Nobody Could Have Predicted...

It's Hard Work

Dear Ann:

Have you ever been in a situtation where your life or physical well-being was threatened and how did you respond?

Have you ever risked your own life to save someone else?

How have you personally come the aid of any victims of a disaster?

You denigrated the military service of Max Cleland and John Kerrry. What rank did you achieve in the military? Were you ever wounded? Did the government think your service to your country was worthy of a medal?

Can you please give us all the details of your sex life like you demanded from Bill Clinton?

Are you on any medication? If no, why not?

There's got to be some way to blame this on Clinton!

Bush Ignores the Destruction and Stays on Vacation. Dems need to show they care about their fellow Americans, unlike the heartless neocons.

President Bush called an emergency meeting of high-level staff in order to formulate a response to the widespread destruction and flooding caused by Katrina which would afford the best political advantage and/or image enhancement. Initial plans to have Bush outfitted with scuba gear when he flew into Louisiana were scuttled. However, other emergency apparatus for him to wear or carry was not dismissed as readily. The trick, one insider said on condition of anonymity, is to not make it look too theatrical and, of course, be certain the president is never in any real danger.

In 1941, Germany invaded France and quickly overwhelmed the French army that had never truly recovered from WWI. Those sympathetic to the Nazi's were known as the Vichey and are reviled for their capitulation and collaboration with the invaders. They are despised to this day. On the other hand, the French resistance fought the Nazi's the best they could, without the military forces to do so. This included sabotage and clandestine operations. The Nazi's and the Vichey were brutal in their efforts to thwart the insurgency, often the innocent paid the price in these efforts. Today, the resistance fighters are considered heroes who helped defeat and repel the invaders.

Maureen Dowd has a interesting piece today. After reading it, I could just imagine GWB, in full combat flight suit, jumping up and down on Oprah's couch yelling, "The progress is amazing. I love this war."


Maureen Dowd

Remember when the American Legion proclaimed it would "take whatever means necessary" to make certain all the troops in harm's way were outfitted with state of the art body armor?

Remember when Joe Scarborough was outraged that American troops were using vehicles in Iraq without the adequate armor plating to protect them from IED's and was disgusted to the point of needing a shower?

Remember when Move America Forward started a much publicized caravan to the Crawford Compound Green Zone because of their anger over troops being served tainted food by Halliburton.

Remember when the Veterans of Foreign Wars lobbied hard against cuts to the Veterans administration and the cuts to troops in the combat zone?

Remember when, based on the principle of shared sacrificed, the use of "stop loss" orders was decried by Fox News as a back door draft.

Remember when you could criticize something that was obviously FUBAR without be called a traitor, a communist, or part of the "blame America first" crowd?

In a speech to bolster support for his war, George W. Bush said something to the effect that Cindy Sheehan does not speak for all the military families.

Three things:

1. Funny how this follows up on the blatantly partisan, Move America Forward "You don't speak for me, Cindy" caravan on its way to Crawford.

2. Has she ever claimed to speak for anyone but herself?

3. Neither do you, George.

BTW, what's up with the photo-op with George and some other doofus standing in tall grass?

BTW, do you suppose the backdrops used at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' convention were supplied by the White House propaganda department?

A "You don't speak for me, Cindy" caravan left Sacramento on its way to the Crawford Compound Green Zone to counter the peace message. A local radio station seems to be actively involved in promoting this rebuttal to Cindy Sheehan and I would not be surprised if KFBK was sponsoring the trip to some degree.

Nobody Could Have Predicted that KFBK is owned by Clear Channel, a blatantly partisan Bush supporter. Remember, it was Clear Channel that held rallies in support of the war under the guise of supporting the troops.

As seen at: www.allhatnocattle.net

As seen at: www.crooksandliars.com

1941-1963

June 9, 1954"Have You No Sense of Decency?"

Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy rocketed to public attention in 1950 with his allegations that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies. These charges struck a particularly responsive note at a time of deepening national anxiety about the spread of world communism.

