The Doctor Is In...Trouble

This just in:

Downing Street Minutes to Hit House Floor

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

Congressman John Conyers, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee are asking their colleagues in the House of Representatives to join them on the evening of June 28 to discuss the Downing Street Minutes on the floor of the House.

They need our help. Please contact your Congress Member right away and ask them to contact the Judiciary Committee staff and commit to taking part.

Phone: 1-877-762-8762
Email:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/39

Read the letter that Conyers, Waters, and Lee have circulated:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/540

Very interesting blog from a soldier on active duty in Iraq who has stated his intention to fun against Senator Kyl in Arizona when he returns...

http://leonardclark.com/blog/?p=7

That does it. I'm not buying a Bill Frist Bobblehead.

There are many other powerful posts at the website, takeittokarl, a blog set up for military and former military to tell Karl Rove what they think...

http://takeittokarl.blogspot.com/

but I wanted to share this one with you and encourage you to go read...

Soldier on 9/11: Lots of Liberals in the Service, Karl
From the mailbag:

Mr. Rove,

Like all Americans, I remember clearly where I was when reports of the attacks of 9/11 occured. A friend awoke me with a bang on the door in the middle of the night, and everyone in the building was soon watching the footage of the attacks on a scattering of TVs. Some folks stayed up for several hours, but myself, I went back to bed. I knew that I would need my sleep for the next day's alert and whatever would come with that.

It might suprise you, Mr. Rove, to know that a card-carrying liberal was not merely jumping at the chance to defend his country on 9/11, but that I was already there, rifle in hand. However the plain fact of the matter is that the bleeding heart contingent is well represented in the rank and file. If you had ever served, Karl, you would know this, and know how foolish your statements to the contrary sound.

Thousands of liberal men and women join the army knowing that they will be forced to serve silently, honoring the ideal of a non-partisan military that obeys the orders of our nation's elected leaders. With your bitterly partisan remarks, you repay them with a stab in the back by ignoring their service and pretending that the military is a conservative organ of government.

It is reprehensible to see the tragic loss of life from 9/11 and the subsequent wars our soldiers have been sent into degraded into partisan fodder. Is this a calculated payback against those soldiers that dared to commit treason by voting against President Bush in 2004? To have their lives and sacrifices forgotten and their beliefs maligned and ridiculed by a government official?

Apologize to the servicemen and women who died defending their country, liberals included, and apologize to America, Karl Rove. Your comments sicken me to the core, and I pray that if my two children ever decide to serve their country as their liberal mother and liberal father ever did, their service will not be mocked by a craven chickenhawk who has never worn a pair of combat boots.

Jordan Tabb
American, Veteran, Bleeding-Heart Liberal

John Kerry sent out info about a report released this week by the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute.
http://www.johnkerry.com/features/votingrights/

The Voting Rights Institute report is called Democracy At Risk -- The Ohio Election. Here's what it reveals:

More than 1 in 4 Ohio voters reported problems with voting, including ballot issues and intimidation at polling places.

Illegal identification requirements were improperly imposed. Two out of every three (67%) young persons reported they were asked for ID. Six out of ten African American men reported being asked to show ID.

African Americans reported waiting an average of 52 minutes before voting. That's two and a half times longer than the average 18 minutes reported by voters overall.

But, here's the most troubling finding of all. Nearly one in four Ohio voters indicated that their 2004 voting experiences made them less confident about the reliability of elections in Ohio.

Barriers to voting are always an insult to the freest, greatest nation in the world. But, they are especially troubling when American soldiers are fighting and dying for freedom half a world away. Our democracy is only as strong as our citizens' faith in it. It is unacceptable that in 2005, Americans are still being denied their most fundamental rights as American citizens.

Help put pressure on Congress to pass the Count Every Vote Act - Senators Kerry, Boxer, Clinton and Lautenberg introduced this critical legislation. The Act will not only strengthen voting rights, it will prevent many of the problems that happened in Ohio by giving communities the resources they need to provide enough reliable, verifiable voting machines.

OY; HERE WE GO AGAIN DEPT.:

Dear Arts Advocate:

We have just learned that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) will likely offer a floor amendment in the Senate this afternoon (June 27) that would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) by $5 million in FY 2006. We ask that you take two minutes to contact your Senators and urge them to vote against this amendment.

