September 30, 2006 by mugsy.

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Who could of imagined back in 2000 that our nation would decend so far down the “fascist” and “radical Evengelical” rabbit hole in such a short period of time? The extremity and vitriol in which our nation has changed since the sElection of George W. Bush as President six years ago this December is shocking. Racism and intolerance… both religious and cultural… has permiated our daily lives like disgusting pit stains on a favorite T-shirt. If someone had told me back in 2000 that if George Bush became President, we would: invade another country in an unprovoked war, inter prisoners in concentration camps, and be debating whether or not torture was an acceptable interrogation technique or if warrantless searches of our homes and phone calls was indeed illegal, I’d of thought they were nuts.

On Thursday (9/28), the Senate approved a bill already passed by the House that allows the President to arrest, detain, and deny both Council and the right of Habeas Corpus (”Body of the Crime”, a list of the charges against you) against, not only foreigners, but anyone who “purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States”… which could quite literally be ANYBODY this Administration deems a threat: U.S. citizens, “political enemies”, “protestors”, “legal council” for any terror suspect, you name it. And you can’t do a thing about it because there will be no trial, you will not be informed of the charges against you, and no lawyer will take your case because assisting you would make them subject to the “supporter of anyone who supports hostilities” language. Likewise, your family would not be told where you were. You could quite litterally “disappear”… something we thought only happened in the old Soviet Union and Red China.

All bin Laden did was murder 3,000 people. George Bush is out to destroy the United States, the Constitution, and everything we’ve stood for for 230 years… which ironically is what Osama’s wanted when he attacked the Trade Center on 9/11. President Bush, a paranoid xenophobe skillfully manipulated by a power-mad Svengali holdover of the Nixon Administration, actively subverting the Constitution and seeking more and more power that could be used against his political enemies, with only their word that they’d never use that power against us.

Nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or The Constitution did the Founding Fathers say “Trust Me“. In fact, the very bedrock of our democracy… “Checks & Balances”… belies the very idea of “trust the government”. If anyone knew about the abuse of power by a corrupt ruler, it was them. That is why they worked so hard to make sure no “one” branch of government had more power than any other.

So steeped in denial, so completely incapable of admitting mistakes that they would rather allow the deaths of several thousand coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians rather than admit a mistake… all because they perceive it as a sign of weakness and an attack on their manhood (and you may have noticed how the most sexualy repressed, yet conspicuously vocal about “devient behavior” are so often Conservatives: i.e. “Mark Foley“, a vocal anti-child porn advocate that resigned Friday after it was discovered that he was sending sexually explicit e-mails to 16-year old male Page’s. Need more examples? Click Here.)

Remember President Bush’s classic “Fool me once… can’t get fooled again” flub? This is a PERFECT example of his utter paranoia over even the slightest suggestion that he could make a mistake (remember that the line is supposed to end with “shame on me“. The very idea of such a line never even occured to him. He blocked it out).

I have no doubt that these people truly believe that they are doing what is in the best interest of the country. But like an alcoholic that insists they “don’t have a problem”, they are SO desperately in need of an intervention. They see no hypocrisy when their actions completely contradict their rhethoric (justified by circumstances: does “everything changed after 9/11” sound familiar?) In this vain, I encourage you to view my latest YouTube video:

FLASHBACK: Bush’s 2000 RNC Convention promises.

The hypocrisy is palatable. Need more proof that these guys will say anything to get elected?

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September 28, 2006 by mugsy.

Travel back in time with me to April 1994, just one year after the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the disastrous 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge in Idaho that ended with an FBI sharpsooter killing the wife of white separatist Randy Weaver who was holding their infant child in her arms at the time.

For those who forgot, in 1990, a failed rock musician named Vernon Howell changed his name to “David Koresh” (biblical tie-in) and started his own Apocalyptic religious cult called the “Branch Davidians” in Waco, Texas. The FBI had been casing Howell’s activities for months (years?) for the sale and transport of firearms across state lines, as well as allegations of sexual abuse of children (every female of at least 13 years of age was “wedded” to Koresh, and all female members were allowed only to sleep with Koresh and not their own husbands).

Republicans skillfully manipulated a wave of “anti-government” furor by every gun-nut and Evangelical in the country (the Republican base), and harnessed it into a seething hatred for all things Clinton… including the Democratic Party that supported him… which in turn became part of the fuel for the fire that carried over after the election in what would become “Oklahoma City” less than a year later in Tim McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building.

