Bush is over

You know it's tough when the Attack Dog calls out the Pit Bull

We learned today that Dick Cheney's blood clot in his leg is now smaller. Certainly it is smaller than the blood clot in his head, where, it is rumored, his brain was once ensconced. How else to explain rolling out disgraced former bug killing Congressman Tom DeLay to out-Rush Rush in impugning the Democratic leadership of both Houses of Congress? It's not so much that the indicted Dickhead has come galloping to the Bushites defense, but more the timbre of his words. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "are getting very, very close to treason," DeLay said in a meeting with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. This, from a self-absorbed corruption king who treated his power base in Washington as a fiefdom, replete with tribute laid at his feet, a man who gerrymandered the most transparently undemocratic redistricting in Texas history; in short, from a criminal. Oh, and while we're talking about treasonous words, here are some quotes about the current Iraq war bill sure to meet with a Dubya veto, from some other prominent "traitors:"
“This important legislation sets a new direction for Iraq. It acknowledges that America went to war without mobilizing the nation, that our strategy in Iraq has been tragically flawed since the invasion in March 2003, that our Army and Marine Corps are at the breaking point with little to show for it, and that our military alone will never establish representative government in Iraq. The administration got it terribly wrong and I applaud our Congress for stepping up to their constitutional responsibilities.”

-Maj. Gen. John Batiste, USA, Ret.

“This bill gives General Petraeus great leverage for moving the Iraqi government down the more disciplined path laid out by the Iraq Study Group. The real audience for the timeline language is Prime Minister al-Maliki and the elected government of Iraq. The argument that this bill aides the enemy is simply not mature - nobody on the earth underestimates the United States’ capacity for unpredictability. It may further create some sense of urgency in the rest of our government, beginning with the State Department.”
-Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, USA, Ret.

“The bill gives the president a chance to pull back from a disastrous course, re-orient US strategy to achieve regional stability, and win help from many other countries - the only way peace will eventually be achieved.”
-Lt. Gen. Wm. E. Odom, USA, Retired

"Supporting the Iraq Supplemental Bill not only reflects the thinking of the Iraq Study Group but puts teeth to the phrase “Supporting the Troops”. By establishing timelines it returns the responsibility of self preservation and regional sovereignty to the people of Iraq and their government.”
-Maj. Gen. Mel Montano, USANG, Ret

“We must commence a coordinated phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops and condition our continuing support of the Iraqi government on its fulfilling the political commitments it has made to facilitate reconciliation of the contending secular factions. Otherwise, we will continue to be entwined in a hopeless quagmire, with continuing American casualties, which will render our ground forces ineffective.”
- Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, USA Ret.

Get the picture?

Hats off to you, Dennis

You gotta love Dennis Kucinich. He is to the House what the late, great Paul Wellstone was to the Senate, a progressive voice of conscience and principle. Rep, Kucinich has filed impeachment papers on Attack-Dog-In-Chief Dick "Sureshot" Cheney, the REAL President of the United States. Do I think that Kucinich has an icicle's chance in hell of ever being elected president? No, sadly, I really don't. But I am sure glad he sits on the Hill. Now, as to whether his articles of impeachment against the Vice Emperor will succeed; well, kids, start calling your Congressperson and tell them "I'm mad as hell, and I want that Dick out!"

"Vice President Cheney purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of American forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to national security interests."

Karl Rove Freaks Out

If you hadn't heard the news, the White House Michelin Man went nutso at last Saturday's White House Correspondents Dinner when sultry rock singer Sheryl Crow touched his arm during an exchange on global warming (oh, naturally Mr. Rove is GW denyer - global warming that is; he believes everything the other GW says -- well, actually he writes everything the other GW says). Read the story firsthand at the Huffington Post in a piece by Laurie David and Sheryl herself.

Now if it had been Ms. Crow's ex paramour Lance Armstrong who had touched him, Karlito might have positively swooned...

"In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, 'Don't touch me.' How hardened and removed from reality must a person be to refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow? Unfazed, Sheryl abruptly responded, 'You can't speak to us like that, you work for us.' Karl then quipped, 'I don't work for you, I work for the American people.' To which Sheryl promptly reminded him, 'We are the American people.'"

Statement by the NRA

Several days ago, the National Rifle Association posted its statement on the horrendous murders at Virginia Tech. I don't see how anyone could not fail to be moved by the heartfelt compassion of these words, by the deep and abiding solace contained in this commentary:

"The National Rifle Association joins the entire country in expressing our deepest condolences to the families of Virginia Tech University and everyone else affected by this horrible tragedy.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.

