Texas Vietnam War Dodger Cornyn Demands Decorated Veteran Noriega’s Military Records.

Now why would our distinguished junior Senator from the great state of Texas want to examine the military records of the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Lt. Col. Rick Noriega?

For what purpose?

I think we all can guess at the reason. Let’s put it this way. Cornyn dodged the Vietnam War when he could have served in the military, but he instead actively sought a way out. Lt. Col. Noriega, on the other hand, enlisted in the National Guard in the 1980’s in response to the Iranian hostage crisis. He later served in Afghanistan as a result of 9/11 and the subsequent war on terror.

But this is an election year and it obviously has dawned on Cornyn that he had chosen to shirk his walk while Lt. Col. Noriega has walked his. And so now we have a threatened and scared Republican Senator who will fabricate smear for the sole purpose of saving his own scared and sorry derriere.

I don’t think any of us will ever forget the relentless and unconscionable swift boating of John Kerry in 2004, who unlike Bush, did serve in Vietnam. And Bush supporters smeared Kerry mercilessly for it. Yes, folks, this is the sick, twisted and toxic manner in which Republicans and their supporters thrive. The pathetic cowards will smear and demonize decorated war heroes. GOP smear mongers have no honor. They don’t even know its meaning.

Like W., Texas U.S. Senator Cornyn did not serve in the Vietnam War. Both men were of military age at the time and as we know, both are right wing war hawks today. And yet neither was willing to fight in a war themselves when they had every opportunity to do so. While W. his behind his Daddy’s clout and buddies to dodge Vietnam, Cornyn bailed out by using a loophole in the law.

Clueless about the hard and real consequences of warfare, an inept Mr. Bush distracted us from the real war on terror by fabricating an unnecessary debacle called Iraq. His equally oblivious and war dodging soul mate, Mr. Cornyn has blindly and routinely supported W. in his irresponsible quest that has undermined our military as well as our national security. 70% of Americans believe Iraq is a mistake and not worth the price. So much for putting chicken hawks in high positions of power that involve decision making about warfare, our military or our national security. Not to mention the inconvenient truth about our now busted and seriously overdrawn national piggy bank.

It is apparently so easy for swaggering war dodging chickens to send others off into the killing and maiming fields and squander our national treasure while the chickens roost safely at home completely insulated by bastions of personal financial protection and fortresses of political power.

A couple of months ago progressive bloggers, Vince Leibowitz, Hal Heitman, and I put our keyboards together to do a little research on Cornyn’s military history, or rather, the lack thereof. We knew given Cornyn’s age that it is likely he had to have participated in the mandatory Vietnam War draft lotteries of the 1970’s During the time in which so many men Cornyn’s age were drafted into military service we wanted to know why the Senator was neither drafted nor did he enlist.

Vince had discovered an article written in the San Antonio Express News on October 20, 2002 (Section A, page 12) that revealed Cornyn avoided the Vietnam War draft by obtaining a student deferment in 1970.

In 1970, Cornyn requested and received a student deferment from the draft, which was abolished shortly before he graduated in 1973.

"There was a lot of soul-searching going on and a lot of questions about our nation's role in the world," he said. "Ultimately, I turned out to be pretty much a chip off the old block."

I’d say there was a lot of soul searching all right. Cornyn chose to shirk the walk. Chip off the old block? How so? According to Senator Cornyn’s web site his father is a former B17 pilot in WWII and he served in the Air Force for 31 years.

Actually, the fact that Cornyn received a deferment in 1970 is kind of odd given that student deferments were supposed to have come to a screeching halt in 1970. The entire rationale for the draft lottery was to even the playing field for those being called into service. Prior to the lottery student deferments were possible for those enrolled full-time in four year colleges/universities who maintained average/passing GPAs.

Our interest in this issue peaked when strangely, as Vince had discovered, the statement in the San Antonio Express conflicted with one written in the December 14, 2007 issue of the Texas Observer by Jan Reid. In the article about Mr. Noriega’s military service (“Boots on the Ground”) the author had stated Mr. Cornyn was too young to have served during the Vietnam War.

Too young? Vince, Hal and I knew better. Hal, like Cornyn, was of military age at the time and he had to participate in the Vietnam War draft lottery himself.

I am also a baby boomer whose own brother, born the year before Cornyn and one of my brothers-in-law, born a year after Cornyn, also had to go through the draft lotteries.

So, what is Cornyn’s story?

Hal dug through the Selective Service archives and learned that Cornyn did indeed go through the draft lottery system in 1971 and he drew number 28, which is a very low one. You see, those with numbers 0-95 were to have been called into service.

Why did Cornyn go through the draft lottery in 1971 if he received a supposed deferment in 1970?

The fact of the matter is, back in the Vietnam War days deferments were next to impossible to obtain for the young men who followed their fathers into the trades, or for those who did not have the financial resources at the time to attend school. These are the groups that bore the brunt of the draft and most were shipped to Vietnam immediately after basic training. Far too many returned home in body bags.

Fortunately there are times in America when people cry out for justice and fairness for all. During those turbulent Vietnam War times the public grew outraged because so many of the working class and poor citizens were shipped off to the killing fields while the wealthier young men could escape that fate by enrolling and remaining in a university or college. Many of our lawmakers at the time had served in the military themselves and they understood the public’s rage and frustration. And so after enormous public pressure, the draft lottery evolved in an effort to add a degree of fairness to the draft. Here is a snippet on its mission and how the lottery was supposed to have worked.

To make the lottery as fair as possible, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a unique random calendar and number selection program for Selective Service. Using this random selection method for birthdays, each day of the year is selected by computer in a random manner, and that date is placed in a capsule. The capsules are then loaded in a large drum on a random basis. By the same method, numbers from 1 to 365 (366 for men born in a leap year) are also selected in a random fashion, placed in capsules, and the capsules are placed into a second drum. The process, repeated a second time, results in two sets of drums. Official observers certify that the capsule-filling and drum-loading were conducted according to established procedures. This certification is secured to each drum; they are sealed and placed in secure storage. Should a lottery be conducted, one of the first actions would be an inspection of these stored drums and the selection of a set to be used in the lottery.

So much for the NIST’s mission of fairness where Cornyn is concerned.

Because Mr. Number 28 Cornyn avoided the draft.

Last night while writing this diary, I received an email from Hal. As a result of his persistent research efforts he finally discovered how Senator Cornyn had ducked the draft.

According to Hal:

Even though the lottery was instituted in 1969, and meant to level the playing field and deny young men the opportunity to avoid military service by going to college, people were still allowed to apply for and were granted education deferments, aka 2-S deferments, up until September 1971. These deferments did not vaporize, they were held in force after 1971. This is how Cornyn was able to maintain his student deferment while others in his age group went to Vietnam.

So, a man who cowered behind a 2-S deferment has the arrogance to demand the military records of decorated veteran Rick Noriega?

I am convinced that Vietnam War dodging Senator John Cornyn fully intends to swift boat Lt. Col. Noriega and his service in Afghanistan.

If the junior Senator from the great state of Texas thinks that we Texas Democrats are going to let him, Rove and members of the GOP smear a Texas war veteran and demean his military service, these boys and girls have another thing coming.

Texas Democrats don’t let Texas Republican Chicken Hawks smear Texas war heroes.

Texas Democrats, and any revolted and sickened Republican who may be reading this blog, I urge you to go to Lt. Col. Noriega’s website to sign the petition against Senator Cornyn’s swift boat attacks. Let us put a final end to the Republican hate machine that is fueled by personal smear, sleaze and slime. This machine is hostile to us as a people and only serves to hurt. Hate cannot engender anything good, positive, uplifting or worthwhile.

A special note of thanks to Vince Leibowitz and Hal Heitman who contributed research materials for this diary, and to Randy Erb, for his input and for his service and contributions as a Vietnam War Veteran and former draft counselor. And a big thank you and hugs to my brother and one of my brothers-in-law who went through the draft lotteries as full-time college students in excellent academic standing, with no deferments available to them at the time.

Another person whom I don’t even know also inspired me to write this piece. He or she deserves a rather extraordinary applause for his or her heroism, integrity and bravery. Let all of us in the Democratic Party give our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to real hero who donated a portion of his or her re-enlistment bonus to support Rick Noriega.

From a comment posted by a real American hero Daily Kos on February 15, 2008.

just made it a nice round $28,100.

People who never served don't get to swiftboat my brothers and sisters.

I've got about $500 left from my re-enlistment bonus. I was going to save up to build a new PC, but getting Democratic Veterans into office is more important right now. by soonergrunt on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 04:58:35 PM PST

There was a time, not so very long ago, when Americans used to be more like “Soonergrunt” and less like Cornyn, Bush, Rove and Co.

Senator Cornyn Stands by His Man on FISA Bill

G.W. Bush may be at a 34% or lower approval rating and yet our U.S. Senator John Cornyn continues to stand by the loser man time after time. W. has been under a 50% rating now for longer than any U.S. President including Richard Nixon, but oh well, why would clueless Cornyn care? And now our Senator is serving once again as a rubber stamp for W. in supporting the illegal warrantless wiretapping bill.

As is typical with the Republican Party, Cornyn plays the fear card on Islamic terrorists in order to justify his fascistic stand on FISA. You know, Senator, Rudy Boy spent millions of dollars and a boatload of weeks in Florida trying to scare the devil out of retired voters there about Islamic terrorism.

The Senator may be unaware of the fact that Rudy Boy was run out of Florida on a rail with his tail tucked tightly between his legs. Now the cowardly fool is clinging like a leach to McCain’s coattails. I guess he scared himself. No one is buying the fear mongering anymore, dudes. Not even those you think you can scare the most. It would be far more compassionate and productive for you bullies to use your millions to support the healthcare benefits for poor children rather than terrify the elderly and retirees.

Earlier this week,Vince Leibowitz of Capitol Annex
mentioned an article written on Texas Insider in which Senator Cornyn made clear his stand on FISA.

