Open Thread Sunday

Bill Kristol hired as a columnist at the NY Times.

My response. Let's see if they have the stones to print it.

******

Dear Editors:

I am flabbergasted that the New York Times has chosen to reward one of the architects of the Iraq debacle. Is there no price to be paid in American life anymore for being spectacularly, catastrophically wrong - in the process, causing your nation incalcuable harm? Has this reckless ideologue, and ruthless propagandist for American militarism run amok, earned a higher profile - indeed, a plum columnist gig at the alleged "paper of record"?

Sincerely yours,

Matt,

We are canceling our subscription to the NY Times. Anyone else?

(from Juxtapoz)

Ummm. Yall are just now cancelling you NYT subscription?

Wow.

I mean, I just figured their help in ensuring this war would have already met with such a response.

Everytime I hear 'NYT' I see dick cheney, on Meet The Press, using the NYT judy miller story to justify his little war.

I will never give them a dime of my money or a moment more of my trust. To be honest I would love to bring a class action lawsuit against them, for OBVIOUS LIES that amounted to nothing less than HIGH TREASON.

They have NEVER fully explained how it is they wound up helping to start a war that has killed a million people for no damn reason at all. Nor, have they even apologized for it.

There is very little doubt they will do such things again. Which is EXACTLY why William the Bloody is now on their staff.

"Fixing the facts around the policy' only works if you have a 'fixer'.

Christy,

Richard is an addict: magazines, newspapers, etc. He has tried to quit before and failed. However, today he was moved to write this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/30/11175/855/214/427945

Step One, anyway.

Every now and then the NYT tries to pretend like they are 'exposing' something bad georgoie has done.

Yet we all know they never quite go as far as telling us it is bad or georgies fault.

But they pretend they suddenly get some ethics and balls and expose something that makes everyone go into chaotic mode, yet they have NEVER come out and outright confronted the ones they know for a fact are lying to them.

They really act like if they tell us these little things, we will forget the bigger picture that squarely puts them on the side of georgie, and doing everything they can to enable and protect him.

And now Kristol gets to help outright.

That figures. Not surprising since judy got caught outright, they need someone in there to continue the lies, or else they would have to report on and explain their own role in the ILLEGAL INVASION they helped ensure.

Continuing the lies is far CHEAPER to them than the liability they would face if the full extent of their protection of georgie is ever known.

Just think, the NYT, and the WAPo and Foe News, are LEGALLY LIABLE...for the WRONGFUL DEATH... of everyone who has been killed in Iraqm including our own soldiers.

Seriously,...can't we sue these people? All of us, as a group of wronged citizens, can't we sue Pelosi and all his other enablers, like Foe news..?

We can easily prove they are LYING and fixiong facts.

I don't mean for money, but...ok that too. Money is the only thing these people consistantly understand.

Money is the only reason they did what they have done. GREED. Drunk on greed and the high of limitless power.

Can they be sued to force them to act?

I say when Nancy took impeachment 'off the table' she proved her oath was a FRAUD, and she never had any intention of upholding the duties of her office.

Conyers too, he talked impeaqchment everywhere until he actually was granted the power to do it.

I say that is CLEARLY fraud.

The connection between the NYT and the Bush White House was never more evident than during the last news cycle of the destroyed CIA tapes. The White House/CIA only announced the tapes existence and destruction after learning (one has to guess how they learned) that the NYT was going to publish the information.

I am disgusted that Billy Kristol has been given an outlet to espouse his paranoia and the murderous policy recommendations of one of the neocon movement's most influential groups - PNAC.

I am glad they did it, to be honest.

Not only does it say 'We are the NYT and we are CORRUPT!'.

It also makes that little pr*ck...touchable.

Just think of how EVERY comment section on his articles will actually read.

At this point, he really is arrogant enough to believe he is completely unaccountable. But the NYT is not quite the protective bubble he thinks it is.

I can not wait to burst his bubble.

Wanna talk about the war, billy? OK, 911 and PNAC too! Ohhh, and Judy Miller, let's not leave her out! Oh, and Scooter and Wolfawitz, and the Iraq Study Group and Valerie Plame TOO!

Whats wrong billy, you look shocked we remember all that! And that it will FOLLOW YOU!

HAHA!

Watching the NYT turn itself into Pravda is not just horrifying but compelling.

It is like watching the prettiest coolest mom on the block slowly transform into a feener crack ho.

How sad.

Karen

Read and recommended Dick's Kos diary. Thanks!

Honestly I am NOT worried about the NYT.

I am worried about a threat that has been around far longer, and is taken verbatim by the finance sector neoliberals - WALL STREET JOURNAL.

And to think about it, both NYT and WSJ are New York papers, the very city that brought Rudy Giuliani's murderous ways to the nation.

You can say New York is liberal all you want, but I won't be fooled anymore. I've taken TONS of crap on the streets of NYC myself.

Dear Editors:

I am flabbergasted that the New York Times has chosen to reward one of the architects of the Iraq debacle.

====

Way to go Matthew, I was dumbfounded when I read said post, but then I realised nothing really surprises me anymore that happens in the US of A. Your Country has gone down the drain in the 8 years that Georgies White House, not the peoples White House has Governed.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/30/12530/603/348/427827

another diary on it

You're Damn Right I'm Angry. Why Isn't Everybody?

