Civil War...? In Iraq...? Inconceivable...!

According to reports today, car bombs exploded near the Ali Iman shrine in Najaf, one of the most sacred sites to Shia Islam, and at a bus station in Karbala. Both cities are Shia controlled. According the BBC,

"...the aim of the bombers - believed to be Sunni insurgents - is to kill as many Shias as possible and try to stir up sectarian trouble ahead of the 30 January poll, our correspondent says.But leading Shias urged their supporters not to respond in kind.

"The Shias are committed not to respond with violence, which will only lead to violence. We are determined on elections," said one of the most respected Shia clerics, Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum..."

The key to avoiding all out civil-war between the Sunnis and the Shias lies in whether or not the Shia clerics can keep their followers in check. If they cannot, todays car bombings are but the first volley in a bloody internecine struggle between the Sunnis and the Shias. As to what the Kurds will do, that is anyone's guess. They may be content to play wait-and-see, letting the Sunnis and Shias slaughter each other. But should they be regularly attacked by either, or both, the Sunnis or Shias all bets are off. Iraq will become embroiled in a three-way civil war that will make Lebanon look like a Sunday-school picnic, as well as further radicalize and destabilize the entire region. If American forces step in, they will be accused of playing favorites, and will become targets to all involved.

Both British and US intelligence summaries pointed to the very real possibility of a three way civil war in Iraq. But, as is typical of the Bush administration, if the projections donnot pass their ideological litmus test, they are ignored. If civil war does erupt it, and its consequences, can be laid squarely upon the doorstep of the Bush administration. They were warned against going into Iraq to begin with, but they chose to ignore those warnings...The blood, both US and Iraqi, is on their hands.

Orwell Lives!

AUSTIN, Texas -- "The aide (a senior adviser to President Bush) said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." -- Ron Suskind, New York Times Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004.

And the greates impact will be on the environment. The Administration's Empire status notwithstanding, the problems of global warming and environmental degradation will accelerate under another four years of Dubbyuh's gross mismanagement. Among other things, the following are being stripped from Clinton-Era enviromental law:

-- Reducing risk to human health and the environment by identifying, evaluating and, where necessary, remediating contamination resulting from past DoD activities.

-- Protecting, preserving and, when required, restoring and enhancing the quality of the environment.

-- Conserving and restoring, where necessary, the natural and cultural heritage represented on DoD installations within the United States.

There has been no public debate or congressional review of the new policy. The policy was written by the man who watched the looting of Baghdad and said, "Stuff happens."

Also, sewage treatment regulations are being relaxed to allow sewage treatment plants to routinely mix partially treated sewage with treated sewage for discharge into our waterways. This normally should only happen during emergencies like...oh...a hurricaine. Now it can happen anytime it rains. The impacts to public health from this policy will result in higher incidences of disease and death in the elderly, children, and those who are otherwise at risk, from bacteria, viruses and parasites contaminating our watersupplies as a result of this routine sewage discharge.

These, and other environmental issues are not being subjected to congressional scrutiny or public debate. It's just Dubbyuh puttin' out for his corporate pimps and johns. So the Administraion's Orwellian double-speak like, the Clear Skies Initiative, Healthy Forests Initiative, etc. are just that, double-speak. The oligarchs are in control, and the rest of us are just plain fucked. Orwell was right.

Church and State

Since November 2nd, there has been a noticable upsurge in concern with regards to issues of separation of Church and State. Especially since the White House has taken a definite turn towards the religious right.

_A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom_



SECTION I. Well aware that the opinions and belief of men

depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence

proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind

free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by

making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to

influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil

incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness,

and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion,

who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it

by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to

extend it by its influence on reason alone; that the impious

presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as

ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired

men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their

own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible,

and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established

and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world

and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish contributions

of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and

abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to

support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is

depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions

to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and

whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness; and is

withdrawing from the ministry those temporary rewards, which

proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an

additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the

instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependance on

our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or

geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the

public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to

offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or

that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those

privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow

citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends also to corrupt the

principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by

bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who

will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these

are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are

those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that the opinions of

men are not the object of civil government, nor under its

jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his

powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or

propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a

dangerous falacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty,

because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his

opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments

of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that

it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for

its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts

against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and

will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and

sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the

conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural

weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous

when it is permitted freely to contradict them.



SECT. II. WE the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no

man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,

place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained,

molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise

suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all

men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their

opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise

diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.



SECT. III. AND though we well know that this Assembly, elected

by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no

power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with

powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act

irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare,

and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural

rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to

repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an

infringement of natural right.

(emphasis mine)


This statute, penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1779, is a clear indication of his feeling towards the relationship between church and state. They were, indeed, to kept apart. By providing a religion with the priviledge inherent in government recognition of it, that religion can and does become corrupt. History has shown us this repeatedly.

This does not mean, however, that our elected officials must check their faith at the door. If they are truly devoted to the teachings of their religion, and strive to live by those beliefs in accordance with their conscience, then those beliefs will show in their every action. If it is otherwise, that they simply don the mantle of religion for mere political expediency, then too will their hypocrisy be revealed in their every action.

Star Wars...? Hell, it can't even get off the ground!

For a system meant to be operational by the end of the year, Dubbyuh's fantasy missile defense system ain't workin' too well. The test before this was was cancelled because it was 'overcast' in Alaska. It seems to me that if you're gonna shoot down nukes you oughtta be able to do it any time. After all, someone launching ballistic missiles at us isn't going to cancel their plans due to bad weather.

This time the interceptor couldn't even get off the ground. The system shut down because of an "unknowm anomaly". I know I'm feeling more secure now that we have a recalcitrant and essentially useless missile defense system in place. I'm sure that's going to protect us from some nut-case slipping a nuke into the US in an uninspected cargo-container, or infecting themselves with smallpox and wandering the streets of Anytown, USA and starting a major epidemic.

It seems to me that the $10 billion, yes that's BILLION, a year being poured down this rat-hole could be better used funding our first responders here in the States and purchasing body-armor for our troops caught up in Dubbyuh's dirty little war in Iraq.

Dubbyuh Continues to Reward Failure

Why does Dubbyuh persist in rewarding failure? First he promotes Condi-mima to Secretary of State after her unimpressive and utterly unconvincing testimony before the 9/11 Commission. Next, he keeps Donald Rumsfeld on as Secretary of Defense, even though his miscalculations, underestimations and disregard for the opinions of battle-tested generals have led us to a quagmire in Iraq. Now he awards George Tenet and J. Paul Bremer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

George "Fall-On-Your-Sword" Tenet, stated that the evicence for Saddam's WMD's was a "slam dunk". But, SURPRISE!, they were nowhere to be found. And from the looks of things there never was anything to be found. But Scott Ritter, Hans Blix and Mohammed el-Baradei were telling us that six months before Dubbyuh ordered troops into Iraq. And, there was that little thing about 9/11. George had a plan for dealing with the perpetrators of 9/11, but he wasn't so much able to prevent it.

J. Paul "Proconsul" Bremer took over in Iraq and promptly disbanded the Iraqi army. This left thousands of unemployed, armed, pissed-off men roaming the streets of Baghdad and the country-side. Gosh, I wonder how many of them are fighting for the insurgency now? And, who can forget his throwing Iraq open to pillaging...er...free-market reforms. Just think of all the jobs provided to foreign workers who are willing to work for 25 cents a day. Iraqis have nobody but themselves to blame for refusing to work for anything less than 50 cents an hour. And besides, J. Paul is a "fashion pioneer" (yes, that's an actual quote). Not only was he Proconsul of Iraq, but he looked good doing it too!

Maybe Dubbyuh just roots for the underdog...Nah. He simply prefers blind loyalty over competence. Just look at his 'economic conference'. But that's for another time.

Adulterer and Murderer meet to discuss fate of Crook

Strain Is Seen in Giuliani Ties With President

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ERIC LIPTON

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani had a Christmas dinner at the White House on Sunday night, and he attended with an important goal in mind: to apologize to his host for pushing Bernard B. Kerik as homeland security secretary and then watching as Mr. Kerik's nomination collapsed in legal problems and embarrassed the president of the United States.

Rudy Giuliani And Dubbyuh met for dinner Sunday night. Among issues discussed was Bernie Kerick. One can only imagine the bowing and scraping Rudy had to do over Keriks hiring of a "Nanny". But further investigation shows that there was far more to Kerik's problems than the immigration status of a nanny.

