Would It Matter If Bolton Lied?

In all likelihood, John Bolton will receive a Bush recess appointment to the United Nations Ambassadorship, in spite of all the evidence showing that he is simply not worthy of the position. The answer to this letter will be interesting, if it gets answered at all.
*************************

July 28, 2005

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary:

It has just come to my attention that then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton was interviewed on July 18, 2003 by the State Department Office of the Inspector General in connection with a joint State Department/CIA IG investigation related to the alleged Iraqi attempts to procure uranium from Niger. This information would appear to be inconsistent with information that Mr. Bolton provided to the Committee on Foreign Relations during the Committee’s consideration of his pending nomination to be Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The Committee on Foreign Relations expects all nominees to provide to it accurate and timely information. Indeed, in submitting the Committee’s questionnaire, all nominees are required to swear out an affidavit stating that the information provided is “true and accurate.” It now appears that Mr. Bolton’s answers may not meet that standard.

I write, therefore, to request that you review this matter to determine whether incomplete or inaccurate information was provided by Mr. Bolton.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Foreign Relations

A World of Theft

While Sen. Frist and his cronies in the Senate were busy protecting the gun manufacturers from liability lawsuits, over in the House, Tom Delay and company were busy protecting pharmaceutical companies and doctors from liability in malpractice cases. The bill they passed puts caps on awards, and limits the amount of money someone can receive who has been hurt, maimed, incapacitated, made into a vegetable, or otherwise abused by an incompetent doctor or by the side effects of a drug.

Corporations must be protected at all costs. Not only must they be protected, we must lower their taxes, and give them as many tax incentives and government welfare programs as possible. If you can't curry favor with corporations, how do you expect to run a campaign and get re-elected?

We must also protect the credit, financial and banking industry from personal bankruptices. We wouldn't want the tragedies of families who lose jobs, have catastrophic illnesses, or small business failures get in the way of corporate profits.

In the name of profits and money, we provide worldwide subsidies for corporate global agribusinesses.

We have actually given taxpayer money to corporations like McDonald's, Gallo Wines, M&M/Mars, and Campbell Soups to advertise their own products.

Bush's plan to privatize Social Security is simply another give-away to the corporate world, in this case, the securities and investment industry.

"Fair and balanced", "level-playing field", "compassionate conservatism" -- code words in the right-wing lexicon that are all Orwellian lies. There is nothing fair, or balanced, or level, or compassionate about the rape of the American taxpayer. There is no genius in the strategy devised by Karl Rove to elect a President who goes about the business of stealing from his fellow citizens.

The Bush gang has made a shameless grab for power and control and will not give it up easily. There is no room in their world for democracy, debate, compromise, pluralism, criticism, or losing. When political historians and other political analysts talk about a pendulum that swings back and forth between the left and right in American history and that it surely will happen again, the Bush gang doesn't believe it. They believe in a permanent revolution that maintains them and their interests in power for as long as they can imagine.

They believe that if they own the electoral process, the Supreme Court, the money, the military, the moral high ground, patriotism, and the media, they will persevere against any liberal or progressive backlash.

Are We Seasick Yet?

The Weekly Standard, in the face of truth and reality, is doing its level best to keep alive the lie that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin-Laden were in bed together.

Using the thinnest of tissues for support, The Weekly Standard constructs a complex of weak and, in most cases, unsubstantiated connections between various Iraqis and certain Al-Queda officials, in meetings which the 9/11 Commission has already confirmed actually took place. But what the Standard doesn't do is provide any proof whatsoever that anything came from any of these meetings that would demonstrate clear support of Al-Queda by Saddam.

While on a visit to the Weekly Standard website I saw this ad for a cruise that none of us, surely, would want to miss. Breakfast, lunch and dinner with Irving Kristol and Fred Barnes. Yummy. Someone pass me the dramamine, please.

Another Smorgasbord of Sleaze

Occasionally, it's fun to list, in what I call a "smorgasbord of sleaze", a few of the latest outrages from the whacky world of the right wing corporatist power structure. Here are some of the latest bitter dishes Americans are being served.

