"Homecoming"

Mr. Santorum. This was taken at a homecoming for U.S. Marines returning from Afghanistan. I thought you might be interested in who was putting their life on the line, defending your right to be a homophobe and bigot.

"The Year Of The Tree"

Mitt, I love California. The trees here are just the right height.

"Not The Best Or The Brightest"

Huffington Post: Santorum Calls Obama a Snob

Rick Santorum says President Obama is a snob because "he wants everybody in America to go to college." Rick . . you are a hopelessly ignorant neanderthal. Only you could try to twist wanting the best for this country's youth into something sinister and evil.

"Twin Caddys"

"Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs actually." -- Mitt Romney

"Seven Seinfeld Quotes That Apply to Mitt Romney!"

George Costanza: “I lie every second of the day. My whole life is a sham!”

Jerry Seinfeld: “You're going to really see me being a phony, now. I hope you can take this. Maybe you should go in the other room.”

George Costanza: “Just remember. It's not a lie if you believe it.”

Jerry Seinfeld: “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right."

George Costanza: “We're just trying to come up with the best possible lie. That's what this is all about.”

Jerry Seinfeld: “I think I'm pretty much like you, only successful.”

Morty Seinfeld: "I'll tell you what I'm looking at: the next condo president of Del Boca Vista, Phase Three.”

PALIN REJECTS EVOLUTION

Is it really too late for her to run? I recently came across this captivating lunacy from the Palin memoirs. According to her ever so scintillating intellect, Sarah mused that evolution just doesn't pass muster as far as she is concerned. Well this isn't much of a surprise is it? Is this just further proof of the dumbing down of Sarah, or is she pandering to the wing-nut base with an eye on 2016? Take your pick. (Pretty talented isn't she though, eyes on Putin and political opportunism at the same time). On page bla-bla, she talks about creationism, saying she,

"...didn't believe in the theory that human beings -- thinking, loving beings -- originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea, or from monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees."

And how about this gem from a debate she had with her old pal McCain campaign guru Steve Schmidt. I mean, when you're that far to the right of him, wow!

"But your dad's a science teacher," Schmidt objected. "Yes." "Then you know that science proves evolution," added Schmidt. "Parts of evolution," I said. "But I believe that God created us and also that he can create an evolutionary process that allows species to change and adapt." Schmidt winced and raised his eyebrows. In the dim light, his sunglasses shifted atop his hear. I had just dared to mention the C-word, creationism. But I felt I was on solid factual ground."

Palin, astoundngly, uses religion in an attempt to disprove science. And her talking-in-tongues faith, that earth is five thousand years old faith, appears to give her that internal certitude. I think I'm supporting her in 2016. I wish she had run in 2012. We can't let something so intrinsically valuable disappear from the political landscape. Run Sarah run!

Suicide Watch On For Democrats

Well it looks like they’re at it again. This time, the masters of looking a gift horse in the mouth are taking it up a notch and kicking it square in the teeth. Only the Democrats could be so politically inept as to have both of their candidates down in the polls to John McCain in this politicial environment. A Rasmussen poll shows that McCain leads Barack Obama 49% to 41% and Hillary Clinton 50% to 42%. It's relatively early, but it looks like the Democrats, if they don't wake up fast, might actually blow this one . . . again.

This from Frank Rich in the New York Times:

Unless Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton find a way to come together for the good of their country as well as their party, no speech by either of them may prevent Mr. McCain from making his second unlikely resurrection in a single political year.

There is no way this election should be this close. The worst president in history, a five-year old unpopular war, $4 gas prices, a devastating recession, thousands losing their homes, the current state of affairs in this country courtesy of the GOP couldn’t be much worse. Yet, McCain, clone of the current lunatic in the White House is poised to compete and maybe to win. It’s almost seems politically impossible, or is it. For months now, the Democrats have been ignoring the warnings of many while they continued their vicious inter-party mud slinging with both Obama and Clinton resorting to such childish name calling that it's tearing the party apart. Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns are equally to blame, both of them, as is the ridiculously inept leadership of Howard Dean who has almost become a caricature of incompetence. But so are the Democratic rank and file themselves, who whatever kool-aid they are drinking seem unwilling or incapable of pragmatically looking at the ramifications of the words they utter and the big picture; the possibility of a John McCain presidency. So instead of worrying about more Scalia/Roberts clones on the Supreme Court and an endless war, they choose to fight over Michigan and Florida, call each other racists and vilify President Bill Clinton who until recently was loved and admired by most Democrats, even going so far as to compare him to Joe McCarthy. There is a very real possibility that the results of this primary pain will be millions of disillusioned Democrats, supporters of the losing candidate who may just stay home come November. John McCain and the GOP hierarchy are doing nothing less than laughing smugly at this pathetic side show as McCain starts to push back to the center and reaches out to the only people that really matter, the small group of moderates and independents who will decide this election. We’ve seen this routine before haven’t we.

Rally At The White House

Is that a white guy wearing a white robe with a Confederate flag behind him? Under ordinary circumstances and another administration this might be written off as just a bad camera angle of a state flag. Maybe that's all it is. But the reason this image has disturbed so many has more to do with the two head's of state in the photo and the horrific policies they espouse. It's an image that won't fade quickly.

Obama's Problem With Bill Ayers

Not even close to being a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy, esteemed writer and social/political commentator John Ridley offers a perspective in the Huffington Post that many Obama supporters seem unwilling to face up to. Namely, that unlike other straw-man issues the Bill Ayers controversy is a very real problem which will not go away and it could very well be Obama's Willie Horton moment come general election time.

Election Turnout More Bad News For GOP

Perhaps the real headline Tuesday night, was that once again Democrat's enthusiasm for their two inspirational candidates won out in a landslide over tired old Republican apathy. Even in Dubya's own back yard.

According to CNN election results, the Democrats garnered a record 4.3 million votes last night in Texas, Ohio, Maryland and Vermont, to the Republican's paltry 2.3. This included a 500,000 Democratic edge in the blood red Lone Star State.

The Democrats have consistently set records for turnout this year, voting in substantially more numbers than the Republicans. Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California made this comment about the primary season,

Turnout and various poll data suggest Democrats are more eager to vote and happier with their choice set than Republicans. I think it reflects an eagerness to get the Bush administration behind them.

It seems as if the winds of change are indeed blowing.

The Gaza Bombshell

An amazing read by David Rosen at Vanity Fair detailing yet another abysmal Bush Administration adventure and it's disastrous results. Here's the lead-in.

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

FOX Anchor Ignores Dead Women And Children While Reporting Somalia Missile Attack

Watch the FOX anchor ignore reports of women and children being killed while reporting today's missile attack today near Dhoobley, Somalia. Dhoobley's District Commissioner Ali Nur Ali Dherre told CNN the AP and other sources that the raid destroyed two homes and resulted in the deaths of three women, three children while wounding twenty others.

