Clinton did it....

Special Report: Clinton to Blame for Current Immigration Problem Thursday (3/30) on "Special Report with Brit Hume", guest host Chris Wallace turned a segment on the illegal immigration debate over to Fox News Correspondent William La Jeunesse in which he blamed former President Clinton for the current immigration problem, while neglecting the comprehensive, bipartisan immigration legislation that was passed during his presidency. During the report filed by La Jeunesse, he claimed, "President Clinton faced the immigration dilemma in the mid-90s. Some wanted another amnesty, but a Commission headed by then Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was unequivocal. Quote 'unlawful immigration is unacceptable…' she said. 'Those who should not be here, should be removed.' Clinton ignored her advice, passing the problem to President Bush." Comment: La Jeunesse confuses immigration reform with the deportation of every illegal immigrant in the U.S., by claiming that Clinton passed "the problem to President Bush". As a matter of fact, President Clinton actually passed one of the strictest immigration laws on record in 1996, which was voted for overwhelmingly by both liberals and conservatives.

From the News Hounds

John McCain-What integrity?

Suggested cover for the Democrat Convention brochure (Geez, get a room, McCain...) McCain to speak at Liberty graduation John McCain shows a total lack of class by running back to the same evangelicals who slammed him in 2000. He knows he can't run for president without the Republican nomination so instead of displaying a little integrity and spurning the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, he'll play along and show what a true weasel he is. Keep running to the right, Senator.

"U.S. Sen. John McCain - a likely 2008 presidential candidate who once labeled the Rev. Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" - will be Liberty University’s graduation speaker on May 13. "I was in Washington with him about three months ago," Falwell said. "We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’" Falwell, LU’s chancellor, said McCain, an Arizona Republican, is among the presidential candidates he could support in 2008. "This is not an endorsement," Falwell said. While running against then - Gov. George W. Bush in the South Carolina and Virginia primaries in 2000, McCain denounced Falwell and Virginia Beach televangelist Pat Robertson in what was seen as a move to lure more moderate voters to his campaign. "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right," McCain said at the time. McCain lost the Virginia and South Carolina primaries and Bush won the nomination. This year, some polls show McCain as the early front-runner for the Republican nomination in the campaign to become Bush’s successor. Falwell said McCain’s appearance at LU’s graduation is another sign that McCain is wooing evangelical Christians. "He is in the process of healing the breech with evangelical groups," Falwell said".

Maryland to fund stem cell research

New Jersey, California, Connecticut and now, Maryland. The remaining 46 states should be very grateful to those four states since they will spend their money on human embryonic stem cell research and the rest will reap the benefits. It would be nice if the federal government could spend even a fraction of the $300 million they waste everyday in Iraq on something as important as stem cell research. But until the country elects some one sophisticated enough to realize that something the size of a period, '.', isn't 'life', than the country will just continue on with our record deficits by spending our money on the wrong priorities. What a waste.

Governor pledges to sign legislation Maryland will become one of four states that have agreed to fund stem cell research, following final passage yesterday of legislation in the House of Delegates and a pledge from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to sign it, despite misgivings by most lawmakers in his party. With Ehrlich's signature, the state will offer as much as $15 million in grants in the coming year to university and private-sector researchers seeking treatments for debilitating conditions through work on stem cells, including those derived from human embryos. In the wake of a 2001 executive order by President Bush limiting federal support for embryonic research, debate over funding the controversial science has been pushed down to statehouses across the country. "We're going to sign it," Ehrlich said of the bill that passed the House 90 to 48 and had already won approval in the Senate. "It furthers our reputation nationally and internationally. . . . It helps us retain our best and brightest here."

Vaffanculo

Amid a growing national controversy about the gesture U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the freelance photographer who captured the moment has come forward with the picture. "It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment," said Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot. Despite Scalia’s insistence that the Sicilian gesture was not offensive and had been incorrectly characterized by the Herald as obscene, the photographer said the newspaper "got the story right." Smith said the jurist "immediately knew he’d made a mistake, and said, 'You're not going to print that, are you?' " "The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, 'Vaffanculo,' " punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said. The Italian phrase means "Fuck you." (Boston Herald-thru Buzzflash thru Atrios) You can tell why Scalia and Cheney like each other so much. I wonder how much 'flipping off' of people they'd be doing if they didn't always have the secret service a couple of steps away?

Buddy's

Hey John, I'm sorry about that illegitimate 'kid thing'...And I know Cindy isn't really a drug addict.... and that thing about you losing it in Nam... we were just having a little fun

Josh Bolten-He deserves a promotion

Under Bolten’s Leadership, Federal Debt Ballooned By $1.8 Trillion In 34 Months $6.592 trillion: Federal debt on June 26, 2003, the day Josh Bolten became director of the Office of Management and Budget. $8.364 trillion: Federal debt today. In the Bush administration, this is grounds for a promotion.

"Downtown Baghdad" is looking pretty peaceful!

The man running for Duke Cunningham's seat in San Diego seems to possess some good Republican values and fits right in with 'blame the media' Party. A little more publicity and Bush might find ol' Howie a cushy job in the White House. That OMB job is open. GOP Candidate to Succeed Duke Cunningham Falsified Evidence of Media Bias Against Iraq War Before he was disgraced today by liberal bloggers, you had probably never heard of Howard Kaloogian. But here in California he is a notorious GOP operative who made his mark in the 2003 campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis. Kaloogian said the photo of peaceful Baghdad proved the media lied about conditions in Iraq because "journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism." A one-time back-bencher in the Assembly, Kaloogian was a mastermind of the recall election that removed Davis from office and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, as a candidate in the special election in San Diego to replace former Rep. Duke Cunningham, who recently began serving time for bribery and corruption, Kaloogian has been nailed trying to defraud the public and with an attempt at classic Bushista disinformation meant to prop up support for the war: [Kaloogian] posted on the official Web site for his campaign a picture [see above] taken in "downtown Baghdad," he said, during his visit to the city, which supposedly indicated that the media was wrong about the level of violence in the city. “We took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq,” he wrote. “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism." source

Pardon me, Mr. Weinberger

(August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) Caspar Weinberger was known as the consummate Cold Warrior. The former presidential aide died in Maine at 88 on Tuesday. Weinberger was best known as the Reagan White House's defense secretary, from 1981 to 1987, where he oversaw the biggest jump in peacetime military spending in the nation's history. Weinberger was also a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal. He was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush for his role in the scandal. On Christmas Eve, 1992, George HW Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and five other administration officials who were either under indictment or already convicted of crimes related to Iran/Contra. FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL FOR IRAN/CONTRA MATTERS Part VIII Officers of the Department of Defense (U.S. v. Caspar W. Weinberger and Related Investigations) Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger lied to investigators to conceal his knowledge of the Iran arms sales. Contrary to Weinberger's assertions, a small group of senior civilian officials and military officers in the Department of Defense (DoD), comprised of Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger and his closest aides, was consistently informed of the arms shipments to Iran in 1985 and 1986. The OIC uncovered documents and notes and obtained testimony, which had been withheld from the Tower Commission and the Select Committees. The most important new evidence was Weinberger's own detailed daily diary notes and his notes of significant White House and other meetings regarding arms shipments to Iran. These notes, along with withheld notes of other Administration officials...

