junk and crap, amen

Or "So this is a very thought-out plan."

Well thought out? Poorly thought out? Whatever. These are the words of US Senator Joseph Lieberman, summarizing his explanation of Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq. (if you laugh, you'll feel guilty about it). I doubt Joe gave it much thought.

Via the Online Newshour:

GWEN IFILL: Let me ask Senator Lieberman actually to defend the policy that he supports, which is the decision to send these additional troops.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: It has military, 22,000 extra troops, but it also has economic and political components and clear demands on the Iraqis, benchmarks of what they've got to do, to basically deserve our continued involvement to protect them.

Why is that a good idea? Why do I think it will work? And, again, I'm listening to General Petraeus. There is a cycle of sectarian violence in Baghdad. It's not armies of Shia and the Sunni clashing in open civil war.

But until that stops in the capital city, there's not a chance either to create the economic growth that will tell the average Iraqi in Baghdad that they've got a chance to live a better life, nor is there the stability that will allow the Iraqi government to do what they want them to do, to begin to govern.

You know, there's a number of Iraqi government officials that just aren't in Baghdad anymore, and that's just unacceptable. You're not going to be able to build a government if that happens.

There's a second front in Anbar province, to the west of Baghdad. I visited there, as I did in Baghdad, in December. There we're in a different kind of battle. It's not sectarian violence. It is us and the Sunni leadership of that province against al-Qaida in Iraq, which has said that it wants to create the capital of a new Islamic extremist caliphate there in Anbar province.

We're making progress there. An additional 4,000 troops, which is part of the 21,000 that the president is sending, I think will turn that conflict in Anbar in the right direction, and actually it has the potential to achieve a victory for us.

So this is a very thought-out plan.

What a slimy bastard. Self serving, self righteous, self important asshole. "...deserve our continued involvement to protect them."

Fuck right off.

Once you get past his white supremacy, I challenge you to find even the slightest explanation of a plan in his statement, except the 4,000 troops thing. But, if you accept the premise that the US is actually fighting a war on terrorism (which I do not), and the principle enemy group involved is al-Qaida, then wouldn't you send all, or at least most of your troops to fight them? You know, the enemy? Who you're fighting? I'm no Alexander, but...

The best bit is "You know, there's a number of Iraqi government officials that just aren't in Baghdad anymore, and that's just unacceptable. You're not going to be able to build a government if that happens."

Man, that just cracks me up.

I am assuming here that PBS's Newshour attracts viewers, on average, above the age of 3.

Labels: Bush, Iraq, war criminal

For years Augusto Pinochet, former Dictator of Chile, puppet of the US, murderer, torturer, sadist, ... has been avoiding trial and prosecution for crimes against humanity for allegedly being mentally unfit to stand trial. (See articles)

Recent comments from his daughter tell a different story. They describe a man who feels remorse for what he's done, and therefore an understanding of what he's done. From Democracy Now:

Victims’ Families Reject Pinochet Meeting Request
In Chile, the daughter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet has announced her father is willing to meet with the families of victims tortured or disappeared under his rule.

Lucia Pinochet: "He feels very pained for this and he has told me, that he feels that if he would be able to meet with these people he would express to them a profound apology. And this is the truth because he has not announced this, he told me this in private."

The daughter, Lucia Pinochet, went on to say Pinochet is not willing to seek a national pardon. Her comments come two weeks after Pinochet was put under house arrest for overseeing kidnapping, murder and torture at the secret prison of Villa Grimaldi.

Expressing a 'profound apology' implies complete understanding of what you're apologizing for, no? This would then also imply being in possession of the mental faculties to stand trial for that which you are apologizing...no?

Meanwhile, some leading human rights lawyers believe Pinochet’s reported comments may undermine the former dictator’s repeated defense to avoid being brought to court.

This guy really needs to stand trial for what he's done. It's a criminal act itself to allow his obviously phony defense to shield him from justice.

Labels: torture, war criminal

Thanks to Crooks&Liars.com for linking to this interview at Speigel Online of Ron Suskind, former writer for the Wall Street Journal. The subject of the interview is torture and "black sites", or secret prisons.

Here's a choice little excerpt:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So the average interrogator at a Black Site understands more about the mistakes made than the president?

