BUSH WILL CUT AND RUN AND THEN BLAME IRAQ

According to the Financial Times of London, Bush intends to blame Iraq and then turn tail and run like a coward/bully chicken hawk would. Naturally, Bush will not take responsibility for his own morass making and in typical and predictable GOP fashion, he will play the blame game instead. I am all for getting out of Iraq NOW, but please Mr. President, at least have the decency and courage to take responsibility for the human catastrophe, carnage, mayhem and unparalleled debacle that you have visited upon the Middle East and on the U.S.

Who on earth appointed this monster W. to office in 2000 (the Supreme Court, thank you very much) and who rigged the election in Ohio (Blackwell and Diebold’s CEO ) to maintain W. in power in 2004? Surely these folks and all of their offspring, including all Bushes, Cheneys, Rumsfelds, Rices and every Congress person, including Democrats, who voted to declare war on Iraq, should be forced to serve in Iraq.

Make a sacrifice or two before asking average Jane and Joe America to step up.

No? Well, then, perhaps all of those mentioned above should be charged with... let's see...crimes against humanity... treason...... hmmmmm.... LS

Excerpts:

“You could call it ‘blame and run’, ” said Zbigniew Bzrezinski, a former national security adviser now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “It is based on a pervasive illusion that there is such a thing as an Iraqi government. The more we blame it for doing things it cannot do, the more impotent it will become. ‘Blame and run’ is self-fulfilling.”

Strobe Talbott, head of the bipartisan Brookings Institution, agrees. In a speech last week he criticised the view that Baghdad could be pressed to make changes such as disarming the sectarian militias by threatening to withhold military, political or economic aid. The ISG report states that Baghdad must prove that it “deserves” future aid.

“The logic of that pressure tactic — that is, why it should work with the Iraqis — is not clear, since most of them want us out [of Iraq],” said Mr Talbott. “The logic on our own side, however, is very clear indeed: having pre-emptively invaded their country, let’s pre-emptively blame them for the mess we’ve made of it.”

The breadth of support for such a line is striking. In a leaked memo last week, Donald Rumsfeld, the outgoing defence secretary, said the Iraqis needed “to pull their socks up”.

CUT AND RUN THEN BLAME IRAQ

BUSH DOES NOT CARE WHAT 75% OF AMERICANS WANT BUT HE AND CHENEY WILL HEED SAUDI ARABIA'S ADVICE.

I read the chilling piece, posted below, written on the New York Times.com concerning Saudi Arabia and how it will likely support Iraqi Sunnis if the U.S. withdraws from Iraq. This is just lovely. Saudi Arabia will support the Sunnis and Iran will support the Shiites. Iran would love to blow Israel off of the planet. Israel openly admitted it has nuclear weapons. Of course everyone in the world knows this but an open admission of such could mean Israel is locked and loaded. No wonder the ISG committee members are so somber and Bush I is sobbing. What a potentially horrible nightmare is in the making, thanks to W., the neonuts and a clueless U.S. mainstream media. Any Kool-Aid left to transport us to an alternate reality? LS.

Excerpts:

The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who told his staff on Monday that he was resigning his post, recently fired Nawaf Obaid, a consultant who wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post two weeks ago contending that “one of the first consequences” of an American pullout of Iraq would “be massive Saudi intervention to stop Iranian-backed Shiite militias from butchering Iraqi Sunnis.”

Mr. Obaid also suggested that Saudi Arabia could cut world oil prices in half by raising its production, a move that he said “would be devastating to Iran, which is facing economic difficulties even with today’s high oil prices.” The Saudi government disavowed Mr. Obaid’s column, and Prince Turki canceled his contract.

But Arab diplomats said Tuesday that Mr. Obaid’s column reflected the view of the Saudi government, which has made clear its opposition to an American pullout from Iraq.

In a speech in Philadelphia last week, Prince Turki reiterated the Saudi position against an American withdrawal from Iraq. “Just picking up and leaving is going to create a huge vacuum,” he told the World Affairs Council. “The U.S. must underline its support for the Maliki government because there is no other game in town.”

Prince Turki said Saudi Arabia did not want Iraq to fracture along ethnic or religious lines. On Monday a group of prominent Saudi clerics called on Sunni Muslims around the world to mobilize against Shiites in Iraq. The statement called the “murder, torture and displacement of Sunnis” an “outrage.”

SAUDIA ARABIA SAYS IT MAY BACK IRAQI SUNNIS IF U.S. WITHDRAWS

BUSH'S DELAY IN CHANGING THE POLICY IN IRAQ UPSETS PRINCIPALED JOURNALISTS.

The article below is a very impressive and sobering editorial written by the New York Times' editors today. LS

Excerpts:

We are more than eager for this White House to finally get something right on Iraq. But we find it chilling to imagine that Mr. Bush and his advisers have only now begun a full policy review, months after Iraq plunged into civil war and years after experts began warning that the administration’s strategy was not working.

We would like to believe that the reason for delay is that some of Mr. Bush’s advisers have come up with a sensible change in course and they are now trying to persuade the president to take it. Or that behind the scenes Mr. Bush is already strong-arming Iraq’s leaders to rein in the sectarian militias and begin long-delayed national reconciliation talks.

We fear that a more likely explanation is that the president’s ever-divided policy advisers are still wrangling over the most basic decisions, while his political handlers are waiting for public enthusiasm for the Baker report to flag before Mr. Bush tries to explain why he won’t follow through on some of the report’s most important and reasonable suggestions — like imposing a timetable on Iraqi leaders to make political compromises or face a withdrawal of American support. Or trying to persuade Iran and Syria to cease their meddling.

"WITHOUT DELIBERATE SPEED"

"WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK?"

This is a great anthology of articles put together by Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post on Bush's delay in changing policy in Iraq LS

"WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK?"

"THE BUBBLE BOY IN THE OVAL OFFICE"

From the L.A. Times. Yet another sobering and disturbing revelation on the quintessential spoiled brat and narcissistic child who is simultaneously running and ruining our nation. Even Daddy’s best buddies cannot stop him. Where is Mother Bush when we need her the most? In total denial, no doubt.. Let us all eat poisoned cake. LS

"THE BUBBLE BOY IN THE OVAL OFFICE"

IT IS WORSE THAN THE VERY WORST IMAGINABLE

December 7: The day after the release of the Iraq Study Group Report and nearly 24 hours of wall to wall cable news coverage of its findings.

I started this blog in order to share political ideas and news that one may not normally find in the mainstream media, especially after the media blackout following 9/11. The intention was to share information with a small group of like-minded friends and family. I started the blog after I knew something terrible had happened in Ohio in 2004, which seemed to smack of the same evil doing as that of 2000 when the Supreme Court appointed W. as President in a very close election. Everyone recalls how in 2000, the highest court in this nation shut down a recount in Florida. James Baker played no small role in this outcome.

In 2004 GOP political operatives in Ohio, namely Kenneth Blackwell, infinitely hacker friendly and pliable Diebold voting machines and a CEO who promised to deliver Bush to the White House, did indeed guarantee the worst presidency ever known in American history.

In all fairness, Kerry gave up the fight too soon. Had he prevailed and demanded a recount, perhaps we would not be in the ungodly mess we are today. The Supreme Court would have been reluctant to intervene in two elections in a row. Overly aggressive and self-serving politicians can be very dangerous monsters. So can weak and self-satisfied ones.

Now it seems that the GOP demons that took hold of us in 2000 and 2004 are holding us by our throats and will take us straight to hell if we let them.

Many of us have known from the very beginning that W. would be a disaster. He does not and will never possess the character, the integrity, high principles, the intellect or the diplomatic skills required of the highest office on the planet. W. is at best a partisan operative. There is no substance behind the rhetoric. It’s all showmanship and winning at any cost. That’s it. Nothing else exists inside that suit or behind the seemingly steely but in reality, the soulless eyes.

At best we hoped W. would be a do nothing one term president who would do little damage in four years.

But then 9/11 happened and everything changed. The U.S. took a sharp turn and steered far away from the democratic principles that have guided our nation for over 200 years. We entered a new and heretofore unknown era of darkness. Fear overtook hope and optimism. Sinister secrecy overrides transparency. Deception, mendacity, propaganda and illusion are now the standard operating procedural tools used by the White House. Our constitutional rights are seriously compromised. Domestic wiretapping is now the norm. W. and Co. fabricated a war. The principles underlying the rational for going to war are based on lies. Now the war is an abysmal catastrophe that even Daddy’s best and most qualified friends cannot fix.

I wonder why blasts from the 2000 past like James Baker and Sandra Day O’Connor are key players on the ISG committee? Those who were instrumental in visiting Bush upon us are now trying to find a way out of a Bush imposed morass.

Do Baker and O’Connor feel a prick of conscience? Remorse? Or are they merely trying to protect something, which they hold most dear? Their legacies? I mean, who wants to go down in history as delivering the worst and most catastrophic presidency known to this nation so far?

I think Baker, O’Connor and other Bush enablers are terrified for themselves and for all of us. Former President George H.W. Bush may sadly be on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of W.’s perilous fiasco.

For all of their hard work and the distinguished members’ impressive resumes, the ISG offers no concrete viable solutions. Why? Maybe because all committee members are former politicians or held a political or appointed position in Washington. Most of them likely serve on corporate boards.

According to one of the articles posted below, Bush can cherry pick phrases and sentences much like he did the intelligence on Iraq. He can spin parts of the report to maintain his disastrous and vastly unpopular course. Perhaps this is why the former President Bush publicly broke down. Perhaps he is tormented by despair.

So, what’s the solution, as right wingers will always ask me when I criticize the Bush Administration? How do we get out of this mess? The solution, my dear uninformed fellow citizens is to immediately impeach Bush and Cheney. Charge them with crimes against humanity and high treason. Prosecute both men to the full extent of the law.