Andy Card

Look George, I know you're enjoying the book...but, that's the second plane....we have to go... (Andy Card's most infamous picture with Dubya) Andrew Card, the man who gave the country the "White House Iraq Group" or more fondly known as, 'WHIG'. The group was set up to 'market' the invasion of Iraq to a populace consisting, unfortunately, of far too many people willing to be 'sold'. They bought it... they swallowed hook, line and sinker. And, one of the main purveyors of that sales job was Andy Card. Mr. Card resigned as Bush's chief of staff yesterday. "The New York Times in September 2002 quoted Card as saying, "From a marketing point of view you don't introduce new products in August." Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein." About time you gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, George... Either that, or maybe Andy could write a book.

Bush Opposes Jaafari

Iraq's interim prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari with Dubya, during a time when he was obviously following instructions a little better.

The American ambassador has told Shiite officials that President Bush does not want the Iraqi prime minister to remain the country's leader in the next government, senior Shiite politicians said Tuesday. It is the first time the Americans have directly expressed a preference in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders. Mr. Khalilzad said Mr. Bush "doesn't want, doesn't support, doesn't accept" Mr. Jaafari as the next prime minister, according to Mr. Taki, a senior aide to Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite bloc. It was the first "clear and direct message" from the Americans on a specific candidate for prime minister, Mr. Taki said. The Shiite bloc, which won a plurality in the parliamentary election in December, nominated Mr. Jaafari last month to retain his post for four more years. American officials in Baghdad did not dispute the Shiite politicians' account of the conversation.

More evidence

Public statement: Bush: "I’ve not made up our mind about military action. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully." [3/6/03] Private statement "The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March," Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. "This was when the bombing would begin." [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03] Public statement: Bush: "We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq." [3/8/03] Private statement: "The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach." [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03]

Packing Sand...

Iraqi Forces to control 75 percent of the country’s territory "Anthony Cordesman, a national security analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, believes the hand-over emphasis is “nonsense.” With almost the entire western half of Iraq virtually empty desert, "the figures vastly overestimate the actual area of influence and are at least as meaningless as the worst reporting on pacification in Vietnam," Cordesman wrote in a March 22 paper for CSIS. "The Iraqi forces don’t control anything like these areas, ignoring what 'control' of empty desert means."

Oh I got it, it's an 'uncivil' war

Mohannad al-Azawi, 27, center, a Sunni, was dragged from his pet shop on March 12. His mutilated body, background, was found the next day.

Bound, Blindfolded and Dead: The Face of Revenge in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 25 — Mohannad al-Azawi had just finished sprinkling food in his bird cages at his pet shop in south Baghdad, when three carloads of gunmen pulled up. In front of a crowd, he was grabbed by his shirt and driven off. Mr. Azawi was among the few Sunni Arabs on the block, and, according to witnesses, when a Shiite friend tried to intervene, a gunman stuck a pistol to his head and said, "You want us to blow your brains out, too?" Mr. Azawi's body was found the next morning at a sewage treatment plant. A slight man who raised nightingales, he had been hogtied, drilled with power tools and shot.

Nice guys those Shiites...And they're supposedly our 'ally'.. .. Do you think some of this may have had something to do with the way Saddam ruled Iraq? .....Is it the chicken or the egg?

'Pro-Family' all right! 'Pro-His Family'

Former DeLay Aide Enriched By Nonprofit Bulk of Group's Funds Tied to Abramoff "A top adviser to former House Whip Tom DeLay received more than a third of all the money collected by the U.S. Family Network, a nonprofit organization the adviser created to promote a pro-family political agenda in Congress, according to the group's accounting records. DeLay's former chief of staff, Edwin A. Buckham, who helped create the group while still in DeLay's employ, and his wife, Wendy, were the principal beneficiaries of the group's $3.02 million in revenue, collecting payments totaling $1,022,729 during a five-year period ending in 2001, public and private records show. The group's revenue was drawn mostly from clients of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to its records. From an FBI subpoena for the records, it can be inferred that the bureau is exploring whether there were links between the payments and favorable legislative treatment of Abramoff's clients by DeLay's office.

Let's Hope Ned Lamont Sends Lieberman Packing

Lieberman for Republican Spokesperson; Lamont for Senator For progressives who are sick and tired of the steady diet of Bush Lite advanced by Senator Lieberman there is a viable alternative on the Connecticut ballot in this August's Democratic primary. Ned Lamont is a progressive seeking real change. He is appalled by what is occurring in Iraq while Lieberman is a glowing supporter of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld agenda there and throughout the Middle East. Lieberman voted for Justice Roberts and for cloture to terminate debate and assure a vote on Justice Alito. Should Connecticut Democrats vote to send Lieberman back to the Senate? Should Connecticut Democrats endorse the Bush-Cheney agenda? Should a real Democrat instead be chosen to represent one of the nation's most traditionally progressive states? The choice is crystal clear. Ned Lamont is the candidate who richly deserves your support. You can find out more about him at his newly revamped website at nedlamont.com.

Political Cortex

Shiite Fighters Clash With G.I.'s

Muqtada al-Sadr

"American and Iraqi government forces clashed with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad on Sunday night in the most serious confrontation in months, and Iraqi security officials said 17 people had been killed in a mosque, including its 80-year-old imam. The American military, clearly worried about exacerbating a combustible situation that many Iraqis are already describing as civil war, denied that American forces had entered the mosque. But it said in a statement that 16 insurgents had been killed and 15 captured in a nearby combat operation against a terrorist cell. American officials are now saying that Shiite militias are the No. 1 security problem in Iraq, more dangerous than the Sunni-led insurgents held responsible for many of the suicide bombings, homemade bombs, kidnappings and other attacks since American-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein three years ago".

The Shia, the real hornet's nest.