Before the ink was dry on a contract with Taser International to supply tasers to the NYPD, Kerik was appointed as a "Director" in the company and made a cool $6.2 million on the deal. Can you say "conflict of interest"? I knew you could.

In April, Kerik set up a consulting firm, pimping his NYPD props to wealthy corporate johns. Among his first clients was the pharmaceutical industry. He helped drum up opposition to letting seniors citizen buy FDA approved drugs from Canadian pharmacies for far less than they do in the US. He claimed that reimportation of drugs would place the US at risk for a bio-terror attack under the guise of a legal purchase.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. Bernie Kerik is unfit to be dog-catcher, let alone head of the Department of Homeland Security. I'm certain Rudy ate alot of crow Sunday evening.

It's me

School of the Americas, Not just for fascists from south of the border anymore

Victim of Latin American torture claims Abu Ghraib abuse was official US policy

By Andrew McLeod

FOR many Latin American victims of torture, the infamous pictures of abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison brought back not only chilling recollections of their own experiences, but also confirmed what they have long maintained: that their torturers were following interrogation guidelines set by the US Army School of the Americas (SOA).

“I had flashbacks when I saw the guy with the hood [at Abu Ghraib],” says Carlos Mauricio, a Salvadorean who was tortured in 1983. Founder of Stop Impunity, a group that seeks to prosecute human rights violators, dismisses as a “whitewash” the Bush administration’s view that Abu Ghraib abuse was the work of a few US army misfits.

“What happened at Abu Ghraib was torture by the book; they were implementing US policy,” Mauricio, 51, told the Sunday Herald.

“The US military deny they teach torture and say it happens in Latin America because soldiers have always been brutal. But what happened at Abu Ghraib belies this.”

Among the SOA’s 60,000 graduates are former dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-ranking graduates were involved in the 1980 assassination of Salvadorean Archbishop Oscar Romero and the massacre of 900 civilians at El Mozote, El Salvador, in 1980.

Given the august body of graduates, and their body counts, it should really come as no surprise that the techniques utilized at Abu Ghraib are the same as those taught by the School of the Americas. After all, the faculty of the school wrote the book on 'intelligence gathering' from recalicitrant prisoners, and it seems fairly certain that they were also supervising operations at both Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.

That John Negroponte, who was heavily involved with the Contras and involved in the cover-up of abuses by the US and Argentine-trained Honduran Battalion 316 during his tenure as ambassador to Honduras in the 1980's, is now Iraq's ambassador should give us a good indication of things to come...More cover-ups of human rights abuses of Iraqi prisoners.

It seems to be no coincidence that key figures in the Iran-Contra scandal have made political comebacks that would have left Dick Nixon blushing. Figures such as Elliot Abrams, Otto Reich and others are the intellectual fore-fathers of the neo-con movement. So, with John Negroponte as America's pro-consul...er, ambassador...to Iraq, don't expect any startling new revelations...Just more of the same old, sick shit.

Coalition...? Of the willing...?

It's really long past time to put paid to the Dubbyuh's myth about a "coalition" in Iraq. Of the 28 countries represented in the "Coalition", only 8 have contingents of greater than 500 troops.

As it stands now, 7 countries have pulled out, 3 are planning to pull out and 5 are planning to reduce their troops strenght with upcoming rotations. Only Armenia and Fiji (as part of a UN force) are planning new troop deployments to Iraq.

With few exceptions, the "Coalition" members were strong-armed or bribed into provide support for the war in Iraq, either in terms of manpower or in non-material support, such as flyovers and staging areas or simply statements of support for the war.

We cannot, however, belittle the sacrifices made by those "Coalition" troops anymore than we can those made by our own troops in Iraq. They are there at the orders of their government, just as our troops are. That those orders are in support of an illegal and illegitimate war is no fault of their own. It is the politicians who use them as disposable pawns in a ruthless game of realpolitik who are at fault. And as more and more people around the world and in the US realize the gross error made in invading Iraq, the smaller the "Coalition" will become, and the fewer Americans will be willing to participate in the hugely dangerous exercise in foreign adventurism that Iraq is. At that point, the Administration will either have to change its policy regarding Iraq or institute a draft to provide sufficient numbers of troops to secure the country.

So long as America bears the vast majority of the costs and casualties in Iraq, there really is no coalition...There is only us, and we will pay the price for this debacle for decades to come.

Time to take off the rose colored glasses

The recipe for civil war

By Pepe Escobar

Najaf was bombed in August. Samarra was bombed in September. Sadr City was bombed in October. Fallujah was bombed in November. Mosul may be bombed in December. And Kirkuk may be bombed in January.

This is the calendar in the runup to the Iraqi elections set for January 30 next year. Then there will be another set of questions. Will the Iraqi elections be stolen? Will votes "disappear"? Instead of Florida or Ohio, will there be demands for recounts in Fallujah and Samarra? Like Ukrainians in Kiev, will Sunnis in Baghdad take to the streets contesting the results of their elections? Will interim premier Iyad Allawi - with a little help from his Washington friends - prevail?

With most of the recent insurgent violence directed at Iraqi civilians rather than US forces, the conflict in Iraq is taking a nasty turn for the worse. A similar pattern of attacks heralded the begining of Lebanon's long civil-war. Mosul, which Ayahd Allawi can't even claim to control already in the grips of a bitter internecine struggle as Kurds, Sunnis, Shi'ites and other smaller factions, battle for control of the city. Matters took a turn for the worse in Mosul as Sheikh Faidh Muhammad Amin al-Faidhi was assasinated this past Monday. al-Faidhi, a Sunni, was well respected by Shi'ites and Kurds, and wielded a great deal of influence with the Association of Muslim Scholars, which was calling for an election boycott.

But our American Nero continues to fiddle and his puppet, Ayad Allawi, continues to insist that elections will go forward as planned in January. Unless the security situation changes drastically for the better, however, any meaningful elections are an impossibility. Iraq will continue to degenerate into a full blown civil-war as American forces stand helplessly by in their fortified compounds.



- Why don't they ever listen? -

Bobble-head Congress

Each branch of government -- legislative, executive and judicial -- has some constitutionally structured means of preventing the other branches from abusing power, since all power, in theory, derives from We, the People. Yet, as never before, the three branches are working in collusion. The result is that the office of the presidency is accountable to no body, and the Constitution can be flouted, American people lied to and political enemies destroyed with nary a whimper from anyone in Washington. The Congress is now an assemblage of 535 yes-men and women, as unimpressive a group of lackies as has ever disgraced the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. While one need only pick a week, any week, to confirm this, the past week has been particularly instructive.

Imagine, if you would, 535 bobble-head figures all nodding yes and you would have Congress as it now stands. With only a few exceptions, no member in either house of Congress has been willing to tackle the White House head on on any issue. Rather than serving as a check to urestrained presidential power, Congress has become complicit in the Bush administration's rampant disregard for the Constitution they are all sworn to "...protect and defend from all enemies, foreign and domestic..." They have become the enemy. But our founding fathers provided us with the justification neccessary to remove the stain upon their memory and the Republic the fought and died for..."all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

The Bush administration has become destructive to these ends, and it is past time to seek their removal. By impeachment or election or by such means as were used by Mahatma Gandhi to bring down the British rule in India. It is time. No, it is past time...

Social Insecurity

Never mind the $2 trillion spending gap if Dubbyuh's scheme for social security privatization gets pushed through Congress. According to a study comissioned by Paul O'Neil while he was Secretary of Treasury, the Fiscal Imbalance, the current federal debt held by the public plus the value in today's dollars of all projected non-interest spending, minus all projected federal receipts, is somewhere in the neighborhood of $51 trillion. That's nearly 5 years worth of the total current US GDP to pay for future expenditiures, primarily in the form of Social Security payouts as well Medicare and Medicaide claims. Sound fiscal policy mandates a fiscal imbnalance of zero...zip...nada.

This information was supressed by Dubbyuh's White House, but was revealed by economist Laurence Kotlikoff in a book entitled "The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future"which was released last spring, so both presidential candidates had the information available to them, both failed to address it. This is the "economic Armageddon" Stephen Roach, of Morgan-Stanley, spoke of recently. It is a case of "fiscal child abuse" because, unless we deal with this problem now, our descendents will be paying for it for the foreseeable future. According to Mr. Kotlikoff if a 78% tax rate were to be imposed now, we might just cover the expense. If we wait 5 years, that tax rate would jump to 84%. There is no easy way to solve this problem and it will require sacrifices on the part of all of us, and soon, to dodge this bullet. But the easy way seems to be the only way Dubbyuh and his merry band seem willing to entertain. Or at least any way which benefits Dubbyuh' political pimps and johns, the rest of us can suck hind tit.

