UPI

Some weeks ago, I pointed out that UPI (years ago, United Press International was a head-to-head competitor to AP, but it has since shriveled into a secondary wire service), was owned by the same company that owned the Washington Times, namely a company owned by the Rev. Moon, a right-oriented "Christian." Well, that's still true, I suppose, but from the tenor of this article about Bush's present problems with the Plame-outing scandal, you wouldn't know it.

Could it be, could it really be true, that we might actually get to the bottom of this cabal in D.C. Could it be that Americans will take back America?

If you've got a coupla minutes

you may want to read this fine essay (a review of a recent book, actually) that attempts to answer the question why, if the polls show that the American public hasn't really shifted rightward in the last two decades, their politicians have. Really incisive analysis of the means by which the Republicans have gotten their arch-conservative agenda to become a "majority rule," notwithstanding that the majority of Americans say they want something different.

My take on the issue adds this slightly-mentioned piece: The media, especially the broadcast and cable television news. It's not hard to gain power when the major institution that's supposed to question authority doesn't do so and indeed is part of your power structure.

I'm not making this up

This AP account, found in Yahoo! News, about Bush's buddy Karen Hughes abroad, in Indonesia this time. What the hell?

Dropping like flies

I know y'all regularly check in at this site that keeps tracks of casualties in Iraq, but in case you haven't visited it lately (and you certainly haven't heard about it on the MSM), as of today, this month's (October's) rate of daily deaths of American troops is the highest since November 2004.

They have no WMD's, Saddam's in custody and on trial, they've got a government in place and they've adopted a constitution.

Why--can anybody tell me--why are our troops still dying over there?

It's official

This survey of American polls tracks graphically various trends, including Bush's approval/dispproval ratios. According to the latest entries, including Fox and Wall Street Journal and other less-than-liberal polls, Bush's disapproval percentages now unanimously exceed 50%. A minority president.

So where, you ask, is the "Silent Majority?" Ask Congress and the mainstream media.

Iraq fatigue

We've been reading lately ab0ut "donation fatigue" or "disaster fatigue," resulting in diminished giving by Americans to charities because of the unending series of catastrophes in the last year or so. The result, no doubt, will be that the 60,000 or so (but who's counting?) dead Pakistanis and Indians who are still buried under earthquake rubble will just have to wait until the US and other nations can get it together again to assist. (But with a new hurricane to watch, there may be no further aid forthcoming, and certainly no more news coverage on the television.)

But that's another story. I'm suffering, instead, from Iraq fatigue and I may be one of the last to catch the disorder. I haven't quite quit counting our dead soldiers (1987 as of this morning, five killed yesterday), and I still read the stories on the various websites, but it's hard to maintain the outrage day after day, outrage after outrage. So, when a post appears on this blog dealing with Iraq, I assure you it's been interiorly vetted by me, the least outrageous developments have been filtered out, leaving only the worst--the very worst--developments for reportage here.

Here's today's outrage: Condi Rice's latest concept, "clear, hold and build." Under this scenario, as far as I can tell, our troops will take over an area by force, guard and assist construction people as they rebuild what we've destroyed. If this isn't VietNam all over again, I don't know what is. Remember the phrase "fortified hamlet"?

A word to the wise

So far I've stayed away from (aloof from?) the speculation/hype about Fitzgerald's grand jury. Sure, it could indict everyone from the lowest-ranked malefactor (somebody in Libby's office who manned the fax machine, or something) to Cheney or even Bush, who, unlike Nixon, wouldn't be named just an "unidicted co-conspirator." Criminal charges, amounting to treason, against the highest elected officials in the land, to be followed by impeachment proceedings. Wowzer-dowzer!

Okay, something grand like that could happen but in my experience such matters (with the notable exception of the spectacular Saturday Night Massacre in which Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, and then two Justice Department bosses, Elliot Richardson, the AG, and his underling, William Ruckelshaus, resigned, only to be supplanted by Robert Bork--later to fail in a bid for the Supreme Court--who fired Cox), simply aren't part of the political scene in Washington. We're much less dramatic than that, most-times.

But I gotta admit, something's afoot and it feels like it's something pretty big. Even so, since I can't do anything about it but stayed glued to my 'puter (and, I suppose, my TV), I elect to sit back and click my mouse and remote and smile, vaguely, knowing that no matter how much less than fulfillment of my wildest fantasies eventuates, Fitzgerald and his secret jurors are giving me--all of us Lefties--a hell of a ride.

The other newspaper in Washington

We all know that the Washington Times (as opposed to the Post) has heretofore been a rightist rag, owned by a corporation that's owned by the Moonies. But now, it seems, the Rev. Moon may have had a change of heart and the Times may reflect that change, leaving the NeoCons in Washington with nowhere to print their mad ravings.

Of course they still have Faux News, the Wall Street Journal (most times), and a bunch of magazines and think tanks. But it's a start.

Two Days in October

I commend to you, without reservation, a PBS documentary on The American Experience, called “Two Days in October.” Please view it if you can. Tape it too, to show to your friends and kids and anyone whose values you value. And then join me at the barricades to stop another two days in October. Not, this time, about the war in Vietnam in October, 1967. About Bush/Cheney's "war on terror," about two days that started today.

Okay, let's get serious

This is the billionth warning to the Democratic party to get its act together, finally, to cease their chickenshit politics.

