IT'S IMPEACHMENT TIME!

In a memo labeled "SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY" and dated 7/23/2002, lies evidence that has led, up to this point, 87 US House members to sign a letter demanding an explanation from the Bush administration about the content of this memo. Especially,

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

The administration was "fixing" the intel around the policy. In other words, the intel was being cherry-picked and spun to fit the policy. Any intel which didn't support the policy or contradicted it was quietly shunted aside and ignored.You know, like the findings of the IAEA under Mohammed el-Baradei...UNSCOM's Scott Ritter...But this administration has never let inconvenient facts stand in its way.

America went to war in Iraq based upon a fabric of lies. If the information in this memo does not substantiate charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors" against Dubbyuh and members of his administration...nothing will. We can take the Constitution out of its case and burn it, as it will no longer be needed...the Republic will have died.

Tony Blair...A sinking political ship?

New documents reveal that Tony Blair was complicit in setting the stage for war with Iraq. These documents show that PM Blair was committed to regime change in Iraq along with the Bush administration, this despite the fact that Lord Goldsmith, British AG, repeatedly warned him that such action could be illegal as early as 2002. Other documents show that Britain, folowing the lead of the US, had to somehow "create" the necessary pretext for war with Iraq.

As if this wasn't enough, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, former Chief of the Defence Staff, voiced concerns about not having legal cover should war crimes charges be brought before the International Criminal Court. Admiral Boyce stated that he had never seen Lord Goldsmith's initial, very qualified, advice about the legality of war with Iraq. Admiral Boyce further stated that if he, as well as officers and enlisted personel who served in Iraq wound up serving prison terms, he would make sure "...Other perople were brought into the frame as well...". When pressed as to whetehr he meant Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith, he replied, "Too bloody right."

Tony Blair's political ship is about to have its belly ripped open on the shoals of this damning evidence regarding the legality of the war in Iraq. When Blair's ship founders, can Dubbyuh's be far behind? One can only hope.

The "Gay Agenda"...?

At least that's what Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says is motivating a piece of legislation he has introduced in the ALabama legislature.

His bill would ban books by such well known authors as Truman Capote, Gore Vidal or Tennesee Williams would be culled from the shelves of Alabama's public libraries as well as school and universitiy libraries. He also wanted to ban Shakespeare's works from the bookshelves but withdrew that paragraph after "some criticism".

His legislation would also supress any mention of homosexuality as a genetic trait. Furthermore any books featuring gay or bisexual characters would be barred from libraries. Mr. Allen, apparently found homosexual content, and evidence of the "Gay Agenda" to turn the whole world queer, in every book he picked up.

This piece of legislation would have left library shelves empty and dusty, as well as throwing a number of librarians out of work. It represents nothing more than a good, old-fashioned book burning similar to that practiced by the Soviet Union after the communists siezed power...or Nazi Germany practiced with Jewish literature...or as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge did in Cambodia.

I think that Mr. Allen, and his fellow travelers should look to putting their own houses in order before they start tearing down the houses of others. Mr. Allen's legislation is probably a manifestation of his own doubts and fears regarding his own sexuality, and he either needs to just get over it or come out of the closet. Either one would suffice...at least he would stop bothering other folks.

And you may have noticed I used the past tense a couple of paragraphs back...Mr. Allen's legilation died on the floor af the Alabama legislature, as it should have.

American Traitors

In 2000, this nation had a $230 billion dollar budget surplus. By 2004, that surplus had evaporated, to be replaced by a deficit of $412 billion (1.).

In May of 2000, Japan held $337 billion in US treasuries, China - $60.4 billion, OPEC $48.3 billion. In total, $1,260.8 billion in US debt was held by foreign central banks. (2.) In February of 2005, Japan held $702.1 billion, China - $196.5 billion, OPEC - $67.1 billion. In total, $1,996 billion in US debt is being held by foreign central banks.(3.)

This amount of US debt in the hands of foreign interests represents a threat to this nation unimagined by our Founding Fathers over two hundred years ago, let alone two or three decades ago. Foreign interests, with their hands on America's purse-strings, may now have the power to devastate the US economy at any time of their choosing. This blade hangs over America, yet our elected, some would say selected, leaders refuse to acknowledge its presence...let alone their complicity...in bringing about this state of affairs.

