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POPSThe "just war" that was illegal and immoral Over the last few days I've been watching, on Sky News, reports on the British inquiry into British involvement in the Iraqi-American War. What I've heard and seen so far has confirmed my impression at the time, back in 2002-2003 -- that there was no real reason for the war other than that the leaders of Britain and the US wanted one. It was George Bush's second, and Tony Blair's third, since he was also one of the foremost proponents of the Nato war against Yugoslavia in 1999 (see earlier post). The inquiry evidence is all couched in careful diplomatic terms, presenting the evidence. But for evaluation of the issues at stake, this piece from The Telegraph, of all places, tells it like it is.
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POPSThe Triumph of Ignorance
More: "Besides fundamentalist religion, perhaps the most potent reason why intellectuals struggle in elections is that intellectualism has been equated with subversion. The brief flirtation of some thinkers with communism a long time ago has been used to create an impression in the public mind that all intellectuals are communists. Almost every day men like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly rage against the "liberal elites" destroying America. The spectre of pointy-headed alien subversives was crucial to the election of Reagan and Bush. A genuine intellectual elite - like the neocons (some of them former communists) surrounding Bush - has managed to pitch the political conflict as a battle between ordinary Americans and an over-educated pinko establishment. Any attempt to challenge the ideas of the rightwing elite has been successfully branded as elitism. Obama has a good deal to offer America, but none of this will come to an end if he wins. Until the great failures of the US edu
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POPSBiden v. Palin On CNN someone said that she would be a candidate in four or eight years. I have no doubt that’s true. She reminds me of a talented sixth round pick in the NFL. She needs some development but with some time on the practice squad she will be a contributor to the Republican Party. Gone is the impression left from the Couric interviews that she is just a dope. The verdict Biden wins. Palin holds her own and improves.
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POPSHow Tenet Betrayed the CIA on WMD in Iraq Habbush explained to the British official that Saddam tried to maintain the impression that he did have such weapons in order to impress Iran. Suskind writes that the head of MI6, Richard Dearlove, flew to Washington to present details of the Habbush report to Tenet, who then briefed National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Soon after that, the CIA informed the British that the Bush administration was not interested in keeping the Habbush channel open, according to Suskind’s account.
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POPSDemocrats And Gasoline that they must have some gall to criticize creationism when they in fact subscribe to its economic equivalent. But as I wrote last week, I don't really think they are this ignorant. They're providing a rhetorical distraction to the fact that they want high gas prices, probably higher ones than we have right now. Meanwhile, in order to deflect and even harness consumer anger in the political arena, they can send out Chuck Schumer to put on this dog-and-pony show about the phantoms that are secretly directing the economy from behind closed doors. It's a smokescreen. As an energy consumer, you should be a lot more concerned about what Democrats are doing in the open Senate chamber. The gas crisis finally hit Capitol Hill with full fury this week, and Senate Democrats have launched a plan that sounds ambitious: Take on Wall Street speculators, OPEC, price gougers and Big Oil. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9967.html
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POPSThe Budget According to McCain
* McCain seems to say that he can save $100 billion by cutting out earmarks. But budget experts say that cutting earmarks would actually save very little. And questioned more closely, McCain's campaign now says that his planned savings have nothing to do with eliminating earmarks. * With earmarks out as a potential source of savings, McCain hasn't said what he'd cut out of the discretionary budget to get to $100 billion. He's even indicated that defense spending might increase. If defense spending is off the table, saving $100 billion would require 18.5 percent across-the-board cuts in every other discretionary program, including things like elementary and secondary education, veterans' health benefits and highway construction. The alternative would be severe cuts in a few programs, as yet unnamed. * McCain says that "just in the last few years" the government has puffed up "by 40 percent, by trillions." Actually, it has taken federal spending a decade to grow 40 pe
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POPSYOU'VE GOT SNAIL MAIL It looks like the lies, and mudslinging have become a way of life in political circles and campaigns. But of all people to use such tactics, one would imagine, Hillary Clinton could never resort to such dirty tricks. After all the lies that the republican camps had flung her way hoping to smear her husband and herself into obliteration, I would think she would have become a defender of truth. I'm very disappointed with Hillary and Bill's choice to embrace the swiftboater's dirty maneuvers to win an election. If we the people keep listening to known lies and casting our votes for those who sling such lies, we deserve what we get as our leaders. In other words, we deserved George W. Bush and we deserved his efforts to FALL THE USA EMPIRE. Please read: Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire http://killeenroos.com/1/Romefall.htm and notice the similarities. SCARY STUFF :shock: Click here for fact check: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/youve_got_mailers_1.html
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POPS"Straight Talk Express" Took A Wrong Turn With This Mailer ANALYSIS FROM FACT CHECK ON MCCAIN MAILER What makes the McCain mailer misleading is that McCain himself went way beyond quietly refusing to endorse the 2003 tax cut plan. He was one of only three Senate Republicans to vote against it. The day after Bush proposed the cuts he criticized them as too generous to the rich. "It is middle-income Americans that have kept our economy afloat by buying houses and automobiles," McCain said on MSNBC's "Hardball." "I believe that they deserve the majority of the break, not the higher-income level of Americans." By attacking Romney for not supporting the 2003 cuts, McCain invites readers to believe that he himself must have supported them, which isn't true. Furthermore, McCain also voted against Bush's 2001 tax cuts, before Romney took office as governor.
