POLLY CELEBRATES AMERICAN POLITICS

Oh Miss Polly! You have outdone yourself! Absolutely hilarious!

Hilarious! Brilliant! Where can I order one? Several. Dozens!

Love the Helen Thomas Access Card!

....games...
Bu$hInc, racheting up the spin game.
America apparenting is collectively deciding they don't approve of Bu$h's shell game:

Bush Trying to Win Over Americans on Iraq

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - As public support for his Iraq policy declines, President Bush is working to convince wary Americans that he has a military and political strategy for success in the war in which 1,730 U.S. troops have been killed.

In his radio address on Saturday, Bush warned that there is likely to be more tough fighting to come in Iraq. And, as he did in his meeting at the White House Friday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bush urged Americans to share their confidence in a positive outcome to the war.
snip~
In the Democratic radio response, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter administration, alleged that the war has been conducted with "tactical and strategic incompetence."

"Two years later, America finds itself more isolated than ever before, the object of unprecedented international mistrust," Brzezinski said. "As a result, we are not as safe as we should be here at home."

He said the war has turned Iraq into a training ground for terrorists and noted that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has not been captured. "The violence in Iraq continues at increasing rates and American casualties continue to mount," Brzezinski said.

snip~
Ongoing violence in Iraq has taken a political toll on Bush and has raised alarms in Congress. Just over half of Americans now say the United States made a mistake going to war, and almost six in 10 say they don't approve of the way Bush has handled Iraq, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.
snip~
While Bush says progress is being made, Brzezinski points to a Pentagon warning that the Army Reserve is turning into a "broken" force.

In January, the military services' own estimates indicated that at the pace of U.S. deployments to Iraq, the Pentagon would be hard pressed by next year to provide enough reserve combat troops. Army Reserve chief Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly advised at the time that his citizen militia was "rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force."

"Patriotism and love of country does not demand endless sacrifice on the part of our troops in a war justified by slogans," Brzezinski said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050625/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

haha, excellent, Polly!

best thing I've read so far today:
NYT today: Editorial

Three Things About Iraq

To have the sober conversation about the war in Iraq that America badly needs, it is vital to acknowledge three facts:

The war has nothing to do with Sept. 11.

The war has not made the world, or this nation, safer from terrorism.

If the war is going according to plan, someone needs to rethink the plan.

snip~
The surest way to make sure that conversation does not happen is for the administration to continue pasting the "soft on terror" label on those who want to talk about the war.

continue~
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/opinion/25sat1.html?

Where can I purchase this game? It's perfect for our schools...much better than the failed LNCB!

"The Republicans need to learn: more strident does not make you more correct. If it did, Joan Rivers would be running things."

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/22303/

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 24, 2005 10:00 PM

I wanted to repost this for Saturday readers - America isn't usually treated to this much common sense all in one article. It's about this ridiculous notion Republicans have sold us that criticizing the government means not supporting the troops. How they have muddied the brains of so many of us is beyond me. Here's a common sense look at their position.

Favorite line: War,bad; Troops,good.

This is my analysis on how to deal with this Karl Rove attack, and how to use it to our advantage. It’s kinda long but I really had to get it out there. Please tell me what your thoughts are....

On a previous thread, Toolmaker said:

"Rove is a lot of things but he is not stupid. He purposely threw that into liberals faces, and liberals bit."

I know that many people share this belief that Rove threw out that slander to take us away from the real message. And it is important that we stay on message. But at the same time, this IS part of the message. We all complain that bush's poll numbers suck... except for the ones on terror. Well, by fighting back on Rove's statement, we can change that.

As long as we're not defensive about it, we can use this to aggressively get the message out.

As spinnaker said also on the other thread:

“I think that the Democrats need to walk and chew gum at the same time, meaning that they need to tie thing together for people...I think the point maybe is that each time they try to move the message, we bring it BACK on message by using whatever THEIR language has been about. Sort of like a political ju-jitsu.”

I think that's it exactly.

But the MOST IMPORTANT thing we need to be sure we do with Rove is to STOP telling people "oh, Rove knew what he was doing, he threw that out there to confuse Democrats." I've heard people say that on the radio and on TV and it just drives me crazy! Think if this had been the other way around-- a Democrat making the statement. What would Rove do? He'd spin it to make of it what he wanted, of course!

Every time we say, "Rove knew what he was doing when he made this comment," WE ARE HELPING HIM. Every time we say, "This is a sign that they are getting sloppy and desperate," we are HURTING them. Regardless of which is true. And there is some evidence to suggest that the later is true. For example, supposedly Rove's strategy is to attack his opponents' STRENGTHS, but clearly, this terrorism thing is BUSH'S only strength.

I know we have to stay on message-- we ALWAYS have to stay on message. But if we can ABRASIVELY make this PART of the message, stop telling people that Rove knows what he's doing, and start telling people that he's desperate, we can use this to our advantage.

Josh Marshall on his blog compared Rove's attacks to what those swift boat liars did to Kerry. Back then, during the campaign, it obviously wouldn't have helped us any to proclaim loudly, "Oooh, these guys know what they're doing!" Rather, it helped to say, "Look how pathetic and desperate they are!" But of course, he also learned that we need to fight back. The same goes for Rove. His comments could end up damaging him greatly, but we can't ignore him and we can't give him too much credit either. During the campaign people told me not to worry about the swift boat liars, saying, "When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, don't take the gun away from him." This should NOT be our policy on Rove. Our policy should be:

When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, raise the gun to his head.

...just my 2 cents...

hmmm, i suppose that should say AGGRESSIVELY*, not ABRASIVELY... stupid spell-checker...

I think it's high time we started demanding that our military recruiters turn out in force at every young Republicans meeting and/or event of any kind. That is where they will find the most support for attacking Iraq because Saudis who had trained in Afghanistan attacked us in New York.

Mature Republicans know this invasion was a collosal mistake, as do thinking people (i.e. today's non-Republicans) of all ages. It's the Young Republicans that are still stupid enough to fall for the line that for BushCo's warped, illogical and unplanned attack on Iraq was part of a fight against terrorists who attacked us.

Dear Polly,

The game you have developed should hit the stores in time for July 4th picnics, or at the very least, August Vineyard vacations.

Hope production is coming along, and if you need any further publications help, please do contact:

Susan Peterson Kennedy
President Penguin Group
375 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014

I am sure they need new product now that they have taken care of both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton's reputations in the past year. Remember, however, that the TRUTH is of no importance in their marketing and sales plans. You may need to fight for the integrity and direct honesty of the game...

Yours in sardonic solidarity,

KB

NT4K,

KJ posted a diary on dailyKos yesterday saying almost the same thing. It made a lot of sense. The basic thesis was "Desperate Rhetoric From a Failed Presidency". Many of the comments are excellent. I would recommend reading some of those to get some good ideas how we frame this discussion.

http://dailykos.com/story/2005/6/24/125838/403

I am reposting this on this thread because it is so ghastly importatant. On the last thread I have posted other links to other stories and pictures of the mass graves.

HELLO EVERYONE..

Listen, me and Rossi have done much research between us, last year we kept running across runors about the greencard soldiers.

The story was broken, hard to follow, devoid of details, but we eventually did discover certain facts were true, DID YOU KNOW that 45% of ALL our uniforms running around in Iraq are not even American CITIZENS? And the story we came across was from the Iraqi Resistance, they VIDEO TAPED a mass grave they SAID had been dug by AMERICAN MILITARY to hide the bodies of other men in AMERICAN UNIFORM, I could never find the tape because I cannot read arabic but in a description i read of one who had seen it said that the resistance fighters seemed honestly surprised and puzzled and that the bodies were not JUST in american uniforms but were buried in AMERICAN BODY BAGS.

