We got fucking ripped off when Bush stole the presidency from Gore.
Think about it. Think about what a great statesman Gore would have made and how his actions would have made Americans proud. In the wake of 9/11, Gore could have lifted our country to heights it had never seen. Instead, look at the mess Bush has made. The cozy partnership between Cheney and Scalia, the Justice Department saying the President is above the law, authorizing torture, mobilizing zombies to attack anyone who demands accountability from the White House or the press, creating a climate where debate is quashed, dissent is crushed, and we are to march lock-step over the brink of the abyss with the born-again Bush Nazis. As a nation, look how we've suffered. It's like an alternate reality we've been living in, something Philip K. Dick could have written. The most qualified and capable candidate in 50 years is beaten by a jackass with no work history, who never left the US even once, who got grounded from flying because he missed his drugs test (when he was using cocaine), had his oil company bailed out by an infusion of cash from the Saudi royal family (read this as a bribe), and who appears like an angry little bunny on TV: confused, out of his depth, and clearly the plaything of the men behind him. Gore! We got fucking burned.
Friday, June 25, 2004
Al Gore KOs the Stupid Little Whiny Bitch
In fiery oratory, Al Gore lays it all out and delivers a series of bitch-slaps to Bush, Cheney and those who believe the Messianic view that Bush should be treated like a Caesar, immune from restraints and criticisms. Read Gore's powerful assault here, from Tom Paine. As Gore points out, Bush & Co have tried to keep the public in a state of perpetual fear and permanent war since the 9/11 attacks. Is this the America we want? Do we want an Executive branch that thinks it is above the law, that condones torture and imprisonment (even of American citizens) and then refuses to bring charges, allow them to see lawyers, or even acknowledge their status in captivity?
So why does anyone still support Bush? As my friend Sean said, people will believe what they want to believe regardless of facts. The Bush fans have the added delusion of believing this fratboy cokeheaded jackass is somehow ordained by Jesus to lead the homophobic, xenophobic "Christians" to victory over the Middle East. They believe that Bush & Co's rhetoric of Christianizing the Middle East is what Jesus wants, complete with apocalyptic Armageddon scenario. Here's my advice: go to church. Read the Bible and find out what Jesus actually said. Stay out of politics because you're too naive and simple. You will find He did not support murdering civilians, becoming obscenely wealthy, materialism, hate, and bigotry. In other words, Jesus would slap the shit out of that crap-ass poseur Bush, and Bush is going to have a lot of explaining to do when his day comes.
In fiery oratory, Al Gore lays it all out and delivers a series of bitch-slaps to Bush, Cheney and those who believe the Messianic view that Bush should be treated like a Caesar, immune from restraints and criticisms. Read Gore's powerful assault here, from Tom Paine. As Gore points out, Bush & Co have tried to keep the public in a state of perpetual fear and permanent war since the 9/11 attacks. Is this the America we want? Do we want an Executive branch that thinks it is above the law, that condones torture and imprisonment (even of American citizens) and then refuses to bring charges, allow them to see lawyers, or even acknowledge their status in captivity?
So why does anyone still support Bush? As my friend Sean said, people will believe what they want to believe regardless of facts. The Bush fans have the added delusion of believing this fratboy cokeheaded jackass is somehow ordained by Jesus to lead the homophobic, xenophobic "Christians" to victory over the Middle East. They believe that Bush & Co's rhetoric of Christianizing the Middle East is what Jesus wants, complete with apocalyptic Armageddon scenario. Here's my advice: go to church. Read the Bible and find out what Jesus actually said. Stay out of politics because you're too naive and simple. You will find He did not support murdering civilians, becoming obscenely wealthy, materialism, hate, and bigotry. In other words, Jesus would slap the shit out of that crap-ass poseur Bush, and Bush is going to have a lot of explaining to do when his day comes.
All-American Rejects
Tyson and Nick from the 'Rejects are in town scouting producers for their sophomore release. Tyson says it's going to have a thicker, more rock sound, with stronger emphasis on the midrange tones. Tyson and Nick were spotted hanging out at West Hollywood hangout Jones. Hopefully they'll give us some fantastic pop on their next record.
Tyson and Nick from the 'Rejects are in town scouting producers for their sophomore release. Tyson says it's going to have a thicker, more rock sound, with stronger emphasis on the midrange tones. Tyson and Nick were spotted hanging out at West Hollywood hangout Jones. Hopefully they'll give us some fantastic pop on their next record.