America’s elected leaders have a duty to keep the American people safe. We know that the ability to obtain the right information at the right time is critically important in our struggle against radical Islamic terrorists...."

Yeah right.

With all due respect, Mr. Cornyn, it is also the duty of our elected leaders to serve the people whom they represent and to protect our Constitutional rights. The warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is not only unconstitutional, it is also a mechanism only a police state would use. We elect Presidents in this great nation thank you. We do not install dictators or crown kings.

Mr. Cornyn, as our elected U.S. Senator, is obligated to serve his constituents, not to serve as the rubber stamp for one of the worst Presidents elected in recent history. While 77% of Americans believe that this country is headed in the wrong direction, Mr. Cornyn continues to serve Mr. Bush and his policies. Wake up Texans. Our Senator is not and will not serve us. If re-elected he’ll block all legislation that is not supportive of special interest groups, lobbyists and big oil, insurance and his donors. He does not care about us. He will erect a wall against universal health care just like he voted against the SCHIP program. He will fight increased taxes for the upper 1% with every fiber of his being. Cornyn will do his best to undermine any legislation that attempts to regulate our irresponsible banking and financial institutions. Nor will he lift a finger to put the brakes on the shocking rates of home foreclosures. Cornyn will say global warming does not exist. Worse, we can look forward to wars for the next 100 years merely to keep the Republican’s industrial/military complex humming along.

I've quite frankly had enough with the Republican Party’s war hawk fear spinning 24/7, thank you. Look where these war hawks and their fear spewing machinery got us in Iraq. Talk about one hell of a mess. I won’t even mention our crippling federal deficit. Speaking of which, does China own us yet?

Senator, we are tough and we are brave and we will not be terrified by our leaders who rarely tell us the truth and who obviously refuse to serve us. We are also not as stupid as you would like to believe, Sir. Your party has called those of us who dared to disagree with the President’s hair brained scheme in Iraq traitors. And now, Sir, I am telling you and your Republican Party of Rubber Stamps that you have unconscionably and unforgivably betrayed the American people. It is you who are the Republican Party of Traitors.

Yes, it is a very sad time in America, thanks to the Bush Administration.

But we should not despair despite the likes of our traitors in power.

We do have choices thanks to a process called an election.

This year brings Texans, especially, significant hope and an escape route out of our hole in Republican hell because Democrats have a jewel of a candidate to offer who will represent all of the people of Texas. We should thank our lucky stars that Mr. (and Lt. Col.) Rick Noriega is willing to step up. Let all of us pull together to put an end to the lies, the fear, the smear mongering. Let us unite as ordinary and everyday people to get our state and country back where it should be. Let us also not allow ourselves be manipulated by the GOP vicious attacks and smear campaigns against our candidates. The only way to fight bullies is to beat them back, for bullies are cowards at heart. I don’t know about you, but it sure is easy for me to beat up on traitors and cowards. It can also be a boatload of fun.

Republicans to Pump $250 Million into Smear Assault Machine to Attack Democratic Candidates

(This is a synthesis of comments I posted previously on the Burnt Orange Report. The piece is also cross posted on Texas Kaos)

We Democrats are going to have to work very hard to win in 2008, despite the promising opinion poll results for our party and the Republican's abysmal record of failure on each and every level the party has touched. Remember how W. has turned to shit everything he touched when he was in the private sector? Well, now W. and his did the same thing to our very way of life.

To briefly summarize, for those who may have forgotten a fact or two about W.'s terrible legacy, let me provide a crash refresher.

Everyone on the planet on knows that W., enabled by rubber stamps such as our Texas Republicans John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, managed to get us into the worst foreign policy debacle, (Iraq, of course), in recent history. We recently learned that it is Pakistan, not Iraq or Iran, that is the most dangerous place in the world and yet we remain mired down in a war that didn't have to be fought in the first place.

77% of Americans believe our country is headed in the wrong direction now and 64% of us believe we should not have gone to war with Iraq. W. Is at 34% approval - worse than Tricky Dick Nixon.

The economy is a train wreck lurching at rocket speed into a recession, and, thanks to no grown up supervision on the part of our nation's leaders, the banking industry is crashing. Our able leaders did not take notice until their good buddies in the financial markets started hemorrhaging cash; some of it likely belonging to our leaders. Tragically, Americans continue to lose their homes due to the sub-prime fiasco, another result of the appalling absence of government oversight. W.'s global and national credibility is non-existent and so his "stimulus package" failed to convince investors that it would do the trick. The global stock markets continued is downward dive bomb today. We'll see about the U.S. ones tomorrow morning.

We are losing in Afghanistan, thanks to the incompetence of the Bush White House and more of our nation's jobs have been outsourced than ever before. We have no viable immigration policy, no border or national security, either, for that matter thanks to a do-nothing money grubbing Congress 2000-2006. Our nation's infrastructure is falling apart at the seams. Remember New Orleans? It still looks like a war zone thanks to a Bush Administration that obviously despises poor people.

Because of its abysmal failures, the Republicans do not want to loosen their grip on power. This is due to a number of factors, financial outcomes likely loom large, but I suspect the GOP's worst fear is transparency. You see, when the Democratic Party wins a solid majority, the American people will learn the truth about and the far-reaching consequences of the GOP's dirty, sneaky crimes and lies. I'd venture to guess a large number of upstanding Republicans could end up in federal criminal courts. Some may even be tried for war crimes against humanity. Some may get busted for treason. Yes, indeed, the stakes are really high for the crooks in power.

The stakes are so very high that fear must be driving the Republicans to the brink of collective hysteria if not insanity.

What do Republicans do when they are afraid? We know well what they do. The GOP bullies will launch vicious personal attacks based on lies, smear and fear against all who threaten them, namely Democrats.

And so, true to form, some high rollin' Republicans will pump $250. million into their smear attack machine to take down Democratic candidates in state and local elections.

Here is a snippet about the assault machine's players: (The link to the source is below.)

To review the White House connections: the group is headed by Bradley Blakeman, a former Bush White House official, Mel Sembler, a millionaire former Bush admbassador to Italy, and Ari Fleischer, who serves as the group's spokesman. Much of its support so far has come from Sembler and casino magnate and billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the sixth richest person in the world. (The group intends to "broaden its base" as time goes on, Fleischer says.) The group got off the ground with a $15 million effort to support the president's surge strategy in August, but it's sticking around for the long haul.

You see, the GOP is trying to build a protective wall of gridlock within our federal government. With gridlock, it will be tougher to bust the criminals. It will be a fight to roll back the tax cuts to the richest of the rich; end the fraudulent war in Iraq (Halliburton has too much to lose); and implement national health care for all Americans.

This group of high rolling rich and powerful Republicans make the Swift Boaters look like pre-school boys throwing sand in the schoolyard sandbox.

Folks, if you are not involved with the Democratic Party on any level, now is the time to do something. Not tomorrow, not in an hour. NOW. Our local and state elections are going to be crucial this year.

If we do not stand up and fight the thugs in power with all we have, we will deserve whatever the future brings our way. We may not have millions or even hundreds of dollars to donate like high rolling Republicans do. But we do have principles and core values that are far superior to those of the Party of Lying Crooks. More people identify with our values than Republican ones. We are the party with the big tent that truly embraces diversity and altruism.

Our democratic principles are certainly worth the fight, aren't they?

Please help us extinguish the power of the crooks. Let's toss the lot of them out of our districts, our cities, states and nation's Capitol. They don't like us, they don't represent us and they despise the American way of life as we know it. Roll up your sleeves and do whatever it takes to win.

GOP to Pump $250. into Assault Machine to Attack Democrats

Why Texans Should Fire U.S. Senator Cornyn

As I mentioned in my diaries Texas War Hawk Senator Cornyn a Draft Dodger? and Why Texans Deserve Far Better than John Cornyn, Part I, I asserted that rubber stamp for W. and war hawk Cornyn shirked military service during the Vietnam War when he had every opportunity to serve. While a college student, he had drawn a very low draft lottery number and yet he somehow managed to hide behind a student deferment when such were not supposed to be available at the time. Senator Cornyn likes to talk big and tall about a global war on terror as long as he and his don’t do the fighting.

Part II discloses information on draft dodging Cornyn’s rather interesting rise to political power in Texas. The way I see it, Cornyn’s candidacies were essentially both enabled and purchased by a group of the Texas GOP rich, politically connected and very powerful people.


I am presently reading a book written by Mr. Jack Huberman about the GOP that has reawakened my understanding of Cornyn’s rise to power here. I am glad I discovered this book because I frequently find myself wondering how on earth did we get stuck with such a poor excuse for a U.S. Senator? The guy does not care to represent us nor does he make any attempt to even hide the fact that he is obviously the go-to guy for his corporate buddies, donors and special interest supporters. He talks out of both sides of his mouth on just about every issue ranging from benefits for our military (Cornyn says he supports our military but he votes to slash funding for benefits), to the border wall (no border wall in south Texas, he declared, and yet Cornyn turned around and voted for a border wall). I guess the Senator’s arrogance and contempt for most of his constituents leads him to believe the majority of us are as dumb as doornails that are too powerless and too poor to challenge him.

I suggest Mr. Cornyn may wish to revisit his view of his poor and powerless ‘constituents.”

Yes, folks, Mr. Huberman’s book chapter on John Cornyn is a very interesting one indeed.

(The GOP Haters Handbook: 378 Reasons Never to Vote for the Party of Reagan, Nixon and Bush Again)

Though the title of the book is rather provocative and blatantly forthcoming in its political leaning, the author’s research is solid, certainly as much or more so than a conservative author. I also believe Huberman’s research is more factually revealing than that done by many of our GOP loving and suck up journalists and political writer hacks in Texas.

