zoey's diner

More prison secrets?

2004-10-13T16:31:00.000-04:00

Or is that secret prisons? According to Haaretz, the CIA is running a top-secret prison in Jordan where at least 11 Al Qaeda suspects are purported to be held.

It is not known where precisely in the Hashemite kingdom they are being held, but they are thought to be at a secret facility belonging to Jordanian intelligence or at a secret base.

Here's the line that concerns me:

Their detention outside the U.S. enables CIA interrogators to apply interrogation methods that are banned by U.S. law...

So I guess torturing people in other countries is ok.

Maryland official wants to out HIV positive people

2004-10-13T16:16:00.000-04:00

This bit of repugnant news comes to us from a democrat (via Atrios).

The comptroller of Maryland, William Schaefer (D), wants a statewide public registry of HIV-positive people and called them "a danger."

His sickening remarks included:

"They're a danger to spread AIDS. People should be able to know who has AIDS. It costs an awful lot of money to treat them."

So, since it costs a lot of money to treat AIDS patients (as it does with many diseases), the privacy rights of the individuals can just be tossed into the wind. I'm sure cancer patients will be relieved to hear that.

Ahhh, but it's not just the expense of treating them that is the bug up Schaefer's butt - he is apparently of the old school of thought on AIDS. You know the old school - the one which says that the only people who get AIDS are scumbags who deserve it.

To wit:

"They bring it on themselves.. They don't get it by sitting on the toilet seat. ... A person who gives AIDS, who spreads AIDS, they're bad people."

We don't need people like this in the democratic party. Come to think of it, we don't need people like this in any party.

There must be a place for bigoted, homophobic assholes.

I just don't know where.

Selection 2004 in full swing

2004-10-13T16:11:00.000-04:00

Earthside and Kos both have frightening information about the ongoing efforts by the republicans to make sure this "election" ends up the way the want. Voter registrations, geographic placement of polling sites, and the handling of absentee ballots are all being used to set this selection up for the repubs.

Very, very scary stuff.

Human microchip FDA approved - today it's voluntary, tomorrow......?

2004-10-13T15:49:00.000-04:00

Not to get too sci-fi here, but the news that the FDA has approved the verichip for implantation in people has me a little concerned.

The idea is that medical information can be stored easily and will be readily accessible to medical personnel. The chips can also be used to contain information about security clearances in order to facilitate entry by authorized staff into secure areas.

That all sounds nice and innocent. But we all know that many previously innocent technologies, such as surveillance and spy technology, have been used for nefarious purposes.

I can't help but wonder if insurance companies will someday require these chips in those that want coverage. Or if hospitals will want to eventually start placing them in all admitted patients to "cut down on medical errors." Not to mention the inability of the individual to selectively release information about him/herself. Once the chip is read, it's there for all to see.

There's no doubt that this technology could have many uses for those who want it.

But my fear is that is will be forced on those of us who don't.

Women now have to get felt up to get on planes

2004-10-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

That's the latest airport insanity thanks to Bush's idiotic, invasive, and ill-applied air security.

A woman in Denver decided to leave the airport after a screener, having already flagged her for additional security, said that unless her breasts were felt she would not be boarding the plane.

The woman, after having been threatened and surrounded by security, rightfully got the hell out of there and rented a car for her trip home.

Here's the line that really gets me:

"The Transportation Security Administration said its screeners did nothing wrong."

I don't think I can add anything to that.

Bush slips into red zone

2004-10-12T17:56:00.000-04:00

We can only hope he stays there.

Bush's approval rating has fallen below that critical 50% mark, down to 47%, the lowest since July.

Anything below 50% is very dangerous for incumbents.

I guess I have to wonder, with jobs, health care, and lives being lost, lies, secrecy, and abuse of power, how is it even staying at 47%?

Iraq war distracted the U.S.

2004-10-12T17:47:00.000-04:00

Well, we knew that already. And Kerry has hit Bush hard on that very point. But now it's been validated by a top-notch Israeli think tank:

the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaida and its affiliates."

The concentration of U.S. intelligence assets in Iraq "has to be at the expense of being able to follow strategic dangers in other parts of the world," he said.

So Dick wanted a war with Iraq, and that's what he got. But we've been screwed in the process.

And Dick says that we'll be unsafe if KERRY gets into office?

What the hell is Dick's problem?

2004-10-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

Did he get effing amnesia? Because after admitting that Iraq had no WMD, Dick is at it again.

Lying, that is.

"The situation we faced was Saddam Hussein and Iraq presented the most likely place where there could be a nexus between the terrorists on the one hand and weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said.

The most likely place???? Has the Dark Master not heard of a little place called Iran? Or Pakistan? Or perhaps he forgot about Afghanistan, which has been left in the hands of the warlords and druglords.

The extent of these delusions has now become officially frightening. That Dick can sit there and lie his evil ass off after everything that has gone public in the way of reports and quotes from within his own regime, has me truly worried.

John Edwards said it best: The American people can't take another four years of him.

Kerry's got the big mo - time for another terror alert

2004-10-09T13:41:00.000-04:00

This is really getting old.

The latest "threat" comes by way of Iraq. Supposedly, a disk was found in Iraq that contained floor plans and other information about schools in 6 states.

The six states are: California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, and Oregon.

Just to refresh, this is how these six states stand in terms of the election:

According to electoral-vote.com,

California is weak Kerry
Florida is weak Bush
Georgia is strong Bush
Michigan is strong Kerry
New Jersey is weak Kerry
Oregon is strong Kerry

At the very least, Florida, Oregon, and Michigan are all still in play.

Sinclair Broadcast group on the attack

2004-10-09T13:35:00.000-04:00

They plan to preempt regular programming days before the election to show a film attacking Kerry on Vietnam.

So much for the liberal bias in media.

Bush meltdown

2004-10-09T13:29:00.000-04:00

Oliver Willis has the video of the Bush flipping "out of his gourd."

If you missed the debate, catch this clip.

Lies, lies, and videotape

2004-10-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

I'll leave the sex and wood jokes to others.

But as to the lies, it looks like Bush stepped on his own tongue again. He thought he'd get big laughs by saying "I own a timber company? That's news to me."'

Several times during the debate, Kerry smiled knowingly. Now we know why.

According to Factcheck.org, Bush did in fact receive income from part ownership of a timber company.

I guess he forgot that small fact while he was doing his stand-up routine.

Live-blogging the debate

2004-10-08T16:42:00.000-04:00

Many blogs and message boards will be hopping tonight, but two in particular are worth mentioning.

On Hardblogger, Keith Olbermann will be doing real-time analysis and scoring the debate as he did with the veep debate on Tuesday.

And Kos is going to be busy - he is using a rapid response interactive to track the answers to specific questions, fact check, and post transcripts of the debate for review.

Good thing we got those tax cuts...

2004-10-08T16:22:00.000-04:00

or maybe not.

Seems that Bush's big plan for creating jobs hasn't done a helluva lot. These numbers aren't even keeping up, never mind replacing the losses.

I'm sure Bush will smirk at tonight's debate and go on about how great these new jobs are, even though many of them are not at the pay scale or benefit level that previous jobs were at.

He'll probably whine and play the blame game in the most ridulous and transparent display, as he recently did: he had the stones to blame the job losses on Clinton and 9/11.

I guess the 22 million jobs created under Clinton were phantom jobs. And as far as 9/11, there is no doubt that 9/11 had a devastating effect on the economy. But Bush promised jobs after 9/11 as well as before.

But in typical fashion, being perfectly willing to eff everything up and not at all willing to take responsbility for it, Bush is attempting to blame the pitiful job numbers on his very successful predecessor and on a terrorist attack.

It's just a matter of time before he blames Saddam.

Reason du jour: The U.S. invaded Iraq because Saddam was messing with the sanctions

2004-10-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

Now that there is no doubt left about the absence of WMD's in Iraq, the regime is coming up with more excuses to try and justify their increasingly unjustifiable position.

Now that Bush and Dick have finally conceded that the weapons, their primary reason for invading, do not exist, they are now trotting out the lamest and most desperate attempt to justify the war post-invasion: because Saddam was abusing the oil-for-food program.

That's right - the U.S. invaded Iraq, thousands of U.S. soldiers are dead and seriously wounded, tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed, and dozens of hostages (including the sad and recent murder of Briton Kenneth Bigley) were executed because -- Saddam was trying to get around the sanctions.

Now that the original reasons for war (imminent threat, WMD, connection to Al Qaeda) have all been destroyed, they are now, in yet another desperate and pathetic deception, going to try and convince Americans that their loved ones' deaths and the world hating us is worth it because Saddam was trying to bypass sanctions. This was not even on the original list of reasons.

This pathetic and ridiculous ploy has not gotten past the Kerry campaign:

"You don't make up or find reasons to go to war after the fact." - John Kerry

The depths to which this administration will go to justify their horrific excursion into Iraq is becoming unbelievable, even for a Kerry supporter like me.

