What's Next?

from David Swanson, re the Media Reform Conference in Memphis:

Here are the videos and audio of our war and impeachment events: Enjoy!
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/memphisvideos

Wow Karen. That sounds like they know Bush's play book. This is serious stuff. This has the potential to start WWIII. What does the Eurpean Union think of this?

And since when is war an acceptable way for politics to run?

The scary thing is...Walberg my house rep is right behind him cheerleading him on!

Karen,

You should post this at Kos and at Democratic Undergound and other places too.

The Monkey Speaks His Mind
Written by Dave Bartholomew and Pearl King
Performed Damn Well by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

And three monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing things as they are said to be
Said one to other now listen, you two
“There’s a certain rumour that just can’t be true
That man descended from our noble race ,
Why, the very idea is a big disgrace, yea”

No monkey ever deserted his wife
Starved her baby and ruined her life
Yea, the monkey speaks his mind

And you’ve never known a mother monk
To leave her babies with others to bunk
And passed them on from one to another
‘Til they scarcely knew which was their mother
Yea, the monkey speak his mind

And another thing you will never see
A monkey build a fence around a coconut tree
And let all the coconuts go to waste
Forbidding other monkeys to come and taste
Why, if I put a fence around this tree
Starvation would force you to steal from me
Yea, the monkey speaks his mind

Here’s another thing a monkey won’t do
Go out on a night and get all in a stew
Or use a gun or a club or a knife
And take another monkey’s life

Yes, man descended, the worthless bum
But, brothers, from us he did not come

Yea, the monkey speaks his mind
Yea, now the monkey speaks his mind

According to D.U. the march in DC the 27th is expected to be the biggest so far.

If you think you can go, check online for discount fares. And you can find busses going to DC from across the country.

Right wing people are picking up Newt's line calling Iraq "World War III". Graham does it now.

Karen
I agree about the "cult of personality" around our elections. That said, I'm glad to see Bill Richardson entering but I don't think he'll take it. I think it's healthy to have a ring of contenders. Now let's see what their positions actually ARE.

I am closely watching all of our local people - from Governor to Senators to Legislators to City Council. They not only affect what happens locally with my family and I but Boeing is here and so is Ft. Lewis, Whidbey Island Naval station and Everett & Bremerton Naval stations. We may have a huge local peace community but we also have plenty of corporate pigs. The commander for the Middle East will now be a Lieutenant General from Ft. Lewis near Tacoma. & that's exactly where Ehren Watada is resisting from.

For a while now, a few others and I have been watching how things line up globally for military sales, military alliances, and trade deals. Russia and China both have their own special interests. Russia has oil and threatens to pull the plug on the EU all the time. China needs oil and develops new sources such as in Africa. Some South American countries are aligning with Iran, an OPEC member, and some of those countries are trending socialist and nationalizing oil and natural gas. We have deals with India but they are a wild card and have ethnic tensions of their own not to mention with Pakistan. Speaking of Pakistan, they have a leader who kind of made a deal with the devil in the eyes of alot of his people. They also share mountains with Afghanistan wherein Al Quaida can hide and collaborate with Taleban as they regroup their opium into bumper crops, perfect for funding operations. We underestimate Asia, where Thailand borders Islamic Malaysia and has insurgents of its own in the south. Similarly, the Phillipines has a breakoff group that would like to be sovereign. Then there's the Tamil Tigers. & Somalia, which sounded under control according to our media, to the extent that they covered it, & Ethiopia was being held up as a model for containing Islamic rebels. Yet this would put the country back in the hands of Jenjuweed rebels, known for rape and mayhem. & yesterday I saw that Mogadishu is once again in "chaos." We remember it best from "Black Hawk Down" and yesterday we may have had another "Black Hawk Down" in Iraq. The Pentagon did its best to stall on that one.

It's really hard for the Democrats now that trade unions have been on the wane. They were such a boon for recruiting and organizing activists. The internet has energized people and is a vehicle for small donations, which add up. Still, the Democrats have to depend on large donors and corporate donors. The whole 2008 race is already about who can raise funds, rather than who can help us out with both foreign and domestic expertise tempered with wisdom and intuition. We may make history with a woman, black, Hispanic or millworker's son for a President but they will have to raise hundreds of millions.

How can we compete in this world any more when most developed countries have free or reasonable healthcare for all, free or reasonable daycare and early childhood education, rigorous public schooling and free or reasonable higher educatoin, not to mention smaller deficits than we do? We maintain a military bigger which is almost bigger than that of the rest of the planet put together. We are not a Welfare State but a Walmart State and the military and contractors are another huge enterprise that we have to subsidize. The gap between super-rich and poor grew phenomenally under Reagan, kept growing in the meantime, and has ballooned under Bush II until we resemble something last seen under feudalism.

I didn't even mention Iran and Iraq. I think Persian vs Arabia, going back to 400 AD. There have only been brief respites and we're doing what the British Empire tried to do before they failed. The Russian Generals also warned us about Afghanistan.

I posted Bush's plan under the last thread, from Council of Foreign Relations. I can't imagine how it can succeed. The neocons want to remake the middle east. Condi made reference to this last week in Israel. She used the terminology and is probably picturing the map of a General that the neocons all follow. The map shows Iraq partitioned, as well as Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon, Jordan and Israel have changed in size.

Remember the Dubai Ports deal? Then there is Burj Dubai, which will cost a billion and be the tallest tower in the world. Work proceeds on it 24/7 and it's mostly Asian workers in hard hats. 500 acres. Surrounding it will be a $20 billion district with 30,000 homes, a Giorgio Armani-designed hotel, an ice rink, and a 30-acre man-made lake. A dozen American firms are involved. It's a secret how high it will be, but a story is added to Burj Dubai each week. Or if you want your own island, try "The World," made by slave labor. Michael Jackson will live there, as will quite a few other rich Americans and companies. It looks like our planet, but each "country" is a man-made island.

There are "two Americas" but there are "two middle easts" - and everyone over there knows which side we support, the poor be damned. Is it any wonder they turn to religion as "the opiate of the people"?!! (& I believe same thing happens here).

There was a piece in the Times last week (don't know if I bothered to post it) reporting how two newspapers close to the Mullahs have begun to criticize Ahmadinejad. This suggests that the Mullahs themselves believe that things are moving in a dangerous direction, and increases the chances that negotiations would be fruitful.

The psychos running American foreign policy, however, seem to be hell-bent on launching another futile and irresponsible military operation - one that can only further jepordize the safety of our military forces already serving in Iraq, as well as further enhance Al Queda's recruitment efforts.

