WOW! Institute For Public Accuracy Responds To Bush’s 2003 “State of the Union” Address! What a pack of lies Bush told! Click here for the sordid details!

After All The Tough Talk, There Is NO Evidence Against Iraq!

Now admitting there is no "smoking gun," Secretary of State Colin Powell is bringing what the Bush adminstration is calling "circumstantial evidence" to to the U.N. next week in hopes of making a convincing case that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction, a U.S. official said Thursday. Circumstantial evidence? Wasn't the Bushies promising "clear and compelling" evidence right before the state of the union address? Hey, I'm no lawyer, but I think it takes more than circumstantial evidence to make charges stick.

"There are some countries, some elements of public opinion, that think the U.S. needs a smoking gun of some sort," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Well we don't have a smoking gun and Powell's not coming with it."



Perhaps this is why Bush is again backing off his claims of hard evidence: Iraqi warheads test negative for chemical agents

Bush and his boys pounded the aluminum tubes story for all it was worth, but now CNN is reporting they have tested negative for chemical agents.



Al-Qaeda 'was making dirty bomb'

British officials have presented evidence which they claim shows that al-Qaeda had been trying to assemble radioactive material to build a so-called dirty bomb.
They have shown the BBC previously undisclosed material backing up their claim.

It includes secret intelligence from agents sent by Britain into al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. more



Expert rules out link between Iraq and al-Qaeda

ONE of Europe’s leading terrorism experts has ruled out any link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda - directly contradicting the latest claims from Tony Blair and George Bush.

Rohan Gunaratna, who is attached to the terrorism unit at St Andrews University, said his research - which includes six books - shows the two are mutually incompatible.

His warning came as the Prime Minister surprised MPs by saying he has evidence linking Iraq to al-Qaeda - something noticeably absent from his previous dossier on Saddam. more



"In two short years, the liberal establishment has changed its view of President Bush from a not-so-bright scion without an agenda to an evil, even radical, genius," the Wall Street Journal says.

"The new view is just as false as the old, but after listening to his State of the Union speech, we can understand their anxiety: they're afraid the Bush project might succeed," the newspaper said in an editorial.

Well, it sure hasn't succeeded so far, dumbasses! You're just saying that crap because you still have a job, you haven't lost alll of your 401k's worth, and your father or son hasn't yet been killed to secure Bush more oil.

And besides, you have it wrong! Liberals think Bush is a not-so-bright scion without an agenda being controlled by evil, even radical, geniuses. If you're going to talk about liberals, at least get your damn story right!



U.S. Economy Slows to 0.7 Percent Rate

The U.S. economy slowed dramatically in the final quarter of last year, growing at a annual rate of just 0.7 percent as consumers turned cautious in the face of war worries, a rollercoaster stock market and a stagnant job climate and increased their spending by the smallest amount since 1993.

"The rollercoaster ride continues as the economy just cannot sustain solid growth." said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.

The performance – weaker than the 0.9 percent increase analysts were predicting – gave the fourth quarter the distinction of being the worst quarter for GDP in 2002. It also marked the weakest showing since the economy actually shrank at a 0.3 percent rate in the third quarter of 2001 as the country was mired in its first recession since George H.W. Bush screwed us in the early 90s. more

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THIS is a GOOD one! A War Crime or an Act of War?

Central Intelligence Agency's senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war comes clean!

It was no surprise that President Bush, lacking smoking-gun evidence of Iraq's weapons programs, used his State of the Union address to re-emphasize the moral case for an invasion: "The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages, leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind or disfigured."

The accusation that Iraq has used chemical weapons against its citizens is a familiar part of the debate. The piece of hard evidence most frequently brought up concerns the gassing of Iraqi Kurds at the town of Halabja in March 1988, near the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. President Bush himself has cited Iraq's "gassing its own people," specifically at Halabja, as a reason to topple Saddam Hussein.

But the truth is, all we know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day at Halabja. We cannot say with any certainty that Iraqi chemical weapons killed the Kurds. This is not the only distortion in the Halabja story. more

Ads rushing out of Limbaugh show?

From CBS Marketwatch

Though still in its infancy, a letter-writing campaign aimed at advertisers on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," has already claimed a few choice scalps -- and hopes to soon have other marketers saying "ditto."

Kicked off last week on the website of a group called Take Back The Media, the effort is generating a growing buzz among online progressives (or, if you prefer, "liberals") -- along with hundreds of angry e-mails to companies that sponsor what it calls Limbaugh's "hateful chortling and guffawing."

Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran, is co-founder of Take Back The Media. Obviously never a Rush fan, Stinson and his cohorts were content to largely ignore the king of reactionary talk radio -- until he weighed in on the recent anti-war protests, calling participants "anti-American," "anti-capitalist" and "communists," among other terms.

"He just went too far," said Stinson. "Don't call me anti-American. I served this country."

When he decided to go after Limbaugh, Stinson said "we were told we would have to nip at his heels, to start by contacting local advertisers." He ignored that advice, however, and posted a list, complete with contact information, of top sponsors.

"Within 18 hours, RadioShack (RSH: news, chart, profile) had folded. Within 36 hours, Amtrak was gone and Bose told us they were no longer advertising on the show," Stinson said.

Oddly, Stinson's group is not only telling the rest of the world which companies advertise on Limbaugh's show but, apparently, even the companies themselves.

In RadioShack's case, the company maintains that it does not buy ads on Limbaugh's show and any that did air were the result of an "error made by the radio network or local affiliate."

RadioShack, the company continued, "strictly adheres to a policy of not intentionally buying advertising space on programs that might be political or socially controversial or that promote any one individual's agenda or point of view."

Amtrak says the ads aired as part of a complicated barter deal involving, strange but true, the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. It does not sponsor political shows and "'in the future...will communicate [that] practice to" other partners.

Although Stinson said he has reports of its ads appearing during the show, a spokeswoman for Bose told CBS.MarketWatch that its does not advertise on the program, "and has no intentions of doing so."

Other advertisers targeted by Take Back the Media include Darden Restaurants, Red Lobster chain, Pfizer, AutoZone, and online retailer Overstock.com -- none of which would comment.

Limbaugh is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications. While not addressing whether the show had lost any advertisers as a result of the boycott, Premiere issued the following written statement:

"There have been many times in the 15 year history of 'The Rush Limbaugh Program' when national and world events have generated increased listening as well as increased communication with individuals who have opposing points of view," said company president Kraig Kitchin. "The kind of compelling radio that generates opposition also causes Rush Limbaugh's weekly 20 million listeners to tune in that much more and listen longer."

That audience number is likely exaggerated (other estimates put it closer to 15 million) but there is no question that Limbaugh is big, big, big and one of medium's biggest single stars.

So, can a few scrappy liberals really hurt him?

Depends. A lot of radio time is bought pretty much on a commodity basis, with advertisers looking for dayparts and regions rather than specific programming. Many may not even know where their ads appeared until after the fact. And, unless they have given their buyers up-front marching orders to avoid him (already not uncommon), Limbaugh's powerful ratings guarantee a piece of that action. Of course, there are plenty of other options that can deliver similar numbers.

Whether or not the boycott works to any meaningful degree is going to depend on how many more advertisers decide it is easier to switch than fight. According to radio buyers, some companies cave almost instantly in the face of even a little negative feedback while others need to experience a truly sustained and widespread level of complaints before they listen.

Still, they don't have to get them all to make a difference: If enough advertisers put out the word that the show is a forbidden zone -- and they are not rapidly replaced -- the program will lose much of its economic value to local stations and station groups regardless of how well its audience numbers are doing. Of course, the already-loaded Limbaugh is never going to have trouble putting food on the table, but he and his fans could end up in less desirable timeslots or on fewer outlets.

Historically, the boycott approach has a mixed record. One of the most effective boycotts of recent times was against Viacom (VIA: news, chart, profile) unit VH-1's "Music Behind Bars," a program that showcased the jailhouse jams of murderers, rapists and assorted other scum. An outcry from victim's rights groups, law enforcement officials and politicians had advertisers staying away in droves and the cable network quickly pulled the plug on the series. (Viacom is a significant shareholder in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.)

The "Christian" right's attack on "NYPD Blue" in the early 1990s, on the other hand, was a complete failure. It initially scared off some marketers, but the program's ratings and demographics were so good that it attracted business from sectors that don't expect to sell to those folks anyway -- including movies, beer, cosmetics, designer clothing, etc. And the effort completely fell apart when the first big package-goods company (Unilever (UN: news, chart, profile), if memory serves) jumped in. "Blue" eventually went to become one of the most enduring and profitable shows in Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) unit ABC's prime-time line-up.

