Warms The Cockles
Topic: Misc.
Out of step with my usual cantankerous self I've decided to post a light-hearted story having nothing to do with our nation (which is burning to the ground by the way, just kidding, lighten up already will ya?),

Bride calls off wedding, throws party for the homeless

When A Chickenhawk Squawks
Topic: State Of The Union
I admit it, I don't like Karl Rove and almost everything that comes out of his cynical little mouth. If he is the brains behind the Republican party operation they're headed off of a steep political cliff. With that being said, I do admire his chutzpah, unapologetically saying things as inane as he does,

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11
in the attacks and prepared for war;
liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks
and wanted to prepare indictments and offer
therapy and understanding for our attackers."

Let me first say that this liberal, if I was so inclined, could slap Rove so hard his therapy needing head would spin around his little pencil neck. I would never do such a thing, not because I realize that it wouldn't get me anywhere or make me feel any better but the crisis of our President being advised by a moron would not be radically improved. On the contrary, the slap would probably damage many of the few precious brain cells that Karl needs to desperately hold on to.

But Karl's strategy of not apologizing for uttering statements that are not based in reality is a good one.

Let's look at the situation through the lens of logic. Karl makes a statement that is so asinine that only the most loyal of right wing talking heads would consider it profound. It's so outrageously simple minded and contradictory to reality that it begs for "outrage" from liberals like myself. But I won't entertain such garbage and I beg of you my liberal brethren, do not fall for this distractionary tactic.

You see Karl has advised his buddy George to get the American people into a war based on false pretenses, a war that was never winnable and that has inspired an entirely new generation of Muslim people that now have legitimate grievances, to radicalize for the sake of their perceived self-defense. Lately these truths have been making their way to the American public's ears and eyes. We saw glimmers of it in the Downing Street Memos and reports of an illegal and secret air campaign taking place before Congress authorized war.

Karl's behavior is perfectly understandable under the circumstances. He's scared to death that the American people are going to wake up to the news that George W. Bush lied this country into a war that has caused the deaths, maimings and injuries of thousands and thousands of people without reason. And this is what really gives him cold sweats at night, he's worried that the American people are going to ask why we attacked a country that had no connections to Al-Queda, no WMD, didn't threaten us and had nothing to do with 9-11, when we had unfinished business with those that DID attack us.

So don't fall for the distraction by engaging the stupidity of the argument. Stand tall and unapologetically speak loudly and truthfully and feel comforted that if Karl won't apologize for speaking lies, we shouldn't apologize for speaking the truth. And the truth should be spoken whenever there's an opportunity, like when a chickenhawk squawks.

(Click above to check out the whole deck of chickenhawks)

Support Em'? Then Bring Em' Home!
REPUBLICAN Senator Chuck Hagel had this to say about the situation in Iraq,

“...things aren't getting better; they're getting worse.
The White House is completely disconnected from reality.”

In the House of Representatives there is a bipartisan resolution that's gaining momentum calling for President Bush to draft a plan for withdrawal that would bring our soldiers home starting in October 2006. The resolution now has a total of 18 co-sponsors, including both Democrats and Republicans but we need to push on the other Representatives who are sitting on the fence.

Please take 10 seconds to let your Representative know that you support our troops and you want to bring them home,

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS BY BRINGING THEM HOME!!!

Flash: The Downing Street Memo
Topic: State Of The Union
Did you get the memo?

Flash: The Downing Street Memo
(Patience is a virtue)

CBC Bringing The Downing Memo Mainstream
Topic: State Of The Union
At least our neighbors to the north value the truth,

The Downing Memo Revolution Will Be Televised

O Canada!!!

Dubious Democracy
Topic: State Of The Union
The American people should be watching. They should want to know if members of the Republican party are capable of dealing with the truth even though it may go against their partisan inclinations. The Downing Street memo raises serious question about a sitting President LYING to the American people about his intentions for war. The Downing memo also raises questions of this President LYING to the United States Congress. If the President can be shown to have lied and had the lie been discovered prior to our engagement in Iraq than this President should have only faced censure. Sadly, this lie has directly led to the deaths of thousands of people. Congress might not have voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq had they been aware that this President already had made up his mind to take this country to war.

Some have chalked up the President's intentions to a simple matter of politics i.e. planning for political contingencies. An objective and non-partisan analysis should reveal that if these allegations are in fact true they would be the most deplorable actions a President could ever take and would be no less than depraved, grotesque and disloyal to the values and laws of this country in using our Congress and our troops in an endeavor which has destoyed thousands of lives based upon false pretenses.

Logic dictates that if this President had already made up his mind to go to war and willing to lie to our nation to do so, the facts used to justify the war were of no importance. It just had to be marketable to the American people. If we can assume that the President knew that Iraq possessed no WMD and had no connections to Al-Queda, like the experts were claiming before the invasion, then the question that we may never find an answer to is what is the real reason or reasons that we went to war? Was it oil? Strategic positioning for a future war against Iran? Payback to campaign contributors? Familial retribution? We may never know but the Downing Street memo raises the issue that this President did not care about the facts so long as the end result was war.

That leaves our soldiers in a incredibly difficult situation. The problem is with the oath that every soldier must make,

"I,____________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God"

According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice every soldier must obey LAWFUL orders of their superiors including the Commander-in-Chief. The internal conflict within the soldier that the Downing Street memo could raise is if President George W. Bush did in fact lie us into war violating the constitution and international law. If that did in fact occur our soldiers would be under no obligation to follow his illegal orders. Imagine 150,000 armed troops realizing that not only do they not have to follow the illegal orders of this Commander-in-Chief but that over 1700 of their brothers and sisters have died for a lie.