The Framers of the Constitution knew exactly what they were doing when they stipulated that only Congress could declare war. It's time that this Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, stood up and defended the United States Constitution from this repugant and dangerous attempt to create an Imperial Presidency.

How ironic is it that the most incompetent man to hold the office in the last 100 years is the man who insists on this reckless expansion of authority?

President Bush should be spending much more time contemplating resignation and much less time obsessing about Iran.

Matthew Carnicelli
Yes you did post it and there was also a 2003 article about how the Iranians were at that time more willing to compromise and we didn't take advantage of it. If the neocons are really intent on "remaking" the middle east out of a "controlled chaos," then they would ignore such overtures or deem them insincere.

& to think that when I was born, Iran was a democracy & we helped overthrow their leader to help install a puppet who was sympathetic to the oil-plundering of BP & all the rest. The oil should belong to the people, not leaders who collaborate with foreign entrepreneurs.

According to Irving Kristol, the founder and "god-father" of Neoconservatism, there are three basic pillars of Neoconservatism:

1. Economics: Cutting tax rates in order to stimulate steady, wide-spread economic growth and acceptance of the necessity of the risks inherent in that growth, such as budget deficits, as well as the potential benefits, such as budget surpluses.

2. Domestic Affairs: Preferring strong government but not intrusive government, slight acceptance of the welfare state, adherence to social conservatism, and disapproval of counterculture

3. Foreign Policy: Patriotism is a necessity, world government is a terrible idea, the ability to distinguish friend from foe, protecting national interest both at home and abroad, and the necessity of a strong military.

That is pretty much counter to my own value system.

This is amazing.

Irving Kristol wrote: “If there is any one thing that neoconservatives are unanimous about, it is their dislike of the counterculture.”

Norman Podhoretz agreed: “Revulsion against the counterculture accounted for more converts to neoconservativism than any other single factor."

Ira Chernus, a professor at the University of Colorado, argues that the deepest root of the neoconservative movement is its fear that the counterculture would undermine the authority of traditional values and moral norms. Because neoconservatives believe that human nature is innately selfish, they believe that a society with no commonly accepted values based on religion or ancient tradition will end up in a war of all against all. They also believe that the most important social value is strength, especially the strength to control natural impulses. The only alternative, they assume, is weakness that will let impulses run riot and lead to social chaos.

(The quotations are collected in the Wikipedia entry on Neoconservatism. Please tell me how that position is different from that of the Taleban!)

It follows that the best way to fight them is with tolerance of diversity, and legislation to protect it. We need to enforce separation of church and state. We need to emphasize individuality but not based on financial greed, but on freedom of thought and freedom of expression. We need to emphasize collectivism but not for social control, but for the common good.

They will hate that and they will die out.

Follow the money .. Rockwell Internatonal, Dupont etc .. military weapon developers .. funding the neocon think tanks. Project for New American Century was funded by the Bradley Foundation, which was sold to Rockwell International, which makes weapons.
That foundation funds broadly across the rightwing, and its founders belonged to the John Birch Society.
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1441
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_International

Rockwell International no longer exists. " The company sold the most of its defense and all of its space business to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, including Rocketdyne in December, 1996. The remainder of the company finally split into two totally separate companies: Rockwell Collins, (COL), and Rockwell Automation, (ROK).

If you want to make yourself dizzy, investigate the history and relationship of Brown, Root and Kellogg & Halliburton. If you read John Kerry's "Tour of Dury" you fill find Brown & Root supplying the infrastructure for the Vietnam war, with LBJ collaborating. It's endless.

They will hate that and they will die out.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 21, 2007 01:50 PM

Au contraire, this is what energizes them like nothing else and makes them feel "persecuted"...and also enables them to ally with those strange bedfellows...socially conservative Christians, thereby sapping minorities and the poor/working class from their ideological home in the other party.

The way to fight them is to drive a wedge between them and socially conservative Christians by pointing out (as was successfully done in November) the great hypocrisy of the NeoCons, the fact that they are not really socially conservative at all, they are just greedy and selfish people who hate everyone but themselves...which is in stark contrast to the acceptance of Jesus, who extended his grace to everyone, especially the outcasts and the unpopular.

We need to draw a stark contrast between "doctrinally conservative", or believing something religious that is very specific, and being a NeoCon, which is hating everyone except yourself.

But by all means don't give the NeoCons a "common enemy" to preach to the faithful...if we truly spent our time and money on taking care of the poor, stopping wars and violence, loving our neighbor, visiting the sick and lonely and orphaned and widowed and injured and imprisoned...I think nobody would have much energy left to fight over abortion, gay marriage, legalized drugs, or guns in school.

V--you still having the winter gathering? And which airport and weekend again?

Also...techies out there...Does anyone know how to take a video (vhs) and get it downloaded to youtube?

Posted by: sparrow at January 21, 2007 02:23 PM

I'd like to, how many people are interested in coming?

Feb 2-4, Mobile, AL

Sometimes it's cheaper to fly into Pensacola (1 hr east) or New Orleans (2 hrs west). I have a spare room and a couch and plenty of floor space if anyone wants to crash here...there are also a ton of hotels and stuff nearby that are fairly cheap.

Mardi Gras season has kicked off here and there will be parades Fri & Sat that weekend.

There's a 2-mile fun run/walk fundraiser Saturday morning.

Another idea is to go to New Orleans for a day and volunteer with Habitat.

I'm up for DCP South if y'all are!!

V
You are correct about the way to wedge them and to expose their hypocrisy.

My point is that counterculture is important and vibrant and lives all over the world, including on the internet.

I have been fighting for this right for all of the time I have been alive.

Posted by: V at January 21, 2007 02:54 PM

I'm going to check prices. If I can come, I wouldn't mind the couch.

I opened this article on Google news because it said 24 had died in one day in Iraq. When I got it open, it had changed to 25.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/21/Iraq.main/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Many of the neo-conservatives are apparently neo-Platonists, and students of Allan Bloom; and as I've just discovered, almost all of Plato's dialogues must be seen in the context of the Athenians losses in the Peloponnesian Wars. There is definitely a reactionary tendency in this thinking - however meritorious much of it might be in other terms.

I agree with their notion that human beings are, at heart, profoundly selfish, at least at this point in our development as a species, and that a drift too far towards selfishness - via, for instance, the supply side economics that they so often champion - will lead to that same war of all against all. But I see the ideal of a social contract, through the notion that Tocqueville described as "self interest well understood", and the encouragement of cross-cultural spiritual and intellectual dialogues, ideally leading to the establishment of defensible 21st century spiritual and behavioral norms, as a superior remedy to the same problem, in contrast to their authoritarianism, militarism, and rigid adherence to archaic, highly subjective, ethical and behavioral norms.