What makes this attempt particularly interesting is that progressives typically eschew ad boycotts both for free speech reasons and because it is a favorite technique of their ideological opponents.

Stinson, however, is unapologetic about tearing a page out of the other team's playbook: "We are going to employ the tactics of those people -- and it's already working. We are hitting some nerves."

Hmmm... From the "we already figured this" department: 'Rush Limbaugh uses fake callers to make liberals look dumb.' Former Premiere Radio Networks Intern Says...

A former Premiere Radio Networks intern has admitted that popular conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has staff members pose as liberal callers to present weak arguments in an effort to make the left's position less credible.

The intern, an aspiring talkshow host himself, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals from the conservative community.

"Rush claims to take calls from liberals but instead has his screeners heavily screens the calls, weeding out anyone from the left who might challenge and embarrass him."

"He also has his own people make calls pretending to be democrats and giving weak, sometimes ridiculous, arguments." The former intern said.

When asked if other conservative talkers employ the same techniques, the former intern could only say, "People like [Sean] Hannity are Rush clones... my guess would be that they do."

It has long been rumored that Limbaugh screens calls with an extra screener who sounds like him to catch strong liberals who might make it past the first screener by posing as a conservative.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel Admits Ownership Of Voting Machine Company

Senate Ethics Committee Director Resigns

The Washington Post characterized Hagel’s election in 1996 as the biggest upset of the election season. At the time, voters did not know that he owned and had held key positions with the company that counted his votes.

Thanks to Talion for this from the Institute for Public Accuracy

On October, 10, 2002 Bev Harris, author of the upcoming “Black Box Voting: Ballot-Tampering” in the 21st Century, revealed that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has ties to the largest voting machine company, Election Systems & Software (ES&S). She reported that he was an owner, Chairman and CEO of Election Systems & Software (called American Information Systems until name change filed in 1997). ES&S was the ONLY company whose machines counted Hagel’s votes when he ran for election in 1996 and 2002. The Hill, a Washington D.C. newspaper that covers the U.S. national political scene, confirmed her findings today and uncovered more details.

Hagel’s campaign finance director, Michael McCarthy, now admits that Senator Hagel still owns a beneficial interest in the ES&S parent company, the McCarthy Group. ES&S counts approximately 60 percent of all votes cast in the United States. According to the Omaha World-Herald which is also a beneficial owner of ES&S, Hagel was CEO of American Information Systems, now called ES&S, from November 1993 through June 2, 1994. He was Chairman from July 1992 until March 15 1995. He was required to disclose these positions on his FEC Personal Disclosure statements, but he did not. more

Two Bush State of the Union Lies Exposed!

One of the reasons dumbass reTHUGlicans get caught when the play fast and loose with the facts is they don't think anyone is going to check behind them. They think if they just throw something out into the atmosphere with enough bravado people will accept it without regard to its truthfulness.

Case in point: According to Buzzflash, there were many credibility holes in the speech. Taking credit for putting money in our pockets through a tax cut when it was actually the Democrats who sponsored those $300 checks. Homeland Security, safer airports (Al Gore's plan)), and an education bill were all Democratic ideas.

The biggest no-brainer were Bush's statements on Iraqi officers posing as scientists and aluminum tubes being used in the development of nuclear for nuclear development.

Bush said: "Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production... Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview."

However, Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had this to say: "We believe the tubes were destined for the conventional rocket program," He said the tubes could be modified for uranium enrichment, but the process would be "expensive, time-consuming and detectable." Concerning the Iraqi scientists, ElBaradei said it was unlikely his inspectors 'could be fooled in the nuclear area on who is a scientist and who is not.'

Of course, your typical republican is saying "so what? the end justifies the means!" Let's see if they still feel that way when body bags containing our dead fathers and sons begin arriving back here.

And while we're on the subject of those aluminum tubes, Paul Begala had a downright funny exchange with Republican Senator George Allen from Virginia on Crossfire last night. Allen struggled to say the least:

BEGALA: Senator, let me ask you about this matter of the aluminum tubes. First off, earlier in the year, our president say the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had a report that said Saddam Hussein would have a nuclear weapon in six months. The IAEA said, "With respect, Mr. President, that's false. There's no such report."

Then he told us that there were these aluminum tubes that were going to be used to make nuclear weapons. The U.N. inspectors said that's not the case. The British intelligence, our closest allies, say that's not the case and the American intelligence agencies say that is not the case.

Doesn't our president need to level with us instead of making things up?

ALLEN: What do you reckon they're using them for? Making aluminum baseball bats?

BEGALA: No, sir, they're actually for conventional -- No, they're for conventional weaponry. They're for conventional weapons and not nuclear weapons.

ALLEN: Right. And do you know that their rocketry and missiles far exceed what the United Nations allows them to have? (Allen tries to change the subject. Dumbass!)

BEGALA: Yes, but that doesn't make them nuclear. Why did he say they were for making nuclear bombs when he knew, or should have known...

ALLEN: Well, they could be. They could have been. (Sure, Senotor Allen, but they WERE NOT, so Bush LIED! ha ha!)

BEGALA: So they would have to buy the wrong size tubes and then modify them.

ALLEN: If you want to ignore all the facts and when you use the legal terms...

BEGALA: Are the Brits ignoring the facts?

From the "yo dude, you MUST be kidding' department

The Comcast cable television company rejected ads that an anti-war group wanted to air during President Bush's State of the Union speech, saying they included unsubstantiated claims.

HA HA! Really? There was an HOUR LONG lie fest going on and Comcast was preaching against unsubstantiated claims? Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, would not specify what they objected to. more



Convincing Speech? Bottom-line views on Iraq and the president's job performance barely budged after George W. Bush's State of the Union address.

Most of the positive responses to Bush's speech come from those who are on his side: Among people who support taking military action against Iraq, 79 percent say Bush made a good case for war. But among those who oppose it, 74 percent say he did not. Similarly, while 53 percent of viewers say the speech made them more confident in Bush's ability to handle the situation with Iraq, they disproportionately include supporters of his policy. Seventy-one percent of Republicans, for example, say the speech raised their confidence in Bush's work on Iraq. But only half as many Democrats agree.

Bush had less success, moreover, bolstering public confidence in two other issues he tackled — the economy and health insurance. Just about one-third of viewers say the speech raised their confidence in his ability to handle either one, and again these disproportionately are Republicans. Nearly two in 10 — disproportionately Democrats — say they came away with less confidence in Bush's ability to handle these issues. more

Begala Speaks

In last night's State of the Union address, President Bush promised not to pass along problems to future generations, then he promptly passed more than $1 trillion of new debt onto your children and grandchildren.

Today the congressional budget office delivered the bill. This year's deficit will be $199 billion, not counting any of Mr. Bush's new tax cuts for the rich or a war in Iraq. Factoring these in, private economists believe this year's deficit will be a whopping $300 billion, making it the largest deficit in American history, eclipsing the record held by George Bush Sr..

Now, in defense of the elder Bush, he inherited a fiscal mess from Ronald Reagan. Bush Jr., of course, inherited the largest surplus in history from President Clinton, and then he blew it.

Which is really a surprise because I thought if Junior would be good at anything, it would be at inheriting things. I was wrong.

Encounters with the Patriotism Police

Fun thread going on over at DU concerning republicans who love to say such trash as "if you don't agree with Bush, then leave Amurca!" Here are a few excerpts:

On a local talk radio show some lady snarled to the host, "If you don't like the way President Bush is running the country, GET THE HELL OUT!!".
Well, I guess there's no need to have elections anymore.

Last week, re-entering the U.S. from Canada, customs agent has established that I'm a journalist. He points to newspaper on my back seat. "WHAT are you doing with THAT newspaper?" he demands. It's the National Post, and the headline is FRANCE, GERMANY OPPOSE WAR PLANS.

"What do you write about IRAQ?" he demands. "Um, er, nothing... I design newspapers, not write them." But that doesn't save me from the full trunk search, all luggage unzipped and rummaged through.

last night my boss saw that I was reading War Plan Iraq by Milan Rai and called me a commie (only half jokingly) for being against the war. Anytime I get into a political discussion with him (which I try to avoid) he just parrots whatever was said on Faux News and always throws in "What you don't understand..." somewhere in the conversation. That drives me up the wall. I spend from 3 to 6 hours a day reading various articles from around the world but because I don't watch Faux I don't understand.

Do you have any of your own to share? Talk to me!

