Upcoming: This Saturday morning, March 3, we will interview Paul Waldman of Media Matters on his amazing new book "BEING RIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success." Upcoming on Basham And Cornell Progressive Talk 9 am PST Saturday mornings on 1230 AM KLAV in Las Vegas, simulcast on the internet at
This past Saturday February 24, We had the pleasure of interviewing former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega, author of the new bestseller "U.S. vs BUSH" The Case for Impeachment. It was a fascinating interview.
Doug Basham was on Lou Dobbs last week as one of America's "top talkers." Check out Doug's site for a list of all the incredible guests he has interviewed and see what Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, Pat Buchanan, Joe Conason, Daniel Ellsberg, Catherine Crier, Helen Thomas, Caspar Weinberger, Lou Dobbs, Congress people and best-selling authors say about Doug Basham: Basham Radio
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In the sidebar is a YouTube clip of a recent interview with my co-stars from Too Close for Comfort. The editor cut the clip in the wrong place, just after I say, "I had a crush on Jim Bullock and dreamed of him every night." I was the only person on the set who had no inkling he was gay; I was madly in love with him, and held out hope we would be together one day! Guess I was barking up the wrong tree. We still laugh about this, and the Youtube clip starts in a weird place, without this background information. By the way, he still makes me laugh harder than anyone.
BASHAM and CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK... Last Saturday, Basham and I taped our first show together (I've been on his show twice before, as a guest.) Please go to our website and click on the link to hear the entire show. Every Saturday we are on live on KLAV or simulcast on the internet at Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk
Join us each Saturday morning live for progressive talk, interviews with Senators, politicians, candidates and best-selling authors. It might be rough, but it’ll be real. Be there.
From Wikipedia & Basham Radio Press release: "Cornell went to Beirut, Lebanon, to a war zone, to visit American troops in the Multinational Peacekeeping Force Christmas Eve 1982. She visited the Marines in underground bunkers as well as sailors and naval officers on several aircraft carriers. Shortly after their departure from Beirut, over 250 Marines of the 24th MAU were killed in one of the first suicide bombings. A truck entered the barracks as the troops slept, killing them all.
Cornell's blog, a double Koufax nominee for best writing, is "a consistently thought-provoking firecracker of pointed socio-political commentary and observant, caustic wit." (Shotgun Reviews) John Conley, a Marine combat vet even sent her his Purple Heart for her courage in speaking out about the war in Iraq and against Ann Coulter's extremism in her Brad Blog article "Death is Sexier than Sex, to Ann Coulter (see sidebar.) Although still active in Hollywood - HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, writing, producing and garnering indie acting nominations - Cornell spends most of her time, creatively speaking, in front of her keyboard. She has several books awaiting publication including the literary thriller The Sylvia Plan, about Stalin's plot to kill Trotsky; a comedy for women, plus several spiritual and political books.
Basham and Cornell
The progressive community’s
weekend wakeup call
Saturday mornings at 9 am Pacific
on AM 1230 KLAV in Las Vegas
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EVERYONE TAKE A MOMENT TO WATCH THIS CLIP OF CRAIG FERGUSON. He has more class than any other talk show host. Here's what humility looks like:
I was just listening to the Basham interview from June..........you guys were great.
ReplyDeletewill there be a replay of the radio interview tomorrow, I really want to hear it but dont think i'll be able to tune it at 9AM tomorrow.
I saw Basham on Lou Dobbs last week. He was so focused and so good. Finally a Progressive talker who isn't afraid and doesn't back down.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Lydia
James you should go listen to the old interviews from last June, and from 2005, they are excellent.
ReplyDeleteI like Craig Ferguson too, that was a good interview as well.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you'll be able to be listened to. Hope I can catch it!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Mike - and everyone, the show will be available later on a podcast, later today and in the archives.
ReplyDeleteMike - and everyone, the show will be available later on a podcast, later today and in the archives.
ReplyDeleteLydia, I listened to the show yesterday, and you and Doug were great, you both made some excellent points.
ReplyDeleteDoug had some amaazing alnalogies to debunk the Neo Con propaganda and rhetoric, i'm going to make a point of catching the show every week, but you guys REALLY need to get what your saying out to the MSM, your points are so strong and your logic so sound the BS of the Reich Wing doesnt stand a chance.
darkness always flees from the light of truth.
Mike,tell us what really happened at that comedy club in Vegas when your ex-girlfriend dumped the drink on your head and walked out,never to be seen again?
ReplyDeleteWas it because you didnt come to her rescue?Did you wimp out?Did you start to cry?Did you pee your pants?
Mike,are you a closet homosexual?Maybe its time to be honest,I'm sure mummy will understand and support her poopsie.
Hey Rusty YOUR the loser that lives in mommies basement in Seattle...........so much for the big vegas casino mogul, do you clean the basthrooms in that hole in the wall Casino near Seattle and go to the sportsbar when mommie lets you out for the evening........you Moo Moo and TT are some of the biggest most pathetic losers I've EVER encountered.
ReplyDeleteSorry my website was offline for maintenance since Saturday morning.
ReplyDeleteWe're back up.
Thank you for your patience.
Wasn't it great when Gore was introduced at the Oscars, as the guy who won the election?
It is estimated that there are well over 1000 soldiers who have returned home from Iraq and Afganistan are literally homeless.
ReplyDeleteMany soldiers return home from Iraq find they have no place to stay, and no funds to obtain proper housing for their families.
Hundreds of returning soldiers returning from Iraq end up living on the streets with their families.
According to Newsweek, there are over 200,000 veterans living on the streets of America every day.
Returning soldiers of which most have Post StressTraumatic Distress become involved with drugs and excessive drinking, lose their jobs, homes and families and end up on the streets.
There are only 15,000 available beds in VA funded shelters or hospitals, and everyone is taken.
Last week the VA approved $24 million to boost aid for the homeless, of which many will not benefit from.
Many former soldiers living on the streets are young, and have had their lives turned upside down because of the Iraq war.
Smaller cities have no place for homeless veterans to go and they end up drowning in homelessness and drug abuse.
This is yet another indication of the Bush administration ignoring the needs of America's soldiers and their families.
George W Bush did not win an Oscar last night and Al Gore did.
ReplyDeleteGeorge W Bush has won the hearts of 28% of the wealthiest Americans.
That's all the award that George W Bush needs.
There have been over 800 civilian contractors killed in the Iraq war.
ReplyDeleteThere have also been 3,300 civilian contractors injured as a result of the Iraq war.
Employees of Haliburton, Blackwater and Wackenhut cook meals, do laundry, repair infrastructure, translate documents, analyze intelligence, guard prisoners, protect military convoys, deliver water to the troops and other dangerous duties.
The U.S has outsourced so many military jobs that there are over 120,000 civilian contractors in Iraq.
As a job needs performed and there aren't enough soldiers to perform the duties, more contractors are brought in to complete the assignments.
The contractors are paid $100,000 or more per year tax free, which is six times what a soldiers makes.
This disparity has brought ill feelings between the soldiers and the contractors in Iraq.
The deaths and injuries of highly paid civilian contractors are yet another cost of the war in Iraq.
The percentage of Americans living in severe poverty has reached a 32 year high.
ReplyDeleteAt least 16 million Americans are living in severe poverty, and poverty has increased in 65 of 215 of America's largest cities.
While worker productivity has increased, wages and job growth has decreased which has added to the already bruised poverty level.
One in three of the severly poor are under the age of 17. and two of three are female.
