McSame?

Any doubt that McCain is more of the same?

More Proof George Bush and His Pals Have Screwed the Pooch With Regard To The "War On Terror."

I've said this a long time ago, but it seems like we may be closer to it as of today. Specifically, we may actually have to let some dangerous folks go from Gitmo because the W, Rove and Co. has violated the rights of these people in a very egregious way.

I hate to further go down this prediction road, but we may only be a few more legal steps away from the Gitmo detainees filing a class action suit against the USA and we will lose that one; in the end, owning them 6+ years of their lives back, plus damages - which in the end could end up financing more terrorism. Sadly.

When you violate rights, you then abdicate the legitimate process. And because you transgress beyond the reasonable bounds of human rights, you violate the very foundation of our beloved country. And for that, we have the Republicans to thank.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

The unraveling will be a long slow process. But think about it, if the W, Rove and go was on solid legal standing, they would not have been placed (moreover placed us) in such a precarious situation.

We have a responsiblity to hold the Administration that decided to marry Iraq and place it on the social welfare roles (sacrificing American social welfare in the process) in perpetuity. I really think the only real solution that could serve to redeem us here is if Bush and his cronies were moved to Iraq, by fiat, by the next President and have them work toward fixing the mess they gave us.

There is no shame in admitting we were duped into it. The shame rests in our incapacity to follow through and haul those responsible for dragging us into this quagmire to justice.




There's a reason why these folks made this above documentary:



Any one reading the same propaganda script for Iran as was shoveled down our throats for Iraq? Any one buying it?


P.S. psstt...does any one care where George Bush is today?

An American president is in Europe and nobody cares. That’s a moment.

When Republican Voters Get The Whitehouse They Dream of, We All Have To Live With The Consequences

Turns out, Republican Faithful should have headed the old adage: Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Indeed, with the new book promulgated by Scotty McMessage McClellan, we learn that leadership by faith over facts doesn't work. From the Republican "victories" at the polling stations and from our "Activist" Supreme Court in Y2K we got this:

Team Dubya got caught up in a "permanent campaign," a nonstop propaganda war whose weapons were "the manipulation of shades of truth, partial truths, twisting of the truth and spin," and whose goal was to stage-manage the media narrative and thus public opinion.

Indeed, all governments try to control the message, but installation of blinders on the media and the American People has lead us somewhere, that's for certain. They have led us to a place where belief is a surrogate for fact, and faith is more important that truth or proof:

Sure, sure, truth is the first casualty of war, and politics is just war with a smile and a starched collar. But the burgeoning genre of Bush administration tell-alls, of which McClellan's is only the latest, paints a portrait of a White House utterly unconcerned with facts yet fervently attentive to public opinion polls. It is a White House whose solution to every unhappy turn of events -- the Iraqi insurgency, Hurricane Katrina, a moribund economy -- is to treat it not as a real-world problem requiring a real-world solution but as a glitch in the Matrix, "a perception problem" to be handled with the Message of the Day and the Theme of the Week.

The deeper story here is the shift from the Enlightenment worldview, whose commitment to reasoned debate and empirical truth used to be the cornerstone of our little experiment in democracy, to the faith-based worldview of fundamentalism -- not just the fundamentalism of the religious right but fundamentalisms of every sort. The Iraq war came about, in large part, through a harmonic convergence of personal passions, political agendas and ideological crusades, all faith-based rather than fact-driven. Bush, McClellan tells us, is a man who "convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment" and who "to this day ... seems unbothered by the disconnect between the chief rationale for war and the driving motivation behind it, and unconcerned about how the case was packaged."

And there are dire consequences for this means of leadership. Indeed, we are witnessing the economy the GOP gave us.

The economy got a triple dose of bad news on Friday, prompting even optimistic forecasters to conclude that a deeper downturn is unavoidable.

The nation's jobless rate posted its biggest single-month jump since 1986 in May, rising 0.5 percentage points to 5.5 percent, the Labor Department reported. At the same time, the price of crude oil catapulted to a new record, raising the threat that economic weakness and unemployment could worsen in the months ahead.

