ADMINISTRATION
More Michael Browns
By now, the nation has become familiar with the story of Michael Brown, the inexperienced former head of FEMA who oversaw an agency that was disastrously slow in responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A friend of former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh, Brown has spent the previous 11 years as the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association, a position from which he was forced to resign after numerous lawsuits were filed against the organization. While Brown has become the familiar face of "Bush administration cronyism," there are plenty of recent examples of inexperienced personnel filling key posts throughout the Bush administration. Should President Bush fail to take control over this growing problem, he'll continue to put the health and safety of Americans at risk.
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT NOMINEE LACKS EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD: The Bush administration's choice to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a 36-year old lawyer with "little immigration or customs experience." ICE is one component that completes Border and Transportation Security underneath the greater jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Michael Chertoff. Julie Myers' lack of experience led Sen. George Voinovich to state at her confirmation hearing: "I'd really like to have [Chertoff] spend some time with us, telling us personally why he thinks you're qualified for the job, because based on the résumé, I don't think you are." (Voinovich later recanted his objections after talking privately with Myers and Chertoff). To resolve worries about her lack of experience, Myers said that she pledges to "work with those who are more knowledgeable." Myers retains strong political connections to make up for her lack of professional experience. Her uncle is Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs; she is married to John Wood, Chertoff's current chief of staff; and, she served as an associate under former independent counsel Ken Starr.
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FALSIFIED CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDENTIALS: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reassigned a high-ranking Medicare officer after it discovered that he "falsified documents concerning his continuing education." Sean Tunis was formerly the chief medical officer at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a role that placed him in charge of reviewing and implementing all medical issues that arose in the administration of Medicare and Medicaid. Tunis's medical license was suspended last May for at least a year by the Maryland Board of Physicians, and he had been placed on administrative leave since April. HHS recently reassigned him to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality without discussing why the transfer was made. "I regret having made mistakes in handling my (continuing education) records, but I am now pleased to be moving forward into a new phase of my career," Tunis said. Tunis has been placed on a list of personnel who are excluded from doing business with federal health programs.
FDA APPOINTED VETERINARIAN TO HEAD OFFICE OF WOMEN'S HEALTH: The Bush administration recently attempted to appoint an "FDA veteran trained in animal husbandry who spent much of his career in the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine" to oversee the Office of Women's Health. Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. The Office of Women's Health is charged with working to "improve the health and well-being of women and girls in the United States." Three days after the Food and Drug Administration announced the appointment of Norris Alderson, the FDA press office sent out a new announcement stating another individual, Theresa Toigo, would head the office. The FDA claimed there was "no official decision" made to hire Alderson, the animal husbandrist. But a membership directory on the office's website listed him as "acting director" (the web page has since been edited).
OTHER INEXPERIENCED BUSH APPOINTEES: The Bush administration has made a number of other hiring decisions that have raised eyebrows. Jay Hallen, a 24-year old undergraduate who majored in political science and "rarely watched financial news stations and didn't follow the stock market," was chosen to rebuild the Iraq Stock Exchange. Gay Hart Gaines, "an interior decorator by training," was chosen to sit on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Board of Directors. And as the Progress Report previously noted, David Safavian, former White House procurement official who is now under arrest, came to his position with little relevant experience.
Under the Radar
ETHICS -- FRIST SOLD FAMILY STOCKS RIGHT BEFORE PRICE DROPPED: Stock prices for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) fell 15 percent in late July, but not before Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist unloaded his family's shares. HCA is the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, founded by Frist's father and directed by Frist's brother, who is also a leading stockholder. The senator sold his shares in the corporation by July 1, two weeks before the prices fell, followed by the shares of his wife and children by July 8. His spokeswoman explained Frist's decision to sell his stocks as an attempt to "avoid any appearance of conflict of interest [with his work in the Senate]" and that the reason he chose that particular moment to sell as "he's [never] been worried about it in the past." HCA has donated a total of $83,450 since 1989 to the senator's campaigns. Trading on insider information is illegal.
KATRINA -- FEMA HAS ICE TRUCKS "GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES": The Gloucester Daily Times, a small paper based in Massachusetts' Cape Cod region, reported today that nearly two dozen ice trucks have been sitting on Rogers Street in Gloucester waiting to see where FEMA would send them next. Trucks from across the country have driven thousands of miles moving huge shipments of ice at FEMA's direction. The ice seems to be going everywhere but the Gulf Coast. One truck driver said, "We've done jobs for FEMA before, but never to this extent where you sit and sit and sit. I just drove 1,300 miles to dump ice in Gloucester. This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever done." Portland, Maine is also expecting nearly 200 trucks to be idling in their city by the end of the week. A FEMA spokeswoman said of the fiasco, "Sometimes we have more ice and water that was ordered than is necessary. ... Unfortunately the truckers don't quite understand that."
IRAQ -- HALLIBURTON SERVES CONTAMINATED WATER TO TROOPS: Not only did Halliburton's KBR subsidiary serve U.S. troops in Iraq spoiled food (sometimes a year past the expiration date), but also contaminated water from Iraq's Euphrates River, containing "numerous pathogenic organisms" at nearly two times the normal contamination levels of untreated water. "[R]aw sewage is routinely dumped less than two miles from the water intake location." KBR water quality specialists reported their concerns, but were told by their superiors that their claims were "erroneous" and "corrective measures" had been taken, with no evidence anything had been done. Two whistleblowers resigned because of "unsafe water and pressure to cover it up" (one became sick from the drinking water) and another expects to be terminated soon.
BUDGET -- PELOSI OFFERS TO RETURN TRANSPORTATION FUNDING TO HELP HURRICANE VICTIMS: Despite Rep. Don Young's unwillingness to give up Alaska's $721 million in transportation pork, House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi has offered to return to the federal Treasury $70 million in highway and transportation funding for San Francisco to aid the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay still refuses to give up his district's portion of the of the behemoth transportation bill (at least $64.4 million), insisting that his "earmarks are pretty important to that region." DeLay has not even promised to honor Pelosi's request to return her funding, saying unenthusiastically that he'll "take a look" at that option.
KATRINA -- LAWMAKERS USE TRAGEDY TO REVIVE BAD POLICY: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, lawmakers of all political stripes have used the "political climate suddenly altered by the hurricane to try to advance long-stalled, sometimes controversial initiatives." For example, Texas conservative Rep. Joe L. Barton is once again fighting to open up fragile coastal regions to offshore oil drilling, an idea that languished in Congress earlier this year. "If there is a silver lining [to the disaster], and I'm not saying that there is, but if there is, it may be that our country is beginning to realize how fragile our energy sector is," Barton said. Meanwhile, bills that could improve future disaster relief efforts have died. The Senate rejected a bill authorizing $1.5 billion to improve communications equipment, even though Sen. Bill Frist had said that while in New Orleans, "people could not communicate from one side of that room to the other."
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
To All My Fellow Americans Who Vote for George W. Bush
To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:
On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
That's right. Horse shows.
I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.
I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.
Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?
When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?
When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?
Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?
Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?
With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?
Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.
That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.
It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"
My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?
And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?
Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.
Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?
I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?
I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.
Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com
On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
That's right. Horse shows.
I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.
I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.
Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?
When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?
When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?
Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?
Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?
With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?
Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.
That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.
It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"
My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?
And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?
Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.
Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?
I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?
I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.
Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals
September 10th, 2005 12:06 pm
Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.
But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.
TWO BUSH APPOINTEES AT HALLIBURTON
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.
Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Experts say it has been common practice in both Republican and Democratic administrations for policy makers to take lobbying jobs once they leave office, and many of the same companies seeking contracts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have already received billions of dollars for work in Iraq.
Halliburton alone has earned more than $9 billion. Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in "questioned" costs and $422 million in "unsupported" costs for Halliburton's work in Iraq.
But the web of Bush administration connections is attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups in the post-Katrina reconstruction rush. Congress has already appropriated more than $60 billion in emergency funding as a down payment on recovery efforts projected to cost well over $100 billion.
"The government has got to stop stacking senior positions with people who are repeatedly cashing in on the public trust in order to further private commercial interests," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight.
TWO BUSH APPOINTEES AT HALLIBURTON
Allbaugh formally registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root in February.
In lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate, Allbaugh said his goal was to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues affecting Kellogg Brown and Root."
Melissa Norcross, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said Allbaugh has not, since he was hired, "consulted on any specific contracts that the company is considering pursuing, nor has he been tasked by the company with any lobbying responsibilities."
Allbaugh is also a friend of Michael Brown, director of FEMA who was removed as head of Katrina disaster relief and sent back to Washington amid allegations he had padded his resume.
A few months after Allbaugh was hired by Halliburton, the company retained another high-level Bush appointee, Kirk Van Tine.
Van Tine registered as a lobbyist for Halliburton six months after resigning as deputy transportation secretary, a position he held from December 2003 to December 2004.
On Friday, Kellogg Brown & Root received $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Norcross said the work was covered under a contract that the company negotiated before Allbaugh was hired.
Halliburton continues to be a source of income for Cheney, who served as its chief executive officer from 1995 until 2000 when he joined the Republican ticket for the White House. According to tax filings released in April, Cheney's income included $194,852 in deferred pay from the company, which has also won billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq.
Cheney's office said the amount of deferred compensation is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
Allbaugh's other major client, Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group, has updated its Web site to say: "Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"
Shaw said on Thursday it has received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction. Shaw also clinched a $100 million order on Friday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shaw Group spokesman Chris Sammons said Allbaugh was providing the company with "general consulting on business matters," and would not say whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals. "We don't comment on specific consulting activities," he said.