The GOP used the Waco debacle as a rallying cry to whip public opinion against an Administration they sought to paint as “incompetent” with no regard for “law abiding gun owners” or “peaceful practitioners of religious freedom”… the two largest Republican constituencies (neither of which the Davidians were). Couple that with (false) allegations of criminal misconduct by the Clinton’s (”White Water“), and you had the makings of Newt Gingrich’s “Republican Revolution” that allowed the GOP to ride a wave of “gun-nut evangelical anti-Democrat fanaticism” to control both houses of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years (the GOP already controlled the Senate, and has done so almost without interruption since 1982).

Flash forward to 2006.

Iraq has become a disasterous symbol of the Bush Administrations’ incompetence. 2,700 dead US soldiers later, an emerging civil war in Iraq that is killing 3,000+ Iraqis a month with no end in sight, and a flurry of recent bad news that proves attacking Iraq has made us LESS safe instead of more, a President so incapable of admitting failure that he won’t even consider making changes to his strategy to get our troops out before he leaves office in 2009 (unless a Democratic Congress impeaches him first), and a Republican controlled Congress so deep in denial that “stay the course” actually seems like an acceptable exit strategy… and faster than you can say “Macaca“, you’ve got the makings of a potentional Democratic tidal wave this November

As in 1994, the public is once again in a furor over Presidential misconduct. Add to that outrageous gas prices (that have “miraculously” nose-dived in recent weeks), incompetence in Iraq and the failed pursuit of Osama bin Laden… Republicans are in disarray, bickering amongst themselves over the Presidents’ support of torture, Constitutional violations, and a “culture of corruption” that has seen the indictments and imprisonment of several high profile Republicans, both politicians and lobbyists alike. And the issues they DO agree on are more of the same racist homophobic nonsense that barely register a blip on most American’s radar.

But unlike 1994, the Democrats have a steeper hill to climb, needing to sieze control of BOTH houses of Congress in order to regain control. The question this time around is then, will voters be lulled into inaction once again by falling gasoline prices, muted war rhetoric, and postponed divisive legislation until after the election (also & here)?

And while a Times/Tribue poll last week trumpeted President Bush enjoying his highest poll numbers since January of ‘05… a whopping 44% thanks to falling gas prices and nostagia over the fifth anniversary of 9/11… Congress in that same week polled a dismal 25% approval rating.

We may see a very favorable 2006 indeed… as long as everyone gets out and votes that is!

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September 24, 2006 by mugsy.

On a recent politico talkshow, the talking-head pundits tried to figure out the reasons for the sudden precipitous fall in gas prices (nearly $1 lower in some places since August), and on the surface, many of those reasons seemed rational:

1. “A surprisingly quiet hurricane season” - Unlike last year when we had so many named storms we actually ran out of letters for the first time in our history of naming storms, no major hurricanes devistated the Gulf Coast (so far) this year like they did last year. Fears over another devistating hurricane season helped push oil prices through the roof this year, topping out at $78.40 per barrel on July 14th. However, “hurricane season” does not officially end until November 30th of the year, and last year, Tropical Storm Zeta was the last named storm of 2005 on December 30th (running into January). That’s another three full months of potential hurricane threats, almost half the season still lies before us. So why are crude prices dropping NOW with the season barely half over and indications that Global Warming is shifting that season ever later in the year?

2. “The possibility of military action in Iran never materialized” - Once again, there is NO reason to justify a drop in oil prices *now* with regard to this issue. The Bush Administrations rhetoric over Iran has shifted gears some, from “seeking nuclear weapons”… a clear looser issue because of just how far off such a threat is… to “a sponsor of terrorism and instability” that might be fought through sanctions. And just what do you think the Arab World’s response to sanctions against Iran might be? You guessed it, stemming the flow of oil.

3. “The Saudi’s have agreed to increase production to make up for the reduced output by Iraq” - If you could name one way to make things worse in Iraq, what would it be? “Drive up unemployment”? An already angry Iraqi with nothing to do all day but swelter in the heat because he only enjoys 5 hours of electricty a day, then looses his job because Saudi Arabia is under-cutting your employers cost of doing business, isn’t going to make anyone happier… except maybe the Saudi’s and maybe Iran and Syria. And since Saudi will only be supplanting the Iraqi shortfall… which naturally they will have to increase even more with this move as Iraqi supply diminishes even more… it is difficult to understand how this move contributes to the long term (aka “futures market”) decline in the price of oil.