Bring in the best international diplomats, distinguished Middle East scholars, those who live in the region, understand the cultures, religions and speak the languages; seasoned U.S., British and French military experts (Britain and France know boatloads about failed occupations), and ask them to come up with a plan. Leave politicians and corporate types out of it. All of them. LS

Ken sent a very frank and sobering piece by Fred Kaplan on Slate Magazine.com on the ISG entitled:

“SO MUCH FOR PLAN B”

Excerpts:

So many careers and reputations have been ravaged by Iraq. Even James Baker, the canniest of operators, has now met his Waterloo.
The report of the Iraq Study Group—which Baker co-chaired with Lee Hamilton, that other Wise Man-wannabe—was doomed to fall short of expectations. But who knew it would amount to such an amorphous, equivocal grab bag.
Its outline of a new "diplomatic offensive" is so disjointed that even a willing president would be left puzzled by what precisely to do, and George W. Bush seems far from willing.
Its scheme for a new military strategy contains so many loopholes that a president could cite its language to justify doing anything (or nothing).

”SO MUCH FOR PLAN B" BY FRED KAPLAN

BAKER CAN GO BACK TO HIS DAY JOB ACCORDING TO BUSH

I found this article on CBS News.com via the Huffington Post.com LS


W. TO JIMMY BOY: GO BACK TO YOUR DAY JOB

THE REAL JIMMY BOY BAKER

A journalist in Austin, Mr. Robert Bryce, reminds us of James Baker's role in the outrageous S&L scandals and corruption in the 1980's. I found this piece on Counter Punch.com via Buzz Flash.com LS

Excerpts:

In my book, Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate, I wrote about the S&L mess and Baker's role in it. I quoted William Black, an attorney who helped clean up the S&L mess while working for the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and later, as the deputy director of the Office of Thrift Supervision. Black told me that the Reaganites were "willing to do the most outrageous, unprincipled and dangerous things to maintain the cover up" of the S&L disaster. And said Black, Baker was one of "the centerpieces of this strategy."

To be fair, Congress shares the blame for the S&L meltdown. Jim Wright, the Democratic Speaker of the House worked hard to prevent federal regulators from cracking down on S&Ls in Texas. On the other side of the Capitol building, the Keating Five, a group of senators which included 2008 presidential hopeful John McCain, ran interference on behalf of disgraced S&L boss Charles Keating, the chairman of California-based Lincoln Savings and Loan.

But none of those men were the secretary of the treasury. None of those men had their signatures on American greenbacks. None of those men had the power to appoint aggressive regulators to delve into the unfolding S&L disaster. Baker did. And yet he did nothing.

JAMES BAKER'S ROLE IN THE S&L SCANDALS AND COVERUP

THE ABSOLUTE WORST EVER

Now we know beyond a doubt that the war in Iraq is an unmitigated disaster. I also learned today that the Pentagon has been under reporting the real level of violence in Iraq. Am I surprised? Under this administration? Of course not. It has been absolutely essential to the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld crazed and fascistic leaning policies for the American people to be as clueless and as uninformed as possible. The trio has been lying to us since January, 2000 when sworn into office.

The ISG Report was released today. Bottom line – Bush’s neonut policy has visited chaos, carnage and mayhem on the region that could spread throughout the Middle East to include Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. No one wonder W.’s poor father was reduced to tormented sobs when speaking to a group the other day. As much as I have
criticized the Bush family, it was painful to see an 82 year old man and former President of the U.S. so broken.

The ISG Report from CNN.com:

FINDINGS OF IRAQ STUDY GROUP

TONY BLAIR AGREES WE ARE NOT WINNING IN IRAQ

Our only ally, really, now admits the obvious. LS

From the BBC News.com

BLAIR AGREES WE ARE LOSING IN IRAQ

ARE WE LOSING AFGHANISTAN TOO?

An editorial writer for the New York Times thinks so. LS

Excerpts:

Afghanistan was supposed to be the good war - and the war America was winning. But because of the Bush administration's inattention and mismanagement, even the good war is going wrong.

The latest grim news is that after years of effort - and more than $1 billion spent - Afghanistan's American-trained police force is unable to perform even routine law enforcement work. According to an article in yesterday's Times, investigators for the Pentagon and the State Department found that the training program's managers did not even know how many police officers were serving, while thousands of trucks and other American-purchased police equipment have simply disappeared.

The failure to provide local security - or even a semblance of impartial justice - helps explain why so many Afghans have lost confidence in the pro-Western government of President Hamid Karzai, and why a growing number are again turning to the Taliban for protection. The failure to stand up an effective police force also helps explain why opium cultivation rose by nearly 60 percent this year.

"LOSING THE GOOD WAR"

BUSH SAYS HE WILL CONSIDER THE FINDINGS OF THE ISG REPORT but does he mean it, asks Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post. Mr. Froomkin observes that as long as Bush stays close to Cheney and Rove, it is unlikely he will change any of his views on Iraq. LS

Excerpts:

We'll know for sure once words turn into action. But in the meantime, it strikes me that as long as Vice President Cheney and political guru Karl Rove remain Bush's closest advisers, then the answer is probably not.

Cheney and his loyalists are largely responsible for the deception, delusion and incompetence that brought us to where we are today in Iraq. Rove intentionally turned the war into the most ferocious and divisive of partisan issues. Neither man has shown any sign of remorse.

DAN FROOMKIN ON ISG AND BUSH

GORE,WHO WAS THE TRUE WINNER IN 2000, SAYS IRAQ IS WORST STRATEGY MISTAKE IN U.S. HISTORY. Think about it. Had the recount in Florida taken place as it should have in a real democracy, Gore would have been rightfully installed as President elect. We would most certainly not be in this horrific mess. I wonder how former Justice O'Connor sleeps at night?

Gore says that Bush should realize the disaster in Iraq isn’t about him. That is a tall order, sir. How else does a blatant narcissist see the world but through himself? From Raw Story.com. LS

Excerpts:

"This is an utter disaster," Gore told Today show host Matt Lauer. "This was the worst strategic mistake in the entire history of the United States. And now we, as a nation, have to find a way, in George Mitchell's words, to manage a disaster."

The former Senator from Tennessee, who lost to President Bush in a close election eventually decided by the Supreme Court, expressed hope that the Commander in Chief will recognize that this "isn't all about him."

GORE SAYS IRAQ IS WORST STRATEGY MISTAKE EVER

BRING US BACK TO BASICS, LIKE HAVING OUR LAWMAKERS WORK FOR THEIR SALARIES

Rep. Hoyer says Congress will return to a 5 day work week, a stunning change from the lazy, do nothing, country club loving Republican 2 day work week. Republicans are naturally screaming and are of course accusing Dems of not caring about family life. My advice to lawmakers who run for office, if you don't want to work like the rest of us do, don't run. Move the family to Washington, Virginia or Maryland. Republican indolent whiners fail to understand it should be considered an honor and privilege to serve our nation. Guess they don't get it. From Raw Story.com. LS

"CULTURE SHOCK IN WASHINGTON: HAVING TO ACTUALLY WORK

Do Nothing Iraq Study Group

Another blast from the past. Following six years of a do-nothing Congress we will soon learn we also have a do nothing Iraq Study Group.

Many in the know believe the ISG is nothing more than a mere damage control device for the Bush Administration and the Bush family legacy. When one considers that some of the players are retreads from the Iran Contra era, it should give one pause. What are they trying to protect this time? Money of course. And then what?

The Bush’s will go down in history as the despicable and incompetent folks they truly are. Even Jimmy Boy Baker won’t be able to fix this mess for Daddy and Junior, no matter how hard the family consigliore tries, beats, bullies and bribes.

Below are stories one will not likely see in the mainstream media, at least for a week. LS

From Common Dreams.org

ISG: MERE DAMAGE CONTROL?

Excerpts:

The group's composition gives the game away. Chaired by James Baker, the famed political operative and former secretary of state, and Lee Hamilton, former congressman and fixture on various blue-ribbon commissions, it contains no one who could be even remotely described as entertaining unorthodox opinions or maverick tendencies.

Instead, it consists of Beltway luminaries such as retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and lobbyist Vernon Jordan. No member is now an elected official. Neither do its ranks include any Iraq war veterans, family members of soldiers killed in Iraq, or anyone identified with the antiwar movement. None possesses specialized knowledge of Islam or the Middle East.

Charging this crowd with assessing the Iraq war is like convening a committee of Roman Catholic bishops to investigate the church's clergy sex-abuse scandal. Even without explicit instructions, the group's members know which questions not to ask and which remedies not to advance. Sadly, the average Catholic's traditional deference to the church hierarchy finds its counterpart in the average American's deference to "experts" when it comes to foreign policy. The ISG exemplifies the result: a befuddled, but essentially passive-electorate looks for guidance to a small group of unelected insiders reflecting a narrow range of views and operating largely behind closed doors.

"Iraq Panel's Real Agenda: Damage Control"

From Newsweek.com

"A BUST IN BAKERSVILLE"

The author, Mr. Michael Hirsh suggests the group's findings are doomed, in part, because W. will ignore any plans that are not in synch with his neocon ideology. For one thing, Bush will refuse to meet with “evil doers” in Iran and Syria. Additionally, Mr. Hirsh writes that the study group will “fudge” on the issue of troop strength and withdrawal, which means many officials in both Iraq and Washington will dismiss the report as soon as it is issued. Senator Biden has already said he will hold hearings on Iraq as soon as the 110th Congress convenes when he takes over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Hirsh says this group is practicing the worst kind of cover-your-backside-politics in Washington. I could not agree more. Plain ol' rotten begets plain ol' rotten. LS

BUSH IN BAKERSVILLE

TIME MAGAZINE: BUSH'S FIVE FATAL MISTAKES

As far as I am concerned, the first fatal mistake was made in 2000 when the Supreme Court visited this monster called W. upon us. LS

BUSH'S FIVE FATAL MISTAKES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

GOOD NEWS FINALLY AFTER SIX YEARS OF GOP CORRUPTION, LYING, RIGGED ELECTIONS, CHEATING, STEALING, INCOMPETENCE AND INEPTITUDE

Ken sent this great article written by Sidney Blumenthal for Salon.com today. Adios Rove. LS

From Ken:

Nothing is certain at this point in terms of where the country goes after 11/7/06, but in this article Sidney Blumenthal looks at the possibilities.