All hail to Caligula's horse

Bush's new head of homeland security is perfect for the job

Sidney Blumenthal,
Thursday December 9, 2004

In the legend of the war on terrorism, Bernard Kerik, with his trademark shaven head, bristling moustache and black belt in karate, occupies a special place as rough and ready hero. Having risen from military policeman to narcotics detective to New York City police commissioner, he finds himself on 9/11 shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As the towers crumble the mayor confides in his buddy: "Bernie, thank God George Bush is president."

In line with other second-term cabinet appointments - Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state - Kerik will be an enforcer, a loyalist and an incompetent. The resemblance is less to Inspector Clouseau or Chauncy Gardner than to Caligula's horse.

Dubbyuh is only further insulating himself from the realities of the world he is creating. Unable to acknowledge, let alone accept responsibility for, his errors and their tragic consequences he is appointing dogmatically, fanatically loyal people to his cabinet in order to protect his fragile psyche. We have, ladies and gentlemen, an oedipal, narcisstic psychopath occupying the Oval Office. Be afraid.

In Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, 1+1 doesn't equal 2

Prof. says vote numbers don't add up

By Rob Zaleski,
December 9, 2004

Surely there must be some logical explanation.

That's the first thing Steven Freeman thought the night of Nov. 2, after exit polls showing that John Kerry would win most of the key battleground states turned out to be wrong, and George W. Bush ended up being re-elected by nearly 3.5 million votes...

Either the exit polls were off or the count was off, says Freeman, who has a Ph.D. in organizational studies from MIT.

"And beyond that, every deviation was in the same direction" - showing more support for Kerry than the actual vote - "so I thought that ought to be explained as well. And the more I looked into it, the more interesting it was."...

...Freeman concluded in a paper on Nov. 10 - a paper, by the way, he has revised twice since - that the odds of exit polls in the critical states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania all being so far off were roughly 662,000 to 1...

One stands a better chance of dying in a plane crash.

"Citing the disturbing fact that official results diverged sharply from a range of surveys of voters a polling places, Republican Senator Richard G. Lugar said, "A concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities." - Greg Palast

But the good Senator from Indiana wasn't talking about US elections, he was talking about elections in Ukraine, whose Supreme Court has since ruled the elections invalid and ordered new elections.

The Scum Also Rises...Part 2

Prisoner abuse was worse than officials admitted, documents show

By Drew Brown

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - More than two months after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq shocked the world, an official memo described how military intelligence officers witnessed further prisoner abuse in Baghdad but were threatened to prevent them from reporting it.

The memo was the most recent in a collection of government documents released Tuesday. It was dated June 25 and written by Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, who directs the Defense Intelligence Agency. Lowell described how two DIA officers, assigned as interrogators to a special operations unit designated as Task Force 6-26, witnessed evidence of prisoner abuse while working at an unnamed "temporary detention facility" in Baghdad.

The extensive collection of government documents suggests that abuse of detainees in Iraq and elsewhere was more widespread and systematic than senior officials have admitted publicly. The officials repeatedly have tried to characterize abuse last year at Abu Ghraib as an isolated series of incidents. A small number of low-ranking soldiers already have been prosecuted or are awaiting trial in these cases.

The documents released Tuesday, however, reveal that senior U.S. officials, who claimed they were unaware of the abuse, were repeatedly informed of accusations of abuse through official channels. They also suggest that these and other reports of abuse failed to trigger investigations into what increasingly appears to have been a widespread pattern of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

In a memo sent upranks by Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, the abuse of prisoners was described, but only as a "problem", not as a matter requiring corrective action. This memo went to Stephen J. Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Mr. Cambone reports to Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. So knowledge of ongoing abuse of prisoners in Iraq goes all the way up to Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, who...did...nothing.

In condoning what was torture, nothing more or less, the Bush adminstration only further stiffened resistance to US forces in Iraq and further jeopardized the lives of any US troops who should fall into guerilla hands. The aggressive indifference of the Administration to these reports is simply a measure of the unfitness to command, at any level, of the members of this Administration.

The C.A.S.E. for recounting Ohio's votes.

The sunshine and brillant blue sky mocked the enthusiastic crowd in front of Ohio's statehouse today, as biting winds rattled the trees and sent flags snapping on their masts. The crowd had gathered for a rally sponsored by Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections. C.A.S.E. is a non-partisan organization of people from all over Ohio working to ensure reliability, security and access for all Ohio voters.

As I arrived, "The Carpenter Ants", warmed the crowd up with their mix of soul/gospel/bluegrass tunes. As they finished their set, Susan Truit, a founding member of C.A.S.E., stepped up to begin presenting speakers at the rally.

The speakers included Anita Rios, Co-Chair of the US Green Party; Judith Powell, a local black activist; Reuben Herrera, Chairman of Adelante - Latino/Latina Democrats, Greg Moore of the NAACP; John Bonifaz, founder of and and general counsel to the National Voting Rights Institute; Harvey Wasserman, senior editor of "The Columbus Free Press"; Bob Fitrakis editor of "The Columbus Free Press" and Greg Palast, BBC documentarian, investigative journalist and irritant to all of the right people.


The goal of the rally was to gather support for action leading to a timely and accurate recount of all of Ohio's ballots from the 2004 election. Standing in the way of this is Ohio Secretary of State and chairman of Ohio's committee to re-elect the president, J. Kenneth Blackwell.

While Mr. Blackwell could have certified the election results as early as December 2nd he has, instead, chosen to wait until December 6th. This is one day before he certifies Ohio's electors. Two lawsuits to attempt to force Blackwell to certify the results earlier were denied in the federal courts as the courts determined "no harm" would be done to the plaintiffs as a result of delaying the vote certification. Of course, the harm done by an illegitimate presidency to the nation as a whole is irrelevant.

For more the full rundown on election issues in Ohio, go here:

The FreePress

Greg Palast at C.A.S.E. rally in Columbus, Ohio

The Scum also Rises

U.S. lawyers file complaint over abuses in Abu Ghraib
Rumsfeld, others named in case taken to German court

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES

BERLIN -- A group of American civil rights attorneys filed a criminal complaint in German court yesterday against top U.S. authorities, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for acts of torture committed at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The complaint also names former CIA Director George Tenet; the former commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez; and seven other military leaders.

Attorneys from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights said they filed the complaint because they were disappointed in U.S. investigations into the Abu Ghraib abuses and hoped the filing would prompt an investigation by German authorities.

Just how wrong have things gone in this country, when a foreign government is asked to look into the misdeeds of our own government? Ever since the attrocities at Abu Ghraib were revealed, the Bush administration ahs stone-walled or quashed any investigation into it.

But with the revelations of the DOJ memos approved by Alberto Gonzales and IRC reports of conditions at Guantanamo Bay being nothing short of torture, the moral bankruptcy of Dubbyuh's administration is being revealed. The attrocities at Abu Ghraib and the mistreatment and torture of detainees at Gitmo show a government dedicated, not to the ideals of "freedom loving people", but rather one dedicated to power at any cost...achievement of the ends by any means necessary...a callous disregard for human suffering. To win the "War on Terror", our government must live up to the ideals it so blatantly pays lip service to. Otherwise the war is lost, the terrorists will have won, not because of their moral or military superiority, but because of the weakness, the shortsightedness, the hypocrisy and utter moral bankruptcy of our elected leaders.

Fallujah and Jeddah, A Tale of Two Cities

Fallujah...A hotbed of anti-American activity in Iraq. Or, at least it was until the USMC rolled over it. Of course, the guerillas simply rolled up their operations and moved them elsewhere. So, while our Marines get capped by second and third stringers in the insurgency, the big boys(on both sides) run the show from a safe distance.

Also of interest is Fallujah's historical ties to Wahhabism. Ibn Abdul Wahhab spent many years in what is now Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and spread his teachings through out the region. His area of influence also encompassed what is now Fallujah, and for nearly two centuries that city has had a strong wahhabi following which even Saddam Hussein could not supress. Their dedication to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam makes Jerry Falwell look like a drunken sybarite.