McCarthy relentlessly continued his anticommunist campaign into 1953, when he gained a new platform as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He quickly put his imprint on that subcommittee, shifting its focus from investigating fraud and waste in the executive branch to hunting for Communists. He conducted scores of hearings, calling hundreds of witnesses in both public and closed sessions.
A dispute over his hiring of staff without consulting other committee members prompted the panel's three Democrats to resign in mid 1953. Republican senators also stopped attending, in part because so many of the hearings were called on short notice or held away from the nation's capital. As a result, McCarthy and his chief counsel Roy Cohn largely ran the show by themselves, relentlessly grilling and insulting witnesses. Harvard law dean Ervin Griswold described McCarthy's role as "judge, jury, prosecutor, castigator, and press agent, all in one."

In the spring of 1954, McCarthy picked a fight with the U.S. Army, charging lax security at a top-secret army facility. The army responded that the senator had sought preferential treatment for a recently drafted subcommittee aide. Amidst this controversy, McCarthy temporarily stepped down as chairman for the duration of the three-month nationally televised spectacle known to history as the Army-McCarthy hearings.

The army hired Boston lawyer Joseph Welch to make its case. At a session on June 9, 1954, McCarthy charged that one of Welch's attorneys had ties to a Communist organization. As an amazed television audience looked on, Welch responded with the immortal lines that ultimately ended McCarthy's career: "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness." When McCarthy tried to continue his attack, but Welch angrily interrupted, "Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"

Overnight, McCarthy's immense national popularity evaporated. Censured by his Senate colleagues, ostracized by his party, and ignored by the press, McCarthy died three years later, forty-eight years old and a broken man.

HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF DECENCY?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is having a fundraiser which costs $100,000 for a ticket to see the Rolling Stones. To most people, this would seem elitist and proof the wealthy have the most to gain from Arnold's tenure as governor. But with your help, I can buy a ticket to see these rock icons and perhaps clue Arnold in on how most of us actually live. The good news is that I'm only short $99,990. Thanks in advance.

The diction-challenged president is not much of a storyteller. He is, however, one dynamic wreck-on-tour.

Cynical Observation: All the media attention given to Cindy Sheehan is keeping the attention off the Plame scandal. Who benefits?

Crooks and Liars has the video: www.crooksandliars.com

So O'Reilly has on Collen Rowley, the FBI agent who blew the whistle on incompetence at the FBI. He said he didn't want her to go to Crawford to support Cindy Sheehan because he was looking out for her (Rowley's) best interests. More likely, the motive for his feigned concern was a thinly veiled attempt to keep her from supporting Sheehan because someone with Rowley's creds will be much harder to vilify, the right-wing extremists' first line of defense.

In the space of the 5 minutes of video I saw, O'Reilly managed to:

Blame Clinton for the 3000 deaths on 9/11

Try to preemptively paint George Soros, Michael Moore and MoveOn.org as left-wing, radical extremists.

Admit that part of the right-wing attack menu is to use "guilt by association" and that Cowley could expect to be the victim of such an attack.

Interrupt Cowley numerous times evidencing his status as an arrogant dipwad.

Act like McCarthy by holding up two pieces of paper which he purported to be a list of the "extreme left" organizations which have rallied behind Sheehan.

Continue to make a fool of himself. What a tall bag of shit!

Anyway, how can one trust a right-wing extremist liar like Bill O'Reilly. I say liar because didn't he deny any wrong-doing with his female staffer until it became apparent by her court filings that she had recorded falafel-boy. Funny how a settlement was reached soon thereafter.

Why do these people hate America? Why do they blame America first? Why do they not support the President when he's sent troops into battle? Why are they trying to break the spirit of American soldiers who are dedicated to fighting for our freedoms?

From Crooks and Liars

"If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again, all right?"

Hey Bill, what do you call it when your actions make the troops more vulnerable? Treason perhaps. When war profiteers take limited resources away from supporting the troops, I'd call that treason. How about you coming down as hard on Halliburton as you have on Cindy Sheehan? What a vile, disgusting piece of shit you are!

Do You Think Bill O'Reilly Is:
	A big sack of noxious gas
	A big sack of excrement
	A big sack of perversion
	A big sack of moral cowardice
	Just plain obnoxious
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The story about Bush being "wired" during the debates had been published instead of quashed by a Bush-Supporting publisher.

The Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert access to the White House had actually been questioned by members of the elite White House Press Corp before he brought scrutiny upon himself.

The 911 Commission Report had been aired in its entirety, especially the part about ignoring all the warnings prior to the attack.