There was so much **** [please keep it clean. thanks. ] to keep up with going on in Iraq last august and the reports were sketchy and then we find this today.

Dated August 2003

US KILLING 'NOT ERROR'

A REUTERS cameraman was deliberately killed by US troops after he filmed them digging a mass grave, his brother claims.

Mazen Dana, 43, was shot dead by a US tank as he filmed outside an American-run Baghdad prison.

The US army has insisted that in a "terrible tragedy" his camera was mistaken for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

But Nazmi Dana said: "The US troops killed my brother in cold blood.

"Mazen told me by phone a few days before his death that he discovered a mass grave dug by US troops to conceal the bodies of their fellow comrades killed in Iraqi resistance attacks.

"US forces knowingly killed him to prevent him from airing his finding."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13334374_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-US-KILLING--NOT-ERROR--name_page.html

Thanks, oncall!

Bush trying to win people over on Iraq? Isn't he a little too late for that? 1800 deaths and the Downing Street Minutes later....

BUT maybe he could convince the young republicans who LOVE his war and love his twins that they should enlist. Just have the twins put their money where HIS mouth is--ENLIST--and a bunch of hormonal but happy, Iraq supporting Republicans will enlist right with the twins.

One other comment about Rove:

DO NOT let ANYONE use the excuse that Rove was talking about "Liberals" NOT "Democrats." To suggest that there is a difference is to let the Republicans win. See,

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal." "
~John Kennedy, 1960

There are two definitions of liberal, as Kennedy said. There is the REAL one, the one we are proud of, and then the one that repugs have stolen. If you suggest there is a difference between Democrats and Liberals, you are obviously using the stolen, repug definition. And therefore you are promoting it, and you are letting them win. Democrats are Liberals-- using the TRUE definition of the word-- and we are proud.

The fact that Rove used the word "liberal" and not "Democrat" is not an excuse.

My sister just called me a hippy.

Since I was born Nov of 73..is that even a relevent term?

BTW Shes a cop, so I think it may just be a cop thing.

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 25, 2005 02:45 PM

NT4K,

You are right, it was calculated on his part to use the word, liberal. I heard yesterday that he was referring not to Dems, but to Moveon.org. So what in the world does that mean? Please show me all the Republican members of MoveOn.org, I would like to meet both of them. Not only that, MoveOn membership is only about 3% of the Democrats who voted in the last election.

haha republican members of moveon.org ...what interesting people!

Is this photographic evidence of American soldiers killing civilians and planting weapons on them to count them as insurgents?

I report, you decide...

http://cryptome.org/bkz/buhriz-kill02.htm

~Helen Thomas asks if GWB is human. Well, that's almost what she's asking.]

Word from Bush Could End Prison Abuse

by Helen Thomas
Published on Saturday, June 25, 2005 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Is President Bush living on Mars? Is he tone deaf?

At a news conference last month, he wrote off as an "absurd allegation" the conclusion by Amnesty International that the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was the "new Gulag" because of the mistreatment of prisoners there.

Bush insisted that "the United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world, and when there are accusations about certain actions by our people, they're fully investigated in a transparent way."

"It's just an absurd allegation," he said.

But how does he account for the slew of reports from the Pentagon and the FBI that some prisoners were subjected to mistreatment, torture and unspeakable indignities during interrogation?

Does he read the reports? Does he care?

snip~
History can be dangerous. That's why the Bush administration should be concerned about how its policies will be treated by history. The president can take a good first step by banning the torture of prisoners.

entire article here~
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0625-26.htm

Well, instead of discussing US soldiers being killed in Iraq, instead of discussing the 12,000 missing an arm or leg, the tens of thousands of iraqis dead....instead of discussing the damage this White house has done to the US economy, the millions of people being denied education and health care, the millions of people being cut from needed social help....we talk about Karl Rove.
He threw it in your face, and you bit.

another poll....on Iraq
somehow the polls are looking more accurate...

from RasmussenReports:

Who was more responsible for starting the War in Iraq…Saddam Hussein or President Bush?

Hussein 44%
Bush 49%

June 23, 2005--Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans say that President Bush is more responsible for starting the War with Iraq than Saddam Hussein. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 44% take the opposite view and believe Hussein shoulders most of the responsibility.

In late 2002, months before the fighting began, most Americans thought that Hussein was the one provoking the War. Just one-in-four thought the President was doing the provoking at that time.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2005/Provoking%20War.htm

Our Nation is unique, when its military was placed under control and authority of a Civilian Government.
A fascinating study is when General George Washington laid down his sword and returned to farming. When the Republic came under risk, he became its President. Newspapers heaped praise the world over, that this General did not seize control of a Nation as so often happened. This one moment set the course of our Nation and Democracy.

Each Administration since has a different flavor, some are corrupt, some create jobs and prosperity, others seek war. This administration does not separate the mechanism of running the country from engaging in war, they are one and the same. War is the violent expression of this Presidents political agenda.

This Administration oppresses the scientific community when facts do not support Politics. This White house pays reporters to advertise and promote agenda’s, the people working inside this administration are consultants and advisors to defense contractors and petroleum lobbies, There is evidence of voter fraud and election rigging, the people that need help the most are denied so the wealthy can increase their holdings.

This administrations war management is no different. Facts are suppressed, reporters are manipulated, defense contractors receive billions in work and profit, there is fraud and defense contract rigging, soldiers that need the greatest amount of help are denied so profit can flow to defense contractors.

There are thousands upon thousands being killed, maimed and wounded. For ever soldier killed there are 8-10 that lose a limb, 2-3 that suffer other permanent disability.
History will record two issues regarding this war; That this administration was fraudulent in its cause and evidence presented, that the nation did not rise up when it understood the Fraud.

The Constitution exists to raise an army of voters, to organize and empower ourselves to remove a government guilty of fraud, deceit and inept management of the nation both in domestic and foreign policy. We have the obligation to fullfill the rights and liberties enumerated in that Constitution.

Democracy cannot be spread by forcing it upon people. If this administration wishes to lead the world it must be by example, not deception. For many Iraqi’s their tortured brother, the hunger and thirst of their children, the explosion of suicide bombers... the sheer ineptness this white house accomplished in its rush to war has been their preview to democracy.

This Nation led much of the world because General Washington laid down his sword and convinced the world there was a better way. Now the world waits for Americans to understand History and our role in the Constitution of these United States.
Organize, Register, Vote.

World Tribunal for Iraq, Culminating Session Testimony

Istanbul, Turkey
25 June 2005

Thank you very much for inviting me to the Culminating Session of the
World Tribunal on Iraq. I first went to Iraq in November of 2003 as an
American citizen both frustrated and horrified by what my unelected
government was doing. I went to report on the situation because I was
deeply troubled by the “journalism” being provided by the corporate
media. At the time, as a frustrated mountain climber from Alaska working
as a journalist in Iraq, I never would have believed I would be
providing testimony to the World Tribunal on Iraq. I want to thank the
organizers for this opportunity. I am honored to be here in solidarity
with the Iraqi people.

In May of 2004 I interviewed a man who had just been released from Abu
Ghraib. Like so many I interviewed from various US military detention
facilities who’d been tortured horrifically, he still managed to
maintain his sense of humor.

