cooked book gets corrected by an honest auditor, when just one trampling of the inherent and inviolable fairness of government is rejected by an impartial judge, when just one wild-eyed partisan is stopped by the figure of blind justice, this President decides that he, and not the law, must prevail.

    I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

    I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

    I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

    I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

    I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but to stifle dissent.

    I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

    I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

    I accuse you of handing part of this Republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

    And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.

    When President Nixon ordered the firing of the Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” on October 20th, 1973, Cox initially responded tersely, and ominously.

    “Whether ours shall be a government of laws and not of men, is now for Congress, and ultimately, the American people.”

    President Nixon did not understand how he had crystallized the issue of Watergate for the American people.


    It had been about the obscure meaning behind an attempt to break in to a rival party’s headquarters; and the labyrinthine effort to cover-up that break-in and the related crimes.

    And in one night, Nixon transformed it.

    Watergate—instantaneously—became a simpler issue: a President overruling the inexorable march of the law of insisting—in a way that resonated viscerally with millions who had not previously understood - that he was the law.

    Not the Constitution. Not the Congress. Not the Courts. Just him.

    Just - Mr. Bush - as you did, yesterday.

    The twists and turns of Plame-Gate, of your precise and intricate lies that sent us into this bottomless pit of Iraq; your lies upon the lies to discredit Joe Wilson; your lies upon the lies upon the lies to throw the sand at the “referee” of Prosecutor Fitzgerald’s analogy. These are complex and often painful to follow, and too much, perhaps, for the average citizen.

    But when other citizens render a verdict against your man, Mr. Bush—and then you spit in the faces of those jurors and that judge and the judges who were yet to hear the appeal—the average citizen understands that, Sir.

    It’s the fixed ballgame and the rigged casino and the pre-arranged lottery all rolled into one—and it stinks. And they know it.


    Nixon’s mistake, the last and most fatal of them, the firing of Archibald Cox, was enough to cost him the presidency. And in the end, even Richard Nixon could say he could not put this nation through an impeachment.

    It was far too late for it to matter then, but as the decades unfold, that single final gesture of non-partisanship, of acknowledged responsibility not to self, not to party, not to “base,” but to country, echoes loudly into history. Even Richard Nixon knew it was time to resign

    Would that you could say that, Mr. Bush. And that you could say it for Mr. Cheney. You both crossed the Rubicon yesterday. Which one of you chose the route, no longer matters. Which is the ventriloquist, and which the dummy, is irrelevant.

    But that you have twisted the machinery of government into nothing more than a tawdry machine of politics, is the only fact that remains relevant.

    It is nearly July 4th, Mr. Bush, the commemoration of the moment we Americans decided that rather than live under a King who made up the laws, or erased them, or ignored them—or commuted the sentences of those rightly convicted under them—we would force our independence, and regain our sacred freedoms.

    We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

    For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

    Resign.

    And give us someone—anyone—about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

    ReplyDelete
  77. Los Angeles Times:

    The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government's capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.

    More than 180,000 civilians -- including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis -- are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense Department figures obtained by The Times. Including the recent troop surge, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian...

    ReplyDelete
  78. We are in pivotal times. Things can change in a heartbeat. This country can get better or worsen, or even go down in flames. I think Olbermann is da bomb, Larry.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Its didgusting how the Reich Wingers hve twisted the word Patriotism.......the defininition of Patriotism is simply love of one's country.......Bush, Rove and Cheney have attempted to remake the word into love, fealty and blind obediance to GWB and his Neo Con minions.

    Since when is GWB and the Neo Cons considered our entire country and how did opposition to this small radical deluded faction come to be equated to treason against ones entire country and or lack of patriotism.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Patriotism is love of one's country.........Who gave GWB and his Neo Con Cabal of cronnies the right to judge how we can show or feel our love for our country..............people feel or show their love in many ways.......we dont need a dictator or "DECIDER" to tell us how to love our children, husbands, wives, girlfriends boyfriends etc.....

    Why should GWB and Dick Cheney think they are ENTITLED to tell us HOW to love our country and what is acceptable to them.

    Lets take a long look at them shall we ...........Both avoided active duty completely and Cheney NEVER even served in the military, Most of them preach the sanctity of mariage and family values yet have multiple failed marriages and divorces,take a look at the democratic presidential candidates then look at the repugs, almost all the democrats have successful marriages while the repugs have multiple failed marriages and examples of adultery and divorce. Newt condemned Clinton while commiting adultery himself and Cheney is allegedly on the DC Madam;s list, so apparently he has committed adultery and is no shining star of morality, they also have vastly more child molestors and pedophiles among their ranks than DEmocrats yet condemn democrats as lacking in morality..........it boggles the mind.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Maria,

    We will not let it go down in flames. *I* will not let it go down in flames, and if you won't, then it won't.

    We have to fight for our country, our nation and indeed, our world.

    ReplyDelete
  82. Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July everybody! :)

    ReplyDelete
  83. Hi Maria,

    I left you a comment this morning on your blog and glad you came to see us here.

    Olbermann is the best Anchor in TV history, he tells the truth, no matter whose toes it steps on.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Great article, Lydia. That commuting Libby's sentence was against the people's will matters not to Bush. he considers only the will of the Reich.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Happy 4th Tomcat:

    May we have peace before this year ends, without Bush.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Among the fascinating aspects of Lewis Libby's now upcoming sentencing is that his high-profile case resembles in various ways the case of Victor Rita, the defendant whose 33-month (within-guideline) sentence is currently under review by the US Supreme Court.

    I detailed some Libby-Rita parallels in this post last month, and here are the major highlights.

    1. The parallel nature of the crimes. Like Lewis Libby, Victor Rita got caught up in a criminal investigation and ultimately was indicted on five felony counts based on allegations that he lied under oath as part of the investigation. And, like Libby, Victor Rita asserted his innocence and exercised his right to a jury trial. (Victor was convicted of all five counts at trial; Libby's was acquitted on one of five counts, but that may not matter much for sentencing purposes.)

    2. The parallel personal history. Like Lewis Libby, Victor Rita is an atypical federal defendant because of his career in government service. Rita served 24 years in the Marine Corps, had tours of duty in Vietnam and the first Gulf war, received over 35 military metals and awards. Libby's pre-conviction resume is (equally?) impressive. The federal guidelines do not provide any formal breaks for government service or prior good works. But, with Booker making the guidelines advisory, federal judges have more discretion to consider these matters at sentencing (though Rita's sentencing judge decided just to follow the guidelines).