The attack provides yet another reminder as to why we are so despised by so many worldwide. Predictably, a U.S. military official said the attack was on a "known terrorist target" with precision missiles. Precision? Fatuma Abdullahi, a resident of the town, gave the following account of the strike to The Associated Press.

We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbor's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here. We are taking shelter under trees. Three planes were flying over our heads.

Ali Dherre said the remains of the missiles were marked 'US K'. Having all seen the images of children walking through the rubble of a U.S. missile attack, is it any wonder that they grow up harboring such hatred for us?

Hillary Gets Back At Bill

Like William Congreve penned so eloquently in Act III Scene Vlll of The Mourning Bride, . . . "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned". All set to the romantic, mellifluous wailing of Jessica Simpson as Blitzer cringed and the whole world watched. So sorry Bill.

Inflation Soars With Stagflation At Doorstep

Confirming something that the majority of working class Americans already knew, courtesy of the Bush presidency, we are now on the doorstep of a much more serious economic downturn than economists had envisioned.

Today, the Labor Department reported that inflation at the wholesale level soared in January by one percent, the fastest pace in 16 years. This was more than double the 0.4 percent increase that economists had been expecting. This combination of rising inflation and weaker growth raises the threat of "stagflation," the economic plague that battered the country in the 1970s, when a series of oil price increases left Americans battered by stagnant growth and rising prices. This is when those least capable of withstanding an economic downturn really feel immense pain and suffering, often being forced to choose between paying for their medication, rent or utilities.

With the January jump; wholesale prices have risen over the past 12 months by 7.5 percent, the fastest increase since the fall of 1981, when the country was in a deep recession. This gain was led by a 1.5 percent spike in the cost of prescription and non-prescription drugs, which will hit the poor and elderly hardest of all.

If anything was ever deserving of political analysis and the assignation of blame this is it. The Bush administration's abominable economic policies have finally burst the dam. Their foundation of tax cuts for the wealthy, a soaring deficit, spending billions on an endless war, outsourcing of quality jobs and the enabling of corporate greed and malfeasance at the expense of the American public is beyond the pale.

One can expect nothing but more of the same from a McCain administration; maybe even worse as he will inevitably try to reduce the deficit on the backs of needed social programs. That's the GOP way, spend billions on war and tax breaks for the wealthy, then make the poor and middle class pay.

John McCain Lies About Clinton And Obama's Position On NAFTA

At a town-hall meeting in Texas on Friday, corporate lobbyists best friend John McCain decided to emphasize his support for NAFTA. That's fine John, that’s certainly your right to embrace a treaty that has cost thousands of American jobs. But do you have to lie when you do so? McCain said in his comments that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement which would jeopardize crucial military support from Canada.

We need our Canadian friends, and we need their continued support in Afghanistan. So what do we do? The two Democratic candidates for president say they're going to unilaterally abrogate NAFTA.

What happened to that straight talk John, you’re in danger of losing your street cred. Too many martinis with the K street boys? Or perhaps lingering senior naps in the sweltering Arizona sun haved dulled your senses. The truth, is that neither Clinton or Obama said they would abrogate NAFTA. You see, the word abrogate means to abolish or repeal and they never said such a thing. What Obama and Clinton actually said, was that they would "renegotiate" NAFTA and would threaten to opt out of the agreement unless Canada and Mexico come to the negotiating table. Here are their exact quotes. Clinton then Obama.

I will say we will opt out of NAFTA unless we renegotiate it, and we renegotiate on terms that are favorable to all of America.

I will make sure that we renegotiate. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced.

Tell the truth John and while you're at it, tell the people of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas why you don't give a damn about them losing their jobs.

Chief Justice Roberts Sides With Exxon On Alaskan Oil Spill

Yesterday, the Supreme Court finally heard arguments on what ExxonMobil should have to pay for the Exxon Valdez oil spill of nineteen years ago. Yes, that’s right, Exxon still hasn’t forked over what the appeals court's judgment had ordered them to, as their cadre of attorneys have been fighting it tooth and nail in the courts for years. Fighting, paying the equivalent of a lousy three weeks worth of profits. During oral arguments, Bush appointee and Chief Justice John Roberts was predictably disturbed by the judgment against Exxon. The $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon had been ordered to pay, was to provide restitution for the devastating spill that polluted a large coastal area of Alaska, destroying wildlife, pristine wilderness and the livelihoods of thousands of mostly indigenous, poor fisherman. The 32,000 fishermen and business owners affected stood to receive about $75,000 apiece and they have been waiting for justice for almost two decades now. Yet, Roberts astoundingly asked the following,

What can a corporation do to protect itself against punitive-damages awards such as this?

Jeffrey Fisher the lawyer arguing for the Alaska fishermen whose ability to make a living was harmed by the spill, and clearly referring to Exxon’s negligence in allowing a known alcoholic Captain Hazlewood to pilot it’s tanker said this in response,

Well, it can hire fit and competent people.

If you ever want to understand clearly why elections make such a difference, this should do it. In 2000 and 2004, progressive voices cried out in vain, warning about the effect of a Bush victory in the context of his ability to make Supreme Court nominations that would be critical in moving the Court far to the right. They largely fell upon deaf ears and Samuel Alito and John Roberts are the result. So think about that when John McCain speaks about appointing strict constructionists to the Supreme Court. It’s not just about upholding Roe v. Wade; it’s also about being able to legally challenge corporate America’s stranglehold on the working people of this country; like the fisherman of Alaska. A couple of more conservative appointments to the high court and the judicial battle will be irrevocably lost for a generation, with utterly disastrous consequences as a result.

Animal Rights Activist Treated as Terrorist

After you tuck your kids in tonight, say a prayer and give thanks that George Bush and his intrepid band of warriors are tirelessly fighting the war on terror and defending our homeland. For thanks to their efforts, another dangerous terrorist no longer walks the streets among us. For months the FBI clandestinely tracked the dangerous suspect, watching his every move and those of his friends. They tapped his phone, intercepting and recording more than eight thousand calls. They read his e-mails, they bagged his garbage, and they followed him everywhere he went. Finally, in May of 2004, the authorities felt they had enough and the suspect was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of orchestrating an interstate campaign of terrorism and intimidation. A conviction would mean a $1,250,000 in fines and 23 years in prison. Warrants were issued, clips were loaded, and soon it was go time. One cold, foggy morning a squad of hardened agents in black moved in on the terror suspect’s hideout near San Francisco as an agency helicopter flew cover overhead. Equipped with a battering ram and heavily armed, the agents easily secured the premises, the terror suspect was taken into custody and the country exhaled a collective sigh of relief. Then the questions started. Who was this terrorist that the government spent so many millions of dollars pursuing? In what country was he trained? How did he get here? What God does such an evil man worship? The average American would be shocked to know the answer.