The news unnerved investors, prompting a broad sell-off on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average and other major market indexes tumbled 3 percent.

Friday's developments put in relief the severity of the woes afflicting an economy hammered by a housing crash, tight credit and soaring energy costs.

Is it good for you? Who shall we point the enormous wagging middle finger of blame at here? The W, Rove and Co. has been so busy deflecting blame and confounding the truth with obfuscation, they have become entirely untrustworthy. Indeed, as they ratchet themselves further into lame duck status, Bush, Cheney and pals couldn't wrangle themselves out of the stain of the reality they created.

Indeed, we even witness the wrongheaded leadership (faith over fact) style unfold before us as they proclaim to protect us and see them add another recruiting tool to the terrorists - Martyrdom for Gitmo detainees. They are asking for it, and by god, they will be given the gift if George Bush and Dick Cheney get their wish:

Thursday's arraignment before a military tribunal of five Al Qaeda members accused of planning and assisting the 9/11 terrorist atrocities seemed custom-made to assist the loathsome defendants in achieving exactly what they desire -- an aura of martyrdom...

...when it comes to the handling of these cases, the Bush administration's willful overreaching, contempt for fundamental American values and defiance of basic American notions of due process have set the stage for travesty and further tragedy.

So, as we approach 5 bucks or more a gallon as we march on to November (which it may well be 10 bucks a gallon at that point, which may be well and good to improve our habits revolving around driving and be better for the environment as we reduce our use), whom should we vote for? McSame, or change?

More of the McSame

You Thought Bush has/had a problem with the hypocrisy department? Have a look at this:

Beijing - A Good Place for Outdoor Olympics?

Aren't you glad you are not an Olympic Caliber athlete going for the gold in this atmosphere? As a recovering track athlete myself, I think I would have to cancel my run if it was like this on race day.

I don't know who got paid off so that Beijing could host the Olympics this year, but even despite the human rights violations, the Tibet concern, even just the pollution concerns would be cause enough to not hold them there.

Found this picture on a tip from a friend over at this location.

Your Daily Dose of Irony

Here's something interesting that happened while you were at work today. The President attended the ground breaking ceremonies for the new US Institute of Peace:

We're transforming the United States military so we can deliver justice to the terrorists in a more effective way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the main mission of the military is to rain death across a specific target. Of course, that's one way to wage peace. Has it worked in Iraq?

In an unrelated story, here's a second dose of irony that is yet another tip that the TSA is just a bureaucratic smoke screen that lead us to "bigger" not "smaller" government contrary to one of the GOP commandments.

Our view is that it is entirely illogical to tell a pilot he is not stable enough to carry a weapon in the form of a gun when at the same time, he has access to the weapon we are all most in fear of after 9/11 — a plane loaded with thousands of pounds of jet fuel.

Is There No Hear There?

I sit here
To listen there
To hear
If there
Is no
There here

But I cannot
Hear beyond
There to here
To discern
If there
Indeed Is
No there there

Spinning Iraq

When the President of the United States uses the term, "Catapult the Propaganda," you have to understand that one of the primary jobs of the Presidential Spokesmodel is to spin the news to gain favor of the American People.

Q Just a general question, then, Dana. I mean, one of the things he talks about is spinning, exaggeration, I mean, what goes on at the podium -- which is an indictment of you, as well. Do you think there's no spinning?

MS. PERINO: You know, it's a term that I don't necessarily use. I come out here, I answer your questions, I answer them to the best of my ability based on the information and the facts that I have.

Of course not, because the term spinning is something the communists did and we are not supposed to do. Inevitably, Scotty McMessage McClellan is just calling a spade a spade and the W, Rove and Co. is in a snit about it, because, as one person said in a letter to the editor, it's what happens when the "needle of truth approaches the power bubble."

None of the current batch of spinning changes Iraq. In the lead up to the Iraq mess, we were sold a bill of goods that were not true, and the President has firmly blamed faulty intelligence, effectively deflecting any responsibility for the fact that we are in an intractable situation that is costing American lives - almost daily. Dana Perino continues to launch the propaganda for the President:

Q Can we just talk about what isn't true in the book? I mean, you go to the part about weapons of mass destruction and the big threat wasn't great and gathering as the White House said. And you said that's not true? Was there no exaggeration? Was there no hiding? Was there no spinning about the war?