    Since Victor Rita's crimes seems, in context, to be less serious than Lewis Libby's crimes, I view Rita's 33-month sentence as a possible benchmark for Libby's sentence. Moreover, I have heard that Judge Walton has a reputation as a tough sentencing judge, and so Victor Rita's 33 month sentence might even be viewed as just a floor for considering Libby's fate.

    Why doesn't Bush free Victor Rita?

    ReplyDelete
  87. Congressional Qaurterly:

    At the end of the day, only a journalist went to jail in the CIA leak investigation.

    President George W. Bush’s commutation of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s jail sentence means that only reporter Judy Miller spent time in the slammer — and that was for protecting Libby, the leaker. The former White House aide let Miller sit in jail for nearly three months last year without revealing to prosecutors that he was the source she was refusing to name.

    While Miller was no angel in this matter, she was not convicted of a crime. And Libby goes free despite being convicted and sentenced for perjury and obstruction of justice. The president now says jail would be an “excessive” punishment for Libby, but he showed no such concern when a reporter was incarcerated for protecting his White House.

    The most lasting legal significance of this case will be its chilling effect on journalists — even on those who, unlike Miller, try to protect whistleblowers and other sources who are genuinely serving the public interest.

    ReplyDelete
  88. I agree, Lydia. They KNEW about this ahead and it probably was part of keeping his mouth shut.

    Why not wait until after the appeals process? Why now?

    To pay the first installment, the full pardon is part B.

    Jerks.

    Happy fourth to you all, my new friends, and here's hoping for justice. Soon.

    Anything!

    Now I must go see what is juicy at Carl's.

    ReplyDelete
  89. A Memo for David Brooks
    www.davidcorn.com



    MEMORANDUM
    From: Copy Desk
    To: David Brooks

    July 3, 2007

    Mr. Brooks, our apologies. There was a snafu yesterday, and we neglected to send you the edited version of your latest column, which contained several queries from us. What appeared in today's Times was the copy you initially filed--with all those queries obviously unaddressed. Again, we apologize for the error and hope this did not cause you any trouble or embarrassment. For the record, below is the marked-up version of your column.

    By DAVID BROOKS

    In retrospect, Plamegate was a farce in five acts. The first four were scabrous, disgraceful and absurd. Justice only reared its head at the end. [Powerful opening. Setting the bar high. Must be proved.]

    The drama opened, as these dark comedies are wont to do, with a strutting little peacock who went by the unimaginative name of Joe Wilson. [Pot calling kettle back, Mr. Brooks? Besides, do most "dark comedies" open with plain-named birds. Query Mr. Rich?]

    Mr. Wilson claimed that his wife had nothing to do with his trip to investigate Iraqi purchases in Niger, though that seems not to have been the case. [Chronology problem? Mr. Wilson did not "open" this "comedy" with such a claim. He began the episode by publishing an op-ed--on the very same page your column appears--that accused the administration of having "twisted" the prewar intelligence. The issue of his wife's involvement in his mission to Iraq came later.]

    He claimed his trip proved Iraq had made no such attempts, though his own report said nothing of the kind. [He did not claim his trip had "proved"--your word--the matter. He wrote that after speaking with past and present officials of Niger and "people associated with the country's uranium business," he had concluded that "it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place." (We can forward you a copy of his op-ed.) And, as you know, columnists of the Times are not fact-checked. But we would point out that in his Times op-ed, Mr. Wilson did not claim, as you state, that "his trip proved Iraq had made no such attempts" to purchase uranium. He maintained that "there's simply too much oversight over too small an industry for a sale to have transpired." And--not to belabor what might be a fact-checking issue--according to a Senate intelligence committee investigation, the report written by the CIA on Mr. Wilson's trip "described how the structure of Niger's uranium mines would make it difficult, if not impossible, for Niger to sell uranium to any rogue states."]

    In short order, Wilson established himself as the charming P.T. Barnum of the National Security set, an inveterate huckster who could be counted on to wrap every actual fact in six layers of embellishment. [An idea: explain the "actual facts" and then list the "six layers of embellishment."] His small part in the larger fiasco of the Iraq war would not have registered a micron of attention had the villain of the epic ‚ ”the vice president ‚” not exercised his unfailing talent for vindictive self-destruction. [We suggest you peruse some of the clips of that time. Mr. Wilson's op-ed and his concurrent appearance on Meet the Press generated more than a "micron of attention"--and that occurred before the vice president responded to Mr. Wilson's charges.]

    Act Two opened with a cast of thousands crowding the stage, filling the air with fevered vapors and gleeful rage. Perhaps you can remember those days, when the Plame story pretended to be about the outing of an undercover C.I.A. agent. [How can a story pretend to be something? And, if memory serves, there was indeed an outing of an undercover CIA official.] Perhaps you can remember the howls of outrage from our liberal friends, about the threat to national security, the secret White House plot to discredit its enemies. [For the reader's benefit, you might want to note Ms. Wilson's position at the time of her outing: operations chief for the Joint Task Force on Iraq, a unit of the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA's clandestine operations directorate. And you might want to note that her primary duty was overseeing covert operations designed to gather intelligence on WMDs in Iraq. Then again, you might not want to note this. Also, you seem to be suggesting there was no secret White House action to discredit Mr. Wilson. Are you aware that Mr. Libby met with Judith Miller, a former employee of this paper, and passed her classified information that he hoped would discredit Mr. Wilson? Are you aware that Mr. Libby conveyed classified information about Ms. Wilson to Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, and Mr. Fleischer says he shared this information with reporters as part of an effort to undermine Mr. Wilson's charges?]

    Perhaps you remember the media stakeouts of Karl Rove's driveway, the constant perp-walk photos of Rove on his way to and from the grand jury, the delirious calls from producers (The indictment is coming today! The indictment is coming today!). [Our readers might also remember that Mr. Rove leaked to Matt Cooper, then of Time, classified information regarding Ms. Wilson's covert employment at the CIA. As Mr. Cooper noted in an email, Mr. Rove did so "on double super secret background." They might possibly also recall that Mr. Rove confirmed Ms. Wilson's status as a CIA employee for Robert Novak, the first journalist to disclose her CIA identity.]

    There were media types so eager to get Rove, so artificially appalled at the thought of somebody actually leaking classified information, they were willing to forgive prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for throwing journalists in jail. [You cite many unnamed characters in this "dark comedy." Perhaps you ought to consider naming some of these "media types."] It was like watching a city of Ahabs getting deliriously close to the great white whale. [No one on our desk has read that classic recently. But a quick question: was Moby Dick ever suspected of having committed a crime?]