Two of every three people in severe poverty are white(10.3 million) and 4.3 million are black and 3.7 million are hispanic.
In 2006, the average severly poor person in America earned $5,244 per year.
Food banks and homeless shelters can keep up with the rising rate of poor and hurting Americans.
Billions are spent in Iraq each month yet the hungry and hurting in America go unnoticed.
The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, yet it has failed to take care of their most tarnished group of poeple, the poor.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report Friday that the federal debt burden has spiraled out of control.
ReplyDeleteHealth care cost was considered one of the main reasons for the countries financial burden.
The report also painted a different economic picture than what the Bush administration has been saying.
The war in Iraq, Medicare and Medicaid costs are listed as reasons the debt is out of control.
The GAO states that in order to close the deficit, spending cuts and tax increases of 3.6% of the entire economy is needed each year for 75 years.
The GAO also said the crisis is so bleak it is unrealistic to think the economy could grow it's way out of the economic qaugmire.
This is another result of the Bush revolution to dominance.
The Washington Post is reporting that documents released during the Scooter Libby trial, show the White House had plans to discredit Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame at least one month before his article appeared in the New York Times.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like there was more of a concerted effort to out Valerie Plame than many thought.
Iraqi Vice President injured in bombing today.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Bush say everything was hunky dorry in Iraq?
Possible leak in the Scooter Libby trial among the jurors.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that something "peculiar" happened to try and get a mistrial???
Larry good to have you back!
ReplyDeleteLydia, Congratulations on getting the show up and running! I look forward to listening to it!
ReplyDeleteHey, stop reading my blog, Larry! :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I confess I Googled Doug to make sure he wasn't the WWE wrestler of the same name... :-)
ReplyDeleteScooter Libby juror dismissed. Maybe Scooter bought them off?
ReplyDeleteJust a thought.
More likely the Bush Cheney criminal enterprise bought them off, wonder if it was with tax dollars like that 12 billion that just mysreriously disapeared.
ReplyDeleteBut even if he does get convicted the idiot "decider" will just pardon the piece of crap anyway.
The juror was a 70 year old lady. She probably needed money to supplement her retirement.
ReplyDeleteSeymour Hersh has more revelations of Cheney's covert operations in Iran, in the New Yorker.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats NEED to Repeal Bush's stupid law that makes it easier for him to declare martial law ASAP...............he's such a foul wanna be dictator piece of crap!
ReplyDeleteLarry did you listen to the radio show Doug and Lydia did Saturday.................we should get Basham to post here, I'm sure he'd have some fun knocking around a few trolls.
ReplyDeleteThe martial law change Bush made seems to go unnoticed in the media.
ReplyDeleteHitler ruled Germany in his time with the press and now the press is more focused on a bald Britney.
Mike:
ReplyDeleteI did hear Lydia's radio show and thought she did quite well. It's about time she had a voice on the airwaves.
I saw a poll today that said Bush still has a 76% approval among Republicans.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that it is true, but if so I guess it's true they all love war.
Rudy and McCain are both skipping the Republican debate in New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteThey are like Bush and want hand picked audiences.
Exactly Larry, Congress NEEDS to break up these media empires that have become nothing more that Repug propaganda machines and are contributing to the dumbing down of America..........just the way the repugs want it, they appeal to the lowest common denominator.
ReplyDeleteLarry said "Rudy and McCain are both skipping the Republican debate in New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteThey are like Bush and want hand picked audiences"
You dont know the half of that Larry, i'll email you some stuff that happened in my hometown regarding Bush.
Wait till the election gets closer Larry, and bush's surge and so called "iraq policy" fails miserably and the econmy is in the toilet, they wont be able to run away from Bush or his war fast enough or far enough.
ReplyDeleteFox unveiled a new show last night with Michelle Malkin that was to "expose" blogs.
ReplyDeleteThis is supposed to be a weekly thing and of course slanted against liberal sites.
Why do soldiers come back and have no place to stay?
ReplyDeleteDid n't they use their money to buy a home or rent while at work ?
who did this to them ?
Husslain ?
Airlines to stop offering paper tickets.
ReplyDeleteGuess they don't want older people to fly.
Postage costs to rise as a result of the Bush favored oil prices on the rise.
ReplyDeleteNancy Pelosi will be on Larry King Tuesday night.
ReplyDeleteIn fact Larry, I said this over on Kay's blog, I honestly think both the Democrats and some repugs just plan on speaking out against Bush just enough to be able to say i told ya so after his stupid plan blows up.
ReplyDeleteSame with Iran they might act like they oppose him, but I honestly think they are just going to let him hang himself and the repug party along with him they figure if Bush destroys the military and our economy they can just sit back and snicker while he destroys himself and the repug party and they wont have to risk anything or confront or challenge him directly.
60 minutes reported last night a growing group of soldiers fed up with the Iraq war.
ReplyDeleteThis growing group includes many marines.
Postage is Going up AGAIN?
ReplyDeleteThey just went up the last two years, its getting to the point where i'm thinking of paying all my bills online rather than spending almost 50 cents a letter.
The bad thing is Mike as the Democrats complain but wait for the Bush implosion, more die and the public will view them as doing nothing.
ReplyDeletePostage is going up because fuel prices keep rising.
ReplyDeleteBush doesn't care. He has government paid postage for his illegal transactions.
I guess the job conditions are bad if you can get killed handing out candy
ReplyDeleteold desert proverb :
(its not the strangers , its the local bomber who'll get you !!)
Larry said "The bad thing is Mike as the Democrats complain but wait for the Bush implosion, more die and the public will view them as doing nothing."
ReplyDeleteExactly!!!!!!!!!!!
MSNBC is reporting that the 70 year old dismissed juror in the Libby case, appeared openly hostile to poor Scooter.
ReplyDeleteThey must have set her up to get rid of a Scooter hater.
The United nations reports that the supposed U.S intelligence against Iran is unrealible.
ReplyDeleteDidn't the say that about Bush's Iraq intelligence?
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteThe United nations reports that the supposed U.S intelligence against Iran is unrealible.
Didn't the say that about Bush's Iraq intelligence?
Isn't "Iraq" superfluous here?
Mike said...
ReplyDeletePostage is Going up AGAIN?
They just went up the last two years, its getting to the point where i'm thinking of paying all my bills online rather than spending almost 50 cents a letter.
Which is part of why postage is going up.
The USPS makes money on your postage. The USPS loses money on spam and catalogs.
But heaven forfend they raise rates on Bush's cronies!
Leading economic forecasters say the economy will grow in 2007, at its slowest pace in five years.
ReplyDeleteThe slow growth is being hampered by a worse-than-expected slump in housing.
This was a survey of 47 top economic forecasters.
Bush still wants more tax cuts for the rich.
Larry i'll bet oil is over $70 by summer.
ReplyDeleteGovernment, particularly the Bush/oil cabal likes high prices since they get 25% of every dollar earned by the oil companies and with the deficits Bush is running he needs every penny he can steal from the working class.
So Iran has no nukes ?
ReplyDeletemaybe just cutout propaganda thingy's ?
The push to attack Iran is almost a carbon copy of the push to attack Iraq.
ReplyDeleteWe are but slaves, gentlemen:
ReplyDelete"Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind.
At the same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries. "
We work harder for a lesser share of the pie.
We need more unions.
I think oil will be $70 per barrel by Easter.
ReplyDeleteAlan Greenspan the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve just predicted we will have a recession in 2007.
ReplyDeleteWe do need more unions and better laws that help workers instead of corporations.