Anti-war protesters announce Feb. 15 rally for `millions'

Anti-war protesters on Wednesday predicted "literally millions" of people in New York, San Francisco and more than 30 international cities would march the weekend of Feb. 15 against war in Iraq.

A day after President Bush said in his State of the Union address that he was ready to disarm Saddam Hussein's Iraq, organizers brought politicians, church leaders and Oscar-winning filmmakers Jonathan Demme and Mercedes Ruehl out to announce the protest.

"We can, when we stand up together, actually stop this war from happening," said Leslie Cagan, a co-chairwoman of New York's United for Peace and Justice chapter. more



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out!

BREAKING: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Introduces Resolution To Repeal Iraq Resolution. Ted Kennedy Poised To Introduce It To The Senate Says Talkshow Host Randi Rhodes!!

Bush's Disturbing State of the Union...

Fans of George W. Bush must feel like giddy movie goers exiting a Rocky sequal. Hyped by their hero's display of faux physical prowess, they are in complete denial of the cold hard reality of the movie - it lacked substance and will be forgotten next week.

Bush made a grand statement, a lofty promise: 'This country has many challenges. We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, other presidents and other generations'...

If Bush is to be believed, he must work to leave this country as he found it in 2004 or 2008. This will not be easy as the following graph shows:



In his address, Bush repeated his claim that there was new evidence that Iraq has concealed "weapons of mass destruction" and has links to Al-Quaida. That may very well be. But as Bob Fertik of Democrats.com said, "If that's true, then why doesn't Bush give the details to U.N. inspectors so they can FIND and DISMANTLE the weapons? Failure to do so is a direct violation of U.N.Resolution 1441.

Former lead weapons inspector Richard Butler summed it up when he said the answer is not war, it is worldwide disarmament -- anything less is a "shocking double standard."

Bush boldly stated in his 2002 address that "my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs." Unemployment has shot up to over 6% since then - the worst in 12 years!

During the same speech, Bush also committed himself to catching the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. Today, Osama bin Laden seems to have been forgotten.

Last night Bush spoke passionately about AIDS ravaged Africa. He proposed an emergency plan for AIDS Relief, "a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa." Yet, in June, 2001, the Washington Post reported the president's choice to run the US Agency for International Development, Andrew Natsios, argued against giving antiviral drugs to the 25 million Africans that suffer from AIDS because Africans can't tell time! Apparently, taking AIDS drugs often involves a strict regimen, one which Natsios seems to think Africans aren't intelligent enough to keep. Instead, he suggested stressing "abstinence, faithfulness and the use of condoms" for preventing future outbreaks.

In August of last year, Bush withheld $5.1 billion in spending mandated by Congress - some of which was earmarked for overseas AIDS workers. more

Just two months ago, the Bush administration removed information on preventing AIDS from websites belonging to the Department of Health and Human Services. more

Earlier this month, Bush chose Jerry Thacker, who characterized AIDS as a "gay plague," to serve on the President Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

I could go on and on. Each point he made was a contradiction of actions he's already taken. All in all, the speech was nothing more than a re-election speech for 2004, full of promises of things he should have already done.

If I may make another boxing comparison, Watching the State of the Union address reminded me of a prize fight. I could tell those cheering for the pResident thought he won, but I could see the disappointment in their eyes that he didn't deliver a knock-out punch. Indeed, most of America feels that way, too, as indicated by this morning's CNN poll in which over half of Americans felt the pResident's performance was either average or below par.

Considering that most of the points in his speech are contrary to his job performance so far, he'll have to train a bit harder for his next big battle - actually backing up what he has said.

Bush Speech Casts Issues in Simple Terms

Americans are still being asked to take it on faith that the government knows what it has yet to show -- that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction and has ties to al-Qaida.

The allegations were thicker than the evidence in President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night. Officials say details of the charges will come in time, perhaps soon, maybe in part next week.

As usual in a president's summary of the nation's condition and where he wants to take it, nuances were left out -- sometimes material ones -- as he ranged across domestic and foreign policy.

The huge American audience, and those paying heed around the world, saw complex issues cast in simplest terms. more

Various takes on the speech...

Halfway through George W. Bush's presidential term, it's become fashionable to declare him a surprise and a success. He's been widely praised for his reaction to devastating terrorist attacks, and for his ability to sort through conflicting visions within his cabinet. Those who wrote him off as a feckless lightweight up until Sept. 10, 2001, appear mistaken. At this point, the prospects for re-election in 2004 look good.

The problem with these apple-cheeked assessments comes when you look at what Mr. Bush has actually done -- as opposed to what he's talked about doing, threatened to do or stopped others from doing. His list of achievements is remarkably short and, taken together, make a tepid package. more

There was no smoking gun last night. There was merely a smoky allusion.

President Bush tried to sell skittish Americans on a war with Iraq by alluding to the possibility of a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda.

Outlaw regimes seeking bad weapons, Mr. Bush said, "could also give or sell those weapons to terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation."

The axis of evil has shrunk to Saddam, evil incarnate. Iran and North Korea were put aside with the dismissive comment: "Different threats require different strategies."

The state of the union is skeptical. more

President Bush declared economic recovery his top goal Tuesday night, but offered little in the way of fresh arguments to convince a skeptical public and Congress to enact his $670 billion tax-cut plan. more

Americans are still being asked to take it on faith that the government knows what it has yet to show -- that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction and has ties to al-Qaida.

The allegations were thicker than the evidence in President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night. Officials say details of the charges will come in time, perhaps soon, maybe in part next week.

As usual in a president's summary of the nation's condition and where he wants to take it, nuances were left out -- sometimes material ones -- as he ranged across domestic and foreign policy.

The huge American audience, and those paying heed around the world, saw complex issues cast in simplest terms. more

From The Mail Bag

haha fuck you. Bush just kicked you in the nuts bitch!
VHILLIARD1@triad.rr.com

Oh golly gee! You got me! I apologize for all the bad things I've ever said about our brilliant president.

Honestly, is THAT the best you can throw at me? V. Hilliard, YOU are a dumbass!

All He Left Unsaid by William Rivers Pitt

On Tuesday night, the wretched specter of September 11th returned to Logan airport, departure point for the planes that took down the Twin Towers. Hours before George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union speech, a commercial aircraft had to be emptied, and its passengers re-screened, after a box cutter was discovered in a seat pocket.

During his speech, Bush attempted to tout the actions he has taken to secure the nation against terrorism. He spoke of the Homeland Security Department, increased border patrols, and 50,000 new airport security screeners in place across the country. He failed, of course, to mention the devious Total Information Awareness database that came along with Homeland Security, and he failed to mention how bitterly he fought to keep those 50,000 screeners out of the airports, because they would be Federalized workers and thus able to unionize.

So much went unsaid during his speech. That box cutter at Logan, however, spoke volumes. more

Did you miss this one? When Didn’t They Know It, and What About You?

You remember watching all those "Nazi holocaust" films, most of which focused on the question of the moral culpability of the German people. "Why didn’t these people do something? Couldn’t they see what was going on all around them? How can they pretend they didn’t know what the Nazi regime was doing?" Implicit in such questions has been a condemnation of most Hitler-era Germans for not standing up to say "no!" to this vicious regime... In years to come, when Americans have managed to put an end to their collective insanity and rediscover what it is like to live in peace and freedom with one another in a society capable of producing life-sustaining values, you may be asked by your grandchild: "what was it like back then, living under a police state? What did you do?" How will you answer her? more

Prescott Bush, 1.5 Million Dollars, and Auschwitz: How The Bush Family Wealth is Linked To The Jewish Holocaust!

On April 19, 2001, President George W. Bush spent some of Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Capital Rotunda with holocaust survivors, allied veterans, and their families. In a ceremony that included Jewish prayers and songs sung by holocaust victims in the camps, Benjamin Meed, a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, movingly described to the gathering what he experienced on April 19, 1943.

"I stood outside a Catholic church, which faced the ghetto," Mr. Meed said, "a young Jewish boy posing as a gentile. As I watched the ghetto being bombarded by the German artillery, I could see many of the Jews of my community jumping out of windows of burning buildings. I stood long and mute."

The survivor concluded his reminiscence saying, "We tremble to think what could happen if we allow a new generation to arise ignorant of the tragedy which is still shaping the future."

President Bush, appearing almost uncomfortable, read a statement that said that humanity was "bound by conscience to remember what happened" and that "the record has been kept and preserved." The record, Mr. Bush stated, was that one of the worst acts of genocide in human history "came not from crude and uneducated men, but from men who regarded themselves as cultured and well schooled, modern men, forward looking. Their crime showed the world that evil can slip in and blend in amid the most civilized surroundings. In the end only conscience can stop it."

