Iraqi election

GratisNet: "The Iraqi election is history. Despite reports of the Kurds importing 10,000 or so 'voters' to Kirkuk in order to inflate their numbers of representatives in the government and the continually 'downsizing' of the estimate of voter participation, before anyone even has a clue as to how many votes were cast, from the initial giddy 90% to the current and probably still slightly inflated 40-45%, the process seemed to have worked reasonably well. One fact that will not be mentioned by the media or the Bush regime is that security, for the most part, was provided by the Iraqis themselves with US forces having little or nothing to do with guarding polling places, etc..

It will take 6-8 weeks to count the vote and one thing is certain, there will be minimal Sunni participation in the 'new' government and that fact, in itself, bodes ill for the stability and security if the 'new' Iraq (to borrow the term from the 'new' CNN). One can only hope that the long suffering Iraqi people, Shi'ites, Kurds, Christians and Sunnis will, at long last, find the security with freedom that they desire. Of course, this hopeful start on the road to self determination in Iraq can still be derailed for as we have learned in our past 3 election cycles (2000, 2002, 2004) it isn't the votes that count, it 's those who count the votes that matter.

What happens if the unthinkable occurs? What will be the result if the newly elected Iraqi government as its first order of business chooses to direct America to end the occupation and withdraw? They could well do this as a result of Iraqi security forces having done a more than adequate job yesterday, a job which served to underscore that they are not dependent upon a foreign occupying power to protect them. Does anyone harbor the slightest thought that the Bush regime will comply? What will a refusal mean for Iraq? What will a refusal mean for America? Stay tuned for while the events of yesterday were indeed hopeful, the events of the next few months will hold the key to the prospect of peace, freedom and security in Iraq."

Bait and switch

GratisNet: "Listen up everyone, privatizing Social Security is out. Personal accounts are in.

You can always tell when C-plus Augustus knows he is in deep caca. He uses semantics in an effort to hide the ball, as it were. Then as if by magic, right on cue, all those on the GOPig Talking Point distribution list (including all of Fox News) begin parroting the new line. Do these incompetent liars ever tire of these tactics? Sadly the answer is no for they have a long history of saying one thing while meaning another.

Remember the rule of thumb when dealing with republicans in general and uber conservatives in particular. Everything they say about anything are lies, if their lips are moving the possiblity of their prevaricating approaches certainty.

Social Security is not in need of draconian remedies any more than a car needs to be traded in because it has low pressure in one or more tires."

Mencken was right.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
—H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920"

Unfit to serve.

GratisNet: "Can there be any doubt as to the unfitness of Alberto Gonzales to serve in any capacity, let alone Attorney General after the revelations of two lawyers and a judge relating to his testimony regarding Bush's successful attempt to be kept off of jury duty during his run for Texas governor? Can there be any doubt that Gonzales is a confirmed liar and perjurer with a malformed sense of decency?

The fact that Gonzales never tried a case speaks to his monumental unqualification for the job but even that diminishes to near insignificance when compared to his being totally devoid of the merest shred of decency, ethics and honor. Remember this was the man who gave Bush his opinions regarding the executions in Texas, opinions which show beyond all doubt that this man, like Bush, enjoys the prospect of death as long as it is some poor, wretched, preferably minority (especially female) individual doing the dying.

I would urge the Senate democrats to say, in as strong terms as possible, NO to this sorry excuse of a man."

GratisNet

GratisNet: "I shall be away for a week. Time to visit our oldest son in Hollywood (Florida) and soak up some sun (temperatures a bit warmer than here in Orlando) and reap the benefits of the salt air (his home is within walking distance of the beach). We shall try to be true to the South Beach Diet but the famous Angelo's Pizza on the beach and the many fine restaurants on Hollywood Circle will be difficult to resist.

So until next week, remember that anything the corrupt gang of criminals of the Bush maladministration says about everything is untrue. From the debate on Social Security to the Iraq War of Agression, everything these clowns bloviate about are bold faced lies. Rule of thumb, if their lips are moving, they are lying, after all they are republicans and conservatives."

The real deal!

From the New York Times magazine 01-16-05:

In 1938, the Social Security Act was only three years old, but its future was already very much in doubt. Conservatives claimed it would bankrupt the nation, and independent critics argued that the way it was financed amounted to ''financial hocus-pocus,'' as one editorial in The New York Times put it. President Franklin D. Roosevelt defended the program, said by a cabinet member to be his favorite, with some of his trademark oratory. ''Because it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to build their own security,'' the president told a national radio audience, ''government must now step in and help them lay the foundation stones.''

Read the full article here

Conservatives have been trying to derail Social Security since its inception. Let's not let their lies and half-truths finally do the job!"

