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Propaganda: Does Hillary Equal France?
I was recently alerted to this article that Bill Maher has written about France-bashing as a tired propaganda device. Over the years, negative allusions to France have often been made as a propaganda move, one that was utilized in order to capitalize on fear and provincialism. It is always useful to have an "other" to blame; some sort of outsider. It's the flip side of the "regular guy drinking buddy" thing. Remember Freedom Fries? Remember allusions to the fact that John Kerry might actually speak French? Remember all things French as shorthand for eliteness and snobbery? If so, you may enjoy this article, as I did.
(Photo taken just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq)
I hate to sink the GOP's toy boat, but it was the French who inspired the U.S. Constitution, a document written by geniuses so it could be followed by idiots.
by Bill Maher
New Rule: Conservatives have to stop rolling their eyes every time they hear the word France. Like just calling something French is the ultimate argument winner. I hate to sink the GOP's toy boat, but it was the French who inspired the U.S. Constitution, a document written by geniuses so it could be followed by idiots.
"Aw, you want a healthcare system that covers everybody and costs half as much? You mean like they have in France? What's there to say about a country that was too stupid to get on board with our wonderfully conceived and brilliantly executed war in Iraq?"
Earlier this year, the Boston Globe got hold of an internal campaign document from GOP contender Mitt Romney, and a recurring strategy was to tie Democrats to the hated French. It said, in the Machiavellian code of the election huckster, "Hillary equals France," and it envisioned bumper stickers that read, "First, not France."
Except for one thing: We're not first. America isn't ranked anywhere near first in anything except military might and snotty billionaires. The country that is ranked No. 1 in healthcare, for example, is France. The World Health Organization ranks America at 37 in the world -- not two, or five -- 37, in between Costa Rica and Slovenia, which are both years away from discovering dentistry.
Yet an American politician could not survive if he or she uttered the simple, true statement, "France has a better healthcare system than us, and we should steal it."Because here, simply dismissing an idea as French passes for an argument. John Kerry? Can't vote for him -- he looks French. Yeah, as opposed to the other guy, who just looked stupid. I know, if God had wanted us to learn from the Enlightenment, he wouldn't have given us Sean Hannity.
And I'm not saying France is better than America. Because I assume you've already figured that out by now. I don't want to be French, I just want to take what's best from the French. Stealing, for your own self-interest -- Republicans should love this idea. Taking what's best from the French: You know who else did that? The Founding Fathers. Hate to sink your toy boat, Fox News, but the Founding Fathers, the ones you say you revere, were children of the French Enlightenment, and fans of it, and they turned it into a musical called the Constitution of the United States. And they did a helluva job, so good it has been said that it was written by geniuses so it could be run by idiots. But the current administration is putting that to the test. The Founding Fathers were erudite, well-read, European-thinking aristocrats -- they would have had nothing in common with, and no use for, an ill-read xenophobic bumpkin like George W. Bush.
The American ideas of individuality, religious tolerance and freedom of speech came directly out of the French Enlightenment -- but, shhh, don't tell Alabama. Voltaire wrote "men are born equal" before Jefferson was wise enough to steal it. Countries are like people -- they tend to get smarter as they get older. Noted military genius Donald Rumsfeld famously dismissed France as part of Old Europe, but the French are ... what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, "mature." We think they're rude and snobby, but maybe that's because they're talking to us.
For example, France just had an election, and people over there approach an election differently. They vote. Eighty-five percent turned out. The only thing 85 percent of Americans ever voted on was Sanjaya. Maybe the high turnout has something to do with the fact that the French candidates are never asked where they stand on evolution, prayer in school, abortion, stem cell research or gay marriage. And if the candidate knows about a character in a book other than Jesus, it's not a drawback. There is no Pierre Six-pack who can be fooled by childish wedge issues. And the electorate doesn't vote for the guy they want to have a croissant with.
Nor do they care about the candidate's private lives: In the current race, Ségolène Royal has four kids but never bothered to get married. And she's a socialist. In America, if a Democrat even thinks you're calling him a liberal he immediately grabs an orange vest and a rifle and heads into the woods to kill something. The conservative candidate is married, but he and his wife live apart and lead separate lives. They aren't asked about it in the media, and the people are OK with it, for the same reason the people are OK with nude beaches: because they're not a nation of 6-year-olds who scream and giggle if they see pee-pee parts. They have weird ideas about privacy. They think it should be private. In France, everyone has a mistress. Even mistresses have mistresses. To not have a lady on the side says to the voters, "I'm no good at multitasking."
France has its faults -- the country has high unemployment, a nasty immigrant problem and all that ridiculous accordion music. But its healthcare is the best, it's not dependent on Mideast oil, it has the lowest poverty rate and the lowest income-inequality rate among industrialized nations, and it's the greenest, with the lowest carbon dumping and the lowest electricity bill. France has 20,000 miles of railroads that work. We have the trolley at the mall that takes you from Pottery Barn to the Gap. It has bullet trains. We have bullets. France has public intellectuals. We have Dr. Phil. And France invented sex during the day, the ménage à trois, lingerie and the tongue. And the French are not fat. Can't we just admit we could learn something from them?
A good article - no Pierre six pack - I liked
that part
Posted by DiAnne Grieser at May 22, 2007 08:06 PM
Thanks! :-) I usually appreciate Bill Maher's humor; I'm sending to practically everyone in my address book.
The only point about which I'd quibble is the health care. It's not only France that has a better health care system than we do (all our health care system does is make various medical and pharmaceutical corporations fabulously wealthy while getting huge tax breaks). Virtually every civilized nation in the world has a better health care system for ALL their people than we do.
I don't know about France's policy on family leave, but so far the best I've heard of is Norway where one or both parents get paid leave when a new baby arrives (up to two years - tremendous benefit when twins or triplets are born), and paid leave if they have to stay home to take care of a sick spouse or parent or child in a home care situation. I think the other two Scandinavian countries have much the same policy.
So, rather than be reverse snobs about policies in other countries or revile them for being civilized and caring people, we desperately need to borrow (steal) their best ideas and implement them here....