This administration has presided over wartime tax-cuts, a free-falling dollar, and surging foreign trade deficits as well as the ever expanding federal budget deficit, estimated at some $512 billion for 2005 (4.) ( this doesn't even include the cost of ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq).

In placing our nations finacial health so firmly in the hands of foreign powers, this adminstration has betrayed its responsibility to the American people...It has abandoned any pretext of fiscal responsibility...It has turned a blind eye to war profiteers (5.)...In short, this administration and the Republican leadership in Congress have betrayed their oaths of office by ceding so much power over this nation directly into the hands of foreign agents. This is nothing short of treason, and its perpetrators should be brought to justice. It is time to stop coddling these vipers in our breast and name them for the traitors they are.

Break down barriers between church and state...?

Be careful what you wish for.

The consequences of embracing Tom DeLay's and Bill Frist's crusade against an independent jusidciary and their appeals to a particularly xenophobic form of Christianity are simple. The breaking down of the barriers between church and state.

While not explicitly laid out in the Constitution, it is implicit, as stated in Jefferson's 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state. - Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 1, 1802

Further reading of the letter makes it clear that religious freedom is a matter of individual conviction, and not to be brought into the realm of politics. This ideal has enjoyed legal status throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and rather than stifling religion, has given rise to enourmous diversity in religious expression and practice in this nation, one not seen elsewhere in the world.

Also, the framers of the Constitution had a perspective on the merging of church and state that we do not have today. They needed only to look to recent history of Puritan Massachussetts to see the threat that a union of religion and politics posed. In Massachussetts, religious dissenters were hanged and "witches" were burned at the stake. The Founding Fathers looked to this and knew that it was not what they wanted for this nation. Recent history gives us the examples of Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iran, Afghanistan under the Taliban, Saudia Arabia, Indonesia, and others to show the flaws and instability inherent in the mingling religion and politics.

The separation of church and state has also benefitted religion in the form of property-tax exemptions for church owned property. And I don't see anyone suppoting the union of church and state supporting the imposition of these taxes on their churches. If there is to be more church in the state, there should also be more state in the church.

The democratic principles this nation was built upon are messy, and rely on compromise and concensus building amongst a variety of views. Religion, on the other hand, is built upon absolutes, undebatable dogmas and authority. There is no room for "...We the People..." to exercise any authority. Thus the only way for the two to co-exist is to do so separately. Religion remains in the personal realm and secularism prevails in the political realm.

The American Banana Republic

In Central and South America, authoritarian regimes which pay lip service to the rule of law have been the norm. And the US government, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has clandestinely supported the ouster of democratically elected governments in favor of these authoritarian regimes.

Now, at the hands of the Republican leadership, America is at risk of becoming a banana republic. Granted, they aren't bribing judges and other government officials, they are cloaking their actions in the mantle of religion. Regardless of the rationale, the end result will be the same...Centralized, authroitarian power with no effective checks and balances and paying lip service to the concept of democratic institutions.

Banana republic status will be our future if these closet fascists are left unchecked, and gutting the judiciary is the final element of this agenda. Without a strong and independent judiciary, the Republic will become another banana republic and the dream of America will die. Make you choice, call your senators and tell them this must not come to pass...donnot impose the "nuclear option" and strip the minority of its last, best tool for standing against the tyrrany of the majority.

Justice Sunday...?

..."Just Us Sunday" would, I think be more approprpriate.

Senator Frist is playing a dangerous game with some of the most extreme elements of the Christian conservative movement in America. One that could, with any luck, kill his political career. In making television appearnaces today with a small and extreme, but incredibly vocal and politically savvy fringe of religionists, he launches an attack on any who stand outside this tent as being "un-Christian" and working to undermine Christianity.

You may have noticed that I failed to call these people "Christian"...And with good reason. I do this as the leaders of these religionists have abandoned their faith for political power. As they are unable to convince most people of the soundness of their agenda by means of reasoned argument, they are seeking to move their doctrine from the church to the legislature. There, they hope to have it enacted into law, thus imposing their agenda upon the rest of us...at the point of a gun.

They seek to undermine the judiciary, which provides a check to the unlimited exercise of power by either the legislative or executive branches. They wish to supplant a strong, independent judiciary with a rubber-stamp judiciary that will unquestioningly uphold their ideological agenda.

