"Help me! I'm melting! -- George W. Bush
Boston Legal, excerpt from episode, Stick it!, March 14, 2006
Quite by accident, I caught the last few minutes of this program. Alan Shore, the defense attorney, is giving his closing arguments. His client is being prosecuted for withholding taxes as an anti-war protest. It is worth reading through:
Alan Shore: When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out not to be true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't. Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specializein torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute. Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorist suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.
And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't. In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.
There are no demonstrations on college campuses. In fact, there's no clear indication that young people even seem to notice. Well, Melissa Hughes noticed. Now, you might think, instead of withholding her taxes, she could have protested the old fashioned way. Made a placard and demonstrated at a Presidential or Vice-Presidential appearance, but we've lost the right to that as well. The Secret Service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and, in effect, criminalize protest. Stop for a second and try to fathom that.
At a presidential rally, parade or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you’re wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed. This! In the United States of America. This! In the United States of America. Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed?
(He sits down abruptly in the witness chair next to the judge.)
Judge Robert Sanders: Mr. Shore. That's a chair for witnesses only.
Alan Shore: Really long speeches make me so tired sometimes.
Judge Robert Sanders: Please get out of the chair.
Alan Shore: Actually, I'm sick and tired.
Judge Robert Sanders: Get out of the chair!
Alan Shore: And what I'm most sick and tired of… (He get’s up and out of the chair.) …is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled un-American.
D.A. Jonathan Shapiro: Evidentially, it's speech time.
Alan Shore: And speech in this country is free, you hack! Free for me, free for you. Free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say, "Stick it"!
D.A. Jonathan Shapiro: Objection!
Alan Shore: I object to government abusing its power to squash the constitutional freedoms of its citizenry. And, God forbid, anybody challenge it, they're smeared as being a heretic. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American!
Judge Robert Sanders: Mr. Shore. Unless you have anything new and fresh to say, please sit down. You've breached the decorum of my courtroom with all this hooting.
Alan Shore: Last night, I went to bed with a book. Not as much fun as a 29-year-old, but the book contained a speech by Adlai Stevenson. The year was 1952.He said, "The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live and fear breeds repression. Too often, sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-Communism." Today, it's the cloak of anti-terrorism. Stevenson also remarked, "It's far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.”
I know we are all afraid. But the Bill of Rights - we have to live up to that. We simply must. That's all Melissa Hughes was trying to say. She was speaking for you. I would ask you now to go back to that room and speak for her.
[This dramatic moment reminded me of James Michener saying, "Truth may be stranger than fiction, but fiction is stronger than truth."]
Harper's Weekly Review
Bush approval falls to 33% . . . .
"The single word most frequently associated with George W. Bush today is 'incompetent,'and close behind are two other increasingly mentioned descriptors: 'idiot' and 'liar.'; All three are mentioned far more often today than a year ago."
Putting it mildly.
Sky falls on Bush the outcast
"Tarnished by the war and a never-ending flow of domestic scandals, Bush is increasingly being seen as a liability to Republicans facing November's mid-term elections. Many of the party's senior members are distancing themselves from their President with a new willingness to disobey orders from the White House."
Bush using straw-man arguments in speeches
"A specialist in presidential rhetoric, Wayne Fields of Washington University in St. Louis, views it as 'a bizarre kind of double talk' that abuses the rules of legitimate discussion.
"'It's such a phenomenal hole in the national debate that you can have arguments with nonexistent people,' Fields said. 'All politicians try to get away with this to a certain extent. What's striking here is how much this administration rests on a foundation of this kind of stuff.'"
Bush's fantasy of progress in Iraq
"WHAT IS HE thinking? On a day when Shiite vigilantes conducted hangings in Sadr City in reprisal for the killing of scores of their co-religionists in a market bombing, President Bush continued to insist that progress in Iraq justified staying the course.
"'By their response over the past two weeks, Iraqis have shown the world that they want a future of freedom and peace,' he said Monday. 'We're helping Iraqis build a strong democracy so that old resentments will be eased and the insurgency marginalized.'"
Bush still ignoring reality
"Yet, in test-marketing his new P.R. campaign in a March 11 radio address, Bush had his rose-colored glasses firmly back on. In his upbeat assessment, he downplayed grisly evidence that Iraq is sliding toward sectarian civil war, with Shiite “death squads” butchering Sunnis and Sunni gunmen killing Shiites."
Anti-war rallies held across the world
"Anti-war demonstrators held rallies across the globe Saturday to protest the war in Iraq as campaigners marked the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion with a demand that coalition troops pull out."