    That was back when everybody thought Rove was the key leaker. But then it turned out he wasn't. Richard Armitage was, as Fitzgerald knew from the start. [See our note above. Mr. Rove did leak to Mr. Cooper and Mr. Novak. It was only because Time held its story for several days that Mr. Novak had the "scoop" and beat out Time. Had that not happened, Mr. Rove might have won the title of chief leaker.]

    By the start of Act Three, nobody cared about the outing of a C.I.A. agent. [Nobody? We are relatively sure that the Wilsons cared, that CIA officials cared, that Mr. Fitzgerald cared, that congressional Democrats cared, and that thousands of Americans who followed this story in the media cared.] That part of the scandal disappeared. And all that was left of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame were the creepy photos in Vanity Fair. [You might want to consider describing the photos. A blonde in a convertible might not come across as "creepy" to all.]

    Act Three was the perjury act, and attention shifted to the unlikely figure of Scooter Libby. [What is "unlikely" about a White House aide accused of lying?] As Joe Wilson was an absurd man with a plain name, Scooter Libby was a plain man with an absurd name. [What's in a name?] And the odder thing was that Libby was the only normal person in the asylum. [Have you read the sex scenes in his one novel? A girl with a bear?] People who knew him thought him discreet, honest and admirable. [We hear he was also a quiet man. Mention that?] And yet the charges were brought and the storm clouds of idiocy gathered once more. [We're not lawyers, but we do believe that there are instances when criminal charges are filed against people who other people consider admirable. You might want to explain why a special prosecutor should not file obstruction of justice charges against an official suspected of lying to investigators.]

    Republicans who'd worked themselves up into a spittle-spewing rage because Bill Clinton lied under oath were appalled that anybody would bother with poor Libby over lying under oath. [Is there a continuity issue here? Above you contend that the charge was a product of idiocy. Shouldn't that justifiably cause Republicans to be appalled?] Democrats who were outraged that Bill Clinton was hounded for something as trivial as perjury were furious that Scooter Libby might not be ruined for a crime as heinous as perjury. [You seem to be skating past the case the Democrats made: lying to the FBI during a national security investigation is different from lying about sex in a civil proceeding.] It was an orgy of shamelessness. The God of Self-Respect took sabbatical. [Any word on what the God of Thou Shall Not Lie did at this time?]

    The trial and sentencing, Act Four, was, to be honest, somewhat anticlimactic. Fitzgerald, having lost all perspective, demanded Libby get a harsh sentence as punishment for crimes he had not been convicted of. [We realize you were not in the courtroom during the trial, but news reports and transcripts show that Mr. Fitzgerald argued that committing perjury during a national security investigation was a serious matter and that a stiff sentence was warranted for that crime.] The judge, casting himself as David against Goliath, demonstrated an impressive capacity for talking about himself. [Ditto the previous remark. Again, we do not fact-check columnists for the Times, but one of us did call--merely out of curiosity--several reporters who covered the case, and they told us that Judge Reggie Walton did not cast himself as a David-type figure, nor did he talk about himself more than the average federal district court judge. You might want to reconsider a characterization not supported by actual eyewitnesses.]

    And finally, yesterday, came Act Five, and a paradox. Scooter Libby emerged as the least absurd character in the entire drama, and yet he was the one who committed a crime. [Another continuity problem? If the chief of staff to the vice president commits a crime, shouldn't there be a thorough investigation and even a rigmarole?] President Bush entered the stage like a character from another world, a world in which things make sense. [A world like Baghdad?]

    His decision to commute Libby's sentence but not erase his conviction was exactly right. It punishes him for his perjury, but not for the phantasmagorical political farce that grew to surround him. It takes away his career, but not his family. [Fact: after Mr. Libby was indicted and resigned from Mr. Cheney's staff, he was named a fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. The Washington Post reported that his salary is probably at least $160,000--perhaps more. Most readers would think that with such a position Mr. Libby's career was not over.]

    Of course, the howlers howl. That is their assigned posture in this drama. They entered howling, they will leave howling and the only thing you can count on is their anger has been cynically manufactured from start to finish. [Once again, continuity. If Mr. Libby did commit a crime--which you bravely acknowledge he did--then shouldn't anger be an appropriate response. Who are the howlers whose anger was "cynically manufactured"? And who did that manufacturing? Specifics would help.]

    The farce is over. It has no significance. Nobody but Libby's family will remember it in a few weeks time. Everyone else will have moved on to other fiascos, other poses, fresher manias. [Good teaser of an ending. It's as if you expect another Bush aide to be caught lying under oath.]


    KUDOS to David Corn….

    BTW somebody should schedule David Broder for surgery so they can remove his head from his posterior, so he will quit shutting off the blood flow to the brain when he sits down and attempts to write his columns......

    ReplyDelete
  90. Fuck Bush! Fuck this administration! I'm with Carl and the cat!

    ReplyDelete
  91. Welcome to the blog Enemy and you're not alone with your feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  92. David Brooks is a whiny wasted wanna be neocon who can't get an audience larger than PBS.

    ReplyDelete
  93. America, Home of Bush and buddies.

    ReplyDelete
  94. This is not the America that I grew up in!

    Suzie Q quote two days ago.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Good flag Clif and quite fitting.

    ReplyDelete
  96. The death toll for private contractors in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has topped 1,000, a stark reminder of the risks run by civilians.



    It may not be appreciated, but I'm saying it. A lot of those "civilians" are modern-day Brownshirts.

    ReplyDelete
  97. How ironic is it that 230 years ago, this country chose to overthrow the tyranny of King George III and now we are struggling to survive the tyranny of the self-imposed King George I?

    ReplyDelete
  98. Hi Lydia and Peeps..

    This isn't over for the Bush Admin by a mile!

    More to come!

    ReplyDelete
  99. Happy 4th GEF:

    I'm the only peep around.

    ReplyDelete
  100. The House Judiciary Committee, upset over President Bush's decision to grant clemency to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, will hold a hearing on July 11 to examine presidential clemency power, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel's chairman, announced on Tuesday afternoon. No witness list has been released yet.

    Another step to Bush's waterloo.

    ReplyDelete
  101. The Washington Post:

    Nearly five months into a security strategy that involves thousands of additional U.S. and Iraqi troops patrolling Baghdad, the number of unidentified bodies found on the streets of the capital was 41 percent higher in June than in January, according to unofficial Health Ministry statistics.

    During the month of June, 453 unidentified corpses, some bound, blindfolded, and bearing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad, according to morgue data provided by a Health Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity...

    "Surge" is really working right Bush!