Friday, September 09, 2005
America's Battered Wife Syndrome
America’s Battered Wife Syndrome
Category: General, Editorial/Comment.
Posted by Advena at around evening time.
Welcome Salon.com, Mike Malloy Show, Kos, and C&L visitors
Dear America
As a friend of the family I can’t sit back and watch you do this to yourself without saying something. Consider this a long distance intervention.
Your man is no good. He treats you like crap, lies to you, abuses you, bullies you, exploits you, takes your money. As a friend I want to tell you that you deserve better. You deserve a person that treats you with respect, cares about your welfare, and your children’s welfare, but that’s not George and it never will be.
Do you tell yourself that he’ll stop, or that it won’t get worse? He won’t ever stop, every insult, injury and death he has caused are a line that once crossed will never be uncrossed. Forget the dream. You will never have the American dream with George. You have to forget about what might have been, what George might have been, and realise that at the end of the day you are what you do, and look at George’s track record.
Notice how he’s alienated all your friends? Who can blame them, they can’t understand why you stay with him when he treats you like shit and embarrasses you in front of everybody. The more his public behaviour overshadows yours, The more doubt creeps over them, they wonder if they knew you as well as they thought they did. You seem to have changed - if you condone his behaviour- and your silence can create the impression that you do. People are more inclined to take things at face value when they feel alienated. Your friends remember the good times you had together, the heroic battles you fought together, all of the intricate interweavings between their families and yours through time and space. Do you even recognise yourself anymore America? He is a drunken, coke-addled loser and he always will be, you should kick him out of your house today before he can destroy any more members of your family, your history, your culture, before he decimates your bank account so irretrievably that China and Saudi Arabia repossess all your stuff.
YOU CAN DO BETTER! You are an amazing country, beautiful, interesting, funny, positively glamorous, you wouldn’t stay single for five minutes, you know that suitors would be competing for your affections and any one of them would be ten times better than George. And how can you stand his god-awful Stepford’s answer to Marie-Antoinette mother, piping up with another casual atrocity every time she opens her mouth.
Because of George and his friends global warming is now upon us - I know what it has cost your family already, combined with George’s complete uselessness and indifference in a crisis. It would probably now be possible for a mathematician to calculate exactly how much of all of our futures we are losing for every minute you stay with that sick,twisted, idiot.
I see you doing what everyone in your position does - you end up looking to the perpetrator for comfort because theres no one else left, and look at how he reacts for Christ’s sake, look at what he did to New Orleans, and you should know that yet again he did it in front of all of your friends, all of us saw nothing happening whilst thousands died, all of us heard Ray Negen and the president of Jefferson Parish (I must heard him 30+ times now and I still cry every time) and all of us heard George’s bloody mother. We have been trying to help and he won’t let us. We are all appalled and aghast, it breaks our hearts to see him hurting you like this, and you not fighting back, you just take it and take it as it slowly spirals down into the pits of hell. What will it take America, will you let him kill you before you’ll kick him out? This is not rhetoric America, he is killing you every day you stay with him. If I had described your relationship with George to you back when you were still with Bill you never would have believed me. He degrades you in little increments, every day he erodes your assets as well as your dignity, your reputation, your legacy and your life America.
All of our TV crews were rescuing survivors as they filmed the devastation because there was nobody else there to help them, all of us saw the victims being treated like some sudden new insurgency. with suspicion and hostility. Those poor people, the heart & soul of New Orleans, the very people whose culture and history made New Orleans beloved around the world, He just left your brothers and sisters to die. Can you really continue in your relationship with George after this? There is a degree at which cognitive dissonance becomes outright delusion. He is a maniac, he is destroying your life, please, please leave him, just leave him, only you have the power to make it stop.
He is selling out your family business, if you let him continue like this how are you going to live? How are you going to feed your children, what happens if you get ill? Everything he has ever touched has turned to shit, he puts any idiot that’ll kiss his ass into positions of power and New Orleans is the result. Kick him out America! Do it today! I know it feels like you would be leaping into a void, but I promise you, you will be leaping out of one. Your friends will come back as soon as they see you are back to your old self, they really miss you. I know that less than 36% of your heart is still in it. Go with the 67% of you, that 36% is just that vestigial, primitive part of the brain that clings to the familiar no matter how badly the familiar sucks.
It all comes down to you, America. I know no-one likes other people passing comment on their relationships but this is an extreme situation. You are in very real danger, he is hurting you everyday and he is hurting us, your friends as well. But only you can make it stop. We are all rooting for you, although we don’t get to talk to you very often anymore, because he cuts us off from you. We are on your side, we will all be over the moon the day you finally kick him out. You know he really should be thrown in jail for the things he has done to you. Him and all of his gangster friends.
Please, please, do it America, you know I am right. If not for yourself then do it for your brothers and sisters and children. Do it before he kills any more of your family or anyone else’s. We are all really worried for your welfare.
Your friend,
Gail
Category: General, Editorial/Comment.
Posted by Advena at around evening time.
Welcome Salon.com, Mike Malloy Show, Kos, and C&L visitors
Dear America
As a friend of the family I can’t sit back and watch you do this to yourself without saying something. Consider this a long distance intervention.
Your man is no good. He treats you like crap, lies to you, abuses you, bullies you, exploits you, takes your money. As a friend I want to tell you that you deserve better. You deserve a person that treats you with respect, cares about your welfare, and your children’s welfare, but that’s not George and it never will be.
Do you tell yourself that he’ll stop, or that it won’t get worse? He won’t ever stop, every insult, injury and death he has caused are a line that once crossed will never be uncrossed. Forget the dream. You will never have the American dream with George. You have to forget about what might have been, what George might have been, and realise that at the end of the day you are what you do, and look at George’s track record.
Notice how he’s alienated all your friends? Who can blame them, they can’t understand why you stay with him when he treats you like shit and embarrasses you in front of everybody. The more his public behaviour overshadows yours, The more doubt creeps over them, they wonder if they knew you as well as they thought they did. You seem to have changed - if you condone his behaviour- and your silence can create the impression that you do. People are more inclined to take things at face value when they feel alienated. Your friends remember the good times you had together, the heroic battles you fought together, all of the intricate interweavings between their families and yours through time and space. Do you even recognise yourself anymore America? He is a drunken, coke-addled loser and he always will be, you should kick him out of your house today before he can destroy any more members of your family, your history, your culture, before he decimates your bank account so irretrievably that China and Saudi Arabia repossess all your stuff.
YOU CAN DO BETTER! You are an amazing country, beautiful, interesting, funny, positively glamorous, you wouldn’t stay single for five minutes, you know that suitors would be competing for your affections and any one of them would be ten times better than George. And how can you stand his god-awful Stepford’s answer to Marie-Antoinette mother, piping up with another casual atrocity every time she opens her mouth.
Because of George and his friends global warming is now upon us - I know what it has cost your family already, combined with George’s complete uselessness and indifference in a crisis. It would probably now be possible for a mathematician to calculate exactly how much of all of our futures we are losing for every minute you stay with that sick,twisted, idiot.
I see you doing what everyone in your position does - you end up looking to the perpetrator for comfort because theres no one else left, and look at how he reacts for Christ’s sake, look at what he did to New Orleans, and you should know that yet again he did it in front of all of your friends, all of us saw nothing happening whilst thousands died, all of us heard Ray Negen and the president of Jefferson Parish (I must heard him 30+ times now and I still cry every time) and all of us heard George’s bloody mother. We have been trying to help and he won’t let us. We are all appalled and aghast, it breaks our hearts to see him hurting you like this, and you not fighting back, you just take it and take it as it slowly spirals down into the pits of hell. What will it take America, will you let him kill you before you’ll kick him out? This is not rhetoric America, he is killing you every day you stay with him. If I had described your relationship with George to you back when you were still with Bill you never would have believed me. He degrades you in little increments, every day he erodes your assets as well as your dignity, your reputation, your legacy and your life America.
All of our TV crews were rescuing survivors as they filmed the devastation because there was nobody else there to help them, all of us saw the victims being treated like some sudden new insurgency. with suspicion and hostility. Those poor people, the heart & soul of New Orleans, the very people whose culture and history made New Orleans beloved around the world, He just left your brothers and sisters to die. Can you really continue in your relationship with George after this? There is a degree at which cognitive dissonance becomes outright delusion. He is a maniac, he is destroying your life, please, please leave him, just leave him, only you have the power to make it stop.
He is selling out your family business, if you let him continue like this how are you going to live? How are you going to feed your children, what happens if you get ill? Everything he has ever touched has turned to shit, he puts any idiot that’ll kiss his ass into positions of power and New Orleans is the result. Kick him out America! Do it today! I know it feels like you would be leaping into a void, but I promise you, you will be leaping out of one. Your friends will come back as soon as they see you are back to your old self, they really miss you. I know that less than 36% of your heart is still in it. Go with the 67% of you, that 36% is just that vestigial, primitive part of the brain that clings to the familiar no matter how badly the familiar sucks.
It all comes down to you, America. I know no-one likes other people passing comment on their relationships but this is an extreme situation. You are in very real danger, he is hurting you everyday and he is hurting us, your friends as well. But only you can make it stop. We are all rooting for you, although we don’t get to talk to you very often anymore, because he cuts us off from you. We are on your side, we will all be over the moon the day you finally kick him out. You know he really should be thrown in jail for the things he has done to you. Him and all of his gangster friends.