US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told
"John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures. With unusual frankness, he described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as 'an unbelievable mess' and said 'Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth'."
Change of heartland
'''It's chaos,' said Roger Madaras, who voted twice for Bush. ''How many more people are going to be killed? We were going in to free the people of Iraq, but as far as I'm concerned, a lot of them are worse off today than they were under the dictatorship.'"
85 bodies found in Baghdad in Sectarian strife
"Many bodies bore marks of torture — badly beaten faces, gagged mouths and rope burns around the neck — though it remains unclear who is responsible."
Media ignored Bush's contradictory stance on "timetables" in Iraq
"In covering President's Bush's March 13 speech at George Washington University, media outlets reported that Bush effectively laid out a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq by setting a 'goal of having the Iraqis control more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006.' These reports, however, completely ignored the numerous statements Bush and other administration officials have made denouncing timetables for withdrawal and attacking those -- such as decorated war veteran Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) -- who proposed them."
US military airstrikes significantly increased in Iraq
"American forces have dramatically increased airstrikes in Iraq during the past five months, a change of tactics that may foreshadow how the United States plans to battle a still-strong insurgency while reducing the number of U.S. ground troops serving here."
Translation: collateral damage will escalate, increasing Arab hatred for 'Merica.
Make war, not peace: Forces' leaders trying to stifle debate on mission
"Hillier and others in Canada's hawkish defence lobby — generals, politicians, military analysts and defence contractors — are therefore delighted by the transformation of our military role in Afghanistan into one that includes war-making. Indeed, they pushed for this transformation."
Canada continues to dance with the devil.
The war dividend: The British companies making a fortune out of conflict-riven Iraq
"British businesses have profited by at least £1.1bn since coalition forces toppled Saddam Hussein three years ago, the first comprehensive investigation into UK corporate investment in Iraq has found."
US war spending to rise 44% to 9.8 bln a month, report says
"Spending will rise to $9.8 billion a month from the $6.8 billion a month the Pentagon said it spent last year, the research service said. The group's March 10 report cites 'substantial''" expenses to replace or repair damaged weapons, aircraft, vehicles, radios and spare parts.
Cost of Iraq war could surpass $1 trillion
"One thing is certain about the Iraq war: It has cost a lot more than advertised. In fact, the tab grows by at least $200 million each and every day."
Feingold accuses Democrats of 'cowering"
"Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold accused fellow Democrats on Tuesday of cowering rather than joining him on trying to censure President Bush over domestic spying."
On Wednesday, Ed Schultz said he called 25 dem congressmen to talk about the censure on air and none came forth. Since they get their kickbacks from the same sources as the repgugs, they're afraid to shortchange themselves.
Death of the world's rivers
"The Independent on Sunday can today reveal that more than half the world's 500 mightiest rivers have been seriously depleted. Some have been reduced to a trickle in what the United Nations will this week warn is a 'disaster in the making'."
A blueprint for fiscal disaster
"This week, the Senate is debating the 2007 budget resolution, a blueprint for how Congress plans to allocate $2.8 trillion in federal spending next year. The federal budget is a concrete embodiment of policy choices, a moral document that reflects the values and priorities of our nation. The budget that the Senate is currently debating runs counter to many of our nation's longest and deepest held beliefs; it prioritizes tax cuts for the rich and wasteful spending in the defense budget while shortchanging veterans benefits, education, health care, energy research, homeland security, housing for the elderly and disabled, and child care for working families. The Washington Post writes, '[I]t's time to pause and consider the unabashed recklessness of the Bush administration's fiscal policies and its unwillingness to alter its tax-cutting course to accommodate new budgetary realities.' Indeed, while President Bush and his conservative allies claim their cuts to domestic programs are needed measures to assert fiscal discipline, the reality is that the Senate budget plan would actually increase the deficit over the next five years by $266 billion."
Is rising US public debt sustainable?
"The economic burden posed by the national debt, economists say, is more serious now than in 1980, when a $1 trillion figure stirred national anxiety. Today, the public debt is larger as a share of the American economy, more than half is held by foreigners, and the wave of baby-boomer retirements is no longer decades away."
US deficit data fuel anxieties on dollar
"The worse-than-expected deficit rekindled fears among economists that global imbalances would undermine the dollar."
Bush administration renews "preemptive war" strategy
"In issuing this updated version of the National Security Strategy, the Bush administration has made it clear that there will be no retreat from the doctrine of preemptive war; the United States reserves to itself the right to attack, at any time, any country that it considers a threat, or merely a potential threat, even if that country has not taken any overt hostile action."
