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POPSHas Sarah Palin Been Picked as the Titular Head of the Coming Police State?
Reports confirmed my suspicions: Palin, not McCain, is the FrankenBarbie of the Rove-Cheney cabal. The strategy became clear. Time magazine reported that Rove is "dialed in" to the McCain campaign. Rove's protege Steve Schmidt is now campaign manager. And Politico reported that Rove was heavily involved in McCain's vice presidential selection. Finally a new report shows that there are dozens of Bush and Rove operatives surrounding Sarah Palin and orchestrating her every move. What's the plan? It is this. McCain doesn't matter. Reputable dermatologists are discussing the fact that in simply actuarial terms, John McCain has a virulent and life-threatening form of skin cancer. It is the elephant in the room, but we must discuss the health of the candidates: doctors put survival rates for someone his age at two to four years. I believe the Rove-Cheney cabal is using Sarah Palin as a stalking horse, an Evita figure, to put a popular, populist face on the coming police state and be the ta
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POPSThe Eight Year Bailout Swanson nails it in this excellent article--see link for all of it, but here's some: For at least two years as vice president, Cheney received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Halliburton in "deferred compensation." Of course, that was justifiable in terms of the public good: society might have collapsed had Cheney not piled up more riches. But his riches and Halliburton's were a little crumb off the loaf of large-scale looting that has been the primary focus of our government all these years. While Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes called their book about Iraq "The Three Trillion Dollar War," they were being very conservative. If you read their book, you find that incredibly conservative calculations place the amount of money wasted at no less than five trillion dollars, and mounting, with no end in sight. And who gets that money? Well, certainly not "the troops" so cynically used to squeeze it out of those gelatinous masses of spineless goo that go by the name "House" and
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POPSVFP Calls for U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan and the Prosecution of Dick Cheney and George Bush fo This same resolution calls for the U.S. government to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan, in non-coercive forms, to help them rebuild their own nation and their lives in cooperation with other nations in the region; and to allow the people of Afghanistan to freely determine their own government without interference by the U.S. "These three statements from our membership represent many of the core values of our organization. We believe that service members have the right to re-evaluate their decision to kill and change their mind. We know that after all the killing is done the individual soldiers must live with themselves and make sense of what they have done. We believe that our political leaders must be held accountable for their actions. This is a critical to a healthy and functional democracy. We realize that to survive the challenges we face today, like global warming, we must find ways to work together and war is not viable." To read full text of the resolu
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POPSNo one in "murrika mourns for the "Collaterals" In the spirit of Dr. King, I too have a dream. I have a vision of a Truth Commission in the United States that will create a process of accountability for the war crimes and human rights violations committed by the Bush administration during these past eight years. I see a campaign that will enable our citizens to eventually cast a vote for the principles of the Hague and Geneva Conventions that protect the rights of prisoners of war and of civilian populations. I see a growing movement of citizens empowered to bring Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others into a process of justice for their commissioning of illegal wiretapping, torturing prisoners, and killing innocent civilians.
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POPSGOP Convention Schedule Leaked! 11:00 pm – President Bush performs his hilarious comedy routine where he looks for Iraq's fictitious WMD's under guests tables. 11:15 pm – Governor Mike Huckabee does his famous uncanny imitation of Gomer Pyle. 11:20 pm – Group intervention to get Rush Limbaugh back into drug rehab 11: 45 pm – Go up on rooftop and throw rocks down at homeless vets sleeping in alley. 12:00 am – Live satellite feed from Federal Prison – California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham 12:20 am – Convicted felon/Fox News analyst G. Gordon Liddy – "Lock Picking Secrets" 12: 40 am – Guest speakers Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz – "How to Lie Your Country Into a War" 1:00 am – Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay – "Tips on Money Laundering" 1:15 am – Hookers arrive for after-party http://www.StopMcCain08.com
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POPSWarning to Obama on the New Cold War by Tom Hayden • McCain has traveled to Georgia, nominated his close friend Saakashlivi for a Nobel Prize in 2005, and was the first American leader to blast Russia last April, when Vladimir Putin issued a sharp warning against NATO membership for Georgia and the Ukraine, supported by the United States. • The Bush Administration was divided along familiar lines, with the foreign policy "realists" around Condoleezza Rice opposite the pro-Georgia hawks centered in Dick Cheney's office and allied with McCain--enthusiasts for spreading "democracy" from Iraq to the Russian border. • Randy Scheunemann, McCain's foreign policy adviser, was a registered foreign agent for Saakashlivi's government from at least 2004, when Saakashvili came to power, until May 15, 2008, when he technically severed his ties to Orion Strategies, his lobbying firm. At that point, Orion had earned at least $800,000 in lobbying fees from Georgia. • Saakashvili, with Scheuneman advising him, campaigned on a platform of taking
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POPSAmerica in the World: Silenced by Bush Such Bushian doublespeak, expressed with total "sincerity," has regrettably defined America's relationship with our fellow human beings in this new century. As a result, even US critics of the administration's policies are reluctant to condemn aggression by other countries because they do not want to be accused of what the Bush regime, worldwide, will perhaps be most remembered for -- hypocrisy.