Huberman’s book chapter on Cornyn reminded me that it was Rove who actually made Cornyn. Rove ran Cornyn’s campaign for Texas Supreme Court in 1996. Later, Rove also convinced Cornyn to run for Texas Attorney General. Cornyn acquiesced and found himself elected, in both cases, thanks to Rove’s campaign tactics and “abilities.” After two successful wins, Rove decided to install Cornyn as the junior Senator from Texas in the U.S. Senate. Cornyn won again. According to Mr. Huberman, Rove did what Rove does to clear the GOP path to run Cornyn for the U.S. Senate. I think we all appreciate what this means in Texas. The Bush family, including George H.W., Barbara, W. and Laura stepped up and raised millions for Cornyn’s campaign for U.S. Senate. So did Karen Hughes, another member of the Texas GOP of rich, powerful and politically joined at the hip with W. folks.

I strongly believe that were it not for the criminal incompetence of the Bush Administration, completely enabled by Alberto Gonzales’ blind support and loyalty to Bush that drove his role as the U.S. Attorney General, and had not Rove purged millions of official emails, the Turd Blossom would most assuredly and deservedly be occupying a cell in a federal prison right now. Under a lawful Administration, Rove would, at the very least, be very tied up in criminal court and not off peddling his book extolling the “virtues” of language distortion and alternative realities in an effort to bamboozle and mislead the American people.

I don’t know about you, folks, but I think we deserve far, far better than a Senator who is the minion and fabrication of a treasonous liar who has demonstrated a ruthless contempt for democratic principles.

Cornyn has a demonstrated problem with democracy, too. This will not surprise anyone who has received one of his insulting and arrogant letters-of-lecture, should a constituent dare to question the Senator about anything. I myself have more than just a few of Cornyn’s dictatorial responses to my questions about issues ranging from the rationale for going to war with Iraq, hideous TORTURE, the Abramoff corruption scandal, the U.S. Attorney firings to the firing of a Texas teacher for merely having sent an email that mentioned evolution. Cornyn’s responses are always the same memorized GOP talking point kool-aid laced poison. I may as well be writing to a pre-programmed robot that essentially spews” I don’t care what you think about anything. You do not matter.”

Who needs this kind of non-existent “representation” in a so called democratic republic?

My suspicions about Cornyn’s thinly veiled fascistic and dictatorial tendencies is confirmed by Huberman who wrote that the junior Senator from Texas, when asked in 2006 about GOP disunity on immigration in the middle of an election year, Cornyn replied

“Well, you know, that’s the problem in America, We are always having elections.” (Page 98 under “Democracy.”)

There you have it, folks, Cornyn stands on record as being as anti-democratic as a politician can get. He doesn’t like elections in a democratic republic. The Texas GOP caging machinery is probably working 24/7 in order to suppress as many legitimate voters as it can in a desperate attempt to cling to power in 2008. The GOP did it in Florida in 2000, which is well known and documented, and it is openly engaged in caging right now in Kansas. The GOP chairman there boasted about the illegal caging of voters in an email that he, uh oh, forgot to purge.

DUH. If the GOP did it in Florida and is openly caging voters in Kansas, it is a no brainer that it is happening in Texas, too.

But this is only part of an overwhelming and predictable pattern of GOP corruption that is fueled by its collective and relentless insatiable will to power, as far as we in Texas are concerned.

Cornyn’s rather unsavory past dealings and cozy relationships with lobbyists, some of whom are now convicted felons, make the Senator appear more like a Mafioso go-to-guy-to-pull-off-a-job than one deserving of a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Huberman’s work reminded me of the time when Cornyn, while serving as the Texas Attorney General, led a successful effort to shut down the Texas Tigua Indian tribe’s casino. Cornyn did this in close cooperation with crooks Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon (scumbag Delay’s former spewer of lies), and another sanctimonious, self-serving GOP hypocrite, Ralph Reed.

After Cornyn shut down the Tigua’s casino efforts, Abramoff and Reed turned around and charged the tribe $4.2 million to lobby lawmakers to reopen their casino.

Cornyn denied any contact with the crooks on the issue, and yet emails from Reed to Abramoff, according to Huberman, indicate Cornyn was not a clueless or innocent bystander when this shenanigan took place.

In an email from Reed to Abramoff (Page 98 “The Abramoff-GOP Corruption Cesspool.”) ‘I’m scheduled to talk to Cornyn today’ “and” ‘I think we should budget for an ataboy for cornyn’.”

True to a right wing conservative’s intrinsic hypocritical nature, our Texas Republican, so-called God fearing and anti-gambling U.S. Senator Cornyn received campaign contributions from the now convicted felon Abramoff and Las Vegas casino interests.

Do I need to provide links to printer friendly barf bags at this point?

Since we are not as dumb and stupid as the Texas GOP would like to think, I personally believe no informed person in Texas is in the least bit surprised by these gentle little reminders of the historical and political facts surrounding the junior Senator’s rise to power in Texas.

Some of you may also recall that our junior Senator, while serving as Attorney General here, acted as a tacit yet complicit supporter of Halliburton’s successful attempts to disenfranchise its employees of their legal rights to due process. Sound painfully familiar? Check out the article written by Stephanie Mencimer for Mother Jones.com entitled ”Cheney Justice?”

Excerpts:

So the commission contacted the sheriff and had him serve Cheney with a subpoena for the documents. Rather than turn over the documents, however, Halliburton shredded them. (Wall eventually deposed the woman who did the shredding,.) In a traditional civil lawsuit, judges have wide latitude to impose sanctions against a defendant for destroying evidence. They can tell a jury to assume that the information was extremely damaging to the defense. They can impose fines. They can find for the plaintiff and toss out the rest of the case to punish the other side, regardless of how strong the case was.

But when Pennington later went before the Halliburton arbitrator, the arbitrator dismissed his case, saying he had failed to produce sufficient evidence to support his claims, which, of course, was difficult to do after Halliburton had shredded part of his personnel file. The arbitrator made no mention of the evidence destruction. Wall protested the evidence destruction to the Texas Attorney General, Republican John Cornyn, who is now a U.S. senator, but Wall says Cornyn's office never investigated and no one was ever held accountable for it.

According to this article, it seems that the legal outcome for the multiple rape victim, Ms. Jamie Leigh Jones, is not a very promising one for this criminally and heinously abused young woman.

The GOP obviously knows no shame. It has no moral compass whatsoever, though most of its members, especially in Texas, will proclaim that they are “Christian” who embrace “Christian” and ‘family” values.

Tell that to the constituents of certain GOP leaders who hang out in men’s public restrooms. These are the goons who demonize gay people while indulging in gay sex themselves, thank you. The pattern of behavior here is very typical and can be applied to just about any political stand upheld by the GOP, like draft dodging hawks will worship hot and bloody wars, as long as they don’t have to fight in them. They embrace torture but would not subject themselves to even a harmless experiment where the teeniest tad of a jolt of anything is employed. No, folks, these people are heartless and yellow livered cowards.

Most GOP members are also blatant and unabashed racists, apparently, as we witnessed during the TV news clips of real time events that occurred during and in the aftermath of Katrina. The GOP was caught with its proverbial pants down here and the American people learned the truth about the party’s love for our poor and disadvantaged.

And the so called law abiding and enforcement loving GOP, including those in Texas who lovingly embrace the ultimate punishment – the death penalty - another form of torture - will be caught with its collective pants down, once again, with its criminal voter caging efforts.

This un-American and morally bankrupted party has visited upon our nation an image and collective psyche that is completely devoid of even an iota of a value or principle remotely envisioned by our forefathers.

The people will speak in 2008.

Note: George B. Chamberlain contributed research materials for this diary.

The Texas Taliban Party, a.k.a. The Texas GOP

Now that some of the Texas Taliban in DC, specifically Rove and Delay, got their slimy butts kicked out of DC, consequently and most unfortunately for Texans, the GOP Taliban are back at home in Texas to raid our Constitutional rights, freedoms and resources. I am telling you folks, these people are a national disease. They are desperados who realize their national gravy train has gone over the cliff and now they are fleeing back to their nesting place in order to find new venues to satisfy their addiction to money, power and greed. There is never enough money to satisfy these vultures’ lust for cash, power and control.

The American voters got it and tossed the GOP majority out of our Congress in 2006. The corrupted and incompetent GOP have racked up close to a trillion bucks in the unnecessary and immoral human calamity called Iraq. Yesterday we learned that W. and Cheney have been lying about and misleading us on Iran’s nuclear weapon program, knowing all along that Iran scrapped its weapons program years ago. And under the Bush Administration’s brilliant leadership our national debt now grows at $1 million per minute. As Dennis Kucinich has recently observed "We're borrowing money from China to finance the war in Iraq."

So much for W.’s Harvard MBA and Wolfie’s Yale Ph.D. I suppose that the best graduate education money can buy doesn’t make a lick of difference when we have greed mongering ideologues running the country who love to fight wars as long as they don’t have to do the fighting themselves.

Fortunately, the American voters got it and threw the bums out. But there are still far too many left in our Congress, including our own Texas lawmakers who have been sucking up to and enabling the worst President in recent U.S. history who is a pathological liar to boot.

We need to purge the Republican Party of Evil Crooks from our states’ offices in 2008. Of course, this will be a real challenge here b/c our state has been gerrymandered to smithereens and the GOP assumes that it owns Texas and can do whatever/whenever it wants anytime. There is little oversight and few questions are ever publicly posed about accountability. And when they are, the party bosses will bully and squelch all who dare to question anything remotely critical of the ruling party of thugs and thieves.

It is time to stand up to the bullies, folks. We know for certain that most of them are corrupt, inept and they have been lying and misleading us for years.

We deserve far, far better than this.

