All the President's Lies

Tonight, Keith Olbermann again entered the fray of the "I did; he didn't" joust between Bush and Clinton about their respective efforts to prevent terrorism. His purpose was to compare the Bush team's assertions that Clinton didn't act to prevent, and had no plan in place to combat, the growing terrorist threat to the historical record. And to this viewers delight, he delivered another KO, point by painful point, informing us of Clinton's corroborated, documented, repeated efforts to somehow get the incoming Bush administration to take the threat of Osama bin Laden seriously.

I sometimes ask myself why Keith Olbermann is so effective. I think it may be the fact that he is willing and able to sift through the actual record, and not just the spun record. For some reason, he, unlike so many of his colleagues, is able to wade through the flood of information to get to the truth. For some reason, he is willing to honor his viewers by presenting them with the details of that truth. For some reason he doesn't treat them as if they are too stupid and too disinterested to care. For some fool reason, he acts as though we might give a damn.

I Feel Free

Had a taste for some cream.



The Station Agent at Ice Station Tango has posted a speech by British MP, George Galloway that made my morning.

And then there's Clinton's recent "Smack Down" of the attempted hit piece by Fox New.

Every time Keith Olbermann delivers a "Special Comment", Free seems how I feel.

My point is that people who speak out against the Big Lies, eloquently and in public forums, embolden us to believe the notion that distortions of history and truth are really just a house of cards that can be blown down, and that we can cause the toppling. That we, the people, matter. The possibility of change...

Shouldn't the Left be taking notes?

Army Billions Short

LA Times writer, Peter Spiegel reports on the Army's warning to Rumsfeld that it's running billions short:

The Army's top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders last month after protesting to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the service could not maintain its current level of activity in Iraq plus its other global commitments without billions in additional funding.

So pay up or pull out.

Schoomaker failed to submit the budget plan by an Aug. 15 deadline. The protest followed a series of cuts in the service's funding requests by both the White House and Congress over the last four months. According to a senior Army official involved in budget talks, Schoomaker is now seeking $138.8 billion in 2008, nearly $25 billion above budget limits originally set by Rumsfeld. The Army's budget this year is $98.2 billion, making Schoomaker's request a 41% increase over current levels.

A rather hefty increase.

...Some Army officials said Schoomaker expressed concern about recent White House budget moves, such as the decision in May to use $1.9 billion out of the most recent emergency spending bill for border security, including deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops at the Mexican border. Army officials said $1.2 billion of that money came out of funds originally intended for Army war expenses.

Sounds like more Bush mismanagement. And the timing is fascinating:

Rumsfeld has not set a new deadline for the Army to submit its budget plan. The Army official said staffers thought they could submit a revised plan by November, in time for President Bush to unveil his 2008 budget early next year.

So, is this an election year trap for the Dems? If the Dems deny the spending, then they are weak on terror, and if they support the spending, then they are hypocrites and wrong to criticize Bush about the war? Classic double bind. How to cut loose? I would call it like it is: More Bush failed war policy. More Bush budget mismanagement. More Bush political theatre. More Bush misuse of our military people, who are risking all for an illegal war that is based on lies and happens to be making a hefty profit for Bush and friends. And I'd do it now, not later.

Light a Candle for Liberty

I looked for Liberty late one night
Wading word and treading thread
My journey long had made me ill
No comfort for my head
But Liberty was hid from me
The hounds were on the loose
Dear Liberty and company were running from the noose.

I searched every site I found
Though broken Justice had been crowned
The bitter fruit my lips did parch
And truth it seemed was on the march
In shackles tightly bound.

Dear Liberty fled, the sign-post said
Democracy, long underfed
Tales of trial did abound
Truth, lost Liberty did confound
Inspiration, all but dead.

And I with lighted candle vowed
To trod through fertile fields once ploughed
For seeds of Truth that had been cowed
To help them breathe and speak out loud.

Though Liberty stayed safely hid
Despite the countless pleadings bid
I felt Liberty's shadow nigh
And thus refused to say goodbye
When Liberty softly did.

Savage Senate?

Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation, Sept. 12th edition (Via Media Matters):

Weren't we told before Barbara Boxer became a U.S. senator, before Dianne Feinstein became a U.S. senator, before Hillary Clinton became a U.S. senator, that when women became senators, we'd have a kinder, gentler Senate, a more compassionate Senate? Well, I think the results are quite clear. The Senate is not kinder and gentler or more compassionate. In fact, it's more vicious and more histrionic than ever, specifically because women have been injected into the Senate.

Tsk, tsk. Bad Media! We simply MUST blame the women! Otherwise, we might wonder if Bush "is a divider and not a uniter", wedging both congress and citizens. Afterall, a divided country could make the U.S. a lot more vulnerable to a fascist, military take-over...

Bush's Scarlet Letter

A is for Appeaser.

And you SHALL let me torture, by God, or by the power vested in me, by me, you will wear the Scarlet Letter!!

Last week Rumsfeld made a mockery of history by comparing those who dare to exercize the voice of Democracy by criticizing the president's failed war policy to Hitler's appeasers:

In unusually explicit terms, Rumsfeld portrayed the administration's critics as suffering from 'moral or intellectual confusion' about what threatens the nation's security...Speaking to several thousand veterans at the American Legion's national convention, Rumsfeld recited what he called the lessons of history, including the failure to confront Hitler..."I recount this history because once again we face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," he said.

The Seattle Times reported, "His use of the word 'appease' was particularly notable, clearly tying administration critics to the failed efforts of the pre-Churchill British government to mollify Hitler." True to form, Newt Gingrich defended Rumsfeld's remarks.

