I’m a bad blogger

God. I really am. I haven’t posted for days, even with all of the Sarah “Lucy Ricardo” spins going on and the ridiculous polls and Mr. Cheeky still spouting his horseshit and the American people just sucking it up like sushi.

This is my final exams week – plus I’m sick, and I just haven’t had the motivation or time to post. But so many others have. My blogroll is full of them. Tomorrow I give my oral exams, after which I will get back into it. And there is so much to get into. Right now I’m just staring at poll results that say that McBush is actually even with or ahead of Obama. Are the people in the US really that incredibly gullible and stupid?

Yes.

Iraq. Remember?

Marty on the Homefront has several posts up that are no less than necessary reading at this time. The first is a secret tape made of an army recruiter threatening a potential recruit. The second is a post – the final post – of an American soldier who used to have a blog. It is one of the best things I have ever read. It’s long. Read it.

Link to this blog. It’s a good one.

I read the news today, oh boy….

Just a quick note. Lots in the news about Georgia and Russia and how incensed our goverment is that Russia would have the gall to invade another country. That is so absurd I can’t even comment.

Lots in the news about Obama and McCain and $5 million dollar rich people. Lots about Hurricane Fay and ofcourse lots about the Olympics.

In case anyone else forgot – the msm certainly did – there are still a couple of wars going on in the world. Innocent people are being slaughtered, mutiliated and left homeless because we are too stubborn to admit we fucked up.  And American men are dying or having their limbs blown off while the media focuses on everything else but.

Bush must love it.

Border Security Confiscating Laptops

We shouldn’t let this story slide under the radar even though it’s not really new. Customs Agents have apparently increased the number of laptop computers that they seize and “detain” indefinitely at border crossings. They’re also detaining Ipods, cell phones, and other digital storage devices in case the boogie man is hiding in your memory card. The devices are being confiscated from foreign and American citizens alike.

As the Washington Post reported yesterday, Border Patrol and Customs agents can now “detain” laptops “for a reasonable period of time” to “review and analyze information.” Article here.

They don’t need probable cause under the new policy. Doesn’t matter if you’re a U.S. citizen or foreign visitor. Officials can hold the laptops indefinitely. Or hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, video and audio tapes. Ditto papers, documents, books, pamphlets, even litter.

What have they found so far? Some videos of bombs going off in Iraq, some Jihadhist literature, whatever that is, and some intellectual property violations. OMG!!

This begs the question, what about leftist blogger files. I have backup files full of anti Bush articles and pictures. Do I need to delete these before I visit in December? I suppose I should play it safe and clean up my hard drive.

But isn’t it a shame that I have to? I seem to remember when we all had the freedom to dissent, even against our own government or president. And there was a time when personal privacy was a given. Not to mention freedom of speech. Not anymore. Now what we have is the re-emergence of Nazism. All Bush lacks is the moustache.

Vincent Bugliosi rips Bush a new one

In case you missed this over at C & L, I think it’s the best thing on YouTube today. Bugliosi is given a platform before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend his new book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. The repubs on the committee got a little more than they bargained for.

A Last Throw of the Dice…?

I rarely read the US press anymore as I find that, when the biased reporting isn’t downright outrageous, it is often just plain silly. It’s also frequently behind the times. I read first about Tony Snow on the BBC Online. It was another hour before I saw the first article from a US source.

New Zealander, Bob Rigg, writing freelance for The Asia Times, sums up the US strategy in Iraq-Iran very nicely. In 13 paragraphs, his summary puts it in a perspective that even I might understand.

…architects of the Project for a New American Century, including luminaries such as John Bolton, Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz.

The neo-conservative scenario was clear: a devastating military strike would knock out Iraq’s powerful armed forces, and its population would welcome US liberators with open arms. The US would then immediately strike at Iran…Before the world could collect its wits, both Iraq and Iran would have been under direct US control. But the best laid plans of mice and men …

He explains how the Middle Eastern countries, instead of kowtowing to the US since the invasion of Iraq, are doing exactly the opposite. They are flexing their muscles and becoming bolder.