Please, please, do it America, you know I am right. If not for yourself then do it for your brothers and sisters and children. Do it before he kills any more of your family or anyone else’s. We are all really worried for your welfare.
Your friend,
Gail
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Rummy's and New Orleans/Iraq war
US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield maintains that the US government can both take care of New Orleans and pursue the "global war on terror."
Uh, Donald, let's look at this situation. First, much of New Orleans is under water. You stole money that should have been spent on its levees for the Iraq War, and you stole state national guards from Louisiana to fight in Iraq. (The state national guards hadn't signed up to fight foreign wars and were surprised when you kidnapped them, sometimes for a whole year at a time.) So you haven't actually done a good job with the effects of Katrina in New Orleans. In fact, the job has been so bad that some wags are saying they can't believe you personally were not in charge of the recovery effort.
Then let's consider the war against al-Qaeda. You may have noticed that Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a videotape late last week. It was bundled with the farewell suicide tape of Muhammad Siddique Khan, the mastermind of the 7/7 bombers in London. It now appears that your inability to capture al-Zawahiri has allowed him to intrigue with Pakistani jihadi groups to recruit British subjects to bomb their own country. Bin Laden and Zawahiri are at large and free men, which is your failure.
Then there is the war in Iraq. I don't need to tell you that that isn't going very well. In fact, what in hell are you doing in the godforsaken Turkmen city of Tal Afar? Is it really a big threat to the United States? Is it likely to be friendly to us if you drop 500 pound bombs on its residential districts?
You left out the fourth war Bush is fighting, on the US poor. The average wage of the average American worker fell last quarter, amidst rising corporate profits. Bush cut billions in taxes on the rich, and then gave $300 checks to some poor people, who didn't seem to realize that by taking it they were giving up all sorts of government services and maybe even their social security payments.
So, Donald, maybe it is true that someone can save New Orleans, occupy Iraq and fight a global war on terror all at the same time. But you, at least, cannot actually do these things successfully. Which is why you should have resigned a long time ago.
Uh, Donald, let's look at this situation. First, much of New Orleans is under water. You stole money that should have been spent on its levees for the Iraq War, and you stole state national guards from Louisiana to fight in Iraq. (The state national guards hadn't signed up to fight foreign wars and were surprised when you kidnapped them, sometimes for a whole year at a time.) So you haven't actually done a good job with the effects of Katrina in New Orleans. In fact, the job has been so bad that some wags are saying they can't believe you personally were not in charge of the recovery effort.
Then let's consider the war against al-Qaeda. You may have noticed that Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a videotape late last week. It was bundled with the farewell suicide tape of Muhammad Siddique Khan, the mastermind of the 7/7 bombers in London. It now appears that your inability to capture al-Zawahiri has allowed him to intrigue with Pakistani jihadi groups to recruit British subjects to bomb their own country. Bin Laden and Zawahiri are at large and free men, which is your failure.
Then there is the war in Iraq. I don't need to tell you that that isn't going very well. In fact, what in hell are you doing in the godforsaken Turkmen city of Tal Afar? Is it really a big threat to the United States? Is it likely to be friendly to us if you drop 500 pound bombs on its residential districts?
You left out the fourth war Bush is fighting, on the US poor. The average wage of the average American worker fell last quarter, amidst rising corporate profits. Bush cut billions in taxes on the rich, and then gave $300 checks to some poor people, who didn't seem to realize that by taking it they were giving up all sorts of government services and maybe even their social security payments.
So, Donald, maybe it is true that someone can save New Orleans, occupy Iraq and fight a global war on terror all at the same time. But you, at least, cannot actually do these things successfully. Which is why you should have resigned a long time ago.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out "Very Well" for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans
September 6th, 2005 1:30 am
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out "Very Well" for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans
By E&P Staff / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK -- Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."
The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on National Public Radio's "Marketplace" program.
She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present.
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston."
Then she added: "What I’m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out "Very Well" for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans
By E&P Staff / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK -- Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."
The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on National Public Radio's "Marketplace" program.
She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present.
In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston."
Then she added: "What I’m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Monday, September 05, 2005
Bush- Bin Laden- Al Qaeda Money Laundry Conspiracy
Bush- Bin Laden- Al Qaeda Money Laundry Conspiracy
by WAYNE MADSEN
Bush- Bin Laden- Al Qaeda Money Laundry Conspiracy (8-25-05)-- Wayne Madsen Report has obtained further paper trails linking George H. W. Bush's longtime mysterious Swiss German money mover to a now defunct bank operated on behalf of Osama Bin Laden, his family, and some of his closest business associates.
The network of Swiss-based terrorist financiers are also linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and prominent European fascist leaders. The bank, Al Taqwa ("Fear of God"), was headquartered in the Italian Swiss enclave Campione d'Italia and had offices in the Bahamas.
It ceased operations after its assets were blocked by a US Treasury Department order, its assets were frozen by the Swiss government, and its banking license was revoked by the Bahamas.
Al Taqwa subsequently changed its name to Nada Management Organization.
Al Taqwa and a complex web of affiliate front companies and brass plates in Switzerland, the Bahamas, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jersey, Isle of Man, Turkey, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, the United States (Delaware and Texas), Germany, Belgium, Albania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Austria, Bahrain, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Liechtenstein were reportedly involved in funding terrorist operations around the world, including the procurement of nuclear material from the former Soviet Union through Baltic intermediaries.
by WAYNE MADSEN
Bush- Bin Laden- Al Qaeda Money Laundry Conspiracy (8-25-05)-- Wayne Madsen Report has obtained further paper trails linking George H. W. Bush's longtime mysterious Swiss German money mover to a now defunct bank operated on behalf of Osama Bin Laden, his family, and some of his closest business associates.
The network of Swiss-based terrorist financiers are also linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and prominent European fascist leaders. The bank, Al Taqwa ("Fear of God"), was headquartered in the Italian Swiss enclave Campione d'Italia and had offices in the Bahamas.
It ceased operations after its assets were blocked by a US Treasury Department order, its assets were frozen by the Swiss government, and its banking license was revoked by the Bahamas.
Al Taqwa subsequently changed its name to Nada Management Organization.
Al Taqwa and a complex web of affiliate front companies and brass plates in Switzerland, the Bahamas, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Jersey, Isle of Man, Turkey, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, the United States (Delaware and Texas), Germany, Belgium, Albania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Austria, Bahrain, Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Liechtenstein were reportedly involved in funding terrorist operations around the world, including the procurement of nuclear material from the former Soviet Union through Baltic intermediaries.
Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides
Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides
by DOUG THOMPSON
Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides While President George W. Bush travels around the country in a last-ditch effort to sell his Iraq war, White House aides scramble frantically behind the scenes to hide the dark mood of an increasingly angry leader who unleashes obscenity-filled outbursts at anyone who dares disagree with him.
“I’m not meeting again with that goddamned bitch,” Bush screamed at aides who suggested he meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the war-protesting mother whose son died in Iraq. “She can go to hell as far as I’m concerned!”
Bush flashes the bird, something aides say he does often and has been doing since his days as governor of Texas.
Bush, administration aides confide, frequently explodes into tirades over those who protest the war, calling them “motherfucking traitors.”
He reportedly was so upset over Veterans of Foreign Wars members who wore “bullshit protectors” over their ears during his speech to their annual convention that he told aides to “tell those VFW assholes that I’ll never speak to them again is they can’t keep their members under control.
by DOUG THOMPSON
Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides While President George W. Bush travels around the country in a last-ditch effort to sell his Iraq war, White House aides scramble frantically behind the scenes to hide the dark mood of an increasingly angry leader who unleashes obscenity-filled outbursts at anyone who dares disagree with him.
“I’m not meeting again with that goddamned bitch,” Bush screamed at aides who suggested he meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the war-protesting mother whose son died in Iraq. “She can go to hell as far as I’m concerned!”
Bush flashes the bird, something aides say he does often and has been doing since his days as governor of Texas.
Bush, administration aides confide, frequently explodes into tirades over those who protest the war, calling them “motherfucking traitors.”
He reportedly was so upset over Veterans of Foreign Wars members who wore “bullshit protectors” over their ears during his speech to their annual convention that he told aides to “tell those VFW assholes that I’ll never speak to them again is they can’t keep their members under control.
Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Katrina Deal
September 4th, 2005 7:56 pm
Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Katrina Deal
By Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A Halliburton Co. subsidiary that has come under fire for its reconstruction work in Iraq has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities that were battered by Hurricane Katrina.
The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., was awarded the competitive bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters.
Jan Davis, a spokeswoman for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, said Sunday that KBR will receive $12 million for work at Naval Air Station Pascagoula, Naval Station Gulfport and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It will receive $4.6 million for work at two smaller Navy facilities in New Orleans and others in the South.
The company has provided similar work after major disasters in the United States and abroad for more than 15 years, including in Florida after Hurricane Andrew.
But KBR has been at the center of scrutiny for receiving a five-year, no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil fields shortly before the war began in 2003.
Halliburton has reported being paid $10.7 billion for Iraq-related government work during 2003 and 2004. The company reported its pretax profits from that work as $163 million. Pentagon auditors have questioned tens of millions of dollars of Halliburton charges for its operations there.
Late last month three congressional Democrats asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to investigate the demotion of a senior civilian Army official who publicly criticized the awarding of that contract.
Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, who had been the Army Corps of Engineers' top procurement official since 1997, was removed from her position last month for what the Corps called a poor job performance. The lawmakers said the demotion "appears to be retaliation" for her June 27 testimony before Congress in which she detailed her objections to the award of contracts for Iraq projects.
Vice President Dick Cheney headed Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, and Democrats have questioned whether the company has gotten favorable treatment because of his connection.
Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Katrina Deal
By Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A Halliburton Co. subsidiary that has come under fire for its reconstruction work in Iraq has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities that were battered by Hurricane Katrina.
The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., was awarded the competitive bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters.
Jan Davis, a spokeswoman for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, said Sunday that KBR will receive $12 million for work at Naval Air Station Pascagoula, Naval Station Gulfport and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It will receive $4.6 million for work at two smaller Navy facilities in New Orleans and others in the South.
The company has provided similar work after major disasters in the United States and abroad for more than 15 years, including in Florida after Hurricane Andrew.
But KBR has been at the center of scrutiny for receiving a five-year, no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil fields shortly before the war began in 2003.
Halliburton has reported being paid $10.7 billion for Iraq-related government work during 2003 and 2004. The company reported its pretax profits from that work as $163 million. Pentagon auditors have questioned tens of millions of dollars of Halliburton charges for its operations there.
Late last month three congressional Democrats asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to investigate the demotion of a senior civilian Army official who publicly criticized the awarding of that contract.
Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, who had been the Army Corps of Engineers' top procurement official since 1997, was removed from her position last month for what the Corps called a poor job performance. The lawmakers said the demotion "appears to be retaliation" for her June 27 testimony before Congress in which she detailed her objections to the award of contracts for Iraq projects.
Vice President Dick Cheney headed Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, and Democrats have questioned whether the company has gotten favorable treatment because of his connection.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Vacation is over....Mr. Bush
Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.
Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
Friday, September 2nd, 2005
Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com
P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.
Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House
Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House
by Norman Solomon
The man in the Oval Office is fond of condemning "killers." But his administration continues to kill with impunity.
"They can go into Iraq and do this and do that," Martha Madden, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said Thursday, "but they can't drop some food on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, right now? It's just mind-boggling."
The policies are matters of priorities. And the priorities of the Bush White House are clear. For killing in Iraq, they spare no expense. For protecting and sustaining life, the cupboards go bare.
The problem is not incompetence. It's inhumanity, cruelty and greed.
Media outlets have popularized some tactical critiques of U.S. military operations in Iraq. But the administration is competent enough to keep the military-industrial complex humming. It's good at generating huge profits for "defense" contractors, oil companies and the like. First things first, and first things last.
Why shore up levees when the precious money it would take can be better used for war in Iraq? Why allow National Guard units to remain home when they can be useful, killing and being killed, in a faraway war based on lies?
And when catastrophe hits people close to home, why should the president respond with urgency or adequacy if their lives don't figure as truly important in his political calculus?
It's time to end the impunity of President George W. Bush.
Of course he doesn't pull the triggers, drop the bombs or oversee the torture himself. And he avoids the dying that he has facilitated in the wake of the hurricane. White-collar criminals – in this case, white-collar war criminals – rarely get close to their dirtiest work.
Every minute has counted in the wake of the hurricane. While dawdling and compounding the massive tragedy, Bush wants to shift responsibility. We should stop and think about why he noisily rattled a big tin cup midway through the week.
While the death toll rises in New Orleans and criticisms of his inaction grow more outraged across the country, the man wants us to think about making a charitable contribution, not taking political action. But George Bush and Dick Cheney must not be let off the hook.
There is something egregiously obscene about the people in charge of the U.S. government telling citizens to donate money for a hurricane relief effort while the administration, from the president on down, has viciously abdicated its most basic responsibilities.
For the activities it views as really important, like the war on Iraq, the Bush White House hardly requires private contributions while siphoning off vast quantities of taxpayer funds. But when the task is to save lives instead of destroying them, kids are supposed to bust open their piggy banks.
"True compassion," Martin Luther King Jr. pointed out, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." He accused the federal government of demonstrating "hostility to the poor" – appropriating "military funds with alacrity and generosity" but providing "poverty funds with miserliness." Four decades later, de facto hostility to the poor remains government policy, and its results include widespread deaths in New Orleans that could have been prevented.
Respect must be paid, and justice must be created. The dead cannot be brought back; the suffering of recent days can't be undone. But it's up to us to create maximum pressure for a truly adequate rescue effort – and to organize effectively while demanding political accountability. That means depriving Bush, Cheney and their congressional allies of the power they ruthlessly enjoy. And that means ending their impunity, so that truth has consequences.
by Norman Solomon
The man in the Oval Office is fond of condemning "killers." But his administration continues to kill with impunity.
"They can go into Iraq and do this and do that," Martha Madden, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said Thursday, "but they can't drop some food on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, right now? It's just mind-boggling."
The policies are matters of priorities. And the priorities of the Bush White House are clear. For killing in Iraq, they spare no expense. For protecting and sustaining life, the cupboards go bare.
The problem is not incompetence. It's inhumanity, cruelty and greed.
Media outlets have popularized some tactical critiques of U.S. military operations in Iraq. But the administration is competent enough to keep the military-industrial complex humming. It's good at generating huge profits for "defense" contractors, oil companies and the like. First things first, and first things last.
Why shore up levees when the precious money it would take can be better used for war in Iraq? Why allow National Guard units to remain home when they can be useful, killing and being killed, in a faraway war based on lies?
And when catastrophe hits people close to home, why should the president respond with urgency or adequacy if their lives don't figure as truly important in his political calculus?
It's time to end the impunity of President George W. Bush.
Of course he doesn't pull the triggers, drop the bombs or oversee the torture himself. And he avoids the dying that he has facilitated in the wake of the hurricane. White-collar criminals – in this case, white-collar war criminals – rarely get close to their dirtiest work.
Every minute has counted in the wake of the hurricane. While dawdling and compounding the massive tragedy, Bush wants to shift responsibility. We should stop and think about why he noisily rattled a big tin cup midway through the week.
While the death toll rises in New Orleans and criticisms of his inaction grow more outraged across the country, the man wants us to think about making a charitable contribution, not taking political action. But George Bush and Dick Cheney must not be let off the hook.
There is something egregiously obscene about the people in charge of the U.S. government telling citizens to donate money for a hurricane relief effort while the administration, from the president on down, has viciously abdicated its most basic responsibilities.
For the activities it views as really important, like the war on Iraq, the Bush White House hardly requires private contributions while siphoning off vast quantities of taxpayer funds. But when the task is to save lives instead of destroying them, kids are supposed to bust open their piggy banks.
"True compassion," Martin Luther King Jr. pointed out, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." He accused the federal government of demonstrating "hostility to the poor" – appropriating "military funds with alacrity and generosity" but providing "poverty funds with miserliness." Four decades later, de facto hostility to the poor remains government policy, and its results include widespread deaths in New Orleans that could have been prevented.
Respect must be paid, and justice must be created. The dead cannot be brought back; the suffering of recent days can't be undone. But it's up to us to create maximum pressure for a truly adequate rescue effort – and to organize effectively while demanding political accountability. That means depriving Bush, Cheney and their congressional allies of the power they ruthlessly enjoy. And that means ending their impunity, so that truth has consequences.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Who Should Pay for New Orleans ?
I do not think that we should pay for this disaster in New Orleans!!!.
This is strictly Bush and the Neocons’s fault. Instead of asking the American people to pay for this, Bush should ask his oil peers from EXXON, TEXACO, MOBIL, Chevron, Shell, etc
Bush is slashing every penny out of the Federal Goverment Social Programs. Bush cut about 70 million dollars out of the Project to rebuild the levies in New Orleans this year.
And yet Bush gave the corporate america big tax cuts.!!!
Bush and his crime family should go to jail to pay for all the deaths, he has caused here and abroad.
Let us see if we can defeat the Neocons next elections!!!!
This is strictly Bush and the Neocons’s fault. Instead of asking the American people to pay for this, Bush should ask his oil peers from EXXON, TEXACO, MOBIL, Chevron, Shell, etc
Bush is slashing every penny out of the Federal Goverment Social Programs. Bush cut about 70 million dollars out of the Project to rebuild the levies in New Orleans this year.
And yet Bush gave the corporate america big tax cuts.!!!
Bush and his crime family should go to jail to pay for all the deaths, he has caused here and abroad.
Let us see if we can defeat the Neocons next elections!!!!
Friday, August 19, 2005
Gas prices hit record high thanks to Bush
jbcard's Xanga Site
Gas prices hit record high for tenth straight day
By John W. Schoen / MSNBC
With just a few weeks left in the summer driving season, consumers are wondering just what it will take to put the brake on gas prices. For the last ten days in a row, pump prices set new records. And with inventories of gas at a new five-year low, refiners are having trouble keeping up with demand.
Some drivers report they're beginning to look for other ways to get around. Michael Right, spokesman for the AAA in St. Louis, said a recent survey found that more than a third of its members have started looking for ways to cut back, including carpooling, bicycling or walking to work.
"We got comments back that said people were already taking some kind of action before we were even looking at $2.00 a gallon," Right said.
But those reported changes in driving habits haven’t cut overall demand. Americans have been burning through gasoline at a rate of 9.5 million barrels a day over the past month, up from 9.4 million this time last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“We’ve been setting new record high gas prices since 2000, and consumption has continued to increase,” said AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom
Meanwhile, refiners have been coping with a series of unexpected outages, which has cut gasoline output. Last week, U.S. refineries operated at 93.5 percent of capacity, down from 95 percent the week before, according to Jacques Rousseau, an industry analyst at Friedman, Billings Ramsey in Houston.