As you will recall, the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 9 passed an amendment that increased FY 2006 funding for the NEA by $5 million, the first such increase that the Appropriations Committee has offered in five years. However, Senator Coburn’s floor amendment would remove this increase, thereby flat-funding the agency at this year’s level.

We expect that Sen. Coburn will offer his amendment later today. The full Senate will likely vote on the amendment tomorrow morning. Please send a message to your Senators by 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 28, to ensure that they vote against this decrease in arts funding. Thank you for your continued arts advocacy.

Why do I always do this? I posted to the wrong thread!

So...I repeat...

Tired of this mess? Are you ready for work? Let's write these letters to the media and post them here!
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/mail/compose

Very interesting blog from a soldier on active duty in Iraq who has stated his intention to fun against Senator Kyl in Arizona when he returns...

http://leonardclark.com/blog/?p=7

Posted by: dwahzon at June 27, 2005 03:51 PM

Good. I didn't know who Senator Kyl was until I saw him on TV a month ago talking about the filibuster. He's AWFUL.

Does anybody need a bigger reason than this to start marching and start writing letters? Is it time for sit down strikes? Or is it time to knock door to door. People may think they don't care about politics, but show them this, then ask them to look at their own childre, then ask them to join with you. If they can look at this-- http://www.asparrowshome.blogspot.com/ --and not care, then they have no heart.

Spread the word about this blog too-- http://www.asoldiersfamilyblog.blogspot.com/

Make war come home and we'll reach their hearts.

And once again, a reminder, support blue and buy blue!

http://www.buyblue.org/

So I've been thinking about the Rainbow Push conference and how many yet to be registered people are everywhere. What are we doing to register them and why are they thinking the political process won't help them.

Clearly, Democrats and Republicans do have different philosophies. But does that mean the lobbies have hijacked both parties? Or does that mean that the same uninvolved people could actually motivate our representatives to listen and pay attention if they only stood up and spoke.

They need to be like me--hate to pat my own back here--but we are all afraid and have too many real life issues. So together, we must touch their heart and through their heart reach their mind...we can't do that by staring at this oh so beautiful computer screen.

Suz
Reasons people have given me for not voting:

1. "I refuse to vote until the electoral college is abolished. I don't feel my vote counts."

2. "I'm a minority & I think they just throw our votes away."

3. "I'm too busy. I don't have time."

I never thought I would see the day when BushCo, much less the boy king himself, who wears no clothes, would back into a corner and essentially admit 'total defeat' in Iraq.  I couldn't believe my eyes this morning as I read George Bush's words (in an International publication, of course):  "George W. Bush yesterday urged Americans to stay the course and insisted that he had a plan for eventual victory."

That, my friends, is an admission of defeat.  After all, had we not already reached the ultimate victory in Iraq  -- many times over -- according to this Administration?  Eventual Victory?  What in the world does that imply? 
All I know lately is that I can barely tune into the details of the Iraq quagmire.  I browse the news and all I see is 'suicide bomber', 'car bomber'' and number of fatalities posted. 

Throughout each and everyday, I see story after story after story with the hourly report on which bomb and which body count, hold breath, shake my head, and sigh in abject horror.  And to think that just about ALL of the news from Iraq is under lock and key!  What don't we know?

But it seems the American public seems to indeed know what is going on in Iraq.  Bush would not stick his neck out on a chopping block with statements like he now makes if he wasn't under A LOT of public pressure.  Has the American public caught on?  Has shopping stopped numbing them to the realities of the violent mess that we have created in Iraq?  Do the summer tv re-runs give America a chance to stop and think?  Because something is up is this cabal is backing up, slowly, and uttering chilling Vietnam Redux nonsense like "Stay the Course" and "Resolve and Faith.'

To be clear, I am not 'happy' to see Bush in a corner in Iraq.  I wish he had created some incredible fuzzy warm magic solution for what was a non-problem in February 2003: the  Saddam problem. I wish I were eating crow.  But we all knew this is exactly where Bush was leading us.  Will our countrymen take that tyrant out of power? (Bush, that is).  I have hope that this IS the turning point.

Without further ado, here is the opinion piece from a treasured international publication:

Title: Bush asks US: stay with me on Iraq    

Read it at: http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/

Feel free to comment.

There is a Great line in the Movie Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid, as they are looking over the edge of a cliff at the river 100 feet below. One is worried he cannot swim. The other laughs and says; your worried about Drowning? its the fall that will kill you.