MS. PERINO: Not that I'm aware of. But did we communicate about the war? Yes. And I would point you to the President's speeches -- all the speeches that the President made leading up to it; he made several comprehensive speeches making the case for why Saddam Hussein was a threat, which was, based on the intelligence that we had -- and not only the United States had, but that's what the world had. And in addition to that he talks about -- in his speech especially on February 26, 2003, when he spoke to AEI; it was before I was a part of the press office, so I would encourage you to go back and look at it, as I've had to do myself -- where he talks about that the benefit to a free Iraq would be to the Iraqi people and also to the region, and establishing a change in the Middle East when it comes to freedom and justice and democracy.

Q But the order of what was talked about at the time in the buildup to the war was largely about weapons of mass destruction.

MS. PERINO: I think that that was -- well, I think you could go back, you could weigh it -- you know, I'm looking at it, what I have seen is a comprehensive case for confronting Saddam Hussein, and that's what the United Nations of course was talking about, specifically weapons of mass destruction. But there was also a gathering threat in terms of the nexus of working -- for example, paying suicide bombers, paying families of suicide bombers.

And you know better than anyone, Martha, about the buildup to this, the reaction to this. The problem that we have is this --

Q There were no suicide bombers in Iraq.

"But we did communicate about the war?" We know. We were there, holding their feet to the fire, but no one with authority to stop it did so. Alas, we remain married to one giant welfare state called Iraq, and there is no divorce in sight.

A Short Lunch Time Haiku For You

Inspired by the workaholic tendencies that modern technologies have wrought our our souls, here's a little diversionary haiku for you.

Sandwich lettuce is
Turning brown while I sit here
Deleting email

Have a great day.

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Obama's Stand In for Kennedy

Got this via Yahoo Messenger:

A friend ended up taking their now college-age daughters to Middletown for Wesleyan's commencement speechifying. There was mild applause for early speakers. When Obama was introduce the place went wild, applause, cheering, etc., and it didn't stop. Wesleyan's president finally had to say, "Please stop applauding so we can hear the speech." They loved it. The girls loved it. Heavy Secret Service. Snipers on every rooftop.

I'm sure, by comparison, Obama's was splendid. Here you can read for yourself:

I did, however, get the chance to glance at the speech he planned on delivering today, and I'd like to start by passing along a message from Ted: "To all those praying for my return to good health, I offer my heartfelt thanks. And to any who'd rather have a different result, I say, don't get your hopes up just yet!"

Of course, you can listen to it here. Of course, you can you tube it, I'm sure. Well, I'll save you the trouble - here you go.




Enjoy

"Many Mistakes Made by Civilian and Military Commanders..."

I understand that, of course. I, too, have been made sick at heart by the many mistakes made by civilian and military commanders and the terrible price we have paid for them," he added.

Sounds like a liberal? Nope: McSame.

"We have new commanders in Iraq," McCain said to applause.

Trouble is, we still have the same person at the head of this thing, and he's running it like it's a sideshow to the main event.

Would McCain be any different should he be selected as the next President? Doubtful.

The Memorial Day Distracted

As the smoke peels
From your grill
Can you see
Our volunteers
Strung out
All over Iraq
Dug into the
Sea of sand

Or does it sting
As the dogs sear
And you cram down
Yet another beer
with nary a care
About what happens there

As the rich get
Richer still,
And you get stuck
With the bill

The war machine
Rages unencumbered
Driven, unchecked
Churning another

And another dollar bill
For those with shares
In companies
No bidding their way
In to contracts

Tossed into their laps
By pals they elected
Into political positions
Where they were able
To start the ignition

On yet another mission
Justified with blind ambition
And falsified ammunition
Bowling over the population
With fear and trepidation

Causing yet another military
Family to grieve
While you are grilling

And the smoke peels
Away leaving us raw and burning
For the promised justice
And justification

To no avail
We wait for
A new set of politicians
To deliver us from
A tenuous position

Stuck in a quagmire
Regardless ambition
Roots us in for the duration
Divorce no longer an option

Brought to you by
A man, using the excuse
To save us from the
Terrorism, only leaving us
Married to an crumbling
Iraqi Institution

Where our own Constitution
May crumble
As we fork over its protections
and the very freedom
The Military was intended
As its salvation

McSame's Presidential Liability

Since I have been tracking presidential races, I can't recall a time when it was embarrassing to have the sitting President be your ally. Can you?

