We'll never claim to be fair and balanced, just honest and trustworthy
October 22, 2007

You Tell Me
From John Good for Left in Aboite

I hope YOU woke up in your own bed this morning! Since it IS Monday morning, and this gal's still sleeping, I need YOU to caption this photo:

WHAT IF GEORGE WAS IN CHARGE?
From Mary Ellen for The Divine Democrat

On this day in history, October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced that U.S. spy planes had discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. The bases were under construction at the time, but not far from completion and they would house medium range nuclear missiles that could strike most of the major cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C.

President Kennedy announced that he was ordering a naval "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent the Soviet ships from transporting any more weapons to Cuba and explained that the United State would not tolerate the existence of missile sites so close to our country. He also made it clear that he would not stop short of military action to end what he described as, ""clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to
world peace."

After the U.S. intelligence officials analyzed U-2 spy plane data on October 15, 1962, the President secretly convened an emergency meeting of his senior military, political, and diplomatic advisers to discuss what was happening. The group, which became known as "ExCom" (Executive Committee), rejected a surgical air strike against the missile sites. That's when the idea of a naval quarantine was decided.

From the time of the speech given on October 22, the next six days brought our country to the realization that we were on the brink of nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

President gave Nikita Khrushchev time to consider the U.S. action by pulling the quarantine back 500 miles. All of the ships but one turned around when approaching the quarantine, with the exception of one. The U.N. sent appeals to Kennedy and Khrushchev urging them to "refrain from any action that ma aggravate the situation and bring with it the risk of war." The world knew that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union were facing a decision that could alter the entire world.

At the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. military forces went to DEFCON 2, the highest military alert ever reached in the postwar era, as military commanders prepared for full-scale war with the Soviet Union.

The aircraft carrier, the USS Essex and the destroyer, the USS Gearing attempted to intercept the Soviet tanker, but it crossed over the quarantine anyway. At that point the U.S. Navy restrained itself from taking military action and decided on closer inspection that it probably was not carrying weapons.

On October 26, the Soviets sent a message to the U.S. that they would dismantle and remove the bases in exchange for a promise from the U.S. that they would never invade Cuba. Of course, that's not all Krushchev was asking, he wanted U.S. missile bases removed from Turkey. While Kennedy was working this out with his advisers, one of our U-2 spy planes were shot down over Cuba and its pilot was killed. The Pentagon wanted to retaliate, but Kennedy forbade this to happen unless any more surveillance planes were shot down. Kennedy did promise to take down our missile bases in Turkey, but it was to be done at a later date.

On October 28, Krushchev announced that his government would dismantle and remove all offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba.

The Cuban missile crisis was over.

That was a time that we had a President who thought before he spoke. A man who made sure that he did everything he could do to avoid war. He knew the ramifications of a misspoken word or an empty threat. When the one Soviet ship crossed the quarantine, he kept his head-checked it out, and allowed the Soviet Union to "save face". Once they realized that the tanker wasn't a threat, it was allowed to move on. Kennedy didn't use this as an excuse to show our strength. When our U-2 spy plane was shot down and the pilot killed, Kennedy again showed his patience and good sense while under pressure by the Pentagon to retaliate. He didn't use that as an excuse to end all negotiations. He realized that in this time of escalated stress, that the shooting was possibly ordered by a low-level military officer.

Where would we be today, if we had President Bush in charge? Would he call in an "ExCom" team that included diplomats? Would he listen to the U.N.? Would he have blown the Soviet tanker out of the water the minute it crossed the quarantine line...would he even thought to HAVE a quarantine line to begin with? Would he listen to the Pentagon and retaliate? Would George Bush have understood the ramifications of telling Krushchev to "bring it on"?

I remember that time during the Cuban crisis. I was just a little child, but I saw the fear in the faces of my parents and heard the hushed voices as they spoke to each other after watching the news reports. That was a very scary time.

Now, we have even more to fear. Not only could George Bush bring us to another war, but our own government can turn against us if Martial Law is enacted. THIS is a very scary time.

Dishwashers for Clinton
From TomCat for Politics Plus

clinton-money DONORS WHOSE addresses turn out to be tenements. Dishwashers and waiters who write $1,000 checks. Immigrants who ante up because they have been instructed to by powerful neighborhood associations, or, as one said, "They informed us to go, so I went." Others who say they never made the contributions listed in their names or who were not eligible to give because they are not legal residents of the United States. This is the disturbingly familiar picture of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign presented last week in a report by the Los Angeles Times about questionable fundraising by the New York senator in New York City's Chinese community. Out of 150 donors examined, one-third "could not be found using property, telephone or business records," the Times reported. "Most have not registered to vote, according to public records."...

Inserted from <Washington Post>

I find myself facing a dilemma.  It appears all to likely that this person will be the Democratic nominee.  That means, since the GOP must be removed from power at all costs, I shall my find myself in the position of blogging to defend her.  I feel quite frustrated over that, because she is acting like a Republican.  Any ideas?

