Mission gone bad
“The best strategic minds in both parties have argued for months that the answer is essentially to muddle our way out, cut our losses carefully and try to salvage what we can from a mission gone bad.”
This isn’t pretty. Not when you think about the glory we reveled in four years ago. A superpower swooped into Iraq, routed a dictator, toppled a statue. Our prez did the equivalent of a dance in the end zone aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Damn, we’re good.
And now? All that glory is something at the back of the refrigerator. “A mission gone bad.” Hold your nose and see what you can salvage. Here’s Time magazine in its July 30 cover story, holding its nose, detailing the ignominy: “U.S. agricultural inspectors insist that, before it re-enters the U.S., Army equipment be free of any microscopic disease that . . . ‘can wipe out flocks of chickens and stuff like that.’”
Bawk-k-k! Bawk-k-k!
This isn’t pretty. Not when you think about the glory we reveled in four years ago. A superpower swooped into Iraq, routed a dictator, toppled a statue. Our prez did the equivalent of a dance in the end zone aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Damn, we’re good.
And now? All that glory is something at the back of the refrigerator. “A mission gone bad.” Hold your nose and see what you can salvage. Here’s Time magazine in its July 30 cover story, holding its nose, detailing the ignominy: “U.S. agricultural inspectors insist that, before it re-enters the U.S., Army equipment be free of any microscopic disease that . . . ‘can wipe out flocks of chickens and stuff like that.’”
Bawk-k-k! Bawk-k-k!
300 towns, cities, states oppose Iraq occupation
John Cavanagh of the Institute for Policy Studies opened an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Cavanagh announced that with the recent addition of Santa Fe, N.M., a total of exactly 300 towns, cities, and states have passed resolutions against the occupation of Iraq. These governments, he said, represent about 50% of the people in the United States.
Karen Dolan, the director of Cities for Peace, explained the project. Arrayed behind her were dozens of men and women holding signs with the names of their cities and states.
Next to speak was an Alderman from Chicago, Joe Moore, who has led the passage of anti-war resolutions in Chicago. He recalled being in this same room 4.5 years ago with representatives of 160 cities and towns opposing the invasion of Iraq. Then, as is planned today, they marched from here to the White House to present their resolutions and make their case to the president. Needless to say, he didn't listen.
Karen Dolan, the director of Cities for Peace, explained the project. Arrayed behind her were dozens of men and women holding signs with the names of their cities and states.
Next to speak was an Alderman from Chicago, Joe Moore, who has led the passage of anti-war resolutions in Chicago. He recalled being in this same room 4.5 years ago with representatives of 160 cities and towns opposing the invasion of Iraq. Then, as is planned today, they marched from here to the White House to present their resolutions and make their case to the president. Needless to say, he didn't listen.
Will Bush cancel the 2008 election?
It is time to think about the "unthinkable."
The Bush Administration has both the inclination and the power to cancel the 2008 election.
The GOP strategy for another electoral theft in 2008 has taken clear shape, though we must assume there is much more we don't know.
But we must also assume that if it appears to Team Bush/Cheney/Rove that the GOP will lose the 2008 election anyway (as it lost in Ohio 2006) we cannot ignore the possibility that they would simply cancel the election. Those who think this crew will quietly walk away from power are simply not paying attention.
The real question is not how or when they might do it. It's how, realistically, we can stop them.
In Florida 2000, Team Bush had a game plan involving a handful of tactics. With Jeb Bush in the governor's mansion, the GOP used a combination of disenfranchisement, intimidation, faulty ballots, electronic voting fraud, a rigged vote count and an aborted recount, courtesy of the US Supreme Court.
A compliant Democrat (Al Gore) allowed the coup to be completed.
The Bush Administration has both the inclination and the power to cancel the 2008 election.
The GOP strategy for another electoral theft in 2008 has taken clear shape, though we must assume there is much more we don't know.
But we must also assume that if it appears to Team Bush/Cheney/Rove that the GOP will lose the 2008 election anyway (as it lost in Ohio 2006) we cannot ignore the possibility that they would simply cancel the election. Those who think this crew will quietly walk away from power are simply not paying attention.
The real question is not how or when they might do it. It's how, realistically, we can stop them.
In Florida 2000, Team Bush had a game plan involving a handful of tactics. With Jeb Bush in the governor's mansion, the GOP used a combination of disenfranchisement, intimidation, faulty ballots, electronic voting fraud, a rigged vote count and an aborted recount, courtesy of the US Supreme Court.
A compliant Democrat (Al Gore) allowed the coup to be completed.
Part II – Squire v. Geer: Facts the Magistrate left out are even more shocking than the ones he included
Note: This is the Second in a Two-Part Series
The Free Press recently published an article entitled "Sausage making and electronic voting machines" that revealed shocking facts about e-voting flaws in a 2006 Franklin County, Ohio judicial race.
This extensive investigation into this stolen election is a strong indictment of electronic voting in general. It underscores the importance of the national debate on the Holt Bill and other legislation now pending on "reforming" or abolishing the use of these problematic machines altogether.
Indeed, what was left out of the Magistrate's report in the Squire case (which is now on appeal) but was well documented in the court’s evidence record, constitutes an even greater indictment of touchscreen voting machines than has generally been known.
The Free Press recently published an article entitled "Sausage making and electronic voting machines" that revealed shocking facts about e-voting flaws in a 2006 Franklin County, Ohio judicial race.
This extensive investigation into this stolen election is a strong indictment of electronic voting in general. It underscores the importance of the national debate on the Holt Bill and other legislation now pending on "reforming" or abolishing the use of these problematic machines altogether.