Former judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship
"Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the Supreme Court, has said the United States is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary."
I wonder if she regrets selecting the evil moron for president?
Iraq and the Nuremberg precedent
"But what about the legal and moral questions arising from the unprovoked invasion of Iraq? Should George W. Bush and his top aides be held accountable for violating the laws against aggressive war that the United States and other Western nations promulgated in punishing senior Nazis after World War II? Do the Nuremberg precedents that prohibit one nation from invading another apply to Bush and American officials -- or are they somehow immune? Put bluntly, should Bush and his inner circle face a war-crimes tribunal for the tens of thousands of deaths in Iraq?"
Global Eye
"So now he [Bush] has taken his revenge. The backdoor measure in the Patriot Act decrees that responsibility for awarding fast-track death-penalty status to the states will now be the sole prerogative of the U.S. Attorney General -- one Alberto Gonzales. Yes, the fawning minion whose perversions of law on behalf of his boss have abetted war, torture, corruption, assassination, abduction, rendition, dictatorship and the slipshod Texas death machinery will now decide if states are scrupulous enough to resume lickety-split executions. You can hear those sausage grinders gearing up all over America."
US/Israel plan nuclear attack on Iran to control oil and defend the dollar
"US and Israeli governments plan a military attack against Iran, possibly using nuclear bombs [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], possibly this month (March 2006) for reasons including: stopping the planned opening of an international oil-petrochemical-gas stock exchange for oil trade in euros [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]; control of Khuzestan province [1] [2] [3] where most Iranian oil lies, on the border with Iraq (US war plan OPLAN 1002-04); to distract attention from USA domestic political problems; and for Christian fundamentalist reasons - Bush says he was just following God's orders when he ordered the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq."
Bush ready to initiate 'regime change' for the mullahs
"After five years of indecision and internal disputes the Bush administration has started a new, more vigorous phase in trying to undermine the ruling mullahs of Iran. The phrase 'regime change' is seen as too loaded to use in public but in effect that is what the administration is hoping to do, according to officials in Washington."
US derails efforts for democracy in Iran
"Prominent activists inside Iran say President Bush's plan to spend tens of millions of dollars to promote democracy here is the kind of help they don't need, warning that mere announcement of the U.S. program endangers human rights advocates by tainting them as American agents, the WASHINGTON POST reports on Tuesday page ones, RAW STORY has learned."
Arab central banks move assets out of dollar
"Middle Eastern anger over the decision by the US to block a Dubai company from buying five of its ports hit the dollar yesterday as a number of central banks said they were considering switching reserves into euros."
Carlyle Group explores port operations
"Private equity firm The Carlyle Group established a team to acquire public-purpose facilities such as ports a day after a United Arab Emirates company said it would transfer newly acquired operations at American ports to a U.S. organization."
Tony Blair's future employer ready to make a move.
Many utilities collect for taxes they never pay
"Many electric utility companies across the nation are collecting billions of dollars from their customers for corporate income taxes, then keeping the money rather than sending it to the government." . . . .
"Customers paid Xcel Energy, a big utility in 10 Midwest and Western states, at least $723 million to cover taxes from 2002 to 2004. But the money did not go to the government; in fact, the company received cash refunds of $351.4 million."
Corporations have the rights of individuals without the accountability. It pays to line the pockets of representatives, senators, judges, presidents, vice presidents, etc. Xcel illegally pocketed over $1B in two years. Shouldn't someone go to jail for that? Shouldn't Xcel's customers demand the money not paid for taxes returned to them?
Pfizer makes list of worst corporate evildoers
"Pfizer's participation in the cover-up of the deadly side effects of Bextra surely contributed to its membership. Because the drug was promoted and sold off-label for so many unapproved uses, the company made hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profits during Bextra's short life on the market. However, experts predict that when all is said and done, the total amount of the drug's damage to consumers will be in the billions."
Democrats: Bush rejects needed storm loans
"The White House has rejected hurricane disaster-recovery loans at a higher rate than any other administration in the last 15 years, according to a congressional study by Democrats."
But after 9/11, BushCo was quick to lavishly lay corporate welfare on the airline industry.
Quotes from http://www.bartcop.com/ and others:
"Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) said he won't rule out voting to censure Bush." -- Wake-Up Call!, Link
He has time and time again taken on the side of the terrorists." --Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Bastard) accusing Feingold of siding with terrorists, As long as Feingold stands alone, they can accuse him of these atrocities. If some Democrats would stand up and endorse Feingold, he would have some protection. How can the Democrats be so scared of doing the right thing?