It takes time for any movement, any idea, to get seeded, to grow roots and thrive. It took years for the opposition to the VietNam war to get a foothold; and years more for it to lead to our withdrawal. But we don't have that much time anymore. The madmen (and women) who control our government are moving too fast, closing in on Armageddon with deliberate pace.

There's no time, either, to form a third party and have it hold sway. The Democrats are all we have--and it's time to remind them who they are. The party of the people--us--the folks who built this nation. We hate war, we want freedom, we help our fellows, we are good and kind.

Come on Democrats. Take back America.

Numbers don't lie

Okay, I've so far watched Bush's declining poll numbers without comment (difficult not to gloat, I gotta tell ya) but now I must observe this: The oldest, most revered poll is Gallup, now merged with CNN and USA Today, and here's its most recent results, listed along with other recent polls on Bush's approval/disapproval percentages: 39% approve, 58% disapprove.

These numbers are awful for Bush. But even more awful is the fact that in its previous poll two weeks ago (also shown on the same webpage) Gallup/CNN/USAToday was among those most favorable to Bush, with a disapproval/approval spread of only 50% to 45%.

This means that Bush has lost more than 7 Gallup percentage points in just two weeks, all after he made countless trips to New Orleans, all after his incessant speeches and appearances to bolster his image as leader.

It could well be that, as happened to Truman after the war, the public has just quit believing in the guy.

The first good idea I've heard in a long time

Walter Cronkite's call for a midterm Democratic convention. Let's find out who's gonna run this party: the human beings or the schmoozers.

Speaking out

We are an occupying force in Iraq, licensed by its "government" to roam at will, attack at will, to defeat the "insurgency." Our forces have leveled Fallujah, Tal Afar, Ramadi, many other Sunni-dominated cities. Now, we learn, that as a proximate result of these sieges the residents were starved and, no doubt, suffered from lack of water and medical attention.

Now a national referendum is being held, and the Sunnis are being urged to vote. Really? Will they at least be promised food, water and shelter in their major cities?

What a cruel joke this is, this charade of democracy. I'm ashamed of us for allowing our nation to do this, because we as midlife adults were at the helm when this monstrous regime took over the three branches of our government. It's time, citizens, to take back our nation.

Sickening

I have two reactions to this report by CNN of Bush's teleconference with soldiers in Iraq. First, it sickens me. Frightens me, actually. Reminds me of Hitler chucking the cheeks of Nazi youth before sending them off to war.

Second: Good for CNN, to tell it like it is. Its content, much less its headline of the story, wouldn't have made it onto Goebbel's broadcast of the event.

Worst president ever

Okay, I don't know how bad the U.S. fared under Andrew Johnson or Millard Fillmore or the like, but I gotta tell ya, from my early learning in American history I can't recall any administration that got us into a war and after two and a half years was still urging us to "stay the course" against an insurgency that was killing our troops and wreaking havoc in the country we attacked without threat to our nation, and without apparent end.

Oh yeah. Lyndon Johnson.

But Johnson was also the force behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the War on Poverty. Whereas this Texan, this monster, has done us worldwide harm, as Johnson did, and wrecked our interior as well.

We elected him. We're paying for it now. Fuck him. Fuck those who voted for him. And--I don't mind saying it, really--fuck all those American soldiers who are dying in this battle. They signed on, voluntarily, unlike the poor drafted slobs who, unlike me and Clinton and Bush and Cheney and our ilk, found a way to survive Viet Nam.

Our troops and our "independent contractors" in Iraq signed on for this duty and are being paid for it, many with hefty reinlistment bonuses. They're mercenaries, like the Hessians in 1776. I say, you takes your money, you takes your chance.
Fuck 'em, fuck 'em all.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry

over this report that the detainees in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison have been allowed to vote in the upcoming referendum (just think if the detainees in Florida's prisons had been allowed to vote in our 2000 Presidential election). But as to the second line of the story, I'm sure. I'm ROFLOL. (For you cyberunliterati, that's "Rolling on the floor, laughing out loud.")

LOL

I haven't had this much fun since, well, since Bush v. Gore was decided.

I hate when that happens

Imagine enlisting for a military obligation that's served far back from the action, in air-conditioned comfort and then this. Ouch.

Dylan rocks

These lyrics, written before the Christian Right took over American politics, and before radical Islam struck on American soil--decades before each--cut too close. What did he see that we didn't?

Maybe the war in Iraq isn't that important

Maybe nothing is, really, after watching this.

I'm exhausted

reading Juan Cole's line-by-line rebuttal of Bush's rant yesterday about Iraq and terror and stuff. But I'm much edified, too.

Elect a madman, you get madness

These numbers--of the escalating cost of the war in Iraq, of the cost to clean up after two hurricanes, of US borrowing and fiscal imbalances--absolutely insane.

Can't anybody--the Republicans, say--do anything about this?

I love when that happens

When the international community, especially my Scandinavian ancestors, slap the US in the face, especially Bush and Bolton.

This is a democracy?

The Iraqi Parliament has made terrorism a capital offense, and has made similarly punishable the act of assisting or concealing a terrorist. Harsh, but not too bad a reaction to the nation's present state, I suppose.

