The talking points for the right-wing always suggest the lack of a plan by anyone but the Pretendedent, especially the Democratic Party, on what to do about the terrible problems facing America (that HE has caused!) Nothing could be further from the truth, as Speaker Pelosi's recent visit with the leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran have shown. Here's a great plan (courtesy of The Crisis Papers (http://www.americanpolitics.com):
A restoration of the international reputation of and respect for the United States must involve:
* Withdrawal, “with all deliberate speed,” from Iraq. Also all prisoners held at Guantanamo and other military prisons must either be brought to a speedy and fair trial, or released immediately with reparations.
* Immediate Congressional legislation restoring habeas corpus and the Constitutional rights violated by the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act, accompanied by the rescinding of those acts.
* Rigorous and uncompromising Congressional investigations and disclosure of the crimes of the Bush administration, followed by remedial legislation.
* Following this, the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, and culpable subordinate executive officials, followed by trial and conviction in the Senate.
* Acknowledgment that international treaties are enforceable laws of the United States (as stipulated in Article Six of the Constitution). Most urgently, this would include the Geneva Conventions (concerning torture) and the Nuremberg Accords (regarding war crimes).
* And finally, there is the matter of election reform.
--> People, this is the one we ALL have to demand and enforce for the sake of our liberty! Don't let the vote fraud that brought these criminals to power in 2000 and 2004 carry on to 2008!
Sounds like a plan to me.
20070131
Col. "W" Sanders, Always the Dictator, uh, Decider
I can hardly take any more. Each day Bush and his administration does something worse than yesterday. Please, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, help us remove the Dictator of the US from office! Or at least - MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: PLEASE REMEDIATE OR REMOVE THE "EXECUTIVE ORDER" LEGISLATION (dating back to Civil War days, when the government was only in session a few months per year, the Executive Order was created to give the President ability to create a law IN THE ABSENCE of duly-elected Congressional representation.)
To wit (please see full article for details, I've snipped some here):
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.
In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.
The White House said the executive order was not meant to rein in any one agency. But business executives and consumer advocates said the administration was particularly concerned about rules and guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
....snip....
Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order, saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder agencies’ efforts to protect the public.
Typically, agencies issue regulations under authority granted to them in laws enacted by Congress. In many cases, the statute does not say precisely what agencies should do, giving them considerable latitude in interpreting the law and developing regulations.
The directive issued by Mr. Bush says that, in deciding whether to issue regulations, federal agencies must identify “the specific market failure” or problem that justifies government intervention.
Besides placing political appointees in charge of rule making, Mr. Bush said agencies must give the White House an opportunity to review “any significant guidance documents” before they are issued.
....snip....
Peter L. Strauss, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the executive order “achieves a major increase in White House control over domestic government.”
“Having lost control of Congress,” Mr. Strauss said, “the president is doing what he can to increase his control of the executive branch.”
Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said: “The executive order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions on health and safety issues, even if the government’s own impartial experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for special interests.”
Business groups hailed the initiative.
...snip...
Gary D. Bass, executive director of O.M.B. Watch, a liberal-leaning consumer group that monitors the Office of Management and Budget, criticized Mr. Bush’s order, saying, “It will result in more delay and more White House control over the day-to-day work of federal agencies.”
“By requiring agencies to show a ‘market failure,’ ” Dr. Bass said, “President Bush has created another hurdle for agencies to clear before they can issue rules protecting public health and safety.”
Wesley P. Warren, program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who worked at the White House for seven years under President Bill Clinton, said, “The executive order is a backdoor attempt to prevent E.P.A. from being able to enforce environmental safeguards that keep cancer-causing chemicals and other pollutants out of the air and water.”
...snip...
The White House told agencies that in writing guidance documents, they could not impose new legal obligations on anyone and could not use “mandatory language such as ‘shall,’ ‘must,’ ‘required’ or ‘requirement.’ ”
...snip to end...
To wit (please see full article for details, I've snipped some here):
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.
In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.