Our state’s newspapers, in many cases, are tacitly complicit and complacent enablers of the Texas GOP Taliban Party. How many letters will our state’s newspapers’ opinion editors publish that are written by readers who are critical of any GOP in office? I myself have written at least a hundred to my local paper, and only one has been published. But the paragraph critical of her royal majesty Senator Kay Rubber Stamping Bailey Hutchison was NOT included in the letter published, supposedly by me. I therefore don’t even bother to take the time to read the paper any more. Why would I waste my time if the paper is merely serving as a propaganda arm for the Texas GOP Taliban? Nope, I’ve fled to the Internet where one can read news from a vast number of resources and can state one’s opinion freely and openly, like I am doing right now.

It is simply amazing what one can learn on the Internet. And what I read each day just reinforces my suspicion that our local papers and media are joined at the hip with the Texas GOP Taliban Party.

If we do not stand up, folks, we will become another little Mexico or other form of banana republic where the wealth is concentrated among very few while the rest of the population has to scratch and claw to earn a living. Part-time jobs at the local Wal-Mart will become the high end and envied positions du jour if we are not careful.

Will Texans become the next generation of despised illegal migrants who must sneak el norte to Canada or back to the countries from which our ancestors immigrated? We won’t be eligible for jobs in all of the other states except for Mississippi because our schools are ranked 2nd to last in the U.S., thanks to the Texas Taliban who care so deeply about our children’s futures.

Think about it before you let yourselves be duped by anything coming from the mouth of a member of the Texas GOP Taliban.

Here are a couple of small snippets of what the Texas GOP Taliban does here and they get away with it thanks to no oversight whatsoever.

A science teacher was canned by a bushie for even mentioning “evolution.”

Teacher in Texas Canned for Mentioning Evolution

This little tidbit about our Dark Ages practices made it to the editorial section of the New York Times yesterday, too. Texans should be so proud.

The New York Times on Fired Texas Teacher

And uh oh, get ready for some real down and dirty criminal activity because the Texas GOP Taliban are apparently scared to the point of needing freighter sized loads of Depends over the prospect of losing elections, even here in the Banana GOP Republic of Texas.

I learned on the Internet (for such would never get published in Texas) that there is a scheme underway by the Texas GOP Taliban to disenfranchise thousands upon thousands of legitimate voters here. Yep, that’s right, folks. They are going to purge and scrub American citizens who are alive and not DEAD from the rolls and guess who these folks might be?

Texas GOP Will Deny Texans the Right to Vote

Do we need Jimmy Carter and the UN to oversee our elections here?

Enough is enough folks. It is time to take a stand and fight back. I wrote letters of outrage to our elected officials yesterday about both of the issues above. We need to hammer them with inconvenient truths and realities until they 1. Either have to act upon our demands or 2. Resign from office. After all, these elected officials supposedly work for us. Perhaps they need a brutal reminder of this little fact.

Finally, when you go to the voting poll, if your name has not been scrubbed, don’t for crying out loud vote for a Texas Taliban. To do so is voting against your own self-interest and preservation. If your name has been scrubbed, contact Voters Rights advocacy groups immediately. Write to our elected officials in Texas and D.C. and scream bloody murder. Call the media and demand an interview. File a lawsuit against the Texas GOP Taliban Party and sue the crap out of them. They hate parting from their loot more than anything else.

Finally, to reinforce the notion that the bushies have been willfully lying to and misleading us for years, below is Seymour Hersch's revelation on how W. and Cheney have known about the NIE findings on Iran's nuclear weapons program for a very long time.

I would say all rubber stamps for W. and Cheney on Iran, no matter their party affiliation, should be fired in 2008. It’s time for a sweeping and deep removal followed by an army of buckets, mops and vats of bacteria killing detergent to purge all of the filth from the halls of law, justice and honor where legislation should be written and passed for the people by the people.

Hersch Reveals Truth about W. and Cheney on Iran

The GOP Vote For Dictatorship, Against Democracy

The entire lot of the Republican Party voted for an American styled dictatorship this week, in complete and total lock step, in our very own U.S. House of Representatives. I saw the episode unfold in real time before my very eyes on CSPAN. The voting tallies that appeared on the TV screen informed me of the ideology that relentlessly drives the neo-conservative movement in the U.S. today. Fact of the matter is the neo-conservative and present day Republican belief system has little in common with
the bare bones of democratic principles.

This week, our esteemed Republican lawmakers voted for principles that are typically intrinsic to a fascist styled dictatorship in which accountability and oversight are conveniently non-existent.

Republican lawmakers who view the world through precisely the same lens as W. and Cheney will fight to the death (ours, not theirs, thank you) to keep the American people terrified, uninformed and stupid through under funded schools. The Republicans, who both voted with W. and against SCHIP, and who also failed to join Democrats in overriding W’s unconscionable and contemptuous veto of the SCHIP bill has revealed its party’s true colors.

The GOP has failed to take the necessary steps in demanding accountability from its party’s propped up Iraqi government in which we have invested far, far too much American blood and treasure.

During the House debates on H. Res 734 this week that raised objections to the Administration’s withholding of information on corruption in Iraq, not one Republican voted for five of the bill’s resolutions.

Below are 4 of the 5 resolutions that every single Republican voted against:

Excerpts from H.Res 734 from The Gavel.com (see link below).

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that–
(1) as Congress considers the President’s request for over $150,000,000,000 more for the war in Iraq, it is essential that Congress and the people of the United States know the extent of corruption in the Iraqi government and whether corruption is fueling the insurgency and endangering members of the United States Armed Forces;
(2) it was wrong to retroactively classify portions of the report titled `Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Ministry Capacity Development Efforts Need an Overall Integrated Strategy to Guide Efforts and Manage Risk’, which was released by the Comptroller General of the United States at the hearing of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 4, 2007, and other statements that are embarrassing but do not meet the criteria for classification;
(3) it is an abuse of the classification process to withhold from Congress and the people of the United States broad assessments of the extent of corruption in the Iraqi Government; and
(4) the directive that prohibits Federal Government officials from providing Congress and the people of the United States with `broad statements/assessments which judge or characterize the quality of Iraqi governance or the ability/determination of the Iraqi government to deal with corruption, including allegations that investigations were thwarted/stifled for political reasons’ should be rescinded.

According to CSPAN the 5th resolution was proposed to shield journalists from prosecution for failing to reveal their sources, except in rare and extreme cases regarding National Security. Every Republican voted against the shield law too.

Every Democrat voted Yes for all of the above with the exception of one Democrat who voted with Republicans on one resolution and two Democrats who voted with Republicans on another.

The appalling fraud in Iraq in terms of the criminal misuse of our hard earned U.S. taxpayer’s (i.e. you and me) dollars matters not one nano bit to the GOP. Tragically for we-the-suckers-who-foot-the-bill for the losing debacle in Iraq, our GOP lawmakers demonstrated, in no uncertain terms, how they are far more concerned about safeguarding the White House’s dictatorial and protective cover-up for Republican enabled corruption in Iraq.

This week I learned, thanks to CSPAN’s airing of our U.S. House of Representatives in action, how the State Department will retroactively classify information revealing the depths of the scandalous dissipation of our U.S. tax dollars and other heinous crimes committed by those whom the W. party of enablers have propped up in Iraq. As soon as our various Congressional Committees ask for pertinent documents relevant to Iraqi corruption issues, the documents are immediately sealed and classified.

What do the White House and the State Department have to hide from us?

Apparently a hell of a lot.

I suppose the real threat that faces the lovers of a Stalinesque style authoritarian rule in the GOP is the chilling realization that the party itself is as compromised, mired in corruption and as deadly incompetent as their criminal counterparts in Iraq. Are our fearless GOP leaders also willing accomplices in the theft of our dollars? Or are they simply clueless morons who have been fooled by power crazed bullies, murderers and thieves who are far more clever and calloused than their enablers in Washington?

Comments from some of our Democratic leaders, including Henry Waxman, on H. Res 734 can be viewed below on The Gavel.com.

The Gavel

Shame, Shame, Shame on America

Our President has vetoed the SCHIP bill and many GOP lawmakers agree with W.

What a pathetically sad and embarrassing day for all of America. What kind of people have we become?

It is obvious to me that the GOP mantra du jour is "save the fetus, hate the born child" especially the child who is born into an economically disadvantaged or struggling family. Only a bunch of calloused, hypocritical, mean spirited and loathsome lawmakers would have voted against this bill.

Let's not forget whom these cruel monsters are when it is time to go to the voting polls. If they hate poor children, they also hate health care services for impoverished senior citizens, reduced interest college loans for middle and working class families, increased veteran's benefits and any program, for that matter, that would throw a life line to the working poor of this "rich" nation. No, these hypocrites instead support big oil, insurance, pharma and they fully embrace the military/industrial complex, i.e. Halliburton, Black Water, et al.

Shame. Shame. Shame.

Shame on them and shame on us if we fail to exercise our right to vote. We must systematically fire the pitiful and spineless enablers of the worst President in U.S. history. These poor excuses for humans, much less lawmakers, do not deserve to represent us.

Anyone with a half brain knows the GOP stole Florida in 2000, thanks to the Supreme Court and its Daddy Bush appointees. Likewise happened once again in Ohio in 2004, compliments of huge contributions from Diebold and other GOP profiteers. Add to the mix Ohio’s Ken Blackwell’s voter suppression schemes, and voila! Rove’s lust for a permanent Republican majority became a reality.

Almost.

We the people showed meager support for the Worst’s alternatives in 2000 and 2004. Had we the voters showed more support for the party of the people, the powerful combination of the high court, big money and corrupted political hacks could have never in a day gotten away with a double coup d’etat.

We the people let it happen.

We “got it” and stepped up in 2006. But that was not near enough to stop the party of the war mongering profiteers who have shown their unveiled contempt for our nation’s under privileged children as well as their unconscionable lack of commitment to our troops who must serve inexcusably long tours of duty.

Are you ready to fight back?

Too busy? Too politically uninvolved? Well maybe you will find a snippet of time when you read the following articles du jour about our current state of political affairs.

