Blackwater CEO and founder Erik Prince
Best selling author John Grisham is finally speaking out. He said the current administration is built around "bad people with evil intent" and contends President Bush played politics as thousands died in Iraq.
Between 75-100 coalition forces (mainly Americans) die every month in Iraq.
Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Fundamentalist "Christian" Group Ties (the "quotes" are mine)
by Corey Flintoff
With more than $800 million in contracts, Blackwater USA, led by Erik Prince, is among the biggest companies providing armed guards for U.S. officials and government contractors in Iraq.
Prince, the heir to a Michigan auto-parts fortune, has close ties to the Republican Party and conservative Christian groups. He began his career with a stint as an officer in the U.S. Navy SEALs, and co-founded Blackwater in 1997 with other former commandos. His family's wealth made it possible for the then 27-year-old Prince to fund the Blackwater start-up with his own money.
Prince and his firm have drawn scrutiny from members of Congress after Blackwater guards were accused of opening fire on civilians in Baghdad in an incident that left at least nine people dead.
Blackwater has said that its employees were defending a State Department convoy and denied that they had done anything improper, though Prince has made no public statement on the issue. The Iraqi government threatened to expel the company from the country, but after four days, Blackwater was allowed to resume its activities guarding State Department personnel.
Republican, Christian Ties
Prince grew up in Holland, Mich., where his father, Edgar Prince, built Prince Corporation, an auto-parts company that based its success on novel products, such as the lighted vanity mirror for car window visors. The elder Prince was a close friend and supporter of Christian evangelists, such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family, as well as a contributor to the Republican Party. He was an early benefactor of the Family Research Council.
Residents of the Tiny Town of Potrero, California - East of City of San Diego
Need Your Help to Stop Blackwater West!
As US Congress and Iraqi government officials probe recent killings of civilians by the notorious private contractors in Baghdad, join local residents to the expansion of Blackwater USA at a major rally and encampment at the gates of the proposed “Blackwater West” site in Potrero, a tiny town in east San Diego county on Saturday, October 6th - Sunday, October, 7th. Events planned for just days after Blackwater founder Erik Prince is scheduled to testify before the US Congress.
STOP BLACKWATER WEST CAMP, RALLY AND WALK!
Saturday, October 6th and Sunday, October, 7th Two day Educational Encampment and Walk to Stop Blackwater West in
Potrero, California - East of City of San Diego
Join us, Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, 2007 to:
MARCH TO THE GATES OF THE PLANNED BLACKWATER WEST
800 ACRE MERCENARY TRAINING FACILITY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
--SAY NO TO THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR ENVIRONMENT
--SAY NO TO WAR PROFITEERS
--SAY YES TO KEEPING POTRERO A SAFE, LIVABLE COMMUNITY
As Blackwater USA Comes Under Increasing Fire for Actions in Iraq,
Turn Up the Heat to Stop Blackwater West ! Join Local Residents for the Largest Protest to Date
at the Gates of Planned Blackwater West Site Near Tiny Border Town
**************************
Some things to think about:
Why is the Republican party pushing Hilary to be the candidate? Newt Gingrich started pushing this plot, and if he's behind something you know it has to have a sinister design. I like Hilary and think she'd be a terrific president — as would Obama, Kucinich, Edwards, Gravel, Richardson, Biden -- but there must be a reason Bush and Rove want Hilary to be the nominee. What is up there sleeve? I think it's this: they do not believe the majority of men and women in the United States could stomach voting for a woman. I think they're counting on this archaic, mysoginistic view that the neocons share.
US existing home sales fell 4.3 percent in August as buyers had trouble getting mortgages amid financial market turmoil, the real estate industry said Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThe National Association of Realtors (NAR) said existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.50 million units in August from 5.75 million in July.
The figure is down 12.8 percent from a year ago, and was in line with market expectations amid troubles in the housing sector after a long period of sizzling growth.
Bush's evil intent with the American Dream!
There have been 57 U.S soldiers killed so far in September.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of Bush's evil intent.
The Homeland Security Department’s second-in-command resigned today, citing personal financial reasons.
ReplyDeleteMichael P. Jackson, the department’s deputy secretary, has had a major hand in running the large department, particularly in putting in place the current management team. In an e-mail to staff today, Jackson said, “The simple truth, however, is that after over five years of serving with the president’s team, I am compelled to depart for financial reasons that I can no longer ignore.” Jackson’s resignation is effective Oct. 26.
Another neocon who can't make it on the millions of tax payer dollars being pilfered daily.
(Reuters) - U.S. consumers are expected to pay record prices for heating oil, electricity and propane to warm their homes this winter, and low-income families will need government help to cover those bills, government energy officials said on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteHeating fuel expenses this winter will be highest for heating oil, with the average family paying $1,834 for the season, up 28 percent or $402 from last year, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association.
The group expects propane costs to average $1,732, up 30 percent or $384. Consumers that rely on electricity for heat will pay $883 this winter, up 7 percent or $58.
Natural gas expenses will be the cheapest of the major heating fuels, averaging $881, up 5 percent or $50, the group said.
It's the Bush economy: Evil Intent to destroy the Middle Class.
Consumer confidence fell unexpectedly sharply in September to its lowest in nearly two years on growing concerns about jobs and financial market turmoil, a survey showed on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThe Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell to 99.8 in September, the lowest since November 2005 and down from 105.6 in August. The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters was for a slip to 104.0.
“Weaker business conditions combined with a less favorable job market continue to cast a cloud over consumers and heighten their sense of uncertainty and concern,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s research center, adding: ”Little economic improvement is expected, and with the holiday season around the corner, this is not welcome news.”
Another result of Bush's Evil Intent!
I think BUsh has already managed to destroy the middle class. Even skilled jobs typically have 100-150 applications for each posted opening. There is a huge demand for jobs the pay more and people are being forced to switch jobs to get a pay increase as employers don't give annual raises that cover the increasing cost of living much less any extra funds to make life easier. The American dream stopped right around 2001.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court agreed today to consider whether voter-identification laws unfairly keep poor people and minority groups from going to the polls.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same Republican controlled court that installed Bush as dictator.
We know how this case will end.
Your thoughts on Hillary and how the Republicans want her to be the Democratic candidate sounds like an astute observation to me.
ReplyDeleteSornie:
ReplyDeleteThe American Dream has become a thing of the past, millions are losing their jobs to China and elsewhere, while the Republican elite sit in ivory towers decrying how great things are.
Rhea:
ReplyDeleteOne has to wonder why Bush and the Repugs are drooling over a Hillary nomination.
The neocons want Hillary to be the nominee because they're sure she won't get elected. They might be right. They'll slander and Swiftboat whoever gets the nomination, but for whatever reason there are lots of people who really hate Hillary. The rightwing smear machine will be more effective against Hillary than any other possible candidate.
ReplyDeleteWho Hijacked Our Country
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteHillary is a polarizing candidate, and she's a printing press for Republican donations.
She's also going to be the next president of the United States.
Lydia, isn't Grisham an amazing talent. It pleases me to see that someone with such a sharp, insightful mind has spoken out.
ReplyDeleteOn Hillary, I have been saying for some time that she is the GOP's choice to run against. I think that this is because she is the candidate most like her GOP opponents. With smaller substantive differences, they can focus on the issues that matter to them, like Bill's BJ, hatred for aliens, Bill's BJ, hatred for Muslims, Bill's BJ, hatred for liberals, Bill's BJ, Dollar Bull Jefferson, and, of course, Bill's BJ.
It's not just the Right who are pushing for Hillary to get the nomination. Most of the pundits - left and right - have anointed her the presumed nominee. I think this is a disservice to the other candidates and makes them have to work even harder. We should leave it up to a little group called "we the people" to make the decision and not have someone foisted on us.
ReplyDeleteThe Idiot Bush needed training wheels when he spoke before the United Nations:
ReplyDeletePresident Bush concluded his remarks several minutes ago, and I just got my hands on the text of his speech. Several of the foreign names in the draft include handy phonetic pronunciations. Want to talk like the president? Here's how to do it:
Kyrgyzstan [KEYR-geez-stan]
Mauritania [moor-EH-tain-ee-a]
Harare [hah-RAR-ray]
Mugabe [moo-GAH-bee]
Sarkozy [sar-KO-zee]
Caracas [kah-RAH-kus]
Oddly, there are no training wheels in the draft for the toughest name of all: that of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, which I can't even pronounce.
ROFL!
The Republican Party is in such bad shape heading into the 2008 congressional elections that many insiders are all but convinced things will get worse before they get better. The blame, some say, lies within the party itself.
ReplyDeleteRecent reports coming from the National Republican Congressional and Senatorial Committees paint a picture of institutions on the brink of bankruptcy and organizational disrepair.
Poor worthless warloving Repugs!
Donald Trump, who is no fan of President Bush, gives his unvarnished opinions on Fox & Friends this morning, which got hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade a little worked up. While it’s clear he’s not considered a hostile guest, the hosts do their best to push back against his criticisms. Kilmeade makes sure that Trump isn’t Pro-Saddam and Doocy proclaims the United Nations hates America!, but The Donald doesn’t miss a beat.
ReplyDeleteTrump Knows!
