Another Bush Lie

Surprise surprise surprise! President Bush and his henchmen (and henchwomen) repeatedly said Newsweek was wrong wrong wrong and that there was no desecration of the Koran in Gitmo. Bush said the report was absurd.

Well, as one would expect, the Koran was desecrated multiple times, urinated on, and kicked. So Friday night, in the best tradition of Ronald Reagan's friday night news dumps, the information was released.

Of course we all knew they were lying the whole time. They used this issue to try another smear on our independent press, one of Karl Rove's ancient tactics. Maybe the press will finally see this is a fight they are losing - and anything less than a thorough and independent telling of this story will constitue a major failure on their part. I have a feeling Isiskoff and Newsweek are planning to do just that. Stay tuned.

Thinking out loud

I wonder if all this Deep Throat/Watergate/Woodward-Berstein talk in the media will put the fire in the belly or the glint in the eye for some reporter to go out there and say to themselves: "I can be the next WoodStein. I can find the thread that holds this garment together."

Is there a reporter out there who can expose the lies and the felonies, the high crimes and misdemeanors, that the Bush Administration used to take this nation to war, to put our troops in harms way, to mislead our citizens, to throw our democracy into peril for the sheer greed, lust for power and disdain for the law the Richard Nixon displayed in his most heinous moments?

just wonderin'

Eric Christen at it again

I was fortunate(?) enough to be in attendance at this month's Harrison District 2 School Board Meeting when Eric Christen showed up and spewed his rhetoric in front of the School Board and the audience.

Too say that this man is rude would be an understatement. He directly questioned the morality of the Board Members and personally attacked Superintendent Vic Meyers. His rantings were border-line psychotic. It's too bad that rhetoric and confidence aren't enough to be an effective leader, because Christen has these two traits down. Unfortunately, he understands nothing about the needs of children and the public education system, otherwise he and his cohorts would not have turned District 11 into the circus that it has become. He is, at best, a mis-guided citizen that believes he is helping the community, and, at worst, a shill for voucher-happy business/political interests looking to make their own investment into the privatization of the public school system.

I recommend that everyone concerned with what has happened in School District 11 get involved in the local school board elections this year. We are going to have to work hard to keep the business interests OUT of our school systems and keep the interests of the children as the top priority. They have the money to push their corporate agenda, we have the people to push the education agenda. Let's keep public schools public!

More Fake News From Bush Administration

Who is the ARINC Corporation? The World Leader in Transportation Communications and Systems Engineering accfording to their site. OK, I'll fall for that.

They advertise on the O'Reilly radio show - again, no surprises. But last night while listening to the Big O'Liar, I was stunned by their ad. Not that they want to sell their sevices, but that they inserted a fake news report from the Pentagon as part of the ad.

On their main web page is an ON THE RADIO link, curiously named "Pentagon Reports".

That link took me here - where the nice little fake news report is all written up for your perusal. The report is by Ivan Scott, who manages somehow to pimp the straight Pentagon line on several issues. Here's one example:

"The Pentagon Counterattacks

Faced with claims by the FBI, and others that the Koran (the Muslim holy book) has been desecrated by U-S military personnel at Guantanamo, the Pentagon rolled-out the General in charge of the big detention center there.

BGEN Jay Hood admits there are 19 substantiated instances where the Koran was “mishandled” by GIs at Gitmo, and 15 times when detainees did the same, but he flatly denies any Koran was flushed down a toilet on the base.

General Hood says the detainee quoted by the FBI as having done so now says he didn’t.

The General says the handling, or mishandling of the Koran is under investigation by the Pentagon and the Justice Department."

(my emphasis - Z)

So ARINC advertises on O'Reilly, inserts a newsy sounding report stating the Gitmo/Koran issue is bogus, sells the products to the Pentagon paid for with our tax dollars, then conveniently espouses the Pentagon story during their ads on right wing radio, paid for with your tax dollars.

Now that's what I call synergy.

"Support"

Support our troops - the President, Rummy, Cheney, they all keep repeating it. And they keep saying we don't support the troops because we have the nerve to criticize their Iraq: We're Turning the Corner Again!™ strategy. I guess if they keep repeating it, they figure it'll come true. Peter Pan has nothing on these guys. As to techniques to alter reality, I suggest they try clicking their heels, or try some Santeria rituals if they really want to get serious (oh wait, that originated in Cuba, and we can't have any of that commie stuff!).

But here is the truth: this foolish war is decimating our military. All that crap in campaign 2000 about "adults in charge", "help is on the way", "2 divisions would have to report not ready", ad nauseam -- they were all lies. They say 9/11 changed everything. Well, it didn't change that much, and it certainly didn't free our leaders from the responsibility of using our military responsibly, of courting world powers diplomatically, or sending our troops to face enemy fire only in the most dire of circumstances.

The "adults" failed. The "help" is the exact opposite of what was needed. And Rumsfeld is on course to "wreck it and run". Here are some lowlights:

• A volunteer military without volunteers
• The world's largest pile of wrecked and worn-out military equipment
• A military tied down in a strategically meaningless backwater, Iraq
• Commitments to hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of future weapons programs that are militarily as useful as Zeppelins but less fun to watch
• A world wary of U.S. intentions and skeptical of any American claims about anything
• We will be lucky if we can get out of Iraq with anything less than a total loss

Update: One more example - pilot training time slashed - Z

Forgive me if I forget to thank the brilliant, thoughtful, careful, strategic leadership of our Commander in Chief for these great accomplishments.

Memorial

better late than never.

This should be something we never forget.

Does George Bush know enough to remember?

George Bush: INVETERATE LIAR

One more Bush lie: we have enough troops in Iraq, and anyway the commanders aren't asking for more troops.

"Resources are everything in combat ... there's no way 400 people can cover that much ground," said Maj. John Wilwerding, of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is responsible for the northwest tract that includes Tal Afar.

"Because there weren't enough troops on the ground to do what you needed to do, the (insurgency) was able to get a toehold." said Wilwerding, 37, of Chaska, Minn.

But he said he supports the troops, that's good enough for those who think a magnetic yellow ribbon on their Hummer also shows their support.

True Hero

The Republicans are going to go nuts, but Deep Throat, the source who fed Woodward and Bernstein key details in uncovering the Watergate scandal and dooming Richard Nixon's paranoid presidency, is now known. There will be tut-tutting: Pat Buchanan is beside himself, but he kinda has a thing for Hitler anyway; John Dean, up until now the most familiar person to have told the truth in that mess, will probably be conflicted. But Dean has nothing to be ashamed of. And Mark Felt, heretofore known as Deep Throat, despite all the shades of gray he embodied, is a true hero.

The Nixon apologists, who are legion (google these names and see what you get: Buchanan, Haldeman, Erlichman, Colson, Liddy, Mitchell), who still hold grudges, who still have a disdain for those who saved our democracy, should be ashamed for the peril they put our country in. They aren't. They should be ashamed (and still in jail, imho) for their traitorous actions. They were the enemies within, and they set the model for future usurpations of our democracy. Bill Clinton's impeachment was mere payback for Nixon - lying about sex is not a high crime or misdemeanor.

The true legacy of Watergate is found in the Bush administration. The real traitors, Ann Coulter be damned, are those who lied us to war. They have endagered our national security by putting our troops in harms way and decimating our military with the foolish retribution of a fortunate son. They have taken the good will of nations and rejected it. They have placed the well-being of the wealthy ahead of the well-being of our nation. George Bush is the true heir to Richard Nixon. He has furthered the destruction of our democracy by means that would make the old Nixon, paranoid and devious, proud.