It is clear that their house of cards is crumbling before them, and they are desperately and flailingly reaching for a lifeline. But instead of a lifeline coming, the pins holding up their hopes seem to be dropping one by one. They desperately need one thing, even just one reason, for their war of choice to be true.

But none of it is.

What "wounded" really means

2004-10-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

We hear a lot of talk about the number of casualties in Iraq from the regime's self-serving and unnecessary war. Over one thousand killed, thousands more wounded.

But while it is a relief that the wounded were able to survive, the gravity of their injuries is never mentioned by Bush and Dick, with good reason from their point of view. After all, can't have people talking about loss of limbs and brain injuries when you are trying to shove an agenda-driven war down the throats of the American people. No sense wasting time with truth or reality.

Out of the over 8,000 wounded U.S. soldiers from the Iraq war, as many as two-thirds have suffered brain injuries, in many cases TBI's - traumatic brain injuries. Some of these soldiers are having memory problems and mental incapacity. Their recoveries will be long and difficult, and some will never fully recover. Their young lives will never be the same.

I hope the Dark Master and the boy king remember that when they try to go to sleep at night.

Standing up to the pharm industry

2004-10-08T15:36:00.000-04:00

Great take by Katrina vanden Heuvel on the steps many are taking to retrieve power from the big pharms, which are being aided by this administration in screwing the American healthcare consumer.

Dick wants us to believe that healthcare costs are high because of so-called frivilous lawsuits, while pharmaceutical execs, in concert with the "administration," work hard to keep affordable drugs out of the hands of citizens.

No WMD's, but Bush would invade anyway

2004-10-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

[shudder]

some good reads on the no WMD matter and other related topics:

Eric Alterman

Eric Alterman on when presidents lie

Bush once again trying to scare public into voting for him (WP)

The rise of Al Qaeda while the U.S. is busy making democracy in Iraq

Pat Buchanan

Dick's "avalanche of lies"

2004-10-06T16:54:00.000-04:00

Remember the famous "mountain of evidence" in the O.J. case? Well now we have the "avalanche of lies."

Great article by William Rivers Pitt about the many and egregious lies uttered by the uh - "vice president."

The most obvious and most talked about:

Yes, the lies were thick before Cheney took his seat at the desk on Tuesday night. They got thicker. Edwards, in a theme repeated throughout the night, stated that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the attacks of September 11, and that the Bush administration had erred grievously by diverting attention from Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and into Iraq. Several times, Edwards accused Cheney of rhetorically combining Iraq and 9/11.

"I have not," replied Cheney, "suggested there is a connection between Iraq and 9/11."

Earthside also has a very good listing of Dick's deceptions.

Debate seemed a draw, but not among undecideds

2004-10-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

Most of the pundits and polls called the debate a draw. Some leaned towards Cheney, some towards Edwards, but very few thought it was a blowout.

Of course, the only opinion that really matters is that of the voters. So it was nice to see that among undecideds, Edwards appeared to be the winner of the debate.

I'm sure the RNC spinners will have some complaints about the methodology of the poll.

Cheney sacked by his own team

2004-10-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

Great read in The Nation by John Nichols about how it wasn't just John Edwards who went hard after the lies of the Dark Master. Dick's own republican brethren have been extremely critical of the war in Iraq and how it has been conducted.

Edwards hit Cheney where it hurts. Just as Cheney warps the truth beyond recognition when he spins his fantasies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and supposed links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, so he also misleads when he claims that debates about Iraq break down along partisan lines.

Seems that even fellow republicans can't buy the load of crap coming from this guy.

Sure is a good thing we didn't divert attention away from Afghanistan to Iraq...

2004-10-06T16:33:00.000-04:00

oh, wait a minute ..... - we did.

That explains the ongoing persecution of women who are trying to assert their right to vote.

According to Human Rights Watch, Afghan women are being attacked and threatened by warlords and the Taliban.

The Taliban? I thought we got rid of them.

Oh, that's right - we pulled our resources out of there to go after the guy who had no WMD's.

I keep forgetting that.

Stop the presses - Iraq had no WMD

2004-10-06T16:27:00.000-04:00

Holy cripe - how many more times do we have to hear this before the frightening reality of this invasion of Iraq sinks in to the minds of the American people?

Of course, it doesn't help when the Dark Master lies on national television and insists that there is a connection between Saddam and 9/11 (except last night, when he denied it).

Nobody wants to think that their loved ones died because their government lied to them. And all those who have served and died and still serve deserve our gratitude and prayers.

But the sad reality is that this administration lied its way into war, and as a result, over a thousand soldiers are dead who might not otherwise be.

That's a lot of blood on the hands of this administration.

Can we use the word "lie" now?

2004-10-06T16:19:00.000-04:00

Finally? Can we make it official?

Dick is a pathological liar. He actually sat there for nearly two hours last night and lied his evil ass off. The only reason he might have looked somewhat good to an observer is if the observer had no bleeping idea of what the truth actually was.

I am so glad to see bloggers as well as main stream media itemize his deceptions. Edwards tried to do it last night, but they were coming so fast and furious it would be impossible to keep up.

The thing I really find disturbing is the comfort with which the Dark Master sat there and lied, lied, lied. The ease of his presentation was chilling.

Chilling.

Was that two days, or two weeks?

2004-10-06T16:16:00.000-04:00

Not blogging for two days seems like forever when the news is happening so fast. Anyway, thanks to everyone who posted and commented.

No surprise, I have a lot to say about the events of late. More to follow.

Do you suppose Big Brother would like the front or back seat?

2004-10-04T21:48:00.000-04:00

Under most ridiculous proposal ever has to go the following:

Apparently a group of researchers in Texas has decided that the gas tax based on gallons is passe' and would like to replace it with a per mile tax.

Many others, including Atrios and Off the kuff, have posted on this, but I'd like to add my own two cents, as it were.

Regardless of any unlikely purported economic benefit, here is the only sentence in the article that matters to me:

Fees for miles traveled would be measured by Global Positioning System receivers embedded in vehicles. The system would track which roads a motorist uses so the virtual tolls could be distributed to the appropriate agency.

So this plan would work by way of a GPS positioning system installed in every car which would track their mileage. This information would then go to the government so that it could figure out the amount of taxes to charge.

And I thought I had the heebie-geebies when John McCain proposed a national ID card.

It's the environment, stupid - sort of

2004-10-04T21:36:00.000-04:00

It's nice to hear from Howard Dean as this election rolls into the final stretch. In his weekly column posted on Democracy for America, Dean discusses a number of important environmental issues which have taken a serious hit under the Bush administration.

Highlights:

- in 2001 Bush tried to weaken protections keeping arsenic out of drinking water

- the rollback of the Clean Air Act, misleadingly named "Clear Skies," allows for more emissions of mercury into the atmosphere

- the increasingly believable idea that violent weather is a result of increased global warming

- the abandonment of the Kyoto protocol

- the need for alternative fuel

- the critical matter of reducing dependence on Middle East oil

What is a delusion? Just ask Dick

2004-10-04T16:11:00.000-04:00

According to the Cambridge online dictionary, someone is under a delusion when they believe something "that is not true."

It would seem that the Dick, aka the evil puppet master, is under the delusion that Iraq and Al Qaeda are connected and that Iraq had to be invaded after 9/11. The Boston Globe has chronicled the continuing attempt by Dick to create a connection that does not exist despite thorough investigation by the 9/11 commission.

If people didn't believe him, it would be bad enough. But polls still show that a significant percentage of the population mistakenly believes that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. And that is, in very large part, because of the repeated lies of the "vice president."

I can't wait until he faces off with Edwards tomorrow night.

So, Dick, what about those deferrments?

2004-10-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

Great article in The Nation describing 10 critical debate questions that would be sure to make the evil puppet master squirm in his seat.

Just a couple of my favorites:

Why were maps of Iraqi oil fields and pipelines included in the documents reviewed by the administration's energy task force, the National Energy Policy Development Group, which you headed during the first months of 2001? Did discussions about regime change in Iraq figure in the deliberations of the energy task force?

Speaking of intelligence, were you or any members of your staff involved in any way in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative who was working on weapons of mass destruction issues, after her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson, angered the administration by revealing that the president made claims about Iraqi WMD programs that he and his aides had been told were unreliable?

I'm thinking that the actual questions, at least from the moderator, will be less stinging. But I wouldn't be too sure about Edwards. He will be going for the knockout.

Maine takes a stand on prescription drugs

2004-10-02T17:02:00.000-04:00

The state of Maine has decided to challenge the policy of HHS and will begin importing prescription drugs from Canada. Governor John Baldacci said that Mainers can't wait for national policies to help citizens pay for important medications.