By David Michael Green
What an unbelievable record of deceit, destruction, hypocrisy, incompetence, treason and greed. What a tragic tale of debt, lost wars, stolen elections, environmental crises, Constitution shredding, national shame and diminished security.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18974.htm

Bhutto's 19-Year-Old Son To Be Named Successor

A senior official of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) told TIME late Saturday that the slain former prime minister's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will likely be named as her political heir and the new party leader on Sunday. PPP members are due to meet to discuss the party's future and to give Bilawal, a student at Oxford, a chance to read his mother's last will and testament.
A Pakistani television news channel also carried reports that Bilawal will be made the...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1699006,00.html

Ron Paul Stands Tall On the Pakistan Fiasco! FOX News

Ron Paul: U.S. backing a dictator Pakistan reaction

Over the holiday, I was arguing with my close relatives about how mediocre the Democratic party is and how I would have a hard time voting for Hillary (knowing of her unquestioning support of the invasion and occuption Iraq).

I got an interesting "global" answer about the next election. They said that the next election would be a re-aligning election in which the Democrats could (and should, with a few decent candidates and the horrible job the Republicans have done) be swept into power and the Republicans would lose power at all levels.

This seemed to me the best justification for biting my tongue on Hillary (and her lousy record), if she is nominated, and supporting the entire Democratic "ticket" up and down the line. Of course, we (the Dem. progressives) would have to make sure that the Dem party keeps its word and follows through on a Democratic/ semi-liberal agenda.

I just couldn't resist, figured you would pull your hair out

Media >> Conservative Funded Study: Fox News Most Balanced Network

A study released this month by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University found that Fox News Channel's evening coverage was more "balanced" than that of the broadcast networks. However, the objectivity of the CMPA, which bills itself as a nonpartisan media watchdog group, is questionable, as the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch found that "nearly all its funding comes from conservative foundations."

The conservative-funded study, which also claimed that TV election news has been most critical of Hillary Clinton and friendliest to Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, found the following on the balance of Fox's coverage:

Who's Fair and Balanced?: Fox News Channel's coverage was more balanced toward both parties than the broadcast networks were. On FOX, evaluations of all Democratic candidates combined were split almost evenly - 51% positive vs. 49% negative, as were all evaluations of GOP candidates - 49% positive vs. 51% negative, producing a perfectly balanced 50-50 split for all candidates of both parties.

On the three broadcast networks, opinion on Democratic candidates split 47% positive vs. 53% negative, while evaluations of Republicans were more negative - 40% positive vs. 60% negative. For both parties combined, network evaluations were almost 3 to 2 negative in tone, i.e. 41% positive vs. 59% negative.
To download a PDF of the report, click here.

http://www.cmpa.com/releases/07_12_21_Election_Study.pdf

BTW: a philosophical/ political/ strategic question about impeaching Cheney:

Should some impeachment hearings in the House Judiciary go forward, EVEN IF, we know that the Senate will not convict Cheney (it requiring 2/3 votes to remove Cheney)??? This is what Conyers and others keep arguing.

I say that even if the Senate won't convict, the hearings should go forward as a way of revealing all the crimes of the administration and getting them on the public record:

I would love to see Rove and Libby called to testify about the PLame leak. Or Rice and Hadley called to testify about how the infamous "16 words" magically found their way into the 2003 State of the Union speech etc... Or Gonzales to testify about who ordered him to fire the US Attorneys and why.

here is the latest on the petition count:

166,864

Bush Has No Plan B For Pakistan

U.S. Strives to Keep Footing In Tangled Pakistan Situation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901490_pf.html

Bhutto Tried To Hire US Security Guards, Including Blackwater

LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
NEW YORK — Benazir Bhutto was so fearful for her life that she tried to hire British and American security firms, including Blackwater, to protect her, but Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf refused to allow the foreign contractors to operate in Pakistan, her aides said.
"She asked to bring in trained security personnel from abroad," said Mark Siegel, her U.S. representative. "In fact, she and her husband repeatedly tried to get visas for such protection, but they were denied by the government of Pakistan."
Her entourage discussed deals with North Carolina-based Blackwater Corp., sources said.
"We were approached to provide [former] Prime Minister Bhutto's security, but an agreement was unfortunately never reached," a Blackwater spokeswoman said, confirming the negotiations. She declined to go into the precise details.
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071230/FOREIGN/542639205/1003

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq 1,139,602
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

===

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 3,901
http://icasualties.org/oif/

The War in Iraq Costs
$481,224,127,307

See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

Information Clearing House
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Step One, anyway.

Cancel your New York Times sub

I wonder how they still have any subscribers?

Finally someone has written the article that tells why I don't fervently support any of the candidates. They are all (Bill) Clintonesque.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/magazine/23clintonism-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&pagewanted=all

An interesting discussion of the pros and cons of attempting impeachment:

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/264123

The Democrats are doing well across the board in Iowa:

Good article with predictions about the future, written by a French guy but his English and insights are always pretty good. He points out that we should anticipate that if the economy really goes south or anything else bad happens, the Democrats will be blamed in 2009.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/30/145658/56/139/428028

I think the best framing is to start using the term "Republican recession" alot. For Iraq, "quagmire" but always emphasize that they got us in there.

(more cool stuff: http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com,
http://www.abracada.com)

Tommy Chong hangs in there with big-time, cable talking head on Fox News:

This is an old video and has probably been seen by all. I haven't seen it before so I'm putting it here, for others who missed it.