"I'm amazed at Democrats...cowering with this president's numbers so low. The administration...just has to raise the specter of the War on Terror, and Democrats run and hide." -- Russ Feingold, sounding like he's been reading you-know-what, Link
"The Republicans in charge of Congress have been partners with Bush every bloody, stupid, costly step along the way. You may as well ask them to impeach themselves. For that matter, you may as well call on Bush and Dick Cheney to recognize their disastrous mistakes and resign. Let's remember that politics is about gaining and using power - and that gravity does apply." -- David Corn, Link
"We don't fear the future. We welcome it. We have delivered results for the American people, and we've got an agenda to continue to do so." -- Dubya, bragging about alll his successes at the Nazi Committee dinner on Thursday, Link
"We're all burned out. People are just tired.'" -- White House staffers, tired of the lies, Link
"The president authorized an illegal program to spy on American citizens on American soil, and then misled Congress and the public about the existence and legality of that program. It is up to this body to ...condemn the President's actions...The president has done wrong." -- Russ Feingold, saying stuff I like hearing, Link
“I’d prefer to bring this very important program of surveillance of potential terrorists here in the United States under the law. ...this is a critically important program to the prevention of terrorist acts here in the United States.” -- Joe Lieberman, hinting he'd vote no on the Feingold resolution to censure Dubya, Link
"If Democratics are going to be attacking the president in a time of war, then we are ready to vote. If they support censuring Bush then I want them to all be on the record." -- Bill Frist, Link I agree. All those in favor of the United States Constitution, stand and be counted. All those in favor of dumping Democracy for King Bush, stand and be counted.
"The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong." -- Bill Frist, on Dubya being censored, Link Would somebody remind this prick he leads the party that impeached a popular president during wartime?
"The White House has a transmitter but not a listening device. There's denial going on, and it starts at the top." -- A well-known Republican with close ties to Bush, Link Too bad the Democrats don't understand that when the oppositon has an approval rating of 36 percent, THAT is when you attack, but they're too scared to act, the poor gutless bastards.
"George W. Bush is the syphilis president." -- Kurt Vonnegut, at Ohio State, Link
"If this was a European parliamentary system, it would have been a vote of no-confidence." -- Ed Rollins, Republican strategist, on Dubya's Dubai defeat, Link
"My administration was satisfied that port security would not have been undermined by the agreement. Nevertheless, Congress was still very much opposed to it." -- Dubya, who apparently thinks America still trusts his non-existent judgment. Link
"He made that veto threat then he went on the trip to India and went silent basically. Karl Rove calls the people in Dubai two nights ago and tells them pull the plug on the deal, and I think as a result, the president looks weak, frankly." -- Bill Kristol, who tells the truth twice each year, on Fox Whore News, Link
"The president deserved better." -- John McCain, fretting over his "best friend" Dubya's problems, Link
"Sad pandering politician near the end of his career and he doesn't even know it." -- Atrios, on John McCain, Link
"War is a very profitable thing ...for a few people. Jesus used to be so merciful and loving of the poor. But now he’s a Republican." -- Kurt Vonnegut, at Ohio State, Link
Presidential IQs
F.D.R. (D) (number didn't come thru)
132 Harry Truman (D)
122 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
174 John F. Kennedy (D)
126 Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
155 Richard M. Nixon (R)
121 Gerald Ford (R)
175 James E. Carter (D)
105 Ronald Reagan (R)
098 George HW Bush (R)
182 William J. Clinton (D)
091 George W. Bush (R)
The six Republican presidents of the past 50 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with Nixon having the highest at 155.
WHITE HOUSE BREAKFAST
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush were having breakfast at the White House.The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like, and he replies, "I'd like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit.""
And what can I get for you, Mr. President?"
George W. replies with his trademark wink and slight grin, "How about a quickie this morning?""
Why, Mr. President!" the waitress exclaims "How rude! You're starting to act like Mr. Clinton! ''
As the waitress storms away, Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers..."It's pronounced 'quiche'."
Sunday Comics
Be sure to read the Sunday Comics today. Five address Smirk issues. (I have given my interpretation in parentheses.)
Wizard of ID (Lowest approval rating ever)
Beetle Bailey (Inability to lead)
OPUS (intimidation and control of press)
Doonesbury (Lack of Congressional oversight for impeachable offenses)
Non Sequitur (All of the above) (Note lectern notes)
(Thanks, Ray.)
