Bush's four anti-terror successes all fictional
President Bush claimed in his State of the Union speech to have prevented four terrorist plots. Phew! It's a good thing to know that we tossed out our Bill of Rights for some actual REASON – I mean other than turning Iraq into a training ground for terrorism.
Except that we didn't.
1.-"We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast."
An October 8, 2005, LA Times story, headlined "Scope of Plots Bush Says Were Foiled Is Questioned," cited "several counter-terrorism officials" as saying that "the plot never progressed past the planning stages.... 'To take that and make it into a disrupted plot is just ludicrous,' said one senior FBI official….At most it was a plan that was stopped in its initial stages and was not an operational plot that had been disrupted by authorities."
Except that we didn't.
1.-"We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast."
An October 8, 2005, LA Times story, headlined "Scope of Plots Bush Says Were Foiled Is Questioned," cited "several counter-terrorism officials" as saying that "the plot never progressed past the planning stages.... 'To take that and make it into a disrupted plot is just ludicrous,' said one senior FBI official….At most it was a plan that was stopped in its initial stages and was not an operational plot that had been disrupted by authorities."
Don't let Dick Cheney get me!
This country has learned to be afraid… of Dick Cheney. The number one reason a significant minority of Americans still hesitates to get behind impeachment of Bush is fear of Dick Cheney. This will remain the case even should Cheney die, I am convinced. Certainly it remains the case no matter how many times I explain the following six reasons why it's INSANE, but I'm going to try one more time.
Peace is Possible – Peace is Imperative
January 27, 2007 – Washington, D.C.
America is a fundamentally good and great nation. As it evolves toward fulfilling its promise. It is better than our presidential leadership. The American people, nor the Congress, ever agreed to the global calamity and disaster.
Today we march for the soul of our nation, to preserve our nation’s honor. We march in protest against our government’s policy, mass action to change the course of our nation. The war in Iraq is causing a war on the poor at home. Money needed for the working poor, the aged and the young, are being sacrificed for this mis-adventure.
I was with Dr. King on his last birthday, January 15, 1968: his actions and agenda that day are instructive for us. He spent his morning sharing breakfast with his family. About 10am he came to church, dressed casually, building a multicultural coalition: Appalachian whites, Native Americans and Latinos from the Chavez group, Al Lowenstein and some Jewish allies from New York, Blacks from the Deep South and labor leaders…the focus was to end the War in Vietnam and End Poverty in America.
America is a fundamentally good and great nation. As it evolves toward fulfilling its promise. It is better than our presidential leadership. The American people, nor the Congress, ever agreed to the global calamity and disaster.
Today we march for the soul of our nation, to preserve our nation’s honor. We march in protest against our government’s policy, mass action to change the course of our nation. The war in Iraq is causing a war on the poor at home. Money needed for the working poor, the aged and the young, are being sacrificed for this mis-adventure.
I was with Dr. King on his last birthday, January 15, 1968: his actions and agenda that day are instructive for us. He spent his morning sharing breakfast with his family. About 10am he came to church, dressed casually, building a multicultural coalition: Appalachian whites, Native Americans and Latinos from the Chavez group, Al Lowenstein and some Jewish allies from New York, Blacks from the Deep South and labor leaders…the focus was to end the War in Vietnam and End Poverty in America.
Heaven waited
I'm still waiting for Art Buchwald's next column.
If I had any decent sources in heaven I'd ask them to get me an interview with him, just to check in, see how the first week went and find out when he's going to start writing again. But he was the one with all the great sources - at the White House, the CIA, the Kremlin, wherever.
The official story is that Art died on Jan. 17 at age 81, of kidney failure. The unofficial story is that he was supposed to die a year ago but didn't, and became, in his own modest estimation, "the man who wouldn't die." In early 2006 he'd had a leg amputated following serious infection, and was suffering from acute kidney disease. The doctors recommended dialysis - for the rest of his life. Art said no way and checked into a hospice instead. There, something went horribly wrong.