President Bush should be spending much more time contemplating resignation and much less time obsessing about Iran.
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at January 21, 2007 01:22 PM

The part that just BOGGLES my mind is WHY so many Congress Critters have not worked harder on behalf of the people who "elected" them (with or without e-voting machines skewing some races) to STOP the madman in the White House. Has the Beltway Bubble totally insulated them from the demands of their own constituents? Do none of them pay attention to the emails and phone calls and letters they receive about stopping this insane war, closing Gitmo, getting our rights and privileges back? WHY are so many still supporting this headlong march of folly into a world-wide conflagration???

I'm all for the domestic bills the House passed (altho I'm aware that when the Senate gets done with them the bills may be substantially changed)... BUT those tasks are now done, and it's LONG past time for our reps and senators to PAY ATTENTION to the people they are supposed to represent, not the warmongering corporations who are robbing our treasury and putting us into debt for lies and oil....

Our senators and representatives owe us some straight explanations (and apologies). There are a very few speaking out, trying to get things back to normal (Leahy trying to get back habeas corpus comes to mind), but those few are not nearly enough. We need all the Congress Critters to work on OUR behalf, not keep appeasing the spoiled brat in the White House who has now achieved his aim of dictatorial power.

Oh... in lieu of an apology, I'll take impeachment proceedings to begin before the end of this month, and total repeal of AUMF before the boy-king spoiled brat has a chance to start another war.....

But it has to start before this month is over - otherwise we need explanations and apologies.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070121/pl_nm/iran_sanctions_usa_dc
Rice warns firms Iran may face further sanctions

BERLIN (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said companies should beware of doing business with Iran and think about the possibility more sanctions will be imposed on it.
"I think people ought to think about the risk of doing business with Iran," Rice told Der Spiegel magazine, according to an English transcript of the interview.

"I think people ought to think about the risk of further sanctions. The United States is clearly sanctioning Iranian banks and our laws are very tough on those who deal with banks that we have sanctioned."

{{{More on link. Gee, I wonder how that's going for Halliburton, which has been doing business with Iran all along...? Did Rice consult Chinkster before she shot her mouth off? With all the obsessively excessive mentions of Iran recently, I'm assuming DimWit's SOTU speech will be filled with hellfire and brimstone about Iran, just as he did about Iraq a few years ago in the lead-up to that illegal war....}}}

Matthew Carnicelli
That's taking me back to when I used to read books like "The Turning Point" by Fritzof Kapra, about the "two paradigms" -
contrasting the linear mechanistic viewpoint of the ancient greeks with the wholism of feminism and the new physics.

The neocons and social conservatives both seem to me reactionary, afraid of change, in science or society. Is it any wonder there is a resistance to the study of evolution of the species biologically, or to social evolution as well? It's ironic that some of the same people want to "remake" the world, but in their own image.

As for the issues that can be used to 'wedge' - those of us who care about rights of women, minorities - can't just drop those issues. It's an on-going struggle. The mainstream can rule in numbers, but that doesn't make them inheriently morally right.

NonnyO
Rice said, "our laws are very tough on those who deal with banks that we have sanctioned."

She ought to know better. The US Treasury department froze some North Korean assets in Macau not too long ago, and what did the North Koreans do but test a nuclear weapon.

She of all people ought to be learning about "blowback."

..the establishment of defensible 21st century spiritual and behavioral norms, as a superior remedy to the same problem, in contrast to their authoritarianism, militarism, and rigid adherence to archaic, highly subjective, ethical and behavioral norms.

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at January 21, 2007 03:15 PM

I agree. Authoritarianism/militarism - are they that afraid of free will?! Do they have no faith in human nature at all?

According to some Buddhists, we have a nature that is unconditoned and that is the Buddha nature, but we are unaware of its nature, because of our conditioning. Our habits and conditioning cloud our awareness. We are taught from birth that we are lacking something that we need (happiness, gadgets etc.) and that there is a duality between who we are and who we want to be. This flies in the face of accepting our true nature and that we could possibly be born good and complete.

It seems to me like religious and political orthodoxies could easily play on this insecurity.

Liberty is not for these slaves; I do not advocate inflicting it against their conscience. On the contrary, I am strongly in favor of letting them crawl and grovel all they please before whatever fraud or combination of frauds they choose to venerate.... Our whole practical government is grounded in mob psychology and.. the Boobus Americanus will follow any command that promises to make him safer."
H. L. Menchen -- 1956.

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
Thomas Paine

Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down.
Frederick Douglass

{Found these apt quotes at the top of the ICH newsletter.}

Frank Rich | Lying Like It's 2003
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012107B.shtml
"Those who forget history may be doomed to repeat it, but who could imagine we'd already be in danger of replaying that rotten year 2003?" asks Frank Rich.

Ray McGovern | Show Me the Intelligence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012107D.shtml
Ray McGovern writes: "Have you noticed? Neither President George W. Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney have cited any US intelligence assessments to support their fateful decision to send 21,500 more troops to referee the civil war in Iraq. This is a far cry from October 2002. Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none."

Robert Fisk: Fear climate change, not our enemies
By Robert Fisk
Did we really think that after we had impoverished them and destroyed so many of their children; after a generation of Iraqis had been "physically and morally crippled", they were going to welcome our "liberation"? From this wreckage of Iraq was bound to come the insurgencies and the hatreds now tearing its people apart and destroying the presidency of George W. Bush and the prime ministership of Tony Blair.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16243.htm

Surge in carbon levels raises fears of runaway warming:
Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than scientists expected, raising fears that humankind may have less time to tackle climate change than previously thought.
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1994071,00.html

Bush Orders More CIA Activity in Venezuela:
Current CIA chief General Michael V. Hayden revealed President George W. Bush had requested his agency “pay more attention” to the activities of President Hugo Chávez and his government in Venezuela.
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2196
{{{Bush is just hell-bent on pissing off everyone with oil. He's still the #1 poster boy for recruiting terrorists, inviting, even daring, people to attack and/or defy the US (like we've not lost any global leadership under his reign and become a third-world rogue nation) in one form or another so he can have any excuse to expand his war. The only talent he has is making enemies of everyone around the globe.}}}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6283423.stm
Help US close Guantanamo, say MPs
MPs who have visited Guantanamo Bay have called on Britain and the international community to do more to help the US close the camp.
{{{Interesting 'sub-headline' wording: "'help' the US close the camp"....?}}}

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6283965.stm
Fears after '200 tonne' oil leak
Some 200 tonnes of oil have leaked from a fuel tank on the stricken cargo ship MSC Napoli, beached off the Devon coast, coastguards have confirmed.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/21/kristol-tells-congress-to-stfu/
Kristol tells Congress to STFU

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/21/getting-all-up-in-my-business/
Getting All Up In My Business

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/21/press-corps-shows-they-have-little-spine-to-anger-the-bush-administration/
Press Corps Shows They Have Little Spine to Anger the Bush Administration

Did not know we were putting a Son of Star Wars base in Czech Republic, to ward off the Russkies. Or that Tony Blair may step down if his aides are charged. Or that the British fear they may be stuck in a quagmire for a long time, with generals warning they need more "hearts and minds" won. The plot just keeps thickening.