Just think of the positive things we could do with the same amount of money currently being spent on Georgie's illegal war. For starters: Free education from kindergarten through college. Medical care for everyone, regardless of ability to pay, including staying in the hospital long enough to get over whatever ails one. Paid family leave when necessary. Decent low-cost housing for seniors and disabled and low-income people. Clean up the environment or make the corporations who are polluting our air, water, land pay for those costs, since they've already reaped the financial benefits. Add your own to the list. There are many things we could do to benefit the people of this country with the same amount of money going down the drain in Georgie's current illegal war.
My fantasy: The munitions and arms dealers and war profiteers go bankrupt for lack of business when no one starts an illegal war based on lies for oil (or any other damnably foolish reason).
As things stand right now, we're on the edge of the abyss. If Georgie and Dickie have their way and Congress Critters don't grow spines or balls and stop them, we're headed for a declared dictatorship and/or the fall of this nation along the lines of the fall of the Roman Empire. If Georgie and Dickie are not stopped, I see no good end to the next few years, and I think other countries will attack us because of the illegal, immoral, unethical, and dishonorable actions of Georgie and Dickie and their cohorts - but this time in an organized, declared war, not an illegal invasion that goes against the Geneva Conventions.
We will live to regret this administration on more graounds than we already do. If our Congress Critters are not willing to stop them, someone else will do it for us.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_terrorism
Bush: bin Laden ordered non-Iraq attacks
Excerpt:
The Bush White House in the past has declassified and made public sensitive intelligence information to help rebut critics or defend programs or decisions against possibly adverse decisions in the Congress or the courts. On a few occasions, the declassified materials were intended to be proof that terrorists see Iraq as a critical staging ground for global operations.
Democrats and other critics have accused Bush of selectively declassifying intelligence, including portions of a sensitive National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, to justify the U.S.-led invasion on grounds Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. That assertion proved false.
{{{Bwahahahahaaaaaaaaa...! This is SO predictably sad, it's actually funny (it's a matter of having to laugh to keep from crying and screaming in abject frustration because of the willful blindness of our Congress Critters who have refused to stop Georgie and Dickie, and the further willful blindness of bobbleheads in Lamestream Media who so cheerfully broadcast administration propaganda without questioning it). When things go bad for Georgie and Dickie, they invoke the name of Osama bin Laden, and like Pavlovian dogs, media shrieks in fear (Has anyone else noticed the drama-queen voices of the snooze anchors in the last few years?), hoping their fear tactics induce real fear in to the general populace who will now start supporting Georgie and Dickie again. What's next? Linking OBL to Iran to justify Bush's illegally authorizing recent military forays into Iran, which, "conveniently" could be linked to the recent increase in military numbers above and beyond the "surge" numbers, and the most recent surge on top of the first surge troops can just be moved to the Iraq-Iran border and be ready to invade Iran? As CIC, Georgie doesn't have the authority to do that, since military actions need to be authorized by Congress - Georgie is authorizing guerilla-tactic warfare (i.e. terrorist actions!!!), just exactly and precisely what he condemns when our military personnel are blown to bits by IEDs. For all his silly rhetoric to match Georgie's king-of-the-hill-pissing-contest threatening rhetoric, Amadinidjad (sp?) has been remarkably cool and not done anything to make Georgie lose his temper, but has appeased Georgie instead (just like our idiotic Congress Critters of both parties who stand in line to kiss Georgie's and Dickie's butts). So, okay. We don't understand the culture in the mideast (albeit people like me are worried sick about the ancient artifacts and museums and at archaeological digs and the fate of same, thanks to Georgie's low-brow intellect that doesn't appreciate ancient history and ancient artifacts and culture while military operations are carried out). That doesn't mean people from other countries can't elect whomever they want to lead their country (that's what we demand here, even if we know e-voting machines can be rigged and that problem has not yet been solved). Why all this blustering about forcing regime change in other countries just because oil corporations and PNAC members want those countries ruled by them? Other countries that, conveniently, have oil beneath their soil - oil the PNACers and US oil corporations want to control so they can make a hefty profit before we're forced to find alternative energy sources, rather than actually working on alternative energy sources full-time, right now, before it becomes a do or die situation in the future....}}}
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/22/the-falwell-bombers-liberty-university-student-caught-carrying-explosives/
The Falwell bombers: Liberty University student caught carrying explosives
{{{Yup, them thar's good christian values taught at Libby U, alright....! If there were an afterlife, ol' Jer would be lookin' up from Hell saying "Atta boy! I learned you good, din' I? Boo-yeah-h-h-h!" Interesting photo of the kid. That same look of implacable madness in his eyes shows up in the photos of the alleged jihadists (and Georgie and Dickie!). What's with the few crazy people of the world who are being allowed to frighten the majority of normally good people half to death, or used as political pawns and tools and fools...? Most noticeably this has been a regular scenario since Georgie and Dickie were given their offices in 2000.... Or is it that I'm bored senseless with this redundant 'you-gotta-be-scared-and-do-my-bidding-no-matter-how-illegal-or-unethical-it-seems' meme and notice it more than most?}}}
IS BUSH LEADING US TO NUCLEAR WAR?
By William D. Hartung, Frida Berrigan, In These Times
While the United States demands that other countries end their nuclear programs, the Bush administration is busy planning a new generation of nuclear weapons known as "Complex 2030."
http://www.alternet.org/stories/51368/
{{{By the identical "logic" of BushCo (attack Iraq because it's a "threat" and/or incarcerate people in illegal prison camps because they are a "threat" - never mind the ones attacked or incarcerated actually DID anything harmful to us, or how many laws and treaties and constitutional provisions were broken), when the US becomes enough of a "threat" to the rest of the world because of the fascist madmen in power, they they will have the implied right to attack the US because we are a "terrorist threat" to the rest of the world because of Georgie and Dickie and the madmen they employ, and the Congress Critters who have chosen not to stop them.... Are the Congress Critters inside the Beltway Bubble and Lamestream Media bobbleheads so enamored of their own words and propaganda that they can't see what a direct threat Georgie and Dickie and their cohorts are to the rest of the people of this nation, and the rest of the world, as they seek to conquer lands with oil...? If not, I want whatever pills they're taking so I can be as oblivious to reality.... This country is totally FUBAR, thanks to compliant and meek Congress Critters who have chosen not to stop them, and propaganda-broadcasting, no-questions-asked, Lamestream Media.}}}
White House: Bin Laden wanted Iraq as a new base
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday declassified intelligence showing in 2005 Osama bin Laden planned to use Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks in the United States, according to White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Johndroe said the intelligence was declassified so the president could discuss the previously secret material on Wednesday during a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
The speech will be aimed at defending a key part of the president's war strategy -- the contention that the United States cannot withdraw from Iraq because al Qaeda would fill the vacuum in the Middle East.