He began laughing when telling me how CIA agents made him beat other
prisoners. He laughed, he said, because he had been beaten himself prior
to this, and was so tired that all he could do to beat other detained
Iraqis was lift his arm and let it drop on the other men.

Later, he laughed again as he told me what else had been done to him,
when he said, “The Americans brought electricity to my ass before they
brought it to my house.”

But this testimony is not about the indomitable spirit of the Iraqi
people. About the dignity and strength of Iraqis, we need no testimony.
This testimony is about ongoing violations of international law being
committed by the occupiers of Iraq on a daily basis in regards to
rampant torture, the neglect and obstruction of the health care sector
and the ongoing failure to allow Iraqis to reconstruct their infrastructure.

To discuss torture, there are many stories I could use here, but I’ll
use two examples indicative of scores of others I documented while in Iraq.

Ali Abbas lives in the Al-Amiriyah district of Baghdad and worked in
civil administration. So many of his neighbors were detained that
friends urged him to go to the nearby US base to try and get answers for
why so many innocent people were being detained. He went three times.

On the fourth he was detained himself. Within two days he was
transferred from the military base to Abu Ghraib, where he was held over
three months without charges before being released.

“The minute I got there, the suffering began,” said Abbas about his
interrogator, “I asked him for water, and he said after the
investigation I would get some. He accused me of so many things and
asked me so many questions. Among them he said I hated Christians.”

He was forced to strip naked shortly after arriving, and remained that
way for most of his stay in the prison. “They made us lay on top of each
other naked as if it was sex, and beat us with a broom,” he said. In
addition to being beaten on their genitals, detainees were also denied
water and food for extended periods of time, then were forced to watch
as their food was thrown in the trash.

Treatment also included having a loaded gun held to his head to prevent
him from crying out in pain as his hand-ties were tightened.

“My hands were enlarged because there was no blood because they cuffed
them so tight,” he told me, “My head was covered with the sack, and they
fastened my right hand to a pole with handcuffs. They made me stand on
my toes to clip me to it.”

Abbas said soldiers doused him in cold water while holding him under a
fan, and oftentimes, “They put on a loudspeaker, put the speakers on my
ears and said, “Shut Up, Fuck Fuck Fuck!” In this manner Abbas’s
interrogators routinely deprived him of sleep.

Abbas said that at one point, “Two men came, one a foreigner and one a
translator. He asked me who I was. I said I’m a human being. They told
me, ‘We are going to cut your head off and send you to hell. We will
take you to Guantanamo.’”

A female soldier told him, “Our aim is to put you in hell so you will
tell the truth. These are the orders we have from our superiors, to turn
your lives into hell.”

Abbas added, “They shit on us, used dogs against us, used electricity
and starved us.”

He told me, “Saddam Hussein used to have people like those who tortured
us. Why do they put Saddam into trial, but they do not put the Americans
to trial?”

But unlike Saddam Hussein, the US interrogators also desecrated Islam as
part of their humiliation.

Abbas was made to fast during the first day of Eid, the breaking of the
fast of Ramadan, which is haram (forbidden).

Sometimes at night when he would read his Koran, Abbas had to hold it in
the hallway for light. “Soldiers would walk by and kick the Holy Koran,
and sometimes they would try to piss on it or wipe shit on it,” he said.

Abbas did not feel this was the work of a few individual soldiers. “This
was organized, it wasn’t just individuals, and every one of the troops
in Abu Ghraib was responsible for it.”

Accounts by human rights groups support this. According to an April 2005
Human Rights Watch report, “Abu Ghraib was only the tip of the iceberg,
it’s now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over—from
Afghanistan to Guantánamo Bay to a lot of third-country dungeons where
the United States has sent prisoners. And probably quite a few other
places we don’t even know about.”

The report adds, “Harsh and coercive interrogation techniques such as
subjecting detainees to painful stress positions and extended sleep
deprivation have been routinely used in detention centers throughout
Iraq. An ICRC report concluded that in military intelligence sections of
Abu Ghraib, ‘methods of physical and psychological coercion used by the
interrogators appeared to be part of the standard operating procedures
by military intelligence personnel to obtain confessions and extract
information.’”

Amnesty International has also released similar findings.

Other human rights groups report that US military doctors, nurses, and
medics have been complicit in torture and other illegal procedures such
as those administered to Sadiq Zoman.

55 year-old Zoman, detained from his home in Kirkuk in a raid by US
soldiers that produced no weapons, was taken to a police office in
Kirkuk, to the Kirkuk Airport Detention Center, the Tikrit Airport
Detention Center and finally to the 28th Combat Support Hospital, where
he was treated by Dr. Michael Hodges, a Lt. Col.

Lt. Col. Hodges’ medical report listed Zoman’s primary condition as
hypoxic brain injury (brain damage caused by lack of oxygen) “with
persistent vegetative state,” myocardial infarction (heart attack), and
heat stroke.”

After one month in custody, Zoman was dropped off in a coma at the
General Hospital in Tikrit by US soldiers. Zoman’s last name was listed
as his first name on the report, despite the fact that all of his
identification papers were taken during the raid on his home. Because of
this, it took his desperate family weeks to locate him in the hospital.

Hodges’s medical report did not mention the fact that the back of
Zomans’ head was bashed in, nor that he had electrical burn marks on the
bottoms of his feet and genitals, or why he had lash marks across his
back and chest.

Today he lies in bed still in a coma, and there has been no compensation
provided to his now impoverished family for what was done to Sadiq Zoman.

Another aspect I shall discuss is the catastrophic situation of the
health system in Iraq. I’ve recently released a report on the condition
of Iraq’s hospitals under occupation.

Although the Iraq Ministry of Health has supposedly gained its
sovereignty and received promises of over $1 Billion of US funding,
hospitals in Iraq continue to face ongoing medicine, equipment, and
staffing shortages under the US-led occupation.

During the 1990’s, medical supplies and equipment were constantly in
short supply because of the sanctions against Iraq. The war and
occupation brought promises of relief from effects of the sanctions, yet
hospitals have had little chance to recover and re-supply: instead, the
occupation has closely resembled a low-grade war since its inception. In
addition, allocation of resources by occupation authorities has been
dismal. Thus, throughout Baghdad there are ongoing shortages of
functional equipment and medicines of even the most basic items such as
analgesics, antibiotics, anesthetics and insulin. Surgical items and
even basic supplies like rubber gloves, gauze and medical tape are
running out.

In April 2004, an ICRC report stated that hospitals in Iraq are
overwhelmed with new patients, short of medicine and supplies and lack
both adequate electricity and water, with ongoing bloodshed stretching
the hospitals’ already meager resources to the limit.

Ample testimony from medical practitioners confirms this crisis. A
general practitioner at the prosthetics workshop at Al-Kena Hospital in
Baghdad, Dr. Thamiz Aziz Abul Rahman, said, “Eleven months ago we
submitted an emergency order for prosthetic materials to the Ministry of
Health, and still we have nothing.” After a pause he added, “This is
worse than even during the sanctions.”

Dr. Qasim al-Nuwesri, the chief manager at Chuwader General Hospital,
one of the two hospitals in the sprawling slum area of Sadr City,
Baghdad and home to 3 million people, added that they, too, faced a
shortage of most supplies and, most critically, of ambulances. But for
his hospital, the lack of potable water was the major problem. “Of
course we have typhoid, cholera, kidney stones…but we now even have the
very rare Hepatitis Type-E…and it has become common in our area,” said
al-Nuwesri, adding that they never faced these problems prior to the
invasion of 2003.