W’s TIES TO BLACKWATER

Salon.com Bush and GOP Ties to Black Water

WAR FOREVER: THE GOP’S HEAVY LIFTING FOR THE WAR PROFITEERS

Tom Paine on Bush, Oil and Moral Bankruptcy

ON THE MORTGAGE MELTDOWN AND THE GOP’S DOMESTIC PROFITEERS

Paul Krugman of the NYT calls it Enron 2. How typical when there is no government regulation of anything.

Paul Krugman on Enron 2

BLACKWATER INVESTIGATES BLACKWATER AT THE GOP’S REQUEST

Josh Marshall on Parody Surge Hits Military Contractors in Iraq

THE GOP IS CAGING AND PURGING THE VOTER ROLLS IN TEXAS. BUT TEXAS LAWMAKERS WILL VOTE MULTIPLE TIMES

Yep, as we Texans know, hypocrisy is the norm among GOP lawmakers in this great state.

Texas Lawmakers Vote Multiple Times

SPREADING THE LOVE. HALLIBURTON’S INTERESTS IN BURMA

Cheney’s Halliburton in Burma

BUSH WHITE HOUSE SAYS WE DO NOT TORTURE TERRORISTS BUT GUESS WHAT? BUSH LIED AGAIN.

TORTURE IS OK ACCORDING TO THE BUSH GOP

The Accomplishments of President George W. Bush 2000-2007

I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy!).

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat, but I did it!!).

I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

I attacked and took over 2 countries.

I cut health care benefits for war veterans.

After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.

I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market.

In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I did).

I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president in US history.

I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any other president in US history.

I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president, since the advent of TV.

I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The poorest multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her for a while.)

I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.

I am the first president in US history to order a US attack AND military occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.

I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security

I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.

I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.

I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.

I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.

The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.

I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).

I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine
(Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war.

I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

Source: Provided by Ken Deifik

The Legacy of King George W. Bush

For more on Republican corruption see also link to video HERE

Why I Will Never Vote Republican, Part II

I had formatting problems posting this piece as one. (Please see Part I.)

Secondly, there is far too much Perv Gate going on within the GOP, especially with the conservative family values and gay bashing wing of the party. I am afraid to turn my TV on because there’s far too much lewd porn on the nightly news. What are our children to think?

Now we the American people know when a conservative politician starts bleating about family values and gay marriage, men and boys should avoid public men’s rooms, especially those in airports and parks. Brothel Madams should put out a boatload of help wanted ads. Pages and interns in DC need to flee home straightaway and mothers of little ones might want to pack a porta potty in the back of their cars.

Republicans excel at hypocrisy, too. Perv Gate is only a small part of their gifts and talents in this realm. Certain Senators in the Great State of Delay Gerrymandered Texas, for example, will bellow No Border Wall Will EVER Be Built in Texas. But then they will high tail it back inside the beltway and vote for a border wall. Senator John Cornyn did exactly this. And while our great Senators will pontificate about our troops and how we must support them, once again, back inside the beltway, they suck up to W. and vote for legislation that does the exact opposite, especially where funding is involved. One would think both Senators really despise our troops. It sure is tough living in a state where both U.S. Senators are derriere kissing rubber stamp sheep for a chicken hawk called W.

The rule of law does not apply to GOP and its buddies, appointees and hacks, either. That said, the rule book will be thrown at a GOP elected official IF one should fail to tell the party one has been very bad and naughty and hanging out in men’s rooms. If the GOP can't manipulate the message and do boatloads of damage control, it knows it is toast.

It is also quite obvious to we the little people that the GOP is above the law. It can do whatever it wants and get away with it. Scooter the Perjurer Libby got a pardon. Gonzo and Rove will too if they are charged with anything. Rove probably won’t be because Rove purged all of the emails and public records including the White House visitor’s log that likely would have incriminated him.

Speaking of Rove and the missing records in the White House visitor’s log, I wonder if male escort and fake reporter Jeff Gannon will follow him back to Texas. Yuck. I shudder at the very thought. We already have too much of a GOP infestation of sleaze down here as it is. DeLay still hangs here and the Texans in D.C. are fleeing back, one by one, though Gonzo might be held up a bit since the Justice Dept. is investigating his testimony to Congress.

Rove is already wreaking havoc on the lives of some Texans by master minding their firing. This is what the bushies do should anyone dare to disagrees with them or expose them for the crooks and liars that they are. As soon as Rove gets back there will no doubt be massive voter caging and purging going on in Texas before 2008, too.

”Attorney Claims Rove Had Role in Her Firing”

Sadly for us, Republicans hate the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution. Fascism is far more appealing to them.

Why? Rove can rig the firing of anyone he doesn't like in government for no legitimate reason. Same holds true for voter rolls across the nation. The Bushies can turn federal agencies into political operational arms of the GOP using all methods at their disposal, whether legal, illegal, or unethical with absolutely no accountability to the people.

Gonzo can call the rules governing the Geneva Convention “quaint,” blow them off and he did just that. In the short period of time Gonzo held office as U.S.A.G. he did all he could to shred the Constitution which lies in tatters. Now we can wiretap our citizens at home, including political foes. We can torture the daylights out of anyone we see fit, including political foes, too, no doubt. The DOJ has been gutted now that there is so much work for it to do.

Want to stay current on wire tapping? Check out the report below. Some have said our methods put Stalin and the former East German commies to shame.

Conservatives ought to just love this news. Enjoy the read. It’ll take your mind off of Perv Gate, at least for awhile.

FBI's Nationwide Eavesdropping Network

Now, one may also wish to follow up and stay current on W.s increased powers for domestic wiretapping.

Bush’s Increased Powers for Domestic Wiretapping

Finally, we are far less safe now than we have ever been in our recent history thanks to a GOP White House, Senate and Congress. The spin machines and propaganda arms for the GOP in the mainstream media will try to tell us otherwise. Only a blithering idiot would believe them.

America since 2001: Fascism at its Finest.

Why I Will Never Vote Republican Part I

The reasons are numerous but here are just a few. (See Part II above this post.)

Republicans lie.

News about no WMD and no ties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq is old and stale. We had a rubber-stamping do nothing Congress when this grim fact became reality and our elected leaders failed to hold the President and Vice President accountable. And though the majority of Americans now know for certain our great nation was misled into a human calamity and debacle, the Republicans continue to try to put a happy and delusional spin on our “progress” there. They can’t wait to get their hands on General Petraeus’s report and ship it straightaway to the mythmaking and happy talk department for “reinterpretation” and quick delivery to the propaganda arm over at Fox News.

Fortunately there are a few brave souls left in Washington because an anonymous official leaked the GAO draft copy of the Iraq progress report to the Washington Post. The official feared the White House’s report would be too watered down.

Now, I know only a complete moron would believe any report spun out of the White House Department of Dissemble, Language Distortion and Delusion, but sadly there are few morons and/or patho liars around and a majority of them are our elected GOP officials and the party’s propaganda arms in the mainstream media.

To quote my friend Ken Deifik: The nature of 'fair and balanced' news is that when the truth is painful, the republicans just balance it out with lies. "The house is burning down." "Well, but maybe it's not burning down. We'll just have to wait and see."

As the truth becomes merely part of a delusional equation, more loved ones die or are maimed for life, the Quagmire gets worse and worse, costs more and more, is harder and harder to get out of, because even the GOPs that have turned against the war keep hoping that there's a grain or truth in all the bullshit. –Ken Deifik

If you really want to know what is going on in Iraq, check out the “real” report before it gets messed with. Hopefully Cheney hasn’t shipped the anonymous official down to Gitmo for a little ol’ fashioned torture. LS

From The Washington Post, August 30, 2007
By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks

” Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq”

Do We Need Jimmy Carter To Ensure Fair Elections in Texas?

I recently attended a meeting held by some of Harris County’s precinct officials and election judges, most of whom are extremely hard working and deeply committed volunteers. A subset of this group has formed a committee to investigate voter suppression and integrity concerns in Harris County (Houston area). They toil away relentlessly in a tireless attempt to guarantee equal and fair access to the county’s elections in this Tom Delay gerrymandered state. This is no small feat given the GOP is in charge of about everything here. The challenges the volunteers face are significant and difficult. Fortunately for voting Democrats in Harris County, we have such committed and patriotic defenders of both our state and national Constitutional rights. We had better hope and pray they never give up because as it stands now, our democracy here is hanging on by mere shreds.

Our mayor in Houston is supposed to be a Democrat and yet he failed to give this group’s selected committee members the respect, time and appreciation they deserve for their well founded research, data and findings. In fact, he was more deferential to the GOP county clerk’s people present and wasted 30 minutes of the mere 60 minutes allocated by spinning irrelevant yarns about this that and everything except voting issues.

For this appalling reason I decided to write to the mayor today and to also post my letter to him as a diary. I think it is high time for Texas Democrats to take the fight to the people who are running and very likely messing with our election outcomes, as well as those officials who chose to do nothing to stop the contemptible and downright illegal shenanigans.

Should Harris County, the most populated in Texas, flip blue, the Texas GOP will be in a big world of hurt. It is for this reason alone that I believe the GOP will do everything it can get away with to purge/scrub/cancel voter rolls, provide inadequate, pre-rigged, and/or mal-functioning voting machines to mostly minority and poor district, and engage in beyond the pale voter intimidation. Indeed in Harris County, the election folks have come up with a “potential felons” list with names that will likely be scrubbed from the rolls. What in heaven’s name is a “potential felon?” That could be anyone now that our Constitutional rights have been flushed down the toilet by the crooked. lying and incompetent Bush Administration.

It is time to hold the elections’ folks feet to the fire, as well as those of their supervisors, and the Secretary of State.

What do they do to ensure fair, honest and transparent elections to all Texans? If they won’t give us a straight answer, or refuse to answer at all, let’s call Mr. Jimmy Carter and the U.N. and let them know that Texas is a third world type banana republic.