    ReplyDelete
  102. America, in labour since 911, after being raped by the neo-cons, has just given birth to a baby: King George the second.

    ReplyDelete
  103. The government has admitted the need to secure oil supplies is a factor in Australia's continued military involvement in Iraq.

    Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today oil was a factor in Australia's contribution to the unpopular war, as "energy security" and stability in the Middle East would be crucial to the nation's future.

    War for oil, what a concept!

    ReplyDelete
  104. Hey Naj:

    Welcome to Lydia's blog. I agrre the neocons are raping America, and corporate elitists are ruining/raping the lives we once knew.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Reuters:

    Oil surged above $74 to another 10-month high on Thursday ahead of U.S. data that is expected to show refiners are processing more crude to meet robust summer gasoline demand in the world's top consumer.

    London Brent crude, now seen as more representative of the global market, hit $74.26 a barrel, the highest since August 15, 2006, after kicking through the previous 10-month high. At 1118 GMT it was up $1.07 at $74.12.

    War for oil is really working!

    ReplyDelete
  106. The Official George W. Bush
    "Days Left In Office"
    Countdown:

    564 DAYS
    14 Hrs 54 Min 51.2 Sec

    How many days until Bush's indictment?

    ReplyDelete
  107. Great post, totally agree. Found your blog through Larry's post on mine!

    ReplyDelete
  108. Amen to that, Larry.

    ReplyDelete
  109. Larry, we have plenty of oil. Bush's war for oil and conquest hopes to serve two purposes:

    1. Control the flow of oil to others who don't have enough, so Bush can control them.

    2. Keep the price high, so Bush and his cronies get even richer at our expense.

    ReplyDelete
  110. At a campaign stop in Des Moines, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had some tough words for the President, along with two GOP presidential candidates. "This guy is brain dead," Biden said of Bush, eliciting a chorus of laughter from his audience. Known for his slips of the tongue, Biden added, "I know I’ll be quoted, I’ll be killed for that.”

    Speaking of Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby, Biden stated, “This is a guy who is on the balls of his heels, here’s a guy who is lower off in the polls than any president in modern history and he goes ahead and he does something that just flies in the face of the sensibilities of the American people.”

    Bush is Brain dead. How true that is!

    ReplyDelete
  111. Hello gang,

    I was never a fan of Joe Buden but I do agree with his Bush statement.

    ReplyDelete
  112. Hi Lydia and Guys!

    Hey, regarding the DC Madam, Jeane Palfrey, Judge Kessler has lifted the injunction on the phone records. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  113. Suzie:

    Are you going to print the juicy names on your blog?

    ReplyDelete
  114. Boston Globe:

    The day before Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel Fred Thompson made the inquiry that launched him into the national spotlight -- asking an aide to President Nixon whether there was a White House taping system -- he telephoned Nixon's lawyer.

    Thompson tipped off the White House that the committee knew about the taping system and would be making the information public.

    Thompson obstructed justice, like Bush.

    ReplyDelete
  115. Larry:

    I don't know all of the rules yet.. I will know more tonight. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  116. Lydia
    I was just rereading your post and the frustration is way beyond that. Anyone with a public forum better start publicly rebuking Bush and it has to be someone who can't be accused of being partisan.
    Bush has been on a course of destruction right from the beginning. I have been trying to wake people up to his horrible plan for years now but no one listens to us average Americans though from the trenches we are the ones who see the reality of what Bush has done and is doing. It will not be good in the end and it will not end when Bush is gone. It will no longer be controlled.
    Anyway I won't get carried away. Just thought you might want to see what I wrote in that regard today.
    We have had an ongoing discussion of the missile defense system as events between Russia and Bush change step by step. The last was July 2nd and events are moving ever rapidly towards the desired end of open confrontation. People must see by now what is happening hear and the way this to will end. I have heard many opinions varying from them being useless to the point that even if they had a 99% success ratio that against a limited attack it would ensure mutual destruction.
    It is serving the purpose I thought which was to instigate future confrontation so Bush could progress with his new world order. I have been trying to get people to realize that Bush is following the 19th century Russian Doctrine of destruction where you must break down existing order before you can replace it with your new order. That means war! http://www.anaveragepatriot.com/downloads/Manuscript2.pdf
    Certainly everyone must see what has occurred around the world. Bush will not stop. Anyway, Putin did make another brilliant move but Bush will ignore it amidst threats that Russia will move its missiles to the Polish Chezh borders.
    An antiterrorism bond forged after the Sept. 11 attacks has been chipped at repeatedly. Disputes developed over the Iraq war, missile defense plans, the fate of democracy in Russia, NATO expansion to Russia's doorstep and sniping over what each side views as meddling in former Soviet republics. look at the list! I am sure we can go on and on and on but every single one of those problems is caused by little Georgie.
    At a summit last month of world economic powers, Putin surprised Bush by proposing that the system instead use an old Soviet-era radar facility in Azerbaijan instead of the Czech and Polish sites. It is an idea that US officials do not want to reject outright. But they have concluded it would not work as a substitute, only perhaps as an early warning supplemental component.
    At the lobster summit Putin dropped a couple more surprises on Bush. He said flat out that he did not want the systems in Poland and Czechoslovakia but wanted them somewhere that was friendlier to Russia. That makes sense!
    He suggested that the missile defense systems be housed on Russian soil. Wow, that is provocative but that sounds vaguely familiar to me?
    Anyway Putin proposed transforming U.S. plans for an Eastern European missile shield into a broader system that would incorporate a radar system in southern Russia and bring more European nations into the decision-making process.
    I think that is a great idea and once again puts Bush on the spot. My thought is that all along Putin has out played Bush in this Political gamesmanship as Putin points out that, that would put the relationship between our two countries on an entirely new level. Personally I like that idea and if it was wanted then it is possible. I have to ask why is Bush so insistent that the Czech Republic and Poland need to be an integral part of the system. http://www.cnn.com/...
    The latest events: Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov says the term "Cold War" will be forgotten if the United States accepts his country's missile-defense plan for Europe.
    But Ivanov is also threatening to deploy Russian missiles near Poland if Washington rejects the Kremlin offer. VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports. You know damn well Bush will ignore it as he has to in order to instigate war and his new order.
    Speaking to reporters in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia will cancel plans to deploy missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave if the United States accepts a Kremlin plan for a European missile-defense system. The Russian Baltic enclave is surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members.
    Ivanov's statement carries the implied threat of an arms race in response to an American plan to deploy missiles in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic. The United States says the system would guard against a possible attack by Iran. Ivanov says his country's proposal is better for NATO than America's.
    I have to agree when Ivanov says that Russia together with the NATO allies can create a system that would defend not just some NATO members, but all of them. http://voanews.com/english/2007-07-04-voa23.cfm
    It will not happen because Bush does not want cooperation but as the past has shown, needs instigation and direct confrontation in order to continue his new world order. We must continue to spread the word and try to stop this egomaniac!

