Iraq War Less Popular

"The latest quarterly average for Iraq shows that 50% say it was a mistake to send troops (the most recent single measure on this indicator, from an Aug. 5-7 Gallup Poll, shows 54% saying the war was a mistake).

In the comparable quarter for the Vietnam War (the third quarter of the war’s third year — that is, the third quarter of 1967), Gallup found 41% saying the conflict was a mistake. It was not until the third quarter of the fourth year of the Vietnam War (August-September 1968) that a majority of Americans said the war was a mistake. In short, it took longer for a majority of Americans to view the Vietnam War as a mistake than has been the case for Iraq."

- I'm not sure what's the point of above other than "it took longer for a majority" to see VN as a mistake. Is this a hope offering to the peace movement? That over a span of 40 years 10 percent more of the people view a war as a mistake? What are the odds for sustainable peace at that rate?

Other than senseless death and destruction the factors involved are different in Iraq than Vietnam. For instance :

Who is fighting : Vietnam was fought by the poorest class of Americans, drafted, forced to serve. Run-ins with the legal system compelled many with the option of joining the army, or prison. Troops engaged in VN were politically the most disposable class of Americans. Today's troops in Iraq are closer to middle class status, many enlisted for college money and under the impression, however mistaken, that major long-term wars were a thing of the past. Today's poll numbers reflect the difference in the poor and coerced sent to VN and today's middle class volunteers who feel they have a choice. It took longer for the middle class of the 1960s to indicate the VN war was wrong b/c most of them were able to avoid fighting in it. Why do you think there's been a deliberate shrinking of a true middle class since the '60s? Middle classes are dangerous to the status quo. Ask any third world dictator.

The global stakes : VN was one of many proxy wars of the Cold War with corporate wealth and influence at stake. Iraq has the same at stake and then some, much more sum. Iraq is not a little sliver of jungle the US is bickering over in order to profit a few and beat the chest at the USSR. Iraq is big-time geopolitics, more similar to WWI and WWII power shifts. It took a great deal of death and fighting in VN and at home, to bring the troops in from VN. Are today's college students and middle class at home willing to do the same? Or will they spend years believing they can vote in the right party to end it, sort of like the VN era when Nixon promised if given a second term he would bring the troops home. He did, but after what cost in human life compared to so little at stake for America in Asia? How many of those percentage points in today's polls who say the war is a mistake are willing to pay more than lip service to end it?

Power of the people : In the 1960s the US corporate political hegemony was still somewhat constrained by Americans who still held some power over their own government. And self-constraint by a corporate world willing to return enough "trickle" to the middle class population in the form of wages, benefits, etc. Corporate power in government today is total. Today, corporate fascism has succeeded in relegating America to a people who can only hold their politicians accountable for blowjobs and burglary. America today is a nation designated as just another (cheapening) labor pool with its only attractive feature being military prowess in service to corporate world domination.

Failure of Information Age : Communication & information technology today are much better than the '60s, to say the least. Considering the instantaneous amount of information available today, are those few percentage poll points indicative in any way of a better informed population? Personally, I believe we should at least have been sufficiently aware to prevent the Iraq War from even being launched. Appears to me approximately half the population use the IT age for information (half of that half is misinformation), and the other half for entertainment. I expect the pro/anti war numbers will see-saw at 50/50 while pundits spin, politicians lie, and folks are forced to spend more effort on daily survival as a new world pattern emerges. Unless Americans engage in civil war (highly unlikely), US troops will continue as corporate servants abroad and citizens at home will argue about it for many, many more years, until it's too late to do anything but serve the masters. A gloomy prospect indeed, but I think most Americans sense it and are consciously or subconsciously making their choice, and we'll soon know.

Fatty R Buttocks

According to a Chicago Tribune headline the "Southern waistlines are expanding the fastest." I'll agree to that, along with other notes I've made on the Heartland. After many years in metro areas of the North and West US and abroad, where fitness was taken seriously, the lack of fitness was one of many culture shocks in relocating to the Heartland a few years ago.

Not only did we experience a higher level of bigotry that exists in the good-ol'-boy-bible-belt, we found a culture of folks where gossip is a natural instinct, where urban legends are born and nurtured, and get rich quick is the most admired ideology. The Heartland is the target market for late-night infomercial real estate how-to and pyramid dreams; ordering all of it is proof of ambition. I'm certain of this as the books and DVDs are on display in many homes; and don't be surprised if someone shows you the latest offer they bought and asks you to explain it to them.

The Heartland is where my adult children were introduced to chitlins (I'd been culturally amiss with this cuisine). One introduction was enough. For a while I believed one could only survive the swamp humidity levels here by evolving with gills. The environmental damage of leveling woods for big farming has created a bird problem that would shame Hitchcock. These birds now roost in every yard with a tree or clothesline. Watch your step took on new meaning. There's a truck that drives through late at night blasting the sound of cannon fire to scare the birds out of town. These drive-by shootings just move the birds a few blocks for a few hours. We were shocked at the lack of concern for the environment in the Heartland. Folks here think "don't litter" is what the 4-legged bitch has every few months which they don't want and will tie in a bag and throw in the pond.

But our biggest, and continuing shock, is the number of obese. Shopping, church, offices, everywhere, it's a parking lot of human flesh. Asses as big as the backend of 1968 Volkswagons (literally), laboring and gasping like doodlebugs in stretch pants. It truly is amazing. Similar to seeing the Grand Canyon or Rocky Mountains, but without reverence. Awe inspiring in how anyone can get that big without assistance from something outside the universe.

We can blame obesity on chemicals in our food, sweetners in colas, steroids in meat. But it still boils down (pun intended) to food choices, portion size and exercise. It's sitting on those big buttocks eating fatty hamhocks and the only calories burned are in search of excuses. Telling everyone it's the thyroid (always treatable but a die-hard excuse dies hard).

But I note a pattern here in the Heartland. Folks eating a lone salad with a dab of low-fat dressing and a Diet Pepsi in a cup the size of a bucket. It may impress co-workers how serious a person is about shedding those extra 80+ pounds, and whose to know you pull a chair to the fridge when you get home, after driving through McD for a couple of whoppers w/cheese, to hold you over on the ride. Eating until the belly is full as a deer tick, falling asleep to the tube, and digesting as slow as a snoring winter bear.

Bicycling, hiking, rollerblading, tennis : not done here by anyone over 12. Too hot, too humid. And most folks too fat, indoors with the AC on 50 and a bucket of KFC. Not a lot of home cooking down home anymore. Folks here prefer chunks of fried meat and fried potatoes at every meal, especially if in a wrapper or box and delivered or picked up. With lots of cream, sauce, and biscuits. The broiler is for storing those never used bundt pans and jello molds. If it ain't fried it ain't cooked. If it ain't dipped, breaded, and dripping with grease it's sissy food. And there's no shame in having to use the scales at the truck stop before a physical to get a weight for the doctor.

I predicted after witnessing the scale of heft in the Heartland that the government will eventually step in. As with guns, smoking, drinking, education, speedo, etc. we the people will need nanny government to count our calories, perhaps levying heavy fines as incentive to "make skinny choices." Maybe "government health camps" will be instituted, for our own good of course. The down side is suicide by eating. An early death and suffering from obesity related disease. On the plus side (pun intended) it will keep your butt out of any military obligation.

Osama bin Hurtin'

Kabul, 24 August (AKI) - Osama bin Laden has been wounded in Afghanistan. Osama's good buddy Mullah Ahmadi, leader of the Badr brigades, which form part of the al-Qaeda organisation in Afghanistan, has confirmed that Sheikh Abu Abdullah (Osama's other name) has been injured in his left leg.

Sheikh Osama Abu Abdullah bin Laden was injured when he went into battle to lead his men in attack on a Spanish base in Afghanistan. Cohorts have asked for prayers to heal Osama and have promised to deliver tapes of the fighting which lasted 4 hours.

Police Raid Party in Spanish Fork Canyon

Blogosphere headlines : UTAH RAVERS TREATED LIKE TERRORISTS! SWAT teams use excessive force to raid peaceful Utah rave! See what this government has become!?

Amateur video here.

I had to laugh at the cacophonic knot in some left leaning knickers over this story. I just can't sympathize with the fuss because it looks like another Saturday night in the 'hood. Except in the 'hood the po-leese slap everyone around, step on necks, press pistol and machine-gun muzzles to the head, ransack the home and on occasion, for dramatic effect, shoot the pet dog. Then tazer and arrest a couple of guys for having a few joints. Isn't this the way they usually break-up white folks parties too?

Informed Comment?

Juan Cole, noted intellect and history professor has 10 "Things" Congress Could Demand from Bush on Iraq. Cole says "US out now" as a simple mantra neglects to consider the full range of possible disasters that could ensue." He goes on to prattle of withdrawal creating a regional civil war and the dire global consequences of same. For example, civil war could interrupt 20 percent of oil production, which according to Cole "the poor of the world would be badly hurt, and the whole world would risk another Great Depression." (Civil wars have worked well for US corporate interests in the past, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Salvador, Columbia, etc.etc.etc.etc.)

Cole tells us, however, that "people who get to work on buses would feel it" (they are now dufus). If there was a depression "janitors and other workers will be the first to be fired." Not really, it's the middle and upper higher paid employees that are first cut. They'll always need someone to clean toilets and take out the garbage. During the Great Depression those who were once white collar were begging for the janitorial jobs. Cole predicts the "global south" would be stuck even longer in poverty (gasp! the US has worried & worked on Latin poverty for 2 centuries), for instance Jamaicans, who import everything, would be struck hard. Alas, tourists will pay more to drink Big Bamboo and Stingers. I don't know if Mr. Cole has ever been to the Latin and/or Caribbean third world but the bulk of the population currently live without water, electricity, sanitation, and the amenities of petro-conveniences. Most of Latin America's poor live the same, regardless of the West's economic rollercoasters. Homegrown frijoles, rice and plantains don't stop simply because gringos have an oil problem. I've no doubt what class would be "badly hurt" by a great depression.