These religionists, rather than focusing on the heart of the teachings of Jesus have, instead, narrowed the discussion down to abortion and same-gender marriage.

...35:For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. - Matthew 25: 35-36

What has become of this message? It has been drowned out by those who would hijack religion and pervert its message to further their own political agenda, selecting only those passages which may be used to this end, excluding all the rest.

The assertions made by the Republican leadership and the leadership of these religionists are the seeds of theocracy, and if these people desire to live in a theocracy, they should gather up their belongings and move to one. Their attempts to create one from the secular republic established by the Founding Fathers is an affront to their memory and a subversion of their goals.

In closing I leave these politicians and religionists with this:

13: But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. - Matthew 23: 13-15

These politicians and religionists wear the mantle of Christianity, but they soil it in doing so. They preach Christian virtue yet fail to practice it. They mouth the words, yet fail to understand their meaning. They are the threat to this Republic.

Take these people seriously!

Chriscons...christofascists...the rapture right...religious right wing-nuts...whatever you call them, take them seriously.

On April 19th, "Family Lobby Day" was held in Ohio's statehouse. A coalition of 6 faith-based groups had appointments with 97 of Ohio's 132 state legislators, leaving "information packets" for the rest.

Emboldened by the passage of a deeply flawed ballot issue banning state recognition of any relationships beyond that of the marriage of a man and woman, these activists are working more fervently than ever to have their particular, peculiar brand of Christian ideology enacted into law.

They would like to see a "Terri Schiavo" bill passed barring removal of feeding tubes from patients who are in a chronic vegetative state if family members cannot aree on the matter. This is un-necessary as law already provides clear guidelines on the issue.

They wish to see a ban on ALL abortions in order to force the issue before the SCOTUS in hopes of overturning Roe v. Wade. This would remove the option of safe, legal abortions from the table and leave countless women to die at the hands of back-alley butchers. So much for a "Culture of Life".

They want an "adoptive children's protective act" passed. This would bar the adoption of children by same-gender couples. There is no evidence to be found, anywhere, that children adopted and raised by same-gender couples are harmed in any way by the experience. Unless you consider that these children regard such relationships to be normal harmful.

Their legislative agenda has nothing so much to do with religion as it does with power. They are not clamoring for programs to help the least of us...they are not calling for social justice...Instead, they are seeking to have their own narrow, selective reading of Christian doctrine into law. I would say to them that if they wish to live in a theocracy, they should move to one rather than attempt to create one from the secular republic the Founding Fathers established.

To dismiss these fringe elements, which are rapidly moving into the mainstream, of the conservative movement would be a grave mistake. We do so at our own peril, for they are as great a threat to the Republic as any terrorist who wraps themselves in the mantle of religious purity. They are simply more subtle..for now.

The story I cited appeared in the the "The Columbus Dispatch", 4/20/05, pg C5, "Fatih-based lobbyists meet with lawmakers" - Mark Niquette

Don't like the numbers...? Don't publish them!

True to form, Dubbyuh's administration has once more decided that since it didn't like the numbers, it won't publish the data. This in reference to the State Department's annual report on international terrorism. After being forced to recant the rosy picture that was painted in 2003's report when the truth was revealed (acts of internationl terrorism actually increased rather than decreased) State will no longer publish those statistics.

According to Richard Boucher at State, those stats will be published by the newly created National Counterterrorism Center, but they're not sure where or when those reports will be published. I think we can assume that, given this Administrations penchant for compartmentalizing information which shows it in a bad light, that information will either never be published or classified so that it is never distributed to the public.

And speaking of terrorism, whatever happened to the daily "Terror Alerts"? There hasn't been one issued since the election. Could it be that they were simply a tool for manipulating the emotions of the public in the run-up to the election? Nah, that's too cynical even for me...

And it just keeps getting weirder...

The Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration met in its star chamber over the weekend and has reached a verdict...

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is guilty of prohibiting capital punishment for juveniles and and citing "international norms" in his findings. He should therefore be impeached...at least acording to Phyllis Schlafly and Michael P. Farris.

Edwin Vieira, a constitutional lawyer (just whose constitution is open to debate), stated that because Kennedy helped strike down Texas' anti-sodomy law, he was upholding "...Marxist, Leninist satanic principles drawn from foreign law...".