…its [US] pre-eminence has been eroded by misguided neo-conservative adventures in the Middle East, and by the emergence of a new international constellation of powerful and assertive states, including in the region. Their assertiveness has increased in proportion to the decline in the political and moral standing of the US, which is now less in control of the world and the Middle East than at any time since the turn of the new century.

This entire master plan for control of Middle Eastern oil reserves, which has been in play and passed down from one administration to the next since the Shah, finally settled in the incapable hands of one George W. Bush. He surrounded himself with those who were already involved in the plan, indeed I’m sure they are the same ones who worked behind the scenes to insure his election,  and he gave them free reign to finally complete it.

But now that the plan is falling apart, what with the Iraqi government demanding a timetable, the American public strongly against expansion, the economy going in the toilet while Bush continues to spend millions daily in Iraq, and the incompetence and impotence of the Bush White House, he is becoming desparate to make something happen before he leaves office. Or I should say, the powerful repubs who pull his strings, fearful that the Bush clone, McCain isn’t going to pull off the election, are scrambling to position the US so there will appear to be no alternative other than war with Iran.

I think we better be careful in these final days of Bushco just what we believe about Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria and everyone else in that region. The propoganda and fabrications are going to get heavy. I don’t think ANY major decisions should be allowed in these final few months before the next president. The chances of Bush actually improving the situation are nil. He hasn’t done one positive thing for the country yet. Don’t believe he is going to start now.

Republicans: Our President is our WORST NIGHTMARE

I know I’ve been remiss about posting here but my schedule during the week just got crazy and I just don’t have any energy when I get home, especially after a martini or two. Hell, it’s 5:14 am right now and this is the only chance I have to post.

For now, if you haven’t seen the video of the 61 year old librarian who was thrown off a public street for carrying a sign that said McCain=Bush, go here and take a look.

The key phrase is at the end where this very polite lady asks, Why is McCain = Bush so offensive to republicans who voted for and defend Bush?

I think we know the answer and now the republicans have blown their own cover. By this action against a little old lady, they have proven that even they know Bush is a disaster and they can not allow their new candidate, to even have his name on the same sign with him. I just love it!

General Accuses Bush Administration of War Crimes

Well George, remember what you said about “listening to your commanders in the field”?

A retired Army general who spent 10 months in Iraq and led an investigation into the atrocities at the Abu Ghraib prison there accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing war crimes and called for those responsible to be held accountable. Full article here.

“After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account,”wrote Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba.

Bush, as the Commander in Chief, and as a “war president” as he likes to call himself, is ultimately responsible for the actions of his military underlings.

“The detainees suffer permanent hearing loss, persistent and debilitating pain in limbs and joints, major depressive disorder, severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders, such as panic attacks.” The men were later released and were never charged with any crimes.

We may be Democrats or we may be Republicans, but we are all Americans. Is this what our founding fathers envisioned and is this what is acceptable now in the United States of America? If we are patriots, is not our first patriotic duty to uphold our own Constitution and abide by our own laws? Or are we ready and willing to uphold that Constitution only when the going is easy but when the going gets a little tough, when we feel a little insecure, we forget all that and start behaving like the very barbarians we are supposed to detest?

“With this evidentiary record, this report provides the most detailed account available thus far of the experience of detainees in US custody who suffered torture — a war crime — at the hands of US personnel. Additionally, this report provides further evidence of the role health professionals played in facilitating detainee abuse by being present during torture and ill-treatment, denying medical care to detainees, providing confidential medical information to interrogators, and failing to stop or document detainee abuse.

Just what justification is there, once we are smacked in the face with evidence of actual war crimes, to not take some kind of action against those who are responsible? Just what excuse for our actions do we expect to be acceptable by the international community? Or are we so arrogant, that we no longer care what anyone else thinks?