Ralpheh:

I liked that Tommy Chong bit and I am sorry it didn't include his solution! I am a little worried that this whole "immigration" issue will become the new wedge issue. I think that is about the most dangerous and negative thing we could do here in America. I think the solution has to start where the problem is, which is south of our border. I mean, look at the billions we waste on pet-projects and unproductive (charitably speaking) military adventures. What if we focused some of those resources on working with our friends in Mexico to get some things moving for the people down their so they don't feel compelled to move up here? Wouldn't that be the logical solution for everyone?

Just spit balling....

Chuck in Houston

To all here at DCP - Have a happy and determined 2008. Hopefully the two are inclusive. I must be getting old. I'm not going to make the midnight hour - by 17 minutes. Have fun!

Bhutto was definately shot. It is on video.

pervez is an ignorant fool.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Video_The_most_conclusive_evidence_Bhutto_1230.html

This is EXACTLY the bullsh*t crack ho type of b*tch that the New York Times has become...

They have an editorial, no named author, of course.

They are GOING OFF on georgie. They manage to completely shred georgie without ever once mentioning thier OWN COMPLICITY in ALLLLL OF IT.

AND THEN... they have the NERVE to end it this way.

"We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America."

And DO TELL US NYTs.... WHY DID THE AMERICAN VOTERS NOT HAVE 'WISDOM' IN THE 2004 ELECTION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE???!!!

OMFG! I HATE THESE PEOPLE!

My head just exploded.

Go look at these bastards, what they are blaming US for

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Cancel subscriptions hell, they should be cornered blockaded and interrogated until they start telling us some TRUTH.

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=3790

Let's Toast to Ten Good Things About 2007
by Medea Benjamin
December 30th, 2007

As we close this year on the low of Congress giving Bush more billions for war, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, let's remember some of the year's gains that can revive our spirits for the New Year. Here are just ten.

1. With the exception of the White House, this has been a banner year for environmental consciousness and action. Al Gore and the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize. Green building and renewable energy have exploded. Congress passed the Green Jobs Act of 2007, authorizing $125 million for green job training. Over 700 U.S. mayors, representing 25 percent of the U.S. population, have signed a pledge to reduce greenhouse gases by 2012. Illinois became the 26th state to require that some of the state's electricity come from renewable sources and Kansas became the first state to refuse a permit for a new coal-fired power plant for health and environmental reasons. That's progress!

2. On the global environmental scene, the Bush dinosaurs were tackled head on. When the US delegation at the UN climate change conference in Bali tried to sabotage the negotiations, the delegate from tiny Papua New Guinea threw diplomatic niceties to the wind and said that if the U.S. couldn't lead, it should get out of the way. Embarrassed by international and domestic outrage, the U.S. delegation buckled, and the way was cleared for adopting the "Bali road map." Although it is a weak mandate, it lays the groundwork for a stronger climate agreement post-2012 when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocols ends.

3. Imagine living in a waste-free urban society? Well, it's no longer a utopian dream but a well-thought-out plan for India's state of Kerala. The plan to be "waste-free" within five years includes waste prevention, intensive re-use and recycling, composting, replacing unsustainable materials with sustainable ones, training people to produce these materials, and providing funds for setting up sustainably run businesses. The ground-breaking plan, spearheaded by a local grassroots movement, demonstrates how citizen groups can advance pioneering policies to heal the planet.

4.While the war in Iraq rages on, a new war was stopped. The specter of war with Iran loomed large throughout the year, with Washington accusing Iran of killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq and being a nuclear threat. Then in December came the National Intelligence Estimate showing that the Bush administration knew all along that Iran had shelved its nuclear weapons program in 2003. It exposed the Administration claims of an Iranian threat as unjustifiably inflated, and the winds of war were suddenly subdued. Nothing is guaranteed, but a U.S. military attack on Iran is less likely now than it was earlier in the year.

5.This year also brought a decrease in tensions with North Korea. Hostilities flared after North Korea successfully conducted a nuclear test in 2006. But the Bush administration, bogged down in Iraq and pushed by international pressure, agreed to negotiate. Following a series of six-party talks involving North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the U.S, on March 17, 2007, an historic agreement was reached. North Korea agreed to shut down its main nuclear facility and submit a list of its nuclear programs in exchange for fuel and normalization talks with the U.S. and Japan. During this age of raw aggression, it is a welcome example of putting diplomacy first.

6. The Iraqi people have little to celebrate, but there was one important victory for the people this year. Remember how the Bush administration and Congress were insisting that the Iraqi Parliament pass a new oil law? Touted as a way to "share oil revenue among all Iraqis", the oil law was really designed to transform the country's currently nationalized oil system to one open to foreign corporate control. But opposition was fierce inside Iraq, especially from the nation's oil worker unions. In a rare sign of independence from Washington and concern for domestic opinion, the Iraqi Parliament withstood intense U.S. pressure and refused to pass the oil law.

7. In early 2007, few Americans had heard of the private security company Blackwater. By year's end, Blackwater had become infamous for the killing of civilians in Iraq. The radical privatization of our military to corporations like Blackwater that are accountable to no one was exposed for all to see. This frightening process is still well under way, with more private contractors in Iraq than soldiers, but at least the issue has now entered the public dialogue. And Blackwater has received such a black eye that it's unlikely to get a new Iraq contract when the present one expires in May.