    ReplyDelete
  117. Oops dead eye might just get some MORE bad press real soon.

    Judge lifts injunction on 'DC madam' phone records

    http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Judge_lifts_injuction_on_DC_madam_0705.html

    Some people have said dead eye's Phone # appears on that list,

    I wonder if Lynn Cheney is going to shoot him in the face......

    or send the former madams employees a sympathy card for having to do the dick.

    ReplyDelete
  118. New York Times:

    On Mr. Libby, Mr. Gore’s take is fairly interesting, given that he left the White House at the same time as former President Bill Clinton, who during his very last hours issued several controversial pardons. Those have been resurrected by supporters of President Bush’s decision to commute Mr. Libby’s 30-month sentence in the C.I.A. leak case.
    “I thought it was improper,” Mr. Gore said of the decision. “He was charged with knowledge that could incriminate his bosses in the White House, which included the vice president and the president. I thought it was very disappointing.”

    Mr. Gore said the Libby pardon differed from the Clinton administration’s pardons “because in this case the person involved is charged with activities that involve knowledge of what his superiors in the White House did.”

    As for 2008, Mr. Gore said he doubted he would be a candidate again ever. Asked to talk about some of the current candidates in the Democratic field — including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton — he demurred. That response, too, for any possible endorsement at this point (remember his backing of Howard Dean?).

    ReplyDelete
  119. Another Republican flip flops:


    Sen. Pete Domenici (N.M.), a 36-year Republican veteran of the Senate, abandoned President Bush's Iraq war policy today by publicly endorsing legislation designed to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008.

    ReplyDelete
  120. Average Patriot, that is spellbinding, and I agree with your statement here:

    "I have been trying to get people to realize that Bush is following the 19th century Russian Doctrine of destruction where you must break down existing order before you can replace it with your new order. That means war!"

    But I like Putin's idea. This chess game will not be won by Bush, the destroyer.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Reuters:

    U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent who supports Democrats in Congress despite his backing of the Iraq war, said on Thursday he was not ruling out endorsing a Republican in the White House race.

    That's strange; I thought Lieberman had supported Republicans for years.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Naj! Excellent. All the good ones congregate here :)

    We must get Brother Tim here next.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it."
    --Mark Twain


    Loyalty to this President: Never

    ReplyDelete
  124. A lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union has uncovered a manual from the Bush Administration detailing its tactics for suppressing protests at presidential appearances. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two people from Colorado who were forcibly removed from a presidential "Town Hall Meeting" because their car had a bumper sticker that said, "No more blood for oil." They have obtained a copy of the "Presidential Advance Manual," which details tactics "to stop a demonstrator from getting into the event." A section titled "Preventing Demonstrators" advises event organizers to recruit local Republicans into "Rally Squads" whose "task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors [sic] (USA! USA! USA!) As a last resort, security should remove the protestors from the event site."

    What happened to all that freedom and democracy Bush promises to bring to the world?

    ReplyDelete
  125. AP:

    Income differences in the U.S. are too stark, and the government should provide jobs and training for those having a tough time, according to majorities in a national poll released Thursday.

    About seven in 10 said discrepancies between income levels are too large, a sentiment voiced by nearly two-thirds of those from households earning at least $80,000 a year, the survey said. Three-fourths of people earning less than $80,000 agreed.

    Eight in 10 said the gap between the rich and the middle class has worsened over the last 25 years, said the survey by the University of Connecticut's Center for Survey Research and Analysis.

    The poll comes in the early stages of a 2008 presidential campaign in which several Democratic candidates have discussed a widening distance between the country's rich and poor.

    In Bush's America there are only "His KInd" and then everyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  126. As of Thursday, July 5, 2007, at least 3,591 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,951 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

    Another Banner Day for Bush and Cheney!

    ReplyDelete
  127. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Libby is not the issue. He's a garden-variety Washington fixer like Vernon Jordan or Robert Strauss or Fred Fielding who tried to punch over his weight. Bush was within his right to commute Libby's sentence.

    The Republicans are now hoping you all fall for the okey-doke. What do I mean? I mean they hope you now become law-and-order wackos who support very strict federal sentencing guidelines and adopt the basic cold-blooded Republican approach to law enforcement and criminal justice. And that you buy into this whole notion of "country club prisons." It's bullshit.

    Do any of you REALLY care if Libby goes to jail or not? I hate Libby's politics but I bet I'd enjoy a round of golf with him and I don't know him from Adam. So, big deal he doesn't have to go to prison.

    And to all of you who were relishin the idea of his being raped in prison: SHAME ON YOU. What's good about that? It's barbaric. And it's not funny. And I don't give crap that Libby's a Zionist and a right-wing Republican. I'm a humanist Jew and a Democrat. So, what? I took no pleasure from the idea that a guy like Libby who wouldn't be used to the prison scene would suffer.

    What exactly did Libby do to any of YOU? He was part of a conspiracy to punish the husband of an undercover CIA operative. How many deaths was the wonderful Ms. Plame responsible for during the normal course of her job?

    So, don't fall for the bullshit. Rove and Cheney are to blame. And I don't even relish the thought of them in prison. A public admisssion of guilt and an apology will suffice.

    Let's focus on reforming the criminal justice system not on lamenting that a rich guy got away with something.

    ReplyDelete
  128. Rep. John Doolittle, a consevative California congressman, today joined others in his party rapidly deserting the president on the Iraq war.

    Another noecon flip flopper!

    ReplyDelete
  129. A state-of-the-art research study published in October 12, 2006 issue of The Lancet (the most prestigious British medical journal) concluded that–as of a year ago–600,000 Iraqis had died violently due to the war in Iraq. That is, the Iraqi death rate for the first 39 months of the war was just about 15,000 per month.

    That wasn’t the worst of it, because the death rate was increasing precipitously, and during the first half of 2006 the monthly rate was approximately 30,000 per month, a rate that no doubt has increased further during the ferocious fighting associated with the current American surge.

    More blood and bodies on Bush's hands!

    ReplyDelete
  130. Just put Cheney in prison and then we'll go from there.

    ReplyDelete
  131. Glad you're back Patricia, missed your rousing comments.

    I'd settle for Cheney in a big orange jump suit.