Maine now joins other states, such as Vermont, Minnesota, and Illinois, as well as several cities, such as DC, which have all implemented some sort of prescription drug importation program.

The FDA, which is supposed to approve of such programs, has not approved any of the above, but has also not enforced the policy.

Some republican leaders have expressed concerns about the safety of Canadian drugs.

I'd be willing to bet that their concern is more for the bank accounts of the big pharms.

Guantanamo: Guardian Special Report

2004-10-02T16:51:00.000-04:00

The Guardian is featuring a special report on conditions at the Guantanamo prison and has discussed several issues, including:

A British man being held at Guantanamo who claims he saw U.S. soldiers kill men in Afghanistan

The same British man claims he was tortured at Guantanamo

Backdoor trials for Britons being held at Guantanamo.

Kerry won the battle, but the war still rages on..

2004-10-01T15:46:00.000-04:00

There seems to be little doubt about who won last night's critical debate. Even the right wing bloggers were depressed about Bush's dismal performance and Kerry's big win.

But it's not time to break out the bubbly just yet. Not by a longshot. No reason Kerry supporters can't be happy and proud of his clear victory in the debate. But the Bush camp is not going to fold up its tent and go home, even if the "president" did look like an angry child in the schoolyard and could barely put two words together.

This is a fight to the finish, and the Bush crew will undoubtedly redouble their efforts in the second debate to minimize damage. And I do believe that there will be a second debate. If Bush pulls out of this one now, he will look like a wimp and a baby. In order to have any shred of dignity, he has to go on and participate in the next one. The good news is that the foreign policy debate was supposed to be the toughest for Kerry and the easiest for Bush. If this one went so well, I can only be optimistic about the domestic policy debate. As soon as Kerry reminds Bush that he is the first president since Hoover to lose jobs, the grimacing will begin again.

And of course, there is the veep debate. Cheney will try and yuck it up with Edwards and threaten the country, but Edwards will be ready.

Since there are so few truly undecided voters, this is probably going to be a nail biter until shortly before election day.

But Kerry has now changed his momentum. And that's critical.

Score one for the press

2004-09-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

Sadly, there are fewer and fewer television outlets worth watching in my opinion. So many of them seem to be pimping for Bush these days. So I was happy to see today that the media is not going to follow the ridiculous rules of the "debates" and take instructions on how to play their camera angles.

Even though both candidates could potentially benefit from this insane mandate, clearly it was a Rovian demand intended to shield the boy-king. Since Bush will not be under remote control during the joint side-by-side interviews, his handlers must exercise as much control as possible in order to keep him from being - well, himself - and saying or doing something stupid.

But fortunately, the press realizes that "debates" are also covered under freedom of the press and are rightfully ignoring this transparent political maneuver.

Note to Jack

2004-09-29T18:01:00.000-04:00

First of all, here is the link on the Carter Florida voting story.

Second, don't panic!! There is plenty of time before the election to learn up on all the candidates. And if there is a race you are not familiar with, you can always abstain from that particular vote if you want. But 5 weeks is lots of time to read newspapers, internet articles, and talk to locals. I would say read, read, read, and check out local radio, whatever it is in your area.

Voting is empowering! Congratulations on your registration!

And there is still plenty of time to make decisions.

So much for Bush's lead in the polls..

2004-09-29T10:25:00.000-04:00

I normally hate discussing polls, and I generally find them meaningless. But what irritates me is when the press go on and on about Bush's big lead, while neglecting to mention polls like this.

Now perhaps the mainstream media will mention this. Maybe some already have. But it seems that everyone and their uncle is touting Bush as "pulling away," when clearly hs isn't.

If the shoe fits - or, rather - goggles

2004-09-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Atrios for pointing out this little nugget. It's a poster for "Bush goggles." And they just happen to be rose-colored.

Will Israel beat us to Iran?

2004-09-29T09:50:00.000-04:00

Interesting article in the Israeli paper Haaretz about all of the speculation of Israel's plans to bomb an Iranian nuclear site. One particularly pointed comment has the author wondering if western interests, such as the U.S., would prefer to have Israel deal with Iran rather than doing it themselves:

It is possible that factors in the West, doubtful about the success of the diplomatic effort, prefer to have Israel act in their place. There are signs of that: Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who met with many of his colleagues at the UN General Assembly, heard a great deal of understanding from them about the Iranian danger, and serious doubts as to the chances of diplomacy. Nobody asked Israel to refrain from a belligerent act.

Thanks to Bush's misguided foray into Iraq, it is now more difficult for all western countries to have any credibility on this issue.

Iraq is "a disaster"

2004-09-29T09:36:00.000-04:00

That was the characterization given by a former intel officer as reported by the Washington Post.

As Bush and Dick continue to smirk, deny, and change the subject, security professionals are growing ever more concerned about the deterioration of Iraq.

While President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others have delivered optimistic public appraisals, officials who fight the Iraqi insurgency and study it at the CIA and the State Department and within the Army officer corps believe the rebellion is deeper and more widespread than is being publicly acknowledged, officials say.

One army staffer said that there's a feeling that the Iraq security forces are beginning to cooperate with the resistance and the civilians to drive out the U.S. occupation. He also said "I hope I'm wrong."

Looks like his hopes are fading fast.

So the voting paper trail will start in 2006 - how convenient

2004-09-28T17:49:00.000-04:00

Looks like the 50 million people voting with electronic touchscreens this November will have to hit the button and hope for the best.

In other words, they are screwed.

A federal appeals court has decided to reexamine a lawsuit filed by Rep. Robert Wexler (FL) demanding that all electronic votes carry a paper record for verification.

But the reforms needed are not likely to take effect until 2006 at the earliest.

ok, a show of hands - does anyone think that this election is NOT going to be rigged? They republican-controlled congress and election officials have had four years - that's four YEARS - to fix this after the disaster in Florida that led to Bush's installation by SCOTUS. And now, even in the face of demands by our own elected congressmen and women, those chosen to be the voice of the people, they are saying too bad.

No wonder Bush is smirking so much.

This selection is in the bag.

Bush warned about Zarqawi, but was too obsessed with Saddam

2004-09-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

Very interesting report by MS/NBC's Jim Miklaszewski about warnings the Bush administration received about Jordanian killer Abu Musab Zarqawi, including opportunities it had to kill him.

Apparently, not only one, but two plans to go after Zarqawi were presented by the Pentagon and were rejected by the White House. Reason: Bush wanted Saddam - or maybe Dick wanted Saddam. But someone wanted Saddam, and they weren't going to let a real terrorist get in the way of their invasion plans:

“People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

I think this paragraph really says it all:

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

So, a real terrorist is let off the hook while the war-mongers make war with a non-threat.

And Clinton got impeached for a blow job.

Last time, they stole Florida. Now we can add Ohio to the list.

2004-09-28T17:33:00.000-04:00

Well, this didn't take long at all. And it's still September. Kos (via Thistime) is reporting that thousands of voter applications in Ohio are being rejected because they were not done on the grade paper specified in some ridiculous and arcane law.

In the final days before the registration deadline Ken Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State, has ordered the local election boards to send out new applications to applicants who have submitted registrations on the wrong paper. The ostensible reason for this order is to insure that the applications can make it through the postal system without being damaged. The Secretary didn't point to any examples of voters who were stupid enough to mail regular weight paper as a postcard, nor did he cite examples of complaints from the Postal Service that this has been a problem. Never mind also that the applications he wants thrown out have already been delivered to the election boards safely.

Ok, I know I've said this before many, many times, but I'm going to say it again.

This is serious, scary, stuff.

Abu Ghraib soldier could get 38 years - and Rumsfeld?

2004-09-28T17:24:00.000-04:00

Lynndie England could be sentenced to as many as 38 years in prison for her role in the Abu Ghraib torture case. I am not going to comment about whether or not that sentence, if administered, is appropriate.

What concerns me more is that while England and others may go to prison for their crimes, the higher-ups who were complicit in the atmosphere of abuse and may have even directed specific actions are going to get away with it. Why is it that Rumsfeld is continuing to run the defense department as people under him are facing lengthy sentences for crimes that were shown to reach, in some fashion, all the way to the top?

That is, of course, a rhetorical question. I imagine that we all know the answer. Regardless of the level of guilt of each individual up the chain of command, it is clear that the underlings are going to take the full hit for this.

And the big fish, will, as always, get away.

Bush: "All options are on the table" with Iran. Alternate title: reason 5, 217 to vote Bush out

2004-09-27T15:20:00.000-04:00

Do we need any more reasons to fear for the safety of this country and the world under Cheney/Bush?

Well, need or no, they gave us one anyway.

In an interview done for a program for Fox "News" Channel, Bush said that Iran "... won't have a nuclear weapon."

Fine. U.S. policy is not in favor of Iran having nukes. Perfectly understandable.

