The Press Could Learn From Bush

Our press could learn something from George W Bush. Bush is notorious for not answering the questions he is asked. Instead, he rambles on vaguely coming close to the topic upon which the original question was based, but in the end, he avoids the question.

For example, here is how Bush answered a question regarding the Iraqi civil war: (from ThinkProgress.org)

Q Mr. President, thank you, sir. What is the difference between what we’re seeing now in Iraq and civil war? And do you worry that calling it a civil war would make it difficult to argue that we’re fighting the central front of the war on terror there?

PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, the plans of Mr. Zarqawi was to foment sectarian violence. That’s what he said he wanted to do. The Samarra bombing that took place last winter was intended to create sectarian violence, and it has. The recent bombings were to perpetuate the sectarian violence. In other words, we’ve been in this phase for a while. And the fundamental objective is to work with the Iraqis to create conditions so that the vast majority of the people will be able to see that there’s a peaceful way forward.

Wow! See what I mean. He did not come anywhere near answering those questions.

Now let's see what happens when Bush asks a question: (from the Washington Post)

At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush. Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken with the man he had often criticized on the stump this fall. But it wasn't long before Bush found him.

"How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.
"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"

"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House.

Man! What a journalist! Did you see that. Bush didn't get an direct answer to his question, and he simply stated, "That's not what I asked you." Then he asked the question again. Amazing. He did not care that he was being rude and inconsiderate or even feel any guilt or remorse that he was the reason Webb's son was in senseless and failed war where Webb's son's life is in constant danger.

Perhaps Bush is in the wrong job. (Obviously.) Maybe he should resign and get a job as a reporter. I bet he could get a president to answer a question.

Sarcasm aside, the press has done a very poor job of questioning this administration, and Bush, in all his lack of compassion and lack of self-awareness, has shown just how easy it is.

Michael Savage: Super Fascist

Fascism

Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control {early instances of army fascism and brutality -- J. W. Aldridge>

Facsism is what Dr. Michael Alan Weiner (a.k.a. Michael Savage) advocated on his radio show on Monday, November 27th, 2006: (courtesy of Media Matters for America)

SAVAGE: The Islamists smell weakness in the West and are attacking us on several fronts at once: one, through outright war; two, through immigration; three, through their propaganda disseminated through the liberal media and four, through the liberal courts. Only a devastating military blow against the hearts of Islamic terror coupled with an outright ban on Muslim immigration, laws making the dissemination of enemy propaganda illegal, and the uncoupling of the liberal ACLU can save the United States. I would also make the construction of mosques illegal in America and the speaking of English only in the streets of the United States the law.

[...]

SAVAGE: Now, this thing at the airport last week was a complete and total assault upon our civil rights and those who did it used the Trojan horse of civil rights. These so-called imams, if you want to call them that -- I don't know what they're imams of -- but the so-called scholars who put that stunt on used the Trojan horse of civil rights in order to assault our civil rights. Make no mistake about it. We have to get rid of these kind of Islamic radicals. There is no question in my mind that this was an illegitimate assault upon our civil rights and upon our own survival.

Now, we need the FBI to be strong against them. We need the Justice Department to stand up to these imams and possibly throw them out of the country for having staged this attack at the airport against US Airways specifically to impose Muslim views on society through civil rights and diversity training. I know exactly what I am talking about. I know exactly who these people are and I am not going to be bowed by these radicals. I want the FBI to investigate the planning for this assault upon US Airways. How about you?

[...]

SAVAGE: Right, this was a Trojan horse assault upon our defenses. They were using religion as a Trojan horse to overthrow our civil rights and to penetrate us for a future attack. That's how I look at it. If I was the FBI, I would investigate their fingernails for any trail of a conspiracy to do this and I'd slap those imams into irons if I had to, once I found out that that's what they were doing. I can guarantee you there's an email trail about how to do this and it goes right into the ACLU and the other subversive organizations.

That's right. Michael "Savage" Weiner wants us to be fascists and restrict the civil liberties of anyone who disagrees with him.

He wants us to ban immigration for people of one religion. That is religious dicrimination.

He wants us to "uncouple" the American Civil Liberies Union and thinks that civil liberties are a "Trojan horse." So he is against civil liberties for people other than himself. (Civil liberties, by definition, are supposed to be for everyone.)

He wants the FBI to remove anyone from the country if they are Muslim and they use their civil rights. That is blantant fascism.

Weiner is a facsist, and his brand of faux-patriotism is anti-American. Our ancestors did not fight in the Revolutionary War so that a demagogue like Weiner could try to take away the freedoms they won. Our fathers and grandfathers did not fight the fascists in World War II so that Weiner could try to make our country a fascist state.

Weiner likes to call other people anti-American when he and his ilk are the ones who are truly anti-American because they are against American ideals like civil liberties, civil rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

Well, to turn the tired argument that they always use against them, if they don't like the American freedom and the American liberties that our ancestors fought and died for, then they can get out. Leave America, Weiner. Move to North Korea where your facsist views are welcome.

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, and I plan on keeping that way.

Sanity Prevails

Peace sign brings spat, affirmation

Last week, a couple were threatened with fines of $25 a day by their homeowners association unless they removed a 4-foot wreath shaped like a peace symbol from the front of their house.

The fines have been dropped, and the three-member board of the association has resigned, according to an e-mail message sent to residents on Monday...

In its original letter to the couple, Lisa Jensen and Bill Trimarco, the association said some neighbors had found the peace symbol politically "divisive."

A board member later told a newspaper that he thought the familiar circle with angled lines was also, perhaps, a sign of the devil.

Peace wreath apology

Homeowner Lisa Jensen told The Associated Press that the board of directors of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association had apologized, called the incident a misunderstanding and had withdrawn its request for the wreath's removal.

Jensen was ordered to take the wreath down when some residents in her 200-home subdivision saw it as a protest of the Iraq war. Bob Kearns, board president, also said some saw it as a symbol of Satan.

CIA: "Whoops! Tortured the wrong guy. Sorry. Our bad."

This is one of many reasons why we should not use torture. Again, I am appalled that this is even something I have to argue against.

Torture is wrong, like murder, like rape.

There should not be any further discussion of this, and yet right-wing nutcases like Limbaush, Hannity, Coulter, and Savage still get paid for their insane opinion that torture is okay.

The people that pay them, listen to them, or support them should be ashamed. I know that I am already ashamed for them.

The Wronged Man
Unjustly Imprisoned and Mistreated, Khaled al-Masri Wants Answers the U.S. Government Doesn't Want to Give

Khaled al-Masri was supposed to have been disappeared by black-hooded CIA paramilitaries in the dead of night. One minute he was riding a bus in Macedonia, the next -- poof -- gone. Grabbed by Macedonian agents, handed off to junior CIA operatives in Skopje and then secretly flown to a prison in Afghanistan that didn't officially exist, to be interrogated with rough measures that weren't officially on the books...

Current and former CIA officials say Masri was believed to have a fake passport and the same name as someone else they were looking for...

He spent five months in a filthy secret prison set up by the CIA and guarded by Afghans. He was made to drink water so putrid it made him vomit. He slept on a single blanket, shivered through the cold months and was fed chicken bones and skin. He was beaten and interrogated many times, sometimes by people he believes to be Americans. He went on a hunger strike, lost 60 pounds.

Eventually the CIA caught up with its mistake.

German detained by CIA asks judge to revive lawsuit


Man Seeks Apology For Alleged US Torture


Man Mistakenly Abducted by CIA Seeks Redress

Semantics (NBC Calls It What It Is: Civil War)

This is so insulting (on both ends):

Bucking White House, NBC says Iraq in 'civil war'

WASHINGTON -- NBC's "Today Show" host Matt Lauer yesterday told millions of American television viewers, many sitting at their breakfast tables, that the network would buck the White House and from now on describe the Iraq war as a "civil war."

So NBC had decided to call the situation in Iraq a "Civil War."

Well... how can I put this eloquently... DUH!

What took them so long? Coming to this conclusion so late is insulting. Of course, even more insulting is the decision by others, especially the Bush administration, to say it is anything but a civil war.

Let's look at the definition:

civil war

Main Entry: civil war
Function: noun
: a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country

That could not be more clear, and you would have to be an idiot (e.g. George W Bush) not to know that the conflict in Iraq fits that definition.