But how's this for the definition of terrorism?: any criminal act against people, institutions or property that "aims to hurt security, stability and national unity and introduce terror, fear or horror among the people and cause chaos" or any "activity threatening to spark sectarian differences or civil war." Furthermore, a terrorist is defined as including anyone who provokes or enables a terrorist to do such things.

So flag-burners, strikers, demonstrators--are they now subject to the death penalty in our new democracy? What about the person who holds the flag pole, hoists a supportive sign in an anti-government demonstration or shouts encouragement to the demonstrators?

Ambivalence

That's my reaction to this report that the UN has taken exception to the Shiites latest move in the Iraq parliament of changing the requirement for defeat of the constitution from 2/3 of those who vote to 2/3 of eligible voters in three provinces, the latter standard making it virtually impossible for the Sunnis to vote it down on October 15. While I certainly agree with the UN position--what an outrage!--I'm coming to the conclusion that approval of the constitution, under either standard, will simply spark a greater civil war.

Link TV

My landlord (landlady, actually) has blessed my rental unit with Direct TV, which is an astoundingly confusing service, but it does provide me with a powerful benefit: access to LinkTV. This is a viewer-supported channel available on Dish TV and Direct TV and I gotta say, it's bitchin'. Right now I'm watching "Bush's Brain" and next up is a documentary on Paul Wellstone. You get the drift.

Gotta go now, wanna watch.

Read it and weep

Riverbend has posted today on her efforts (her latest efforts, because her earlier posts were heroic) to understand the upcoming vote on the constitution--what the document said and meant in real terms. But now, she has revealed, in a desperately sad post, the reality of the political process in Iraq.

Back in the USSA

In Iraq, as in the US, the people in power create the rules, resulting in Bush's election in 2000 and (probably) in 2004. In Iraq, it's the Shiites who rule and they've just changed them to ensure that the Sunnis can't defeat the referendum on the constitution by interpreting the interim constitution to require that it be defeated by 2/3 of the voters in 3 provinces, that is 2/3 of the registered voters, not 2/3 of those who vote. Imagine the difference: In the U.S., for example, it would be impossible for 2/3 of the registered voters to agree on anything because of the low percentage of those who register who actually vote.

The Iraqi constitution, if it should be adopted, will be entirely bogus, just as the Bushies, through their operative, Tribune Bremer (author of the interim constitution) envisioned.

You can't make this stuff up

Isn't this KBR, a subsidiary of Dick Cheney's Halliburton, the same company that just got another huge no-bid contract to repair Katrina's damage to Navy facilities in New Orleans? Where the hell is Congress in all of this?

Neo-Cons vs. Neo-Salafis

Bush, another fine mess you've got us into. Now, a radical Muslim sect that sounds like Islam's version of the Christian Right in the U.S. has taken to bombing Shiites, focusing on Iraqi civilians, seeking civil war for its own sake. Our invasion has apparently swelled their numbers, giving them a cause and breeding discontent among the arab Sunni population.

The Congress should be so diligent

as the Iraq Parliament, which has refused to vote on an annual budget until it learns the details of the squandering of money and corruption of the previously-spent funds.

Ya know, you've gotta feel for those folks, trying to do the right thing under the gun of our occupying forces. Makes you weep for liberty, doesn't it? Makes you ask, Why the hell don't we get out, just leave them alone and maybe they'll survive as a viable nation. Maybe we will too.

Well, duh

The Bushite State Department has decided to delay imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia for its ongoing violations of an international agreement calling for improving religious freedoms within its borders.

Fair and balanced

Here's a short piece by a noted journalist and author prescribing a way to get rid of the right-wing craziness that the US is presently immersed in. Nothing spectacular, just the plain old remedy, vote the bastards out.

Ya gotta love him, redux

Hugo Chavez must be driving Bush/Cheney nuts.
Of course, if you're of the school that believes, as I do, that Saddam Hussein's decision in 2000 to abandon the petrodollar as payment for Iraq's oil in favor of the euro was the trigger that set off the US invasion, Hugo's more than gutsy and intelligent, he's on very dangerous ground. Could our next military foray be into Venezuela? Keep your eyes open, looking for pretexts. The preceding link, BTW, is a smart, readable presentation of the dollar/euro/political battle, with historical explanation. A quick way to catch up on who and what are really ruling the world.

How does this guy still have a job?

Rummie, You're doing a heck of a job.

Wow!!!

If you've lost faith in the American judiciary (as, until this morning, I had), check out this item: A federal judge, after much reflection and over the Pentagon's objection that to do so would jeopardize US troops in the field by inflaming the enemy, has ordered the additional Abu Ghraib photos released to the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act. Recall Bush's repeated cliches that the "US won't give in to terr'r" and "They hate us for our freedoms"? Well, US district judge Alvin Hellerstein turned those bullshit slogans on their heads:

Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a
legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command.
Indeed, the freedoms that we champion are as important to our success in Iraq
and Afghanistan as the guns and missiles with which our troops are
armed.

Fascism watch continued

What clearer evidence could there be?

To the teeming millions of readers of this blog

Sorry, I'm offline for five days. Family wedding in Arizona.

This is news to me

The wire service, UPI, once a strong competitor to AP but for years its lesser cousin, has for five years been owned by the Rev. Moon, whose politics are to the right of Himmler.

So far, not a whisper

from the MSM about the missing billion from Iraq's coffers.