It's about time Webb spoke up:
ReplyDeleteSen. Webb went on the offensive today and denounced the Lieberman/Kyl amendment as warmongering and a big fat, wet kiss to the “William the Bloody” Kristol wing of the GOP—including the star of the Neocons: Dick Cheney. Lieberman is setting the stage with all his Iran amendments that have the sole purpose of bringing the US into war with Iran. This must be defeated and I implore the Democratic Party to vote this down. A big shout out to Jim Webb for standing up against this amendment.
Mitt Romney has remained mum on the alleged killing of 11 Iraqis by a company where one of his top advisers serves as vice chairman, even as the case has led to an uproar in Baghdad and Washington. Barack Obama, John McCain and other politicians have raised the possibility of tighter controls on the firm.
ReplyDeleteThe top counterterrorism and national security adviser to Romney’s presidential campaign is Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA.
The Iraqis died after guards employed by the private security firm opened fire following an alleged attack on a State Department convoy under their protection. Blackwater has a lucrative contract to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq.
Blackwater has said its employees acted “lawfully and appropriately” in response to the attack. But Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf has said a report found that the security guards opened fire first on Iraqis who were driving in their cars. And the incident has prompted a noisy debate over the role of independent security contractors in Iraq — a debate Romney thus far appears to be steering clear of.
Romney and Blackwater: Violence, Corruption and Greed- Their American Dream.
Cuba’s foreign minister walked out of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday in protest of President Bush’s speech in which he said the “long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end” on the communist island.
ReplyDeleteThe Cuban delegation issued a statement saying the decision by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to leave was a “sign of profound rejection of the arrogant and mediocre statement by President Bush.”
Poor Bush nobody wants to hear his lies.
Violent crime in the United States rose more than previously believed in 2006, continuing the most significant increase in more than a decade, according to an FBI report released yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program found that robberies surged by 7.2 percent and homicides rose 1.8 percent from 2005 to 2006. Violent crime overall rose 1.9 percent, substantially more than an increase of 1.3 percent estimated in a preliminary FBI report in June.
The jump was the second in two years, following a 2.3 percent rise in 2005. Taken together, the two years represent the first steady increase in violent crime since 1993, FBI records show.
The uptick presents a significant political challenge for the Bush administration, which has faced growing criticism from congressional Democrats, big-city mayors and police chiefs for presiding over cuts in federal assistance to local law enforcement agencies over the past six years.
What do the expect when the President is running a lawless government.
(CNN) -- A suicide bombing in Iraq's volatile Diyala province ripped through a "reconciliation meeting" on Monday night attended by Sunni and Shiite militia leaders -- a brazen attack that killed and wounded dozens and fractured an effort to foster amity between the rival sects.
ReplyDeleteA U.S. soldier controls the area from a rooftop during an operation Monday in the suburbs of Baquba.
Iraq's Interior Ministry and the U.S. military counted 24 dead and 37 wounded.
The attacker detonated a suicide belt inside the Shifta Shiite mosque in western Baquba during the daily breaking of the Ramadan fast, Interior Ministry officials said.
Abstention from eating is religious duty for Muslims during the present holy month of Ramadan and the hiatus is broken during an evening meal.
Families recovered bodies from the local morgue on Tuesday and funerals were held in Shifta for both the Shiites and Sunnis, who were among the dead.
The dead included Baquba police Chief Ali al-Deylan and Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Obaidi, commander of Diyala's police operations -- both Sunnis. Another slain official was Ahmed al-Tamimi, the head of the local Shiite Endowment, which administers Shiite religious facilities in the province.
Two guards of the Diyala's Shiite governor, Raad Rashid Mullah Jawad, were killed. Jawad was wounded, and one of the two slain guards was Jawad's brother.
They had been attending the meal with members of the United Jihad Factions Council, a Sunni coalition of militias, and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army -- a powerful Shiite militia. They were sitting down in an effort to bridge their differences when the strike occurred.
Bush just loves these kind of days.
Hey, ladling out taxpayer cash to his cronies is the only consistent policy Chimpy's had. OF COURSE he'll pay off his brownshirts with our money.
ReplyDeleteI think it's pretty obvious why the Redumblicans are pushing Hillary to be the Democratic nominee. As was very obvious during the 8 years of his Presidency and the first several years of the Bush reign, Republicans have a deep loathing for the name Clinton. Heck, right after 9/11, once Bush was done blaming Iraq he pointed the finger at Clinton, Jerry Falsewell and Pat Robberbaronson blamed homosexuals first and then Clinton, the rest of the Republican party jumped straight to blaming Clinton.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican heirarchy knows that a lot of mainstream conservatives are mad at them because of the spending and a lot of the fundamentalist so-called Christians are mad at them because they havent pushed harder for an anti gay-marriage amendment. They also know that rather than voting for a Democrat, these disillusioned Republicans will jsut stay home on election day.
Obama wouldnt convince them to leave home that day, Edwards wouldnt either ... but Hillary would get them stampeding to the polls just so they could vote against her.
Check out this post from Brother Tim:
ReplyDeleteBlog of Revelation
Check out the post by Alicia, it explains a lot:
ReplyDeleteLast Left Before Hooterville
US House votes to tighten Iran nuclear sanctions
ReplyDeletePublished: Tuesday September 25, 2007
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelming passed legislation calling for Iran's Revolutionary Guard to be designated a terrorist organization and tightening sanctions on Tehran.
The legislation passed by 397 votes to 16 as tensions spiked between Washington and Iran during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the United Nations.
It sanctions foreign companies with US subsidiaries which invest in Iran particularly in oil and gas sectors.
Pelosi leading the Democrats toward sanctioning war with Iran!
War is coming, have no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is the excuse needed to declare Martial Law when the people start to rise up against the Nazi Regime running our country.
On another note, I don't remember where I read it though it might have been on Aljazeera about the Decider's State Department refused to turn over to Germany those involved in the kidnapping and torture of a German Citizen.
And Merkel won't object a bit over it.
It shows that Germany is once again supporting a new Nazi Regime under Der Fuhrer Adolph Bush.
It appears that Germany did not learn the lesson the first time around and may have to face the same music again as it faced during World War II.
God Bless.
Check out the latest post by Anon-Paranoid. It draws a possible senario:
ReplyDeleteAmerica Weeps
This is going to be come more and more of a problem as we move forward in time.
ReplyDeleteWe have a situation where mercs are being paid big bucks compared to our military. The merc corps like Blackwater are in it for the money. They don't want peace and stability in Iraq.
In fact, as we have seen they are destabilizing Iraq on purpose by selling weapons to insurgents who later use them to kill Americans and by going on spree killings of innocent civilians.
The more strife and unrest in Iraq the more job security for Blackwater and other contractors.
We've created a for-profit machine that subsists on tax payer dollars and thrives on Iraqi blood.
The only way to achieve stability in peace in Iraq is to take the profit out of the occupation.
Hell, take the profit out of the occupation and you'll see it end but quick.
Speaking at the National Press Club Tuesday evening, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric raised the curtain on her personal views of both the war in Iraq and former "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather.
ReplyDelete"Everyone in this room would agree that people in this country were misled in terms of the rationale of this war," said Couric, adding that it is "pretty much accepted" that the war in Iraq was a mistake.
I'm surprised she said this since she is the belle of Fox News.
(Reuters) - A leading Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of interfering in congressional inquiries into corruption in Iraq's government and the activities of U.S. security firm Blackwater.
ReplyDeleteDemocratic Rep. Henry Waxman said State Department officials had told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs they could not provide details of corruption in Iraq's government unless the information was treated as a "state secret" and not revealed to the public.
"You are wrong to interfere with the committee's inquiry," Waxman said in a letter to Rice. "The State Department's position on this matter is ludicrous," added Waxman, a vocal opponent of the Bush administration's Iraq policies.
Throw her in prison!
I always suspected the Bush administration was intent on bringing back 1950’s America.
ReplyDeleteRemember singer Janet Jackson’s now infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show? Singer Justin Timberlake tore away Jackson’s costume and exposed her breast for all of 9/16ths of a second. The Bush appointed FCC ruled the incident had violated broadcast decency standards and slapped CBS with a $550,000 fine.
However, when it comes to airing fake news, the FCC is much less outraged.
The FCC announced cable giant Comcast violated the law by broadcasting video news releases without identifying them as sponsored programming. In other words, Comcast had aired fake video news releases dressed up as real news for release on more than 100 stations and imposed on Comcast a fine of $4,000.
So there you have it, folks. A 9/16ths of a second peak at Janet Jackson’s breast is punishable by a fine of $550,000 but, airing faux news only engenders a fine of $4,000. Welcome to the new 1950’s courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is seeking nearly 190 billion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the largest war funding request ever in the six-year-old "war on terror," the Pentagon said Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteNever Fear Pelosi and Reid will give that and more for Bush's wars.
Curious to know how exactly Henry Hager proposed to First Daughter Jenna Bush? The latest People magazine, which hits newsstands this Friday, has the details.