Darfur
By Betmo for The Sirens Chronicles

most folks know that the situation in darfur is desperate. the news is never good there- and i guess i continue to wonder about how human beings can view other humans as objects to be tortured and killed. i think folks get numbed to the mindless genocide around the world and it is all too easy to write these impoverished places off. the ‘oh well, let them kill each other if they want to’ mentality amazes me- especially from ‘bleeding heart’ liberals and ‘pro-life’ conservatives. we allegedly went into iraq (in the third incarnation of reasons i think) to save those poor folks from the horrors of living under saddam hussein. why, then, are we not preemptively going into darfur to save those folks from the janjaweed? and no- that isn’t a name from a star wars movie. the west has completely ignored africa- except to plunder its natural resources. we bribe or intimidate whoever we have to to get what we want- and to hell with the indigenous peoples.

the un has coalition troops ready to go- but then- we get the news that blackwater has reared its ugly head yet again. yes, since they have done such a fine job in iraq, apparently, they want to make a few billion dollars more in darfur. so, not only do we have to pressure our government to get involved in darfur- we have to pressure them to NOT send the blackwater thugs to darfur. nice.

for some resources and info on darfur- quaker dave at the quaker agitator- has some good ones on his sidebar.

instantkarma.org has information and petitions to sign- but please, take a moment and think about what africa means to the world. we agreed after world war 2 to never allow genocide happen again. more than 2 million people are displaced and hundreds of thousands are living in refugee camps. no hard data exists as to the death toll, but experts are convinced it’s also in the hundreds of thousands. how many folks have to die before it is called a ‘terrorist act?’

amnesty international darfur action guide

The Snowball
From Hill Country Gal

TAOSC

Yea! It's Monday.

Time for

The Adventures of Stupid Criminals.

So up in Akron these 2 dudes decided they really, really wanted $10 worth of candy.

Problem was, they were short $10.

Ah-ha. Problem solved.

They would rob a convenience store of $10 worth of candy.

That's like, what, about 10 candy bars, yes?

Anyway, they immediately encountered their first obstacle.

The weapon.

So I imagined what that conversation must have been like.

Dude #1: "You got a gun?"

Dude #2: "Nope."

Dude #1: "Knife?"

Dude #2: "Nope."

Dude #1: "Baseball bat?"

Dude #2: "Nope.

Dude #1: "Tire iron?"

Dude #2: "Negative."

Dude #1: "Killer fists?"

Dude #2: "Nope."

Dude #1: Snowball?"

Dude #2: "HELL yeah."

Which brings up something else, too.

How much of an out-n-out *pussy* do you have to be to be robbed at snowball-point?

Hell, if I had been the robbed clerk, I do believe I would have chewed off both my hands at the wrist to prevent my ass from dialing 911 to report that I gave it up because I got hit with a SNOWBALL.

Stay frosty, baby.

:)

Bush hits yet another record low approval
By Maru for Undeniable Liberalism

Poised for a political comeback, the Dictator-tot's poll numbers are now polluting subterranean caverns and endangering their unique and fragile fauna.

The popular war preznit has regained his footing... oh, I'm sorry, Mr Broder, make that "Snippy the Chimp looking at approval numbers through an electron microscope." Or he would be, if he ever raised his stupid monkey head from his Spiderman comic.
Just 25% of Americans approve of the way [Dumbass McAsshole] is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove, according to the latest American Research Group survey. This matches the lowest approval rating he's ever recorded in the poll.

When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 67% disapprove. This also matches Bush's lowest ever approval rating for his handling of the economy.

Oh, and note to Congress: fuck you too.

Checking ... checking
From JJ for Unrepentant Old Hippie

Uhhh....
...nope! Hasn't moved yet.

SCHIP Veto Insults Our Troops (Again)
By Tom Harper for Who Hijacked Our Country

Here's another example (as if we didn’t have enough already) of phony flagwaving Republicans yelling “Support Our Troops!” while stabbing them in the back.

The SCHIP bill that Bush vetoed — with help from his drones who upheld the veto — contains two provisions for helping the families of soldiers who’ve been critically wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. (I got this link from Christopher Radulich in his comment at this post.)

The SCHIP bill would require one year of employment discrimination protection for family members caring for a severely injured soldier. And the permitted work leave for these family members would be extended from three months to six.

One out of five severely wounded soldiers says that a family member has been forced to stay home from work in order to take care of him/her.

Before Congress upheld Bush’s veto last week, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) was urging Congress to override the veto. IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff said: “Any member of Congress who supports the troops should vote to override the President’s veto. If SCHIP fails, so does this protection for families of our most grievously wounded troops. These service members and their families carry the heaviest burdens of this war and they need all the help they can get.”

Our corrupt pathetic chickenhawks in Congress should just come out and say it: They hate the troops, and they hate everything their country stands for. They should leave America — Now! — with their tails tucked between their legs. Buh Bye.

"Silence betokens consent"
From Candace for Chapterhouse

In 1968, Willa Michener, a Presidential Scholar, wanted to give President Johnson a piece of her mind about the Vietnam War, but ... she didn't, because a teacher told her that it was just best to remain quiet while in the presence of the president. She regretted her decision for 40 years.