8. One victory on both the war and environmental fronts came in Australia, where Labor Party's Kevin Rudd beat conservative John Howard to become Prime Minister. Howard was an enthusiastic backer of George Bush's disastrous war on terror, from defending the Guantánamo prison and extraordinary rendition to sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Howard also joined Bush in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Agreement, arguing it would cost Australians jobs. After assuming office on December 3, Kevin Rudd immediately signed the Kyoto agreement and he has promised to remove Australia's combat troops from Iraq by mid-2008.

9. Sometimes a loss is a win. Hugo Chavez had initiated a constitutional referendum that would have, among other changes, scrapped term limits. His immediate acceptance of a razor-thin margin of defeat before all the votes were even counted showed his democratic colors and made it a lot harder for Bush and the corporate media to label him a dictator. Despite the loss, Chavez remains extremely popular, especially among the poor and working class in Venezuela. And throughout Latin America, the historic transformation led by progressive leaders like Chavez continues to blossom.

10. Last but not least, this year saw the resignation of some of Bush's closest allies in government-Donald Rumsfeld resigned as Secretary of Defense, Alberto Gonzalez as Attorney General, and Karl Rove as Deputy Chief of Staff. Best of all, we can give thanks that we only have ONE YEAR left of the criminal, war-mongering, constitution-shredding, rights-violating, torture-sanctioning Bush Administration! It's just GOT to get better than this!

So here's a toast to a green future, diplomacy, and surviving the last throes of the Bush regime. Que viva 2008!

Ted Kennedy once said:

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.

The dream can not endure unless protected by a nation that holds it sacred.

The hope we have now can not continue to be based on nothing but our faith. Our defeats have far outweighed any 'victory' we have scored. Even as we sit here the war rages on, the torture continues, and our political and global options are becoming more limited by the day. Our economy is literally imploding. Our soldiers are in a terrible situation and the entire middle east is about to explode.

And madmen are still in control of EVERYTHING, they control more now than ever.

Yes, you can say I am being a pessimist. That is Monkeys fault. But I am more about survival than standing around caring whos fault it is.

We are on such alien and unstable ground now, that we have no idea how this can play out, because none of us has ever faced greater danger than we are in now.

Impeachment is one real solution but it has been pushed out of our reach, and we will be lucky to ever make the Constitution work right again.

Oh, yeah, and the world is melting. We are all going to die.

Call me pessimistic if you will but I consider it practical to be realistic. Our survival, our literal lives are at stake.

What do I want to pass in the New Year? We need a plan to GET OUT of this mess, and NOTHING ELSE is a priority.

We are facing the worst possible scenarios, what in the hell are we going to do now? The sum of all our fears lay before us... What now?

What we have been doing OBVIOUSLY is not working. Or not working fast enough.

I can not tolerate thinking this next year will be bad as this last year.

From my friend John - be sure to read his comment at the end.

The New York Times
December 31, 2007
Editorial
Looking at America

There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our country. Sunday was one of them, as we read the account in The Times of how men in some of the most trusted posts in the nation plotted to cover up the torture of prisoners by Central Intelligence Agency interrogators by destroying videotapes of their sickening behavior. It was impossible to see the founding principles of the greatest democracy in the contempt these men and their bosses showed for the Constitution, the rule of law and human decency.

It was not the first time in recent years we've felt this horror, this sorrowful sense of estrangement, not nearly. This sort of lawless behavior has become standard practice since Sept. 11, 2001.

The country and much of the world was rightly and profoundly frightened by the single-minded hatred and ingenuity displayed by this new enemy. But there is no excuse for how President Bush and his advisers panicked - how they forgot that it is their responsibility to protect American lives and American ideals, that there really is no safety for Americans or their country when those ideals are sacrificed.

Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America's position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America's global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world's anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.

In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.

We have read accounts of how the government's top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions - and both American and international law - to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.

Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn't go just a bit too far and actually kill them.

The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat - and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.

Hundreds of men, swept up on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, were thrown into a prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, so that the White House could claim they were beyond the reach of American laws. Prisoners are held there with no hope of real justice, only the chance to face a kangaroo court where evidence and the names of their accusers are kept secret, and where they are not permitted to talk about the abuse they have suffered at the hands of American jailers.

In other foreign lands, the C.I.A. set up secret jails where "high-value detainees" were subjected to ever more barbaric acts, including simulated drowning. These crimes were videotaped, so that "experts" could watch them, and then the videotapes were destroyed, after consultation with the White House, in the hope that Americans would never know.

The C.I.A. contracted out its inhumanity to nations with no respect for life or law, sending prisoners - some of them innocents kidnapped on street corners and in airports - to be tortured into making false confessions, or until it was clear they had nothing to say and so were let go without any apology or hope of redress.

These are not the only shocking abuses of President Bush's two terms in office, made in the name of fighting terrorism. There is much more - so much that the next president will have a full agenda simply discovering all the wrongs that have been done and then righting them.
We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America.

_______________________________________________________________________________
I'm amazed. Every time the Times editorial page presents a litany of abuses like this one, I think that, finally, the sober judgment of the Times will conclude and say, "Enough is enough: these men deserve to be impeached." But each time we are led to the inevitable conclusion . . . and the editorial ends with a wistful look toward 2009, or a sigh of resignation and regret. Is it a justifiable lack of confidence in this impotent Congress that pulls you up short? Do you not think that these charges rise to the level of high crimes and/or misdemeanors? Does the Times editorial board believe that they do not (yet) deserve it, or just that they deserve it no more than Congress, or the American people, do? Perhaps the Times is also a victim of the virus that has infected Congress, that prevents them from committing to any anything more decisive than an expression of disapproval.