ReplyDelete"It was 4 a.m. and Jenna Bush just wanted to sleep. She and her boyfriend, Henry Hager, were camping out in Maine's Acadia National Park, Aug. 15, and Hager had woken her up in the dark. His plan? To hike to the top of Cadillac Moutain, the highest peak on the East Coast. Jenna got up grogily, and the nature-lovers set off, wearing head lamps to light the way. As they neared the summit, Hager, 29, suggested stopping for an energy bar. Then as the sun began to rise, he proposed. 'I was in shock,' says Jenna, her custom-made platinum-set round diamond-and-sapphire ring now sparkling on her left hand. 'I acted the complete opposite of how I thought I would: I was quiet. He said, 'Are you exited?' I was like, 'I don't know!'"
Sounds like one of the Moral Bush girls isn't so in love after all!
The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday suggesting Baghdad limit the power of its federal government and give more control to Iraq's ethnically divided regions.
ReplyDeleteThe 75-23 vote marked the first agreement on Iraq among lawmakers in months, although it would have little practical effect. Republicans agreed to swing behind the nonbinding measure after it was amended to make clear that Bush should press for a new federalized system only if the Iraqis want it.
This doesn't matter Bush wants war!
The White House today took what may be a lone stand against the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act, a bill the House may vote on as soon as Wednesday. It would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to publish standards regulating worker exposure to diacetyl, a flavoring chemical used in microwave popcorn and other foods that can cause bronchiolitis obliterans, or "popcorn lung."
ReplyDeleteBush cares nothing about workers health.
Bush the Bully:
ReplyDeleteIn a private conversation at his Texas ranch in early 2003, President Bush said he was committed to invading Iraq whether or not the United Nations passed another resolution condeming Saddam Hussein, a Spanish Language newspaper reported Wednesday.
"Saddam Husein will not change and will continue playing; the moment has arrived for undoing of him," Bush told Spain's then-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22, 2003, according to transcript of Bush's remarks that was posted on the Web site of El Pais, Spain's largest daily. (The quote was automatically translated from Spanish to English using Google.)
Bush said he would prefer to have a second UN resolution, but in his conversation, he makes clear that he would not hesitate to act without one, El Pais reported.
"We have to get rid of Saddam. There are two weeks left. In two weeks we will be ready militarily. We will be in Baghdad at the end of March," Bush said less than a month before bombs began falling on Baghdad.
The US invaded Iraq March 20, 2003. More than 150,000 US troops remain stationed in the country.
Although Aznar was a supporter of Bush's invasion, his successor Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero withdrew the 1,300 Spanish troops that were in Iraq in late April 2004, soon after his election.
Bush also threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a the transcript. Nations like Mexico, Angola, Chile and Cameroon must know that the security of the United States is at stake, the president tells Aznar.
The left-wing El Pais reported that Bush threatend to pull financial aid from Angola and warned that a free-trade agreement with Chile might be delayed in the Senate if they did not back another UN resolution.
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteUS Defense Secretary Robert Gates is seeking nearly 190 billion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the largest war funding request ever in the six-year-old "war on terror," the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Never Fear Pelosi and Reid will give that and more for Bush's wars."
Notice how the repugs are framing this request.............they are saying they NEED the 190 billion to "keep the troops safe"................dontcha think the troops would be SAFER if they actually DID something to END the war rather than keep funding it.
Pelosi and Reed are totally spineless though they would give the "DECIDER" a trillion dollars to keep the war going if he asked for it because they are spineless and afraid of being slandered by the repugs and dishonestly portrayed as not supporting the troops.
The Democrats NEED to grow a set and ACTUALLY start playing offense and start actually supporting the troops and end the war rather than playing defense and reacting to the lying fascists endless demagogery
Robert, Tom, Carl, Rhea and Anon - thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth does this Iran vote mean?
The Kyl/Lieberman amendment?
Didn't anyone actually pay any attention or really watch Ahmadinejad's Columbia University forum? It was amazing, and even Pat Buchanan said the Iranian leader was so moderate and obviously trying so hard to NOT have a war. He is bewildered at all the war talk. Why are we going after his country. Does anyone know the truth?
The newspapers here in America said he wants to wipe Israel off the map, but he NEVER SAID THAT. They admitted later that they used these provocatvie words falsely.
Iranian leader has a Jewish member in his cabinet, and said he loves the Jewish people. It's the Jewish regime which can't seem to make life bearable for the Palestinians. Why, he wants to know, are the Palestinian people paying the price for the Holocaust? That was his beseeching question over and over. He wants more research into the Holocaust in order to understand why the Palestinians lives are being destroyed... but he said he does accept the Holocaust happened.
Why can't anyone just sit down and talk to the Iranians? they dont' want us to nuke them, that will unleash such hatred in the world against us, not to mention needless deaths and radiation/ toxic nightmare..
He also said they have a desire for peaceful nuclear energy, but we cut off al scientists and help and funding years ago, so they have to seek elsewhere.
I am just wondering why we dont' let him extend his olive branch and extend one back, just by listening and not twisting his words.
We are creating propaganda to demonize him.
Former "Evening News" Dan Rather choked back tears on several occasions today when discussing his decision to file a lawsuit against CBS and he left many audience members with a sense that he may call President George W. Bush as a witness should the lawsuit proceed to trial (and Rather said he hoped it would).
ReplyDeleteWhy would Rather call a pathological liar to testify?
Another Republican Lie:
ReplyDeleteSen. Larry Craig won't resign from the Senate while awaiting a judge's ruling on his effort to get a guilty plea withdrawn in a restroom sex sting, a source said Wednesday.
Sen. Larry Craig is seeking to overturn his guilty plea stemming from an airport bathroom sex sting
Anon-Paranoid said...
ReplyDeleteWar is coming, have no doubt about it.
This is the excuse needed to declare Martial Law when the people start to rise up against the Nazi Regime running our country.
On another note, I don't remember where I read it though it might have been on Aljazeera about the Decider's State Department refused to turn over to Germany those involved in the kidnapping and torture of a German Citizen.
And Merkel won't object a bit over it.
It shows that Germany is once again supporting a new Nazi Regime under Der Fuhrer Adolph Bush.
It appears that Germany did not learn the lesson the first time around and may have to face the same music again as it faced during World War II.
God Bless."
Anon, I agree with essentially everything stated on your blog..............I think Bush does WANT to use an attack on Iran as the trigger to declare martial law, I think he is worried about the Democrats having the same dictatorial powers he now has, he knows that if he uses the pardon scam as a loopole to spit in the face of justice that the next presdident has the power to make sure they are held accountable by declaring them Enemies of the state/enemy combatants.
Now I have said that NO president should have that kind of power and that hasnt changed, and i'm not saying it would be right to do that to Bush and Cheney but at the same time it is unacceptable to have them walk away scott free due to the pardon loopole as well.
What we have here is the classic Prisoners Dilema where the Neo Cons must choose between risking everything where they will receive either the best or worst possible outcome or choosing an outcome where the risks,penaltys and rewards are all reduced.
AP News
ReplyDeleteSecurity forces shot and wounded three people, and beat and dragged away dozens of Buddhist monks Wednesday in the most violent crackdown against the protests that began last month, witnesses said. About 300 monks and activists were arrested, dissidents said.
Reports from exiled Myanmar journalists and activists in Thailand said security forces had shot and killed as many as five people in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. The reports could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press.
Don't give Bush any ideas.
Lydia said "Why are we going after his country. Does anyone know the truth?"
ReplyDeleteIn a word Lydia its "OIL"
The US State Department is preventing a House committee from disclosing information that could "embarrass" Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki regarding an investigation of alleged corruption within his government, a lawmaker alleges in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
ReplyDeleteState also is meddling in a related investigation of private security firm Blackwater, which has come under fire this month after a Sept. 16 shooting involving armed guards employed by the firm in which 11 Iraqis were killed, the House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman says.
Blackwater asked committee members to avoid "asking questions ... that might reveal sensitive operational and technical information," such as how many guards were involved in the alleged massacre, the number of weapons they used and the types of munitions they had available.
Waxman also says investigators on his committee cannot question State Department officials on matters "that could embarrass the Maliki government unless the Committee agrees to refrain from any public discussion of their answers.
"State Department officials explained that any information about corruption within the Maliki government must be treated as classified," Waxman continued in a letter to Rice released Tuesday, "because public discussions could undermine U.S. relations with the Maliki government."
Throw Condi in prison like you would anyone else.
The US dollar plunged to another all-time low against the European single currency on growing concerns over the United States economy, analysts said Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteThe euro surged to a record 1.4162 dollars in early Asian trade, before pulling back to stand at 1.4123 dollars in European deals.
The US currency meanwhile stood at 115.17 yen, from 114.77 yen late in New York on Tuesday.
"The dollar hit another record low against the euro of 1.4162 in early trading today (Wednesday) as market participants continue to focus on the prospect of monetary easing in the US," said Derek Halpenny, senior currency economist at The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.
"This belief was helped by weak housing sales and consumer confidence data."
Another result of the Bush economy.
More Democrats vote to attack Iran:
ReplyDeleteSenators who voted against the resolution were Senators Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Brown, Byrd, Cantwell, Dodd, Feingold, Hagel, Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerry, Klobuchar, Leahy, Lincoln, Lugar, McCaskill, Sanders, Tester, Webb and Wyden.
Senators Obama and McCain did not vote on the resolution. Click here for the full Roll Call vote.
Senators Lieberman and Kyl dropped paragraphs 3 and 4 under Section (b), the Sense of Senate section, in attempts to alleviate concerns that the resolution might be taken as an authorization for the use of force against Iran.