Quite by accident, I caught the last few minutes of this program. Alan Shore, the defense attorney, is giving his closing arguments. His client is being prosecuted for withholding taxes as an anti-war protest. It is worth reading through:
Alan Shore: When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out not to be true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't. Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specializein torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute. Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorist suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.
And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't. In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.
There are no demonstrations on college campuses. In fact, there's no clear indication that young people even seem to notice. Well, Melissa Hughes noticed. Now, you might think, instead of withholding her taxes, she could have protested the old fashioned way. Made a placard and demonstrated at a Presidential or Vice-Presidential appearance, but we've lost the right to that as well. The Secret Service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and, in effect, criminalize protest. Stop for a second and try to fathom that.
At a presidential rally, parade or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you’re wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed. This! In the United States of America. This! In the United States of America. Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed?
(He sits down abruptly in the witness chair next to the judge.)
Judge Robert Sanders: Mr. Shore. That's a chair for witnesses only.
Alan Shore: Really long speeches make me so tired sometimes.
Judge Robert Sanders: Please get out of the chair.
Alan Shore: Actually, I'm sick and tired.
Judge Robert Sanders: Get out of the chair!
Alan Shore: And what I'm most sick and tired of… (He get’s up and out of the chair.) …is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled un-American.
D.A. Jonathan Shapiro: Evidentially, it's speech time.
Alan Shore: And speech in this country is free, you hack! Free for me, free for you. Free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say, "Stick it"!
D.A. Jonathan Shapiro: Objection!
Alan Shore: I object to government abusing its power to squash the constitutional freedoms of its citizenry. And, God forbid, anybody challenge it, they're smeared as being a heretic. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American!
Judge Robert Sanders: Mr. Shore. Unless you have anything new and fresh to say, please sit down. You've breached the decorum of my courtroom with all this hooting.
Alan Shore: Last night, I went to bed with a book. Not as much fun as a 29-year-old, but the book contained a speech by Adlai Stevenson. The year was 1952.He said, "The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live and fear breeds repression. Too often, sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-Communism." Today, it's the cloak of anti-terrorism. Stevenson also remarked, "It's far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.”
I know we are all afraid. But the Bill of Rights - we have to live up to that. We simply must. That's all Melissa Hughes was trying to say. She was speaking for you. I would ask you now to go back to that room and speak for her.
[This dramatic moment reminded me of James Michener saying, "Truth may be stranger than fiction, but fiction is stronger than truth."]
Harper's Weekly Review
Bush approval falls to 33% . . . .
"The single word most frequently associated with George W. Bush today is 'incompetent,'and close behind are two other increasingly mentioned descriptors: 'idiot' and 'liar.'; All three are mentioned far more often today than a year ago."
Putting it mildly.
Sky falls on Bush the outcast
"Tarnished by the war and a never-ending flow of domestic scandals, Bush is increasingly being seen as a liability to Republicans facing November's mid-term elections. Many of the party's senior members are distancing themselves from their President with a new willingness to disobey orders from the White House."
Bush using straw-man arguments in speeches
"A specialist in presidential rhetoric, Wayne Fields of Washington University in St. Louis, views it as 'a bizarre kind of double talk' that abuses the rules of legitimate discussion.
"'It's such a phenomenal hole in the national debate that you can have arguments with nonexistent people,' Fields said. 'All politicians try to get away with this to a certain extent. What's striking here is how much this administration rests on a foundation of this kind of stuff.'"
Bush's fantasy of progress in Iraq
"WHAT IS HE thinking? On a day when Shiite vigilantes conducted hangings in Sadr City in reprisal for the killing of scores of their co-religionists in a market bombing, President Bush continued to insist that progress in Iraq justified staying the course.
"'By their response over the past two weeks, Iraqis have shown the world that they want a future of freedom and peace,' he said Monday. 'We're helping Iraqis build a strong democracy so that old resentments will be eased and the insurgency marginalized.'"
Bush still ignoring reality
"Yet, in test-marketing his new P.R. campaign in a March 11 radio address, Bush had his rose-colored glasses firmly back on. In his upbeat assessment, he downplayed grisly evidence that Iraq is sliding toward sectarian civil war, with Shiite “death squads” butchering Sunnis and Sunni gunmen killing Shiites."
Anti-war rallies held across the world
"Anti-war demonstrators held rallies across the globe Saturday to protest the war in Iraq as campaigners marked the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion with a demand that coalition troops pull out."
US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told
"John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures. With unusual frankness, he described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as 'an unbelievable mess' and said 'Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth'."