But anyway, the synopsis of Cole's 10 point plan for Iraq would be :
1. Pull back US troops from the cities, let Iraqi police do the policing b/c the US troops are not traffic cops. We're not the world policemen? The Iraqi militant militias will be glad to hear it.

2. In Cole's "second phase of withdrawal" US troops would steadily be drawn out of Iraq. Mr. Cole would that take longer than our withdrawal from other spots, i.e. Japan, Germany, Columbia, the Philippines, etc.?

3. Give the Iraqi government "for as long as they wanted it" US air support against any rebellions. It's worked so successfully in Afghanistan and Bogata. He admits this tactic may take out a few Blackhawks occasionally but nothing is painless.

4. Large units of militiamen attempting to march from Anbar on Baghdad, e.g., would be destroyed by AC-130s and other US air weaponry suitable to this purpose. This tactic cannot prevent the current campaign of car bombings, but it can stop a full-scale Lebanon or Afghanistan-style civil war from erupting. Aren't we kind of doing that now?

5. In addition to the service of its air forces, the US would offer targeted military aid to ensure the stability of the Iraqi government ... protect key political figures from assassination ... help in preventing pipeline sabotage so as to increase Iraqi petroleum revenues and strengthen the new government. US policemen (but not called policemen) to protect corporate oil interests and puppet heads of state. Aren't we kind of doing that now?

6. In addition to the service of its air forces, the US would offer targeted military aid to ensure the stability of the Iraqi government. Once US ground troops are out, there is no reason not to let the Iraqi military just import a lot of tanks and train the new Iraqi army in using them. Protecting our puppets and building another "elite republican guard." Aren't we kind of doing that now?

7. The US should demand representative elections in Iraq if they want further help from us. Dieboldaraqi.

8. The US should demand those Baathists not guilty of crimes against humanity should be returned to the bureaucracy. A "key step in convincing the old Sunni Arab elites that they won't be screwed over in the new Iraq." No more screwed than the rest of Iraqi elite, sounds fair to me.

9. All of the reconstruction money should go directly to Iraqi firms, so as to help jump-start the economy. Especially to the joint venture firms of Halliburaq, KellogArab & BrownAli, etc. Cole seems to be doing a lot of should-ing on Iraq.

10. The US should join the regular meetings of the foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors, with Condi Rice in attendance, along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, employing a 6 + 2 diplomatic track to help put Iraq back on its feet through diplomacy and multilateral aid. This step will require that the Bush administration cease threatening regularly to bomb Tehran or to overthrow the governments of Syria and Iran ... The US is now a Middle Eastern Power, not just a New World one, and as such it needs to use Iraq's neighbors to calm their clients within Iraq. This goal cannot be achieved through simple intimidation, more especially since, with half of all fighting units bogged down in Iraq, the US is in no position to follow through on its threats and everyone knows it. Surely he jests. We will not be "getting out" of Iraq, unless another superpower throws us out. I lean toward thinking the posturing toward Iran is fake. Iran's ruling rightwing are buddies with our ruling rightwing (ask Carter vs Reagan). That's one reason why the US has no problem with Iraq going to Shiite. If the US decides to take its own threats seriously we have all the firepower positioned to back it up. Intimidation and force are exactly why we're now a "Middle Eastern Power."

Cole ends the dufus 10 point solution with : "Once Iraq can stand on its own feet, I am quite sure that the Grand Ayatollah in Najaf will just give a fatwa for complete US withdrawal, and the US will have to acquiesce, as it did in similar circumstances in the Philippines." How many decades were we in the Philippines before we acquiesced? My solution? Stop dicking around in other people's countries.

Gaza Evacuation

Charley Reese has a good piece on the current evac:

"One idealistic American girl who tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian home was crushed to death by the bulldozer. Naturally, the United States government did nothing, and the American media obediently either ignored her death or accepted the Israeli excuse that the driver couldn't see her, which is bull. She was killed in broad, sunny daylight while wearing a blaze-orange jacket and standing atop a pile of dirt."

Bush Supporters

Bush supporters start camp countering war protesters.

(08-20) 15:51 PDT Crawford, Texas (AP) -- A patriotic camp with a "God Bless Our President!" banner sprung up downtown Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by a fallen soldier's mother two weeks ago near President Bush's ranch.

The camp is named "Fort Qualls" in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, killed in Fallujah, Iraq, last fall. His father, Gary Qualls of Temple, said his 16-year-old son also wants to enlist, and he supports that decision.

"If I have to sacrifice my whole family for the sake of our country and world, other countries that want freedom, I'll do that," said Qualls, a friend of the local business owner who started the pro-Bush camp, Bill Johnson.

----- From Tuesday, February 08, 2005
The Bush Non-Millionaire White Base

The working white poor, the class most likely to suck it up and drink another Bud and blame the Mexicans (anyone speaking Spanish is Mexican), blame the Blacks, and any other non-white foreigner, and liberals too are at blame. They support Bush policies because they don't understand but can remember the one-liners BushCo gives as reasoning. They like SS privatization because they're eager to be their own stockbroker, investment advisor, and portfolio watcher. A few of them might be competent, but the majority are not, and will make stockmarket choices the way they choose between "Lucky Day" pull-tabs or scratch off "Red Hot Cash." Their jobs are generally janitorial, laborer, nursing aides, delivery drivers, convenience clerks, burger flipper, menial menial menial labor which generally makes them mean mean mean. This class in decades past were considered the "salt of the earth." Good friends, good neighbors, hardworking and poor. Now indignant and resentful, feeling injured by their status and eager for scapegoats to stake to the post. They graduate high school, get GEDs, even a year of community college or tech school. Their church going patterns vary but always Christian. They prefer the rolling and speaking in tongues when they are born again. This group is not likely to turn against BushCo vision of America. Little physical and emotional stamina and the fight for survival keeps their short attention span addled. Some know what's politically going on but don't care. They vote only when the Bush Team riles them up. They say things like "kill 'em all."

The nickel millionaires. Accustomed to hanging on by threads. They have filed bankruptcy at least once, more likely twice. They buy brand name imitations of the rich and famous and splurge their tax refunds on plasma screens, downpayment on a car for junior, or perhaps a trip to Vegas or Cancun which gives them travel stories for years to come. They firmly believe they're superior and in the upper middle class. The medicine cabinet is filled with meds for migraine, acid reflux, insomnia, and depression, and that's just for the kids. Their work carries more prestige. Teachers, cops, firemen, office workers, Wal-Mart managers, secretaries, salesmen. They don't have a pot to piss in but several tasteful window treatments (bank owned) to throw it out of. They're pretty sure Bush fiscal policies will not effect them. Afterall, they receive no welfare or government handouts. They have jobs and insurance. The ripple effect of cutting federal funds to states doesn't occur to them, or at least not often. The prices of energy, food, and rise in State taxation hasn't hurt yet. They forget that Bush policies will effect funds going to grandma's nursing home, or little Johnny's learning problems or special education, or even that grandpa's Meals on Wheels is largely government funded. They will not raise a voice against Bush policy, they have supported it and must continue to do so. False pride and ego. Unless Fox News offers them justification to turn away from Bush, they will continue to support their own demise. They may be what's left of the middle class. They have surface knowledge on everything. They say they would vote for Colin as president (knowing it will never happen) but laugh at Sharpton and rant at Jesse. They may have college degrees and pretend that means something when half a brain and money for textbooks is all it takes. The distinction between them and the working class poor are a few dollars. They say things like "Saddam Hussein was another Hitler."

The next group includes realtors, entrepreneurs, doctors and attorneys, contractors, management executives, business owners; many have inherited from parents, even if nothing more than a paid off home and the dirt it sits on. They take more and better trips and have more credit cards and investments. Paper rich and dollar poor, many feel resentful they do not have more; aware the slightest economic breeze could blow their modest wealth away ala Enron or one good tax audit. They know they cheat and fudge on many things but justify it. They blame the "system" that isn't distributing the burden fairly but they would feel burdened if they paid zero taxes. They have many pots and windows and aren't sure what they really want since all they have is not enough, but know themselves are not to blame for anything. They did a lot of cocaine in the 70s and 80s and lived in the fast lane but today present an image of moral superiority to their own kids and anyone else who will believe it. They trust the government is heading in the right direction because they like the gunslinger machismo. Sometimes with advanced degrees, they pose as experts and scholars. They say things like "we had to remove Saddam."

All support Bush and will do so if for no other reason than it is the path of least resistance. Most wouldn't care if BushCo made the Middle East a ghost town with pipeline running straight to Shikmim Farm. Most would rather go through a "hazing" at Abu Gharib than admit BushCo is immoral, illegal, and evil. They will sacrifice their sons and daughters to Bush Wars because martyrdom has appeal. Afterall, the rightwing has told their white base, over and over, they are the victims of the anti-Christian leftwing, reverse discrimination, illegal immigrants, welfare queens, and Black crime. They believe they are the "good Americans."

Curt Weldon – Able Crazy

Curt Weldon (R-PA) is selling a book (published this past June) : Countdown to Terror: The Top-Secret Information that Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America ... and How the CIA has Ignored it.