[tag]
Senator Webb[/tag] stood up once again to oppose the bill, noting that if the administration proceeds as recommended in the resolution, it would be the first time that the US has desinates an entire military as a terrorist organization and this could be taken as a defacto authorization for use of force. Mr. Webb again noted that there has not been one hearing on this matter and that the amendment should be withdrawn and considered in the appropriate committees.
Meet Doug Brooks, whose trade group represents the private military industry’s biggest players. He makes hired guns sound like U.N. peacekeepers.
ReplyDeleteLast Wednesday afternoon, amid news that Blackwater USA security contractors had killed 11 Iraqi civilians and wounded 12 others in a Baghdad firefight, members of the antiwar group Code Pink gathered outside the Washington office of the International Peace Operations Association, a trade group that represents a who’s who of the private military industry. There to greet them when they arrived was Doug Brooks, the IPOA’s founder and president, who’d been tipped off to the protest earlier that day by an anonymous caller. “He was on the street with an assistant with an armful of IPOA magazines,” said Code Pink’s Gael Murphy, who heads the group’s Washington office. “He had a smile on his face the entire time as though it were some kind of industry expo day, and he kept [smiling], even as we were asking him about some pretty dreadful matters.” Brooks spent about an hour fielding questions and even escorted some of the protesters upstairs to see his office. I asked Murphy if Brooks had managed to change any minds. “No,” she said. “We were not fooled just because [Blackwater] has a network to cover them—that they’re somehow more legitimate than they were the day of the killings.”
Doug Brooks tells a different story. The day after the protest I met him at a bar near his office. He wore a dark suit and wire-frame glasses. “I think we developed some fans,” he said, still smiling. “One guy, for example, said, ‘I don’t like the concept, but I guess if we’re going to have companies doing this stuff, we need this kind of organization doing the oversight.’” Brooks seemed energized by the experience, which, despite its being a protest, he treated as an opportunity to convert the opposition. “Their questions were really good,” he continued. “We gave them paperwork. We gave them journals. A couple of them even took away IPOA pins.” He pulled one from his bag and placed it in my hand. It bore the image of a sleeping lion, the IPOA’s logo. “Just got a new batch in,” he said.
Horrible neocon.
Larry, you said: "Mr. Webb again noted that there has not been one hearing on this matter and that the amendment should be withdrawn and considered in the appropriate committees."
ReplyDeleteLarry, I need you to please research this for me. Can this amendment be reversed after it has been voted on? What I'm asking is, can anything be reversed once it has been voted on? IS THERE TIME TO TURN IT AROUND?
BAGHDAD - Bomb attacks killed 57 people and wounded more than 120 across Iraq on Wednesday as suspected al-Qaida militants stepped up a campaign of violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
ReplyDeleteIn a mainly Shiite district of southwest Baghdad, twin car bombs killed 32 people in one of the biggest attacks to hit the Iraq capital in weeks.
More deaths, more of Bush's "Evil Intent."
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLydia Cornell said...
ReplyDeleteLarry, you said: "Mr. Webb again noted that there has not been one hearing on this matter and that the amendment should be withdrawn and considered in the appropriate committees."
Larry, I need you to please research this for me. Can this amendment be reversed after it has been voted on? What I'm asking is, can anything be reversed once it has been voted on? IS THERE TIME TO TURN IT AROUND?"
Lydia, It has to pass both Houses and be signed by the President unless there are enough votes to defeat his Veto (67 Senate votes) to change or ammend a bill/law, it would once again NEED to be passed by BOTH houses of Congress and be signed by the President or have enough votes to defeat his veto.
Also, if the bill has not been passed it can be ammended again and again.......however the Amendments need to have the votes to pass and Bush will likely veto ANYTHING that he doesnt like or support.
ReplyDeleteBut Webb is right, its extremely odd there have been NO committee hearings or floor debates on an issue this important, divisive and controversial............the Democrats should be ashamed they are abdicating their power and responsibility and shirking their job and are a pitiful disgrace.
ReplyDeleteThrow Condi in prison like you would anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThrow Chimpy in with her. It'll give the two of them a chance to act out a few more of their role-playing fantasies.
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteWe may be in luck. This bill is known as a "Sense of Congress" which according to various outlets it has no teeth.
Here is the bill:
At the end of subtitle C of title XV, add the following:
SEC. 1535. SENSE OF SENATE ON IRAN.
(a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
(1) General David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq, stated in testimony before a joint session of the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives on September 10, 2007, that ``[i]t is increasingly apparent to both coalition and Iraqi leaders that Iran, through the use of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps Qods Force, seeks to turn the Shi'a militia extremists into a Hezbollah-like force to serve its interests and fight a proxy war against the Iraqi state and coalition forces in Iraq''.
(2) Ambassador Ryan Crocker, United States Ambassador to Iraq, stated in testimony before a joint session of the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives on September 10, 2007, that ``Iran plays a harmful role in Iraq. While claiming to support Iraq in its transition, Iran has actively undermined it by providing lethal capabilities to the enemies of the Iraqi state''.
(3) The most recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, published in August 2007, states that ``Iran has been intensifying aspects of its lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants, particularly the JAM [Jaysh al-Mahdi], since at least the beginning of 2006. Explosively formed penetrator (EFP) attacks have risen dramatically''.
(4) The Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, released on September 6, 2007, states that ``[t]he Commission concludes that the evidence of Iran's increasing activism in the southeastern part of the country, including Basra and Diyala provinces, is compelling. . . It is an accepted fact that most of the sophisticated weapons being used to `defeat' our armor protection comes across the border from Iran with relative impunity''.
(5) General (Ret.) James Jones, chairman of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, stated in testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate on September 6, 2007, that ``[w]e judge that the goings-on across the Iranian border in particular are of extreme severity and have the potential of at least delaying our efforts inside the country. Many of the arms and weapons that kill and maim our soldiers are coming from across the Iranian border''.
(6) General Petraeus said of Iranian support for extremist activity in Iraq on April 26, 2007, that ``[w]e know that it goes as high as [Brig. Gen. Qassem] Suleimani, who is the head of the Qods Force. . . We believe that he works directly for the supreme leader of the country''.
(7) Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the president of Iran, stated on August 28, 2007, with respect to the United States presence in Iraq, that ``[t]he political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly. Soon we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course we are prepared to fill the gap''.
(8) Ambassador Crocker testified to Congress, with respect to President Ahmedinejad's statement, on September 11, 2007, that ``[t]he Iranian involvement in Iraq--its support for extremist militias, training, connections to Lebanese Hezbollah, provision of munitions that are used against our force as well as the Iraqis--are all, in my view, a pretty clear demonstration that Ahmedinejad means what he says, and is already trying to implement it to the best of his ability''.
(9) General Petraeus stated on September 12, 2007, with respect to evidence of the complicity of Iran in the murder of members of the Armed Forces of the United States in Iraq, that ``[t]e evidence is very, very clear. We captured it when we captured Qais Khazali, the Lebanese Hezbollah deputy commander, and others, and it's in black and white. . . We interrogated these individuals. We have on tape. . . Qais Khazali himself. When asked, could you have done what you have done without Iranian support, he literally throws up his hands and laughs and says, of course not. . . So they told us about the amounts of money that they have received. They told us about the training that they received. They told us about the ammunition and sophisticated weaponry and all of that that they received''.
(10) General Petraeus further stated on September 14, 2007, that ``[w]hat we have got is evidence. This is not intelligence. This is evidence, off computers that we captured, documents and so forth. . . In one case, a 22-page document that lays out the planning, reconnaissance, rehearsal, conduct, and aftermath of the operation conducted that resulted in the death of five of our soldiers in Karbala back in January''.
(11) The Department of Defense report to Congress entitled ``Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq'' and released on September 18, 2007, consistent with section 9010 of Public Law 109-289, states that ``[t]here has been no decrease in Iranian training and funding of illegal Shi'a militias in Iraq that attack Iraqi and Coalition forces and civilians. . . Tehran's support for these groups is one of the greatest impediments to progress on reconciliation''.
(12) The Department of Defense report further states, with respect to Iranian support for Shi'a extremist groups in Iraq, that ``[m]ost of the explosives and ammunition used by these groups are provided by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. . . For the period of June through the end of August, [explosively formed penetrator] events are projected to rise by 39 percent over the period of March through May''.
(13) Since May 2007, Ambassador Crocker has held three rounds of talks in Baghdad on Iraq security with representatives of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(14) Ambassador Crocker testified before Congress on September 10, 2007, with respect to these talks, stating that ``I laid out the concerns we had over Iranian activity that was damaging to Iraq's security, but found no readiness on Iranians' side at all to engage seriously on these issues. The impression I came with after a couple rounds is that the Iranians were interested simply in the appearance of discussions, of being seen to be at the table with the U.S. as an arbiter of Iraq's present and future, rather than actually doing serious business...Right now, I haven't seen any sign of earnest or seriousness on the Iranian side''.
(15) Ambassador Crocker testified before Congress on September 11, 2007, stating that ``[w]e have seen nothing on the ground that would suggest that the Iranians are altering what they're doing in support of extremist elements that are going after our forces as well as the Iraqis''.