The Facts About Unemployment

In my line of work one of the more prevalent adages is, "figures lie and liars figure". I have read and heard some comments recently comparing some of Bush's current economic statistics, namely the unemployment rate, with previous administrations. Now granted, the current unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, which is a very good, if not excellent, unemployment rate. But it sometimes has to do with how you got there-or in this case, how long it took you to get back there. Media Matters points out that Sean Hannity said to Bob Novak on Hannity & Colmes the other night, "If you look at the jobless rate, it is literally -- the percentage -- lower than the '70s, '80s, and '90s". -- That statement is flat-out wrong. Sometimes these commentators will slip in the word 'average' and try to refer to an entire decade, like the "70's, 80's and 90's" -- like a president serves 10 years or something...and terms do overlap decades. Let's look at a bar graph to get the correct perspective on unemployment during the last 16-17 years; Whoa! Look at those Clinton years! That graph just goes down steadily every year. Also, notice what Clinton started with - over 7.5 percent unemployment.... And, look at what George W. Bush started with, - 4 percent! Now, you can talk all day long about 'averages' during various 'decades' but when you're talking about unemployment during a particular presidential term in office, Hannity needs to sit down and shut up. So you say, well, what about unemployment during the Reagan years? Well, I just so happen to have an interesting graph of that comparison too; Holy Jimmy Carter! What happened??. In the first couple of Reagan years the rate jumped into double-digit unemployment! - Unemployment averaged 7.54 percent during Reagan's eight years in office. Although Reagan did bring it down somewhat in his last two years....you can easily see, Reagan doesn't come close to matching Clinton on unemployment either. I don't think any president does... School's out. Source for second graph;

One Leads, One Bleeds

Shorter Feingold-Don't you think that after 2 1/2 years and two elections these 300,000 Iraqi troops should be able to patrol their own streets and fight an insurgency that's estimated to be 30,000 fighters? How much boot camp do these Iraqis need? And how long exactly is it going to take for this newly elected government to actually meet? Shorter McCain-What's $300 million a day with a national debt of $8.3 trillion? And besides, I've been saying this all along-I need my base. You were against the war, Russ...so of course you want out....you didn't fall for it and didn't want to go in there in the first place, so quit trying to upstage me! Hmmm...I wonder which of these two deserves your vote....?

Senators, in Iraq, quarrel over war

"Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a longtime supporter of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, who voted against the invasion and has spoken out against the war ever since, said they had come not to air their divergent views, but to urge Iraqi politicians to speed up the process of forming a government. But during questions from reporters, they argued -- cordially and pointedly -- over such issues as the timing of any withdrawal of US troops and whether their presence is doing more harm than good. Feingold said he believed ''a large troop presence has a tendency to fuel the insurgency because they can make the incorrect and unfair claim that the US is here to occupy the country." ''I think that it's very possible that the sectarian differences are inflamed by the fact that US troops are here," he continued, adding that their long-term presence ''may well be destabilizing, not stabilizing." Asked a question on a different topic, McCain quickly responded, ''I believe that premature troop withdrawal is not in consonance with what's going on on the ground."

Boston Globe

Damn, that's a lot of people!

Thousands of people stream into downtown Los Angeles for what was expected to be one of the city's largest pro-immigrant rallies, Saturday, March 25, 2006. Many of the marchers wore white shirts to symbolize peace and also waved U.S. flags. Some also carried the flags of Mexico and other countries. "The crowd is estimated at 25,000 and growing," Looks like more than 25,000 to me. Illegal immigration..What a bitch... You know my theory on illegal immigration...If you want to stop it you need to fine and prosecute employers. People come here illegally to work and if they can't find work they not only will stop coming here but the ones already here will leave, too. $5,000 fine and six months in jail for every illegal alien you hire. It wouldn't be a problem long. Of course, the Republican-dominated members of Chambers of Commerce would have a fit (and a lot less money and not much free time) but it would drastically reduce any illegal alien problems.

Dixie Chicks' Redemption

They had platinum albums on the walls, Grammys on the shelves, and the adulation of millions of Middle Americans. Then they said what they thought about the Iraq war, and all hell broke loose. Now, despite death threats and boycotts, the Dixie Chicks are at it again! The Dixie Chicks, they got it right the first time-Bush is an embarrassment! If you're a progressive, buy the Dixie Chicks' new album when it comes out in May and remind assholes like Toby Keith how wrong they were! I don't even like 'country' music and I'm buying one...I look at it as a freedom of speech issue.. And after all, Natalie Maines was right - and she was right before we went into Iraq-she's not some johnny-come-lately! She had far more guts than most of you!

"Originally slated for release in April, the [the Dixie Chicks] album, Take the Long Way, has now been pushed back a month until May. But this week, we have learnt that the Chicks have taken the opposite tack. There is, for instance, one song entitled "Lubbock or Leave It", apparently an attack on narrow-minded small-town America. We have not heard it yet. But, through their website, the band's members have allowed early release of "Not Ready to Make Nice". Rather than expressing sorrow for the upset she caused her fans, she instead uses to the song to raise her middle finger. The track is an expression of despair at those who deserted her and threatened her with death. Click on the website, DixieChicks.com, to hear the music yourself". Killer lyrics-In your face for those of you who think Maines is backing down! And, why the hell should she?

source

DOD News Release(s) 9 Soldiers

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060325-12700.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 246-06 March 25, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt 1st Class Randy D. McCaulley, 44, Indiana, Pa., died in Habbaniyah, Iraq on March 23, when his dismounted patrol came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. McCaulley was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Indiana, Pa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060324-12697.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 244-06 March 24, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Antoine J. McKinzie, 25, of Indianapolis, Ind., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 21, when his HMMWV came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. McKinzie was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060324-12699.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 245-06 March 24, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery, 30, of White House, Tenn., died in Habbaniyah, Iraq on March 23, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his LMTV followed by enemy small arms fire during combat operations. Beery was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor Regiment, Bowling Green, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060322-12691.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 241-06 March 22, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Amy A. Duerksen, 19, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 11, from a non-combat related injury. Duerksen was assigned to the 4th Combat Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060321-12683.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 235-06 March 21, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on March 18, when they came under small arms fire by enemy forces during combat operations. Both solidiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Ricardo Barraza, 24, of Shafter, Calif. Sgt. Dale G. Brehm, 23, of Turlock, Calif. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060320-12678.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 232-06 March 20, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Nyle Yates III, 22, of Lake Odessa, Mich., died in Bayji, Iraq, on Mar. 16, when he came under small arms fire by enemy forces during combat operations. Yates was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060320-12677.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 231-06 March 20, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Tikrit, Iraq, on Mar. 16, when a mortar round detonated. Killed were: Sgt. Amanda N. Pinson, 21, of St. Louis, Mo. Spc. Carlos M. Gonzalez, 22, of Middletown, N.Y. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feingold Stands Alone

"By now it's no surprise when Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold steps out ahead of his colleagues in Washington on the most important political issues of the day. In the U.S. Senate, most politicians prefer to hide under their desks during any controversy until a clear majority is formed on one side. Then they crawl through the ankles of the crowd, stand upright and pose for smiling pictures at the front of the pack. Feingold is that rare politician who actually feels comfortable taking a principled stand even if it means standing alone".

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Hillary's Opponent - Traditional Republican

ALBANY - A Republican challenger to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is bizarrely claiming that the former first lady has been spying in her bedroom window and flying helicopters over her house in the Hamptons, witnesses told The Post yesterday. Former Reagan-era Pentagon official Kathleen "KT" McFarland stunned a crowd of Suffolk County Republicans on Thursday by saying: "Hillary Clinton is really worried about me, and is so worried, in fact, that she had helicopters flying over my house in Southampton today taking pictures," according to a prominent GOP activist who was at the event. "She wasn't joking, she was very, very serious, and she also claimed that Clinton's people were taking pictures across the street from her house in Manhattan, taking pictures from an apartment across the street from her bedroom," added the eyewitness, who is not involved in the Senate race. Suffolk County Republican Chairman Harry Withers, who hosted the reception in East Islip, confirmed McFarland's paranoid statements. "Yes, she said that," Withers told The Post. We at the Hillary campaign wish Ms. McFarland the best and hope she gets the rest she needs," Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said.