This Administration has been so pre-occupied with expanding its Political Agenda into the rest of the world, forcing democracy upon people that dont want it, manipulating independant interests to controll agendas, feeding defense contractors, petroleum lobbies and financial interests...it cannot see what lies beyond the edge of the cliff.

The actions of this President have created unsustainable levels of anxiety in the Nation, given the world cause to eye us with suspicion.
We are burning through money at the rate of 1.1 Billion per week in Iraq, and yet our soldiers die because they do not have armor. We are a Billion short in the VA hospital, which is close to what the Pentagon cannot account for in Iraq. We are not honoring our Military, we are not even coming close.

Our President will stand tommorow before the Nation, using a Military base as a Backdrop. It is actions like this that hypocrisy manifests itself. Brave Soldiers dying because money is diverted to defense contractors and petroleum interests, and yet using those soldiers to get a bump on poll numbers.

Your worried about public support..?
Its the fraud that will impeach you.

The Charlie Rose Show
----------------------------------
Monday, June 27, 2005 at 11:00 p.m. ET. (Topics subject to change.)
Please go to http://www.charlierose.com/ for an updated show schedule

- Tonight's Show

ALBERTO GONZALES
US Attorney General

Check your local listings for time. In my local area the Charlie Rose Show comes on at midnight now (although it used to be 11 p.m.).

Karen,

here is my e-mail to my rep. i framed it around seeking truth. i think this is one way we can make the republicans attend the special order session:

Rep. Hyde,

I humbly ask you and your Republican colleagues to attend and speak at the Special Order session which will be held June 28. As you are aware, this special order will focus on the Downing Street Minutes. I want to know the truth. please help me learn exactly what the truth is regarding these documents. I want to hear both parties make an honest non-partisand effort to help me understand exactly what happened. If you and your colleagues decide not to attend the Special Order session, I will have to conclude that you don't want to learn the truth.

Posted by: not my president at June 27, 2005 08:15 PM

Ok, Not my president,

Think about this and tell me if this makes a difference:

At the Rainbow Push Conference they were going to take it to the streets:

1. EVERYbody deserves the constitutionally protected right to vote. AND they want to enlist both parties to support this. IF one party or another refuses to take a stand then we will have them on record of being against American freedoms. That means we should be able to use this Ammendment to work for the well being of all.

2. At the RBP conference, and at the Democratic Conference, both were determined to support the statehood of DC, Guam, and one other (I forget who.). Republicans fear this because these are minority communities who typically vote Democrat. But they are urban too and they hold a lot of potential electorate votes. Another reason Republicans fear it.

3. They are determined to bring labor protection to the for front--yep...unions! Protecting our workers and protecting our jobs. NOW if they can do this, then will the people you know support this and help make it happen?

This is long. I am sorry, but I rarely post long messages. This note speaks to Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians and Americans of all political persuasions:

June 26, 2005

Guest Viewpoint: The party's over for betrayed Republican
By James Chaney
As of today, after 25 years, I am no longer a Republican.

I take this step with deep regret, and with a deep sense of betrayal.

I still believe in the vast power of markets to inspire ideas, motivate solutions and eliminate waste. I still believe in international vigilance and a strong defense, because this world will always be home to people who will avidly seek to take or destroy what we have built as a nation. I still believe in the protection of individuals and businesses from the influence and expense of an over-involved government. I still believe in the hand-in-hand concepts of separation of church and state and absolute freedom to worship, in the rights of the states to govern themselves without undo federal interference, and in the host of other things that defined me as a Republican.

My problem is this: I believe in principles and ideals which my party has systematically discarded in the last 10 years.

My Republican Party was the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, and George H.W. Bush. It was a party of honesty and accountability. It was a party of tolerance, and practicality and honor. It was a party that faced facts and dealt with reality, and that crafted common-sense solutions to problems based on the facts as they were, not as we wished them to be, or even worse, as we made them up. It was a party that told the truth, even when the truth came hard. And now, it is none of those things.

Fifty years from now, the Republican Party of this era will be judged by how we provided for the nation's future on three core issues: how we led the world on the environment, how we minded the business of running our country in such a way that we didn't go bankrupt, and whether we gracefully accepted our place on the world's stage as its only superpower. Sadly, we have built the foundation for dismal failure on all three counts. And we've done it in such a way that we shouldn't be surprised if neither the American people nor the world ever trusts us again.