Now, I know that there is more involved in the semantics of this. Politically, if the Bush administration called it a civil war, they would be admitting failure which they would never do (unless you believe in torture like they do, but I do not and am 100% against it).

However, we need to call it a civil war because we cannot respond to and try to stop a civil war if do not even admit that it exists.

Semantics are important when they have implications over life and death, and those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Semantics played an important role in the failure of the world to stop the Rwandan Genocide.

Ambassador Rawson stayed in Rwanda for ten days after the genocide was first unleashed, before returning to Washington. It was only on April 28-a full three weeks into the slaughter- that he officially declared a "state of disaster." Then he characterized the genocide as tribal killings-exactly the description the killers wanted as a smokescreen for their program of extermination. Had he or any other official invoked the word "genocide," all nations who were signatories of the 1948 convention on genocide would have been obligated by the terms of that treaty to condemn the slaughter and act to stop it...

Secretary of State Warren Christopher, an accomplished lawyer, instructed his staff to avoid calling the situation in Rwanda genocide, but merely to say that "acts of genocide may have been committed." Ambassador Rawson went one better: "As a responsible government, you don't just go round hollering 'genocide. 'You say that acts of genocide may have occurred and they need to be investigated." The media rightly mocked this piece of legal obfuscation, and Christopher disingenuously conceded, "If there is any particular magic in calling it genocide, I have no hesitancy in saying that." (Rawson has since compared the killings to a war crime, carefully avoiding the term "genocide.")

Today, we see this same sort of parsing of words over the genocide in Darfur and the civil war in Iraq.

While we argue over the meanings of words, people are dying.

So congratulations, George W Bush. Once again, by your words and your lies, you are responsible for the deaths of thousands. It is true what they say; when Clinton lied, nobody died. Yet he was still impeached... for nothing.

Well, let me be clear in my words so that there can be no confusion or parsing:

Torture is wrong.

Waterboarding is torture.

Iraq is in a civl war.

Those murdered in Darfur are victims of genocide.

Bush is a liar.

IMPEACH BUSH.

Rumsfeld Signed Off On Torture

Honestly, how many more stories like this do we need before this country does something about this Pro-torture Excutive Branch.

Rumsfeld okayed abuses says former U.S. general

MADRID (Reuters) - Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the prison's former U.S. commander said in an interview on Saturday.

Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski told Spain's El Pais newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Rumsfeld which allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as sleep deprivation during interrogation.

Karpinski, who ran the prison until early 2004, said she saw a memorandum signed by Rumsfeld detailing the use of harsh interrogation methods.

"The handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: "Make sure this is accomplished"," she told Saturday's El Pais.

(H/t to SusanG at DailyKos.)

Evidence Against Bush

No president deserves impeachment more than Bush, and that includes Nixon. I do not think that we really need more evidence against Bush to explore the option, but if this story leads to more, then it will speed up our advancement toward the inevitable.

(h/t to CrooksAndLiars.com)

CIA acknowledges Bush signed secret directive on interrogating terror suspect

The contents of the documents were not revealed, but one of them is "a directive signed by President Bush granting the CIA the authority to set up detention facilities outside the United States and outlining interrogation methods that may be used against detainees," the civil liberties union said, based on its review of published accounts.

The second document, according to the group, is a Justice Department legal analysis "specifying interrogation methods that the CIA may use against top Al Qaeda members."

Civil liberties lawyers said they would urge public disclosure of the contents of the documents. "We intend to press for release of both of these documents," Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer for the group, said in a statement. "If President Bush and the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners, the public has a right to know."

Glenn Beck: Super Bigot

Glenn Beck is evil. He promotes intolerance and bigotry on his show on CNN Headline News. I find myself regularly disgusted by the things he says. I do not watch his show but Media Matters for America gives us updates on Beck's insensitive and stupid statements.

There are many others like Beck including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Ann Coulter, but these people are not employed by CNN, which is supposed to be a news source. It is one thing for the Fox News Propaganda Channel to employ these liars for hire, but CNN's employment of Glenn Beck is the reason I am boycotting both CNN Headline News and the main CNN channel.

Once you are already boycotting or not watching a channel, there is little more that you can do when they make you even angrier. Not that my one man boycott is doing anything anyway, but this latest example of insulting behavior by Beck is just too much. I wrote a message to CNN to register my displeasure, and I told them I would continue to campaign for the removal of Glenn Beck from their payroll.

Below I will include a few links regarding what Beck said that made me so irate:

This link is for the Media Matters' article which includes the video of Beck's show:
CNN's Beck to first-ever Muslim congressman: "[W]hat I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies' "

This link is for another Media Matters article, but this is about The Daily Show's response to Beck plus the video:
Jon Stewart on Beck's remark to Keith Ellison: "Finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking"

And another link for another MMfA article about and video of Countdown with Keith Olbermann's recent segment on Beck:
Olbermann awarded Beck "Worst Person" for saying he "feel[s]" like asking first Muslim congressman to "prove to me that you are not working with our enemies"

The following is the message (not 100% verbatim) that I sent to CNN Headline News:

I was disgusted when I saw Glenn Beck say the following:

"With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, 'Let's cut and run.' And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'"

Is this really the type of bigotry CNN wishes to promote?

Shame on you CNN for giving this hate-monger a show in the first place. I already stopped watching CNN when Beck was first hired, but I continue to get reports of the racist, unbalanced, and conservatively biased rhetoric from Media Matters for America and the blogs I read.

How much longer will CNN continue to pay for this insensitive bigot? Because that is how long I will assume CNN supports this sort of bigotry. That is how long I will continue to avoid watching CNN or supporting its sponsors. That is how long I will promote to my friends and family that they do the same.

CNN has chosen to give Beck a platform to spew his hatred. Well, after this, I intend to voice my opinion to my family, to my friends, at work, on my blog. It may not be much, but I feel I must do what I can until people like Beck are no longer paid for their prejudice.

There are many upsetting things in Beck's back catalogue, and MMfA has documented a lot of them. If you have some spare time and are looking to be really infuriated, you can do a search for "Beck" on their website. I plan on writing more about Beck in the future, and I plan on continuing to do so until he is no longer employed by CNN.

In closing, here is one more link to a MMfA article and video about Beck's bigotry just because I feel like including one more:
Beck characterized letter criticizing Al Qaeda as "surprising," because "the man who wrote it is a Muslim"

Leave In Silence

Yesterday, General Abizaid told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that we should not pull our troops out of Iraq. Well, here are two reasons why we should:

Marine sentenced over Iraq civilian killing

A US marine has been sentenced to 18 months' jail in a Californian military court over his role in the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi man in April.

US soldier admits Iraq girl rape

A US Army soldier has pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and helping murder her and her family.

Our country has done everything wrong and nothing right when it comes to Iraq.

Our country believed Bush when he said Iraq had WMDs, a nuclear weapons program, and ties to al Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We let Osama bin Laden get away so that we could attack Iraq.

We disbanded the Iraqi military which created thousands and thousands of angry, unemployed men with guns. We did not send enough of our own troops to secure the country. We allowed looting. We did not secure Iraqi Army weapons and ammunitions which were and are being used by insurgents to kill US soldiers and marines. We allowed looting.

We allowed Halliburton and Bechtel to rip us off by giving them no bid contracts and letting them do inadequte reconstruction. We allowed those companies to operate without congressional oversight which allowed war profiteering. We let those companies do the work of reconstruction rather then let Iraqi people do the work which led to more hostility and unemployment.

We gave everything to the Shiites and the Kurds and nothing to the Sunnis (because Saddam was a Sunni) which led to more sectarian strife and violence. We did not secure the borders of Iraq which led to foreign terrorists entering the country to commit acts of terrorism against US troops, UN organizations, and the Iraqi people.

We created an environment for criminal acts like the ones in the articles cited above and Abu Ghraib to occur.

We mismanaged reconstruction funds. We put young Republicans with no experience in charge of reconstruction simply because they were Bush loyalists. We hired companies who did disastrously poor or incomplete work on building medical clinics and municipal buildings.

You name it, we botched it.

They say that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. In this case, it seems we led the horse to water, and now we are drowning it. If we continue to "stay the course" in Iraq, we are going to end up with a dead horse, and you know what they say about beating one of those.