Where does the New York state Republican party keep coming up with these candidates from? First, it was Jeannie Pirro and now this space cadet, Kathleen McFarland. Are there any Republican men in New York who want to take Hillary on?

The 'Media' Not Reporting Correctly on Iraq

"Media" is Actually Underreporting the Violence One of the more pathetic things coming from Bush and his apologists lately is their continual whining about how the 'media' is portraying the news out of Iraq. As it turns out, the miserable news coming from the media on how things are going there matches up pretty well with the assessment completed by U.S. State Department just earlier this month! I guess Bush and Co. need to find another scapegoat - or have the State Department change their report. Harsh reality: Bush administration's own grim Iraq assessment

Repeated suggestions by the White House and friendly commentators that the news media's selective displays of terrorist attacks in Iraq are warping American public opinion seem to belie several unclassified assessments of the situation produced by the U.S. government itself. In fact, just two weeks ago the Bush administration publicly released a detailed report stating that "even a highly selective" inventory of the terrorist attacks inside Iraq "could scarcely reflect the broad dimension of the violence" there. It comes from the Iraq section of a congressionally mandated annual compilation, "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," produced by the State Department and released at a press conference March 8. If anything, the State Department's candid assessments would seem to indicate that things might be far worse than the press is currently able to report.

Bush's Incompetence Literally Killed Us

9/11 & Bush's 'Negligence' "In the U.S. government’s pursuit of the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, FBI officials have inadvertently revealed how an even mildly competent George W. Bush could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people – and set the country on a dangerous course for revenge. FBI agent Harry Samit, who interrogated Moussaoui weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, sent 70 warnings to his superiors about suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative had been taking flight training in Minnesota because he was planning to hijack a plane for a terrorist operation. But FBI officials in Washington showed "criminal negligence" in blocking requests for a search warrant on Moussaoui’s computer or taking other preventive action, Samit testified at Moussaoui’s death penalty hearing on March 20. Another big part of the problem was the lack of urgency at the top. Bush, who had been President for half a year, was taking a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and shrugged off the growing alarm within the U.S. intelligence community. Separate from the FBI field agents, the Central Intelligence Agency was piecing the puzzle together from tips, intercepts and other scraps of information. On Aug. 6, 2001, more than a month before the attacks, the CIA had enough evidence to send Bush a top-secret Presidential Daily Briefing paper, "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US." The CIA told Bush about "threat reporting" that indicated bin-Laden wanted "to hijack a US aircraft." The CIA also cited a call that had been made to the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates in May 2001 "saying that a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives." "The system was blinking red" during the summer of 2001, CIA Director George Tenet later told the 9/11 Commission....."

Robert Parry-ConsortiumNews.com George Bush's incompetence has cost this country a lot. The cost of his needless war of choice in Iraq has been staggering and now this....FBI testimony of what his incompetence in dealing with the information leading up to 9/11 may have cost... "The system was blinking red" ...and Condi did her nails, and George cut brush...

Thanks for Nothing, Texans Say

March 25, 2006 PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Sitting on a sheet of fresh plywood atop a newly rebuilt roof, Joaquin Rojas thanked the heavens for all the help he was receiving to repair his El Buen Pastor church after Hurricane Rita. The pastor was not praising the generosity of President Bush and other Washington politicians. Rather, he was expressing gratitude that good-hearted fellow Christians from Michigan traveled to Texas and volunteered to piece his broken church back together. "What's happening here is because of other churches, not because of the government," Rojas said in Spanish. "Those missionaries from Michigan, I thank the Lord for them."

The Cherry Blossom Festival

"The blooming of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. has come to symbolize the natural beauty of our nation's capital city. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the nation and around the world come to the Nations Capital to witness the spectacle, hoping that the trees will be at the peak of bloom for the Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, D.C.'s rite of spring. The famous trees, a gift from Japan in 1912, signal the coming of Spring with an explosion of life and color surrounding the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin... The history of the cherry trees dates to 1912 when the original trees were planted by First Lady Mrs. William Howard Taft and the Vicountess Chinda of Japan. Today more than 3,700 cherry trees of several varieties grow around the Tidal Basin, at East Potomac Park, and on the Washington Monument Grounds. Most trees are the Yoshino variety, Japan's favorite cultivated cherry tree that was developed about 1870 and presented as a gift in 1912. They encircle the Tidal Basin and can also be seen in abundance on the Monument grounds. Since the National Park Service has been keeping records of the blooming dates, the earliest blooming date as been March 15, 1990, and the latest date was marked on April 18, 1958. The average blooming date--that time when the blooms are considered to reach their peak--is April 5 for the Yoshino and April 22 for the double flowering Kwansan trees, mostly seen in East Potomac Park". The 2006 Cherry Blossom Festival

Abramoff may be subpoenaed in slaying case

"A judge has approved subpoenas for former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an ex-business partner to answer questions about the mob-style slaying of the owner of a gambling fleet they bought. Abramoff and Adam Kidan have insisted, through their attorneys, that they know nothing about the slaying of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was ambushed in his car by a gunman in Fort Lauderdale a few months after the pair bought SunCruz Casinos from him".

Gus Boulis Read more here about the man the Republican's favorite lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, had murdered

Like Mother, Like Sons

Most people in the world have figured out by now that George W Bush is a pretty detestable human being and it's not real hard to figure out why when you consider his mother. Barbara Bush is really a vicious and vile piece of human garbage. You know, if you grow up with a mother like Barbara Bush, chances are you're going to end up with children as despicable as the ones she spit out. Do you remember some of her recent quotes, like the one she made about our young men and women who were going to be needlessly sent off to die in Iraq by her loving son? "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" There have been 2,320 of those body bags to date, Bags. Or, the one on the Katrina victims who had to sleep on cots in the Astrodome but they were "underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Now it's learned, and Josh Marshall points it out, that Barbara "Get The Bag" Bush(George Sr. gave her that nickname because he's always had to say to her before sex-'Barbara get your bag so I don't have to look at that dog-ugly face of yours') earmarked the money given to Katrina victims to her son, Neil "Silverado" Bush, which of course doesn't amount to giving anything to anyone but to one of her criminal offspring. And of course, Jeb got to where he is today by scamming millions also. The Bush's, starting with their Nazi-loving grandfather, Prescott, are such a lovely family. In fairness to the Bush sons, when you have a paternal blood line of Nazi collaborators and a maternal blood line from Barbara Bush, what would you expect them to grow up to be? A president, or a governor? ...Only in America. But the Bush's are very typical of Republicans. Especially one as despicable as "The Bag". Wingnuts should be so proud of Momma. After all, most of them probably had mothers just like her. That certainly would be one explanation, now wouldn't it? Talking Points Memo

You know, about that Abu Ghraib thing...