It turns out that the suspect was not a terrorist at all. His name was Kevin Kjonaas, a born in the USA, twenty-something, Catholic school grad who worked at a doggy daycare. His crime? Being president of SHAC USA, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty an animal rights group dedicated to shutting down Huntingdon Life Sciences, the New Jersey based British company who tests products on animals. Every year HLS kills about 180,000 beagle dogs, mice, primates, rabbits, cats, farm animals like goats, chickens, sheep, guinea pigs, and rats to test a range of products from diet drugs, toothpastes, tanning lotions, food supplements like Splenda, adhesives and pesticides. The animals in the testing process, endure weeks, months, and sometimes years of isolation, poisoning, and violently invasive experiments. What were the specifics that warranted Kjonaas to be labeled a terrorist? Surely to be labeled a terrorist and to be facing most of his life in prison, he must have done something pretty evil. Not even close. Kjonaas, and six other animal rights activists were convicted on March 2, 2006, under the controversial Federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The Act punishes anyone who "physically disrupts" an animal enterprise. Kjonaas and his colleagues fought to stop the torturing and live dissection of animals, many of which were household pets. He posted the home addresses and telephone numbers of Huntingdon employees on the group’s website and sometimes Kjonaas helped organize protests in front of workers’ homes. When he couldn’t make it to a demonstration, he posted other people’s accounts of the event, seeing himself as a conduit for information. The bottom-line, these activists are alleged to have operated a website that reported on and expressed ideological support for protest activity against Huntingdon. That was it. Support the SHAC 7! Their prosecution and incarceration is just another example of the Bush administration's relentless pursuit of their corporate agenda and their defense of those pursuing wealth at the expense of others. Let no one be fooled, this is not fighting terrorism; this is an assault on freedoms accorded all Americans by the constitution and a way to silence them using the fraudulent war on terror as an excuse. Kevin Kjonaas is not only not a terrorist, he is an American hero and it’s critical that all social and political progressives and activists support people like Kevin. Please spread the word, contribute to his defense fund and take a moment to send him a letter in prison.

Checks and money orders can be made out and sent to: The SHAC7 Support Fund
 740A 14th St
#237
San Francisco, CA 94114 Here’s how to write to Kevin and the others in prison: www.shac7.com

Remembering Your Neo-Cons

Warning! What follows may cause nausea, headaches, panic attacks, temporary blindness, impotency and a sudden burst of anger.

The celebrious philosopher, poet and cultural critic George Santayana was known to appreciate multiple perfections in humanity, but I am certain he never imagined such multiple imperfections as those pictured above. He once prophetically mused,

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Along those lines, thanks to thinkprogress.org for this insightful look back at the detestable neo-cons who were the architects of the Iraq War. See what these immoral degenerates are doing now and how they have been rewarded and not held to account for their despotic behavior and total ineptitude. It's an enlightening re-cap, if you can stomach it.

Terrorism

What happens as a result of terrorist acts is horrific. People going to work, kids going to school; their lives ended tragically in mere seconds. Most human beings, myself included feel so personally devastated and emotionally distraught when individuals and their families have to experience such physical pain and terror.

It's so hard to understand and a sad commentary on this world that the human race hasn't risen above terror as a tool to better address grievances and defend a particular way of life. George Bush, said the war against terror in Iraq was going well.

I wonder if he meant it was going well for all the soldiers and their families killed this week in Iraq. I wonder if he meant it was going well for all the civilian's killed in Iraq; more than 125,000 by the most conservative of estimates. Killed in a war that was justified by lies, for the benefit of American oil companies and defense contractors. I wonder if he feels for all those that die? Or don't Iraqi men, women and children count or feel pain? Perhaps only Americans and British citizens count and feel pain. The war on terror is not going to be won by military might.

The war on terror is not going to be won by additional military forays into sovereign Moslem countries. The war on terror is not going to be won by fulfilling the prophecies of the most radical Islam clerics and guaranteeing more generations of disenfranchised Islamic youth who see a Jihad against the oppressor as their only resort. The war on terror is not going to be won by the United States support of the corrupt governments in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, continuing to man military bases in Islam's holiest lands. The war on terror is not going to be won by the United States continued support of Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands and their oppression of the Palestinian people. The war on terror is not going to be won until the United States and other wealthy countries address the root causes of poverty, disease, starvation and hopelessness.

A Lesson Learned

I wonder if we have l learned anything. I recall post election , when the Bush family court awarded the presidency to the fair haired boy wonder of Yale fraternity drink fests and executions. My initial despair and nausea at that profound moment soon gave way to a more selfish but beneficial calmness; perhaps akin to what someone feels when strapped to the gurney as the first numbing drops are felt. Not dead yet but heading in that direction. Blazing profundity soon followed, "the American people got what they deserve". We did didn't we? It's our collective responsibility after all isn't it, rigged election aside. It shouldn't have even been close. The con man is to blame of course for flunking morality 101A but the persons conned were at best colossally stupid. I wonder which is worse and wonder even more if a lesson was learned.

They Are Still Killing Baby Seals

I humbly beg you to read this. It's a personal plea from me. Every Spring in Newfoundland and Eastern Canadian provinces the seal hunt will start. Baby harp seals will be dragged screaming from their mothers and clubbed to death and shot in front of them in as cruel and inhumane act as a human being is capable of. Their bodies are then dragged away using wooden poles with hooks. More than 350,000 seals were slaughtered in the 2006 seal hunt. A staggering 98.5% of the seals killed were three months old or younger!, some of them skinned while still conscious and able to feel pain. These animals are mainly used for their pelts, for fashion purposes. This is why they club them repeatedly in the head, so as not to ruin the pelt. Understanding people have presented countless proposals to the Canadian government as to alternative income sources that could be arranged if they would agree to stop this barbaric and cruel hunt. Studies have shown that eco-tourism would bring in many times more the income annually then the hunt does. A model for this is whale watching as whales were hunted for years and replaced as an income source by countless whale watching excursions. There are also funded buy-back programs and a myriad of other financial alternatives that have been presented to no avail. I plead with you to join the boycott of Canadian seafood products!; financial pressure is the only way to stand up for these precious animals that have no choice or voice. Don't buy Canadian snow crab, cod, salmon, scallops, and shrimp until Canada ends its commercial seal hunt for good and please do not ever eat at Red Lobster the biggest importer of Canadian seafood. Just remember; next year around the end of March while you sit comfortably in your home eating dinner, laughing, enjoying your families and friends as you should be....thousands of these precious, lovable, feeling babies will meet a painful, barbaric fate in front of their mothers who gave birth to them a month or so earlier. PLEASE DON'T BUY CANADIAN SEAFOOD PRODUCTS! Ask at your store or restaurants where the seafood comes from and if they don't know or won't answer do not buy it. As Ghandi said, "We must be the change we wish to see".