My party has repeatedly ignored, discarded and even invented science to suit its needs, most spectacularly as to global warming. We have an opportunity and the responsibility to lead the world on this issue, but instead we've chosen greed, shortsightedness and deliberate ignorance.

We have mortgaged the country's fiscal future in a way that no Democratic Congress or administration ever did, and to justify the tax cuts that brought us here, we've simply changed the rules. I matured as a Republican believing that uncontrolled deficit spending is harmful and irresponsible; I still do. But the party has yet to explain to me why it's a good thing now, other than to say "... because we say so."

Our greatest failure, though, has been in our role as superpower. This world needs justice, democracy and compassion, and as the keystone of those things, it needs one thing above all else: truth.

Republican decisions made in 2002 and 2003 have killed almost 2,000 of the most capable patriots our country has to offer - volunteers, every one. Support for those decisions was gathered through what appeared at the time to be spin and marketing, but which now turns out to have been deliberate planning and falsehood. The Blair government's internal documentation only confirms what has been suspected for years: Americans are dying every day for Republican lies first crafted in 2002, expanded and embellished upon in 2003, and which continue to this day. This calculated deception is now burned into the legacy of the party, every bit as much as Reagan's triumph in the Cold War, or Nixon's disgrace over Watergate.

I could go on and on - about how we have compromised our international integrity by sanctioning torture, about how we are systematically dismantling the civil liberties that it took us two centuries to define and preserve, and about how we have substituted bullying, brinksmanship and "staying on message" for real political discourse - but those three issues are enough.

We're poisoning our planet through gluttony and ignorance.

We're teetering on the brink of self-inflicted insolvency.

We're selfishly and needlessly sacrificing the best of a generation.

And we're lying about it.

While it has compiled this record of failure and deception, the party which I'm leaving today has spent its time, energy and political capital trying to save Terri Schiavo, battling the threat of single-sex unions, fighting medical marijuana and physician-assisted suicide, manufacturing political crises over presidential nominees, and selling privatized Social Security to an America that isn't buying. We fiddle while Rome burns.

Enough is enough. I quit.

James Chaney is a Eugene attorney who has been in private practice for more than 20 years, and who has been a registered Republican since 1980.

GUEST VIEWPOINT

Posted by: Suz at June 27, 2005 09:53 PM

Suz,

Your concept is exactly the same concept that I am advocating to get Republican members to attend the special order session. We have to focus not just on Republican members, but Democratic members as well.

Man, their is so much going down now, where to start?

I didn't realize that Congress had a query into Halliburton today.

"I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career."

-- Bunnatine Greenhouse, top Army Corps of Engineers contract oversight official, turned whistleblower

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/charlie-cray/whistleblowers-describe-h_3284.html

Right oncall,

I do not discriminate against Dems or Repubs. I harrass both equally!

Right oncall,

I do not discriminate against Dems or Repubs. I harrass both equally!

I hear an echo...

I hear an echo!

ok..one last post before I hit the hay.

So...I'm listening to Randi Rhodes and some lady tells her she can't do anything because she's a mom to twins. Well, we'll say that didn't go over very well!!!

The next caller is this woman who has a three year old. This woman just spent the last few nights trying to reach people through their love of their children, not through partison politics.

She copied the latest reports of 16-25 year olds who's id's and records are being tracked for the military. Then she copied the picture of the caskets returning home.

Then she posted the information about the Downing Street Minutes and said, "Call your Representative if you want them to investigate this endless war and stop this endless war."

SEE...she took these copies she made and her and her 3 year old stuck these notes under the wiper blades at the park where all these people were parked watching the baseball games of their kids.

Let them think about that...and decide if that is the route that is ok for their kids too.

Thank you Lady, whoever you are!

Beth-

I saw some of the hearing on Haliburton on CSPAN. Lautenberg, Dorgan, and Rep. Waxman were great. I had no idea SO MUCH was overcharged and the lengths they were going to to stifle dissent...

Don't miss this series on PBS, OPB locally for me:

The Pipeline
Viewers shadow filmmakers as they follow the circuitous route of the 1,100-mile "BTC Pipeline," a string of 150,000 steel pipes that links the cities of Baku in Azerbaijan, Tbilisi in Georgia and Ceyhan in Turkey, transporting the rich, previously untapped energy reserves of the Caspian to the Mediterranean, from where it flows into the global market.