Change of heartland
'''It's chaos,' said Roger Madaras, who voted twice for Bush. ''How many more people are going to be killed? We were going in to free the people of Iraq, but as far as I'm concerned, a lot of them are worse off today than they were under the dictatorship.'"
85 bodies found in Baghdad in Sectarian strife
"Many bodies bore marks of torture — badly beaten faces, gagged mouths and rope burns around the neck — though it remains unclear who is responsible."
Media ignored Bush's contradictory stance on "timetables" in Iraq
"In covering President's Bush's March 13 speech at George Washington University, media outlets reported that Bush effectively laid out a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq by setting a 'goal of having the Iraqis control more territory than the coalition by the end of 2006.' These reports, however, completely ignored the numerous statements Bush and other administration officials have made denouncing timetables for withdrawal and attacking those -- such as decorated war veteran Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) -- who proposed them."
US military airstrikes significantly increased in Iraq
"American forces have dramatically increased airstrikes in Iraq during the past five months, a change of tactics that may foreshadow how the United States plans to battle a still-strong insurgency while reducing the number of U.S. ground troops serving here."
Translation: collateral damage will escalate, increasing Arab hatred for 'Merica.
Make war, not peace: Forces' leaders trying to stifle debate on mission
"Hillier and others in Canada's hawkish defence lobby — generals, politicians, military analysts and defence contractors — are therefore delighted by the transformation of our military role in Afghanistan into one that includes war-making. Indeed, they pushed for this transformation."
Canada continues to dance with the devil.
The war dividend: The British companies making a fortune out of conflict-riven Iraq
"British businesses have profited by at least £1.1bn since coalition forces toppled Saddam Hussein three years ago, the first comprehensive investigation into UK corporate investment in Iraq has found."
US war spending to rise 44% to 9.8 bln a month, report says
"Spending will rise to $9.8 billion a month from the $6.8 billion a month the Pentagon said it spent last year, the research service said. The group's March 10 report cites 'substantial''" expenses to replace or repair damaged weapons, aircraft, vehicles, radios and spare parts.
Cost of Iraq war could surpass $1 trillion
"One thing is certain about the Iraq war: It has cost a lot more than advertised. In fact, the tab grows by at least $200 million each and every day."
Feingold accuses Democrats of 'cowering"
"Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold accused fellow Democrats on Tuesday of cowering rather than joining him on trying to censure President Bush over domestic spying."
On Wednesday, Ed Schultz said he called 25 dem congressmen to talk about the censure on air and none came forth. Since they get their kickbacks from the same sources as the repgugs, they're afraid to shortchange themselves.
Death of the world's rivers
"The Independent on Sunday can today reveal that more than half the world's 500 mightiest rivers have been seriously depleted. Some have been reduced to a trickle in what the United Nations will this week warn is a 'disaster in the making'."
A blueprint for fiscal disaster
"This week, the Senate is debating the 2007 budget resolution, a blueprint for how Congress plans to allocate $2.8 trillion in federal spending next year. The federal budget is a concrete embodiment of policy choices, a moral document that reflects the values and priorities of our nation. The budget that the Senate is currently debating runs counter to many of our nation's longest and deepest held beliefs; it prioritizes tax cuts for the rich and wasteful spending in the defense budget while shortchanging veterans benefits, education, health care, energy research, homeland security, housing for the elderly and disabled, and child care for working families. The Washington Post writes, '[I]t's time to pause and consider the unabashed recklessness of the Bush administration's fiscal policies and its unwillingness to alter its tax-cutting course to accommodate new budgetary realities.' Indeed, while President Bush and his conservative allies claim their cuts to domestic programs are needed measures to assert fiscal discipline, the reality is that the Senate budget plan would actually increase the deficit over the next five years by $266 billion."
Is rising US public debt sustainable?
"The economic burden posed by the national debt, economists say, is more serious now than in 1980, when a $1 trillion figure stirred national anxiety. Today, the public debt is larger as a share of the American economy, more than half is held by foreigners, and the wave of baby-boomer retirements is no longer decades away."
US deficit data fuel anxieties on dollar
"The worse-than-expected deficit rekindled fears among economists that global imbalances would undermine the dollar."
Bush administration renews "preemptive war" strategy
"In issuing this updated version of the National Security Strategy, the Bush administration has made it clear that there will be no retreat from the doctrine of preemptive war; the United States reserves to itself the right to attack, at any time, any country that it considers a threat, or merely a potential threat, even if that country has not taken any overt hostile action."
