9/11 Report

Reuters

CIA weighs requests for release of Sept 11 report

Torture revisited

Reuters today:

One observation, taken from interviews of military personnel in the 4th Infantry Division, said officers "engaged in interrogations using techniques they literally remembered from the movies."

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said the documents were evidence of widespread abuse.

"When troops rely on movies to learn interrogation techniques rather than proper training, our government has failed and the blame is on Washington, not Hollywood," he said.

Another observation of the same infantry division noted, "There was no specific training on the treatment of detainees; the MPs relied on their common knowledge in this area."

John G. Roberts hearings underway

Well, the President who appointed Michael Brown as director of FEMA (we all saw how well that worked out...) has taken Roberts's original Supreme Court nomination away, and given him a nomination to the Chief Justice chair.

The scary fact is that the American people know next to nothing about his views.

Click here for information about him.

I'm frankly terrified... because I don't know whether to be scared or not. About the only worthwhile or telling piece of information is that George Bush nominated him, and Bush only seems to nominate/appoint people who are incompetent, or politically fanatical.

Everyone agrees that Roberts is a brilliant legal mind.

Which means he's probably a fanatic. That's my opinion of course. However, I challenge anyone to name a person nominated/appointed to any job by Bush that is not either incompetent or fanatical. The one person that comes to my mind is Colin Powell, and they ran him out of town at the reelection.

Anyway, it appears that little can stop Judge Roberts's confirmation at this point, so strap yourselves in ladies and gentlemen. We're in for a bumpy three years with a one party federal government in which all the really powerful jobs are controlled by the extreme right wing.

The other way to say that is "right wing extremists."

I don't know about you, but for me, November 2008 can't get here fast enough.

Bush acts like a grown up for a change...

Well, I'm confused. In a totally uncharacteristic couple days for this administration, a culpable idiot has been held acountable (Michael Brown, former director of FEMA has resigned) and Bush has actually apologized.

Kudos to President Bush. I wish we could have seen behavior like this from the beginning.

From the Washington Post article:

President Bush yesterday said he takes personal responsibility for the federal government's stumbling response to Hurricane Katrina as his White House worked on several fronts to move beyond the improvisation of the first days of the crisis and set a long-term course on a problem that aides now believe will shadow the balance of Bush's second term.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at a White House news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. "And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong."

It happened on his watch...

4 Years ago today, America suffered the worst attack on its own soil in history.

George Bush was our President then and now.

Ask yourself: Has he done enough?

Mourn those lost. Celebrate the courage of American men and women, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Police Officers, Firefighters, Medics.
Remember the tragedy.

Hold your government accountable for their actions. Have they done enough? Have they even done the right thing?

On the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, only 26% of Americans believe that their country has changed for the better since the attack.

Be afraid... Be very afraid

Scary stuff. Remember, this is the administration that was "convinced" that Iraq had WMD's that didn't exist.

Now they want to be able to USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS to preempt attacks.

What happens if they are wrong about an attack that isn't really going to happen. They might now be able to NUKE the bad guys that don't exist.

And just in case you argue that the pentagon is behind this and not Bush... here is a quote to consider:

The draft, dated March 15, would provide authoritative guidance for commanders to request presidential approval for using nuclear weapons, and represents the Pentagon's first attempt to revise procedures to reflect the Bush preemption doctrine.

Here's a thought... How do you NUKE a terrorist without killing thousands or millions of innocent civilians?

Can you say "Conflict of Interest"?

Big surprise here:

Halliburton and another Bush administration linked firm have just picked up the first contracts for reconstruction after Katrina.

Why is it that Halliburton always seems to get the government deals?

Hmmmm....

I wonder.......

Let me think....

FEMA Director tucked away

President Bush has tucked his FEMA director away, bringing him back to DC and putting a Coast Guard Admiral in his place on the scene.

Do not be fooled. Do not relent. Brown has not been fired. Continue to sign the petition for his removal (use the link on the right).

Here is a quote from the Washington Post story.

The decision to sideline Brown yesterday was an implicit rebuke of a top aide by Bush, who rarely fires or publicly disciplines lieutenants as long as they are loyal.

The problem is that the rebuke should have been explicit, not implicit. Brown should be fired because he is categorically unqualified to do the job (like many in Bush's administration).

War on Terror debunked

Study shows that the War on Terror is working in reverse.

Click Here to read the story on Reuters

The Blame Game

I was watching last night's Daily Show. Numerous clips were aired (about 10 or so) of Bush and his cronies using variations of the same sentence:

"Let's not play the Blame Game."

The Daily Show host, John Stewart, had this to say:

"Usually, when someone doesn't want to play the Blame Game...
They're to Blame."

Amen, John. Amen.

Petition to fix FEMA

People of the world, over time you will see that one of my greatest complaints against the President is that he hires the incompetent, rewards failure, and alienates capable, hard working people.

The catastrophic failure of this administration in the face of Hurricane Katrina is proof positive.

The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Michael Brown, has been interviewed repeatedly in the last week, and has consistently shown that he is not concerned enough with Hurricane Katrina to simply watch the news. Several days after reporters in the Superdome reported that the victims there had no food or water, the FEMA director admitted to Ted Koppel he had only just become aware of the situation. Around the same time, on other another news channel, Bush was praising this moron for doing a great job.

This is the man who is supposed to react to potential terrorist threats. He should be telling Ted Koppel what's happening, not the other way around.

For a great collection of information on just how stunningly unqualified Michael Brown is to direct any Federal Agency, let alone one that could save lives, visit HorsesAss.Org There are numerous posts with many links to even further information.

Follow the link below to take action.

Demand New Leadership for FEMA

The apple doesn't fall far...

This is now verified. I've heard the clip. It's a little sickening to know that the mother of the most powerful man in the world is so far out of touch with what is right in front of her face.

NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them." The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on National Public Radio's "Marketplace" program.She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, who were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present. In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I've talked to says we're going to move to Houston."Then she added: "What I'€™m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

It actually makes me a little sick to my stomach. Her pity and compassion is so underwhelming. Yes, Babs, they are now unemployed and displaced. Back home, their homes are under water, all their posessions destroyed, loved ones unaccounted for, possibly dead. But, titter wink nudge giggle, since they are poor, it's so much better to be huddled together in the f#@%ing Astrodome accepting your table scraps. Let them eat cake!

No wonder W is the way he is. This is the woman who raised him.

The revealing wisdom of our Commander in Chief

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Washington, D.C.
Aug. 5, 2004

"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."

Milwaukee, Wis.
Oct. 3, 2003

"[T]hat's just the nature of democracy. Sometimes pure politics enters into the rhetoric."

Crawford, Texas
Aug. 8, 2003

"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who... probably read the news themselves."

Washington, D.C.
Sept. 21, 2003

"I'm the master of low expectations."

Aboard Air Force One
June 4, 2003

"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."

Washington, D.C.
May 19, 2003

"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."

Nashville, Tenn.
Sept. 17, 2002

Well, George, the Chinese proverb goes: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." You fooled us once in 2000. Shame on you. You fooled us again in 2004. Shame on us. Shame on the American people for allowing this idiot's cronies to manipulate another election. We had 4 years to fix the system. We failed.