With demand rising and supplies tight, prices continue to push higher. Pump prices soared to a record $2.586 per gallon nationwide Thursday, according to the AAA fuel gauge report, and some areas already are seeing prices at or above $3 a gallon.
"It's disgusting," said Kui Gonsalves, who paid $3.03 per gallon to fill his Toyota on Tuesday morning in Makawao, Hawaii.
But Hawaiian motorists, who pay the highest prices in the U.S., may get some relief as the state becomes the first in the nation to put a price cap on gasoline. The new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, allows the state Public Utilities Commission to set a maximum wholesale price for gasoline in Hawaii, based on the weekly average of spot prices in Los Angeles, New York and the U.S. Gulf Coast. The law would not put a cap on retail prices.
Relief in sight?
Analysts say they expect gasoline demand to begin its normal seasonal decline after Labor Day, when the summer driving season winds down.
“I think that barring some unforeseen geo-political catastrophe affecting oil supplies, then the stage ought to be set for prices to come down once we get to the fall winter period,” said Sundstrom.
Record pump prices don’t seem to be having much impact on new car buyers
In Southfield, Mich., Dave Pongratz picked up a new Hummer H3 on Wednesday as a surprise gift to his wife, Sandy, an avid camper and kayaker who wants a safe vehicle with good towing capacity. Pongratz said he'd rather go to fewer restaurants than buy a vehicle with higher fuel economy that the H3, which gets about 16 miles per gallon in the city.
"Everybody decides, 'What do I want to trade for what I want to do?'" said Pongratz, a plant foreman for General Motors Corp., which makes the Hummer.
Kevin McCormick, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, said the company isn't seeing a sales slowdown in any segment, including its popular pickup trucks. Toyota Motor Corp. also said gas prices don't seem to be affecting sales.
Though American drivers are feeling pinched, consumers in some parts of the world would consider U.S. gasoline cheap. Thanks to heavy taxes, European drivers pay much more. In Norway, prices recently toped $7 a gallon. Taxes can make up more than two-thirds of the pump price in some European countries.
But drivers in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries get off easier at the pump -- thanks to heavy government subsidies that keep gasoline below world market prices. In Iraq, where you’ll find the world's cheapest gasoline, you can top off for as little as 5 cents a gallon, according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund. Last year, the Iraqi government spent some $3 billion on gasoline subsidies, an expenditure the IMF says threatens the country’s fragile Iraqi economy.
Other countries that subsidize gasoline have gradually begun lifting prices. China raised prices by 4.5 percent in June to $1.63 a gallon. India also raised retail gasoline and diesel prices in June, the first increase since last November.
In the U.S., higher gasoline prices have begun to weigh on the economy. On Thursday, a widely-watched gauge of future economic activity rose a just 0.1 percent in July, a sign that higher oil prices are beginning to hurt the economy's growth prospects. On Wednesday, the government reported that wholesale inflation in July took its biggest leap in nine months in July, due in part to the hit consumers are taking at the pumps.
Shoppers hit with high gas prices are apparently beginning to cut back elsewhere in their family budgets. Earlier this week, Wal-Mart its second-quarter revenues fell short of forecasts and the retail giant put part of the blame on higher gasoline prices cutting into its customers spending power. Wal-Mart also warned that earnings for the third quarter would be below analysts’ forecasts.
“I worry about the effect of higher oil prices,” said Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott.
Winter chill?
And while gasoline prices may ease up a bit when summer demand cools, many homeowners face sharply higher home heating bills this winter. Natural gas prices have nearly doubled -- wholesale prices jumped to $9.73 per million btus this week, up from $5.13 this time a year ago while heating oil prices jumped nearly 19 cents to $1.88 a gallon, up 69 cents from a year ago.
That big jump is making it tough for heating oil dealers to lock in winter contracts with their customers. Most dealers begin offering a fixed price through the winter, but the recent run-up has made it difficult to predict where prices will be six months from now. Customers who lock in now risk seeing prices pullback, and paying more than they should.
"It's a horrible year. It's ridiculous," said Ron Trinks, who with his wife, Dee, runs Trinks Brothers Oil in South Windsor, Conn.
A lot depends on how cold the weather is this winter. Heating oil inventories are in pretty good shape for this time of year, according to Energy Department figures. But a prolonged cold snap could stretch supplies, touching off further price rises this winter.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Gas prices hit record high for tenth straight day
By John W. Schoen / MSNBC
With just a few weeks left in the summer driving season, consumers are wondering just what it will take to put the brake on gas prices. For the last ten days in a row, pump prices set new records. And with inventories of gas at a new five-year low, refiners are having trouble keeping up with demand.
Some drivers report they're beginning to look for other ways to get around. Michael Right, spokesman for the AAA in St. Louis, said a recent survey found that more than a third of its members have started looking for ways to cut back, including carpooling, bicycling or walking to work.
"We got comments back that said people were already taking some kind of action before we were even looking at $2.00 a gallon," Right said.
But those reported changes in driving habits haven’t cut overall demand. Americans have been burning through gasoline at a rate of 9.5 million barrels a day over the past month, up from 9.4 million this time last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“We’ve been setting new record high gas prices since 2000, and consumption has continued to increase,” said AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom
Meanwhile, refiners have been coping with a series of unexpected outages, which has cut gasoline output. Last week, U.S. refineries operated at 93.5 percent of capacity, down from 95 percent the week before, according to Jacques Rousseau, an industry analyst at Friedman, Billings Ramsey in Houston.
With demand rising and supplies tight, prices continue to push higher. Pump prices soared to a record $2.586 per gallon nationwide Thursday, according to the AAA fuel gauge report, and some areas already are seeing prices at or above $3 a gallon.
"It's disgusting," said Kui Gonsalves, who paid $3.03 per gallon to fill his Toyota on Tuesday morning in Makawao, Hawaii.
But Hawaiian motorists, who pay the highest prices in the U.S., may get some relief as the state becomes the first in the nation to put a price cap on gasoline. The new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, allows the state Public Utilities Commission to set a maximum wholesale price for gasoline in Hawaii, based on the weekly average of spot prices in Los Angeles, New York and the U.S. Gulf Coast. The law would not put a cap on retail prices.
Relief in sight?
Analysts say they expect gasoline demand to begin its normal seasonal decline after Labor Day, when the summer driving season winds down.
“I think that barring some unforeseen geo-political catastrophe affecting oil supplies, then the stage ought to be set for prices to come down once we get to the fall winter period,” said Sundstrom.
Record pump prices don’t seem to be having much impact on new car buyers
In Southfield, Mich., Dave Pongratz picked up a new Hummer H3 on Wednesday as a surprise gift to his wife, Sandy, an avid camper and kayaker who wants a safe vehicle with good towing capacity. Pongratz said he'd rather go to fewer restaurants than buy a vehicle with higher fuel economy that the H3, which gets about 16 miles per gallon in the city.
"Everybody decides, 'What do I want to trade for what I want to do?'" said Pongratz, a plant foreman for General Motors Corp., which makes the Hummer.
Kevin McCormick, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, said the company isn't seeing a sales slowdown in any segment, including its popular pickup trucks. Toyota Motor Corp. also said gas prices don't seem to be affecting sales.
Though American drivers are feeling pinched, consumers in some parts of the world would consider U.S. gasoline cheap. Thanks to heavy taxes, European drivers pay much more. In Norway, prices recently toped $7 a gallon. Taxes can make up more than two-thirds of the pump price in some European countries.
But drivers in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries get off easier at the pump -- thanks to heavy government subsidies that keep gasoline below world market prices. In Iraq, where you’ll find the world's cheapest gasoline, you can top off for as little as 5 cents a gallon, according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund. Last year, the Iraqi government spent some $3 billion on gasoline subsidies, an expenditure the IMF says threatens the country’s fragile Iraqi economy.
Other countries that subsidize gasoline have gradually begun lifting prices. China raised prices by 4.5 percent in June to $1.63 a gallon. India also raised retail gasoline and diesel prices in June, the first increase since last November.
In the U.S., higher gasoline prices have begun to weigh on the economy. On Thursday, a widely-watched gauge of future economic activity rose a just 0.1 percent in July, a sign that higher oil prices are beginning to hurt the economy's growth prospects. On Wednesday, the government reported that wholesale inflation in July took its biggest leap in nine months in July, due in part to the hit consumers are taking at the pumps.
Shoppers hit with high gas prices are apparently beginning to cut back elsewhere in their family budgets. Earlier this week, Wal-Mart its second-quarter revenues fell short of forecasts and the retail giant put part of the blame on higher gasoline prices cutting into its customers spending power. Wal-Mart also warned that earnings for the third quarter would be below analysts’ forecasts.
“I worry about the effect of higher oil prices,” said Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott.
Winter chill?
And while gasoline prices may ease up a bit when summer demand cools, many homeowners face sharply higher home heating bills this winter. Natural gas prices have nearly doubled -- wholesale prices jumped to $9.73 per million btus this week, up from $5.13 this time a year ago while heating oil prices jumped nearly 19 cents to $1.88 a gallon, up 69 cents from a year ago.
That big jump is making it tough for heating oil dealers to lock in winter contracts with their customers. Most dealers begin offering a fixed price through the winter, but the recent run-up has made it difficult to predict where prices will be six months from now. Customers who lock in now risk seeing prices pullback, and paying more than they should.