(b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate--
(1) that the manner in which the United States transitions and structures its military presence in Iraq will have critical long-term consequences for the future of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, in particular with regard to the capability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to pose a threat to the security of the region, the prospects for democracy for the people of the region, and the health of the global economy;
(2) that it is a vital national interest of the United States to prevent the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran from turning Shi'a militia extremists in Iraq.
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteHere is the definition of "Sense of Congress"
"Sense of the Congress" resolutions don't make sense to me -- I'm told they don't have the force of law. Why do they bother passing a bill that can't possibly be enforced? Bethesda, Maryland - 3/28/01
So-called "sense of" language has been controversial for a long time. Such language does not make law, it only expresses congressional opinion. In essence, the Congress is giving out free advice when it passes these provisions. "Sense of" language can come in the form of a (1) Concurrent Resolution [sense of Congress], a (2) Simple Resolution -- H.Res. or S.Res. [sense of House alone or Senate alone], or (3) as any one of these types of provisions in the form of an amendment to a House or Senate bill.
"Sense of" language is unenforceable because Simple and Concurrent Resolutions do not make law (only Bills and Joint Resolutions make law). These provisions are used for other reasons. For example:
for political cover -- to get people on the record as supporting or opposing a generic concept as part of a larger political strategy.
for political persuasion -- to get their colleagues to agree to certain principles that they will find hard to retreat from when specific bills come before them in the future (e.g. on March 25, 1999 the Senate adopted 50 (!) "sense of the Senate" amendments to the Congressional Budget Resolution urging "adequate" funding levels for a favored program or advocating specific tax breaks).
to encourage the President to take a specific action (e.g. the Senate passed a resolution last year expressing the sense of the Senate that the treatment of women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan was unacceptable and advising the President to take actions against Afghanistan in the U.N. General Assembly).
to communicate the views of the people of the United States to a foreign nation (e.g. the House has passed resolutions expressing support for dissidents in Cuba and demanding that Cuba release political prisoners, legalize political parties and labor unions, and schedule free elections).
to extend congratulations or gratitude from the Congress to an individual citizen or a group (e.g. support for our troops abroad or praise for our Olympic athletes).
Foreign policy professionals have long complained that foreign nations do not always understand that "sense of Congress" resolutions have no force of law behind them and that countries have taken offense, sometimes making tenuous relationships with our country even worse. However, at times, Administration officials probably have used these congressional resolutions to press points in negotiations with another country.
Domestically, the average citizen also may not always understand that these acts of Congress do not reach the level of law and read more importance into them than exists. However, there political rewards and tactical advantages associated with "sense of" provisions or this practice would not continue.
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteHere is an article from National Revue:
As Americans wonder how to cope with Iran, Iran keeps killing Americans. The primary battleground is Iraq, where agents of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fund and arm the Shiite extremists whose IEDs pierce the armor of U.S. soldiers and whose bombs massacre Iraqi civilians. Within the next few days, four senators will introduce legislation that faces these facts unflinchingly and calls on America to win.
The resolution — an amendment to a defense appropriations bill — is sponsored by Jon Kyl, Joseph Lieberman, Norm Coleman, and Lindsey Graham. It expresses the sense of the Senate that the U.S. should “combat, contain, and roll back” Iran’s “violent activities and destabilizing influence inside Iraq.” It counsels doing so “through the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of [U.S. power], including diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military instruments.” It also urges the administration to designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
No great imagination is required to predict the Left’s attack on the amendment. “Needlessly provocative,” they will say. “What we need is more diplomacy.” And, “If you don’t like American soldiers dying from Iranian-made IEDs, bring them home.”
The last is of course another way of saying, “Surrender” — not a bad policy, if you don’t mind giving an Islamist, terrorist-sponsoring, nuclearizing theocracy the dominant role in the Middle East. There can be no question that this is what Iran’s rulers intend. Sometimes they’re even nice enough to tell us so. “The political power of the occupiers [a.k.a. the United States] is collapsing rapidly. Soon we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course we are prepared to fill the gap.” That’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a little over three weeks ago. Perhaps the faculty of Columbia University can get further details when they roll out the red carpet for his visit to their campus. But you don’t have to take his word for it. Simply cast your eyes toward any of Iran’s proxies in the region — Hamas lobbing missiles at Israel, Hezbollah doing its best to destroy Lebanon, Syria serving as a transit hub for banned weapons — and what you see is the handiwork of an aspiring hegemon.
That last item — the Syrian connection — especially bears watching in light of the Sept. 6 Israeli air strike on a target in Syria. U.S. government sources have confirmed to the Washington Post that the strike came after intelligence sharing with the U.S., and that the target was a suspected nuclear site set up in cooperation with North Korea. Syria is of course a client state of Iran, and the Islamic Republic has a long history of cooperating with North Korea on banned weapon technologies. Iran’s membership in this axis makes it an even greater threat to the United States, and to global security generally, than it would be on its own.
Of course, the stakes within Iraq are high enough, which is probably why Iran has been intensifying its proxy attacks on U.S. troops. That isn’t a partisan opinion, but the conclusion of the latest National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus document prepared by the U.S. intelligence organizations: “Iran has been intensifying aspects of its lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants . . . since at least the beginning of 2006. Explosively formed penetrator (EFP) attacks have risen dramatically.” And a Sept. 18 Defense Department report to Congress projected that, once final tallies are available, the number of EFP attacks in Iraq for the period from June to August will have risen by 39-percent over the period from March to May.
In that vein, let us pause and give thanks for the fruits of “talking to Iran.” Since May, Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, has talked to his Iranian counterpart twice. “The impression I came [away] with . . . is that the Iranians were interested simply in the appearance of discussions,” Crocker recently explained to Congress. “I haven’t seen any sign of earnest[ness] or seriousness on the Iranian side.” We’ll take Crocker’s word on how the talks went. As for signs of seriousness, we think that 39 percent rise is a good one, though it isn’t exactly what the Baker-Hamilton Commission had in mind. Iran’s shielding of al Qaeda leaders, and its weapons shipments to Taliban forces in Afghanistan (one of which was intercepted earlier this year), make its intentions perfectly clear as well.
What emerges from these details is a simple story: Iran is striving mightily to defeat the U.S. in Iraq because it knows that only by doing so can it impose its designs on the Middle East. Those designs include the rollback of American influence in the region, the formation of alliances to challenge U.S. power, the expansion of rule by sharia, and the destruction of Israel. Iranian dominance within this order is to be guaranteed by the atomic bombs that no one seriously doubts the mullahs are trying to build. Today’s Senate amendment won’t do a lot to stop all that. But it will give senators a chance to tell us whether they think it should be stopped.
Exactly Larry, the Neo Cons want Congress on record as supporting and NOT opposing military action against Iran so they CANT use it as an election issue or bring war crimes or treason charge against the Neo Cons for using the power Congress is on record as supporting......They want political cover and indemnity by making congress complicit on record.
ReplyDeleteIf Congress falls for this transparent tactic they are even DUMBER and MORE spineless and cowardly than I gave them credit for.
Its JUST like when Bush used demagogery to get Congress to give him the power to attack Iraq and now they throw it in the Democrats face when ever confronted that Congress VOTED to GIVE Bush the power to attack Iraq its the old catch 22 heads I win, tails you lose, because they can say you voted for it so you EITHER agreed with me or you have poor judgement.....which is it.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats HAVE to stop playing THEIR cames and letting THEM frame the issues and dictate the dishonest terms of the debate based on false choices.
Mike:
ReplyDeleteHillary voted for this,Obama didn't vote nor did Harry Reid.
Bunch of phonies.
To top this off the idiots pass LIeberman's war bill while ignoring the economy:
ReplyDeleteDemand for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in August by the largest amount in seven months, with widespread weakness signaling a slowdown in the United States' industrial sector.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for durable goods, everything from commercial jetliners to home appliances, fell by 4.9 percent in August, the biggest decline since a 6.1 percent fall in January.
It was far larger than the 3.5 percent drop that economists had been expecting and resulted from across-the-board decreases in a number of categories. The concern is that the steep downturn in housing and turbulence in financial markets could start to affect the economy more broadly, raising the risks of a full-blown recession.
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteLydia,
Here is an article from National Revue:
As Americans wonder how to cope with Iran, Iran keeps killing Americans. The primary battleground is Iraq, where agents of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fund and arm the Shiite extremists whose IEDs pierce the armor of U.S. soldiers and whose bombs massacre Iraqi civilians. Within the next few days, four senators will introduce legislation that faces these facts unflinchingly and calls on America to win."
Hey hasnt Blackwater been arming the insurgents as well.........maybe Congress should declare Blackwater a terrorist organization while they are at it, since they are massacring Iraqi civillians and putting OUR soldiers lives in danger by arming the insurgents as well.
Blackwater is a Terrorist organization.
ReplyDeleteThey represent the Republican Party, a bonafide Terrorist Group.
Hey guys has anyone seen the debates tonight it looks like obama is afraid to talk
ReplyDeleteHey guys has anyone noticed dodd is getting more questions than anyone
ReplyDeleteFormer President Bill Clinton has sharply criticized the Republican presidential frontrunners for snubbing an African-American voter forum this week.