Vieira went on to say that his principles in dealing with the SCOTUS were drawn from ol'Joe Stalin himself. "No man, no problem..." he said. He left out the part about death solving all problems.

And dear Phyllis went on to gush, in giddy, girlish tones, about how the morally crippled Tom DeLay (R,Texas) and the congenital idiot Richard Cornyn (R,Texas)(not all Texans are idiots...just the ones in national political office) should be fully supported in their quest to destroy and independent judiciary and turn it into something more to their liking...a rubber stamp comes to mind.

The truly frightening, or pathetic depending on how you look at it, thing about these people is they do not seem to see the inherent contradiction or irony in preserving the Constitution through Stalinesque tactics. As for their desire to restore the constitution, as with Mr. Vieira, just whose constitution they wish to 'restore' is a matter which is open for debate.

The lunatic-fringe of the right wing-nuts is moving towards the mainstream of political consciousness, and they could hopelessly pollute that stream with their gibberish. In any sane society, these mawkish buffoons would by ridiculed to the point that they could no longer show their faces in public. But, as evidenced by the unquestioned acceptance of Mr. Vieira's embracing of Stalin by the crowd and how little coverage this meeting recieved, we do not live in a sane society. To quote a favorite author of mine, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro..." - HST. And these people are stone-cold professional weird.

As I listened to Colin Powell read his essay "The America I Believe In", I know he loves his country. But that love took a backseat as he forswore his oath to support and defend the Constitution and as his misguided loyalty to a corrupt administration led him to attempt to justify war with Iraq before the United Nations. A war which, by any standard, was illegal and unjustified. But this did not stop Mr. Powell from plying the snake-oil the Bush administration was peddling to the world at large.

As the world has since seen, there were no weapons of mass destruction...There were no UAV's capable of delivering lethal bio-weapons beyond Iraq's borders let alone to Europe, as was claimed...There were no mobile bio-weapon labs. We only had to look to the pre-invasion reports from UNSCOM to verify this.

But this did not deter then Secretary of State Powell. He went where angels fear to tread and now we have over 1500 dead US troops with some 11,000 wounded and maimed men and women. So Mr. Powell, sleep well knowing what you have helped come to pass. Instead of doing the right thing and raising your voice in protest to the machinations of the Bush administration, you carried water for them. You share their guilt.

The America I Believe In

He has no shame...

Unable to wait until Terri Schiavo's corpse had cooled, let alone been interred, Tom DeLay just HAD to open his foul, foetid blowhole...AGAIN.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday blamed Terri Schiavo's death on what he contended was a failed legal system and he raised the possibility of trying to impeach some of the federal judges in the case.

"The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," said DeLay, R-Texas. - ABC News

This in regards to the percieved failure of the federal courts to act on the federal version of "Terri's Law". He called the failure of the federal courts to order the re-insertion of her feeding tube a "...perfect example of an out of control judiciary...". What he convenienlty failed to mention is that the 11th circuit, based in Atlanta, is one of the most conservative federal court jurisdictions in the country. Nor did he mention that Judge Stanley Birch, who wrote the opinion jarshly critical of Congress and Dubbyuh's involvement in the case is one of the most conservative judges on the federal bench.

According to Judge Birch, this effort by the Legislative and Executive branches was a violation of the separation of powers laid down in the Constitution. They did so by "...arrogating vital judicial functions to itself...". This is not an "out of control liberal judge" talking. This is a rock solid contitutional conservative judge saying the things that the so-called conservaitve in Congress should have been saying.

But that's what the principle of checks and balances is all about. And if the judiciary finds the stance of the Legislative and Executive branches to be untenable or unacceptable on Constitutional grounds, that's the way the system was meant to work. The Republic will collapse under its own weight in the absence of independent judiciary. This attack by DeLay is yet another volley in the battle by this administration and its backers to hamstring the judiciary, thus controlling all three branches of government.

But I can't help wondering when Tom DeLay will be held to answer for his behavior.

Dubbyuh's political machine continues to rattle and clank its way across the country trying to prop up sagging support for his "Social Security Reform"...Read as: "Giveaway to Wall Street contributors". Part of this effort includes tax-payer funded "town hall" style meetings. Unfortunately all of the residents, who are tax-payers by the way, of the towns these meetings are held in don't have access to them. Instead, the attendees are carefully vetted by the local Republican Party apparatchiki for their loyalty to the party line. Local opposition is black-listed or ejected from the proceedings if they somehow find their way in.