The White House said the executive order was not meant to rein in any one agency. But business executives and consumer advocates said the administration was particularly concerned about rules and guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
....snip....
Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order, saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder agencies’ efforts to protect the public.
Typically, agencies issue regulations under authority granted to them in laws enacted by Congress. In many cases, the statute does not say precisely what agencies should do, giving them considerable latitude in interpreting the law and developing regulations.
The directive issued by Mr. Bush says that, in deciding whether to issue regulations, federal agencies must identify “the specific market failure” or problem that justifies government intervention.
Besides placing political appointees in charge of rule making, Mr. Bush said agencies must give the White House an opportunity to review “any significant guidance documents” before they are issued.
....snip....
Peter L. Strauss, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the executive order “achieves a major increase in White House control over domestic government.”
“Having lost control of Congress,” Mr. Strauss said, “the president is doing what he can to increase his control of the executive branch.”
Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said: “The executive order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions on health and safety issues, even if the government’s own impartial experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for special interests.”
Business groups hailed the initiative.
...snip...
Gary D. Bass, executive director of O.M.B. Watch, a liberal-leaning consumer group that monitors the Office of Management and Budget, criticized Mr. Bush’s order, saying, “It will result in more delay and more White House control over the day-to-day work of federal agencies.”
“By requiring agencies to show a ‘market failure,’ ” Dr. Bass said, “President Bush has created another hurdle for agencies to clear before they can issue rules protecting public health and safety.”
Wesley P. Warren, program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who worked at the White House for seven years under President Bill Clinton, said, “The executive order is a backdoor attempt to prevent E.P.A. from being able to enforce environmental safeguards that keep cancer-causing chemicals and other pollutants out of the air and water.”
...snip...
The White House told agencies that in writing guidance documents, they could not impose new legal obligations on anyone and could not use “mandatory language such as ‘shall,’ ‘must,’ ‘required’ or ‘requirement.’ ”
...snip to end...
20070129
NO Vote-o-matics - Keep The Pressure On Till 2008
Every time the Dems come out ahead it seems all the work toward fair voting systems falls by the wayside. So much to do, so little time, yeah I get it but you can believe the crooks in the GOP haven't forgotten. Keep the fire on!!! I want to cast my vote by putting an "X" on a paper ballot that is counted locally, and secure to its final tally, not on some poorly-rendered video game of an election!
I point you today to Cannonfire blog's map of the voting precincts in Ohio about where the vote was heavily favored to Kerry in 2004, there was an abnormally high percentage of spoiled ballots, where in those precincts favoring the Idiot, hardly any percentage of spoiled ballots.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/01/2004-election-we-must-never-forget.html
And, according to researcher-extraordinaire Dave Emory, apparently the Sequoia voting machines can be tied to I.G. Farben, the company responsible for (among other hideous things) selling the gas for the gas chambers used by the Nazis:
http://ftrsummary.blogspot.com/2006/11/ftr-576-voteschwitzso-near-yet-so.html
"Supplementing previous programs about the perils of electronic voting, this broadcast highlights the new proprietors of the Sequoia electronic voting technology. Previously run by elements connected to organized crime and the GOP, sequoia was recently purchased by Smartmatic. Because Smartmatic is linked to the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, Smartmatic’s purchase of Sequoia has raised alarms in Washington. The truth concerning Smartmatic is more sinister than its critics in D.C. suspect. Somewhat obscured by a tangled web of offshore companies, Smartmatic (and Sequoia’s voting machines) are actually owned by a group of entities affiliated with the member companies of I.G. Farben. The backbone of Nazi Germany and one of the most important companies in the history of commerce, I.G. Farben dominated the international chemical and pharmaceutical business. I.G.’s successor firms continue to dominate these fields. After tracing the ownership of Smartmatic to entities associated with the Sandoz pharmaceutical interests; the program sets forth the profound relationship between I.G. Farben and the machinery of Nazi government. After highlighting I.G. Farben’s role in the Bormann flight capital program that relocated the Third Reich’s wealth abroad, the program underscores the position of the successor firms to I.G. in the day-to-day functioning of the Underground Reich. It is that Underground Reich that now holds sway over the Sequoia voting technology used in the U.S."