But while President Bush publicly embraced the community of holocaust survivors in Washington last spring, he and his family have been keeping a secret from them for over 50 years about Prescott Bush, the president's grandfather. According to classified documents from Dutch intelligence and US government archives, President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush made considerable profits off Auschwitz slave labor. In fact, President Bush himself is an heir to these profits from the holocaust which were placed in a blind trust in 1980 by his father, former president George Herbert Walker Bush... more

Flashback November 2001: Controversy surrounds Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Justice Department's detention of at least 60 Jews...

Controversy surrounds Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Justice Department's detention of at least 60 Israeli Jews in the United States as part of America's September 11 terror probe. Some of the Jews have been jailed for up to 60 days on the pretext of minor offenses involving working papers and other violations.

None of the detainments have produced a single public charge in connection with Sept. 11.

Federal officials have presented no evidence that the Jews, most of whom worked selling toys and trinkets at kiosks in shopping malls, had anything to do with terrorism, reported the WASHINGTON POST on Friday.

In one of the few cases to reach a hearing, a federal administrative law judge in Cleveland rejected any suggestion that the 11 Jews before her had any ties to terrorists.

Five young Israelis recently released from two months in US jails described oppressive conditions and rough treatment, saying they "were treated like terrorists" even after it quickly became clear they were not involved in the World Trade Center attack...

The Nazification of America rolls on...

out.

The "Hans Blix" Report: What Does It Mean?

"The most important point to make is that access has been provided to all sites we have wanted to inspect, and with one exception, it has been prompt." said chief inspector Hans Blix. "But," he added, "It was not enough to open doors."

Say what? The inspectors objective was to inspect sites thought to house weapons. They have been given access and, with one exception, it has been quick. The inspectors were given what they came for. Blix admits that. But he now says it isn't enough? Is Blix miffed that the Iraqis weren't nice about it? No chips, salsa, and beer waiting for the inspectors at each site? None of that famous Iraqi hospitality?

I mentioned yesterday that just four days prior the UN nuclear agency said Friday that Baghdad deserves a "B" grade for its cooperation with weapons inspectors and that the Security Council will be asked Monday to give the inspectors more time to finish their job. Did something happen over the weekend we don't know about?

Mr. Blix delineated a long list of problems relating to his inspectors' ability to adequately ascertain the state of Iraq's weapons program. This is where his statements get a little comical.

"Our Iraqi counterparts are fond of saying that there are no proscribed items, and if no evidence is presented to the contrary, they should have the benefit of the doubt, be presumed innocent."

"Presumptions do not solve the problem," Mr. Blix added. "Evidence and full transparency help."

Mr. Blix, what was your purpose? To inspect, right? Did you find anything? All indications point to "no." Yet, you've joined Bush in insinuating that just because no evidence has been found, that doesn't mean none exists. It sounds as though Iraq is caught in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" scenario here. If that is the case, then you've effectively rendered your job meaningless.

Fortunately, the report has changed very little in the eyes of the world. It has been interpreted as a sign that inspections are working and that you and your crews need more time.

Evidence of Weapons Concealment to Be Shared in Effort to Boost Support for War

Here's something else that isn't quite clear to me. The Bush administration has assembled what it believes to be significant intelligence showing that Iraq has been actively moving and concealing banned weapons systems and related equipment from United Nations inspectors, according to informed sources.

After a lengthy debate over what and how much of the intelligence to disclose, President Bush and his national security advisers have decided to declassify some of the information and make it public, perhaps as early as next week, in an effort to garner more domestic and international support for confronting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with military force, officials said. more

If Bush has this information, why are we wasting time with inspectors? Why didn't the pResident just tell Blix yesterday, "thanks, but we have our evidence...here it is"...? Once again, the inspectors' jobs are rendered meaningless. Unless, of course, that is the objective - to make the inspectors appear incompetent for missing such crucial evidence...

Kentuck at the DU forum points out:

It's the one question that the corporate media has yet to ask the Bush Administration. How do you know Saddam still has weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons? They might be surprised at the answer.

"Well, when Poppy and Ronnie were in power, we gave Saddam these weapons....and the last inspectors could never account for all of them. We want to know where they are? We had an inventory of everything that we gave Saddam and we have not yet found all the deathly weapons that Poppy and Ronnie gave to this madman...."

Former U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler: Washington promoting "shocking double standards" in dealing with Iraq!

Former U.N. arms inspector Richard Butler said Tuesday that Washington was promoting "shocking double standards" in considering taking unilateral military action to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.

"The spectacle of the United States, armed with its weapons of mass destruction, acting without Security Council authority to invade a country in the heartland of Arabia and, if necessary, use its weapons of mass destruction to win that battle, is something that will so deeply violate any notion of fairness in this world that I strongly suspect it could set loose forces that we would deeply live to regret," Butler said. more

Bush to show direct link of Iraq, al Qaeda

The Bush administration will present new evidence directly linking Saddam Hussein with the al Qaeda terrorist group to bolster the White House position that the United Nations should get "one last chance" to enforce its resolutions on Iraq, a senior official said yesterday. STOP!

If Mr. Bush's evidence here is compelling enough (and proves to be true) then all bets are off. We on the left have been saying all along that we need to get Al Qaeda first then go after Iraq. If there is a connection - I mean a direct connection - then a convincing case of war with Iraq could be made. But Mr. Bush? Please don't make it up. We'll be watchng... more

Republicans: Pop Divas are the reason America's image has slipped in the world

Recently, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a rightwing conservative organization, did a survey to measure world opinion of the United States. What it found was an overwhelmingly favorable impression of Americans has slipped. No surprise there. But here is where the conservative bias of the survey kicks in. in 19 out of 27 countries where trends can be measured, Americans are no longer seen as passive, kind-hearted, law-abiding people. In fact, according to Washington Times republican shill reporter John McCaslin, Hollywood is the reason. "Americans are perceived as overbearing, aggressive and domineering — if not downright criminal."

He quotes that bastion of honesty and intergrity, Newt Gingrich, as an expert source to back up these dubious claims. In one op-ed column last week in the Los Angeles Times, Gingrich said "thanks to Tony Soprano, 'Sex and the City' and young pop divas, Hollywood has given us our unflattering image."

Mr. Gingrich labeled "astounding" what Boston University professors Melvin and Margaret DeFleur found when surveying 1,259 teenagers from 12 countries about their attitudes toward Americans.

"Few of those surveyed had any direct contact with Americans — only 12 percent had visited the U.S.," he noted. "But they did have access to American television programs, movies and pop music, and based on that exposure, most of these teens considered Americans to be violent, prone to criminal activity and sexually immoral."

Of course, the rightwingers are conducting these surveys and spewing such conservative buzz phrases like "sexually immoral" to counteract a more respected and thorough survey done late last year by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. This one was done in 44 countries with 38,000 interviews (compared to the 27 countries of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research survey and the mere 1,259 interviews from the Boston University survey.) and had quite different results.

The most common criticisms of the United States in the Pew Research survey are that it acts by itself, it pushes policies that widen the gap between rich and poor nations, and it doesn't do enough to solve the world's problems.

Anger has been further fueled by the United States' prominent military role in the world as part of the war on terrorism — a marked shift from its 1990s role as a driving force in the global economy.

America’s image also suffers from the perception that our foreign policy is hypocritical and our leaders arrogant. These findings are a direct reflection of our current leadership. So of course the right is going to do their own little survey and try to shift the blame.

But we've always had hollywood and pop divas. Two shows like the Sopranos and Sex and the City aren't so different than what has been produced by hollywood for generations. Would these conservatives make a case that John Wayne and Charlton Heston shoulder some blame in their findings? Probably not. And it's interesting that similar surveys in the past have never given a negative "hollywood/pop music" connection to world opinion on the U.S.

This is just one more example of the conservative right trying to blame their shortcomings on the one thing that they cannot control - pop culture - and deflect the real problem: Themselves.

Wall Street Journal misquotes FOX News to prove they're right. But they got it wrong!

In another classic example of conservatives twisting facts in an attempt to prove they're right, a Wall Street Journal piece says, "The political class warriors can never seem to figure out why their 'tax cuts for the rich' mantra fails to sway the American public. In the spirit of educating even our opponents, we'd point them to a recent poll from Fox News..." They then detail part of the FOX News poll that asked voters what is the maximum share of income that any American should pay in taxes. The Wall Street Journal piece then points out with glee that "more than half (53%) think it should be no more than 20 percent." What they fail to mention is that in the same poll in 1999, 65% felt that way. So the number of people who feel that taxes should be no more than 20 percent has actually declined. Dramatically. If that trend continues, in 2008, only 41% will take the Wall Street Journal's position. It seems that, despite what this opinion piece said, the "tax cuts for the rich mantra" has and is continuing to sway the American people because it is true.