Suskind: The president understands more about the mistakes than he lets on. He knows what the most-skilled interrogators know too. He gets briefed, and he was deeply involved in this process from the beginning. The president loves to talk to operators.

And this:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: With all your access to high-level sources, have you come across anyone who still thinks it is a good idea for the US to torture people?

Suskind: No.

And then this:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The government's tenor seems to be that...the system of Black Sites is ending.

Suskind: They were the prizes, the most significant of them. Are there others? Of course, they are in various places, in the sort of loose confederation of prisons that are housed simply within countries. The prisoners are farmed out but not beyond the purview of the United States, which is still interested in what they say. The Egyptians, Jordanians and others keep us informed. I assume there are still about 100 prisoners and that the system of Black Sites is continuing. The president has preserved his right to do that.

So...everyone thinks torture doesn't work, but Bush wants to keep doing it anyway. Why? "He was deeply involved in the process from the beginning." This is his baby.

Bush loves to talk to the 'operators', which clearly is a euphemism for torturer.

Bush "loves" to talk to the torturers.

Think about that for a millisecond. He's not talking to them about stopping. He's not talking to them about the morality of it, or he'd be talking about stopping. He's not talking about the ineffectiveness of it, or he'd talk about stopping. He's definitely not talking about puppies. Maybe they're talking about Nazis, we're not sure, but he's certainly talking to them about what they know - torturing people. Maybe getting a good belly laugh or two.

'Operator': Oh man Mr. Prez, you shoulda seen this one dude. Crapped his pants right there. Course, we'd been force feeding him through a tube 'till it started to come back up through his throat, and maybe that kick in the stomach might of had something to do with it. But geez.....

G.W.B.: Ha ha ha ha ha! Stop it! I'm gonna puke! I gotta tell this one to Alberto.......

When he drones on about staying the course, perhaps this is what he's really talking about. After all, he seems to be having fun.

Labels: Black Sites, Bush, torture, war criminal

Everyone looks to be taking their eyes off the prize, except for Keith Olbermann. The alarm level in the US over the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (pdf) should be through the roof. The idea of a nation governed by the people, based on the rule of law is gone. Everything it was founded upon and stands for is gone. America is ruled by a tyrant.

From Wikipedia:

• In the original Greek meaning, the word "tyrant" carried no ethical censure; it simply referred to anyone who overturned the established government of a city-state (usually through the use of popular support) to establish himself as dictator, or to the heir of such a person.
• Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an individual or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute political power.
• Modern dictators have usually come to power in times of emergency. Frequently they have seized power by coup but some achieved office as head of government by legal means, most notably Benito Mussolini in Italy, Adolf Hitler in Germany (election or appointment) and once in office gained additional extraordinary powers.

Labels: Bush, war criminal

Today is the beginning of the death of the USA. The ship of fools is sinking.

The US Senate has passed a law that wipes out 800 years of history and basic human rights. The USA has passed a law condoning conduct that was one of the catalysts towards the creation of America; the rejection of king-like powers and the embracing of rule by the people, for the people. They have given the president (or anyone in the executive) the power to arbitrarily kidnap you, suspend your rights of habeas corpus, and torture you, according to his definition of torture, and they never have to tell you anything while doing this to you.

The land of the free and the home of the brave, the USA has joined the ranks of every two bit dictator it's ever professed to despise. George Bush and his criminal, cowardly, pathetic cronies have become tyrants, they can count Saddam Hussein as a brother, or Pol-Pot, or Pinochet.

The reason this law was initiated, and passed, was to insulate the Bush administration from prosecution for torturing people during the farce that is the war on terror. They are spending their time not trying to make their country safer or help make life better for their citizens (whom they work for) but passing laws pardoning themselves for crimes committed against American citizens and non-citizens. In the process they are destroying democracy.

This is so fucking goddam outrageous on so many levels, I feel like throwing up. Where are George's shoes?

Labels: Bush, war criminal

It looks like the proverbial flying crap is about to hit the thermantidote. Someone in American mainstream media has finally said what the rest of the world has known for years, that the Bush administration has no-zero-nada credibility. From Keith Olbermann:

"If the Iraq debate seems especially exhausting, it may be due to the steady erosion of the foundation for any productive debate, facts."