Here's a very gee-whiz fact for you: The Democratic advantage over Republicans in state legislatures went from 15 seats (3,650 versus 3,635) to 662 seats (3,985 versus 3,323), with gains in every region. Who knew? That's a very big deal.

And here's very good news for Progressives. Back in the 60's we were always aware that the Democrats had a deal with the devil, in that the powerful Southern Dems in congress were necessary to keeping the majority, but were completely opposed to the progressive ideals that embodied the Democratic party, such as voting rights and civil rights. In fact, it took a Southern Democrat, LBJ, to force these things through congress, and in doing so he had to admit that the Democrats had lost the South. But now, as Blumenthal points out below, "In January, when the 110th Congress is sworn in, it will be the first Congress since the 83rd Republican Congress (swept into office on Eisenhower's coattails) in which the majority party in both chambers is a minority party in the South. While there will be Southerners in the Democratic Congress, their presence is not that of a unitary bloc threatening progressive legislation." -K

"GENERATION DEM"

ON THE REPUBLI-CAN'TS

I noticed an interesting new noun and verb combo while viewing CNN last week when Jack Cafferty aired his solicited comments on “The Situation Room” news segment about the dormant Congressional Ethics Committee.
The new word is an interesting one because it is brutally honest, in my humble opinion. It is “republicants”

History and experience have proven the Republi-can’ts do winnable wars, manage natural national disasters, keep their noses out of our bedrooms or health-life decisions about whether one’s loved one should continue to live or not in a vegetative state. Nor can Republi-can’ts work for the people who elected them, especially the middle class They have demonstrated they can work for the extremely wealthy, lobbyists and corporate interests. Worse, recent indictments and trials have given us sneak previews of how the GOP certainly cannot keep its hands out of the cookie jar, either.

The fact that we have a non-functioning and non-engaged Ethics Committee should tell us the obvious. There has been no government oversight whatsoever for years. This is bad news in era pervaded by insidious corruption, glaring ineptitude and one party rule. Will there be a crumb left in the cookie jar? I am beginning to wonder.

W’s. approval rating is at 31% and Cheney says it does not matter that Democrats have taken over the Senate and House. The Bush/Cheney strategy (or lack thereof except for the fact that Iraq is a great money making opportunity for Halliburton) will not change. Such spiteful arrogance and who-gives-a-flip-what-voters-think attitude smells like a dictatorial soup to me. It does not matter what the majority of Americans want. The B and C team are calling the shots.

For six long and very dark years these two goons have been enabled and supported by spineless rubberstamps in both the House and Senate. Fortunately the Democrats are back in town and they will usher in a return to checks, balances and oversight. Our federal government will be returned to its healthy and fully functioning role as intended by our founding fathers.


LET THE HEARINGS BEGIN

“DEMOCRATS PROBE BILLIONS LOST TO BAGHDAD CORRUPTION”

The corruption in Iraq is as rampart and pervasive as it is here at home. Sadly for Jane and Joe America the billions lost is our hard earned tax dollars. Ken sent this disturbing but not surprising piece from the London Sunday Times Online yesterday.

Excerpts:

Stoffel, a former intelligence analyst, had hoped to make a fortune by selling ex-Soviet military parts to refit Saddam Hussein’s abandoned tanks and armoured vehicles for the new Iraqi army. But he was also an idealist who turned whistleblower when he learnt that Iraqis in the defence ministry and arms industry expected huge kickbacks for their help.

In a prophetic e-mail, Stoffel wrote to an American colonel he knew in Iraq: “If we proceed down the road we are currently on, there will be serious legal issues that will land us all in jail. There is no oversight of the money and if/when something goes wrong, regardless of how clean our hands are, heads will roll and it will be the heads of those that are reachable, and the people who are supposed to know better (US — citizens, military etc.)”

Three days before his death he met John Shaw, then a senior Pentagon official, whose office was investigating fraud in Iraq. Shaw describes the Stoffel case as “the first public indication of the seriousness and institutional depth of corruption in Iraq”. Shaw is convinced that “in time, we will discover a pervasive pattern of cover-ups along with revelations of corruption”.

DEMOCRATS PROBE BILLIONS LOST TO CORRUPTION IN IRAQ

REPUBLICAN’TS WIN SO THEY MUST STEAL

It comes as no surprise to me that the GOP must steal elections in order to stay in power. This piece on the 2006 stolen landslide can be found on the Election Defense Alliance.org web site.

2006: A STOLEN LANDSLIDE

BUSH INSIDERS AND SUPPORTERS ARE VERY BITTER

Bush’s buddies can’t seem to put enough distance between themselves and W. Too bad, so sad dudes. Reasoned and rational Democrats tried to warn you about the B and C team ideologues. Did you listen? Alas no. You instead savaged and spurned the messengers of truth. The GOP blame game begins in earnest.

Ken sent this piece from The Washington Post.

Excerpts:

Forty-three months later, the cakewalk looks more like a death march, and Adelman has broken with the Bush team. He had an angry falling-out with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this fall. He and Cheney are no longer on speaking terms. And he believes that "the president is ultimately responsible" for what Adelman now calls "the debacle that was Iraq."

Adelman, a former Reagan administration official and onetime member of the Iraq war brain trust, is only the latest voice from inside the Bush circle to speak out against the president or his policies. Heading into the final chapter of his presidency, fresh from the sting of a midterm election defeat, Bush finds himself with fewer and fewer friends. Some of the strongest supporters of the war have grown disenchanted, former insiders are registering public dissent and Republicans on Capitol Hill blame him for losing Congress.

”EMBITTERED INSIDERS TURN AGAINST BUSH"

TEXAS REPUBLICANS SEND ANOTHER HAMMER WANNABE TO WASHINGTON BUT THE DOCTOR IS APPARENTLY SO MEAN AND ABUSIVE THAT DELAY'S FORMER STAFF IMMEDIATELY FLED.

This woman is a dermatologist who obviously lacks a proper bedside manner. I wouldn’t want to be down under and asleep while she wielded a scalpel. Don’t’ miss the love fest between her, Bush and the adoring rubberstamp numero uno Senator Hutchison in the Houston Chronicle’s photo.

ANOTHER MEAN AND NASTY TEXAS REPUBLICAN DESCENDS UPON WASHINGTON

WE THREW THE BUMS OUT

I had to pinch myself all day yesterday to make sure I was not dreaming. We did it, America! We threw the bums out! We took back our House and Senate! After six long years of darkness and despair, we went to the polls and exerted our power to fire corrupted, incompetent, morally reprehensible and lazy lawmakers. No amount of GOP gerrymandering, dirty tricks, rigged machines, voter suppression and intimidation kept us from exercising our constitutional right to be heard. We stood firm for the nation our founding fathers had established. Future generations will thank us for putting the brakes on the Bush Administration. Volumes will most likely be written about this era of darkness. Absolute volumes.

There are so many to thank in helping us achieve this amazing outcome, it not miracle. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Air America Radio for letting the voice of freedom ring loud and clear. This was so crucial during the time when Bush deception and spin could confuse and manipulate even the most sage and reasoned. The press and media naturally get an F, but after it became apparent Iraq is a fiasco and the seemingly endless scandals continued to erupt from the Party of Corruption, journalists had finally begun to smell the stench spewing from the sewer.

Huge kudos to the genius of Howard Dean, Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer whose campaign strategies were obviously a smashing success.

Bold on line news organizations, blogs and bloggers such as The Huffington Post, Raw Story.com, Buzz Flash.com, the Brad Blog, Salon.com, Truthout.org, Firedoglake.com, Daily Kos, Move On.org, to name a few, were and are still are my lifelines for information. Mainstream newspapers such as The New York Times and Washington Post had finally awakened from its post 9/11 slumber and returned to the business of reporting the news, even if the news is critical of the Bush Administration.

Lou Dobbs of CNN bravely and doggedly exposed the GOP’s cynical and inept policies on his show through his “War On The Middle Class” and “Our Broken Borders” series. John King did the same with his expose on “Our Broken Government.”

Keith Olbermann is the first mainstream cable news anchor who possessed the courage to stridently and routinely inform his viewers about Bush’s deplorable tactics and outright lies on a number of levels. Colossal thanks to gifted comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. These comedians ironically behave more as news anchors than some of the “real” and professional news people. Stewart and Colbert make us laugh as we learn how bad things really are in a country driven by Bush radical and neoconservative ideology.

Thanks, too, to those who had served in the Bush Administration, such as Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke for exposing their grim and troubling experiences by writing or having books written (“The Price of Loyalty,” and “Against All Enemies”). These men, both Republicans, got the boot for refusing to put politics ahead of policy.

No amount of spin, lies, distortion, departures from reality, fear, smear, propaganda machines such as Fox News, Rush and the other right wing scream machines, money and power could prevent us from knowing the truth. We threw the bums out while we still had the constitutional right to do so. Cheney’s probable secret dream to wrest our right to vote from us somehow is now toast.

Most of all, mammoth thanks to every campaign volunteer whether one stuffed envelopes, block walked, organized events, donated money, drove folks to the polls, made phone calls, wrote letters to newspaper editors or blogged for a candidate.

It is we the little people who make the seemingly impossible possible. 79 million of us voted on Tuesday. The GOP harassing and deceitful robocalls, intimidation in Virginia and other places, the long lines, the chaos with voting machines in some areas and foul weather in others did not deter us. We did what we knew we had to do.