Oh, and the Wall Street Journal completely ignored the part of the FOX News poll which clearly show the majority of those surveyed feel Bush's new economic plan is unfair.

But what do you expect from rightwingers?

Zogby America Poll: Bush losing ground to all Democratic challengers
Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report Poll: Only 40% will definitely vote for Bush in 2004 more

Only one major poll DOESN'T have Bush's approval in the 50s. You guessed it! more...

Bring Back 'Tricky Dick!'

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, on 'The McLaughlin Group' over the weekend, yearned for the return of Richard Nixon to the presidency. "I'd like to have Richard Nixon back actually. I think he'd be a huge improvement."

Clift's pining for Nixon came after she said that Bush's new economic team 'will be a disaster' because they are selling 'the same stupid policy' as the old team. She then awarded Bush an 'F' grade for his first two years in office.

Clift asserted that Ari Fleischer is a mouthpiece and the press can't stand him. "The president loves him because this is the most secretive and arrogant administration we have seen — probably since the days of Richard Nixon." she said.

I think Nixon would be an improvement, too. But if we could replace Bush, why waste the opportunity on Nixon? How about Roosevelt, Kennedy, or Clinton?

Daschle accuses Bush of lying over economy, so does Rightwing Slayer!

President Bush has been "saying all the right things, but doing very few of them," since Sept. 11, 2001, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Monday. Daschle and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also find the Bush administration wanting on other key issues.

Speaking to reporters for the Democrat view of the State of the Union before Bush's Tuesday speech, the congressional leaders laid out what they call a series of broken promises by the president and the failure of his economic policies.

"While promising relief to hard-pressed middle-class families, the White House delivers a reward to wealthy investors," Daschle said of the Bush economic proposal. "While promising to bring new accountability and responsibility to government, the White House runs up huge deficits - and then blames it on the war."

"Plus, he's a big dumbass!" Blogger Rightwing Slayer added. more

Prepare yourself for this one... I'm serious!

In the years since the first Gulf war, Dr. Janan Hassan and other doctors in Iraq have seen what they say is an ever-growing number of babies with hideous birth defects. Last year alone, at least 137 were born with congenital malformities, five times as many as reported in 1991.

And that is not the only frightening trend. Iraqi authorities say the number of children and adults stricken with leukemia, lymphoma and other types of cancer has also soared since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

To the Iraqis, there is a simple explanation. They blame the increases on exposure to depleted uranium, a radioactive substance used in weapons fired during the war by U.S.-led forces.

"Pentagon Experts" state there is no proof of these deformities caused by depleted uranium exposure, yet they block any medical research to determine the problem.

DON'T CLICK HERE if you love children. You will be appalled at what our "weapons of mass destruction" has done to the children of Iraq, not to mention our own soldiers and future generations of Americans.



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Blix: Iraq Has Not Accepted Disarmament - What a difference 4 days makes!

Top weapons inspector Hans Blix on Monday said Baghdad had not genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding that it disarm. However, the UN nuclear agency said Friday that Baghdad deserves a "B" grade for its cooperation with weapons inspectors and that the Security Council will be asked Monday to give the inspectors more time to finish their job. Why the flip flop?

Has Hans Blix handed George W. Bush his war? And what of the missing 8,000 pages the United States edited out of Iraq’s 11,800-page dossier on weapons before it passed on a “sanitized” version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations security council?

Without all the information, the non-permanent members of the Security Council will have no way of testing the US claims for themselves if the US and the UK go back to the Security Council seeking authorization to wage war on Iraq due to alleged breaches of resolution 1441.

According to Geneva-based reporter, Andreas Zumach, missing pages provided the names of US corporations, government agencies and even nuclear labs that over the years have helped arm Iraq, and train Iraqi personnel in the use of these arms—illegally.

So what we have here is this: The U.S. has said continuously they have proof of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction but have refused to reveal it. If these missing pages contain that proof, then revealing them would also reveal the names of the U.S. companies that helped arm Iraq.

Is Bush protecting these companies, once again putting corporate America above all else? According to thememoryhole.org, the following U.S. companies have aided Iraq in its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs: Honeywell, Spectra Physics, Semetex, Unisys, Sperry Corp., Tektronix, Rockwell, Leybold Vacuum Systems, Finnigan-MAT-US, Hewlett-Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak, American Type Culture Collection, Alcolac International, Consarc, Carl Zeiss - U.S, Cerberus (LTD), Electronic Associates, International Computer Systems, Bechtel, EZ Logic Data Systems, Inc., Canberra Industries Inc., and Axel Electronics Inc.

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks wants to talk to top Bush Administration officials

After a bumpy start that included the resignation of Henry Kissinger as its first chairman, the commission investigating pre-Sept. 11 government lapses may remain just as controversial. Two commissioners of the bipartisan panel, which holds its first meeting this week, told TIME they will push for a wide-ranging, aggressive probe that will include testimony from top Bush Administration officials who didn't testify last year in a joint inquiry by the House and Senate intelligence committees.

The probe will push for testimony from Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell and Ashcroft, and perhaps even Bush himself.

"I can't imagine that we wouldn't be talking to them." Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, a key architect of the legislation forming the commission, said the Bush Administration "slow-walked and stonewalled" the House-Senate inquiry. "I don't see how you can have a thorough investigation without talking to the people who were in charge throughout the time period prior to 9/11."

One panelist, Tim Roemer, a retired congressman, feels all relevant Bush officials must be interviewed this time around, along with officials from prior Administrations dating back to the 90s.

Roemer complained in a statement he issued last month as a member of the House-Senate panel that the congressional probe suffered because such officials as Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and Condoleezza Rice "were not questioned directly about issues related to the Sept. 11 attacks." A Rumsfeld spokesman refused to "speculate on what participation will be extended" to the commission.

The commission holds its first meeting in Washington today, 16 months after the attacks. The Republican controlled congress has given the commision just $3 million and little more than a year to explore the causes of the attacks, preparations for future terrorism and the response to the airline hijackings that killed more than 3,000 Americans.

By comparison, Republicans spent 8 years and over $100 million investigating Bill Clinton, only to prove he got a blow job.

For concise timelines leading to 9/11, click here and here.

Related:

Before Sept. 11, the Bush Anti-Terror Effort Was Mostly Ambition

Commission warned Bush but White House passed on terrorism recommendations

The Lies We're Told About Iraq

The Bush administration's confrontation with Iraq is as much a contest of credibility as it is of military force. Washington claims that Baghdad harbors ambitions of aggression, continues to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction and maintains ties to Al Qaeda. Lacking solid evidence, the public must weigh Saddam Hussein's penchant for lies against the administration's own record for honesty. Based on recent history, that's not an easy choice... more

U.N. Officials Say Intelligence To Prove U.S. Claims Is Lacking

No surprise here! U.N. officials involved in the inspections accused the United States and other foreign governments of providing "little actionable evidence" in their search for a smoking gun in Iraq. In other words, the unelected fraud is giving bogus information to the inspectors.

"We know the Americans have concerns, but if they want to make their case . . . they should be more forthcoming with us," one official said.

The "case" Bush has made for attacking Iraq gets more and more laughable as the days go by. Still, I'm not ready to declare that Saddam isn't stockpiling weapons. I'm just saying we should give the inspections time to work.

Overall, though, Bush the texas dumbass is doing this largely for political reasons. He's lazy. He's ignoring the real powder kegs in the middle east as well as the India/Pakistan conflicts that could really lead to a nuclear exchange.

You supporters of Bush as such suckers!

Susan McDougal Speaking Out — Finally

For years Susan McDougal didn't talk. For her silence she would spend 18 months in jail for contempt of court...plus three-and-a-half months for fraud. But now she's telling her story in "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk."

You could call it "McDougal's Revenge," It's more than her life story. It's a bitter indictment of White House Independent counsel Ken Starr, who led the battle to get her to lie about President Bill Clinton. She claims Starr's team was not interested in hearing the truth; they wanted her to accuse Bill and Hillary Clinton of fraud.