From the Inside Flap
"Could the next September 11 be nuclear? This is no theory, says Congressman Curt Weldon, in his shocking new book Countdown to Terror. It is a fact as real as the arrest of Muslim terrorists who planned to crash a plane into the Seabrook nuclear power plant in New Hampshire in 2004. What’s even more stunning, Congressman Weldon tried to warn American intelligence about the attack—but no one in America’s intelligence community would listen. How did Congressman Weldon know about it? Because of a secret source, an intelligence contact code-named Ali who has been a treasure trove of reliable intelligence—intelligence that, despite Congressman Weldon’s strenuous efforts, has been routinely ignored by the CIA and the rest of America’s intelligence services. But in Countdown to Terror, Congressman Weldon lets you know what the CIA doesn’t want to know. You’ll learn, straight from Ali’s actual reports: · Why Iran will decide the next terror strike on America · How a major planned terror strike was called off because the terrorists thought it would help President Bush politically · Why Iran, not al Qaeda, is the command post of radical Islamic terror · Who is undercutting American efforts to create a peaceful, stable Iraq · Why Iran is like the Soviet Union in the 1980s: extremely dangerous, the iron glove behind all our enemies—yet on the verge of internal collapse · The Iranian nuclear program: red-hot and more advanced than you think Congressman Weldon’s sharing of vital intelligence with you, the reading public, is unprecedented. But it is necessary so that the American people can be informed and pressure our government to do what needs to be done to protect our country, fix our still broken intelligence services, and win the war on terrorism. Countdown to Terror is a frightening book—but it is all true. And if we act now, we can avoid its grimmest scenarios."

Is Weldon hawking the next war while prepping us for the next 911? Weldon with an inside source "Ali" who is a treasure trove of info, through "strenuous efforts" is flashing us a blinking alert on Iran, Iran, Iran, although Weldon's predictions are "routinely ignored." Don't you just love the smell of propaganda and fear.

Weldon, whose source, now self-identified as Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, are both shilling the "Clinton's Fault" opera (surprise). Do you notice how today's "deep throats" like Shaffer "out" themselves within a month or so? Col. Shaffer says the small, highly classified intel program, known as Able Danger, identified the terrorist ringleader, Mohamed Atta, and three other future hijackers by name in mid-2000, and tried to share that info with the F-B-I (say fbi in a Hannibal Lector voice). I have to doubt men who couldn't come up with a more creative code name than "Ali."

Shaffer says military lawyers forced members of the intel program to cancel three meetings with the F.B.I. – because – the F.B.I. feared Able Danger might be portrayed as a military op that violated the privacy of civilians who were legally in the United States. Yep, the feds were overly concerned about the privacy rights of Atta & Crew.

The bureau, Famous But Incompetent, was never concerned about the privacy rights of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Nation of Islam, the Black Panther Party, Deacons for Defense and Justice, Inc., the W.E.B. DuBois Clubs, the Congress of Racial Equality, the American Indian Movement, the Socialist Workers Party, Martin Luther King, and over one million Vietnam War protester dossiers. Or more recently Ruby Ridge, Waco, Richard Jewell. But had to protect Atta's right to privacy. I believe it, I tell you I believe it.

Back to the topic of Able Danger though. Schaffer had his security clearance suspended in March of 2004, and is on administrative leave from the Defense Department. This week Shaffer briefed "Magic Bullet" Arlen Specter's staff on Able Danger. The files on Able Danger are in the Department of Defense "if they exist" according to 9/11 Commission chairman Tom Kean.

Tim Roemer, also a former commissioner, says inconsistencies are appearing such as "how did Able Danger get a photo of Atta in 2000 for its alleged chart of terrorists when he had not yet applied for a U.S. visa." Hmmm.

Weldon + Shaffer = tabloid news = another distraction. Watch for my future exposé : Countdown to Another Phony Book While Planning the Real Bad Things For America: Top-Secrets Leaking Like a Sieve As Fast As We Can Write Them ... and How the People Eat it Up.

NARAL Leave Me Alone

It's come to my attention through mail received that there are some who believe I’m a democrat and others who think I'm republican, while I consider myself neither. Possibly due to my subscribing and reading both liberal and conservative rags. At any rate, a bumper crop of recent alarmist mail from NARAL regarding John Roberts nomination to the Supreme Court prompted the following.

Will a Roberts appointment end legal abortion as NARAL etal claim? As I've written previously the SCOTUS is not awfully concerned whether or not we the people abort. To the ruling elite the masses breed like rabbits and legalized or not, abortion isn't going to stop that class habit. (Their flunky lawmakers might end abortion if it drastically interfered with available cannon fodder.)

The elite have always and will continue to have access to abortion; whether the rabbit people do is of no great concern to them. A more conservative court may restrict the terms of abortion, but that in itself would not necessarily end legalized abortion.

Earlier this year, justices declined to hear a challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. It also declined to consider reinstating an Idaho law requiring girls under age 18 to get parental consent for abortions except under the most dire of medical emergencies. The Court is scheduled in October to review the Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood case, where in June 2003, the New Hampshire legislature passed "An Act requiring parental notification before abortions may be performed on unemancipated minors." Politely put, parents who obviously haven't monitored their 13 or 14 year old daughter's social life, do want notification if the girl seeks abortion. Not likely to make much impact on abortion numbers in New Hampshire or the nation. But the rightwing can feel victorious and envision the beginning of the end to legal abortion, and it gives anti-abortion and pro-choice groups a nit to pick as they beg for donations and write newletters.

At most, a conservative court, if forced to deal with the issue because of the machinations of politicians, will overturn Roe vs Wade and leave the question of abortion and reproductive rights to individual States, who in turn will either outlaw it, or legalize it with or without restrictions. California most likely would have more liberal abortion laws than Tennessee. Folks would still find abortion safe and legal, only they might have to travel further to obtain one. Similar to the days when serious party people here in the Heartland had to save money to fly to Vegas for legal gambling and sex. There are other factors that could effect the SC even reviewing Roe v. Wade, such as the AMA physicians and others who profit from the billion dollar abortion industry and are large political donors; they will not easily give up their livelihood.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute's information on abortion the most common reasons given are : Lack of economic support for a child and not being ready to become a parent. Women who said that “life would be changed too much” include those women who wanted to continue their education or avoid interrupting their career.

56% of women having abortions are in their 20s;
61% have one or more children;
67% have never married;
57% are economically disadvantaged;
88% live in a metropolitan area; and
78% report a religious affiliation.

In other words, these are teens seeking abortion with or without parental consent, although usually it's the parents dragging them to the clinic because pregnancy is inconvenient, unaffordable, or an embarrassment. And adult women who find pregnancy inconvenient, unaffordable, or an embarrassment. From the above stats these women are predominantly already single mother poor urban dwellers who believe in God.

I was a young woman in my 20s when abortion was legalized in the US. My stand has been pro-choice, but only up to 12 weeks. I have never considered or had an abortion but know women who have. I'm glad they were able to obtain safe, legal, affordable termination of pregnancy. But in every case I also knew the pregnancy resulted from personal reckless behavior.

Most Americans would agree to grant the choice to terminate a pregnancy in the event of rape or incest. Most would agree that early termination should be the rule. Most would agree to abortion in the rare event that pregnancy would kill the mother.

But aside from the noise and sensationalism regarding the right to abortion or the morality of it, is the fact that women would not find themselves confronted with the "choice" if they took responsibility for their genitalia. It is indeed our choice to know our body and be accountable for what we put in it, so to speak. In today's world, with oral contraceptives, the patch, shots, condoms, and/or permanent sterilization, there are too many safe, convenient, and affordable means of avoiding "unintended" pregnancy. Using abortion as birth control is hideous. What about the male's responsibility for conception you ask? Dear, don't wait for Male Hunk to exhibit anxious interest over your ovaries and uterus, most won't, or only after the fact.

Too many of my female comrades have too many excuses when they find themselves with an "unintended" pregnancy. We women know with every sexual encounter whether or not we're risking pregnancy. If you take the risk, be prepared to accept the results. If you can't accept the results, don't take the risk. Simple.

I don't buy the too frequent excuse "I can't take the pill." There are too many pills on the market for a woman to not find one compatible. They've been on the market far too long to fear taking them. Nor do I buy the "I missed a pill." 99.9 percent of the time one missed pill will not result in pregnancy, and use a rubber the 0.1 time. The same girl/woman will remember every pore on LoverBoy's face but forget to take a pill. Or worse, she can't remember LoverBoy's face or name but accepted his sperm donation. "The condom broke." In 40 years of sexual activity I've never had a condom break but folks should use condoms to prevent STD, not pregnancy. And if you can't figure out how to put a condom on correctly, or remember to take a pill, or get an injection every 3 months, if you didn't know until after the fact that pregnancy would interfere with your career or education, then for the sake of society you shouldn't breed.

Parents, teach daughters (and sons) that their behavior has consequences, traditionally known as taking responsibility for being careless and/or stupid. Teach them that creating another human life is not a solution for teen angst. Teach your daughters to respect their future. And grown-up girlfriends, stop the b.s. excuses and quite literally take a little f*cking responsibility.

Farrakhan: President Fox Was Right

So proclaims Fox News and USA Today with the same headline, more or less, and story.

"MILWAUKEE — Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Mexican President Vicente Fox was right to say that Mexican immigrants take jobs "that not even blacks want."..."Why are you so foolishly sensitive when somebody is telling you the truth?" he asked the crowd at Mercy Memorial Baptist Church. He said blacks and Latinos should form an alliance to correct differences and animosity between the two communities."