Jane Hamsher from Firedoglake has just come out of surgery for breast cancer - her third go around. If you'd like to light a candle, check in at crooksandliars and click the link. Then just click on an unlit one.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/21/janes-out-of-the-hospital/

I learned from Rude Pundit that it's National Sanctity of Human Life Day

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070119.html

Carol
Thanks for new about Jane Hamsher - didn't know about that. Fe and I met her at the Firedoglake breakfast at Yearly Kos in Las Vegas and that was very memorable. She will be on our minds.

More on National Sanctity of Human Life Day irony at

http://www.firedoglake.com/

Graphic illustrations for National Sanctity of Human Life Day
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/21/71529/4924

There is another painful story among the post popular at Kos and the gist of it is that Bush says we make our sacrifice for the war (those of us who aren't fighting) by watching it on tv.

See him define our sacrifice on this video:
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2007/1/19/11409/4235

This is getting idiotic beyond words.

V--count me out. I'm sorry. But the prices are way out of the range I can afford right now.

Speaking of prices, I really wanted to go to DC next weekend & didn't book in time - prices went up. Really anxious to hear about it from those who go. The New Orleans sounded fun too. We'll get together. Hope that we'll have some sympathetic events here locally on the 27th.

Man barred from flights over 'offensive' t-shirt
January 22, 2007 - 12:38PM

An Australian who lives in Britain has threatened legal action against Qantas for barring him from a Melbourne-to-London flight wearing a t-shirt depicting US President George W Bush as a terrorist.

Allen Jasson today said he was defending freedom of speech through his insistence on wearing the t-shirt.

Mr Jasson, 55, an IT specialist living in London, is staying with his daughter in Melbourne after he was refused entry to the flight to London at Melbourne Airport on Friday.

Airline staff argued the t-shirt, which bears an image of the US president with the slogan 'World's number 1 terrorist', was a security risk or an item likely to upset passengers.

Cont ......

Above cont .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/qantas-bans-terror-shirt/2007/01/22/1169330807730.html

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at January 21, 2007 01:22 PM

Hear! Hear! I totally agree!!!

Posted by: DiAnne at January 21, 2007 06:20 PM

Uh, YEAH!!

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at January 21, 2007 03:15 PM

Very well said. You took the words right outa my mouth (well, I wouldn't have said them that way, of course, but I think you are spot on.)

Matthew knows.

Shocking, Karen! And I hope we are all shocked enough to do whatever it takes to turn this potential around. In response to the rumblings of America's Warlord, North Korea, China, Iran and elsewhere have begun flexing nuclear-muscles too. We're ready their actions say.

And the little tic(k) doesn't like it one bit! He bitches and cries that they're not playing fair. "They've got noook-you-lar weapons too! It's not fair! I'll have to wipe them out just in case they might use them!" cries the swollen-bellied tick, engorged with the blood from dead young Americans and the dead and dying civilians of Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, and right across the world. A trail of bloodless corpses is his wake.

He's sucked up all that blood and now other countries have stepped up to the mark and said, "Barley! We'll give you a tiny glimpse of our might. And then you can Back-Off" The biggest surprise is that it took so long. This tells me that noone wants nuclear war as much as the T-I-C himself.

When I was a child in the 50's the Big Bad Wolf stories were replaced by the Madman who would one day come to lead America. He would have the power to destroy the world with the single press of a button. He was coming, coming, coming. And later he was holding, holding, holding his finger on the button.

Simplistic? Of course. Simple. Fast. Complete. This Madman is simple. He must be relieved of his post immediately, simply, completely. The scary stories of my childhood carried far more horror than I could ever have imagined.

The Terrorist-In-Chief of the American nation right now is that "Madman in America" of my childhood. Please, Americans everywhere - please - stop this lunacy while you have a chance. You can't sit around tables talking "the problem" to death. You. You. And You. You. Politicians everywhere. You with the power to lock him straight-jacketed into a padded cell; you must do so. Not next week; not after you've sorted out the ethics agenda; not once you've fixed health care; not after you've rebuilt New Orleans. Right now.

In 5 minutes health care won't be an issue. We have not yet seen any extremist of any race or religion with the killing power - and the determination to use it - of your president. He has the fundamentalist stripes tattooed across his mouth as he sniggers at the poor *unsaved* multitudes. He's goin' direct to heaven - he says. Heaven I'm not concerned about. But that padded cell is ready. Surely.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/21/selling-brand-america/
Selling Brand America

The initial investigation into Saturday's helicopter crash in Iraq indicates the Black Hawk may have been downed by a shoulder-fired missile, U.S. military officials told CNN.

Surge this.

The Limits of Democracy
The elections in Iraq had wondrous aspects, but they also divided the country into three communities and hardened the splits.

By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek

Jan. 29, 2007 issue - No president has attached his name more completely to the promotion of democracy than George W. Bush. He speaks of it with genuine passion and devoted virtually his entire second Inaugural to the subject. His administration talks constantly about its "freedom agenda" and interprets global events largely in such terms. Last summer, for example, as missiles, car bombs and IEDs exploded across Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq, Condoleezza Rice described the violence as the "birth pangs" of a new, democratic Middle East. So it is striking to read this year's annual survey of "freedom in the world," released last week by Freedom House, a nonprofit that is engaged in promoting democracy around the globe. The report points out that 2006 was a bad year for liberty, under attack from creeping authoritarianism in Venezuela and Russia, a coup in Thailand, massive corruption in Africa and a host of more subtle reversals.