Rooting for Rita

Her projected path looks perfect. First, wiping out the remaining oil derricks in the Gulf, then knocking out refineries in Galveston, then cutting a direct path over barren land to Crawford. You go, girl.

Right on, Arianna

I didn't climb on the Huffington bandwagon right away, but I gotta tell ya, she sees Bill Clinton (Hilary too) for what they truly represent. The worst kind of politicians: unprincipled, unscrupulous, unbridled opportunists who do America no service by their service. I have come to despise them -- for different reasons -- with the virulence I thought I could feel only for Bush and his ilk. At least Bush doesn't pretend to be "one of us."

He who lives by the sword...

Check out these numbers of those recently polled who approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq. Not only are they plummeting, scroll down a bit to see the astounding percentage responses to this question:

"Should the United States troops stay in Iraq as long as it takes to make sure Iraq is a stable democracy, even if it takes a long time, or should U.S. troops leave Iraq as soon as possible, even if Iraq is not completely stable?"

Result: "Leave ASAP" is 52%, up from 40% at the beginning of 2005. The tide is turning, bigtime.

More madness

This kind of thing is enough to drive a U.S. taxpayer, especially a conservative one, into tax-protest. But of course we'll not hear a peep about it in the MSM.

Update: It's five-thirty p.m. PDT and so far not a peep from the MSM. If anyone notes a peep about the missing billion, please let me know when and where.

The trial is on

of the St. Patrick's Four. Here's the detailed information and here's a summary.

How powerful a statement is that?!

Elect a madman, you get madness

Like this, and this and this and this and this. Just another day of news accounts from Iraq and the American Empire.

Let the word go forth from this time and place...

that Robert Kennedy should be our next president of the United States.

The coalition of the dwindling

The newly-elected Prime Minister of Norway has told Bush that he will pull Norway's troops out of Iraq. All twenty of them.

Lest we forget

Here's a dispatch from Iraq, a necessary reminder, because while hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their belongings and some hundreds have lost their lives to a natural catastrophe, a similar number of Iraqis are in the middle of a man-made storm. And while Katrina has passed into meteorological history, the agony the Iraqis are suffering has no apparent end.

Just when you thought they couldn't stoop any lower...

They seek to blame the woeful levee-levels around New Orleans on environmental groups to deflect criticism from their own lack of funding of levee projects. Recall, BTW, that the head of the department that employs all U.S. Attorneys is none other than our torture-lover, Alberto Gonzales.

(The person who leaked this memo to the Louisiana newspaper should be awarded the highest environmental medal, something like the Earth Emblem.)

A dog in this fight

For weeks I've stayed away from the question of John Roberts' suitability as Supreme Court Justice, now Chief Justice. But having watched and listened to a few hours of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (and having all the while squirmed and moaned at the ineptness of the questioning by the "liberals") I have concluded as follows:

1. Roberts is a skilled advocate of legal positions, and has brought those skills to the hearing room to support his own nomination. He argues positions very well.

2. He has no soul. This is apparent not only from his demeanor and the content of his "answers" but from his record as well. As to the latter, consider this analysis by a long-time Washington lawyer, a Georgetown Law teacher who litigated civil rights cases for years.

So, do I think he should be a Supreme? No, because it's a job for a human being, not a robot. And, if you look carefully at John Roberts, don't you get a kind of Stepford-wives feeling, like there's nobody there? So maybe we should dub him John Robot?

So far, so mute

The MSM is still silent, as of this writing, on this Reuters story of Iraq's Justice Minister's (Attorney General) complaints about the US detentions of innocents and journalists in Iraq, as well as the legal immunity of our troops. A huge development, showing clearly that our status in Iraq is that of occupier, not liberator. I wish the Justice Minister well--he certainly speaks for "liberty" in his nation--but I'll bet his complaint gets no legs in this nation and is even buried by his cohorts, the puppets, who run Iraq on behalf of the US. Stay tuned.

A rat deserting...?

NYT's Tom Friedman, evil genius of the conservative economy, compares the US to Singapore, and decides the latter is preferable to the America run by his compadres. Is the dike cracking?

Economic disconnect

If "the economy" is soaring, why do most Americans not believe it? Here's why.

Who's on first?

Depending on whom you listen to--the Rummie or the President of Iraq--the US will pull out "at least 50 or 60 thousand" troops by the end of the year. Or not.

Update: This is what they call a puppet government.

Polling the polls

Here's a list of most recent national polls, showing the percentages who approve/disapprove of Bush's performance as president. All of the disapproval percentages are at an all-time high for his presidency, and so for once the hype in the MSM about his declining numbers isn't just hype--it's real.

Now, wouldn't it be great if the MSM would finally get the guts to tell the truth about his reign, now that it's safe to do so? And maybe if they did, the Democrats in Congress could get some balls too. But don't count on it. Rove's power is still formidable (but recall that the Plame grand jury term will end in October, so that a report on the leak is imminent, maybe with indictments) and both the MSM and the Democrats (most, anyway) have consistently shown no spine when it comes to attacking this administration for its aberrant policies and its lies.

Stay tuned.

She's baaack!

Riverbend, the Baghdad's Burning blogger, has resumed posting, telling us what it's like in that city. If ever there was "fair and balanced" reporting, this is it.

(A)musings on America

Check out the writings on this site, really radical, really righteous.

How's this going to work, exactly?