Dog save us.
I point you today to Cannonfire blog's map of the voting precincts in Ohio about where the vote was heavily favored to Kerry in 2004, there was an abnormally high percentage of spoiled ballots, where in those precincts favoring the Idiot, hardly any percentage of spoiled ballots.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/01/2004-election-we-must-never-forget.html
And, according to researcher-extraordinaire Dave Emory, apparently the Sequoia voting machines can be tied to I.G. Farben, the company responsible for (among other hideous things) selling the gas for the gas chambers used by the Nazis:
http://ftrsummary.blogspot.com/2006/11/ftr-576-voteschwitzso-near-yet-so.html
"Supplementing previous programs about the perils of electronic voting, this broadcast highlights the new proprietors of the Sequoia electronic voting technology. Previously run by elements connected to organized crime and the GOP, sequoia was recently purchased by Smartmatic. Because Smartmatic is linked to the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, Smartmatic’s purchase of Sequoia has raised alarms in Washington. The truth concerning Smartmatic is more sinister than its critics in D.C. suspect. Somewhat obscured by a tangled web of offshore companies, Smartmatic (and Sequoia’s voting machines) are actually owned by a group of entities affiliated with the member companies of I.G. Farben. The backbone of Nazi Germany and one of the most important companies in the history of commerce, I.G. Farben dominated the international chemical and pharmaceutical business. I.G.’s successor firms continue to dominate these fields. After tracing the ownership of Smartmatic to entities associated with the Sandoz pharmaceutical interests; the program sets forth the profound relationship between I.G. Farben and the machinery of Nazi government. After highlighting I.G. Farben’s role in the Bormann flight capital program that relocated the Third Reich’s wealth abroad, the program underscores the position of the successor firms to I.G. in the day-to-day functioning of the Underground Reich. It is that Underground Reich that now holds sway over the Sequoia voting technology used in the U.S."
Dog save us.
What About New Orleans?
There is seemingly no end to the evil of the Bush Administration. I'm ordering Greg Palast's video, "New Orleans: Big Easy, Big Empty", just based on his recent interview with BuzzFlash - http://www.gregpalast.com/new-orleans-still-under-water-a-buzzflash-interview/#more-1565 - and because Mr. Palast is a hero to me among journalists. A quote (emphasis mine):
To any who thought that the idea of the Pretendedent strumming a guitar in San Diego while New Orleans went under was further examples of his criminal negligence, this story confirms that idea. And Palast confirms that it is even worse - that this racist, plutocratic administration was seeking to eliminate black people from New Orleans for the sake of divvy-ing up the spoils for its rich white cronies at pennies on the dollar.
Does this not qualify as "High Crimes And Misdemeanors" - the basis of impeachment from office?
"The White House knew [the levees broke] because the Army Corps of Engineers sent them photographs. Again, I want to emphasize that the White House had the photographs of the levees breaking, and didn’t tell state and local officials who had stopped the evacuation because the hurricane missed New Orleans. Everyone thought they dodged a bullet, but the White House didn’t tell anybody the levees broke and were drowning the city. — Greg Palast"
To any who thought that the idea of the Pretendedent strumming a guitar in San Diego while New Orleans went under was further examples of his criminal negligence, this story confirms that idea. And Palast confirms that it is even worse - that this racist, plutocratic administration was seeking to eliminate black people from New Orleans for the sake of divvy-ing up the spoils for its rich white cronies at pennies on the dollar.
"The 9th Ward looks worse than Berlin after the war because there’s hardly a building standing. And this was just filmed a couple months ago! This was filmed one year after the flood. In Indonesia, they have rebuilt after the tsunami. The only thing they are rebuilding here is a Disneyland on the Mississippi to recreate a new, white, conservative city.