(TV) Monday, June 27, 2005 at 11:00 PM The Oil Curse
The production team travels down jungle rivers to the coastline of Ecuador, a nation where the presence of oil has proven to be more a bane than a blessing and is now the focus of a landmark lawsuit over international corporate accountability.

(TV) Monday, July 4, 2005 at 11:00 PM (view schedule)

The Wilderness
This program heads to the far reaches of Alaska and Canada - with a side trip to Washington, DC. Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could soon be the site of extensive oil development - but at what cost?

(TV) Monday, July 11, 2005 at 11:00 PM (view schedule)

Native Texan:

Yes, it's an obscene amount of money Halliburton has overcharged the American taxpayers. And the troops still don't have the equipment and benefits they need.

So much is happening. All of these issues discussed. The corruption at the highest levels and lowest -- from Halliburton and Cheney to the stupid Californian representative milking the lobbyists for real estate bribes. Ohio coin gate. Valerie Plame, Downing Street Memos. Frist...

We can't keep up!

And tomorrow we're supposed to listen to deal leader sell the war. Argh!!!

And did the DCP crew hear about how how Joe Barton--the congressman receiving the largest amount of cash from energy companies (over half a million dollars) is harassing and intimidating scientists who publish papers the oil industry doesn't like?

Here's the intimidating letter they sent Michael Mann, a professor at the University of Virginia--soon to be at Penn State:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Letters/062305_Mann.pdf

Many blog entries are on it, the usual suspects, but Chris Mooney specializes in Science/Politics issues:

http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp?Id=1926

"In June 2000, Senator Frist took $1 million of the money that had been contributed to his 2000 Senate campaign and invested it in the stock market, where it promptly began losing money."

Now let me get this straight. Voters donated one million dollars to Frist's election campaign, and he invested it in the stock market???

Is that legal? If so, I'm going to run for election immediately! What a way to raise start-up capital!!

Anyone want to donate to my "election campaign"?

SF Naked Bike Ride Against Oil Dependency

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/06/1685103_comment.php#1706209

A Moment In Time: A Contemporary Visitation of Thomas Paine

Having lived through the latter part of the 20th century and the course of the past 5 years…is there a moment in time we dare not imagine in this 21st century carnival we call planet Earth?

Our very freedom is now hunted around the world…reason is considered rebellion…and for those not enslaved by fear, at the very least, a moment's hesitation is granted before uttering a word.

Those who would dare to even whisper of truth face the onslaught of condemnation…ostracized for the mere audacity of free thought…of conscience…of compassion…but such is the irresistible nature of truth…for all it asks of any of us is to be set free.

We who would make our own liberty secure…who would stand before the gilded idols of power and corruption must guard even our enemy from oppression; for if we violate this duty, we establish a precedent that will reach within...to the deepest depths of our sentience of being.

Now is the era for a Harvest of unity, faith and honor.

The smallest crack will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak…so much so the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read in it full grown characters for the good of our heritage…or annihilation of our civilization.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us...the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

We fight not to enslave, but to set our Nation free, and to make room upon the Earth for the honest to thrive.

When we are planning for posterity, we must remember that virtue is not hereditary…education and enlightenment are indeed our salvation from the voices of the dispossessed comes the most precious inspiration.

Unconditional love be brought forth for those who can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. "Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

The church down the street has a marquee that says "What the Pacifist Can Learn From the Soldier" & then something about the teachings of of Sun Tzu on the Art of War!

http://www.artofwarplus.com

http://www.kimsoft.com/polwar.htm

http://www.sonshi.com/learn.html

http://wwwclassics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html

http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu
http://www.suntzu1.com

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism/suntzu.htm

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism/suntext.htm

http://www.online-literature.com/suntzu

Posted by: oncall at June 27, 2005 10:06 PM

Oncall, thanks for posting that letter. I only hope more people are seeing these truths in increasing numbers.

I am thinking of those I can mail a copy of this letter to.

Beth C

Thanks for the info. I also appreciated your other recent posts, all of which added to my awareness. There is alot of info on the internet and only so much time, but if you come across something that should be shared - never assume someone will already know it. I have never minded reading something or seeing a reference again, either, especially if it's something that needs to get out there.

Oncall, that guest viewpoint says everything I've been saying since leaving the party in 03. Only this guy says it oh so much better.

Where was it published? Thanks.