---- As I've blogged before, some folks are thrilled to repeat Black pundits when it validates what some whites believe. Proof that Black folks are just "foolishly sensitive to the truth" about Vinnie Fox's comments on Black American employment, because see! Farrakhan (or Cosby) said so. Tell Vinnie both my daughters-in-law are Mexican nationals so we're indeed forming alliances in this family. Also tell Vinnie if not for maquilladoras and illegal immigration his countrymen would rise up and throw his butt, and all of Mexico's government, to the Zapatistas. El Norte el valve for a lot of problems down there, heh?

Will Fox News and USA Today remind us that Farrakhan also says : "And you do with me as is written, but remember that I have warned you that Allah will punish you. You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell. But I warn you in the name of Allah, you would be wise to leave me alone. But if you choose to crucify me, know that Allah will crucify you." - Saviours' Day Speech, Chicago.

But perhaps imam being foolishly sensitive about MSM selective reporting.

Agents Provocateur w/Sweet Faces

Is it possible the congressional Democrats are mum on so much of BushCo crime because said Dems know the voting system is now assuredly and completely controlled by the Powers behind the Presidential Seal? That only politicians who behave will hold office?

I come to this after months of wondering about the rightwing political strife and slimes of Cynthia McKinney, her ousting which lasted barely 2 years (slightly longer than a fart in a whirlwind) and her subsequent re-election. Snap snap girlfriend!

In 2002 in Georgia the republicans figured that "In such an overwhelmingly Democratic district … they knew they could not defeat her in November with one of their own. As a result, they had to find a Democratic surrogate to defeat her in the primary." After 10 years in congress McKinney was defeated by Denise Majette-D. Then Majette, also Black and female, left the House to run for Senate in 2004. She lost, and McKinney won her seat back. (Ms. Majette was also a Black female Democrat, a nobody with no history and not mouthy.)

McKinney is considered a big critic of BushCo's war, and credited with "a couple of remarks that even progressives believed went too far, such as her claim that the Bush Administration may have known about the September 11 terrorist attacks beforehand. The media added to the fury by blowing these comments way out of proportion." That mainstream media, always blowing something or someone.

During McKinney's two year fall from grace (2002-2004) she lectured. Praised as "a woman who understands better than anyone the price to be paid when elected officials speak out against the vastly entrenched, politically enfranchised military industrial complex."

Whew. Enough to make a left leaning non-entrenched person sing she's a jolly good fellow and buy posterboard and paint pro-McKinney anti-vast rightwing conspiracy signs.

McKinney's dad generated more controversy : "Her father, Georgia state legislator Billy McKinney, shared his version with an Atlanta television reporter on August 19, 2002, the night before she lost. The reporter had asked Billy McKinney about his daughter's use of a years-old, moth-balled endorsement from former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. Such endorsements were worthless, the elder McKinney replied, because "Jews have bought everybody. Jews." - In case the reporter didn't understand, he spelled the word: "J-E-W-S." (A few weeks later, in a runoff against another political neophyte, Billy McKinney became a former Georgia state legislator.)

Rightwing fallacy fellatio-er Daniel Pipes stated McKinney took contributions from all sorts of Islamic groups. I guess that makes her terroristically associated. Rightwing bloggers called her : a conspiracy nut, the Cutest Commie in Congress, the Saudi Whore of Georgia. As if Boy Bush doesn't hold hands and stroll like a pimp with his Saudi princes.

After being reseated, this past spring McKinney stated: "In 2004 I had to decide if I was going to run again. The temptation was to be ensconced in the private world amongst people that would agree with me, but I understand that systematic repression of black leaders by the establishment. For me to stay down and not get back up again is not in my nature, and despite my mother's advice I decided to get back into it. Now I can tell you what it is like to have the most powerful forces arrayed against you and still prevail even with electronic voting machines breaking down."

So I asked myself, how did such a radical woman, temporarily shunned by both sides of the aisle, prevail "even with electronic voting", and return to her congressional seat two years later? Two years. One would think her career was forever done, with an enormous conspiracy nut fork stuck in it. Thank goodness for those fickle voters. Apparently, that "overwhelmingly" district of Democrats flip-flopped. Tossing McKinney out when she spoke of BushCo foreknowledge, and voted her back even with e-voting machines.

Or did they? Or as Daddy McKinney stated did the "J-E-W-S" buy her seat back, after giving her a good scare in the realm of real employment where one is out of political favors? Was McKinney shown how easily a congressional seat can be giveth and taketh away? Is she just another congress critter paid to play Government, Inc.'s good cop, armed with the 9/11 "issues of substance" to satisfy the conspiracy folks? A lone voice in the Capitol Hill wilderness giving hope and sustenance to those who question? A career pot stirrer, a lonely political job but somebody has gotta do it.

T-Shirt Humor

Army of One

Flash videos.

Pentagoon

This Is Not America

Chickenhawks

It's The System Stupid

I've stepped on a few toes with my opinions on Cindy Sheehan. Part of my sentiment with the Camp Casey situation is based on gut instinct, and instinct has served me well more than once. Partly what bothers me is the Left hyping the PR, as surely as the Right does so often so skillfully. No surprise and more rational than the Right, but it doesn't make the hype any more palatable or worthy.

I don't doubt Sheehan's grief, anger, or her search for justification of her loss. But the Left has jumped (if not instigated) on a PR event, a person, and added lots of slogans to further an agenda, as we head toward mid term elections. The event serves to reiterate the Shrub's numerous, lengthy, vacations to many working folks who have never had 5 weeks off, unless it was spent looking for work and living in fear of ruin before finding the next low wage job.

The Camp Casey event serves to point out the lack of war support BushCo has (which also brings out the pro-war shills to show the war support he does have). The situation gives the blogosphere a bigger hamster wheel to run on while government conducts business as usual (looting us). And for all the hoopla the truth is the troops are not coming home anytime soon. The Left will politely dump Sheehan once the sound bytes are pointing to the next event under the bigtop.

It's also bothersome how little her handlers know about Black history, otherwise they would not have opted to tag Cindy Sheehan the Rosa Parks of the 21st century. (Possibly just the lack of knowledge in Moveon, PDA, Fenton PR firm, whatever groups involved.) The comparison is catchy but not accurate, and borders on disrespect.

Rosa lived a childhood of hearing the Ku Klux Klan ride at night, listening to lynchings, and being afraid the house would burn down around them. She was arrested, tried, and convicted for violating segregation law, which sparked the 381 day bus boycott. She had had prior run-ins with bus drivers and was evicted from buses. She was active in the NAACP and the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. The resulting boycott's length shocked everyone, well everyone white. Black supporters had been busy city wide arranging long-term taxi services, church buses, car pooling, etc. so the boycott could continue as long as it would take. Rosa was an experienced activist with strong beliefs and backing. When she refused to surrender her seat she knew clearly what the goal was with that refusal. She stood against centuries of humiliation, violence, and injustice.

Some in the Black community would feel more comfortable if the pundits on the left had chosen an icon more appropriately similar in cause to Sheehan's showdown at Crawford. I can think of a couple of other female peace activist heroes. There's Jane Fonda but we know the Dems don't really want to go there. However, Jeanette Rankin, was a peace activist, suffragette, and first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Four days after taking office, she voted against U.S. entry into World War I. She said "I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war." In January of 1968 a women's group named after her, the Jeanette Rankin Brigade, protested in Washington to pressure Congress to end the Vietnam War. But, how many sloganeers have heard of Rankin?

Cindy represents a segment of America, a segment which includes many who believe Democrats will do it differently and better, when the obvious truth is they will not. Kerry would not be bringing troops home had he been installed. Would there have been a camp at the Kerry-Heinz residence? Where were the congressional Democrats during pre-invasion anti-war protests? The Democrats have went along with BushCo; they are as guilty as BushCo, they are as big as crooks and liars as BushCo.

A large anti-war movement could be a spark to others, but unless the Democratic politicians collectively have peace epiphanies and get onboard there will be no movement. I want the troops home too, NOW; two of my sons in a few months will again be in Iraq. But too few Americans have a personal investment (or believe they don't) in the war to rally. And others such as myself see the dead-end sign ahead.

Much more than an anti-war movement, we need a movement against the system that feeds on war and death. The mess the US is in is one we've been in many times before. It's not about a personality, a memo, a leak, a liar, or a political party. It's this global pseudo-capitalism, corporate fascism, funded by the labor of the poor and the blood of millions around the world that must end. Genuine hope and change are what people want. A movement that says none of us has to surrender our seat to those who own the bus, which they purchased with our blood, our lives, our labor. None of us has to support a system that can only thrive on worldwide humiliation, violence, and injustice. But it's gonna take a fight. Sound bytes for the political hero or headliner of the week, or month, won't do it. If Americans will do it, the world will follow.

The Metro-Cowboy American Opera

Subtitle: Things Supposed to Harm/Bring Down Bush.
Conflict: BushCo vs "Us" or "Them" or "Somebody & Something."