Is the memo in and of itself reason for impeachment? Absolutely not but it does leave us asking some very serious questions that MUST be resolved. Depending upon the answers to these questions the President of the United States may be impeached. That point is well off. First, questions must be asked of the principals in hearings by the Congress. Questions to Sir Richard Dearlove, Jack Straw and Matthew Rycroft who are responsible for the content of the memo. Questions like do you dispute the minutes contained within the memo? Who did you meet with in the U.S.? When did you meet? What was discussed? Were you told that this President wanted to go to war with Iraq? Was an ultimatum issued to Iraq so that war could be legally justified? Was any other nation brought into the discussions about Iraq prior to the U.N. resolution? Who ordered the escalation of the bombing of Iraq prior to the start of the war and the U.N. resolution, to the point of dropping twice as many bombs as the previous year in a matter of months? How was this legally justified? Was intelligence being presented to the American people, the United Nations and Congress knowingly false or inflated to justify war? Is it known whether or not this administration was intent upon war despite the reality of the situation?

These questions must be asked of the highest members of our government. Failure to ask them goes way beyond partisan control and goes directly the heart of our democracy. If the Republicans cannot rise above what's good for their party for the greater good of the United States of America this experiment known as democracy is frankly headed towards failure.

The Winds Of Change
Topic: Iraq
There has been talk by some members of the mainstream media that the Downing Street memo is a rehash of ancient history. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Bob Woodward, Joseph Wilson, Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill were all targets of this administration after questioning its motivations in its push to an illegal war with Iraq. The Bush administration either attempted to assassinate their characters, claimed that they had an ulterior motive like a book to sell, or that they were just plain wrong, but that's history. The Downing Street memo raises new questions based on new evidence.

Revelations about our President from the upper echelon of the Bush administration itself, in a highly top secret and not politically motivated meeting taking place in another country is a major revelation. And the fact of the matter is that most average citizens aren't even aware of the memo's contents or that it exists because it has been discarded by the perogative of the media before the discussion has been allowed to begin.

I have just one thing to say to the mainstream media that is choosing not to cover this major political event that, if proven out, should lead to the impeachment of this President in an unprecedented way,

UP YOURS!

We're going to do this ourselves, the bloggers that is; the little people. We are going to push these questions whether or not you do it.

You're either with us or against us!

There are millions of examples throughout history of institutions that have failed to understand the power of the will of people for change and in the process the change that ultimately occurred was the destruction of the inflexible institution. So I say to you goodbye if you aren't willing to do your job. This means goodbye to you New York Times, LA Times, USA Today, Newsweek, CNN, CBS, MS-NBC etc. Either get off your ass and do the necessary work or face extinction at the hands of people like me because while me and my friends don't have nearly the resources as your corporations we have the will and your standing rigidly in the winds of change.

Downing Street Memo Hearing
Topic: State Of The Union
On C-Span 3 right now (2:30 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.)(Click Right Hand side under C-Span 3)

Downing Street Memo Hearing

Schiavo: The Final Chapter
Topic: Misc.
I never wanted to weigh in on the Schiavo case at all. I eventually did because the Republican's behavior was so self-righteously horrendous, judgmental, meddling, anti-American and downright scary that I felt compelled. Their behavior demonstrated how the Republican party is now being controlled by extreme religious demagogues who only believe in their strict interpretation of the Bible and who abhor science and forsake facts when and where it suits them.

The autopsy of Terri Schiavo has been finalized and these are the results,

- The autopsy found that her brain was so severely damaged that no amount of therapy would have helped to regenerate it

- "She would not have been able to form any cognitive thought"

- "There was a massive loss of brain tissue."

- Schiavo died of dehydration and did not starve to death

- Any fractures could be attributed to severe osteoporosis Schiavo suffered during the years after her collapse

- Schiavo could not have swallowed if she had been fed by mouth and would have choked

- Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death, whether she was fed and hydrated by mouth or not

- No evidence to support allegations that Schiavo had been given poison by her husband

(Read more here, Schiavo had irreversible brain damage-autopsy)

I'm not going to harp on being right again or shove things like "I told you so" down your throat, after all this is a human tragedy exacerbated by the Republican party and making such comments would make my actions no better than theirs. As for those of you who were politically motivated in trying to deceive people into believing that this was the decision of liberals, when in fact the repeated decisions were made by a Christian conservative judge, the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, I have just one thing to say to you:

Had you left this as a personal decision to be made by a loving husband you wouldn't look like the cold-hearted ignorant fools that you do right now.

---

Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat a rumor.

In ancient Greece, Socrates (469 - 399 BC) was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Three?"

"That's right, Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it." "All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not.

Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"

No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why he never found out that Plato was banging his wife.

The New Pearl Harbor
Topic: State Of The Union
Check out the first clip on this page, The Project For The New American Century. While you're at it check out all the clips. These clips show the dangerously violent and ignorant men that are shaping our foreign policy.

"Hijacking Catastrophe" demonstrates that the Downing Street Memo isn't a "smoking gun" at all but rather an obvious byproduct of the mental masturbation that these clowns have been fantasizing about well before 9/11 and it's about damn time the American public knew that their government has sold them a deadly bill of goods.

P.S. I watched "Hijacking Catastrophe" on LinkTV and it is one powerful documentary. I not only highly recommend it, I highly recommend LinkTV which is a phenomenal resource for anyone that realizes that the majority of the world is outside of our borders. When you find LinkTV be sure to check out Amy Goodman on "Democracy NOW!"