Now, let us turn to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Today, the US consulate compound came under attack from unknown Islamic terrorists. While no US personnel were injured, eight people are known dead with two of the attackers captured. While Saudi authorities attribute the attacks to a "deviant group", a common catch-phrase for followers of Osama bin Laden, it should be noted that Osama and the House of Saud spring from the same philosophical roots...Wahhabism.

Now, US forces are mopping up in Fallujah and, in the process, desecrated several mosques and sites sacred to the al-Muwahhiddun, or Wahhabis an attack is made on a US compound in Saudi Arabia. Now, with the Saudis brutally efficient secret police network, they should have caught this attack before it happened. There is every evidence that the attackers were well trained in small-unit tactics and were wearing combat fatigues and flack-jackets. Could there have been support for this attack from inside the Saudi state or even the government?

But this is just paranoid speculation...Or is it?

And Nero fiddles...

Surprise! The dollar is continuing its slide, accelerated somewhat by last weeks disappointing employment numbers. Economists were expecting in the neighborhood of 200,000 jobs, only about 112,000 were created.

As a result, Japan is now threatening a huge dollar sell-off to protect its fragile economic recovery. According to Kaoru Yosano, chairman of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's policy committee, Japan is going to ask for a strong dollar policy from Dubbyuh's administration that amounts to something more than vague talk. Japan is also going to ask other G7 nations to demand that the Administration deal with the massive deficits that are the driving force behind the dollars slide.

But when we look at the policy stance of Dubbyuh's administration, social security privatization and tax-cuts, will deliver a $2 trillion plus hit to the US budget in the years to come. This could lead the US to a situation similar to Argentina, which followed similar policies and wound up defaulting on $100 billion in foreign debt in 2001. Given the size of the US economy, its outstanding debt overseas and its foreign trade deficit, the effects of such a collapse in the US are magnified far beyond the scale of what happened in Argentina.

The situation is reaching a point where Stephen Roach, of Morgan-Stanley, gives the US only a 10% chance of avoiding "economic Armageddon". This bearish outlook is being echoed by many others in the economic community.

The fact that Dubbyuh and his merry band don't find anything particularly worrisome here should give us all pause to wonder just how long our very own American Nero is going to continue to fiddle. With the US soaking up nearly $2.6 billion a day over overseas just to keep the doors open in Washington, one cannot help but wonder when the excrement is going to intersect the fan-blade. When it does, don't blame me...I didn't vote for his dumb ass.

Our only consolation is that the mid-term elections in '06 will allow us to put those members of congress, who have permitted the administration to spend tax-dollars like a drunken sailor on liberty, out to pasture. Hopefully, it won't be too late at that point, but it's not looking good.

PRESIDENT BUSH 'OUT OF TOUCH' WITH REALITY

By Joyce Marcel,
American Reporter Correspondent,
Dummerston, VT.

DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the election recedes, there's good news and bad news. And we're not going to like any of it.

Welcome to the world of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, whose remarkable career has been bookended by two of the most shameful events in America's military history: My Lai in Vietnam, a story he broke as a free-lance reporter, and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, a story he broke for The New Yorker.

During his 38-year career, Hersh has written eight books, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Pulitzer and a host of other prizes. His sources serve at the highest levels of many governments, including our own.

In person, Hersh is tall, stooped, rumpled, gray-haired and bespectacled. He speaks rapidly and intensely in a deep voice. Currently touring to "pimp," as he put it, his newest book, "Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib," he spoke last week at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., to a rapt audience of about 900 people. They greeted him with applause; he said, "Thank you, but you'll be less happy once I'm done."

Hersh's message is simple and frightening: "(George W.) Bush is an ideologue, a Utopian," Hersh said. "He wants to clean out the Middle East and install democracy. He doesn't care how many body bags come back home. There's nothing more dangerous than an ideologue who is completely bonkers and no one is going to tell him."

President Bush is committed to perpetual war, Hersh said.

The emperor continues to wander about with no clothes on and, seems intent on remaining in a state of deshabillé. This highlighted by the fact that he is stacking his cabinet with like-minded ideologues, also known as 'yes men'. In Condi's case, that would be 'yes woman'. Dubbyuh's cabinet, like so many bobble-head figures, will avidly nod yes at his every suggestion, no matter how ludicrous or outright mad it may be.

As his disconnect with reality continues to widen, events will spiral more and more wildly out of control and Dubbyuh will remain insulated in his blood-stained bubble. In the meantime, more of our soldiers will come home in body bags...Iraq will slide into civil-war...The US economy will continue to crumble, this as the world trades in euros rather than dollars...And our American Nero will continue to fiddle.

It's getting a bit drafty, don't you think

The number of US troops in Iraq is being ramped up by some 12,000 in advance of January's elections in Iraq. Dubbyuh's refusal to delay the elections ot the behest of Iraq's own political parties, is nothing short of simple, bullheaded intransigence. Especially in light of the decaying security situation in the country. When the folks on the ground and living there say, "Let's slow down a little.." it might be wise to listen to them.

In order to cover this build-up of personel units are, yet again, having their tours extended. The ready and inactive reserves are also being called up. Contributing to a shortage of personel is the ARNG's failure to meet its recent enlistment quotas. As troop losses mount and raw recruits are shipped in to replace the losses, unit cohesion and morale begin to decay. But this doesn't seem to matter to the administration. But that's the beauty of an all-volunteer force. When the potential enlistees begin to see how badly they would be used in some misguided foreign adventurism, they simply stop enlisting.

Of course, given the nature of Dubbyuh's administration, they would find an alternative. It's getting a bit drafty, don't you think?

American Cowboy

America's number 1 cowboy action-hero, George W. Bush, seems to be under the impression that America can pretty much do as it pleases. He seems to think that America can "..go it alone, if necessary..." with military adventurism wherever and whenever it wishes. He's fogettting one important fact though...America is a debtor nation.

Suppose, just for the sake of argument, that our foreign creditors failed to show up at US bond auctions to buy that debt? The possibility of this happening grows with each day the dollar continues to slide.

The fall in the dollar’s external value per se may not cause additional financing difficulties, but if this fall is symptomatic of a generalised withdrawal of foreign credit, then the whole underlying credit structure could fall apart, as it has done many times before in other financial crises. Given the size of the US, the global fall-out will obviously be substantially greater. - Marshall Auerback

Remeber the peso crisis in Mexico? Remember the economic collapse of Southeast Asia in the 90's? As speculators dump US treasury notes on favor of euro based notes, the dollars decline will accelerate leading to a decline in the US economy similar to that which occured in those emerging markets. Only, because of the size of the US markets, the global effects will be much worse...not to mention the effects here at home. This also provides an economic lever to influence US foreign policy, in case you haven't figured that out by now.

So, America's #1 cowboy action-hero needs to wake up and smell the coffee, before he smells the ashes of his pyhrric victory on November 2nd.

A More Secure America?

I think not. Denny Hasturt has refused to bring the Intelligence Reform Bill to a vote. With the CIA in chaos due to Porter Goss' purge, we need solid, meaningful intelligence reform now, not a year from now.

But no...The House Reichpublican leadership is more interestd in turf wars and control of funding than they are in passing intelligence reform. While Dubbyuh has mouthed phrases of support for the bill, yet again, his actions fall far short of his words. Let us remember that Dubbyuh fought the formation of the 9/11 Commission tooth and nail, and he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to speak before it...This with Uncle Dick at his side telling him what to say. So, don't expect Dubbyuh to stand up and fight for intel reform.

Failure to pass these much needed reforms can be laid squarely upon the doorstep of the right-wing Reichpublican leadership. Their dedication to ideological purity over reality will be the undoing of us all.

So, contact your Representative and iform them of your displeasure, if not your being outright pissed-off, by their food dragging on this important issue.

American Hero...?

At least that's the way Dubbyuh's supporters would paint him. The reality, though, is far from the image.

The Israeli/Palestinian peace process languished...Dubbyuh did nothing.

The mean global temperature continues to rise, the Kyoto Protocols remain unratified...Dubbyuh does nothing.

The violence in Iraq spirals further and further out of control...Dubbyuh does nothing.

The social safety net continues to erode, leaving more and more people in poverty...Dubbyuh does nothing.

The budget and trade deficits continue to balloon, with no end in sight...Dubbyuh does nothing.

The dollar's freefall continues unchecked, threatening American and world economic progress...Dubbyuh does nothing.