Cast of Thousands, Headlines, arias, duets to include :
Enron Kenny Boy Lay.
Bush's National Guard Service.
Millions Worldwide Protest Against War.
Dick Cheney's energy task force.
Halliburton's no bid bonanza.
Afghanistan's Missing $700 Million Turns Up in Iraq.
Michael Moore Movie & Lila Lipscomb To Wake People.
Iraqi Defectors' Weapons Claims Were 'false.'
9/11 Bush Knew PDB.
Bush Holds Hands With Cheney in Questioning.
Intermission - Clinton's Fault.
Condi Refuses to Testify, Then Testifies.
Cry of Treason.
No WMD.
Cry of Treason Act II.
Reconstruction Contracts in Iraq.
Spending Deficits.
Missing Billion$.
Manipulation of Intel Info.
Cry of Treason Act III.
Intermission - Clinton's Fault.
The 16 Words Scandal.
Sexed up Dossier.
Scott Ritter Exposes Lies in Buildup to War.
Pundits on the Payroll, Armstrong Williams, etc.
Ground Zero's Unsafe Air.
Abu Ghraib Torture.
Gitmo Torture.
Kerry/Edwards Ohio Claim Every Vote Will Be Counted.
Stolen Election II.
Franklin/AIPAC, The Pentagon-Israel Spy Case.
Intermission - Clinton's Fault.
Cry of Treasongate Part I.
Jeff Gannon.
Wilson-Plame.
Karl Rove, Frog-marching Dreamers.
Cry of Treasongate Part II.
Downing Street Memo.
New Probe into ________.
New Probe into Last Probe of __________.
Bush Down In Polls, Polls, Polls.
President Bush Ditches Mother of Slain Soldier.
We Let bin Laden Slip Away.
Atta Details Omitted From Sept. 11 Report.
9/11 Panel: Pentagon Withhold Hijacker Files.
Iran Crisis booga booga WWIII.
Clinton's Fault Finale.
End/Repeat

The Doers of Evil

The Evil-Doers: How Far Will They Go? PBU33.

“The probability of apocalypse soon cannot be realistically estimated, but it is surely too high for any sane person to contemplate with equanimity.” – Noam Chomsky.

The above quote, quite eloquent (and frightening I suppose to some) doesn't clarify if Noam speaks of apocalypse of Biblical prediction and end of the world, or just your run of the mill hellfire, such as Nagasaki. Of course no sane person contemplates either scenario but how many of our learned men today will say Nagasaki and Hiroshima were insane? Regardless what anyone thinks of apocalyptic events, the learned will give us the slogans to justify them, unless you're the victims, in which case the perps will pay off but never apologize. As long as perps have intelligentsia to tell us "it had to be done" mankind will move heinously along. Only if you lose, then you're publicly and historically heinous.

Personally, I'm in need of a clear target as to who are the evildoers. While most folks seem to think the evildoers are the known, occasional headliners as Usama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, insurgents, Muslims, Islamic extremists, al-Qa’ida or al-Qaeda, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Islamic Army, or just plain "them," I wanna know who/what is really behind the smoke and robes, the mosque and mirrors.

I am unable to suspend my disbelief (necessary to enjoy fiction) to accept that cave dwellers, former assets of US-CIA, Inc., were able to dedicate years living and training in the US and then simultaneously hijack 4 commercial jets under the noses of the US intel community. Nor can I believe who I'm told have staged other attacks, always credited to elusive figures issuing edicts on tape or internet sites that oddly can't seem to be ISP tracked back to catch them, although if I issued a murderous fatwa I've no doubt the SS would be at my door in no time. I suppose that's because "them" terrorists use the cave's library internet service. Silly me, I wasn't aware one could upload video at the public library. Or more likely, a tape is "released" on a password secured site. There's no end of terrorism in sight if they can access a secured site with a password to an al-Qaeda affiliated group. They've got their own phantom Allahwood studios and publicity firms to "release" short-takes for them.

Am I to believe these "terrorist cells" have developed nuclear capability and anthrax or biowarfare in a condo somewhere in the West? Or have biological agents tucked under their turbans or camel bag and blanket in the East? Nevermind the expensive and elaborate equipment and laboratory it would take to contain and develop nukes and biological agents. The terrorists, or extremists, can cook it up in the kitchen sink or a cauldron in the cave, purchasing all the necessary items from the local Home Depot and Walgreen. Or perhaps materials are FedEx'ed from Mosul. WMD are so easy to acquire I can't understand why more Americans don't have mini-nukes in the garage, or a little pox in the desk drawer. Shucks, I know it's easy because we can't even locate all the meth lab trailer parks here in the Heartland and we can smell them cooking it up.

I know, terrorists are hauling mini-WMD across the US-Mexico border, placing several layers of illegal aliens across the crates, in case of any highflying penetrating radar out there. Driving along listening to Los Tigres, crossing the same porous border that can't intercept billions of dollars in thousands of tons of Columbian cocaine and Mexican heroin and weed. No Nation-State backing needed, just coyotes leading them across the Sonora desert and the Rio Grande with backpack nukes.

Did the doers anticipate the Western world would dedicate more money and manpower to weaponry and war? Did the doers expect the West to restrict homeland freedoms, pass domestic watchdog law, redefine terrorism to include individuals or groups who don't agree with the government on how a Patriot Acts? To fund billions to new departments to make sure our feet are clean at the airport and our driver license is in order? Those doers must think we're really stupid huh? We know how to curtail their freedom to move among us.

Americans are under the impression that good people run the world for "us." But any benefit to "us" has been an accidental byproduct. It's a new world and the doers don't need as many of "us," other than the usual cannon fodder and consumers. But I'm not too worried at the moment. I figure if the doers behind the geopolitical shakedown will share a big chunk, cut the world up, even into disproportionate shares which other doers will accept, we'll be okay. The doers worked with the expendable bin Laden for a decade, a useful asset, so I'm certain they know how to do what needs to be done to the rest of us when we're no longer usable.

The real question is "Would governments murder their own citizens for a political agenda?" If you answered no I wonder how you came to this blog. If you answered yes, the next question is "by any means necessary?" Who knows how far evildoers will go. Nothing can be realistically estimated as we contemplate.

Nader Letter To Sheehan

"May you prevail where others have failed to secure an audience with Mr. Bush."

(Anyone wonder why BushCo didn't simply defuse this situation with a meeting of a few minutes?)

When we were young we admired Nader's good fight for the consumer, but some things bother me about this letter. Throughout Nader refers to "this president", the "Bush government," and "his administration." While that is fine and dandy, is this is the same Nader who in 2000 referred to Gore vs Bush as "Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" Will mere audience with Bush, along with Nader's suggested talking points to question Tweedledumb on, change this president or his policy? Where's the firebrand Nader of yesterday, who didn't wait for a "breakthrough" but led them?

Is this the same Mr. Nader "who ran so he could hurt, wound, and punish the Democrats?" The Nader who actively wanted Gore to lose, knowing Bush was the other tweedle? It's been written that in 2000 Nader received up to 7% of the popular vote in some states which often meant the difference between Bush winning the state and Gore losing it. That Nader?

The same Nader who accepted GOP funding in 2004? Although that campaign went nowhere, not even on the ballot.

So Ralphie, while I thank you for the synopsis of BushCo evils, I have heard you comment that America needs to hurt bigtime, in order to vote a third party candidate into office, "to rebuild democracy," do you now believe voters are ready to elect Tweedlenader? and is a mother's sorrow part of the bigtime hurt you spoke of?

Clinton Working The Only Option

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton said Americans should move past lingering divisions over the invasion of Iraq and it was time to focus instead on establishing a successful democracy there.

"Whether it's a mistake or not, we ought to try to make this strategy succeed and support that strategy. It's the only option having to make the sacrifices mean something," the ex-president told CNN television.

"We did what we did, we are where we are," Clinton said.

"Eighteen-hundred Americans have given their lives, thousands of Iraqis have died trying to give their country a future.

"So where we are now, it's important to try to continue this effort to train the security forces and the military forces, which the administration and our military have undertaken. We have to try to make this work," Clinton said.

The difference between politician-D and politician-R are?

Rolling Stones $100K

What does a hundred thousand dollars buy you these days? Rolling Stones tickets at Boston's Fenway Park and a seat next to Governor Schwarzenegger in his luxury box. The event is just one of several glitzy fundraisers set by the governor as he tries to raise $50 million in preparation for the November 8th special election.

It's unclear if Sir Mick (knighted in 2003) will sing his new diddy 'Sweet Neocon' from his new CD A Bigger Bang, a tune with crushing anti-neocon lyrics as: "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/ You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think you're full of sh*t!... How come you're so wrong, my sweet neo-con."


Mick, if you recall, back in the 20th century sang intensely socially relevant tunes as ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Get Off My Cloud’, ‘Paint It Black,’ ‘Honky Tonk Women,' ‘Jumping Jack Flash’.

These melodies included scathing lyrics with : I can't get no satisfaction, I can't get no satisfaction 'cause I try and I try and I try and I try. I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud Hey! You! Get off of my cloud. I see a red door and I want it painted black. It's the honky tonk women gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues. But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas! But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's a Gas! Gas! Gas!

Lila

"We have to go into Senate meetings and make ourselves seen and heard. We have to go to the House meetings. We have to go to the City Council meetings. We have to have good people run for office so we can have balance and hold them accountable..." - Lila Lipscomb.


Lila Lipscomb, the mother in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. The scenes in which she recounts the story of her son Michael's death have had cinema-goers sniffing into their sleeves. "For many years," says Lipscomb, "I thought I had to control everything. I had a real controlling spirit. But, boy, when the army stands in your house and tells you that your oldest son is killed, all that flies out the window. Over this last year and a half, I've been known to cry a bit."

The power of Lipscomb's story lies in the sharpness of the U-turn she made and her eloquence in speaking about it. Initially, she supported the war, on the assumption that the government knew best. But just two weeks into the conflict her 26-year-old son, a sergeant in the US army, was shot down while serving as a door gunner in a Black Hawk helicopter. Five other soldiers died with him. A week or so later she received his last letter, in which he told her he thought Bush had lost the plot and that they shouldn't be in Iraq, that the whole thing was folly.

Lila is co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace. She is scheduled to appear here in the Heartland on September 15, 2005 at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, MO.

Coup Kookie Do

Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes has been relieved of duty. The four-star Army general relieved of command this week is alleged to have had an extramarital affair with a female civilian who does not work for the military or the federal government, the general's attorney said Wednesday.