It is over for us in Iraq. By staying there, we can only make things worse, and when you hear the Bush administration say otherwise, just remember that all their other predictions turned out to be WRONG. There is no reason to believe that they would be right this time. In fact, we have every reason to believe that they are wrong about this. We need to stop following that broken compass.

If I only knew the answer
Or I thought we had a chance
Or I could stop this
I would stop this thing
From spreading like a cancer

What can I say
I don't want to play anymore
What can I say
I'm heading for the door
I can't stand this emotional violence
Leave in silence

-Martin L Gore, from Depeche Mode's Leave In Silence

That Was Didn't Take Long

I knew we could not trust Bush when he said he would work with Democrats and for bipartisanship, but he has proven those words to be empty far faster than I would have guessed. I am not really surprised by this, but I am still disappointed.

Bush revives stalled judicial nominations: Six of his conservative judicial picks return, angering Democrats.

But several Senate Democrats were angered by the news that Bush wanted approval of some controversial nominees.

They include the Pentagon's general counsel, William J. Haynes II of Virginia, who was criticized for approving the harsh interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; former mining industry lobbyist William G. Myers III of Idaho, who has been targeted for defeat by environmentalists; and U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, who has been opposed by civil rights advocates.

"Democrats have asked the president to be bipartisan, but this is a clear slap in the face at our request," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

ACLU Urges Senate to Reject New Specter NSA Legislation, Bill Would Face Reconciliation with Flawed Wilson Measure

The following may be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

"Last Tuesday, the American people spoke clearly - they want a Congress willing to serve as an independent branch and stand up to the president’s ongoing abuse of power. President Bush insists on congressional approval of his warrantless spying program while the Republicans still have control. He wants Congress to cover his tracks and provide immunity to those that broke the law. Congress should be investigating this illegal program, not approving it.

Bush Will Push Bolton Nomination in Lame Duck Session

At today’s White House press conference, Tony Snow revealed that the White House has officially renominated John Bolton as U.N ambassador and plans to push for his confirmation during the lame duck session of Congress. Bolton, who has repeatedly failed to gain Senate confirmation, is one of Bush’s most divisive nominations. The move comes one day after Bush pledged to “to work with the new Congress in a bipartisan way.”

Better Late Than Never

Kofi Annan criticizes Global Warming skeptics and urges immediate action:

UN chief issues climate warning

Mr Annan told delegates the phenomenon was as grave a threat as conflict, poverty and the spread of weapons.

He said sceptics were "out of step, out of arguments and out of time".

And let's welcome Pakistan to the world of 18th Century Women's Rights:

Pakistan amends `unjust' rape laws

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's lower house of parliament passed amendments to the country's rape laws Wednesday, eliminating the death penalty for extramarital sex and revising a clause on making victims produce four witnesses to prove rape cases...

Consensual sex outside marriage remains a crime punishable by 5 years in prison or a $165 fine, said a parliamentary official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media...

Hina Jillani, a leading female Pakistani human-rights activist, praised the government for taking practical steps to amend the rape laws but demanded more legislation to protect women's rights...

The amendments include dropping the death penalty and flogging for people convicted of having consensual sex outside marriage and giving judges discretion to try rape cases in a criminal rather than Islamic court.

In The News

IAEA finds traces of plutonium in Iran

The
International Atomic Energy Agency report detailing the discovery also faulted Tehran for not cooperating with the U.N. watchdog's attempts to investigate other suspicious aspects of Iran's nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a two-hour news conference in Tehran, asserted the world has no choice but to "live with a nuclear Iran," although he conceded his country was "still in the first stages" of its uranium enrichment program.

But, hey, we got Saddam, right?

Bush Administration: No Constitutional Rights for Guantanamo Detainees

The Bush administration says terrorist suspects being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have no constitutional right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

In court papers filed Monday, the Justice Department asked an appeals court to dismiss hundreds of cases by detainees at the prison camp.

The founding fathers must be so proud.

Fla. Judge Delays Voting Machines Audit

Electronic voting machines in Sarasota County reported 18,382 people _ about one in eight voters _ did not vote for either Republican Vern Buchanan or Democrat Christine Jennings, but made choices in other races. That rate was much higher than other counties in the district.

Bush so desperately wanted to spread democracy in the Middle East. Well, our democracy still needs work here in our own country. If Bush had spread some of that democracy in 2000, he would not have become president. Ironic, n'est-ce pas?

Rumsfeld faces lawsuit for alleged war crimes in Iraq

Mr Rumsfeld has become a prime target for international human rights activists since resigning last week from his post as defence secretary - his immunity from prosecution will soon lapse and, under German law, a non-German can be prosecuted for war crimes committed outside Germany.

Why stop with Rumsfeld?

S Africa approves same-sex unions

South Africa's parliament has voted to legalise same-sex weddings - the first African country to approve such unions.

The controversial Civil Union bill was passed by 230 votes to 41.

So, let me get this straight. The country that became infamous for the prejudicial system known as Apartheid, has legalized same-sex civil unions before us? If that does not signify how behind we are, then I do not what will.

Vatican Cardinal Criticizes US Border Fence

A senior Roman Catholic cardinal at the Vatican has criticized a U.S. plan to build an 1,100-kilometer fence along the border with Mexico.

Cardinal Renato Martino called the project "inhumane" Tuesday during a news conference to discuss Pope Benedict's annual message to migrants.

Remember when President Reagan said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Good times.

Urgent Notice: Provisional Ballots

From Mary Jo Kilroy's campaign website:



Mary Jo Kilroy is the Democratic candidate in my district, and like several races around the country, her race is currently undecided. She is currently behind in the race by about 3,000 votes, but there are about 10,000 absentee ballots and 10,000 provisional ballots that have not yet been counted. Kilroy still has a chance to win this election.

If you cast a provisional ballot when you voted, your voting process is not complete. I am not sure how it works in other states, but if you live in Kilroy's district, be sure to follow her website's instructions to ensure that your vote gets counted.

As Yogi Berra said, it ain't over 'til it's over.

Patience With Impeachment

I recently started seeing signs saying "IMPEACH", "IMPEACH BUSH", or "THE WAR IN IRAQ IS A LIE" posted randomly around Columbus. I like seeing those signs. I like the idea of impeaching Bush. I like that impeaching Bush will become theoretically possible simply because the Democrats will control Congress in a few weeks, but I think we need to be patient.

I have heard a lot of talk of impeachment or calls for impeachment since the Democrats were projected to control both houses of Congress, and I personally want Bush to be impeached as much as any liberal pro-impeach-Bush person for his illegal warrantless wiretapping, the war in Iraq, and many other things that I have written about previously. In fact my first post on this medium was about impeaching Bush, but slow down, people.

We have a lot of work to do before impeachment will be a viable option, and I do not think that it becoming a viable option is guaranteed.

When the Democrats take control of Congress in January, they will finally have subpoena power and be able to investigate and do oversight. If those powers lead to the discovery of information that will prove Bush's guilt and convince the majority of the public that he should be impeached, then impeachment can occur. However, that process can take a very long time.

I get the feeling that some people want impeachment hearings to begin on the first day of the new Congress (and to be honest, the angry part of me wants that too), but let us be realistic. That would be insane for many logical, legal, and political reasons.

It is okay to hope for, work for, or promote impeachment, but be prepared for disappointment. It is very possible that it will not happen at all, so don't hold your breath.

If it happens and it happens for the right reasons, then we can be satisfied that justice will prevail and prove that no man is above the law. Until then, be patient.

A Brief Period Of Rejoicing

"We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead."
-Winston Churchill

I used that quote to end my last post, and I like it so much I am using again to start this post.

(If you are unfamiliar with it) it is something Winston Churchill said regarding the Allied victory of Germany in World War II. Now to be clear, I use this quote to remind Democrats, liberals, progressives, et cetera that we still have a lot of work to do following our success in the 2006 midterm election, but I am NOT comparing Republicans and conservatives to our enemies in WWII. (I say this because I know that there are people crazy enough to draw such a ridiculous conclusion.)

