Pffth on the soldiers' honor. This week it's oil !

Call me just a tad cynical, but the president has revised our reason for the American military to stay in Iraq. Touring just last week in Idaho and Utah, Bush said we would continue the Iraq mission to honor those who have died there. It was his response to Cindy Sheehan's demand we bring the troops home now.

But I guess the honor of troops who have perished in Iraq is no longer the reason we're staying. The Associated Press reports the president, standing in front of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, said today the reason for continued Iraq presence now (this week at least) is the "protection of the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists."

Bush's new reason--oil--sounds like he's preparing us for the truth behind his war. But his statement didn't get much play in the media which were distracted by the unfolding gulf coast hurricane tragedy. Why do I suspect that's just as the president calculated?

"It's got to be doubly devastating" down there

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Approaching New Orleans, Air Force One dropped down from an altitude of 29,000 to 1,700 feet to give the president a better view of the devastation.

"Look, look!" one fatigued refugee pointing up at the approaching plane excitedly yelled. Frantic people stranded on rooftop islands in seas of sewage and sludge excitedly waved their shirts and bedsheets in anxious joy. Food and bottles of fresh water were about to come cascading from the skies, dropped from the enormous jet.

One hungry mother, cradling her 18 month old daughter who'd stopped crying, falling suspiciously silent hours earlier, thought she'd seen the plane's wings dip acknowledging their desperate waves and screams. If she did, it was the only acknowledgment they would get. No supplies fell from the sky. The jet zoomed past.

Meanwhile in the jet above the desperate thousands just 1,700 feet below , the president sat posed before press cameras photographing him as he peered out at the misery below. ""It’s devastating," Bush declared. "It’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground."

Back on the rooftop below, excitement returned to hopeless despair. The man, so excited moments before, glanced one more time at the aircraft passing so low above. Recognizing the blue and white plane's presidential seal on its side, he declared, "It's Air Force One! It's only the fuckin' President!" his voice trailed off.

A couple hours later, the president's plane touched down in Washington. The president emerged, descending from his plane, cradling his dog safely beneath one arm and waving to cameras with the other.

Poverty Rising

I live in El Paso. It's as far west as one can go and still be in Texas. Most recently, Texas is noted for the pride it takes in giving George W. Bush to the nation as president, home of the "ranch" where Bush spends most of his vast blocks of vacation time, and Enron. But El Paso is not quite the typical hotbed of conservatism the rest of the state enjoys. In fact, we have an opposition party representative ("Democrat" is not a word that rolls easily off my tongue any more) in the House that actually voted against Bush's war (a statement Hillary Clinton can't make!).

Being a border city, El Paso does not share the prosperity the rest of Texas or the nation enjoys. Latest figures show the median household incomes here to be $28,925 compared with the state's median of $41,759 and the nation's $44,684.

Suspecting the demise of capitalism will most likely occur in my lifetime may have played a role in my decision to reside in El Paso, i.e. as the standard of living for the majority continues to decline as poverty increases, I and my family will not have as far to fall in the nation's transition toward Third Worldism.

Today's figures on poverty in the El Paso Times show a dramatic increase. Yesterday's Census Bureau estimates show those below the poverty line rose from from 190,000 in 2003 to 226,000 in 2004. That's a remarkable 19% increase in just one year's time!

Now, some reading this may think, "Yeh, but El Paso's just one of those poor border cities unrepresentative of the rest of the nation." And I'll grant that's true. But what I'm talking about here is trend. And in that, I have no doubt El Paso is but a canary for many parts of the rest of the country.

Keep in mind, these latest figures are from a year ago when oil prices averaged below $30 per barrel. Today, oil prices flirt with $70 at the moment on their way to new highs. A USA Today article reports the percentage low-income folks spend on just gas (exclusive of the rise in prices of goods due to increased fuel costs) has climbed from 8% of their earnings in 2002 to 11% today.

If I thought today's increase in poverty figures were dramatic, I can't wait to see next year's.

Anyone have a toolshed in the backyard they might want to rent out as an apartment to supplement their declining real income?

Luis Posada Carriles Hearing Update

Protestors outside Luis Posada Carriles asylum hearing. In the background are pictures of the 73 persons who died aboard the Cuban airliner downed in 1976 by

explosives allegedly provided by terrorist Carriles.

The deportation hearing for Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles continued Tuesday in El Paso. Seems Carriles denies allegations of his terrorist activities, has forgotten pertinent facts, or attributes things he admitted involvement in as misquotes by the press due to his poor command of English.

"Because of my language difficulties, there has been confusion in my interviews," Posada said in Spanish through a translator.

But writer Ann Louise Bardach, who interviewed Carriles in 1998 for a NY Times article in which he admitted involvement in a series of bombings of hotels and restaurants in Cuba that killed at least one Italian tourist, said Carriles' English was very good, including slang. (Carriles had also worked as a translator for the U.S. Army in his youth.)

Carriles also swore in his petition for asylum he had never used other names or aliases. Sadly, five passports in the names of Franco Rodriguez Mena, Jose Rivas Lopez, Bambi Lugo, Solo Medina and Ramon Medina belong to Carriles.

Carriles was the alleged supplier of the explosives that detonated aboard a Cuban airliner in 1976 which killed all 73 persons on board.

If his asylum request is denied, Carriles could be deported to Venezuela where he is a citizen and fugitive. Venezuela would like very much for him to come home.

Anonymous said:

There are some days when I get discouraged. I get tired of hearing myself rant. It's during those times I wonder if I misnamed this blog. Maybe instead of "daily" I should have named it "weekly" or "monthly". But often at those times, a comment comes along that splashes water in my face, puts my mouthpiece in again and shoves me back towards center ring. Such is a comment I received over the weekend.

I've brought it up to the front page to share with all and to thank "anonymous" for the renewed energy I've felt since reading it. Here's that comment in its entirety. Thanks again!

Anonymous said:

Oh my God, Dada, You are so much the HERO for me!

I have felt so angry, enraged, saddened and disgusted...for entirely too long. It is extremely hard to KNOW, while others just sleep at the wheel..."Everything is just hunky dory in the world/in our country...let's just act as if all is well". I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your "voice" right now.

As a marine mom, and a person who loves her country (and fights wholeheartedly to keep it's innate values intact) I have been tortured daily by the collective inertia. THANK YOU for your persevering outrage and for giving voice to the injustices being executed in my/our name(s) with my/our tax dollars.

Please folks, reach out past 'the choir' with the excellent resources of information that Dada is providing. If we don't express our furious disgust now, not to each other but to those who haven't a clue, we'll likely all end up in concentration camps together, or the American equivalents. The neo-cons are not going to wait for our engraved invitations to stop their sh*t. They don't give a hoot what we think or feel, or whether we are suffering, or not. They have an agenda and they plan to see it through. They've been working it for at least a quarter of a century. They've collected a lot of power in that time. They now use and abuse it.

Last I heard, this is still a country of the people, for the people and BY THE PEOPLE. That would be you and me...so we better get pissed off enough to activate the neighbors, or we will soon circle the drain.

I'm starting to feel like the sacrifices we are making as a collective are not quite registering yet...unless you are contributing a family member.

Are you missing out on a good nights sleep, for MONTHS/years at a time? Living WAY too close to the edge to survive?

My son and I are. Perhaps if you have missed a full night or two of restful sleep, you'll recognize where we are coming from. It is crazy making, and should not be carried by only the few.

Get on board, please. We are getting a bit over extended here, and it's time for YOU to sacrifice a little in this cause as well.

Do you see the problem, feel well informed and still don't know 'what to do'?

HOLD OUR 'LEADERS ACCOUNTABLE'! Educate the uninformed. Blitz your congress members with informative mail about how you FEEL. Show up as a warm body at EVERY protest. Bombard your family and friends with Truth Out articles , Democracy Now, etc...until they start referring to you as 'Cassandra', (and question your sanity/avoid you like the plague).

PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!! Some of us are carrying too much of the burden/cause. We are tired, and yet know it must be carried.

Peace is the ideal.

A sobering statistic

Heard on CNN this morning:

The additional cost of energy being paid by Americans PER DAY now versus:
- 1 yr. ago = $350 million/day MORE
- 2 yrs. ago = $500 million/day MORE
- 3 yrs. ago = nearly $1 billion/day MORE!

Shortly after taking office as president over twenty-eight years ago, Jimmy Carter, as prompted by the 1973 Arab oil embargo, announced his National Energy Plan.

But Americans were in no mood to make energy sacrifices to alleviate the country's enormous appetite for foreign oil. They opted instead for the optimism demonstrated by Ronald Reagan's removal of the solar panels and woodstove Carter had installed in the White House. The national energy plan which would have boosted energy supplies while reducing demand was then systematically dismantled during the 80's.

The time is rapidly approaching when Carteresque measures will have to be considered again. Only this time we won't have the option to "opt out." And this time they won't be as painless. To continue America's foolhearty addiction to oil as if there's an endless supply will eventually lead to increased global tensions and war. Oh wait,er, ahm, never mind. Too late. Sorry. Just disregard this message.

Just be thankful the new higher mileage requirements placed on light trucks by the Energy Department exempted Humvees! And besides, folks who drive Hummers don't worry about the price of gasoline anyway, right?

"If you harbor a terrorist, you are a terrorist."

Roseanne Nenninger, sister of victim Raymond Persaud who died in a 1976 terrorist airliner bombing

We had an interesting few hours today. Started off like every weekday morning with Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!. She spent some time discussing the Luis Posada Carriles hearing that was to begin in El Paso today.

Carriles is what would be one of those embarrassing situations for our president Bush were he or any of his administration capable of appreciating good irony. Sadly, they are not. But since 9/11, the president has said too many times to count, "If you harbor a terrorist, you are a terrorist."

Carriles is seeking asylum here in the United States. See, the difficulty comes from the fact that Luis Posada Carriles has a history of terrorism against Cuba. He takes credit for bombing hotels there and is the alleged mastermind of the first terrorist attack against a commercial airliner in the western hemisphere. This puts Bush in a tight spot if he is to adhere to his own definition of what constitutes a terrorist. Permitting Carriles to stay in the U.S. could put Bush among the very group he's warring against--the terrorists.

1976 Cuban National Women's Fencing Team

During her segment on the impending Carriles case before the Immigration officials, Amy Goodman spoke with Gloria La Riva, lead organizer of today's protest in El Paso against Carriles. She also spoke with one of the sister's of Raymond Persaud, a victim aboard that Cuban airliner bombed out of the sky over the Caribbean in 1976. It was his first time to fly. And his last. He was on his way to medical school in Cuba. Seventy-two other innocent lives were lost that day, including 6 members each from the women's and men's Cuban National Fencing Teams.

1976 Cuban Men's National Fencing Team

So my wife and I decided to drive over to join the nicely attended delegation of demonstrators outside the Immigration offices where the Carriles hearing was to be held. It was a nice day. Warm, but very nice. There was a microphone set up just outside the government compound for people to voice their opinions. Some had travelled down to El Paso from Las Cruces and Albuquerque.

Shortly after we arrived, a helicopter swooped in low over the crowd, making a number of circular passes above the demonstrators. "Five," my wife informed me. (I was glad our vehicle had one of those retractable radio antennas that lowers when you shut off the engine!) My wife told me to smile. That they were taking our pictures. I looked across the street at her flipping 'em a big ol' peace sign.

What was remarkable was getting to meet a lot of concerned and conscientious people. But what was really *special* was our chance to meet and visit with some of the folks we'd seen earlier this morning on Democracy Now! We spoke with Gloria La Riva, organizer of the protest. And we also spoke with the sisters, Sharon Persaud and Roseanne Nenninger, of Raymond who had been on that ill-fated flight. They had travelled cross country to advocate for Carriles' deportation to Venezuela to stand trial for his role in the death of the 73 people killed on that Cubana airliner.

From them we learned of the excitement for Raymond the night before his departure for medical school. Friends had gathered in celebration. The following day at the airport, family bid Raymond farewell and goodluck. He was wearing a new suit made especially for the occasion. Not long afterwards, the family was to learn of the crash of his plane after a brief stop over in Barbados.

As the time for the hearing approached, we sadly learned that Sharon and Roseanne would not be allowed inside the hearing room. Never mind that I can walk into the courtroom trial of any murderer any day down at City Hall with no particular interest. But the hearing of a man who killed your brother, you have no right to attend! Even to "simply observe and sit quietly" as one of the sisters said.

Sharon Persaud holding a picture of her brother Raymond killed in the '76 bombing of a Cubana airliner flight shortly after departing Barbados.

I got the impression that many of us there today thought a decision would be rendered by day's end. Not so. Testimony by witnesses in defense of Carriles will begin tomorrow. Let us hope sisters Sharon and Roseanne will be allowed to witness tomorrow's hearing. While not optimistic, I'm always hopeful.

