Nobody Could Have Predicted...

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nice speech. There's 30 minutes I'll never get back.

Taking a break from his workout regimen tonight to tell some more fairy tales about Iraq.

Gun manufacturers cannot be held liable for the actions of people who used their products to kill someone else, but writers of file-sharing software can be liable if someone uses their product to infringe on a copyright. Ownership society, indeed.


Software Doesn't Infringe on Copyrights: People Do!

Smirk and Rummy off to Ft. Bragg

Source

First of all, where's the outraged response from Limbaugh, Hannity, Hume, Frist, DeLay and others for the revealing of an undercover CIA operative in an act of political revenge and intimidation by someone within the Bush administration like they feigned about Durbin and his comments regarding Gitmo?

Secondly, there is a valid argument about protecting sources which reveal the criminal acts of others so that they may be brought to justice. But that is not the case here. Here, the revelation was itself a criminal act tantamount to treason which puts us all at greater risk from nuclear proliferation.

Why hasn't Bush used his "impeccable instincts" to figure out who the leaker is? Probably, because he already knows.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

What might an honest man say?

Poll numbers sagging like steroid man boobs.

We heard so much about what meaning of "is" is. Just because it sounds so Clintonian. Ok smart guy, what is the meaning of "is?"

Now, we have the Vice-President trotting out dictionary definitions of "throes" as in the Iraqi Quaqmire is in its last throes. The plain meaning suggests that the end is in sight and close at hand. Well, reality and the military commanders have a different view so the definition of "last throes" has to be adjusted to fit Cheney's alternate universe.

Then, we have the "intelligence is being fixed around the policy." This sounds as though the intelligence was being crafted to fit a preconceived determination. No, the meaning all the Bush defenders want to use is that the intelligence was being gathered to support the allegations not that it was being "cooked."

Fixed can be used in many contexts. For instance, you may fix something that is broken. Or, something maybe working perfectly well but that is undesirable. So we had our dog "fixed." Or, an election can be fixed. Don't really have to elaborate on that one. So, intelligence was "fixed." I opt for the definition about the dog. The intelligence being generated by the agencies tasked with such duties was undesirable. Therefore, it had to be fixed. Now the dog is shooting blanks. Much like the reaction we'll get the next time we tell the world we have proof of some nefarious actions by some rogue regime sitting on top of oil reserves somewhere that we need to invade to make ourselves safer.

So anyway, these are the people who want to be "strict constructionists" of the Constitution. I wonder which dictionary definition they will use to continue to fix the Bill of Rights. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments already have taken a beating under this administration and the Fifth Amendment took another broadside in the recent Supreme Court decision about eminent domain.

The Bill of Rights purpose is to protect the citizens from the government, not the other way around.

Head strong and resolute: Two Symptoms of an Infallibility Disorder

An NBC News analysis finds 55 percent hail from Saudi Arabia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8293410/

With 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, this must mean there's a shitload of Saudi's.

Oh yeah, and what about Poland?

After months of being chided for his Rose Petal Greeting prediction for the troops entering Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld finally admitted that he got his RPG's mixed up.

He began yesterday on This Week, "They are almost as united today and almost as certain today that global warming is a threat as 30 years ago, they were certain global cooling was a threat." .

What he's attempting to do is discredit today's findings by relating scientific concerns of 30 years ago, and by extension, infer that today's scientific consensus must be wrong, again.

What he fails to mention:

30 additional years of environmental observation.

Advances in monitoring technologies and techniques.

30 additional years of greenhouse gas emissions.

Advanced computer modeling available today.

But mostly he fails to make the logical leap that this reversal in scientific thinking isn't because they were wrong then, but because they're right now. This "reversal" from a new ice age to concerns about global warming is actually evidence that man's activity on the planet can indeed affect the whole planet. If you adopt the premise that they were not "wrong" 30 years ago, your conclusion is completely different.

We already knew that Will is ethically challenged, now it appears he's intellectually challenged as well.

Both Bush and Condi have been selling this canard. What's amazing is that "everyone" came to this conclusion in spite of the fact that Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rice, Perle, Wolfowitz and the LMSM were cautious in their assessments and caveated each and every contention about Saddam's WMD. Besides that, why didn't Saddam comply with the the demand for inspectors to return to his country if he really wanted to avoid war? Why did Saddam include in his 12,000 page weapons declaration 8,000 pages that would have to be redacted? Saddam brought this on himself and the people of Iraq because there was no other option but war. More Cool-Aid, anyone.

You Can't Trust the Word of a Madman, you know!

dis-sent n : difference of opinion as a : a religious nonconformity b : a justice's nonconcurrence with the decision of the majority -- called also dissenting opinion c : that which is to not be tolerated d : an expression of an opinion that differs from that of the ruling majority that will expose the one expressing it to a savage personal assault (you got that?)

ob-struc-tion n 1: an act of obstructing : the state of being obstructed as a : condition of being clogged or blocked b : a delay or attempted delay of business in a deliberative body (as a legislature) 2 : something that obstructs (such as his head and his alimentary canal).