ReplyDelete"This says more about the evolution of the Republican party than anything," Clinton told Tavis Smiley on his Public Radio International show, which will air this Friday. "Keep in mind that Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president and Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to the White House. And after Theodore Roosevelt, the parties began to switch places."
Telling the truth about the Republican racists.
Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteU.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, “now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment.”
Let's hope it doesn't get overturned.
President Bush and Congress are headed toward another showdown on war spending, this time sparring over nearly $190 billion the Pentagon says is needed to keep combat in Iraq afloat for another year.
ReplyDeleteSen. Robert Byrd, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, vowed Wednesday not to “rubber stamp” the request and said it was time to put Bush’s policies in check.
“We cannot create a democracy at the point of a gun,” said Byrd, D-W.Va., whose speech during a Senate hearing on the spending request was interrupted several times by cheers of anti-war protesters.
“Sending more guns does not change that reality,” Byrd said.
The tough rhetoric was reminiscent of last spring, when Congress passed and Bush vetoed a bill funding the war through September but ordering troop withdrawals to begin by Oct. 1. Democrats still lack the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.
If approved, Congress would have appropriated more than $760 billion for the two wars, having already approved of $450 billion for Iraq and $127 billion for Afghanistan
Does anyone really believe the spineless Democrats will limit Bush's war spending!
The debate said one thing to me and only one thing.
ReplyDeleteThe Democratic Party has sold out their souls and are Constitution.
Only Kucinch spoke truthfully. Also voting on that sense of the senate on Iran just gave the Decider his excuse to start a war in Iran.
Were Fucked, that's all I can say. I just may vote Republican since it really doesn't matter any more.
God Bless.
Anon:
ReplyDeleteIt appeared all of them but Kucinich was going to leave the troops in that hell hole throughout their first term.
larry...
ReplyDeleteI had two visits today from the Government. One was AF.MIL in Nebraska and the other was FCC.gov.
Like I said before we are being watched. The Air Force one out clicked to my link on the military commissions act of 2006.
Are they getting ready to label me an enemy combatant? Who knows?
Are country has become under Der Fuhrer Bush what Germany become under Adolph Hitler.
Same difference only different assholes.
Catch you tomorrow. Sack time.
God Bless.
Larry said...
ReplyDeleteLydia,
Here is an article from National Revue:
As Americans wonder how to cope with Iran, Iran keeps killing Americans. The primary battleground is Iraq, where agents of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fund and arm the Shiite extremists whose IEDs pierce the armor of U.S. soldiers and whose bombs massacre Iraqi civilians. Within the next few days, four senators will introduce legislation that faces these facts unflinchingly and calls on America to win."
Hey hasnt Blackwater been arming the insurgents as well.........maybe Congress should declare Blackwater a terrorist organization while they are at it, since they are massacring Iraqi civillians and putting OUR soldiers lives in danger by arming the insurgents as well.
I'm so tired of the hippocrissy of the Reich Wing doing EXACTLY that which they decry the enemy of doing, they WANT to nuke Iran pre-emptively because they claim they THINK iran will nuke Israel or the USA pre-emptively if they are allowed to acquire the alleged nuclear weapons that there is essentially NO proof they are developing,,,,,,,,,,,,and WORST of all the same pack of Neo Con fools who are dead wrong about EVERYTHING they have ever said, are using the same fear tactics, lies and dishonest rhetoric to manipulate us into yet ANOTHER disasterous war of choice for oil in the Middle East despite the present one being a disasterous pathetic quagmire with no hope of a happy or decent ending or resolution.......it boggles the mind that The Democratic majority in Congress are letting these same buffons manipulate and intimidate us again with the same tired riddiculous rhetoric...........I feel like its groundhog day and we are reliving both the 2002 runup to the Iraq war and Hitlers rise to power and we havent learned a godamn thing from the mistakes of the past.
I dont know if I can support the Democrats ANYMORE with the exception of Edwards, Kucinich or Richardson.........I cant support a bunch of spineless cowards who could care less about our Constitution and the freedom it epitomizes, While I hold progressive views I am opposed to the repug freedom hating fascists much more than i support the Democrats, running as "not a repug", "repug lite" or merely a "better choice" than a repug doesnt cut it for me........the only viable people I would support are Edwards, Gore, Kucininch, Richardson and maybe Obama.
watching this Congress makes me sick to my stomach if they dont have the intelligence, sound judgement and leadership to stand up to the repugs particularly when put in the same situation over and over again then they dont deserve to be President or Congress people many of them made the same mistake authorizing Losermans Bill as they did giving GWB authorization to attack iraq, Hillary and the other Demmocrats have shown me they have learned absolutely NOTHING from 2002.
I once criticized Worfeus for saying he didnt know if he would vote for certain Democrats if they got the nomination..............Now I know where he is coming from loyalty must be earned NOT expected and the majority of Democrats have betrayed us.
ReplyDeleteUNLIKE the repugs I can not just BLINDLY support a person or party that does not support principles I value If hillary Clinton or a similar repug lite or fascist lite wins I dont think I can vote for that person.
Volt was right when he said the Democrats were spineless and would not support or values or show any loyalty to the freedoms we value they are not much better than the repugs..........sure they dont have a vero proof majority but they dont even try to restore freedoms or oppose the decider they sicken me. my Grandfather always used to say "its time to shit or get off the pot" and for the democrats its that time to either take a stand and show they are worthy of support or loyalty or let the country morph into a murderous fascist dictatorship where freedom is a loathsome and "quaint" concept.
The US Senate is expected to vote today on legislation that would add sexuality to list of categories included under Federal hate crime law.
ReplyDeleteThe House passed a similar bill in May, despite a White House threat that if the measure passed both houses the president would veto it.
In a bid to pressure President Bush, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) the key sponsor in the Senate has tacked the hate crime bill onto a Defense spending bill as an amendment.
Because of procedural wrangling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have to muster 60 votes for cloture, the process of forcing a vote on the hate crime amendment. Thursday night it was unclear if he had the necessary votes.
Anon-paranoid,
ReplyDeleteIf you could see them visiting you, then you aren't being watched.
The Senate voted today to extend federal hate-crime protection to people victimized because of their sexuality, but it remained doubtful that the measure would ever become law.
ReplyDeleteBy voice vote and without dissent, the senators attached the hate-crime provision to a seemingly unrelated defense authorization bill, which is needed to run the Defense Department. Attaching the provision to the military bill was intended, at least by some of the provision’s supporters, to force President Bush to choose between accepting the provision or vetoing the military bill. .
The White House has said previously that Mr. Bush opposed the extension of hate-crime protection as “unnecessary and constitutionally questionable” and that he would veto it if it came to him as a stand-alone bill.
Larry Craig voted against this bill. What a phony.
President Clinton is highlighting the efforts of Wal-Mart to safeguard the environment, saying the company's practices could be a template for growth in developing countries.
ReplyDeleteSharing the stage with the chief executive of Wal-Mart, H. Lee Scott, during the opening session of the Clinton Global Initiative yesterday, the former president said that if the company -- long criticized by Democrats for its labor and health insurance practices.
Still in the pockets of Walmart.
The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department, according to Bush administration officials and industry officials.
ReplyDeleteBlackwater is now the focus of investigations in both Baghdad and Washington over a Sept. 16 shooting in which at least 11 Iraqis were killed. Beyond that episode, the company has been involved in cases in which its personnel fired weapons while guarding State Department officials in Iraq at least twice as often per convoy mission as security guards working for other American security firms, the officials said.
Murdering Thugs.
AP:
ReplyDeleteSecurity forces fired automatic weapons into thousands of pro-democracy protesters for a second day Thursday, and the military government said nine people were killed and 11 wounded.
Tens of thousands defied the ruling military junta's crackdown with a 10th straight day of demonstrations in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon. Security forces also raided several monasteries overnight, beating monks and arresting more than 100, according to a monk at one monastery.
These are your tax dollars:
ReplyDeleteContracts to BLACKWATER USA
(FY 2000-2007)
Summary
Total dollars: $1,059,633,363
Total number of contractors: 1
Total number of transactions: 724
A former White House official reportedly conspiring to foment a war between America and Iran says he is being falsely accused.
ReplyDeleteIn his first interview since leaving Vice President Cheney's office, David Wurmser denied a story published in the October 1 issue of Newsweek alleging that he said last spring that the vice president was considering a plan to press Israel to strike Iranian nuclear targets, including the site at Natanz — Iran's central facility for uranium enrichment. Newsweek reported that the plan was to be an effort to "provoke Tehran into lashing out," which in turn would have created the pretext for America to launch military strikes on a wider range of targets in Iran. The account was first reported in May on the Web log of a senior fellow of the New America Foundation, Steve Clemons.
When asked about the Newsweek story, Mr. Wurmser said, "That conspiracy is unrecognizable to anything I have ever seen or heard or done. The vice president simply does not traffic in insubordination."
Mr. Wurmser — who advised Mr. Cheney on Middle Eastern issues — declined to elaborate on his discussions with Mr. Cheney about Iran's nuclear program. "There is a trust between the vice president and his closest staff," he said, "and I have no intention of ever betraying that trust."
Yesterday, Mr. Clemons said he stood by his story but declined to offer further comment. A spokeswoman for Newsweek also said the magazine stood by its account.