U.S. Pushes Human Rights "U.S. troops are trying to train Iraqi security forces to battle the Sunni-led insurgency without resorting to abductions, torture and murder".

After killing up to 100,000 of their civilians, murdering them in our custody, chaining them to walls, sodomizing them with broom sticks, electrocuting them, water-boarding them, sexually assaulting them and siccing our dogs on them we are now going to train the Iraqis on how to treat their prisoners? I hope they don't take notes... We sure have some gall, don't we? NY Times

Fox News-Getting it wrong...Again, and again...

Fox News Falsely Claims Daschle and Gephardt Are Registered Lobbyists Fox News published a story this week headlined, “Premium Placed on Lobbyists Who Served in Congress.” The first two paragraphs:

What do Tom Daschle, John Ashcroft, Fred Thompson, J.C. Watts, Zell Miller and Dick Gephardt have in common these days? They are all former members of Congress — and they are all registered lobbyists.

"Actually, neither Gephardt nor Daschle (who is a fellow at the Center for American Progress) are or have been registered lobbyists since they left office, according to the U.S. Senate’s official database. We called both their offices to confirm the Senate’s records. The error is especially egregious considering how easy it is to find out who has been registered as a lobbyist. Just search a name at http://sopr.senate.gov. Ashcroft, Thompson, Watts, and Miller are all there. Gephardt and Daschle — the only two progressives on Fox’s list — aren’t". That's hilarious! Fox News writes an article pointing to six former Congressmen, four Republicans and two Democrats, who are now lobbyists and as it turns out, they were right about the Republicans but the two Democrats, are not lobbyists. And don't even try to say the that stupid redneck asshole Zell Miller is a Democrat either! Fox News-The Reason They're So Stupid!

Uncle 'Bucky'

Bush's Uncle Earned Millions in War Firm Sale

As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war. Bush, known as "Uncle Bucky" in the president's family, joined ESSI's board in 2000, several months before his nephew became president. He heads a St. Louis investment firm and is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush.

Keeping it in the family and spreading other Americans' wealth and hard earned money around to their various friends and relatives is a well known family trait among the Bush clan.

Bush's Middle East "Democracies"~Executing Christians

George Bush and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan-Wednesday, March 1, 2006, in Kabul. Bush told Karzai that he hoped "the people of Afghanistan understand that as democracy takes hold, you're inspiring others. And that inspiration will cause others to demand their freedom."

Afghan Christian Could Face Death "An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday. Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed. But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness. "We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press. Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination".

Abdul Rahman is interviewed during a hearing in Kabul Instead of going to Afghanistan and killing those who were responsible for 9/11-Like 99.99% of Congress (534-1) agreed to, Bush failed miserably at that and instead has wasted our time, resources and military's lives on trying to make a country like Afghanistan a 'democracy". And of course, after that failure he moved on to the invasion of Iraq where he's wasted another $400 billion and another 2,319 lives and is now using 'building a democracy' as his 4th lying excuse for that blunder. Stupid people following stupid people gets you exactly what Bush has given this nation. Building democracies in the middle east-stupid is as stupid does.

How the 'Christian' (sic) Right treats people

"Every month, 80-year-old Sally Shaver pays someone to drive her to the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, S.C., to pick up a box of fresh produce, baked goods, dry cereals, juice, canned goods and cheese. "It really helps me out because after paying for my rent, phone bill and medication, I barely have enough for food," she says. "If I could work, I would, but I have an artificial knee and a pacemaker, and I can't get around." Shaver, who worked as a nurse's aide for most of her life, brings in $451 a month in social security. Her fixed income qualifies her for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which is designed to improve the health and nutrition of low-income senior citizens, pregnant women, postpartum mothers, infants and children. Last year, CSFP provided 536,196 people with a monthly box of food. Bush's proposed budget for 2007 calls for a nationwide elimination of the entire program".

Not much needs to be said or written when it comes to the phony-Christian rightwing in this country. They're despicable in the way they treat the poor in this country. These despicable phony bastards sit around waving their pom poms cheering on their treasonous hero who wastes $300 million a day in Iraq and clap when he cuts funding for the poor and the elderly. And they think they're Christians. I hope they like the extreme heat.

Double Talk from the Straight Talk Express

John McCain-Just another Republican on the take Mr. 'Straight Talk', John McCain turns out to be just like all the other Republicans when it comes selling their souls and selling out Americans when it comes to raking in campaign contributions. The little beady-eyed asshole from Arizona is just a typical Republican when it comes right down to it. I think maybe it's time to review the 'Keating 5' and the savings and loan scandal again, don't you?

"The Democratic National Committee took aim yesterday at the reputation of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a campaign-finance and ethics reformer, blasting the presidential hopeful for hiring a GOP operative linked to the criminal case against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC signed Terry Nelson, political director for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, as a senior adviser on Thursday, a move hailed by presidential prognosticators covering every detail of McCain’s early plans to seek the White House in 2008".

Rice Says She Won't Apply for NFL Post

Yeah sure. Like the NFL would be interested in hiring that stupid gap-toothed bitch! "no one could have imagined" terrorists' slamming a plane into the World Trade Center

Who are the terrorists again?

"The terrorists haven't given up. They're tough-minded. They like to kill. There's going to be more tough fighting ahead". George Bush at his 3/21/06 Press Conference Iraqi police report details civilians' deaths at hands of U.S. troops Iraqi police have accused American troops of executing 11 people, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant, in the aftermath of a raid last Wednesday on a house about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house, the document said. A U.S. military spokesman, Major Tim Keefe, said that the U.S. military has no information to support the allegations and that he had not heard of them before a reporter brought them to his attention Sunday. "We're concerned to hear accusations like that, but it's also highly unlikely that they're true," he said. He added that U.S. forces "take every precaution to keep civilians out of harms' way. The loss of innocent life, especially children, is regrettable." US troops investigated over Iraqi massacres "In the most recent incident, in the town of Ishaqi north of Baghdad last week, Iraqi police said that US troops had shot 11 people, including five children, in their home. The local police chief, Colonel Farouq Hussein, said that all the dead had been shot in the head, according to autopsies. "It's a clear and perfect crime," he said. In an incident in the town of Haditha in western Iraq on 19 November last year, US soldiers went on a rampage in a village after a bomb attack and killed at least 15 civilians, according to witnesses and local officials cited by Time magazine in an investigation. The US military first claimed a roadside bomb had killed a US Marine, Miguel Tarrazas, along with 15 Iraqi civilians caught in the blast. Later, a military statement said "gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire" and in returning fire the Marines killed eight insurgents. But after Time presented the US military with what Iraqis said had happened, an official investigation found that 15 of the civilians had been deliberately killed by US soldiers".