Dada listening to officer's request to stay on the sidewalk.
(NOTE: Dada had not gone into the street. Dada's wife had gone into the street. The officer didn't address his request to Mrs. Dada, he told Dada instead. Not sure whether truly concerned for our safety or the fact he'd never gotten to use his Taser weapon on anyone yet, Dada courteously obeyed.)

Tighten your belt!

Just a friendly reminder for those of you considering enlisting in the military who are gay or lesbian. Seems there is a baptist church in Westboro, Kansas, that has some extreme reactions to gay folks. In the event you should end up in the middle east and return home in a flag draped coffin, please know there are those who may create an unsettling scene as your friends and family gather to honor your memory.

As we all know, Kansas, which is just about "first notch" under the buckle of America's bible belt, provides the nation with some pretty "out there" folks.

The latest demonstration of "God's love", as manifested through members of Westboro Baptist church in Kansas, was in the form of demonstrations at the funerals for two National Guardsmen in Smyrna, Tennessee.

While Westboro Baptist is an independent not affiliated with the larger church, it appears these Christian adherents of "Love thy neighbor" believe America's military is being punished by God for defending a country that harbors gays. So at the funerals in Tennessee, members could be seen carrying signs and heard shouting things like "God hates fags" and "God hates you".

The church, which has demonstrated at other soldier's funerals around the country, was founded by the Rev. Fred Phelps. Its congregation consists mainly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws. This probably explains their homophobic extremism--too much inbreeding.

What's in a name?

I suppose it was inevitable that Cindy would step it up a notch or two. After all, how much trashing can one be expected to endure from the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, the Drudge Sludge, Limbaugh, etc.

As a result of her August vigil at the Crawford "ranch", Sheehan has been given labels like anti-war extremist, whacko, media whore, communist, and traitor for merely trying to honor her son's memory by asking the president the noble cause Casey died for.

Obviously, Sheehan has the Right running scared as evidenced by the viciousness of their attacks. God forbid their war be threatened by a dead soldier's mom!

So it's no wonder Cindy has a new name for the war mongers among us. They're her "pro-continue the killing because Americans have died already" people. Amen!

A Job Well Done!

I confess, my friend Nona over at Fish Wars on Cars once conceded she loved my "snarkiness". I was taken aback. But then I realized, after a visit to the dictionary over at Houghton Mifflin, Nona was absolutely right.

It's not often I focus on nice things to talk about. God knows, there's a tremendous need for more of that. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd step back a moment from "snarky" to give credit where credit's due, that is, to the various Texas law enforcement groups in and around Crawford this past month. Here goes........

With the Cindy Sheehan led vigil at the Crawford "ranch" winding down, I just wanted to commend the local law enforcement agencies in the region for having done an excellent job in providing security for everyone venturing to the area to express an opinion. I realize things haven't quite wrapped up so, "Knock on wood," til they have.

But who could have imagined the incredible efforts by the sheriff's department, local and state police agencies! The job they have done is commendable indeed. Perhaps police from New York and Salt Lake Cities, Philadelphia, and other large departments should send representatives to Crawford for training in the art of peaceful crowd control.

In the beginning, there was some pessimism and rumors Camp Casey would not last the month. I confess. Being snarky, I was among those. It was just too "in Bush's face".

As is customary when it comes to the president, protestors are confined to a small "free speech zone" normally several miles removed from anywhere the president might pass or appear. Keeping dissent from Bush's eyes is always of prime concern. Any unexpected disapproval witnessed by him, as intimated in Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President by Justin A. Frank, could trigger a sudden emergence of the president's psychosis; a relapse into the abusive behaviors of his past.

But right there just across the road from the Crawford "ranch", for all of August, the anti-war campaign was peacefully conducted. Yes, there were some tense moments like the intimidating rancher shooting imaginary doves out of season just across the road from Camp Casey. And the even more brazen action of the cross mowing man caught when a piece of cross embedded in, and flattened, his truck tire. (Dada suspects God may have had a hand in that.)

Through it all, order has been maintained. Cindy wasn't arrested as early rumors predicted. Camp Casey was allowed to peacefully grow and express itself to the president while he absented himself to make public relations speeches in defense of his war and, for a few days, vacation away from his "vacation".

To the law enforcement involved, Dada says, "Congratulations on a job well done!" Other agencies across the nation would do well to follow your excellent example.

If you're angry with the war clap your hands!

Regarding Cindy Sheehan, I'd like to quote an excerpt from a piece I just read today by Christine Rose entitled "Our Arrogance Will be the End of Us":

Last week at the post office I was speaking with a postal worker about Camp Casey. “I respect what she’s doing,” the woman had said to me, “but he’ll never talk to her. He can’t, because then he’ll have to talk to everyone.”

I said. “Exactly. Cindy Sheehan deserves answers. This country deserves answers.”

“I have three sons in Iraq,” the woman told me, “one of them – it’s his third time over.”

“You should go to Crawford!” I replied.

“Well, my sons aren’t dead… yet”

I told her that was the best time to go – before they died.

That reiterated for me how relatively effortless this entire Iraq and Afghanistan adventurism has been for most of us here at home in the States.

I recall a cousin of mine I'd first discovered back in the 70's. About my age, he and his wife and I and mine became friends and shared good times together throughout the 80's. But if there was one thing that particularly disturbed me about my cousin, it was the nonchalance at his employment in a national nuclear research facility in New Mexico; of his willingness to override his seemingly progressive open-mindededness by voting against his conscience in order to assure his job security, even if it meant violating a few of his higher principles.

I suspect that's where a lot of us are with this pre-planned war that 9/11 so graciously facilitated for Bush and his neocon's Project for the New American Century's blueprint for U.S. global dominance. We ignore some principles because, frankly, Bush's adventurism isn't really affecting us. And despite continued evidence that piles higher and higher week in and week out against all the reasons for expending lives uselessly, we listen quietly to the same hackneyed platitudes of the liberation of peoples abroad and our increasing safety at home. These same stale, invalid justifications for nearly four years! Most of us know it's not true but, "Big deal", it doesn't really affect us.

And so, come Monday morning, a postal worker mom with three sons in Iraq returns to her job in quiet acceptance, unmoved by events unfolding around her and her family. After all, it really hasn't touched her. Not yet anyway.

And folks in offices that support work in national laboratories like Lawrence Livermore, Sandia and Los Alamos go about doing their work, facilitating the development of bigger and better weapons of mass destruction. By merely cauterizing a few principles it's easy. After all, this war doesn't really affect them.

And then there's folks in Edina, Minnesota who, maybe after taking in a Vikings' game over the weekend, return to their jobs Monday morning at Alliant Techsystems to add to the manufacture of the more than 15 million rounds of depleted uranium ammunition, much of which will poison Iraq for many, many years to come. Our empire building doesn't really affect them either.

Nor did it affect Gerard Matthew who returned from his his tour in Iraq alive and in one piece a year and a half ago. He was lucky. Or so he thought. Then he discovered some members of his unit were suffering from Depleted Uranium contamination. Following their lead, Matthew tested and and discovered he was the most contaminated of all!

With a pregnant wife, Matthew immediately urged her to get an ultrasound to check on their unborn baby. Sadly, they discovered the fetus had a condition common to those with radioactive exposure--atypical syndactyly. The right hand had only two digits. Suddenly the Iraq Matthew thought he'd escaped from untouched has impacted his family's lives in ways he never expected.

Matthew feels extremely angry at a government that never warned him of the dangers of Depleted Uranium and the deformity it visited upon his daughter. Now he speaks out against our nation's "war on terrorism".

For a nation that has not experienced directly the sacrifices often demanded by war, many of us remain eerily silent. We go about our daily lives, ignoring our own higher principles because the policies being conducted in our names don't really affect us. But increasingly the dormant principles buried inside of us are waking and demanding acknowledgment.

Bush may never speak to Cindy Sheehan. But I get this sense the conscience of the nation is speaking to Bush. And it's becoming louder and harder to ignore. And I discern a growing desperation in Bush's tired and soiled justifications for his reckless policies.

As the postal worker with three sons in Iraq waits in silence for the war to touch her, perhaps the time to speak out is now.

A WARNING TO CAMP CASEY!

As Camp Casey's George Bush "vacation" vigil winds down, I just want to express my awe at the accomplishment of Cindy Sheehan and all of her wonderful supporters brought together this month by her actions down at the Crawford "ranch". I feel very indebted, grateful, and invigorated at the efforts of so many to endure so much under extreme conditions of weather, insects, lack of conveniences, etc. But the toll extracted has been worth the rewards reaped.

Watching the president speak earlier this week to reaffirm his fallacious middle-east determination and to introduce the Pruett's, a family who currently has four sons serving with the Guard in Iraq, I sensed a new vigor in Bush as well. The White House had gone in search of a family to counter Cindy's brave vigil. In seeking a response, Bush's hopes were rewarded, not with a mother with a son in Iraq who supports Bush's war, but one with four sons there!

However, I've also read reports of the dramatic deterioration of Bush's recent moods. They've declined in direct relation to his sinking poll support numbers. Numbers the media choose to ignore, instead referring to Cindy Sheehan as an "anti-war extremist."

Be not discouraged. This is indication of Camp Casey's success. The media of this country never claims to represent a fair and balanced take on current events. The one exception, Fox, who actually makes such boast does so from their blatantly out-of-whack reality. So much so they must continually remind us with a motto they're something they're not.

So, while the media consider the majority American sentiment as "anti-war extremism" and the president, incapable of removing his blinders, reacts to criticism and sagging poll numbers with outbreaks of rage like: “Who gives a flying fuck what the polls say,” as he screamed at a recent strategy meeting. “I’m the President and I’ll do whatever I goddamned please. They don’t know shit.” I say--despite that--"Thank you, Cindy. You and all supporters down at Camp Casey. You've stirred a sleeping giant to consciousness."

The Warning:

But as successful as you've been, I implore: Please, please, indulge for a moment this fear I have. With the final weekend approaching at Camp Casey, there appears to be record numbers headed your way. And because of the tremendous success of your vigil, not all of those coming to Crawford will come in adulation. Yet, I've seen and heard you reach out to those who disagree and I am truly awed by your compassion to empathize with those who oppose you.

But the shrinking pro-war minority of this country is feeling very threatened by you. This includes the White House.

Remember the 2000 Florida state vote recount to determine the winner of the presidential election honestly. Recall it was a group of brazen Republican thugs that determined the outcome of that election. Folks like John "I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count" Bolton, who went to Florida and purposely created a very ugly situation. The recount was halted and their mission accomplished--a bloodless coup.

Be aware of the dirty tricks and stunts that are the panoply of Karl Rove. Know the character assassinations executed on those who dared challenge the neocon agenda. Please keep that in mind and, in doing so, remain ever vigilant as Camp Casey winds down by revving up for its biggest weekend. Record numbers will come to Crawford. Many unfriendly to your cause. Watch for goons whose purpose may be to provoke an incident to discredit your cause, to destroy you anyway they can. It's standard Rove modus operandi.

And the REAL O'Reilly's and traitors are........

If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves. Howard Zinn, historian and author

You know, you've got to wonder if Howard Zinn isn't 'right-on' here. All one need do is look at the reaction of the Right to the mother who lost her son in Iraq. She's holding a vigil near the president's vacation ranch with the hope he would just talk to her. Whether or not he does isn't the point of this.

The point is, the reaction by the pro-war faction that is lashing out at Cindy Sheehan is a shrinking minority of Americans, yet Sheehan is treated like the aberration! The interview I heard on CNN or MSNBC this morning went something like this.

Female interviewer: "What do you think of Cindy Sheehan's anti-war extremism?"

Interviewee: "Well, I don't think Cindy Sheehan's an extremist at all."

Female interviewer: "But, she IS anti-war, isn't she?"

Oh my God! Can you believe that shit? I saw/heard it with my own eyes/ears this morning!

With press and television coverage like this, it's easy to see why Howard Zinn feels pessimistic about the American "consumer", that is, they consume far too much of that kind of media bullshit. Remember: Polls indicate a large majority of Americans disapprove of the war! Reminder: All of the reasons for this war have been proven lies!

Okay, so the pro-war zealots, a minority, still clinging to the Bush lies to justify killing more Americans and Iraqis, have the gall to call Cindy Sheehan a crackpot, media whore, traitor, and/or a communist simply because she questions Bush's lies that claimed her son?

Tsk, tsk. If anything, I'd say such accusations are the claims of the real traitors of this nation. But I fear Zinn may be right. There may be no need of martial law. The law's being marshalled by the media which has no interest in serving up truth. No, unfortunately, their interests lie in serving their corporate and political master's interests who support this war. The media are their pimps, and those who support those lies and hurl cheap indignations as a result, their whores.

Amy Clarifies

From Amy Goodman on today's Democracy Now, comes a little clarification of how the television network "news" channels present anti-war activists:

"On MSNBC, they're referred to as extremists. On Fox they're called traitors."