We have not an American Hero, but an American Nero. Just as Nero was content to sit idly by while Rome burned, to rebuild it according to his own plans, perhaps Dubbyuh is content to let America burn in order to rebuild it according to his own ideological bent. And why not? After all, the blueprints were drawn up in "Rebuilding America's Defenses" written by the neo-con think-tank, The Project for the New American Century. Amongst its members are those who have played a role in either the Bush White House or the neo-con movement.

So, we have a choice. We can sit by and do nothing. Or we can start writing, calling, faxing, camping out in the offices of, our elected representatives asking them to do the right thing, not the politically expedient thing. Failing that, we remove them from office at the next election or begin recall movements where they are permitted. Failing these options, we have the The Declaration Of Independence to look to...

"--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security --"

We can do, as the citizens of Massachusetts did in 1774 when they rose up and took back control of the mechanisms of government from the British after Governor Thomas Gage passed the "Massachusetts Government Act" which effectively violated the Charter of 1691 and disenfranchised all of the citizens of Massachusetts. The choice is ours. We can chose to "suffer, while evils are sufferable". Or we can act before the evils become insufferable.

A parable for our times...

George W. Bush and the Republican party support state's rights and trust the wisdom of the voters...Except when states and voters views are contrary to his.

Earlier this month, John "Beaten-by-a-Dead-Man-and-don't-let-the-door-hit-your-sorry-ass-on-the-way-out" Ashcroft, resumed his efforts to undermine Oregon's death-with-dignity law. This law was passed by a majority not once, but twice.

Now the Justice Department is putting the screws to folks using marijuana for medical purposes. This in states, and there are 10 of 'em, where the use of the ol' wacky weed is legal for medical purposes. The case they're bearing down on now involves a woman with an inoperable brain tumor. Ya gotta wonder, with the threats facing America and the world today, don't they have anything better to do? They've had absolutely zero, zip, nada for successful prosecutions of those accused of terrorist activities in this country. The best they can do is try to justify the continued imprisonment, without charge, of some ex-gangbanger from Chicago who's guilty of nothing but an excess of stupidity.

Yeah, I feel alot safer knowin' them scofflaw medical marijuana users are behind bars.

OUT AND ABOUT TO GET UGLY

How many closet cases does it take to reelect a president?

By Michelangelo Signorile

IF YOU DRIVE a Volvo and you do yoga, you are pretty much a Democrat," the Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman—soon to be the head of the Republican National Committee—reportedly told a meeting of Republican governors last week. "If you drive a Lincoln or a BMW and you own a gun, you're voting for George W. Bush."

Since he's so confident labeling people based on outward characteristics, Mehlman must understand why his being a 37-year-old "bachelor" who refuses to answer questions about his sexual orientation is a tip-off to many that he's a pathetic closet case, and a pretty vile one at that, having used antigay hatred (aka "moral values") to help elect Bush. Mehlman was actually boasting to the governors about his slick new strategies, telling them that the Bush-Cheney campaign studied voters' consumer habits—basically snooping into voters' personal lives—in targeting them.

Studies have shown that the most virulent homophobes are those who are the most insecure about their own sexuality or are deeply closeted homosexuals themselves. It will be interesting to watch as many stauch supporters of the "moral majority" are outed, and to see the hypocrisy of their movement revealed. Even more interesting is seeing who will be dragged kicking and screaming from their closets.

Reality does not enter into Dubbyuh's lexicon

Yet again, Dubbyuh's words and actions diverge from each other. Since 2003, the dollar has declined nearly 25% against the euro. Dubbyuh contends that he believes in maintaining a strong dollar. Yet the dollar continues the unchecked free-fall it has been in since 2001.

Granted, this makes US exports cheaper overseas, but America continues to import far more than it exports and the continuing trade deficit is saturating foreign markets with dollars. In some of these markets, China in particular, currency traders are exchanging their dollars for renminbi which they view as being safer than the dollar.

Despite its "strong dollar" rhetoric, the Bush administration sees a weakening dollar as a means of getting a handle on the trade deficit. The problem here though is that while it provides some relief for US exporters, it leaves the rest of us open to sharp inflationary spikes and higher interest rates. But if you don't play in the Bush League, which most Americans don't, you're just shit outta luck.

The only sensible solution to the problem is to address the ballooning budget deficit. There is a direct correlation between the dollars slide and the runaway deficit spending of Dubbyuh and his merry band. But that would put a crimp in their ability to provide tax-cuts to their corporate pimps and johns. And, a viable social safety-net doesn't even make it on their radar screen.

So when the dollar and the US economy crash don't blame me. I voted for Kerry.

US battle plans begin to unravel

By Michael Schwartz

In the New York Times this week the first crack appeared in the armor of the "victory in Fallujah" facade maintained by the major US media since the battle began. Eric Schmitt and Robert Worth discuss a secret Marine Corps report that reveals the major bind the US has gotten itself into by sweeping through Fallujah and attempting to pacify it. This US strategy has created exactly the dilemma that many critics of the war had been predicting: in order to hold Fallujah the United States has to keep large numbers of troops there, and then the Americans will not have sufficient troops to handle the uprising elsewhere in the Sunni areas.

Indeed, while US forces have been occupied with Fallujah, the insurgents have simply packed up their toys and moved elsewhere. Mosul is now all but in the hands of the insurgents, and terrorists strike at will throughout Iraq.

And this is how it will go in Iraq. It'll be like that okd arcade game where you hammer a gopher only to have one pop up elswhere. For every brushfire insurgency the US tries to stamp out, more will erupt elsewhere.

All the while the US media fails to report the true scope of the story and Dubbyuh remains in his rose colored bubble. And all the while our troops are dying in an ill-concieved, illegal war.

But hey, y'all voted for him, and when the excrement intersects the fan-blade, I'll just sadly shake my head and say, "I told you so...".

Morals and values…? They’re certainly not mine.

When Republican operatives aren’t busy stealing elections, they’re apparently occupied robbing Native Americans.

Jack Abramoff, a fundraiser for the Bush/Cheney campaign, and Michael Scanlon, former press aid to Tom DeLay (now where have we heard that name before) are under investigation by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. These two apparently took a number of tribes to the cleaners to the tune of around $66million with promises of access and influence in Congress.

A case in point is that of the Tigua Indians. Their casino was closed down after a successful anti-gambling campaign was waged in Texas. Heavily involved in this campaign was Ralph Reed. Scanlon and Abramoff paid Reed $2.4 million for his involvement. After the Casino was closed down, Scanlon and Abramoff went to the tribe, claiming to be their saviors. They convinced tribal leaders that they had sufficient influence with both Dubbyuh and DeLay to get the restrictions on gambling in Texas lifted. Of course, there was a price tag attached…$4.2 million in fees as well as several hundred thousand dollars in political contributions.

Tigua representatives told the Senate Committee that Scanlon and Abramoff would be able to get Representative Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, on board. Ney’s assistance came at the price of $32,000 to campaign fund raising groups he supported. Ney inserted language into the election reform bill that would have authorized the re-opening of the Tiguas casino. That particular bill failed.

Opponents of campaign finance reform say that there is no demonstrable quid pro quo between campaign contributions and legislative action. And while the language inserted by Representative Ney and the bill that contained it ultimately failed, there is a demonstrable link between the campaign contributions and the legislative action here.

The irony of the revelation of these activities is that the perpetrators have ties to both the Bush White House and to Tom DeLay. And this in an election that was decided on the apparent moral superiority of the Republicans. Well, hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does, and morals and values are obviously meaningless to this administration unless, of course, they refer to the moral short-comings of their opponents.

A long four years

November 17, 2004

AUSTIN, Texas -- My, my, gonna be a long four years. House Republicans have rewritten the ethics rules so Tom DeLay won't have to resign if indicted after all. Let's hear it for moral values. DeLay is one of the leading forces in making "Republican ethics" into an oxymoron.

The rule was passed in 1993, when Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, was being investigated for ethics violations. And who helped lead the floor fight to force him to resign his powerful position? Why, Tom DeLay, of course. (Actually, it's sort of a funny story. The D's already had a caucus rule that you had to resign from any leadership position if indicted. The R's changed their rules to match the D's, except they deliberately did not make their rule retroactive, so the highly indicted Rep. Joseph McDade, senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, could, unlike Rostenkowski, retain his seat.)