The US effectively empties and destroys two of the major cities in which the Sunni Muslims reside, Fallujah and now Tal Afar, so that on the eve of the supposed national referendum on the proposed (and Shia- and Kurd-backed) constitution many Sunnis are in refugee status; and then the constitution isn't able to be printed up to be read and debated by the citizenry with but a month to go until the vote on it. And then, when, as is likely, the Sunnis can't muster enough votes to disapprove it, the constitution is adopted and acclaimed by the US as proof of democracy in action. Right. Just like in Florida and Ohio.

Deconstructing Iraq

We're running out of money to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. Law enforcement in many parts of the country has taken the form of tribal militias and death squads. In order to induce American soldiers to re-enlist to cover the shortfall in recruitment, the Army is increasing re-enlistment bonuses again, offering many thousands of dollars to each person who re-ups, especially in hard-to-fill capacities. In addition to the ongoing violence, the "economic plan" instituted unilaterally by Tribune Bremer during the occupation is ill-suited to bring prosperity to Iraq in the future, and Iraq's constitutional process has produced a document of dubious quality, fraught with ambiguities and unresolved issues, certain to trigger continued rebellion even if it's voted for by the requisite numbers in the requisite number of provinces in Iraq.

Quagmire is too refined a word for it.

Bush's brain

At last--but, alas too late--the explanation for Bush's lack of intellect.

Media, where are you?

Here are ten of the most underreported stories of the year, with sources cited. The days of Watergate-style investigative reporting by MSM is over. In its place--what? Insurrection?

Stay tuned

It seems that the squabbling over the wording of the draft of the "Iraqi constitution" isn't over. Apparently there's still some question over the wording of Iraq's arab relationship or something, and the UN printers won't start printing the draft until at least Sunday, because it needs to have the assembly (which has never voted on it) certify the text. That will give the millions of Iraqis less than a month to read, comprehend and debate the constitution before the October 15 referendum--whereas in our democracy we take more than a year to consider whom to elect as our president.

You can't get there from here

Not to Baghdad, that's for sure. The airport's been closed because the British security company that Bremer hired to guard the place hasn't been paid.

Almost, but not quite

Stories like this, of innocent civilians being held by the US military even though they've been cleared of any wrongdoing, is enough (almost) to cause me don my lawyer robes again and fight the bastards in the courtroom. Almost enough.

Fascism watch revisited

Many posts ago I started a fascism watch on this blog, but in my comings and goings I haven't followed up. Too much vacation and moving and such, so many incidents to report, so little time. But here's a classic, showing the merger of the U.S. military with politics of the Bush administration, which is doing its best to characterize its occupation of Iraq with its "war on terror." Note in Centom's news release that the "terrorist attack" was directed at a military target, no civilians were harmed, not even as "collateral damage." If that makes the insurgents terrorists, what then are we?

Take heart, oh ye of little faith!

Rasmussen Reports, a conservative poll that publishes its results daily, shows Bush's job-approval number (45%) near his lowest ever, and of greatest significance shows the "strongly disapprove" percentage at 41.

What the hell is this?

Zarqawi's forces have a flag--a black flag--and they'e flying it over a city in Western Iraq? They're burning video stores and womens' beauty parlors--enforcing fundamentalist Muslim dictates--and openly occupying the area?

And Bush says we're making military, political and social progress in Iraq?

Too good to be true?

Could it be that George Tenet will come clean, will no longer tolerate the role of scapegoat for the various intelligence failures under his watch? Could it be that he would write a memoir that laid the blame on Bush and Cheney and their minions? Stay tuned.

Here's what's wrong with our system of government

A United States District Judge who up to now has been relatively receptive to the ACLU's claim to full disclosure of the grossest Abu Ghraib videos and photos, now relapses into judicial mumbo-jumbo, giving deference to the testimony of military types who say that such disclosure would injure the war effort and cause death to our military forces.

Look, Judge Hellerstein, the citizens of this nation are its owners, are its bosses. How dare you stand in the way of an informed citizenry, depriving them of information about their nation's most important facet--war-making--by hiding behind some separation-of-powers nonsense, or worse, a facile fact-finding function! It's the judges, under article 3 of the Constitution, who were placed in the position of reining in the legislative and executive branches of government, who were the guardians of the public's right to know and to express themselves knowledgably, despite the efforts of those who govern them to hide facts and functions.

Judge Hellerstein, there's no debate, no doubt. The voters need to know what their employees, the government, has done in their name. You must order the photos and videos released to the public or else America becomes--no doubt about it--just another nation doomed to destruction by its own lack of honesty and virtue. And you, Judge Hellerstein, are early on the list of those who enabled, ensured, its demise.

The cost of war

Here, finally, is a comparison of the dollar cost of the US madness in Iraq to its madness in Viet Nam. No wonder his administration couldn't afford to build levees around New Orleans.

Happier than pigs in shit?

Yup, that's it. That's what Rove and Cheney and Bush are feeling right now. They've got their Wag the Dog event, their urgent distraction from the reality of Bush's malfeasances in Iraq, in economic policy, in everything he touches: Hurricane Katrina, a Godsend for Bush, will be exploited by him and his comrades to bail him out of the onslaught of terrible news from home and abroad, to explain the rising gas prices, to allow him to be a savior (a false one, again), to deflect the news (the MSM news, certainly) from everything that's gone before.
How does he do it? How does Bush slide through a life of evil, corrupt, and worthless acts and somehow emerge unscathed, even heroic? A miracle, truly. No wonder he believes in a personal God and in Jesus as miracle-maker.