Now what do the Sheep have to say?

Bush answering a question in Cleveland yesterday on why he lied to the country; "I don't think we ever said -- at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein"....."Like you, I asked that very same question, where did we go wrong on intelligence". If it wasn't said or implied by these liars how come so many little lambs ignorantly thought there was a connection? There's no question that most people were nothing but a bunch shameless sheep when it came to going along on the invasion of Iraq, but Bush and his co-conspirators herded their stupid asses the whole way. And now Bush is back-pedaling trying to save face and leaving them all standing their looking like the fools they are. As for the intelligence being wrong? It wasn't wrong. It was just manipulated by a bunch of treasonous liars!

Iraqi Spy Tried to Warn Us

"...NBC News has learned that for a short time the CIA had contact with a secret source at the highest levels within Saddam Hussein’s government, who gave them information far more accurate than what they believed. It is a spy story that has never been told before, and raises new questions about prewar intelligence. What makes the story significant is the high rank of the source. His name, officials tell NBC News, was Naji Sabri, Iraq’s foreign minister under Saddam".

Hillbilly Heroin Boy

"And when I -- anytime an organization has the word "peace" in it, throw it out. It's just a bunch of long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking, FM peace-types that have an agenda". - Rush "Hillbilly Heroin Boy" Limbaugh I guess those pollsters could fake a back injury and become oxycontin addicts that blow-out their hearing from their prolonged addiction. Limbaugh criticizing somebody who smokes marijuana is like a child molester criticizing a shoplifter. Media Matters

Whiny Kids Grow Up to be Conservatives

How to spot a baby conservative "Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative. At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals". The study was a waste of time-we already knew that.

"I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff"

"And in the continuing feud between administration supporters and the former FEMA chief, Brown's lawyer accused House GOPers and the White House of making Brown the "designated scapegoat." Brown's lawyer claimed Brown was told that at a Sept. 6 cabinet meeting, President Bush, after being informed the press was attacking Brown, said: "I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff." The White House had no comment".

That's so typical of Bush. He's such a worm who's always looking for scapegoat.

Operation Swarmer Propaganda

Last week in an attempt to deflect attention away from Bush's embarrassment of abject failure in Iraq on its third anniversary, the Pentagon announced its 'biggest military offensive' since 2003 - "Operation Swarmer". Did anyone wonder why they had all those cameras rolling during such an important assault? And when it was announced that the 'biggest assault' since 2003 was '1,500 troops', didn't any bells go off with you - didn't that number of troops seem a little low? Well, it should have because it was nothing but another Bush propaganda maneuver to try and convince us that good things are happening in Iraq. Come on George, we don't all watch Fox News and listen to Rush Limbaugh. We're not all a bunch of brain dead sheep. As the Center for American Progress points out, there have been about hundred assaults as big or bigger since 2003. They're listed at the link provided from GlobalSecurity.org and the very first one I clicked on, 'Operation River Gate', from October 2005 had '2,500 Marines, Soldiers and Sailors' involved in it. These guys are despicable liars who think they can use our troops as props for their propaganda against the truth. And they think we're too stupid to figure it out.

ANOTHER MILITARY OFFENSIVE: The media has focused intently on the latest U.S. military offensive in Iraq - codenamed "Operation Swarmer." The New York Times reported, "The American military announced today that it had begun its largest air assault since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. ... The operation is expected to continue for several days." Swarmer is well over the hundredth military operation since early 2003. (Others include "Operation Slim Shady," "Operation Mandarin Squeeze," and "Operation Checkmate.") The Pentagon even downplayed its importance: "This is the kind of thing that happens pretty regularly in Iraq. It is a typical brigade-size assault." In fact, the assault is "similar to many that have been launched against Sunni rebels further west over the past year."

Center for American Progress

Chuck Hagel on Their "Mindless Banter"

You can count on one hand the Congressional Republicans who have any integrity and Chuck Hagel is one of them. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's one a the very few Republicans who served his country. "And this mindless kind of banter about, well, if we leave, the whole place falls apart; we can’t leave; we can’t even think about leaving. Wait a minute: You just showed on your screen the cost to the American people of the last three years. It’s helping bankrupt this country, by the way. We didn’t think about any of that and not just the high cost of lives and the continuation of that but our standing in the world. And I would define it this way. Are we better off today than we were three years ago? Is the Middle East more stable than it was three years ago? Absolutely not. It’s more unstable".

What the hell does Allawi know?

Iraq in Civil War, says Former PM

Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC. "It is unfortunate that we are in civil war. We are losing each day as an average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more. "If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is." Mr Allawi added that a national unity government may not be "an immediate solution" to the country's problems. Iraq is moving towards the "point of no return", he said, when the country would fragment. "It will not only fall apart but sectarianism will spread throughout the region, and even Europe and the US will not be spared the violence that results...," he said.

Allawi is the puppet that we tried to set up as Iraq's prime minister along with Ahmed Chalabi. Of course, Allawi got 8% of the vote and Rumsfeld and Colin Powell's favorite boy, Chalabi, got 1%. It's a good thing those neocons had everything all figured out, huh?

I guess we get a pass on the "Nazi" anaolgy

Oh my GOD! Donald Rumsfeld made a comparison to the Nazis!! I thought that was taboo? I know it is whenever a Democrat does it! I guess that opens everyone up to at least one Nazi analogy. One freebie. So, mine is. I think going IN to Iraq is more like Nazi Germany than leaving Iraq. And, guess what? Most of the world agrees with me and not Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld: leaving Iraq like giving Nazis Germany WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaving Iraq now would be like handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a column published on Sunday, the third anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. "Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis," he wrote in an essay in The Washington Post.

On a side note; Here's another quote from that article from the great man of wisdom, Herr Secretary Rumsfeld, "The terrorists seem to recognize that they are losing in Iraq. I believe that history will show that to be the case". Remember what that fool said originally about Iraq? "It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months". Rumsfeld is an incompetent idiot!

3 Years Into, "the greatest strategic disaster in our history"

"When the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq three years ago, the Bush administration was brimming with confidence that this would be a war only in the sense that a lot of bombs would be dropped and the military would seize, temporarily, a foreign capital. It was going to be swift, high-tech, clean. Six weeks later, President Bush spoke in the past tense about Operation Iraqi Freedom, thanking the Iraqis who welcomed the U.S. troops and promising that democratic change would sweep the region. Now, with sectarian violence roaring and casualties rising, the White House increasingly is talking, in the present tense, about a long war, meaning the old-fashioned kind -- "the crucible with the blood and the dust and the gore," as Gen. Richard Myers, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last fall. Three years on, experts from the left and the right say, the costly Iraq war has barely begun, and if there are to be broad benefits, as the president still promises, they could be years away. William Odom, a retired lieutenant general who ran Army intelligence and later the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, has called the Iraqi adventure "the greatest strategic disaster in our history."

