Don't Get Fooled Again

The really sad part of all this is that IF the neocons who pushed, exaggerated, manipulated and lied to get this war cared about their country in the LONG TERM and not just filling their pockets with $$$ in the SHORT TERM none of this would have happened. These are some very evil people who think of little more than making money no matter who or what they have to step on to do it. Morals, patriotism, and compassion for their fellow man are things they consider a weakness. Any one who supported or still supports this war basically supported making a bunch of super rich people more rich at the expense of themselves, their family, and their country. Some would say the aftermath of the invasion was poorly planned. I say the people who brought you this unnecessary war planned it out very well. The longer this "war" goes the richer they get. And in 20 or 30 years, when people forget, they'll try it again. Vietnam was essentially the same thing as Iraq. A waste for American tax payers that made a bunch of rich guys even richer. Don't get fooled again.

Priests to Purify Site After Bush Visit

GUATEMALA CITY -- Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

Can we get those guys to come to Washington DC? The Republicans would scatter like cockroaches when a light is turned on. Heck Dick Cheney would burst into flames, Ted Stevens would probably melt, and Karl Rove would probably fall to the ground, turn into a few hundred bats and fly away.

The Damage Done By Libby

When Plame was outed, everyone associated with the Brewster Jennings cover was outed. This group was responsible for tracking weapons of mass destruction around the world, and may well have foiled a plot to smuggle WMDs into Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Mexico or even the US that could have been stopped.

This at best severely damaged CIA covert operations and national security and at worst did all that and got some agents killed.

Feel free to argue the trivia of legality but this did severe damage to our safety as a nation and the safety of all the other agents and their contacts under the Brewster Jennings cover. How any American can defend this is beyond my comprehension.

Libby got off light. He should be hanging from a rope IMO.

Ughhh!!! The Members of the Libby Jury Are a Bunch of Morons

This might not bode well for justice being served...

The other day they requested a dictionary to look up the meaning of the term 'reasonable doubt.' The judge denied the request. The jury instructions they received included three whole pages explaining the concept in excruciating detail. This is why the judge denied the request. Exactly how dumb are these people? I guess the verdict will go a long way toward answering that question once and for all.

A dozen informed people, under oath, contradicted Libby's statements...this isn't that hard to figure out.

More Nonsense From BushCo

Bush hails UK pullout as 'sign of success'

Tony Blair's announcement today that Britain is to withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq over the coming months shows that US-led operations in the country are succeeding, American leaders say.

President George W Bush views the plan to cut British forces to about 5,000 by the end of the summer as "a sign of success", according to a US National Security Council spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.

OK...If the UK's announcement of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is a "sign of success" why can't the announcement of a timetable for withdrawal by American troops be the same "success"???

A Poor Decision, the US Has Lost Its Way

WASHINGTON - Guantanamo Bay detainees may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling upholding a key provision of a law at the center of President Bush's anti-terrorism plan.

I'm really disappointed in our justice system today. This court decision is completely wrong and goes against the very basic concepts of human rights and justice IMO.

Now I know the "conservatives" are going to be "thinking" terrorists shouldn't get the same rights as Americans. The problem is, the detainees at GITMO may or may not be terrorists...we don't know what they are...because they can't get a trial...everyone see the problem now?

Tony Snow Might Actually Have a Point

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House on Sunday disagreed with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's claim that the Iraq war was "the worst foreign policy mistake" in U.S. history.

Tony Snow might have a point (and not just the one on his head).

Reducing forces in Afghanistan, encouraging the spread of nuclear weapons, driving much of Latin America into the Castro camp, walking away from peace negotiations with Israel and Palestine, encouraging and wallowing in the hatred of the rest of the world's nations, refusing to cooperate in international efforts to curb climate change, undercutting the Geneva Conventions, holding out on concessions to the North Koreans until after they tested a few nukes and then giving in....all of these are definitely in the running for the "worst".

Flying Saucers, a Flood, George W. Bush, and Iraq

On December 20 1954, a woman known as Marion Keech gathered her followers in her garden in Lake City, Illinois, and waited for midnight, when flying saucers were supposed to land and save them from huge floods about to engulf the planet.

As dawn rose on December 21 with no flying saucer in sight, Keech had another revelation. Sananda told her that the group's advanced state of enlightenment had saved the entire planet. They rejoiced and called a press conference. "A man with a conviction is a hard man to change," wrote Festinger in his book on the cult, When Prophecy Fails. "Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts and figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point."