Ya gotta love him

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, wants his country's state-owned oil company, CITGO, which operates hundreds of gas stations in the US, to offer its gasoline at half price to the poor in America. No doubt it won't happen--too many logistical and financial obstacles--but he sure knows how to get under the skin of the conservatives, especially George Bush, and lately Pat Robertson, the assassin.

What is there about this name, Chavez? First Caesar, now Hugo. Troublemakers, both. Heroes too?

Strange bedfellows

While the Left chides Democrats (except for the few who consistently opposed the war in Iraq), the Right berates the NeoCons who plumped for this war. A few Democrats are coming around, now demanding an end to the war, and a few Republicans, too. Very few of each so far, but more today than yesterday, and more on the midterm election day in 2006 than today. Could it be that by then the Left and the Right can coalesce on this one issue: End the war and with it the reign of the madmen who brought it on?

It's the inequality, stupid!

This book, by an accomplished social researcher, documents and explains why those at the low end of the economic and social ladder suffer greatly, even if their standard of living exceeds, in material terms, that of their forebears. It's the standing in current society, in the economic and social hierarchy, that matters; which explains why nations such as the U.S., with great wealth, still lags in many health categories among the poorest classes. The relative standing of the poor causes the misery, and in the U.S., with the greatest gap between rich and poor, the poor suffer greatly.

A tremendous argument for socialism--especially potent to me, an inveterate socialist.

Fuzziness

There's been much Internet chatter about the squishy positions of "liberal" groups like MoveOn.org and others on the topic of withdrawal of US troops from Iraq; and even more hollering about the ridiculous positions of Biden and H. Clinton that troops levels should be increased. Well, as I hope readers of this blog know, the author has always demanded immediate withdrawal--from the day our troops entered Iraq to this moment. Just checking, just making sure you're sure. Out today, out yesterday, out in March, 2003, out forever.

As for what happens in Iraq if we withdraw immediately? Nobody knows. Just like nobody knows what will happen if we don't, except that the US will lose more troops, more money, and more standing in the world.

Hallelujah Halliburton

This post by Juan Cole is the first I've seen that raises the question of the impact of Islamic law in Iraq (now that the US has sanctioned it) on the myriad of corporate enterprises that were plundering that nation in the aftermath of our invasion. Wouldn't it be lovely if the mullahs decided to void all extant contracts as not in conformity with Islamic principles? Laugh, I thought I'd die!

The logic of withdrawal

The debate over withdrawal of our troops from Iraq has been cast by the Bushovics as "stay the course" versus "cut and run." Tragically, this has become the standard of discourse on the topic also, so that most Democratic politicians are buying into it, with H. Clinton and Joe Biden (two likely presidential candidates in 2006) calling for more troops in Iraq, not withdrawal. This thinking will also infect the upcoming midterm elections, probably, so that the American people will be left without a meaningful discourse on the possibility of immediate, or even early, withdrawal.

Such discourse is mandatory in a democracy, certainly over a war that has proven so disastrous and has been shown to have been the product of a fraudulent premise. And so it's heartening to find this essay, a sensible rationale for immediate withdrawal, stated in terms that demonstrate that it may be in America's interest to pull out now, as a strategic matter, not "just" as a moral one. Maybe, so clothed, the debate may find favor with politicians, who seem to prefer strategy to morality.

Baby on board?

No, I don't think so. Not if the baby's name is on the "no-fly" list.

Switzerland is so cool

They've frozen a deal to send some American-made armored personnel carriers to Iraq until they have assurances that they will be used only in noncombat situations. Neutrality rocks and democracy rules.

Intermittent outrage

It's true that lately my blogging has been sporadic. I took a long trip into the wilds of NW United States and Canada and blessedly left my 'puter in its bag; and on my return to SB was confronted with the need to find a new rental, which I've now accomplished and this post is authored from my new digs. So, while our soldiers don't have the luxury of being distracted by such silly excursions, I admit I have been.

However, I've still been doing my demonstrating, my tiny effort at informing those who pass by my streetside sign of the unending and lately mushrooming (to use Condi's word) US casualties in Iraq. And lately here's what I've experienced.

Last Saturday's march up and down State Street in SB was not only well received by the shoppers and tourists of this vacation town, but was positively uplifting. We got ceaseless honks and hoots and cordial expressions of gratitude--the strongest surge of support for our message, our chants and signs calling for an end to the Iraq war and the impeachment of Bush/Cheney that we've ever experienced in our two-plus years of weekly marching.

On the other hand, during my Sunday afternoon vigil, where I hold out my sign for an hour to the vehicular and foot traffic at the base of Stearns Wharf in SB, the reaction was muted, almost silent, as in embarrassed silence. Maybe it was Sunday, maybe it was because most folks were in a hurry to "do" their touristy stuff before they had to head back to LA...whatever. But silence, silence so constant it felt conspiratorial.

The United States has waged war, has invaded and is now occupying another foreign nation. Thousands of human beings were killed in the process, billions of dollars of destruction was wrought, millions of lives were eternally altered, all because of the faulty decision of a cadre of leaders "elected" by us to protect us from an enemy that is undaunted in its desire--and ability--to do us great harm.