Three Denver residents yesterday charged that they were forcibly removed from one of President Bush's town meetings on Social Security because they displayed a bumper sticker on their car condemning the administration's Middle East policies. - The Washington Post

In Fargo, N.D., where Bush held a Social Security event in February, a local newspaper reported that more than 40 residents were placed on a "black list" of people who were not to receive tickets because they had expressed opposition to Bush's policies. - The LA Times

With all of this orchestration, I can only wonder if they haven't re-animated the corpse of Leni Reifenstahl, and have her directing the campaign. Either than or they transplanted her brain into Karen Hughes' body.

Can you say "Hypocrite"...?

House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) told evangelical Christians last week that only Christianity offers a reasonable answer to basic questions about the purpose of life. - The Washington Post

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but Tom DeLay shrouding himself in the mantle of Christian virtue is rather like dressing a pig in velvet and brocade. It makes the pig uncomfortable and the velvet and brocade gets soiled and tattered. But Tom has much to be uncomfortable about as it is...not the least of which are his questionable ethics and being a hairs breadth away from an indictment in Texas. And by his actions, he soils the good name of Christianity. By past standards he would be branded a blasphemer and stoned to death.

Then there's that little thing about Christianity "...being the only reasonable answer..." to life's challenges. Well, I've got news for him...a goodly majority of the world's population has gotten along just fine without his particular brand of Christianity, thank you very much.

And, of course, there was his little speech before The Family Research Council in which he promised that Republican leaders would work to implement the political agenda of the religious right wing-nuts. But golly, can you overlook those ethics charges and possible indictments? For the whole written transcript and audio tape, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State is the website to go to. They've got all the sordid details on Tom's groveling and whining.

It should be obvious by now, to anyone capable of rational thought, that the Republicans are using religion to further their own political power while, in actuality, they do nothing more than pay lip-service to Christian virtue.

5: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

6: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. - Matthew 7, 5-6

Citations:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A18077-2002Apr19¬Found=true

http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=press_audio

Sleaze merchants, not statesmen, soil the halls of Congress

Like many Americans, I suspect, I tried to picture how I would have reacted if a bunch of smarmy, camera-seeking politicians came anywhere near a hospital room where my own relative was hooked up to life support. I imagined summoning the Clint Eastwood of "Dirty Harry," not "Million Dollar Baby." But before my fantasy could get very far, star politicians with the most to gain from playing the God card started hatching stunts whose extravagant shamelessness could upstage any humble reverie of my own.

Senator Bill Frist, the Harvard-educated heart surgeon with presidential aspirations, announced that watching videos of Ms. Schiavo had persuaded him that her doctors in Florida were mistaken about her vegetative state - a remarkable diagnosis given that he had not only failed to examine the patient ostensibly under his care but has no expertise in the medical specialty, neurology, relevant to her case. No less audacious was Tom DeLay, last seen on "60 Minutes" a few weeks ago deflecting Lesley Stahl's questions about his proximity to allegedly criminal fund-raising by saying he would talk only about children stranded by the tsunami. Those kids were quickly forgotten as he hitched his own political rehabilitation to a brain-damaged patient's feeding tube. Adopting a prayerful tone, the former exterminator from Sugar Land, Tex., took it upon himself to instruct "millions of people praying around the world this Palm Sunday weekend" to "not be afraid."

The president was not about to be outpreached by these saps. The same Mr. Bush who couldn't be bothered to interrupt his vacation during the darkening summer of 2001, not even when he received a briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," flew from his Crawford ranch to Washington to sign Congress's Schiavo bill into law. The bill could have been flown to him in Texas, but his ceremonial arrival and departure by helicopter on the White House lawn allowed him to showboat as if he had just landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Within hours he turned Ms. Schiavo into a slick applause line at a Social Security rally. "It is wise to always err on the side of life," he said, wisdom that apparently had not occurred to him in 1999, when he mocked the failed pleas for clemency of Karla Faye Tucker, the born-again Texas death-row inmate, in a magazine interview with Tucker Carlson. - Frank Rich, The New York Times

Listening to Dubbyuh, Bill Frist and Tom DeLay bray about the virtue of erring "...on the side of life..." just makes my skin crawl. Their utter hypocrisy, smarmy insincerity and sleazy political oportunism is shameless...but they have no shame. Their eagerness to make poltical hay from the the private tragedy of a family in agony is an apalling sign of just how far the Republic has fallen. Gone are the statesmen from America's past. In their place, we find snake-oil merchants of every stripe...wild-eyed religious fanatics...grifters...and a tiny minority of people who do care about the nation. These latter, however, are drowned out by the braying of the asses who form the majority which roams the halls of our nation's capital, soiling them with their very presence.