Entering Year 4 of a "Cakewalk"

Do you remember when Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld said the war in Iraq would take "days" or maybe "weeks""? Dick Cheney-is anyone ever going to hold his chickenhawk, no good for nothing lying ass accountable? The invasion of Iraq was a lie way before it was an invasion. From Judy Miller writing fake stories fed to her by the administration and Ahmed Chalabi and his minions to Colin Powell spewing his lies to the world at the UN. Mohamed Elbaradei and the IAEA and others told us before we went in that what Bush, Cheney and Rice were saying were lies but Bush wanted to go into Iraq nonetheless. He had nothing to lose and he didn't care one bit about those who did have something to lose. In fact, George Bush and the Republicans hate our military. They've proven that by the way they've not provided them with what they need and the way they treated them when they came home. The administration lied about congress having the same intelligence and of course we know that's not true. And, when anyone dare question them about their lies they compounded their crimes by outing a covert CIA agent who ironically, was an expert on Iran's nuclear capablities. When we got there they played to the cameras from the fake downing of Saddam's statute to the 'rescue' of Jessica Lynch. Bush and the neocons have allowed war profiteering from Halliburton and other cronies and it's been at the ultimate costs to our troops. Troops that we didn't bother to protect with the proper body or vehicle armor. He allowed L. Paul Bremer to loot billions and then gave the son-of-a-bitch the Presidential Medal of Freedom for it. Those in this administration who lied and led us unnecessarily into this war need to be held accountable and imprisoned for what they have done. Some of them have come forward now and admitted the crimes they committed but it's three years to the day, too late, I'm afraid. Three years, 2,317 young American lives, 17,000 wounded and $400 billion to date wasted and for what? No threat, no ties to 9/11-just lies.

House GOP leader-Your Typical GOP Criminal on the take

Wouldn't you love to have a job that not only gave you six months of vacation but they paid for all of the best golf and the best hotels and dining for you and your wife on top of that? Well, if you do, all you have to do is become a Republican congressman and use the taxpayers' money to give those who pay for all that extravagance a few hundred million in kick backs. Is there really any wonder why the federal budget goes upside down every time Republicans take control of government? If you answered anything but 'no' to that question you're either a Republican or stupid - But then of course, that's being redundant, isn't it?

Boehner has spent nearly six months on privately funded trips since 2000 "House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio), who rose to power in the wake of a congressional lobbying scandal, spent the equivalent of nearly six months on privately funded trips over the past six years, according to a new study by a nonpartisan research group. The Center for Public Integrity said that Boehner accepted 42 privately sponsored trips from January 2000 to December 2005. That put him on the road to other countries and "golfing hotspots," often with his wife, Debbie, for about half a year, "only nine days of which he listed as being 'at personal expense,' " the center said. Boehner also flew at least 45 times on corporate jets owned by companies "with a financial stake in congressional affairs" from June 2001 through September 2005, the center reported".

Does anybody think it's hilarious that the Republicans chose Boehner to lead them out of their perception of corruption? That is a clear example of how deep-seated the corruption is in the Republican Party. For those of you who vote for Republicans-You sure are a bunch of dumbasses!

Just where do they think they can go?

Definitely one of the things that's most satisfying to me while I watch Republicans implode and start attacking each other is to see the despicable segment (over 50%) of that Party who refer to themselves as 'evangelicals' fall completely apart and now threaten to leave the Republicans. But just where do Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson and Tony Perkins and their gang of simple-minded haters think they're going? Certainly, progressives are not going to allow them into the Democrat party. Democrats are far too free-thinking and Constitutional minded to allow these morons to join them. Hopefully, they'll just splinter off the Republican Party and then they'll all become irrelevant and insignificant like they should be. The country could sure use it.

US evangelical warn Republicans Prominent leaders from the Christian right have warned Republicans they must do more to advance conservative values ahead of the US mid-term elections. Their message to Congress, controlled by Republicans, is "must do better". Support from about a quarter of Americans who describe themselves as evangelicals was a factor in President George W Bush's two election victories. The Republicans will need to keep them onboard if they are to retain control of Congress in November. At a news conference in Washington, some of America's most influential conservative leaders said the current perception among evangelical Christians was that the Republican majority was not doing enough for them. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said that apart from confirming two conservative judges to the Supreme Court, "core values voters" did not feel that Congress was advancing their interests.

The Crybabies can run but they can't hide!

All of sudden now that Bush's popularity is plummeting and polls are showing by a wide margin that Americans want Democrats back in control of Congress the GOP members are now going to try and convince the American public that they've been dissatisfied with Bush all along. Don't fall for that bullshit! These Republican congressmen have been co-conspirators with Bush from day 1 in his destruction of our Constitution and our treasury. From their Prescription Drug Program to the four times they voted on raising the debt ceiling, and everything in between, they've rubber-stamped whatever Bush has sent their way. Now they want the public to believe they haven't 'really' agreed with him after all. These sleazeballs remind me of my neighbor who had four Bush/Cheney signs in his front yard the whole summer and the fall of 2004 leading up to the election and now he says he didn't vote for Bush. Don't listen to these liars. They have absolutely no integrity and no moral compass and as soon as their 'man' is exposed for the loser he is, they jump ship like a bunch of rats! Throw the crybabies out!

GOP Irritation At Bush Was Long Brewing "President Bush's troubles with congressional Republicans, which erupted during the backlash to the Dubai seaport deal, are rooted in policy frustrations and personal resentments that GOP lawmakers say stretch back to the opening days of the administration. For years, the Bush White House and its allies on Capitol Hill seemed like one of the most unified teams Washington had ever seen, passing most of Bush's agenda with little dissent. Privately, however, many lawmakers felt underappreciated, ignored and sometimes bullied by what they regarded as a White House intent on running government with little input from them".

Yeah, well let's review the video tape of all these poor misunderstood Republicans and watch as they all lined up with their pants around there ankles every time Bush told them to. The only Republicans who have bucked Bush even occasionally are Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snowe and any other Republican who now says differently needs to be exposed as the liars they are. Get Congress back to where it should be this November!

Noonan should be able to answer her own question

Hey, Big Spender Should we have known that President Bush would bust the budget? That headline and that sentence above was Peggy Noonan's from a piece she wrote a couple of days ago in the Wall Street Journal. She should know the answer to her own question since the only person to increase spending like Dubya or come close to what he's added to the nation's debt, was the man she worked for, Ronald Reagan. When a person like Noonan writes, or when a person who reads this blog, continues to make comments like Bush has betrayed the Republican Party and the 'Reagan legacy' (LOL) by his out of control federal spending, they're simply liars, because they know better. The phoney conservatives in this country cannot re-write the historical record on the Reagan years. Reagan's record deficits are well documented and it not only drives them crazy but shuts them up and leaves them with no argument. Unless of course, they want to continue to lie about it.