I ask, and I'm not alone in asking, WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE? WHERE THE FUCK IS THE OUTRAGE?

King Solomon

And on the current state of cable TV "newscasting" check out this post.

Juan Cole speaks

One of the blogs I regularly visit is Juan Cole's. He's a college professer, shows up on liberal talks shows often. Here's a post that knowledgeably captures the current state of affairs in the oil game.

Beating a live horse

Okay, I've carped about this before, but on the sixtieth anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, it seems appropriate to reiterate a point about "terrorism."

The IRA, the German Baader Meinhof group, the Weather Underground, Osama bin Laden--these were hardly the first to use the death of civilians as a military/political tool. In just the last century -- not to mention the use of plague and disease as a weapon in previous times -- both the Allies and the Axis powers were "terrorists," as that term's being used now. The Nazis employed rockets, the V-1 and V-2, that were specifically designed to kill and frighten civilian Londoners to affect Britain's resolve to fight. We bombed Dresden, Tokyo and other cities that had no strategic value, precisely to break the will of our enemies to resist, and then, of course, there's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities without any military defense and no military value. We did so without warning, without at least trying to deploy the bomb on an unpopulated target to persuade the Japanese to cease fighting. We killed more civilians in our bombing of defenseless cities in 1944-45 than bin Laden can imagine.

Terrorism sucks, no doubt. But let's not forget its history.

Blood and guts

During the first three days of August, 27 US military service persons have been killed. This doesn't include Iraqi soldiers and police or civilians.

And yet, not a peep from any news source or Democrat (except those who opposed the war to begin with) that we should pull our troops out immediately.

Not even an explanation to the American public why these people are dying. The war has settled into a meat grinding operation, just like those who opposed it predicted, and Bush has the temerity to say that the recent deaths are a "grim reminder" that we're still at war. Reminder? Had he forgotten? Had the American people? Had the media?

I'm angry beyond words. So I'll stop typing.

Bean counting

For a detailed review of the recent casualty figures in Iraq and trends, check out this post. Not heartening, not at all. For an ongoing tabulation, this site's the best. The ghoul in me hits the latter every day, despising Bush/Cheney while I do so, because they've caused me to cheer our increasing death-toll.

Pat Buchanan, Republican whore

For years, Pat Buchanan, a Nixon/Reagan stalwart and conservative commentator on the AntiWar blog, has railed against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I've linked to his writings often, including this post, well-written and incisive.

But he backed Bush/Cheney in both campaigns, notwithstanding that they brought us this awful, tragic war. Why? Because, he said, the alternative, Kerry/Edwards, offered him no choice on the conduct of the war and proposed a liberal domestic agenda, which he opposed.

Here's what I say to Buchanan. Shut up about the war, shut the fuck up! You gave your vote to Bush/Cheney, so shut the fuck up.

Your opinion, please

Okay, here's a report of a car bombing in Baghdad that apparently targeted Iraqi police (killing four of them) that also killed or injured several "innocent bystanders." Is this appropriately called an act of insurgency with "collateral damage," an act of "terrorism," "negligent homicide" or what? If the Soviet Union had occupied the U.S., and Americans were working as police to uphold that occupation, wouldn't an attack on those police by an outraged American be heroic, even though innocent Americans were killed in the process? I dunno, just asking.

The wheels are off

I'm not going to make the effort to provide links to all the stories that contain these facts (it takes too much patience), so you can either trust me or find them yourself through Google or various blogs. These are all current events, taken from today's news accounts.

We're running out of fish--the major fisheries in all oceans are startingly depleted. Our beaches are growing filthy. Global warming is here. Our Congress just passed an energy bill that omits requirements that our cars become more fuel efficient, and the House passed CAFTA, which guts the US job market and exploits foreign workers and the environment, for the benefit of multinational corporations.
The war in Iraq is growing bloodier, there are deep schisms in the positions of the various factions that are said to comprise its "freely elected" government, and women will lose significant freedoms under the eventual constitution. Terrorist attacks are now common in Europe, especially in nations that supported the US invasion of Iraq.
Middle class income in the US is down, credit-card and mortgage debt is skyrocketing, the disparity between rich and poor, nationally and internationally, is greater than during the "Gilded Age."
Corporations (banks, defense contractors and oil companies, mostly) are prospering, while the availability of health care to workers is spiraling downward, now become rare in some industries, particularly the service industry. America's deficits--both in international trade and in balancing its governmental fiscal policy--are higher than ever in history.

That's today's news, folks. And the good news? I'm in California, and the day on the east coast is almost over.

A fine kettle of fish

So--Turkey wants the U.S., occupiers of Iraq, to send troops up to the north part of Iraq to quell the Kurdish guerillas that are attacking into Turkey from there. We, of course, have stayed out of the north for our own reasons, and the Turks are getting tired of our one-sided treatment of terrorism, since they (and we) have labeled those Kurdish guerillas terrorists.

Oh, goody. Now we get to fight another country's war on foreign soil. We reap what we sow.

Blood in the water?

Thank goodness for WaPo's Walter Pincus. A true "liberal media" person. This story about Rovegate reveals that the prosecutor Fitzgerald has smelled blood, and has included in his inquiry the fascinating question of how the 18 words about "uranium from Africa" found their way into Bush's state of the union address, when the CIA had earlier stricken the reference from a previous speech by Bush. Recall how deliberate Bush's reference was: He attributed the information to British intelligence, an obvious way to avoid the dispute that was evident in US sources.

