Abramoff & a National Security Defense

The "accountability" president, who holds teachers accountable for every aspect of the kids they teach, now makes a preposterous assertion that revealing the frequent visits of criminal political- briber and influence-peddler extraordinaire, Jack Abramoff, to his buddies, Cheney-Bush, will reveal "sensitive means and methods for Secret Service protection" of His Shamelessnesses.

Ridiculous, redact the documents under the watchful eye of the court.

This is the continuation of a cover up of the most enormous criminal conspiracy in the long and sometimes embarrassing history of the presidency.

Watch the "liberal" media ignore this one, too.

Taboo

"Recession" has become a taboo word in most of pro-GOP-controlled

media outlets. Bernanke has indicated further rate cuts to avoid the dreaded taboo word! Once again the Fed is as much a part of the problem as the solution.

We are in dire straits due to the Cheney-Bush tax gift to the wealthiest few, the insane Neocon/Cheney-Bush revenge war in the Mideast, the deliberate undercutting of the dollar, globalization pressures, and the obscene waste represented by DoD contracting in Iraq and at home.

Another cut will further exacerbate the situation and will be destructive of start-up operations when the belt is again tightened. Just as Greenspan's fear of inflation and his repeated over-corrections contributed significantly to the DotCom debacle, Bernanke has been helping to burst bubbles caused by lender greed and new financial instruments not understood well either by their creators nor their buyers.

Recession is here and will only deepen.

UPDATE: December 1, 2008 I was right!!!!!!

Blue Water Aspirations

For a nation with blue water navy aspirations, the PRC is playing with fire denying "safe harbor" to others for political reasons.

Bush Nominates Two Donors

Ethics? We don't need no stinkin' ethics! This is an on-going criminal conspiracy, whadda we need ethics for?

And then there was one?

What will FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's rewards be for riding roughshod over the will of the people in corrupt single-minded service of ruthless media-baron and news-manipulator , Australian Rupert Murdoch's , quest to control the hearts, minds, and thoughts of Americans?

Here's a Different Poem for Petraeus

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

by Wilfred Owen
Britain (1893-1918)

Mandrake Gestures Hypnotically

Mandrake to gesture hypnotically to the electorate and the people will all believe that his sending home the surge is a troop reduction.

Murder Board

Petraeus claims his testimony was his own, but, then, whose questions steered his testimony through his pre-testimony murder board???? Ultimately, the type and tenor of the questions at the murder board/rehearsal are shaped to and help shape the underlying policy objectives of the public "performance."

The More You Fight, the More . . .

The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent essay in re Petraeus' testimony, preemptive war, and the Bush choices. Like Mr. Data in "The Last Outpost" Dubya has gotten us stuck in a Chinese finger trap and refuses to stop pulling!

We Are Locutus, Resistance is Futile!

Minneapolis Airport First Class/VIP Lounge

Did anyone stop to think why Senator Craig was using a public restroom at the airport? Surely a VIP like a United States Senator would be welcomed at one of the first class/vip lounges at the airport (see "clubs" in above diagram)? Why would he be out there with the peons unless he were trolling for fish?

What's this Wet Stuff in my Crocodile Eyes????

See Firedoglake's sad tale of Tony Snow's penury!!

Old wine in broken bottles

Fred Thompson more of the same conservative crapola! He will not divide us, but bring us together. Sound familiar? "I am a uniter, not a divider." To win, conservatives have to divide us and work the emotions of their base!

"A strong country" equals four more years of no taxes for the rich while we pour untold billions down the Iraq rathole in service of big oil and defense contracting!

We hear all about his caring about Americans like our current "compassionate conservative" who cuts GI benefits while grinding up our youth in his premeptive war while trying to destroy social security, who cuts spending on children's health, who fails to relieve disasters which strike the poor!

But Freddie's (check his birth certificate) real vision is on the conservative legacy to continue to pack the Federal courts and whittle away at American's freedoms. The fifth column is these conservative globalists.

But can he even be the decider? It took him from March until September (six months) to decide he was running. What a maroon!

We don't need another B actor to play our president!!

Advice & Consent: What We Want!!!!!