Bitter Dish #1

Just as the energy bill in Congress is being debated, the Environmental Protection Agency is withholding an embarrassing report that shows how automakers are using loopholes in gas mileage requirements to manufacture automobiles that actually get less miles per gallon than cars did in the late 1980s. Imagine that, despite common sense, despite scientific mandates, and despite all the laws and regulations to the contrary, fuel efficiency has gotten worse.

Bitter Dish #2

CAFTA, known on these pages as the Central American Fleecing The Americas act, was voted down 180-175. Time expired and Bush lost. Was it over? No. Bush lackies in the House leadership, in direct contravention of House rules, extended time on the vote so that arms could be twisted and eventually they got what they wanted in a 217-215 vote. Their cheating is shameless, and they are doing it more often.

Bitter Dish #3

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine claims that echinacea, the purple coneflower that millions of people use worldwide to ward off viruses and as a remedy for the common cold, has no effect. What the study does not tell you is that the lead researcher has been a paid consultant for manufacturers of antibiotics. Millions of prescriptions for antibiotics are given patients every year unnecessarily for viruses and colds, against which they DO NOT WORK. Echinacea has no patents held by pharmaceutical companies. Echinacea is not profitable for big PHARMA.

Bitter Dish # 4

Despite promises to the contrary in 2004, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), and a prime example of what really is wrong with Kansas, has been refusing to hold the hearings on the Bush administration's misuse of pre-war intelligence. Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-WV) has explained the reason he believes the hearings haven't happened: ''I always think there's a reluctance to do anything which might embarrass the administration. I think that's been true since the beginning of all of this." Golly, ya think?

Bitter Dish #5

Thanks again to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), we now know about Tom Delay's $1.5 billion (yes, billion) giveaway to Halliburton, the oil industry, and Sugar Land, Texas in the latest energy bill which is being considered now in Congress. Delay is like a drunken sailor with American taxpayer money when it comes to his corporate pals.

War Profits Are Patriotic

In the midst of Rovegate, the London bombings, and the Roberts nomination, it's easy to have your eyes taken off what is happening in Iraq. But as a stark reminder of the reality we face there, we now have word from Halliburton that its KBR (Kellogg, Brown and Root) division has had record profits as a result of its war profiteering.

It doesn't bother them that they also receive "award fees" from the government for doing their jobs well, as if that is not supposed to be what they are supposed to do in the first place - as if the American people don't expect the highest level of work from them in a time of war as they support our men and women who are in harm's way. The award fees have amounted to $70 million. Halliburton is actually tickled pink to take that extra American taxpayer money, as a kind of tip.

Only a few weeks ago, on June 27, 2005, Rep. Henry Waxman held hearings about Halliburton and its overcharges, ripoffs, and unsupported charges. These hearings received scant coverage, and business in Iraq goes on as usual.

(Hat tip to PJB)

Islam is The Religion of the State

"Islam is the official religion of state, and is the fundamental source of legislation. It is impermissible to pass legislation that contradicts its essential verities or its laws (its essential verities about which there is consensus). This constitution safeguards the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people (in its Shiite majority and its Sunnis) and respects all the rights of the other religions."

The paragraph above is the second paragraph of the new draft constitution of Iraq.

This will make Iraq no different than any Arab country, all of which have enshrined in their constitutions the exact same phrase "Islam is the official state religion." And we all know what a boon this has been for most Arab countries in helping them to develop democratic societies.

With this declaration, comes all the anti-democratic consequences inherent in such a declaration. With it, comes religious police. With it, comes thought crimes. And with it, comes a markedly reduced level of freedom for women, in every aspect of their social, economic, educational, and political lives. Sharia law, and how the religious/governmental powers interpret it, will govern the lives of Iraqis, especially Iraqi women. And any sense of Western democratic practice, civil law, and social justice will be defined according to the way certain men decode and construe Sharia. The draft constitution specifically gives the Shiite religious leadership in Najaf a "guiding role" in recognition of its "high national and religious symbolism." That would be like George Bush giving a "guiding role" to Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and James Dobson. Hmmm, now I get it.