Thanks Amy for that! That explains a lot about how we got to the point we now find ourselves.

Bend Over U.N-ville ~ Here Comes "Bully Bob" Bolton

There's a new bully in town; a hired gun. After president Bush's recess appointment over much congressional objection, John Bolton is already strutting up and down United Nationville's Main Street making a lot of noise. See, the local townspeople, that is, Main Street merchants and shopkeepers, have been working diligently to consider approval of what are seen as the most sweeping changes in U.N.-ville's 60-year history. And it's not been easy, considering U.N-ville consists of 190 resident nations, all with varied interests and agendas.

But despite that, they've come up with a 38 page document after much negotiating, give and take, and compromise. And they've been working on it for almost a year now. But after his arrival in town three weeks ago, "Bully Bob" Bolton struts in and declares, "This document of your's ain't shit. It needs some changes."

Nervous merchants are now peeking out sheepishly from behind shop curtains, merchandise vibrating on their store shelves, as Bolton struts heavily down the boardwalk outside. Of the 38 page document the townsfolk have drafted, Bolton objects to 400 passages therein. He's posted a notice to the 190 residents in U.N-ville. "Time is short," it warns.

Bully Bob goes on to suggest that they get together and negotiate further saying ominously, "I plan on participating personally in this exercise and hope you will do the same." The poster also says residents should come to the meeting "open to alternative formats" if they hope to see any draft survive a passage vote. That's a lot of cajones coming from the "new kid" on the block.

Exactly whose interests is this bulldozer Bolton representing in the community? Well, people are free to draw their own conclusions, but I suspect the changes he wants to make to the town charter are to serve the best interests of the not-so-subtle folks who've hired this gun to run ramshod over everyone else.

And just who are some of these folks that Bolton fronts for? Well, there's the Hallibustin's Bar owner Dick Cheney. Everyone knows his drinks are watered down and over-priced. You don't get what you pay for, but boy do you pay for it! In a darkened corner, there's always a game of seven card stud going on that little folk can't afford to join but whose high stakes affect all.

Some say Cheney's the real mayor of U.N-ville. That he pulls the strings of the town punk who serves as folk's puppet leader, running up and down Main Street keeping their fear levels elevated; walking into shops, handling the merchandise--but never buying--smiling slyly and saying, "Enjoy your freedom and democracy," on his way out. Keepin' 'em nervous like that make's 'em easier to manipulate, seems to be the kid's philosophy.

Across the street from Hallibustin's is a similar establishment, Condi's Pleasure Palace. It's another saloon. Both of these establishments have swinging doors making transit from public to private service and back again easy and extremely profitable for the real power brokers of the town. The main difference between these establishments are the few rooms upstairs in Condi's Pleasure Palace. These she rents out by the day, week, or hour. Anyone's welcome to stay upstairs, but the rent is high, i.e. it'll cost you your soul.

Some say Miss Condi was formerly a Chevron oil tanker queen who's move into respectability was fronted by slick oil interests. Besides saloon keeper, she's also an aide to the mayor's intimidations of the locals by talking about mushroom clouds to anyone who'll listen. She also travels to neighboring communities and chides them for not being "more like us."

The local gunshop, Rumsfeld's Rifle's, is owned by one Donald Rumsfeld. He continues to convince folk if they just keeping pumping more iron (from his shop, of course) into skirmishes and range wars, everything will be fine. This assures sales will run at record paces while he works in the back room developing bigger and better weapons of intimidation for the future.

These are just a few of the many characters that wield power over U.N-ville's smooth operation. And just what do these not so behind-the-scene citizens want in the revisions to U.N-ville's draft? Well, as mentioned, to protect their own interests, of course.

That's why they've hired Bully Bob Bolton, to further force their agenda on the other folks. There's that provision about an International Criminal Court. This is SURE something they don't want included in any draft of revisions. It would permit such an institution to waste time on "frivolous actions" against some of those wielding the power. Can't have that. Christ, it could put "respectable" citizens behind bars just because they blow up other communities and torture detainees they capture.

Then there's a thing called the "Kyoto Protocol" on global warming which, if adopted, would put controls on monied interests whom the power folks owe payback. "Fuck the health of residents and the community!" There's just no way your benefactors can maximize their profits if they have to minimize risks to health and the environment.

Oh, then there's Rumsfeld and his weapons makers' concern about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The only way he can assure the security we so desperately want is if he tears up prior agreements not to develop bigger and better weapons of mass destruction here on Earth and "up there", over our heads in space.

I'm not sure this is what most of us really want. That it's a way to assure a safer tomorrow. Cheney and his crowd include members of extremist evangelicals who spread the fear of evil lurking everywhere. This is the justification for their radical agenda. It's a wreckless tack. But so what? If they fail and all goes up in smoke, you'll be raptured up into the lap of God, right? And if you really think about it, isn't that something to strive toward?

But for now, you must excuse me. Have to go. It's time to open up shop. I hear heavy footsteps coming down the boardwalk outside. Better pull up these shades and unlock the front door. Could be big Billy Bob Bolton!

A new pumped up Bush!

If you caught the video of the president today, you saw a new, reinvigorated Bush. Apparently his ad-men found the ideal person to counteract Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war sentiment that's been lying dormant just beneath American topsoil, waiting for someone to stimulate it to life. Obviously, the Democratic party many were counting on, hoping for, to stand up against this bullshit war died back in late 2000, when they rolled over dead as Bush stole his way into office. (If anyone needs confirmation of this, review autumn, 2004, when they again played dead as the neocons stole another one.)

Bush's new vigor is derived from an Idaho mother, Tammy Pruett, whose four sons are now serving in Iraq as part of an Idaho National Guard call-up. I'm always amazed at the bravado which can result from the injection of new testosterone like her and her son's story have provided Bush. If you happen to catch the brief spot on TV news, pay particular attention to the new found enthusiasm and especially the machismo Bush employs when flipping the page he's speaking from.

Let us hope the Pruett's four sons all return safely from their tours in Iraq!

Update on Pat Robertson's astrayedness

Well, interesting follow-up on Pat Robertson. Apparently, he thought only his Christian zealots watched his TV program, i.e., he never expected folk outside his "community" would glom on to his call to assassinate a head of state.

So when called on the media's carpet about what he said, he simply denied it. I was surprised, first of all, that the media chose to follow-up on this story. Maybe they detected a hint of outrage in the people who saw their original reporting of this. But that aside, Robertson said he never called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Instead, he said he simply called for his removal and "there's lots of ways to remove someone" from office.

Unfortunately, a replay of Robertson's original program revealed, in fact, he did call for Chavez's assassination! Or murder. Or execution. I guess, under the pressure of undisputable evidence contrary to his denials, Robertson has finally seen the light and issued an apology.

So, it appears Christians who sometimes go astray of their laws, can be returned to the flock--IF--their digressions are caught on videotape. Robertson is now back in the good graces of his shepards, the media, after advocating violation of God's Sixth Commandment and trashing God's Ninth Commandment, and apologizing for it.

Or IS all forgiven? Only Robertson's God can ultimately judge that, I guess. All in all, it's been a bad couple of days for ol' Pat. Sometimes hypocrisy just has a way of permeating and stinking things up far beyond its intended audience, which can be a bit embarrassing when caught. Especially on videotape.

Part-time Christianity's okay. (Just don't die on God's day off.)

Well, as much as I was stunned by Pat Robertson's assassination comments (nah, not really!), I have since heard them explained. Now I'm just confused.

I somehow had this mistaken idea that if you are a Christian, you're a Christian twenty-four/seven. It's like pregnancy. Either you are or you ain't. But apparently that's not the case. And so, let's not get all upset when a "Christian" leader calls for the murder of somebody. See, I heard it explained on CNN yesterday.

Rev. Ted Haggard, President of the National Association of Evangelicals said that when Robertson advocated the assassination of Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, he wasn't "speaking for evangelicalism, he's not speaking for Christians, he's just saying it from a political point of view and a social point of view..."

Okay, I see. Christianity isn't a cloak you wear all the time. It's something you can step from beneath when you want someone taken out.

This isn't just an amusing sidenote by some crackpot. It's coming from the pulpit of one of the administration's staunchest supporters. Read carefully Robertson's vision for America from his take on the Constituion of the United States.

U.S. Constitution: For Christians Only

The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by the Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that's what's been happening.

It's more serious than you imagine. It's later than you think.

The River is Wide, the River is Deep....

.....and full of bullshit.

First of all, I just want to reiterate my support for organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, the bane of many right wing pundits. There's something about Civil Liberties that just incites conservatives. It's like a call to arms. Any organization founded to defend every American citizen's freedoms as delineated in our Constitution's Bill of Rights seems to scare the shit out of 'em. It incites them to extreme excitement, like a wasps' nest violated by a foreign poking stick.

Well, in attempting to pursue their tireless efforts in defense of preservation of human rights, the ACLU has been trying to get the far, far worse photos and videos of American prisoner abuse in Abu Graib released. These are the ones no "Joe" American's seen yet.

The Pentagon originally denied our access to these pictures because--get this, this is rich--they didn't want to violate the prisoner's "rights" under the Geneva Convention. Ironic isn't it, that their freakin' Geneva Convention rights weren't considered when we electrically wired their balls and/or forced them, before cameras, into nakedness to masturbate for their humilation and our amusement.

But having failed that, as Ari Berman in The Nation notes, General Richard Myers is now arguing that "releasing the pictures and videos would give aid to the enemy: boosting Al Qaeda recruitment, destabilizing governments in Iraq and Afghanistan and inciting riots throughout the Muslim world."

Dada wonders if General Myers can appreciate the irony of this latest claim re our actions in the Middle East in relationship to recruiting terrorists, the destablizing effects of that policy and the inherent unrest it's creating. Maybe, just maybe if they're so damned scared to show these latest photos and videos it says something about the errors of U.S. policy. Ever wonder, General Myers, if our policy's that inflammatory, maybe we ought not be doing that kind of shit? Huh? Huh, sir?

Nah, how absurd of me to even suggest such a thing. It's obvious our top military minds under the guidance of our most able Secretary of Defense know far better than we what the fuck they're doing.

God, don't you love the increased security that's resulted from the policies of this administration?

"It's like déjà vu all over again!"

Whew boy! If you don't have access to Democracy Now!, you missed an extremely powerful news hour today. It was very moving testament to the growing anti-war sentiment. I realize as I say this, a shrinking 40% of the nation wouldn't agree, but to those of us who see Amy Goodman as one of the last bastions for questioning the policies of this nation that have gotten us into our current mess, I give thanks every day.

I'm so impressed by the people I witnessed at Sheehan's Camp Casey this weekend. Where does a military wife who's husband is soon to be deployed to Iraq gain the poise and public speaking skills to stand up and question the administration with such passion? I'm speaking of Tammara Rosenleaf from Montana who, while imploring us to maintain our right to speak out against the war, had this to say:

When my husband got ready to deploy, the military gave me a book. It's called “Surviving Deployment.” And I have looked at it, and it tells me things like make a list of the plumber, make a list of the electrician. If your toilet gets clogged up, call the plumber.

I am 47 years old; do you think I don't know that? What I'd like to know is that at 4:00 in the morning when I wake up scared to death that my husband is dead or injured, who the hell do I call? And it's not in that damn book!

Pro-war Bush supporters were also present. While letters from family members of Camp Casey were presented by Code Pink's Medea Benjamin to secret service for delivery to Laura Bush, about 50 pro-war supporters presented the secret service with with 32 white signed bed sheets in their clever "I Give a Sheet" campaign.

I was intrigued by the interview of a Dallas woman, Staci Glick, supporting Bush. When asked why she supported the president's war and about WMD's being a lie to justify it replied, "Well, because, I just -- to me, well, you know, he's a man of faith, and I just don't think that if he is what he says he is, I don't think he would do that."

Juxtaposed to the words of anti-war activist Reverend Peter Johnson, I became confused why Staci Glick didn't attach equal validity to his words, also a man of faith. (And sounding far more convincing than the president on Iraq.)

Glick also expressed sorrow for the mothers present who have lost family members in Iraq by further saying, "if we didn't fight today, my son, who is two years old now would have to fight in the future and other people's sons would have to fight in the future for, you know, the Iraqis." It sounded like "Better your kids now than my kid later." I'm sure she didn't mean that, but she did come across a bit confused.

I think the Right is feeling extremely challenged and cornered now, hence, their vicious attacks on the mother of a son who died for their stinking war. With a growing majority against it, how else do you explain them trying to trash Cindy Sheehan. "Swift boating" her some are calling it.

Bill O'Reilly hints Sheehan is traiterous because she lost her son in war and has questions. To question is treason, huh, O'Reilly? What country do you live in? A Fox News commentator called Sheehan a "crackpot" and said that if her son could speak now he would say that he was embarrassed by his mother's actions. And Rush Limbaugh had this to say of Sheehan, August 15:

I mean, her story is nothing more than forged documents. There's nothing about it that's real, including the mainstream media's glomming onto it. It's not real. It's nothing more than an attempt. It's the latest effort made by the coordinated left.