Rogue nation on the loose

"The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday. The article, by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, said the secret missions have been going on at least since last summer with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected sites.

Hersh quotes one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon as saying, 'The civilians in the Pentagon want to go into Iran and destroy as much of the military infrastructure as possible.' One former high-level intelligence official told The New Yorker, 'This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush administration is looking at this as a huge war zone. Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign'."

Tell me again who the rogue nation is in this scenario. Tell me again which nation is committing an act of war upon another. Forget the fact that the army is near breaking, as are the reserves and National Guard, now we have 'The civilians in the Pentagon' wanting to go to war with Iran. How about we tell those ignorant, arrogant bastards that if they have a hardon for war with Iran so badly, let them get their cowardly asses down to an enlistment office and sign up for the first wave of the invasion force.

These neocon thugs have learned nothing from the growing mess in Iraq, while in a textbook example of hubris, The Lyin' King asserts that the 'accountability' question, regarding the war, was settled by the 2004 election. According to this sorry excuse for a man, America said it was OK for him and his gang of criminals to have lied about WMD in order to get the war of aggression against Iraq in motion. Good grief, when will the people of America wake up and realize just how arrogant and devoid of ethics these cowardly little fascists of the regime of the Lyin' King truly are and how terrible the day of retribution will be for these transgressions, when they are ultimately delivered upon us? Sadly not soon enough if a visit to Freeperland or Wingnutville to read the rantings of the small minded, ethically challenged, mean spirited conservatives posted there are in any way typical of what passes for coherent thought in republican circles today. Of course it is understood that 'coherent thought' and 'republican' appearing in the same sentence would be the mother of all oxymorons."

Destroying antiquities

DAWN - Front Page; 16 January, 2005: "LONDON, Jan 15: US-led forces, using Iraq's ancient city of Babylon as a military base, have caused 'substantial damage' to one of the world's most renowned archaeological treasures, a British Museum report said. ..."

Like barbarians throughout the ages, US forces seem bent on destroying as much of the antiquities still present in Babylon as they can.

Even the NAZIs left Rome rather than defend it and have it destroyed.

Unbelievable how far this regime of thugs and criminals has brought America down. The Lyin' King knows no shame.

Truth in advertising?

I have seen the first Bush regime ad against Social Security this morning and as is their practice, it is a monument to half truths.

They are careful to explain that while there were many workers per recipient to support the program at its inception, calamity of calamities, there will only be two workers per retiree when the baby boomers all retire. While this is all true, they also seem to omit a number of facts regarding the solvency of the system.

The system was adjusted, twice, in the last 25 years to ensure the viablity by increasing the payroll taxes so that a larger surplus would be building toward the time when the boomers began retiring. I will not get into specifics because Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo and others have pretty much proven the case against the Lyin' King's attempt to fulfill the biggest and most ardent republican wish of the past 70 years. Suffice it to say that in addition to the CBO, reputable economists have noted that the system is solvent through 2042 and beyond. Beginning in 2018, however, the "Trust Fund" will begin to be used to help pay benefits. Of course, the Lyin' King and his gang of fascists would like nothing more than to have you forget about that. You have heard the arguments about how the Trust Fund isn't really an asset because it holds "Special" Treasury Bonds, etc.

Think about this, if those "Special" bonds, backed by, "The full faith and credit of the United States" are deemed worthless, what does that say to every treasury bond backed by the same promise? How will that affect those people, companies and nations who purchase them and in the doing, finance our burgeoning debt? Will it be likely to inhibit them from buying again, after all if the US is willing to default on its obligation to its own citizens, why would they hesitate to do the same for outlanders? Take this to the bank, the Lyin' King financed his tax cuts to the wealthy using the Social Security Trust Fund, as well as other government funds, proving yet again that for republicans, when it comes to trust and concern for the people, they have neither. Never have, never will. Some things just don't change with time.

Consider this, if you will, conservatives were the loyalists during our War Of Independence. They were "patriots" alright, but their patriotism was to God and King George. Hmmm, as I said, some things seem not to have changed much but one thing is perfectly clear, conservatives and their philosophy were wrong for America in 1776 and they sure as hell are wrong for it now.

Values?

Tired of hearing the right wing blow their horn about having values? The next time you get into it with a right wing blowhard, or ERWBDC (Extreme Right Wing Brain Dead Conservative), consider:

Which values are being demonstrated by allowing the disenfranchisement of voters?

Stopping the vote whenever possible demonstrates what value system, exactly? Other than fascism, that is.

Which values are exemplified by using lies, and worse, trying to do away with Social Security (FDR'S greatest social accomplishment) arguably the greatest social program in the history of western civilization?

Name the values one must believe in to take away the safety net of needy seniors.