This policy of closed door fund raising events raises a cloud of suspicion around who's doing what for whom here. Have a look at this recent press briefing where Dana Perino dances around the subject.

President Bush is like the Grinch or Jacob Marley at Christmas - no one want's to touch them with a ten and a half foot pole. McSame needs the President, but at the same time, the President is a liability to his whole candidacy.

Have a look and see what you think is happening here:

Q I wanted to ask about McCain -- three fundraisers next week. First of all, why are they closed? And second, do you all expect that sort of pace, I mean, three in a week, that kind of thing, to continue?

MS. PERINO: I think we'll see -- I think we'll see, in terms of a pace. President Bush is fully committed, 100 percent committed, to making sure that John McCain is elected to be the next President of the United States of America. So he'll do what he can, when he can, in addition to being -- fulfilling all of his duties as Commander-in-Chief and President of the country.

The reason that they're closed is that the McCain campaign has a practice of having their fundraisers as closed press; and these are in private residences, which is where we have had closed press fundraisers, as well. But I expect that you'll see campaign activity pick up over the course of the next several months. But remember this election is -- the President is not on the ticket. John McCain is on the ticket and we'll see who is going to be on the ticket for the Democrats. And McCain is going to have to tell his story and get out and tell the world why he should be President of the United States. He'll have to contrast his positions with that of whoever the candidate is going to be on the other side of things, and the President will be there helping to do that.

Q To follow up -- you're saying that the McCain campaign announced it may they be closed?

MS. PERINO: I'm saying that the locations are at private residences and that -- their practice has been closed press fundraisers for -- across the board, both at private residences and other places. As you know, our practice has been somewhat different -- when they're at a larger locations like hotels, ours have been open. But that's their practice and we'll respect it.

Q Can we actually expect to see them together at any point publicly?

MS. PERINO: Next week?

Q Well, not necessarily next week, but in the near future?

MS. PERINO: Sure --

Q I mean, initially -- (inaudible) supposed to be open, at least the first one --

Q So they will be together?

Q I mean, appearing publicly together?

MS. PERINO: They'll be together in Arizona, but then we break off and we go on to Utah and --

Q Publicly, though?

MS. PERINO: Stay tuned for the details, but I think that you'll see a -- when we arrive or when we depart, I think there will be a chance.

Q Just to follow up on that, the President endorsed McCain in March, and now two months, almost three months, when this actually happens, he's going to be getting out to campaign for him. Why so long?

MS. PERINO: I think you need to look back and look at the President's schedule, and also look at President John -- President McCain has a nice ring to it, but it was a little bit premature. President Bush has done several fundraisers here in town, but he's not raising money just for a McCain campaign, but for Republican candidates everywhere. President Bush is a formidable campaign fundraiser, as has been reported over the years, and I expect that he'll continue to be.

But remember, he's not on the ticket. And also, President Bush, since that time, in, it was early March -- late February/early March -- President Bush has had an international trip to NATO; he has traveled the country to host a international summit in New Orleans, where we hosted Prime Minister Harper and President Calderón; and then we just recently got back from a trip to the Middle East where the President is trying to help bring that region along to a Middle East peace conference. And we'll do what we can when we can. But the President has Commander-in-Chief responsibilities. And next week we have a chance to go out -- we'll also be doing a commencement address at the Air Force Academy, and then we head off to another international trip in early June.

So we'll do what we can when we can.

Q So it's scheduling, that's why?

MS. PERINO: I won't say. But again, President Bush isn't on the ticket. John McCain is on the ticket, and he's the one who's out there making the case for why he should be President of the United States.