But when asked about possible military action, Bush said "Let me try to solve it diplomatically first,..."

Holy freakin' sh*t. Where have we heard that before?

Bush? Solve anything diplomatically? They couldn't wait for Saddam to appear to thumb his nose at the U.N. so they could trump up an excuse to invade. And now these war-mongers want us to trust them to solve this diplomatically??

Clearly, Iran is Dick's next stop on the mid-east train to democracy. Never mind if it takes thousands of lives, an illegal invasion, and an action which goes against the majority of the American people.

Does anyone still doubt that an Iran war will be part of a second Bush term?

U.S. will wage war in Iraq but not on hunger

2004-09-27T14:17:00.000-04:00

Once again, the arrogance of the U.S. government, particularly of this regime, is sickening. Over 100 countries have backed a plan to combat the horrible problem of global starvation, but the U.S. wants no part of it.

THE United States faced condemnation today after failing to join more than 100 countries as part of a new campaign to raise an extra $50 billion (£28bn) annually in aid to combat global hunger.

Some of the strategies of this plan include: a global tax on financial transactions, a tax on heavy arms sales, an international borrowing facility, and a plan to market credit cards and have users donate a small percentage of their charges to the cause.

But the US agriculture secretary Ann Veneman objected, saying, "Global taxes are inherently undemocratic."

Yeah. Much better to let millions starve to death while U.S. corporate interests are protected.

Bush would give "Mission Accomplished" speech again

2004-09-27T14:10:00.000-04:00

So, Bush really IS an idiot.

Bush claims that he has no regrets about the flyboy imitation stunt on the carrier and the words he used, and if given the opportunity, would do it all again.

When asked by Fox "News" if he would make the same speech again, Bush's response was: "absolutely."

So while the violence escalates, soldiers are targeted, the resistance grows, coalition partners continue to jump ship, and civilians are being tortued and executed, Bush would grab the pom-poms and cheer.

This kind of blatant stupidity doesn't belong in office. If any of you reading this are still on the voting fence, please read the linked article.

"Deep in the Pentagon, admirals and generals are updating plans for possible U.S. military action in Syria and Iran."

2004-09-27T14:07:00.000-04:00

That is the frightening lead line in a Newsweek (Oct. 4 issue) article which discusses that very possibility.

Regime officials are claiming that such plans need periodic updating.

Suuuuuure, they do. I bet similar "revisions" were happening in the years prior to the Iraq invasion.

Can YOU feel a draft?

2004-09-27T14:02:00.000-04:00

That's what the folks at America Blog want to know. They have a great pic of the Freeway Blogger overpass sign with that very message. America blog had a contest for the best sign slogan. The winning message would be displayed on a sign by Freeway blogger.

Sadly, the "winning" message is the likely to be the losing one for many of America's young people.

Speaking of the "election" in Florida.....

2004-09-27T13:53:00.000-04:00

Has Eric Alterman always been this much on point or has he really sharpened his focus lately? Either way, he hit the nail right on in his column about Florida, appropriately entitled "Recipe for a Presidency: Steal Florida, Rinse, Repeat."

This is just the opener:

If it all comes down to Florida again, you can be sure that Jeb Bush will find a way to ensure that no fair vote interferes with his family’s plans. The media—in a state of collective pre-frontal lobotomy — continue to treat Bush as if he were any other governor of any other state, just as they did Katherine Harris, but you’d have to be stupid to think that elections are something that Jeb or George (or Karl) are willing to leave to the voters.

Alterman goes on to describe what we all sadly know: that collusion between Harris and Jeb Bush (with the help of SCOF) sealed the deal for Bush - in other words, theft.

I'm not a huge fan of Michael Moore, but Moore has said he will be blanketing Florida with his cameras. I only hope that this time the thieves are caught in the act.

The top ten reasons the U.S. needs to leave Iraq - NOW

2004-09-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

And they're damn good reasons, too - as given by Erik Leaver of The Nation.

Just a sampling:

"Iraqis aren't better off"

"The international coalition is fleeing"

"Torture at Abu Ghraib"

and perhaps the most compelling of all:

"Recruitment for Al Qaeda has accelerated"

It's well worth the read. All I know is what I believe about Iraq. We didn't belong there. We screwed up by going there. And we need to leave. Period.

Carter: Voting arrangements in Florida could undermine U.S. election

2004-09-27T13:37:00.000-04:00

Former President Jimmy Carter has expressed deep concern that "fraudulent or biased electoral practices" in Florida may cause a repeat of the 2000 situation.

A fumbling attempt has been made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged felons.

This is scary stuff. The way the election was stolen in 2000 was by this very type of activity. And now it looks like they are at it again. What is amazing is that they aren't even trying to hide the fact that they plan to take Florida.

Mr. Carter has said that Governor Bush has not implemented any reforms since 2000 that would rectify any of the previous problems. Well, if I messed with an election and it went the way I wanted, I guess perhaps I'd be unlikely to want to "fix" the problem too.

Carter also advocated for "maximum public scrutiny" in the Florida election.

Dealer's choice

2004-09-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

I probably won't be doing a lot of posting over this upcoming weekend - I'm going to be doing what I can in terms of local Kerry campaign activities among other things, including of course, watching the Red Sox atone for last weekend's awful display in New York. I'll update the "specials" on the right sidebar (under the "email me" link) with current stories, and I may toss up a couple of quickie posts. And of course, the sidebar news and political links will be available as always.

But since the news, both bad and good, always goes on, I'll leave this post up as an open comment thread. If anyone wants to introduce any news/pol stories, comments, links to articles of interest, debate musings, or sports predictions (like, just for example, a Red Sox sweep this weekend in Fenway), feel free.

This post will be up until at least Monday.

Happy and safe weekending, and send some good vibes to Kerry for the upcoming debate!

The Red Sox, as ever, need all the good vibes they can get.....

The Schiavo case: right to die, or right to kill?

2004-09-24T10:46:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are interested, I have placed a new in-depth post on the Schiavo feeding-tube case: link.

It is also linked from the right sidebar.

Hey, the economic news isn't ALL bad - at least the rich are getting richer

2004-09-24T10:09:00.000-04:00

Senator Kerry said that the job statistics make it inevitable that Bush will end his term with a net job loss.

But Forbes reports that the net worth of the wealthiest people in the country has increased to 1 trillion.

So while regular people are seeing their jobs go bye-bye, the rich continue to get richer.

There. don't you feel better now?

Iran could be nuclear by 2007

2004-09-24T10:01:00.000-04:00

That is one possibility. Another is that they could be nuclear even sooner.

Depending on whether or not Iran is running a separate development program not subject to IAEA inspections, they could have the capability in 2007 or "very quickly" according to Benn Tennenbaum of the Federation of American Scientists.

Just what we were afraid of: MORE troops might be going to Iraq and many could be staying up to ten years

2004-09-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

So, Kerry plans to start bringing troops home, while Bush wants to increase their numbers and keep them there for up to 10 years.

The latest estimate from General Abizaid is that the 140,000 U.S. troop contingent in Iraq will not be enough to secure the country for elections in January. While military officials hope that additional security needs can be met by Iraqi officers, they couldn't dismiss the possibility that additional American troops will be utilized.

This pretty much gels with what NBC Pentagon reporter Jim Miklaszewski said this morning on the Imus show. When Imus asked Miklaszewski if there was any talk of reducing troops, Miklaszewski said that in fact, the opposite kind of conversation was talking place. Military officials that he had spoken with were talking about "significant numbers" of U.S. troops being in Iraq for as long as ten years.

Ten years? As Iran thumbs its nose at the U.N. and North Korea threatens to obliterate Japan, we are going to be tying up significant forces in Iraq for ten years?

And we still don't think there is going to be a draft?

Celebrate freedom: read Harry Potter

2004-09-24T09:37:00.000-04:00

In this time of increased governmental strong-arming and the squashing of dissent, it's helpful to remember that we still have some freedoms - like the freedom to choose what we read (at least for now).

The ten most challenged books of 2003 (posted on the ACLU website):

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5. Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton
6. Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
8. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
9. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
10. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

The Adventures of Huck Finn? A book by Maya Angelou? Seems unbelievable. Here are the reasons the books were targeted for censorship (again, from ALA via ACLU):

1. Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, for its focus on wizardry and magic.
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, for being sexually explicit, using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (the “Most Challenged” book of 1998), for using offensive language and being unsuited to age group.
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, for sexual content, racism, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
5. Taming the Star Runner, by S.E. Hinton, for offensive language.
6. Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey, for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group, as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, for racism, insensitivity and offensive language.
8. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, for offensive language, sexual content and Occult/Satanism.
9. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor, for insensitivity, racism and offensive language.
10. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George, for sexual content, offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.

Bush on Zarqawi: "We're looking for him. He's hiding."

2004-09-23T18:38:00.000-04:00

Those comforting words from our "president" on why Jordanian killer Zarqawi has not been captured or killed.