Despite the fact that most of the Kurdish people are Sunni Moslems, many of them support the idea of greater secular power for men and women both, especially in the way they govern. The Kurds are determined not to return to any circumstances where they are dominated by an Iraqi government of any kind. Their demand for autonomy, even independence, is extremely strong. Regardless of any assurances granted the Kurds in other parts of any final constitution, an Iraqi government will be compelled to decide issues within Islamic Sharia law in a context that differs from more secular and independent Kurdish interests. The potential for Kurdish reaction to Iraqi government decisions based on Sharia is high.

Under the current Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), it is required that women fill 25% of the seats in the current National Assembly (they actually have 31% of the seats). The draft constitution removes that requirement, dealing a death blow to future women's involvment in the Iraqi legislative body. To say the least, Sharia law does not look kindly on women's involvement in politics.

Once the final version of this constitution is completed by the August 15 deadline, there will be a campaign leading to a vote throughout Iraq on October 15. A two-thirds vote in at least 15 of the 18 provinces of Iraq will be required to ratify the constitution.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack has made it clear how the US government sees the Iraqi constitution:

"But let me underline -- and this is, you know, our understanding, as shared by the Embassy in Baghdad as well as back here in Washington, is that first and foremost, this is -- beginning and end -- this is an Iraqi process. The Iraqis will decide the wording of their constitution. They will decide the fundamental principles that are enshrined in that constitution concerning the role of religion in their society, the rights for women, the issues of -- so-called issues of "federalism." These are issues for the Iraqis to decide. "

This fits perfectly with what Lauren Sandler was told two years ago when she asked two high-ranking military officials about women's rights in Iraq and they replied "We don't do women."

Fog on the Brain

Sen. Rick Santorum has introduced legislation to privatize the National Weather Service so that anyone who wants to know what the weather is has to pay for it. He wants to put the entire thing into private corporate hands. The National Weather Service Employees Organization is rallying against Santorum. Among other things, they think it's a pretty whacky idea. Just imagine family farmers all across the country, who live on the edge and who depend on knowing what the weather is, having to pay some corporation for weather reports and forecasts. Just imagine an underground of illicit meteorologists providing a network of farmers with weather reports and forecasts. Just imagine them going to jail.

Just so you have some even clearer idea where Santorum is coming from and how he thinks about things, here is a small part of a piece written by Mark Leibovich in the Washington Post on April 18, 2005.

In his Senate office, on a shelf next to an autographed baseball, Sen. Rick Santorum keeps a framed photo of his son Gabriel Michael, the fourth of his seven children. Named for two archangels, Gabriel Michael was born prematurely, at 20 weeks, on Oct. 11, 1996, and lived two hours outside the womb.
Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass.

OK, it's easy to understand how people are emotionally traumatized by the loss of a child (I had it happen twice in my family). But what kind of warped thinking is it that compels parents to force their very young children to cuddle and kiss a corpse for hours and sing to it?

Guerillas in the Mist

It's getting worse in Iraq, not better. In complete defiance of every word spoken by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush, the three loopy wizards of the Iraq war, the insurgency is strengthening, not weakening. There is every sign that the "guerillas", the "terrorists", the "insurgents", are growing in strength, and bringing Iraq closer to a civil war between Sunni and Shiite. And god only knows what the Kurds will do as this mess gets worse. Not to mention Iran and Turkey and Syria.

Cheney's words of May 31, namely that the insurgency was in its "last throes" turn out not just to be wrong, but irresponsible as well. His words echo as a big joke on the American people, and worse, on the Iraqi people. We all wish that the killing would end, that the Iraqi people could, indeed, have peace, democracy, and freedom. But what we don't need is some injudicious pablum fed to us by an incompetent blowhard of a Vice President. What we don't need is a stand-up comic of a Secretary of Defense who seems to relish in making the press laugh. And what we don't need is a blinking, goofy-faced, meandering, thoughtless President who can't string together a coherent sentence to communicate the truth to this country.