ReplyDeleteoscar evian said...
ReplyDeleteSo Iran has no nukes ?
No responsible person believes so.
Do they have the materials to start to build them? Yes, for the most part, they do.
Bush will fight the recession with another war and more tax cuts for the rich.
ReplyDeleteGood point Carl, I hate all the spam mail, they should do SOMETHING to stop that but I dont know that penalizing working class people is the BEST answer.
ReplyDeleteIt did my heart good to see the man we elected President seven years ago, Al Gore, win an Oscar.
ReplyDeleteThey'll start attacking Gore since he won an Oscar, in case he runs for the job that he will never seek again.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteBut hasn't that been the point of the Bush administration all along? Punish the poor and middle class for being stupid enough to support them twice?
Larry said "Bush will fight the recession with another war and more tax cuts for the rich. "
ReplyDeletehe will probably try Larry, but that could make things worse because if he prints money or raises the deficit by cutting taxes that will cause intetrest rates to rise and further slow the economy........ you reach a point sometimes where the medicine that used to help the patient may kill him or worsen the condition and I think our economy is close to that point if the Fed cuts interest rates the dollar plummets, if it prints money the dollar falls and interest rates rise and if it cuts taxes the defits rise and so do long term interest rates.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteAmericans owe $8 trillion dollars in debt, roughly equivalent to the current national debt.
No war is ever going to grow us out of that, and in fact, no tax hike is ever going to be sufficient to help us pay all taht back.
There are very few avenues left for us to take. We could start selling off possessions, a kind of garage sale.
I bet we could get a nice price for Puerto Rico.
Should iran be allowed to have nukes ?
ReplyDeleteWe need more unions.
Do unions help big government or people ?
Do the chinese have unions ?
Why are their products sooo cheap ?
They started attacking Gore 6 weeks ago, remember TT, FF and Volt, they got their talking points to attack Gore back then and now that he won the oscar they will redouble their attacks on global warming.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to think if they can discredit global warming they can discredit Gore.
I agree Carl, Bush wants more war and the defense companies make a killing as do oil and rubber.
ReplyDeleteEveryone else loses.
I'm for selling Texas.
Wal-Mart was just unionized in China and if they can do it why can't they be union here?
ReplyDeleteevian said...
ReplyDeleteShould iran be allowed to have nukes ?
We need more unions.
Do unions help big government or people ?
Do the chinese have unions ?
Why are their products sooo cheap ?
Rigid government production rules and regulations, plus price subsidies.
No, China does not have unions. Never needed them. The central government took care of all the planning. There were few rich people in China, but everyone was at about the same level of poverty (like Cuba) so no one cared.
Unions help the people which helps government. Unions are the only organization big enough and strong enough to stand up to big multinational corporations to demand better conditions for their members.
Evian, why did you feel the need to change handles?
ReplyDeleteLarry said "I'm for selling Texas."
ReplyDeleteHey not my part of Texas LOL :D....................maybe crawshit or what ever its called and the part where Troll Tex lives would be fine also.
Wait until Bush slips in the North American Union he is silently working on with Mexico and Canada.
ReplyDeleteThis will make NAFTA look like a cake pan compared to the loss of jobs it will produce.
Because he's a stupid troll?
ReplyDeleteI'll be damned! It's not often I'm wrong...
ReplyDeleteApparently, China has, except for about 40 years after 1966, had unions since the 1920's.
They were necessary under the capitalist regime of Chiang Kai Shek (no surprise there), but when Mao took over, he continued the unions, but more as cultural institutions than as actual unions.
Just sell the part of Texas that harbor the Bush criminals, father and son.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteHow about all of Texas except Austin and Molly Ivins grave?
OK...we'll keep Jim Hightower too...
Sell Florida also then maybe Jebby can take his rightful place as oart of the Castro family.
ReplyDeleteOf course, perhaps I was right all along....
ReplyDelete"The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions maintains the position that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation, and states in its policy:
5. There are differing approaches among ICFTU affiliates and Global Union Federations concerning contacts with the ACFTU. They range from “no contacts” to “constructive dialogue”. The ICFTU, noting that the ACFTU is not an independent trade union organisation and, therefore, cannot be regarded as an authentic voice of Chinese workers, reaffirms its request to all affiliates and Global Union Federations having contacts with the Chinese authorities, including the ACFTU, to engage in critical dialogue. This includes raising violations of fundamental workers’ and trade union rights in any such meetings, especially concerning cases of detention of trade union and labour rights activists."
Cause I"m lazy like mike
ReplyDeleteLarry said...
ReplyDeleteSell Florida also then maybe Jebby can take his rightful place as oart of the Castro family.
I dunno....gonna be hard to unload swamp land for real money...but then again, Bush could probably pull that off...
Of course, I say all this tongue in cheek about selling off states.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more likely to happen is we start to see the government sell off assets like Yellowstone Park.
evian said...
ReplyDeleteCause I"m lazy like mike
George Takei has a public service announcement for you...
China has a growing manufacturing base and rising wages, much like we did in the first half of the 20th century they have a trade surplus and a rising standard of living, the opposite of our country will our children will not fare as well as we have.
ReplyDeleteif you want a perfect example go back about a 100 years and we would be Britain and China would be the USA.......china has a growing industrial bae and manufacturing economy and enjoys a huge trade surplus much as we did 100 years ago, while we have a declining manufacturing base and industrial economy as well as deficits and trade imbalances just as Britain did 100 years ago, we make very little here currently, we are also over reaching militarily like britain did when they sought to maintain their empire and hegemony.
Hey, Evian!
ReplyDeleteI see your profile links to a website about Johnny GooGoo's daughter...
I thought you didn't log on during the day, GooGoo?
Labourstart has a daily listing of trade union stories in China, including one about the Guangdong Federation of Trade Unions, planning on setting up unions at more than 300 companies from the Fortune 500 min Guangdong.
ReplyDeletewww.labourstart.org
Old Bush loyalist John Warner is backing McCain for President.
ReplyDeleteGuess Warner decided he likes Bush's war after all.
I dont know how ANYONE can support McCaine, he will say or do anything and anyone to get elected president...............I dont se how even the repugs can back him.............he has no honor or integrity.
ReplyDeleteI still think Romney is the one to watch. He is slick and sucking up to people McCain won't touch.
ReplyDeleteMcCain is a Bush lapdog.
Once the Christian Coalition gets wind that Mormonism is NOT Christianity, watch how quickly he'll plummet in the polls.
ReplyDeleteBrownback is too boring, Rudy is too mob ridden, so how will the Falwell's relate to those choices?
ReplyDeleteGuys I honestly think that after iraq blows up and becomes a REAL disaster far worse than ANYTHING we've seen, and after the economy implodes the repugs wont have any kind of a chance because they will be associated with the war and the recession thanks to GWB.
ReplyDeleteI hope your're right and in the meantime everyone suffers, especially the soldiers and their families.
ReplyDeleteThat could be why Bush is trying to pull and end around and declare martial law and annoit himself a dictator.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still think attacking Iran is the catalyst to declare martial law.
Thats why I think its SO CRITICAL that Congress repeal that law that allows him to declare martial law, all 50 governors are opposing him on this even the repugs, but I think Congress needs to attack this immediately as well and not play dead.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if his replacement will continue this trek since Bush has gotten away with such ease?
ReplyDeleteCongress isn't even talking about eliminating that law it is completely ignored.
ReplyDeleteI know and thats a problem..........one thats causing me to rapidly lose confidence in them and respect for them.......I think worf's right they are soft and afraid of conflict.