Gov. Arnie Kills Animals
It goes to show that steroids and hanging out with Nazis will do fucked up things to your mind. Schwarzenputz is attempting to repeal the Hayden Law of 1998 which mandates that shelters hold animals for 6 days before euthanizing them. Arnie wants to throw out that provision and allow shelters to kill animals immediately, which would instruct the shelters to no longer search for the pets' owners even when the pets have ID microchips in them. Read about it here, LA Times. Anyone who voted for Arnie is a fucking nitwit. You deserve to be run over by Arnie's goddamn Hummer.
It goes to show that steroids and hanging out with Nazis will do fucked up things to your mind. Schwarzenputz is attempting to repeal the Hayden Law of 1998 which mandates that shelters hold animals for 6 days before euthanizing them. Arnie wants to throw out that provision and allow shelters to kill animals immediately, which would instruct the shelters to no longer search for the pets' owners even when the pets have ID microchips in them. Read about it here, LA Times. Anyone who voted for Arnie is a fucking nitwit. You deserve to be run over by Arnie's goddamn Hummer.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Cop Joins ACLU
A former cop and Special Forces officer in Vietnam, a longtime opponent of ACLU, has a conversion. Read why he's changed his mind, here. Here's an excerpt:
There was a time when the world looked up to us, a time when America aspired to live up to its own high ideals. This coming election is about even more than policy or personality. It's about what it means to be American. Do we want to be proud of our leaders again? Do we want our country to be a real leader in the world again? Do we want to inspire people with our ideals?
A former cop and Special Forces officer in Vietnam, a longtime opponent of ACLU, has a conversion. Read why he's changed his mind, here. Here's an excerpt:
There was a time when the world looked up to us, a time when America aspired to live up to its own high ideals. This coming election is about even more than policy or personality. It's about what it means to be American. Do we want to be proud of our leaders again? Do we want our country to be a real leader in the world again? Do we want to inspire people with our ideals?
Robert Scheer And Iraq
Truth About Iraq Finally Has Its Pants On
June 22, 2004 -- "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States," reports the staff of the bipartisan 9/11 commission in demolishing one of the Bush administration's main arguments for invading Iraq. Now the administration and its spinmeisters are reduced to playing cheap semantic tricks to justify one of history's great bait-and-switch operations, arguing that they never said explicitly that Iraq was collaborating with Al Qaeda to harm the U.S.
The administration was perfectly happy when more than four out of five Americans polled, as we went to war, said that they believed Saddam Hussein had something to do with the destruction of the World Trade Center towers. We are now to believe that the dozens of prominent references by President Bush and his top officials to "linkages" between Al Qaeda and Iraq were all taken out of context by a confused public.
For example, the administration is now saying that when Bush announced on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that the defeated Hussein was "an ally of Al Qaeda," he didn't mean they actually helped each other. When Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations that Al Qaeda was operating inside Iraq, he apparently assumed people knew that he was referring to an affiliate called Ansar al Islam that was operating in the northern "no-fly" zone patrolled by the United States and outside Hussein's control.
And when Vice President Dick Cheney said on "Meet the Press" that by attacking Iraq "we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11," he was only helpfully pointing out that Iraq is in the Middle East too.
Yeah, right. The reality is that Bush and company have turned the language of lying into a fine art, always leaving themselves a shred of deniability in case the truth catches up. For example, Cheney has repeatedly cited as a smoking gun an always shaky report about 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta possibly meeting with an Iraqi official in Prague only months before the attacks, telling the nation that this sole claim to direct evidence linking Iraq with 9/11 had "been pretty well confirmed."
The 9/11 commission staff, however, begs to differ, saying Atta was in Florida: "We have examined the allegation that Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague on April 9. Based on the evidence available -- including investigations by Czech and U.S. authorities, plus detainee reporting -- we do not believe that such a meeting occurred."
The fact is that while the administration has been doing its utmost since 9/11 to convince us that Iraq is "the central front" in the war on terror, our security goals have been terribly compromised by expending our political, military and moral capital on the wrong enemy. As the 9/11 commission interim report makes clear, Osama bin Laden's allies before 9/11 were Afghanistan and the only two countries that recognized its Taliban regime: our "allies" Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In no meaningful sense were the religious fanatics in Afghanistan and the secular dictator of Iraq allies.