"The percentage of countries designated as free has failed to increase for nearly a decade and suggests that these trends may be contributing to a developing freedom stagnation," writes Freedom House director of research Arch Puddington in an essay released with the rankings. Puddington also calls attention to the "pushback" against democracy. Regimes across the world are closing down nongovernmental organizations, newspapers and other groups that advocate for human rights. And, I would add, what is most striking is that these efforts are not being met with enormous criticism. Democracy proponents are on the defensive in many places.

What explains this paradox—of freedom's retreat, even with a U.S. administration vociferous in promoting democracy? Some part of the explanation lies in the global antipathy to the U.S. president. "We have all been hurt by the association with the Bush administration," Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the Egyptian activist, told me last month. "Bush's arrogance has turned people off the idea of democracy," says Larry Diamond, co-editor of the Journal of Democracy.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16723221/site/newsweek/

Monday morning and a slog in the nation's capital--we had *flakes* here finally.

We are preparing for the upcoming weekend and encouraging everyone to at least phone in like mad next Monday. Our efforts can be amplified by those who cannot be present and we need you all to help.

Anyone up for helping to organize a call-in across the blogs?

Funny, I thought DC was full of flakes at any time of the year.

(present company excepted, of course)

A nation in need of a Kennedy
anuary 23, 2007
Bobby Kennedy reflected the best in all of us. We need him now, writes Martin Kettle.

ACROSS my generation, Robert Kennedy still casts a shadow like no other political leader. Through the fragile grace of his life and the hesitant magnificence of his words, he embodied what we hoped the world might become. When he died, he became the great might-have-been. And so, in our smaller, still living way, did our generation.

I have Bobby Kennedy's picture on my wall, and a book of his speeches is always within arm's length as I write. Emilio Estevez, who has made a film about the senator's assassination, is more passionate still. He says in an interview in The New Statesman that Kennedy's death marked the end of decency. America, he believes, has spent the past four decades trying to put the pieces back together again. One knows what he means, but that's not quite right. The years through which Bobby Kennedy lived were hardly one of the human race's finest eras. The America in which he died was no prelapsarian Eden.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/a-nation-in-need-of-a-kennedy/2007/01/22/1169330825890.html

Posted by: woz at January 21, 2007 11:50 PM

Just saw that too.

Throw that Howard bum out, will ya?!?

He's out next year thank god!

No - It's this year!!!!!!!! Yes!!!

2 of the torturing-trio gone very soon!

Police hack into PM's computers
January 22, 2007

DETECTIVES in Britain's cash-for-honours inquiry were forced to hack into Downing Street computers in the search for evidence, The Sunday Telegraph has discovered.

Police used computer experts to obtain confidential material, and are also believed to have approached Number 10's internet suppliers to gain access to government email records.

Scotland Yard became suspicious that potentially vital information was being withheld after it twice asked Downing Street for all emails, letters and other material relating to the system of awarding peerages. Concerns grew that there had been a cover-up.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/police-hack-into-pms-computers/2007/01/21/1169330797058.html

I learned from Rude Pundit that it's National Sanctity of Human Life Day

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070119.html

Posted by: DiAnne at January 21, 2007 08:49 PM

Great. Deny healthcare and kill productive citizens, and fight wars and kill more productive citizens, and call that a culture of life?

Shame on you, W and Benedict.

Might as well call it National Sanctity of UNBORN Human Life Day, because the BORN do NOT matter.

I'm utterly fed up with the culture, industry, and religion of death that we call the USA and Christianity.

Even National Geographic is no more than a propaganda tool, with its TV channel being devoted to al-Qaeda threats, Saddam's reign of terror (minus US complicity in it), and American mercenaries as heroes in Iraq.

If anyone still believes it is an objective publication/organization, you are dead wrong.

I cancelled my subscription to that filth of a "publication" in 2004, and am ever more convinced that I did the right thing.

Posted by: woz at January 22, 2007 12:01 PM

Make that two out of four - you forgot Junichiro Koizumi in Japan as the fourth member of the quad.

Koizumi may be gone, but his party - Liberal Democratic Party, neither liberal nor democratic - has a permanent grip on power in Japanese politics.

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/ap_on_re_us/viagra_aids
AIDS group sues Pfizer over Viagra ads

Cindy Sheehan | Hillary for President?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207A.shtml
Cindy Sheehan writes: "This occupation of Iraq can't be won by being smarter - it was lost before we went in. The US, again, was a big loser in a capricious military expedition, with the support of Senator Clinton. She is an amazingly brilliant person, and she cannot say that she was fooled by George. We, the American public, can be brilliant too, and we can't buy that baloney."

Paul Krugman | Gold-Plated Indifference
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207F.shtml
"What's really striking about Mr. Bush's remarks is the tone. The stuff about providing 'incentives' to buy insurance, the sneering description of good coverage as 'gold plated,' is right-wing think-tank jargon," writes Paul Krugman. "In the past Mr. Bush's speechwriters might have found less offensive language; now, they're not even trying to hide his fundamental indifference to the plight of less-fortunate Americans."

Warner Leads Second Resolution Criticizing Bush's Iraq Plan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207C.shtml
Senator John Warner, the former GOP chairman and influential member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is set to introduce a second resolution Monday that expresses criticism of President Bush's call for a troop increase in Iraq, a move Bush administration officials have scrambled to avoid.

{{{Why split hairs over the wording of two separate resolutions, one worded more strongly than the other - neither of which is binding and DimWit is ignoring anyway, since his escalation to original troop levels has already begun, the troops arrived in Iraq just as this last weekend became a bit more deadly than usual??? When the Congress Critters come up with binding legislation to end the illegal war, get the troops home immediately, and close Gitmo, then they can bicker over "escalation" or "augmentation." Duh...! Most Congress Critters are currently (still) acting like a bunch of Bu$hs butt-lickers who don't know the difference between the taste of $hite and the taste of $pam. And that includes the Dems who have not been more vocal about ending the boy-king's war and closing Gitmo and restoring our rights and privileges. All talk and no action gets more people killed daily....}}}

Splash this across front pages of American MSM. Time to wake up folks!

US global image worsens: BBC poll
January 23, 2007 - 7:34AM

The image of the United States has deteriorated around the world in the past year because of issues such as Iraq and prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, according to a poll by the BBC World Service.

Disapproval of the Bush administration's performance is higher in Australia than the global average according to the survey.

The survey found 60 per cent of Australians now hold a mainly negative view of the US role in the world, compared with the average of 52 per cent.