ReplyDeleteLove the power but shudder at the thought of using it.
ReplyDeleteHonestly Larry, I wish we had a 3rd party as an alternative.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this book, it looks interesting, pretty much what we were just talking about.
ReplyDeleteCrash-Proof: How to Profit From
the Coming Economic Collapse
A provocative and insightful examination of our difficult economic future and what investors can do to protect their wealth.
The economic tipping point for the United States is no longer theoretical. It is a reality today. The country has gone from the world’s largest creditor to its greatest debtor; the value of the dollar is sinking; domestic manufacturing is winding down–and these trends don’t seem to be slowing. Peter Schiff casts a sharp, clear-sighted eye on these factors and explains what the possible effects may be and how investors can protect themselves. For more than a decade, Schiff has not only observed the U.S. economy, but also helped his clients reposition their portfolios to reflect his outlook. What he sees is a nation facing an economic storm brought on by growing federal, personal, and corporate debt, too-little savings, a declining dollar, and lack of domestic manufacturing. Crash-Proof is an informed and informative warning of a looming period marked by sizeable tax hikes, loss of retirement benefits, double digit inflation, even–as happened recently in Argentina–the possible collapse of the middle class. However, Schiff does have a survival plan that can provide the protection that readers will need in the coming years.
Ralph Nader has a new book and he was on CNN over the weekend, saying there is so much money in politics that only a couple from each party stands a chance, because nobody else can raise that kind of funds.
ReplyDeleteHe also said that money has taken the choice away for voters.
That book looks pretty good Mike.
ReplyDeleteHe's ABSOLUTELY right we need election reform where each candidate is given equal airtime and any other advertising is illegal so money doesnt play such a factor.
ReplyDeletewe need to let the people choose their leaders not the "Big Money" powers that be.
Also election fraud or votor suppresion should be considered treason and include a mandatory 20 year to life sentence with NO parole or pardon.........we need to deter this type of criminal behavior that turns democracy into a a fascist type dictatorship.
ReplyDeleteThey need to have public financing and eliminate the wealth factor.
ReplyDeleteGive each candidate 30 minutes of free TV during the primary and 30 minutes before election day.
Now illegal aliens vote freely.
ReplyDeleteYeah thats basically what I said as well, as well as a few debates.
ReplyDeleteGotta go. Be back in a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteDang!! When it the site came back on line nobody waited for me. ;-)
ReplyDeleteLydia, I tuned in to you and Doug on Saturday AM and could not have been more impressed. Between survival, my blog and volunteer work, my time gets crunched at time, but I will listen when I can. I hope you don't mind if I plug your show at my place.
Check out this portion of this article, i'll post the whole article as well later.
ReplyDeleteTECHNICAL SCOOP FOR FEBRUARY 23, 2007
Charts and technical commentary by David Chapman
Union Securities Ltd, 33 Yonge Street, Suite 901, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1G4
fax (416) 604-0533, (416) 604-0557, phone (toll free) 1-888-298-7405
david@davidchapman.com
www.davidchapman.com
A GATHERING PERFECT STORM?
Given the Chinese propensity for gambling, it now seems that everyone and his grandmother have been piling into the Chinese stock market. As my friend James Schildgen points out, given a strongly acquisitive nature coupled with a banking system falling all over itself to lend money against inflated assets (even at 36 per cent as they try to quell this mania), this is an accident waiting to happen.
If the falling US housing market is the first leg of our gathering perfect storm, China is the second. Compared to North America, the Chinese banking system is the wild, wild west. Sure, Chinese GDP steams ahead thanks to North Americans buying billions of dollars of their products, often produced in substandard manufacturing plants, but it is a shaky big gain as prices are being squeezed even in China. As well, pressure in the US to have the Chinese revalue the Yuan higher is also negative to the Chinese economy.
But what has occurred over the past several years is the placing of billions of dollars of loans in often shaky plants, and used for speculative purposes in the stock and property markets. It is capitalism at its shoddiest, and while some have become obscenely rich and millions more have been pulled into a more middle-class life, the vast majority still wallow in poverty. The banking sector is trying to clamp down through restrictive lending practices and higher interest rates, but with a surging stock market, speculative activity is becoming rampant. We of course do not know when it will end. We only know from experience that when it does end, it will be in a horrendous crash.
A crash will be politically unacceptable to the still dominant Communist party that still lives in a fantasy world as regards the capitalist reality. So they have rampant monetary growth and rampant speculation side by side. A disaster waiting to happen. And remember as well the billions that have been poured into the Chinese markets by Western companies, hedge funds and even private equity funds. A collapse in China would have global consequences. By comparison, the threat of a similar occurrence in India also exists, but is considerably less likely than in China.
Huge chunks of American manufacturing have gone overseas to China and other Asian economies. Over on CNN, Lou Dobbs' habitual dissertations on the "attack on the middle class" cite this jobs migration. In effect, over three million higher-paying manufacturing jobs lost in America over the past seven years have been replaced by low-paying jobs. Many workers are forced to hold two or three jobs to even come close to their old pay scale. As wages have stagnated for the majority a small group has become obscenely rich (think of the pay severance packet for Robert Nardelli of Home Depot who was paid to $210 million to leave; and also think of the $24.5 billion in bonuses paid on Wall Street in 2007, a package the size of the GDP of many countries) and a larger group of professionals and managers have done very well as a result of the boom of the past several years.
The boom in the US over the past several years has (just like the global picture) benefited a few hugely and another layer below considerably. Below that, and for the vast majority, the "good years" have seen their wages stagnate and their living standards lowered, even as they are able to afford the latest in Chinese-made gadgets.
There is growing political pressure to do something about the huge trade deficit ($800 billion per year and growing) - and the deficit with China in particular. Despite the benefit to the platform companies that have hugely profited from this arrangement (platform companies are multinationals which carry out manufacture in low-wage countries and the high-wage finance, design and marketing in the USA), the impact on actual employment is low. Labour-intensive manufacturing employment is ensconced in low-wage countries, while the high-end jobs that employ far fewer are in the USA or Canada.
Those displaced are forced to scramble and to take what they can get. It is now even impacting employment at the service end of the computer industry, as jobs are shipped to India for example. There, $20,000 annually is a fine salary, whereas here the same job would pay well over $60,000.
Naturally, the solutions are just as bad as the displacement of thousands of workers to lower-paying jobs. It would set in motion trade wars, where no one really wins. Recall that the trade wars in the 1930s, brought on by Smoot-Hawley, and triggered the worst of the Great Depression. Still the threat is there. While the Chinese view the Republicans as being hawks on the military front, they view the now Democratic-controlled congress as a potential threat on the financial and trade front that could gravely upset current arrangements (Stratfor - China's concerns in 2007: Fears of the perfect storm - Rodger Baker). Recall as well that the Chinese now hold over $800 billion of US bonds and Treasury bills. It is an arrangement: China is the US's manufacturing base, and in turn China buys US securities to finance their trade and war deficits.
But that could change. While China has adopted a generally laissez faire attitude towards the US's misadventures in Iraq, they would not be so sanguine if the US became involved in Iran. As well continually lurking in the background is the Taiwan/China problem, where the US keeps Taiwan's independence ambitions contained while China stays off the Taiwanese file as long as Taiwan does not declare independence. As well there has been growing rhetoric between the US and China over the growing militarization of China and now its ability to take out satellites in space.
But setting aside Taiwan, the real other risk sitting in the background waiting to explode is Iran. Despite all the usual denials, all the signs point towards a conflict by the US against Iran.