Indeed, what was left out of the Magistrate's report in the Squire case (which is now on appeal) but was well documented in the court’s evidence record, constitutes an even greater indictment of touchscreen voting machines than has generally been known.
The other lost war
If you think the war on terrorism is going badly – and our intelligence agencies warn that al Qaeda has reconstituted itself – take a look at the war on drugs.
It has been twenty-five years since Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs. Our prison population has quadrupled since then. A multi-billion dollar prison-industrial complex has sprouted up to house all those sentenced for dealing or using illicit drugs. Instead of building schools, states are building prisons. Billions more has been spent at the borders, and in efforts to eradicate drug cartels from Colombia to Afghanistan. And yet today, experts report that drugs cheaper and more potent than ever are easily available across the country.
It has been twenty-five years since Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs. Our prison population has quadrupled since then. A multi-billion dollar prison-industrial complex has sprouted up to house all those sentenced for dealing or using illicit drugs. Instead of building schools, states are building prisons. Billions more has been spent at the borders, and in efforts to eradicate drug cartels from Colombia to Afghanistan. And yet today, experts report that drugs cheaper and more potent than ever are easily available across the country.
Bush fulfills his grandfather's dream
It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's major project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But what really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting President George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthrow the U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story, but had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve.
Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joined the secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported to have stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know, this has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had a habit of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming he'd received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspapers, he had to retract his claims.
Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895 to 1972) attended Yale University and joined the secret society known as Skull and Bones. Prescott is widely reported to have stolen the skull of Native American leader Geronimo. As far as I know, this has not actually been confirmed. In fact, Prescott seems to have had a habit of making things up. He sent letters home from World War I claiming he'd received medals for heroism. After the letters were printed in newspapers, he had to retract his claims.
Sausage making and electronic voting machines
We've been long warned that foreign policy is like making sausage – you
don't want to know the gory details. The same is true of electronic
vote counting on the so-called e-voting machines, or DREs.
Earlier this month, the 2006 election challenge court case Squire v. Geer gave us a rare tour inside the scam known as "touchscreen voting." The "tour" comes with the backdrop of revelations that 56 of Ohio's 88 counties have "lost" all or some of the election records from the stolen 2004 election. Though the records were protected by federal law, this means it may now be impossible to definitively tabulate who actually won the presidency in 2004. We will write more on this breaking news story in articles to come.
Carol Squire, a Franklin County Domestic Court Judge, refused to stand down after election observers and a post-election computer forensic analysis documented massive electronic voting machine irregularities in her race for re-election. She first paid for a recount of key precincts and used those results to file an election challenge. Squire's election challenge sought a new election as the remedy.
Earlier this month, the 2006 election challenge court case Squire v. Geer gave us a rare tour inside the scam known as "touchscreen voting." The "tour" comes with the backdrop of revelations that 56 of Ohio's 88 counties have "lost" all or some of the election records from the stolen 2004 election. Though the records were protected by federal law, this means it may now be impossible to definitively tabulate who actually won the presidency in 2004. We will write more on this breaking news story in articles to come.
Carol Squire, a Franklin County Domestic Court Judge, refused to stand down after election observers and a post-election computer forensic analysis documented massive electronic voting machine irregularities in her race for re-election. She first paid for a recount of key precincts and used those results to file an election challenge. Squire's election challenge sought a new election as the remedy.
Race is the tripwire for the progressive movement: John Conyers and impeachment
On July 23, Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern and I met with U.S. Rep. John Conyers about the issue of impeachment. We delivered a petition for impeachment with one million American signatures. While we met, 400 activists waited in the halls outside of his office along with a hoard of media to find out what the outcome of the meeting would be. The meeting was a very significant moment for the progressive movement from a historical standpoint. The movement for impeachment and the immediate reactions to why John Conyers was publicly targeted on this issue reflect how race continues to be, as my dear friend Bill Fletcher says, the tripwire for the progressive movement.
Of Marx, Christ, and the persecution of radicals: how will humanity survive the capitalist threat?
A few days ago, one of my closest friends hit me with a heavily loaded question.
“Are you a Communist?” she queried.
To which I replied:
I do not belong nor militate in any formal communist party in the U.S. Nor do I belong to any other political entity or party. Furthermore, I do not subscribe to a specific doctrine, ideology, or dogma. My allegiance is to my core principles and values, which are premised on honesty, justice, humanity, responsibility, critical thinking, open-mindedness, egalitarianism, compassion, a belief in a Higher Power of my understanding, and many of the teachings of Christ.
My personal beliefs aside, communism is an incredibly loaded word. Our infinitely mendacious educational, social, and media infrastructures begin inculcating reflexive rejection of “all things communist or socialist” into US Americans from the moment they draw their initial breath.
Why is the establishment so desperate to vaccinate us against the “disease” of communism?
“Are you a Communist?” she queried.
To which I replied:
I do not belong nor militate in any formal communist party in the U.S. Nor do I belong to any other political entity or party. Furthermore, I do not subscribe to a specific doctrine, ideology, or dogma. My allegiance is to my core principles and values, which are premised on honesty, justice, humanity, responsibility, critical thinking, open-mindedness, egalitarianism, compassion, a belief in a Higher Power of my understanding, and many of the teachings of Christ.
My personal beliefs aside, communism is an incredibly loaded word. Our infinitely mendacious educational, social, and media infrastructures begin inculcating reflexive rejection of “all things communist or socialist” into US Americans from the moment they draw their initial breath.
Why is the establishment so desperate to vaccinate us against the “disease” of communism?