It's time to clean house, and put the live-stock out to pasture where they can do no harm.

The Right Wing Three Ring Circus

And that's what these sorry sacks of excrement have made of Terri Schiavo's case. They passed legislation, which was then signed by the head sack-o-crap, affecting a single individual. This pernicious bit of legislative skulduggery will allow Mrs. Schiavo's case to be heard before the federal judiciary. The Florida legislature passed a law aimed at keeping Mrs. Schiavo's PEG tube in place and had it thrown back in their faces by the Florida Supreme Court, and ignored by the SCOTUS. Barney Franks (D, MA) had it right when he said that this is a violation of the separation of powers, and that Congress' role was the determination of broad policy issues and the courts were for individual adjudication. All well and good with right wing-nuts except when they get their panties in a twist over a given issue. Then, by golly it's "Katie bar the door...!", as they bitch and whine about "activists judges" interfering with the legislative process and the "will of the people".

Only Mrs. Schiavo's case, the federal version of Florida's overturned "Terri's Law", wasn't about the "will of the people", it wasn't even about Terri Schiavo...It was about politics, pure and simple. It was reported on the news this morning that a memo circulated amongst congressional republicans stating that this case was essentially a political goldmine for republicans, particuilarly since one House republican was facing a contested election and could benefit from this issue. But what I want to know is where the concern of these sanctimonious, self-righteous twits was a year ago...? Two years age...? Seven years ago...? It was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until they thought they could get some political mileage out of it that they did anything.

And listening to Dubbyuh spout his hypocritical nonsense about "...our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life..." had me choking on my coffee this morning. This coming from a man who, as Governor of Texas, presided over more executions than any governor in the last 50 years. And let's not forget his cheerful willingness to permit the execution of the mentally retarded, and his cruel mockery on "Larry King: Live", of a woman he permitted to be executed. Dubbyuh's mouthings about the sanctity of life are nothing more than calculated remarks to appeal to a selected audience, they have all the substance of a rapidly evaporating puddle on the hot asphalt of a parking lot.

Our congressional reps in both houses should be ashamed of themselves for so shamelessly politicizing this case. As far as I can tell, they have bought and paid for their places in hell. I hope they enjoy them.

And they said the war wasn't about oil...

Before Dubbyuh started his little adventure in Iraq, a number of folks were saying that the war was about oil. Now, it appears they were right, and that the plans were being laid as early as the spring of 2001. BBC "Newsnight", in co-operation with "Harper's Magazine" have unearthed evidence which was presented in a broadcast on 3/17/05.

The story points to a conflict between the neocons in Dubbyuh's administration, and "Big Oil" interests in league with the state department. This was essentially a conflict between the dogmatic neocons and the pragmatists in the oil industry and state. The neocons were pushing to "privatize" Iraq's oil fields in an attempt to break OPEC's back by flooding the market with oil and driving the prices down to a point that the cartel could not tolerate. This plan was given the go ahead even as Bagdhad fell. This plan helped fuel the insurgency by giving them a cause to rally supporters. "Look," they would say, "We're losing our country...our wealth...to foreigners who care nothing about what happens to us!"

This plan, however, was blocked by the oil industry which feared that the privatization of Iraq's oil fields would echo that of the Russian oil fields. In this process of privatization, US oil companies were not permitted to bid in the reserves. Instead a plan was put forth to set up an Iraqi state oil company in order to give US, and other companies access to Iraq's oil fields.

We have been lied to in every manner imaginable by the Bush administration in order to justify the war in Iraq. This should be the final nail in the coffin of this Administration and its policies. There are more than sufficient grounds for the impeachment of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and the Bush cabinet. It's time to clean house.

It's getting a bit drafty...Don't you think?