I allowed myself "a brief period of rejoicing" last week after the Democratic victory last week. I was burnt out from staying up late on election night, waiting to hear about who would control the US Senate, recovering from the shock of the news that Democrats would control both houses of US Congress (Happy Birthday to me!), and not knowing which candidate won the US Representative race in my district. It is now one week later, and I still do not know who won that race. Unless the Democratic candidate wins after they count all the absentee and provisional ballots, my rejoicing is essentially over. That is not because I will have to put up with my Republican Representative for at least another two years but because it is time to get back to work.

We have a lot of work to do. The Republicans still control Congress for the rest of the year, and there is a lot of damage they can do in the time they have left. There are still a few undecided races out there. If you cast a provisional ballot, be sure you do what you need to do to make sure your vote is counted. Iraq is still a horrific mess. Bush is still trying to legalize his law breaking and get the Senate to confirm John Bolton as our representative to the UN. There are still corrupt politicians in Congress which we still need to go after. Voter fraud and intimidation this cycle needs to be investigated and prosecuted to help ensure that it does not happen again. Our work is not anywhere near done.

Getting rid of corrupt Democratic Representaive William Jefferson (the guy with all the money in his freezer) is one thing we should work on right away. His race has yet to be decided because it is headed to a runoff election on December 9. Blue Majority is raising money for his opponent, Democrat Karen Carter. Do not ask me how there are two Democrats in a runoff election or even how they are having a runoff election (I personally think all our elections should go to a runoff elections if no candidate gets above 50%, but most areas of the country do not have them). I have no idea how they run elections in Louisiana. Regardless, visit the Blue Majority page for more information.

Remember, now is not the time to let our guard down. By succeeding in this year's elections, we have merely opened the door to changing our country for the better.

Now, the real work begins.

This Morning

I have not yet posted anything since the election because I have been busy. I am still busy, but there is a lot I would like to talk about regarding the election results last week. Right now, I have to get ready for work, but I wanted to do this post about the following articles before I forget about them.

For the past few days, I have been reading about a lot of deaths in Iraq, and then, on top of all that, I see this article this morning:

Up to 150 people kidnapped in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms kidnapped up to 150 staff and visitors in a lightning raid on a government research institute in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday, the largest mass abduction since the start of the U.S. occupation.

Then I read this one:

US: Immigrants may be held indefinitely

WASHINGTON - Immigrants arrested in the United States may be held indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism and may not challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts, the Bush administration said Monday, opening a new legal front in the fight over the rights of detainees.

In court documents filed with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., the Justice Department said a new anti-terrorism law being used to hold detainees in Guantanamo Bay also applies to foreigners captured and held in the United States.

Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, was arrested in 2001 while studying in the United States. He has been labeled an "enemy combatant," a designation that, under a law signed last month, strips foreigners of the right to challenge their detention in federal courts.

Basically, Iraq is a mess on such a huge scale, and our own country needs a lot of cleaning up itself. Simply putting the Democrats into power in Congress is a good first step, but the road ahead will be long and difficult. Our work is far from over. Once the Democrats control Congress, we have to ensure that they do what we voted them into power to do. Now is not the time to be complacent.

"We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead." -Winston Churchill

Update:Reports on the mass kidnapping in Iraq have been coming in with different numbers. I have seen the number of kidnapped victims range from anywhere between 50 to 150. I saw another report that said 20 people have been released. I have yet to see a conclusive number.

Vote! Vote! Vote Democratic! Call For Change

It's Election Day.

This is our last chance to stop Bush from destroying our Constitution, violating our laws, infringing upon our rights, taking away some of our freedoms, invading our privacy, suspending habeas corpus, and engaging in torture.

MoveOn.org is organizing a phone campaign, Blog For Change. Here is the info:


I just wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming election and how important it is that we vote for Democrats so that they can take majority control in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

For far too long the Republicans have had control of all three branches of government, and because of the lack of any opposition, they have gone mad with power. They have taken corruption to a new height in Washington, and unless we work to give at least one branch of government to the Democrats, that corruption will continue and continue to get worse. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and in the past several years, the Republicans have proven that phrase to be true.

This corruption is beyond the normal level for Washingtion, DC, and it is costing us the lives of out troops in Iraq. It is costing us money now and in the future. It is costing us our good standing in the world.

We need to turn it all around. Every evil and corrupt thing Bush and his cronies have done since he has been in office. If you don't know what those things are, again, I direct you to the rest of my blog and its links.

And if any of you still aren't convinced to vote Democratic, please consider that my birthday is this month, and there is nothing I could want for my birthday more than for the Democrats to have majority control of both houses of the US Congress. :)

Hey, Maine, Nevada, And Utah

If you live in Maine, Nevada, or Utah, please vote for Jean Hay Bright, Jack Carter, or Pete Ashdown for US Senate.

These Democrats are all headed towards being defeated in a landslide on Nov 7. So why not vote for them? You've got nothing to lose.

Even if you plan on voting for their Republican opponent, it won't make a difference if you vote for the Democrat instead. The Republican is going to win big, and that is just boring.

In sports, if one team is crushing the other team in a game, it is a boring game. Exciting games take place between more evenly matched teams. Don't you want an exciting election in your state?

So, remember, Maine, Nevada, and Utah: Let's make these elections exciting! Let's make this year's election one we'll never forget! Vote for Bright, Carter, or Ashdown for Senate!

Bush (Not Kerry) Owes An Apology

I will not soon forgive Kerry for apologizing for something he did not do. I will not soon forgive the Democrats who spinlessly sided with the lying Republicans who demanded an apology from Kerry. However, despite their lack of standing up for what is right on this issue, they are not the biggest offenders in this.

Georg W Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Tony Snow, John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Swiftboat Veterans for "Truth," Tucker Carlson, and all the other right-wing liars are the real offenders in this.

They lie. They lie about what Kerry said. They lie about a national hero who served this country with honor.

AND THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE LYING.

They what they are doing. There is no misunderstanding on their part of what Kerry said. They know Kerry was talking about Bush and not the troops. They know this, and despite this, they lie anyway. They lie because they know some people are stupid enough or willing enough to believe the lie and spread the lie themselves.

What they are doing is 100% intentional, and it is evil. These people, who claim to be Christian and moral, are deliberately lying, something which Christians are not supposed to do. They are hypocrites. They are defying their own religious beliefs (if they truly have them), and they do this all the time.

Remember the lie about the "global test"? During the 2004 presidential debates, Kerry passively spoke of "global test" which was nothing more than a reference to the idea that we should consider other people's, other nation's, feelings before we act. This was little more than an extension of the Golden Rule, but that did not stop the Right from twisting this idea into "Kerry would surrender to the enemy" or "Kerry won't make any decision unless the rest of the world says it is okay."

Whenever someone or something opposes them, the Bush administration and its syncophants lies about them.

They lied about Al Gore.
They lied about Iraq.
They lied about Joe Wilson.
They lied about Richard Clarke.
They lied about Howard Dean.
They lied about John Kerry.
They lied about John Edwards.
They lied about Michael Schiavo.
They lied about their lack of response to Hurricane Katrina.
They lied about Global Warming.
They lied about the Mark Foley scandal.
They lied about Michael J Fox.
They lied about John Kerry again.

And they continue to lie about all these things and more.

So who owes who an apology?

Bush owes Kerry an apology. Bush and his supporters owe Kerry an apopology for lying about what Kerry said. They owe Kerry an apology for demanding that he apologize for what he did not say.

They owe us all an apology for lying about Kerry. They owe us an apology for Iraq. They owe us an apology for not getting Osama bin Laden. They owe us an apology for torture. They owe us an apology for Guantanamo Bay. They owe us an apology for Abu Ghraib. They owe us an apology for violating the Geneva Conventions. They owe us an apology for ruining our country. They owe us an apology for increasing terrorism around the world. They owe us an apology for lowering every debate on every issue down to "Why do you hate America?". They owe us an apology for their version of McCarthyism. They owe us an apology for violating the Constitution.

They owe us an apology for lying about EVERYTHING.

I know what you may be thinking: "It's just politics." Well, I used to believe that, despite all the dirty politics, our country was basically good. While Bush is in office, I can no longer say that I believe that.

For that, Bush owes me an apology.

Vote For Democrats And Only Democrats

This is my endorsement for the 2006 Mid-term elections:

Vote for Democrats And Only Democrats.