"The allegation against General Byrnes involves a consensual, adult relationship with a woman who is not in the military, nor is a civilian employee of the military or the federal government," Robertson (attorney) said in an e-mail exchange. He said Byrnes approved the statement but was not willing to be interviewed directly about the matter.

------ Rumors around the net are that Four Star General Fired For Organizing Coup Against Neo-Cons. Upon questioning, my inside source tells me, "Byrnes is still married, they're just making him an example. Adultery is adultery in the military but, I'm surprised they went after a general for this. Somebody doesn't like him." And "LOL that article is the biggest work of fiction I have ever seen. They wouldnt simply fire the guy if that kinda shit was going on. They would have killed him and made it look like an accident."

Sigh ... doesn't pay to get your hopes up these days does it.

Champions

August 9, 1936 Jesse Owens won his 4th gold medal. Owens said in his biography: "When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either."

Summer Olympics 1968: Black Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished 1-3 in the 200-meter run, bowed their heads and gave the Black Power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the U.S. They were immediately thrown off the team by the USOC.


Present day steroidinator musclehead, Governor of California:

Cindy Sheehan

Sheehan, who met Bush in 2004, now says "… her meeting with Bush occurred two months after son Casey was killed in Sadr City on April 4, 2004. Since then, she said, reports have disputed claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction -- a main justification for the war."

Does this mean had WMD been found, or if the US stumbles upon a cache of WMD tomorrow, that Ms. Sheehan is okay with sacrificing her son to war? As a mother who knows the loss of a son years ago, and with sons rotating through Iraq, I've spent more than a few nights wondering if one of mine might not make it home. But I'm reluctant to support those who had no anti-war voice until after the chickens come home to roost.

If her son Casey Sheehan had died in Afghanistan, would that have made a difference? A lot of folks knew the decision to initiate war in Afghanistan was an omen of what was to come from BushCo.

The WTC attack took place September 11, 2001. Operation Enduring Freedom commenced on October 7, 2001 when Bush announced that the U.S. military has launched strikes against al-Qaida terrorist camps and Taliban military installations in Afghanistan. Within 3 weeks of the WTC attack we were at war. The American public and the UN played percussion for BushCo's Get OBL & TWAT Song, and we're still paying the piper in Kabul, with the Taliban around and OBL somewhere and the war against terror marching on.

Many folks, especially those who had read PNAC, knew Afghanistan was only the beginning. With a messy situation in Afghanistan, with BushCo's almost immediate loss of interest in OBL, we proceed within months to send troops to Kuwait in preparation of Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL). (My oldest had orders for Kuwait in Sept '02.)

Sheehan says: "We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled. The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached." Again I ask, if the war were handled differently or WMD found, would they be okay with war?

Sheehan's 15 minutes reminds me of Jessica Lynch which reminded me of Shoshana Johnson. "Shot through both legs and held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days, Shoshana Johnson returned home to a difficult convalescence that lacked the media fury and official hype that attended her friend and comrade in arms Jessica Lynch." There was no movie, money, or free college for Shoshana and the only in depth interview I saw of her was in the magazine Essence. The hyperbole is played for an audience of white sacrifice.

The democrats find Sheehan attractive, literate, and anti-Bush. She's a useful tool for the left to create a "problem for Bush now."

Sheehan says the "war was not worth my son's sacrifice." Some folks know wars of agression are never worth any sons or daughters sacrificed. What I feel is a stark contrast between people such as myself, who once would have supported Sheehan, but today see the obvious politicization of one death which will do nothing to end the US policy of war for profit. Wars simply need to be "handled better" when bought by the white American consumer. Where others see a useful spokesperson, perhaps a martyr, I see hypocrisy, dishonesty, and a woman taking a moral stand when it's personally relevant and convenient. This isn't a nation divided; it's a nation of Left, Right, and a few of us disgusted with both.

Lets Be Clear

Aug.5 2005 Dan Froomkin writes in WaPo: "When a nation is attacked, its people tend to rally around their leader. President Bush's job approval ratings, for instance, shot up more than 30 percent in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But the seemingly incessant litany of deadly attacks on American troops in Iraq appears to be increasingly turning the public against the president and the war he launched. The signs of such a turnaround remain faint in the mainstream media coverage of public discourse about Iraq. Something -- maybe the administration's insistence that questioning its policies undermines American troops -- has somehow cowed many of the predictable voices of dissent into silence."

Ahem...Lets be clear what's really going on. People rallied around Bush, ready to kill whoever, whatever, wherever BushCo pointed after 9/11. They did so on very little evidence of who the perps were behind the WTC attacks. The crime scene was razed and shipped to China ASAP. After bin LadenCo initially denied the attacks the public is given tapes of Laden proudly claiming responsibility. A sham commission issued a backup report to government propaganda, case closed.

The American public wanted to hunt 'em down, smoke 'em out, dead or alive, bring 'em on, liberate Iraqi and fight 'em over there so we don't have to here. Gulping the warmonger kool-aid.

The public strormtrooped into Iraq, with little to no evidence for a just cause. The public was more than willing to accept whatever excuse of the day BushCo gave them, WMD, liberation, evil Hitlerhussein, on and on. All because the US public in general has no moral decency. The public thought we'd kick ass and come home in a few weeks. Many of those now turning against Bush and the war he launched were the first to support his war. Therein lies the cowardly immorality of the US public. A public nonchalant about war because dead is okay, when it's "them" dying.

Who are the "predictable voices of dissent" that are "cowed" into silence? Who is Mr. Froomkin referring to? Democrats? Lefty celebrities? Don't worry, they'll get on the soapbox when it's politically correct to do so, and after they've rearranged their portfolios.

As I said in June, it's Carrying Water. "The time is upon us for hearings, bipartisan congressional bills, homeboy Acts named to induce a warm fuzzy and insinuate the end is near. We're at the political stage of not questioning the justification for our engagement in the War or hold anyone accountable, but the years of debating military withdrawal strategy, aka carrying water for the warmongers."

BushCo needs another "trifecta."

Evil

Evil

They don't mind you givin' the latest rap
They don't mind your being hoes
They don't mind your being bitches
They don't mind you being whatever image that Viacom and BET can come up with
But what they don't want you to know...
Is that you're the ones who can redefine civilization if you take time to do it

It's a Guerrilla Funk-orchestrated counter-attack
Formulate and infiltrate em so the people react
See if I was wicked I would pick and stick to a plan
To rule the world and trick em, this is how it'd begin

See I'd have to find a way to keep the people enslaved
Behave, teach the babies it's my way or the grave
And start with the body, workin' labor for free
And give em fake religion so they worshippin' me

And see and when the free labor play out, I'd let it go
But only after I made enough to control
Then I'd tell em that the Afterlife is better than this
And that they should love their enemies when faced with contempt

I'd persist with some history that I would rewrite
In a school system where I'd keep the money too tight
I'd let em all know just where they belong in my world
Turn the boys into felons, makin' hookers of girls

Swirled up in my plan, build jails to keep
All my prisons full of niggas, have em workin' for free
See with ghetto-economics in check, I'd keep em broke
Teach em only to respect sports, music and dope

Control the content of lyrics, now only the sound
Of sex, dope and murder in a song is allowed
Tell em' Niggas ain't shit every move that they make
And that black is dirty so they never try to be great

Can you relate? I'd laugh, watch em murder for scraps
Set it up so they'd die over crack I provide
Do it right, and I'd see they try to be like me
Try to be the biggest 'G' up in these murderous streets

I'd teach, manhood means how many women ya fuck
How many babies you can make, responsibility ducked
Fuck a job, real men are pimps, that's what I'd teach
And if bitches wanna trip, then them bitches get beat

I'd see it all through, never lose and pass a new law
Give em 3 strikes so the men are constantly gone
Yeah, if I was evil they would think I do no wrong
See it's lethal how I keep em in their place so long, believe

Chorus:
I got my eyes upon you, and all the things that you do
Some close they eyes but mine can see, all the evil surroundin' me
So what I'm 'posed ta do, when I can see right through?
Expose the lies and snatch the sheets, fight the evil surroundin' me

From Sonic Jihad

Designolution

Bush's recent comments on Intelligent Design give me no grief. My offspring in their teens discussed evolution and ID at home. Back then ID was more openly the theory of "creationism" I believe. Evolution, adaptation and survival of a species, natural selection, made sense to their teen minds in search of ironclad absolutes. However, each insisted they themselves did not evolve from monkeys but would concede their parents, a sibling, a friend, or a particular teacher did. My daughter was certain her brothers were the "missing link" or had recently knuckle dragged themselves from a cave.

In hindsight they will agree it must have been an evolutionary throwback moment that made them perform ape-like behavior such as throwing dead hamsters on the balcony in December where the bodies lay until spring thaw; wearing green and white polka-dot stretch pants with glittering red high heels, folding little sister into the hide-a-bed, storing scraps from late night snacks under their bed for weeks, and peeing in the sink when the bathroom was occupied. I convinced them their survival was dependent on the theory they straighten up as no design by god was going to save them in these situations.

But they often believed firmly in Intelligent Design. They were certain intelligent design gave them free will and the brains to watch hours of MTV, drive, wear baggy pants, go to the mall, violate curfew, or not do chores on time or do them half-ass. Yet they had no doubt, having outgrown childhood "time-outs," that I was Neanderthalic (at best in the Dark Ages) to institute "you're grounded." I was often urged to enter the "modern times" where they lived, with all the other intelligent people.

Having personally suffered the torturous designs of 5 teenagers I believe had ID been taught along with evolution, I need only have chosen the opposing theory to have these 5 children argue in support of the other. Most high school children have formed stubborn opinions about everything because they absolutely know it all in the teen years, and it's almost always opposite to what parents know. They will change that solid opinion only when friends do and/or after high school.