DeLay has already been admonished by the House ethics committee three times on separate violations of ethics rules. Please note, that is the Republican-dominated ethics committee. The hilarious rationale offered by the R's for the new rule to exempt DeLay is that no one can accuse them of taking the moral low road here because, "That line of reasoning accepts that exercise of the prosecutor in Texas is legitimate."

Uh, that would Ronnie Earle of Austin, who is a known Democrat. One the other hand, Earle is quite noted for having indicted more Democratic officeholders than Republicans, so it's a little hard to argue that this is a partisan political probe. Or it would be, if facts made any difference these days to talk-show screamers. - Molly Ivins

Yep...A long four years indeed. And you gotta love the unmitigated gall of the House Reichpublicans for their dazzling display of ethical and moral behavior. Hypocrisy never entered into the conversation or the equation.

It's beginning to look more and more like one party rule in the next Congress. Of course, Tom DeLay might be incovenienced, what with having to attend sessions of Congress in an orange jump-suit and wearing shackles and leg-irons. But hey, its a small price to pay for bringing ethics and values back to Congress.

Debate over Modern Uses of Torture

Why is this debate even occuring? Study after study has shown that torture provides no useful information, and serves no other purpose than to strike fear into a population targeted for torture.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Th Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed by the United States in 1948. Thus it has been the law of the land ever since. The Administration has willingly flouted its provisions. The administrations actions have left our own troops open to the same, or worse, treatment at the hands the enemy in the event of their capture.

The Bush administration abandoned the moral high-ground when it sought legal advice from Mr. Gonzales regarding the circumvention of the Geneva Convention and international law with regards to torture. Dubbyuh, and his merry band, have brought us down to the level of the terrorists, and the attrocities revealed at Abu Ghraib only served to fuel anti-American sentiment in the region. This, in turn, has provided Al Qaeda and similar organizations with throngs of new recruits willing to sacrifice their lives in an effort to drive the invaders from their soil.

We see the consequences, a barely contained Fallujah...Rebellion threatening to boil over in Mosul...Terrorists striking with impunity throughout Iraq, this despite a declaration of martial law. These are the bitter fruits of the Bush doctrine in Iraq, and the harvest has only begun.

Ohio hearings show massive GOP vote manipulation, but where the hell are the Democrats & John Kerry?

November 17, 2004

Columbus, Ohio---Hour after hour the testimonies are the same: angry Ohioans telling of vicious Republican manipulation and de facto intimidation that disenfranchised tens of thousands and probably cost the Democrats the election.

At an African-American church on Saturday and then at the Franklin County Courthouse Monday night, more than 700 people came to testify and witness to tales of the atrocity that was the November 2 election.

Organized by local ad hoc groups, the hearings had a court reporter and a team of lawyers along with other appointed witnesses. At freepress.org we will be making the testimonies available as they're transcribed and organized, and we will present a fuller accounting of the hearings, along with a book that includes the transcripts.

But one thing was instantly and abundantly clear: the Republican Party turned Ohio 2004 into an updated version of the Jim Crow South.

Indeed, just where are John Kerry and the Democratic party on this issue? Why haven't they made their voices heard? John Kerry and John Edwards did, after all, prominse not to give up until every vote was counted. Yet, after some people stood in line for up to 11 hours on that rainy election day, Kerry conceded the election not even 24 hours after the last vote was cast in Ohio.

Thanks for nothing Senator Kerry.

Morals...? Values...? We don't need no steenkin' morals and values!

The irony of the party, which swept into office on a rising tide of 'morals and values', setting itself above the moral and ethical standards THEY set for THEMSELVES is almost too much to bear.

House Reichpublicans decided to change their own ethics rules to allow their leadership to remain in their leadership roles should they be indicted, tihs on behalf of one of their more ethically challenged members...Tom DeLay. Such hypocrisy is, apparently, becoming part and parcel of the Reichpublican ethos.

Given their leader, George W. Bush, this should come as no surprise though. In Dubbyuh we have the embodiment of a man who has never been held accountable for his actions. From his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct to his insider trading at Harken Energy, Dubbyuh has been bailed out by family and family friends, absolved of all wrongdoing by the mere mention of his family name. Were he not the son of George H.W. Bush and grandson of Prescott Bush, he would be pumping gas in some dusty little Texas hell-hole, drinking his brains out and beating his pit-bulls every night.

Instead, though, he has America bent over the proverbial brass-rail, it knickers around its ankles, its skirts over its head, suffering the humiliation of his unwanted attentions.

The Artful, but Tactless, Dodgers

With any and all who have failed to toe the Administration line, or embarrassed the Administration in any way, dropping like flies, it behooves us to examine just what Dubbyuh is up to.

What he is doing, is further insulating himself from the real world. His appointments to his cabinet are based, not upon ability, but upon personal loyalty to Dubbyuh and his policies. This will squeeze the last vestiges of dissent out of his administration, and leave him in an ideologically pure vaccum.

This new cabinet will only serve to further isolate Dubbyuh from the consquences of his actions. But its nothing more than the logical extension of Dubbyuh's dodging of responsibility since he was a teen-ager.

Speaking of dodging responsibility, it appears that House Reichpublicans...er...Republicans are about to change their own rules of conduct to protect one of their own from certain leagal entanglements. I'm speaking, of course, of the the head of the GOP's Committee on Gerrymandering, Tom DeLay.

Apparently, if the leader of the House Reichpublicans is indicted for a felony, he/she must give up his post. Since three of DeLay's staffers have been indicted in Texas, and Tommy seems to be next on the list, the House GOPers are taking pre-emptive action. They are seeking to change the ethical guidelines which would require Tommy to give up his position as Majority Leader, should he be indicted. They're calling the investigation into his fund raising activities "politically motivated". I think it's up to the courts, and not the House leadership to make decisions as to Tommy's guilt or innocence.

The utter hypocrisy of this stance should be obvious...The Reichpublicans swept to power this year on a wave of concern for "values and ethics". Apparently they have neither of these qualities.

Colin and Condi-mima

So, Colin Powell resigns. No surprise that, but he should have done so when it became clear that Dubbyuh was up to no good in waging war on Iraq. But no...He sat before the United Nations and lied, and you could tell he was pissed off at having to repeat the bullshit the Administration was spewing. But did he do the right thing...? Did he resign in protest...? No. He played the "good soldier" and followed his marching orders without question. But you know what...? From Nuremberg forward, obeying orders hasn't shielded war criminals from responsibility for their actions.

Yes, Colin turned to the dark side. He, not always quietly, lapped up the excrement the Administraion put forth as manna from heaven and did nothing to stem its abuses of power.

But now, we have the "New and Improved" Condi-mima as Secretary of State. And we thought Colin was Dubbyuh's lap dog.

What Price Security?

For those of you who remain unconvinced as to Alberto Gonzales' willingness to ignore, not only the Constitution, but also international law, I suggest you goto "Alberto Gonzales: A Record of Injustice". It provides a full disclosure of his past actions with links to the memos(pdf) in question.

Now, let me ask you...Why are you willing to give up the freedoms, paid for by the blood of our forefathers, so easily? Why so eager trade these hard won freedoms for a small measure of illusory security? If it's for fear of further attack, that is the price of living in a free and open society. Unless you are willing to live in a closed and tightly controlled state, you should be careful what you wish for.

I know I feel safer...

Dubbyuh's disconnect from reality continues to grow. While 15,000 troops are slogging through Fallujah, the guerillas are striking at will throughout Iraq, Mosul has all but fallen to them...All this under a state of martial law declared by Iraq's puppet prime-minister. In Dubbyuh's little world, however, everything is absolutely peachy.

Dubbyuh and his merry band continue to underestimate the forces arrayed against our troops in Iraq, and their policies reflect that lack of understanding. But all those loyal Bushies voted for him. Now, despite the spectres of war, poverty, soaring healthcare costs, a crumbling social safety-net and budget deficits as far as the eye can see that still ahunt us, at least we are now safe from the horror of same-gender couples being able to have the same rights, benefits and responsibilities of straight married couples. I know I sleep easier at night.

Homeland...? Security...?

Today in a small town just south of Columbus, OH, Dick(less) Cheney spoke of the Bush administration's commitment to preventing NBC attacks on US soil. This commitment rings hollow in light of the facts.

Our seaports are largely unsecured, and only a tiny fraction, about 5%, of cargo containers entering the US are inspected. More money is spent on the war in Iraq in 3 days than has been spent on securing our seaports in the last three years.