Yeh, you tell 'em Rush. Maybe Sheehan's making this all up. Maybe her son Casey didn't die in Iraq, huh? Hell, now you have me wondering if she even had a son named Casey. Do you realize how desperate you're sounding Rush? Oh, and Rush, there is no coordinated left in this country. What you're sensing is a genuine disgust growing out of continuously unfolding revelations for this bogus-assed war.

The Right is sounding extremely nervous. We don't have the military needed to commit to winning Iraq and Afghanistan. And if we did, we sure as hell couldn't afford it. We've been led into a huge mess by leaders who chose to ignore the past history of the Brits, French, Russians and Americans in Asia. And I have a feeling these wars are going to end very badly for all of us.

And the Right's sensing "déjà vu all over again!"

Statistic of the Day

From Linda Bilmes, an assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce from 1999 to 2001, who currently teaches budgeting and public finance at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, I offer the following statistic re our war in the Middle East:

"If the American military presence in the region lasts another five years, the total outlay for the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion, or $11,300 for every household in the United States."

Dada ponders.....if the government knocked on your door with a bill for $11,300 as your share of liberating Iraq, how many of us, especially the warmongering chickenhawks would say, "Excuse me," as they went to get their checkbooks. Not near as many, I suspect, as would say, "Fuck you!" and slam the door in their face.

Oh Deer Me!

I'm so confused. A few nice folks here in Texas are trying to make an honest living by offering online hunting to folks everywhere. By simply pointing and clicking their computer mouse, one can aim and fire at animals thousands of miles away--and kill them!

But, of course, that's a plan so beautifully simple, California's Fish and Wildlife commission, 14 other states and congress as well may interfer by considering a ban of such a wonderfully conceived sport.

"Sadly," Dada thinks, "a few groups and states are rising up against a legitimate Texas business that accommodates those who may fall under the American Disabilities Act by providing them the equal opportunity--with the simple click of their mouse--to bring down a magnificent 12 point buck!"

Is there no limit to the shackles we're willing to impose on honest free enterprise?

(Note: Okay, okay. Before I get any angry comments on the above, I was bullshitting here. It's called irony, sarcasm or something which, obviously, I'm not really good at--yet.)

Dada's getting pissed!

Okay, if we're a nation so freakin' gung-ho for this war (and we're not as polls testify), how is it our "emperor" can declare photos of our returning sons and daughters--in caskets--off limits? How is it our media continue to honor his "hands off" imagery of this sensitive subject matter?

And how is it, that those "fortunate" enough to arrive back from the war, not in a coffin we can't see, but on a stretcher, are shuttled off to some military hospital which is also suspiciously overlooked by our media? They're our friends, family and loved ones who return from Bush's war blinded, missing limbs, and/or psychologically mutilated from the experience of things seen, of things done "over there". Do they arrive in the darkness of night like the coffins? I don't know. We never see them. Why not? They are us!

If you're going to conduct a war that is so righteous, removing a brutal dictator who "aided terrorists in the 9/11 attacks, who had WMD and was in hot pursuit of nuclear weapons", why are we forbidden from seeing the cost to America's finest who are sacrificing life and limb to spread "freedom and democracy" to Iraq?

Is our media so under the thumb of the corporate elite whose interests in this war are being served at the expense, interests and security of our citizens who send their loved ones off to fight it for them, that they haven't the freakin' guts to violate the president's decree by showing us one single flagged draped coffin or mangled body?

The economic repercussions of this bogus war is something the administration can't hide. We, our kids and grandkids will all see (and feel) those tremendous costs. But by then, this administration will be gone, out of office. But their legacy shall linger for a very long time. And it will have cost us all very dearly.

But for the physical and emotional tolls being extracted I beg. Someone, please have the guts to stand in defiance of these chickenhawk neoconservatives and violate blatantly the presiden'ts demand we be sheltered from seeing the human costs of his adventurism now. Please!

These are our loved ones. Just as we see news stories of them departing for Iraq, someone have the cajones to stand up and show America how all of our loved ones return home.

Bush wins hands down!

If you enjoy good Bush misspeak like I do, like cutting oneself because the pain distracts from the global mutilation being inflicted, you may want to check out some of the president's more recent gems, like:

"During an impassioned speech in support of free trade this month, Bush said, 'If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow!' "

or, "this happy thought on the recession: 'Coming off a pinnacle, you might say, of low unemployment.' "

These are but two samples of more included in this recent Molly Ivins column.

R.I.P. The world's lost another "Big One"

In my scouring the web for blog inspiration, I'm sad to report the death of one of my favorite comedians. On my list of those able to make me laugh, he ranks just above Soupy Sales.

I'm talking about Englishman, Rod Hull, and his emu. A predominant force of "Dada" comedy in the 70's, I was dismayed to learn Hull passed away from injuries incurred when he fell off the roof of his cottage while trying to adjust his television antenna's reception for a soccer game.

If you never caught Rod Hull's act with his infamous, mischievous emu, I'm sorry. He was extremely hilarious. The emu puppet he employed was an act Hull developed while residing in Australia. In 1971 he and his bird returned to England. Hull sought employment three months, without success, before resurrecting his emu.

During a job interview, Hull's emu got out of control and tore up the office of International Artists. The management was so cracked up by this, they signed both to a contract. The act, of this likeable and seemingly friendly emu, inevitably ended up with the bird going out of control and attacking all in sight. It served Hull well for the better part of twenty years. Hull became a millionaire as a result.

It's not certain if the emu mismanaged his portion of the wealth, but in the early 90's Hull was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Hull described his act with the erratic emu: "I think that's what people identify with. The audience sees itself as me and the Emu is life, dressed up like a joke and ready to clobber them."

Some saw it a little differently. As one's alter-ego unleashed, where timidity and holding back were freed, allowing one to respond honestly to others, be it "strangling celebrities whom he didn't like, while feeling up all the attractive women."

Sadly, I forward the news of Hull's passing six years late. He--and (presumably) his emu--expired in 1999. Sometimes bad news doesn't travel like wildfire.

Rumsfeld's quote of the day

Well, the Bush boys did it again. They have this habit of doing stuff, "policy" I guess, and then they go globe trotting and say things that directly contradict their actions.

Our Secretary of State, a Chevron oil tanker formerly known as Condoleezza Rice

Take for example our Secretary of State and former oil tanker, Condoleezza "mushroom cloud" Rice. After the London terrorist subway bombings, she extended her condolences by reminding us all "....these were just innocent people on their way to work." So there she was bemoaning the loss of innocent lives in London while untold thousands of innocent Iraqi lives seemed much less tragic and far more unnoteworthy.

Then there was her gad-about in the Middle East in June challenging ally nations such as the Saudis and Egyptians on democracy issues. Does she realize what they might become if Egyptians and Saudis actually took her admonishments to heart?

So today, it was apparently Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld's turn. We're all aware of the ramifications of our military actions in Iraq. Under his guidance, Rumsfeld's armed forces have compromised regional security by his anti-social and destabilizing behavior among the Iraqi populace, creating a hotbed for potential anti-American terrorist recruitment.

Well, during his visit to Peru, Secretary Rumsfeld amplified American hostility towards Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president by judging him guilty of "anti-social, destabilizing behavior" that is undermining the regional security of Latin America. Translated, what Rumsfeld means is if there's any upsetting of the Latin American dynamic to be done, it is NOT the job of Hugo Chavez to do. It will be done by the Bush administration.

One of two things is happening here. The administration is once more practicing its hyprocrisy and doesn't give a shit. Or, maybe it's again practicing its hyprocrisy and doesn't recognize it!

I'm not sure which is more frightening. They both scare the hell outta me!

Psyching-up for World War III

Before he became president, Bush was my governor. I had fun with my friends outside Texas in the fall of 2000. They couldn't believe the Republicans would run a candidate for president who seemed like an idiot. I told them, "Don't underestimate Bush." We in Texas had seen how he and his "Turd Blossom" Rove decimated our previous governor, Ann Richards, with innuendo and smear.

But I also teased friends, "Listen, Texas' loss will be the nation's gain!" implying we had suffered through that bastard as governor, let them share our pain with him as our president. But then the impossible happened. The little Bush, "Arbusto", was installed as our president. It was no longer a joke.

Things went downhill from there. The squandering of post 9/11 world support by trumped up phony intel leading to war in a place that had nothing to do with terror but, oh, it did have to do with America's strategic ambitions! Oh yeh, and oil. Did I mention oil?

If you doubt that, just glimpse Bush's choice for his National Security Adviser with an oil tanker tatooed on her hull. And ask yourself, if that didn't have anything to do with it, why did the administration seek a new acronym when they realized "Operation Iraqi Liberation" spelled "OIL"?

So, in the fall of 2004, there was this faux optimism Bush would be gone. There was no way someone could be that blatantly shitty and get re-elected. Once again I reminded friends, "Don't underestimate Bush."

Did they honestly believe that, having stolen one election to gain office, Bush was going to allow an open and unmanipulated one in '04? Who knows? With "Bush-lite", Skull and Bones, frat brother Kerry as his opponent, Bush might have squeaked out a victory without having to steal it. (Ahm, nah! Dada's just bullshitting you there!)

Now, in the autumn days of Earth, I have this recurring daydream. I'm ascending into some kind of post Armageddonesque nirvana. Earth has been torched by the insanity of the apocalyptic "Christian" megalamaniacs, Zionist fanatics, and Muslim jihadists. In my agnostic awe, I'm experiencing a kind of rapture into some higher realm. (I say "higher" because I'm ascending, remember? Actually, I don't know where the hell I'm going.)

But as I look below me, I experience real shock and awe. I see struggling heads bobbing above a toxic black soup of radioactive sludge, unregulated chemicals and silvery mercury veins amid an oil bouillabaisse from benefactors of the Bush regime. The air they struggle to gasp is toxic and green, laden with lead, depleted uranium and other heavy metals.

Looking closer, I recognize occasional faces through the pollutants like Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter, clinging desperately to some flotsam--and each other--it's NOT a pretty sight! There's Senators Josephs Biden and Liebermann, clinging desperately to reams of anti-bankruptcy and pro-war legislation. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are there choking while fighting over remnants of the Sixth and Eighth Commandments.

And so many of the Bush administration's heads momentarily bob above the murk then disappear again. Like, there's my favorite fascist, "Be careful how you use that word," Richard Perle! And there's Condoleezza Rice, off her oil tanker! The list of sightings is extensive and long.

I realize, somehow those poor bastards below me had it all wrong. They thought it'd be themselves gazing down upon us! I catch a glimpse of two fighting over a remnant of freedom and democracy. Just a quick glance before they again disappear beneath the putrid sea. Was it Bush and Cheney?

Perhaps my daydream isn't a daydream at all. Perhaps it's really a Cheney nightmare. Maybe I've been living too much under a small group of greedy sick bastards who wield way too much influence over the Earth. Maybe in their ambitions for wealth and power, they just became too greedy, sucked into a vortex of absolute insanity in pursuit of the unattainable--garlanded godhood. Or, maybe I've just been reading too much stuff, like the following by Paul Craig Roberts:

Gentle reader, do you realize the danger of having a president so disconnected from reality that he plots to attack Iran – a country three times the size of Iraq – when he lacks sufficient forces to occupy Baghdad and to protect the road from Baghdad to the airport?

Despite all the high profile "sweeps" of US forces through insurgent strongholds, US commanders report a doubling of insurgent attacks.

The Bush administration is insane. If the American people do not decapitate it by demanding Bush’s impeachment, the Bush administration will bring about Armageddon. This may please some Christian evangelicals conned by Rapture predictions, but World War III will please no one else. ( Dr. Paul Craig Roberts )

Dispelling those hackneyed myths

Cindy Sheehan's effort to speak with president Bush is turning into a very successful statement for peace. Sheehan's persistence to stay in Crawford, juxtaposed to Bush's refusal to speak with her, is bringing out the right in vicious doses. I suspect this is due to their incredible shrinking numbers as reflected in recent polls.

Sensing a reinvigorated anti-war movement, one can hear the likes of Michelle Malkin saying "Cindy Sheehan has surrounded herself with a group of anti-American, anti-military, terrorist sympathizing agitators." If you're not supporting Bush's bogus war, according to Malkin, you're part of "the crackpot crowd."

Time to bring out and dust off the empty platitudes:

1. We can't leave now, or our soldiers will have died in vain. This is the time when the war mongers like Malkin drag out those old saws demanding we must stay the course--even if it's wrong. There must be more killed to save the honor of those already dead--even if it's all a huge mistake. In Vietnam, this costs us over 58,000 American lives.