Former judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship
"Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the Supreme Court, has said the United States is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary."
I wonder if she regrets selecting the evil moron for president?
Iraq and the Nuremberg precedent
"But what about the legal and moral questions arising from the unprovoked invasion of Iraq? Should George W. Bush and his top aides be held accountable for violating the laws against aggressive war that the United States and other Western nations promulgated in punishing senior Nazis after World War II? Do the Nuremberg precedents that prohibit one nation from invading another apply to Bush and American officials -- or are they somehow immune? Put bluntly, should Bush and his inner circle face a war-crimes tribunal for the tens of thousands of deaths in Iraq?"
Global Eye
"So now he [Bush] has taken his revenge. The backdoor measure in the Patriot Act decrees that responsibility for awarding fast-track death-penalty status to the states will now be the sole prerogative of the U.S. Attorney General -- one Alberto Gonzales. Yes, the fawning minion whose perversions of law on behalf of his boss have abetted war, torture, corruption, assassination, abduction, rendition, dictatorship and the slipshod Texas death machinery will now decide if states are scrupulous enough to resume lickety-split executions. You can hear those sausage grinders gearing up all over America."
US/Israel plan nuclear attack on Iran to control oil and defend the dollar
"US and Israeli governments plan a military attack against Iran, possibly using nuclear bombs [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], possibly this month (March 2006) for reasons including: stopping the planned opening of an international oil-petrochemical-gas stock exchange for oil trade in euros [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]; control of Khuzestan province [1] [2] [3] where most Iranian oil lies, on the border with Iraq (US war plan OPLAN 1002-04); to distract attention from USA domestic political problems; and for Christian fundamentalist reasons - Bush says he was just following God's orders when he ordered the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq."
Bush ready to initiate 'regime change' for the mullahs
"After five years of indecision and internal disputes the Bush administration has started a new, more vigorous phase in trying to undermine the ruling mullahs of Iran. The phrase 'regime change' is seen as too loaded to use in public but in effect that is what the administration is hoping to do, according to officials in Washington."
US derails efforts for democracy in Iran
"Prominent activists inside Iran say President Bush's plan to spend tens of millions of dollars to promote democracy here is the kind of help they don't need, warning that mere announcement of the U.S. program endangers human rights advocates by tainting them as American agents, the WASHINGTON POST reports on Tuesday page ones, RAW STORY has learned."
Arab central banks move assets out of dollar
"Middle Eastern anger over the decision by the US to block a Dubai company from buying five of its ports hit the dollar yesterday as a number of central banks said they were considering switching reserves into euros."
Carlyle Group explores port operations
"Private equity firm The Carlyle Group established a team to acquire public-purpose facilities such as ports a day after a United Arab Emirates company said it would transfer newly acquired operations at American ports to a U.S. organization."
Tony Blair's future employer ready to make a move.
Many utilities collect for taxes they never pay
"Many electric utility companies across the nation are collecting billions of dollars from their customers for corporate income taxes, then keeping the money rather than sending it to the government." . . . .
"Customers paid Xcel Energy, a big utility in 10 Midwest and Western states, at least $723 million to cover taxes from 2002 to 2004. But the money did not go to the government; in fact, the company received cash refunds of $351.4 million."
Corporations have the rights of individuals without the accountability. It pays to line the pockets of representatives, senators, judges, presidents, vice presidents, etc. Xcel illegally pocketed over $1B in two years. Shouldn't someone go to jail for that? Shouldn't Xcel's customers demand the money not paid for taxes returned to them?
Pfizer makes list of worst corporate evildoers
"Pfizer's participation in the cover-up of the deadly side effects of Bextra surely contributed to its membership. Because the drug was promoted and sold off-label for so many unapproved uses, the company made hundreds of millions of dollars in pure profits during Bextra's short life on the market. However, experts predict that when all is said and done, the total amount of the drug's damage to consumers will be in the billions."
Democrats: Bush rejects needed storm loans
"The White House has rejected hurricane disaster-recovery loans at a higher rate than any other administration in the last 15 years, according to a congressional study by Democrats."
But after 9/11, BushCo was quick to lavishly lay corporate welfare on the airline industry.
Quotes from http://www.bartcop.com/ and others:
"Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) said he won't rule out voting to censure Bush." -- Wake-Up Call!, Link
He has time and time again taken on the side of the terrorists." --Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Bastard) accusing Feingold of siding with terrorists, As long as Feingold stands alone, they can accuse him of these atrocities. If some Democrats would stand up and endorse Feingold, he would have some protection. How can the Democrats be so scared of doing the right thing?