Simply stated, there is no doubt the Bush administration continues to possess the rhetoric of mass deception.

So Why is Blair Smiling? Must like being used, abused and discarded.

Mr. President, what can you tell us about the Downing Street Memo?

Schwarzenegger to return $10,000 after all

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided it's better, on second thought, not to keep $10,000 donated to his campaign by Maumee rare-coin dealer Tom Noe.

Last week, Mr. Schwarzenegger's chief fund-raiser said the governor planned to keep the donation but yesterday, a campaign adviser to the governor reversed course, saying he has ordered the money be returned.

Toledo Blade

It should also be noted that the political ad rewarding major donors with "product placement" is no longer being broadcast nor is it available at the promotional website www.joinarnold.com

Now, musclehead is going after public employee unions and trying to blame them for out of control state spending and Arnold's own inability to balance a budget. At a time when there's a critical shortage of trained nurses and efforts are being made to recruit and retain teachers, this bonehead decides it's wise to attack the unions representing these trained professionals. Trained professionals who typically don't command the same salaries as equally trained professionals in the private sector.

For Arnold's and the GOP's latest attack on free speech and the First Amendment, go to Arnold Watch by clicking link in r-hand margin.

Must Read Article by Robert Parry:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/060805.html


Yet another instance where they beat up the opposition for their own F-up

BFEE Approach to Science:

ERASE - EDIT - ELIMINATE

Next thing you know, doctors will be treating their patients by photo-shopping x-rays. See, your cancer is in complete remission, just look here.

I can't even spell in my thought bubbles.

According to George Will, GWB's instincts are usually impeccable. Why didn't they tell him the Iraqi intelligence was faulty? Why didn't they tell him the California Energy Crisis was a fraud. Why didn't they tell him that Islamic terrorists were going to attack us.

The only time his instincts are impeccable is when they tell him he can FUBAR whatever he wants with impunity from the media.

We Impeach Liars, Don't We?

Just Ask the People of Ohio

Why yes, I am a tired cliche'

Plutocracy in Action

It looks like the mild criticism about Arnold's blatant product placement for big contributors has led to the deep-sixing of the offending ad. In his retooled version, he attacks public employees' labor unions as the cause for California's fiscal problems.

What he doesn't do is examine how the contrived energy crisis of 2001 has had a dampening effect on California's economy. We're still paying inflated prices thanks to Enron and the Bush Administration's failure to stop the rape of California.

The high energy costs also affect businesses, large and small. But what's he done about that. Has he demanded that FERC void the contracts which Gray Davis signed under duress?

Anyway, clearly visible in his new ad is a large Coca-Cola banner or vending machine. Was this intentional or was he just giving equal time to Coke after the freebie he gave to Pepsico?

This is a governor who has been bought by big business interests. Naturally he's going to attack public employee unions just like he's done with the teachers, firefighters and nurses.

It's about power and the attack on unions is a thinly-veiled attack on the financial underpinnings of the Democratic party just like GWB's attack on lawyers.

This is about survival of the two-party system.

Why is everyone on the left so focused on the Downing Street Memo and the lies that were told to get us into war when we could just as easily talk about the lies since the war began or which are presently being told?

Of the 700 estimated Iraqi's killed since the election, how many of them had a purple finger?

Does anyone actually think there's a plan to leave Iraq anytime soon with the construction of a multi-billion dollar embassy building and permanent military bases numbering in the double digits?

Don't be a flaming, hypocritical girlie-man !

On Thursday, President Bush joined a steadily growing band of Republicans opting to rid their campaign accounts of Mr. Noe's money, but the Republican governor of California is not planning to return the campaign cash he received from Mr. Noe, who is facing a flurry of state and federal investigations.

"The allegations about Mr. Noe became public a year after we accepted his contribution," said Martin Wilson, a spokesman for Mr. Schwarzenegger. "As he was an active Ohio Republican Party fund-raiser and donor, we had no reason at the time to question his contribution and have no intention of refunding the money."

Toledo Blade

Martin Wilson should take a crash course in ethics. If you receive stolen property, it doesn't mean you get to keep it just because you didn't know it was stolen, or if you've had it for a long time, or because the thief who gave it to you was a well-connected member of your crime family.

Thankfully, we will be able to remove this stench from Sacramento in 2006. Otherwise, I suggest another RECALL.

Personally, I didn't care much for the charisma-challenged Gray Davis. He, however, would be preferable to this cliche' spouting, corporate shill and his brand of brigands.

A spokesman for Arnold Schwarzengger said that they're just too stupid to have purposefully placed big corporate contributors products in political commercials. Well, maybe that's just how I elect to interpret it.

"I wish we were that smart," said Marty Wilson, Schwarzenegger's fundraiser.