Recall that Iran now accepts only euros for oil and gas and is actively encouraging others to follow. On March 21, 2007 Iran will no longer officially accept US dollars for any transactions. Iran has entered into discussions with Russia to form a gas cartel. Russia and Iran are the world's number 1 and number 5 gas producers, and they are numbers 1 and 2 in natural gas reserves (holding possibly half of the world's natural gas reserves). The currency moves threaten the US dollar's position as the world's reserve currency, and a cartel would be anathema to US interests in the region.
Consider that there has been a heavy build-up of nuclear aircraft carriers off of the coast of Iran. There has been a large build-up of US troops and warships in Dubai in order to protect the Straits of Hormuz. There has been considerable unrest in the Iranian Kurdish zone, the Iranian Azerbaijani zone, and as well with the tribes along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. The US and Britain have been arming all of these groups (Eric Margolis - Count-Down to War with Iran? February 5, 2007). The US has been arresting Iranian officials in Iraq and blaming Iran for numerous ills against the US in Iraq. The Iranians have been conducting elevated military exercises and there has been a speeding-up of armaments from Russia to Iran. The Iranians have a natural interest in the goings on in the region and remain close to many of the Shiite leaders in Iraq. Naturally, Iran's interests and influence in Iraq comes into direct conflict with the interests of the US.
An explosion in the Mid East would be a shock to the markets, as the markets do not appear to be taking the possibility into account. The markets wavered slightly on February 22 when Iran failed to meet UN deadlines to suspend uranium enrichment. Naturally, oil and gold prices jumped. Granted, we are nowhere near an actual conflict and we suppose there is a chance it may not happen, but the build-up and the sharply rising rhetoric from the US (coupled with heightened denials) are saying that something is going to happen. All it needs is a spark.
When it happens, what will be the response of Russia and China? They have billions of dollars of interests in Iran and will not idly stand by, faced with the risk of the world's fourth-largest oil producer also falling into the US sphere. That is clearly against China and Russia's interests particularly China with their huge energy needs.
A US housing market in sharp decline; rampant speculation in a bubble-like mania in China; growing clouds of war over Iran. These are the elements of the gathering "perfect storm".
Thank you for all your comments.
ReplyDeleteCarl, check out Doug Basham's other website, "The Revolution of Nighttime Talk" at www.dougbasham.com
He has interviewed all the major players, authors and Senators.
We are having a slate of amazing guests.
Also working on the phone patch to sound better, as if we're in the same room. Maybe we'll webcast thru ichat.
This is not the radio show I was talking about; this is the Saturday show. The other one is a Global World Party that will be broadcast all over the world to every country -- and will encompass many issues: I'm doing a daily show with guests and entertainment reporters. We will have an inspirational-motivational spiritual show; a "girl-talk/ understanding the opposite sex" show; charity, disabled vets and children's causes; and and a laughter show.
It was a great show wasnt it Tomcat!
ReplyDeleteTomcat, check out the article I just posted, I think you'll find it interesting.
ReplyDeleteBest Cheney cartoon ever
ReplyDeleteClif, Read that portion of the article I just posted if you have time.
ReplyDeleteNice cartoon Clif. Looks like the same dribble Cheney spits out.
ReplyDeleteLarry, check out that article I just posted, Worf should read it to.
ReplyDeleteIts a must read it states clearly why Bush and the Neo Cons want to attack Iran.
ReplyDeleteMike the article is accurate EXCEPT for the part blaming Smoot-Hawley for the great depression, since the great depression BEGAN in 1929 and Smoot-Hawley was NOT passed until June 1930, at which time the Depression was 8 months old, it did NOT cause the great depression, but might have contributed along with Hoovers refusal to do anything at making it worse.
ReplyDeleteGood article Mike and it fits with the housing slump, credit tightening, bankruptcy laws and all the rest.
ReplyDeleteBreaking News Breaking News
ReplyDeleteJerry Falwell, America's answer to everything except James Dobson says global warming is a myth.
He must have talked to Bush.
exactly Clif, Smoot Hawley exascerbated the depression, i'm assuming the author used a poor choice of words and thats what he meant, since he said Smoot brought on the Worst of the Great Depression and since the rest of the article is so accurate as to whats going on today.
ReplyDeleteThat article fits perfectly with what is happening today.
ReplyDeleteDidnt I tell you they would start attacking Gore and global warming again now that he won an oscar..........i read these cheap hacks like a book............Coulter will probably write another of her stupid assinine articles screeching about global warming.
ReplyDeleteBush's favorite general Pace says the U.S is strapped but could still win a third war.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't won the other two yet.
Answer me this guys why do repugs always try do justify their crimes and wrong doings by saying....well someone else did it too so its not that bad???????????????????
ReplyDeleteHow can complete failures admit they screwed up? Especially arrogant ones.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone happen to hear the Radio show Lydia and Doug did Saturday?
ReplyDeleteThey were talking about the guy running The Walter reed facility trying to justify it by saying well half of all the veterans werent living in those type of conditions............Bashams response was priceless, he said "so if foly only molested half of the underage pages its really not that bad?"
He then said so if your husband is only cheating for half the time your married thats not that bad right?"
If the Reich Wing isnt scared of Basham, they oughta be, that guy can rip them up!
Imus has been ranting about the general that runs Walter Reed. He gave an interview and said he jogs by there everyday and it isn't as bad as the media said.
ReplyDeleteIt is part of a certain globalist agenda to "claim" Smopot-Hawley caused the great Depression, which many buy into to try to get the re-pubie dominated banking system out of their responsibility of creating the conditions for it, just like the big investment banks MILKED the Internet bubble and Enron, Worldcom, Tyco ET Al in the last stock market drop. The investors lost billions but the banks and investment housed still retained their commissions and other money they made hawking shit stocks for their profit, typical apologists will blame the investors for believing the snake oil they were sold, like they try to do with the real causes of the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLarry said "Bush's favorite general Pace says the U.S is strapped but could still win a third war.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't won the other two yet."
these fools completely botched the two wars we are currently in, we are losing BOTH..........Why the hell should we believe ANYTHING they say now \, they have ZERO CREDIBILITY........they are saying we can win a third war after we are BADLY losing the two we are currently in thats laughable!
How does that saying go "fool me once shame on you,.....cant git fooled agin"
They still say everything is peachy in Iraq yet an Iraqi Vice President gets blown up today.
ReplyDeleteWanna see how smart Bin Laden is and how he plays Bush like the foole Bush really is;
ReplyDeleteOkay, it seems we need more updates on why Dick Cheney is too dangerously incompetent to have in any position of authority, let alone the vice presidency. You'll see for instance that this morning Cheney showed up in Islamabad warning President Musharraf that al Qaeda is "regrouping" along the Pakistani border. Musharraf must be a little confused since, didn't we sign off on the armistice his government signed with the jihadists and their protectors just a few months ago?
More to the point, last week Cheney claimed that Nancy Pelosi's position on Iraq would validate al Qaeda since al Qaeda's goal in Iraq is to show that our will can be broken. Reed Hundt chimed in and pointed out that it's far more likely that al Qaeda's goal is to bait us into ridiculous and unwinnable wars that will sap our military strength and financial power.
Now, as it happens, in response to Reed's post, commenter Tom Hilton flagged this passage from the article James Fallows wrote last year in which he wrote ...
Documents captured after 9/11 showed that bin Laden hoped to provoke the United States into an invasion and occupation that would entail all the complications that have arisen in Iraq. His only error was to think that the place where Americans would get stuck would be Afghanistan.