WE THREW THE BUMS OUT

GOP LOVE FEST WITH MONEY AND FAILURE

I honestly don’t know why anyone with even a half of a brain would vote for any Republican. They have been in power for 12 years and what do they have to show for it? 9/11 happened under their watch. The party can scream, vent, rant, blame Bill, fabricate, attack, twist and distort reality all they want but bottom line, 9/11 happened on Bush’s and the Republican’s watch.

Next Bush and his spineless rubber stamping Republican Congress invade the wrong country for bogus reasons. We have to stay the course until weeks prior to the election and suddenly there is no course to stay. Clueless and/or lazy Senators, including Hutchison failed to read the intelligence and fixated instead on Saddam the boogie man and make believe WMD.

Meanwhile, back in the mountains, the Taliban are regrouping in the area we should have focused on in the first place – Afghanistan. Osama is freely frolicking in the mountains, most likely between his old digs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Halliburton and KBR are probably the only clowns on the planet who are happy about the war in Iraq. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

This party of pimps led by Tom Delay enabled the likes of Abramoff to corrupt and soil our government. It has allowed a homosexual predator to prey upon young male pages. The party of quintessential hypocrites that preach the virtues of family values and rail against gay marriage now reveal that one of its very own outspoken evangelical religious leaders routinely consorted with a drug using male prostitute.

We have seen how well this party of ineptitude has performed when our nation was hit by Katrina. We got the message: go it alone.

The party of greed mongers is so embedded with corporate interests that it no longer works for we the people.

Texas senior Senator Hutchison is a prime example. As I mentioned in a previous diary, she is the biggest recipient of oil and gas money in Congress. Take a peek at her voting record where oil and gas issues are concerned and learn how it works in the Republican cesspool called Washington.

No on $3.1 billion for emergency oil assistance for hurricane hit areas (10/05).
No on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (6/05)
No on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (3/05)
No on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill (3/03)
Yes on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months (3/02)
Yes on de-funding renewal and solar energy (6/99)
No on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations (9/05)
No on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore. (3/05)

Now, how does Senator Hutchison vote on issues that directly impact her constituents?

On Jobs:

No on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25 (3/05)
Yes on killing an increase in the minimum wage (11/99)
Yes on repealing Clinton’s ergonomic rules on repetitive stress (3/01)

On Crime:

No on $1.15 billion per year to continue the COPS program (5/99)
Yes on limiting product liability punitive damage awards (3/96)
Yes on restricting class-action lawsuits (12/95)

On Education:

No on $5B for grants to local educational agencies (10/05)
No on shifting $11B for corporate tax loopholes to education (3/05)
No on spending $448B of tax cut on education and debt reduction
Yes on $75M for abstinence education

On Healthcare:

No on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drugs (3/05)
No on allowing reimportation of Rx drugs from Canada (7/02)
No on allowing patients to sue HMO’s and collect punitive damages (6/01)
No on including prescription drugs under Medicare.
No on increasing tobacco restrictions (6/98)


On Government Reform:

Yes on allowing lobbyist gifts to Congress (3/06)
No on establishing the Senate Office of Public Integrity (3/06)
No on banning soft money contributions and restricting issue ads (2/02)

Military, War and Peace Issues:

No on $47B for military by repealing capital gains tax cut (2/06)
No on redeployment of troops out of Iraq by July 2007 (6/06)
No on investigating award contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan (11/05)

There you have it. It is obvious who Senator Hutchison works for.

Not only does the senior Senator fail to work for Texans, her voting record tells me she doesn’t like us very much either.


Sources:

Voting Record: KBH VOTING RECORD

Donations: KBH DONORS

Thank goodness we have such an awesome choice this election in Texas. Vote for a cynical do nothing rubber stamp, Bush, and oil loving Senator or vote for a jewel of a candidate who will bring real and desperately needed change to Washington. We need to take our government back from the Republicans who have failed us so miserably over the past twelve years.

Barbara Ann Radnofsky is brilliant. No one owns her. She would actually read the intelligence reports. Imagine that. She would read every piece of legislation, too. As a lawyer, Barbara Ann is used to complex language and its nuances. As a professional mediator, Radnofsky would naturally reach across the aisle and work with her colleagues the way our elected officials are supposed to. It is time to send a woman of substance and quality to Washington to do the work of we the people.

NEWSPAPERS GET IT

The nation's press is finally awake. Many newspapers, including some in red hot red states endorse Democratic candidates. In Florida, 22 newspapers endorse Katharine Harris's opponent. And, for the first time since Nixon, the New York Times endorses no GOP candidate. LS

THE KANSAS CITY STAR

THE HUFFINGTON POST LIST OF NEWSPAPERS

NELSON RECEIVES ENDORSEMENTS FROM ALL NEWSPAPERS IN FLORIDA

NEW YORK TIMES ENDORSES NO GOP CANDIDATE

THE ENDLESS LIST OF GOP SLEAZE AND SLIME

The RNC accepted a generous donation from one of the nation's largest producers of gay porn.

RNC DONATION FROM PRODUCER OF GAY PORN

OHIO'S BLACKWELL GETS DESPERATE AS HE TRAILS BEHIND OPPONENT
Blackwell panders to the far right by suggesting his opponent is gay.

DESPERADO BLACKWELL WAITING FOR A TRAIN THAT AIN'T COMING

GOP DIRTY TRICKS BACKFIRE

A newspaper in Wisconsin says GOP manipulations may backfire in election.

Excerpts:

By pumping up voter hatred of gay people and blood lust for the death penalty, Republicans hoped to turn out many more voters who are ready to vote against Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle as well.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the polls.

The backlash against the Republicans on those issues seems to be doing much more to organize progressives and reasonable folks in the middle to turn out voters on the other side.

Even more surprising, perhaps, homophobia and hanging 'em high seem to be losing the power to drive right-wing voters to the polls. It's true that most public opinion polls show a slight majority in favor of both restoring the death penalty and in opposition to gay marriage. But the small size of that majority is surprising in itself.

FED UP WITH GOP DIRTY TRICKS

AND THE INEVITABLE GOP INCOMPETENCE.

The GAO Chief warns of impending economic disaster. The outcome in no small part, no doubt, of generous tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and the GOP's penchant for throwing our hard earned tax dollars into the sewer.

Excerpts:

What they don't talk about is a dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows, or at least should. The vast majority of economists and budget analysts agree: The ship of state is on a disastrous course, and will founder on the reefs of economic disaster if nothing is done to correct it.

There's a good reason politicians don't like to talk about the nation's long-term fiscal prospects. The subject is short on political theatrics and long on complicated economics, scary graphs and very big numbers. It reveals serious problems and offers no easy solutions. Anybody who wanted to deal with it seriously would have to talk about raising taxes and cutting benefits, nasty nostrums that might doom any candidate who prescribed them.

Their basic message is this: If the United States government conducts business as usual over the next few decades, a national debt that is already $8.5 trillion could reach $46 trillion or more, adjusted for inflation. That's almost as much as the total net worth of every person in America Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and those Google guys included.

A hole that big could paralyze the U.S. economy; according to some projections, just the interest payments on a debt that big would be as much as all the taxes the government collects today.

And every year that nothing is done about it, Walker says, the problem grows by $2 trillion to $3 trillion.

GAO CHIEF WARNS OF IMPENDING ECONOMIC DISASTER

AND LYING
GOP Candidate for U.S. Senate lied about his stand on stem cell research yesterday on Meet the Press

GOP CANDIDATE LIES ON MEET THE PRESS

AND OF COURSE, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, THAT ROVE IS HARD AT WORK. A DESPERATE ROVE IS A SCARY THING. It seems that Rove is spending the taxpayers money to keep his corrupt party in power. This is what happens with one-party rule. No one is around to keep the crooks in check.

ROVE USES TAX PAYER MONEY TO KEEP GOP IN POWER

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A REPUBLICAN

If one votes Republican it means one believes:

It is OK to talk tough at election time about national security but deliver zip afterwards.

It is OK to lie to the American people all of the time about everything.

GOP HOUSE OF LIES

W. AND WIFE UPSET WITH CARD FOR TELLING WOODWARD THE TRUTH

PATHOLOGICAL LYING COMES BACK TO HAUNT GOP

16% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE BUSH IS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT 9/11

THINGS ARE GOING REMARKABLY WELL IN IRAQ ACCORDING TO CHENEY

It is OK to scare the bejesus out of Americans for the sole purpose of getting elected.

BUT WE ARE NOT STUPID. WE KNOW SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG IN WASHINGTON

It is OK to attack and smear an individual relentlessly for purely political gain, even when there isn't a lick of truth to the attack.

GOP ATTACKS ON MESSENGERS OF TRUTH

PROPAGANDA BILL SMEARS PELOSI

It is OK to make false claims about the rationale for declaring war on another nation.

BUSH FLIP FLOPS ON IRAQ

MORE CARNAGE IN IRAQ TODAY, OCT. 16

It is OK to go to war with no real plan in place after a military victory.

MORE REVENGE KILLING IN IRAQ

It is OK to turn our back on the real war on terror and start a war instead in another country with the end result of fomenting more terrorism. Turn on the TV and watch it all in real time.

It is OK to ignore a country that lusts for nuclear weapons. Now N. Korea is a not so small threat to our national security. What to do about it? Blame the shame on a former president.

GOP DROPPED THE BALL WITH N. KOREA

War is good for business, especially Halliburton. Rummy sat on board of directors for a company that won a $200. million contract to sell nuke reactors to N. Korea in 2000. In 2002 Rummy declares N. Korea as part of the axis of evil.

SELLING NUKES TO N. KOREA

It is OK to allow Americans to drown after a catastrophic hurricane, especially if those Americans happen to be minorities.

ON HURRICANE KATRINA

It is OK for elected officials to work for corporate interests, big business and lobbyists, even corrupt ones, instead of their constituents.