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POPSNavy version of Iranian boat conflict unravels; Tape comments were spliced in; no motor noise in backgound; Iranians hailed US ship; objects in water were never thought to be dangerous; small boats incapable of damaging ships; no threats or hostile actions happened; US ships were not alarmed. Despite spectacular and erroneous media coverage, none have offered corrections, leaving impression of threat in American public mind. Bush uses it to stiffen anti-Iran rhetoric. Best comment on story: "What happened to the skier?"
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POPSAnother view of Musharraf's latest move Musharraf's proclamation of "emergency" rule indicates that he feels he has no real need to worry about U.S. posturing about "freedom and democracy" in the region. He knows Bush needs him and he intends to take full advantage.
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POPSWall Street Journal Ignorant of Torture I found one comment hard to swallow here. The assertion that "Congress could have outlawed the practice at any time". I was under the impression that we already have laws outlawing torture. Again, the real issue is not addressed. The real issue being the possible prosecution of people who take part in or order torture. Bush and cronies are aware of the perils of braking existing laws and want nothing more than to cover their asses after they leave office.
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POPSCrazy Cheney If we do attack Iran -- and it's increasingly looking as if we will -- our troops in Iraq will pay a heavy price.
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POPSJust how much are we being manipulated? Sadly, as the news medium is being swallowed up by Murdoch people must question the diet of "news" they have the potential to be fed. With tentacles stretching throughout the World there is far more power in this empire than any democracy you can name. You can elect Governments but they will be puppets in the hands of people controlling the news diet to the World population.
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POPSThat's What I Said! The killer: the Democrats were the ones who made it happen, a mere two weeks after Congressional leaders announced that they were going to let Title V, Section 510 abstinence-only-education funding die without reauthorization. Prior to this painful backstab, the Dems had given us the impression that these medically inaccurate programs, full of "false, misleading, or distorted information" -- as confirmed in Representative Henry A. Waxman's "The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs" report -- would be cut or eliminated by our new Congress. Instead, we're faced with an additional $27.8 million for this reprehensible approach to human sexuality education, not only hailing the failing White House Chief's delusional efforts, but providing a whopping tax dollar waste of $141 million to CBAE.
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POPSWILL THE POT EVER STOP CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK?
Intolerable use of weapons of mass destruction against enemies; unprecedented aggression against and occupation of a country which posed no threat to his own; routine kidnapping, torture, murder and secret prison system; wholesale slaughter of citizens from other countries; imprisonment of political rivals held for years without charges; and secret spying on his very own countrymen without court order or legislative approval, demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that this so-called "President" is a dangerous rogue, a tyrant, and a grave threat -- of the highest order -- to worldwide peace and democracy. His immediate removal from UNELECTED power was...and is...a completely justified imperative. Guess who this clip from Brad Friedman Blog is referring to? If you've answered GEORGE W BUSH... (Loud buzzer going off) YOU'RE WRONG... IT WAS SADDAM HUSSEIN. The very man Bush/Neocons said needed to be eradicated to make this world a safer place... ONCE AGAIN THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE
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POPSYou Gotta Love the Bush Family Values Should anyone be surprised that Jeb Bush, the President's brother and the former President's son (oh gosh, I should leave him out of this mix) decided to go to work for a firm that is deeply involved in ethics abuse? Frankly, but quite unfortunately, I am not. While it must be difficult to turn away $37,000 per day as a salary, one must wonder what Jeb Bush must do to earn that kind of money. I hope it is to clean up the company Tenet Healthcare but somehow I doubt it. I am constantly reminded by the antics of the Bush family that one should never tie one's shoes in a watermelon patch. It gives the impression that one is about to steal watermelons, even if the intent is to simply tie one's shoes. Appearances is everything in this world. We live and die by appearances. So Jeb, stop bending over to tie your shoes--You are in the middle of the watermelon patch.
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