And I suppose that would be the same explanation as to why we still haven't caught Osama Bin Laden?

I do hope the "president" still remembers Bin Laden, the man actually responsible for about 3,000 deaths. I wonder though because he never mentions him - not even in the four day long hate-fest billed as the republican convention.

He never mentions the killer and attacker he has failed to capture, but repeatedly mentions the sitting duck that it has cost over 1,000 lives to capture.

So it would appear that terrorists and enemies of the U.S. actually hide when we are looking for them. Da - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I can't wait to see Bush's face when Kerry mentions OBL in the debates.

I wonder if he'll start with the "he's hiding" routine.

Bush: Iraqi elections are "possible." Rumsfeld: "Nothing's perfect in life"

2004-09-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

Bush, continuing to pour manure over the worsening of Iraq in the hope that something beautiful will grow, seems, once again, to be at odds with his own advisors on the matter of upcoming Iraqi elections.

Meeting today with Allawi, Bush said that Iraqi elections were possible "because the prime minister told me they are."

Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld was discussing the possibility of Iraq only being able to have partial elections because the violence in certain places might be too great.

Uh, you guys want to get your stories straight before you go out in public?

While Bush insists on pasting smiley faces all over his "Iraq elections" notebook, Rumsfeld seems to have a more realistic view of the elections:

Let’s say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country. But in some places you couldn’t because the violence was too great. ...Well, so be it. Nothing’s perfect in life, so you have an election that’s not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet.

I'm sure the people unable to vote because they are living in the violence-ravaged areas will be pleased to hear that.

The public seems to be buying what Bush is selling

2004-09-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

Listening to talk radio can be a quick way to get a feel for what people are thinking on issues.

I popped on Mike Barnicle's show today for a few minutes and was disappointed, although not surprised, at what I heard.

The first caller I heard was a woman who wanted to talk about John Kerry's testimony on Vietnam. She was under the impression that the war crimes Kerry described were confessions or accusations. Barnicle corrected her and explained to her that Kerry was only relaying information he had heard earlier at a soldier's winter conference in Detroit. The woman started talking about "all the people" who were upset with Kerry and that they must have had good reason. Barnicle countered by saying that while they may not have been happy with Kerry's positions, Kerry's words have been used out of context in ads against him. The woman seemed to not want to believe that. If she had only bothered to listen to the entirety of Kerry's testimony, she would not have even needed to call and ask such a question. Unless, of course, she wanted to believe it anyway.

The second caller was a man who said he is voting for Bush because he'd rather fight the terrorists "over there" than here and was positive that "they" were coming. Barnicle cracked something about how we are much safer because Saddam is not headed to New Hampshire. But what was amazing is that the caller made no distinction whatsoever between Saddam and Al Qaeda. He kept referring to "cells" being in this country. He would be right, of course, There are cells in this country, according to intel experts. But they are Al Qaeda cells and have nothing at all to do with Saddam. But the caller did not make that distinction. He was under the misunderstanding that Saddam has cells in the U.S. and that they are planning an attack against us here in the homeland. Which is exactly what Bush and Cheney want the public to believe.

Never mind that it isn't true.

I guess when it comes to hoodwinking the American people, it really is "mission accomplished."

How the U.S. lost its way and why the people of Darfur will pay the price

2004-09-23T08:58:00.000-04:00

Powerful editorial in Alternet about the loss of moral leadership on the part of the U.S. and how this will affect the people suffering in Sudan. By invading Iraq with no proof of any of the stated reasons for war (WMD, nukes, connection to Al Qaeda), the U.S. has, according to the author, "cried wolf." And in doing so, the U.S. has given up its ability to lead the world on issues of moral weight, such as the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Once upon a time, Washington could have exercised its clout as the most powerful nation in the world and handily won over the support of these recalcitrant members. But now, the country that cried wolf has lost the moral authority it needs to rally its global neighbors to real action against genocide in Darfur.

Over 50,000 deaths have occured under the brutal thumb of the Sudanese government. The author contends that those 50,000 deaths should also be attributed to the Iraq war.

Thus the war in Iraq has now claimed another 50,000 victims – this time in Sudan. And the toll is projected to rise exponentially in the weeks ahead.

The sad reality of this irony is not lost on author Salih Booker:

It will be the cruelest irony and the greatest tragedy if the people of Darfur cannot count on the international community to save them from genocide because the country that's the most outspoken against Khartoum is a country that lost its credibility because it cried wolf.

Dean: draft likely under Bush - really

2004-09-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

There was quite a bit of discussion yesterday about the article (which this blog linked to) in which Kerry was quoted about a Bush draft. The article headline gave the impression that Kerry was insinuating a Bush draft, but the quote in the article was less emphatic. Still, it was good to hear Senator Kerry even mention the possibility of a Bush draft. But he needs to bring out the issue in a stronger manner and needs to be more direct.

Howard Dean, who has never been accused of being unclear about anything, is more direct in his statement:

A key issue for young Americans and their families to consider as they prepare to cast their votes in the upcoming presidential election is the real likelihood of a military draft being reinstated if President Bush is re-elected. President Bush should tell us now whether he supports a military draft.

That is the opening paragraph of an article by Dean in which he details the likely reasons for a Bush draft. He also calls on the president to make his position on the draft issue clear before people vote in November.

The stripping of voting rights: it's not just for dictatorships anymore

2004-09-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

You think you have voting rights? If you are black or you served time in prison, you may be in for a rude awakening.

Millions of voters, many of whom would likely vote for Democrat candidate John Kerry, will be barred from voting this November, thanks to legal loopholes, screw-ups, and, some would say, outright thievery.

Nearly 5 million former felons, people who are no longer in prison, will not get to vote because of outdated laws that legally strip their voting rights, even after time served. This includes 13 percent of the black male population.

Let’s repeat that. Thirteen percent of the black males in this country will not be allowed to cast a vote because of a prior felony conviction. Florida is one of fourteen states that has decided that while felons should return to society to be productive citizens, they should not have the right to decide on issues that will affect their future.

And if you think that constitutes minority disenfranchisement, get a load of these dirty little tricks:

- According to Vicki Beasley of People for the American Way, "In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. It happens in every election cycle," she said.

- "In a mayoral election in Philadelphia last year, people pretending to be plainclothes police officers stood outside some polling stations asking people to identify themselves. There have also been reports of mysterious people videotaping people waiting in line to vote in black neighborhoods."

- In Florida, where the election was "decided" by only 537 votes, black voters had been 10 times more likely to have their votes discounted.

- Also in Florida, many black citizens’ names were "erroneously" removed from the voter rolls.

The most alarming fact from the article came from Beasley:

Beasley said that many voters who had registered recently in swing states and were planning to show up on election day expecting to vote may find that their names will not be on the rolls on November 2.

I'll leave it to you to concluded what all this means.

Dude, where's your dignity?

2004-09-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

I had the displeasure of seeing the new smear ad from the flailing and increasingly desperate Bush camp. The ad has a young woman speaking in LA girl valley-speak, basically hammering the old tired distortion about inconsistent positions on the part of Kerry.

The ad was cheesy, cartoonish, and juvenile. Not only that, but it was far beneath any standards that might remotely befit a campaign ad of any type.

This just shows the ever-increasing panic of the Bush installation apparatus. They know Iraq has turned into hell, the economy is not strong, health care is available to fewer Americans than it was before Bush "came into office," and the war on Iraq, inaccurately billed as part of the war on terror, has made us more vulnerable and less secure.

They have no legitimate positions on which to stand. The four-day long threat-fest, thinly disguised as the republican convention, proved that. The only arrow left in their depleted quiver is the one that says "don’t vote for Kerry – just because."

But that arrow isn’t going to fly for much longer.

Program note: shoutfest scheduled on O'Reilly

2004-09-22T18:04:00.000-04:00

I've heard through the grapevine that the ragin' cajun is going to be a guest on the "no spin zone" tonight on FNC at 8 pm. Now I can't recommend watching it because 1) I can't stand BloReilly and 2) Keith Olbermann, whose show is infinitely better, is on at the same time.

However, if you want to delight in seeing O'Reilly face a real debate opponent, I'd recommend taping it or watching the rebroadcast at 11 pm.

My guess is that Carville is going to give him a real run for his money.

If O'Reilly lets him speak, that is, which is not guaranteed.

Kerry: Draft may return under Bush

2004-09-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

Now, this is the kind of stuff we need to hear from John Kerry.

Speaking at a town-hall style meeting (the kind that terrifies Bush), Kerry took a question from the crowd about the possibility of a draft.

"If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is it possible? I can't tell you."

Kerry also discussed the draft disparities (a-hem) of the past and said that he would not institute the draft when elected (the when is my optimism).