Thanks to the Republican controlled Congress a bill to tighten security at nuclear facilities and petro-chemical plants was scuttled. "It would cost too much..." industy lobbyists poor-mouthed. 123 of the sites are in areas where 1 million or more people could be sickened injured or killed outright.

Nearly half of all cargo on US airliners is screened, and instead of no-fly zones over US nuclear and chemical facilities, they are instituted over Disneyworld, Disneyland and the SuperBowl.

Nearly $99 billion is needed to bring US first responders up to even mininmal capacity to deal with large scale attacks, yet in its 2006 budget, cuts are made in funding to firefighters and first responders, with funding for police cut nearly in half.

Yes boys and girls, America is (not) safer under the firm hand and steadfast leadership of the Bush administration and the neocon chicken-shits...er...hawks that currently infest the halls of our nation's capitol. So, you can('t) sleep safer tonight knowing that the Bush Administration is(n't) on the ball and (sure as hell) is(n't) working hard to keep America secure.

The president who can't be mistaken

By Ellen Goodman,

Globe Columnist | October 13, 2004

NOW THAT her 15 minutes of fame are over, may I tip my hat to Linda Grabel? It isn't easy to give the president of the United States a pop quiz. But at the second debate, the 63-year-old legal secretary asked: "Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision and what you did to correct it."

By now it's well known that the president couldn't come up with a single mistake except, shucks, maybe an appointment or two. The question, as he restated it, was, "Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?" And his answer was: "Absolutely not."

Was anyone really surprised? George W. Bush is now officially The Man Who Wouldn't Ask Directions. This candidate doesn't do windows or introspection. He's running on an alchemy platform as the politician who transforms inflexibility into strength.

Inflexible...? Indeed, but it goes far beyond that . It is a philosophical and epistemological rigidity that makes the hardest steel look positively mushy. But the harder the steel, the more brittle it is...The more easily it breaks. Lacking the flexibility to bend and then spring back, it snaps at the point of stress. And so it will be with Bush...His mental rigidity will lead him to break at the point of greatest stress. Can we really afford that in our president?

Unease Shadows Bush's Optimism

Noting the administration's request to divert $3.4 billion in Iraq reconstruction money to a series of emergency measures, including efforts to improve security, conservative Rep. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said: "Now, that does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we're winning. But it does add up to this: an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble."

The committee's moderate Republican chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, expressed exasperation at the administration's rosy prewar assessments that as soon as Hussein was deposed, a euphoric Iraqi population would embrace democracy.

"The nonsense of that is [now] apparent," he said. "The lack of planning is apparent."

And so, the Republicans begin to feed on their own...They begin to question the wisdom of the man they recently nominated in New York, shamelessly politicizing 9/11 and the "war on terror". The light of truth begins to intrude upon their unquestioned allegiance to Dubbyuh and his administration. And all that needs to be said to them is, "Told ya so..."

U.S. Intelligence Paints a Darker Picture Than Dubbyuh Would Have Us Believe

By DOUGLAS JEHL

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.

The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.

The NIE, pooh-poohed by Mark McClellan as being "pessimistic" gives lie to the Administration's rosy picture of Iraq and its future. The best case scenario is one of a future little different from the present in Iraq. THe Worst case is outright civil war between the Sunnis, Sh'ias and Kurds. It should be pointed out that the word "pessimist" was created by optimists to describe realists.

Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt: Special Interest Whores

Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt wouldn't let an extension of the assault weapons ban come to the floor for debate, let alone a vote. The NRA drew them aside and whispered sweet nothings in their ears, and being the eager whores that they are, they promptly rolled over and spread their legs squealing, "Do me! And do me, NOW!"

With this act of blatant political prositution, Tom DeLay and Denny Hasturt proved, unequivocally, that America is no longer a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. America is now a nation wholly at the mercy of corporate interests, a situation exacerbated by this Administration and its Republican cronies in Congress.

Never mind that some 65% of the American people WANT the assault weapons ban to remain in effect. Never Mind that law enforcement agencies all accross the country support extending the assault weapons ban. Never mind that some 57% of GUN OWNERS support the assault weapons ban. Never mind that a MAJORITY of Americans, gun owners and non-gun owners alike support tightening the ban The NRA, with its siren song of more campaign contributions, renders all of that moot. A parliament of whores...Indeed!

What he really said...Part 1

I believe every child can learn, and every school must teach so we passed the most important federal education reform in history. Because we acted, children are making sustained progress in reading and math, America's schools are getting better, and nothing will hold us back.

Unfortunately he forgot to mention that his “No Child Left Behind initiative was underfunded to the tune of $9.4 billion, or that 38 educational programs would be cut from the budget in 2004.

I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors so I brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen Medicare. Now seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine. Soon every senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and nothing will hold us back.

Yet Medicare Chief Actuary, Richard Foster was told to keep quiet about the actual costs of the recently passed Medicare legislation. Nor, was the fact that the government is barred from negotiating for lower drug prices under this scheme mentioned. Also not mentioned was the fact that some 60% of the new “drug benefit” actually goes to the pharmaceutical companies.

I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and ranchers so we unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. Because we acted, our economy is growing again, and creating jobs, and nothing will hold us back.

Unfortunately, the estimates for the federal deficit now stand a some $5.2 trillion over the next ten years. Also the tax cuts Dubbyuh ramrodded through Congress shifted more of the tax burden to the middle-class. Oh…and, by the way…the Administration’s budget estimates don’t even include the costs of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dubbyuh left Texas’ economy a smoking crater in the earth. We won’t know the damage he’s done to the US economy for a while as the mushroom cloud is still rising.

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

This is the administration that cut requested FBI counter-terrorism funding by 2/3 after 9-11.Bush also opposed creation of the largely ineffectual Department of Homeland Security and the 9-11 Commission. Also “on His watch”, a bill to strengthen security at US nuclear and petrochemical sites was scuttled by the Republican controlled House and Senate. And our seaports remain largely unsecured.

New dirt thrown in squabble over candidates' war records

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

The controversy over John Kerry's Vietnam War record looked set yesterday to escalate into a duel between the two competing presidential campaigns, after new, unflattering details emerged about George Bush's much questioned National Guard service in Texas and Alabama in 1971-72.

The widow of one of the Bush family's closest confidants of the period alleged that the reason the young Mr Bush was transferred to Alabama was that his drunken, boorish behaviour was becoming a political liability for his father - who was serving as US ambassador to the United Nations - and the family was keen to get him out of Texas.

Linda Allison said she never once saw him in uniform in Alabama, despite the Bush family's protestations to the contrary. Instead, he was attached to the Republican Senate campaign that her husband Jimmy was running. Corroborating earlier first-hand accounts, she said George W would sleep in late after all-night benders, arrive at the office around noon and leave early.

On election night, when it became clear that the campaign to unseat the incumbent Democratic senator, John Sparkman failed, Ms Allison said she encountered Mr Bush urinating on a car in the campaign parking lot. She later heard that he had yelled obscenities at police officers.

Ms Allison's account, which she gave to the online magazine Salon.com, was one of a number of indications of a backlash against the President after weeks of attacks on Senator Kerry's Vietnam War record by a group of ardent pro-Bush Republicans calling themselves Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Like the proverbial turd in a punchbowl, the sordid truth of Dubbyuh's "war years" floats to the surface. Yessiree folks, this is the man who want to steer the ship of state. The only problem is he's about to gut the ship on the reefs of the real world rather than sail on the seas of his ETOH impaired vision of the world. Twenty plus years of alcohol abuse leaves a permanent mark on one's cognitive abilities, as Dubbyuh so readily demonstrates. It's time to throw the cap'n overboard and get a steady hand at the helm.

Zell slips off the deep end...

Yeah buddy! Ol' Zell, he's a veritable paragon of reason and sanity. F'r instance, how's about where he went off on Chris Matthews who chided him for the "defending America with spitballs" comment. That's when Miller slid off the deep end and said that he wished he "could get a little closer up into your face" and that he lived in a time "where you could challenge a person to a duel".

Yep ol' Zell, he's a great DINO (Democrat In Name Only)...Soon he and his kind will be extinct, or at least live out their lives as curiosities kept in carefully controlled reserves with other breeds of conservative. There they will be protected from the harsh relities of the world around them, and they will always have their rose colored glasses.

Does Dick CHENEY no he's not really on the ticket?

HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!!!!