Chuwader hospital needs at least 2000 liters of water per day to
function with basic sterilization practices. According to Dr.
al-Nuwesri, they received 15% of this amount. “The rest of the water is
contaminated and causing problems, as are the electricity cuts,” added
al-Nuwesri, “Without electricity our instruments in the operating room
cannot work and we have no pumps to bring us water.”

At Fallujah General Hospital, Dr. Ahmed, who asked that only his first
name be used because he feared US military reprisals said of the April
2004 siege that “the Americans shot out the lights in the front of our
hospital. They prevented doctors from reaching the emergency unit at the
hospital, and we quickly began to run out of supplies and much needed
medications.” He also said that Marines kept the physicians in the
residence building several times, intentionally prohibiting them from
entering the hospital in order to treat patients.

In November, shortly after leveling Nazzal Emergency Hospital, US forces
entered Fallujah General Hospital, the city’s only healthcare facility
for trauma victims, detaining employees and patients alike. According to
medics on the scene, water and electricity were “cut off,” ambulances
targeted or confiscated by the US military, and surgeons, without
exception, kept out of the besieged city.

Hospital raids by US military and US-backed Iraqi forces now appear to
be standard operating procedure. On the 18th of this month, doctors at
the main hospital in Baquba went on strike, saying they are fed up with
constant abuse at the hands of aggressive Iraqi police and soldiers.

Dr. Mohammed Hazim in Baquba, pleaded for his governor to protect he and
his colleagues from “organized terrorism of the police and army.”

When wounded Iraqi security forces showed up demanding treatment, Dr.
Hussein told one of them he would require an x-ray. The doctor was told
to go to hell by the policeman he was treating and was then beaten. The
same policeman then ordered another police officer to put a bag over the
doctor’s head and take him away.

“Our security guards tried to stop them, telling them I was a doctor,
but they didn't listen and beat the security guards too,” he said, “Then
one of them put a gun to my head and threatened me.”

Similar behavior has been reported during the recent US-Iraqi military
operations in Haditha and Al-Qa’im. Doctors also recently went on strike
at the large Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad in a very similar incident.

Many doctors in Iraq believe that the lack of assistance, if not
outright hostility, by the US military, coupled with the lack of
rebuilding and reconstruction by foreign contractors has compounded the
problems they are facing.

The former ambassador of Iraq Paul Bremer admitted that US led coalition
spending on the Iraqi Health system was inadequate when he said, “It’s
not nearly enough to cover the needs in the healthcare field.”

When asked if his hospital had received assistance from the US military
or reconstruction contractors, Dr. Sarmad Raheem, the administrator of
chief doctors at Al-Kerkh Hospital in Baghdad said, “Never ever. Some
soldiers came here five months ago and asked what we needed. We told
them and they never brought us one single needle…We heard that some
people from the CPA came here, but they never did anything for us.”

At Fallujah General Hospital, Dr. Mohammed said there has been virtually
no assistance from foreign contractors, and of the US military he
commented, “They send only bombs, not medicine.”

International aid has been stymied by the horrendous security situation
in Iraq. After the UN headquarters was bombed in Baghdad in August 2003,
killing 20 people, aid agencies and NGOs either reduced their staffing
or pulled out entirely.

With senior Iraqi doctors fleeing Iraq en masse for fear of being
kidnapped, interns and younger doctors are left to deal with the
catastrophic situation. The World Health Organization last year warned
of a health emergency in Baghdad, as well as throughout Iraq if current
conditions persist. But despite claims from the Ministry of Health of
more drugs, better equipment, and generalized improvement, doctors on
the ground still see “no such improvement.”

In conclusion, a quick summary of the overall situation on the ground in
Iraq is in order. Over two years into the illegal occupation, while Iraq
sits upon a sea of oil, ongoing gasoline shortages plague Iraqis who
sometimes wait 2 days to fill their cars. In a country where a long gas
line once meant a one-car wait, Iraqis who are lucky enough to afford it
now purchase black market petrol and hope that it is not watered down.

Electricity remains in short supply. Most of Iraq, including the
northern region, receives on average 3 hours of electricity per day
amidst the nearly non-existent reconstruction efforts. Even the better
areas of Baghdad receive only 6-8 hours per day, forcing those who can
afford them to use small generators to run fans and refrigerators in
their homes. Of course, this is only for those who’ve been able to
obtain the now rarefied gasoline.

The security situation is, needless to say, horrendous. With over
100,000 Iraqis killed thus far and the number of US soldiers killed
approaching 2,000, the violence only continues to escalate.

Since the new Iraqi so-called government was sworn in two months ago,
well over 1,000 Iraqis and over 165 US soldiers have died in the
violence. These numbers will only continue to escalate as the failed
occupation grinds on. As the heavy handed tactics of the US military
persist, the Iraqi resistance continues to grow in its number and lethality.

As I mentioned before, potable water remains in short supply. Cholera,
typhoid and other water-borne diseases are rampant even in parts of the
capital city as lack of reconstruction continues to plague Iraq’s
infrastructure. Raw sewage is common across not just Baghdad, but other
cities throughout Iraq.

With 70% unemployment, a growing resistance and an infrastructure in
shambles, the future for Iraq remains bleak as long as the failed
occupation persists. While the Bush Administration continues to
disregard calls for a timetable for withdrawal, Iraqis continue to
suffer and die with little hope for their future. With each passing day,
the catastrophe in Iraq resembles the US debacle in Vietnam more and more.

Dr. Wamid Omar Nadhmi, a senior political scientist at Baghdad
University who was invited to this tribunal, told me last winter, “It
will take Iraqis something like a quarter of a century to rebuild their
country, to heal their wounds, to reform their society, to bring about
some sort of national reconciliation, democracy and tolerance of each
other. But that process will not begin until the US occupation of Iraq
ends.”

And it is now exceedingly clear that the only way the Bush
Administration will withdraw the US military from Iraq in order for
Iraqis to have true sovereignty is if they are forced to do so.

** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **

Posted by: Toolmaker at June 25, 2005 05:29 PM

Toomaker,

I guess you are right. We can ignore Rove's preposterous comments as if he never said them, or we could figure out strategies to reply to them using our own language and frames. Personally, I prefer the latter. By doing that we will be highlighting the failures of Bushco (see my post above: Posted by: oncall at June 25, 2005 01:58 PM).

Iraq: The carve-up begins

Tom Burgis 23 June 2005

As the costs of the Iraq occupation spiral, British and American oil companies meet in secret next week to carve up the country's oil reserves for themselves. Tom Burgis reports

In the driving seat: with so much clear profit at stake, the question of who owns Iraq's biggest natural resource is hotly contended / GettyThe Iraq war has so far cost America and Britain £105billion. But the financial clawback is gathering pace as British and American oil giants work out how to get their hands on the estimated £3trillion worth of oil.

Executives from BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old firm, are expected to congregate at the Paddington Hilton for a two-day chinwag with top-level officials from Iraq's oil ministry. The gathering, sponsored by the British Government, is being described as the "premier event" for those with designs on Iraqi oil, and will go ahead despite opposition from Iraqi oil workers, who fear their livelihoods are being flogged to foreigners. The Met will be on hand to secure the venue ahead of the conference.

"This is a networking opportunity for UK businesses involved in Iraqi oil," explained Dr Hussain Rabia, managing director of the consultancy Entrac Petroleum Ltd. "We have the moral support of the UK government. They're bringing the guys over from Iraq, offering them visas. We expect all the big oil companies to be there," he said.

Delegate numbers are described as "confidential". Shell spokesman Simon Buerk would not confirm that a representative of the company would be attending, but said he "wouldn't be at all surprised if they were".