But hey, who needs credibility when you can count on the rest of the media to stand slack jawed with their brains oozing out of their ears. The following is from an interview between Bush and David Ignatius, Washington Post Sept 15/06, concerning Iran:

The Khatami visit "said that the United States is willing to listen to voices," Bush explained. "And I hope that sends a message to the Iranian people that we're an open society, and that we respect the people of Iran." Clearly, the White House wants to reach out to segments of Iranian opinion beyond the hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Aside from the inane nature of this statement (and proveably false), a search of the White House web site on Middle East policy turns up only this on Iran (about 3/4 down the page):

The World Faces A Grave Threat From The Radical Regime In Iran

This Summer's Crisis In Lebanon Has Made It Clearer Than Ever That The World Faces A Grave Threat From The Radical Regime In Iran. The Iranian regime arms, funds, and advises Hezbollah, which has killed more Americans than any terrorist network except al Qaeda. It interferes extensively in Iraq, denies basic human rights to millions of its people, and is pursuing nuclear weapons in open defiance of its international obligations. We know the death and suffering that Iran’s sponsorship of terrorists has brought, and we can imagine how much worse it would be if Iran were allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

Many Nations Are Working Together To Solve This Problem. The UN has passed a resolution demanding Iran suspend its nuclear enrichment activities.

Today Is The Deadline For Iran's Leaders To Reply To The Reasonable Proposal The International Community Has Made, Yet So Far They Have Responded With Further Defiance And Delay. We'll continue working closely with our allies to find a diplomatic solution, but there must be consequences for Iran’s defiance, and we must not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

It ends on a rather threatening note, and no mention of any programs or initiatives, other than the UN's, towards a peaceful resolution.

Ignatius' article quotes Bush as saying:

"I would say to the Iranian people: We respect your history. We respect your culture. We admire the entrepreneurial skills of your people. I would say to the Iranian people that I recognize the importance of your sovereignty -- that you're a proud nation, and you want to have a positive future for your citizens," Bush said, answering quickly and without notes.

(Ooooh, without notes!)
Here's some US/Iran history for both Bush and Ignatius to mull over. Here's some more (CIA overthrows democratic govt. in 1953)......and more (US backs Saddam Hussein in Iran/Iraq war). There's lots more, enough to to keep their collective (ha!) brains busy for a while.

Bush goes on to say:

"I know that the more we can show the Iranian people the true intention of the American government," Bush concluded, "the more likely it is that we will be able to reach a diplomatic solution to a difficult problem."

They know the true intention of the American government, it's being demonstrated quite clearly right next door.

Father: Well son, what are your intentions with my daughter?
Suitor: Well, first I'd like to beat her. When she's all softened up I'll probably rape her repeatedly, and when I'm done with that I'll drain all her blood.

The article ends on a happy note, with Ignatius being unable to frame any sort of perspective other than fawning obedience:

I came away with a sense that Bush is serious about finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis, and that he is looking hard for ways to make connections between America and Iran.

He can make no sense, apparently, of history; that what George Bush says is rarely (never?) what he means.

Labels: Bush, Iran, media, war criminal

Words spoken by a member of the government that is ridiculous. Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National committee, uttered this on the Keith Olbermann show. Of course, he was referring to the Bush Administration and their obvious ridiculousness but his comment applies to him, and the entire political system in the US.

What is ridiculous is that two political parties can accurately reflect the diverse opinions, cultures and values of 300 million people. Think about it. Think how narrowly the debates must be framed, how the issues need to be defined by power in order for this to work. In terms of debate, if it's not an official talking point of either party then the issue is not raised.

Two parties, both comprised of the same classmates from college days (Bush & Kerry, both members of Skull & Bones at Yale) taught the same things by the same professors, both of whom raise campaign funds the same way, both of whom deal with lobbyists the same way, both of whom require you to be wealthy before you can even consider running for office, and both are deep in the pockets of defense contractors, corporations and wealthy individuals.

I like Howard Dean. He seems to be sincere and passionate about what he believes, doesn't look to be a war monger (although would probably have no choice but to be) and he most definitely would have been a better choice than Kerry for the 2004 election. But the disingenuousness remains. He's a political veteran and certainly knows how the system works and so must be aware that the system doesn't work, that the majority - the vast majority of Americans have no voice in the government that is theirs, that should be them, unless they can scrape some cash together.