    ReplyDelete
  132. Get ready for higher gas prices and prices over all because the price of OIL is rising all over the planet.

    Brent Blend..( North Sea light crude)..77.44

    Tapis...(light Far East oil)...78.2

    Alaska North Slope......73.58

    Dubai 1M 70.71

    Louisiana Sweet..(US heavy crude)..78.27

    Urals..(Russia)..73.1

    WTI ..(US price quoted by the MSM)..71.78

    [Set by amount of crude oil at Cushing Oklahoma vs demand for that oil]

    Oman 1M 71.73

    Minas..(heavy Far East oil)..72.95

    Forties..(North sea Heavy crude)..77.2

    Bonny Light..(Nigeria)..79.25

    The different interplay of these different crude products and who is willing to pay these spot prices affect the end price we pay here,

    BTW we buy more oil from Canada, Mexico, Venezula and Nigeria, than we do from anybody in the Persian Gulf.....which means our FINAL price for oil includes all their prices, something the stupid talking heads on the MSM are completely ignorant about.

    BTW this is the prices BEFORE any Gulf of Mexico Hurricanes ... NOT after Katrina hit which we are getting close to around this world we all share.

    Enjoy the rest of your summer, hope for no bad hurricanes and the flooding all over Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas which is affecting some production and at least one refinery at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  133. lydia!
    I agree with you. The thing that stinks is Bush does not care what anyone thinks or says and he will not stop. People must know that by now.
    He will continue to instigate until he is forced to fight and further his handlers idea of new order.
    I don't know who will win in the end but we and all average citizens of the world will be the losers regardless. I included it near the of my manifesto to the world that I am pretty sure I sent to Larry but what they do not care about is at the end someone has to have a environment left that can sustain life as they are preparing to worsen the planets life sustaining abilities at a point in its life cycle where it must be helped not worsened. We are attempting to turn the cycle around. Nature works only one way and that is forward.

    ReplyDelete
  134. Larry
    I think you read my Doctrine of fact on my web site. I wrote it a few years ago but it becomes more obvious every day. There are 2 economies here though it would be denied. Bush's economy is doing very well.
    He had to widen the gap and he is almost done. He will not try to help average Americans. He has purposely lowered their standard of life. He started with us and moved on to the rest of the world in his efforts to create his version of new order. Nothing will make him stop.
    I don't know if you read my response to you on my site but watch this mad man. If following this plan is in danger he will cancel 2008 elections and declare martial law. People must stop underestimating what this underhaned person will do.

    ReplyDelete
  135. BTW folks we ain't having any where the problems other people around this planet are having at this time with their needs for fossil fuels;


    Here is a partial list of countries which are experiencing problems with their need for energy resources they can't afford or get;


    Argentina: Argentina's Edesur Could Find IPO Success Amid Energy Crisis

    Bangladesh: Energy Scenario of Bangladesh Going from Bad to Worse....

    Ghana: Adda: I'll resign if my plan doesn't work

    Iran:Iran's gas rationing sets off violence

    Nepal: Kathmandu’s Fuel Crisis

    Nigeria: 'SMEs Worst Hit By Energy Crisis'

    Nicaragua: Energy Crisis Rears its Ugly Head

    Pakistan: Major energy crisis feared

    Uganda: Uganda: Will Gov't Nationalise Power Sector?

    BUT the mother of all stories;

    Saudi Arabia: Arab energy giants eye coal imports

    They hold over 30 % of global oil and nearly 8 % of gas reserves, but at least four Gulf Arab states are considering importing coal for power generation as they struggle to meet domestic demand.

    Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain are all looking at the possibility of building coal-fired power plants, analysts and industry sources said. The region's electricity needs are soaring as petrodollars feed rapid economic expansion.


    The oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia reduced to asking for COAL from western countries who'd a thunk it?


    Look closely at that list;

    Iran,

    Nigeria,

    Saudi Arabia,

    Not to mention the problems with Iraq,

    Great Britan going from exporting oil to importing oil, Mexico in decline, things are definitely getting interesting.

    All oil producing nations which need IMPORTS of energy resources, to meet their needs, doesn't bode well for the future.

    Especially for those greedy nations which want to burn energy products in their large SUV's to drive their fat asses to get Ding Dings and Ho Hos from their local Mini Mart 5 miles down the road.

    ReplyDelete
  136. Add this one(some overlap)

    Canaries in the Coal Mine

    Below is a list of countries with reported energy shortages occurring within the past few months. Pretty amazing when you see the number of places around the world that are being affected right now. While Americans and Europeans may grumble about paying more to fill up their comfortable vehicles, a lot of people in poorer areas are sweltering in heat, freezing in the cold, reading by candlelight, and having trouble getting to work, if their place of work is still in operation. We are just beginning to see the early demand destruction that will surely accelerate as fossil fuels start to become supply constrained.

    Asia and Middle East

    Nepal Gasoline and diesel

    Pakistan Natural gas and electricity

    Iraq Gasoline

    Iran Gasoline

    Bangladesh Electricity

    Sri Lanka Gasoline

    Philipines Electricity

    China Electricity

    India Electricity

    Viet Nam Electricity

    Africa

    Uganda Electricity

    Zimbabwe Gasoline and diesel

    Ghana Electricity

    Nigeria Gasoline

    Senegal Electricity

    Liberia Electricity

    Kenya Gasoline and diesel

    Gambia Gasoline and diesel

    Americas

    Argentina Natural gas and electricity Diesel

    Nicaragua Electricity

    Chile Natural gas and electricity

    Costa Rica Electricity

    Dominican Republic Electricity

    ReplyDelete
  137. If following this plan is in danger he will cancel 2008 elections and declare martial law. People must stop underestimating what this underhaned person will do.

    He does that, and the US no longer exists.

    The Army he needs to enforce his edicts is broken-even his brownshirts are being torn apart. And remember that the Army and Marines come from the very socioeconomic classes he's stomping to bits. They (especially those commanded by minority officers) are going to switch their loyalties to local authorities.

    I believe Ahnold knows this and is waiting for it. This is why he's been concluding all those pacts with neighboring States and publicly speculating that maybe the US has gotten too big to govern. The "United States of America" will comprise the old CSA within months of a Chimpy Martial Law declaration.

    ReplyDelete
  138. Jolly:

    Since Bush has so many bounty hunters or private forces in Iraq, whose to say he won't extend that bounty here as he imposes martial law, and the army we have refuse to participate?

    Blackwell and their mercenaries go for the dollars, not American loyalty.