Dying honorably is a subjective thing. Point is, let those who have died rest in peace with the honor those who care and love them bestow. Killing more does NOT subtract from the honor of those who've already fallen. But halting a bogus war will sure as hell save lives from reaping honor prematurely and unnecessarily.

2. Would you rather fight them on their soil or ours? Another over-used platitude employed by the pro-war right. Point being, it's most often used inappropriately, as in the Vietnam War and the Iraq "cakewalk". Ironically, taking out Iraq has endangered American security, not strengthened it. Fighting "them" (whoever them is, innocent Iraqis?) on their soil has in fact heightened, not reduced, the odds we'll experience more terror on our soil. What we've done in Iraq is to create the best recruitment tool we could have given terrorists.

3. "America, love it or leave it" and "My Country Right or Wrong" (Ugh, that second one's really sick!) These are popular bumper stickers at times like this. These are best answered by another old saw: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

"Bye!"

A woman struggles with Israeli troops as they carry her to a bus in Neve Dekalim. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

....who said yesterday she would never leave.

News Briefs

Cindy Sheehan: God, how I love what Cindy is doing down in Crawford. But not everyone agrees apparently. Take last night for instance. One of Crawford's citizens, using his truck as a mower, cut down roadside crosses erected by those at Camp Casey to commemorate fallen American soldiers in Iraq. In what may be rare evidence of the existence of a god, the perpetrator was caught red-handed. Apparently, a portion of a wooden cross had embedded in the flat tire he was changing as police came upon him.

My first thought upon hearing of the destruction of the crosses was that it had probably been done by some kids out drinking a few beers. You know, trying their hand at crosses for a night instead of the usual mundane mailboxes. But the act was done by an upstanding, responsible 59 year old Crawford village idiot!

Today, in a meeting with Crawford city representatives, a number of residents testified in an effort to get Sheehan and her supporters to move Camp Casey. One woman described the camp as "disruptive and dangerous".

Pardon me? Dada is really puzzled over the "disruption and danger" visited upon the woman and others in her community. I think she's an excellent candidate for a one week, all expense paid trip to Fallujah, Iraq. Maybe then, this knee-jerk reactor could gain appreciation for REAL disruption and danger?

Or, or, maybe the angered 'cross destroyer' and the woman so inconvenienced have misplaced responsibility for Sheehan's presence in their community? Maybe they should direct their outrage at the real source for all of this, just up the road at Bush's Crawford "ranch"?
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Another Crash: Sadly, another airliner has crashed killing all 160 of its passengers. Apparently it was a chartered jet returning Martinique vacationers to their home in the Caribbean.

I think today's accident a worthy reminder to anyone vacationing. When you book travel on third world and/or charter airlines, be aware that some of these jets may have a history that began before you were born. Who knows where some of the United, Swissair, SAS, and El Al jets end up in "retirement" after 25 or 30 years service. Also note, maintenance routines are not as strictly enforced--nor affordable--in these smaller companies and countries. So when excitedly planning your week or two vacation of leaving it all behind, don't abandon your common sense as well.
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Being reported in the Chicago Tribune, Atlanta "city officials on Monday passed a tough anti-panhandling ordinance that forbids anyone from begging for money in most of downtown." Hours of debate leading up to the ban outraged many of the city's homeless people and their advocates.

Atlanta's focus on this issue was misplaced. It upset a lot of poor people and their advocates. Dada suggests city councilmen should have taken action on the broader issue by passing an ordinance making all poverty illegal.
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Madonna has cracked three ribs and broken her collarbone and her hand in a fall from a horse. It happened while she was celebrating her 47th birthday.

Dada would like to remind Madonna to be a little more careful in the future with just two words: Christopher Reeve!

"You're in the Army Now!"

Here's a note from a local mother:

This morning I took my son to high school to clear his registration so he could start classes (he's 16). The school had signed him up for ROTC, although he never requested it. They very nicely changed it immediately when we objected, but I found it very peculiar that he was placed in ROTC without requesting it. I wonder if this is happening to other teens? ROTC is a major indoctrination program. The school counselor did not seem surprised that this had happened, although she could not explain it.

I thought this warranted a heads-up to parents. You know, young minds are malleable. Their pre-frontal lobes are the last part of the brain to develop. At age 16, that part of the brain has another 10-15 years of growth before reaching maturity!

If your kid "accidentally" ends up in ROTC and gets a couple of classes of brain wash...--er, I mean, military training under their belt before you become aware of it, it may be too late. Kids have a need to be a part of "the group", even if it's one that eventually ends up being IED'ed and shot at for Bush's bullshit lies.

With the military failing to meet recruitment goals, we have a government that's absolutely desperate for more bodies. Your child's will do just fine. He or she may have unknowingly been "volunteered".

So you may wanna check your kid's high school curriculum. It may save his/her life!

More details on the Iran nuke attack.

If you read my post yesterday, Is it about adultery or nuking Iran? , and are interested in learning a few more of the details, I highly recommend is Cheney Planning to Nuke Iran? over at Fish Wars on Cars.

Any truth to this and we're talking very scary shit here. It could make 9/11 look like a stroll in the park. As Nona points out over on Fish Wars, with Bush's ratings in the toilet, a little conspiracy mischief could be just the lifesaver needed for his sinking approval in the polls. Of course, how far do these White House whackos dare push the planet before it all blows up in their faces (and more importantly, ours!)?

Yeh, yeh, I know. This sounds like a bunch of conspiracy nut-speak here. I hope like hell it is!

Second thoughts, recycled.

I'm really envious of the Greeks. I wish the United States wouldn't sell them our latest state-of-the-art technology. Oh, that's not what I mean, I guess. What I really mean is, I wish we could afford some of those latest F-16's used by the Greek Air Force that the U.S. sold 'em.

I mean, look at the fate of that unfortunate Greek Cypriot airliner that crashed killing all 121 persons on board this past week. Before it went down, two Greek F-16's were able to intercept that flight.

Wow, just imagine if our own air force had such capability! With F-16's like the Greeks have, maybe we could have saved the Pentagon or at least one of the World Trade Center bldgs. And that would have meant saving a lot of lives and a heap of destruction. ~ Dada

On Art and Life

I've really enjoyed the unfolding drama of Crawford, Texas, so far this month. Of president Bush vacationing on his "ranch", Cindy Sheehan working to gain an audience with him.

Yesterday showed signs of growing tensions as manifested by a local rancher practicing his bird hunting by firing his shotgun into the air at imaginary doves across the road from Sheehan's "Camp Casey". It makes for intriguing human interest stories. The president vowing to "stay the course" in Iraq; Sheehan determined to stay the course in a roadside ditch. Hopefully, no harm will come to anyone, and the vacation--vigil will conclude peacefully.

("Liberty Leading the People," by Eugene Delacroix. Sadly, a painting former Attorney General John Ashcroft will never see. Half clothed women such as "Liberty" and "Justice" are far too scary for him to view.)

So, in a totally unrelated and somewhat irrelevant vein, I thought it might be nice to take a break from the Crawford theatre for a little art appreciation. My choice today is that of "Liberty Leading the People," a painting by Eugene Delacroix representing the 1830 uprising that overthrew France's Bourbon king.

Liberty depicts an allegorical force leading the people in revolt against Charles X who feasted outside the city as his soldiers were dying in the streets of Paris. The uprising was a reaction to a king who "had alienated natural supporters as well as radicals with his ultra-conservative policies." (See Jonathan Jones excellent "Cry Freedom" in the Guardian for a great discussion on the dramatic elements of this classic artwork.)

(NOTE: Any resemblence of Charles X's reign to that of George W. Bush's is strictly coincidental.)

Liberty is not just a woman, she is the archetypal abstraction that brings sudden change when growing corruption of power and control becomes an intolerable weight upon the human spirit. Delacroix's work is what Argan, the Italian art historian, called the first political work of modern painting.

But enough art for today. Let me go catch up on events unfolding around Cindy Sheehan and president Bush in Crawford. ~ Dada

(NOTE: Dada posits if Delacroix were alive to paint this today, "Liberty" would be running the opposite direction, trying to escape. It would be titled, "Liberty Fleeing the People".)

Is it about adultery or nuking Iran?

Okay, listen up. What follows may sound like just another of those flaky sanctimonious stories of high eschelon brass in the Pentagon punishing one of their own for not living up to "their morals". But that may be the furthest from truth you can get. It may have to do with some far out conspiracy theory about preventing a coup against a neocon plot to nuke Iran, possibly igniting WWIII! I don't know where the truth lies. I simply report two different takes on this story.

Today, NPR ran a commentary by Daniel Schorr ("Adultery by Military Officers: A Serious Matter?", NPR Weekend Edition, Sunday, August 14, 2005) about the four star general, Kevin Burns, who's been in the news recently for having an adulterous affair.

But is that the real reason General Burns may lose rank and retirement pension? Being separated from his wife and in the process of a divorce, General Burns, "initiated a consensual relationship with a civilian woman, not in federal employ," said Schorr. When this came to the attention of his military superiors, it was investigated and Burns was dismissed. Keep in mind, this is an army *four star general*, one of the top ranking officers in military service.

Could there be another reason? Well, last Wednesday night, I was still awake at 11:00 so I turned on the radio and tuned to Coast to Coast AM. It's the nightly talk show program I sometimes use to get to sleep as truckers across the nation, pounding the interstate pavement somewhere outside Topeka, Kansas, tune to stay awake.

Normally, I get the host George Noory's take on news stories of the day and usually--if lucky--I'm in lala-land before he finishes. But this particular night, he brought on Alex Jones, himself a talk show host on the Genesis Comunications Network. What Jones had to say shook me back to consciousness. He was talking of this very case. According to Jones, the real story behind General Burns' dismissal has to do with something far graver.

Jones contends Burns was leading a coup against the neocon plans to nuke Iran as early as next month (September--Cheney has already ordered Pentagon plans for it according to Jones). He contends such action would be in retaliation for another terrorist attack on American soil yet to occur.

Hating to sound too conspiratorial, Dada recalls 9/11 exercises that had much of our nation's Northeast NORAD command deployed elsewhere on a terrorist attack practice and, coincidentally--that same day--exercises were being conducted at the Pentagon to test reaction to an attack there, while Bush read "My Pet Goat" to second graders as people were jumping to their deaths from the top floors of the WTC.

Flash forward to the London subway attack and yet another strange synchronicity! London police were conducting training exercises for a terrorist attack on that subway the very day they happened. Do we live in an enchanted universe or what?

So General Burns has been sacrificed for having an "adulterous affair". Or could there be another reason?

News Miscellany

The Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency in charge of aviation security, is considering major changes. An official said it would lift the ban on carrying razorblades and small knives as well as limit patdown searches.

Such changes will require the approval of TSA's new head, Edmund S. "Kip" Hawley. The hope is to make airline screening more passenger friendly by allowing travelers to carry scissors, ice picks and bows and arrows on flights. AP, 8/14/05 (No seriously, that's what the article said. ~ Dada)

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Supporters of the pro-Bush-lies-for-war group (<--ahm, that's just my opinion ~Dada), FreeRepublic.com, sent counter demonstrators to Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey in Crawford Saturday. Dr. Raoul Deming, a member of that group, called the pro-peace demonstrators un-American because, he said, the host organizations have ties with communists. (<-- and that would be Dr. Deming's opinion.)

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The 9/11 commission wrote history as it wanted it to be, not as it was. The real history of what happened that terrible September day has yet to be written. Jack Kelly 8/13/05, The Toledo Blade (It never will be. ~ Dada)

********************

Like the Japanese soldier marooned on an island for years after V-J Day, President Bush may be the last person in the country to learn that for Americans, if not Iraqis, the war in Iraq is over. "We will stay the course," he insistently tells us from his Texas ranch.

What do you mean we, white man?

From "Someone Tell the President the War Is Over" by Frank Rich, The New York Times, 14 August 2005

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It is not only Iraq that is occupied. America is too. My country is in the grip of a president surrounded by thugs in suits. ~ Howard Zinn 08/12/05 "The Guardian"

Quote of the Day

George Bush: you work for me. I pay your salary. Come out and talk to me. Anyway, I have a feeling you are about to be fired!!! Cindy Sheehan

The World of Darkness

The Raw Nerve, Rene Magritte, 1960

It was an eerie scene reminiscent of some Magrittian surrealist painting of malapropos objects badly juxtaposed. A dusty road racing towards escape on the horizon. In the foreground, just off the dirt road's edge, on its loosely draped prairie grass sagging shoulder strap, stood a podium and a microphone exposing themselves to the broad land's vast void.

Like props waiting endlessly for an auditorium to be built around them; for an audience to fill that unconstructed forum; for someone to take position behind that empty podium and silent microphone, the barren grassland stage waited.