"This shows why we believe al Qaeda wants to use Iraq as a safe haven," said Johndroe. He added the president will talk about al Qaeda's "strong interest in using Iraq as a safe haven to plot and plan attacks on the United States and other countries."
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/22/iraq.binladen/index.html
Oh give me a f*ckin break already!
Did he want it as a base BEFORE YOU invaded and destabilized it, Mr. Pottery Barn????
IMPEACH, STAT!
New Iraq strategy focuses on bad actors
Petraeus' plan calls for ousting abusive leaders, boosting security
washingtonpost.com
By Ann Scott Tyson
Top U.S. commanders and diplomats in Iraq are completing a far-reaching campaign plan for a new U.S. strategy, laying out military and political goals and endorsing the selective removal of hardened sectarian actors from Iraq's security forces and government.
The classified plan, scheduled to be finished by May 31, is a joint effort between Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior American general in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. More than half a dozen people with knowledge of the plan discussed its contents, although most asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it to reporters.
The overarching aim of the plan, which sets goals for the end of this year and the end of 2008, is more political than military: to negotiate settlements between warring factions in Iraq from the national level down to the local level. In essence, it is as much about the political deals needed to defuse a civil war as about the military operations aimed at quelling a complex insurgency, said officials with knowledge of the plan.
-snip-
New focus on building security, trust
The plan has three pillars to be carried out simultaneously -- in contrast to the prior sequential strategy of "clear, hold and build." One shifts the immediate emphasis of military operations away from transitioning to Iraqi security forces -- the primary focus under the former top U.S. commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. -- toward protecting Iraq's population in trouble areas, a central objective of the troop increase that President Bush announced in January.
"The revised counterinsurgency approach we're taking now really focuses on protecting those people 24/7 . . . and that competent non-sectarian institutions take the baton from us," said Kilcullen, offering an overview of the campaign plan.
In contrast, he said, U.S. operations in 2004 and 2005 "had the unintended consequence of killing off Iraqis who supported us. We would clear an area, encourage people to sign up for government programs, but then we would have to leave and those people would be left exposed and would get killed." The plan recognizes that there are too few troops to protect all of Iraq's population, and so focuses on critical regions such as greater Baghdad.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18775219/
Meet the New Al Qaeda Boss
How President Bush hopes to use Paul Wolfowitz to undermine a terror network.
Web-exclusive satire
By Andy Borowitz
Special to Newsweek
May 22, 2007 - In a bold move to undermine the international terror network, President George W. Bush today named former deputy defense secretary and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to be the new president of Al Qaeda.
Wolfowitz, who has no experience running an international terror organization, struck many Washington insiders as an unlikely choice for the Al Qaeda job.
But in a White House ceremony introducing his nominee for the top terror post, President Bush indicated that Wolfowitz’s role in planning the war in Iraq and bringing scandal to the World Bank showed that he was “just the man” to bring chaos and disorder to Al Qaeda.
“I’ve seen Paul Wolfowitz in action,” said Bush, a beaming Wolfowitz at his side. “If anyone can mess up Al Qaeda, it’s this guy.”
Several key details in the president’s plan still need to be worked out, such as how exactly Wolfowitz will infiltrate Al Qaeda and rise to the top position in its ranks.
“Al Qaeda closely screens all of its top officers,” said Hassan El-Medfaii, head of the terror network’s human resources department. “It’s not like the Defense Department or the World Bank.”
Even if he ascends to its top post, it remains to be seen whether Wolfowitz will be happy at Al Qaeda, according to Professor Davis Logsdon, chairman of the Wolfowitz Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.
“Al Qaeda is not like the World Bank,” Professor Logsdon said. “For one thing, it’s much harder to meet girls there.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18804699/site/newsweek/
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 07:36 AM
But, but, but.... if what I saw/heard on the first Bill Moyers Journal show is fact, there was animosity between the Sunni-Shia factions represented by Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden (I forget which one is which), and they would never have cooperated with each other, which made it impossible for Al Qaeda to set up operations in Iraq....
Methinkst I smell more propaganda LIES....
haha
Mr. Fabulous at Pottery Barn
it's too much
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gulf_us_navy
Navy stages show of force off Iran coast
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf.
{{{More on link. Dubai.... Hmmm...... I wonder if Halliburton has a contract to re-supply US Navy ships and/or provide for R&R locations for US military personnel in Dubai.... Hmmmm.... I have a feeling Halliburton will be a bloodsucking leech on the tax dollars of this nation for many years to come. I see this "show of military force off the Iranian coastline" as BushCo daring Iran to do something, anything, that Georgie or Dickie could misinterpret as a trumped up "reason" to invade Iran and whip the US sheeple into supporting them again with patriotic slogans.... Will our Congress Critters grow spines or balls in time to stop those fools on the hill??? Or will they, and we with them, go down in flames as the terrorist nation Georgie and Dickie are making us when our Congress Critters fail to stop the warmongering fools who could spark a nuclear world war...?}}}
Source: Reuters
Nine U.S. military ships, including two aircraft carriers, passed through the Straights of Hormuz on Wednesday, the largest number of U.S. military vessels to enter the Gulf since 2003, the U.S. military said.
It said the ships were entering the area for training.
Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23607496.htm
I thought the temporary "surge" was to increase security in Iraq and that it was men not ships - the Strait of Hormuz is connected with Iran.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_go_co/congress_immigration
Plan could jail illegal border crossers
{Where would the proposed Con plan jail these potential illegal border crossers...? Gitmo...?}
ARE YOUR CREDIT CARD, BANKING, INTERNET USAGE AND HOME OWNERSHIP RECORDS ALREADY IN THE FBI'S DATABASE?
By Frances Madeson, TomPaine.com
Think surveillance is for terrorists? Think again. Under the terms of the Patriot Act, a ton of your personal and financial information may already be in the FBI's database.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/52220/
Wowsers, what a nutcase O'Bull Office.
