Scream and Cry

My new Shock and Awe (remember that from the last decade?).

The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle

I just have no words.

Nightmare scenario

But only if we leave - no indication that he's screwed up and that it's time, not for more troops, but to get out and let the Arab nations and the United Nations take over. By the way, did you notice he's now saying we were maneuvered into a war we hadn't planned on? Gawd freakin' forbid he take responsibility for his own actions - always someone elses fault. He also stated that the Administration has a "diplomatic strategy" that is rallying the rest of the world to join us in the fight against terrorism (extremists). What freakin' planet is this jackass living on? Bush, they're running away from you, not towards. Except, of course, for your pet Poodle Blair and even he isn't snuggling up to you like he used to.

According to the Associated Press:

"CBS News poll conducted by Knowledge Networks immediately after the speech found that 82 percent of viewers generally approved of the president's proposals while 18 percent disapproved. However, 68 percent of viewers said Mr. Bush will not be able to accomplish his goals, while 32 percent think he will." The AP goes on to say that according to the poll, Bush "rallied some support for his Iraq plan among those who watched the speech." Before the State of the Union, "43 percent of them backed the plan, while 52 percent of them supported it after the speech."

I guess I'm in the 18 percent bracket.

Bush's speech highlighted, again, his lack of discernment and understanding of the terrorists and countries who don't agree with him. He sees the world as black and white, for or against, and it's just not that simple. His government is comprised of people who are either just like him or blindly follow his ignorant lead. While I don't support the radical Hezbollah tactics in Lebanon and elsewhere, the reality is that the Shia Hezbollah members of the Lebanese government were elected and should not be equated with al-Qaeda or the radical Hezbollah membership. His moronic statement: "second only to al-Qaeda in the American lives it has taken", referring to Hezbollah collectively, without differentiating between the factions within the Hezbollah organization itself, shows how little he knows or understands about the various factions in the Middle East. It's also a lie; Hezbollah was not repsonsible for the killing of Marines in Beirut in 1983 because they didn't come into being until 1984. Condi Rice is such a wonderful "historian" maybe she should explain this to the President. Use picture cards and small words Condi.

Anyway, back to the speech. I don't think, after six years of abuse, the Democrats are going to play ball with the President on either the domestic or foreign policies. The Democrats, hopefully, will just go their own way. Or even better, Ms. Pelosi, put impeachment on the table.


For more on the most recent outbreak of violence in Lebanon see:

Beirut burns as national strike explodes into sectarian violence

Lebanese viewpoints on strike

Warning of new Lebanon protests

Mideast press fears for Lebanon:

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and his supporters did what the Israelis failed to do with Lebanon. In fact, he even did more. He unmasked himself and revolted against his own country and countrymen. Nasrallah dragged - or almost dragged - Lebanon into a rebellion that could make it another version of Iraq.

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Senator Webb's speech was, by far, better than the President's speech. Americablog has posted it, go read it. It was far more Presidental than Bush's speech, but I really hope he's not going to throw his hat into the already overcrowded 2008 ring.

Remove the wrapper from the turkey before cooking

The US-Iran-Iraq-Israeli-Syrian War:

At a not-for-quotation pre-speech briefing on Jan. 10, George W. Bush and his top national security aides unnerved network anchors and other senior news executives with suggestions that a major confrontation with Iran is looming.

Commenting about the briefing on MSNBC after Bush's nationwide address, NBC's Washington bureau chief Tim Russert said "there's a strong sense in the upper echelons of the White House that Iran is going to surface relatively quickly as a major issue - in the country and the world - in a very acute way."

Russert and NBC anchor Brian Williams depicted this White House emphasis on Iran as the biggest surprise from the briefing as Bush stepped into the meeting to speak passionately about why he is determined to prevail in the Middle East.

"The President's inference was this: that an entire region would blow up from the inside, the core being Iraq, from the inside out," Williams said, paraphrasing Bush.

I watched this on MSNBC Wednesday night. While the men were serious and little freaked out by the briefing, I doubt it's had much impact on them. When the conversation got to this point:

MSNBC's Chris Matthews then interjected, "And it could be the rationale for going into Iran at some point."

Russert paused for a few seconds before responding, "It's going to be very interesting to watch that issue and we have to cover it very, very carefully and very exhaustively."

I laugh out loud. It was not a happy laugh. The 4th Estate has done a seriously piss-poor job for the past six years. I have no faith, no hope, in that changing.

So, Bush's actions and rhetoric over the past several weeks continue to mesh with a scenario for a wider regional war - a possibility that now mainstream journalists, such as Tim Russert, are beginning to take seriously.

Don't count on it Mr. Parry.

See the Professor's take on the attack of the US Embassy in Athens. And expect this to happen with more frequency folks.

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There is hope for this sorry-assed country afterall: Bush's approval rating hits new low.

Public approval of Congress has edged up a bit now that Democrats are back in control, but it's still nothing to write home about. Approval for the way Congress is handling its job rose to 32 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll, up from a meager 27 percent a month earlier. That puts Congress on par with President Bush, whose 32 percent approval rating represents a new low for him in AP-Ipsos polling.

Will you put impeachment back on the table now, Ms. Pelosi?

Oh, and while you're at it, Ms. Pelosi, do something about this wonderful economy Mr. Bush has given us:

Study: 744,000 Are Homeless in US:

"In the last 12 to 18 months, the homeless population has essentially exploded in Philadelphia," said Marsha Cohen, executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project, which provides free legal services to the homeless in Philadelphia. "We are seeing big increases in singles and families, both on the street and attempting to enter the homeless system."