At the very least, these three chickenhawk boys owe it to the men and women who are dying in Iraq to tell them the truth.

By the way, I did not know that not one Arab country has named an Ambassador to Iraq yet. What does that tell you?

They Know Not What They Do

Watch this video

It's only about 7 minutes long, but it is one of the most significant insights into the minds of anti-abortion activists I have ever seen. It takes only one question to reveal the shallow emotionality of their position; one question that demonstrates how little they know about the history of abortion in this country. And one question that demonstrates how little they have thought about the consequences of their actions.

The question?

When abortion becomes illegal, what punishment should there be for a woman who has an illegal abortion?

These people have not thought about it. And then when they do, their answers are hesitant, compassionate, and strangely unsure, in stark contrast to their righteous condemnation of Roe v Wade, their self-satisfied antipathy toward physicians who perform abortions, their assured blocking of women's clinics that offer information about abortion, and their untroubled confidence when they condemn pro-choice politicians.

One young woman even struggles with the "possibility" that women might still obtain abortions if they were made illegal, not really certain if that could happen.

I have heard one suggestion that we stop referring to these people as anti-abortion or anti-choice, but rather as pro-criminalization. Let's educate them. Let's help them to think about the consequences of their actions.

Running From The Truth

Deny, Deny, Deny.

The White House has denied Senate requests for memoranda written by Judge John Roberts, Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court, while he was working in the Solicitor General's office. The White House claims attorney/client privilege. The problem is that when Roberts worked for the Solicitor General, he was not working for the President, nor for White House counsel. He was working as an attorney for the American people.

It is clear that the White House does not want the American people, nor the Democrats in the Senate, to know what Roberts wrote.

More Denials

The White House also claimed that Judge Roberts was never a member of the Federalist Society. Now we have a copy of the Federalist Society Leadership Directory that says he was a member. Roberts is not talking. It's a simple thing when you think about it. Why would the White House and Roberts lie about such a simple thing, something that no one would be surprised about, namely that he is a conservative and belonged to conservative organizations? perhaps there is more than meets the eye. We'll see.

And Yet More Denials

The Department of Defense, despite orders from a Federal judge, has decided to refuse to turn over photos of torture and murder at Abu Ghraib. The utterly outrageous excuse they are using is that to do so would violate the Geneva Conventions. As Rachel Maddow argued yesterday morning on Air America, here these guys never once admitted that anything done by the US at Abu Ghraib (or for that matter, Guantanamo or elsewhere) violated the Geneva Conventions, and now they use it as an excuse to prevent the world from seeing exactly how the Geneva Conventions were, in fact, violated.

The Denial of Denials

The White House denials (now no-comment silence) that Karl Rove committed a crime against our national security laws pales in comparison to the lies told the American people by Bush about the reasons we have sent thousands of Americans to their deaths and mutilations in Iraq. The unholy mess that George Bush has created for this country and our people is criminal and impeachable.

In a world of denials, lies, shell games, and hoodwinks, we saw the resignation of one Republican President 30 years ago. I can only hope that history repeats itself.

CAFTA (Central America Free To Abuse) Treaty

CAFTA is basically "corporate socialism," writes Jeff Milchen.

It's also basically one big Orwellian lie. When George Bush says to American companies, "It's going to be easier to sell your products to 44 million new customers" he actually means "It's going to be easier to make your products when they are made by 44 million new slave laborers." Corporations understand these code words and phrases, better than most reporters. Reporters just report. If George Bush said "Cigarettes, lead paint, and asbestos should be our major exports to Central America", reporters would just report it. Hey, that's what the President said, isn't it? What are we supposed to do, change his words?