Here is the link to the guest viewpoint post.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/06/26/ed.col.chaney.0626.html

This morning I'm wondering why Dumbya is going to speak tonight.... I checked the TV listings for a change, and they actually have a show on ABC that sounds interesting: "Empire" - about the Roman Empire after Caesar was killed, and all the political and social ramifications after that. On the whole, I'd rather watch Empire than listen to Dumbya try to rally support for his war....

Gleanings of news, now that I've read e-newsletters all night...

Incinerating Iraqis; the napalm cover up
by Mike Whitney
Two weeks ago the UK Independent ran an article which confirmed that the US had "lied to Britain over the use of napalm in Iraq". (06-17-05) Since then, not one American newspaper or TV station has picked up the story even though the Pentagon has verified the claims. This is the extent to which the American "free press" is yoked to the center of power in Washington.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9307.htm
[Michael Moore's Farenheit 9-11 also mentioned napalm attacks and showed a picture of a child with a face that resembled melted wax. Why has mainstream media TV coverage not covered such abominable acts??? Why haven't mainstream media presses covered such a story on page one???]

What Have We Done to Ourselves America?
By Nolan K. Anderson
Is the noose of fascism tightening around the necks of Americans or are corruption, cowardice and the malfeasance of our Congress responsible for more serious, recently inflicted blows to American freedom and our American way of life?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9290.htm

The Fantastical World Of Studley McMuffin
By Sheila Samples
How long are we going to allow this war criminal to keep killing innocent men, women and children while wiping his brow and complaining how much work -- hard work -- it is? How long, America? Until they're all dead under the weight of our liberation?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9289.htm

Is This What They Call Democracy?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705Z.shtml

Brendan Smith | The "Tribunal Movement"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605Y.shtml
Excerpt:
"Among participants, there is much talk of finding new ways to reign in President Bush and Vice President Cheney, whether it be through the ICC, the UN, or more Tribunals held in a growing number of cities worldwide. For it is clear to the various delegations from South Korea, Stockholm, and India that the American people need the help of international civil society to evict an out-of-control tenant in the White House. And just as US civil society aided the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine or the fight against apartheid in South Africa, the Tribunal Movement is now pressuring for the re-establishment of the rule of law in America. This is the civil society version of the global pro-democracy movement. And we certainly could use the help."

Dahr Jamail | War Crimes
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605A.shtml
Excerpt:
"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."

Index: Testimony From World Tribunal for Iraq
This Is a Must Read
Testimony by - H.C. von Sponeck - Larry Everest - Dahr Jamail - Jim Harding - Phil Shiner
The Tribunal will consist of hearings investigating various issues related to the war on Iraq, such as the legality of the war, the role of the United Nations, war crimes and the role of the media, as well as the destruction of the cultural sites and the environment.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9278.htm

Bush Tyranny In Iraq Surpasses That Of Saddam.
In a close race Bush beats Saddam.
The Evidence File
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9304.htm

In Italy, Anger at US Tactics Colors Spy Case
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605B.shtml
[IMHO, Bu$hCo's tactics of abducting suspected terrorists around the world where we have no jurisdiction to arrest anyone, and transporting prisoners to locations unknown to be tortured is coming back to bite us in the a$$.... Rabbi Hillel in the 5th century BCE said "Do NOT unto others as you would NOT have them do unto you." Bu$hCo's illegal, unethical, and immoral actions have set up a dangerous precedent for having Americans arrested in foreign countries, and if Americans are captured by countries known to harbor and train terrorists, what can we expect other than Americans being treated as badly as Bu$hCo has sanctioned at Gitmo and elsewhere?!?!? And, because of Bu$h, Cheney, Gonzales, Rummy, et al., Americans have no moral high ground to object to torture....]

Nicholas D. Kristof | A Glide Path to Ruin
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605E.shtml

James J. Zogby | Senator Durbin Defends America's Values
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705L.shtml

Bush Says US Seeks to Eliminate Torture Worldwide
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705F.shtml
[Some of the most hypocritical words to ever come out of the mouth of Bu$h & Cronies.... If the torture was not being done in the name of every American, and was only being done in his and his administration's names, I'd be tempted to laugh hysterically at such a funny story coming out of the mouths of the Bu$hCo administration....]