Allegations that Mr. Wurmser, the vice president, and other American neoconservatives are attempting to spark a war with Iran have been amplified by leftist bloggers in recent weeks.
More Cheney lies!
Still in the pockets of Walmart.
ReplyDeleteAlways was. Them and Tyson. I'm not particularly fond of NAFTA either.
Walmart loves NAFTA, they can help send millions of U.S jobs overseas, and bring in millions of dollars of junk to sell every week.
ReplyDeleteFour Red Cross staffers, two of them foreigners, were headed for a second night in captivity in Afghanistan Thursday after being seized during a mission to free a German hostage.
ReplyDeleteAfghan officials said the group was kidnapped in the central province of Wardak on Wednesday by unknown gunmen but the International Committee of the Red Cross insisted they were only detained and were expected to be freed soon.
"They are detained by an unidentified group," an ICRC official in Kabul said, adding this meant there had been no demands made for their release.
I thought Bush said he won this war!
Hey guys did you see john edwards is taking matching campaign funds instead of doing like hillary and obama
ReplyDeleteI heard 2 more soldiers were killed today
ReplyDeleteA PBS video previewing the network's Republican presidential candidates forum, set to air tonight from a historically black university, asks, "Can the party of Abraham Lincoln win the hearts and minds of all Americans?"
ReplyDeleteBut none of the GOP's top White House contenders will show up to answer the question, each citing a scheduling conflict.
Instead, viewers will see four empty lecterns on the stage as Tavis Smiley, an African American talk show host, poses questions to five lesser-known candidates.
Another example of the Republican racists.
Breaking News Breaking News
ReplyDeleteJenna Bush ducked a question about whether she agreed with her father about the war in Iraq, but she said she understood critics who argue that she and her twin sister, Barbara, should serve in Iraq.
“Obviously I understand that question and see what the point of that question is for sure. I think there are many ways to serve your country. I think … what’s most appropriate for me to do is to teach or to work in UNICEF and represent our country in Latin America.”
Jenna Bush is like the Romney Boys:
They serve their country by partying. They don’t need to go to Iraq for that type of service.
Hi Lydia :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm voting for Dennis Kucinich, if Hilary became the lead candidate and ultimately the President, I would jump for joy and shout with glee.
I too have been wondering about the Republicans' push for Hilary. Do they have an ulterior motive? Well I just read on the net that last year, "Republicans relished the prospect of Hillary Clinton running for president in 2008, just so they can vote against her" as quoted by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Nice, huh? Not surprising, though...
During the September 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq "phony soldiers." He made the comment while discussing with a caller a conversation he had with a previous caller, "Mike from Chicago," who said he "used to be military," and "believe[s] that we should pull out of Iraq." Limbaugh told the second caller, whom he identified as "Mike, this one from Olympia, Washington," that "[t]here's a lot" that people who favor U.S. withdrawal "don't understand" and that when asked why the United States should pull out, their only answer is, " 'Well, we just gotta bring the troops home.' ... 'Save the -- keeps the troops safe' or whatever," adding, "[I]t's not possible, intellectually, to follow these people." "Mike" from Olympia replied, "No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media." Limbaugh interjected, "The phony soldiers." The caller, who had earlier said, "I am a serving American military, in the Army," agreed, replying, "The phony soldiers."
ReplyDeleteThey aren't phony soldiers: Limbaugh is a phony American.
A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to six aides to embattled GOP Rep. John Doolittle (Calif.), who is under investigation by the Justice Dept. over his ties to imprisoned former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
ReplyDeleteThe subpoenas were issued to Ron Rogers, Doolittle's chief of staff; Dan Blankenburg, deputy chief of staff; Alisha Perkins, scheduler; Evan Goitein, legislative director; Martha Franco, senior executive assistant; and Gordon Hinkle, field rep.
More corrupt Republicans.
Seven on-duty Army personnel participated in a campaign event for Senator John McCain earlier this month in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in an apparent violation of a Pentagon directive against partisan political activity, two military officials confirmed this week.
ReplyDeleteThe September 14 rally at an American Legion hall was part of McCain's "No Surrender" tour of early-primary states, a martial pageant designed to draw attention to the Arizona Republican's continued support for the war in Iraq.
Would they be so lenient if they were supporting a Democrat?
In 1970, in the midst of the last national General Motors strike (which lasted for a significant 67 days), UAW president Leonard Woodcock urged American businesses to become actively involved in a fight for national health insurance and halt their rising, uncontrolled health care costs. "American management now has the opportunity to help make each American's right to better health a reality -- and at less cost" he said.
ReplyDeleteSome things have changed. This year's strike lasted a mere two days. Roughly 400,000 UAW members worked for GM then; only 73,000 do now. But some things haven't: Health care was an issue then, and is an even bigger issue this year. And the stakes in the auto industry negotiations involve more than those at the bargaining table. They reflect public policy choices that put workers at a disadvantage. And they have repercussions for the country as a whole, especially other workers, both active and retired.
If business and labor had joined together in 1970 in the fight for health insurance, unionized and non-union auto companies would now be on a level playing field, and GM would not be at such a financial disadvantage against producers like Toyota because of retiree health care costs. GM knows that well: It has praised the cost savings from Canada's single-payer health insurance system, but it has not used its clout to push for such a system in the United States.
And the UAW would not be setting up a VEBA -- Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, essentially a union-administered trust fund -- to provide retiree health care. The VEBA will allow GM to pay roughly a third less than its currently projected costs for employee health insurance. And retirees will face the risk -- quite high given current health cost inflation -- that the VEBA will not have enough money to continue to pay their health insurance costs. A VEBA at the manufacturing company Caterpillar, for example, went bust in a decade, and some retirees have gone from paying minimal health costs to $1,000 a month.
Health care costs are not the only cause of GM's problems or the insecurity of their employees' jobs. After all, labor costs represent only about 10 percent of the cost of a car. There are vastly fewer GM jobs now than in 1970 because GM's share of the market has been cut in half, because productivity has increased dramatically, and because GM has increasingly outsourced and offshored jobs.
GM would be in a far stronger position if it had listened long ago to the union, in particular former president Walter Reuther. Back in 1956, before the import onslaught, Reuther gave a prescient speech in which he argued American auto companies should build a small, non-polluting, fuel-efficient car. Unfortunately, even though the UAW still promotes a single-payer national health insurance plan, in recent decades it has largely sided with the auto companies in fighting stricter fuel efficiency standards that ultimately would have put GM in a stronger position today.
The union, of course, has long blamed U.S. trade policy, which favors corporate interests and fails to set meaningful labor and environmental standards for undermining much of the domestic auto industry. With a different trade policy, imports probably would have taken a smaller share of the market and there would have been less incentive for GM to move auto and parts production to Mexico and other low-wage countries.
Labor Unions know best!
Breaking News Breaking News
ReplyDeleteJenna Bush ducked a question about whether she agreed with her father about the war in Iraq, but she said she understood critics who argue that she and her twin sister, Barbara, should serve in Iraq.
“Obviously I understand that question and see what the point of that question is for sure. I think there are many ways to serve your country. I think … what’s most appropriate for me to do is to teach or to work in UNICEF and represent our country in Latin America.”
Jenna Bush is like the Romney Boys:
They serve their country by partying. They don’t need to go to Iraq for that type of service
I saw a clip of jenna bush on the news and she does think she is serving her country i don't know how unless it is by being a bush
ReplyDeleteJenna bush corrected diane sawyer when she called the guy she is going to marry her fiance she wants to call him a boyfriend instead it doesn't look like this love affair will last
ReplyDeleteLarry--
ReplyDeleteNon-binding resolutions are a joke. With Bush's signing statements, his total disregard for the rule of law, and his demented idea that as the 'decider', he can do whatever he wants; no matter what Congress passes, it is 'non-binding'.
Lydia--
In regards to the mistranslations, the media can make all the retractions they want now. The damage has already been done, as there are still many that believe, and continue to rant that Ahmadinejad says he wants to 'wipe Israel off the map'. It's the same as 'Saddam was responsible for 9-11', this country of dolts and morons will believe, and swear to, anything they hear over 5 times.
Apparently, Jenna thinks performing oral sex on cowboys in the back of C&W bars in Austin, TX is her contribution to nation.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that worries me is your optimism."
ReplyDeleteSo remarked José MarÃa Aznar, then the prime minister of Spain, in a prescient moment during a February 2003 conversation with George W. Bush about the impending invasion of Iraq.
According to the transcript of that conversation published on Wednesday by the Spanish daily El Pais, Aznar implored Bush for "a little more patience" in building international consensus for action against Saddam Hussein and in seeking possible alternatives to war, in order to assuage the intense public opposition to American policy in Spain and throughout Europe.
The nervous Aznar asked repeatedly whether Saddam might perhaps be persuaded to leave Baghdad without military action -- eliciting a cryptic admission from Bush that it was indeed possible because the Egyptians were secretly discussing a possible deal with the Iraqi dictator that would allow him to depart with a billion dollars and "all the information he wants on weapons of mass destruction." Giving lip service to his own desire for a peaceful solution, Bush quipped that sending Saddam into exile would save "$50 billion," his administration's ridiculously low estimate for the war's cost (which will now exceed at least 20 times that amount), not to mention protect him from the agonizing responsibility for the deaths of American soldiers.