Was it a "life force" which intelligently designed the mental strength for me to survive teens, or an evolutionary instinct for self-preservation? Or both? I'm not sure I'll ever identify what determines a parent surviving long enough to see teens evolve to be just like mom and dad.

PBU32

Don't Shoot

The Gnats of War

The nation plods on with Wilson-Plamegate, some eagerly awaiting indictments. The country is flippantly fed hope with talk of troop withdrawal, as we're reminded regularly of past and future "terrorist attacks," some real, some staged. Alert: Elevated. Experts discuss Iran's nuclear future as they once discussed Iraq WMD, though not quite as dire as the poised and tough Dr. Kindadykey Rice who was afraid to exhale just thinking of Saddam's imminent mushroom cloud. AIPAC spies arrested and recess thug appointments keep the forum chattering. The ruling elite continue on unperturbed and undisturbed, throwing an occasional piece of partisan meat to the coliseum crowd.

The powers-that-be illuminate the mainstream opinion gnats of Left and Right to keep the masses busy swatting at little shit, each side sure their grasp of the newsfeed is most correct. There's enough illumination that the 15 percenters who can think for themselves consider liquidating and relocating, most I know have expatriated already. But the gnatting appeases the other 85 percent nuzzled on the mainstream info-dildo, cheering their team on while the elite finger-flips the country off. Bush is simply a henchman who knows dumb and dumber will call it's a thumbs up.

It matters not if AIPAC stooges, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman are indicted. AIPAC will continue on, with the support of Condi Rice, Hillary Clinton, Bill Frist, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and others, promising undying fidelity to Amerisrael. Anyone really believe indicting Rosen and Weissman, who most Americans have never heard of and don't care about, will make a dent in AIPAC's lobby/political power?

What does it matter if every other month another mastermind, another top Al-Queda operative, is cornered or captured or killed. Terrorist cells in 60 countries the professional gnattery tells us. We'll be cornering, capturing, and killing for decades. For many Americans the "al-Raghead" all look alike, and their posture toward the new enemy of the American way of life is way too familiar for some of us. Only a small percentage of folks recognize BushCo can resurrect dead terrorists. That BushCo has the uncanny ability to capture the same bin Laden "deputy" more than once. Pose a dark-skinned man, wearing a turban or not, with 'al' or 'ahmed' in the name - instant terrorist. If Islam were an equal opportunity religion we'd surely have exotic Hollywood femme fatale terrorist spies caught in blue chador under the desk of liberal purveyors of "multi-culturism" and "diversity" (two Right dirty words).

As if the struggle against violent extremists isn't enough we're given other profiles to fear. Homeland Security Department propaganda tells us that Central American gangs have been recruited by al-Queda to carry out regional attacks and slip terrorists into the United States. This Central American gang/terrorist crisis sprang full grown last year in the MSM gnattery. Cells in Chiapas (Zapatistas), Cuba, Venezuela, any country or region not kissing up fast enough. Well shit, lets build an Ariel Security Fence, and close off Canada too. Solves our unemployment by forcing Americans to take jobs President Fox claims only Mexicans will work, and puts an end to Hollywood movies made cheaper in Canada, and hopefully an end to William Shatner style actors forced on unsuspecting innocent Americans. Join the cult of repression; be afraid, very afraid, of everyone not your "own kind."

The Democrats say stop the Republicans and the Republicans say stop the Democrats, all because the ruling elite know most folks (specifically whites) indulge in daydreams of government for the people by the people. Easy enough as whites en masse have never been herded onto reservations, shackled in slavery, concentrated in camps during war, or had the American boot on their neck, yet. The only mass white noble actions I can point to are (discard the Civil War as another spat among the ruling elite) in the 20th century. The labor rights fight and the 1960's Vietnam protests. And progress from both efforts was easily gnatted away with Reaganism busting unions and the winnable kick little nation wars of Reagan, and Bush Daddy checking white America's war pulse on slightly bigger ops in the Gulf War. It seems each generation learns the same hard lesson, kum baa baa ya, apparently incapable of passing the information on to their children.

It matters not if anyone, regardless of their level in government, is indicted, nor whether it's for Enrongate, Plamegate, WMD, torturegate, Halliburtongate, or anygate. Nixon paid nothing for his crimes. Nor were Nixon thugs sentenced hard time, however much they deserved being nailed in the shower by Crips and Bloods or the Mexican Mafia. How many in Reagan's Contragate had their lives and livelihood destroyed? No matter how many lives are lost as a result of their actions, look where political white-collar felons find themselves. Suffering a little embarrassment for the masters and then on to the Hall of Heroes & Felons. It matters not if Bush poll rating "plummets" as the democrats exclaim every other week. Bush will be gone shortly and the real masters remain in place, out of sight, in control. The elite who rule will issue a few indictments, coin a new phrase or two, give a few nuggy burns and send their felonious lackeys to write books and travel the lecture circuit. The elitist definition of punishment.

Why believe that groups such as "Take Back America" are going to 'take back America?" Look at some of the supporters: Howard Dean. Donna Brazile. Jesse Jackson, Huffington, Bill Moyers, John Edwards. Opinion leaders and celebrity gnats. Who are they "taking back America" for? Their own ideology which is slightly less fascist than the Republican brand? With the Patriot Act, Homeland Security Dept., unaccountable vote fraud, Wars, faith based welfare, machismo armament, etc. can anyone really believe the "left" will undo or redo what has been done? All the legislated paperwork is in place for the police state.

(If you think Posse Comitatus will stop government powers read again, U.S. Code Sections 331 through 334. Section 332 states: "Pursuant to the presidential power to quell domestic violence, federal troops are expressly exempt from the prohibitions of Posse Comitatus Act, and this exemption applies equally to active-duty military and federalized National Guard troops.") We're quelled.

Does anyone believe that the "left" didn't make out as well as the "right" these last 2+ centuries? Same wars, same bailouts, same cronyism, same profits. No one but the common people are going to "take America" and not "back" because we the people have never had America. It's time we did though.

Scorpion

Before the War, CIA Reportedly Trained a Team of Iraqis to Aid U.S.

WaPo - Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Page A12

Before the war in Iraq began, the CIA recruited and trained an Iraqi paramilitary group, code-named the Scorpions, to foment rebellion, conduct sabotage, and help CIA paramilitaries who entered Baghdad and other cities target buildings and individuals, according to three current and former intelligence officials with knowledge of the unit.

The CIA spent millions of dollars on the Scorpions, whose existence has not been previously disclosed, even giving them former Soviet Hind helicopters. But most of the unit's prewar missions -- spray-painting graffiti on walls; cutting electricity; "sowing confusion," as one said -- were delayed or canceled because of poor training or planning, said officials briefed on the unit. The speed of the invasion negated the need for most of their missions, others said.

After Baghdad fell, the CIA used the Scorpions to try to infiltrate the insurgency, to help out in interrogations, and, from time to time, to do "the dirty work," as one intelligence official put it.

In one case, members of the unit, wearing masks and carrying clubs and pipes, beat up an Iraqi general in the presence of CIA and military personnel, according to investigative documents reviewed by The Washington Post and according to several defense and intelligence officials.

Post inquiries about the case prompted the CIA to brief the House and Senate intelligence committees on the unit, said several members of Congress and two defense officials.



Hmmm…CIA you say?

Autopsy Report - UN

Kofi Annan says he's ready to work with John Bolton. No surprise bubba, did you have a choice? Kofi and Bolton, manicured thugs for PNAC. What has Annan, Son of a tribal chief, husband to a Swiss Jewish lawyer, done for the world?

He made pronouncements against Rwanda genocide, "the UN should have done more to stop the genocide..." He secured the Liberian diamond trade, claimed "Liberia was making progress, but was not stable enough to allow the withdrawal of the UN mission there." The Kimberley Process, a white folks scheme put together in Switzerland to ensure the flow of "conflict diamonds" doesn't fund African "conflicts." The Kimberly Process is a cover for policy and profit convergence.

As Under Secretary General in January 1994 Annan was aware of a cable which leaked information concerning the approaching Rawandan massacre, a plan by the Hutu militias regarding "extermination" of the Tutsi. Annan wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General Boutrous-Ghali's representative in Rwanda, stating that the information contained in the cable was of concern, but insisted the information be handled with caution. The original cable was filed and forgotten. Boutrous-Ghali said he did not see the information until too late.

Kofi successes to date: He secured diamond trafficking for De Beers while giving an international minute of silence for roughly 1 million butchered Rwandans. Annan was the soft spoken shuckin' 'n jive man for Bill Clinton, Madeline Albright and diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman. Annan has been wiping white butts for a long time.

Today Bolton was installed, who as a young neocon pupa, once stated from his Yale dorm during the tumultuous 1960s, that "The conservative underground is alive and well here," Mr. Bolton told his classmates and their parents, scorning a handful of hecklers. "If we do not make our influence felt, rest assured we will in the real world." We feel it. (See American Swastika)

Bolton, a liar, bully, and Likud firster, backed by AIPAC, ADL, BBI, and JINSA, is the best choice for the necrosing body of the UN, along with Kofi the NWO apologist who looked absolutely deflated today. It's hard work, legitimizing global schemes and expressing phony regrets for slaughter under the pretext of keeping peace for the white man. Take a break Kofi, let Bolton show us how the conservative underground influence will feel, now that it's full grown, in the real world.

Headlines

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - Completing their first full-scale assessment of Iran in four years, American intelligence agencies have concluded that Iran is "determined to build nuclear weapons" but is not expected to possess such weapons until the early or middle years of the next decade, administration officials said Tuesday. Which means BushCo can now turn Tehran into green glass.