There's a role playing game called the "World of Darkness" about a place separated from the real world we inhabit by a nearly impenetrable barrier known as the "Horizon". The Horizon is a significant obstacle between our world and a realm of darkness where lies subrealms of desolate isolation and the souls of corpses amid horrific ruins. There, in the rubbles of the past, lie the demolished desecretations of Hiroshima, The World Trade Center, Fallujah and others. Shadowy and evil characters live among the acrid debris, garnering nourishment and strength from the havoc they have wrought to the victims of these debris slums.

Fortunately, the Horizon separating the real world from this alternate universe is not easily accessed by many. The ability to transport between these worlds is not a gift so much as a curse of those residing behind that barrier.

And so it was this past Thursday, upon this strange dusty stage with an empty podium and silent microphone, there emerged a black Suburban from the World of Darkness over the Horizon. Arriving within several hundred feet of center "stage" and its lonely props, it stopped on the opposite side of this road and out slithered several figures. After pressing the dishevelment from their clothes and wiping the blood from their fangs, they signalled the cameras to "roll". It was typical Bush photo-op entrance.

Approaching the podium, the main characters became evident: the stuttering, muttering president portrayed by George W. "I'll be the last person to admit defeat" Bush, followed by his truth starved V.P., Dick "the insurgency is in its last throes" Cheney, a burnt out hulk of a Secretary of Defense, Donald, it's "a global struggle against violent extremism" Rumsfeld, and an obedient Secretary of State, Condoleezza "mushroom cloud" Rice--off her leash. Rumsfeld grimaced at having to walk the last 25 yards for the cameras as Rice panted and wagged her tail gleefully, bounding toward the stage.

The president stepped to the mike. He assured us it's a free country where we're all entitled to our opinions, even if they don't agree with his--which he reminded us are always right. We will "stay the course," he again reminded us. Then it was over. As quickly as they'd come, they retreated toward the darkness. The shadowy figures slithered back to their transport and disappeared over the Horizon.

I was left wondering: Where is this "ranch" from which Bush, Cheney, leashless Rice, and burnt out Rumsfeld had come? And what did they return to when they went back? Is there a big party going on over there? And what exactly is this "ranch" we never see, over this Horizon we can never go? Is it a wooden facade braced up by boards concealing an opulent world of castles and decadent misbehaviors? Or, is this "ranch" a rusting, crumbling trailer on blocks? And does the president have a real herd of cows, or is that just some carcass fat he smears on himself to authenticate his phoniness?

In a Magrittian world over the Horizon of the surreal, it's difficult to separate the columns of marble from the facades of cardboard.

Bush Acknowledges Mom

I caught a few moments of Wolf Blitzer on CNN this afternoon. He was reporting on Cindy Sheehan down in Crawford, TX. Rumors had been circulating that Sheehan would be busted today for posing a "national security" risk. Hopefully, that fear has been laid to rest. Martyrdom isn't something the Right wants to bestow on Sheehan.

President Bush finally acknowledged Sheehan today. His public statement seemed tempered in moderation. He "understands" Sheehan's anguish, but doesn't "agree". I guess, for Bush, the idea of pulling out of Iraq is premature at this point. Admitting his mistake will never happen. That would tarnish his perfect record. Unfortunately, that means more American casualties. (As I noted previously, those who cast the darkness are the last to see the light.)

Aside from Bush's rejection of Sheehan today, there have been other, less diplomatic, comments from the Right directed at Sheehan's Crawford presence. Kristin Taylor, co-leader of the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com for example, said the protest is misguided and is hurting troop morale.

"She has a political agenda that goes way beyond her son's death in combat." Dada agrees. Cindy Sheehan, as a way to honor her deceased son, is trying to end this goddamned war. And, yes, it's a political agenda.

Then there's those words of wisdom from conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin who disdainfully calls activists supporting Sheehand "grief pimps." (Who better to identify "grief pimps" than a "media whore"?)

Cindy Sheehan responded to charges from the right with, "As for Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Matt Drudge, etc...nothing you can say can hurt me or make me stop what we are doing. We are working for peace with justice. We are using peaceful means and the truth to do it. I guess the truth frightens people."

What goes 'round, comes 'round

The war we so generously deliver to Iraqis, we shall receive in return. Below are some facts from Leuren Moret, an expert in international radiation. Items mentioned were extracted from her letter to Cindy Sheehan, who is presently camped outside Bush's "ranch" in protest of his war.

Leuren prefaced her letter to Sheehan by saying, "Seeing you camped this week at the gate of George Bush's Texas ranch in Crawford is a very powerful statement to the world. Major change begins often with a single person ......Your courage and unrelenting national and international campaign to stop the Iraq war has made a big impact on the conciousness of Americans."

(Dada notes: I know it's made an equally big impact on the consciousness of the Bush administration. Important ~ "consciousness" is NOT to be confused with "conscience".)

Here are some of Moret's reminders to us all:

- Depleted uranium is WMD

- Depleted uranium (DU) weaponry meets the definition of weapon of mass destruction in two out of three categories under U.S. Federal Code Title 50 Chapter 40 Section 2302.

- DU weaponry violates all international treaties and agreements, Hague and Geneva war conventions, the 1925 Geneva gas protocol, U.S. laws and U.S. military law.

- Terry Jemison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stated in August 2004 that over 518,000 Gulf-era veterans (14-year period) are now on medical disability...

- The U.S. has illegally conducted four nuclear wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and twice in Iraq since 1991, calling DU "conventional" weapons when in fact they are nuclear weapons.

- Since 1991, the U.S. has released the radioactive atomicity equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs into the global atmosphere. That is 10 times the amount released during atmospheric testing which was the equivalent of 40,000 Hiroshima bombs. The U.S. has permanently contaminated the global atmosphere with radioactive pollution having a half-life of 2.5 billion years.

- In some studies of soldiers who had normal babies before the war, 67 percent of the post-war babies are born with severe birth defects - missing brains, eyes, organs, legs and arms, and blood diseases.

- In southern Iraq, scientists are reporting five times higher levels of gamma radiation in the air, which increases the radioactive body burden daily of inhabitants. In fact, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan are uninhabitable.

I think Leuren Moret makes some strong points that we cannot use DU, a weapon of mass destruction, with impunity without the imposition of a "cosmic justice" upon ourselves through the environment we poison, the returning soldiers we debilitate and future children we mutate.

(Hmmm, this seems to compliment my "If Cancer is a Metaphor for Mankind......." blog below from earlier this morning.)

Homophobia and Michael Reagan

My letter yesterday (8/10) to local radio airing Michael Reagan via its Clear Channel syndicate of stations.

Dear Sir:

I'm offended by recent promos for the Michael Reagan show in which he proudly proclaims his homophobia. That kind of invective only promotes hate. Bodies have been found, victims of people who take such abusive discourse far too seriously.

I've also heard Clear Channel disclaimers separating them from the opinions that are presented on their programming.

I'm just curious as to whether you would care to comment on Reagan's homophobia. Is this something you endorse? Oppose? Or are are you just 'not responsible' for the opinions expressed on these programs?

The program manager's reply:

Sorry if you are offended by the Michael Reagan promo currently airing. I listened to it and it is unclear upon listening what his stance is, except it is a snippet out of context. I have taken it out. It is unclear to me, and I listened to it a couple of times. I do not think it best represents the show or the station.

Thank You for bringing it to my attention. As vigilant as myself and staff are there are thousands of pieces of audio to listen to and this was one that got away from us…

If Cancer is a Metaphor for Mankind.......

..why is man trying his damnedest to eradicate his metaphor?" ~ Dada

I mentioned that one evening at dinner with our friends, The Conservatives, and was immediately challenged. "Who says cancer is a metaphor for mankind?" the daughter demanded.

"Why, I just did!" I responded. (I confess, I was feeling particularly testy that night.)

But why are we trying so diligently to eliminate this disease that feeds off its host and, left unchecked, multiplies exponentially until it kills it? I'm sure part of the difficulty we have even considering this is we're extremely busy slopping at the trough. When it comes to sucking the life bloods from planet Earth, mankind is no better than the cancers he tries so desperately to eradicate.

Maybe that's it? We kill cancer, because cancer kills us. We remind one another of each other. So I suppose it all makes sense. Two miserable maladies! I suspect eventually, it ends badly for both of us.

Whoa! I apologize. Why the depressing analogy this morning? I had my three cups of coffee. Wait......Oh shit--I used the damned decaf!

More Cindy Sheehan

I've been devoting a lot of space herein to Cindy Sheehan. I guess my fascination of her derives from the millions who protested the lead-up to this Bush war. Not just here, but globally. Those millions who protested but couldn't help avert this disaster.

Then came the protests of thousands after the war of Iraq was begun. Coverage of the protests became scant. They were but a media sidenote on some back page of Section B. Demonstrations were fewer and their attendence shrank.

But now, almost two and 1/2 years later, support for the war has waned tremendously. Perhaps because the all the reasons for the war were bogus to begin with. Maybe because the greatest military on earth with all of its trillions of dollars invested in high-tech weaponry for 20th century conventional warfare cannot defeat centuries old guerrilla war tactics.

Or maybe you can't liberate people by bombing the shit out of 'em. Maybe torturing and killing them just isn't the best way to sell our brand of "democracy" while reducing their nation to stoneage rubble. Whatever the reason/s, it's apparent the ones who bring such darkness across the land are always the last to see the light.

Ironically, as opposition to the war has grown, demonstrations against it have all but vanished. Except for the demonstration of one. With the backing of a few supporters, Cindy Sheehan has become a one-man anti-war movement that may ignite our national conscience.

What follows are a few thoughts on Bush and his war by a Cindy Sheehan, grief stricken mom, who paid the extreme price of a son:

“That lying bastard, George Bush, is taking a five-week vacation in time of war.”

“Quit saying that U.S. troops died for a noble cause in Iraq, unless you say, ‘well, except for Casey Sheehan.’ Don’t you dare spill any more blood in Casey’s name. You do not have permission to use my son’s name.”

“And the other thing I want him to tell me is ‘just what was the noble cause Casey died for?’ Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East."

“There, I used the ‘I’ word – imperialism,” the 48 year-old mother quipped. “And now I’m going to use another ‘I’ word – impeachment – because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail.”

Pretty strong words. It's understandable why Bush ignores Sheehan and hopes she'll just go away. Somehow that doesn't seem likely. Of course, there's that rumor of her impending arrest on Thursday. She's becoming a national security risk!

Quote of the Day

If we live in a country with the widest disparity between rich and poor of any country in the world, with large numbers from both classes behind bars – the poor in their prisons and the rich in their gated communities – and national economic policy is to accelerate the pace of that widening gap; if we commit the “supreme international crime” of waging aggressive war, pretending we are freeing a people whose dead and mutilated we can’t be bothered to count; if we bomb Iraqi hospitals with children in them while prosecuting Americans who dare sneak vital medicines into Iraq; if our government plants fake “news” stories here at home while killing real journalists elsewhere; if our biggest problem with prison torture is the damn digital camera that revealed it, if this is what our republic is “standing for”, then what’s the difference if it’s under God or not?

James Rothenberg

Stand up moms!

Bill Mitchell is in "Camp Casey" outside the president's Crawford "ranch". He's there in support of Cindy Sheehan. Mitchell's son, Sgt. Mike Mitchell, was killed in Iraq on 04-04-04 in the same battle with Sheehan's son, Casey. Interviewed by The Lone Star Iconoclast, Mitchell has this to say:

I don't know whether Americans just have too many distractions or are too busy with their own lives, but, you know, this war doesn't touch that many people in America.

ICONOCLAST: What do you think it would take to fix things?

The mothers of America to all stand up.

(An update of Cindy's Tuesday vigil can be read here.)

Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned!

Whew boy! Things are really heating up. You can bet the White House is working overtime to find something on that mother, Cindy Sheehan, who wants to talk to Bush about her son Casey's death in the president's Iraq war. Stationed outside his Crawford "ranch" until she gets an audience, she's not going away. I'm sure the administration is trying desperately (if you'll pardon the wrestling metaphor) to body slam, scissors lock and eye gouge her credibility.

The first hint of smear I heard was from a Matt Drudge "smudge". It went something like this:

PROTESTING SOLDIER MOM CHANGED STORY ON BUSH..."The mother of a fallen U.S. soldier who is holding a roadside peace vigil near President Bush's ranch -- has dramatically changed her account about what happened when she met the commander-in-chief last summer!"

Drudge was no doubt parroting White House aides' talking points about a newspaper story from Sheehan's hometown of Vacaville, CA, last year. After meeting with Mr. Bush, Sheehan was quoted as saying, "I know he's sorry and feels the pain for our loss." Sheehan doesn't deny those comments, but she says the president told her at the time he would not use such meetings with families for political gain.