Could it be that there will be indictments? With the grand jury's term (and hence Fitzgerald's task) concluding in October, we don't have long to wait.

More mystifying

My reflections on the ambivalence of recent poll results, see my post, "Mystifying" below, are highlighted by this story, that cites a poll where a majority now believes Bush "deliberately misled" us about the existence of WMD in Iraq, that we're unlikely to "win" the war, but (what?!) that we were right to invade.

What does that say about our leadership, about our democracy, about pollsters, about the media, and--most fundamentally--about how Bush has Americans exactly where he wants them, dazed and confused.

The silence is deafening

I guess I understand. Nobody likes to hear bad news, but the media thrives on it anyway. So why, in view of the ongoing misery in Iraq (bombings, shootings, devastation), do we hear so little about it on the mainstream media? I'll tell you why. Because it's old news, that's why.

God, this is a cynical culture we've created. Surely, God didn't create it, did He?

Boy oh boy, this Iraqi sure gets around

Two separate "terrorist attacks," weeks apart, as reported by the US Army. But guess what? An Iraqi who witnessed one of the attacks somehow finds himself at the site of the second attack and is quoted by the Army again. Same quote.

Is this an ubiquitous Iraqi talking, or the Army's spin doctor?

Neither. It was an "error."

Under the radar

The ACLU and other groups have sued Rummie and the DoD to release the videos and photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the many that weren't revealed previously. Seymour Hersch said that they were more horrific than the original photos, including screams of detainees audible on the videotapes while they were being sodomized.

The district judge who's handling the case is disgusted with the DoD's repeated delays in production of the material under the Freedom of Information Act, the latest maneuver by the DoD being to claim some law-enforcement restraint on production. (A quickie series of quotes by the judge, Rummie and the DoD can be found here and NYT's take on the DoD's latest ploy to avoid compliance with the District Judge's order, go here.)

Bottom line: Despite Bush/Rummie's assurances that their investigation of the abuse scandal with be so transparent that it will show how democratic and forthright the U.S. is, the administration is doing all it can to obstruct the revelation of the prisoner abuses and to bring to justice those (including Rummie, Gonzales and the generals) who caused them to occur.

Take heart: The District Judge who's handling the case doesn't appear to be cowed by the Bushists. The awful photos and videos will indeed be made public, and not too long from now.

Treasongate

For a succinct and entertaining summary of the Rove/Plame/Niger/Yellowcake-gate affair, check out this story, the conclusion of which is telling: The real story is how Rove's actions reveal the degree to which this administration is dedicated to its lies and its wars.

Mystifying

Check out these recent polling results on various questions relating to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. While in several polls a large majority of those polled state that they feel Bush has done a poor job of handling the war, to other questions a majority answers that they approve the military operation--even though a majority also believes the invasion/occupation has worsened the terrorist situation around the world and has made the US less safe from terrorism.

These disparities of public opinion tell me that a majority of US citizens are conflicted about our actions and policy in Iraq, but are coming slowly to the realization that Bush has made a gross error by invading Iraq in the first place and has placed our nation in an impossibly costly and strategically disastrous position. As I've said for years, "It's Iraq, stupid!" If we want to have any chance to change the direction of our nation's politics and policies, we must continue--day by day--to hammer home the evil idiocy of that awful war.

Tangled webs after a thousand deceptions

Could it be as simple as this? Karl Rove and Scooty Libby (the two men closest to Bush/Cheney, respectively) indicted for perjury for testifying before a grand jury that they first learned of Valerie Plame's status from news reporters when those same reporters deny same? This testimonial conflict, supported by the implausibility of Rove/Libbys' stories, taken together with today's new account of the State Department memo that was circulated on Bush's Africa-bound airplane (surely a smoking gun on the issue of whether Plame's employment by the CIA was "secret"), may spell the end of Bush's holier-than-thou administration. Just as a "third-rate burglary" wrecked Nixon's reign, this tiny crack in Bush's impervious imperium may bring down the entire structure.

Let's hope--it's just a hope--that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is the Archibald Cox/Leon Jaworski of the new millenium.

One step backward, one step backward

The "new constitution" in Iraq will likely curtail womens' rights, far more limiting than womens' status under Saddam Hussein's regime. Makes all that killing worth it, eh?

Back in the USSA

In response to the urgent pleas of scores of you devotees, I resume my posting after a month's vacation in NW USA and Alberta/B.C., Canada.

Amazing, isn't it?, how Bush slithers through his lies and treasonous conduct. A month ago, after months of urging by us bloggers, the Downing Street Memos finally made the bigtime, bringing to the fore the "smoking gun" proof of Bush's lies about WMD before the Iraq invasion. At the time, we knew the Bushists would manufacture some detour--a Supreme Court nominee, another war, something--to wipe the Downing Street Memos from our memories. But no--there's been an unexpected detour: The Karl Rove story.

Fact is, however, the latter isn't anywhere near as important the the former, and now Bush's war-inducing lies have disappeared into history, as will the Karl Rove story, as will even the outrageous Iraq war when the Saddam Hussein trial starts. The latter will be carried ad nauseum by the networks, obliterating the war news and Bush will once again escape the fallout from his criminal conduct. Worst president ever, no contest.