But Bush quickly waved away any such tantalizing possibility, along with all the rest of the concerns and proposals voiced by his staunchest ally next to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Instead, he sternly warned that any foreign leader who continued to oppose him would be punished. Indeed, displaying his usual flair for diplomacy, he mocked the Spanish leader's worries about the growing rift between the United States and its traditional allies across the Atlantic. "The more the Europeans attack me," gloated the president, "the stronger I am in the United States."
The Bush-Aznar transcript is not as damning as the Downing Street memo that surfaced on the front page of the Sunday Times of London on May 1, 2005, which indicated that Bush had decided on war as early as July 2002, and suggested that American intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction was being "fixed" to justify a preemptive invasion. Reportedly set down by Spain's ambassador to the United States during a weekend meeting at the president's home in Crawford, Texas, the transcript revolves around the Bush administration's frustrated effort to win approval for military action from the United Nations Security Council. It is yet another record of the illusions, the arrogance and the missed opportunities that characterized the administration's drive to war.
By now, of course, Bush's deceptive behavior during that period is familiar. Although officially open to a diplomatic resolution of the Iraq crisis -- such as a negotiated departure by Saddam -- it is clear from the transcript of his remarks to Aznar that peaceful alternatives received scant consideration. "We have to get rid of Saddam. There are two weeks left. In two weeks we'll be ready militarily," he told Aznar. "We'll be in Baghdad by the end of March."
That declaration seemed to trouble the Spaniard, who agreed that the time had come to end the standoff with Saddam but pleaded with Bush to seek "as much support as possible ... Have a little patience."
Yet Bush had very little patience with Aznar, let alone with the more recalcitrant leaders he encountered at the United Nations. Responding brusquely to the Spanish leader's plea for serious diplomatic effort, he apparently sought to transmit thuggish threats via Spain to other nations. According to Harper's correspondent Ken Silverstein's translation, Bush said: "Countries like Mexico, Chile, Angola, and Cameroon should know that what's at stake is the security of the United States ... [Chilean President Ricardo] Lagos should know that the Free Trade Accord with Chile is awaiting Senate confirmation and a negative attitude about this could put ratification in danger. Angola is receiving Millennium Account funds [to help alleviate poverty] and that could be jeopardized also if [the Angolan president] is not supportive."
Equally striking are the echoes of the "cakewalk" talk that pervaded White House propaganda in the weeks before the invasion. "We can win [the war] without much destruction," burbled Bush, attempting to reassure Aznar that the future would be bright. "We're planning for a post-Saddam Iraq and believe there is a strong base to build a better future. Iraq has a good bureaucracy and relatively robust civil society." Whatever Bush expected, the State Department's attempt to plan for Iraq's future would be discarded by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; the former Iraqi government would be disbanded and its offices looted and burned; and of course Iraq's civil society would disintegrate into sectarian civil war.
If Aznar didn't anticipate those multiple disasters, at least he had the wit to urge caution, and to wonder aloud why Bush sounded so confident and sunny on the eve of massive bloodshed. (The Spanish people soon ratified his foreboding by dismissing his right-wing government in the next election.)
"I'm optimistic because I believe I'm right," replied the obtuse Bush. "I'm at peace with myself." That smug statement -- uttered by a man who had no idea what he was talking about and no interest in what anyone else believed -- could be the epitaph for his presidency.
What arrogance.
Christopher:
ReplyDeleteJenna served like her daddy. In the bars and honky tonks of the world.
State-by-State Cost Breakdowns
ReplyDeleteThe Bush administration submit a request for an additional $42.3 billion in war-related funding to Congress today. This is on top of the extra funding already allocated to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, which means that they are, in effect, requesting a supplemental for the supplemental.
The additional funds will bring the total amount of 2008 supplemental funding to $189.3 billion—a nearly 30 percent increase over the $142 billion that was requested in February of this year. The overwhelming majority—approximately $158 billion—will go to funding the war in Iraq. If approved, the total spending for the Iraq war would total $617 billion.
The National Priorities Project today released new calculations showing just what effect this surge in spending has had on taxpayers in each state. The interactive map below displays this data and shows state-by-state how much taxpayers have already spent, how much more they will likely spend this year, and what their total cost will be.
It is time to end this misadventure in Iraq and begin a phased redeployment of our forces over the next 10 to 12 months, while implementing a Strategic Reset in the entire Middle East. Until we do so, our troops and our national security will remain hostage to events on the ground.
This doesn't include the blood of U.S soldiers.
(Reuters) - U.S. unions, taking lessons and tactics learned from the effort to arrest organized labor’s long decline, say next year’s presidential election will be crucial to their resurgence.
ReplyDelete“You have more ground-level, grass-roots excitement about this election — this is our election,” said Greg Denier of the Change to Win coalition, which is composed of seven unions representing 6 million workers.
Denier said union polls showed most Americans wanted their government to redress the balance toward workers hurt by spiraling health-care costs and the outsourcing of work by “abusive” corporations.
Despite the overall decline in union membership, some American unions led by the fast-growing Service Employees International Union have expanded by targeting entire industries, instead of individual employers, and by focusing on sectors where the jobs cannot move, such as janitors, health-care workers and retail workers.
Similarly, unions have tapped into technology that will help them get their members to the polls and identifies receptive voters by learning what magazines they subscribe to and other data.
They better not count on Hillary.
New-homes sales tumbled in August to the lowest level in seven years, a stark sign that the credit crunch is aggravating an already painful housing slump.
ReplyDeleteSales of new homes dropped by 8.3 percent in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, driving down sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 units. That was the lowest level since June 2000, when sales clocked in at a pace of 793,000.
The home sales report came on the same day that the government reported a relatively brisk business growth rate in revised figures for the second quarter. But the 3.8 percent GDP figure was less than first estimated and it occurred before the credit crisis and its repercussions across the broad spectrum of the economy had taken hold.
More results of the Bush economy.
So none of the Democratic front runners will commit to withdrawing the troops next year.
ReplyDeleteAll of them, Hillary, Obama, Edwards and Biden all say they won't even commit to withdrawing the troops by the end of their first term.
Let me say here and now that if Gore doesn't enter the race, I will not be voting for any of the Democrats. This could turn out to be the first time in my life that I won't be voting at all.
You've heard a number of times from Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org. Do you consider him a phony soldier?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rush Limbaugh, Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran, is a phony soldier. Today, Media Matters reports that Rush Limbaugh said that those troops who come home and want to get America out of the middle of the religious civil war in Iraq are "phony soldiers."1
The question is, would Rush make these outrageous and offensive comments to Jon's face?
Take action now. Email Rush Limbaugh and urge him to invite Jon Soltz onto his radio show!
Rush Limbaugh has never worn the uniform in his life, yet he's got the moral standing to pass judgment on the men and women who risked their lives for this nation?
Polls have shown that the majority of troops on the ground in Iraq, and those who have returned, do not back the President's failed policy.
Does Rush believe, then, that the majority of the US Armed Forces are "phony?"
Major Generals John Batiste and Paul Eaton left the military and have spoken out against the Bush Administration's failed policies. These are former commanders in Iraq, and they have challenged the Administration for its stubborn refusal to listen to those commanders on the ground who have sent up warning after warning.
Does Rush believe that highly decorated Major Generals are "phony soldiers?"
Finally, recall the members of the 82nd Airborne in Iraq who wrote a New York Times op-ed, urging for a change in course in Iraq, and suggesting it was time to figure out the exit strategy. Two of them just died.
Does Rush believe these young troops are "phony soldiers?"
My challenge to you is to force Rush to invite Jon Soltz onto his show and say all of this again, right to the face of someone who served in Iraq.
Click here to email Rush now!
Democracy demands discussion, disagreement, and dissent. It is the natural expression of our freedom. To dishonor the service of our troops because they have a different viewpoint is unconscionable. Thank you for speaking out.
Sincerely,
Wes Clark
Naj, I love Jon Soltz. He should run for office.
ReplyDeleteRush is an idiot.
John Edwards won the debate and really put Hilary in her place for that Iran "sense of the senate" vote.
There will be no war with Iran. I really feel that this will not be allowed to happen.
Precisely.
ReplyDeleteRush Limbaugh got out of military service because of "anal cysts."
The mind reels as to how he got anal cysts so large that he was excused from military service.
So, fatty really has no business flapping his porkhole vis a vis American soldiers.
He should be focusing his limited attention on where to get his next fix of dope.
There will be no war with Iran. I really feel that this will not be allowed to happen.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you're correct.
The indications, however, suggest otherwise, as U.S. aircraft carriers remain in the Persian Gulf, 165,000 American troops are kept in Iraq who could easily be moved to Iran, U.S. troops have amassed on the southern border in Uzbekistan, and most of all, Dick Cheney wants it.
Cheney wants war with Iran real bad and if Cheney wants it, you can usually be assured, he will get it.
The more one looks into the story of the Bush Administration, the darker and more insane it becomes. I wonder what our posterity will say about us. What kind of government are we actually living under?
ReplyDeleteLarry said...
ReplyDeleteChristopher:
Jenna served like her daddy. In the bars and honky tonks of the world.
You misspelled "serviced", Larry...
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