Now here is where their arguments fall apart: The price of oil has fallen just over 1/4 in price, but the price of gasoline has fallen by nearly 1/3 (locally, we’ve gone from $3 last August to under $2.20 today, and we’re not alone). Why the disparity? Has global demand suddenly slumped? No. Has the threat to our supply suddenly diminished? No. In fact, didn’t Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, who supplies the U.S. with almost as much oil than Saudia Arabia, threatened at the UN last week to drive oil prices up to $200/barrel if the U.S. did not stop its war-mongering.

So how do they account for the sudden decline? Well, maybe this had something to do with it:

Two weeks ago, an ABC News/Waskington Post poll listed “gas prices” as Americans’ #3 concern, beating out terrorism, among reasons of discontent with George Bush and the Republican Party.

And suddenly… faster than you can say “gravy train”… gas prices plummet. Gas prices fell, “terrorism” moved back into the #3 spot, and President Bush’s poll numbers improved.

Coincidence? I’ll let you be the judge.

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September 22, 2006 by mugsy.

Yesterday, Forbes Magazine came out with its annual list of the “400 Richest People in America”, and for the first time ever, all 400 are Billionaires.

As you might suspect, Bush supporters are already using this news as “proof” that Bush’s economic policies are working. But if you take a closer look at the list, you will find that there are exceedingly few people on this list that weren’t already filthy rich BEFORE Bush took office. It’s boomtime for the exceedingly wealthy in this country as the poor get poorer.

Of course, to be fair, no one is going to make the “Forbes 400″ overnight. But the gap between the Super-Wealthy and “the rest of us” is growing, which makes it more & more difficult to make The List. Indeed, 54 people fell off the list because they just weren’t getting rich fast enough.

Is it any surprise that the vast majority on the Forbes 400 support President Bush?

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September 18, 2006 by mugsy.

I consider myself lucky to be among the rare few that opposed the very idea of invading Iraq from day one.

I don’t know if I’m too stupid or just wasn’t paying attention, but I had NO CLUE that some people actually believed Saddam was involved with 9/11 (apparently, I wasn’t alone - one of my favorite links from 2002), and that is why they supported the invasion of Iraq. In fact, it wasn’t until after “Mission Accomplished” that I first heard anyone suggest any connection to 9/11.

Was I too smart or too stupid?

In the five months before the invasion (Nov 2002 to Mar 2003), I took a job as a substitute teacher for the local school district. One of my proudest moments was in February when I got a High School history class discussing the possibility of invading Iraq: “Why Iraq?”, I asked again and again. Those 17 & 18 year old kids figured out on their own what 69% of the nation hadn’t: “Because we can” was the ultimate conclusion. “Iraq has no nuclear weapons. Iran may or may not already have them, and we know for sure North Korea does. Iraq was the “Marty McFly” to our “Biff Henderson” (my anology, not theirs). Notice “connected to 9/11″ isn’t in there. And inspectors were IN Iraq bulldozing four al-Samoud missiles a day, so Saddam was being disarmed.

I’d like to think I saved some lives that day if just one of them thought twice about enlisting after graduation.

On my last day as a teacher, I taught a 7th grade class. The bonus spelling word I gave them was “A word you’re probably hearing a lot in the news lately: inspections” (several complained the word was too easy), hoping to get the message across to them that WAR should ALWAYS be an “avenue of last resort”. It troubled me deeply (and still does to this day) that this Administration was so eager to unnecessarilly invade another country - preemptively no less - without regard for the consequences. And as we’ve since learned, they never even thought about AFTER.

So I ask you dear reader, “what did I miss?” At what point did everyone suddenly come to the consensus that Iraq was involved with 9/11? I must have been sick that day. Yes the Bush Administration constantly tried to equate the two in their speeches, but since I never actually heard anyone actually say, “Saddam was involved with the attacks of September 11“, I never put the two together.

Am I a dullard or something?

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September 15, 2006 by mugsy.

Here is a link to the video I promised (see “Did Cheney confirm he’s the source of the Plame leak?” below).

From the 9/10 episode of “Meet the Press” last weekend:

I refer you to the “Armitage as source of Plame leak” story further below, as well.