"We aspire to establish a long-term presence in Iraq," he said. "We have been helping the [Iraqi] Ministry of Oil and engineers with training."

Those who have purchased their £1,200 tickets can expect access to executives from Iraq's oil ministry, including Salem Razoky, the director general of exploration.

But Iraqi oil workers are furious about the conference. "The second phase of the war will be started by this conference carving up the industry," said an outraged Hasan Juma'a, head of the Iraqi General Union of Oil Employees. "It is about giving shares of Iraq to the countries who invaded it - they get a piece of the action as a reward. The British government will back this action in order to pay its debt in Iraq."

continue~
http://www.thelondonline.co.uk/theline/article.php?articleID=437

If Bush wasn't in trouble,Rove would stay in hiding!! He's planting the seeds for Bush "speak" speech for this coming Tuesday. What COWARDS!! Bush won't speak from the WH,but from Fort "BRAG" in S.C. surrounded by our troops! That's so; when/if anyone dare to deny or default the language will be called traitors.
Interesting comment by Ed Schultz yesterday on Air Am...:"just substitute the word "jew" in Rove's comments about "liberals" and the real nazi stands on his own word!!" There's your talking point memo for the day!!

from Code Pink:

While CODEPINK was busy organizing in Washington DC, co-founder Jodie Evans has been networking on another front: She is an international observer at the World Tribunal on Iraq (http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?) that opened this week in Istanbul, Turkey. You haven't heard of it? As usual, the mainstream media is ignoring it. But it's an historic gathering of international witnesses, experts and jurors including former Assistant to the UN Secretary General Denis Halliday, award-winning author Arundhati Roy and Iraqi scholar Souad Naji Al-Azzawi. Co-coordinator Richard Falk, a UNESCO peace prize holder and professor of International Law, called the Tribunal an expression of "moral globalization," with concerned citizens "acting on the belief that no state and no leader is above the law when it comes to matters of war and peace."

We recommend you go to the Tribunal’s website to learn more, read Jodie’s blog, and contact your local media asking them to cover this historic event. The transcripts of each witness and participant are rich with information and truth, not only to keep you informed but also to re-inspire you to take a stand for peace.

The 4th of July is a week away. We encourage you to reclaim this holiday and use it to show your commitment to liberty and justice for all. (http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=378)

Now is the time to strengthen your voice and join us in the streets on July 4th and in Washington DC on September 24th. (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/) We must continue to step out of our “comfort zones” and say NO to war, human rights abuses and empire-building, and YES to non-violence, respect for the rights of all, and commitment to the global community.

*******

There are a lot of actions coming up. Who is going to participate? To lead? Let us know!

I worked at the St Lucia University for 10 yrs that housed American Girls, and My daughter live next to the Griffith University, so this is very close to home for me. How has it all come to this.

Students quit over anti-US slurs
By Ainsley PaveyJune 26, 2005

AMERICAN students are quitting Queensland universities in the face of hate attacks by Australians angry at US President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.One university has launched an investigation into claims an American student returned to the US after suffering six months of abuse at a residential college in Brisbane.

American students have told The Sunday Mail the verbal attacks are unbearable and threatening to escalate into physical violence.

Griffith University student Ian Wanner, 19, from Oregon, said abusive Australian students had repeatedly called him a "sepo" – short for septic tank. "It is so disrespectful. It's not exactly the most welcoming atmosphere here," he said.

The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission has described the abuse as "horrible" and says it could be classed as racial vilification.

The abuse problem is so prevalent that US students are being given formal briefings before leaving home on how to cope with abusive Australians.

Mr Wanner said even female Australian students were verbally abusive. He warned the problem could "escalate into a very large brawl".

"There has already been confrontations between people," he said.

A female American student from Griffith, who wished to remain unnamed, said she had met some "exceptional" people in Australia – but was leaving this month in shock over her treatment.

She said she was desperate to go home after the slurs, which also spilled over at pubs in central Brisbane.

"They basically picked on me," she said. "At first, I thought it was a joke. Then I just had it out with them and told them I came here to be treated respectfully.

"I have had a few incidents in bars. I had a guy and he heard my accent and he said: 'I hate your president. I hate your country.' "

Another Griffith student has already returned to the US after enduring six months of abuse at the university's residential college in Brisbane.

All the students received counselling before arriving and were warned of the backlash against the US.

They said they were advised not to carry any items that would identify their nationality.
A postgraduate American student at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus, in Brisbane's west, has also complained to the Australian-American Association of being "persecuted" and subjected to "name-calling" by Australian students.

Another American studying at UQ said attitudes towards him were "scary".

"It's unbelievable," he said. "It's been war. People are scared. It is hard to be an American in Australia at the moment, it is really hard. It varies with different people, but you have to be quiet and try not to draw attention to yourself."

Australian-American Association state president Marylou Badeaux said anti-American sentiment had reached a climax over the war in Iraq.

She said attacks from the general public were mostly sedate – but had grown into open hostility at several Queensland universities. In some cases, US students and academics were being "persecuted" for merely having an American accent.

"They are taking it out on people who may or may not agree but just because they have an American accent, they are being persecuted," she said.

Ms Badeaux said long-time US residents in Australia noticed attitudes towards them fluctuated with US Government policy. "It all depends on what the policies of the US government are at the time," she said.

Queensland Anti-Discrimination deputy commissioner Neroli Holmes said the alleged labelling of students as "sepos" could be classed as racial vilification under anti-discrimination laws.
Racial vilification included public comment which incited hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule of a person or group based on race or nationality. "It sounds quite horrible," Ms Holmes said.

Griffith University spokeswoman Nicola Collier-Jackson said an investigation had been launched into the American abuse claims.

She said the university had a zero-tolerance policy to harassment.

"We don't accept it at all. We will investigate it. We need to get to the bottom of it," she said.
The Colorado-based Australearn organisation – which teaches "cultural adjustment" to US students before they come to Australia – started warning in January of attitudes towards Americans over Iraq.

Australearn's Australian director, Shelia Houston, said the briefings aimed to give American students "coping strategies" in the face of an attack.

She said some students suffered culture shock because of the belief that everyone loved Americans. "We are giving them the heads up that it is a bit more heated because of the war in Iraq," Ms Houston said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15734656-421,00.html

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Sorry guys, I am so sorry that this has happened to your youngsters, I think you all know my thoughts on your president and his administration, you all know me well enough by now to know my reaction to what is happening, but this is not justified in any way. Please accept my Apologies only mine, for my Home State, because I cannot speak for anyone else. Im sorry.

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

God how I wish we would have won the election on November 2, not that I believe we did not win it, there is just another illiterate moron living in the White House as president and Leader of the Free Word much to my horror

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 25, 2005 01:38 PM

The good news is, Karl Rove is on the DEFENSIVE. Oh, it may not look like the defensive, but he is weakly trying to turn the attention from this crooked and inept administration (which all eyes are starting to gaze upon) back to the Democrats, who he is trying to portray as (sorry Terminator fans) "girly men" who are soft on terrorism. Yeah, the "conservatives" are tough on "terrrrists", and it is supposed to be a manly thing to torture human beings and pee on their belief system? It's just more of that "manly macho bravado" thing said in desperation to confuse an increasingly aware population that is beginning to see this administration for what they are: thugs.

"When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, raise the gun to his head."

We may not have to do that. They all looked ridiculous this week, like in an old Keystone Cops movie. They have been contradicting each other, denying, and all Rove can come up with is calling Dems liberal and in favor of therapy for Terrrists? That is laughable, really.