The poll of 26,000 adults across 25 countries, including Australia, was commissioned by the BBC and various media partners, including Fairfax in Australia.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-global-image-worsens-BBC-poll/2007/01/23/1169330862894.html

Posted by: monkey at January 22, 2007 09:53 AM

I think it was Aristotle who considered democracy as "mob rule" and not a good form of government. That's one reason the Constitution set up a republic, not a democracy (politicians always err when they call the US a democracy; I don't know why - one would think they, of all people, should know better).

Since the poster-boy 'face' of 'democracy' is GW Bush, the most universally-hated man on the planet (who did state in 2000 that things would be easier if this were a dictatorship and he was the dictator), I totally understand why people in foreign countries resent having his version of 'democracy' imposed on them - it comes with chaos, death, and destruction after an illegal invasion by the US military, followed by foreign mercenaries who are paid by corporations who get their money from the US taxpayers (and those who float loans to keep Bush's war funded).

DimWit's version of 'democracy' is him being the world dictator and setting up puppet under-dictatorships where the puppets do his bidding. We resent his brand of dictatorial "leadership" over us and want him impeached for his illegal war and his war crimes involving torture and illegally detaining people. Why would any other people in any other nation appreciate DimWit's style of leadership...?

And he's increasing troop numbers why? To provide more targets?

Al-Qaeda 'shot down US chopper'
January 23, 2007 - 6:55AM

The Iraqi branch of terror network al-Qaeda claims it shot down a US helicopter in Iraq at the weekend, killing 12 US troops.

A senior US defence official said in Washington today the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter may have been shot down with a shoulder-fired missile.

Pentagon spokesmen said a preliminary investigation was still underway and had not yet determined what caused the helicopter to crash on Saturday northeast of Baghdad, killing all aboard.

Cont .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/alqaeda-shot-down-us-chopper/2007/01/23/1169330861736.html

Iran leader toughs out criticism
Robert Tait and Nazila Fathi, Tehran
January 23, 2007

THE Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has defied his domestic critics by promising not to retreat from his nuclear and economic policies, despite growing pressure.

Addressing MPs on Sunday, he dismissed last month's United Nations Security Council resolution imposing sanctions for Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

He said further embargoes would not halt his country's nuclear program. He also claims to have tamed inflation amid an outcry over rising prices.

"The UN resolution was born dead and even if they issue 10 more of such resolutions it will not affect Iran's economy and policies," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to parliament introducing next year's budget.

"We have become a nuclear country today without promising anything to the major powers and this is a great victory that belongs to the people and the parliament," he said.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iran-leader-toughs-out-criticism/2007/01/22/1169330830012.html

It's business as usual for Australians trading with Iran
Nassim Khadem, Canberra
January 23, 2007
AUSTRALIAN companies can keep doing normal business with Iran, despite a warning from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for them not to do so.

Dr Rice has called on companies worldwide to reconsider doing business with Iran, and hinted at the possibility of more sanctions, after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's refusal to halt the country's uranium enrichment program.

The US suspects Iran is using a clandestine program to develop nuclear weapons, but the Iranian Government insists it is developing nuclear power for civilian purposes.

Cont ......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/its-business-as-usual-for-australians-trading-with-iran/2007/01/22/1169330830055.html

DimWit's version of 'democracy' ...

Posted by: NonnyO at January 22, 2007 04:26 PM

http://tinyurl.com/2bnrtk

Pentagon spokesmen said a preliminary investigation was still underway and had not yet determined what caused the helicopter to crash on Saturday northeast of Baghdad, killing all aboard.
Cont .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/alqaeda-shot-down-us-chopper/2007/01/23/1169330861736.html
Posted by: woz at January 22, 2007 04:27 PM

In the past (recently, Somalia) when the Pentagon or other US agencies have blamed al Qaeda for something or where they've said they shot #1 'leaders' of al Qaeda, the report has later turned out to be false.

In the future after the investigation is completed, it wouldn't surprise me to find out the helicopter was shot down by 'friendly fire' - or that it crashed as a result of an engine defect or failure because of lack of parts to fix things....

Er... no I don't trust our government or their agencies to tell us the truth - it comes out eventually, but only the initial reports are aired and it keeps sheeple thinking that we're going to be invaded by a huge army of al Qaeda members (who still don't represent any country, and it's not a huge army, anyway, but a large band of criminals).

Initial reports like this only keep the sheeple scared enough to keep supporting people like W and his cohorts like McCain. If they keep repeating the name of the boogey man often enough and keep mentioning 9/11-Iraq in conjunction with the name of the boogey man, it triggers a Pavlovian response of fear.... Well, okay. Even the most scared and paranoid sheeple aren't buying that crap any longer and some are beginning to realize how badly we've been lied to, that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq, etc. - but others are still 'true believers' - and Lamestream Media isn't helping any by repeating the fear-mongering rhetoric of DimWit and his other war- and fear-mongering cohorts like McCain, et al....

Posted by: monkey at January 22, 2007 04:51 PM

Yup, that would be it...!!! :-)

LOL!!! Thanks, I needed a giggle.....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/22/biden-name-one-single-time-cheneys-been-correct/
Biden: Name One Single Time Cheney’s Been Correct

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/22/mccains-solid-gold/
McCain’s Solid Gold

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/22/sen-warner-announces-resolution-against-escalation/
Sen. Warner Announces Resolution Against Escalation

Posted by: woz at January 22, 2007 04:24 PM

And the worst thing is, the average American doesn't even know - or care. In fact, some are well convinced that the more America rankles the rest of the world (i.e. refusal to use metric units), the better.

CNN debunks false report about Obama
January 22, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a "madrassa" are not accurate, according to CNN reporting.

Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, reported on its Web site last week that associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, had unearthed information the Illinois Democrat and likely presidential candidate attended a Muslim religious school known for teaching the most fundamentalist form of Islam.

Obama lived in Indonesia as a child, from 1967 to 1971, with his mother and step-father and has acknowledged attending a Muslim school, but an aide said it was not a madrassa.

Insight attributed the information in its article to an unnamed source, who said it was discovered by "researchers connected to Senator Clinton." A spokesman for Clinton, who is also weighing a White House bid, denied that the campaign was the source of the Obama claim.

He called the story "an obvious right-wing hit job."

Insight stood by its story in a response posted on its Web site Monday afternoon.

The Insight article was cited several times Friday on Fox News and was also referenced by the New York Post, The Glenn Beck program on CNN Headline News and a number of political blogs

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/index.html

Another version of that story Ally:

Global backlash against America
SPECIAL REPORT
MICHAEL GORDON
NATIONAL EDITOR
January 23, 2007 - 11:00AM

Global hostility towards the United States' role in world affairs has increased sharply in the past 12 months, driven largely by the wars in Iraq and Lebanon and by America's treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, according to an international poll commissioned by the BBC and The Age.