"It's a horrible year. It's ridiculous," said Ron Trinks, who with his wife, Dee, runs Trinks Brothers Oil in South Windsor, Conn.
A lot depends on how cold the weather is this winter. Heating oil inventories are in pretty good shape for this time of year, according to Energy Department figures. But a prolonged cold snap could stretch supplies, touching off further price rises this winter.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Friday, August 12, 2005
Meetwithcindy.org
jbcard's Xanga Site
WE ARE INSULTED when people like Bush say that America has to 'stay the course' in Iraq to 'honor our children's sacrifices.'
Not one more drop of blood should be shed for the lies and deceptions."
- Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, KIA 04/04/04
You owe her an explanation, Mr. President.
Our mission is to persuade President Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan and answer her questions about why the war that took her son's life was started and why it is being continued.
Come to Crawford
We need your support. There is power in numbers. Join us in Crawford now!
Crawford Peace House
Directions to get here.
Help Others
If you can't come to Crawford, please contribute to a fund to cover the costs of assisting others with their travel and their stay in Crawford. For details, contact the Crawford Peace House.
Contact the Media
Ask the media to cover Cindy Sheehan's request to meet with the President, and to cover the contrast between pre-war claims for why war was needed and current knowledge of what the facts were known to be.
Call the White House
Call the White House and ask the staff there to contact the President on his ranch and ask him to meet with Cindy Sheehan.
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail comments@whitehouse.gov
Contact Congress
Sen. George Allen (Republican, Va.) has publicly encouraged the President to meet with Cindy Sheehan. Has your Congress Member and each of your Senators done so?
Ask them to!
*CARLY'S POEM*
A Nation Rocked to sleep
by Carly Sheehan
Sister Casey KIA 04/04/04
Sadr City Baghdad
Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?
The torrential rains of a mother's weeping will never be done
They call him a hero, you should be glad that he's one, but
Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?
Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?
He must be brave because his boy died for another man's lies
The only grief he allows himself are long, deep sighs
Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?
Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?
They say that he died so that the flag will continue to wave
But I believe he died because they had oil to save
Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?
Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?
The leaders want to keep you numb so the pain won't be so deep
But if we the people let them continue another mother will weep
WE ARE INSULTED when people like Bush say that America has to 'stay the course' in Iraq to 'honor our children's sacrifices.'
Not one more drop of blood should be shed for the lies and deceptions."
- Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, KIA 04/04/04
You owe her an explanation, Mr. President.
Our mission is to persuade President Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan and answer her questions about why the war that took her son's life was started and why it is being continued.
Come to Crawford
We need your support. There is power in numbers. Join us in Crawford now!
Crawford Peace House
Directions to get here.
Help Others
If you can't come to Crawford, please contribute to a fund to cover the costs of assisting others with their travel and their stay in Crawford. For details, contact the Crawford Peace House.
Contact the Media
Ask the media to cover Cindy Sheehan's request to meet with the President, and to cover the contrast between pre-war claims for why war was needed and current knowledge of what the facts were known to be.
Call the White House
Call the White House and ask the staff there to contact the President on his ranch and ask him to meet with Cindy Sheehan.
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail comments@whitehouse.gov
Contact Congress
Sen. George Allen (Republican, Va.) has publicly encouraged the President to meet with Cindy Sheehan. Has your Congress Member and each of your Senators done so?
Ask them to!
*CARLY'S POEM*
A Nation Rocked to sleep
by Carly Sheehan
Sister Casey KIA 04/04/04
Sadr City Baghdad
Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?
The torrential rains of a mother's weeping will never be done
They call him a hero, you should be glad that he's one, but
Have you ever heard the sound of a mother screaming for her son?
Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?
He must be brave because his boy died for another man's lies
The only grief he allows himself are long, deep sighs
Have you ever heard the sound of a father holding back his cries?
Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?
They say that he died so that the flag will continue to wave
But I believe he died because they had oil to save
Have you ever heard the sound of taps played at your brother's grave?
Have you ever heard the sound of a nation being rocked to sleep?
The leaders want to keep you numb so the pain won't be so deep
But if we the people let them continue another mother will weep
Friday, July 08, 2005
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff
July 6th, 2005 1:59 pm
For Lobbyist, a Seat of Power Came With a Plate
An email message from the lobbist Jack Abramoff instructed the Signatures restaurant staff not to charge Tom DeLay and his guest for a meal.
Subject: Tom and Christine DeLay
Want to come in Thursday May 9, 7PM. Table of 6, put it where I sit and remove that other table. Their meal is to be comped. Thanks
By Glen Justice / New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 5 - The lobbyist Jack Abramoff mixed business with business at Signatures, the upscale restaurant he opened here three years ago. Playing host at his private corner spot, Table 40, he courted Republican lawmakers and talked strategy with subordinates while eating rolls of sushi and firing commands to the staff on his BlackBerry.
Signatures appeared to satisfy several ambitions for Mr. Abramoff, who is at the center of two widening fraud investigations. By most accounts, he reveled in the role of celebrity restaurant owner. His expense account restaurant, which offered a $74 steak and a $140 tasting menu, packed in Capitol Hill staffers and prominent politicians.
Mr. Abramoff could patronize his own business - his meals were sometimes prepared in a special kosher kitchen - while billing clients thousands of dollars. And he could generate good will by offering free food and drink to guests including Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, now the majority leader, and other members of Congress, according to restaurant records and interviews with former employees.
For example, Mr. Abramoff wrote an e-mail message to three restaurant managers in May 2002, instructing them not to charge Mr. DeLay, his wife, Christine, and four others when they came in a week later.
"Table of 6," Mr. Abramoff wrote, "put it where I sit and remove that other table. Their meal is to be comped."
In the restaurant's early months, a customer list noted who could dine for free, according to two former managers. A copy obtained by The New York Times shows handwritten notes next to 18 names - lawyers, lobbyists and eight current or former lawmakers - designating them as "FOO Comp," for friend of owner, or "A-Comp," for associate of owner.
Often, guests dined with Mr. Abramoff and did not receive a check, employees said, though Congressional rules prohibit lawmakers from receiving expensive gifts, including food.
"They would come in for lunch with Jack and they wouldn't get a bill," Laura Clifton, a former dining room manager at Signatures, said of Mr. Abramoff's guests. "It was a showplace and it was for business," Ms. Clifton added. "It was all business all the time."
Mr. Abramoff was in the restaurant almost daily, often treating a table full of guests to hundreds of dollars worth of food, wine and liquor, financial records show. Over a 17-month period in 2002 and 2003, the restaurant gave away about $180,000 in food and drink, with Mr. Abramoff's tab roughly $65,000 for himself and his guests, the records say. About a dozen former employees and managers, including three who provided records, described Mr. Abramoff's activities at Signatures. Most would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the investigations. Several acknowledged that they had left on poor terms, while most said they simply moved on.
Andrew Blum, a spokesman for Mr. Abramoff, disputed some of the employees' accounts, including one that a list was kept identifying customers eligible for free food.
"Every restaurant tries to avoid giving complimentary meals and drinks, but it does happen at virtually every restaurant," Mr. Blum wrote in response to written questions. "Nevertheless, there has never been a comp list at Signatures authorized by Mr. Abramoff."
Mr. Blum also disputes the accuracy of the financial records describing the amount of money attributed to free meals. "It is possible that information is being provided by unreliable sources," he said. He did not provide a number for the value of free meals.
Spokespeople for Mr. DeLay and the other lawmakers all said they had complied with ethics rules.
A Who's Who Spot
Mr. Abramoff, who was once a top lobbyist for the Greenberg Traurig law firm, is under investigation by a Congressional committee and a federal grand jury, which are looking into accusations that he defrauded four Indian tribes that paid him more than $80 million by inflating expenses, collecting kickbacks from consultants and diverting money intended for lobbying to pet projects.
His dealings at Signatures, it increasingly appears, are figuring in the inquiries.
A Congressional official who is monitoring the Justice Department's investigation of Mr. Abramoff said his use of Signatures in promoting his lobbying work was among the issues being examined by the grand jury. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the investigation, said Mr. Abramoff was known to entertain lawmakers who might assist his lobbying clients.
Documents released by Congressional investigators show tribes got hefty bills for meetings at Signatures. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians was billed more than $5,600 for Mr. Abramoff's meals with public officials and other lobbyists in 2002, records show.
On a good day, Signatures, on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol, was thick with well-known figures. The White House strategist Karl Rove, House speaker J. Dennis Hastert and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have all dined there.
"It was a who's who, and that's the way they wanted it," Michael Rosen, who worked as chef at Signatures when the restaurant opened, said. "Jack loved the attention of everybody being there."
Mr. Abramoff usually entertained at Table 40, former employees said. He had a preferred chair, a few favorite servers and his own set of hand-washed pots, dishes and silverware. Other times he ate in one of the restaurant's two private rooms, which have a rear entrance that allows guests to come and go in privacy.
Though some former employees described Mr. Abramoff as detached when it came to the details of restaurant operation, many others said he was engaged in the matters that concerned him. He instructed the staff about who could sit within earshot of him, for example, one former employee said.
And when the restaurant was opening, some workers said, he and his family were involved in everything from the menu to the décor. The walls were lined with signed historic documents - hence the restaurant's name - including a copy of former President Richard Nixon's pardon that later sold for almost $5,000.