We need positive change in this country, and we will not acheive that unless the Democrats control at least one house in Congress. I would really prefer it if the Democrats have majority control in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If they take control of neither, then we are truly lost.

If Bush was not the president, I would tell people to vote for the best person in any given election, but this election is our last chance to stand up to the Bush administration and try to stop them from dragging our country down further. Only through true opposition and oversight can we try to stop all the evil Bush has wrought.

Be sure to check out your county's board of elections website for voting information. Get informed and vote Tuesday, Nov 7.

For those of you in Ohio (and Franklin County), I endorse and will be voting for:

Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate

Ted Strickland for Ohio Governor

Marc Dann for Ohio Attorney General

Barbara Sykes Ohio Auditor of State

Jennifer L. Brunner for Ohio Secretary of State

Richard Cordray for Ohio Treasurer of State

Mary Jo Kilroy for U.S. Representative to Congress (OH-15)

William Michael O'Neill for Ohio Supreme Court

Ben Espy for Ohio Supreme Court

Ted Celeste for State Representative (OH-24)

Marilyn Brown for Franklin County Commissioner

Albert N. Donahey Franklin County Auditor

Bush Allows Iraq To Control Our Military

Military strength is just one more issue that the public trusts Republicans on for no good reason.

When the President of the United States takes orders from Iraq on what our military does or does not do, then we have truly lost control in Iraq. President Bush lied (as he always does) when he said he would never let a foreign power tell our military what to do.

The most upsetting thing about this is that I could only find a few articles on this topic, while I could find over 1,600 articles on the lies about the John Kerry joke.

He's A Soldier

Meet Ahmed Qusai al-Taei. He's an American. He's a soldier. And he's been kidnapped in Iraq.

He was kidnapped at gunpoint on October 23rd, when militiamen handcuffed him and shoved him into the trunk of a car. The military immediately set up roadblocks and checkpoints in Sadr City, a neighborhood of Baghdad where it was suspected the kidnappers were hiding the captured soldier. Every car in and out of the area was inspected for him. Houses were searched. Drones were used. The full force of the United States military demonstrated that it would not leave a man behind.

Until the Iraqi government forced us out of Sadr City. The military obeyed, and retreated. And the soldier's fate remains unknown.

A more important topic: Bush abandoned a U.S. soldier behind enemy lines

George Bush just abandoned a U.S. soldier behind enemy lines on the order of Iraq's government.

U.S. Obeys Order to Abandon Checkpoints

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. troops on Tuesday abandoned checkpoints around the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City on orders from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the latest in a series of moves by the Iraqi leader to assert his authority with the U.S. administration.

U.S. military abandons checkpoints

U.S. military abandons checkpointsset up to locate an abducted soilder on the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister. The AP has the story:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flexed his political muscle Tuesday and won U.S. agreement to lift military blockades on Sadr City and another Shiite enclave where an American soldier was abducted.

U.S. forces, who had set up the checkpoints in Baghdad last week as part of an unsuccessful search for the soldier, drove away in Humvees and armored personnel carriers at the 5 p.m. deadline set by al-Maliki.

LA Times, network news hyped Kerry comments, downplayed story about kidnapped U.S. soldier

Summary: On October 31, the network news led with coverage of the controversy surrounding Sen. John Kerry's "botched joke," downplaying a story on the U.S. military's accession to an order by Iraqi's prime minister to dismantle checkpoints around Sadr City that were part of an effort to locate a missing U.S. soldier. The Los Angeles Times ran the Kerry story on the front page of its print edition, relegating the story on Sadr City to Page 10.

After trumpeting Bush's defense of the troops, media have yet to challenge Bush decision to dismantle checkpoints and downgrade search for missing soldier in Iraq

Summary: The media have devoted substantial attention to Republican reactions to Sen. John Kerry's recent remarks on Iraq and the administration's accusations that they could hurt troop morale, but the media have not challenged the administration on its decision to dismantle military checkpoints related to the search for an abducted U.S. soldier or the effect that decision might have on morale.

John Kerry's Joke Was About George W Bush Being An Idiot

Currently, the truth is losing to the lie. The truth needs to be repeated until it is known by all:

Senator John Kerry's joke was about George W Bush being an idiot for getting us stuck in Iraq. He was not talking about the troops in Iraq.

Senator John Kerry's joke was about George W Bush being an idiot for getting us stuck in Iraq. He was not talking about the troops in Iraq.

Senator John Kerry's joke was about George W Bush being an idiot for getting us stuck in Iraq. He was not talking about the troops in Iraq.

Anyone who says otherwise is a liar, an idiot, or both.

For example:

John McCain: Liar

FOX "News": Liars and Propagandists

Sean Hannity: Shameless Liar

CNN: Idiots and Dupes

Tony Snow: Smarmy Liar

Rush Limbaugh: Drug-addicted, Soulless, Evil, Evil, Evil Liar

George W Bush: Liar and Idiot

Bill Maher: Neo-Cons Are Wrong

From Crooks And Liars:

Bill Maher Smacks Around Some NeoCons

This is Bill Maher at his best. He deftly boils down the Neo-Con lies, mistakes, and false predictions of the last several years into one witty and biting commentary. He says it all, eveything many have been saying all a long about how wrong the Neo-Cons are, but he says it more succintly. I highly recommend this for your education and/or entertainment.

The War of the Words

I realize that this website and its videos are supposed to be funny and sardonic, but frankly, by being reminded of all this stupidity from right-wing bloggers, pundits, and columnists, I find it all very immensely depressing and infuriating.

Having said that, I highly recommend that everyone visit The War of the Words because we all need to be reminded now and then of the kind of rhetoric and propaganda that led to one of the most horrible mistakes in U.S. history, the Iraq war, so that we do not allow our country to be misled into committing such evil again.

The Pro-Death Religious Right

On June 8th, 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration approved an HPV vaccine called Gardasil. This vaccine can be used to prevent sexually transmitted HPV which can cause cervical cancer, genital warts, and other health problems.

From Wikipedia.org:

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women (after breast cancer) and is the third leading killer (behind breast and lung cancer). It affects about 16 per 100,000 women per year and causes death in about 9 per 100,000 per year.

Before the FDA approved the Gardasil (another HPV vaccine, Cervarix, is still going through the approval process), some crazy Religious Right conservatives expressed concerns about HPV vaccines. Now what kind of person would be against a vaccine that prevents cancer? A Pro-Death Religious Right conservative.

These Pro-Death Religious Right conservatives initially opposed FDA approval of Gardasil. They would have rather had women die from cervical cancer than be vaccinated against HPV. Why? Because they have this insane idea that if you vaccinate a girl against one of many STDs in the world, she will become sexually promiscuous. They do not seem to realize that there are still plenty of other STDs to worry about or that there are many other emotional and psychological reasons for why people choose not to be promiscuous.

Fortunately, the FDA ignored that crazy ideology and approved Gardasil. Despite this, these crazy Religious Right conservatives continue to fight having their own daughters vaccinated. That's right. They don't want the vaccine to be mandatory so that they can choose to keep their daughters vulnerable to HPV in case their daughters decide that abstinence is not for them. These people are disgusting. They would rather their daughters die from cervical cancer than be vaccinated for HPV.

Today, I heard about this:

AIDS vaccine heads to clinical trials

"We expect FDA approval within a year," he said, adding that Curocom is also committed to another $35 million for the final phase of three rounds of testing that will follow an initial series of toxicology tests on animals to show that the vaccine has no harmful effects.

"We expect that the initial tests will clear the way for this vaccine to be used therapeutically within three years to treat patients suffering from low-level HIV infection," Kang said.

It will not be a cure for those suffering from full-blown AIDS, he said.

Kang said he expected the full set of clinical trials, to be completed in six or seven years, will clear the vaccine for widespread use as a HIV/AIDS preventative.

"We hope it will give total immunity," he said from London.

There is a lot of research going into potential HIV vaccines, and we don't know whether this one or any other will be successful in ending HIV and AIDS. However, let me say this to any religious nutcase who might try to oppose a preventative or therapeutic HIV vaccine:

Don't. Don't try to stop medical advances. Don't try to stop vaccines. Don't try to stop stem-cell research. Leave the rest of us alone. If you want to refuse a vaccine or stem-cell treatment for yourself for whatever crazy reason you can think up, fine. However, if you choose to prevent any life-saving medical treatment for your children, then I consider that a form of child abuse or, at least, child negligence.