NON PROFITS TIED TO ABRAMOFF

ABRAMOFF'S FAR REACHING INFLUENCE IN OUR GOVERNMENT

It is OK for a known perverted teen predator to remain in Congress for purely political reasons. It is OK to split up the perv’s contributions among other GOP lawmakers instead of sending the funds to an appropriate charity.

FOLEY WANTED TO LEAVE CONGRESS BUT ROVE WOULD NOT LET HIM

It is OK to cater to the top wage earners in the U.S. and ignore the majority of them.

TAX CUTS FOR THE NATION'S WEALTHY

It is OK that the number of Americans without health insurance is rising.

CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES

It is OK to gut social security and turn it over to a best buddy in the private sector who will do with American’s blood, sweat and tear money what Kenny boy did to that of Enron’s employees and shareholders.

WHY THE GOP WANTED TO GUT SOCIAL SECURITY

It is OK to give huge tax breaks to big oil and insurance companies while tossing a few pennies at average working Americans.

OIL COMPANIES GET BILLIONS IN ROYALTY PLAN

It is OK to increase the minimum wage in this country only if estate taxes are repealed for fewer than 1% of the population.

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE BILL FAILS

It is OK to be gay, as long as one is quiet about it, if gays serve GOP political usefulness.

DICEY PATH FOR GAY GOP LAWMAKERS

It is OK to pander to and trick the Christian right for their political value and then after elected poke fun at them and vote on legislation that hurts their charities.

GOP TRASHING OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT

It is OK to put friends in high and sensitive positions in government although the friends have absolutely no qualifications or necessary credentials for these jobs. Remember ol' Brownie boy?

It is OK to vote yes to building a wall along our southern border without caring about the implications for the citizens and their communities in the impacted areas. It is OK to vote to build a wall before having done studies on its feasibility.

WILL A WALL REALLY WORK?

It is OK to ignore science.

IGNORING SCIENCE

It is OK that some, if not many, of our lawmakers are corrupt.

CORRUPT LAWMAKERS

MORE ON CORRUPTION

It is OK to sow the seeds of fascism.

SOWING THE SEEDS OF FASCISM

FOX HIDES UNFAVORABLE POLL RESULTS FOR BUSH AND IRAQ

It is OK to steal elections.

HISTORY OF RECENT STOLEN ELECTIONS

BLACK BOX VOTING.ORG

US COUNTS VOTES.ORG

LOU DOBBS OF CNN ON ELECTRONIC VOTING FRAUD

HOW AND WHY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BECAME SO CORRUPT AND OUT OF TOUCH WITH AMERICAN VALUES

Connect the dots. Think about the GOP merging of fundamentalist religion, politics and big money. Who are the prime beneficiaries? After watching the videos below, check out the link at the bottom of this blog to President Eisenhower's warnings about a US military/industrial complex. I think you will figure it out. LS

DOCUMENTARIES ON THE RIGHT WING GOP

PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S WARNINGS ABOUT A U.S. MILITARY/INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Sources for links: Truthout.org, Raw Story.com, The Huffington Post.com, Buzz Flash.com, Truthdig.com, Crooks and Liars.com, CNN.com, usliberals.com, azstarnet.com, The Brad Blog, Black Box Voting.org, U.S. Counts Votes.org, You Tube, throwaway your V.com.

GOP DESPERADOS TRY TO PIN THEIR MALFEASANCE ON CLINTON

The PervPublicans know they are in deep trouble, having been busted for lying and their shameful attempts to cover up Page Predator Gate. And so they are therefore in high attack mode, pathetically attempting, in a rather cartoon like fashion, to pin their insidious perv-hood, predisposition for pathological lying, beyond-the-pale-incompetence and corruption on our very own good ol' Billy Boy Clinton.

Me thinks this pitiable and wretched hail mary pass will not work.

Why?

The Grand old Party of Sin is headed straightaway on a one-way path to hellfire and damnation because their “base,” that is, the evangelical Christians that the GOP has exploited for pure political purposes, now knows the stunning and dark truth.

Recent news reports reveal that The Party of Sin has nothing but contempt and disgust for evangelical Christians.

Evangelical Christians, like all of average Jane and Jo America, have been used and abused by the Bush GOP.

Welcome to the planet of hurt, EC’s.

Please do not linger long in the self-pity or outraged mode.

No matter what one’s faith, race or economic circumstance is, all of us (except for perhaps 1%) would be far better served by any party than the GOP.

Write (type, click, dial and enter, etc) any name of your choosing if no candidate on the ballot pleases you. This is America, after all, the land of the free and home of the brave. LS

From Crooks and Liars.com via The Huffington Post.

Excerpt:

According to Kuo, Karl Rove's office referred to evangelical leaders as 'the nuts.'

Kuo says, 'National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous,' 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy.' "

GOP CONTEMPT FOR THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT THAT PUT THEM IN POWER

A NOW NUKE LOADED AND READY TO UNLOAD NORTH KOREA

Bushies are trying to blame Clinton for their gross neglect and inattention to N. Korea’s lust for nukes.

Written by Mr. William Perry, Secretary of Defense 1994-1997 in the Washington Post.

Excerpts:

President Bush, early in his first term, dubbed North Korea a member of the "axis of evil" and made disparaging remarks about Kim Jong Il. He said he would not tolerate a North Korean nuclear weapons program, but he set no bounds on North Korean actions.

The most important such limit would have been on reprocessing spent fuel from North Korea's reactor to make plutonium. The Clinton administration declared in 1994 that if North Korea reprocessed, it would be crossing a "red line," and it threatened military action if that line was crossed. The North Koreans responded to that pressure and began negotiations that led to the Agreed Framework. The Agreed Framework did not end North Korea's aspirations for nuclear weapons, but it did result in a major delay. For more than eight years, under the Agreed Framework, the spent fuel was kept in a storage pond under international supervision.

Then in 2002, the Bush administration discovered the existence of a covert program in uranium, evidently an attempt to evade the Agreed Framework. This program, while potentially serious, would have led to a bomb at a very slow rate, compared with the more mature plutonium program. Nevertheless, the administration unwisely stopped compliance with the Agreed Framework. In response the North Koreans sent the inspectors home and announced their intention to reprocess. The administration deplored the action but set no "red line." North Korea made the plutonium.

The administration also said early this summer that a North Korean test of long-range missiles was unacceptable. North Korea conducted a multiple-launch test of missiles on July 4. Most recently, the administration said a North Korean test of a nuclear bomb would be unacceptable. A week later North Korea conducted its first test.

It appears that the administration is deeply divided on how to deal with North Korea, with some favoring negotiation and others economic and political pressure to force a regime change. As a result, while the administration was willing to send a representative to the six-party talks organized by the Chinese in 2003, it had no apparent strategy for dealing with North Korea there or for providing leadership to the other parties. In the meantime, it increased economic pressure on Pyongyang. Certainly an argument can be made for such pressure, but it would be naive to think it could succeed without the support of the Chinese and South Korean governments, neither of which backs such action. North Korea, sensing the administration's paralysis, has moved ahead with an aggressive and dangerous nuclear program.

WAPO ON SEARCHING FOR A NORTH KOREA POLICY

PERV FOLEY PAGE SCANDAL IS NO OCTOBER SURPRISE DESPITE THE SCREECHING, RANTING AND RAVINGS FROM RUSH AND HIS "COLLEAGUES" WITH THE RIGHT WING SPIN MACHINES.

What are these dudes shooting into their veins to get by? "Rush" suggests a heroin junkie, doesn't it? I suppose the wing nuts must shoot or take something to be able to tell the tall tales and spin the make believe that they do, day in and day out. LS

From Harper's Magazine "REPUBLICANS WANT TO TURN OVER A NEW PAGE."

Excerpts:

Leading Republicans, with the support of conservative media outlets, are charging that the Mark Foley scandal was a plot orchestrated by Democrats to damage the G.O.P.'s electoral prospects this November. According to the Washington Post, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert appeared on Rush Limbaugh's radio show and “agreed when the host said the Foley story was driven by Democrats ‘in some sort of cooperation with some in the media’ to suppress turnout of conservative voters” before the midterm elections.

Conservative talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt has said that Hastert had become the “target right now of the left-wing media machine,” and House Majority Leader John Boehner has charged that the release of the Foley documents so close to the elections “is concerning, at a minimum.” Meanwhile, accounts I've heard about the FBI's initial inquiries suggest the bureau is as interested in uncovering how the story came to public attention as it is in investigating Foley's actions.

The Republican leadership is lying when they claim that Democrats have engineered an “October Surprise”; there was never a plan to undermine the G.O.P. or to destroy Hastert personally, as the speaker has vaingloriously suggested. I know this with absolute certainty because Harper’s was offered the story almost five months ago and decided, after much debate, not to run it here on Washington Babylon.

"REPUBLICANS WANT TO TURN OVER A NEW PAGE BY HARPER'S MAGAZINE HERE

SEEMS THAT RUMMY HAS TWO FACES: THREE YEARS AGO HE SAT ON BOARD THAT SOLD NUCLEAR REACTORS TO N. KOREA.

Fancy that! Remember President Eisenhower's warnings about the industrial/military complex? Well, it seems that both Rummy and Cheney mightily profit from war, as the Bush family has always done. From my friend Ken in Cali. LS

The two faces of Rumsfeld

2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea

2002: declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change

FROM THE U.K. GUARDIAN: "THE TWO FACES OF RUMSFELD"

FOLEY WANTED TO QUIT BUT ROVE AND WHITE HOUSE WOULD NOT LET HIM

Said his career as a lobbyist would be compromised if Foley quit Congress. The Rove gang forced Foley to serve for another two years to avoid possible Congressional hearings. From The New Republic via The Huffington Post.com LS

Excerpts:

According to the source, Foley said he was being pressured by "the White House and Rove gang," who insisted that Foley run. If he didn't, Foley was told, it might impact his lobbying career.