It's about damn time this subject came up as a real issue. The pentagon has never ruled out a draft, and anybody with a brain knows that Dick can't possibly go to war with Iran without additional troops - a lot of additional troops.

And if Dick can go around with false threats about a terrorist attack under Kerry, Kerry can counter with the very real danger of our young people being drafted to fight Dick's wars of imperialism.

I can't wait to see how Bush will snicker his way out of this one in the debates. And Kerry won't let up - just like he hammered the other dem contenders in the debates, he will do the same with Bush - he'll force Bush in a debate to either tell us he will draft or lie about it.

Either way looks really bad for the Bush installation team.

Blognotes

2004-09-22T16:24:00.000-04:00

I've heard from a number of people that the text of this site is a bit challenging to read because of the color. I hope that the white on dark makes it easier. I haven't yet changed the comment pages or the link color - working with HTML is for me is like trying to read War and Peace in its original Russian.

So it will take some time - but hopefully the main page change is a good start.

I know plain old white is kind of boring, but I think it gives the blog a cleaner look.

Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

Program note: Kerry on NPR today

2004-09-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

According to a poster on Kos, Kerry will be swinging the hammer today on a show called "Talk of the Nation" today at 4pm.

National Public Radio. 4pm. Kerry.

Since everything is going so ~~swimmingly~~ unbelievably badly in Iraq, I can't imagine what they will talk about.

I thought we went to Iraq to bring services BACK to Iraqis.....

2004-09-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

Not take them away.

But according to The Washington Post, that's exactly what the U.S. military did, supposedly to drive out resistance fighters.

Staff Sgt. Patrick Bloomer, who participated in the fighting, said he was frustrated that U.S. forces did not provide food, water or other assistance to people fleeing the city. "It seemed like the military part of the operation was sound, but if we're over here to help the people, we should at least try to do something," he said.

Eric Jaffa has a lot more on this situation on his website, Moveleft Media, including a detailed explanation of why this was in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

We knew they had no guts, but they show it more and more everyday..

2004-09-22T10:19:00.000-04:00

Just more proof that the horrible troupe masquerading as our administration will only perform before friendly audiences.

Dick Cheney has canceled a scheduled appearance at the Ukranian Cultural Center in Michigan. His staff says it is due to a "scheduling conflict."

That "scheduling conflict" wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Kerry has a 4-6 point lead over Bush in Michigan, now would it?

Nahhhhhh. The administration would never pull anything like that.

Bush blew it, there is no way to win, and that is what Kerry needs to tell Americans

2004-09-22T10:03:00.000-04:00

At least according to Richard Gwyn of the Toronto Star. He discusses Kerry's credibility with the American people and how in recent weeks Kerry has made inroads on the disaster of Iraq, the disaster of Bush's creation.

But, according to Gwyn, Kerry falls just short:

"During the Vietnam War, public opinion turned against the conflict once Americans realized they were sacrificing their lives in a futile mission.

This time, although far less confidently than at its start, public opinion still supports the war in Iraq. The reason is that Americans remain convinced that cost of a withdrawal would be an increase in attacks upon them in their own homeland.

Until that attitude changes, Kerry cannot tell his voters the truth — that they've lost the war and the sooner they turn their backs on it the better."

Of course it doesn't help when Dick goes out on almost a daily basis and threatens the American people by saying if you vote for Kerry, something bad will happen.

The American people need to turn a corner here and realize that Bush's reckless foray into Iraq had put us in much graver danger and has increased our risk of attack. Until they realize that and stop swallowing the toxic swill coming from the war-mongering chickenhawks, Kerry's message is going to have a hard time getting through.

And there are only a few weeks to go.

How this election will affect your civil rights

2004-09-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

Chilling article by the ACLU on what the stakes really are in this election. As if it wasn't enough to vote out Bush and Congress (some of them anyway) based on Iraq, the loss of jobs, increased poverty, fewer insured for health care, children left behind, and OBL still at large, our civil rights are at risk.

The ACLU gives an item-by-item listing of several bills that would, if passed, severely curtail our rights to speech, privacy, and marriage.

The most frightening to me is in regard to revisions to Patriot II:

"The proposal would increase the government’s powers to secretly obtain personal records without judicial review, limit judicial discretion over the use of secret evidence in criminal cases, eliminate important foreign intelligence wiretapping safeguards and allow the use of secret intelligence wiretaps in immigration cases without notice or an opportunity to suppress illegally acquired evidence.

The legislation would also grant the Department of Justice expanded administrative subpoena power - the authority to seize records and compel testimony in terrorism cases without prior review by a court or grand jury. The ACLU warned that S. 2679 would erode already diminished judicial oversight on this broad and intrusive power, and would allow access to confidential records without individual suspicion of wrongdoing. "

So as if we don't have enough to think about this November, we have to think about rights we thought would always be protected.

Welcome to Disneyland - Your tour guide: George W. Bush

2004-09-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

A must-read from Eric Alterman on the disaster that has become Iraq and the ridiculous spin put on it by "president" Bush.

Alterman has a lot to say about the comments of conservative Pundit David Brooks, who asks:

“Does he really want to imply that 1,000 troops died for nothing?”

Alterman's answer may stun you:

Actually, they died for far less than nothing. Instead of fighting the Islamic fundamentalist who declared war on us on 9/11/01, they died as unwilling recruiters for that enemy, just as many of us warned they would before there war.

Alterman goes on to describe the fantasy-land in which Bush is living and discusses the future of Iraq:

Bush has created a “Disneyesque fantasy.” Really, it shocks even me. Finally, Brooks could hardly be more disingenuous if he were trying to win some sort of contest when he writes, "Finally, if the whole war is a mistake, shouldn't we stop fighting tomorrow? What do you say to the last man to die for a 'profound diversion'?" We broke Iraq and just as Colin Powell warned his feckless commander-in-chief, we own it.

The cheerleading going on by Bush and the neocon chickenhawks in the face of increased death and destruction is not only delusional, it is repugnant.

Warp power restored

2004-09-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

It would appear that my technical issues have been resolved and I no longer have to electronically limp, which was getting to be a tad annoying anyway.

I'm about caught up on email and such. Plan to resume posting tomorrow.

Scott out....

Walk softly and carry a big stick...

2004-09-21T01:29:00.000-04:00

Ok, maybe I'm a little biased, but I think John Kerry did one hell of a job on Letterman Monday night. He stayed on message, hammered Bush, and was very personable and funny (not that that should matter but it seems to matter to certain people).

I don't know if it's the new advice he's getting or just John Kerry being John Kerry in the final weeks of a tough campaign, but he seems to be really hitting a stride here. He's hitting Bush on the issue of Iraq, pointing out Bush's inconsistencies and lies, and (finally) using language most people can really relate to.

If he keeps this up and even improves his posture and tone a bit, he'll have Bush packing for Crawford come November.

"U.S. Weighs the price of a pre-emptive strike"

2004-09-21T01:23:00.000-04:00

That is the subheading of a Newsweek article which discusses the very real possibility of the U.S. launching a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

"Instead, administration hawks are pinning their hopes on regime change in Tehran—by covert means, preferably, but by force of arms if necessary."

Does this give anyone else the full-blown chills?

This imperialistic "democratization of the mid-east" plan of Dick Cheney needs to be put back into his delusional mind. And left there.

How many Americans are going to die to remake Iraq, Iran, and every other country on Dick's "to-do" list?

My bad

2004-09-20T10:22:00.000-04:00

Sometimes there's a lot of truth in cliches. Like "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Well, a certain blogger didn't follow that advice. I was messing around with new software and such, and as a result, programs that I count on to work don't. Stuff like yahoo, google, blogger, my email, etc. not to mention having a hard time linking to news websites.

So if I'm a bit delayed in responding to comments, I apologize. Same with email. I can read it but can not reply at this time. I hope to have the problem resolved in a day or two.

And speaking of bad, has everyone seen the latest fear-mongering to come out of the administration? Speaker Hastert has joined the chorus of officials singing from the "if you elect Kerry you're gonna die" songbook.

Dems are coming out hard on this. I read somewhere that Kerry is going to step up his attacks on Bush's failed policies. Since there are only something like 42 days before the election, now would be a good time.

Iraq PM: terrorists "pouring in" to Iraq

2004-09-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

Funny how that didn't happen before we invaded...

Iraq's prime minister has said that "Iraq is on the front line of fighting these terrorists."

Yup - it's a damn good thing the U.S. went in and created a terrorist state where one did not exist before.

And yes, I am aware that Saddam was a ruthless dictator who brutalized his people. But in Bush's speech, Bush said he was going to pursue terrorist groups with global reach. Saddam did not have global reach.

But the terrorists in charge of Iraq now do.

Novak reports quick exit from Iraq: in other news, a pig was seen flying over Albuquerque

2004-09-20T08:57:00.000-04:00

Robert Novak, of Valerie Plame fame, columned today that, according to his "well-placed sources," Bush is planning a quick exit from Iraq after the election.