We want the Senate to extract agreement from the next AG to:

1) Protect and defend the Constitution;
2) Honor and comply with Congressional subpoenas in a timely manner;
3) Completely de-politicize the DoJ;
4) Assure a full and complete investigation of the Duke Cunningham-related cases even into the CIA;
5) Clean out and clean up the the Civil Rights Division;
6) Investigate the possible Hatch Act violations represented by the Rove, et al, presentation at departments and agencies;
7) Set up a task force to investigate Iraq-war related contracting irregularities;
8) Aggressively investigate voter-suppression;
9) Investigate Congressional interference with US Attorney investigation activities;
10) Aggressively investigate allegations of perjury by Alberto Gonzales;
11) Investigate any cover up of the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame;
12) Make a full, thorough, and complete investigation of the firings of the eight or more US attorneys!

Note to My Senators: In re--Advice & Consent

The Rise of the Coneheads

Will Chertoff slide into home safely?

Farewell, So Long, Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye

See ya on the other side, when you have crossed the bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

再見! 安寧히! 左様なら！And good riddance!

Tongue Suppressors

" McConnell: FISA Debate Will Kill Americans"

" The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say. "

" According to a new survey, hundreds of government scientists say they have perceived or personally experienced pressure from the Bush administration to eliminate phrases such as “climate change” and “global warming” from their reports and public statements. One of those scientists -- NASA climatologist Drew Shindell – testified Tuesday before the Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform. "

" Bush Team Tried to Suppress Pre-9/11 Report Into al-Qa'ida "

" Citing legal documents obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) showing how “the Bush administration has reversed two decades of precedent and declared that important whistleblower protections in the Clean Water Act do not apply to federal workers,” the science journal Nature called the administration’s action “pernicious.” Nature says scientists could feel the chilling effect particularly strongly, and calls government whistleblowers “a key defence against further erosion of environmental standards.” "

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on . . . . . . . . . . . .

Just Call Me Dubya [Ahab?]

I was looking at some quotes on IMDB from the movie "Moby Dick" and they struck me with their 'universality':

Starbuck: "A captain who, from private motives, employs his vessel [i.e., the military] for another purpose [revenge against Saddam & crony capitalism] from that intended by the owners [we, the people], is answerable to the charge of usurpation, and his crew is morally and legally entitled to employ forceful means in wresting his command from him. "



Ahab: From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Ye damned whale. [i.e., Saddam]

Starbuck: It is our task in life to kill whales, to furnish oil for the lamps of the world. If we perform that task well and faithfully, we do a service to mankind that pleases Almighty God. Ahab would deny all that. He has taken us from the rich harvest we were reaping to satisfy his lust for vengeance [i.e., revenge on Saddam]

Ahab: I don't give reasons. I give orders! [The Decider. not the Divider]

Ishmael [i.e., we, the groundlings]: Ehhhh, you can't fool us; it's the easiest thing in the world for a man to look as if he's got a great secret in him.

But from "The Madness of King George" came:

Queen Charlotte [i.e., Tom Hicks] : Come on, smile and wave. That's what you get paid for. Smile and wave.

Hello, Fisa

Maybe the Thai's have a good idea! Reid, Pelosi, and any Democrat who voted for the Bush Fisa power grab should have to wear a badge of shame in Congress!

The Ship of Fools

The Cowardly Lion and Dorothy, the captain and first mate, on the Congressional Ship of Fools, caved to the very popular president's every whim selling off our Constitution for a handful of magic beans while quaking in fear--Al Qaeda is coming! Al Qaeda is coming! Throw down your Bills of Rights and surrender to the aediles with their fasces!

It's time for a Progressive Party!

Infrastructure Terror!

Q: Where's the money for our infrastructure maintenance? [i.e., estimated 1.6 TRILLION $!]

A: Surging down a rat hole in Iraq!

Crony capitalism: You can't have war profiteering without a war!

The Dark Lord May Run for Pres???????

Think Progress has an article speculating that Black Dick of the Darkside may, having gotten a second taste of life in the cat bird seat, run for the Republican nomination for president in order to have a “defender on the campaign trail” to improve the administration's approval ratings with the voters. Now there's a thought!