    ReplyDelete
  139. Since Bush has so many bounty hunters or private forces in Iraq, whose to say he won't extend that bounty here as he imposes martial law, and the army we have refuse to participate?

    Blackwell and their mercenaries go for the dollars, not American loyalty.


    1.) He's breaking THEM in Iraq too.

    2.) Mercenary forces are almost never able to hold out for long. What Mao said about the masses being an ocean for guerrillas to swim in was right on the mark. Nothing motivates you like believing in something. Money sure doesn't.

    ReplyDelete
  140. If Bush can't keep the army and the private goons in his camp, martial law will be hard to impose.

    ReplyDelete
  141. an average patriot said...
    Larry
    I think you read my Doctrine of fact on my web site. I wrote it a few years ago but it becomes more obvious every day. There are 2 economies here though it would be denied. Bush's economy is doing very well.
    He had to widen the gap and he is almost done. He will not try to help average Americans. He has purposely lowered their standard of life. He started with us and moved on to the rest of the world in his efforts to create his version of new order. Nothing will make him stop.
    I don't know if you read my response to you on my site but watch this mad man. If following this plan is in danger he will cancel 2008 elections and declare martial law. People must stop underestimating what this underhaned person will"


    I agree with Patriot, I think underestimating these evil megalomaniacs is EXTREMELY dangerous I think GWB could very well declare martial law if it looks certain the repugs will lose the White House and their hold on power is tenuous.............he would need an attack on Iran or a act of Domestic terrorism to give him the cover to orchestrate this treasonous power grab........but the master manipulators wouldnt think twice about that.

    I think those are the aces Bush and his Neo Con cronnies are holding up his sleeve.

    ReplyDelete
  142. In think Bush wouold love to impose martial law, but if the troops refuse to help him enforce it, where will his army come from, another country perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
  143. Jolly Roger said...
    If following this plan is in danger he will cancel 2008 elections and declare martial law. People must stop underestimating what this underhaned person will do.

    He does that, and the US no longer exists.

    The Army he needs to enforce his edicts is broken-even his brownshirts are being torn apart. And remember that the Army and Marines come from the very socioeconomic classes he's stomping to bits. They (especially those commanded by minority officers) are going to switch their loyalties to local authorities."


    Jolly Roger, you make a class based scenario, consider this the Neo Cons have been following Bush's plan to seize power almost to the tee, this isnt ancient history all we need to do is look back little more than 50 years or so to see that Hitler BOUGHT the loyalty of his national police force and brown shirted thugs by elevating them from the lower classes and giving them plunder and loot seized from the enemies of the state that were seized and/or put to death.

    You say the class war of Bush will not allow this to happen, i say look at history, it is precisely the class war and the promise of plundered loot and a share in the wealth that WILL allow it to happen.

    The Military may or may not bow to his will and help him ascend to the thrown as a dictator but the mercenaries like Blackwater will.........they are loyal to money and as long as the money is flowing to them which in a martial law type police state it very well could they will be loyal.

    I have been crying to deaf ears for a long time how danerous Blackwater is and no one seems to take heed or take it seriouslty and THAT is precisely WHY it is danererous if it were recignized as a threat then it would not be AS serious..........its kind of like the biggest danger for a stock market correction is when everyone is bullish and NO ONE sees any risk or danger.

    ReplyDelete
  144. Larry his Army could very well come from Blackwater and many of the troops may not support him but some would..........there are a sizeable amount of old school Neo Con commanders who very well may be loyal to Bush and the Reich Wing!

    ReplyDelete
  145. How many mercenaries could Blackwater recruit here but in other parts of the world, that follow the neocon dollar to no end?

    ReplyDelete
  146. Mike:

    The reason I single out Blackwater is because they have more people in Iraq than the U.S, and Clif says the troops won't follow Bush in this.

    ReplyDelete
  147. And we all thought the Neo Cons were a bunch of lying hippocrites incapable of ever speaking the truth................


    When The White House's Scott Stanzel was asked at the White House Press Briefing "Is Scooter libby getting more than equal justice under the law, is he getting special treatment?

    Scott's response was......"Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by "equal justice under the law."

    Hows that for being honest..........Yeah Scott i'm sure you and your brown shirt eliteist Neo Con Dictators who spit on the rule of law and equal justice for all DONT know what EQUAL justice under the law means............Those sneaky sneaky Neo Cons.......and we thought they were incapable of EVER telling the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  148. This slug doesn't know because Bush and his tribe of misfits, have never considered any type of justice other than their brand.

    ReplyDelete
  149. Besides if Bush ever DID declare martial law the transformation to a dictatorship would be subtle and done in stages so as to not raise alarm till it was too late.

    Bush would not just announce he is declaring martial law to take over the country and kill those that oppose him............no he would do it in a time of chaos and tragedy and say it is temprary and it is merely to restore order..........thats why many including parts of the military may support him initially he would profess benevolent and logical reasons for doing it...........thats what people dont seem to grasp it wouldnt be an outright power grab where all disnters were immediately imprisoned and murdered and Congress was abolished that would come later after he slowly augmented and cemented his power.

    ReplyDelete
  150. The way I see it Blackwater would become the national police force under Bush's command dissenters would disapear and the lure of plundered wealth would become a recruiting tool to lure more brownshirt followers to join this national police force.........Hitler did these same things.

    ReplyDelete
  151. It will no doubt be a "created" tragedy so he has an excuse to make certain moves involving finances ect to make the takeover.

    ReplyDelete
  152. Look at how many nuts there are in the world that would chase a dollar and exchange a bullet.

    Those are Blackwater thugs.

    ReplyDelete
  153. Hi Lydia!

    Who is on your radio show tomorrow?

    ReplyDelete
  154. Hi Mike, Larry, Clif, Carl, Jolly, et al...

    FYI-

    The DC Madam's phone records are on their way to me! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  155. Suzie:

    I hope you can print the juicy names.

    ReplyDelete
  156. Hey guys I hope Suzie brings the records to the net so we can see the republicans squirm

    ReplyDelete
  157. Jolly Roger, you make a class based scenario, consider this the Neo Cons have been following Bush's plan to seize power almost to the tee, this isnt ancient history all we need to do is look back little more than 50 years or so to see that Hitler BOUGHT the loyalty of his national police force and brown shirted thugs by elevating them from the lower classes and giving them plunder and loot seized from the enemies of the state that were seized and/or put to death.

    With all due respect, this is an invalid analogy. Chimpy may be behaving like the Germans, but the population is quite unlike the homogenous German populace.

    Hitler was speaking mostly to the same people, using those people as his enforcers, and making a very racist appeal to them that worked well in Germany. The population of the US would be far more like the population of the USSR than it would be like the German population.