"He said, 'The White House made it very clear I have to run,'" explains Foley's friend, adding that Foley told him that the White House promised that if Foley served for two more years it would "enhance his success" as a lobbyist. "I said, 'I thought you wanted out of this?' And he said, 'I do, but they're scared of losing the House and the thought of two years of Congressional hearings, so I have two more years of duty.'"

The White House declined a request for comment on the matter, but obviously the plan hasn't worked out quite as Rove hoped it would.

FOLEY WANTED OUT BUT ROVE SAID NO

BE A PATRIOT! VOTE! FIRE THE LOT OF THEM ON NOVEMBER 7. VOTE! LS

GOP: GRAND OLD PARTY OF PERVS

The party of corruption and liars is now also a party that protects sick and twisted pervs. For five years an elected sicko could sexually prey upon children while our renowned conservative Republican lawmakers, especially those from the so-called red states, who will utter "Christ is my savior" on demand, whenever necessary, covered up the evil. Tricky Dick suddenly looks innocent. And what is this nonsense about a Clinton impeachment over an affair? Where is Ken Starr when we need him? Ken, oh Ken, where are you??????

The mainstream media is all over the Foley story so I don't have to go there, thank goodness. I don't have the stomach to post stories about a middle aged perv who preys upon children who are supposedly under his mentorship. Excuse me while I vomit. LS

PERV-PUBLICAN MELTDOWN

Ken sent a boatload of very interesting news today. LS

The last link on this page is to a video from a GOP-centered newscast. (Like we can find one that isn't these days.) Even those talking heads are suddenly very pessimistic about the GOP's chances next month. They make the point that every single GOP Speaker of the House since 1994 has resigned in disgrace. (They try to lump Dem Tom Foley in there, too, but Foley did not resign, he was beaten in his local election.)

mydd.com

Total Republican Collapse Imminent
by Chris Bowers, Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 08:21:50 PM EST

The last ten days have been amazing. Starting with Bill Clinton fighting back against Faux News, we have now seen:

The National Intelligence Estimate declare that the war in Iraq in increasing terrorism worldwide.

NIE Report

Colin Powell says he was fired.
POWELL FIRED

Rice is on the verge of having to resign.

CONDI ON VERGE OF RESIGNING

Bill Frist says that the Taliban should rule Afghanistan

FRIST THINKS TALIBAN SHOULD RULE AFGHANISTAN

The White House met with Jack Abramoff 485 times, and had a huge amount of influence. (New emails revealed this morning show Abramoff talking about the coming Iraq war over a year before the invasion. Not if we invade, but that we will invade. -K)

HUGE ABRAMOFF INFLUENCE

Bob Woodward comes out with a book saying the Bush administration is lying about Iraq.

Droves of Republicans are under investigation for something.

REPUBLICANS UNDER INVESTIGATION

I'm sure that I am forgetting some stuff too. But there is this other thing that is going on:

For five years, most of the Republican leadership covered up for and protected a Republican congressman / sexual predator who was targeting young pages who worked on Capitol Hill. And the establishment media is saying just that.

GOP COVERS UP SEXUAL PREDATOR

GOP BLOCKS INVESTIGATIONS

GOP SAYS PERV INCIDENT UNIMPORTANT

The Republican House Leadership has been figuratively decapitated as a result, and now can't speak effectively on anything. (This may be the most important fact, in that the people whose job it was to retain a GOP congress are suddenly kinda busy and have little credibility. -K)

The Republican response has been to blame the pages, blame each other, block investigations, call the incident unimportant, blatant lying, and show once again just how homophobic and ignorant they really are. Because defenses like that really work.

GOP BLAMES PAGES

GOP BLAME ONE ANOTHER

And they did it all because they were worried it might cost them power.

GOP SAYS ANYTHING GOES TO CLING TO POWER

This meltdown has been breathtaking. Even before it started, Democrats were already on the brink of at least taking control, if not a huge wave election. Now, even taking the Senate seems entirely possible. At this point, who knows how bad things will get for Republicans in elections around the country. There is no way to hold off an onslaught like this when they were already in such a bad position. Even the generally cautious, uber-insider Hotline is now starting to see a wave:

Matt is right that Democrats in Congress once again showed how they are not an effective opposition party because of their weak campaign to stop the torture bill (although I disagree when he says they could have "easily" stopped" the bill with an effective campaign). However, I am starting to seriously think that that bill may be the last time we have to worry about ineffective opposition form Democrats in Congress. In the face of total Republican collapse, a good situation for Democrats is quickly turning into a rout. My only regret is that the election ends in five weeks instead of two weeks, because there may be enough time for Republicans to at least somewhat recover and keep the battle for control close. Right now, at least in the House, I don't think the battle for control is very close. There is just no way they can win in the face of this when they were already losing before it.

Please, someone pinch me to make sure that I am not dreaming. This is a total Republican collapse. The House of Representatives may now be ours to lose, but we need to make sure that we stay on the attack as much as possible, and not slack off for one second. (On the other hand, anything can happen. -K)

HOW FOX FAKE NEWS, I.E. THE PROPAGANDA ARM FOR THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, WOULD HAVE REPORTED PERV GATE HAD THE PERP BEEN A DEMOCRAT LS

Excerpt:

THIS IS A FOX NEWS ALERT! Again, we have a FOX NEWS ALERT! We have just learned that Florida DEMOCRAT, Congressman Limp Wrist, has been forced to resign his House seat, effective immediately. Again, this is BREAKING NEWS, it just happened a little while ago and we're working on getting all the details for you as soon as possible but since it's BREAKING NEWS we have to go with what we know so far. What we know is that, again, BREAKING NEWS HERE, several days ago, as we've been telling you all along, it came to light that DEMOCRAT Wrist has been corresponding via email, in some very suggestive, sexual ways, with a teenage BOY page at the Capitol. Not knowing how to handle the situation, since, after all, Wrist is a POWERFUL, INFLUENTIAL and PROMINENT DEMOCRAT, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and DEMOCRAT Chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, the BOY wrote to another congressman, saying he was totally and completely "freaked out" and that what Wrist wrote made him downright "sick." Poor kid.

Our own Greta Van Sustren is on her way to the Capitol building right now and we hope to have a live feed from her in a few minutes. I'm also hearing in my ear that we are trying to get the BOY in for a live interview in the next few minutes -- again, we're working under BREAKING NEWS conditions here -- and we hope to have that LIVE INTERVIEW regarding this crisis for the House DEMOCRATS - for you in this hour. Stay with us. We'll get back to House DEMOCRAT leader Nancy Pelosi, we'll see what she knows about what appears to be developing into a sex scandal involving a House DEMOCRAT, later.

FOX FAUX NEWS AND PERV GATE

THOSE LYING AND DYING REPUBLICANS

Ever try to have a rational conversation with a right-winger? Don't waste your time. They are so seeped in party ideology that they can no longer think for themselves. Their brains are programmed by the Rove playbook. The RW doesn't care about our country. It's all about attacking the messenger, winning at any cost, greed, of course and power, naturally. I should know for I live in Texas and I post comments on blogs in our big cities in which folks are supposed to be more informed and educated. Apparently the schools in Texas are far worse than most of us suspected. There are a lot of fools out there who still think Bush is doing right by America. Fools rush in where wise men never go.

Want to take a peek at one of the blogs? CLICK HERE, THEN ON REFRESH LS

Moving along...

WHITE HOUSE LIED ABOUT VISITS FROM ABRAMOFF

Well, it seems that "We didn't know Abramoff" or he visited a "time or two" is yet another mendacious statement. Indeed, official records show Abramoff had access to the White House 485 times. Wonder what the unofficial count is. LS

From Newsweek.com via MSNBC

Ho hum and what else is new excerpt:

The folks around Karl Rove are on the hot seat again. The White House has launched an internal ethics inquiry into one Rove aide in response to new e-mails showing that Rove's office had far more extensive conduct with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff than previously acknowledged. The e-mails, obtained by a House committee, show that Rove's executive assistant, Susan Ralston, may have violated a White House ban on accepting gifts worth more than $20 from lobbyists. At the same time, Ralston—who previously worked for Abramoff—was helping the lobbyist and his associates set up meetings with Rove and providing them with inside info about presidential appointments and White House decision making, including at least one matter relating to a business deal in Iraq for an Abramoff client, the e-mails show. Ralston also discussed future business opportunities with Abramoff, such as her plan to help him capitalize on the "rush to get lucrative government contracts" being awarded by the Department of Homeland Security—another possible breach of ethics rules.

LOBBYISTS AND THE EMAIL TRAIL

STAYING THE COURSE MEANS PROTECTING SPIN AND REPUTATIONS

Great article from Mr. Frank Rich of the New York Times via Truthout.org

Excerpts:

Against this ominous reality, the debate over the N.I.E. is but a sideshow: politics as usual on both sides. The president reluctantly declassified what had already been leaked, somehow hoping he could override the bad headlines with Pavlovian repetition of shopworn slogans. (He said America must "stay on the offense" four times in one speech on Friday alone.) Democrats are huffily demanding that the White House release more than a few scraps of the 30-page-plus N.I.E., a debating point with no payoff. The N.I.E. is already six months out of date, and Americans can guess most of it, classified or not. In this war at this late stage, the devil can be found everywhere, not merely in the details.

The facts of Iraq are not in dispute. But the truth is that facts don't matter anyway to this administration, and that's what makes this whole N.I.E. debate beside the point. From the start, honest information has never figured into the prosecution of this war. The White House doesn't care about intelligence, good or bad, classified or unclassified, because it believes it knows best, regardless of what anyone else has to say. The debate over the latest N.I.E. or any yet to leak will not alter that fundamental and self-destructive operating principle. That's the truly bad news.