The Honorable Bill White

Dear Mayor White,

I had the opportunity to hear you speak just prior to the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina at a Young Democrats meeting at Rice University. Although I am no longer a “young” Democrat I was nonetheless fortunate enough to attend. I was extremely impressed by how you encouraged a group of very gifted students, many of whom will become future leaders in a number of fields, to consider careers in public service. I was also impressed by your highly skillful and deeply compassionate approach in planning for the tens of thousands of Katrina victims who were to come to Houston for refuge. I am, to this day, very proud of our city’s generous and heartfelt support for those who had to flee such deadly and appalling conditions with no help whatsoever from our federal agencies. It did not matter what one’s political party affiliation, religious beliefs or race were at the time. As Houstonians we were stood together as one to help those in dire and hopeless circumstances.

Maybe we can do likewise in achieving an open and honest democratic election process for all eligible Houstonians.

As the national election of 2008 looms near, I hope you summon your outstanding leadership skills and fully engage our party’s democratic principles in making certain that all eligible Houstonians can exercise their constitutional right to vote. I am particularly concerned because, since the national elections of 2000 and 2004, volumes have been written by election experts and non-partisan organizations about numerous voting machine malfunctions and overall irregularities. To cover all of the voting abnormalities would require at the least 100 or so pages and to be as brief as possible, I will mention just a few of the facts. I have provided sources below to support the facts I present.

Professional (with advanced degrees) statisticians, computer scientists and mathematicians have documented data proving that much was amiss in both the 2000 and 2004 in terms of machine reliability, especially in terms of security, exit poll data, pre and post electoral processes. This vast group of professionals is certainly not the “conspiracy theorists” the Republican Party will routinely summon when caught trying to achieve certain outcomes. News reports from various battle ground states, in particular, have documented evidence of voter suppression, intimidation, the willful placement of fewer and/or mal-functioning machines in minority, poor and mostly Democratic precincts and questionable vote counting processes (e.g. Ohio 2004 when the Secretary of State locked down a particular precinct when votes were being tallied due to “homeland security concerns.” Ohio’s Secretary of State, by the way, Ken Blackwell, was also chair of one of Bush’s reelection campaigns in Ohio.)

In Texas where Democrats are supposedly a minority, what safeguards do we have at our disposal to ensure open, fair and transparent elections? What guarantees are in place to convince me as a Houstonian that our elections, controlled by a most unforthcoming and unresponsive GOP County Clerk and Secretary of State, are accurate? These folks also count the votes after all. How do I know provisional and absentee ballots are not being tossed into dumpsters as Black Box Voting.org discovered was the case in certain precincts in Florida in 2000 and in 2004?

Of particular concern are the voter rolls and what is being done to them prior to an election? Are our county officials involved in “caging” whereby specific populations are targeted? Guess who these populations might be? I think you know. Caging consists of sending a targeted group “do not forward” notifications to their homes. The notification is returned to the county clerk’s office if someone has moved including those serving in the military and has been shipped to Iraq or Afghanistan; or if one has had the misfortune to become homeless. The outcome for these people, who should have every right to vote if eligible, and most are, will be one of complete disenfranchisement. Their names will be “cancelled” from the rolls. When they show up to vote, they will be denied the right.

How, when and who decides whose name to cancel from the rolls? Who precisely is sent notifications? What is the process and what laws govern such a practice?

Should you think the concept of “caging” is a figment of my imagination, an investigative reporter, forensic economist and author, Mr. Greg Palast, has discovered such lists from 2004 whose contents have been turned over to Representative John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Caging by the way is a federal felony. Maybe our election officials could use a gentle reminder of this fact.

What assurances do I have as a voter in Harris County that voter caging is not taking place right here and now, as it did in Florida, New Mexico and Ohio in both 2000 and 2004? Indeed, the White House has turned the present U.S. Justice Department into yet another political arm of the GOP. And the firing of 9 U.S. attorneys for purely partisan reasons is further evidence of the GOP’s long term goal to ensure a permanent Republican majority. What “firewall” is in place to protect our electoral process in Texas from such criminal and un-American acts?

What assurances do I have as a voter that there will be sufficient machines in my precinct that are fully functional and with intact and secured seals? There is no paper trail so how am I to know that my vote isn’t flipped to the wrong candidate? How do I know that it is even counted? What oversight and accountability processes are in place before, during and when the votes are being counted to ensure the integrity of our election and democratic process for all eligible residents in Harris County? This is the 21st century after all. It should not be technologically or practically impossible or even difficult to guarantee completely accurate and transparent election processes.

Given the historical difficulty the Harris County Democratic election judges and precinct officials have had in communicating with the County Clerk’s and Secretary of State’s offices, I can only imagine the worst. It seems that our state’s election officials have forgotten that their job is to serve the voting public and not the sole interests of their party and their party’s financial backers. If these officials insist they do serve ALL Texans why do they fail to return Democrats’ phone calls in a timely fashion, if at all?

Surely we won’t have “homeland security” issues in the 3rd or 5th wards in Houston during the election of 2008? Or will we?

Summoning election lawyers after an election is a waste of time. Transparency, oversight and accountability need to be put into place now.

As a Texas Democrat I and many others like me have had it with elected “Democratic” officials who behave as a Republican would. I trust that you, Sir, do not fall into this category. But I must respectfully caution that many of us may think otherwise if our electoral process here is not placed under much, much tighter scrutiny, public transparency and oversight. Those running our elections and managing the voter rolls must be held accountable. They are required to answer voters’ questions and address our concerns. This is what they get paid to do.

We deeply appreciate anything that you can do to expedite such a process immediately.

Surely we will not be forced to call former President Mr. Jimmy Carter and the U.N. in order to achieve open and fair elections in Texas!

Sources on electronic voting data:

KathyDopp.com
Election Mathematics.org
Election Archive.org
Election Archive UCV Analysis
Freedom-to-tinker.com

Background of voting irregularities and suppression since 2004:

Brad Blog

On voter caging:

Mr. Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse

Background info on Florida 2000 election (Palast and the BBC)

BBC Newsnight

Tell Me Our U.S. Texas Lawmakers Do Not Embrace a W. Monarchy

What indeed are our elected “representatives” doing about W.’s obvious abuse of power? Earlier this week I faxed off letters to my fearless Republican leaders, Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn and U.S. Representative (Houston) John Culberson. I am not holding my breath that my very long letter (that merely scratches the surface of W.’s systematic abuse of power) will end up anywhere except in the official shredders.

Whether it goes to the shredder or not, if our so-called “representatives” don’t get a reality check, i.e. that somewhere in Texas, there are some very outraged voters who demand accountability, good the hell luck next election cycle. Burn babies, burn.

They aren’t going to be able to distract us with “family values” “gay marriage, “abortion,” “terrorists are lurking under every rock,” “a strong economy” when there isn’t one, and other BS this time around.

Nope, especially after Gonzo Gate blew wide open yesterday.

On to my letter of letter of July 23:

I am writing to you about the recent highly disturbing and somewhat appalling behavior on the part of President Bush for what is becoming increasingly clear as his willful and blatant abuse of power. The President has overstepped the bounds of his office and is behaving as if he is above the law, accountable to no one.

I am no lawyer but I do know when something is terribly wrong in our government.

There are a number of recent developments that support my claim of Presidential abuse of power. Within the last two weeks, the President has ordered former members of the White House staff, Ms. Sarah Taylor and Ms. Harriet Miers, to refuse to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although Ms. Taylor presented herself at the hearing and answered very few questions, she did make it quite clear that her loyalty belonged to the President and not to the United States. Such a belief on the part of a staff member is both shocking and frightening. It is unheard of in the history of the United States. Indeed, even President Richard Nixon did not possess the authoritarian arrogance to prevent White House staff from speaking the truth to the Congress (i.e. we the people) during his term as President. And surely no staff member in our nation’s history has ever taken an oath to a person, even a President during wartime! I do not know where Ms. Taylor went to school, but she surely should have known better. If she does not, Ms. Taylor had no business serving in the White House in the first place.

President Bush has very recently pardoned a White House Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, for perjury and the obstruction of justice. Mr. Libby lied under oath and obstructed justice to protect Vice President Cheney in the unconscionable outing of an undercover CIA agent, Ms. Valerie Plame Wilson. Americans can now assume the President is definitely covering up criminal acts that were committed in the White House, likely in his very office and that of the Vice President. President Bush’s pardon of Mr. Libby also tells we the people that there is two sets of rules at play in America: one for the President’s people and one for the rest of Americans.

I also find it shocking and frightening how the Bush Administration has deliberately attempted to politicize federal agencies (The Justice Department, the Interior Department, to name just two) in order to turn them into operational arms for the Republican National Party.

The recent firings of the 8 U.S. attorneys for purely political purposes are further evidence of the Administration’s calculated goal to ensure a permanent Republican majority for decades to come. The political imperatives of rule under this “permanent Republican majority” seems to have little in common with the democratic principles that have guided this great nation for well over 200 years. In fact, one party rule has proven to be detrimental and destructive to the very foundations of a democratic society. And for this very reason, the people spoke in November 2006.

It is crystal clear that the Department of Justice, at the urging of the White House, had every intention to replace all U.S. attorneys who did not aggressively pursue voter fraud cases where only Democrats were concerned.

Apparently the DOJ forgot that it is supposed to serve the people and not a President or an Administration. I find it inexcusable and unpatriotic for people in our government who serve, such as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Ms. Sarah Taylor, to demonstrate such distain and contempt for the Constitution, the people, and the democratic principles that are supposed to guide our Republic. It seems that many Bush appointees seem to believe they are working within the framework of a monarchy in which they are servants for a king.