And don’t forget, keeping African-Americans from coming back into New Orleans is amazing political gerrymandering. This is going to be crucial to keeping Louisiana in the Republican column in 2008. That’s really part of the story. - Greg Palast"
And don’t forget, keeping African-Americans from coming back into New Orleans is amazing political gerrymandering. This is going to be crucial to keeping Louisiana in the Republican column in 2008. That’s really part of the story. - Greg Palast"
Does this not qualify as "High Crimes And Misdemeanors" - the basis of impeachment from office?
20070126
Why People Believe Amerikans Are Stoopid
This shocking video I linked into at Cannonfire today - WATCH THE VIDEO, TRY NOT TO TURN AWAY!
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/gSfSsCpR/Why_People_Believe_Americans_Are_Stupid?rp=2
http://www.shoutfile.com/v/gSfSsCpR/Why_People_Believe_Americans_Are_Stupid?rp=2
Is Cheney Completely INSANE? ...as if we must ask

This week was pretty amazing as Dick Cheney slithered out from his undisclosed location to appear on the TV and leak plans for war against Iran through his minions. And rumors on Keith Olbermann last night that the White House may be planning for Cheney's forced resignation and the *** GOD NO!!! *** possibility that he could be replaced with JEB BUSH ---
Friends and legislators - IMPEACH BOTH BUSH AND CHENEY NOW!!! The world can't take any more. See articles at:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/177
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/01/iran.html
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/ExPentagon_Adviser_Marines_contemplated_for_Iran_0126.htmlThe Discordian and The Two Wiccans
by Unknown
Once there were 3 pagans who had gathered together to do invocations. The first two were Wiccan, while the third was a Discordian. They planned to take turns performing invocations, each according to their own traditions.
The first Wiccan did an invocation and began to tremble. Then he spoke in a strange voice, "I am the hunter and the hunted. I am light and darkness. I am birth and death." Then he collapsed to the floor. A few moments later, he regained consciousness. The first and second Wiccan were impressed that they had received Ancient Wisdom.
The second Wiccan did an invocation and began to tremble. Then he spoke in a strange voice, "I am the hunter and the hunted. I am light and darkness. I am birth and death." Then he collapsed to the floor. A few moments later, he regained consciousness. The first and second Wiccan were impressed that they had received Ancient Wisdom.
The Discordian said that she might try to invoke her deity if her deity felt like it. But she did not tremble. She did not speak in a strange voice. She did not even collapse. Instead, she just laughed and laughed in her own voice. The two Wiccans glared at her. "You lack the solemnity needed to do proper invocations," one of them told her. But Eris, who had filled the Discordian, just laughed and threw pop tarts at them and danced out of the room and giggled, "You can't tell a goddess how to behave."
At this, neither of the two Wiccans were enlightened. Possibly because neither one of them liked pop-tarts.
Once there were 3 pagans who had gathered together to do invocations. The first two were Wiccan, while the third was a Discordian. They planned to take turns performing invocations, each according to their own traditions.
The first Wiccan did an invocation and began to tremble. Then he spoke in a strange voice, "I am the hunter and the hunted. I am light and darkness. I am birth and death." Then he collapsed to the floor. A few moments later, he regained consciousness. The first and second Wiccan were impressed that they had received Ancient Wisdom.
The second Wiccan did an invocation and began to tremble. Then he spoke in a strange voice, "I am the hunter and the hunted. I am light and darkness. I am birth and death." Then he collapsed to the floor. A few moments later, he regained consciousness. The first and second Wiccan were impressed that they had received Ancient Wisdom.
The Discordian said that she might try to invoke her deity if her deity felt like it. But she did not tremble. She did not speak in a strange voice. She did not even collapse. Instead, she just laughed and laughed in her own voice. The two Wiccans glared at her. "You lack the solemnity needed to do proper invocations," one of them told her. But Eris, who had filled the Discordian, just laughed and threw pop tarts at them and danced out of the room and giggled, "You can't tell a goddess how to behave."
At this, neither of the two Wiccans were enlightened. Possibly because neither one of them liked pop-tarts.
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