Here's a nice video by Kayakbiker, his first. He put it up at Docudharma and I asked him to put it at our Silenced Majority (it's his site, after all). He did all the photography and is a Vietnam Vet (Minneapolis) I've known for 30 years now. The music was from the bus trip from Minneapolis to Washington DC (I think last fall) to protest the Iraq war.

Here is the Docudharma link:http://www.docudharma.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3419
Here is the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unJMLNfOBL0&eurl=http://www.docudharma.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3419

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Democrats, like Conyers and Pelosi, say that impeachment IS NON-STARTER BECAUSE THE SENATE WILL NOT ** WILL NOT ** IMPEACH Cheney or Bush, 2/3rds of the Senators needed to vote for impeachment.

I posed the question whether it is productive and necessary to have impeachment hearings for Cheney EVEN KNOWING that impeachment will be dead on arrival in the Senate.

There are half-measures, such as holding hearings on Cheney in committee but not reporting an impeachment bill to the floor of the House. This would be extremely embarrassing to the administration and would serve as a shot across the bow of the administration.

There is also the possibility of "censure" of Bush and Cheney by the House and/or the Senate. It seems to me that censure should have been done long ago... I will be in contact with Representative Wexler's office on all these questions.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year 2008, from Down Under

A good book:

TAKEOVER: The Return of the Imperial Presidency,

by Charlie Savage.

Jesselyn Radack is mentioned on pages 107 through 110.

... and a Happy New Year to those down under who already flipped the calender (and the bird at Bush/Cheney)...

Make 8 Great

8 years of Georgie in the White House

IMPEACH A PRESIDENT,
SAVE THE WORLD COMMUNITY, FROM GEORGIE AND HIS ADMINISTRATIONS TREATUROUS FOREIGN POLICIES!!!!

Blackwater Too Hardcore For International Mercenary Association

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/warwire

Happy New Year Down Under!!

Wiki on Bill Kristol:

William Kristol (born December 23, 1952 in New York City) is an American neoconservative pundit, analyst and strategist. He is the son of Irving Kristol, one of the founders of the neoconservative movement, and Gertrude Himmelfarb, a scholar of Victorian era literature, both of whom are secular Jewish Americans.

In 1997, Kristol and Robert Kagan cofounded the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Kristol is a member of the board of trustees for the think tank Manhattan Institute. Kristol is also a member of the Policy Advisory Board for the neoconservative think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center. Kristol has also been an attendee at Bilderberg Group conferences.

[edit] Weekly Standard

After the Republican sweep of both houses of Congress in 1994, Kristol established, along with conservative John Podhoretz and with financing from Rupert Murdoch, the conservative periodical The Weekly Standard. Kristol is currently editor of The Weekly Standard.

Word from Pakistan:

I am OK, nothing happened in Islamabad. And even Karachi isn't as bad as you think, most people stayed in doors, and were able to buy things from neighbourhood shops. But yes the burned trains did leave people stranded, and the cars and banks were burnt, etc. But trust me its not as bad as you think.

Not trending Bush:

As*es of Evil buttons top sellers on Iowa trail...

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Asses_of_Evil_buttons_top_seller_1231.html

Those buttons were circulating before the 2004 election in Iowa as well.
I think the originals were made by a guy in Madison Wisconsin. I know a story about them but I'm not putting it on the internet because the Freepers once had a field day and don't want to give them ammo. That's why I keep certain opinions close to my chest.

so sick of rigged elections

The Kenyans take to the streets with branches & machetes.

How desperate would we have to be?

NAUDERO, Pakistan — The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.

Bhutto had been due to meet U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to hand over a report charging that the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency was planning to fix the polls in the favor of President Pervez Musharraf.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/24001.html

Oh. Crap.

Congratulations to Code Pink. And thankyou for pointing out the successes. Yes - there have been some. Hopefully this year there will be more.

And the bad news keeps on coming. I suspect he got something far worse than chemotherapy. And probably no pain relieving medication at the end. Why couldn't they let him go home if he was obviously going to die? Soon.

Guantanamo prisoner dies of cancer

The US has drawn international criticism for holding foreign captives for years without charge [AFP]
An Afghan detainee has died from cancer at US naval base prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, US authorities have said.

Abdul Razzak, 68, who was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for colorectal cancer, was pronounced dead by a doctor at the base on Sunday morning, the US military said in a statement.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/54F2B343-CE8C-4D5A-A972-EA2F50783E7D.htm

Happy New Year, DCPeeps!

This is the year we elect a new President!!!!

Happy new year everyone!

I am still in 2007 - for just one more hour.

This is the year we elect a new President!!!!

A President, who is committed to a just Foreign Policy for the World Community, I would hope, not a repetition of 2000, 2004.

Hope 2008 is better.

U.S. Casualties In Afghanistan Hit Record High

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_afghanistan_casualties_071231/

From Al Jazeera English. Gaza. Palestine. Pakistan. Iraq. Iran. Kosovo.

NEWS AMERICAS
World views: US election

As candidates in the US primaries prepare to battle it out for their parties' presidential nominations, Al Jazeera spoke to readers across the world for their thoughts on the hotly contested race.