If I had any decent sources in heaven I'd ask them to get me an interview with him, just to check in, see how the first week went and find out when he's going to start writing again. But he was the one with all the great sources - at the White House, the CIA, the Kremlin, wherever.
The official story is that Art died on Jan. 17 at age 81, of kidney failure. The unofficial story is that he was supposed to die a year ago but didn't, and became, in his own modest estimation, "the man who wouldn't die." In early 2006 he'd had a leg amputated following serious infection, and was suffering from acute kidney disease. The doctors recommended dialysis - for the rest of his life. Art said no way and checked into a hospice instead. There, something went horribly wrong.
Bush: It's over
The Bush presidency is finished, whether or not he takes us all down with him. A State of the Union address is always a pitiless register of where exactly the White House incumbent stands, in terms of political power. As Bush plodded through a list of doomed political initiatives, the news cameras kept swiveling away from him, like people seeking escape from a bore at a cocktail party.
They peered over his shoulder at Nancy Pelosi, America's first female Speaker of the House; they swiveled up to the balcony at a haggard-looking Laura Bush; they sought out the Democratic presidential hopefuls, like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
They peered over his shoulder at Nancy Pelosi, America's first female Speaker of the House; they swiveled up to the balcony at a haggard-looking Laura Bush; they sought out the Democratic presidential hopefuls, like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
How we can end the occupation of Iraq
President George Bush deflects criticism of his war plans by claiming that his critics have no plans of their own. Vice President Dick Cheney, meanwhile, asserts that matters of war must be left in the hands of the President (presumably no matter how brilliant your alternative plan).
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) has had an exit plan on his website for over three years. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D., Calif.) has held several hearings discussing exit plans over the past year and a half. Peace activists, including Tom Hayden, have published and promoted a variety of exit plans over the past couple of years, and have even gone so far as to meet and discuss them with members of the Iraqi Parliament.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) has had an exit plan on his website for over three years. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D., Calif.) has held several hearings discussing exit plans over the past year and a half. Peace activists, including Tom Hayden, have published and promoted a variety of exit plans over the past couple of years, and have even gone so far as to meet and discuss them with members of the Iraqi Parliament.
Huddle up!
Team, huddle up. Huddle UP! Now, listen. I'm not going to even tell you what to do in the second half unless you understand what you did in the first half. Do you?
You think you're tired and worn down and you got beat bad, right? Is that what you think? When you pulled off the most powerful offensive attack in league history on February 15, 2003, putting millions of people in the streets against this war, you think no points went up on the board, right? You need to understand that you sidelined three-quarters of their lineup. They've been using the same players without a break ever since. You sent most of the nations on the globe and the United Nations out of the stadium. You left them with a couple of skinny Brits and a fat Italian as substitutes, and that's it. Now, do you think you're the ones who are dog tired? Their uniforms look bright and clean, but they're hurting bad.
You think you're tired and worn down and you got beat bad, right? Is that what you think? When you pulled off the most powerful offensive attack in league history on February 15, 2003, putting millions of people in the streets against this war, you think no points went up on the board, right? You need to understand that you sidelined three-quarters of their lineup. They've been using the same players without a break ever since. You sent most of the nations on the globe and the United Nations out of the stadium. You left them with a couple of skinny Brits and a fat Italian as substitutes, and that's it. Now, do you think you're the ones who are dog tired? Their uniforms look bright and clean, but they're hurting bad.
Follow Pelosi or follower Pelosi?
Larry Everest made an interesting comment on a panel we did in Memphis last weekend. He said that if Nancy Pelosi, who claims her top priority is ending the war and who claims to support democracy, were to ask people to come to Washington, D.C., on January 27th to march against the war, probably 20 million people would come. Such an action by Pelosi would not require that she take any controversial position, merely that she lead.