Be afraid peeps, the dunce is backed into a coroner.
Ahem...
MSNBC Breaking News: IAEA says Iran is defying U.N. by continuing to enrich uranium
Hmmm, and we just happen to have ships there...
Imagine That.
Consistent with past practice
The Bush White House in the past has declassified and made public sensitive intelligence information to help rebut critics or defend programs or decisions against possibly adverse decisions in the Congress or the courts. On a few occasions, the declassified materials were intended to be proof that terrorists see Iraq as a critical staging ground for global operations.
Democrats and other critics have accused Bush of selectively declassifying intelligence, including portions of a sensitive National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, to justify the U.S.-led invasion on grounds Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. That assertion proved false.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18809646/
... and as far as I'm concerned, let dopeydumbass keep trying to make the case for the terrorist haven in Iraq, it's just more damn proof that aforementioned dopeydumbass can NOT be trusted to have the vision or decisionmaking skills necessary to avoid creating yet ANOTHER klusterfunk with his "new" strategery.
Declassify all ya want, just proves double dub made a major mistake by invadining in the first place.
You broke it, we own it.
Thank you for sharing this great article.
The French are far from perfect, but they do have lessons that we can learn.
BTW, if the Republicans want to tie the Dems to the French, the Dems must come out swinging and tie the Republicans to their Korean buddies, starting with the Moonies. North or South, it doesn't matter.
Seriously, given a choice between France and Korea (either North or South, your pick), I am picking France ANY DAY!
Taylor Marsh participated in a blogger conference call with Al Gore yesterday as part of the launch for his new book, The Assault on Reason.
Her blog post is good - she pulled out various highlights - but even better, she has a link to audio of the entire call ... about an hour long.
http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=25634
Check it out
"A nasty immigrant problem"...
That's something the US can also learn from France's example. Special interest immigration ails the US as much as, if not more than, Muslim immigrants' failure to integrate into the society ails the French.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_on_go_co/congress_immigration
Plan could jail illegal border crossers
{Where would the proposed Con plan jail these potential illegal border crossers...? Gitmo...?}
They will go into all those new INS detention centers that Halliburton built in US.
Stoop d'Jour: Freedom Onion
MSNBC Breaking News: IAEA says Iran is defying U.N. by continuing to enrich uranium
Hmmm, and we just happen to have ships there...
Imagine That.
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 10:41 AM
I think it's part of this - and an article I just read in Vanity Fair about neocon plans reveals that the son of the hated Shah Reza Pahlavi is waiting in the wings to be installed. We overthrew democratically elected Mosadeq to install his father. The people overthrew him & then the religious fundies came into the vacuum created by the anarchy following the overthrow. Then there is the plan for Syria.
..
Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052307J.shtml
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government. Bush has signed a "non-lethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's
currency and international financial transactions, current and former officials
in the intelligence community say.
They will go into all those new INS detention centers that Halliburton built in US.
Posted by: not my president at May 23, 2007 11:46 AM
The government of the United States of America is officially nothing more than a Halliburton subsidiary.
Government of Halliburton, by Halliburton, for Halliburton.
Here is an article about where they will put the illegal immigrants:
http://www.aztlanelectronicnews.net/content/view/97/30/
and this
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1006/103006j1.htm
$385 million in Halliburton detention centers - detainees could also be civil disobedients in times of martial law imposed after a major event in which the Commander in Chief would be head of all three branches of government, according to Executive Order silently signed last week.
Government of Halliburton, by Halliburton, for Halliburton.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at May 23, 2007 11:52 AM
Hmmm.... So, I wonder when Dickie will propose moving our nation's capital to Dubai where Halliburton's new headquarters are...?
... and how come Dubai and Dubya are so similar?
Posted by: non ma presidente at May 23, 2007 09:15 AM
Training shmaining. BushCo put them there to "threaten" Iran. Georgie already authorized the CIA to do "covert operations" in Iran (we've all known for many months that covert actions are going on, so this "leak" has to have a purpose; the order has to have been dated a long time ago and/or retroactively dated). It seems likely they're trying to get the Iranian people to voluntarily rise up against their leaders (like they hoped the Iraqis would do against Saddam when Dickie's wet dream fantasy was that we would be greeted as liberators with flowers strewn in the streets welcoming US military). They will be sorely disappointed if that does not happen, and Plan B will have to include illegally invading Iran, since the Iranian inaction all this time essentially means they're thumbing their noses at BushCo, which must be just about giving both Georgie and Dickie apopletic attacks.
~~~~~
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/bush_authorizes.html
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
~~~~~
Current and former intelligence officials say the approval of the covert action means the Bush administration, for the time being, has decided not to pursue a military option against Iran.
"Vice President Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike," said former CIA official Riedel, "but I think they have come to the conclusion that a military strike has more downsides than upsides."
{{{More on link. I was channel surfing this morning and saw the Brian Ross report on this. BTW, as you scroll down reading the story, there is this little gem in block quotes: " Click Here to See Photos of the Players in Another Iran Operation -- the Iran-Contra Affair: Where Are They Now? " The vast majority of those who are not dead are back in the Georgie II's administration to finish up what they did all those years ago.... Also, the fact "that a military strike has more downsides than upsides" has to involve Congress Critters who likely would not vote in favor of an unjustified and illegal invasion of Iran, and to get around Congressional approval for another war (no Congress Critter of either party who values his/her seat would vote in favor of yet another war - they'd be voted out of office in '08, assuming the elections actually happen!), Georgie has had to settle for merely authorizing a CIA black operation in Iran. Since Dickie favors all-out war, his pacemaker must be running overtime if he's frustrated that another war can't be started. While you're at it, scroll down to the Comments section and read the vicious vitriol against ABC for airing this story. OMFG! You have to scroll further down to read any kudos for airing the story (and a few lovely satirical gems! :-)), or for anyone to point out that if it were really a secret no one would have leaked it to the US press, or that people reading the news on the internet have known about the Bush plan to invade Iran for many months, and Iran has known about it all along....}}}
Iran Will Resist Any Threat
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2329805520070523?src=052307_0815_DOUBLEFEATURE_j
million man army .. young demographic .. moves in "waves" - ask Iraq, who had to fight them for almost a decade
we have removed the two obstacles to the Shiite militants .. Saddam and Taleban .. they may be ready to roll
The generations of guaranteed ill will and outright hate for the United States that this administration has created is beyond criminal...