I guess he may view himself as the horcrux of the Iraq policy???

Progress Is Our Only Product?

"Progress" is discharging 22,000!!! American fighting men and women who served in Iraq and returned suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder under the pretext of Pre-existing "Personality Disorder" according to ABC News. ABC News explains, “This diagnosis means the personality disorder existed before military service, and therefore medical care and disability payments are not the military’s responsibility.” Even if they had pre-existing personality disorders, it is the responsibility of DoD for taking them into the service and placing them in the pressure cooker of Iraq! Support these troops suffering doubly from their service and maltreatment by their own service and government.

LTG William Odom (US Army, Retired) wrote on 5 Jul 2007:

"No U.S. forces have ever been compelled to stay in sustained combat conditions for as long as the Army units have in Iraq. In World War II, soldiers were considered combat-exhausted after about 180 days in the line. They were withdrawn for rest periods. Moreover, for weeks at a time, large sectors of the front were quiet, giving them time for both physical and psychological rehabilitation. During some periods of the Korean War, units had to fight steadily for fairly long periods but not for a year at a time. In Vietnam, tours were one year in length, and combat was intermittent with significant break periods.

"In Iraq, combat units take over an area of operations and patrol it daily, making soldiers face the prospect of death from an IED or small arms fire or mortar fire several hours each day. Day in and day out for a full year, with only a single two-week break, they confront the prospect of death, losing limbs or eyes, or suffering other serious wounds. Although total losses in Iraq have been relatively small compared to most previous conflicts, the individual soldier is risking death or serious injury day after day for a year. The impact on the psyche accumulates, eventually producing what is now called "post-traumatic stress disorders." "

The DoD is struggling to pay for the bloated contractor overhead of the war (more DoD contractors than troops!) and they are robbing our disabled troops to line the pockets of KBR, Blackwater, and Custer Battles, inter alia.

Get our troops out and take care of their health and well being! Where's Congress when you need it?

The Hippocriff

He's not in the Executive Branch, he's not in the Legislative Branch, he's a hippocriff!

Guess who?

The Bungler

The pre-war intelligence was BUNGLED?

Equipping our troops was irresponsibly BUNGLED?

The planning for the post war occupation was BUNGLED?

The capture of Osama in Tora Bora was BUNGLED?

The outsourcing of US military logistics was egregiously BUNGLED?

The management of prisons in Iraq such as Abu Ghraib was obscenely BUNGLED?

Iraq's reconstruction has been egregiously BUNGLED?

The execution of Saddam was embarassingly BUNGLED?

Foisting Democracy on the Palestinians and forcing elections on them was BUNGLED?

Bush: "Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical."

How can a president so concerned about the ethics of preserving human life authorize preemptive war?

How can a president so concerned about the ethics of preserving human life authorize the bombing of a restaurant full of diners based on HUMINT in hopes of possibly killing Saddam Hussein? Are stale, frozen embryos more precious, their lives more sacred than Iraqi diners?

My Man is Such a Handy Man

Dems, Wanna to Get George Outta Baghdad???

STARVE THE BEAST!!! In the next emergency war spending bill roll back ALL the tax cuts for the rich and for favored industries UNTIL the war is FULLY amortized AND . . . THEN apply ALL the new revenue streams to shoring up SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE. The Bush loyals will race to see who can get out fastest!!!!

Read: _A Corpse in the Koryo_ !

Koryohotel
Originally uploaded by pinkie girl.

James Church's (pseud.) new novel is not a whodunnit, but it is compelling portrait of the intricacies of surviving the labyrinth of government work in the most isolated, yet politicized Marxisit-Leninist-socialist paradise on earth. If you are curious about life in the DPRK with its eternal president (still dead), hereditary "democratic" rule, military first ideology (선군사상 / 先軍思想), land of the great Arirang (아리랑) mass gymnastics cum incredible stadium card section, then this book by a former intelligence officer is the book for you!

Underneath the Eldritch Tree

As our ephermeral existance flashes by on the HD screen of life, watching the supporting players peripheral to our shabby lives in the background is like viewing passerby's from the cool beneath an eldritch tree.