"I believe they thought they had the goods, enough to get him," she says. "Not the truth, but the goods. And I believe they went after him with untruthful witnesses, with perjured testimony... more

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

In this British comedy, the Americans see the chance to bring traditional Western values to the Middle East: democracy (from the people who brought you George W Bush); freedom (from the people who brought you Guantanamo Bay) and economic prosperity (from the people who bought you Enron).

See the movie here.

Bush approval drops in more polls

CNN: 53% approval; Newsweek: 55%; NBC News/Wall Street Journal: 54%

Ten polls now have Dubyah in the 50s. Anyone want to bet when he hits the upper 40s?

Sucker Puncher!

According to The American Prowler, Former President Bill Clinton is telling friends and Democratic insiders that the Gore campaign in 2000 never gave him a chance to enter the fray against George W. Bush. "Now that he doesn't have to hold back for anyone, he's campaigning against Bush like he wanted to back then," says a former Clinton staffer. "The gloves are off."

The article by the Prowler says signs of Clinton stepping back into the bare-knuckled political arena were evident last week, when he tore into Bush for the administration's economic stimulus package and the deficits the war on terror and the weakened economy are creating.

Another example detailed by this article happenned later in the same week when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lashed Bush over homeland security in a speech the former president told friends he helped craft.

"President Clinton has said he wants to use the next two years to wear down Bush so whoever is the Democratic candidate will have an easier time of beating him," says the former Clinton aide. "He's going to show the party the way to beat the Republicans. If they choose to ignore him, and lose again in 2004, it just means that Hillary will have a clearer field to run in in 2008. Either way, Clinton wins."

An article you might have missed: Documentary of US 'war crimes' shocks Europe

American soldiers have been involved in the torture and murder of captured Taliban prisoners, and may have aided in the "disappearance" of up to 3 000 men in the region of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to Jamie Doran, an Irish documentary film-maker.

Doran's latest film, Massacre At Mazar, was shown on Wednesday in in the Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin, and there were immediate calls for an international commission to be set up to investigate charges made in the documentary. more

BUSH AND HITLER: Is History Repeating Itself?

No one expected Hitler to rise to power. He had failed at just about everything he had ever undertaken until he discovered politics. In the world of spin and power plays, a superficial gift of gab and bullish determination could replace intelligence and idealism without missing a beat. Hitler found that the path to the top was short: Just tell a discontent people what they want to hear and make promises you have no intention to keep. more

From the mailbag!

I don't know what caused this to appear on my screen but I NEVER want this to appear again. I couldn't possibly disagree more with its content.
Ken Campbell

Well, then, Ken, FIRST you have to take personal responsibility for your actions. You either clicked a link, typed in the URL directly, or went to a site that has it as a pop-under. THAT is what caused it to appear on your screen.

Second, if you don't want it to appear again, don't do the things mentioned above. Simple, huh?

And please tell me, Ken. What did you disagree with? Everything stated is a fact. Perhaps you just don't know the difference between something that isn't true and
something you WISH isn't true.

Slow news day, so I'm out.. unless something happens...

U.S. weighs NUCLEAR STRIKE on Iraq!

Read this damnit!

One year after President Bush labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "axis of evil," the United States is thinking about the unthinkable: It is preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iraq. Why? Let's put this into perspective, ok? Iraq has been under constant attack since the beginning of the first Gulf war. During the Gulf War, US-led Coalition forces dropped 88,500 tons of bombs on Iraq, more than were dropped on Europe during WWII. Targets included electrical generating plants, water treatment facilities, and sewage treatment plants. Because of the sanctions in place since the end of the Gulf war, Iraq has been unable to repair or replace these facilities which are vital to the health of the entire civilian population. As a result, disease has been rampant.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health estimates that 109,720 persons have died annually between August 1990 and March 1994 as a direct result of the sanctions. There is now a two-fold increase in infant mortality and a five-fold increase in under-5 mortality because of these samctions. There are 4,500 children under the age of 5 dying each month from hunger and disease. In Central/Southern Iraq, 27.5 percent of Iraq's three million children (some 900,000) are now at risk of acute malnutrition.

Read this damnit!

Due to the hazards of the water supply, government statistical office figures show 1,819 cases of typhoid fever in 1989 and 24,436 cases in 1994. Similarly, there were no reported cases of cholera in 1989, but 1,345 cases in 1994.

Fifty percent of rural people have no access to potable water.

Waste-water treatment facilities have stopped functioning in most urban areas.

In rural areas, only half the people have access to a water supply from a network, public tap, or well, and only 34 percent have a sanitary type of latrine.

Article 48 of the Geneva Convention reads: It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensible to the survival of the civilian population such as food, livestock, agricultural areas and drinking water installations. The United States is, and has been, in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.

... AND THE BOMBS KEEP COMING!

Now, our unelected fraud wants to add to this misery by using nuclear arms? Have you ever seen what nuclear radiation does to a person who isn't lucky enough to die instantly?



At the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in Omaha and inside planning cells of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, target lists are being scrutinized, options are being pondered and procedures are being tested to give nuclear armaments a role in the new U.S. doctrine of "preemption."

Isn't Bush supposed to be a christian?



Everyone needs to come together and stop this madness! more and more

Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas strikes again!

I love this woman! Fresh on the heels of calling George W. Bush the worst president ever, she slams Ari Fleischer on Iraq - and snidly refers to Bush as a king!

Helen: Who in this country, beside the President and his courtiers, want to go to war with Iraq?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not aware of anybody here who wants to go to war with Iraq, Helen. But the President very much wants to protect the peace by making sure that Saddam Hussein cannot engage in war against us.

Helen: He's aware that there is widespread opposition to war in this country?

MR. FLEISCHER: Do you think that the majority of the Americans are opposed to war with Iraq, Helen?

Helen: I think so. What do you think?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think if you take a look at all the public surveys on this issue, there's a lot of Americans who believe that Saddam Hussein does, indeed, pose a threat. And they believe --

Helen: They'll give their brothers, their husbands, their children?

MR. FLEISCHER: -- and they believe that if the President, knowing what he knows, makes the determination that the best way to protect the American people from the risks that we have seen our nation is vulnerable to --

Helen: So he believes people want to go to war?

MR. FLEISCHER: -- is to disarm Saddam Hussein from having weapons of mass destruction, the President will make a case --

Helen: We have weapons of mass destruction. Eight other countries have them.

MR. FLEISCHER: And how many resolutions has the United Nations passed urging us to not have the weapons that we have that have successfully kept the peace for 50 years?

Helen: How many other nations have defied U.N. resolutions and gotten away with it?

MR. FLEISCHER: None like Saddam Hussein on a measure that has been this unequivocal, where the world has called on him --

Helen: I could give you chapter and verse otherwise.

(Thanks to Robear for this!)

Someone tell me why the rightwing loons are soooo pissed at this picture?



They say she is desecrating the American flag by sitting on it. They seem to forget they've desecrated "the Republic for which it stands" by installing dumbass as pResident.

I think, though, that they just HATE seeing a black tennis champion. Further, Slayer - being as white as wonderbread, thinks she's a hottie. I guess the KKK will have a burning cross on my lawn soon...



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Parents: If your sons and daughters die in Bush's oil war, they'll rot in mass graves!

The bodies of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq or future wars may be bulldozed into mass graves and burned under an option being considered by the Pentagon.

Since the Korean War, the U.S. military has taken great pride in bringing home its war dead, returning bodies to next of kin for flag-draped, taps-sounding funerals complete with 21-gun salutes. But the 53-year-old tradition could come to an abrupt halt if large numbers of soldiers are killed by chemical or biological agents, according to a proposal quietly circulating through Pentagon corridors. more

Disgusting that Bush is preparing for such a tragedy to line the pockets of his rich supporters... how many young men and women do you know who'll die to keep the Republicans in power and their oil buddies happy?

GOP Priorities - More interested in Clinton's penis than investigating 9/11!

BuzzFlash points out that the Republican controlled congress spent over $62 million investigating Bill Clinton's genitalia but will only allocate $3 million to investigate the failures leading to 9/11! It's true. Yes it is. The reTHUGlicans are puritanical morons. But a least they spend money on things they feel matter the most - like investigating a blow job instead of the worst terrorist attack ever on American soil!

Rightwing fundamentalist redneck judge suggests link between Sept. 11 and legal decisions

The Alabama chief justice famous for his Ten Commandments fight warned an audience Tuesday night of "great consequences" when America turns away from God and suggested the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks might be an example.

Roy Moore, in Washington to accept an honorary doctorate in divinity from the National Clergy Council and Methodist Episcopal Church U.S.A., implied a parallel between the attacks and what he contends has been a 40-year legal erosion of religious rights, including his own right to display the Ten Commandments in court.