Most corporations know that after CAFTA is enacted, Central Americans, who earn a little more than $2000 a year, are not going on shopping sprees for wonderful American crap that they can put into their 3-bedroom, two-car garage homes. Most American corporations know that Central Americans understand that they may have a chance to be employed by American corporations that have outsourced US jobs to them. They understand that they might be able to earn $3000 a year, and maybe afford to buy an extra pair of shoes for their children.

Jeff Milchen is from ReclaimDemocracy.org.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

An open letter to the Kansas School Board written by Bobby Henderson.


**************************
I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution.

I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs.

We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is, of course, invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t. You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.





In conclusion, thank you for taking the time to hear our views and beliefs. I hope I was able to convey the importance of teaching this theory to your students. We will of course be able to train the teachers in this alternate theory. I am eagerly awaiting your response, and hope dearly that no legal action will need to be taken. I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

Sincerely Yours,

Bobby Henderson, concerned citizen.

P.S. I have included an artistic drawing of Him creating a mountain, trees, and a midget. Remember, we are all His creatures.

Karl Rove, the New J. Edgar Hoover.

Valerie Plame, a covert female CIA agent, who is married to long-time State Department foreign service officer, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, has had her career ruined because her husband had the temerity to contradict President Bush's claim that nuclear materials had been shipped from the African country, Niger, to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq. Wilson was actually sent by the Bush administration to Niger and determined it was not true. In his official capacity, he so advised the President. But when President Bush mentioned this known lie in his State of the Union address, Wilson was compelled to set the record straight publicly in an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

It has now been revealed that this infuriated Karl Rove so much that he began a vendetta against Wilson. In spite of the fact that Wilson gave Bush $1000 in 1999, Rove researched Wilson's election giving records and decided that Wilson was a Democrat. Although he claims he never used her actual name, at the very least, Rove has admitted outing Mrs. Joseph Wilson as a CIA agent. Any question about whether he outed a CIA agent by name or not is the height of Orwellian hair-splitting. Rove committed a crime against national security and should be prosecuted.

Judith Miller, a female reporter for the New York Times, has gone to jail because she refuses to testify about a source who allegedly gave her Valerie Plame's name as the undercover wife of Wilson's for a story that Judith Miller never wrote. Regardless of what one may think about Judith Miller's knee-jerk coverage of the buildup to the Iraq war, her almost cheerleader-style reporting of anything and everything Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld gave her, it is more than ironic that she is the one who is in jail in this whole mess.

Robert Novak, an insider good old boy if there ever was one, did publish a story in which he revealed Valerie Plame's name as a result of being fed her name by a White House source. He has "cooperated" with the special prosecutor. That's one way of saying that he rolled over and behaved like the sleazeball Bush mouthpiece that he is. He is, of course, still free to bloviate on behalf of the Bush administration and apologize for any of its lies and crimes.

But the man who remains untouched in all this, who must be the center of interest for any special prosecutor with half a brain, is Karl Rove. And yet, no one in the White House, or in the entire Republican Party, has spoken out against him. The White House continues its song and dance routine, answering all reporter's questions with the same mindlessly intoned mantra about its being an ongoing investigation and they don't comment on such things. Such selective non-commenting flies in the face of all their other very purposeful leaks and comments when it suits their partisan politicial interests.

The silence about Rove is telling. Just as J. Edgar Hoover was immune from criticism and attack, no one wants to take Rove on. No one wants to criticize him. No one wants the veil lifted from his secretive office, from what he knows, and from what he has done. The only exception I have seen is the recent testimony of Larry Johnson, a registered Republican and former CIA official.

If the veil is lifted, if Karl Rove goes down, it will be a huge embarrassment for the Republicans. But it will be appropriate that Karl Rove's animus, his roiling hatred of Democrats, his unrestrained, meanspirited tactics will be what brings him down.

Of course, these are all BIG ifs. I won't be surprised at all if they find a way to squirm out of this. Who will notice, anyway?