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POPSPelosi confronted at book signing Madam Speaker was so flustered by our efforts that she barely made a cogent remark for her whole "Know Your Power" talk. Our peaceful action had impact. The truth is a powerful tool. But if only our actions weren't necessary. If only, as Jodie Evans suggested, Madam Speaker would do her job! Saddest of all is the contrast of who Pelosi once was to who she his now. For a woman who was once at the cutting edge of social progressivism, Nancy Pelosi has lost her way. She has strayed from her former social consciousness into the malaise of power. A sorry state for a woman who 32 years ago was a pivotal player in the 1976 Presidential campaign of radically progressive California Governor, Jerry Brown.
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POPS"President Bush, Will You Please Shut Up Your Oily Mouth?" The neoconned Bush Regime and the Israeli-occupied American media are heading the innocent world toward nuclear war. Back in the Reagan years the National Endowment for Democracy was created as a cold war tool. Today the NED is a neocon-controlled agent for US world hegemony. Its main function is to pour US money and election-rigging into former constituent parts of the Soviet Union in order to ring Russia with American puppet states. The neoconservative Bush Regime used the NED to intervene in Ukrainian and Georgian internal affairs in keeping with the neoconservative plan to establish US-friendly and Russia-hostile political regimes in these two former constituent parts of Russia and the Soviet Union. The NED was also used to dismember the former Yugoslavia with its interventions in Slovakia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing NED, told the Washington Post in 1991 that much of what the NED does “today was done covertly 2
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POPSRevoke EPA’s Licenses to Pollute Behind the veil of “clean skies,” however, smog and soot and very small toxic particulate matter are still pouring out of the pipes of cars, trucks, the containerized shipping industry that drives global commerce, airplanes, incinerators, large farms and factories. These microscopic particles cause inflammation and injury to the lungs and the blood, killing thousands and condemning many more to life with asthma. Runoff from agribusiness, industry and suburban trophy lawns still flows through our (non-burning) rivers, creating dead zones off our shores and sickening swimmers on our beaches. This is happening because industries have become experts at delaying and manipulating the work of EPA through political pressure and legal tactics. And EPA analysts cut and paste corporate-generated studies and analysis into their findings. As a result, the EPA often acts as if it were protecting the earnings of regulated industries rather than the public’s health.
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POPSShould Conyers Impeach or Write Another Book About Bush's Crimes? Three years ago, Conyers' staffers on the Judiciary Committee produced a book about Bush and Cheney's impeachable offenses. Some of us helped them do it. After all, they were in the minority and couldn't do much more than write books. But now? In the majority? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has subpoena power? Now, should they be accepting that Congress no longer has the power to legislate? Now, should they be accepting that Congress has no power of the purse? Now, should they be devoting tax dollars to the pointless vanity of doing what anyone else can do: writing yet another book on Bush and Cheney's latest impeachable offenses
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POPSImpeachment Hearings: A Win Is a Win I go for the second interpretation of events. It is clear, as was beautifully laid out in an article published by Glenn Greenwald in Salon magazine on July 15, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership both in Congress and in the party organization, have been blocking any action on impeachment for fear of having their own complicity in Bush’s and Cheney’s crimes revealed. As Greenwald notes, the Washington Post has reported that Pelosi, along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) were briefed on the administration’s use of torture and not only didn’t object, but actively encouraged it. Rockefeller and Harman, who at the time were minority leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees at the time, were also briefed about Bush’s order to the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless spying on Americans. They didn’t object or publicly expose this blatant violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance A
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POPSinteractive guide: Who in the Bush administration broke the law, and who could be prosecuted Each scandal is represented by a colored circle that encompasses the people who are implicated. As it's easy to see, many of the players here are mixed up in two, three, or more of the alleged crimes. Hence all the overlapping circles (Venn-diagram heaven!). The best way to make sense of this legal tangle is to mouse over the title of an individual scandal, which will highlight everyone implicated. For example, the wiretapping bubble ensnares George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, David Addington, John Ashcroft, John Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales. At the same time, Ashcroft and Gonzales fall into the overlapping circle for monkey business related to DoJ hiring. Mouse over a person's name for information on how each person is involved. Mouse over the title of each circle for specifics about the particular scandal. And if all else fails, fall back on this golden rule of wrongdoing in the White House: All roads lead to Gonzales.