The tables were set with Christofle flatware, custom Villeroy & Boch chargers, even special lint-free napkins. Guests could rent a wine locker to store their favorite vintages and buy cigars from the in-house humidor. The restaurant had a van for a while to chauffeur guests.
Mr. Abramoff's ownership in Signatures lifted him into an exclusive group of wealthy Washington lobbyists and consultants who owned a piece of their favorite hangout. He eventually had an interest in three Washington restaurants, though the two others, Stacks and Archives, closed. Signatures was his first, opening in February 2002.
Food critics delivered mixed reviews, dubbing it a place for those on an expense account, and the current menu shows why. A $36 beef filet tops the dinner entrees. A lunchtime hamburger served on brioche with the chef's own ketchup sells for $12 (goat cheese optional for an extra $2).
Still, Signatures, which advertised that it provided "Liberal portions in a conservative setting," became a favorite among Republicans. Dozens of lawmakers took advantage of its location to hold fund-raisers, parties and meetings. A few Democrats even became regulars, including the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, who lived nearby and was honored with a plaque proclaiming his favorite table "Moynihan's Corner."
As Mr. Abramoff's legal troubles escalated in the past year, some lawmakers have scrambled to avoid any ethical questions that could result from their association with him or his restaurant. Earlier this year, for example, Mr. Hastert, the House speaker, and Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, paid the restaurant for fund-raisers held in 2003.
While Congressional ethics rules allow gifts from personal friends, lawmakers are generally limited to less than $100 in gifts from a single source each year, and any gift must be worth less than $50. Former employees say several lawmakers dined regularly at Mr. Abramoff's private table and at his expense. While some often insisted on paying, others made no such requests, they said.
Regular Visitors
Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who said he had been friends with Mr. Abramoff for two decades and did not shy away from his hospitality.
Mr. Rohrabacher, whose name bears the "FOO Comp" designation on the customer list, said he ate at Signatures at Mr. Abramoff's expense once or twice a month and that the meals fell under the friendship exemption in House rules. He also said he tried to take Mr. Abramoff out regularly, paying for the lobbyist's meals in return.
"Just because you are a member of Congress doesn't mean you have to give up your friendships," Mr. Rohrabacher said, adding that "it was dinner with a friend and I didn't think of it as a gift."
Another regular visitor was Representative Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the Committee on House Administration. Campaign finance records show Mr. Ney's campaign and his political action committee paid Signatures about $1,900 for meals and events between 2002 and 2004, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks political spending.
Former Signatures employees, however, say Mr. Ney also frequently ate and drank without paying as he spent evenings talking with lobbyists and Congressional staffers.
"There were times when meals and/or drinks were bought by him or for him by other members, lobbyists, or other persons, all within the limits of the gift rules," Brian Walsh, Mr. Ney's spokesman, wrote in an e-mail message in response to questions.
Restaurant records show a dinner for 18 was planned for Mr. Ney in April 2002. It was organized by Neil Volz, Mr. Ney's former chief of staff who was working with Mr. Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig at the time.
The cost of the planned event was listed at roughly $70 per person with a $1,500 minimum. Campaign finance records show no payment from Mr. Ney's campaign or his political action committee, according to PoliticalMoneyLine. Mr. Volz did not return calls seeking comment.
"We continue to search our records but are unable to confirm at this time whether there was an event that evening," Mr. Walsh wrote. "The congressman's schedule indicates that he may have stopped by Signatures that night, among other locations listed on his calendar. Absent additional information, we cannot provide further details."
Former employees also say Representative John T. Doolittle, a California Republican whose name appears on the list with the FOO Comp designation, was given free meals at the restaurant. But his spokeswoman, Laura Blackann, said Mr. Doolittle did nothing wrong.
"To his recollection, any meal the congressman had at Signatures was either paid for personally or paid for in compliance with House rules by someone with whom the congressman was dining," Ms. Blackann said.
Mr. DeLay was also a regular visitor to the restaurant. His longtime ties to Mr. Abramoff have come under scrutiny this year, and he could face an inquiry by the House ethics committee into whether an expensive overseas trip arranged by Mr. Abramoff violated House rules. Former Signatures employees say the Texas lawmaker, whose name appears on the list with the FOO Comp designation, usually made brief appearances for fund-raisers and other events but rarely lingered to eat. Restaurant records, though, show a reception and dinner for 16 - at $75 a person and a $1,500 minimum - were scheduled for Mr. DeLay's political action committee in a private room in April 2002.
The dinner was organized by Tony Rudy, a former DeLay aide who was working with Mr. Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig at the time, and Tom Hammond, a fund-raising consultant. Campaign finance records show no payment for the event.
Richard Cullen, Mr. DeLay's lawyer, declined to comment directly on the events at Signatures involving the majority leader, except to say Mr. DeLay could find no record that the May 2002 meal referenced in Mr. Abramoff's e-mail message took place. The e-mail and some other information about free meals at Signatures was first reported by Time magazine.
Plans to Cooperate
"Mr. DeLay has stated repeatedly that he believes he has at all times conformed with House rules and that he will cooperate fully at the appropriate time with those whose responsibility it is to review these matters," Mr. Cullen said. "But he will not engage the press each time a political opponent feeds reporters often incomplete, irresponsible or inconsistent information. To do so would legitimize these political attacks and would be inappropriate."
Other lawmakers whose names carried the "FOO" notation include Republican Representatives Roy Blunt of Missouri and Frank A. LoBiondo of New Jersey, as well as former Senators John G. Breaux, Don Nickles and Tim Hutchinson. But the Signatures employees did not describe them as having regularly eaten with Mr. Abramoff or as often receiving free meals.
Spokespeople for Mr. Blunt and Mr. LoBiondo said the lawmakers never received free meals at Signatures. Mr. Nickles and Mr. Hutchinson did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Mr. Breaux, a former Democratic senator who now works for a law firm, said: "I never got a comped meal there in my life. And I'm certainly not a friend of Abramoff."
While Signatures was popular, it struggled to make money, according to employees and documents.
Mr. Abramoff and his companies invested more than $3 million in Signatures from January 2002 to May 2003, records show. At the same time, he and his employees gave away tens of thousands of dollars in food, wine and liquor, the records show. That includes menu prices for Mr. Abramoff's own food and drink, as well as employee discounts and free meals given by restaurant managers and staff, according to the records. Nationwide, the median expense for marketing, including free meals and drinks, was about 3.5 percent of sales for expensive restaurants like Signatures that spend the most on such promotions, according to the National Restaurant Association. One national restaurant consultant, Clark Wolf, said the figure can go as high as 5 percent.
At Signatures, free meals and drinks for managers and guests alone were about 7 percent of revenues for the restaurant's first 17 months, according to former employees and financial records. Mr. Blum, the spokesman for Mr. Abramoff, disputed that percentage.
Though still busy, Signatures is no longer the power hangout that it once was. Mr. Abramoff is negotiating to sell his interest, said Bronwyn Jacoby, a restaurant spokeswoman. Many of the lavish features have been cut back. Signatures is no longer open for breakfast. It no longer operates the van. And the $74 steak has disappeared from the menu.
By the end of the lunch hour Tuesday, the restaurant was deserted. While patrons lingered at outdoor tables two blocks away at the fashionable restaurant Ten Penh, none were seated on the patio outside Signatures - or, for that matter, at the dozens of empty indoor tables. As usual, one of the upstairs tables had a "reserved" sign on it.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
karl Rove as Plame Leaker
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July 2nd, 2005 3:39 pm
MSNBC Analyst Says 2nd Source Confirms Karl Rove as Plame Leaker
By Greg Mitchell / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source. Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, now claims that at least two sources have confirmed that the name is--top White House mastermind Karl Rove.
O'Donnell first offered this report Friday night on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show. Today, he went beyond that, writing a brief entry at the Huffington Post blog:
"I revealed in yesterday's taping of the McLaughlin Group that Time magazine's e-mails will reveal that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source. I have known this for months but didn't want to say it at a time that would risk me getting dragged into the grand jury.
"McLaughlin is seen in some markets on Friday night, so some websites have picked it up, including Drudge, but I don't expect it to have much impact because McLaughlin is not considered a news show and it will be pre-empted in the big markets on Sunday because of tennis.
"Since I revealed the big scoop, I have had it reconfirmed by yet another highly authoritative source. Too many people know this. It should break wide open this week. I know Newsweek is working on an 'It's Rove!' story and will probably break it tomorrow."
Here is the text of what O'Donnell said on Friday:
"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's e-mails, within Time Magazine, are handed over to the grand jury--the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is.
"I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury."
Other McLaughlin Group panelists then joined in discussing whether, if true, this would suggest a perjury rap for Rove, if he told the grand jury he did not leak to Cooper.
Besides his career at a TV journalist, O'Donnell has served as a producer and writer for the series "The West Wing."
According to published reports, Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the case, has interviewed President Bush and Vice President Cheney and called Karl Rove, among others, to testify before the grand jury.
"The breadth of Fitzgerald's inquiry has led to speculation that it has evolved into an investigation of a conspiracy to leak Plame's identity," the Chicago Tribune observed on Friday, "or of an attempt to cover up White House involvement in the leak."
July 2nd, 2005 3:39 pm
MSNBC Analyst Says 2nd Source Confirms Karl Rove as Plame Leaker
By Greg Mitchell / Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source. Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, now claims that at least two sources have confirmed that the name is--top White House mastermind Karl Rove.