Disapproval of the Bush Administration's performance is higher in Australia than the average across 25 countries that took part in the survey, particularly when it comes to the Iraq war and the handling of Guantanamo detainees such as David Hicks.

Cont ....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/global-backlash-against-us/2007/01/23/1169330840107.html

Republican opposition to Iraq plan grows

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/22/our_honor_requires_withdrawal.php
Our Honor Requires Withdrawal
by David MacMichael, TomPaine.com
One Marine asks Congress to take its powers seriously and start bringing troops home before they commit more crimes.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/22/state_of_the_union_deteriorating.php
State Of The Union: Deteriorating
by Robert L. Borosage, TomPaine.com
Don't expect Bush to face up to an economy gone to flab and getting worse.

Norman Solomon | The Pentagon vs. Press Freedom
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207R.shtml
"We often hear that the Pentagon exists to defend our freedoms," says Norman Solomon. "But the Pentagon is moving against press freedom. Not long ago, journalist Sarah Olson received a subpoena to testify next month in the court-martial of US Army Lt. Ehren Watada, who now faces prosecution for speaking against the Iraq War and refusing to participate in it. Apparently, the commanders at the Pentagon are so eager to punish Watada that they've decided to go after reporters who have informed the public about his statements."

Iraq War May Intrude on Libby Trial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207P.shtml
The slow and contentious selection of a jury to try the vice president's former chief of staff may foreshadow a perjury trial constantly interrupted by disputes over how much jurors should hear about the Bush administration's Iraq war policy.

Senators Seek Support Against Iraq Surge
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207K.shtml
Senate Democrats are building support for a bipartisan resolution opposing Bush's war strategy in Iraq, cautioning that division over whether it goes far enough could spell defeat. "The worst thing we can do is to vote on something critical of the current policy and lose it," said Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The public doesn't support his policy, a majority of Congress doesn't support his policy. If we lose it, the president will use the defeat of a resolution as support of his public policy."

Top Senate Democrat Concerned About Bush and Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012207T.shtml
The Democratic chairman of the Senate intelligence committee said on Monday he is concerned President George W. Bush could act against Iran despite uncertainties about Tehran's intentions in the Middle East. Senator John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) also said he believes Japan could become a nuclear armed nation within the next six years in response to North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon and an aggressive military buildup by China.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Rep._believes_Democratic_media_reform_bill_0121.html
Rep. believes Democratic media reform bill may prevent possible 'fascist' takeover of US media

Rep. Hinchey: New bill would break up media monopolies and restore fairness doctrine
Warns media reform critical to prevent 'end of democratic republic'

Concerns about monopolies and fears of a possible "fascist" takeover of the US media have prompted a Democratic congressman to push to restore the Fairness Doctrine, RAW STORY has learned.

"Media reform is the most important issue confronting our democratic republic and the people of our country," Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) said at the Free Press National Media Reform Conference held in Memphis, Tennessee last weekend. "This is a critical moment in history that may determine the future of our country…maybe forever."

{Embedded link to his proposed legislation in the rest of the article....}

Posted by: monkey at January 22, 2007 06:34 PM

Strip Reverend Moon of his US citizenship, and put him on the next Korean Air flight.

Just came back from Canada - it was nice to be in a country where Bush is not President, although Harper is to the right of the last guy they had.

Normally I don't see much sign of W stuff, but we ran into lots of anti buttons, bumper stickers etc. even up there. & store clerks had some things to say about the US - such as how China has "most favored trade" status with US because we aren't as particular about human rights violations. We had a long discussion about trade with a guy who has the biggest selection of Converse shoes in the world.

People up there aren't happy about the situation in Afghanistan, and terrorists have made threats against Canada based on what they're already involved in.

The big story up there - huge headlines - was about the pig farmer who killed & did unspeakable, unprintable things to prostitutes - kind of like the Green River killer in Washington - in fact that apparently partied together on the pig farm before.

It's always nice to get out of the country and get another perspective (we were in Victoria BC) - also interesting to see cooperative things between the countries - like how trade and tourism work on a small scale.

I was hoping I missed State of the Union but that hasn't happened yet right? I'll try to avoid it. The last time I saw You Know Who on tv was during one of the debates with Kerry. The rest of the time I've seen him like on Quick Time - really small pinhead. I imagine he's this evil little dwarf.

Obama's research people ought to drag out some of the photos of the awful outfits Hillary wore during the 70s!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070122/ts_nm/iraq_zawahiri_dc
Zawahri taunts Bush over Iraq troops plan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/ap_on_go_pr_wh/state_of_union
Bush speech to showcase domestic agenda

Is anyone else on the Democrats.org e-newsletter list? This is the beginning of an email I got with Howard Dean's signature on it, but while I got to the web page just fine, I couldn't find a link to this same page via the home page:

I want your help.

My friend, Senator Jim Webb, has the honor of giving the nationally televised response to the president's State of the Union speech tomorrow night.

He'll be preparing his remarks tonight and tomorrow, and I want you to make your hopes, your dreams, and your thoughts about the state of our union part of our Democratic message.

Please take a moment to make your input part of the process by sending a note to Senator Webb as he prepares his remarks -- we'll deliver your message:

http://www.democrats.org/stateoftheunion
~~~~
So please consider sending your thoughts, however lengthy or brief:

Senator Webb and I look forward to hearing from you -- and so does the rest of the country.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
Just in case anyone's interested.....

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2177993.ece
Waste basket: Minister backs campaign to cut packaging
[What the Brits are doing about excessive packaging waste.]

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2177952.ece
Helena Kennedy: Hand over some power to the people
[Hmmm... this echoes us, in many ways, our disgust that our 'elected' representatives are not listening to the people who voted for them....]

Posted by: monkey at January 22, 2007 06:34 PM

That must be why Chris Matthews was pointedly asking Howard Wolfson yesterday whether the Clinton campaign currently had an opposition research capacity.

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at January 23, 2007 06:41 AM

In fact, it is todays CNN QuickVote du Jerk...

Who do you think is behind false reports about Barack Obama's time at a Muslim school?

Right-wing opponents 66% 23942 votes

Left-wing opponents 34% 12136 votes
Total: 36078 votes

SOTU is tonight and I was going to go and join the melee (noisy activists) in front of the Capitol, as we did last year. But yesterday I was asked to watch the SOTU for European television and comment on Bush's body language.

WELL. I could not pass that up. So I will try to liveblog my observations. And that means you don't have to actually watch or listen if you'd rather just get my impressions!

I am always intrigued by what I can see in his nonverbal behavior when I turn that light on and just get data. It will be difficult to keep what he says from coloring my analysis of how he says it, especially since I am convinced that he is going to say little about Iraq and Iran, and much about global warming and polar bears. I think they are laying out a plan for more nuclear plants since the oil profits are definitely going to go away soon. Just a hunch. His friends might have to give up a yacht or two.

At any rate, I'll be back for that, after I pick up Richard at Dulles. He is coming back from almost two weeks away and I can't wait!

Karen
He's also going to say that poor people should get tax breaks for having medical savings accounts and then middle class people would pay for it because some (like me) pay into their health accounts before taxes. So that would be a tax increase, and I thought Republicans didn't go for tax increases. Poor people won't have the money for health savings accounts and many get tax returns rather than paying in. He'll still tax pre-tax earnings of the middle class, so the government coffers will profit and there still won't be more people on health insurance.

He will compare the tax break for the poor to the one people get when they buy a house and can deduct mortgage interest. Well when we bought our house that only helped us for the first seven years and it was negligible. After that, we came out better with the standard deduction.

Like the prescription drug plan, this plan is a rip off of the people. That was a gift to the pharmaceutical industry and many elderly people missed the deadlines, didn't know how to select from the many programs, or just gave up. My mother joined an HMO so as to have a copay instead, even though she has had cancer. That's what the government wanted. Then they save money.

Bush likes programs where people have to pay in, using a complicated system they don't understand. These aren't programs at all, as they end up not happening. It's a big smokescreen. He is then able to eliminate programs. Expect it to happen before long with social security and medicare. My financial planner says not to depend on those.

I was up in Canada so didn't hear anything about Obama. It would make no difference to me whether he went to a Muslim school or Christian school. I believe in public school. I was more concerned when I read in the paper that he represents the Me Generation rather than the Boomers. That's kind of a scam too though, trying to set one generation against the other (the media). We shouldn't fall for it. It's competence that matters, not age.

It's the hot potato!

Neither Southern Methodist University nor Dallas University want the "My Pet Goat Library" on their grounds.

Looks like Webb is giving the Democratic rebuttal.
Maybe I'll head to "Drinking Liberally" after work.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 23, 2007 09:29 AM

I am sure Bob Jones University could use the intellectual heft that the "My Pet Goat" Library would bring...

I'm looking forward to Webb's address. I'm very grateful that John Kerry helped provide the initial funding to Webb before the primaries. Without that, we wouldn't have such a resolute and strong voice.

Bush likes programs where people have to pay in, using a complicated system they don't understand. These aren't programs at all, as they end up not happening. It's a big smokescreen. He is then able to eliminate programs. Expect it to happen before long with social security and medicare. My financial planner says not to depend on those.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 23, 2007 09:13 AM

Also, big complicated programs can be subcontracted out to large corporations, providing large profits to the CEOs who also happen to be big Republican donors. They will fund the think tanks and then when the politicians exit politics they will serve on those corporations' boards. A nice little revolving door.

V and Dianne,

Excellent points. These are reasons why we need to keep pushing for ethics reforms. When donors, lobbyest, aids, and Congressmen walk in one door then walk through the other doors using their connections and money, then the very nature of our democracy is at stake.

Karen,

Can't wait to hear your evaluation.

U.S. diplomat tells Iran to back off in Gulf
Burns says U.S. 'will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the Middle East is Washington’s way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region, a top U.S. diplomat said here Tuesday.

Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, ruled out direct negotiations with Iran and said a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran was “not possible” until Iran halts uranium enrichment.

“The Middle East isn’t a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn’t a body of water to be controlled by Iran. That’s why we’ve seen the United States station two carrier battle groups in the region,” Burns said in an address to the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, an influential think-tank.

“Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us,” Burns continued.

Iran is in a standoff with the West over its defiance of U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is aimed solely at generating energy, but the United States and some of its allies suspect it is geared toward making weapons. The U.N. imposed limited sanctions on Iran last month.

'Ready for anything'
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran is “ready for anything” in its confrontation with the United States.

Iran conducted missile tests on Monday, the first of five days of military maneuvers southeast of Tehran.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the U.S. buildup in the Gulf was intended to impress on Iran that the four-year war in Iraq has not made America vulnerable.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16769024/

Posted by: monkey at January 23, 2007 11:18 AM

Wonder if the Christians who voted for Bush realize he is leading us into another crusades.

Wonder if the Christians who voted for Bush realize he is leading us into another crusades.

Posted by: sparrow at January 23, 2007 11:48 AM

That's why they voted for him.

Iran tests missiles, bars inspectors
DEFIANCE INCREASES AS NATION'S LEADERS WARN OF U.S. ATTACK
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16524220.htm

Iran conducted missile tests Monday as its leadership stepped up warnings of a possible military confrontation with the United States.

In another show of defiance, Tehran said Monday it had barred 38 U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the country, apparently in retaliation for a U.N. Security Council resolution last month imposing limited sanctions on Iran.

~snip~

Iran's leaders have warned of the possibility of a U.S. attack since President Bush announced Jan. 9 the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region, a move U.S. officials have said is a show of strength directed at Iran...

Many Christians voted against Bush :)

Prosecutor says Libby destroyed Cheney memo
Fitzgerald says VP told his former top aide about CIA agent's identity

NBC News and news services
Updated: 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald used his opening statement in the CIA leak trial Tuesday to allege that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff lied and destroyed a note showing Cheney's early involvement.

Fitzgerald said Cheney told his chief of staff, “Scooter” Libby, in 2003 that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and Libby spread that information to reporters. When that information got out, it triggered a federal investigation.

“But when the FBI and grand jury asked about what the defendant did,” Fitzgerald said, “he made up a story.”

Fitzgerald alleged that Libby in September 2003 “destroyed” a Cheney note just before Libby's first FBI interview when he said he learned about Wilson from reporters, not the vice president.

I. Lewis Libby is charged with perjury and obstruction. He told investigators he was surprised to learn Wilson’s wife’s identity from NBC News reporter Tim Russert.

But Fitzgerald told jurors that was clearly a lie because Libby had already been discussing the matter inside and outside of the White House. “You can’t learn something on Thursday that you’re giving out on Monday,” Fitzgerald said.

Libby says he didn’t lie but was simply bogged down by national security issues and couldn’t remember details of what he told reporters about CIA officer Valerie Plame.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16770023/