Don't force your religious beliefs onto me, my health, or the health of my friends and family.

Kenneth Lay Conviction Erased

Apparently, if you die before sentencing or appeal, your conviction never happened. Now, I don't consider myself a conspiracy theorist, but I find the timing of Ken Lay's death to be suspicious given this recent news.

ENRON: Judge erases jury's verdict against Lay

The ruling thwarts the government's bid to seek $43.5 million in ill-gotten gains prosecutors allege he pocketed by participating in Enron's fraud. The government could still pursue those gains in civil court, but they would have to compete with other litigants, if any, also pursuing Lay's estate.

JUDGE VOIDS CONVICTIONS AGAINST LAY

The Department of Justice had argued against vacating the conviction, saying it would unjustly enrich Lay's estate by preventing criminal forfeiture proceedings to recover restitution for victims of Enron's downfall.

The government even proposed a law that would prevent courts from vacating criminal convictions in such circumstances. That effort didn't succeed.

This Should Not Happen

If we had universal healthcare coverage in this country (like every other industrialized nation), perhaps we would not have problems like this:

Mother convicted of abuse in daughter's botched piercing

BOSTON --A mother whose teenage daughter nearly died from an infection caused by a bellybutton piercing was convicted Tuesday of endangering her daughter's life by failing to seek medical attention until she was gravely ill.

I am not, by any means, defending the mother in this story, and I am not saying that having a national healthcare system would have definitely prevented this. It seems this mother was incredibly irresponsible, and I do not know whether poverty and/or lack of health insurance was a factor in the monstrous negligence of her daughter. If it they were a factor, then this possibly could have been prevented by a national healthcare system.

Again, I am not sure why this mother did take her daughter do a hospital sooner, and I am sure that sane parents would have done so much sooner regardless of their financial status. However, I am sure there are many less serious situations where parents do have to worry about financial concerns when their child is sick.

No parent should have worry about money when their child's health is at stake. That is why we need to demand universal healthcare coverage for all Americans from our government. Now.

Culture Of Corruption

As if the Mark Foley scandal wasn't bad enough, there is more bad news for the corrupt Republicans in Congress. Apparently, Foley wasn't the only Republican member of Congress who raised "red flags" that were ignored by the majority party.

Bribery scandal's scope highlighted

The investigation found no evidence of criminal activity by other lawmakers or committee aides, according to the report. It describes a permissive environment in which staffers ignored or failed to act on "red flags" surrounding Cunningham's unusual funding requests.

According to the investigation, Cunningham repeatedly pressured aides to insert special funding provisions, known as "earmarks," designed to enrich business officials who were paying the lawmaker millions of dollars in bribes.

Over a five-year period, the report said, Cunningham inserted language into spending bills adopted by the intelligence panel that provided "approximately $70 [million]-$80 million in funding" for those companies. The committee oversees about $40 billion in spending on U.S. spy agencies. Most of the earmarks went to companies run by businessman Brent Wilkes of California and his former associate, Mitchell Wade, in Washington. Wilkes remains under investigation, and Wade pleaded guilty in February to charges.

The fact that Randy "Duke" Cunningham was corrupt is by no means new news. (He plead guilty to bribery charges last year.) This is merely more evidence of how Republican corruption is ignored or overlooked by the Republican leaders in Congress.

The Day The Constitution Died

Bye-bye, Miss American Constitution.

Yesterday, Bush signed the Military Comissions Act of 2006, a bill to make torture legal in our country, destroy the right to habeas corpus, and invalidate major portions of our Bill of Rights.

I find it depressingly ironic that Bush uses arguments like "they hate us for our freedom" to support his flawed and failed plans for fighting terrorism and then does everything in his power to give the terrorists what they want by working with the corrupt, "rubber stamp" Republicans in Congress to take away our freedom.

Not since the Reichstag fire led to the Enabling Act has there been such a regression in freedom and democracy.

We have seen this before in life (see previous paragraph) and art (see subsequent paragragph). Those who do not learn from the mistakes in history are doomed to repeat them.

In art we have seen this:

Padmé watches with increasing suspicion as Chancellor Palpatine becomes a dictator, using the Clone Wars to amass emergency powers and gain control over the Senate and judiciary. Padmé later witnesses Palpatine transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire and proclaiming himself Emperor. As the Senate cheers for Palpatine, she comments to Senetor Organa, "So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause."

Bush has been killing liberty in our country since 9/11, and because Bush shamelessly uses 9/11 as an excuse, there are people who are applauding him when they should be impeaching him.

The people who voted for this disgraceful president allowed this to happen. By voting for Bush and the Republicans, they enabled the destruction of some of the most important tenets of our democracy (such as prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and the writ of habeas corpus).

I hope and pray that the Supreme Court, now our constitution's and our country's last chance to stop this horrific legislation, will do the right thing and declare this act unconstitutional.

I fear greatly for all of us if they do not.

New US terrorism law criticised as "stain" on history

President Bush has called it vital for his war on terrorism; however, one opposition Democrat Senator said his country would look back on the day as a "stain" on the nation's history...

E. Vincent Warren at the Centre for Constitutional Rights says his organisation will launch a legal challenge. "This bill puts in the president's power, solely, the ability to determine who is and who is not an enemy combatant, even US citizens," said Warren. "This bill also allows for non-citizens to be detained indefinitely, pulled up wherever they appear - whether they are on the battlefield or not."

Critics of the law also claim suspects will not be able to challenge their detention or treatment in court, and authorities will be able to try people based on secret evidence.

Battles brewing on torture, detainees

But as Bush and a group of key Republican senators hailed the compromise that led to the passage of the new rules last month, the American Civil Liberties Union called it ``one of the worst civil liberties measures ever enacted in American history." Groups of defense lawyers vowed to fight the new law in court, calling it ``blatantly unconstitutional" because it denies detainees the right to challenge their detention in court.

How Many More Have To Die?

I was born after the Vietnam War, but I imagine that, at the time, this sentiment was the same:

How many more have to die? How many more have to die before everyone realizes the war in Iraq was a mistake? How many more have to die before our president will admit he was wrong? How many more have to die before this war becomes such a disgrace to our honor that every politician will stand up and say "no more"?

I was against this war from the beginning. I did not fall for the lies of the Bush administration. I watched as, slowly, more and more people switched sides from being for the war to being against it, and now, those who are against the war are in a strong majority in this country.

Despite this, we do not have a majortiy of elected officials who are against the war and do not believe the lies of the Bush administration. This needs to change. This November is your chance. Do not let it pass you by.

10 American Soldiers Killed in Iraq

By JOHN O’NEIL. Ten American soldiers were killed on Tuesday, the military announced today, bringing October’s death toll for United States forces to 68.

Kidnapping of 13 Carloads of Shiites Fuels Iraq's Sectarian...

By Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writer. Gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms kidnapped 13 carloads of Shiite Muslims today from the...

Bombings and shootings kill at least 33 in Iraq

Gunmen in both police and civilian vehicles gunned down victims including four students outside the city’s university and a well-known doctor who was leaving her house, said a Basra police captain.

In Karmah, west of Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed five Iraqi soldiers, police Lt Ahmed Ali said. Gunmen stormed into the house of a Shiite family in Balad Ruz, 45 miles north-east of Baghdad, killing the mother and four adult sons and injuring the father, provincial police official Khalil Yacoub said.

US joins Iraqis in city where 91 died

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. forces were back patrolling the streets of the predominantly Shiite city of Balad on Tuesday after five days of sectarian slaughter killed 95 people, violence that surged out of control despite the efforts of Iraq's best-trained soldiers.

Iraq's 4th Army took command of the region north of Baghdad a month ago, but had been unable to stem recent attacks in Balad, where the slayings of 17 Shiite Muslim workers on Friday set off revenge killings by Shiites.

It's Not Funny 'Cause It's True

Again and again, the decision to go war in Iraq proves to be a terrible mistake. From the resurgence of the Taliban to North Korea gaining nuclear weapons, Bush shows his incompetence. As if Iraq wasn't already a huge mess, Afghanistan is quickly becoming one as well.