Bush, through Powell, has let it be known that he, his supporters, and his war policies plainly and embarrassingly align with the fascist friends of Franco.

Rumsfeld asked, "Can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?'' In a word, no. The lessons of history have shown that we cannot afford to appease Bush and his company of war mongering profiteers. It is time to rein in the imperial reign of Bush once and for all.

Medicine for an Angry Mob?

Air Force Hopes to Test Non-Lethal Weapons on US Citizens for War-Time Use

AP reports:

Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns, said Secretary Michael Wynne.

Crowd Control?
Angry Crowd Control??
And Political Subversives???

Because if the international community doesn't question us, it "proves" we're not doing anything wrong, so we can get away with doing it??

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne." (Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

And that would NEVER happen at home because...you OWN the press??

So, is this related in any way to Ashcroft's Hellish Vision of Detention Camps for US Citizens? I mean, if we aren't willing to do it to our own, then the international community might question us...

BlueCat Blogging

MEOW.

Coulter Attack to Clear Path?

Was Coulter's June attack on the 9/11 Widows (some of their responses to Ann here and here) designed to mitigate the impact of the group's forseen objection to this then in-production "film?"

Anyone?

The Ministry of Make Believe

When History Offends...Rewrite it!

In his novel, 1984, George Orwell portrays a time when, “History and memory are actively erased and rewritten so as to support the omnipotence and infallibility of The Party and its pronouncements” (plot summary, here). Orwell wrote:

“And if the facts say otherwise then the facts must be altered. Thus history is continuously rewritten. This day-to-day falsification of the past, carried out by the Ministry of Truth, is as necessary to the stability of the regime as the work of repression and espionage carried out by the Ministry of Love.”

We have been Ministried by Bush before:

The 2000 presidential campaign introduced us to Bush's family theatre ranch in Crawford. Despite the “family history” feel, it was an August, 1999 purchase. The newly built Bush theatre “ranch house” served as a stage and was scheduled for completion election night, November 1999--a place where Bush, the “windshield rancher”, likes to spend time. (Shhhhh, don't tell.)

Pfc. Jessica Lynch was rescued by U.S. forces on April 1, 2003 in a dramatic, heroic rescue. Lynch's recovery was later (5/15/03), revealed to have been staged.

On April 9th, 2003, we were presented with images of angry Iraqi citizens, pulling down a statue of Saddam. It was later reported (7/3/04) that the fall was “stage-managed” by the Army.

On May 1st, 2003, we were fed images of Bush's dramatic jet landing on the U.S.S. Lincoln aircraft carrier, with his costume flight suit and declaration, “My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” The media fawned. We later learned that Bush's helicopter was in range, and the jet landing was an unnecessary, highly choreographed theatrical addition.

And we are being Ministried again:

DISNEY'S PATH TO 9/11 IS MORE BUSH MAKE-BELIEVE.

This propaganda is rewriting the history of the past to create a desired history of the future (maintaining control of congress to avoid checks, balances, accountability). I call this Disney's “Ministry of Make Believe.” Pure fantasy.

The Path to Truthiness

Stealth Swiftboat Wearing Corporate Business Suit...

Today, Think Progress posted information on the “docudrama”, “The Path to 9/11” that will air on ABC on September 10 and 11. Written by conservative Cyrus Nowrasteh, the film is being promoted on hard-right sites across the web. (Part of a 9/11 TV blitz.) Director, David Cunningham, is hedging on the film's accuracy, asserting “this is not a documentary”, though it's being promoted as “based on The 9/11 Commission Report.” Very Truthy.

William Rivers Pitt's excellent perspective piece posted at Truthout, Clinton, 9/11 and the Facts, contrasts this “drama” with the reality of Clinton's anti-terrorism program:

The Clinton administration poured more than a billion dollars into counterterrorism activities across the entire spectrum of the intelligence community, into the protection of critical infrastructure, into massive federal stockpiling of antidotes and vaccines to prepare for a possible bioterror attack, into a reorganization of the intelligence community itself...Clinton raised the issue of terrorism in virtually every important speech he gave in the last three years of his tenure.

In Congress, Clinton was thwarted by the reactionary conservative majority in virtually every attempt he made to pass legislation that would attack al-Qaeda and terrorism. His 1996 omnibus terror bill, which included many of the anti-terror measures we now take for granted after September 11, was withered almost to the point of uselessness by attacks from the right; Senators Jesse Helms and Trent Lott were openly dismissive of the threats Clinton spoke of.

Specifically, Clinton wanted to attack the financial underpinnings of the al-Qaeda network by banning American companies and individuals from dealing with foreign banks and financial institutions that al-Qaeda was using for its money-laundering operations. Texas Senator Phil Gramm, chairman of the Banking Committee, gutted the portions of Clinton's bill dealing with this matter, calling them “totalitarian.”

In fact, Gramm was compelled to kill the bill because his most devoted patrons, the Enron Corporation and its criminal executives in Houston, were using those same terrorist financial networks to launder their own dirty money and rip off the Enron stockholders. It should also be noted that Gramm's wife, Wendy, sat on the Enron Board of Directors. (Read the rest...)

Media Matters (posted 9/1/06, 7:24pm) has more. And they plan to brainwash the children...

To Do List: Read the full article, and those that follow to get armed with the facts. Write to ABC-Disney. Call ABC-Disney. Tell them that Fox's nose-dive is contagious, and that you will boycott them and their advertisers forever if they deliberately mislead the American public by airing this “drama.” Keep your eye on Source Watch. Punish the advertisers with a vengeance. And, keep your eyes and feet on “The Path to Democracy!”