Concerning the firings of the U.S. attorneys, I find it very interesting indeed that Mr. Tim Griffin, who replaced Mr. Bud Cummings in Arkansas, is a former protégé of Karl Rove. Mr. Griffin is known to have produced illegal voter caging lists in Florida during the 2000 election. Evidence of such has been produced by Mr. Greg Palast, an investigative journalist who has obtained Mr. Griffin’s 2000 caging lists. I understand that the caging lists have been turned over to the House Judiciary Committee.

It seems that the same in the Department of Defense and the Pentagon had preceded the politicization of the Justice Department since 2001. It is now common knowledge that the Bush Administration did not tell the American people the truth when making the case to go to war with Iraq. We all know there were never any ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda under Saddam Hussein and neither were there WMD. We also know that many members of Congress who supported President Bush in his trumped up case for war did not even bother to read the NIE Intelligence Report that could have changed a few minds and perhaps a deadly, costly and catastrophic failure may have been avoided.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have routinely used the notion of terrorism and the fear it engenders as an excuse to run roughshod over the laws that bind this nation together as a democratic republic.

Since President Bush’s tenure as President, the heretofore unthinkable has happened, such as warrantless wiretaps and spying on American citizens. President Bush publicly admitted he knew about the domestic spying program. A federal court has ruled that such spying is a felony. And yet the Congress has failed to hold the President accountable for his actions. Is the President above the law? It certainly seems to be the case nowadays.

Our country now embraces torture and has willingly abandoned not only the principles of the Geneva Convention but the very moral and legal underpinnings that have governed our democratic republic and our stature in the world. The Supreme Court has ruled the President and Vice President’s system of detention is unconstitutional. Has the detention system changed yet? Not to my knowledge. Why?

As if the evidence mentioned above on the President’s abuse of power isn’t enough, it is both distressing and tragic to write there is yet more.

President Bush has reversed laws with signing statements. He has deliberately undermined the Congress by making whatever changes he deems fit to laws already passed by the representatives of the people! The President’s statements are posted on the White House website. A recent GAO report found that with 30 percent of Bush's signing statements, in which President Bush announces his right to overrule laws, he has in fact proceeded to overrule those laws.

Yes, it is now obvious. President Bush believes that he is well above the law. Some of our lawmakers in our nation’s Capitol obviously hold the same belief.

What else is a citizen to conclude when the sound of silence coming from our Congress on this issue is simply deafening?

When is enough enough? When are our members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate going to hold this President accountable for his blatant disregard and obvious calloused and cynical contempt for the rule of law that has governed this land for well over 200 years? President Bush and Vice President Cheney’s equal scorn for the people has not been lost on the vast majority of Americans, either.

Should you think that I am some left wing liberal who is exaggerating the President’s evident abuse of power, several former officials who served under President Reagan believe President Bush has assumed powers well beyond the legal jurisdiction of a President. Two of them call for the immediate impeachment of Vice President Cheney. Mr. Ron Paul, A U.S. Texas Representative and candidate for President in 2008, shares similar views with his colleagues in the former Reagan Administration. (Two of the three Republicans have also predicted that war with Iran is imminent and Congress will not be consulted about it.)

In a recent online newspaper (July 19, Raw Story.com) a former appointee of Ronald Reagan, Mr. Paul Craig Roberts, commented on the new Executive Order that allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies. According to Mr. Roberts, "Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.”

He goes on to argue, “When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the danger that they face."

The article about Mr. Roberts’s views on President Bush can be found here

Mr. Bruce Fein, who served as Deputy Assistant Attorney under former President Reagan and wrote the first article of impeachment against former President Clinton, also calls for the impeachment of Vice President Cheney.

Mr. Fein recently was featured on the PBS Bill Moyers’ Journal on July 13, 2007. The journal can be viewed: Bill Moyers Journal

Following are excerpts from Mr. Fein’s interview.

Recently, Fein has been in the national spotlight after his editorial in the online newsmagazine SLATE called for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, in which he outlines the various cases against the Vice President. Fein also testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on June 27, 2007 about President Bush's use of "signing statement."
According to Fein, Cheney has:
• Asserted Presidential power to create military commissions, which combine the functions of judge, jury, and prosecutor in the trial of war crimes.
• Claimed authority to detain American citizens as enemy combatants indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay on the President's say-so alone.
• Initiated kidnappings, secret detentions, and torture in Eastern European prisons of suspected international terrorists.
• Championed a Presidential power to torture in contravention of federal statutes and treaties.
• Engineered the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program targeting American citizens on American soil in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.
• Orchestrated the invocation of executive privilege to conceal from Congress secret spying programs to gather foreign intelligence, and their legal justifications.
• Summoned the privilege to refuse to disclose his consulting of business executives in conjunction with his Energy Task Force.
• Retaliated against Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, through chief of staff Scooter Libby, for questioning the administration's evidence of weapons of mass destruction as justification for invading Iraq. (Read Fein's SLATE article)

End of excerpt.

Representative Ron Paul (Texas) has stated, “All evidence suggests that the NeoCon war on Iran is about to be sprung.”

According to him: “we're sending the oldest aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf to replace a newer one --- making another trumped up 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' less costly. That is, stage an attack on the Nimitz, and say it was caused by Iran. This would happen in August, with congress on break.”

The bare suggestion that we would go to war with a nation without Congressional oversight tells me that we are no longer living in a democracy.

The silence from our Congress tells me that our elected officials embrace the Bush monarchy.


Sincerely yours,

Cheney’s Secret Energy Task Force List: The Dudes Who Paid to Play

A friend of mine from California sent me a link to an article written in today’s Washington Post which reveals at least a partial list of Cheney’s secret and very special invitees to his former energy task force meetings. Of course, as we would have expected, environmental and renewable energy groups were granted token participation. The fix was already in for Cheney’s energy policy and so the environmental folks and Democrats were invited just for the photo ops and news reports.

The Republican will to power and lust for greed dominated the entire process as it always does (remember this happened during the Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff heydays) and so the party’s pay to play decree drove the process. Those in big oil, gas and trade groups that were among the first to participate in Cheney's task force had all been major donors to the Bush/Cheney campaigns.

Gosh, maybe this is why we have so few options available to us in terms of alternative choices for fuel. Are we therefore doomed forever to life long addiction to the pusher men in the Middle East? Does this mean we are damned to life long wars to fight over the pollution producing evil crap that should have been rendered at least partially irrelevant to us at least thirty years ago?

Who are the winners in our national addiction to oil? Guess. It’s a no brainer…..It would be none other than Cheney’s best buds the Saudis, of course, and Dictator Greedy Dick too. The Dictator is obviously addicted to money. For himself. Hmmmm… is this why we attacked Iraq and forgot about Osama boy? Is this why Cheney would stop at nothing to hide his evil little list?

Cheney fought tooth and nail to keep his filthy little list a secret and everyone probably remembers how this issue went to the Supreme Court. Naturally, with a politicized judicial system comprised of embedded party hacks and rubber stamps, Cheney won as he always does. What Cheney wants, Cheney gets. This is why I have nicknamed him Dictator Dick. No one or branch of our government seems able, willing or courageous enough to stop him. When an individual or a federal institution should dare to rear a brave head in protest, Cheney will simply chop it off and replace the head with one of his clones. Hmmm… maybe I should call Cheney Dick the Butcher instead or Dick the Terrible. Or perhaps Dr. Evil Dick, or Dick the Tyrant.

Excerpts from The Washington Post

Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report
By Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 18, 2007; Page A01

Cheney was not there, but so many environmentalists were in the room that introductions took up "about half the meeting," recalled Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth. Anna Aurilio of the U.S. Public Interest Group said, "It was clear to us that they were just being nice to us."

A confidential list prepared by the Bush administration shows that Cheney and his aides had already held at least 40 meetings with interest groups, most of them from energy-producing industries. By the time of the meeting with environmental groups, according to a former White House official who provided the list to The Washington Post, the initial draft of the task force was substantially complete and President Bush had been briefed on its progress.

One of the first visitors, on Feb. 14, was James J. Rouse, then vice president of Exxon Mobil and a major donor to the Bush inauguration; a week later, longtime Bush supporter Kenneth L. Lay, then head of Enron Corp., came by for the first of two meetings. On March 5, some of the country's biggest electric utilities, including Duke Energy and Constellation Energy Group, had an audience with the task force staff.

The list of participants' names and when they met with administration officials provides a clearer picture of the task force's priorities and bolsters previous reports that the review leaned heavily on oil and gas companies and on trade groups -- many of them big contributors to the Bush campaign and the Republican Party. But while it clears up much of the lingering uncertainty about who was granted access to present energy policy views to Cheney's staff, it does not entirely explain why the Bush administration fought so hard to keep it and other as-yet-unreleased internal memos secret.

If the time has not come to impeach this monster, when will it?

It’s time for the Dick to do some time.

Cheney Shows His Love for America

While Dictator Dick thumbs his nose at the U.S. Constitution, our individual rights and the basic tenets of Democracy, he is busy at work safeguarding the personal fortunes he has amassed.

Alas, it seems that Dictator Dick has very little faith in the future of the American economy.

According to Mr. Mike Whitney of the Information Clearing House.com. (see link below), Dictator Dick is investing millions in European markets as well as in inflation linked short term municipal bonds, and inflation protected securities funds. As Mr. Whitney suggests, Cheney will watch his fortunes grow in Old Europe while we the suckers – i.e. the average American will have to struggle with increasing energy prices and inflation. Our savings and assets could very well dwindle while those of Dictator Dick grow by leaps and bounds.

Thank God for tax cuts for the mega wealthy. There isn’t even a morsel of cake left for we the little irrelevant people who don’t factor in the Bush/Cheney world, except to fight in and pay taxes for their wars with the rest of the world.

I do not have a background in economics or finance, but I know full well when I smell huge stinking rats gnawing and devouring our political, geo-political and economic well-being. Not to mention our national ethos as a people.