"We will not have further comment until all the facts are known."

Gonzo

courtesy of BuckFush.com.

None dare call it conspiracy

If you doubt that there has been a systematic effort on the part of the Bush administration to disenfranchise voters most likely to line up on the Democratic side of the fence, read this report by Greg Gordon of the McClatchy Newspaper group. It is an eye opener.


"For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

"The administration intensified its efforts last year as President Bush's popularity and Republican support eroded heading into a midterm battle for control of Congress, which the Democrats won."

Now, as to the Republican mantra about "voter fraud," what do the real statistics have to say about its prevalence? Read "The Myth Of Voter Fraud" by Washington Post reporters Michael Waldman and Justin Levitt to find out just what a smokescreen this claim is, hatched by febrile brain of Machiavellian and sociopathic pudgemeister Karl Rove.

"As Congress probes the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, attention is centering on who knew what, and when. It's just as important to focus on 'why,' such as the reason given for the firing of at least one of the U.S. attorneys, John McKay of Washington state: failure to prosecute the phantom of individual voter fraud.

"Allegations of voter fraud -- someone sneaking into the polls to cast an illicit vote -- have been pushed in recent years by partisans seeking to justify proof-of-citizenship and other restrictive ID requirements as a condition of voting. Scare stories abound on the Internet and on editorial pages, and they quickly become accepted wisdom.

"But the notion of widespread voter fraud, as these prosecutors found out, is itself a fraud. Firing a prosecutor for failing to find wide voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find Sasquatch."

Is Internet 2 a scam to kill net neutrality and tame the Wild Wild Web?

Read much of the computer media and the prosody about Internet 2 is decidedly purplish and positive. New bandwidth! Ultra speed! But is there a dark side to the architecture of a new Internet that cuts right to the heart of the executive branch's wet dream of total control over everything that we do (and corporate America's desire to make us pay for the privilege)?

Read this article by Steve Watson at Global Research and decide for yourself.

Here is a sample of the just the sort of controls envsioned for a "new, improved Internet:"

• In a display of bi-partisanship, there have recently been calls for all out mandatory ISP snooping on all US citizens by both Democrats and Republicans alike.
  
• Republican Senator John McCain recently tabled a proposal to introduce legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards. It is well known that McCain has a distaste for his blogosphere critics, causing a definite conflict of interest where any proposal to restrict blogs on his part is concerned.
  
• During an appearance with his wife Barbara on Fox News last November, George Bush senior slammed Internet bloggers for creating an "adversarial and ugly climate."
  
• The White House's own recently de-classified strategy for "winning the war on terror" targets Internet conspiracy theories as a recruiting ground for terrorists and threatens to "diminish" their influence.
  
• The Pentagon recently announced its effort to infiltrate the Internet and propagandize for the war on terror.
  
• In a speech last October, Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff identified the web as a "terror training camp," through which "disaffected people living in the United States" are developing "radical ideologies and potentially violent skills." His solution is "intelligence fusion centers," staffed by Homeland Security personnel which will go into operation next year.
  
• The U.S. Government wants to force bloggers and online grassroots activists to register and regularly report their activities to Congress. Criminal charges including a possible jail term of up to one year could be the punishment for non-compliance.
  
• A landmark legal case on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America and other global trade organizations seeks to criminalize all Internet file sharing of any kind as copyright infringement, effectively shutting down the world wide web - and their argument is supported by the U.S. government.
  
• A landmark legal ruling in Sydney goes further than ever before in setting the trap door for the destruction of the Internet as we know it and the end of alternative news websites and blogs by creating the precedent that simply linking to other websites is breach of copyright and piracy.
  
• The European Union, led by former Stalinist and potential future British Prime Minister John Reid, has also vowed to shut down "terrorists" who use the Internet to spread propaganda.
  
• The EU data retention bill, passed last year after much controversy and with implementation tabled for late 2007, obliges telephone operators and internet service providers to store information on who called who and who emailed who for at least six months. Under this law, investigators in any EU country, and most bizarrely even in the US, can access EU citizens' data on phone calls, sms', emails and instant messaging services.
  
• The EU also recently proposed legislation that would prevent users from uploading any form of video without a license.
  
• The US government is also funding research into social networking sites and how to gather and store personal data published on them, according to the New Scientist magazine. "At the same time, US lawmakers are attempting to force the social networking sites themselves to control the amount and kind of information that people, particularly children, can put on the sites."