We asked whether they feel the parties' choice of candidate will have an effect on their lives if elected, and what impact, if any, the new US president could have on their lives and their country.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1681A519-5E53-4DE1-8420-5F0B0955A9FC.htm

Happy New Years everyone.

I am not over my lingering pessimistic disease, but I will ignore the symptoms until dawn tommorrow.

I really hope it is a good year for Us.

BOMBSHELL FROM GREG PALAST:

ON THE MONDAY AFTER KATRINA HIT NEW ORLEANS, FEMA AND WASHINGTON D.C. KNEW THAT THE LEVEES HAD BEEN BREACHED BUT FAILED TO NOTIFY LOUISIANA OR
ANYONE

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/8/28/top_hurricane_expert_says_officials_threatened

AMY GOODMAN: Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The storm was the most powerful and expensive natural disaster to hit the U.S., killing more than 1,500 people in New Orleans alone, displacing some 770,000 residents and destroying over 300,000 homes. The federal government’s response to the disaster was widely condemned. Images of the tens of thousands of New Orleans residents piling into the city’s Superdome stadium, pleading for food, water and aid, became symbolic of the government’s inaction.

In the aftermath of the storm, it became increasingly clear that the effects of Hurricane Katrina were made far worse by government incompetence and neglect. Warnings about the severity of the storm were ignored, and the levees, which were supposed to prevent New Orleans from flooding, were grossly inadequate. And, as investigative reporter Greg Palast reveals in this new Democracy Now! report, there were major holes in the city’s evacuation plan

GREG PALAST: Welcome to New Orleans, whose motto is “The City that Care Forgot.” In fact, it’s a city that everyone forgot.

BROD BAGERT: Reckless negligence that killed human beings. Old ladies watched the water come up to their nose over their eyes, and they drowned in houses just like this in this neighborhood, because of reckless negligence that’s unanswered for.

DR. IVOR VAN HEERDEN: By midnight on Monday, the White House knew. But none of us knew.

PATRICIA THOMAS: Katrina didn’t come in my house and put these gates up on my windows and things. Katrina didn’t have me walking out here looking for somewhere to stay. Man did this. This was manmade.

MALIK RAHIM: They wanted them poor niggers out of there, and they ain’t had no intention to allow it to be reopened to no poor niggers, you know? And that’s just the bottom line.

GREG PALAST: Our president says he hasn’t forgotten a promise he made here.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I want the people down there to understand that it’s going to take a while to recover. This was a huge storm.

GREG PALAST: Well, Mr. President, I think people down here know it was a huge storm. Over half a million of them fled the flood. It’s been a full year, and only 170,000, far less than half, have come back, almost none to their own homes.

STEVEN SMITH: Stayed three nights here and one night on the bridge.

GREG PALAST: You were three nights stuck in the flood?

STEVEN SMITH: Right here. Yep.

GREG PALAST: And they weren’t looking for you?

STEVEN SMITH: We had helicopters, but they—nothing didn’t pass. At least they passed over us. I’m on a roof, holding my shirt out and saying that we had babies back here.

GREG PALAST: This is Steven Smith. Like 127,000 others in this town, he didn’t have a car in which to escape, so he was left in the rising waters. Stranded in the heat on a bridge, he closed the eyes of a man who died of dehydration after giving his grandchildren his last bottle of water.

What kind of evacuation plan would leave 127,000 to sink or swim? It turns out that the Bush administration had contracted out evacuation planning to a corporation, IEM, Innovative Emergency Management. I couldn’t locate their qualifications, but I did locate their list of donations to the Republican Party. We went to Baton Rouge to talk to them.

These are the offices of Innovative Emergency Management. They were the ones that were paid a half-million bucks to come up with an emergency evacuation plan for the city of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. One problem is, I can’t find the plan. So I’m coming here to ask them about it.

So when I showed up at their office, they would only talk to me from behind a glass wall. By phone.

Did you in fact come up with a plan, because it says it’s urgent to come up with a plan? Did you come up—can you just tell me if you came up with a plan or not? I’m just happy to talk to you one-on-one. You’re probably about 12 feet away from me. Or somewhere. I don’t know, are you hiding in this office somewhere? I’m happy to speak to you face-to-face.

Check out Richard's New Year's piece on the Main Thread:

http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2008/01/richards_new_ye.html

US Casualties in Afghanistan Hit Record

Jason Straziuso, reporting for The Associated Press, writes: "Six years after the 2001 US-led invasion, violence persists in much of southern Afghanistan where the government has little presence, and recent militant attacks in Pakistan highlight a long-term regional problem with al-Qaida and the Taliban. Afghanistan in 2007 saw record violence that killed more than 6,500 people, including 110 US troops - the highest level ever in Afghanistan - and almost 4,500 militants, according to an Associated Press count. Britain lost 41 soldiers, while Canada lost 30. Other nations lost a total of 40."

After watching the videos of the riot at New Orleans city commission meeting, I noticed after about the third time watching one video that I could not see a single black city commissioner.

I wonder if there the New Orleas city commission is now all white, post-Katrina.

US Diplomat Killed In Sudan Shooting »

An American diplomat and his driver were shot to death Tuesday in the Sudanese capital, the U.S. Embassy said, a day after a joint African Union-United Nations force took over peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region.

It was not immediately known if the motive for the attack was political or a random crime.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080101/sudan-diplomat-attack/

Fun Fact

Winners of contested caucuses in Iowa have gone on to win the presidency only twice since the caucuses started in 1972: Jimmy Carter in 1976 and George W. Bush in 2000.