The momentum is on the side of truth.

Posted by: Patti Ferschke at June 25, 2005 06:12 PM

How I wish we could organize some kind of a universal protest in time for this coming Tuesday.
The press would have a very hard time ignoring an international (including the U.S., of course) anti-war protest.

Could it be done?

Would it be feasible to have an organized protest
on a national and international level already organized, ready to go, and in the wings for future times like this one?

The good news is, Karl Rove is on the DEFENSIVE. Oh, it may not look like the defensive, but he is weakly trying to turn the attention from this crooked and inept administration (which all eyes are starting to gaze upon) back to the Democrats, who he is trying to portray as (sorry Terminator fans) "girly men" who are soft on terrorism. Yeah, the "conservatives" are tough on "terrrrists", and it is supposed to be a manly thing to torture human beings and pee on their belief system? It's just more of that "manly macho bravado" thing said in desperation to confuse an increasingly aware population that is beginning to see this administration for what they are: thugs.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at June 25, 2005 08:01 PM

"manly macho bravado" thing, Wonder where the where when they could have showed their patriotisn in the Vietnma war, AWOL and gettin out of it and letting everyone elses sons and daughter go off to fight and die,

I would say they are the biggest weaklingS, of our time they do not know the meaning of the word PATRIOTISM much to my dismay.

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

How I wish we could organize some kind of a universal protest in time for this coming Tuesday.
The press would have a very hard time ignoring an international (including the U.S., of course) anti-war protest.

Could it be done?

Would it be feasible to have an organized protest
on a national and international level already organized, ready to go, and in the wings for future times like this one?

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at June 25, 2005 08:10 PM

It is imperative, I would say that it is International, I have already told my Italian student if he is not out there protesting and send me the photos of him protesting, I will be a very unhappy home stay mother indeed.

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Did anyone send me a link via Yahoo, sorry I lost it, would you mind linking it again for me please, I assume it was not from Christy. thanks

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Forget Rove!!
THIS is a major scandal enfolding, turning out to be a much bigger story of Republican Culture of Corruption than anyone imagined....follow the money...

Abramoff tied to Bu$h, to DeLay, to Grover Norquist, to Christian Coalition Ralph Reed...follow the money....this IS the scandal of the REPUBLICAN party...Bu$h's scandal is Iraq...but this bribery, influence peddling, money laundering scandal reaches to the highest levels of the Republican Culture-of-Corruption party: they won an election touting "moral values"....nothing is "moral" about money laundering!!!!

Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds
McCain Cites Possible Fraud by Lobbyist

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Page A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff used money from a Mississippi tribal client to set up bogus Christian anti-gambling groups and to fund pet projects including gear for a "sniper school" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to documents released yesterday by Senate investigators.

The revelations came in e-mails and testimony made public yesterday by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at its third hearing on the activities of Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, a public relations executive and former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Abramoff, who is also at the center of a corruption investigation by the Justice Department, laundered tribal money by directing the Indians to donate to tax-exempt groups that the lobbyist later used for his own purposes, the Senate committee said.

continue~
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921.html

and this~

E-mails: Reed knew tribal money funded anti-gambling campaigns

By JIM GALLOWAY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/23/05

Washington — Lobbyist Jack Abramoff sought guidance from political strategist Ralph Reed in disguising Indian tribal money sent to anti-gambling campaigns whose leaders were wary of accepting casino cash, according to documents released Wednesday.

The e-mail exchanges also indicate that Reed knew from the beginning of his professional association with Abramoff in 1999 that a Mississippi Indian tribe with casino interests was bankrolling much of his anti-gambling activity in Alabama against a state-sponsored lottery and video poker.

Even as religious conservatives denied an alliance with out-of-state gamblers, Reed — acting on behalf of gaming opponents — submitted campaign budgets through Abramoff to the Mississippi Band of Choctaws, according to the e-mails.
more~
http://tinyurl.com/7hwdf

and this~
Documents: Lobbyists used tax-exempt groups
Senate probe looks into Abramoff and partner's money trail

Thursday, June 23, 2005;

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jack Abramoff and a lobbying partner used tax-exempt groups and phony invoices to bilk tribal clients out of millions of dollars, using a scheme they called "gimme five" to divert proceeds to themselves and their pet causes, newly released documents show.

At a hearing Wednesday on Abramoff's activities, Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain urged the Justice Department to take a close look at Abramoff's tribal billings and his movement of the money, suggesting the former Republican lobbyist may have committed mail and wire fraud.

"Today's hearing is about more than contempt, even more than greed. It is simply and sadly a tale of betrayal," said McCain, R-Arizona.

Abramoff is under investigation by the Senate and a federal grand jury over allegations he and a colleague overcharged Indian tribes for their lobbying. Abramoff, whose ties to President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are also under scrutiny, denies wrongdoing.
more~
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/22/lobbyist.tribes.ap/

Posted by: rossiann at June 25, 2005 08:15 PM

Kangaroo,

They must have had medical deferments. They have a disease. It's called Little Man-i-tus.

Luv ya Truth right on

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 25, 2005 08:26 PM

Christy has always said, from day one, all you have to do is follow the money trail, appears that she was right on the money

Ongoing violence in Iraq has taken a political toll on Bush and has raised alarms in Congress. Just over half of Americans now say the United States made a mistake going to war, and almost six in 10 say they don't approve of the way Bush has handled Iraq, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.
snip~
While Bush says progress is being made, Brzezinski points to a Pentagon warning that the Army Reserve is turning into a "broken" force.

In January, the military services' own estimates indicated that at the pace of U.S. deployments to Iraq, the Pentagon would be hard pressed by next year to provide enough reserve combat troops. Army Reserve chief Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly advised at the time that his citizen militia was "rapidly degenerating into a 'broken' force."

"Patriotism and love of country does not demand endless sacrifice on the part of our troops in a war justified by slogans," Brzezinski said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050625/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 25, 2005 01:02 PM

If they are there till next January, How many will still be alive. Maybe we should put your manly macho president and his administralion including the shameless female offsider of his, on the front line with no protection, in unprotected Humvees. Now that is a picture that would make me very happy I would sleep very well that night very well indeed.

Kangaroo Brisbane Australia

Hell I am on a rant today sorry guys

the world is very very angry with Bu$hCheneyRumsfeldRice, the architects of Iraq war:
hint: they must really really despise Rice; photo included with text:
http://tinyurl.com/atwsh

Witnesses at anti-war tribunal slam US actions in Iraq

Sat Jun 25, 2005

ISTANBUL (AFP) - The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), an anti-war grouping of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), intellectuals and writers, heard witnesses condemn the United States for rights abuses and the worsening plight of Iraqi women.

A former US Air Force pilot called on US troops in Iraq to "resist" the orders of their superior officers in an "illegal war".

"Today Iraq has been turned into a vast prison," lawyer Amal Sawadi told the hearing.

"They come to people's houses in the middle of the night, when everyone is asleep, blow in the door. They point their weapons in people's faces ... they search women in front of their families, they smash everything in the house."

She said lawyers had problems getting news of their imprisoned clients and spoke of rapes and humiliations which amounted to the "systematic practice of torture."

The only journalist present in the city of Fallujah when it was attacked in April and November 2004 said the assault on it amounted to "genocide".

Fadhil Al Bedrani, of the Al-Jazeera network, told how a 70-year-old man died for lack of medical supplies and of the stench of rotting bodies "abandoned in the streets and eaten by animals."