But Cindy Sheehan had this to say today about her encounter with Bush in 2004:

Another big story that was going on today was about my first meeting with Bush in June of 2004. For you all I would like to clarify a few things. First of all, I did meet with George, and that is not a secret. I have written about it and been interviewed about it. I will stand by my recounting of the meeting. His behavior was rude and inappropriate. My behavior in June of 2004 is irrelevant to what is going on in 2005. I was in deep shock and deep grief. The grief is still there, but the shock has worn off and the deep anger has set in. And to remind everybody, a few things have happened since June of 2004: The 9/11 commission report; the Senate Intelligence report; the Duelfer WMD report; and most damaging and criminal: the Downing Street Memos. The VERY LAST THING I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS IS: Why do the right wing media so assiduously scrutinize the words of a grief filled mother and ignore the words of a lying president?

It's obvious the Five Stages of Grieving--Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance--as part of the natural process in the loss of a loved one is being ignored here by the Right. That's not really their concern. Discrediting and smearing are. It's the standard administration modus operandi employed against its enemies. Removing her from the news as soon as possible is also another tactic often employed. The following from Sheehan this morning shows the White House may be doing just that.

I conservatively got 3 to 5 phone calls a minute. I did about 25 phone interviews and several TV interviews. I did several right-wing radio interviews. I was supposed to do: The Today Show, MSNBC live interview, Connected Coast to Coast (MSNBC) and Hardball (MSNBC). The Today Show just never showed up and the other 3 MSNBC shows cancelled for no reason.

A Sampling from right-wing blogs I did earlier today described Sheehan as deeply depressed to suicidal, hoping to provoke the government into taking her life! These are examples of extremist blood thirsty dupes still clinging to the administration's storylines for this war. They are among the dwindling minority of Americans who still believe this war is justified and "noble." And they are getting so desperate as to attack a dead veteran's mom.

NPR's show this morning quoted White House spokesman, Trent Duffy, as saying president Bush has no plans to meet with Sheehan. He says the president already spoke with her last year in a larger meeting of grieving families.

NPR went on to say, "Privately now, Sheehan says one of three things will happen: the president will meet with her; she'll be arrested; or, she'll spend the hot month of August camped out in a ditch on Prairie Chapel Road."

An unverified post from David Swanson later this afternoon added the following information attributed to Sheehan:

"Cindy Sheehan phoned me from Texas a few minutes ago to say that she's been informed that beginning Thursday, she and her companions will be considered a threat to national security and will be arrested. Coincidentally, Thursday is the day that Rice and Rumsfeld visit the ranch, and Friday is a fundraiser event for the haves and the have mores. Cindy said that she and others plan to be arrested."

Hang on. This could get very interesting. If the government arrests Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey, one of its fallen soldiers in Iraq, expect the growing anti-war sentiment to grow even faster. It may turn out there are not enough prisons in the freakin' country to hold all of the government's "national security" risks!

First Iraq War Death Recorded on American Soil

About a month ago I blogged about the eventuality of me and my conservative friend having to kill each other over Bush's fallacious war. (See blog entry, "Dining with friends, playing with matches," below from Saturday, July 2). I imagined a heated argument suddenly terminating in shots ringing out and one (or both) of us falling forward full face into our blood red plates of pasta sauce.

I thought I was saying that with tongue--and a little pasta--in cheek. After reading what follows, I'm not so sure. My earlier blog's turning out more prophetic than I ever imagined.

You see, it finally happened. The first shot of the Iraqi War has been fired on American soil. It occurred this past Thursday, August 2nd, at the Floyd County flea market in Kentucky. And its first victim was anti-war Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester. His killer was 65 year old pro-war Douglas Moore of Martin.

As a witness told the Lexington Herald-Leader, "Harold was talking about the 14 people that were killed in Iraq the other day and Doug said that just as many people were killed on the highways here.”

"This quickly escalated into an argument, then to a scuffle, and finally both men drew pistols outside a snack shed. The dead man was apparently just a little slower in firing. He stood for about five seconds before toppling on the walkway."

Moore was interviewed by police and released after convincing them he killed in self-defense. The two had been friends. Both were flea market arms merchants.

So what are some of the things we can glean from this?

1. The war is an extremely devisive issue, even between friends.

2. The Iraq War has landed on American soil. The first shot has been fired.

3. Comparing highway deaths with war deaths is conservative 'idiot logic' to justify their war.

4. Guns and war don't mix. Someone always gets killed.

5. When it comes to war, it's possible to get away with murder.

(NOTE: Police have reserved the right to prosecute Moore after further investigation, giving encouragement to those who hope justice will eventually be served to the war criminals of the Bush administration.)

Quote of the Day

I’m sick and tired of what’s happening to our country. To me it’s almost like the White House operation is a mob operation. These guys are scary, and they’re dangerous. Jim Waters, Vietnam veteran and retired Navy commander

Can you walk on the road? Or are you marginalized to the ditch?

Yesterday I highlighted Cindy Sheehan's efforts to speak with president Bush about the death of her son in Iraq. Well, reading about her march to the Crawford "ranch", I was struck by the deal she and her group of supporters had to make with the local sheriff. There would be no problem so long as Sheehan and her bunch walked to the ranch off the road, i.e. in the ditch.

But apparently the same demand by the sheriff was not made of the media corps following them. The press walked in the road! So, here we have the "story," confined to walking through fire ants and weeds in the ditch, while the story's "reporters"--the media--walked on the road!

I just find it interesting how authority will try to societally marginalize someone who gave her son to Bush's war lie. Maybe it's just the good ol' sheriff protecting the former governor of the state, native son and Crawford resident from outside "agitators". But can Cindy Sheehan, by giving her son to the nation's war, be any more mainstream?

It seems to me if anyone should be confined to the ditch, it should be the media. They're the ones who've been asleep at the wheel and "off the road" this millenium!

Dada's "Mother-of-the-Week, Month, Year!" (or however damn long it takes)

On Saturday, Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, marched towards the ranch where George Bush is vacationing for 33 days. Enroute, she and her supporters were stopped by local sheriffs, who pushed them into a ditch with fire ants in 100 degree heat. Undeterred, Sheehan said, “I am not leaving until I meet with George Bush and he answers my questions about the death of my son. This is the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq.”

Stationed outside Bush's Crawford "ranch", she has thus far received the cold shoulder from the president. He did send two of his mouth pieces to meet with and listen to her. They told her before press cameras, "Many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission."

Unplacated, Cindy Sheehan vows to continue to hold vigil at Bush's Crawford ranch until the president, himself, comes forward and meets with her face-to-face.

Sheehan merely has some simple questions she'd like Bush to answer: “Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for? And, If the cause is so noble, why don’t you send your twins?”

She also has one demand of Bush. “Honor our sacrifices by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from a war based on lies and deceptions.”

Somehow I'm not optimistic the president will meet with Cindy Sheehan. We've seen this time and again during the course of his "reign". Dissent is always kept at a distance, with "free speech zones" set up beyond the president's ears and eyes. His public speeches are stacked with carefully screened audiences who applaud on cue.

Despite this, Sheehan is determined to enhance the pleasure of Bush's vacation over the next month by staying the course of its duration while others' sons and daughters die for the president's "noble cause" in Iraq. She has been joined by peace activist members of Code Pink who are undertaking a hunger strike in sympathy to Sheehan's cause.

Were I able to speak with Cindy Sheehan and her small entourage of supporters outside Bush's vacation ranch I would say, "Be not discouraged by the president's failure to appear before you. That may require more courage than he possesses. For each of you standing vigil there, millions of Americans stand with you in absentia, in spirit and awe at your determination to remember your son."

Cindy Sheehan is Dada's "Mother-of-the-Week, Month, Year." There's no more noble cause than her actions as a way to honor Casey and every fallen soldier in Iraq!

Cindy Sheehan is co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace. For further information, visit here.

Baby "BOOM!" Generations

On this day, the 60th anniversary of the use of the Atomic bomb, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the neuroses instilled in several generations as a result of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I wonder if the omnipresence of fear is the "gift" given us all in the post A-bomb era.

I guess the first thing I recall after the start of the Atomic Age was those duck and cover drills we'd practice in grade school. While down on the floor, I'd sometimes wonder if we were to be nuked, a carbon stain of my backside on the underside of my desk and another carbon stain of my frontside on the topside of the floor upon which I was cowering might be all that would be left of me.

Sometimes I'd pass those moments wondering if 10,000 years from then some anthropologist might uncover the desk with my carbon stain burned into it. If they might hang me in some museum of antiquities as testament to ancient man's stupidity--IF mankind survived at all.

We'd all seen pictures of what we could expect beneath a fallen Atomic Bomb. By then though, they'd developed even bigger and better bombs. The model "A" had given way to the model "H" bomb. Sometimes we'd see tests of them illuminating the Las Vegas night skies on TV.

While down there on the floor, covering, quivering and giggling, I suspect it was not unique to just me to wonder if these seemingly puny efforts could really save our asses from vaporization. But we were just kids following the instructions of our mentors. They obviously knew better than we.

The next few years saw the increasing popularity of bomb shelters among some in surburbia. They provided more private, intimate accommodations for those who would otherwise have to seek shelter in crowded, impersonal subways and church basements. I also wondered, if the local Catholic church had a basement, would local Catholics be given preference over Jews and Protestants and vice versa.

I actually knew a family with a bomb shelter. They once gave me a "tour". It wasn't much. Cramped, with a few books, water supply, a larder of canned and dried foodstuffs, toilet and a gun. While I never saw it, I just knew there was probably a gun. It would gently remind would-be guests--when the time came--they were not invited to share in the occupant's survival. (To save precious time, better I should head directly to a church basement and pray they would be merciful.)

In the meantime, I'd moved up to high school. And even during the most exciting time, the Cuban missile crisis and that brink of nuclear annihilation, there was no taking cover under our desks practiced during algebra or social studies. Maybe because we had grown a bit large to be ducking under desks; maybe a bit too dignified or worse, just too damn smart.

If the human race was to be saved, it'd be the little kids who still fit under those desks that'd have to save it. Besides, as high schoolers in hormonal meltdown, the thought of kneeling beneath one's desk and staring squarely at Ruthy Gallimore's derrière directly ahead of me was probably something high school administrators did not want to risk.

In time a gradual acceptance of nuclear annihilation overtook us. After all, we'd made it through the Cuban thing. The movie "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" in the mid-sixties made nuclear war laughable.

In the seventies and eighties we'd read an occasional story of how a computer malfunction (always the Soviet's, of course) or some meteorite entering Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific had placed us within minutes or seconds of erasing all life on the planet. It was good edgy entertainment.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late eighties, it was over. Man had passed through the most dangerous period of his brief history. Today we remember the early victims of the Atomic Age while commemorating 60 years since its dawning. But we also celebrate the end, forever, of nuclear war as a possibility! Time to bury our fear borne neuroses.

Sixtieth Anniversary of a Human Horror Story.

August 6, 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the first military use of atomic power. Hiroshima, Japan being its first recipient. It came in the form of a bomb. Three days later, Nagasaki, Japan became the recipient of the second atomic bomb. The bombs did what they were designed to do so well, southern Japan was placed off limits by General Macarthur.

It was a bad couple of days. Over 200,000 Japanese civilians perished. The lucky ones were those immediately vaporized by the bombs' detonations. The more unfortunate ones were those who lingered afterwards dying slow agonizing deaths as the first victims of the new "atomic plague" from the deadly radiation that had been unleashed. They would linger under horrendous burns, uncontrollable hemorrhaging from blood that could no longer clot, from hedious infections and rotting flesh.

Pictures of the bombs' devastation would get out. But news of the horrific aftermath was suppressed by denying reporters access to these two cities.

A couple of journalists did manage to visit despite the military's ban. Chicago reporter George Weller went to Nagasaki and filed his report. It was never printed. Censored by the military, it was destroyed. Meanwhile, Australian writer Wilfred Burchett snuck into Hiroshima. He reported on the scenes of horror he witnessed. Eventually his story was published in the London Daily Express, much to the dismay of the U.S. War Department.

But the "official" story of the first successful unleashing of atomic power for military purposes was written by New York Times reporter William Laurence. But unknown to the public, Laurence had been secretly chosen by, and simultaneously working for, the War Department. He, and he alone, was selected to write the story of the government's development of the A-bomb.*

Laurence appears to have been a good choice, having written of the bomb's development and deployment, "Being close to it and watching it as it was being fashioned into a living thing so exquisitely shaped that any sculptor would be proud to have created it, one felt oneself in the presence of the supernatural." (It's difficult not to ponder if its first victim's descriptions would have been as "glowing.")

Laurence flew in the squadron that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. From a detached altitude of thousands of impersonal feet between his aircraft and the ground, he reported the incredible power unleashed by the bomb. But on the ground, no reporters were permitted into Hiroshima or Nagasaki to report the horrors of the bomb's aftermath. Save for those couple of bold journalists who dared defy General Macarthur's order and went there anyway.