The abject failure of the press to discuss the Plame scandal, its implications to national security, and the connection to Karl Rove.

The media's whole treatment of the Swift Boat Liars.

The Downing Street Memos had been leaked sooner.

The Bush National Guard story wasn't purposefully FUBARed by CBS.

It the votes had been counted in the same way they had been cast.

Remember when paying for favorable legislation was called "graft" and not a "campaign contribution."

Remember when paying someone to not reveal a secret was called a "bribe" and not an "exclusive contract."

Taking a break from the exhaustive "war on terror," GWB will spend the bulk of August in the "war on sticks and twigs."

Rooting out evil, one devilish shrub at a time.

Whenever the media refers to the Kennedy digs, it invariably calls it the "Kennedy Compound." Likewise, during the last election, Kerry's digs were called the "Kerry Compound." So why is it that Bush's Crawford retreat is called a "ranch." Isn't it too a "compound?" This appears to me to be subtle phrasing to promote a more populist image for Bush. Even though he's a product of prep schools and Ivy League Colleges, the cowboy image has been thrust upon us by a compliant media. So from now on, please called it the "Crawford Compound."

Anyone ever calculate how much this all costs the American taxpayer?

'In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.', Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

Franklin could never have envisioned the political landscape of the 21st century or else he would have added to this list, 'Any criticism of the Bush administration will result in a malicious, vicious, personal attack by slimy, partisan scumbags.'

They don't care about the props, I mean troops.

Need Some Wood?

Rove, Novak, Libby or Sheehan?

LEAK-GATE] - CIA leak may not be found: Bush

washingtonpost.com

Novak Leak Column Has Familiar Sound

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, October 7, 2003; Page A23

Let's review: Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak gets a leak of classified information from foreign-policy hardliners. The column he writes causes a huge embarrassment for the Republican White House and moderates throughout the administration. Capitol Hill erupts with protests about the leak.Sound familiar? Actually, this occurred in December 1975.

Novak, with his late partner Rowland Evans, got the classified leak -- that President Gerald R. Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were ready to make concessions to the Soviet Union to save the SALT II treaty. Donald H. Rumsfeld, then, as now, the secretary of defense, intervened to block Kissinger.

The main leak suspect: Richard Perle, then an influential aide to Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-Wash.) and now a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and a confidant of neoconservatives in the Bush administration. The account was described in a 1977 article in The Washington Post, noting Perle's "special access" to Evans and Novak.

Read More: http://www.apfn.org/leak-gate/bush.htm

"President Bush is taking his summer vacation. It's a five-week vacation. He has taken his 50th vacation in the last five years, 50th vacation. That's about the national average, isn't it? But while he's on vacation, he will continue to receive national security briefings. He will receive them, of course he won't read them. But he will receive them." -- David Letterman

As usual, Dave's audience laughed it up. What could be funnier than ignoring warnings about an attack that forever changed our great country for the worse. 3000 dead, billions in damage, an excuse for preemptive war, previous high approval ratings for a bungling incompetent and his re-election (even if fixed). I just don't see the humor!

Last night on ABC News, they ran the story about Raphael Palmeiro being suspended for steroid use. In fact, this was their lead story. ABC went on to show Palmeiro's sworn testimony before Congress suggesting that it might not have been truthful as in perjury.

The next story was about the recess appointment of John Bolton as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. They mentioned the complaints leveled against him regarding his treatment of subordinates, the possible misuse of prewar intelligence and his disdain for the institution to which he is going to be our chief diplomat. It seemed odd, however, after talking about Palmeiro's potential perjury, that they did not mention Bolton's apparent lack of candor in the questionnaire he filled out regarding interviews with prosecutors involved in the Plame outing. Why was this omitted. Either Bolton was purposefully lying or he has a defective memory. You choose.

It's because you regulate the flow of disinformation, Scott.

Sam Brownback (r) Kansas had this to say on Face the Nation regarding stem cell research.

"This will be one of, I believe, the first time we've ever used taxpayer money to pay for the intentional destruction of human life and that's what this does."

Okay, stem cell research is a hot-button issue with many people on both sides of the debate. How are you supposed to have a reasoned discussion when you have people like Pence and Brownback making such exceedingly stupid arguments.

More money is spent on the means of "intentional destruction of human life" than on anything else.