The plight of Iraqi women has worsened badly since the occupation, Hana Ibrahim, an Iraqi feminist said.

"From the day the occupation started there have been systematic violations of women's rights. They have been kidnapped, raped and even taken to other countries by criminal networks," she said.

She said 90 percent of women were out of work, women were now "almost non-existent in social life" while "prostitution was developing" and more and more women were reduced to begging.

Former pilot Tim Goodrich said US troops should realize they were taking part in an illegal war and resist.

"There are some people that have, there are pieces of resistance that people don't know about... some soldiers who refuse to go on a mission," he said.

"The military is part of the problem, not of the solution."

"Some people accuse us of being against the troops or antipatriotic but we are the troops. How can I be antipatriotic by asking our soldiers to come back home alive?"

About 200 non-governmental organziations -- including the environmentalist group Greenpeace, the anti-globalisation ATTAC and Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- as well as a number of prominent intellectuals such as US linguist Noam Chomsky and Egyptian sociologist Samir Amin are involved in the WTI.

continue here~
http://tinyurl.com/atwsh

http://www.thelondonline.co.uk/theline/article.php?articleID=437

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at June 25, 2005 05:57 PM

IMHO, this is the most important story which, as usual, is not getting ANY attention.

PEOPLE,

I am gonna try this one more time:

ACTIONS! EVENT! SIGN ON HERE:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/stoptorture/events.html

June 26

THEN:

July 4:

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=378

Listen UP! We are needed!

"When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, raise the gun to his head."
Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry

LOL! I love that one! You the man, NT4K! It is oh so true. The Dems really have to start playing hardball with these cretins. If they haven't learned from the 2004 election, they never will. The GOP is always in attack, lie and smear mode. They don't have anything else and it always works like a charm, so why would they stop?

The Dems have and will get blamed by the GOP(and public therefore)for being nasty, whether they are or are not. We don't even have to lie like they do, just tell the truth and call them on what they do and say. It is foolish not to keep hitting the GOP, hit them hard and do not stop, ever. If one falls to the ground, kick him in the head and stamp on its throat. They must be destroyed.

Bush is right about one thing, there is evil in this world and it controls the administration and both houses of congress. The GOP has been taken over by incompetent, evil, corrupt people with no morals, shame or soul and they must be called on everything, every time, with no let up.

It is also way past the time we start reminding the public who was President and who's administration was ignoring terrorism before 9/11 and has done everything wrong on it since. Total abject failure on terrorism and yet Bush is a hero to many of the idiots on this country...

Of course, that was also the result of the media and Dems not pointing that out after 9/11, because they felt it would be bad for the country and likely cause panic if Bush wasn't presented as a strong and competent leader, after his failure on doing anything to try to protect us before 9/11, looking scared and lost and giving his deer in the headlights speech afterward. Then after having his ass saved, Bush/Rove have used it for partisan politics ever since and they aren't going to stop. The only way you would consider Bush good on terrorism is if you are a terrorist...

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 25, 2005 01:38 PM

I don't believe Karl Rove is a genius. He simply isn't. I am confortable that I have known genius' in my life and he is not one of them.

What he is, is persistent. Let me say that again. He is persistent. What makes democrats look weak, is that there strategy is to live to fight another day. Republicans, led by rove, is that you never leave the field of battle once the enemy has been engaged. This is why the Democrats lose on National Security issues every single time.

So fighting Rove on crap like what he said last week is not about fighting Rove for me. Is what he said adolescent, bullying and disgusting? Sure. But my parent raised me to consider the source before I am insulted. Nope, I fight Rove on completely other grounds. I fight him on this because it is MILES of FREE publicity for the Democrats to look like fighter who NEVER leave the damn filed on ANYTHING, big or small. And let's remember folks, that while we are spending time on it, they are, too. And if the time they have to spend on this take one second away froma passing an agenda that will take us years to undo already, than that's fine with me.

But I am all in favor of Rove giving us opportunities to look strong, because Durbin made us look weak and that's a fact. He never should have apologized, and that's a fact.
He was telling this truth, and that is also a fact. And come next week, when more comes out about torture and Abu Ghraib, we need to attack and keep on attacking. And when someone needs to rest, someone else picks up his sword and moves forward with it, until we all arrive where we need to be, at the corner of Justice and Democracy.

And that is the only way to win this thing. So everyone here who has posted is correct. Ira and Truth and OTV and everyone. The fact is that we need to do all of these things. We need to focus on impeachment, while other work on bringing their crass and vulgar campaign against America to the light, while still others stand and recite the despicable nature and outrageous hubris of this government and its illegal actions in Iraq as the murderers that the rest of the world believes them to be. And by murderers, I do not mean our soldiers and military. I mean those who put them in a position where every single day in Iraq they spend fighting for their lives.

So pick a topic, any topic and make it yours. Own it. Learn about it, and then go and preach it, to anyone and everyone you can.

And be persistent. Becuase Karl Rove isn't a genius. He is persistent. But here's the good news. If someone who is evil and has the wrong ideas for and about America can accomplish what he has, then imagine what people of good conscience can do when they are equally as persistent.

Because I, for one, and not leaving the field of this battle. I know who the enemy is. I have engaged them, and I am not going anywhere until they are fully vanquished.

I think we are rapidly approaching the point of critical Mass.
When a group of Republican Senators will have a meeting with the President of the United States and demand the executive branch respond to critical analysis of this war, this policy, this White House.
Its Over, Mr President. You need to come clean before the American people or the senate cannot stand by this white house any longer, and will open hearings to the events leading into the Iraqi War and its aftermath. Your presidency can be considered to be at risk, Sir.

What a disaster we weave when first we practice to invade another country for defense contractors and petroleum interests.
Where are the people that wanted to have a beer with the president now?

Where are the people that wanted to have a beer with the president now?

Posted by: Toolmaker at June 25, 2005 10:26 PM

They joined AA.

Is George W. Bush going to be the "sacrifical lamb"?

sp. sacrificial

Tuesday night is going to be our big night. When Bush gives his canned speech about "hard work", "spreading democracy and freedom" and supporting the troops, I expect to hear the loudest protests accusing him of being a liar and murderer with blood money on his hands. If we hear any less from the oppostion I will be profoundly disappointed.

Oncall,

Talking heads say word has come from the White House that the Tuesday speech will contain specifics.

We should have many ready to meet his rhetoric with the truth, as you say. And NO APOLOGIES.

I am waiting for him to say, "Stand with me as I support the troops in this effort.",or something to that effect. I can't wait for him to try that one.

Everybody get locked and loaded.

More outrage! Frank Rich's NYT column today:
Rove pal Kenneth Tomlinson & co. ready to turn PBS & NPR into Bu$h propaganda outlets...

The Armstrong Williams NewsHour

By FRANK RICH Published: June 26, 2005
snip~
But this time the game is far more insidious and ingenious. The intent is not to kill off PBS and NPR but to castrate them by quietly annexing their news and public affairs operations to the larger state propaganda machine that the Bush White House has been steadily constructing at taxpayers' expense. If you liked the fake government news videos that ended up on local stations - or thrilled to the "journalism" of Armstrong Williams and other columnists who were covertly paid to promote administration policies - you'll love the brave new world this crowd envisions for public TV and radio.
snip~
Mr. Dorgan said it wasn't merely Mr. Moyers's show that was monitored but also the programs of Tavis Smiley and NPR's Diane Rehm.