White House Press Puppet Dana Perino - Climate Change Is A Good Thing!

Ok, the lunatics have finally gone over the edge. They are leaving behind the despotic philosophy of reactionary neo-con political theory, for the more fertile grounds of the babbling criminally insane.

At her press briefing Thursday, you know, where she downs the kool-aid and appears from behind the curtain to try and justify the mindless depravity of Georgie Through The Looking Glass; White House Press puppet Dana Perino hit an all time high on the loon meter when she tried to explain the White House's evisceration of CDC head Julie Gerberding's Congressional testimony on climate change. The babbling Barbie doll said the following,

So the decision on behalf of CDC was to focus that testimony on public health benefits, there are public health benefits to climate change, as well, but both benefits and concerns that somebody like a Dr. Gerberding, who is the expert in the field, could address.

Public health benefits? Public health benefits to global warming? There was an uncomfortable pregnant pause when she said that, an eerily disturbed silence as the press waited for time to reverse itself and her words to be swallowed back up, or, for the men in the white coats to appear to whisk her away to happy-happy land. Unbelievably, neither happened and she went on to say,

This is an issue where I am sure that lots of people would love to ridicule me --

Ya' think Dana??? I believe you are pretty damn good at self-ridicule. You haven't embarassed yourself this much since you staggered out of the young Republican's frat house at 4AM, way back when.

-- when I say this, but it is true that many people die from cold-related deaths every winter. And there are studies that say that climate change in certain areas of the world would help those individuals.

They're coming to take Dana away ha-ha, to the happy home. With trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes and they're coming to take Dana away, ha-haaa!!!

Meet One Of The Most Dangerous Men In The World

Do you know who he is? Not many people do, not yet. He is known as the Godfather of modern neoconservatism, who devoutly believes America has to go to war with Iran as quickly as possible. He is also Rudy Giuliani's Senior Foreign Policy Advisor, a racist and a dangerous human being. Here are a just a few of his most notorious rants.

Fretting about whether to attack Iran sends only a message of weakness to the combined Shiite and Sunni enemies in the Middle East.

If we were to bomb the Iranians as I hope and pray we will, we’ll unleash a wave of anti-Americanism all over the world that will make the anti-Americanism we’ve experienced so far look like a lovefest.

I continue to believe that what Sept 11, 2001, did was to plunge us headlong into nothing less than another world war. I call this new war World War IV.

The creation of an independent Palestinian state would now only create another terrorist state.

In short, the plain and brutal truth is that if Iran is to be prevented from developing a nuclear arsenal, there is no alternative to the actual use of military force, any more than there was an alternative to force if Hitler was to be stopped in 1938.

Negroes made one feel inadequate. But most important of all, they were tough, beautifully, enviably tough, not giving a damn for anyone or anything. This is what I envied and feared in the Negro. Then there were the effete snobs, the writers and intellectuals and artists who romanticize the Negroes, and pander to them, and all the white liberals who permit the Negroes to blackmail them into adopting a double standard of moral judgment.

On economic matters, I agree that if immigrants are not of net benefit to the country, it makes no sense for us to allow newcomers to do harm in this way.

This is who you get when you support Rudy Giuliani.

Dennis Kucinich – A Great Visionary For These Times

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde

Dennis Kucinich will not be the nominee of the Democratic party in 2008. That reality will have nothing to do with his intellect, morality, or leadership capabilities. It will have everything to do with money, fame and stature. Fortunately, Dennis’s greatness and value to this country will not be measured by his winning or losing a presidential election. It will be measured by his acute reasoning, political philosophy and honest perspective on what America can truly be. On that playing field, Dennis Kucinich is already a winner. Dennis Kucinich's vision for America embodies the truest sense of America’s greatness and potential. A country where justice, fairness, humanity and the needs of working people triumph over corporate greed and international arrogance. Where telling the truth and standing up to power can mean something in America once again. Dennis says,

We need to understand the connection between peace and the environment. We know that life on our planet is threatened by the twin threats of global warring and global warming. They are linked, and we have to understand that as we cognize the world as being interconnected and interdependent, we know that resource wars are passé and that the focus on sustainability will create peace.

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President who has voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and against funding its continuation.

Dennis Kucinich knows that health care in the US is too expensive and leaves 46 million Americans without insurance and millions more underinsured. He believes in a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system.

Dennis Kucinich believes in ending America's participation in NAFTA and the WTO. Huge, multi-national corporations ship American jobs overseas, turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and hide behind their lobbyists in Washington.

A champion of working families, Dennis Kucinich believes in universal health care, restoring our schools, strengthening Social Security and protections for private pensions.

Dennis knows that The USA Patriot Act and secret strategy meetings to set policy tear into the very concept of We the People. He believes in protecting individual liberties and privacy and restoring balance and fairness in America's electoral system.

We could all learn a great deal from a man with such clear vision and humanity.

The Power Of Nightmares - A Must See BBC Documentary

Watch it online here Mandatory viewing for those eager to understand the true genesis of the great divide that threatens us all today. Neocon Conservatives versus Islamic Fundamentalists. Sayyid Qutb, the father of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Muslim world and Leo Straussburst, father of Neo-Conservatism in America, were initially brothers in idealism fighting against the same enemy, albeit in different parts of the world both figuratively and literally.

They shared the same mutual disdain for modernity and the permissive culture of laissez-faire democracy. They decried the failure of the liberal vision and both shared the same belief as to which tolerant and indulgent beast caused that failure. American and Middle-Eastern governments were corrupt; the freedom of the individual and liberal thought were the cause of all societal ills.

They also correctly discerned that religion was the most efficient way to intoxicate the masses and enable their power and authority and that those who were able to rule based on fear became the most powerful. That's where it all came apart. Now their ideological decendants are enemies fighting against each other.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

And here we are . . .

Democrats In Congress Listen Up - It's OK To Vote And Lose

Sometimes you have to be toughest on the ones you care for the most. Doesn't mean you love them any less; just that you want them to be the best that they can be.

I saw this absurd statement in an Associated Press article, regarding what an appropriate Democrat response would be to General Petraeus's congressional testimony.

Absent a new political climate, Democrats are in a tough position. Continue to insist on a hard-line position and fail, letting weeks go by without passing anti-war legislation, or soften their stance.

Nonsense, the Democrats aren't in a tough position at all and the more they continue to act like they are and seem confused as to what they should do, the angrier the American people and especially Democrats are going to get. Yes, we all know that you only have 49 seats and Bernie but so what. Do your best to lobby and cajole those on the other side of the aisle, give your best impassioned plea on the floor of the Senate. But when push comes to shove, stand up for what you believe in. Vote and lose. That’s what we want you to do, we're screaming now can you hear us?