George Bush is a man of conviction and clearly a hard man to change. When reality confronts his plans he does not alter them but instead alters his understanding of reality. Like Keech and her crew, he stands with a tight band of followers, both deluded and determined, understanding each setback not as a sign to change course but as further proof that they must redouble their efforts to the original goal.

And here we sit and watch plans for an attack on Iran unfold even as the official narrative for the run-up to the Iraq war unravels.

Once George Bush has got hold of a bad idea he just can't let it go.

SIX Years Later

AFTER health care premiums have risen 87% in six years...

Bush: fixing health care is "urgent priority"

Worst president ever.

Bush Tells 8% of the Truth and Protects His Saudi Oil Friends

Only 8% of the GI's killed in Iraq have come about as a result of Iran supplying weapons to the Shiite Militias.

It's the Sunnis (you know Saddam Hussein's people) who are overwelming responsible for killing and wounding US Troops - and who supports the Sunnis?

Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunni insurgents

CAIRO (AP) — Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.

Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.

But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents

(thanks to red_state_mess on the HAL board for pointing this out. I hope someday he gets a blog. I'd read it daily.)

Soul, Conscience, & Principles...Things Most Religious ''Conservatives'' Don't Have

On the escalation:

Those who say they attend religious services weekly were more supportive of the administration's move to increase U.S. troops levels in Iraq. But a majority still opposed that idea.

Attend church weekly: 46% favor troop increase, 53% oppose.
Nearly weekly/monthly: 35% favor, 62% oppose.
Seldom/never: 34% favor, 63% oppose.

Those who say they attend religious services weekly were the least likely to support the idea of Congress setting a timetable to bring U.S. forces home by the end of next year. But a majority still supported the proposal.

Attend church weekly: 56% support, 41% oppose.
Nearly weekly/monthly: 68% support, 31% oppose
Seldom/never: 65% support, 33% oppose

Just goes to show that going to church (you know the place where they preach "thou shalt not kill") doesn't give someone moral superiority over those that don't attend church. Giving up on the very principles of ones beliefs (in this case religious beliefs) shows how weak and unprincipled many of these people are.

I know...I know...some "conservative" is going to tell us "but we gots to kill them crazy murderous religious nuts for they get us and our kin".

Of course they never think there are people in Iraq targeting Americans saying "but we gots to kill them crazy murderous religious nuts for they get us and our kin".

The irony is overwelming.

Quote of the Day

“The benefits were temporary, the bodybags were permanent.” — Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL), on past escalation efforts and why he’s opposing the current one.

''But It's OK 'Cuz We're the Good Guys''

Tonight, I had an interesting but frustrating conversation with an acquaintance named Alan. I was having dinner with him and some other people and he had Fox Noise on (yuck) before we ate. The "reporters" were babbling about how insurgents were allegedly being armed with weapons from Iran and said they could tell from serial numbers, etc.

Alan said "We should nuke Iran and that would fix the problem"

I explained "That really isn't an option and you have to admit it's pretty crazy to suggest such a thing because you'd be paying $500 for a barrel of oil and you'd kill a lot of innocent people"

Alan said "Yeah you're right but we gotta do something because it's not right that they're arming our enemies."

I said "Well would you expect anything different? We did the EXACT SAME THING during the Iraq-Iran war by arming Iraq against Iran. Isn't Iran just doing what we did to them? Why is it right for us to arm their enemy but they can't arm ours? They're just doing what we did to them."

He said "Well yeah it's the same thing...but we're the good guys."

I said "Sometimes there aren't good guys and everything is sort of dark gray"

He let it drop after that but what bothers me is this guy is a fairly vocal born again Christian (ugh!). The born again thing sort of explains his immature, narrow minded, black and white world view but suggesting the nuking of another country would seem to go against all of his alleged "beliefs".

It amazes me how many followers there are in this world that don't ever bother to look at who and what they are following even when it goes against all their beliefs.

Bill Kristol Makes A Complete Ass Out of Himself And Doesn't Even Know It

Kristol: Obama Is ‘The Opposite Of Lincoln,’ Would Have Been Pro-Slavery

Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced his candidacy for president in Springfield, IL, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” address. In his speech, Obama reiterated his call to redeploy U.S. forces out of Iraq by March 2008.