Bin Laden also hoped that such an entrapment would drain the United States financially. Many al-Qaeda documents refer to the importance of sapping American economic strength as a step toward reducing America’s ability to throw its weight around in the Middle East.
In other words, the actual intelligence we have about what al Qaeda wants -- not the usual stuff Dick Cheney makes up or gets from Ahmed Chalabi or his butler or whoever -- suggests we're playing right into their hands.
How many American deaths is this goof responsible for? And who in this country has done more to advance the al Qaeda agenda and make the US more vulnerable to attack?
-- Josh Marshall
Looks like Bin Laden played Bush like a fiddle.
ReplyDeleteLink for Cheney article
ReplyDeleteNot Just Bush but the entire bunch of neo-con IDIOTS at AEI, PNAC and the re-pubie party of pedophile protection and criminal corruption. They all followed Bush into doing the stupidest thing possible for the most insane and dishonest reasons all the while screaming we liberals were not patriotic enough and wanted the US to fail.
ReplyDeleteLarry said "They still say everything is peachy in Iraq yet an Iraqi Vice President gets blown up today."
ReplyDeleteThat depends on your perspective I guess, I'll bet if a certain Vice President got blown up, lots of people would be saying its peachy a well LOL :D
Isn't that something. Some guy living in caves is smarter than Bush and his right wing war lovers.
ReplyDeleteThe idiot from Iran is MUCH smarter than Bush as well.
ReplyDeleteHugo Chavez is smarter than the idiot at 1600 Pennsylvania and he is a moron.
ReplyDeleteWith his ego it has to burn him that all these people mock him and spit on his power and authority.
ReplyDeleteThey know he squandered much of our military might and destroyedour Army why is he too stupid to see what he's done.
ReplyDeleteThe big self-proclaimed war President has destroyed his own army and still wants to do more damage.
ReplyDeleteLarry if you look at what destroyed the most technological and militarily proficient Army in WW2 it was not the fact they were not good at what they did, nor they did not have the best tanks or even best battle ships during most of the war, BUT the fact they extended their forces too far, stretched them too thin and could at their peak of powers could NOT supply all the fronts they were entangled in, ONE at a time the Nazi's would have won every battle they fought against the British and Russians long before the US got involved , however since Hitler created a two front war against two separate economic enemy powers was in the end more than His economic andf military could handle, just like the fact that the al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have separate backing and resources than the insurgents in Iraq, which Iran backs the Shiites BUT never the Sunnis, who are backed by Saudi and Jordanians along with other Sunni powers covertly.
ReplyDeleteBush ET AL is simply making the same strategic mistake which lead to the defeat of the Nazis, one war too far with a stretched thin military and industrial capacity which can not keep up replacing destroyed and worn out equipment fast enough.
The British who have some experience both in defeating the Nazi's and their inability to keep their own empire together, KNOW this and that is why they are cutting and running from Iraq where very few al qaeda forces are involved and NO al qaeda plots have come out of to attack the west to fight in afghanistan to try to defeat the Taliban and real jihad's movement which has fueled the attacks of 1993 and 2001 on NYC, 2001 on Washington, London bombings, Bali Bombings Spanish train attacks along with many foiled plots, the British KNOW which war we can NEVER afford to lose and which is just about western oil companies attempts to control the oil markets.
Bush obviously hasn't studied war history since he is doing the same things that brought others down.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the Pentagon Bras are saying the ground forces are stretched so thin in wars in afghanistan and Iraq, they will have to rely on air power to defeat Iran and North Korea if necessary, well there is also a historical perspective for that also, Field marshal Goering and his claim the Luftwaffe could Bomb Britain into submission,....... damn it is like they are reading some moron from WW2's losing plan and trying to see if they can win with it.
ReplyDeletePentagon Brass, hell of a typo
ReplyDeleteThe National Guard is so strained they couldn't do anything here if they had to.
ReplyDeleteHell the response to Katrina was severely hampered because the backbone to the Louisiana National Guard was deployed during the worst National Disaster ever to hit the US, they were fighting Bush's illegal war in Iraq instead of helping prepare their state and then respond to the Hurricane after it hit, but of course Bush DID not replace the unit he took for his illegal war until long after it would have done anybody any good in that state. With future planned deployments of other large National Guard divisions Bush will leave those states vulnerable just LIKE he left Louisiana and it's citizens hanging in 2005 .... typical dry drunk AWOL frat boy lack of true accountability on Bush and his kool aid drinking chicken hawk minions part.
ReplyDeleteThe states are already going broke having to foot the bill for Bush's lack of attention in providing security at home.
ReplyDeleteBTW Keith Olbermann is supposed to be giving Condi one of his special comments, it should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteOlbermann has the best show on TV.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the profile on the Sunday morning CBS show on Olbermann?
Looks like Larry Johnson and some of his coworkers know a wee bit more than the bush ass-licking kool aid drinking minions whop LIE for his criminal regimen
ReplyDeleteCrickets at the Washington Post
by
Larry C Johnson
I have tried repeatedly in the last two weeks to get a letter to the editor and a letter to the Ombudsman (perhaps Ombudswoman?) published at the Washington Post in response to their clear policy of advocating on behalf of Scooter Libby.
Here's my most recent letter to Deborah Howell, the incompetent ombudsman:
Dear Ms. Howell:
Instead of turning to someone who actually knows the truth you prefer to bury your
head in the sand of ingnorance. It is not just my word. You can ask a host of
retired CIA officers who can verify that Valerie Plame was covert until her identity
was compromised in the Robert Novak article. The willful ignorance of the Post
is a disgrace to journalism. The number of people who can vouch for Valerie's
identity is significant. Ask Tyler Drumheller, Chief of the European Division of
the CIA Directorate of Operations. Ask Robert Grenier. Ask me. Ask Jim Marcinkowski.
Ask Mike Grimaldi. Ask Brent Cavan. Ask Gary Berntsen. Ask Mike Gorbel. instead
of talking to CIA officers who know firsthand, you rely on Victoria Toensing, who
has ZERO experience as a CIA officer. Hell, ask John McLaughlin. Ask Bill Harlow
(oops, I forgot, he already told your reporters she was undercover and asked them
not to report it.)
Your ignorance and cowardice on this is breathtaking.
Larry Johnson
What is so troubling about the Post is that it has been unflagging in printing puff pieces about Scooter. Last week, for example, the Post published the work of Byron York and Victoria Toensing. The only "rebuttal" allowed was a 150-word letter from Brent Budowsky. The refusal to fairly and accurately present the other side of this issue is a further sign that the Washington Post has lost its way as a journalistic institution. I am canceling my subscription to the Post. I encourage others to do likewise.
*****************************************
It must SUCK for the Washington Post workers to think they have been reduced to being a clone of the Moonie controlled Washington Times.
He told the Post what they were. Victoria Toensing is a hateful right wing bigot who is a darling of Fox News.
ReplyDeleteRepublican Congressman from Texas Ron Paul is on Lou Dobbs. He is running for President and wants the troops home.
ReplyDeleteHe said we used to be Bin Laden's ally and now are enemies.
He doesn't seem to like Bush and his war.
He needs to switch parties.
Check out the article on Lieberman proclaiming that the war strategy has been fixed and we should quietly wait for the U.S to win.
ReplyDeletewww.salon.com
Mike, your profile is not available. Would you give me a link to the article you'd like me to read please?