Identify the values involved in ceasing to help dependent children who have had the misfortune of losing one or both parents.

List the values that one must have in order to decrease funding for the public school system using the now discredited Leave No Child Behind program, a program that could more accurately be named, Leave No Conservative Commentator behind given the Armstrong Williams scandal.

What values are those which makes the use bribery to acquire the lies of pundits to be used in support of questionable programs, acceptable?

What is said of the values of "leaders" who will obfuscate, flip-flop, and outright lie in order to promote a war of aggression upon innocent people?

Last, but not least, what can be said about the values of the people who support such disgraceful men?

When it is fully considered, there is but one conclusion: When it comes to values and morals the right is engaged in one of the oldest cons known to mankind, telling people what they want to hear, rather then telling them the truth. They have no equal when it comes to talking the talk but they fall so very short when it's time to walk the walk.

God bless America

God bless America. A sentiment currently in vogue and seen on many, many automobiles and roadside billboards.

Does God bless the wanton killing of non-combatants and other civilians?

Does God bless the use of torture when questioning prisoners of any stripe?

Does God bless the practice of imprisoning people, for life, without trial or even indictments or other charges because one man deems them to be dangerous?

Does God bless the practice of continuous lies and deceit from our supposed leaders?

Does God bless the practice of visiting war and destruction upon a people who have not threatened, nor were capable of threatening, America?

I am certain that one could continue with many more examples of does God bless... but the salient question is this:

If the answer to even one of the questions is no, then "God bless America" is unlikely to come to pass. In fact one could envision how the Deity could well deign to punish a nation for claiming to be motivated by God yet showing in virtually every act that such a claim is false.

There was a time when one was proud to be an American but under the criminals, fascists and thugs of the Bush regime, that time has passed.

It will not be democrats or independents who will save America. It will fall to the decent, moderate republicans (yes they do exist) to fight for and win back their party from the fascists and budding brown shirts.

The future of America, as we have known it, hangs in the balance.

Imagine

If one man with limited resources can do this, imagine what the result would be if his efforts were repeated a thousandfold!.


From BuzzFlash :

From Robert Millman:

I plan to take on talk radio where I live. And I'm writing to ask you to help.

AM radio is a free market place. Anyone can place an issue ad on the air. All it takes is a credit card, an e-mail address
and access to a fax machine. Depending on where you live, and what program you choose, a 30-second radio ad will
cost from $20 to $120 a spot.

I have produced seven "Paid Radio Moments." They are 30-second ads that frame progressive issues. I plan on putting
them on air on WGY (the big AM radio station in Albany, New York) in the first week of January.

I plan to make these audio files available to anyone willing to put them on the air in their entirety, that's my only condition for
full and free use. As long as a spot is played in full, anyone is welcome to one or all of them.

Robert Millman

OK Robert, here they are, in their entirety and GratisNet is proud to make them available online.

The Deficit
Dissent
Energy
Incumbency
Justifications for war
Christianity
The right to vote

Dobson is no Christian

Once again the mighty, in his own deluded mind, James Dobson has threatened to place democratic senators in the "bull's eye" if they dare exercise their constitutional duty. The duty, of course, is that of passing on the nominations to the federal judiciary. Mr. Dobson believes that they should rubber stamp approval of the nominees sent to the hill, that is only if they are "strict constructionists" (read backward, redneck freedom haters who want to turn the country back to where it was 150+ years ago).

Once again Mr. Dobson demonstrates that not only is he not a Christian, but that he hasn't the first clue as to what it means to follow the teachings of the One from Nazareth. Did not the One counsel against mixing religion and politics? Did not the One counsel against hating ones enemies? His followers would do well to heed the words:

Matt. 7:15-20 - "Be on your guard against false religious teachers, who come to you dressed up as sheep but are really greedy wolves. You can tell them by their fruit. Do you pick a bunch of grapes from a thorn-bush or figs from a clump of thistles? Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree is incapable of producing bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. The tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and burnt. So you may know men by their fruit."

Matt. 7:21 - "It is not everyone who keeps saying to me 'Lord, Lord' who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the man who actually does my Heavenly Father's will.

Dobson, on the other hand, would do well to follow this admonishment:

Matt. 7:22-23 - "In 'that day' many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we preach in your name, didn't we cast out devils in your name, and do many great things in your name?' Then I shall tell them plainly, 'I have never known you. Go away from me, you have worked on the side of evil!'"

James Dobson is one of a long line of opportunistic charlatans who are no more Christian that the man (or woman) in the moon. Such disgraceful men are interested in but three things, wealth, power and the trappings they bring. One can imagine the conversation cited in Matthew 7:22-23 above between Dobson and the Lord.

And a Happy New Year to you and yours, may it be filled with health, happiness and fulfillment.