Iraq war cost years of progress in Afghanistan

The invasion of Iraq prevented British forces from helping to secure Afghanistan much sooner and has left a dangerous vacuum in the country for four years, the commander who has led the attack against the Taliban made clear on Tuesday.

NATO general: Coalition erred in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - The US-led coalition in Afghanistan failed to follow through as it should have after ousting the government in 2001, said the NATO commander in...

Iraq war 'stalled' Afghan mission

BRITAIN could have carried out its current stability mission in Afghanistan as long as four years ago if it had not been for the war in Iraq, a senior military commander said yesterday.

Brigadier Ed Butler, who recently handed over the command of British forces in Afghanistan, said that the concentration on Iraq had left Britain to "mark time" in Afghanistan since 2002.

Republican Party: Pro-Torture And Now Pro-Pedophile

The Republicans in Congress have been protecting a pedophile in their midst for almost a year.

GOP informed of Foley's e-mails
House speaker told months ago, says congressman; both parties want investigation

(10-01) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail traffic between Rep. Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret and allowed Foley, R-Fla., to remain head of a congressional caucus on children's issues, Republican lawmakers said Saturday.

GOP leaders knew of Foley e-mail in '05

WASHINGTON — GOP leaders admit their offices have known for months that a Florida Republican congressman was sending inappropriate e-mails to a boy who had worked as a page in the House of Representatives.

The office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who earlier said he'd learned about the e-mails only last week, acknowledged that aides referred the matter to the authorities last fall. They said they were only told the messages were "over-friendly."

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who heads the House Republican election effort, said Saturday he told Hastert months ago about concerns that a fellow Republican lawmaker, Rep. Mark Foley, had sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy.

Speaker was told about Foley e-mails, GOP member says

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, was notified early this year of inappropriate e-mails from Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, to a 16-year-old male page, a top GOP House member said yesterday.

The member, Representative Thomas Reynolds of New York, contradicted the speaker's assertions that he learned of concerns about Foley only last week.

Hastert did not dispute the statement by Reynolds, and the speaker's office said some of Hastert's top aides knew last year that Foley had been ordered to cease contact with the youth and to treat all pages respectfully.

Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, became the second senior House Republican to say that Hastert has known of Foley's contacts for months, prompting Democratic attacks about the GOP leadership's inaction. Foley, 52, abruptly resigned his seat Friday after the e-mails became public.

House majority leader John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, said Friday that he learned in late spring of inappropriate e-mails that Foley sent to the Louisiana youth, and that he promptly told Hastert, who appeared to already know of the concerns. Hours later, Boehner said he could not be sure he had spoken with Hastert.

Abramoff tied to White House, Corruption Everywhere, American Public Doesn't Seem To Care

What does it take to get people to wake up to the fact that the White House and the Republican-controlled Congress are corrupt?

Democrats press White House on Abramoff contacts

"For months, White House officials have refused to be straight with the American people about Jack Abramoff," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

"Now we know the truth: a disgraced lobbyist traded perks and campaign contributions for special access to the Bush White House," she said.

A report by a House of Representatives panel found Abramoff and his lobbying team had about 485 contacts with the White House, including 10 with Karl Rove, who is Bush's top political adviser.

Abramoff, Associates Claimed 485 White House Lobbying Contacts

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Lobbyist Jack Abramoff claimed in billing records that he and his associates had at least 485 contacts with White House officials during the Bush administration's first term, according to a report by a U.S. House panel.

Abramoff, 47, claimed he personally had at least 66 contacts with White House officials, including at least 10 with White House chief political adviser Karl Rove, according to the yet-to- be-released report by the House Committee on Government Reform. Bloomberg News obtained a copy of the study, which was first reported last night by ABC News.

``Abramoff was selling information and entrée that shouldn't need to be bought while making his clients pay inflated fees for access and influence which shouldn't be for sale,'' wrote committee chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California.

Republican Wants To Sterilize People

Republican Wants to Sterilize Parents with ‘Bad’ Children

“What we’ve got is a failure in society, whether it’s in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it’s on the East Side with poor crackhead parents,” Shirley said Friday. “We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can’t take care of theirs. … Once they have a child and it’s running the streets, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable.” Deadbeat dads might ought to be sterilized as well, he said.

Politician Says to 'Spay' Moms of Criminal Kids

A Charleston City Council member, reacting to a video store holdup believed to have been carried out by children, said parents who couldn't properly care for their kids should be sterilized.

"We pick up stray animals and spay them," Larry Shirley said in a story in the Post and Courier newspaper. "These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs."

NY Post Jokes About Olbermann Death Threat

Crooks and Liars reports on a NY Post article that makes fun of an incident in which Keith Olbermann received a letter filled with powder. Obviously, the intent of the person who mailed the letter was to make the recipient believe the powder could be anthrax. It wasn't anthrax in this case, but it was still a federal crime and a death threat, which the shameless NY Post thinks is hilarious.

Here's an E-mail I sent to the NY Post and the author of the "article":

To Paula Froelich:

Is this what you consider to be journalism?:
Powder Puff Spooks Keith (Page Six)

Honestly, do you consider all federal crimes to be fodder for your disgusting and distasteful sense of humor, or just the ones that don't affect you, your loved ones, or those who agree with Murdoch's politics?

It's good to know how the NY Post treats serious matters regarding threats on someone's life. I wish I could say I was surprised that a "news" medium owned by Murdoch could spread such callous tripe, but I'm not.

-Bryan Arnold

You can write your own letter if you desire, but if you do, please be civil. They obviously need to be shown what civility looks like:
paula.froelich@nypost.com
letters@nypost.com

::Sigh:: More Bad News On The Climate

Earth at warmest point in 12,000 years, say scientists

The globe is at its warmest in the past 12,000 years, triggering environmental changes that could become "dangerous" if it continues, said the new study...

World 'warmest for 12,000 years'

Extraordinary Rise in Warming Is Seen

DEBUNK: Right-Wing Talking Points

I am getting sick and tired of being sick and tired of Right-Wing Talking Points, especially when they are so easily debunked. I mean, if a nobody like me can debunk them, shouldn't our elected Democrats be able to dismantle them like a nut and a screw?

And yet, I keep hearing the same RWTP repeated over and over and over again, but I don't hear enough dismantling. That may speak more to the state of the traditional media, but regardless, the answers seem so easy to me that I fail to see how the Right can keep getting away with saying these things.

Here are my thoughts on the RWTP and how easy it is to render them useless:

DEBUNK: "The detainees at Guantanamo are unlawful enemy combatants, not prisoners of war."

Oh, really. I thought there was a War On Terror. Wouldn't that make them prisoners of a war and, therefore, POWs?

DEBUNK: "But they are terrorists!"

Yes, and the Nazis were Nazis, the most evil enemy this nation has ever known and terrorists in their own way, and yet when it came to Nazi POWs held by the U.S., they were treated better and given more rights than those at Guantanamo.

DEBUNK: "But the terrorists don't belong to any nation. The don't follow the rules of war. They aren't protected by the Geneva Conventions."

Um, we signed the Geneva Conventions, so it is a part of our law. We should follow our laws and the Geneva Conventions regardless of who our enemy is.

DEBUNK: "But the terrorists don't follow the Geneva Conventions."

This is America. We are supposed to be better than our enemies. We are supposed to set a good example by following national and international laws and not taking away the rights of POWs and not torturing them.

DEBUNK: "We do not torture."

Then why is Bush trying to retroactively redefine the Geneva Conventions for the sake of "alternative" interrogation techniques? Why did Bush fight the McCain anti-torture amendment and then issue a signing statement that said he would follow the amendment according to his "interpretation"? Why did we send Maher Arar and who knows how many other people to foreign countries, who are known to use torture, to be tortured? Why is Bush afraid to say what these "alternative" techniques are? Why is he trying to take away the checks and balances of power from the legislative and judicial branches to hide what he is doing? Why doesn't he want the American public to know what he is doing? Is it because he knows we would consider the "alternative" techniques to be torture?

DEBUNK: "If we know, then the enemy would know. Then the enemy could adapt. Loose lips sink ships."

Yes, well tight lips sank the World Trade Center. The Bush administration is to blame for not preventing 9/11 because they failed to warn the American public. If Bush had released the August 6th PDB to the public instead of ignoring it, every man, woman, child, FBI agent, CIA agent, INS agent, police officer, and security guard in our country would have been on guard and on the look out for terrorists in time to stop them.