Labels: Bush, war criminal

The most powerful men in the free (sort of) world (at least publicly) are...George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

None of whom have their full mental ablilities avaliable to them (none can remember what they do, why they did it or when). All are demonstrated liars. All are documented criminals in regards to the US Constitution, the International Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention, conflict of interest, corporate misconduct, and if tried in front of an impartial jury would be found guilty and, under US law, executed.

Unbelievable.

Labels: Bush, war criminal

What do you think they have on him? I mean, no one acting of their own free will would continuously say things publicly which make them look like a fool. Literally over and over and over again. It's like being trapped on the funhouse ride in an endless loop.

Either he is unable to remember, from one day to the next, what he's doing or saying which would make him mentally handicapped - or - someone owns him. Someone - some very powerful someone - has either bought him outright or is blackmailing him.

I mean, he was a respectable guy. Not to say he was a good guy, far from it, but when he took this latest stint as Sec. of Def., he had some credibility...he was respected. He was a congressman, an ambassador, a businessman. So he's not an idiot. He knows what he's saying.

So lets have a look:

• While he attended Princeton his roommate was Frank Carlucci, former tool of the CIA in the Congo where he helped assassinate Patrice Lumumba, and former Sec. of Def. under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and the current Chairman emeritus of the Carlyle Group, whose primary business is selling weapons to the US Gov. and various other tyrants.
• Rumsfeld served in the United States Navy from 1954 to 1957 as a naval aviator and flight instructor, and then in 1964 was elected to Congress in Illinois' 13th district (which looks to be the suburbs of Chicago) and was re-elected three times. While a Member of Congress he served on the Joint Economic Committee, the Committee on Science and Aeronautics, and the Government Operations Committee (PDF), as well as the Subcommittees on Military and Foreign Operations. He then resigned from Congress to work for Richard Nixon as the Director of the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, and later Counselor to the President in December of 1970, Director of the Economic Stabilization Program; and member of Nixon's Cabinet (1971-1972).
• Nixon, in case you didn't know, was a creation of Prescott Bush, a Nazi sympathizer who actually did business with Hitler during WWII, George H. W's dad and little George W's grampa. A search for 'Nixon Bush connection' turns up this - references to The Kennedy assassination. Hmmm.....
• Rumsfeld was Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff in 1974, and then his Sec. of Def. in 1975. As part of the Ford administration, Rumsfeld helped formulate the White House response to the death of CIA scientist Frank Olson, a sordid tale of biological weapons experimentation and human rights abuses. This also where Dick Cheney rears his ugly head.
• From Wikipedia: From 1977 to 1985 Rumsfeld served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company based in Skokie, Illinois, whose products included, among others, the oral contraceptive pill Enovid. During his tenure at Searle, Rumsfeld led the company's financial turnaround that in turn earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). Rumsfeld is believed to have earned around $12 million from Searle's sale to Monsanto. It was under Rumsfeld that Searle got the Food and Drug Administration's approval for the controversialartificial sweetener, aspartame, which it marketed as NutraSweet. Some believe that aspartame's approval was influenced by conflict of interest and that persons involved in the aspartame approval process were rewarded with high-paying jobs or consulting positions.
• He spends the next 15 years he holds various government posts, serving under Reagan, Bush I and Clinton, until being appointed Sec. of Def. again by Bush 1 1/2.
• Upon researching this, the name that pops up repeatedly in association with Rumsfeld is Bush. First Prescott, then George I, and now George 1 1/2.
• He was intrinsic to the creation of Saddam Hussein and the nightmare the Middle East has become. He is a college chum of Carlucci, an arms dealer who is also a good chum of George I and II. He's a member of the Project for A New American Century, was a chairman of the RAND Corporation, sold Nuclear Reactors to North Korea, and got wealthy off the suffering and exploitation of others. He helped orchestrate the militarization of the US economy, their aggresive, illegal foriegn policy, and probably the clandestine surveilance being carried out on the US population in direct violation of their constitution (with the most likely purpose being to gather information in order to blackmail people).

Donald Rumsfeld is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bush Inc., and will do and say anything they tell him to.

Labels: Bush, war criminal

Whoa. That's three posts in a row about, ah, whatsisname. No more for a while.
Except for this, which is what comes out of his mouth every time he opens it:

Labels: Bush, war criminal

Here's more on the 'Is Bush an idiot?' question that Joe Scarborough of MSNBC posed to us a few days ago.