Their guests were rated either L for liberal or C for conservative, and "anti-administration" was affixed to any segment raising questions about the Bush presidency. Thus was the conservative Republican Senator Chuck Hagel given the same L as Bill Clinton simply because he expressed doubts about Iraq in a discussion mainly devoted to praising Ronald Reagan. Three of The Washington Post's star beat reporters (none of whom covers the White House or politics or writes opinion pieces) were similarly singled out simply for doing their job as journalists by asking questions about administration policies.

"It's pretty scary stuff to judge media, particularly public media, by whether it's pro or anti the president," Senator Dorgan said. "It's unbelievable."
snip~
Then, on Thursday, a Rove dream came true: Patricia Harrison, a former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, ascended to the CPB presidency. In her last job, as an assistant secretary of state, Ms. Harrison publicly praised the department's production of faux-news segments - she called them "good news" segments - promoting American success in Afghanistan and Iraq. As The Times reported in March, one of those fake news videos ended up being broadcast as real news on the Fox affiliate in Memphis.
snip~
Mr. Tomlinson's real, not-so-hidden agenda is to enforce a conservative bias or, more specifically, a Bush bias.

continue~
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/opinion/26rich.html?pagewanted=1&hp

Here is the expose about Ralph Reed & the other rightwing lobbyists - the tie in with Microsoft

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0522/050601_news_microsoft.php

I'm back home in Seattle. Someone broke our window & instead of fixing it, the men of the house just put a Martin Luther King poster over it so I'll have to sleep in front of it and defend the fort tonight!

Then they had a several-consecutive-night film festival in the garage and it didn't get dark early enough so they put my "Firemen for Kerry" and "Women for Kerry" posters over the window.

& then Kit from England made us high tea. It's nice to be home!

http://biz.yahoo.com/law/050624/c18f0b1f93979450d1be5aed690c14e7.html?.v=1
Law.com
11th Circuit's Pryor Calls Abortion 'Evil' but Says He'll Follow Laws
Friday June 24, 3:01 am ET
Eliott C. McLaughlin and Jonathan Ringel, Fulton County Daily Report

Federal appeals Judge William H. Pryor Jr., whose fierce opposition to abortion prompted a two-year fight over his Senate confirmation, said Wednesday that "it'd certainly be wrong for a Catholic lawyer or judge to do something to advance a grave evil like abortion."
After the speech, Pryor took questions, which is when Roe v. Wade came up. Pryor's statement that he would follow the 1973 decision, which he previously has called "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," reflected his promise at his Senate confirmation hearing two years ago to adhere to all decisions of the Supreme Court, whether or not he agreed with them.

Asked about the possibility of Roe being struck down, Pryor said it wasn't his place as an appeals court judge to comment. "That's something the Supreme Court would have to consider. I don't have that privilege."

Becky Rafter, the executive director of the local chapter of the pro-abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, said Pryor's comments were "a concrete example" of why the group "fought against the Pryor nomination in the first place."

Rafter said she was concerned particularly about Pryor because, as a judge on a federal appeals court, he will deal with abortion only in the most delicate and complex situations, such as when a girl or woman has been the victim of rape or incest. "His personal beliefs are going to affect his rulings. He is going to look at that lawyer as advancing an evil," she said.

Arundhati Roy: The Most Cowardly War in History
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062505Y.shtml

Jeremy Scahill | The Smoking Bullet in the Smoking Gun
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062505C.shtml
Excerpt:
It only takes one member of Congress to begin an impeachment process, and Conyers is said to be considering the option. The process would certainly be revealing. Congress could subpoena Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Gen. Richard Myers, Gen. Tommy Franks and all of the military commanders and pilots involved with the no-fly zone bombings going back into the late 1990s. What were their orders, both given and received? In those answers might lie a case for impeachment.

But another question looms, particularly for Democrats who voted for the war and now say they were misled: Why weren't these unprovoked and unauthorized attacks investigated when they were happening, when it might have had a real impact on the Administration's drive to war? Perhaps that's why the growing grassroots campaign to use the Downing Street memo to impeach Bush can't get a hearing on Capitol Hill. A real probing of this "smoking gun" would not be uncomfortable only for Republicans. The truth is that Bush, like President Bill Clinton before him, oversaw the longest sustained bombing campaign since Vietnam against a sovereign country with no international or US mandate. That gun is probably too hot for either party to touch.

This is how fascism comes.
Bush administration officials join ranks of tyranny
By Robert Zaller
It comes through creating legal nonpersons of citizens and noncitizens alike. It comes through violating human rights standards, sanitizing torture, and condoning murder.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9272.htm
Excerpt:
America is not only alone in the world, except for the tyrants it pays to do the worst of its torturing for it.

It has deserted itself as well.

FROM POLITICAL WAVEs;

Yesterday's Flap of the Moment was revealing in how the human psyche gets stuck in the "attack/defend" loop -- it's the same kind of tit/tat that lost the Democrats momentum in the 2004 election. Karl Rove told the world that liberals are wimps and only interested in coddling terrorists. That fed the Pubs a little red meat and solicited their howling agreement ... the Dems are outraged, of course, since that is both divisive and untrue, a transparent smoke-screen to cover the current wobbly numbers and lame-duck'ness of the president. While this sort of thing is entertaining and engages our passion, look at how that works -- when the energy of attack spikes on one side, it is met with a spike on the other. This is natural law. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction -- Newton's Third Law of Motion. This is also metaphysical truth -- what we resist, persists.

No matter what state we live in, or what family we're born into, we either "see it" or we don't -- it's who we are, it's in the understanding we bring to the table. Course in Miracles says it this way: "You can be right or you can be happy." Half the country is like a big miserable dysfunctional family, and it keeps pulling the other half along into a miserable game of knee-jerk reaction by pretending that their "right way" is the ONLY way to save the world from unspeakable dangers. There is no discussion that will bring these folks around -- people this "right" will not tolerate being told they're wrong. And this very-human game could go on forever, my dears -- we have to find another solution.

When people can't hear what you have to say because they're so threatened by their fears or their sleepy patterns of response to authority, there's nothing to do but appeal to their better angels ... again and again and again. We have to face the discouraging truth that nose-to-nose, in-face insistance doesn't work to change minds ... which is why trying to bring democracy to Iraq without it's permission isn't going to work, either. What is perceived as an attack will inspire no cooperation.

The only bit of rhetoric that ever came out of the Bush administration that made any sense was the phrase "war for hearts and minds" ... you know, the "war" he hasn't waged [and of which he is evidently incapable.] That's the "war" that can be won by acts of understanding, not aggression -- respect, not antagonism -- diplomacy, not belligerance -- extended opportunity, not plunder -- taking responsibility, not side-stepping or finger-pointing. And it's a war We The People had better invest in now, not later.

I found a powerful article [posted below] about a man who's mind has begun to change because of a "better angel" ... because of the response of someone he respected ... because the mirror that was offered to him has begun to crack under the weight of doubt and the inevitability of experience. That's how we're making progress, that's the work we have ahead of us ... one by one, to win hearts, change minds, offer options. That's a better strategy, a better angel, than the sword's point interactions we're involved in today -- it will take more courage, more intellect, more compromise ... but in meeting the Right with the same energy with which it assaults, we lose ourselves, and progress stalls.

This "other way" is harder and less provocative ... and not nearly so exciting and addictive. We can promote core progressive values of respect, cooperation and tolerance, tell the truth in as non-threatening a way as we can, propose creative alternatives and put ourselves on the line to live the vision we embrace ... day by day, interaction by interaction.

The simple truth that nothing is working as it was proposed will ultimately win the day, in this country -- it's already happening.