O'Donnell first offered this report Friday night on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show. Today, he went beyond that, writing a brief entry at the Huffington Post blog:
"I revealed in yesterday's taping of the McLaughlin Group that Time magazine's e-mails will reveal that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source. I have known this for months but didn't want to say it at a time that would risk me getting dragged into the grand jury.
"McLaughlin is seen in some markets on Friday night, so some websites have picked it up, including Drudge, but I don't expect it to have much impact because McLaughlin is not considered a news show and it will be pre-empted in the big markets on Sunday because of tennis.
"Since I revealed the big scoop, I have had it reconfirmed by yet another highly authoritative source. Too many people know this. It should break wide open this week. I know Newsweek is working on an 'It's Rove!' story and will probably break it tomorrow."
Here is the text of what O'Donnell said on Friday:
"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's e-mails, within Time Magazine, are handed over to the grand jury--the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is.
"I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury."
Other McLaughlin Group panelists then joined in discussing whether, if true, this would suggest a perjury rap for Rove, if he told the grand jury he did not leak to Cooper.
Besides his career at a TV journalist, O'Donnell has served as a producer and writer for the series "The West Wing."
According to published reports, Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the case, has interviewed President Bush and Vice President Cheney and called Karl Rove, among others, to testify before the grand jury.
"The breadth of Fitzgerald's inquiry has led to speculation that it has evolved into an investigation of a conspiracy to leak Plame's identity," the Chicago Tribune observed on Friday, "or of an attempt to cover up White House involvement in the leak."
Friday, July 01, 2005
US Planning for possible attack on Iran
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Journalist: U.S. planning for possible attack on Iran
White House says report is 'riddled with inaccuracies'
Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted: 8:11 AM EST (1311 GMT)
story.hersh.jpg
Seymour Hersh said his information on Iran came from "inside" sources.
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SPECIAL REPORT
• Bush: Politics stalling Bolton vote
• GOP building support for filibuster rule change
• Highlights: Bush budget
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has been carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to learn about nuclear, chemical and missile sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.
The effort has been under way at least since last summer, Hersh said on CNN's "Late Edition."
In an interview on the same program, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the story was "riddled with inaccuracies."
"I don't believe that some of the conclusions he's drawing are based on fact," Bartlett said.
Iran has refused to dismantle its nuclear program, which it insists is legal and is intended solely for civilian purposes. (Full story)
Hersh said U.S. officials were involved in "extensive planning" for a possible attack -- "much more than we know."
"The goal is to identify and isolate three dozen, and perhaps more, such targets that could be destroyed by precision strikes and short-term commando raids," he wrote in "The New Yorker" magazine, which published his article in editions that will be on newsstands Monday.
Hersh is a veteran journalist who was the first to write about many details of the abuses of prisoners Abu Ghraib in Baghdad.
He said his information on Iran came from "inside" sources who divulged it in the hope that publicity would force the administration to reconsider.
"I think that's one of the reasons some of the people on the inside talk to me," he said.
Hersh said the government did not answer his request for a response before the story's publication, and that his sources include people in government whose information has been reliable in the past.
Hersh said Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld view Bush's re-election as "a mandate to continue the war on terrorism," despite problems with the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Last week, the effort to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- the Bush administration's stated primary rationale for the war -- was halted after having come up empty.
The secret missions in Iran, Hersh said, have been authorized in order to prevent similar embarrassment in the event of military action there. (Full story)
"The planning for Iran is going ahead even though Iraq is a mess," Hersh said. "I think they really think there's a chance to do something in Iran, perhaps by summer, to get the intelligence on the sites."
He added, "The guys on the inside really want to do this."
Hersh identified those inside people as the "neoconservative" civilian leadership in the Pentagon. That includes Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith -- "the sort of war hawks that we talk about in connection with the war in Iraq."
And he said the preparation goes beyond contingency planning and includes detailed plans for air attacks:
"The next step is Iran. It's definitely there. They're definitely planning ... But they need the intelligence first."
Journalist: U.S. planning for possible attack on Iran
White House says report is 'riddled with inaccuracies'
Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted: 8:11 AM EST (1311 GMT)
story.hersh.jpg
Seymour Hersh said his information on Iran came from "inside" sources.
What's this?
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Buy Designer Flower Bouquets
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www.butterfieldblooms.com\8853
Comcast High-Speed Internet
Order Comcast High-Speed Internet. Get your first 6 months of service for only...
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SPECIAL REPORT
• Bush: Politics stalling Bolton vote
• GOP building support for filibuster rule change
• Highlights: Bush budget
• Gallery: The Bush Cabinet
• Special Report
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Iran
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Donald H. Rumsfeld
War Against Terror
or Create your own
Manage alerts | What is this?
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has been carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to learn about nuclear, chemical and missile sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.
The effort has been under way at least since last summer, Hersh said on CNN's "Late Edition."
In an interview on the same program, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the story was "riddled with inaccuracies."
"I don't believe that some of the conclusions he's drawing are based on fact," Bartlett said.
Iran has refused to dismantle its nuclear program, which it insists is legal and is intended solely for civilian purposes. (Full story)
Hersh said U.S. officials were involved in "extensive planning" for a possible attack -- "much more than we know."
"The goal is to identify and isolate three dozen, and perhaps more, such targets that could be destroyed by precision strikes and short-term commando raids," he wrote in "The New Yorker" magazine, which published his article in editions that will be on newsstands Monday.
Hersh is a veteran journalist who was the first to write about many details of the abuses of prisoners Abu Ghraib in Baghdad.
He said his information on Iran came from "inside" sources who divulged it in the hope that publicity would force the administration to reconsider.
"I think that's one of the reasons some of the people on the inside talk to me," he said.
Hersh said the government did not answer his request for a response before the story's publication, and that his sources include people in government whose information has been reliable in the past.
Hersh said Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld view Bush's re-election as "a mandate to continue the war on terrorism," despite problems with the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Last week, the effort to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- the Bush administration's stated primary rationale for the war -- was halted after having come up empty.
The secret missions in Iran, Hersh said, have been authorized in order to prevent similar embarrassment in the event of military action there. (Full story)
"The planning for Iran is going ahead even though Iraq is a mess," Hersh said. "I think they really think there's a chance to do something in Iran, perhaps by summer, to get the intelligence on the sites."
He added, "The guys on the inside really want to do this."
Hersh identified those inside people as the "neoconservative" civilian leadership in the Pentagon. That includes Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith -- "the sort of war hawks that we talk about in connection with the war in Iraq."
And he said the preparation goes beyond contingency planning and includes detailed plans for air attacks:
"The next step is Iran. It's definitely there. They're definitely planning ... But they need the intelligence first."
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Bush The War Criminal
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Bush The War Criminal
June 30, 2005
WAR CRIMINAL !!
WAR CRIMINAL !
WE WILL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ!
Bush The War Criminal
June 30, 2005
WAR CRIMINAL !!
WAR CRIMINAL !
WE WILL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ!
Monday, June 27, 2005
Tribunal on Iraq Findings
Bloglines | My Feeds
Tribunal on Iraq Findings
World Tribunal on Iraq
Monday 27 June 2005
The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all - The Jury of Conscience
Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury's conclusions.
The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: 'The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.'
On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:
* Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
* Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure
* Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems
* Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter
* Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors
* Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment
* Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
* Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied
* Willfully devastating the environment
* Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded
* Failing to protect humanity's rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq
* Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media
* Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions
The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the Governments of Other Countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against Private Corporations for profiting from the war, against the Major Corporate Media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.
The Jury also provided a number of recommendations that include recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq.
The Istanbul session of the WTI lasted three days and presented testimony on the illegality and criminal violations in the U.S. pretexts for and conduct of this war. The expert opinion, witness testimony, video and image evidence addressed the impact of war on civilians, the torture of prisoners, the unlawful imprisonment of Iraqis without charges or legal defence, the use of depleted uranium weapons, the effects of the war on Iraq's infrastructure, the destruction of Iraqi cultural institutions and the liability of the invaders in international law for failing to protect these treasures of humanity.
The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years. Sessions on different topics related to the war on Iraq were held in London, Mumbai, Copenhagen, Brussels, New York, Japan, Stockholm, South Korea, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lisbon and Spain.
They have compiled a definitive historical record of evidence on the illegality of the invasion and occupation that will be recorded in a forthcoming book.
Tribunal on Iraq Findings
World Tribunal on Iraq
Monday 27 June 2005
The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all - The Jury of Conscience
Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury's conclusions.
The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: 'The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.'
On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:
* Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
* Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure
* Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems
* Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter
* Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors
* Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment
* Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
* Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied
* Willfully devastating the environment
* Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded
* Failing to protect humanity's rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq
* Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media
* Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions
The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the Governments of Other Countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against Private Corporations for profiting from the war, against the Major Corporate Media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.
The Jury also provided a number of recommendations that include recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq.
The Istanbul session of the WTI lasted three days and presented testimony on the illegality and criminal violations in the U.S. pretexts for and conduct of this war. The expert opinion, witness testimony, video and image evidence addressed the impact of war on civilians, the torture of prisoners, the unlawful imprisonment of Iraqis without charges or legal defence, the use of depleted uranium weapons, the effects of the war on Iraq's infrastructure, the destruction of Iraqi cultural institutions and the liability of the invaders in international law for failing to protect these treasures of humanity.
The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years. Sessions on different topics related to the war on Iraq were held in London, Mumbai, Copenhagen, Brussels, New York, Japan, Stockholm, South Korea, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lisbon and Spain.
They have compiled a definitive historical record of evidence on the illegality of the invasion and occupation that will be recorded in a forthcoming book.
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