ReplyDeleteTomcat:
ReplyDeleteScroll up to earlier posts and you will see the article.
No Larry we need republicans Like Ron Paul to rebuild that party after the collapse of the neo-con and idiot Bush backers and the religious reichwingners realize Jesus said keep Caesar and God separate. We need more than two parties to foment better political discussion, but we need the OLD republican party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt back.
ReplyDeleteTomcat:
ReplyDeleteIt is the 1:00PM post right above Lydia's post.
Ron Paul said everything we say on here and he is in Bush's party.
ReplyDeleteGreat article by Larry Johnson. This is in line with my friend Chaz's theory that neocons self-medicate themselves with lies, while the truth stares them in the face. But they can't face the truth, so they construct elaborate evasions and lies.
ReplyDeleteLarry it is NOT Bush's party, that is the tragic mistake the neo-cons have made, they have tried since Reagan to dominate that party, then push everybody else out or silence them, just like they failed to silence the rest of US after their illegal invasion of Iraq, and have FAILED to realize their criminal plans, people like Ron Paul are trying to take their party back, which is very important to the survival of this great country, because the truth is NOT democratic or republican, but just the truth, and since the re-pubie neocon reichwingnuts relied on lies and spin for so long their fall couldn't happen too soon, with a republican party resurgence like the one which supported the civil rights bill and backed by people like nelson Rockefeller who build the most impressive state institution of Higher learning will be important. Republicans should throw off the ignorant reichwing and demand their party back.
ReplyDeleteBarratt: British Troops Not Withdrawing, being Redeployed to Afghanistan
ReplyDeleteKeith Barratt writes:
"I should like to correct a myth that has been accepted by much of the media and accepted by the majority on the Right and Left because it fits their various agendas.
It is not true that a firm commitment has been made that the British are to withdraw from Iraq.
What is happening is simply a redeployment of some vitally required troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan, because of the deterioration in that country and concerns about the ability of the existing small number of allied troops to deal with the Spring offensive of the Taliban. An announcement is expected on this in Parliament on Monday, according to Ministry of Defence sources, who also state that any plans for Iraq are “aspirational” and “"if conditions worsen this process could still slow up". As the BBC Defence Correspondent wrote when the news of announcement was first leaked last week: “reports that all troops will have returned home by the end of 2008 was "not a fair representation of what is true at the moment".
This is why, if the claim is in any way correct that Basra is now capable of being handed over to the Iraqi army and which the most recent Pentagon report denies, the apparently surplus UK military are not simply being transferred to assist the escalation of US troops in Baghdad.
It should be remembered that the actual number of troops being re-deployed by the British represents no more than 0.9% of the US and allied occupational force in Iraq.
The UK government has been under considerable pressure about the need for re-enforcement in Afghanistan from its own military. The ability to do this fully with a seriously over stretched military has been difficult. In October, 2006 the Observer newspaper reported that “Field Marshal Sir Peter Inge, the former head of Britain's armed forces, has broken ranks to launch an attack on the current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, warning that British forces risk defeat in Afghanistan. “
At the same time, General Sir Richard Dannatt, wrote an extraordinary article as the newly appointed UK Chief of the Army, saying: "I want an Army in five years time and 10 years time. Don't let's break it." (These words are very similar to those used a year earlier by Lt Gen James Helmly, chief of the US Army Reserve, “...the Army Reserve's inability under current policies, procedures and practices ... to meet mission requirements associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The Army Reserve is additionally in grave danger of being unable to meet other operational requirements and is rapidly degenerating into a broken force.”)
The lack of troops in Afghanistan has been made worse by the refusal of many European countries in recent weeks to increase the numbers committed to NATO for deployment to that country. Many nations, such as France and Germany, have accepted only passive rules of engagement concerned with defending reconstruction work for those small number of troops that they have made available. (Indeed, a threat to the funding of even the relatively small number of existing Italian troops in Afghanistan was one of the reasons for Prime Minister Prodi's resignation last week) .
So, the redeployment out of Iraq of 1600 troops by the British has been an enforced measure with which the Pentagon has had to concur, despite the risks.
Blair (I say with little pleasure) has handled the spin on this adroitly. First, he has split the announcement (albeit sources say by only a week) of the draw down of troops from Iraq to an almost identical increase of troops in Afghanistan (Pro-Iraq War Conservative Opposition Defence Spokesman Liam Fox described this politically inspired handling as "cowardice"). Secondly, Blair has encouraged the view that this is the beginning of British withdrawal from the hugely unpopular Iraq war, although every statement in this regard has been hedged with the same cautious caveats that surrounded the proposed draw down that never occurred last September. In this way, he has quietened down the left-wing of his Labour Party and removed some of the problems that would be encountered on the doorsteps in the run up to the UK May local elections. Cynically, it can be said to be a preparation of the revised history that will describe the "legacy" of his time in office after his expected resignation in the Summer.
Coupled with this, he has promulgated the claim that Basra and the South are a success for the British Army and the justification of his decision to support the US in the invasion of Iraq.
Bush has recognised the difficulties the British face in Afghanistan and, not wanting to draw attention to the difficulties there - despite his own recent announcement of the need to increase US troops in that theater of war - has been happy to support the Blair projection of what is happening in Iraq. Indeed, he has used the Blair spin to claim the illusion of success and to falsely justify the "surge" in Iraq.
How has this myth that the British are "withdrawing" from Iraq come about and gained such traction?
The Left in the States has bought into the Blair spin because they want to believe that it shows a rift between Downing Street and the White House. It supports their claims that the escalation in US troops is nonsense when the British are stepping down and it reinforces their question as to why the United Sates cannot follow an identical pattern and get the troops out of Iraq immediately.
The Right buys into it because the "success" in Basra gives credence to their claim that the strategy is working and any diminution in the number of allied troops justifies the need for more US forces. It should not be forgotten, either, that the idea of being abandoned by other nations can also have the subliminal effect of invigorating their base by re-enforcing the message that the United States stands alone in facing down “the world wide fundamental Islamic terror”. This can be as powerful in maintaining the dogged support of part of the electorate as the message that it still has allies has with others.
I have tried to combat this misinterpretation of what is actually happening by two diaries on Daily Kos as the events unfolded during last week here:
“The deception of the story of UK troop withdrawals “
and here:
“UK Troop Withdrawal Truth Finally Now Revealed”
Sadly, once announced it is almost impossible to remove the beliefs that this sort of spin creates. That British troops are withdrawing remains the understanding in many of our blogs and I heard it today on C-Span.
Ignoring the underlying truth has two effects: The ease with which the myths surrounding the supposed British withdrawal have been accepted by all parts of the political spectrum is a forewarning of what will be achievable by the Republicans in the run up to the 2008 elections. More importantly, it disguises the failures in Afghanistan to secure that country and the distraction that the Iraq invasion has been to the initially stated 9/11 goals of the current Administration.
Those seeking a rapid withdrawal from Iraq do not need buy into the illusions created by Bush and Blair to justify their position. The reality is sufficient to condemn this whole Middle East adventure.
Kind regards
Keith Barratt
The neocons do fill themselves up with lies and now Britain is sending troops to Afganistan.
ReplyDeleteFor what. Bush claimed he won that one also.
Ron Paul must be one of the few Republicans left that hasn't fallen at the feet of Bush and his trick show.
ReplyDeleteLarry the Taliban is fighting harder than they did even in 2001,
ReplyDeleteThey have a base of operations in north-western Pakistan from which to attack in afghanistan, exactly what the Jihadists did from 1980 to 1988 against the Soviet Invasion.