The Big Dick - All Hat At The Coast Guard Academy Commencement

In the relative likelihood that you were not in New London Connecticut yesterday, you would not have witnessed Dick "Buckshot" Cheney addressing the graduating class of the US Coast Guard Academy.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't all good patriots remove their hats when saying the pledge of allegiance? I don't have any proof that indeed the pledge was being said when this picture was snapped by some one or another of the Whitehouse press staff, but it sure looks like it.

Why the big Dick, Veep though he is, decided to wear the ten gallon hat in Connecticut while delivering a commencement address is beyond me. Any one there able to confirm this?

Care to comment?

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The Turn of Events

The prize for best opening line for any article on the current turn of events has to do to Allison Benedickt at the Village Voice:

My lady parts do not ache for Hillary Clinton.

Obama is going to kill McSame in the head-to-head. McSame can't get far enough away from Bush to look any different, and with gas at nearly 5 bucks (or more) a gallon in November, he doesn't stand a chance because at this point the Republicans have exactly the country they voted for (twice) - and it's rotting at the GOP core.

The stench won't come out with the usual political laundering, pandering or slandering. The GOP can't blame it on Clinton any more...Obama has a point

But this year’s Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could out-Bush the other, and that is the contest John McCain won.

When Barak Obama says, essentially, Bush and Co. has lots of "splainin' to do," he's right. They do have a lot to answer for:

Pre Turns On The Afterburners

Slightly less than four minutes into this indoor mile, you can get a feel for why Steve Prefontaine was a legend....watch as he turns on the after burners in the last lap or so:

Finally Figured Out How I Lost My Appetite For Blogging

Regular readers of my posts may have wondered why I haven't been posting as much...or perhaps not (realizing that I may have an over inflated sense of my importance in the blogosphere). It could be that after several years of haranguing the Republicans, they are withering on the vine & no longer interesting, or important. One right winger puts it succinctly:

Mr. Bush has left the party at a disadvantage in terms of communications: "He can't articulate. The only asset we have now is the big microphone, and he swallowed it."

Given how the run up to November has gone, McCain proves that he deserves his nickname, "McSame."

Bush has become toxic for his own party. Those that would suggest he's a powerful man will discover how the GWB poison affects the overall operation quite evidentially in November. No doubt the term Landslide victory won't be applied to McSame. It's going to be Obama's to lose, as George Bush will prove to be a substantial liability to the whole GOP endeavor.

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For Those Weary Of Democratic Primary Shenanigans

This is a fun video I poached off Zaius Nation. If you are as tired of the inter-party bickering...and you are a fan of Star Wars. Enjoy.

Video Marketing the Jihad

My question after watching this video clip, is thus: If a terrorist is able to get a digital hand held camera delivered to him, why can't we get one of our assassins to deliver it?

Interesting Commencement Speakers

This from the Chronicle of Higher Education's list...Tony Snow, former Whitehouse spokesmodel for GWB is showing up on the circut this year. Any one in the vacinity care to report or heckle, let us know how it goes.

Seton Hall University
South Orange, New Jersey
May 12, 2008
Tony Snow, former White House press secretary and current CNN commentator

If you are into the cult of personality that is Whitehouse Press Secretaries, you can go to this one to:

Lynn University (Fla.)
Boca Raton, Florida
May 01, 2008
Dee Dee Myers, a political analyst and former White House press secretary

Looks like Tavis Smiley has a lot of free time presenting at two locations:

Long Island University at Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York
May 15, 2008
Tavis Smiley, host of Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show on Public Radio International

These are actually close enough together for any one in the area to compare and see if he delivers the same speech twice (wonder if he is getting paid for both of them?):

Connecticut College
New London, Connecticut
May 18, 2008
Tavis Smiley, host of Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show on Public Radio International

Now I wonder what this commencement speaker will have to say:

Liberty University
Lynchburg, Virginia
May 10, 2008
Chuck Norris, the martial artist and actor

The list goes on and on...with over 3000 institutions of higher learning in this country alone, there will be a lot of hot air released this month. Too bad we cannot cap it and use it to off set our dependency on foreign oil.

A question for the blogopshere over the weekend: Who was your best and worst commencement speakers and why?

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