We all know why Congressional approval ratings are so low. It's because Democrats are sick and tired of this senseless war and they want Congressional Democrats at the very least to stand together in unity and say no more.

Would you tell your kids in little league to back down against those bigger kids? No. You would tell them to go play the game and give it their best so everyone watching can see what they're made of. You would tell them it's not whether they win or lose, it's how they play the game.

We’re tired of your safe political decisions. We don’t want you to soften your stance. We don’t want legislation that reactionary traitor Joe Lieberman can agree to. Don’t you get it? We elected you for your principles, integrity, promises to do the right thing and to vote to get us out of Iraq. Not to vote that way only when you have enough votes! Get it now? We're smart, we know the math, we know you don’t have 60 votes to overturn the veto of the war criminal in the White House, but we don’t care. We don’t want calculated, pragmatic, political positioning that will result in some namby-pamby, watered down, safe bill with no benchmarks and no withdrawal date. Vote your conscience and if you lose so be it. That’s what we want.

Rudy’s Biggest Headache - Brave New Films

Just when you thought that there was hope for Democracy in America. This morning, I was thrown out of a Rudy Giulliani press conference in Santa Monica, California after being told I was welcome to attend. The reason? They found out I worked for Brave New Films.

We were all curious as to why Rudy Giuliani did not think it was important to attend the Republican presidential debate tonight at Morgan State University in Baltimore, a historically black college. The debate, hosted by Tavis Smiley will focus on issues important to minority communities. Giuliani’s campaign suggested there were “important scheduling conflicts”. So, we decided to see what was more important than listening to and addressing the concern’s of African-American voters.

We discovered that Giuliani’s schedule today was to include campaign stops in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and Lancaster, California. According to the Bay Area Center For Voting Research,

Lancaster, California ranks among the top 25 conservative cities in the country. It’s population is also 63% white and 16% African-American. 

Clearly it was more important for Rudy to go pander to his white, conservative base in Lancaster, then to listen to and engage African-American voters nationwide.

The first stop in Santa Monica at 10AM was to be a press conference where he was to receive the endorsement of former Republican Governor of California Pete Wilson. Well we thought why not go and see if we could ask Pete and Rudy a polite question or two. So I called Giuliani’s press officer in New York, Alexis Garcia, who assured me and I quote,

The press conference was open to all interested parties and that no press credentials were needed.

I also confirmed this with the Fairmont Miramar hotel before I left, wearing a nice suit jacket and dress shirt. I arrived at the hotel at 9:45AM and checked in at the front door with a nice young woman with Giuliani’s campaign team. She wrote my name down on a legal pad and I again asked to make sure that no press credentials were needed. She smiled and said no, go right on in. I did and found myself a seat in the second row and waited for the press conference to begin. A few minutes later another woman, blond, tall and not looking happy came up to me and asked me who I was and who I was with. I told her my name is John Ehrenfeld, I am a writer for Brave New Films and my blog the Policy Room. She immediately said and I again quote,

I am going to have to ask you to leave.

I asked why and referenced all the other people in the room with no credentials hanging around their neck; she just glared and said again that I was going to have to leave. Security soon escorted me from the room, no histrionics, no muss no fuss. I was polite and did as I was asked and left the room. I was then approached by a reporter from KPCC radio Frank Stoltze who interviewed me. I have since has another conversation with Mr. Stoltze, on the phone, after the event ended. He told me someone in the roon, possibly with the Guiliani party said I had not identified myself. I suppose giving my name at the door and again when I was asked was not enough. What I think they really meant to say was, we don't like Brave New Films because they produced 'The Real Rudy' which exposed Rudy's lies and distortions on and after 9/11.

I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee and proceeded to sit down on a couch in the hallway to make a few phone calls. Immediately security came up to me, even though I was well outside the room, in a public place, sitting on a couch talking on the phone. They told me that this was now “an incident” and that if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. They firmly escorted me through a side door of the hotel and barked out to the valet parking folks to get my car and to make sure I left the premises immediately.

It was rather an illuminating experience to see the power that Brave New Films and the free alternative press has and the perceived threat they present to the right-wing in this country. I can only imagine what a Giuliani presidency would be like.

Debate Is No Longer A Reasonable Undertaking

It was encouraging to see the American people take to the streets this weekend to loudly denounce the Iraq war and the policies of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Until the people make it clear by their actions that the status-quo is no longer acceptable; nothing will change. Mass demonstrations and civil disobedience is what helped bring the outcry against the Vietnam war to critical mass and that's what will be needed now if there is any hope of effecting change.

Debate is under most circumstances reasonable. But not when it comes to the astoundingly deplorable policies of this administration. Not anymore. There can be no reasonable debate as to whether or not the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the subsequent carnage it caused was warranted. There also can be no reasonable debate on whether the Bush administration’s assault on the Constitution and our civil liberties is warranted.

To do so would be to suggest that there are plausible and defensible positions to take in support of this administration's policies thus according them theoretical legitimacy. That's just not credible, and delusion whether intentional or not isn’t an appropriate state-of-mind for an individual and it’s certainly not a sound foundation for making decisions as to the future of this country.

One does not have a debate whether the criminal who lied his way into a home and held up a family at gunpoint was justified. One does not debate whether a child abuser was justified. Some things are egregious enough assaults on human decency that they don't warrant "debate".

George Bush and Dick Cheney's immoral, unnecessary and unjustified invasion and occupation of Iraq and the subsequent bloodbath that followed, was the biggest foreign policy disaster in US history and an assault on human decency. That's not open for reasonable debate. This administration's illegal and unjustified support of torture, illegal imprisonment and warrant less wiretapping are among the most blatant executive branch assaults on our freedom and civil liberties we have ever seen and an assault on human decency. That's not open for reasonable debate.

Many on the right suggest that debate on these issues is a sensible procedural path to take. That’s just not appropriate anymore.

Gates Says Bush Should Veto Troop Relief Bill

Well, looks like another back-stabbing assault on US troops by those they trust to look out for them. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he is against a Senate proposal to give battle-weary US troops in Iraq more rest between tours of duty. Gates also said that he would recommend that Bush veto the proposal if passed. Incredible!

Gates hesitated and stumble his way through Chris Wallace's softballs and then Joe Biden clearly and articulately lay waste to Gates's position. When are those Republicans who claim to care for and support the troops so much going to wake-up and realize that no one supports the troops less than this administration! Inadequate body armor and Humvees, atrocious conditions for the wounded at Walter Reed and contaminated drinking water supplied by Halliburton's KBR subsidiary for 60 million dollars, demonstrate the contempt that the White House has had all along for our military in Iraq. Not to mention sending them to die for an immoral, unjustifiable war based on lies, oil and the enrichment of Bush and Cheney's war profiteer buddies. This is just another reprehensible example of the same.