Envoys discuss security handover with Iraq BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and British ambassadors met senior Iraqi ministers on Tuesday to discuss the transfer of security from foreign to Iraqi forces, a process that lays the groundwork for the withdrawal of foreign troops. Means one of two things in this poker game: BushCo is going to take the billions on the table and fold - or they're lying.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States signaled some painful progress in the six-party negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program despite Pyongyang's insistence the Beijing talks had made no headway. Means we won't bother NK because they could fight back.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon has banned the use of anonymous quotes in press releases, calling the recent use of nearly identical quotes attributed to unnamed Iraqis an "egregious error." Means either less b.s. from the Pentagon or better checked b.s.

BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhuanet) - China and Russia will hold their first joint military exercises on Aug. 18-25, China's Ministry of Defense announced here Tuesday. In a press release, the ministry said the exercises, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005", will be carried out in Vladivostok in far eastern region of Russia and East China's Shandong Peninsula and nearby offshore seawaters. Means Russia and China are ready for the US/UK.

Paul Hackett

I hope Democrats are not excited over Paul Hackett. After reading his web site and a message from Paul at ActBlue, this guy can't be taken seriously. On his official political page he briefly lists 6 items and where he stands on the issues of Social Security, War in Iraq, Economy, Healthcare, Environment, and Guns.

Paul says this is a crucial time for America. (Oh baby talk cliché to me.) Because he grew up in southern Ohio he was "steeped" in "our American values." He's saturated with all the ways of his ancestors (code for c.1860).

First clue the man is full of shit is that after retiring from the Marines in 1999 he re-upped last year because he felt he could contribute to the war in Iraq. Then volunteered for Fallujah. "Religious fanatics and insurgents had seized the city," says Paul. Now, he says "I’m ready to take your fight to Washington." How come only one seven month tour? They still need your contribution over there son. If he would use the same weapons we might have a chance at taking our government from the insurgents in D.C.

Hackett is proud of his stint in Fallujah. A city of farmers, where a soccer stadium became a mass graveyard. Where napalm was used. Where bodies were left to be eaten by dogs. Lucky for the 2nd district in Ohio Hackett isn't running his congressional campaign as the Fallujah campaign.

He bills himself as a "small business owner." He's a personal injury attorney (Hackett Law Offices) i.e. ambulance chaser. The dreaded trial lawyer.

On Social Security he states the system is not broken but can be improved and secured, by capping the SS tax at $150,000 rather than the current $90,000, and goes on to claim under this system he would be paying more but would be happy to. Come on Paul, any small business owner will tell you (myself included) that there are so many ways of paper trailing that tax without actually giving up too much actual cash, and viola! It's paid. And no sane person is "happy" to pay more taxes.

On the Iraq War Paul the Politician states "too many liberals who opposed the war want to see the president’s Iraq policy fail." What kind of "liberals" is the guy associating with? I don't know of anyone, right or left, who wants failure in Iraq. Come to think of it, has anyone clearly defined what failure is? No oil, higher oil costs? Cheney will be unhappy? We'll all be wearing burkas and beards, praying on a rug? He agrees we can leave Iraq once those 140,000 Iraqi forces are trained. He admits this is years away. Folks, have we ever left anywhere in less than decades?

He states: "No matter what your position on the war, if we pull out now the entire region will spiral into chaos and present our nation and military with a far more difficult challenge than we currently face." Same old same old, we can't leave because they need us, only we can show them how to do freedom, run their country, avoid spirals & chaos. If we don't fight 'em there they'll be here. Boo! Heard the same thing about 40 years ago Paulie.

I can agree with his ideas on the economy. He reprimands big corporate handouts and believes we should pump up incentives to small businesses, 500 or less employees. (Imagine millions of little independent Wallie-Marts with 499 employees.) He believes healthcare should be available and affordable for all. He believes "our government should be more concerned about preserving the health of our people than protecting the profits of the health insurance industry and other powerful interests." (In case he doesn't know, the big boys in DC will bend him over and demonstrate how they powerfully pound red and blue politicos into purple butts.)

He believes in the environment. He drives a hybrid that gets 65 miles per gallon. He says "you don't have to be a tree hugger to conserve energy." He goes on to say "when the gas topped out at $2.40 or $2.50, I didn’t pay that price. I was in Iraq. I saw how high the price really was." Goose pimply yet? But he's admitting we're fighting for oil. On Guns: He grew up with guns, he hunts.

Mr. Hackett, displays a meaness toward anti-war folks, liberals and tree huggers. He finds no error in US actions in Iraq and proposes a dishonest trite political stance on all issues. He's certain he has the Dem vote so he's appealing to Republicans who he and his staffers believe are weary of BushCo. He's counting on his Marine uniform to propel him further than he could have gone otherwise. He'll be another empty suit in DC, bent over by big industry and interests. For Hackett, it's financially better than a lifetime of lawsuits claiming Mr. Joe Blow will never work again after whiplash in a fender bender.

UPDATE: Just read Hackett lost. He'll be back, trust me.

Philip Zelikow

”Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I'll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990 -- it's the threat against Israel,” Zelikow told a crowd at the University of Virginia on Sep. 10, 2002, speaking on a panel of foreign policy experts assessing the impact of 9/11 and the future of the war on the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Zelikow made his statements about ”the unstated threat” during his tenure on a highly knowledgeable and well-connected body known as the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president.

Zelikow was part of the transition team between the Clinton and Bush administrations. During this period he briefed incoming security advisors, including Dr. Rice, on issues such as Iraq and al-Qaeda. Zelikow was executive director of the 9/11 commission.

( Richard Clarke testified in the 9/11 commission hearings that Zelikow was present at the meetings where Rice and other Bush appointees were briefed by outgoing Clinton officials on terrorism. Zelikow was therefore a direct participant in the events that the commission was investigating.)

According to Bush Advisor Karen Hughes, "Mr. Zelikow was recruited by the administration to brief us during the transition because he was one of the foremost experts in the world on al-Qaeda." The bulk of Zelikow's academic research, however, has been concentrated on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the American presidency and he has not published any articles or books directly relating to al-Qaeda or Middle Eastern terrorism.

Director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, Zelikow is also a general editor of the Center's Presidential Recordings Program, which transcribes presidential telephone conversations and meetings recorded during the fifties, sixties and seventies. The transcriptions, however, have been found by former Kennedy Library historian Sheldon Stern to have at least 100 key errors, none of which have yet been updated in the publicly available transcripts. Zelikow has attributed the delay in these important updates to his work on the 9/11 Commission. (Note to self: BushCo goes beyond the Peter Principle)

Last month Philip Zelikow, special adviser to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, was tasked to lead the new-speak effort as head of a 10-member US committee. Talks began in London and Paris in June with the blessing of the White House. Mr Zelikow's goal, according to a US official who asked not to be named, was to "develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to discredit and demystify extremists' ideology and promote moderate Islamic voices".

Zelikow is behind the feel-better speak of "struggle against violent extremism," the new strategy to turn unbearable "war" logo into tussle hugs. No doubt the warm Parisian nights, French wine, and a thesaurus gave him struggle. It's the rightwing attempt to sing Kumbaya my Lord to a populace exhibiting signs of misgiving about Bush's war-on.

To avoid the appearance that Judeo-Christians blame all Muslims (or Brazilians), Zelikow will lead the new "outreach program," in search of dialogue with moderate non-extremists Islam. With Zelikow, Wolfowitz, Libby, Abrams, Chertoff, Dov Zakheim, Zoellick, Perle, Feith, Bolton, and others too numerous to mention, Jewish experts will work diligently on discrediting and demystifying the world's Arab problem. Surely, after promotion of moderate Islam, the world will be as safe as Tel Aviv. Now don't you feel better?

Gods Gone Wild

Before BushCo how many Muslims terrified Joe Blow? As communists shriveled up in our backyard, Joe Freeper, predictably, was given the "struggle against extremists." More threatening than commies, Islamic extremists are in our backyard, our planes, our buses, our trains, everywhere.

Hatespeak tells us Islam wants to place all of Western Civilization under totalitarian Islamism in order to "save" civilization. The Islamists are coming. Our new hate target, for not only is it Islam but includes anyone seen as the least bit sympathetic to Islam, i.e. liberals, democrats, Arabs, all institutes that can be viewed as "coddling" the extremists. Unions, liberal think tanks, writers, professors, democrats, anti-war activists, anti-Israel policy, conspiracy nuts. Half the country may be extremist sympathizers.

The New American has to talk tough and if a believer he/she should inject Judeo-Christian scripture among the kill 'em all. Communists had no god which made them evil; today's Islamism has a god which makes them evil. The ruling class, born of a constricted gene pool, on steroids and enhancement drugs, are unable to give us new rhetoric; just another "ism."

The Jew-Christo/Mossadic shill-o-pundits are loud and clear. "The totalitarian nature of Islam, akin to Communism and Nazism, makes the threat different in degree to that faced during the Cold War, but not in kind. It demands a similar response."

Christians hate Jews, Jews hate Muslims, Muslims hate Christians and Jews, Jews and Christians hate Muslims. Different alliances, same shit of holy musical chairs. Thrill kill but lets call it a struggle to protect our way of life.

"Islam is a terror organization." "Islam is evil and believes in murder. Jesus teaches peace."

Totalitarian, Islam, evil, murder, Jesus, demands a response. Words that send a groin grab to Joe Freeper. Nuke 'em, nuke 'em.

Jews and Christians and Muslims oh my, you're all terrorists, masturbating to god, fantasizing about power and flocking your sheep.