This war has now gone on so long that we tend to forget the early history that foretold the present. Yet this is the history we must remember now more than ever, because it keeps repeating itself, with ever more tragic results. In the run-up to the war, it should be recalled, the administration did not even bother to commission an N.I.E., a summary of the latest findings from every American intelligence agency, on Iraq's weapons.

Why not? The answer can be found in what remains the most revealing Iraq war document leaked to date: the Downing Street memo of July 23, 2002, written eight months before the invasion. In that secret report to the Blair government, the head of British intelligence reported on a trip to Washington, where he learned that the Bush administration was fixing the "intelligence and facts" around the predetermined policy of going to war in Iraq. If we were going to fix the intelligence anyway, there was no need for an N.I.E., except as window dressing, since it might expose the thinness of the administration's case.

A prewar N.I.E. was hastily (and sloppily) assembled only because Congress demanded it. By the time it was delivered to the Capitol after much stalling, on Oct. 1, 2002, less than two weeks remained before the House and Senate would vote on the Iraq war resolution. "No more than six senators and only a handful of House members got beyond the five-page executive summary," according to an article last spring in Foreign Affairs by Paul Pillar, the C.I.A. senior analyst for the Middle East from 2000 to 2005. In a White House press briefing after the war started, an official said Condi Rice hadn't read it at all, leaving that menial duty to her retinue of "experts."

When one senator who did read the whole N.I.E., the now retired Democrat Bob Graham of Florida, asked that a declassified version be made public so that Americans could reach their own verdicts on the war's viability, he was rebuffed. Instead the administration released a glossy white paper that trumpeted the N.I.E.'s fictions ("All intelligence experts agree that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons") but not its doubts about much-hyped evidence like aluminum tubes and uranium from Africa. The only time the president cared about the N.I.E., a document he never wanted, was when he thought it would be politically useful in fighting growing criticism in 2003 that he had manipulated prewar intelligence. Then he authorized his own cherry-picked leaks, which Scooter Libby fed to Mr. Woodward and Judith Miller of The Times. (Neither wrote about it at the time.)

As the insurgency continued to grow in the fall of 2003, the White House again showed scant interest in reality. The American military's Central Command called for an N.I.E. instead. The existence of this second N.I.E. was only discovered in February of this year by Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay of Knight Ridder Newspapers. It found that the growing violence in Iraq was "fueled by local conditions - not foreign terrorists - and drew strength from deep grievances, including the presence of U.S. troops." Yet the president ignored that accurate intelligence, refusing to raise troop levels and continuing to argue erroneously that the insurgency was mainly linked to Saddam and Al Qaeda. Three years later, he still makes that case rather than acknowledge that our troops are caught in the cross-fire of a civil war.

WHAT STAYING THE COURSE REALLY MEANS

SEEMS THAT A MEETING BETWEEN RICE AND TENET PRIOR TO 9/11 NEVER TOOK PLACE

Here we go again. More lying. This time Condi is the one who tells tall tales.

From the New York Times.

Excerpt:

The book says that Mr. Tenet hurriedly organized the meeting — calling ahead from his car as it traveled to the White House — because he wanted to “shake Rice” into persuading the president to respond to dire intelligence warnings that summer about a terrorist strike. Mr. Woodward writes that Mr. Tenet left the meeting frustrated because “they were not getting through to Rice.”

The disclosures took members of the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission by surprise last week. Some questioned whether information about the July 10 meeting was intentionally withheld from the panel.

9/11 COMMISSION MEMBERS NOT TOLD OF MEETING BETWEEN RICE AND TENET

FINALLY! A HERO EMERGES IN AMERICA

After five years of dealing with obvious spin and disinformation from journalists and news anchors who behave more as stenographers for the Bush Administration and spewers of GOP talking points than they do as unbiased professionals, a courageous newsperson finally emerges from the murky sludge. And he comes out swinging at that. Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's Countdown is drop dead awesome. Interesting that the extreme right wing is sending hate mail, including white powder, to Mr. Olbermann's home. The wingnuts will stop at nothing to cover up its heinous lies and sins against the American people. LS

KEITH OLBERMANN'S SPECIAL COMMENTARY

CONDI LIED ABOUT CLINTON NOT LEAVING BUSH A STRATEGY FOR AL-QAEDA.

What's another lie? The Bush Administration has spewed so many lies from their party's wing of the pathological lying liars that it's hard to keep track. It seems that Richard Clarke wrote a comprehensive report on Al-Qaeda, when serving under Clinton that was passed along to and ignored by the Bush Administration. LS

From Raw Story.com

Excerpts:

Rice made the comments in response to claims made Sunday by former President Bill Clinton, who argued that his administration had done more than the current one to address the al Qaeda problem before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She stopped short of calling the former president a liar.

However, RAW STORY has found that just five days after President George W. Bush was sworn into office, a memo from counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke to Rice included the 2000 document, "Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al-Qida: Status and Prospects." This document devotes over 2 of its 13 pages of material to specifically addressing strategies for securing Pakistan's cooperation in airstrikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The document also explores broader strategic approaches, such as a "need to keep in mind that Pakistan has been most willing to cooperate with us on terrorism when its role is invisible or at least plausibly deniable to the powerful Islamist right wing."

But Clarke also made it clear that the Clinton Administration recognized the problem that Pakistan posed in mounting a more sweeping campaign against bin Laden: "Overt action against bin Laden, who is a hero especially in the Pushtun-ethnic border areas near Afghanistan," Clarke speculated in late 2000, "would be so unpopular as to threaten Musharraf's government." The plan notes that, after the attack on the USS Cole, Pakistan had forbidden the United States from again violating its airspace to attack bin Laden in Afghanistan.

The memo sent by Clarke to Rice, to which the Clinton-era document was attached, also urges action on Pakistan relating to al Qaeda. "First [to be addressed,]" wrote Clarke in a list of pending issues relating to al Qaeda, is "what the administration says to the Taliban and Pakistan about ending al Qida sanctuary in Afghanistan. We are separately proposing early, strong messages on both."

CONDI LIED ABOUT CLINTON'S PLANS FOR AL-QAEDA

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS HOLD BUSH, NOT CLINTON, RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILING TO CAPTURE OSAMA BIN LADEN.

Well duh...of course it is Bush's fault. Only the disillusioned and poisoned kool-aid drinkers would think otherwise. LS

GALLUP POLL SHOWS AMERICANS BELIEVE BUSH RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILING TO CAPTURE BIN LADEN

NATURALLY WE ARE LESS SAFE NOW THAN BEFORE 9/11 THANKS TO BUSH'S HAIRBRAINED AND EVIL WAR IN IRAQ.

The more recent NIE Intelligence Report on Iraq will very conveniently not be available until after the election in November. Shocking? Not really considering we are living in a Bush imposed dictatorship. LS

INTELLIGENCE REVEALS U.S. LESS SAFE BECAUSE OF WAR IN IRAQ

SPECULATION ON A DESPERATE BUSH AND AN OCTOBER SURPRISE

A friend of Ken's made the following astute and highly disturbing obsesrvation about a stunt an increasingly desperate Bush will pull off in October to win the election in November. LS

Bush is on record "guaranteeing" that the Repubs will keep both houses. So the speculation is what the "October Surprise" will be that will ensure this happens. Here's the most interesting (properly snarky) conjecture....

The Surprise will get rolling about the 10th of October. President Cheney and his Amazing Meat Puppet will keep their whole Iranian sanctions pot a boilin' over until then. But they will not attack Iran preemptively.

That won't work, not after the debacle in Iraq. Nor will they actually engage in sanctions, a boycott or a naval blockade, which the world will neither observe nor countenance. They need a war, but America can't start it.

That's why the plan is for Israel to attack a few nuclear enrichment facilities inside Iran, using conventional bunker buster bombs. This won't accomplish a damned thing, since those bunkers are a full hundred feet underground. But it will let Bush hold up his hands and say, "There's jes' no holdin' them Israelis back, heh heh . . ."

Then, when mean, bad old Iran responds with missiles at Israel, at US troops, or at oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, or at Saudi, Kuwaiti or other oil fields, or simply stops shipping oil -- well, Bush will put on a ten gallon white hat, give a speech about brimstone and Jesus, and begin the 30-day 4,000-target bombing campaign that's been planned for well over a year.

He carries the speech in his breast pocket, and he reads it to his bathroom mirror every night after he brushes that crooked smile of his. He's ready. We're ready. We've already moved several aircraft carriers to the region, and now we're sending minesweepers to the Gulf from the first of October.

We're primed and pumped for CNN's next video war, but Israel has to start it so Bush can ride in on a white horse and save poor, defenseless Israel from the slavering Muslim hordes. And save Western civilization, too. And white wimmens everywhere, and kids, and puppies, and our precious bodily fluids. Just like Audie Murphy used to do.

Buy yourself some Exxon, some Blackwater and some Halliburton stock, or run the risk of working for a living from here on out.

Bush doesn't bluff. He's not going to lose this election and be investigated and impeached and imprisoned. None of the above. He's down to a pair of deuces, and not much left to lose. He's going to kick over the table, and start shooting. He figures it's a heap sight better n' playing out a losing hand.

A man has got to know his limitations.

Bush hasn't a clue.

PROOF THAT ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES CAN BE EASILY HACKED

Some of us have known in our gut that the GOP stole the election in Ohio in 2004 by both hacking software and by disenfranchising mostly minority voters. The CEO of Diebold is on record as having arrogantly promised to deliver the election to W. and that he did. His enabler, Kenneth Blackwell, made it happen.

After two years of screaming fraud by a vast number of groups, including The Brad Blog, mainstream media has finally gotten a grip on election fraud reality. But why did it take them so long to “get it?” Probably because the mainstream media knows it is losing credibility on all fronts, second-by-second, thanks to bloggers.