Halfway through he interviews some politiclone named Terry Holt, who had this to say in the presidents defense (at 7:37):

...ultimately there's nobody else better at articulating the vision and the inspiration that we need to get back on our feet."

Seriously.

Besides the sentence having no real meaning, he seems to sincerely believe that nobody else can articulate vision and inspiration better than Bush. He's just the best damn orator in the entire country, or at least the entire Republican party. He simply needs to open his mouth and people's lives are instantly crystallized into optimistic focus.

It must be the warm, friendly, patronizing tone he often uses. Or maybe it's the commanding deer-in-the-headlights look he gives people when someone has asked him a question that requires him to think. Maybe it's the eloquent mispronunciation of words, or the mis-quoting or constant repetition that's so inspiring. Maybe it's when he makes up completely new nonsensical words, that assist his efforts at disengenuousness, which people feel cradling them down the road to destiny.

Labels: Bush, Mangled Logic, stupidity, war criminal

I just watched this video of a Bush press conference today and............!%$#@!?*

The press just lets all of this nonsense slide by, except for one feeble little question about what Saddam had to do with 9/11. Oh man do they need to start doing their jobs. In this one clip they could have called him on (in chronological order):

• 00:09 - Zarqawi was never a threat to take power in Iraq, until after the US invaded.
• 00:20 - The main reason, the FIRST reason, stated over and over, was that Saddam was responsible for 9/11.
• 00:25 - Capacity obtained from the USA.
• 00:28 - The suffering in Iraq, before the US invaded, was largely the consequence of US sanctions and blockades. Of course, since the invasion, human suffering has increased almost exponentially. Now they're free alright. Free from peace, free from safety, free from basic necessities, free from dignity, self determination, free from goodwill towards you, Mr. Bush.
• 00:37 - Imagine a world where Saddam Hussein was allowed to decline (as he was), where the people of Iraq were left to fashion their own destiny. Imagine a world where 3,500 hundred of them weren't being slaughtered every month.
• 00:42 - A part of the world that has been brutalized by colonial powers for generations.
• 00:47 - Once again he tries (does he even know what he's saying?) to tie Iraq with 9/11.
• 00:52 - No one is saying everything was just fine before. They're saying that everything is WAY WORSE NOW! What exactly does he think a hornets nest is?
• 01:05 - The US has been fixing elections, training terrorists, fostering extremism, backing dictators, waging wars, and destroying popular democratic movements in the Middle East since a wee bit before 9/11.
• 01:12 - Here is the timid question from the press corpse.
• 01:14 - What did Iraq have to do with what? WHAT? What's the reason for this fucking press conference, exactly?
• 01:20 - How does he sleep at night? Maybe he thinks he's dreaming this whole thing.
• 01:25 to 01:39 - Cliche Bushism. La la la la.
• 01:39 - Conditions he is responsible for. What the hell kind of word is suiciders?
• 01:53 - This is funny. He tries real hard to come up with a way to 'defeat resentment'. He comes up with 'hope'. And the best way for him to "do hope is through a form of government". Uh......Didn't the Soviets have a form of government? The average soviet citizen wasn't exactly chock full of hope.

Suiciders, according to the Urban Dictionary.

I can't believe I just did this.

Labels: Bush, media, war criminal

But he does agree that roast pigs are some good eatin'!

Here's the story. Basically the legal system in the US has found him guilty of violating his oath of office, specifically the part about swearing to uphold the constitution.

This was Bush's response (watch the video).

Man, I wish I could do that: 'I'm sorry Officer Bob, I strongly disagree that this here marijuana cigarette is illegal. Run along now.'

IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH!

Did I mention impeach?

Impeach the little dictator and then throw him in jail, and take his master Dick 'Dracula' Cheney, his court jester Donald 'Don't Worry Be Ignorant' Rumsfeld, the can't-hold-me-responsible-cuz-I-wasn't-elected Richard 'Think Tanks for Tyranny' Perle, and the machiavellian Karl 'Evil Inside' Rove. They could form a prison gang and corner the market on smokes.

Chicken Monkey Shoes? Anyone?

Labels: Bush, war criminal

"The Bush Administration... was closely involved in the planning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah’s heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel’s security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations…. Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah—and shared it with Bush Administration officials—well before the July 12th kidnappings."

Labels: Bush, war criminal