By Robert Parry

Hillary Signals Free Pass For Bush

Hillary Clinton's campaign is signaling that a second Clinton presidency will follow the look-to- the-future, don't- worry- about- accountability approach toward Republican wrongdoing that marked Bill Clinton's years in office.

http://www.opednews.com:80/articles/opedne_robert_p_071231_hillary_signals_free.htm

Pakistan elections delayed until February
Source tells NBC vote will be in second half; opposition had vowed protests

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 8 have been postponed until February, an election commission official said Tuesday.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22463651/

By Len Hart

BBC Censored Benazir Bhutto's Reports That Bin Laden Had Been Murdered

When a news organization as venerable as the BBC censors the reportage of a story as important as the assassination of Benzir Bhutto --a highly visible critic of Bush/British policy with regard to the "War on Terrorism" et al --it is fair to ask: who is the BBC protecting? Are they covering up the motive for her murder? Are they protecting the regimes that engineered her assassination?

You can watch the original, unedited version in which Bhutto states that Bin Laden had been murdered here

Benazir Bhutto: Bin Laden Murdered

Here is the BBC's Censored version.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7070000/newsid_7075800/7075843.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&nol_storyid=7075843&bbcws=2#

Bhutto herself has exposed a motive for her murder. Solving the case is a matter of finding the gunmen whom Hilary Clinton thinks may be found found among Pakistani troops.

January 1, 2008 3:45 PM
Kangaroo said: RE: Hillary

It's good to know that there are other people in the world who can read 'body language'.

Did everyone know that the number 8 means the number of NEW BEGINNINGS? Did any of you think we were actually going to live through the past 7? Very exciting.

Ralph, re: the Palast Piece,

I remember the moment the news said the levees had breached. It was that evening, and I was preparing to go to bed before a flight to Reno. I got on this blog that night and said "The levees have breached.....Where is the National Guard?" It should be on the archives. I had just heard the word either through the internet or on tv news, I don't remember now how I found out. Seems to me I heard it about 11:30 p.m. central time, when most of you here had already gone to bed.

At that time the water was already inching up, and they were moving patients to higher floors in one of the hospitals.

If I could figure out that with the water inching up if the National Guard didn't swoop in right away many people would perish, and I didn't have 25 advisers "advising" me, why couldn't Dubya? And all there was around us was SILENCE. After I got to Reno we just sat there dumbfounded and watched NOTHING happen. For an entire week. Nothing except people die, I should say.

I can say although I am sorry about the lives that were lost in Katrina, it to me was a great big wake up call to this nation, one that it heard.

It's going to be a VERY EXCITING YEAR. I just pray for an honest election, because if there is an HONEST election, we have a chance of getting someone decent in our White House.
A very good chance. If it's not honest, well, I think I know who we'll get.

In the meantime, I think it is very interesting timing that Pakistan is burning a few days before our first caucus in Iowa. Wonder what exciting bit of news will come our way from the Middle East besides another tape of Obama being released, and an assassination of a Former Prime Minister?

Sorry, I meant Osama bin Laden.

CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: Dahlia Wasfi at Iraq Forum

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton raised a record "over $100 million" for her Democratic presidential bid, her campaign reported.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/01/fund.raising/index.html

I wonder if they Ohio remember the 2004 elections? thank Blackwell Ohio, he gave Georgie another 4 years to lie and cheat, and steal, you'll probably lose a lot more sons and daughters over the next few years.

Ohio Guard call-up said to be largest since WW II

Source: Associated Press

COLUMBUS - The U.S. military is giving the Ohio National Guard its biggest call-up since World War II this week, sending about 1,600 troops to Kuwait, with some of them going on to Iraq.

With their departure, the guard is doing more to help members' families.

The 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is spread throughout Ohio and includes another 1,100 soldiers from Michigan.

Members of the unit have been deployed in individual companies or battalions since the terrorist attacks of 2001, but it's more than 60 years since so many left as one unit, Guard spokesman Maj. Nicole Gabriel said.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071231/NEWS24/712310371/-1/NEWS

Ohio has taken it in the keister since Furious George took over... look at how many manufacturing jobs have been lost in OH since 2001... hmmm, still believe they voted legitimately for Bush in 2004???? Oh yeah, I forgot, voters don't understand the connection between a likeable guy and their best interests.

Job Loss Since 2001

The country's manufacturing base has lost jobs at an alarming rate over the past five years, particularly in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Oregon.

Since 2001:

- Nationwide, an estimated 830,000 white-collar jobs have been sent overseas;
- 2.8 million manufacturing jobs have been lost, according to a study by the Progressive Policy Institute;
- Nearly one in every six manufacturing jobs have been lost in Ohio;

more...
http://www.workingamerica.org/issues/jobs.cfm

The five-year trend shows industrial employment in the Buckeye State down by more than 100,000 jobs. Since 2000, Ohio has lost over 840 plants in a state where manufacturing accounts for 20% of its economy, reports the yearly survey.

http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=240113

What does Ohio and Pakistan have in common?

Bhutto had vote warning for U.S., sources say

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated hours before she was to tell U.S. lawmakers of a plot to rig Pakistan's elections, sources told CNN Tuesday. Government agents could incite violence at polling stations, tamper with ballots and intimidate candidates, according to claims in a report Bhutto asked to be compiled, the sources said. Pakistani officials have denied the claims. Developing story...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/01/pakistan.voterigging/index.html

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton raised a record "over $100 million" for her Democratic presidential bid, her campaign reported.