We are so screwed.
May 23, 2007
Ex-Official Denies Major Role in Attorney Firings
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:31 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department's former White House liaison denied Wednesday that she played a major role in the firings of U.S. attorneys last year and blamed Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty for misleading Congress about the dismissals.
*****
She said she never spoke to former White House counsel Harriet Miers or Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, about the firings. But she admitted to have considered applicants for jobs as career prosecutors based on their political loyalties -- a violation of federal law.
''I may have gone too far, and I may have taken inappropriate political considerations into account on some occasions,'' Goodling said. ''And I regret those mistakes.''
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., hammered Goodling on her decisions to hire prosecutors who favored Republicans.
''Do you believe they were illegal or legal?'' Scott asked.
''I don't believe I intended to commit a crime,'' Goodling, a lawyer, answered.
''Did you break the law? Is it against the law to take those considerations into account?'' Scott said.
''I believe I crossed the line, but I didn't mean to,'' she responded.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Fired-Prosecutors.html
"I didn't mean to"
Man, I'll have to remember that one if I ever get in a legal bind.
What I want to know is this.
If God is as on these folks side as they believe, why is it that they so often instead screw things up while simultaneously violating the law?
Posted by: Cyrano at May 23, 2007 01:02 PM
Volpe volpe volpe
"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
US Theft of Iraq's Oil: On House Floor Wednesday Morning
WASHINGTON DC - WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2007 - At approximately 11:00 a.m. today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich will invoke a rarely used procedure to offer a privileged motion claiming one hour of time to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives about current legislative plans to privatize Iraq's oil. This will be the first time in Congress that there has been a full discussion of the covert efforts to accomplish privatization of Iraq's oil through the supplemental spending bill. As with all House sessions, this speech will be televised on C-Span.
http://www.kucinich.us
~~~~~
I don't know if this has taken place yet or not. I was just going through my emails and this notice was in one of the e-newsletters. I have C-SPAN-1 on right now and it's not on at the moment. I do want to hear what Kucinich has to say about this illegal travesty, however....
If God is as on these folks side as they believe, why is it that they so often instead screw things up while simultaneously violating the law?
Posted by: Cyrano at May 23, 2007 01:02 PM
Their god is blessing us, don'tcha know?
Personally, I think we're being cursed.
It's all a matter of perspective.
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 12:57 PM
Hmmmmmmmm.......... The list of Con excuses for committing crimes is getting almost as long as their list of crimes.
Clinton did it.
Someone else did it.
I don't remember.
I don't recall.
I didn't mean to.
Ya think it would work if we "inadvertently" screwed up and tried to use those excuses...?
Posted by: NonnyO at May 23, 2007 01:28 PM
As I recall, I don't need any help doing things I didn't mean to do, thank you very little.
Not Diggin these Looney Tunes
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/23/fmr-rove-aide-pleads-5th-when-asked-about-rnc-emails-abramoff/
Fmr Rove Aide Pleads 5th When Asked About RNC Emails & Abramoff
{{{Oh, the picture that goes with this just positively hurts one's eyes to look at! It hurts the brain worse to think about the blind devotion that has prompted the smile on her face, and the possessive way she has her hand on DimWit's chest. Ugh...! I think I'm gonna be sick.}}}
Not Diggin these Looney Tunes
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 01:34 PM
Me, neither. They're missing a drummer so the beat is off, and everyone else needs their instruments tuned because they're playing off-key....
My ears hurt. My eyes hurt. My head hurts.
Memo to Congress Critters: MAKE IT STOP!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/us/politics/22giuliani.html
Onetime Giuliani Insider Is Now a Critic
As Rudolph W. Giuliani runs for president, his image as a chief executive who steered New York through the disaster of Sept. 11 has become a pillar of his campaign. But one former member of his inner circle keeps surfacing to revisit that history in ways that are unflattering to Mr. Giuliani: Jerome M. Hauer, New York City’s first emergency management director.
In recent days, Mr. Hauer has challenged Mr. Giuliani’s recollection that he had little role as mayor in placing the city’s emergency command center at the ill-fated World Trade Center.
Mr. Hauer has also disputed the claim by the Giuliani campaign that the mayor’s wife, Judith Giuliani, had coordinated a help center for families after the attack.
And he has contradicted Mr. Giuliani’s assertions that the city’s emergency response was well coordinated that day, a point he made most notably to the authors of “Grand Illusion,” a book that depicts Mr. Giuliani’s antiterrorism efforts as deeply flawed.
{More on link.}
Posted by: NonnyO at May 23, 2007 01:43 PM
Hmmm....do you suppose there are any cigars involved in that realtionship?
Blue dress...... anything?
'Cause THEN maybe we could get rid of him.
Posted by: Carol at May 23, 2007 02:48 PM
That may be wishful thinking at this point. Between the brainwashing propaganda, the kool-aid and whatever meds the true believers (and Lamestream Media bobbleheads) are taking, logic has disappeared.
Without the ability to use logic, the illusions still have a psychological hold.
The rest of us just suffer the consequences of their inabilty to face the consequences of their utterly idiotic and wrongly-held belief in the infallibility of the illegal actions of Bush and Cheney.
Why Bush Hasn't Been Impeached
By Gary Kamiya
The Bush presidency is a lot of things. It's a secretive cabal, a cavalcade of incompetence, a blood-stained Church Militant, a bad rerun of "The Godfather" in which scary men in suits pay ominous visits to hospital rooms.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17749.htm
{{{This is a very interesting new spin on the topic of impeachment... or a very disturbing commentary on the American psyche. The author isn't taking into consideration those of us who want impeachment so badly we're writing and calling our Congress Critters demanding something be done, and we're frustrated that we're not being listened to.}}}
Hey all,
A couple of us nominated Karen for the Take Back America Conferences Maria Levy Unsung Progressive Hero award, and look! She's a finalist!!!
She's got some tough competition, so pass the word and ask people to vote for Karen!