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September 14, 2006 by mugsy.

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. A few “distractions” have popped up:

1. A couple of paying contract jobs have consumed much of my time:

2: The rest of my time has been consumed by these three new distractions:

Monday, I went grocery shopping at the store a block away. When I came out of the store an hour later and started my car, both I, and the lady in the SUV next to me heard meowing. I popped my hood and we found *two* kittens down by the radiator. Apparently, they had crawled in there the night before and rode with me to the store. I put them in the car and drove home. When I arrived a minute later, I heard “MEOW! MEOW!” A third kitten had gone unseen, also under the radiator. They’ve been a handful ever since.

Between them and the new projects, I may be delayed a couple of days. But please check back often.

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September 11, 2006 by mugsy.

What’s left to be said about September 11th that hasn’t already been said?
How about what WASN’T said?

I just finished watching Part One of ABC’s pseudo-documentary “The Path to 9/11″. I’m sure you are already familiar with the firestorm of controversy regarding this film, so I will not rehash it here. Needless to say, a quick “patchwork” of new scenes quickly inserted to replace a number of proven factually wrong scenes were quickly reshot and inserted at the last minute, so in at least one instance, an “unchanged” scene contridicts a changed one (specifically, their best chance to kill OBL in 1999 was called off due to “innocents” in the way… specified as “women and children” in the film, but was actually the Saudi Royal Family in real life… then later said to have been thwarted because they couldn’t get “authorization”).

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

If you weren’t paying attention… and even if you were… you might not have noticed that IRAQ was not mentioned anywhere in the film (so far). Nada. Zip. Zero. Starting with the first WTC bombing in 1993, several thwarted terrorists plots, and only one mention of the embassy bombings in 1998, the movie has made absolutely no mention of any kind of terrorist activity connected to Saddam Hussein or Iraq. Why? Might it be an oversight? I mean, haven’t members of the Bush Administration, time and again, try to tell us Saddam was a sponsor of terrorism and a such a threat to the United States that taking him out of power was worthy of pulling troops out of Afghanistan before the capture of Osama bin Laden? Huh, must have been an oversight that I’m certain they’ll correct in Part Two.

Anyways, I’m not here to defend Saddam Hussain. The man was a mass murderer who ruled over the Iraqi people without mercy. He deserves everything he has gotten. I believe he was contained, that invading Iraq has distracted us from getting bin Laden and eliminating the Taliban, and the bungled occupation of Iraq has inflamed the Muslim world and made us less safe, but Saddam deserves punishment for his crimes.

No, on this fifth anniversary of 9/11, I just want everyone to remember what DID happen. Because the Bush Administration is on a PR blitz this week, rewritting history and trying to make themselves appear as brave warriors waging a difficult war that only THEY can protect us from.

In August 2004, just before the election, on the pleas of Air America Radio’s “Randi Rhodes“, I created a “split screen video” of President Bush sitting in a Florida classroom for seven minutes. while all hell was breaking loose in New York, entitled (apporiately enough) “Seven Minutes“:

(in Quicktime format. 15MB download)

(In case the above link stops working, I have uploaded the video to Google Video. The resolution was degraded slightly, but still viewable.)

It was a rush job, not as polished as I would have liked, trying to get it out there well before Election Day 2004. I used the raw classroom video of President Bush reading “The Pet Goat” with a class full of third graders, next to footage taken from the CBS documentary “9/11″.

The video starts with President Bush’s motorcade arriving at the school. It is in the motorcade on the ride over that President Bush is informed that a jumbo jet, potentially filled with hundreds of passengers, has just struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which is potentially filled with TENS OF THOUSANDS of employees. Still, he continues on with his scheduled photo-op.

As the classroom footage begins, former Chief of Staff Andrew Card rushes up to whisper in the Presidents’ ear regarding a second plane hitting Tower Two of the World Trade Center. While most accounts now say Card told the President, “A second plane hit the second tower. We’re under attack.“, I remember specifically in an interview within days afterwards in response to the question, “What did you say?”, Card told the interviewer, “I knew I had to be as succinct as possible. I said, “A second plane hit the second tower. We’re AT WAR“. It would seem a little more damning had the President of sat motionless after just being told the country he had just been elected to take care of was suddenly “at war” and he failed to react, but “under attack” is more subtle and open to interpretation, don’tcha think?