Rev. Glenda Hope sent around an Email that was forwarded to me and a lot of other people. She has a ministry in Pelosi's district and recently met with Pelosi's office. Hope was joined in the meeting by the President of the University of San Francisco (a Catholic priest), the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church (the largest church in San Francisco), the Senior Rabbi of the largest synagogue in San Francisco (Congregation Emanu-el), and Richard Smoak, a Presbyterian minister and founder/director of San Francisco Network Ministries (a 34-year-old ministry among the poor in San Francisco's Tenderloin). They met for 45 minutes with Pelosi's District Director Dan Bernal and Deputy District Director Melanie Nutter in Nancy Pelosi's office.
Rev. Glenda Hope sent around an Email that was forwarded to me and a lot of other people. She has a ministry in Pelosi's district and recently met with Pelosi's office. Hope was joined in the meeting by the President of the University of San Francisco (a Catholic priest), the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church (the largest church in San Francisco), the Senior Rabbi of the largest synagogue in San Francisco (Congregation Emanu-el), and Richard Smoak, a Presbyterian minister and founder/director of San Francisco Network Ministries (a 34-year-old ministry among the poor in San Francisco's Tenderloin). They met for 45 minutes with Pelosi's District Director Dan Bernal and Deputy District Director Melanie Nutter in Nancy Pelosi's office.
'Un-inventing nukes'
Ever notice how we're always getting the "done deal" treatment from the powers that be? We blunder into Iraq on lies and inanities and suddenly, you know, the proprietors of the Pottery Barn step out from behind the counter and inform us: "You break it, you bought it."
And so we have no choice, apparently, but to keep on stomping our unintended purchase with a mad frenzy - that is to say, allowing the same swaggering blunderers who precipitated the disaster to do more of the same, except at greater cost and with more collateral damage. The only logic here is the self-perpetuating logic of incompetence. This becomes our foreign policy: a fait accompli sinkhole.
Thus temporary necessity is the fallback justification for every initiative that pushes against conscience and sanity, however permanent the ramifications. Nowhere is this more evident than in the nuclear weapons industry, which has managed to remain viable and prosperous a generation after the Cold War ended. Its latest ploy is to develop something called the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a $100 billion program to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
And so we have no choice, apparently, but to keep on stomping our unintended purchase with a mad frenzy - that is to say, allowing the same swaggering blunderers who precipitated the disaster to do more of the same, except at greater cost and with more collateral damage. The only logic here is the self-perpetuating logic of incompetence. This becomes our foreign policy: a fait accompli sinkhole.
Thus temporary necessity is the fallback justification for every initiative that pushes against conscience and sanity, however permanent the ramifications. Nowhere is this more evident than in the nuclear weapons industry, which has managed to remain viable and prosperous a generation after the Cold War ended. Its latest ploy is to develop something called the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a $100 billion program to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Truth is speaking….Is power listening?
Deep crimson stains mottle the pages of humanity’s history. Untold numbers of souls who were skewered, decapitated, eviscerated, or obliterated in anonymity scream out for recognition as one peruses humankind’s memoirs. While our historical manuscript is also generously dappled by the milk of human kindness, much of our narrative is dominated by tales of man’s savage cruelty to man.
And despite widespread misconceptions, the human collective of the United States has acted in accord with the rest of the players on history’s stage.
Relative to its predecessors, the empire sometimes referred to as Pax Americana is not exceptionally exploitative, acquisitive, or genocidal. One can point to numerous historical examples of clans, tribes, or nations with comparable levels of bloodlust. As masters of the world go, the United States has been fairly run of the mill in its pathologies.
And despite widespread misconceptions, the human collective of the United States has acted in accord with the rest of the players on history’s stage.
Relative to its predecessors, the empire sometimes referred to as Pax Americana is not exceptionally exploitative, acquisitive, or genocidal. One can point to numerous historical examples of clans, tribes, or nations with comparable levels of bloodlust. As masters of the world go, the United States has been fairly run of the mill in its pathologies.