The report was released Tuesday, the same day documents made public by the Senate Armed Services Committee presented during a hearing on the administration’s interrogation policies showed a pattern of humiliation, abuse and even torture inflicted on detainees was a deliberate policy of the Bush administration.

Jonathan Fredman, chief counsel to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, discussed with U.S. military officials how interrogators could use the “wet towel”technique against detainees to extract information.

Fredman added that the “wet towel”technique would only be defined as torture “if the detainee dies.”

Just what kind of a fucking country are we, anyway?

John McCain: Traitor or Moron?

John McCain exposed himself as a fellow traitor to the US constitution with this response to the US supreme court decision on Guantanamo Bay detainees.

“The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country,” McCain said to applause from a crowd of supporters in New Jersey.

“Our first obligation is the safety and security of this nation and the men and women who defend it,” he continued. “This decision will harm our ability to do that.”

No John, the first obligation of our government and of it’s president, as stated in the oath of office. is to uphold the constitution of the United States in all instances. And the function of the Supreme Court is to make judgements based on their reasonable interpretation of that document. That’s the law. It doesn’t change depending on which country our current enemy comes from or what warfare techniques they choose to employ.

If you want to be President of the United States, it’s about goddamn time you started acting like one instead of a too old Alzheimer’s patient who can’t make up his mind. Our country needs leadership, not another two bit oil whore like the current megalomaniac. And part of that leadership, indeed the most important part of that job, is to uphold the constitution that this country has depended upon and grown successfully under for over 200 years.

You don’t understand the economy, you don’t have a clue about the needs of poor and working class Americans, you publicly change your stance on issue after issue and don’t even realize it, and now you have publicly said that you support violating the law as set forth in the US constitution. You also seem to believe that you are better equipped to interpret the constitution than the justices that have been appointed to do so. That’s not called being presidential, John, that’s called being a traitor and a moron.

Vet news. Who cares

Just a few stories that rarely make the news. I thought it would be nice if we at least knew what was going on with our vets, even if we can’t or won’t do anything to help them. We are truly a disgusting nation.

VA rejects presidential directive to help wounded vets register to vote. That was a Clinton directive of course, not a Bush one. And their bullshit reason? Because using its staff resources that way would interfere with their mission of offering quality care to their patients. Quality care?? And by the way, they won’t let outside groups or even individuals to come in and help either.

McCain joins McBush in attacking and denying veterans. No wonder they don’t want wounded vets to vote. Who would vote for this turncoat anyway?

US soldiers forced to launch campaign to convert Iraqis to Christianity. It’s a direct violation of the Constitution’s Establishment clause in the First Amendment, which prohibits military personnel from promoting any form of religion, but who cares? We gave up the Constitution years ago. The marines are doing it too even though Iraqis are horrified at the sacrilege. Now, that’s winning hearts and minds!

Attempt to arrest John Bolton for war crimes fails. A former ambassador was physically blocked from approaching Bolton in his attempt to make the arrest.

Home foreclosures in military towns are 4 times the US rate. GI’s were targeted during the subprime lending boom because of their low credit. Now, as their mortgages double, they are forced out of those homes. Foreclosures are up nearly 500 percent in some military towns.

1/3 of the US female soldiers in Iraq suffer sexual assault. But the VA won’t recognize their trauma or treat it as PTSD. I guess they’re just supposed to “buck up” and quit whining.

Military mental health insurance too low to cover costs. It doesn’t really matter that soldiers suffering from PTSD have to wait months to get a doctor’s appointment, because their insurance won’t cover the treatment anyway.

So, in summary, get over there and fight for us but when you get back, don’t assume we’re going to fix what happened to you when you were there. Don’t bother us about your wounds or your nightmares or your screwed up heads. And if your a woman, especially don’t bother us just because you got raped a little bit. You probably asked for it anyway.

If you lost your house when you were gone, that’s your problem, not ours. Serves you right for listening to the bullshit ads we made to sell you the house in the first place.

And don’t talk to us about your constitutional rights to vote. If you’re well enough to vote you shouldn’t be in the VA hospital anyway, crybaby.