While everyone on the Right is trying to rewrite history and paint themselves as heros, let’s not forget what REALLY DID happen as only video can prove.

Reply with memories of where you were when you heard the news and how YOU reacted.

Post Script: Check out this nice video promo for the new book: “Lies, Damed Lies, And the Mess in Iraq“.

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September 10, 2006 by mugsy.

(I will post my “9/11″ related story tomorrow.)

Today, the day before the fifth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration went on a PR Blitz, sending White House members to all the major network Sunday shows: Condi on Fox and CBS, and NBC gave VP Cheney the full hour on “Meet the Press”.

During the program, the Vice President continued to spin the Bush Administration line that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States, despite the long-admitted “no connection to 9/11” and now the newly revealed “no connection to al Qaeda either“… which we have since learned is from a FEBRUARY 2002 PRE-WAR Pentagon report!

But buried in all this spin, what may be the most amazing admission of all: Vice President Cheney implies he in fact was the source that outed covert CIA agent Valery Plame Wilson! (see “Armitage” story below for more info on the subject).

FROM THE TRANSCRIPT:

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn back home, domestic politics, and talk about the whole situation involving Scooter Libby, your former chief of staff, who was indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald. This was a document that was released in the investigation. It’s a New York Times op-ed piece with your handwriting on it. And that handwriting says, “Or did his wife send him on a junket?” referring to Ambassador Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, who was a CIA, CIA agent. Did you, in any way, authorize Scooter Libby to release her name or her occupation to the press?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Tim, Scooter Libby is, he’s a good man. He’s a friend of mine. He’s somebody—one of the most competent and capable people I’ve ever known. He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence. But there is a legal matter pending, there is going to be a trial next year, I could well be a witness in the trial, and much as I would like to talk about, and I certainly have strong opinions about the case, I think it’d be totally inappropriate for me to do so.

MR. RUSSERT: There was a story in the National Journal that Cheney authorized Libby to leak confidential information. Can you confirm or deny that?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I have the authority as vice president under executive order issued by the president to classify and declassify information. And everything I’ve done is consistent with those authorities.

MR. RUSSERT: Could you declassify Valerie Plame’s status as an operative?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject, Tim.

I have argued for the past couple of years that NONE of the people (that we know of) that spoke to reporters about the true employer of Ms. Plame (the CIA) had the authority to request the identity of a covert agent working for the CIA. Only the President, Vice President, maybe the National Security Advisor and Director of the NSA could obtain that kind of information, and of those people, ONLY Bush and Cheney had an ax to grind against Plame’s husband Ambassador Joe Wilson for exposing their lies about Iraq trying to obtain nuclear material from Niger. It HAD to be Cheney.

And now he has basically admitted it on national television, essentially DARING people to impeach him, hiding behind the cloak of an Excutive Privledge that he may not even have.

Former President HW Bush put it best (video) when he called those who leak the name of covert agents, “the most insidious of traitors“.

It’s not just an impeachable offense, it’s a CRIME that DEMANDS an immediate investigation!

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September 7, 2006 by mugsy.

(from Guest Blogger “David”):

Just had to write to you, I guess my soulmate on issues regarding Bush, about the recent Presidential disclosures regarding the American Gulags across Europe.

Of course, his disclosures were quite late as most of the world already knew of these prisons and they have created a great deal of controversy. So, no surprises.

Still, the disclosures by Bush have been a source of intense shame for me. Frankly, the whole idea of U.S. government officials committing torture (and I use it in the conventional sense, not the highly strained sense the Cheneyites use it) makes my skin crawl.

I write you simply to emphasize that most of us who are Conservatives remain committed to the rule of law and view the excesses of this Administration with shock and horror. At heart, conservatism is about maintaining cherished historical American values and using intense deliberation before changing those values which have served us so well.

Accordingly, the Bush Administration has not been conservative, but rather, revolutionary in nature. This Administration has single-handedly scrapped more conservative American values in a few short years than the Democrats could ever shelve in decades of rule. Personally, I’d rather be on the side of moderations, something this Administration can’t abide.

So, I’ll vote Democratic for the foreseeable future so as to restore balance to the Federal and perhaps State Governments. I also hope that a government controlled by Democrats will slow or halt the destruction of our values so evident in the past six years.

Best personal regards,

David

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