You can go here to vote:
http://home.ourfuture.org/tba07/maria-leavey-vote.html
Palast has good on Goodling - interesting
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/23/153243/890
interesting diary relating to thread topic in that media can twist information about a particular group, in this case, Muslim-Americans that were part of the recent Pew survey
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/23/144552/357
media can play them as mainstream and assimilated or focus on the few who aren't
Posted by: Carol at May 23, 2007 03:25 PM
Got the info, voted for Karen.
Will let other progressives know, maybe the folks at CodePink.
Thanks!
May 23, 2007
Clinton Staff Memo Urged Skipping Iowa
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
WASHINGTON, May 23 — In an indication of how the shifting calendar is forcing the presidential candidates the rethink their strategies, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign considered — and rejected — a plan to stop competing in Iowa, the traditional kickoff state in the nominating process, and to concentrate instead on later states including the 20 that will vote on a single day in early February.
The recommendation to pull out of Iowa was contained in a memo written by Mike Henry, Mrs. Clinton’s deputy campaign manager. He made a case that Iowa would consume too much time and money that could be better invested elsewhere.
“Thirteen of the last 14 major-party nominees have won Iowa, New Hampshire, or both,” Mr. Henry wrote, adding: “But I think this old system is about to collapse and it will happen this year because of the impact of primary elections that are being held on February 5th. In effect, the Democratic Party is holding a national primary with over 20 states choosing a nominee on February 5th. This new focus forces us to rethink our overall strategy and assess where our time and money are best spent.”
The Clinton campaign confirmed the authenticity of the memo but said its advice had been rejected. Howard Wolfson, the campaign’s communications director, said neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mark Penn, her chief strategist, had seen the memo. Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Iowa the next three weekends.
A copy of the memorandum was provided to The New York Times, through an intermediary, who said it had been obtained by a rival campaign.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/us/politics/23cnd-clinton.html
A copy of the memorandum was provided to The New York Times, through an intermediary, who said it had been obtained by a rival campaign.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/us/politics/23cnd-clinton.html
S***!! There's a FRIGGIN' WAR ON!!!!
Thanks, everyone for supporting me. The other candidates for the award are great, but I want to win b/c I want to show the people there what progressive activism looks like...
...and I am clearly the oldest one there!
Watch the Video and
Sign the Petition Now
Since Monday, over 41,000 people have called for the impeachment of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Please join us by signing the petition right now:
http://www.ImpeachGonzales.org
Here is some of the buzz:
The Nation1: This is a classic "it's-about-time" development. Democracy for America and Greenwald are giving the American people an opportunity to demand that Congress get serious about holding an errant executive branch to account.
The Boston Globe2: It's time for an impeachment, not just to oust Gonzales, but as a salutary warning to his superiors.
DailyKos3: Making those Republicans squirm on this vote makes it worth it in and of itself. Add in the political pressure of the just announced Impeach Gonzales by DFA and BraveNewFilms, this is one issue that's not going to go away for Gonzo, for Bush, or for the GOP.
And in her front page post today, Arianna Huffington4 restates her belief that "the impeachment of Gonzalez is richly deserved." The movement to impeach Gonzales is growing. Please sign the petition now:
http://www.ImpeachGonzales.org
Vote on impeachment:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com:80/id/10562904/
You'll all be relieved to know that Deadeye Dick's daughter had her baby.
And I'm sorry to say that I didn't save a copy of the screen, but CNN reported it as...
Cheney's lesbian daughter gives birth
I swear they did. But now it says...
Cheney's daughter gives birth
Good diary by Rep. Conyers summarizing today's testimony by the Republic Party Monica.
Goodling Testimony Revealing (Except to Republicans)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/23/184541/682
BTW, this was posted over at blog.johnkerry.com a little while ago... so LET'S GET WITH IT, PEOPLE, GET OVER THERE AND VOTE FOR HER TODAY!
---------------
Hey all, a couple of us nominated Karen for the Take Back America Conference's Maria Levy Unsung Progressive Hero award, and look! She's a finalist!!! She's got some tough competition, so pass the word and ask people to vote for Karen! You can go here to vote:
http://home.ourfuture.org/tba07/maria-leavey-vote.html
---------------
and be sure to vote early & often,
Otter
(That was a reminder for those who might not have been paying attention earlier...)
Vote note while you still can...
I shiite you knot.
Damn, even I don't know what I just typed.
I See A Bad Mood Arising
White House Revels In War-Funding Vote
The White House victory on the war-funding bill is a rare moment of second-term triumph
Web Exclusive
By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey
Newsweek
Updated: 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
May 23, 2007 - It may be temporary, and it may have little impact on the ground. But there’s an I-told-you-so attitude in the West Wing—a rare feel-good moment in a second term beset by a succession of crises.
The cause for the small uptick in mood? Watching the Democrats cave on legislation demanding a timetable for withdrawal in return for increased funding for the war in Iraq. For months, President Bush has told aides that congressional Democrats would overreach on the war, with legislation that reached beyond the public's discontent with policy. The president also predicted that Democratic candidates would stumble as they competed for the antiwar vote. Bush’s calculation was that, at the end of the debate, Democrats would have neither the stomach nor the votes to cut off funds to the troops.
That's why the normally soft-spoken chief of staff, Josh Bolten, took a hard line in his negotiations on Capitol Hill last week. Bolten said no to the Democrats’ offer of an olive branch—the notion of a timeline for withdrawal that the president could waive.
Instead, the Democrats have had to agree to legislation on Bush’s terms—with minimal compromise on the part of the president (the funding bill's provisions to assess the Iraqi government’s performance are hardly controversial within the West Wing). Even better for the beleaguered White House, the Democratic leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will now have to push legislation that they personally oppose. “I don’t know the last time this happened, but the House Speaker will bring a conference report to the floor which the majority of her own party don’t support,” said one senior Bush aide, who declined to be named while discussing White House strategy with Congress.
From the White House perspective, the first sign of progress came in the muted reaction to the president’s veto of the first war-spending bill. “The public posturing died down since the veto,” the senior Bush aide said, with the exception of prominent war critics like Wisconsin’s Dave Obey. That hasn’t fazed Bush’s staff. “I mean, Obey is Obey,” the senior aide shrugged.