Bush Plans Plutonium Production for Secret Missions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705Y.shtml
[My Biggie Question: Why???}

Coastal Nightmares Brewing
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062605X.shtml

In Battle to Pick Next Justice, Right Says, Avoid a Kennedy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/062705G.shtml

Anyone else wonder if Halliburton is going to rake in big bucks for building more prisons in Iraq, as well as the new prison Halliburton is building at Gitmo?!?!? What is the objective for Dumbya and administration in building more prisons??? Imprisoning all the males above fighting age in Iraq???

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050628/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
U.S. Military to Expand Prisons in Iraq
By FRANK GRIFFITHS, Associated Press Writer
Excerpts:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Monday it plans to expand its prisons across Iraq to hold as many as 16,000 detainees, as the relentless insurgency shows no sign of letup one year after the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi authorities.
The prison population at three military complexes throughout the country — Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper — has nearly doubled from 5,435 in June 2004 to 10,002 now, said Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq. Some 400 non-Iraqis are among the inmates, according to the military.

"We are past the normal capacity for both Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. We are at surge capacity," Rudisill said. "We are not at normal capacity for Camp Cropper."

The burgeoning prison population has forced the U.S. military to begin renovations on existing facilities, and work has also begun on restoring an old Iraqi military barracks near Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.

The facility, to be called Fort Suse, is expected to be completed by Sept. 30 and will have room for 2,000 new detainees, Rudisill said.

All renovations should be done by February and are expected to make room for 16,000 detainees in Iraq, he said.

From today's NYTimes: The Speech the President Should Give

By JOHN F. KERRY
Published: June 28, 2005
TONIGHT President Bush will discuss the situation in Iraq. It's long past time to get it right in Iraq. The Bush administration is courting disaster with its current course - a course with no realistic strategy for reducing the risks to our soldiers and increasing the odds for success.

The reality is that the Bush administration's choices have made Iraq into what it wasn't before the war - a breeding ground for jihadists. Today there are 16,000 to 20,000 jihadists and the number is growing. The administration has put itself - and, tragically, our troops, who pay the price every day - in a box of its own making. Getting out of this box won't be easy, but we owe it to our soldiers to make our best effort.

Our mission in Iraq is harder because the administration ignored the advice of others, went in largely alone, underestimated the likelihood and power of the insurgency, sent in too few troops to secure the country, destroyed the Iraqi army through de-Baathification, failed to secure ammunition dumps, refused to recognize the urgency of training Iraqi security forces and did no postwar planning. A little humility would go a long way - coupled with a strategy to succeed.

So what should the president say tonight? The first thing he should do is tell the truth to the American people. Happy talk about the insurgency being in "the last throes" leads to frustrated expectations at home. It also encourages reluctant, sidelined nations that know better to turn their backs on their common interest in keeping Iraq from becoming a failed state.

Read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/opinion/28kerry.html?th&emc=th

madame defarge,

I can't help wondering how the propaganda network decision makers can sleep at night. After all, in September through November 2nd, anytime JK tried to bring up important and meaningful issues all they could do is regurgitate the republicans lie and spin! (I refuse to repeat it, but let's just say the f word now has a double f to join it on the no-no list.)

Posted by: madame defarge at June 28, 2005 06:48 AM

Even Kerry sounds almost optimistic in the full article.... If, if ,if and if Dumbya tells the truth (something I'm quite certain Dumbya is incapable of doing, living in his little isolated tower where no bad news reaches him, and no one dares tell him the truth in the first place, IMHO).... Dumbya wants to be remembered as a war president; he will go down in history as the worst president ever, and the war he started is illegal, unethical, and immoral in so many ways the list will go on for hundreds, if not thousands, of pages......

IMHO, let the people holding the hearings in Turkey detail all the illegal things Dumbya and his administration have done (in conjunction with Blair and his cronies), and turn Dumbya and his administration over to a war crimes trial in the Hague.... We need to wash our hands of this monster who occupies our White House.

Then, for the upcoming elections, all senators and representatives who want to be re-elected need to apologize to their constituents for giving Dumbya the ability to declare war (illegally - that properly belongs with Congress and they gave up that power, the dumb asses!), and apologize for voting for so many things Dumbya wanted done as he tried to set up a fascist nation, control our presses, declare war, approve of torture, sent our kids into harm's way in Iraq... etc. We may forgive them by the time election day rolls around in '06; otherwise they ought to be voted out of office. As someone said in an article a few days ago, it's possible to support the troops and still be against war - it's the patriotic thing to do, and still keep the military personnel alive. War is bad, no matter how one looks at it, even the few wars that have been justified in the past.