Laurence was chosen as journalist to present the government's story on its use of these bombs. He was to attribute all damage to their detonations, thus whitewashing and ignoring reports of the atomic radioactive plague that followed the blasts. In 1946, Laurence was awarded a Pullitzer prize for his coverage of this story.

It is with true courage and determination to set the record straight that Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now", along with her brother David Goodman, are requesting the Pullitzer committee to strip Laurance of his prize for secretly fronting government propaganda as "news" in the New York Times.

Praise be to Amy Goodman and "Democracy Now" for fronting this story!

*(NOTE: As a sidenote, Judith Miller, Tom Friedman and the NY Times' "rah-rah" lead-up to the Iraqi war was nothing more than continuation of similar reporting by outside clandestine sources spinning "independent" journalists.)

Mathematical Impossibilities

President Bush enjoyed his 320th day of vacation yesterday since taking office in January 2001. Rumors that the president is attempting to honor each and every fallen G.I. in Iraq by taking a day off in their honor have been flatly denied.

An unnamed statistician from California State University has shown any such attempt would be impossible.

"President Bush could take the rest of his second term off starting tomorrow and it wouldn't begin to approach the number of fallen soldiers. This is not counting the number of our military members who will die between now and the end of Bush's remaining term!" he added coldly (as only a statistician can).

Battle of the Big Sticks

(NOTE: If you chose to interpret "Big Sticks" as a metaphor for parts of the male anatomy, that's your perogative. Just note it's something that never crossed my mind in transcribing this. )

* Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy and Al Qaeda's No. 2 man said yesterday, "What you have seen in New York and Washington and the casualties you are suffering in Afghanistan and Iraq, are only the initial losses, and if you (in the United States) continue the same hostile policies against Muslims you will see what will make you forget the horrors of Vietnam."

President Bush, whom British Member of Parliament George Galloway calls "the world's biggest terrorist," responded during an appearance before reporters with visiting Colombian President Uribe.

* President Bush,"The comments by the number two man of al Qaeda make it clear that Iraq is a part of this war on terror." (NOTE: Iraq wasn't til the president made it an incubator for terrorists.)

"And we're at war. In other words, he's saying, you know, 'Leave.' As I have told the American people, one, people like Zawahiri have an ideology that is dark, dim, backwards. They don't trust, they don't appreciate women. If you don't agree to their narrow view of a religion, you'll be whipped in the public square. That's their view. And they have tactics to help spread that view. In other words, they've got goals.

"They want to spread that point of view throughout the world, starting in the broader Middle East. And part of their goal is to drive us out of the broader Middle East: precisely what this Zawahiri said. He's threatening."

(NOTE: The president speaks from a position of authority when describing Al Qaeda's goal is to "spread their point of view throughout the world, starting in the broader Middle East." That's because Bush has the same policy goal.)

Thanks to Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" for the above quotes!

When it matters, congress goes to bat for us!

(A comment on balls and bibles.)

I don't know, I'm probably way out in "left field" here (ugh, pun intended), but I find it amusing that a House committee is deciding whether or not to charge Rafael Palmeiro with perjury for his testimony before congress last March 17.

Apparently Palmeiro was told Tuesday evening by Rep. Tom Davis (R, Va.), who heads the House Government Reform Committee that they are obligated to investigate whether he, Palmeiro, deliberately lied when he pointed a finger at the panel and adamantly declared,"I have never used steroids. Period."

Oh that silly congress! Some of its members can be just too overly sensitive sometimes. I guess they pick their chafing points. Apparently the chance congress may have been lied to about steroid use by one of baseball's premiere players is just too infuriating to let go uninvestigated. Punishment may be warranted!

With the morality bar lying on the ground in Washington these days, this just seems to me a bit of overreaction. I mean, if we're going to recall Palmeiro for lying to congress, might this not set a precedent?

Seems lying about a war our grandkids will be paying for, of converting Iraq into a dumping ground for America's nuclear waste in the form of depleted uranium, the unnecessary deaths of all those Americans and Iraqis and making the middle east an empowerment zone for breeding terrorists while the value of Halliburton stock has gone up 284% is probably almost as important as Palmeiro's steroid statement.

If our incensed congressmen feel the need to investigate steroid use, why not the need to investigate Bush and Cheney's fallacious war? Wait, WAIT! Oh shit! I forgot, they've never really lied to congress about the war. I don't remember 'em ever testifying about it. Oh, there were those hand holding Bush--Cheney testimonies given to the commission investigating 9/11, but they weren't sworn in or under oath to tell the truth on that. (Apparently they're exempt from such formalities.)

Okay, so never mind. Having told no lies to congress, no harm done. Let the war continue. But let's kick Palmerio's ass on this steroid thing.

I'm so sorry. I was 'way off base' here. Seems I've really 'struck out' on this one. (Puns intended!)

Bush's Exit Plan: Iraq Civil War?

I'd like to quote from today's "Democracy Now", the daily news program hosted by Amy Goodman and broadcast nationally over public airwaves. The full story can be read here.

Imagine our military trained to fight wars and win them but whose mission may now actually be to incite a war among the people we've supposedly liberated! Incredible sounding? Well remember, we're under incredible "leadership".

Here's Amy's introduction of Arun Gupta:

"Our guest today writes that civil war has already begun in Iraq. He has the center spread in the current issue of the paper called, 'Bush’s Exit Plan: Civil War.' He says with the war stalemated, repeated deployments wearing down morale of U.S. troops and too few new recruits to maintain force levels, the Bush administration may be deliberately provoking civil war as its exit strategy.

"The goal is not so much to exit Iraq, but leave behind a skeletal military force that would maintain the network of permanent bases under construction throughout Iraq while maintaining access to massive oil deposits in the North and South. Breaking Iraq into a series of mini-states, a strategy being pushed by some White House allies in the media, is seen as one way to ensure these goals."

• Arun Gupta, Editor with the New York Independent newspaper of the New York Independent Media Center.

Note from a Marine's Mom....

Received the following note from a very dear friend this evening who is the mother of a Marine currently serving in Iraq. It comes following the news of the latest 21 Marines killed there the past two days. Better than anything I was going to post this evening, I'm sharing it instead.

Picture this, my friend, brother....You're getting all dolled up in your

favorite costume/headset, and suddenly there is a knock at the door.

It's friggin 11:30 PM...who could possibly be knocking at your door at

this hour?

Just so happens, it's two very handsome young Marines, in dress blues, coming to alter your life forever. They are oh so polite, and accommodating, as they tell you that your son has 'contributed' "the ultimate sacrifice".

Twenty One families have experienced this in the past 48 hours!

I'm sure you'd rather not think about that. And of course, neither would I, or most of America. But damnit, who is paying attention and getting pissed off enough to stop this bullshit?

BAD PIG, BAD! (Or as the French say, "Porc sinistre")

(Note: If you read the following and are dismayed at the disrepect shown for Dick Cheney, relax. Although I would have been similarly disturbed in an earlier time, I have no qualms now. I harbor the same respect for our vice president he holds for me--none! So if that offends you, please wave your flag of faux patriotism elsewhere.)

Imagine being given enormous non-competitive contracts by the Pentagon to perform work in war torn Iraq. And imagine you're a subsidiary of a large company once led by a CEO who is now the vice president of the United States.

Then imagine that audits by the Pentagon's Defense Contract Audit Agency determined that in those contracts your company, Kellogg, Brown and Root, has submitted questionable overcharges to the government amounting to $1 billion!

But TRY to imagine despite $1 billion in suspicious expenses claimed, the Pentagon's top brass ignored auditor's concerns and gave you an additional $70 million in "award" fees for good logistical troop support.

Now flashback to the Republican National Convention last summer. As Medea Benjamin of the peace group Code Pink was being carted off the floor by security past our vice president, she asked Cheney how much money he'd made that day through his former company, Halliburton and it's subsidiaries in Iraq.

To those who blindly support the corruption of this administration as exemplified by vice president Cheney, I say, "Shame!" To those who consider the likes of Medea Benjamin of Code Pink a radical left wing traitor for questioning, I contentiously disagree.

If you are not one of the greed driven power "drunks" in control of a dangerous and debilitating U.S. foreign policy, you are most likely a pathetic, scared individual being exploited by them. And your manipulation by, and support for, these pigs slopping at the public trough, is wasting American's lives, resources and your grandkids' futures at the hands of these bastards.

Today, the deaths of American men and women killed in Iraq exceeded 1,800 for the first time. Thousands of other's lives have been inextricably altered, some for the rest of their lives by the power and greed driven motives of those who now lead us like Cheney. And not that they matter, but try to remember the blood of over 100,000 Iraqis is on the hands of the Bush administration as well.

So as we go forward knowing that another quarter of obscene profits have been recorded by the benefactors of the Bush war sold to us with WMD's, a Saddam--El Qaeda 9/11 connection, or "liberation" and "democratization" of Iraq, know it is all bullshit.

Fly your flags of patriotic delusion, but know the real patriots are people like Medea Benjamin and members of Code Pink who really care for this country and its future. They who are willing to stand up and question the porc sinistre. I wouldn't trade one patriot like Medea Benjamin for 20 faux patriot flag waving dupes blindly supporting Dick Cheney, his Halliburton, its Kellog, Brown and Root subsidiary, our missing $1 billion and their 284% second quarter increase in profits!

Newsworld International, 1994 - 2005, R.I.P.

Effective August 1, 2005, Newsworld International went out of existence. For the past several years, NWI, has been an excellent source of things happening around the world with a broader perspective than that available from U.S. news sources.

Canadian Broadcasting's efforts which brought news into an estimated 20 million American homes will be sorely missed.

In its place is the new Al Gore led channel, "Current", which will focus on events that appeal to 18-34 year olds. Falling slightly outside Gore's parameters, I must now seek a new source for news.

So in the meantime, if you detect a mushier, mellower, more conservative tone to future posts here, please try to understand. It'll be the result of watching a mushier, mellower, more conservative source of news like CBS, ABC, NBC and CNN.

Maybe that explains why I'm seeing Hillary ("it takes a village to raise a child," it takes a bomb to raze a village) Clinton in a new light this morning.

Oh, Those Dog Days of Summer!

I was reminded once more--like I am every year at this time--how much I appreciate August. The thing that triggered the thought was a story I heard over the weekend about Atkins Nutritionals Inc., that once hot fad diet and thorn in the side of bakeries and pasta manufacturers. Seems they filed for Chapter 11 on Sunday in a New York bankruptcy court.

No, no! It wasn't the fulfillment of some wish I had for Atkins to "go under," although I confess that was pleasant in and of itself, so sick was I of all the trendies that inevitably hop on the latest fad band wagon. No, it was the fact that Atkins could file for bankruptcy. As I remarked to my wife as she delivered the news, "At least they still can. Can you?"

That's what triggered my appreciation for the fact it's August once more. Congress is not in session for a whole month! Oh, those folks we send as house members and senators to Washington to represent our interests. Those folks who preserved Atkins' right to seek bankruptcy protection while going belly-up but restricted ours as favor to the banking and credit card industries! For the next 30 days or so, those august folks are on August recess!

That means we can go to bed at night not fearing the morning news of how we were screwed overnight by our representives (in our best interests, of course). God, how I'm going to enjoy the next month!

So fear not the news of the passage of an energy bill formulated in secret by a former energy CEO--our vice president--and leaders of that industry, the intricacies of which we who will pay for it have no right to see . Never mind that your tap water may have a taint of oil, or your coffee tastes a tad more chemical. That's only because the new energy bill has lowered drinking water standards--for the energy industry. (Fret not, our taste buds are incredibly adaptive.)

Forget our fabulous new, improved and toughened Bill of (shrinking) Rights made permanent under the U.S. Patriot Act by our senators and representatives last month.

Never mind that the CAFTA vote in the House revealed a voting machine error. Perhaps the powers that be, emboldened by their successes in the 2000 and 2004 national election thefts are now taking it to the next level--the U.S. Congress. It may be stealing national elections will no longer be necessary. They'll just rig congress' votes on bills.

Imagine, there may come the day when the House and Senate are ruled by Democrats but, strangely, the bills they vote on support a neocon agenda because of phony vote counting! (This may explain the Joe Bidens and their puzzling anti-progressive voting. They're preparing us for that day. They're numbing us. We won't even suspect rigged voting machines in the congress! In fact, if we could just get more Democratic senators, like Biden, who voted against his constituent's interests on the bankruptcy bill, and more House representatives like the 15 Democrats who supported CAFTA, voting machine tweaking may be totally unnecessary!)

But I digress. Oil in the water? A CAFTA strong-armed passage that basically makes generic drugs totally unobtainable for some of the poorest people in the world? Billions of dollar giveaways to our vice president's energy cronies? Rigged voting machines in our congress? Chill! For the next month enjoy. Our representatives are in recess. Empty chambers of congress can't hurt us. Enjoy, barbecue, go to beach!

Now, while they're away, we have only to content ourselves with our president's mischief.