"It's a whole influx of new people, and that's the really scary part," Cohen said.

Please take a look at Homeless & Crisis Assistance, at Charity.com; it's a list of charities which provide help to the homeless. Give if you can.


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Alaska stargazers excited about comet:

NASA astronomer Tony Phillips says Comet McNaught is the brightest comet visible from Earth in 30 years. It is six times brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997, and 100 times brighter than Halley's Comet when it appeared in 1986, Phillips told The Associated Press on Thursday.

"It will remain a spectacular comet for weeks, perhaps months, in the Southern Hemisphere," Phillips said. "It could emerge as the brightest comet in recorded history."

Cool! Actually, COLD! 40 degrees below zero. It's information like that that keeps in me in New England. One of these days I'll get to Alaska, just not in January.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Madonna does Oprah and bitches about how evil the media is.

I have a problem with these extremely wealthy people (yeah, I'm looking at you Jolie) going into impoverished countries and tossing about money and "adopting" children. They bring the media down upon people who are not helped by their invasion and all of whom, celebrity looking for one more ounce of fame and the media more than willing to be their pimps, disappear into the mists once they've all gotten what they wanted. It's sick.

I don't doubt that Ms. Madonna feels for the child, all the children of Malawi she encountered. How about setting up schools and hospitals instead of removing the child from his home land? A few million dollars goes a long way in those countries. And, if the media is such a problem for you, then shut the fuck up while building your schools and hospitals.

And what of the poor, impoverished children of England, your adopted homeland, Ms. Madonna? How about the United States? Are they all well fed, educated, inoculated? Alls well and peachy keen in both nations, right? You and the others might want to consider working at home first.

Why any of these people, celebrities and others famous for being (in)famous, merit attention is beyond me. That one second of news time is given over to what they do seems to me a huge waste of time. There are more important things going on in the world. For example, California closing on Wisconsin cheese crown. Man, if I were from Wisconsin, I'd be seriously pissed and distressed over this. What's the first thing you think of when someone says "cheese"? Wisconsin, of course! This is going to have dire repercussions on the entire state. In a few years the entirity of the United States might have to bail out Wisconsin just like the US had to bail out New York City in the early 70's. People, for the economy's sake, for the sake of all Wisconsonians, eat more Wisconsin cheese!

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Mr. Olbermann was brilliant the other night. If you missed it, Advertising Terrorism is available through Truthout.org.

While signing a Military Commissions Act so monstrous that it has been criticized by even the John Birch Society, you told us, Mr. Bush, "there is nothing we can do to bring back the men and women lost on September 11th, 2001. Yet we'll always honor their memory, and we will never forget the way they were taken from us."

Except, of course, for the ones who've been lying under a manhole cover for five years.

Journalism at it's best.

I'm sick and tired of being Cassandra.

I saw a sign for gas at $2.45 this morning. Regular, self-serve.

Coincidence the election is six weeks away and that, even during Labor Day weekend, when gas prices are at their highest, the prices were coming down? From $3.05 in mid-August to $2.45 five weeks later.

Gas Is Down - Go Back to Sleep, by Kelpie Wilson.

"You know, if you were a real cynic, you could also wonder if the oil companies might not be pulling the price of gas down to help the Republicans get re-elected in the midterm elections a couple of months away."

Consumers Skeptical of Dropping Gas Prices, by Brad Foss.

Almost half of all Americans believe the November elections have more influence than market forces. For them, the plunge at the pump is about politics, not economics.

Retired farmer Jim Mohr of Lexington, Ill., rattled off a tankful of reasons why pump prices may be falling, including the end of the summer travel season and the fact that no major hurricanes have disrupted Gulf of Mexico output.

"But I think the big important reason is Republicans want to get elected," Mohr, 66, said while filling up for $2.17 a gallon. "They think getting the prices down is going to help get some more incumbents re-elected."

Why Retired Military Brass Don't Want Torture, by Charles Kaiser.

"[Vice President Dick] Cheney made mention in the days after 9/11 that he wanted to operate sort of on the dark side," Cullen said. "Here was a guy who never served, and now something terrible had happened, and he wanted to show that he was a tough guy.... So he's going to operate outside the rules of law. Bad message."

Rules of law. Interesting concept - alien to the United States of America since the election of 2000.

Never forget, the Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper.

Robert Scheer: A War on Intelligence.

The mainstream media has pissed me off more than ever before with their discussion of the information released on from the NIE report.

Media people, that terrorism would surge was a goddamn GIVEN in January 2002 when Bush proclaimed Iraq to be one of the Axis of Evil nations. Where the fuck have you morons been since then? Anyone with an ounce of common sense KNEW in March of 2003 what would happen. Just how stupid are you people?

In the name of defending our security, the Bush administration has suppressed any intelligence information it could, ignoring the public’s right to know, as much as is feasible, what is being done in its name. We must never forget that our system of government is based on the utility of freedom that truth will expose error—and just such an accounting is long overdue.

And isn't it the job of journalists to seek out such information and report it to the public? Or do I not understand what journalism is for? You are right, sir, an accounting is due. The media must also be held up for scrutiny - they've failed, miserably, and continue to do so, when it comes to doing their job. They've done nothing, with the exception of a few, but parrot the Republican talking points for six years.