It is one thing to keep secrets to prevent the enemy from knowing your plans; it is another thing (an evil and irresponsible thing) to keep secrets to prevent your own people from knowing the enemies' plans.

As for our enemies adapting to Bush's "alternative" techniques, what does Bush expect them to do? "Grow gills," as Jon Stewart suggests? If Bush can't tell the American people what these techniques are because he knows they would not approve, then he should not be using those techniques.

DEBUNK: "Our enemies use torture all the time."

Well, most Americans believe in the Golden Rule, even if President Bush does not.

DEBUNK: "President Bush is doing what he has to do to keep us and our families safe."

At what price?! Our humanity? Our good name in the world? Our innocence?

The ends do not justify the means. Doing evil for the sake of good is still evil. Torture for the sake of security is still torture. I would rather die knowing we always tried to do the right thing than live in a country that is known for torture.

Our safety and security should come from intelligence and goodwill, not from torture and war.

DEBUNK: "What if there is an imminent threat?"

Torture causes people to say anything to end the torture. This means lies. This means false intelligence. The result is the same regardless of whether the threat is imminent or not.

False intelligence can be disastrous. It can be even more disastrous when the threat is considered "imminent." Take the war in Iraq, for instance. WMDs, nuclear weapons program, and the connection to al Qaida and 9/11 were all lies about Iraq based on false intelligence which led to the disastrous situation we have in Iraq today.

DEBUNK: "At least we are fighting the terrorists over there, so we don't have to fight them over here."

That is an absurd argument. If our troops weren't being killed in Iraq, then maybe this would be a good point. So far, about as many Americans have died in Iraq as on 9/11, and if you consider that that number of Americans have died in Iraq in 3 years, compared to the 8 years it took bin Laden to orchestrate 9/11, the terrorists are able to kill Americans more efficiently because we went into Iraq.

So, I fail to see how fighting them "over there" is beneficial to us when more Americans are dying because we are "over there."

DEBUNK: "America is safer because we went into Iraq."

Again, more Americans are dying because we are in Iraq, our country has lost respect amongst our allies because we are in Iraq, our enemies' hatred for us has grown because we are in Iraq, and the number of terrorists has grown all because we went into Iraq. More Americans dying, more hatred, more enemies, and less friends does not equal "safer."

DEBUNK: "But America hasn't been attacked since 9/11."

Again, our troops are attacked almost everyday in Iraq. Aren't our troops a part of America? When they are attacked, America is attacked.

It makes no difference to terrorists whether they attack Americans in Iraq or in America. Why should it make a difference to us?

DEBUNK: "Would you rather have Saddam Hussein back in power with his rape rooms and torture chambers?"

That argument lacks so much rationality that I can't believe it even exists.

No one disagrees with the claim that Saddam Hussein was evil and did evil things (except maybe Saddam). However, we didn't stop any of that evil by removing Hussein from power. Now, instead of Hussein's dictatorial evil, there is this chaotic evil. We didn't stop the torture or sexual abuse (see: Abu Ghraib. It continues today through sectarian strife and civil war.

So, while we may have removed Hussein from power, the evil has not been removed.

DEBUNK: "That's why we need to stay the course."

Staying the course is not working. Staying the course means more troops are killed or wounded. Staying the course means more sectarian strife and civil war. Staying the course means more terrorists. Staying the course means more terrorist attacks. Staying the course means more innocent Iraqi civilians are killed or wounded. Staying the course means more ripping off American tax payers and war-profiteering by American corporations like Halliburton. Staying the course means increasing our national debt. Staying the course means continuing to FAIL.

If we were all on a bus and that bus kept getting driven into a ditch despite all our warnings to the bus driver, shouldn't we fire the bus driver. Whatever we are doing, it is not working. We keep getting driven into a ditch. When that happens, we need to demand change from those in power. So far, our demands are going unanswered, and when our demands go unanswered, we need to fire those in power. That means voting against every politician who supports Bush this November.

I see no reason why around 40% still approves of Bush or why any Republican should survive a race against a Democrat this November except that these RWTP still have some sway over the American public. However, I see no reason why that should continue when these RWTP are so easily DEBUNKED.

All Democratic Campaigns Should Read This

Building a narrative by Kos should be mandatory reading for all Democratic campaigns.

Republicans are masters of building the "narrative". They don't throw these kinds of numbers at voters and expect to move them their direction. They build a narrative based on their (positive) values and their opponent's (negative) ones.

So in 2004, Bush's entire campaign was essentially 1) Bush will defend America, and 2) Kerry is a flip flopper. In 2000, it was 1) Bush is a compassionate bipartisan conservative, and 2) Gore exaggerates.

That's it. Everything else is slotted into that narrative.

At a recent event I ran into a gubernatorial candidate who asked me, exasperated, why his state's press wouldn't cover the GOP nominee's draconian position on abortion -- he opposed it even in cases where the mother's life was in danger. I said, "because it's an issue. And issues don't generally make good stories. Or, at best, they are a one-day story."

The key is to find that negative value, and base the entire campaign to define the opponent around it. Then, every single issue that arises can be neatly slotted into that value, reinforcing it in the media and the voters' minds.

This speaks to my own theory that Republicans are good at running campaigns but bad at running government. Democrats are the opposite, and unfortunately, if you are bad at running campaigns, then it won't matter how good you are at running government because you won't be running it.

I am pretty sure that the gubernatorial candidate Kos references is Ted Strickland who is the Democratic candidate for governor in Ohio. He is running agains the Republican candidate Ken Blackwell who opposes abortion even to save a woman's life.

This extremist position is dangerous for women everywhere, and no Ohioan should vote for Blackwell because of it. Personnally, I think that if Strickland ran against Blackwell on this issue alone, he would win the election easily.

However, this does little towards "building a narrative" as Kos suggests. The Strickland campaign needs to work on that. I would suggest that the narrative against Blackwell is that he is an extremist.

Ken Blackwell is an extremist. On abortion, he is an extremist. On taxes, he is an extremist. His dangerous extremist positions are dangerous for Ohio and Ohioans.

There is your narrative, Strickland.

Now, if we can just get all Democratic candidates to focus on this idea of building narratives, they would be unstoppable.

Gore Unveils Global-Warming Plan

From The Washington Post:

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 -- Former vice president Al Gore laid out his prescription for an ailing and overheated planet Monday, urging a series of steps from freezing carbon dioxide emissions to revamping the auto industry, factories and farms.

Gore proposed a Carbon Neutral Mortgage Association ("Connie Mae," to echo the familiar Fannie Mae) devoted to helping homeowners retrofit and build energy-efficient homes. He urged creation of an "electranet," which would let homeowners and business owners buy and sell surplus electricity.

"This is not a political issue. This is a moral issue -- it affects the survival of human civilization," Gore said in an hour-long speech at the New York University School of Law. "Put simply, it is wrong to destroy the habitability of our planet and ruin the prospects of every generation that follows ours."

The Result Of Pro-Torture Repulicans In Charge

This is what happens when we elect Pro-Torture Republicans:

Maher Arar (entry from Wikipedia)

Arar was imprisoned in Syria for 10 1/2 months, during which time he was tortured and forced to sign a false confession which purported that he had trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. He says that he was kept in a small, dark, underground cell, beaten and threatened with electrocution. He was further traumatized by overhearing other prisoners being tortured. He had some visits from diplomatic officials, but he did not tell them that he was being tortured until their seventh visit, after which conditions improved for him. His explanation for waiting was that his jailers were in the room during the visits and that they had warned him beforehand not to discuss his treatment or he would be punished.

Canadian Falsely Accused Of Terrorism

(AP) A software engineer falsely accused of being a terrorist by Canadian police was shipped to Syria by the United States, where he was imprisoned and tortured ...

Canadian falsely tortured as extremist, inquiry finds
Canada al-Qaeda suspect cleared
Rendition Rendered
MR. PRESIDENT. YOU NEED CLARITY? HERE'S YOUR CLARITY

The Republican Party Is The Pro-Torture Party.

That sentence deserved its own post.

Bush fears war crimes prosecution, impeachment
Powell joins opponents of Bush tribunal plan
Recovering from 9/11: Return to the Rule of Law