Well, that's certainly convenient. With polls showing a tight race, news of the week confirming that there were no WMD, Iraq getting uglier by the day, Republicans coming out to criticize the administration, the leaking of a plan for a massive troop call-up in November, and the news that Britian is likely to cut troop presence leaving the U.S. even more alone and vulnerable to attack, suddenly the "news" comes out that Bush wants to withdraw.

Uh-huh. And this is coming from Novak. The same Novak who claims he didn't know that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative.

This administration, with all its rhetoric, has given no indication that it plans an early withdrawal from Iraq. Until now, that is, when those hollow words will be used to try and snow people into voting for Cheney/Bush.

The only reason to withdraw troops from Iraq would be to send them to Iran.

But you won't hear anything like that from Robert Novak.

Britian still "at war" in Iraq but removing troops; Blair joins the guild

2004-09-19T11:59:00.000-04:00

Interesting trifecta of stories out of Great Britian today.

1. "Gen Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the Army, has admitted that British troops in Iraq are "back at war". He is the first authoritative figure to concede that war is still being waged in Iraq, 16 months after President George W Bush declared that combat operations were over." (from the The news.telegraph).

2. In spite of the "back at war" status, Britian plans to withdraw about one-third of their 5,000 combat troops by the end of October:

The forthcoming 'drawdown' of British troops in Basra has not been made public and is likely to provoke consternation in both Washington and Baghdad. Many in Iraq argue that more, not fewer, troops are needed. Last week British troops in Basra fought fierce battles with Shia militia groups.

No wonder they are not announcing this publicly. Dick is going to blow a gasket when he hears that practically the only one left of the coalition of the bribed has had enough.

3. Tony Blair has apparently joined (or re-joined) the Bush-led group of world leaders willing to lie to cover their asses about Iraq.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied reports that his foreign minister, Jack Straw, had warned him a year before the US-led invasion of Iraq that a war could push the country into chaos.

So, Blair is spinning, Britian is pulling out, and Iraq continues to implode.

But no worries. After all, didn't Bush just say things were going well over there?

Brig to battle: The newer, friendlier guard

2004-09-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

It's nice to see our citizen soldiers being treated so well before they go off to fight and possibly die for Dick's war.

635 members of a South Carolina National Guard battalion are supposed to leave today for a mimimum one-year deployment in Iraq. They are going to Iraq straight from lockdown.

The mess started when 13 soldiers went AWOL to - gasp - see their families before leaving for a year or longer. A confrontation between among unit members brought in the police. When an inspection of the barracks uncovered alcohol, the soldiers were placed in lockdown.

The stress of training and preparation for battle was enormous:

This Guard unit was put on an accelerated training schedule — giving the soldiers about 36 hours of leave over the past two months — because the Army needs to get fresh troops to Iraq and there are not enough active-duty or "regular" troops to go around....A series of separate high-level decisions at the Pentagon has come together to make life tough for soldiers and commanders in this battalion and others. The decisions include the Bush administration's reluctance to sharply increase the size of the Army. Instead, the Pentagon is relying on the National Guard and Reserves, which provide 40 percent of the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The staggering figure to me is the one that has 40 percent of the troops in Iraq from guard and reserve units.

The short-sighted recklessness with which the regime conducted this war becomes more and more painfully obvious with each passing day.

Orwell predicted this......

2004-09-18T19:28:00.000-04:00

Or something very close to it. In anticipation of attempted election "disruptions, the government is planning to step up antiterrorism activities in the month of October.

Such activities include:

- "aggressive - even obvious - surveillance" techniques to be used on suspected terrorist sympathizers who have not committed a crime.

- suspects' family members may also be brought in for questioning

- recent truck thefts, chemical thefts and suspicious cargo truck rentals will be reviewed

- mosques will be revisited and members asked whether they've observed any suspicious behavior.

- interrogations, surveillance and detentions are all possible

Anyone else think that a disporportionate number of Kerry supporters will conveniently be detained or suspected?

The horror that is Iraq

2004-09-18T19:26:00.000-04:00

These are just a few of today's photos of the destruction and death happening in Iraq every day.

Just to put in the obvious warning: photos are graphic.

Osama still has his job . . .Do you still have yours?

2004-09-18T15:47:00.000-04:00

That is just one of the many entries in a slogan contest happening at America Blog. The contest is to find the best slogan for a sign that will be displayed over a major freeway.

Some of my favorites:

Can you feel a draft?

Orwell was only off by twenty years.

My President went to Baghdad, and all I got was this
$1,000,000,000,000 deficit.

Why change horsemen mid apocalypse?

Are you safer now than you were four years ago?

In this case, two Dicks are NOT better than one

2004-09-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

We've all been subjected to Dick Cheney repeatedly shoot off his mouth in the way of lies, threats, and smears. It's getting so old that most people would probably have to do a doubletake if he said something true.

But now we have another player in the "if Bush isn't elected we are all gonna die" scenerio from the horror movie that has been the past four years.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage yesterday made the following statement:

"It's quite obvious that they would like to raise (the) costs to President Bush. I think this is their cynical effort to do that and to somehow influence our elections, and they will fail. They are trying to influence the election against President Bush." Asked whether he meant that insurgents or terrorists were working for Kerry, Armitage replied, "I didn't say that. What I said was that they were trying to influence the election against President Bush."

Obviously the subliminal message here is "the terrorists want Bush to lose - let's not let them get their way - vote Bush/Cheney."

So here we freaking go again. Another administration official using fear, manipulation, and blatant lies to scare the American people into voting for Bush.

If I had confidence that the majority of Americans wouldn't fall for this crap I wouldn't be concerned, although I'd still be angry.

But the problem is that most people who hear this will lap it up and vote out of fear.

And that's just what the administration is counting on.

Step 1, get into office. Step 2, institute a massive call-up of troops

2004-09-18T14:53:00.000-04:00

How completely, repulsively, and despicably convenient.

This from John Kerry:

"He won't tell us what congressional leaders are now saying, that this administration is planning yet another substantial call-up of reservists and Guard units immediately after the election. Hide it from people through the election, then make the move."

That sounds about right. Iraq is imploding before our eyes, the administration, with the help of poodle Tony Blair, is setting up the groundwork for an invasion of Iran, and North Korea is pushing the limits of Dick's very limited tolerance.

We know the troops in Iraq are stretched thin as it is. And the guard and reserve units are dangerously depleted. So obviously, the troops for the next imperialistic wars have to come from somewhere. The guard and reserve units will be sacrificed to try and make Iraq look if not good, then at least not as hideous as it does now, so the administration can make a lame case for yet another war.

But of course, the draft will be fully in place by then.

Blognotes

2004-09-18T13:36:00.000-04:00

I've made a couple of changes to the sidebars.

I have added links to various news websites around the world. I hope you find these helpful.

I have also added a sidebar called "Daily Specials" which includes several articles that I think are of particular interest. As the title suggests, I will be changing these on a daily basis.

I also added a link to a section called "Issue in Depth" which will regularly examine a critical issue in detail.

I am going to take a break this aft and watch the Red Sox take game 2 of the series with the Yankees.

If anyone has any items to share, please feel free to post them in the comment section of this post.

Blair warned about post-war Iraq a year before invasion - I guess the White House phone lines were down that day....

2004-09-18T01:29:00.000-04:00

because either Blair failed to tell Bush, or more likely, Bush ignored any and all information that would derail his invasion plans.

But Blair was warned by the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that many years of difficulty were ahead in the post-invasion occupation:

Tony Blair was warned a year before invading Iraq that a stable post-war government would be impossible without keeping large numbers of troops there for "many years", secret government papers reveal.

I wonder why Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice didn't voice those same concerns to Bush.

Oh, that's right - they wanted the war.

I knew it was something.

Bush concerned about voter fraud in Nevada

2004-09-18T01:20:00.000-04:00

You just can't make this stuff up.

Schemer-in-chief Karl Rove is said to be "...worried about the potential fraud and hoped to send in federal investigators."

The Bush team, after gaining power with the illegal help of Katherine Harris, not to mention the Florida Supreme Court and SCOTUS, is concerned about voter fraud.

That's rich.

Obviously the Bush team has realized that the people in Nevada don't want nuclear waste shoved down their throats at Yucca Mountain.

So the stripping of legal voters begins anew.....

The debate about debates continues, but no amount of stalling will help Bush this time

2004-09-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

Andrea Mitchell is on Hardball discussing the uncertainty of how many, when, and in what format the two major candidates will debate.

With just a few weeks until the election, it's way too late to still be diddling around over the when, where, and how of the debates. But this is part of the "strategy" of the republicans. Chief regime negotiator Jim Baker is trying to play this out for as long as possible to keep the Kerry campaign off balance.