General Betrayous Lies Through His Teeth To Congress

Don't believe a word that prevaricating Bush flunky said to Congress on Monday about the lessening of violence in Iraq and the success of the surge. He's an unapologetic liar.

The respected and impartial Associated Press writer Steven R. Hurst reported the real truth about Iraqi violence on August 25th, 2007. He said,

"The death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago. The figures are considered a minimum, the actual numbers are likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted."

He continued,

"Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year, an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year."

"Nearly 1,000 more people have been killed in violence across Iraq in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2006. So far this year, about 14,800 people have died in war-related attacks and sectarian murders."

"Baghdad has gone from representing 76 percent of all civilian and police war-related deaths in Iraq in January to 52 percent in July, bringing it back to the same spot it was roughly a year ago."

No, the right-wing would rather believe General Betrayous and Ryan Crock Of *hit, two biased, administration sycophants whose future as wealthy lobbyists for the war munitions industry depended on the lies they told Congress and the American people Monday.

It's a time-honored tradition after all in the Bush/Cheney administration. They lie and people die.

Bush Credits Thirty-Five Coalition Partners

Who knew!

The dictator-in-chief said in his speech tonight that a mighty coalition of thirty-five countries are fighting bravely alongside the US military in Iraq.

So, how about a shout out to those . . 12 brave ordinance specialists from Moldova, 29 courageous engineers from Kazakhstan and 35 studly munitions specialists from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wonder what the payoff was?

What a deceitful propagandist this smirky Texas twit is to suggest that there is an enthusiastic world-wide effort in support of his immoral war of agression in Iraq. I wonder if that makes the families of the 3,700+ Americans killed and 27,000+ Americans wounded feel better tonight knowing that Borat's naighbor Nushuktan Tulyiagby is fighting at their loved one's side.

Bush Shares His Greedy Retirement Dream - As He Sends Thousands To Die In Iraq

The unbelievable audacity and arrogance of this embarassing, crass, pathetic excuse for a leader! As he continues to send thousands to die in Iraq for his war profiteer and oil industry buddies, Bush says he's looking forward to going out on the speaking circuit after leaving office to reap a financial windfall!

The New York Times on Sunday published excerpts from interviews with Bush for a book by Robert Draper to be published on Tuesday. No humility, no thoughtfulness, no sobering perspective on things, he just wants to get obscenely rich. Here are a few excerpts of what Bush said,

"I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.”

and then he added,

“I don’t know what my dad gets, it’s more than fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars a speech, and Clinton’s making a lot of money".

I guess Bush's 21 million dollars in the bank isn't enough for him. Perhaps Bush and Miss Teen South Carolina can go out on the road together. They can call it "The Articulation Tour 2009".

Former Reagan Deputy Attorney General Fein Says Impeach Bush

Well, maybe when the Reagan folks start clamoring for Bush's impeachment, even the fly-over states may take note. Bruce Fein a constitutional lawyer and Reagan's Deputy Attorney General said the following in an esssay published in Slate,

"President Bush's apparently criminal authorization of a warrantless wiretapping program is grounds for the House to begin an impeachment inquiry".

He went on to add that if Congress doesn't go ahead with impeachment, then it will become a,

"virtual dead letter".

Finally! Someone thinking about the long term effects of executive branch criminality on the future of our political process. It's critical to our democracy to establish clearly that no branch of government is above the law, that checks and balances do mean something and most importantly to make sure a precedent isn't established that the President of The United States can ignore the constitution and rule like a king in America.

Can't wait to see how Hannity et al tries to swift-boat this Reagan conservative. I'm seein' a Coulter/Malkin snake attack on Fox Noise any day now.

Leaked Red Cross Report - Possible Preparations For Bush War Crimes Trial!

According to Nat Hentoff of The Village Voice, a leaked Red Cross report  shows the accumulation of reams of evidence in possible preparation for an eventual Bush administration war crimes tribunal.

He quotes the New Yorker's Jane Mayer as having sources who have seen accounts of the Red Cross interviews with inmates formerly held in CIA secret prisons. In "The Black Sites" (August 13, The New Yorker). 

It's a sad state of affairs that the United States of America's leaders are being investigated for perpetrating the same crimes that have been committed by some of the most heinous, evil figures in history.

Bush In New Orleans To Celebrate His Katrina Lies And Attempt At Ethnic Cleansing – What A Disgrace!

Bush will fly into New Orleans on Tuesday to feign concern about the plight of New Orleans residents once again, two years after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people, destroyed or severely damaged more than 200,000 homes, made more than 800,000 people homeless overnight and left thousands of poor, black and other minority American citizens to die. Two weeks after Katrina, Bush stood in Jackson Square and promised a massive reconstruction effort. What a liar.

At this very moment in New Orleans, large parts of the city are still in ruin. Crime, poor health care and crumbling infrastructure are still the norm and insurance companies are still doing their best to keep from paying. All this while hotels and casinos are buying up the land for pennies on a dollar that used to contain people’s homes.

Bush, his horse trainer Brownie and personal mortician Chertoff were all guilty of a woefully inadequate and indifferent immediate response to the disaster and then compounded their guilt by not devoting enough time, money and energy to the aftermath and cleanup. What a record of incompetence.

Astoundingly, George Bush continued with his vacation for four days after Katrina came ashore, reminiscent of him sitting paralyzed for eight minutes reading “My Pet Goat” after being informed America had been attacked on 9/11. He then flew to Arizona to eat birthday cake with John McCain while thousands were drowning or stranded on rooftops in New Orleans.

On course no worries, he had put Brownie and other incompetent political buddies in charge of FEMA who had no experience in coping with disasters other than the birth of a foal.

Remember, Bush also had cut federal spending by eighty percent for repairs on the New Orleans levees despite the Army Corps of Engineer’s strenuous objections and had sent three-thousand 3,000 members of Louisiana’s National Guard and two-thirds of the their vital equipment to Iraq to fight his immoral war of lies. All this while cutting $50 billion in food stamps, Medicare and energy assistance shifting hurricane relief onto the backs of the poor.

Bush has proven that he could have cared less about poor minority residents of New Orleans losing everything, as he continues to support government plans to rebuild New Orleans as a richer and whiter city. He cut taxes on the wealthy yet he also

Of course as with everything Bush, there are the lies. These are the biggest lies the Bush Administration told concerning Katrina.

1. Bush, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees". That was a lie!

On the September 1st broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America, President Bush told Diane Sawyer, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that protected New Orleans from flooding.

Bullshit! According to the St. Petersburg Times of 8/30/05, National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield talked about the force of Katrina during a video conference call to President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas on August 28th!  The Washington Post quoted Mayfield as saying,  "They knew that this one was different. I don't think Mike Brown or anyone else in FEMA could have any reason to have any problem with our calls. They were told. We said the levees could be topped.