When You Take the Money, You Pay the Price

Here's a little primer on the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which is a perfect example of what is wrong with the Democratic Party. It's the money, stupid. We will never have a political or economic democracy until we rid ourselves of the money. The DLC is bought and paid for, and they buy and pay for everything they want or think they need. The money comes first, before anything else. These guys swim in it, breathe it, and wallow in it. They manipulate it, buy other non-DLC Democrats with it, and they use it to advance their narrow interests and personal careers.

DLC to preach "free" trade agenda in Ohio, a state ravaged by "free" trade: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1121938334222852.xml&coll=2

The effects on Ohio of "free" trade:
http://www.policymattersohio.org/trade.htm

DLC stabs Dems in the back by supporting Bush's CAFTA:
http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=1C148B00-B99A-67B4-D0CEE576298A99FE

USA Today about the emergence of trade as an issue in Ohio elections:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-03-14-kerry-nafta_x.htm

How the DLC has used corporate money to try to buy the Democratic Party:
http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/7/dreyfuss-r.html

DLC attacked Howard Dean:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0304-27.htm

Christian Science Monitor on the DLC:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0720/p04s01-usmb.html

Hat tip to Michael Miller at Public Domain Progress

Canada Wins Most Stupid Award

Canada has beat out the USA and George Bush, winning the World Stupidity Award. A spokesman for the award ceremonies which were, coincidentally, held in Canada, said: "Canadians often feel we're in the shadow of the U.S., especially when it comes to stupidity, but now we're proving we're world class.”

Given how incredibly stupid the US government has been in the last year, compared to the Canadians, I think some not-so-challenging investigative reporting would reveal that this awards ceremony was fixed (and I don't mean "repaired").

Hosted by Lewis Black, the award ceremony did give George Bush his one win for Stupidest Statement of the Year when he said "They never stop thinking of ways of harming America, and neither do we.”

For a complete report about the award ceremonies, here's the article from the Globe and Mail, which is a pretty stupid name for a newspaper if you ask me.

By the way, I sometimes visit Canada and I can tell you it's kinda like going to a foreign country. They even speak a foreign language in Montreal.

Heartwrenching Reality

The following is a paragraph from BagNewsNotes that sums up the tragedy of one day --yesterday, July 21,2005. Michael Shaw is a writer, psychologist, cartoonist -- and the man behind the BAG, a website with four missions , one of which is to analyze the news and advertising images we see around us and explore how they influence the way we think about them. This one paragraph, with the accompanying photo, reflects the terrible, heartwrenching reality Iraqis and Americans are facing in a world created by Bush's imperial arrogance.

After two years of this slow-motion cataclysm, I never saw a week like this last one. With the growing Iraqi rapprochement with the Iranians, and the murder of the Sunni delegates to the commission working on the new constitution, and the dismal new Pentagon report about the profoundly insufficient capabilities and prospects for Iraq's defense forces, and the constitution draft that sends woman's rights back to the stone age, and the killing of the Egyptian ambassador, and two horrific large-scale suicide attacks, it's hard to imagine a worse picture.
So, of all the bad days yesterday, nothing compares to what happened to Jalil Shaalan and his family in the Amarayah district of Baghdad. Jalil, a security guard, was gunned down in front of his wife and children by unknown assailants just outside of the school he was employed to protect. I mean, what the hell are we doing?

Rove's Checklist for Roberts: Pros, No Cons

TOP SECRET

TO: POTUS
FROM: ROVER
RE: SCOTUS

Out of all the candidates we have looked at, here's why I like Roberts.

He will vote with Scalia on all those votes Scalia lost when Sandra Day O'Connor voted against him. Scalia is just itching to overturn Roe v Wade, school prayer, and flag-burning. Did we find out if Roberts hunts? Can't you just see yourself along with Scalia, Thomas, Cheney and Roberts walking through the woods with your guns? (Don't stand in front of Thomas, though)

He's not a nuanced thinker like O'Connor who seemed to struggle over issues, and who was burdened with seeing both sides. In contrast, Roberts is unconflicted, he's got a clearer handle on our visions, and this is going to become increasingly important as we get deeper into trouble. And you know what I am talking about.