Uh, Mr. Baker, that's not going to work. Kerry is an unflappable debater - he cleaned Bill Weld's clock in Massachusetts and took a huge lead away from Howard Dean in the primaries. He shines when he is in debate mode and is at his best when his back is to the wall.

Of course, the repubs are trying to completely disabuse the public of any expectations of Bush whatsoever, so all the guy has to do is show up and he'll be declared the victor.

They might think that it's going to work. But without a direct feed from Rove for the answers, Bush is going to be out there all alone.

And it's gonna be ugly.

Florida supreme court puts Nader on ballot

2004-09-17T18:45:00.000-04:00

In other words, it's 2000 all over again.

The Bush-friendly court decided to overlook the fact that Nader's reform party is not a political party according to the regs in Florida.

The court said in its ruling:

"In making our decision in this case, we are guided by the overriding constitutional principle in favor of ballot access."

Bullshit. This is a power grab to tilt the result towards Bush and we all know it.

I'm all for ballot access for third parties, but the Florida SC is reinterpreting the rules to get what they want.

With all due respect Senator Kerry, it's time to pucker up

2004-09-17T18:25:00.000-04:00

It's clear why Bush has a slight "lead" in the polls. First of all, he's still riding what's left of the post-convention bounce. You remember the republican convention - the four day orgiastic hate-fest with speeches reminiscient of a Klan rally, full-fledged threats, and obscene exploitation of 9/11.

And now we have Senator Kerry saying stuff like Bush "guilded the truth."

I know I blogged on this already, but this is really bugging me. It's obvious Bush can't function properly unless he is plugged in - we need look no further than the "OB-GYN's need to practice their love for women" episode. But Bush has skilled speechwriters who know what he needs - short, simple words and direct concepts - ala "you are with us or the terrorists." Whether the concepts are true or not is irrelevant to the administration - but the message needs to be simple and straightforward.

Kerry could and should learn from this. People don't want to hear words like "guild" in stump speeches. They need to hear words like lied, cheated, and stole. As in Bush lied his way into war, cheated you out of your jobs and stability, and stole the trust of the American people.

In Clinton's day, it was "it's the economy, stupid."

Kerry needs to embrace the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid).

For good or bad, the public needs simplicty. And if Kerry wants to win this thing, he needs to realize that - and pretty damn quick, too.

Mission NOT accomplished

2004-09-17T15:39:00.000-04:00

Damn good ad just out by the DNC. Actually, the official name of it is "guard." It shows Bush bragging on the carrier about how combat operations are over in Iraq and how the world is safer. Then it begins to show the numbers of casualties in Iraq and the images of that country, which we invaded, blow up before our eyes.

Mission accomplished. Right.

Bush voters and blind faith

2004-09-17T15:29:00.000-04:00

That is the title of a well-written letter to the editor in today's Boston Globe.

One key quote:

"President Bush's religious voters believe what they are told rather than what they see. They choose to believe the simple fantasy over the complex truth. They do not notice that the Bush doctrine of preemption and his ability to collect enemies make us less secure, not more, because they are told that Bush is the 'antiterror president."

I think that sums up the situation pretty well.

Now that Miller is testifying, the question remains: where's Waldo?

2004-09-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

Or in this case, where the hell is Robert Novak and why is his conspiring ass not being dragged in front of a grand jury?

The Washington Post is reporting today that a federal judge is not going to allow NYT writer Judith Miller to avoid a subpoena to testify about her conversations with a source in the Plame leak case.

It is clear what is happening here. The government knows full well that this matter could be solved by simply going straight to Novak. But instead, they are attempting to thwart the free press by squeezing all the other reporters peripherally involved while letting the critical contact get a pass. This way, it looks like the government is trying to solve the case, but all they are really doing is diverting attention from the real criminal and intimidating the press in the process.

The last line of the article pretty much sums it up:

"Novak and his attorney have refused to comment on whether he has been subpoenaed."

Right. Exactly right.

U. S. position seems to be: "Do as I say not as I do" as Putin readies for preemptive action

2004-09-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Well, Dick opened the door on that one. We can't conduct what Kofi Annan refers to as an "illegal" war in Iraq and then tell other countries that we expect a different code of conduct from them.

President Putin is prepared to take preemptive action against terrorists.

"Lower-level officials including Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov have threatened pre-emptive strikes against terrorists abroad, and it was not immediately clear whether Putin was referring to actions only at home or abroad, too."

First, Russia will strike out "preemptively" against terrorists. Then it's just a matter of time before other countries, perceiving possible threats against them, do the same. Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea are certainly on the list of countries who may feel threatened and could strike out as a result of the U.S. leading the way in aggressive invasions based on "possible" threats.

Looks like the woodpile has throughly been doused with gasoline.

And the U.S. just lit the match.

Iraq: "Far graver than Vietnam"

2004-09-17T10:05:00.000-04:00

Dick's reckless rush to invade Iraq has created a .."disaster on an unprecedented scale.." according to The Guardian.

According to Jeffrey Record, professor of strategy at the Air War College,

"I see no ray of light on the horizon at all. The worst case has become true. There's no analogy whatsoever between the situation in Iraq and the advantages we had after the second world war in Germany and Japan."

The most frightening and revolting part of this is that, as bad as all the current news is, the Bush regime is going to be making it a whole lot worse if they get back in office - and they are just waiting for the election to be over before they unleash the awful ugliness that is to come.

Retired general Joseph Hoare, the former marine commandant and head of US Central Command, has made this chilling prediction based on his information:

General Hoare believes that "a decision has been made" to attack Fallujah "after the first Tuesday in November. That's the cynical part of it - after the election. The signs are all there."

Attack Fallujah - after the first Tuesday in November. These bastards know that they have created a colossal disaster and that a full-fledged conflagration is only a matter of time.

But, power-mongering scum that they are, they are going to wait until they get their conniving backsides back into power before bringing the epic horror of their own mistake to the American people. American people whose children, spouses, and friends are dying for their war.

I have to believe that the American people will not allow this. I have to - I need to get some sleep at night.

Senator, I beg you: stick to the script

2004-09-17T09:28:00.001-04:00

Last night on Countdown, Keith Olbermann did a segment that I can only describe as heartbreaking to anyone who wants to see Kerry win this November.

Three times, Keith read from Kerry’s script of his speech yesterday. First, Keith read what Kerry was supposed to say. Then he played the clip of what Kerry actually said.

Man, that hurt. The text of the speech had some good one-liners. Really quotable stuff. Like how Bush shouldn’t “play politics with national security.” But then when it came time to deliver that sharply written speech, what did the Senator do? He went on about how the president shouldn’t “gild” the truth, in a sentence that had to have been about twenty words in length.

This is why Bush gets better soundbites. His staff knows he needs short sentences without any complicated words in them. And Bush, with all his many, many, many other faults, is pretty good at memorizing his speeches and one-liners.

Kerry needs to drop the “My friends, [5,212 words later]… thank you" routine. He needs to learn, and quickly, the art of delivering the zinger and creating memorable sound bites.

Kerry needs to come out and say what he really thinks, in a language that most people can relate to. "Gilding the truth" doesn't mean squat to most people. Saying "Your president lied to you" does.

As many of you know, Senator Kerry was not my candidate of choice at the beginning of this campaign. I’ve known of him and respected him for many years, but I was, and to some degree still remain, a Deaniac. And it’s times like this when I miss the Governor more than ever.

Because we all know Dean would have not said “gild.”

Please mourn the passing of free speech.....

2004-09-16T22:04:00.000-04:00

McCarthyism has risen from the grave.

The mother of a soldier who died fighting Cheney's war was arrested after she interrupted Mrs. Bush during a speech. Unfortunately, this article, as most of the articles reporting on the story, do not capture the truth of what happened.

The video, which I saw earlier on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, portrays a very different incident. The woman was speaking with reporters after she left the building. She then was arrested in front of a cadre of photographers and journalists. She kept asking why she was being arrested. The officers did not respond, except to repeat that she had to come with them. They practically dragged her away.

Oh, and I should mention that she was wearing a t-shirt which said something to the effect of "Bush you killed my son."

What is even more sickening and frightening than what happened to this woman is the fact that there is not national outrage over it.

The word "quagmire" is now officially appropriate

2004-09-16T19:28:00.000-04:00

It's official.

Iraq is a clusterf*ck and is going to be so for some time to come.

This is a repost of a report by the CIA which outlines the likely scenerios in Iraq over the next year and years.

The two basic possibilities:

bad and worse.

This is what worries me about the death penalty...

2004-09-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

Over one hundred (116 to be exact) death row inmates have been exonerated since SCOTUS' reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976, primarily because of DNA technology.

The inmates collectively spent 1,000 years of their lives incarcerated while waiting for science to set them free.

Over 900 convicted have been executed in the United States since the penalty resumed almost thirty years ago.