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POPSGreen ‘Peace Party’ positions against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars compared to pro-occupation Clint “The occupation of Iraq will continue whether a Democrat or a Republican moves into the White House in January 2009,” said Jason Wallace, Green candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 11th District <http://www.electwallace.us> and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War <http://ivaw.org/index.php>. IVAW has announced ‘Winter Soldier’ (March 13-16), a four-day event bringing together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan <http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier>. “The ILWU action planned for May 1 is evidence that working people are impatient with vague promises to end these wars. Will Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama endorse the ILWU protest and pledge to call home all US military personnel immediately?” “By calling the Iraq War a matter of military preparedness and botched strategy, Democrats are sidestepping the premise of the war,” said Bob Kinsey, Green candidate for the US Senate in Colorado <http://www.kinseyforsenate.org>. “While it’s true that
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POPSNiether Dems or Rethugs Deserve or votes! He’s a politician in essence chosen by the mainstream corporate media marketing complex to be their puppet and appeal to the public’s desire for an anti-Bush. Unfortunately he’s not far enough removed from mainstream corporate media marketing complex to represent real “change”.
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POPSCheney's office corrupts EPA regulations Officials with the White House and Cheney's office requested the removal of "any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change," wrote Burnett, who declined to tell reporters who specifically called for the changes. Burnett's letter also details efforts by the administration to influence the EPA's response to the U.S. Supreme Court's April 2007 decision in the case of Massachusetts vs EPA. The ruling requires the agency determine whether greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health. An "endangerment" finding would require the EPA to take action to regulate and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
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POPSObama, Conyers epitomize Arrogance in Pants. Thanks Joan for posting this...The Centrist thing of Obama's was inevitable, it seems, as he panders to the sheeple. WASHINGTON -- Former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove won't testify next week before a House committee investigating the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman, despite a threat of a contempt proceeding. Rove is exerting executive privilege and declined the invitation to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, his attorney Robert Luskin wrote to the House panel Tuesday. A lawsuit is pending in federal court in Washington over whether top White House officials can be compelled to testify before Congress, he wrote. The Judiciary Committee has been seeking Rove's testimony since April, and committee Chairman Rep. John Con- yers, D-Mich., said in a response letter sent Thursday that he was "disappointed" with Rove's decision. It seems Conyers has lost his balls somewhere...won't Impeach, when it's the only thing to stop Cheney/Bush, and
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POPSThey're Baaack--Juan Coles take on Amerikan Big Oil in Iraq Thanks to Ratilfar...Maybe he clipped it too but it deserves all the spreading it gets...excellent column by Juan Cole: Bush and Cheney clearly went into Iraq primarily in order to put US petroleum firms in precisely this favored position. The US power elite wanted this outcome and connived actively at it. As Alan Greenspan put it, “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.” Poor Iraq has been looted, occupied, and disrupted by the industrialized West for a century because of the curse of its oil wealth. The Iraqi Petroleum Company was until 1929 the Turkish Petroleum Company since it began in 1912 with a concession from the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Iraq before the 1917 British conquest. The victors of World War I used their victory to leverage themselves into Iraqi oil. The Ottomans had thrown in with Germany and Austria in 1914, and were defeated by the victorious allies. Iraq was considered a s
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POPSAttack Iran? Cheney's Already Tried After he become head of the Central Command (Centcom) in March 2007, Admiral William Fallon also made his opposition to such a massive attack on Iran known to the White House, according Middle East specialist Hillary Mann, who had developed close working relationships with Pentagon officials when she worked on the National Security Council staff. Soon after, Adm. Fallon was fired...gee I wonder why? At least there are a few semi-sane generals opposing Cheney.
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POPSState of Emergency: The US in the Final Six Months of the George W. Bush Administration Despite time constraints, there are clear signs that the president, the vice-president and their neocon collaborators are not finished. The constant saber-rattling toward Iran, with strong support from Israel, should send a chill down the spine of any peace-loving American. Military chiefs who oppose the president are “retired,” as observed most recently with the March dismissals of CENTCOM commander Admiral William Fallon and 6th Fleet commander Vice-Admiral John Stufflebeem. Public opinion counts for nothing. In a March 24 interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz, vice president Dick Cheney responded to a question about the war weariness of Americans with a languid “So?”
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POPSCheney Enrages Iraqis with Demands for New Laws * grants the U.S. long-term rights to maintain over 50 military bases in their California-sized country * allows the U.S. to strike any other country from within Iraqi territory without the permission of the Iraqi government * allows the U.S. to conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting with the local government * allows U.S. forces to arrest any Iraqi without consulting with Iraqi authorities * extends to U.S. troops and contracters immunity from Iraqi law * gives U.S. forces control of Iraqi airspace below 29,000ft. * places the Iraqi Defense, Interior and National Security ministries under American supervision for ten years * gives the U.S. responsibility for Iraqi armament contracts for ten years No doubt some key figures in the Bush administration have asked themselves that, and here's what they come up with. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds $ 50 billion of Iraq's foreign exchange reserves as a result of the UN sanct
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