There are signs that the focus on Iraq hasn’t helped Democratic leaders. A poll last month for the Pew Research Center showed opposition to congressional Democrats is growing. Five months ago, the Democrats enjoyed higher approval ratings than disapproval ratings—39 percent to 34 percent (for a net positive of 5 points). Today, the approval number has slipped a little to 37 percent, while the disapproval number has risen to 43 (for a net negative of 6 points).
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18830746/site/newsweek/
Seven soldiers, nine Marines today.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
Posted by: Otter at May 23, 2007 08:46 PM
Our fodder, who art in heaven, Bush/Cheney put them there...
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 08:44 PM
According to this diary, it ain't over yet...
Blank Check Not Yet Sent
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/23/17543/3134
Posted by: madame defarge at May 23, 2007 08:54 PM
Subdudes tomorrow night... I'll say hi to Tommy for ya!
Wowzers. Keith Olbermann winding up this evening's Special Comment even as we type, laying into the pale-blue Demo surrender monkeys bigtime (in addition to the blood-red Rethugs, of course)... KO, I want to have your babies!
Posted by: monkey at May 23, 2007 08:55 PM
Why Can't I Forget About You/Him...
One Word (Peace)
Kerry: An Iraq Bill Without a Deadline is Meaningless
Says Timeframe for Redeployment of Troops is Only Way Forward
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Kerry issued the following statement today on his plan to vote “no” on a military spending bill that no longer contains any binding deadline for the redeployment of troops from Iraq.
"We support the troops by getting the policy right and this bill allows the President to keep getting the policy wrong. We need a deadline to force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, not watered down benchmarks and blank check waivers for this President. We support the troops by funding the right mission, not with a White House that opposes a pay raise for our brave men and women in uniform,” Kerry said. “The original Senate legislation offered a roadmap to change course in Iraq. This new version enables the Administration and Iraqi politicians to deliver more of the same. I am determined to continue pressing this issue until President Bush changes course. We owe our troops nothing less than a strategy that is worthy of their sacrifice.”
TIME told it like it is
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1624799,00.html
Cheney's lesbian daughter gives birth
Posted by: not my baby at May 23, 2007 09:06 PM
not my baby! bwhahahaha
Dang, tmp, I knew there was a reason I voted for that guy.
Richard Perle : Whose Fault Is He?
Consider kids who bullied Richard Perle —
Those kids who said Perle threw just like a girl,
Those kids who poked poor Perle to show how soft
A mamma’s boy could be, those kids who oft-
Times pushed poor Richard down and could be heard
Addressing him as Sissy, Wimp or Nerd.
Those kids have got a lot to answer for,
’Cause Richard Perle now wants to start a war.
The message his demeanor gets across:
He’ll show those playground bullies who’s the boss.
He still looks soft, but when he writes or talks
There is no tougher dude among the hawks.
And he’s got planes and ships and tanks and guns —
All manned, of course, by other people’s sons.
~ Calvin Trillin
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020916/trillin
Posted by: not my baby at May 23, 2007 09:06 PM
Not mine either.
Is you is or is you ain't my baby?
ATTORNEY-GATE:
Today we and Congress learns a new word - "caging".
Here is the definition according to Greg Palast
The allegation is based on an email, re-produced on page 207 of Palast’s book, "Armed Madhouse," currently a New York Times bestseller (published by Penguin).
In several emails obtained by subpoena by Congressional investigators, Goodling and Griffin complain about ‘that British reporter Palast’ (an American working with BBC London). In a February 5, 2006 email, Griffin gloats to Goodling that "no [US] national media" has picked up Palast’s discovery of the ‘caging’ operation.
Here’s how caging works: letters were sent "Do Not Forward" to voters at home addresses. When the letters were returned to sender ("caged"), the voter’s right to vote was challenged. The letters, however, were targeted at African-American homeless men, students — and soldiers send overseas — all legal voters who, because they were shipped to Iraq or for other reasons, were not at their home address. BBC obtained 50 ‘caging’ lists with 70,000 voters including large groups of servicemen.
TIME told it like it is
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1624799,00.html
Cheney's lesbian daughter gives birth
Posted by: not my baby at May 23, 2007 09:06 PM
@@@@@@@@
There are several pressing questions in this piece of light news:
What is the baby's last name? (Cheney?)
Who is the father?
Undoubtedly the coverage of this story will greatly annoy Dick Cheney (as he was annoyed when Blitzer asked him about it). But Cheney and the Repubs deserve this awkward attention - they have made someone's private (sexual) life a matter of great public concern.
For example, what would a high-level, up and coming Bushie like Monica Goodling say about this event? Or Kyle Sampson or Sen. Orin Hatch? etc...
Ralpheh,
That explains sooo much.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/23/special-comment-the-only-things-truly-compromised-are-the-trust-of-the-votersfriends-and-family-in-iraq/
Special Comment: “The only things truly “compromised” are the trust of the voters…friends, and family, in Iraq”
{{{MUST Listen/See...! For those who don't have cable and have already seen/heard....}}}
I (HEART) Keith Olbermann....!
Team working up new strategy
The U.S. military is joining forces with the State Department to prepare a new Iraq strategy that includes negotiating cease-fire and power-sharing agreements with some enemy combatants, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
A "joint campaign plan redesign team" is preparing the diplomatic and military strategy for Iraq, which is expected to be approved by the end of the month.
The team laying out the new course for how to proceed in the four-year-old war is led by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, the officials told CNN.
One element of the plan is to try to identify groups of people -- possibly including Sunni extremists and militia groups -- with whom U.S. officials feel they can do business, such as negotiating power-sharing and cease-fire agreements and granting economic aid, the sources said.
But those with whom officials feel they cannot do business -- such as determined suicide bombers -- will remain targets of military forces, the sources said.
The officials cited an inability to maintain current troop levels into the summer as a reason for the changed course.
"We have been focused too long on defeating the enemy," one official said. "We need to bring them to the negotiating table."
Little else is known about the new plan and it has drawn little reaction.
But the announcement apparently is an acknowledgment that the traditional war-fighting stance of trying to capture or kill all insurgents is failing, that the country may have devolved into a civil war, and that the only way to proceed is to use military force sparingly and attempt to bring many insurgents into the fold.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/24/iraq.main/index.html
Rudy and Edwards wage their own war
BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Posted Thursday, May 24th 2007, 4:00 AM
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat John Edwards traded bare-knuckled jabs yesterday over whether President Bush's "war on terror" is the nation's top concern or just a political "bumper sticker."