Uncle Sam on the prowl

By Katherine Stapp

NEW YORK - A couple of months ago, Kim Rosario found an improbable email message in her mail inbox.

The mother of a United States soldier, Rosario travels the country publicly denouncing Washington's policies in Iraq, and is a featured speaker at an upcoming rally in New York's Central Park to mark the second anniversary of the March 19, 2003, invasion.

"It was from the military, asking if I've ever considered a career in the navy," Rosario recalled. "I said I might if you send my son back from Iraq!"

Unintended irony aside, she believes the offer is a sign of the Pentagon's growing desperation to counter dwindling recruitment numbers - especially in the lower-income communities once viewed as fertile ground.

Reflecting the skepticism felt by many people of color toward the Iraq invasion, a study commissioned for the US Army last August concluded that "more African-Americans identify having to fight for a cause they don't support as a barrier to military service".

The true strength of an all volunteer military is making itself evident. Enlistment numbers are dropping, particularly in those areas which the military recruited heavily from before the invasion of Iraq...economically disadvantaged areas in cities and counties all across America. But with the pool of new recruits drying up, a back-door draft has been instituted through the use of stop-loss orders, extended deployments, calling up inactive reserves, and drawing ever more heavily on National Guard units which are having their own problems with recruitment and retention.

An all voluteer military will, over time, be unable to sustain manpower requirements for actions which are not supported by potential recruits. And, campaign promises to the contrary aside, the Bush administration will have to resort to a draft to provide the personel for its military adventurism abroad. And this will be the begining of the end of neocon control of the Republican party and this Administration, which can't come soon enough.

Those Wonderful Canadians!

Missile Counter-Attack

Thursday, March 3rd, 2005

By LLOYD AXWORTHY

Dear Condi,

I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.

I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.

But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game.

As our erstwhile Prairie-born and bred (and therefore prudent) finance minister pointed out in presenting his recent budget, we've had eight years of balanced or surplus financial accounts. If we're going to spend money, Mr. Goodale added, it will be on day-care and health programs, and even on more foreign aid and improved defence.

Sure, that doesn't match the gargantuan, multi-billion-dollar deficits that your government blithely runs up fighting a "liberation war" in Iraq, laying out more than half of all weapons expenditures in the world, and giving massive tax breaks to the top one per cent of your population while cutting food programs for poor children.

Just chalk that up to a different sense of priorities about what a national government's role should be when there isn't a prevailing mood of manifest destiny.

This truth will never reach the ears of the administration as they already know it and choose to ignore it. Truth is speaking to power, but in their hubris the Administration blithely ignores it.

They're both wrong

In reaching for political power, the "religious right" has abandoned their roots. All of the great progressive movements in America have had their roots in religion. From the abolition of slavery to women's suffrage,to the end of child labor, to the civil rights movment of the 50's and 60's...All were rooted in the concepts of justice preached by Jesus in the New Testament. The people who were at the fore-front of these movements lived their religion. For them it was a thing come alive to set us all free, regardless of our beliefs.

Contrast this with the mean-spirited, narrow, dogmatic and selective vision of the "religious right" which seeks political power to impose its vision from the top down rather than the bottom up, and that contrast is stark. Rather than an inclusive view which welcomes all, theirs is exclusive..."Believe as we do or we want no part of you!" Rather than seeking solutions with aim of the good of all, they seek to blame others for America's short-comings while providing no genuine solutions beyond the imposition of their dogma upon all. Theirs is nothing short of hubris laced with the language of persecution. Their grasp for power is bad politics and even worse theology.

The left is not blameless either. They have sought to turn religion into a private expression of one's values. They fail to understand that while religion is personal, it is never private. WHatever philosophical view we hold to, either implicitly or explicitly, affects how we experience and react to the world around us. It is their failure to acknowledge it that prevents them from establishing an effective dialogue with the many religious moderates in this country who resent the religious right's hijacking of Christianity to further their political agenda. And until they do this, we will continue to see the increasing polarization in this nation, centered on a few non-issues, rather than focusing on the broader, deeper problems that face us.

We stand at a cross-roads in America today. We can take the easy path and slide into the fascist state that we seem to be headed towards. Or we can roll up our sleeves, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hinu, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, or what have you...Do the hard work and build a new America from the ground up, rooted in the common values of our beliefs and made a living thing to set us all free.