    We have tens of millions of citizens that do not participate in the society and have no interest in maintaining it as Chimpy has redesigned it. In places like California, Florida, New Mexico, and even Texas, they comprise a majority or near-majority. The Northeast is also not open to modification for Chimpy's socioeconomic model. The Northwest shy of the West Coast is the home of a large number of people who would like to shuck the Federal yoke anyway.

    I would be willing to bet my next year's pay on this one. If Chimpy declares Martial Law, he'll be fleeing to the Confederacy within a few months-and even at that, Texas will go its own way.

    ReplyDelete
  158. The DC Madam's phone records are on their way to me! ;)

    Reconstitution patiently awaits your enlightenment.

    ReplyDelete
  159. Jolly:

    Don't forget Bush's dreams for the North American Union for 2010. As it lifts the borders and our jobs further flee elsewhere, a different set of laws and currency will be used.

    ReplyDelete
  160. Bush's courts rules against us again:

    An Appeals court ruled on Friday a lawsuit challenging the domestic spying program created by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks must be dismissed, in a decision based on narrow technical grounds.

    The appeals court panel ruled by a 2-1 vote that the groups and individuals who brought the lawsuit, led by the American Civil Liberties Union, did not have the legal right to bring the challenge in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
  161. Don't forget Bush's dreams for the North American Union for 2010. As it lifts the borders and our jobs further flee elsewhere, a different set of laws and currency will be used.

    That will accelerate the secession. There are large regions of this country that simply will not go along with it.

    Schwarzenegger's recent pronouncements leave me no doubt as to what he's thinking, and I think he's right.

    ReplyDelete
  162. From TPM

    Triple mega ouch. Ron Paul has more money on hand than McCain.

    -- Josh Marshall

    Just way too SWEET......

    St Johnny the Delusional is no longer fooling very many of the sheeple is he?

    ReplyDelete
  163. McCain needs to hug Bush more before he runs out of neocon dollars.

    ReplyDelete
  164. Are you happy with the way Bush is spending your tax dollars:

    It's not just the troops that are surging. War costs are up for American operations in Iraq -- way up, more than a third higher than last year. In the first half of this fiscal year, the Defense Department's "average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month, well above the $8.7 billion in FY2006," says a new report, obtained by DANGER ROOM, from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.

    ReplyDelete
  165. Good piece, Lydia. It should also be noted that it was George H.W. Bush who, on April 26th, 1999, said, "I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors."

    Also, many people tend to undermine Scooter Libby's importance in the Bush Administration. Along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush and Norman Podhoretz, Libby was one of the 25 signatories to the founding statement for the Project of a New American Century, which called for an invasion of Iraq long before 9/11. http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

    Then again, why do I need to rant when we have an intelligent young lady such as yourself on our side? Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  166. More neocon Flipfloppers coming to a theater your way:

    WASHINGTON — After the recent defection of prominent Republicans on the Iraq war, the big question in Washington is who might be next.

    More than a dozen Republican senators who are running for re-election next year head the list of lawmakers to watch. But others, too, have expressed concerns that the GOP has grown increasingly vulnerable on the issue. As the clock ticks toward Election Day, voter pressure is building against any lawmaker still standing with President Bush on the war.

    Potential wildcards include members up for re-election who have broken with the president on other issues such as immigration or who face growing anti-war sentiment in their home states. Those include Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

    Norm Coleman of Minnesota already has expressed grave doubts about the president's Iraq policies, but he hasn't signed on yet to legislation calling for a change in strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  167. At least 22 people were killed Saturday when an attacker detonated a suicide truck bomb in a northern Iraqi village market, bringing down nearby houses, a police commander said.

    "Surge" on Bush!

    ReplyDelete
  168. A suicide truck bomber ripped the heart out of a northern Iraqi village on Saturday, killing at least 30 people and demolishing a row of homes and shops, police and medics said.

    Are you happy Bush?

    ReplyDelete
  169. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  170. Six more American soldiers have been killed in action over two days in Iraq and a seventh died outside battle, the US military said Saturday in a series of statements.

    In Baghdad, three soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed Friday in two roadside bomb attacks, one of them carried out with an Iranian-designed armour-piercing bomb. Six more soldiers were wounded.

    Another soldier was killed on Thursday in a similar attack, and two marines were killed in western Iraq "while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province," the statement said.

    On Saturday, a soldier assigned to the US command died "of a non battle related cause" which is under investigation.

    Do you like wearing that blood soaked shirt Bush?

    ReplyDelete
  171. These latest deaths bring the number of US military personnel to have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,597, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon statistics.

    Bush is partying over this news today!

    ReplyDelete
  172. We can't forget why Bush started this war:

    Reuters:

    Oil surged to an 11-month high above $76 a barrel on Friday, closing in on the all-time record as Nigerian disruptions and OPEC output cuts stirred supply concerns amid rising U.S. refiner demand.

    London Brent crude, currently seen as a better indicator of the global market, settled up 87 cents at $75.62 a barrel, after touching a session high of $76.01, its highest since August 2006. The rise put Brent within striking distance of the record $78.65 struck last August.

    This is why Bush has cost thousands of lives, including U.S soldiers.

    ReplyDelete
  173. A string of suicide bombings killed at least 73 people and wounded dozens in Shiite villages north of Baghdad, including a large truck bombing Saturday that ripped through an outdoor market and buried victims in rubble, officials said.

    Blood for Oil Bush style!

    ReplyDelete
  174. Larry, and that's all in a time when senior Iraqi government officials are talking about resigning "over the failures of their government to make progress after more than a year in power."

    Top Iraqi Officials Growing Restless

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002489.html?hpid=topnews

    ReplyDelete
  175. George:

    Thanks for the article link. Bush claimed he would leave when the Iraqi's wanted him to, they have wanted it for years, and he like everything else has lied again.

    ReplyDelete
  176. Larry said More neocon Flipfloppers coming to a theater your way

    Grease the ropes! Thr rats are deserting the shipwreck!!

    ReplyDelete
  177. Grease the ropes! Thr rats are deserting the shipwreck!!
    --------------
    TomCat:

    They sure are! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  178. Blood for Oil Bush style!
    ------------------
    Larry:

    Yep and it must end! Reid thinks he may have enough votes to end the war now... Let's hope so!

    ReplyDelete
  179. Anonymous8:16 AM

    Just desire to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is just nice and i can
    assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow
    me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming
    post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.


    My weblog ... profitbetkz.com

    ReplyDelete