Excerpts:

This should put to rest once and for all the foolish notion that the “Bush Economic Plan” is anything more than a scam aimed at looting the public till. The whole deal is intended to shift the nation's wealth from one class to another. It’s also clear that Bush-Cheney couldn’t have carried this off without the tacit approval of the thieves at the Federal Reserve who engineered the low-interest rate boondoggle to put the American people to sleep while they picked their pockets.

Reasonable people can dispute that Bush is “intentionally” skewering the dollar with his lavish tax cuts, but how does that explain Cheney’s portfolio?

It doesn’t. And, one thing we can say with metaphysical certainty is that the miserly Cheney would never plunk his money into an investment that wasn’t a sure thing. If Cheney is counting on the dollar tanking and interest rates going up, then, by Gawd, that’s what’ll happen.

The Bush-Cheney team has racked up another $3 trillion in debt in just 6 years. The US national debt now stands at $8.4 trillion dollars while the trade deficit has ballooned to $800 billion nearly 7% of GDP.

This is lunacy. No country, however powerful, can maintain these staggering numbers. The country is in hock up to its neck and has to borrow $2.5 billion per day just to stay above water. Presently, the Fed is expanding the money supply and buying back its own treasuries to hide the hemorrhaging from the public. Its utter madness.

Do the math! They're not investing in America anymore. They are decreasing their stockpiles of dollars. We’re sinking fast and Cheney and his pals are manning the lifeboats while the public is diverted with gay marriage amendments and “American Celebrity”.

No job is safe. American elites and corporate tycoons are loading the boats and heading for foreign shores. The only thing they’re leaving behind is the insurmountable debt that will be shackled to our children into perpetuity and the carefully arranged levers of a modern police-surveillance state.

End of excerpt.

This chilling piece can be read in its grim entirety here

If this isn’t enough to get the impeachment ball rolling, I do not know what is. It is time to press criminal charges. The short list: the Bush/Cheney Administration has misled this nation into an unnecessary, catastrophic and horrific war. It has seriously compromised both our national security and economic well being. It has flipped the bird at the rule of law, as demonstrated in the Scooter Libby trial and the outing of an undercover CIA agent for political revenge. It has given generous tax cuts to the extraordinarily wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. The middle class is clearly dying a slow death with sure-fire membership in the under class club. Our military troops are required to serve 3-4 if not 5 tours of duty in hot combat with little reprieve. When our brave, determined and courageous troops do return home it is a national disgrace that they must face yet more battles to get proper medical attention for posttraumatic stress disorder, catastrophic wounds such as severe brain injuries and the loss of limbs. What about the families of the fallen soldiers who are left to grieve alone, after an American flag is summarily handed to them at their loved one’s funeral? That’s it? A flag in exchange for a life? For?

Please.

How much is too much? What kind of people have we become?

To recap, in case anyone should be asleep and doesn’t get it, the Bush/Cheney Administration has willfully and knowingly used propaganda to sell a war and a political agenda that is downright destructive of our national security, our military, our geo-political standing and our economic underpinnings. Worse, it has turned us into a people that we are not. Our future in a Bush/Cheney Land promises a whole third world of hurt, pain, suffering and death.

For? So Bush, Cheney and their best buds can amass personal fortunes? They have distracted us for far too long with emotional and unproductive issues like gay marriage, abortion and heaven knows what else. They have scared the living crap out of us with terror threats that were non-existent. Their motto: keep the people scared, dumb and angry. And the Bushies did the devil’s work while we allowed ourselves to become dumb, scared and angry.

Stand up for impeachment, folks, or go broke and learn how to cope in third world living. The choices aren’t easy but at least we still have a few choices left to us. LS

The Fox Howls about the Fox in the Henhouse

I am not writing about Fox Fake News though they deserve to be written about now that Fox has revealed its true racist colors in confusing Congressman Jefferson with Congressman Conyers.

Nope, this is about the party Fox shills and spins for – the GOP - and its systematic and criminal voter disenfranchisement program.

U.S. citizens right here in the U.S. and some of those serving abroad have been denied their inalienable right to vote thanks to the GOP’s purging and scrubbing of voter roles.

The sick and twisted irony of this voter fraud issue is that while the Republicans have been screaming about fake incidences of voter fraud in particular states (as exposed in the U.S. Attorney/Alberto Gonzales scandals) GOP henchmen have been willfully and systematically engaged in real voter fraud for years.

The GOP does this by denying the right to vote to a vast number of minority and poor voters who are more likely to vote for Democrats.

Chapter One in Rove’s How to Rig an Election Book: (Source: Mr. Greg Palast “Armed Madhouse.”)

Rove summoned one of his whores - Interim and Now Resigned from Office and hopefully soon to be charged U.S. Attorney for Arkansas – Griffin - to put in the fix for 2008. Griffin sent out registered letters to homeless people, soldiers who had been shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and to students who tend to move around a lot. If these people did not respond to the registered note or if the note was returned in the mail, legitimate voters were purged from the voting list, likity split. Yes, they were scrubbed of their democratic right to vote, even those who are fighting to defend us overseas. It is called “voter caging” and it is illegal. Not to mention immoral and unconscionable.

This practice is alive and well in Harris County, Texas (Houston its and outlying areas, including Tom DeLay land) in a less blatantly criminal form. I spoke to a friend of mine who has been an election judge in Houston for 9 years. I asked my friend if officials purged voter roles in Harris County. The answer: a resounding yes.

This is how it works in Harris County.

The purge occurs when the county clerk sends a voter registration card (they do this every 2 years since voter registration card expires at that time).
If the voter registration card is returned as undeliverable (they assume one has moved and are now out of the district which would require one to re-register) and/or a person has not voted in a specified number of elections, supposedly they purge this person automatically. But... wait - interestingly enough, my friend’s husband's aunt (who is Mexican, but whose last name is Asian because she married an Asian), hasn't voted in 25+ years and miraculously was STILL on the roles after all that time and registered to vote.

During the 2006 primary, both my friend and her husband voted in the primary election, making them eligible to attend the Democratic conventions as delegates.
My friend’s surname is Mexican, although she is Caucasian. Interestingly enough, when she and her husband were elected as delegates at their Senate District convention, the next step is for the SD chair to verify that my friends had met the requirements (verify that they voted in the primary election - this is what's known as checking credentials). Their SD chair called to let my friend know that she and her husband did not appear on the list of primary voters. Neither of them. My friend said: “What's THAT all about, I'll never know.’ ‘Who knows if our votes even counted or not? Another well known Democrat had physically witnessed us going to the polls and ‘vouched’ for us. I was SHOCKED and AWED.”

There is no forgiveness or mercy here in this Republican run state. The GOP needs fewer voters to win elections. I mean, what intelligent and informed person would actually vote for a Republican? And the Rovian wing knows that many of us are distracted, overly committed and we tend to ignore snail mail. When we move we are overwhelmed by “stuff” and sometimes forget to give a forwarding address.

And this is how the Party of Corruption achieves victory time and time again. It does not have to be a high tech laptop theft to throw an election.

Another Rove whore, Ken Blackwell of Ohio, denied the right to vote to poor people and minorities by providing fewer voting machines to their precincts. Meanwhile there was an abundance of machines in mostly conservative, white and well-off suburbs. The poor and minorities in Blackwell’s district were required to wait 8-10 hours in freezing rain. Naturally many gave up and left. Blackwell’s dream for Bush 2004 was realized.

The latest attempt by our Republican leadership here in Texas to require proof of citizenship in order to vote would essentially deny the right to a huge group of poor, elderly and minorities. If one thinks that a driver’s license or social security card is proof of U.S. citizenship, one is wrong. U.S. permanent residents and foreign nationals with specific visas who work here legally can have both driver’s licenses and social security cards. They are obviously not eligible to vote.

Proof of U.S. citizenship requires one of three documents: an official birth certificate, a U.S. passport or U.S. Naturalization papers. A passport costs close to $100.00 and takes 6-8 weeks to obtain. Many elderly, who were born at home, may not have “official” birth certificates. Victims of floods or hurricanes may have lost official birth certificates, passports and/or naturalization papers. Homeless people likely don’t roam from shelter to shelter with their birth certificates or passports. Soldiers serving overseas cannot check their mail at home for their voter registration status. The poor are overwhelmed trying to make ends meet to think much about where their official birth certificates might be. To send away for a copy of a birth certificates requires time and some money.

Fortunately, we have more Democrats than the Party of Liars and Cheats in Washington now and so there is a modicum of accountability, at least in our nation’s Capitol.

Representative John Conyers is investigating the Rove/Griffin voter caging shenanigans as I write.

Maybe every Republican election official in Texas will be dragged to court along with Griffin and Rove, as he or she well should.

For more information on voter caging, please see the URL below.

Slate.com: The Raging Caging

For ongoing and daily updates about voter fraud, its key players and GOP evil doing, check out Brad’s Blog on a daily basis.

The Brad Blog

Get involved, my Dem soul mates. Get involved.

I just returned from a vacation in Europe and had time to catch up on reading while traveling on trains, planes and in automobiles. I learned how others in Europe view our foreign policy and stand on Iraq. I won’t go there right now but trust me – its’ really bad. A Frenchman told me Bush had ruined the U.S. for 50 years to come. This made him sad. The French and Americans may have had a roller coaster political relationship over the years, but all of Europe has always looked to America as a beacon of light and ray hope and optimism for the world. The dollar is doing so miserably that Americans are the poor tourists in Europe. Thanks, W.

I finished the book written by Greg Palast “Armed Madhouse” and learned much more than I admittedly want to know about the Republican Party and voter fraud. Like, please make it not be so. Make it go away. But it won’t and we have to deal or we will be sleeping in the nightmare forever.

Finally, every Democrat should be required to read “Armed Madhouse” for the complete and thorough scoop on Republican voter shenanigans. You won’t be able to put it down, but you’ll need to go on high blood pressure and anti-stroke meds while reading.