2. Michael Chertoff defended Bush, claiming the levee breaks and massive flooding came as a surprise. That was a lie!

This was more than 12 hours after local media reported them. The New Orleans Times-Picayune on August 29, 2 p.m. CT, reported, "City Hall confirmed a breach of the levee along the 17th Street Canal at Bellaire Drive, allowing water to spill into Lakeview."

This initial report on the Times-Picayune web site was followed throughout the afternoon and evening of August 29 by reports of other levee breaks and massive flooding.

3. Brown said. "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day". That was a lie!

NBC News photojournalist Tony Zumbado reported on MSNBC, “I can't put it into words the amount of destruction that is in this city and how these people are coping. They are just left behind. There is nothing offered to them. No water, no ice, no C-rations, nothing, for the last four days.

They were told to go to the convention center. They did, they've been behaving. It's unbelievable how organized they are, how supportive they are of each other. They have not started any melees, any riots. They just want food and support. And what I saw there I've never seen in this country. We need to really look at this situation at the convention center. It's getting very, very crazy in there and very dangerous. Somebody needs to come down with a lot of food and a lot of water.

4. Chertoff said, "Apparently, some time on Wednesday, people started to go to the convention center spontaneously". That was a lie!

On the September 1st broadcast of ABC's Nightline, there was footage of a law enforcement official instructing survivors to go to the Convention Center. Beginning Aug. 31, other reports of survivors at the convention center emerged:

5. Chertoff pointed fingers: "New Orleans officials and the state officials ... called for the Superdome to be the refuge of last resort".

In his Sept. 4 interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Chertoff attempted to place blame for the conditions at the Superdome solely with state and local officials. Chertoff said, "My understanding is, and again this is something that's going to go back, we're going to go back over after the fact . . .is the plan that the New Orleans officials and the state officials put together called for the Superdome to be the refuge of last resort."

The Washington Post reported on September 3, a FEMA official acknowledged participating in meetings in which the plan to use the Superdome as a shelter for thousands of evacuees was discussed:

For years, said another senior FEMA official, he had sat at meetings where plans were discussed to send evacuees to the Superdome. "We used to stare at each other and say, 'This is the plan? Are you really using the Superdome?' People used to say, what if there is water around it?

6. Chertoff falsely minimized federal government's role in Katrina response as subordinate to states. That was a lie!

The Bush administration has responded to criticism of its role in the Katrina disaster by attempting to deflect blame onto state and local officials in Louisiana. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security's December 2004 National Response Plan clearly indicates that in these situations, the federal government will pre-empt state and local efforts and provide immediate assistance to the affected area.

7. Wash. Post, Newsweek, Gingrich claimed that Blanco did not declare a state of emergency. That was a lie!

On Saturday Sept. 3rd, a senior Bush administration official said, “Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency". In reality, Blanco declared a state of emergency on August 26th.

8. Newt Gingrich claimed that Nagin could have kept water pumped out of city had he ensured that pumps worked. That was a lie!

In fact, New Orleans had 22 "notoriously fickle" pumping stations, according to an August 31st New York Times article. The Times also reported that, according to Dr. Shea Penland, a coastal geologist, "When the pumping systems are in good shape, it can rain an inch an hour for about four to six hours and the pumps can keep pace. More than that, the city floods."

A June 2002 Times-Picayune article, part of a series exploring the probable consequences of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans, indicated that New Orleans' pumps would have been overwhelmed by the rapidly rising floodwaters.

What this administration did and didn’t do was unconscionable at best and criminal at worst,
 

Over Confident Democrats Better Wake Up!

There are way too many smug and over-confident Democrats braying about cabinet selections already. They had better stop it and get real.

Sure it’s exciting spending time talking about impeaching Bush and Cheney and getting all that frustration out. It's cathartic, it’s good for 'ya. It should be happening. But, the reality is they will be gone in sixteen months one way or another and if the world is still here, we better as Democrats look long and hard at some pragmatic political realities dealing with the future of our country rather than the past . . . and we had better do it soon, before it’s too late.

Despite all the political capital accumulated by Democrats during the Bush/Cheney reign of terror . . . why do I feel so nervous? Maybe it's because I know the Democrats can blow this one too. It is reminiscent of a poker player getting dealt two aces in a game of five card draw and asking for four cards.

I heard a frustrated caller on Thom Hartman's radio show the other day express his understandable disgust with the Democrats and Congress regarding Iraq and a myriad of other issues. I thought to myself, I hear 'ya brother. Then he said, if they don't get some cajones and do what they're supposed to do, I'm voting green or for a third party candidate.

Oh that's rich, all we need is another couple of voters like him and faster than you can say Ralph Nader, we will all be sitting around scratching our collective heads and wondering how the hell that reactionary Giuliani got to be president. I am all for voting one’s conscience, etc., but we had better start thinking seriously about who can win this thing so please, let's get that third party crap out of her heads once and for all. Another time and place, but not now.

More food for thought . . . Hillary Clinton has clearly dominated the Democratic party primary machine and seems to be on a fast-track to the nomination, much to the delight I should say of the GOP who love her negatives in the forties. There are far too many, “I would never vote for Hillary no matter what” independents I’m afraid. So is that really the right path for Democrats to take? After eight years of hell are we dooming ourselves to perhaps go through it again? You think poor John Kerry got swift-boated and vilified, you aint’ seen nothing yet. A Hillary candidacy would unleash the right-wing political attack beast like nothing the political world has ever seen, conjuring up old dirt and imagery that isn't exactly going to be inspiring to many voters.

As Elizabeth Edwards has said,

"I want to be perfectly clear. I do not think the hatred against Hillary Clinton is justified. I don't know where it comes from. I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base."

I’m all for fighting the good fight; I’m just wondering when it’s all said and done whether we will sit back and think, crap, John Edwards really could have won this thing.

Don't Believe Bush's Surge Lies! - Iraq Deaths Double What They Were A Year Ago!

Yes, I know it's a tough picture to look at. It makes you wince and think about that father's pain and grief and also about what that child's life might have been like in happier times. You wonder what his name is and then you look at your children and you want to give them a hug and hold them close. It's heart-wrenching yet it's important to not sanitize what death is really like in Iraq and not to let that child disappear into anonymity forever. That's what Bush and Cheney want to you to do, dehumanize people who suffer and wrap it all up in a neat, jingoistic package. Don't fall for it; remember this child.

This is the Iraqi people's reality every day and despite what the despots and liars in the White House are telling you . . . it's getting worse not better.

According to a new report from the Associated Press seen in newsvine.com,

"The death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago. The figures are considered a minimum, the actual numbers are likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted."

The AP findings state that,

"Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year, an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year."