They have reconstituted their forces and have the ability to force the British Military to hunker down in Helmund province and are in control of significant portions of the Pastun Tribal areas of afghanistan with the local population turning against Karzhi's Kabul government because it can not provide either security or services for them.
Even senior British leadership have said in recent months stretching back top last September they were admitting the possibility they would LOSE in Afghanistan. The British KNOW which war they can NOT afford to lose and which the AEI PNAC neo-cons want to win, thus they are heading toward Afghanistan while the PNAC AEI neo-cons wanna surge in Baghdad.
Sounds like Britain knows more about fighting than the U.S when they don't listen to Bush.
ReplyDeleteTom, I posted it in here at 1PM
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that some 70 years after the Depression,there are parts of Appalachia that are hardly better off than they were in the 1930's.
ReplyDeleteThe care-worn faces of the miners and their families speak volumes. They're the tough, proud faces of people struggling to make a living the way their parents and grandparents did in generations past.
Thus is Bush's America in 2007 and the heart of Appalachia.
This has to be the height of hypocricy,
ReplyDeleteNot enough MONEY for US troops and their medical needs after combat, but the AEI Neo-cons will screech for this;
Israel to ask U.S. for more military aid
F*CK-EM tell them to do what the rest of us do make do with what they have .... or hold fund raisers at EXXON Mobil and ask Scaife, ET AL for it if they think it is more important then US troops.
I for one think they need to go the private support route and the troops get tax payers money.
Clif i've said that for YEARS now that if the repugs had ANY brains they'd take their party back from the fringe Neo Con wacco's, i'm finally starting to see some signs of life from the few decent repugs that can no longer defend Bush, but in my opinion its too little too late, the repugs will fall onlong with their wannabe dictator and GWB will go down in History as our worst president EVER bar none!
ReplyDeleteAnd in World History he will go down as One of the worst leaders ever, following in the footsteps of Hitler and Ranking right up there with Mussolini, Napoleon, Nero, Englands King George etc....
Israel could get all the private funds they needed from Falwell's buddies, they don't need tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteHow about we worry about our own country and clean up our own backyard before we worry about Iraq or Iran or Israel or any other country for that matter.................when we have 9 trillion dollar deficits and veterans living in rat and cockroach infested squalor I think we need to focus on alot more than giving tax cuts to the super wealthy or giving money to israel.
ReplyDeleteI Know Who You Are.
ReplyDeleteI know who you are. I know who you married and where you two live now and even where you used to live. I know which bank you used when you bought a home, the account number, how much you borrowed, and when your final payment is due.
I can tell you the name of the person who prepared those documents and which lawyer closed the loan and where. If you want proof, I can send you your social security number.
I have a copy of your signature, photo of your home, and complete directions on how to get there. The photo shows your car in the drive, so now I know if you're single or married, what you drive, and where you live.
I read your separation agreement, kow who got the big screen tv, who got the retirement account, where the kids will be this weekend and with whom. I even know why you broke up.
The divorce looked nasty, I read pages and pages of sorbid detail,but couldn't keep from laughing about the stinky fish you left in the swimming pool last year.
I saw your fathers will. That was nice of him to include you, and i saw the picture of the home he left you and your sister(I have her name and address too). He was sick for a long time but it looks like his doctors tried everything possible and his nurse seemed like a sweet person. I read about them all. Maybe I'll send a nice note, since I have all their addesses.
I saw the complete list of medicine your dad was taking and you may want to ask your doctor about the third one, there's been some controversy over it in the news lately.
How did I learn all of this? I'm not a private investigator, and I didn't spend a penny. In fact, I never left home to learn this much about you. I sat down at my computer and visited your county recorder,register of deeds,and clerk's office websites.
Your local registry and county clerks say thst you don't care, that's why they're selling all your information to data brokers and posting it online.
So tell me, Do you care?
By anonymous Paralegal
We can't clean up our own back yard until we clean out the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeletePhornographic politics
so screw off you nazis
only what u say is right ?
Well, it's certainly spelled better...
clif said...
ReplyDeleteIn fact the Pentagon Bras are saying the ground forces are stretched so thin
I know what it's like to stretch a bra thin....never a pretty sight...
Larry said "We can't clean up our own back yard until we clean out the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue."
ReplyDeleteAgreed!!!!!
Your right this Administration is the enemy of privacy and freedom they would burn the Constitution if they could and sick twisted SOB's like TT have access to all that info.
ReplyDeleteThat's the scary thing when people who only want to cause someone else harm can get this information.
ReplyDeleteMore than 1000 military personnel have signed a petition urging withdrawal from Iraq.
ReplyDeleteThese soldiers are fed up and going public. They are not AWOL, they are not disobeying orders, they are not refusing to fight in Iraq.
These soldiers feel the war is just not working out, and they are bypassing the chain of command to denounce a war they are in the middle of fighting.
They have signed a petition called "Appeal For Redress" to their individual members of Congress, letting them know that "Staying in Iraq will not work" and it's time for the U.S troops to come home.
The White House has removed Cheney's interview links from their website.
ReplyDeleteAre they afraid his words will come back to haunt him?
They like trying to rewrite History dont they.
ReplyDeleteFunny how those suddenly disappeared.
ReplyDeleteThey are getting tired of his words being USED against them.
ReplyDeleteLike we would be welcomed as liberators,
Or the insurgency is in it's last throes in 2004 or 2005 or 2006.....
Or the Iraqi oil will pay the almost 500,000,000,000 bill for this illegal war.
They may as well take Bush and Condi's off since they spread the same lies.
ReplyDeleteBush lapdog Joe Lieberman is telling fellow Senators he won't allow attachments about Iraq in the Homeland Security bill.
ReplyDeleteGood dog Joe. Good dog.
Gotta protect Bush.
Lieberman is an incognito Neo Con kinda like Moo Moo.
ReplyDeleteLieberman will never switch parties. He does just as much damage obeying Bush where he is at.
ReplyDeleteJoe will be irrelevant in 2008 after more re-pubie senators lose their seats and ther white House stops being reichwingnut central.
ReplyDeleteLieberman ought to be Bush's Chief of Staff. He seems to be fitting that position now.
ReplyDeleteHe might have switched parties if he was blackballed with the dems and the repugs still had some credibility, but your right he wont switch now that would be complete political suicide when the tide of public opinion is clearly against the war and the repugs.
ReplyDeleteBush probably would have made him Secretary of Defense if he didn't need him to mess up the Senate.
ReplyDeletePresident Bush has talked the talk of supporting alternate and renewable ernergy but actions speak louder than words and his actions say he is a lying hippocrite.
ReplyDeleteBush has asked for a mere 1% increase in R&D for alternate energy which when you factor in inflation this is actually a decrease regardless of weather you use the bogus government inflation rates of around 3% or about 7% which is what myself and many respected economists and financial people think to be the real rate of inflation.
Bush's words even ring more hollow and empty when compared to other presidents, compared to Bill Clinton this was 19% lower than what was spent in 1994, and compared to jimmy Carter it was 40% less than Carter spent in 1979. (Busness Week Feb 26)
Even worse when calculated as a percentage of GDP Carter spent 400% more in 1979 as a percentage of GDP than GWB is proposing now............so is Bush REALLY committed to alternate energy and ending oiur addiction to oil, or do his loyalties lie with big oil and big oil alone.
I say the latter he's an oil man loyal to the oil companies and he doesnt give a rats ass about what is best for this country or the majority of its citizens.