And they'll probably figure out a way to charge us for it as well

We learned yesterday that the Bush administration has created a database of every single prescription drug user/patient in the country (that would pretty much be all of us). The database was created pursuant to a 2005 law that was intended to prevent the abuse of prescription drugs. Funny that this massive new database of your private medical information is now being (ab)used for a purpose that wasn't intended in or approved by the law.

The federal database of your private medical information is now being used by federal law enforcement to investigate crimes that have nothing to do with prescription drug abuse. We know this because yesterday ABC News disclosed that the feds checked the database to see what prescription meds the Virginia Tech shooter might have been on. How does the mass murder of students and faculty at Virginia Tech have anything to do with prescription drug abuse? It doesn't.

The Bush administration has created a massive database of your private medical records and they're now abusing it. Gee, what a surprise - the Bush administration secretly prying into our private lives in violation of the law. If they wanted this power, they could have sought it from Congress. They didn't. So they took it anyway, even though the law doesn't allow it.

Your privacy is gone, and it's not terribly clear that anyone in Washington cares.

-- John Avarosis, America Blog

The Inexplicable Enrichment of Bush Cronies

If you need any further evidence (or just want a digest of the collective tidbits) of what the most venally corrupt presidential administration in American history has wrought for its friends, patrons, associates and former employees, read this article by Evelyn Pringle. It is guaranteed to set your blood boiling, and inspire fantasies of Robespierrian flirtations with guillotines and such. Unless, of course, you were one of those friends, patrons, associates or former employees.

"Halliburton CEO David Lesar made $26.6 million in 2005, and nearly $50 million since 9/11, an amount that even beats the $24 million that Dick Cheney received in exchange for the guarantee that Halliburton would be the number one military contractor during the Bush administration. "

Iacocca: Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car."
-- Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler Motors

Lee Iacocca has had enough and he isn't gonna take it anymore. So, what the hell is wrong with the rest of us?

Read more here.

How much longer?

Have we ever had a presidential administration so lacking a moral compass? One whose flirtations with absolute power and autocratic authority defile the constitution of our nation? Which is worse, that we must endure another eighteen months of this motley crew, or that somewhere close to a third of the American populace STILL believes that they can do no wrong?

Why are we so passive in the face of the affront that the Bush administration presents to the world, to the damage that this most corporate of administrations has done and continues to do to the image of the American republic, to the environment, to our military, to the Middle East, to the future of our children and grandchildren? Are we so easily lulled into somnambulance by the marketplace? By the media? I would estimate that over half the citizenry are as outraged by the morass of arrogance, deception and murder that these hatless shadow figures have perpetrated upon the world. But why are are we not raising our voices in loud unison, asking for their removal from office? Why is ANYTHING off the table when it comes to effigies of humanity like these people?

When Condaleeza Rice has the audacity to say "Iraq will be worth the sacrifice," you have to ask yourself, "what in God's name did this woman sacrifice," whose idea of leadership is shoe-shopping on 5th Avenue while New Orleans is destroyed by a killer storm and her boss' indifference? Have we ever had a secretary-of-state with lower standing in the eyes of global leaders? The sad irony is that not only is she a woman, she is an African-American woman. Administration architect Karl Rove must have blessed himself thricely to have found such a prize, a black female who not only drank the kool-aid of corporatist fascism, but would lie before its alter.

Latin American can be a place of extremes. Oddly, it can produce two kinds of monsters, seemingly from the same clay: leftist revolutionary ideologues who can justify cold-blooded murder in the name of some perversion of social justice, men like Abimael Guzman in Peru, as well as dictators like Pinochet or the generals of Argentina's "Troubles," who have no issue with making thousand of people disappear overnight. The former depends on the young people of large, disenfranchised indigenous populations who dwell in such a state of anomie that they become empty vessels for the message of false power that men like Guzman are able to provide. The Generals, on the other hand, depend on a certain quiet type to draft the policies of oppression; little, colorless men who were the choir boys at church, crossed the street when they saw the big boys lurking up ahead in the shadows, and happily accepted the polemic of fascism as destiny. Alberto Gonzales strikes me as one of these.

No, history will not be kind to such men and women. But neither will history look favorably upon an American people who allowed the charlatans their way, who accepted a parody of democracy not once, but twice, and thus gave the hideous ideology of imperial conquest for profit and perversion leave to sully our flag and our spirit. Overfed, under-informed, but mostly cowed by an irrational fear of an invisible enemy. We have been played. And far too easily.