Indeed, what the staff report says is, "Bin Ladin had in fact at one time sponsored anti-Saddam Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan." Later, in 1994, Bin Laden made overtures to an Iraqi intelligence officer requesting "space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded."
"Never responded" does not a relationship make. Yet Bush, not one to let the facts get in the way, said last week, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and Al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
It's the Big Lie technique -- never flinch in the face of truth. That's why Bush will never admit that he got it wrong when he told the nation on the eve of going to war: "Iraq has sent bomb-making and document forgery experts to work with Al Qaeda. Iraq has also provided Al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons training."
There's a saying that "a lie can get halfway around the world before truth gets its pants on." Well, thanks to the many brave Americans who pushed so strenuously, against the wishes of this administration, for a legitimate investigation of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the truth has its pants on now and maybe can finally enlighten the 40% of Americans who still believe that Iraq played a role in the attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Scheer writes this weekly column for The Los Angeles Times and is coauthor of "The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq" (http:/www.fivelies.com).
Truth About Iraq Finally Has Its Pants On
June 22, 2004 -- "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States," reports the staff of the bipartisan 9/11 commission in demolishing one of the Bush administration's main arguments for invading Iraq. Now the administration and its spinmeisters are reduced to playing cheap semantic tricks to justify one of history's great bait-and-switch operations, arguing that they never said explicitly that Iraq was collaborating with Al Qaeda to harm the U.S.
The administration was perfectly happy when more than four out of five Americans polled, as we went to war, said that they believed Saddam Hussein had something to do with the destruction of the World Trade Center towers. We are now to believe that the dozens of prominent references by President Bush and his top officials to "linkages" between Al Qaeda and Iraq were all taken out of context by a confused public.
For example, the administration is now saying that when Bush announced on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln that the defeated Hussein was "an ally of Al Qaeda," he didn't mean they actually helped each other. When Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations that Al Qaeda was operating inside Iraq, he apparently assumed people knew that he was referring to an affiliate called Ansar al Islam that was operating in the northern "no-fly" zone patrolled by the United States and outside Hussein's control.
And when Vice President Dick Cheney said on "Meet the Press" that by attacking Iraq "we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11," he was only helpfully pointing out that Iraq is in the Middle East too.
Yeah, right. The reality is that Bush and company have turned the language of lying into a fine art, always leaving themselves a shred of deniability in case the truth catches up. For example, Cheney has repeatedly cited as a smoking gun an always shaky report about 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta possibly meeting with an Iraqi official in Prague only months before the attacks, telling the nation that this sole claim to direct evidence linking Iraq with 9/11 had "been pretty well confirmed."
The 9/11 commission staff, however, begs to differ, saying Atta was in Florida: "We have examined the allegation that Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague on April 9. Based on the evidence available -- including investigations by Czech and U.S. authorities, plus detainee reporting -- we do not believe that such a meeting occurred."
The fact is that while the administration has been doing its utmost since 9/11 to convince us that Iraq is "the central front" in the war on terror, our security goals have been terribly compromised by expending our political, military and moral capital on the wrong enemy. As the 9/11 commission interim report makes clear, Osama bin Laden's allies before 9/11 were Afghanistan and the only two countries that recognized its Taliban regime: our "allies" Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In no meaningful sense were the religious fanatics in Afghanistan and the secular dictator of Iraq allies.
Indeed, what the staff report says is, "Bin Ladin had in fact at one time sponsored anti-Saddam Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan." Later, in 1994, Bin Laden made overtures to an Iraqi intelligence officer requesting "space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded."
"Never responded" does not a relationship make. Yet Bush, not one to let the facts get in the way, said last week, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and Al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
It's the Big Lie technique -- never flinch in the face of truth. That's why Bush will never admit that he got it wrong when he told the nation on the eve of going to war: "Iraq has sent bomb-making and document forgery experts to work with Al Qaeda. Iraq has also provided Al Qaeda with chemical and biological weapons training."
There's a saying that "a lie can get halfway around the world before truth gets its pants on." Well, thanks to the many brave Americans who pushed so strenuously, against the wishes of this administration, for a legitimate investigation of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the truth has its pants on now and maybe can finally enlighten the 40% of Americans who still believe that Iraq played a role in the attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Scheer writes this weekly column for The Los Angeles Times and is coauthor of "The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq" (http:/www.fivelies.com).