"Nearly 1,000 more people have been killed in violence across Iraq in the first eight months of this year than in all of 2006. So far this year, about 14,800 people have died in war-related attacks and sectarian murders. AP reporting accounted for 13,811 deaths in 2006. The United Nations and other sources placed the 2006 toll far higher."

"Baghdad has gone from representing 76 percent of all civilian and police war-related deaths in Iraq in January to 52 percent in July, bringing it back to the same spot it was roughly a year ago."

"According to the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, the number of displaced Iraqis has more than doubled since the start of the year, from 447,337 on Jan. 1 to 1.14 million on July 31."

Don't believe Bush's lies any more!

Bush's Immoral, Illegal Incarcerations Rebuked Again!

I remember when this country was admired and a shining beacon of justice for all the world. When we didn't eviscerate the constitution based on fear and a fake war on terror that doesn't exist. When we didn't torture, wiretap, kidnap, murder and imprison people without charges or an attorney. 

According to the Associated Press: today;

Twenty retired federal judges, two rear admirals and a Marine general joined 383 current or former members of the European and British parliaments on Friday in urging the Supreme Court to grant detainees at Guantanamo Bay full access to the U.S. court system.

The 383 European politicians of divergent political views said it is important that even when faced with the threat of international terrorism, all states, including the United States, comply with the standards set by international humanitarian law and human rights law by granting full court access.

"The treatment of petitioners currently falls short of these standards," the European diplomats said.

Bush's Nuclear Bunker Buster Bombs Ready To Launch Against Iran!

As the right-wing hysteria over Iran increases egged on by Fox News, many Americans don't know or have forgotten that the Bush administration has already completed plans for a nuclear strike. One of the military’s initial option plans, as presented to the White House by the Pentagon, calls for the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites in Iran. It's time to pay attention people, this is serious. To the Bush/Cheney neocon war profiteers, Iraq was just practice.

According to Stephen M. Osborne, a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest and an 'Atomic Vet.' (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956,) . . .

"The latest information I have had from the followers of Bush is that he has demanded and received permission to use nuclear “bunker busters” in Iran in a preemptive strike".

"As a nuclear veteran I can affirm that this is absolute madness. The bunker buster is a cute sounding name for a nuclear horror . . . Using bunker busters in Iran, or anywhere else for that matter, will vaporize hundreds of thousands of tons of earth, water and rock and send this radioactive soup downwind to kill and sicken whole populations. Those immediately downwind will die quickly, in hours or days."

I wonder how the Chinese are going to feel about radioactive clouds drifting overhead . . .

"Those further downwind will take longer. The global incidences of cancers and disease will again rise markedly. The land downwind will remain contaminated and unusable for generations."

Nuclear weapons are not good at busting bunkers or destroying chemical and biological weapons stored underground, as advocates claim. And they create severe fallout above ground.

This insanity is real, are we going to let this happen?

The Crandall Canyon Mining Disaster – Because The Squirrel Looked Him Square In The Eye!

It turns out, that Bob Murray the now infamous owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah is also a well known global warming denier. Geez what a shock huh. Murray has said . . . “I would describe Al Gore as the shaman of global goofiness and gloom and doom.” Now that’s rich, this rotund, greedy buffoon is calling Al Gore goofy? How’s this for goofy. The United Mine Worker's Of America Journal reported that according to Murray, he had just been let go in 1987 as CEO of North American Coal Company and was feeling extremely down about the whole situation. At home one day, Murray was sitting on his back porch, contemplating his future, when he was approached by a squirrel. Murray says the squirrel hopped up next to him, looked him square in the eye and said,

"Bob Murray, you should be operating your very own mines."

A SQUIRREL??? AT LEAST BUSH HAS GOD TALKING TO HIM!

(Couldn't make that up if I wanted to. A buck to your PayPal account to the first "investigative journalist" to produce a video of Murray and the squirrel)

Seriously, It's all just so sad isn't it, a horrific and senseless tragedy on every level and our hearts go out to the miners and their families. No one can imagine their pain.

Time and time again it’s the same old thing as corporate greed seems to take precedence over worker safety. The Crandall Canyon mine has had more than three hundred safety violations since 2004, with thirty safety violations in the past year alone according to CNN, including a recent one for not providing two required safety escape routes for each tunnel. Now gee I may be a little slow but I would imagine an additional escape route might cost Mr. Murray a few Big Macs huh?

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO writing at the Huffington Post said . . .

“Safety concerns about the Crandall Canyon mine surfaced months ago, and experts warned of particular dangers in the “retreat mining” technique used there after it was approved by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. In retreat mining, coalminers essentially pull out roof-supporting pillars of coal as they work their way out of the mine. The retreat mining plan at Crandall Canyon, says United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts, appears to have been flawed, to say the least. In our opinion, that plan should never have been approved.

No one should be surprised it was approved, though. The Bush administration has been systematically dismantling and cutting funding for workplace safety rules and oversight since it came into office”.

OK, so do we really need an “investigation” to know what happened here?

The rambling, obnoxious blowhard of a greedy owner Bob Murray is one for the ages. Did you see his initial press conference? He rambled on about God and not leaving the mine and then went into a diatribe against unions and global warming. Carol Costello, CNN anchor said afterwards “You know he didn't hold a news conference today. He had a conversation about God, mining and America.” Murray owns eleven mines and according to the Wall Street Journal, makes $800 million a year. Yet Murray has already started criticizing the media and has stated that an earthquake caused the initial collapse. Looks like Murray doesn’t need to wait for an investigation either. A few years back there were also rumors of alleged illegal anti-Union practices at Murray’s Crandall Canyon Mine as well as unsubstantiated complaints of alleged intimidation and threats when the mine employees were considering unionizing and reports of anonymous phone calls made to the USDC voter fraud hotline in 2006. They alleged that a letter from Bob Murray, read aloud to his employees on Election Day, stated that if it were found that they hadn’t voted Republican, they’d be fired.

L.U. 1360 president John Yemich said this six years ago about Murray,

"Bob Murray is so anti-union that he wants to bust us even after we kept him in business. He has exploited his workers. We must stop his efforts to cut our members out of work."

The Salt Lake Tribune also reported this past Sunday that,

“The mine experienced serious structural problems in March, and, that miners had abandoned work in part of it after pressures within the mountain caused coal pillars to burst, affecting roof conditions. The poor roof was thought to be 900 feet from where the six miners remain trapped.” Harley Benz the chief scientist of the National Earthquake Information Center said the Crandall Canyon mine collapse was not caused by an earthquake. “Our preliminary analysis of the data suggests that what we observed was a mine collapse. The signal that we recorded on all of the seismic stations in the area and throughout the western U.S. had characteristics that were not typical of a natural occurring earthquake.” Maybe it was a squirrel.