He reminds me of you in so many ways: the strong expressive eyes, the nice suit, the white skin, youthful exuberance, manly good looks, good law school, pert admiring wife in pink, the somewhat mysterious look on his face.

By the way, Ann Coulter thinks he can't dance and probably doesn't know who Jay-Z is, both significant attributes as far as I am concerned.

He is somewhat of a blank slate, but so were you six years ago, and look where we are now. Big plus.

We do know that he opposed clean air rules, supports stripmining, doesn't want doctors to discuss abortion with their patients, and he's not so hot on the Voting Rights Act. But I advise against publicizing any of these positions during the nomination hearings.

As you know, there are all those other things we learned about him from our private talks at Camp David, stuff that no one else knows. Hehe.....

He knows how to deal with kids who are out of control, something you know about too, sir. The way he handled that 12-year old French fry eater is a no-nonsense approach that we admire greatly. And besides, wasn't it fitting that she was eating French food?

He also reminds me of Ken Starr, and he even worked for him!

John Kerry will attack him, just because John Kerry would attack any candidate you nominated, and that's a good thing.

He clerked for Rehnquist, was a member of the Federalist Society, and was a counsel for Ronald Reagan. He had to learn something.

God, he reminds me of you! He even holds his hands in front of him in that cute way you do.

The Family Research Council and the Christian Coalition think he's swell. Rick Santorum and John Cornyn love him. Jim Dobson from Focus on the Family is on board. And all the Christian women's organizations are gaga.

Even Joe Liberman likes him!!

I think your Stetson might fit him.

The guy has given the Washington press corps his cell number and has said "call anytime." They gotta love him, right?

He is the epitome of fair and civil. Everyone says so. And any attack on him will be viewed as an attack on civility itself.

If Harry Reid, Pat Leahy, Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin stonewall on this guy, they are deadmeat. If Harry Reid, Pat Leahy, Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, and Dick Durbin don't go all out in opposition to him, they are deadmeat. Man, is that a win-win for us, or what?

If the Dems filibuster, the American people will not blame us for using the nuclear option.

Finally, if my little problem ever gets up that far, we probably have a good shot.

The Bush Unhealthy Clinic for Women, Inc.

Around the globe, the Bush administration has been anti-woman's rights, anti-woman's choice, anti-women's health, anti-women's suffrage, anti-women's education, just plain anti-women. Despite Bush's lip service to freedom and democracy for women, his actions prove what empty words he speaks.

Mary-Ann Stephenson elaborates.

Roberts, The Stealth Candidate

Bush's nominee is a white middle-aged conservative candidate with a shallow record. But a record, nonetheless. Here is a synopsis of what we know so far. Some of this comes from the record of his service as Deputy Solicitor General under President George Bush I, and the rest as DC Court of Appeals judge.

Reproductive Freedom

As Deputy Solicitor General, he argued twice before the Supreme Court on an issue of reproductive freedom. In the first instance, the case involved the so-called "gag" rule that prohibited federally funded health clinics from discussing abortion. He argued
“[w]e continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled . . . [T]he Court’s conclusion[] in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion . . . find[s] no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.” The Court ruled against him.

In another case, as Deputy Solicitor General, he argued on behalf of Operation Rescue defending them against charges that they discriminated against women by blocking women's health centers that provide abortions. The Court ruled in favor of the radical anti-choice group Operation rescue, but in reaction to this decision Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to protect women and health care providers from harassment and violence.

Religious Liberty & Separation of Church and State

As Deputy Solicitor General, he argued in favor of officially sponsored school prayer at graduation ceremonies. Roberts position maintained that students who did not want to pray could simply not attend their graduations. His brief stated: "A voluntary decision not to witness a civic acknowledgment of religion . . . cannot be considered a response to coercion.” He lost.