The Other Cost of Bush's War

VA Data Show Significant Increase in Medical Needs of Returning Veterans One in three receive an initial mental health diagnosis New data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are “strong proof” that the Administration’s budget is insufficient to meet the mental health care needs of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is the conclusion of Illinois Rep. Lane Evans, Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Maine Rep. Michael Michaud, Ranking Democratic Member of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Health. Evans and Michaud had requested the data, which showed that in the first three months of FY 2006, VA saw a 21% increase in the number of veterans from Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) who have sought care at the VA. The department has seen 144,424 returning veterans through the first quarter of FY 2006, 33,858 more than the Administration had estimated in its budget proposal for the entire year.

And don't forget it

About that $30,000 added on to every man, woman and child in the country the other day by Bush and the Republicans. Don't forget this November that Democrats voted unanimously against it. Do you want to try and get this country back on a sound fiscal foundation? Don't vote for Republicans this November. Unanimously "NO"!

Bush's Incompetent Criminals...

...Claude Allen...just another another fake "Christian" Republican Hypocrite who the biggest fake "Christian' Republican Hypocrite, George Bush promoted all the way to the top just because he was another fake "Christian" Republican Hypocrite. And, of course, since Claude Allen was black, he made a good stage prop for all the racists in the White House

"Did you hear the one about the president’s top domestic policy adviser? Tired of helping the president pick the pockets of the poor and middle class on behalf of the rich, he found a more profitable target. Or Target, actually. Last week, Claude Allen was arrested and charged with a scheme to rip off Target and other stores by "returning" more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he had allegedly never paid for in the first place. According to police, Allen would buy an item and put it in his car, then return and bring an identical item from the store shelves for a refund based on the original receipt. The Claude Allen story also is important in giving the lie once again to the GOP’s claim of moral superiority. In an interview before he got in hot water, Allen explained why, having been raised a Democrat, he had switched parties. "I realized after the fact that I agree more with the Republican Party platform, that it talked about independence, that it talked about individual responsibility, individual rights, it talked about the ability to guarantee opportunities, not outcomes," he said. Routinely described as born-again and a “devoted father,” Allen liked to talk about how his religious upbringing was a key factor in his steady march from a poor home to the pinnacle. Along the way, he befriended or worked for such advocates of color-blindness as the former senator Jesse Helms—one of the last of a generation recalling the days of segregation with fondness—and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, known for biting the affirmative-action hand that gave him a leg up. Allen lunched often with Thomas, who apparently lectured him on propriety. "He would always say to make sure I conducted myself appropriately," Allen told an interviewer".

You know, if Republicans weren't so pathetic they'd be laughable. From crack-head preachers to those who constantly invoke "God' but haven't been to church in a life-time, they're almost exclusively a bunch fake "Christian" hypocrites. For more on a long list of Bush crony's, go here.

I guess they forgot to ask the people

Looks like all those redneck Republicans in the South Dakota legislature forgot to check with their constituents before banning abortion last month.

A scientific poll done for a political group that concentrates on issues indicates a majority of residents oppose a proposed state law seeking to outlaw most abortions in South Dakota. Pollsters hired by Focus: South Dakota contacted 630 South Dakota voters by telephone for random interviews from Thursday through Saturday, and 62 percent said the legislation is too extreme, 33 percent said they support the bill and the rest were undecided. When people were asked if they thought the abortion ban should be put on the November ballot, 72 percent answered yes. Pollsters found that 79 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of independents, and 65 percent of Republicans favor a statewide vote on the issue. Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they would then vote to override the proposal, 36 percent would keep the ban and the rest were undecided about the measure. "It would be crushed," said Jeff Masten of Sioux Falls, a former state Democratic Party chairman who is vice chairman of Focus: South Dakota.

67% of Americans describe Bush as an "Incompetent Idiot Liar"

"In a Word...Incompetent" In a poll done by the Pew Research Center where they asked Americans what word best describes George Bush the answer receiving the most 'votes' was 'incompetent', which received 29%. 'Good' was second with 23% and 'Idiot' received 21% and 'Liar' 17%. So, to summarize, 67% of Americans now see George Bush as an 'Incompetent Idiot Liar'. I think that's an excellent description of him, don't you? It's great to see Americans finally figuring it out! Pew Research Center

DOD News Release(s) 9 Soldiers, 6 Marines

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060317-12668.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 225-06 March 17, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died near Ar Ramadi, Iraq on March 13, when they came under small arms fire and an improvised explosive device detonated during combat operations. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Marco, A. Silva, 27, of Alva, Fla. Silva was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. Sgt. Corey A. Dan, 22, of Norway, Maine. Dan was assigned the Army's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060317-12670.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 227-06 March 17, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty Pfc. Angelo A. Zawaydeh, 19, of San Bruno, Calif., died in Baghdad, Iraq on March 15, when his traffic control point came under mortar attack during combat operations. Zawaydeh was assigned to the Army's 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060316-12662.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 222-06 March 16, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Lewis, 32, of Bunkie, La., died north of Rustamiyah, Iraq, on March 13, when an improvised device detonated near his HMMWV during a convoy operations. Lewis was assigned to the 519th Military Police Battalion, 49th Military Police Brigade, Fort Polk La. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060316-12661.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 221-06 March 16, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died west of Asadabad, Afghanistan, on March 12, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during combat operations. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Joseph, R. Ray, 29, of Asheville, N.C. Ray was assigned to the Army Reserve's 391st Engineer Battalion, Asheville, N.C. Sgt. Kevin D. Akins, 29, of Burnsville, N.C. Akins was assigned to the Army Reserve's 391st Engineer Battalion, Asheville, N.C. Sgt. Anton J. Hiett, 25, of Mount Airy, N.C. Hiett was assigned to the Army Reserve's 391st Engineer Battalion, Greenville, S.C. Spc. Joshua L. Hill, 24, of Fairmount, Ind. Hill was assigned to the Army Reserve's 391st Engineer Battalion, Asheville, N.C. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060314-12642.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 210-06 March 14, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Kristen K. Figueroa, 20, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died March 12 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060314-12643.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 211-06 March 14, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Lance Cpl. Nicholas R. Anderson, 21, of Sauk City, Wis., died March 13 in a non-hostile vehicle accident in Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060313-12639.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 208-06 March 13, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Bunny Long, 22, of Modesto, Calif., died March 10 from a suicide, vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060310-12636.html DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Ricky Salas, Jr. 22, of Roswell, N.M., died in Mosul, Iraq, on March 7, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle while conducting mounted operations. Salas was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, Friedberg, Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060309-12629.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 202-06 March 9, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Gunnery Sgt. Justin R. Martone, 31, of Bedford, Va. Gunnery Sgt. John D. Fry, 28, of Lorena, Texas Martone died March 7 and Fry died March 8 from improvised explosive devices in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Martone was assigned to 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan. Fry was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060309-12628.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 203-06 March 9, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Adam O. Zanutto, 26, of Caliente, Calif., died March 6 at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., from wounds received as a result of an improvised explosive device in Al Anbar province, Iraq on Feb. 25. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. --------------------------------------------------------------------------