If we are to once again to return to being what can be called a civilized nation, we need to get along with our neighbors on this ever-shrinking globe of ours! And it wouldn't hurt one danged bit if our media returns to the previous standards it once had, starts telling the American people the truth and exposes this administration for the evil crooks they are!!!

nonnyo,

Halliburton will rake in more money and some of it may even be their paycheck and the rest of it will just be "missing" from our coiffures but mysteriously placed in theirs.

I received this in an email (again) but I see it's been added onto since the last time I saw it. These are the things we need to remember when Dumbya starts talking tonight (if we bother to watch his poor acting job about what a rosy future Iraq has when he gets done imposing democracy on their people - double-speak for he and his cronies divvying up the spoils of war and occupying the oil fields):

BUSH'S RESUME

George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC USA

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

I ran for Congress and lost.

I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas; the company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team, in a sweetheart deal and built a stadium using taxpayer money.

With my father's help and name, I was elected Governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR

I changed pollution laws in favor of the power and oil companies and made TX the most polluted state in the US. And replaced Houston over L.A. as the most smog-ridden city in America.

Cut taxes and bankrupted TX government to the tune of billions of dollars in borrowed money.

I set the record for most executions by a Governor in US history.

I became US President after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes with the help of major Enron money and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court.

PRESIDENTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

I attacked and overtook two countries at the expense of countless lives.

I spent the US surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in US history.

I set an economic record for private bankruptcies in any 12-month period.

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

I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.

I set the record for most days on vacation in any one year.

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

I set the record for most campaign fundraising trips by a US president.

I set the records for the least amount of press conferences of any president since the advent of television.

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

I have cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.

I set the all time record for the largest number of people worldwide to protest my policies in public venues (15 million) shattering the record for protest against anyone in world history.

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

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

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

I am the first president to order a preemptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation, and besides that I did so against the will of the United Nations.

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more
than any president in the US.

I am the first president to have the UN remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the US from the World Court.

I refused to allow inspectors access to prisoners of war and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the all-time US and world record-holder for receiving the largest corporate campaign donations.

My largest campaign contributor and one of my best friends, Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in US history.

My political party used the Enron Private jets and their corporate attorneys to assure my success with the Supreme Court during the 2000 election.

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

In the past 18 months since the World Trade Center attack, I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in US history.

In a little over two years, I have created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided since the Civil War.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and have turned every single economic category downward, all in less than two years.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES

I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine. And my Texas driving record has been erased and is unavailable.

I was AWOL from the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

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

All records or minutes from meetings I, or my vice-president, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable to the public.

These are just a few of my accomplishments as President, for inquiries anymore information, my father can be reached at the Carlyle Group offices, where he and James Baker are helping to divide up the spoils of the US-Iraq War and planning for the next assault.

Posted by: sparrow at June 28, 2005 07:28 AM

Agreed, sparrow. I think most of us have figured out that Halliburton has stashed a lot of cash and other taxpayer monies they've acquired from overcharging for their services in their coffers and will hang on to all that "missing" money from various government sources.... What was the last sum I read? 8.8 billion???

Didn't someone start an investigation into the financial irregularities of Halliburton since they got a no-bid contract for Iraq???

ok..one last post before I hit the hay.

So...I'm listening to Randi Rhodes and some lady tells her she can't do anything because she's a mom to twins. Well, we'll say that didn't go over very well!!!

The next caller is this woman who has a three year old. This woman just spent the last few nights trying to reach people through their love of their children, not through partison politics.

Posted by: sparrow at June 27, 2005 10:26 PM

Heard that to Sparrow

Three things:
1. Need a job? Job application for Deep Throat II !

http://www.thinkbluedems.com/deepthroat.php?osCsid=b0ab59190210d43c48897007f874e58d

Be sure to check out all the options for "Current employment", "experience", and other.

2. "I didn't know who Senator Kyl was until I saw him on TV a month ago talking about the filibuster. He's AWFUL.Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at June 27, 2005 06:29 PM"
You're right about that! It was painful having him as "my" senator-- the dems never could seem to run a serious candidate against him. . .

3."Read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/opinion/28kerry.html?th&emc=th
Posted by: madame defarge at June 28, 2005 06:48 AM"

THanks, Madame defarge, for posting this oped piece by John Kerry. I hope that everyone got to read it. . I thought it was very good, and it's useful, well-timed antidote to the garbage I expect to hear tonight.