When asked if he was familiar with the spirit of the First Amendment's etablishment clause, Mr. Moore asked whether it was in the old or new testament. more

World war has begun, leader says

As the Malaysian Prime Minister sees it, the Third World War has already begun between "the axis of evil and Satan."

In a provocative speech to delegates at the start of the annual World Economic Forum, Mahathir Mohamad painted a picture of the West, particularly the United States, facing an enemy it doesn't understand and doesn't seek to understand.

"We fear terrorists. We fear flying. We fear night clubs. We fear parcels. We fear white powder. We fear shoes. We fear Muslims. We fear metal cutlery," he said.

"They fear starvation. They fear military invasion. They fear being rocketed. They fear being captured and detained." more Refer to this article a year from now and see if Bush has been declared a war criminal.

Bush's Senior terror adviser to resign. Why?

Richard A. Clarke, a blunt-spoken White House adviser who raised warnings about Islamic terrorism and biological weapons years before they became nightmare headlines, is resigning. Clarke, the pResident's counterterrorism coordinator at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was disinclined to accept a senior position in the new Homeland Security Department and will resign instead.

Clarke already has submitted his resignation letter to the pResident, one person said. Clarke is among the country's longest-serving White House staffers, hired in 1992 from the State Department to deal with threats from terrorism and narcotics.

Apparently, now that terrorism is no longer Bush's focus, Clarke saw no place for himself in the coming illegal war with Iraq. more

Quotes From the Crossfire!

"A report from the Associated Press earlier today said that the top nuclear watchdog investigating Iraq has plans to tell the United Nations the Iraqis' cooperation has been, quote, "quite satisfactory." In fact, the inspector planned to give Saddam Hussein a "B."

Now, the International Atomic Energy Agency later retracted this grade, saying that the comment was not appropriate and that its the U.N. Security Council's job, not its job, to pass judgment.

Now, if we're grading President Bush for the accuracy of the matter of Iraq's nuclear program, on the other hand, maybe I'd be generous to give him an "I" for incomplete. Here's why.

In September, our president told the United Nations that Saddam Hussein tried to buy aluminum tubes which, our president said were, quote, "used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons," end quote. Now, as "the Washington Post" quotes today, experts in the United States government, as well as British and U.N. experts, say that claim is now seriously in doubt. Turns out the tubes are for conventional weapons.

Said one American expert to the post, quote, "If the U.S. government puts out bad information, it runs the risk of undermining the good information it possesses."

Something to think about as President Bush rattles the sabers next week in his State of the Union address." Paul Begala

and...

"More information has come to light today on the extent to which President Bush relied on affirmative action to get his elite, private education.

Nicholas Kristof of "The New York Times" reports today that George w. Bush got a far greater boost to get into Phillips Andover Academy than minority kids get today at the University of Michigan.

What's more, when he applied to Yale, Mr. Bush's SAT scores were, according to Mr. Kristof, 78 points lower than Yale's median in math and a whopping 102 points below the median for verbal skills. No surprise there.

Yet Mr. Bush got into Andover, just as he got into Yale, just as he got into a coveted, non-combat slot in the National Guard during Vietnam.

Perhaps Hispanic and black kids today could learn from our president's example. If you want to get ahead in life, don't rely on affirmative action. Do it the old fashioned way, rely on your family's name and your daddy's money." Paul Begala

From the mailbag

Thanks for all you do, News is fun again! You are my number one read over the Morning Coffee!
Rob
Seattle Wa.

Rob, I'm honored you've chosen my blog to share your coffee with. Thank you!

I am a Scotsman who has is sick to the bones of the illusion of truth that most of the NATO country's leaders like to pull over the voting public. I beleive after personal research related to 911 that it may well have been an attack on the USA instigated by the USA. What better sacrafice to make but destroy an international business centre with citezens from most developed countrys working their. The men on the planes may thought that they were giving up their lives to martyrdom and Allah. But surely there has to be truth in various reports and facts collated by what remains of the free press.

There has to be more to life other than those at the top using our hard earned currency to buy themselves more power.

There has to be more than war in Iraq. I mean dont Bin Laden and President Hussain dislike each other so much that Bin Laden offered kill Hussain during the first Gulf War. Was it not the CIA who trained Bin Laden? Was it not The USA and UK that supplied our great ally (Iraq) with weapons of mass destruction to be used against Iran?

Why then has the propaganda Machine been painting these too suposidely evil men with the "we must destroy them" brush, when actually we created them?

We all forget too easily these important fact. It has been my own Britain that has rewritten the geographical bounderies of the Middle East for most of Modern History, all the time placing them where we wanted them to keep all the tribe suspicious and jealous of each other. Imagine if they united under one common leader, the economic power they could hold over the west. So whether it be about oil, economics, terror or whatever, uslot in the west have made our bed and well we have to lie in it.
Murray Visentin

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Bush Accuses Joint Chiefs Of Treason!

Dim Bulb's Meltdown Continues...There Will Be NO MORE TREASON!

As Senior Pentagon officials are quietly urging pResident George W. Bush to slow down his headlong rush to war with Iraq, complaining the administration’s course of action represents too much of a shift of America’s longstanding “no first strike” policy and that the move could well result in conflicts with other Arab nations, the pResident is having one his famous temper tantrums. A White House Source reveals, “the President considers this nation to be at war, and, as such, considers any opposition to his policies to be no less than an act of treason.”

Conversations with sources within the Bush administration, the Pentagon, the FBI and the intelligence community indicate a deepening rift between the professionals who wage war for a living and the amateurs within the adminstration who to want to send them into battle.

Sources say the White House has ordered the FBI and CIA to “find and document” links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

“The implication is clear,” grumbles one longtime FBI agent. “Find a link, any link, no matter how vague or unproven, and then use that link to justify action against Iraq.” more

...And Speaking of Demented Rightwing Zealots Crying "Treason..."

Leading conservanazi pundit Ann Coulter contends quite ignorantly that liberals have been wrong on every major domestic and foreign policy issue of the last half century, from the fight against Communism at home and abroad, the Nixon and Clinton presidencies, and the struggle with the Soviet empire, right up to today's war on terrorism. "Liberals have a preternatural gift for always striking a position on the side of treason," says Coulter. "Everyone says liberals love America, too. No they don't."

In her new book, Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, she apparently defends Senator Joseph McCarthy,a truly frightening assessment if her readers take her seriously.

She must also believe the Iran-Contra scandal that could have had Reagan impeached was a mere misundertanding. What, you say? Reagan was in danger of impeachment? Yep! A little known fact. The late Tip O’Neil, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, once considered bringing impeachment charges against Reagan. In fact, Francis Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said "our system of government was in jeopardy in the Reagan Iran-Contra scandal." The White House had "basically set up an underground government. But no one really made an effort to impeach Reagan over that -- though documents show that Reagan and his people were concerned about impeachment." This, after Reagan had a lengthy discussion with O'Neil.

Coulter also brings up the often repeated, widely believed, yet still exaggerated belief that Reagan ended the cold war and defeated communism. Republicans like Coulter love to wrap themselves in the American flag over this. What she, and others like her, are forgetting is their own standard argument that we brought down the Soviet Union by out-spending them. But Congress controls the purse strings of the country and, at the time, it was controlled by the Democrats. Coulter and her rightwing crew should at least be a little honest and admit that the fall of communism was brought about by a shared effort, but they're not known for their honesty.

I'm sure she also considers the liberal peace activists of the 60s who effectively ended the Viet Nam war traitors, as well as the leaders and participants of the civil rights movement.

Coulter also wants us to believe we were all wrong about the Nixon presidency, a prospect I would find laughable if I were sure that those duped into buying this book wouldn't take it seriously.

And that is the problem with Coulter and all the rest of the rightwing shills screaming "treason." A certain part of the population are going to believe them. The result could be a complete exorcism of our country's spirit of dissent.

Hopefully, this latest wave of rightwing hysteria will be looked upon one day in the same light we hold McCarthyism to. Then history will show who really committed treason.

“This is the worst president ever.. he is the worst president in all of American history.”

Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas began reporting in 1943 and has covered every U.S. president since JFK. In 1972 she was the only woman on the Nixon China trip. She seems to "have sympathy and affection for everyone but George W. Bush, a man who she said is rising on a wave of 9-11 fear — fear of looking unpatriotic, fear of asking questions, just fear. 'We have,' she said, 'lost our way.'"

Thomas believes we have chosen to promote democracy with bombs instead of largess while Congress “defaults,” Democrats cower and a president controls all three branches of government in the name of corporations and the religious right.