Previewing what will be a fundamental issue of the 2008 election, Giuliani called Edwards deluded and Edwards called Giuliani a fearmonger.
The battle began when Edwards laid out his military policy in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
He accused Bush of using the "war on terror" as an ideological "sledgehammer" to pummel political foes and justify policy disasters like the Iraq war.
Even worse, he said, the approach has backfired, straining the military even as terrorism mushrooms around the world.
"By framing this as a 'war,' we have walked right into the trap the terrorists have set - that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations," he said, saying he would restore America's status as a moral leader.
- more -
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/05/24/2007-05-24_rudy_and_edwards_wage_their_own_war.html
"By framing this as a 'war,' we have walked right into the trap the terrorists have set - that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations,"
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at May 24, 2007 06:36 AM
Go ahead, tell me how that's an incorrect statement on any level.
Bush + War(Cheney) = Peace???
Posted by: monkey at May 24, 2007 06:18 AM
As little as two years ago that would have been called "fraternizing with the enemy."
WHO determined the Iraqis were our "enemy" in the first place...? The Iraqi people were NOT our enemies prior to Georgie's and Dickie's detour from Afghanistan to Iraq and their illegal invasion of Iraq.
We did not have any "enemies" in the mideast until Georgie and Dickie and their boon companions labeled innocent people "enemies."
That, IMHO, is despicable of Georgie and Dickie and their horrible minions on multiple levels, and even more despicable on the part of snooze anchors in Lamestream Media who have never questioned them about why innocent people became "enemies" overnight, even before the illegal invasion and occupation.
I have remained unimpressed so far but Edwards scored a few points with that speech. I'll keep that in mind. So far, Edwards, Obama and Richardson will be on a panel at YearlyKos in August.
The text for the full speech can be found at:
http://johnedwards.com/news/speeches/20070523-cfr/
This Tom Toles toon says it all...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x957492
U.S. IDs missing GI, denies 2nd body found
Casey Anzack, the younger sister of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., greets friends with hugs and tears at her father's Torrance, Calif., home on Wednesday.
http://tinyurl.com/37d88r
Bush says U.S. seeking to toughen sanctions on Iran
Bush holding White House news conference
Iraq war funding, immigration reform likely to be topics at Rose Garden
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18842494/
Bush says 'if there is wrongdoing at Justice Dept., it will be taken care of'
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday he will work with allies to strengthen sanctions on Iran after new report showed Tehran is accelerating its uranium enrichment program.
"We need to strengthen our sanctions regime," Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference. Leaders of Iran "continue to be defiant as to the demands of the free world," he said.
“We will work with our partners to continue the pressure,” he said.
"We expect heavy fighting in the weeks and months" ahead, Bush said. He said more American and Iraqi casualties should be expected.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18842494/
We have a sanctions regime?
Posted by: monkey at May 24, 2007 11:30 AM
Yeah, just as he took care of the leak regarding Plame...
Heh, heh, heh....
Snark.
I've caught some of this "news conference" - does not Pretzelnitwit Moron realize how easy it is to deconstruct the lies he's continuing to spew, even after all these years since those lies were proved as lies?!? If he believes even half of what he's saying, he's delusional beyond the realms of functioning reality.
Never, in the history of this nation, have we needed a Congress to do what's right and impeach the crooks in power (both Dickie and his puppet Goergie).
Memo to Congress Critters: Why have you so utterly failed the people you represent...?!?
Posted by: monkey at May 24, 2007 11:16 AM
"Immigration reform?"
Give me a f'ing break.
Bush said his "new strategy is designed to help Iraq's leaders provide security for their people, and get control of their capital so they can move forward with reconciliation and reconstruction." The president explained that his plan "is designed to take advantage of new opportunities to partner with local tribes to go after al Qaeda in places like (the) Anbar (province), which has been the home base of al Qaeda in Iraq."
The aides said Democrats won't give up on a deadline for pulling troops out of Iraq, hoping to write language into defense appropriations and defense authorization bills over the summer.
Bush tied Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program to a question about U.S. reasons for invading Iraq and toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"It would have been a really dangerous world if you'd had the Iranians trying to develop a nuclear weapon and Saddam Hussein competing for a nuclear weapon," said Bush. "You can imagine what the mentality of the Middle East would have been like."
Bush accused Tehran of "constantly ignoring (the world's) demands" and called on allies to "strengthen our sanction regime."
"I just spoke to (U.S. Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice, and we will work with our European partners to develop further sanctions," Bush said. "And, of course, I will discuss this issue with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, as well as (Chinese) President Hu Jintao."
The president also criticized Iran for the recent arrest of four Americans with duel Iranian citizenship.
"We've made it very clear to the Iranian government that the detention of good, decent American souls who are there to, you know, be beneficial citizens is not acceptable behavior," Bush said.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/24/bush/index.html
One flew over the ...
No Comment as Cheney's Lesbian Daughter Gives Birth
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/no-comment-as-cheneys-lesbian-daughter-gives-birth/2007/05/24/1179601579659.html
the Kerry diary is worth reading & recommending
Friend has a Republican write to him lamenting about how all the candidates that party has suck & that they need someone from the business community but first impeach Cheney and install the person so people will get used to him. This was a Goldwater fan and frustrated at the "deer in the headlights" and "puppet" behaviors.
Saw a landscaping place that said on the marquee: "Commander Guy Says to Shop Here" - so I certainly won't.
Was polled by Zogby as to which candidate of either party I think most "lives his moral values" and I voted for Kucinich.
Enjoying all the comments on here.
Mary's Child Gets an Easy RIde
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/05/24/marys_child_gets_an_easy_ride.html
This foreign coverage slays me, especially when they say granddad Cheney has a look on his face of a man who "has just urinated into your cappucino."
embarrassing as usual
Is US Occupation of Iraq Legal?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/316925_legaloccup24.html
The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president—if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history—who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats “give the troops their money”;
The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans;
The Democratic leadership has given Mr. Bush all that he wanted, with the only caveat being, not merely meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but optional meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government.
The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised, are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18831132/