Absolutely unconscionable, when you consider the state of the Economy, New Orleans, Vet Care, Health Care, ect, ect, ect.

I remember this interview right after Katrina,

this fellow was claiming outright sabotage against FEMA:

No complete investigation of course;

MAYBE WE NEED A "KATRINA COMMISSION"???

By Robert Parry

Hillary Signals Free Pass For Bush

Hillary Clinton's campaign is signaling that a second Clinton presidency will follow the look-to- the-future, don't- worry- about- accountability approach toward Republican wrongdoing that marked Bill Clinton's years in office.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

HILLARY IS BUSY SELLING OUT TO THE REPUBLICANS

What is her lame talking, "I, I, I, can stand up to the Republicans. I, I, I have been doing this since I was born. I can hit the ground running... "

yada yada...

Another Huckabee ad, another Christian symbol
New ad appeals to Christian conservatives

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For the second time in two weeks, presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has aired a commercial in which a Christian symbol appears in the background.

In the campaign ad, Huckabee is addressing members of the Iowa Christian Alliance, an organization whose symbol is the ichthys, which appears on a banner shown prominently at the open and close of the 30-second spot.

The ICA is an influential social conservative organization in Iowa, and Huckabee can be seen speaking about his opposition to abortion before the group.

The ichthys, which resembles a fish, is well-known in evangelical circles as the symbol used by early Christians to secretly identify one another without attracting persecution.

-snip-

"Our Values" is airing in Iowa, while "Tax Cuts Matter" is airing in New Hampshire, according to the campaign.

"The purpose of these ads is to highlight the things that truly matter -- while underscoring my conservative record of leadership and my vision for America moving forward," Huckabee said in a news release Tuesday announcing the ads.

"The pro-life position was the one espoused by our founding fathers when they said that all of us are created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights," Huckabee says in the ad. "The first one they listed was life. Nobody has a greater level of intrinsic worth or value than another person. Being unborn doesn't make you less valuable.

"Maybe instead of having our values trampled all over every single day and night, we would express to America what those values are: Family, life, freedom. Those things matter to us -- always have, always will."

A Huckabee spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/01/huckabee.christians/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/education/01boys.html?ei=5087&em=&en=89486ed8f7c628b1&ex=1199336400&pagewanted=all

Posted by Kangaroo 4:39 pm

That testimony by Dahlia Wasfi was amazing--I was there when she gave it. I don't know if you remember it, but only Lynne Woolsey and Barbara Lee were there to hear it.

Is it just me, or is it quiiiiiite a stretch by The Huckster to say that the pro-life position was espoused by the Founding Fathers?

Oh I do agree with Mike that they were pro-life (the Founding Fathers, that is), especially for white, male landowners.

pro-Women? not so much. pro-Black people? hmmm. Well, 3/5 pro-Black people, anyway.

pro-Indians? hahahahahah

I have espoused Mike the Huck as the most genuine and approachable and the most nuanced thinker on the Republican side. And I stand by that. But he is, first and foremost, a conservative, anti-abortion, pro-Creationism advocate. Do we want that in a President? Or would we rather have that in a church, where he can help folks solve some of their personal and spiritual problems?

We are so easily confused about the job of President. Maybe the conversation we need to be having nationally is about the JOB DESCRIPTION.

Please could someone give me a simple explanation - that you'd give to a 4 year old - what "the caucuses in Iowa" actually means in terms of the presidential election. AND does everyone get to vote for the candidate of each side?

Woz

There is no one answer. It is a matter of opinion and you will get alot of those. Here is one article which addresses it though. You could not probably put it into a simple explanation you'd give a four-year-old.

Why Is Iowa So Vital to Picking Presidents?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010108K.shtml
Steven Thomma, reporting for McClatchy Newspapers, writes: "Just hours before the first vote of the 2008 presidential campaign, the world waits breathlessly with one question. Not who's going to win Iowa's caucuses Thursday night. No, the question on the minds of people watching from afar is: 'Why Iowa? Why should such a tiny state get such a big say in picking the president?'"

Iowa & New Hampshire: An Odd Couple With A Big Influence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/31/ST2007123102525.html?hpid=topnews

What If Iowa Settles Nothing For The Democrats?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/us/politics/01decide.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
(Hope that opens .. I wouldn't put alot of stock in Nagourney though)

The most damning Katrina timeline you will ever see is at Think Progress.

I won't read t anymore. It hurts too much.

But look what I just found.

The headline

Whites More Likely Than Minorities to Get Narcotics From ER Doctors, Study Finds

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/ER_docs_give_whites_narcotics_more__01012008.html

It really is kinda self explanitory huh?

The thing is, when I first read it, I just snorted with laughter. Yes, I snorted.

It is funny to me because it took a study to inform white people what black people already know and talk about often. They do, they joke about it in the same tone they joke about how if you call 911 be sure to 'sound white' or you can forget speedy rescue.

I mean, it is funny, but it is also profoundly sad and tragic.

It is traumatic. No wonder they laugh about it, what can you do? Cry? Nothing changes. Most southern whites are in total denial about the reality southern blacks live in.

I wish Katrina had never happened, but I suppose it was inevitable that