Although 50 days prior to an election is hardly enough time to correct the evils, the cowardly whores in the media can say they exposed the heinous crime to our democracy. LS

CNN'S LOU DOBBS ON HACKING ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

THERE IS SO MUCH CORRUPTION IN WASHINGTON THAT THE FBI HAS TO TRIPLE ITS STAFF TO INVESTIGATE LAWMAKERS, LOBBYISTS AND INFLUENCE PEDDLERS

From The New York Daily News via Raw Story.com

Excerpts:

For decades, only one squad in Washington handled corruption cases because the crimes were seen as local offenses handled by FBI field offices in lawmakers' home districts.

But in recent years, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and other abuses of power and privilege have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.

FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus told The News yesterday that he wants to detail even more agents to the Washington field office for a fourth corruption squad because so much wrongdoing is being uncovered.

"Traditionally, a congressional bribery case might be conducted on Main Street U.S.A., but a lot of the stuff we're finding these days is here in Washington," said Burrus, who heads the FBI's criminal division.

He said typical crimes involve lawmakers' illegal interactions with lobbyists and "people who have a lot of savvy about how the congressional process works and appropriations."

SO MUCH CORRUPTION IN WASHINGTON THAT THE FBI MUST TRIPLE ITS STAFF

THE GOP: HORRIFIC PHOTOS FROM KATRINA TELL IT ALL

Heartbreaking And Appalling Photos of Katrina's Victims

More on the Amoral and Corrupted Party of Bush

HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS INCREASING IN THE UNITED STATES WHILE THE BUSH GOP HAVE $50 COOL MIL TO BURN ON A PERSONAL ATTACK, FEAR AND SMEAR MACHINE.

God help anyone who dares to disagree with Bush. Off with your head! Burn at the stake! Hang' em first, try 'em later. LS

As hunger and homelessness rise in the United States, the Bush administration plans to get rid of a data source that supports this embarrassing reality, a survey that's been used to improve state and federal programs for retired and low-income Americans.

In 2003, the Bush Administration tried to whack the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on mass layoffs and in 2004 and 2005 attempted to drop the bureau's questions on the hiring and firing of women from its employment data.

Sources: "New Report Shows Increase in Urban Hunger, Homelessness," Brendan Coyne, New Standard, December 2005; "U.S. Plan to Eliminate Survey of Needy Families Draws Fire," Abid Aslam, OneWorld.net, March 2006.

HALLIBURTON CHARGED WITH SELLING NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TO IRAN

Cheney rails against terrorism while he raids the piggy bank.
Halliburton, the notorious U.S. energy company, sold key nuclear-reactor components to a private Iranian oil company called Oriental Oil Kish as recently as 2005, using offshore subsidiaries to circumvent U.S. sanctions. The story is particularly juicy because Vice President Dick Cheney, who now claims to want to stop Iran from getting nukes, was president of Halliburton in the mid-1990s, at which time he may have advocated business dealings with Iran, in violation of U.S. law.

Source: "Halliburton Secretly Doing Business with Key Member of Iran's Nuclear Team," Jason Leopold, GlobalResearch.ca, Aug. 5, 2005.

FASCISM AT ITS VERY FINEST: FEDERAL WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION IN JEOPARDY

Though record numbers of federal workers have been sounding the alarm on waste, fraud, and other financial abuse since George W. Bush became president, the agency charged with defending government whistleblowers has reportedly been throwing out hundreds of cases - and advancing almost none. Statistics released at the end of 2005 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility led to claims that special counsel Scott Bloch, who was appointed by Bush in 2004, is overseeing the systematic elimination of whistleblower rights.

Sources: "Whistleblowers Get Help from Bush Administration," Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Web site, Dec. 5, 2005; "Long-Delayed Investigation of Special Counsel Finally Begins," PEER Web site, Oct. 18, 2005; "Back Door Rollback of Federal Whistleblower Protections," PEER Web site, Sept. 22, 2005.

REPUBLICAN VOTERS ARE ANGRY AT THEIR PARTY BECAUSE OF BIG SPENDING

Republicans, excerpt perhaps 4 or 5, will bow down to anything W. wants as long as it doesn't impact their piggy banks. So what about the $50 million for personal attacks, fear and smear, Republoliars? LS

REPUBLICAN VOTERS FED UP WITH BIG SPENDING

CAPITOL PHONES JAMMED OVER WIRE TAP BILL

CAPITOL PHONES JAMMED

BUSH IS GOING OFF THE DEEP END. HE RANTS AT PRESS CORPS IN THE ROSE GARDEN YESTERDAY

From Raw Story.com. At the bottom there is a link to MSNBC Keith Olbermann's rebroadcast of the press conference. Watch the demented and crazed look in W.'s eyes. LS

BUSH IS GOING OFF THE DEEP END: RANTS AT PRESS CORPS

EVEN TEXAS IS FED UP WITH W. AND CO.

Think Texas is mired in red forever? Think again. Stop packing your bags, Dems, to move to friendly blue states or abroad to escape the red nightmare. Our hard work and grassroots efforts are paying off and we've gone it alone with little or no help from our national party and with NO HELP FROM OUR LOCAL AND STATE MEDIA.

The so-called most popular elected official in Texas, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's numbers have plummeted to a mere 47%, according to a Zogby poll released today. Barbara Ann Radnofsky is at a cool 39%. This is drop dead stunning news. Ms. Radnofsky's campaign is a completely grass roots effort. She had made 500 trips across the vast state of Texas, in her own vehicle. She campaigns the old fashioned way by making face-to-face contact with Texans. She gives them honest answers. She offers hard and real solutions, not spin or talking point mendacity. Does Barbara Ann stay in swank hotels along the campaign trail? Nope. She stays with friends and volunteers along the campaign trail. Imagine the stuck up former prom queen sleeping on a kid's lower bunk bed.

Our local and state media and newspapers have refused to publish 99% of the letters Radnofsky volunteers have sent to our editors informing them about Ms. Radnofsky. When they do publish a letter or two, the paper will edit out sections about Ms. Radnofsky. It is obvious that Democrats do not have equal access to the media in Texas. The yellow-bellied cowards are all sleeping cozily with the Republicans in power. Fortunately for Texans, the media will soon be toast with the Party of Liars.

The Senator has systematically avoided invitations from sponsors to debate Ms. Radnofsky. She refuses to return Ms. Radnofsky's phone calls or emails. Why? Because Senator Hutchison has been nothing more than a rubber-stamp for the Bush Administration. We know how good this administration, which is based on a foundation of lies and disgraceful low life politics is for our country. Senator Hutchison has endorsed, supported and enabled it all along.

You can run but you cannot hide, Senator. LS


Below is the link to the Zogby poll data:

INSIDE THE BELTWAY BLOG

GREAT COMMENTARY ON 9/11

Notice that I am not viewing ABC's 9/11 crock-a-drama this evening, nor did I view the President's address. It's all attempt, in my book, for the Bush Administration and Republican Party to use the worse and most tragic event in our history for its own contemptuous and despicable political purposes. Speaking of the crock-a-drama, the liberal bloggers and talk show hosts are hunting down the financiers behind it. LS

My friend Ken sent this awesome piece tonight.

"THE SIXTEEN ACRE DITCH"

Excerpts:

If you had told me, five years ago, that on the fifth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in history Ground Zero would still be nothing but an enormous hole in the ground, I wouldn't have believed you -- just as I wouldn't have believed that a major American city could be thoroughly trashed by a Category 4 hurricane and then left to moulder in the mud for a year while various federal, state and local bureaucrats and hack politicians tried to make up their minds what to do.

What I've learned (from 9/11, the corporate scandals, the fiasco in Iraq, Katrina, the Cheney Administration's insane economic and environmental policies and the relentless dumbing down of the corporate media -- plus the repeated electoral triumphs of the Rovian brand of "reality management") is that the United States is moving down the curve of imperial decay at a amazingly rapid clip. If anything, the speed of our descent appears to be accelerating.

The physical symptoms -- a lost war, a derelict city, a Potemkin memorial hastily erected in an vacant lot -- aren't nearly as alarming as the moral and intellectual paralysis that seems to have taken hold of the system. The old feedback mechanisms are broken or in deep disrepair, leaving America with an opposition party that doesn't know how (or what) to oppose, a military run by uniformed yes men, intelligence czars who couldn't find their way through a garden gate with a GPS locator, TV networks that don't even pretend to cover the news unless there's a missing white woman or a suspected child rapist involved, and talk radio hosts who think nuking Mecca is the solution to all our problems in the Middle East. We've got think tanks that can't think, security agencies that can't secure and accounting firms that can't count (except when their clients ask them to make 2+2=5). Our churches are either annexes to shopping malls, halfway homes for pederasts, or GOP precinct headquarters in disguise. Our economy is based on asset bubbles, defense contracts and an open-ended line of credit from the People's Bank of China, and we still can't push the poverty rate down or the median wage up.

When the public discourse on network news consists of Katie Couric introducting Rush Limbaugh's commentaries, you know the intellectual and ideological rot is well advanced -- maybe not quite as far as the Soviet Union in the '80s, but getting there. One of my favorite books about the Soviet collapse was titled "The Age of Delirium" which I think perfectly captured the progressive insanity of a system that could no longer even understand, much less believe, its own lies. I think of that book practically every time George W. Bush or Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld open their mouths in public.

FROM BILLMON.ORG

KEITH OLBERMANN LETS BUSH HAVE IT AGAIN. THIS TIME IT IS ABOUT 9/11.

A huge thanks to Mr. Olbermann, the only mainstream media anchor so far, who has the courage and integrity to not only tell the truth, but to actually criticize Bush himself. LS

Excerpts:

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation's wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor did the media. Nor did the people.

The President -- and those around him -- did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them, "bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria, as morally or intellectually confused, as appeasers, as those who, in the Vice President's words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken, a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee, hated al-Qaida as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had 'something to do' with 9/11 is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space, and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

OLBERMANN LETS BUSH HAVE IT AGAIN