And they said they wouldn't use the memory of 9/11 for political ends...Did anyone really believe that fatuous lie? To say that the Riechspartei...er...Republican National Convention is manipulative is like saying Marcel Marceau was a little quiet.

Yes indeed folks the keynote for Tuesday night was "Never forget 9/11...", As if we could. But we were presented with a long string of speakers who reminded us of 9/11 with every breath.

And the evening was kicked off by John McCain (sellout) and Rudy Giulianni (adulterous dog), who are both also known for their courage and leadership...Two qualities Dubbyuh would like to have associated with him.

All in all this outpouring of beteiligt-geist has been most nauseating, and one can only hope these hypocritical fuckers are beaten like a gong come November and whipped naked and howling into the wilderness

"Meet the New Boss..."

Bush Pretends He Never Gave Secret Prison Order

Two weeks ago, President Bush appeared on Arab television claiming that he wanted to stop the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and implying that he had nothing to do with the policies that led to them. During his appearance Bush said, "We want to make sure that if there is a systemic problem -- in other words, if there's a problem system-wide -- that we stop the practices"1. However, a new report appears to show that the President and top Administration officials may have authorized procedures that led to the abuses in the first place.

A new investigation by Newsweek "shows that President Bush, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft signed off on a secret system of detention and interrogation that opened the door to such methods" of abuse and torture as documented at Abu Ghraib2. The secret orders were designed "to sidestep the historical safeguards of the Geneva Conventions, which protect the rights of detainees and prisoners of war. In doing so, they overrode the objections of Secretary of State Colin Powell and America's top military lawyers."

The President has repeatedly said he wants to "usher in an era of personal responsibility"3. Yet, despite these revelations, the White House has yet to admit any culpability. When asked whether a crucial Presidential legal memo4 attempting to skirt the Geneva Conventions5 helped to create the atmosphere that led to the prison abuses, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Absolutely not"6.

Sources:

1. President Bush Meets with Al Arabiya Television on Wednesday, 05/05/2004.

2. "The Roots of Torture", Newsweek, 05/24/2004.

3. President Bush Discusses Progress in Education in St. Louis, 01/05/2004.

4. "Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings", Newsweek, 05/19/2004.

5. "Report: White House Memo Backed Abuse", San Francisco Chronicle, 05/17/2004.

6. Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan, 05/17/2004.

(emphasis mine)

"Personal responsibility" is a concept on the dim and distant horizon of Dubbyuh's consciousness, trotted out only when it seems politically expedient. Also, that Antonio Gonzalez expressed concerns about these actions violating provisions od the Geneva Convention and the War Crimes Act is telling. But since he also stated that the Geneva Convention was "quaint" and "obsolete", those reservations can be taken with a grain of salt. More telling is that the Dubbyuh and his band o' thugs didn't let such concerns stand in their way. It is but the latest example of the Administration's complete and utter disregard for international law, except where it directly benefits US interests.

Having utterly abandoned the moral high ground and descended to the level of such human rights luminaries and Stalin and Pohl Poht, this administration has abdicated its stated goal of bringing democracy to Iraq and the Middle East. "...Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..."

Pentagon distorted Iraqi casualty issue, says new report

Press Release, Project on Defense Alternatives

20 February 2004

18 February 2004 -- Weapons of mass destruction is not the only Iraq war-related subject clouded by misinformation. According to a new study, the Pentagon conducted "perception management" campaigns during the Afghan and Iraq wars that also obstructed the public's awareness of civilian casualties.

These activities included Pentagon efforts to "spin" casualty stories in ways that minimized their significance or cast unreasonable doubt on their reliability. Efforts also may have included the placement of misleading news stories. Such activities are "antithetical to well-informed public debate and to sensible policy-making," according to the report's author, Carl Conetta.

The report, Disappearing the Dead: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Idea of a "New Warfare", was released Wednesday by the Project on Defense Alternatives at the Commonwealth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Besides examining several case studies, the report reviews the "news frames" promoted by defense officials to shape the public debate over casualties.

Among the suspect stories promoted by US officials were reports that the Hussein regime was stockpiling cadavers before the war in order to stage phony casualty incidents and blame them on the coalition. Another story asserted that the Iraqis were procuring uniforms like those of US troops so that they might commit atrocities that would be attributed to the United States. As in the case of Iraq's reputed possession of prohibited weapons, neither story was subsequently verified.

Hmmm...Sounds like one more unsettling parallel to Vietnam, which was another politically driven war.

Bush Chooses the F.D.A.'s Chief to Run Medicare and Medicaid

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — President Bush announced on Friday that he would nominate Dr. Mark B. McClellan, the food and drug commissioner, to run Medicare and Medicaid, the health insurance programs for more than 70 million Americans. The Republic is dead, long live coporate America!

Dr. McClellan faces a huge logistical and political challenge: to provide prescription drug coverage to the elderly while fending off Democratic attacks on the new Medicare law, which Mr. Bush sees as his greatest achievement in domestic policy.

If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. McClellan will become administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which spends more than $480 billion a year and regulates nearly every sector of the nation's health care system.

While firmly committed to the president's free-market policies, Dr. McClellan has shown a knack for working with members of both parties in a pragmatic way that blends science, economics and politics.

Dr. McClellan, a physician and economist, has received rave reviews from drug companies for his work as chief of the Food and Drug Administration, a post he assumed in November 2002. He served earlier at the White House, as health policy coordinator and a member of Mr. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. In the Clinton administration, he worked on domestic policy, as a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury in 1998-99.

Dr. McClellan, 40, will need all that expertise and more to carry out the new Medicare law successfully.

Under that law, Medicare beneficiaries can obtain drug discount cards this June and full-fledged drug benefits starting in January 2006. But the law also gives private health insurance plans a big new role in Medicare, and Democrats, who attack the legislation as overly generous to pharmaceutical and insurance companies, want sweeping changes, which the administration is resisting. As commissioner of food and drugs, Dr. McClellan has tried to stamp out, on safety grounds, a wave of support for allowing imports of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada.

Dr. McClellan is the brother of the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, and a son of the Texas comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who has hinted that she may run for governor in two years.

Can you say cronyism?...I knew you could.

It's also another case of selling out the interests of the American people to the folks who have been camping out on Dubbyyuh's ass for years. The Republic is dead! Long live corporate America!

Iran Parliamentary Elections:Iranians Vote in Election That May End Reform Drive

By Parinoosh Arami and Paul Taylor
Fri February 20, 2004 06:24 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Urged by prayer leaders to "slap America in the face," Iranians voted Friday in a disputed parliamentary election set to tighten hard-liners' grip on power and end President Mohammad Khatami's faltering reform drive.

A short, lackluster campaign was overshadowed by a ban on most reformist candidates and a crackdown on pro-reform media amid apparent public indifference. The main uncertainty concerns the turnout, with even the size of the electorate in dispute.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, among the first to cast his ballot, said the Islamic Republic's enemies were trying to deter young people from voting -- an apparent reference to a boycott by blacklisted reformist lawmakers and student groups.

"You see how those who are against the Iranian nation and the Islamic revolution are trying so hard to prevent people from going to the polls," Khamenei told state television.

Conservatives seem certain to dominate the new assembly after the Guardian Council, an unelected panel of hard-line clerics, disqualified 2,500 mainly reformist aspirants and a further 1,179 contenders withdrew.

As I, and many others, predicted the rhetoric against Iran and the actions of Dubbyuh's administration in the Middle East have lead to a retrenchment of Iran's hardliners. This will set back the progressive reforms that have been under way in Iran by several years, if not decades.

So long as Dubbyuh and his merry band remain in control of this nation, we can only expect more, and more serious, blowback from their policies.

A Comparison...

I've taken to watching C-SPAN when they braodcast procedings in the House of Commons, and I must say that the difference between Britain's Parliament and America's Congress is striking.

The level, speed and quality of the repartee in the House of Commons is, at times, breathtaking. The representatives are always there, and are not speaking before an empty gallery as theire counterparts in Congress often are.

And although he's Dubbyuh's lapdog and his intellectual superior (most anybody is), Tony Blair answers all of his critics cogently and with a sense of humor. I simply cannot see Dubbyuh engaging in such a rapid fire debate in Congress. He would stutter, stumble, get pissed off and storm out of the room.

Were it not for his daddy's name, Dubbyuh would be pumping gas in some dusty little Texas hell-hole and drinking what few brains he has out every night