“This is the worst president ever,” she says. “He is the worst president in all of American history.”

The woman who has known eight of them isn't joking. more

Read the Draft Impeachment Resolution Against President George W. Bush here

The pResident might ask himself, "Wait a minute. How did I get into Yale?"

George W. Bush is all for diversity, he explained last week. However, If our unelected impeachable dumbass had the slightest sense of irony, he might have paused to ask himself, "Wait a minute. How did I get into Yale?" It wasn't because of any academic achievement: his high school record was ordinary. It wasn't because of his life experience--prosperous family, fancy prep school--which was all too familiar at Yale. It wasn't his SAT scores: 566 verbal and 640 math.

They may not have had an explicit point system at Yale in 1964, but Bush clearly got in because of affirmative action. Affirmative action for the son and grandson of alumni. Affirmative action for a member of a politically influential family. Affirmative action for a boy from a fancy prep school. These forms of affirmative action still go on.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Harvard accepts 40% of applicants who are children of alumni but only 11% of applicants generally. And this kind of affirmative action makes the student body less diverse, not more so. George W. Bush, in fact, may be the most spectacular affirmative-action success story of all time. Until 1994, when he was 48 years old and got elected Governor of Texas, his life was almost empty of accomplishments... MUCH more... heee heee!

Senate Blocks Funding for Pentagon Database

Saying they feared government snooping against ordinary Americans, U.S. senators voted on Thursday to block funding for a Pentagon computer project that would scour databases for terrorist threats.

By a voice vote, the Senate voted to ban funding for the Total Information Awareness program, under former national security adviser and convicted felon John Poindexter, until the Pentagon explains the program and assesses its impact on civil liberties. more



MP3 Audio Collage of January 18 Rally Against War from Whatreallyhappenned.com! Download HERE! Excellent!

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NBC/WSJ Poll Shows Bush Under 50% In 2004 Matchup With Kerry

US begins secret talks to secure Iraq's oilfields

The US military has drawn up detailed plans to secure Iraq's oilfields. The US state department and Pentagon disclosed the preparations during a meeting in Washington before Christmas with members of the Iraqi opposition parties. Breaking...

Photo-op Cover-Up! Those Boxes REALLY Said "Made In China!"

President Bush gave a speech touting tax breaks for small businesses yesterday and stood against what appeared to be a backdrop of cardboard boxes stamped “MADE IN U.S.A.” However, the boxes in the south St. Louis warehouse were actually painted on a large screen behind the pResident. The real boxes in the warehouse were stamped “Made in China,” although someone tried to obscure the stamps by plastering over them with blank white labels or marking through them with back markers.

Asked about one of the labels by The Washington Times, Randy Shore, warehouse manager for J.S. Logistics and obvious dumbass, smiled and lied: “I don’t know how it got there.” He later lied again and said the labels would be filled in with numbers to identify their location on racks throughout the warehouse. Pressed on why the stickers were placed precisely over the “Made in China” stamps, he added: “That’s as good a place as any.”

“Nobody instructed me” to obscure the stamp, he insisted.

But the White House later acknowledged the stickers were affixed intentionally. White House Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan attributed the move to “an overzealous volunteer.” Ah! ANOTHER dumbass!

“Obviously, it’s not appropriate,” she added.

Asked if an overzealous volunteer was responsible for the “MADE IN U.S.A.” backdrop, she smiled and said: “No.”

AIDS Panel Choice Calls The Disease A "Gay Plague."



Proving that the Bush administration are equal opportunity bigots, they've chosen Jerry Thacker, a Pennsylvania marketing consultant who has characterized AIDS as the "gay plague," to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

If you're thinking "this would be like appointing the fox to head an advisory of hen house chicken and egg production," you're right!

Thacker, a former Bob Jones University employee (racist) is an AIDS victim himself and he says he contracted the AIDS virus after his wife was infected through a blood transfusion.

In his speeches and writings on his Web site and elsewhere, Thacker has described homosexuality as a "deathstyle" rather than a lifestyle and asserted that "Christ can rescue the homosexual." However, some material has disappeared from the Web site after word of his nomination spread throught the gay community.

Thacker obviously feels praying for Jesus to strike down all the homosexuals is one way of dealing with AIDS and Bush probably agrees.

"This individual is an extremist ideologue who persecutes and demeans an entire class of people impacted by this disease," said David Smith, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign. "That type of person has no business advising the president of the United States on how the government should address the epidemic." more



Of course, this appointment is consistant with Bush's method of operation: Replace anyone you can with those who share your ideology, regardless of how credible that person is.

Thacker joins Bush's nominee for Treasury secretary, John W. Snow, a convicted drunk driver and deadbeat dad, as the latest members of the Bush junta.



Abortion, Cloning Are on Bush Agenda

Discussing Bush's continuing plan to mold America into the image of the recently deposed Taliban in Afghanistan, White House senior adviser Karl Rove said yesterday that bans on late-term abortions and human cloning are high on President Bush's agenda and should be achievable in the new Congress. more

Republicans in my neck of the woods feel prayer is a much more effective means of curing diseases than the medical discoveries cloning would provide. They're also pushing to reclassify women as incubators for their next wave of Hitler Youth.

Speaking of women's reproductive rights...

The three U.S. senators seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina and three other announced presidential candidates, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
received a stern warning Tuesday night at NARAL Pro-Choice America's celebration of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

"I fully expect pro-choice senators to filibuster any nominee who does not affirm a woman's constitutional right to choose," NARAL President Kate Michelman warned the presidential hopefuls.

Ed Harris ROCKS! Bush isn't a man, "God damnit!"

Hollywood actor Ed Harris on Tuesday questioned President Bush's manhood, suggesting that real men are pro-choice on the abortion issue.

Addressing the NARAL Pro-Choice America celebration of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Mr. Harris declared:

"Being a man, I have got to say that we got this guy in the White House who thinks he is a man, who projects himself as a man because he has a certain masculinity. He's a good old boy, he used to drink, and he knows how to shoot a gun and how to drive a pickup truck. That is not the definition of a man, god damnit!"

The remarks garnered wild applause.

No less than 7 major polls show Bush approval dropping like a stone in a pond!

A new NBC poll of 1,025 adults, sampled for opinions between Jan. 19 and 21, showed the unelected fraud's approval numbers spiraling downward over the past seven weeks. The data indicate that Americans are increasingly pissed with Bush’s performance in the Oval Office. The president’s overall approval rating slipped to 54 percent in this latest poll.

Other polls that have Bush numbers in the 50s now are the ABC News/Washington Post Poll, the Newsweek Poll, the CNN/Time Poll, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey, the Investor's Business Daily/Christian Science Monitor poll, and the Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report Poll. more

Of course, last week right wing shill Matt Drudge tried to downplay the latest CNN/Time poll, sarcastically referring to it as a "gloom and doom" poll. Other polls are now mirroring those CNN/Time numbers.

Answer this: Bush's numbers have dropped by 37%! If you had an investment that lost 37% of it's value, how long before you dumped it? Hmmm?

Don't click here. You'll go blind!

... I warned you...

Something Is Going On At Fort Hood... Something... Odd...

On this gigantic military base in Texas, something is boiling under the surface.

Soldiers are refusing their vaccines. They are not being jailed or forcibly inoculated.

Some soldiers who did take their vaccines are sick.

Two weeks before 9/11, all 60 gates at the facility were blocked with concrete barriers and barbed wire. Guard patrols were stepped up.

At least a few soldiers there believe that 9/11 was a military OP carried out by the US government. They also believe that the imminent war on Iraq has the clandestine purpose of enlarging the borders of Israel... interesting, huh? Believable...?

You want proof! I'll give you proof!

Kentuck at the DU forum points out:

It's the one question that the corporate media has yet to ask the Bush Administration. How do you know Saddam still has weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons? They might be surprised at the answer.

"Well, when Poppy and Ronnie were in power, we gave Saddam these weapons....and the last inspectors could never account for all of them. We want to know where they are? We had an inventory of everything that we gave Saddam and we have not yet found all the deathly weapons that Poppy and Ronnie gave to this madman...."

Why don't they frame just as such?

To all the liberals who take the high road when dealing with our fascist government and those who support it

"My next thing is to drive mealy-mouthism from the Democratic Party... the American people are not going to elect somebody to defend America who cannot defend themselves... Republicans have learned that they can say anything they want to. When you answer it, a lot of Democrats are horrified. They say you can't do that, that it's negativism. No, it's not. It deciding that you aren't going to let thuggery work."

James Carville

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