This morning on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol attacked Obama’s Iraq policy, saying he wants to appease terrorists like pro-slavery politician Stephen Douglas tried to appease slave-owners. Kristol said, “Obama’s speech is a ‘can’t we get along’ speech — sort of the opposite of Lincoln. He would have been with Stephen Douglas in 1858.”

Stephen Douglas supported the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857, and took the pro-slavery position that each territory should decide whether or not to allow slave-owning.

Ooops!!! That might be the dumbest thing Kristol has ever said and he's about the biggest moron on Fox News although Kristol does have alot of competition.

Giuliani Waves Goodbye to the Independent Vote and Any Slim Chance He Had To Be President

Praises Bush and Says His Ideas Come From God

Way to lose an election before you even start there Rudy...

(02-11) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, arguing that America is in desperate need of a Ronald Reagan-style optimistic vision, told California Republicans on Saturday that he wants to be a president who will "win the world for a set of ideas ... that I believe come from God."

...

In his 45-minute address and in remarks to reporters afterward, Giuliani lavished praise on President Bush, insisting Bush will have "a very strong place in history," in part because of his "very brave and very wise" decision to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan (WHICH HE SCREWED UP AND ABANDONED TO GO INTO IRAQ FOR NO REASON) after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

And please don't even get me started on McCain who already lost most of his independent backing.

Quote of the Day

"They've lost the argument and they don't want to stop dumping all this pollution into the Earth's atmosphere. The only thing they have left is cash and now they're offering cash for so-called skeptics who will try to confuse people about what the science really say. But it's unethical because now the time has come when we have to act."

-- Al Gore, quoted by CNN, on how the American Enterprise Institute is paying scientists to dispute global warming.

How Convenient for Libby

On grand jury audiotapes played at his trial yesterday, Scooter Libby claimed he learned about Valerie Plame’s CIA identity from Vice President Cheney, “forgot it, then learned it again from NBC News reporter Tim Russert a month later.”

Too bad none of the parade of reporters and government officials they've had on the stand agrees with that. Amazing that he was telling reporters this information weeks and days before he even spoke to Russert.

I think Libby just divulged another secret...the US apparently has a working time machine. It's the only way for Libby to learn something and tell all these people about Plame before he allegedly knew it...well either that or he committed perjury.

The US Press Is So Incompetent and Lazy

One of the main headlines on Yahoo/Reuters today...

U.S. Sent Pallets of Cash to Baghdad

This is NOT news. It's history and has been widely reported for quite sometime. Here's my blog entry from TWO YEARS ago.

Why in the Hell are they making a big stink about it now...other than the fact that we now have actual government oversight with the Democrats in charge of Congress. I guess the government finally got around to telling the US press about something that happened FOUR YEARS ago. Whatever happened to investigative journalism. Apparently the press is still free, they're just incredibly LAZY.

The Definition of Insanity

...Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...

“Because I told them it had to.”

“He’s tried this two times — it’s failed twice,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says of President Bush’s escalation plan. “I asked him at the White House, ‘Mr. President, why do you think this time it’s going to work?’ And he said, ‘Because I told them it had to.‘” Pelosi reportedly then asked, “Why didn’t you tell them that the other two times?“

SOTU Coming Up This Tuesday

Personally, I wouldn't miss it. It's like watching Tommy Flanagan (played by John Lovitz) from the old Pathological Liars Society skits on Saturday Night Live. With Bush telling outrageous lies and making promises he won't even try to keep it's just pure entertainment...as long as you aren't stupid enough to actually believe anything he says.

Two of my favorites from past SOTU's.

SOTU 2003: President Bush Spoke of Providing All Americans with Affordable Health Care. "We must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy, choose their own doctors, and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need."

But Health Care Premiums Have Increased by Over 80 Percent. (U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06)

SOTU 2002: Bush Said Energy Must Be Made More Affordable. In 2002, President Bush said, "Good jobs also depend on reliable and affordable energy. This Congress must act to encourage conservation, promote technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at home so America is less dependent on foreign oil."

But Under Bush Prices Have Climbed. Heating Costs Have Increased 64 Percent. Gas Prices 86% Higher.

The SOTU is merely an exercise in Bush making more outrageous lies and promises every year in an attempt to top himself from the year before.