"I'm amazed at Democrats...cowering with this president's numbers so low. The administration...just has to raise the specter of the War on Terror, and Democrats run and hide." -- Russ Feingold, sounding like he's been reading you-know-what, Link
"The Republicans in charge of Congress have been partners with Bush every bloody, stupid, costly step along the way. You may as well ask them to impeach themselves. For that matter, you may as well call on Bush and Dick Cheney to recognize their disastrous mistakes and resign. Let's remember that politics is about gaining and using power - and that gravity does apply." -- David Corn, Link
"We don't fear the future. We welcome it. We have delivered results for the American people, and we've got an agenda to continue to do so." -- Dubya, bragging about alll his successes at the Nazi Committee dinner on Thursday, Link
"We're all burned out. People are just tired.'" -- White House staffers, tired of the lies, Link
"The president authorized an illegal program to spy on American citizens on American soil, and then misled Congress and the public about the existence and legality of that program. It is up to this body to ...condemn the President's actions...The president has done wrong." -- Russ Feingold, saying stuff I like hearing, Link
“I’d prefer to bring this very important program of surveillance of potential terrorists here in the United States under the law. ...this is a critically important program to the prevention of terrorist acts here in the United States.” -- Joe Lieberman, hinting he'd vote no on the Feingold resolution to censure Dubya, Link
"If Democratics are going to be attacking the president in a time of war, then we are ready to vote. If they support censuring Bush then I want them to all be on the record." -- Bill Frist, Link I agree. All those in favor of the United States Constitution, stand and be counted. All those in favor of dumping Democracy for King Bush, stand and be counted.
"The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong." -- Bill Frist, on Dubya being censored, Link Would somebody remind this prick he leads the party that impeached a popular president during wartime?
"The White House has a transmitter but not a listening device. There's denial going on, and it starts at the top." -- A well-known Republican with close ties to Bush, Link Too bad the Democrats don't understand that when the oppositon has an approval rating of 36 percent, THAT is when you attack, but they're too scared to act, the poor gutless bastards.
"George W. Bush is the syphilis president." -- Kurt Vonnegut, at Ohio State, Link
"If this was a European parliamentary system, it would have been a vote of no-confidence." -- Ed Rollins, Republican strategist, on Dubya's Dubai defeat, Link
"My administration was satisfied that port security would not have been undermined by the agreement. Nevertheless, Congress was still very much opposed to it." -- Dubya, who apparently thinks America still trusts his non-existent judgment. Link
"He made that veto threat then he went on the trip to India and went silent basically. Karl Rove calls the people in Dubai two nights ago and tells them pull the plug on the deal, and I think as a result, the president looks weak, frankly." -- Bill Kristol, who tells the truth twice each year, on Fox Whore News, Link
"The president deserved better." -- John McCain, fretting over his "best friend" Dubya's problems, Link
"Sad pandering politician near the end of his career and he doesn't even know it." -- Atrios, on John McCain, Link
"War is a very profitable thing ...for a few people. Jesus used to be so merciful and loving of the poor. But now he’s a Republican." -- Kurt Vonnegut, at Ohio State, Link
Presidential IQs
F.D.R. (D) (number didn't come thru)
132 Harry Truman (D)
122 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
174 John F. Kennedy (D)
126 Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
155 Richard M. Nixon (R)
121 Gerald Ford (R)
175 James E. Carter (D)
105 Ronald Reagan (R)
098 George HW Bush (R)
182 William J. Clinton (D)
091 George W. Bush (R)
The six Republican presidents of the past 50 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with Nixon having the highest at 155.
WHITE HOUSE BREAKFAST
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush were having breakfast at the White House.The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like, and he replies, "I'd like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit.""
And what can I get for you, Mr. President?"
George W. replies with his trademark wink and slight grin, "How about a quickie this morning?""
Why, Mr. President!" the waitress exclaims "How rude! You're starting to act like Mr. Clinton! ''
As the waitress storms away, Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers..."It's pronounced 'quiche'."
Sunday Comics
Be sure to read the Sunday Comics today. Five address Smirk issues. (I have given my interpretation in parentheses.)
Wizard of ID (Lowest approval rating ever)
Beetle Bailey (Inability to lead)
OPUS (intimidation and control of press)
Doonesbury (Lack of Congressional oversight for impeachable offenses)
Non Sequitur (All of the above) (Note lectern notes)
(Thanks, Ray.)
posted by Jerry | 7:50 PM
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