Free Speech

As Deputy Solicitor General, Roberts argued in favor of the congressional legislation which made flag burning illegal. Even right-wing Justice Scalia argued against Roberts in a 5-4 ruling by stating "punishing desecration of the flag dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered, and worth revering.”

Environmental Protections

Roberts broke with most of his conservative Republican US Court of Appeals judges in a decision that came down on the side of the government's position that it can enforce protection on private land of species listed in the Endangered Species Act. Roberts sided with the California developer in challenging the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act. In so doing, he was identifying himself with radical, rightwing judges who work to undermine environmental protections in favor of development run amok.

Individual Rights

Roberts showed a streak of meanness when he ruled against a mother whose 12-year old daughter had been arrested, shackled, taken away in a police vehicle, fingerprinted and jailed for three hours, after having been arrested on a DC subway car for eating a French Fry. You think I am kidding? It happened. Apparently, in a no-tolerance fit of pique by the DC police directed at people who eat and drink on the DC subway system, this 12-year old was targeted. The mother sued.

Roberts sided with the police, claiming that the law requiring harsher treatment of juveniles was rationally related to “the legitimate goal of promoting parental awareness and involvement with children who commit delinquent acts.” In defense of his position to arrest and detain juveniles, he claimed that juveniles might give “an entirely fanciful [name] or, better yet, the name of the
miscreant who pushed them on the playground that morning,” and thus, their parents would never know about their misbehavior. After this incident, DC police changed their policy regarding the arrest of juveniles.

But in further commenting about the policy to arrest juveniles, Roberts wrote: “the policies were changed after those responsible endured the sort of publicity reserved for adults who make young girls cry.” What kind of guy is this?

Access to Justice

Despite strong precedent to the contrary, Roberts sided against a group of small publications that won a case against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. On appeal by the CFTC, Roberts denied the winning plaintiffs an award of attorneys fees guaranteed by the Equal Access to Justice Act and, under which, a lower court had ruled they were directly deserving.

Protecting the Federal Treasury

In a case where he had an opportunity to protect the American people, as taxpayers, against corporate misdeeds, he chose to protect the corporation. In a decision that split hairs, under the False Claims Act, he sided with a company that provided defective railway cars to Amtrak. An Amtrak employee, acting somewhat as a whistle-blower, brought suit against the company and was denied a hearing (the case was dismissed) because, as Roberts claimed, Amtrak is not, as required under the Fales Claims Act, an official or employee of the United States. In so doing, Roberts has exempted from the Flase Claims Act a large number of quasi-governmental groups like Amtrak that receive billions of dollars of American taxpayer money.

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These are, to say the least, troubling arguments and decisions. Roberts has a lot of questions he needs to answer. The Democrats must put his feet to the fire. Of course, Roberts can, as he did during his nomination process for the DC Court, simply refuse to answer, or answer in ways that really don't communicate anything. I worry that this guy will sneak onto the Court.

His record on the DC Court clearly shows me one thing: He has demonstrated a disdain and lack of support for the disadvantaged.

By nominating a man whose record is so thin, Bush is trying to slip one passed us. I think this guy is, at his core, a right-wing ideologue just itching to prove himself. And from his arguments and positions, he may be a nitwit in the mold of Clarence Thomas and George Bush, himself.

Thanks to People for the American Way's extensive research.

William Greider Describes Fascism

America's Truth Deficit is what William Greider's column in the New York Times is entitled. It should have been entitled Fascism is Alive and Well in America.

After describing the very sad state of affairs for America in the near future, he offers some ideas for corrective action. Once offered, however, he slaps our faces with the cold truth of reality. The corrections, the reforms, the changes won't happen because "The webs of mutual interests connecting government, corporate boardrooms and Wall Street are too deeply woven."

So few even want to talk about it, much less do anything about it.

It is going to take James Kunstler's Long Emergency to wake the American people to this reality. Even the corporate boardrooms, government, and Wall Street will take notice -- something like the proverbial 2 x 4 smashing their heads.