Her daughter, Mari Oye, is also a Presidential Scholar, Class of 2007. When she got the chance to be in the presence of George W. Bush, she handed him her handwritten letter protesting the use of torture of detainees. Her letter was signed by over a third of the 2007 Scholars. When President Bush denied that the U.S. uses torture, Mari said, "Please remove your signing statement to the McCain anti-torture bill."

Mari also told Bush that her grandparents were detainees in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

What an extraordinary family! The grandparents - Japanese Americans detained in a camp during the war; the mother, a Presidential Scholar during the Vietnam era; and the daughter, a Presidential Scholar during Iraqmire, each brave in their own way, each with a social conscience, each a true American.

Read the article here.

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO AMERICA? 
By The Cosmic Messenger for The Cosmic Message

When the government awards a billion dollars in sweetheart mercenary contracts to a wealthy Republican family in Michigan, that’s private enterprise. But when the government helps a struggling middle-class family in Maryland send its children to the doctor, that’s creeping socialism." ... New York Observer Columnist Joe Conason October 11, 2007

Anyone visiting THE COSMIC MESSAGE in October noticed a prevailing theme among our writers identifying the transformation of this country the past 25 years from a caring nation to a deregulated, selfish state for the sake of commerce.
Whether the issue was an ungoverned food supply, overzealous local police enforcement or unproductive business management tactics we described for you the negative consequences of the actions taken and how the rest of the world has come to perceive us.
As monumental as these questions are America's health care crisis is preeminent among them because it showcases the same sterile corporate solutions used by our political leaders causing the current instability in the first place ... use of tactical fear combined with unsound market proposals which only enrich the medical industry while guaranteeing nothing to consumers. Aided by an uninquisitive commercial media politicians have been able to confine the discussion about wellness affordability to antiquated, cryptic declarations reliant on the archaic system utilized now with only aesthetic changes.
An example of how devoid the discourse about the treatment of our ill population has become is the way in which the press stealthily refocused the public's attention from comprehensive answers to the needs of poor children exclusively. Taking its cue from Presidential candidate's suggestions to reform the system gradually the conversation has shifted to alleviating only one segment of the population instead of addressing the grave threat for-profit healthcare poses to everyone else.
Not surprisingly we've seen this oblique, bait and switch behavior from the media before particularly when enormous corporate gains are at stake. Mushroom clouds over America comes to mind. What differentiates this issue from the war propaganda of the recent past is they're hawking consternation of government imposed insurance and implying socialism won't be far behind.
Just as we witnessed in the prelude to the Iraq invaision, the spectacle of a collective society is raised as a psychological juggernaut to manipulate Americans with. Will the Neo-CONS, centrist vacillators and media alarmists succeed in frightening the public again with a campaign of disinformation concerning our nation's health priorities or an all-inclusive solution emerge to stabilize people's concerns ?
Recent polls indicate Americans want the government to insure their medical destinies. This comes in the wake of 15 disastrous years in which Beltway insiders have allowed a deregulated private system to jeopardize citizen's health.
The pay to play scheme has generated obscene earnings for its proponents at the expense of those dependent on it for their well being. Private insurance industry skimping on costs has meant less care, higher deductibles/co-pays and fewer benefits which have devoured the paychecks of working American families while excluding individuals with pre-existing conditions, the unemployed or those unable to afford its hideous disarray.
With so much discontent evident over the rising cost of health care, why are we arguing about about funding the SCHIP program when we could be considering an aggregate settlement for everybody ?
A Congressional proposal to eliminate all of the concerns mentioned above was introduced in 2003 and co-authored by Representatives John Conyers (Mich) and Dennis Kucinich (Ohio). Designed as a single payer plan and promoted as Medicare for all, the United States National Health Insurance Act (House Resolution 676) guarantees superior health care to all irrespective of an individual's "employment, income or health care status."

Key features of the plan forbid private insurers "from selling coverage that duplicates the benefits of the USNHI program" and eliminates "co-pays and deductibles" entirely. The extent of medical services would include "primary care, inpatient care, outpatient care, emergency care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, hearing services, long term care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic and substance abuse treatment." No restrictions would be placed on a patient's choice of doctors or medical facility.
Critics of single payer universal health care often react to such proposals by countering that it's unaffordable, restricts competition among providers or stifles development of technological innovation. H.R 676 rejects these myths contending the present system is bloated with cost inefficiency which overcharges the consumer for medical services numerous ways ... "through our paychecks, the prices of goods and services, taxes at all levels of government, and out-of-pocket." The United States National Health Insurance Act does away with this kind of redundant extortion and substitutes a more equitable method of funding which doesn't overburden Americans with financial hardship.

Proposed Funding For USNHI Program

  • Maintain current federal and state funding for existing health care programs
  • Establish employer/employee payroll tax of 4.75% (includes present 1.45% Medicare tax)
  • Establish a 5% health tax on the top 5% of income earners, 10% tax on top 1% of wage earners
  • ¼ of 1% stock transaction tax
  • Close corporate tax loopholes
  • Repeal the Bush tax cuts for the highest income earners

Nobel prize winner Al Gore has accused the commercial press in the past of "strangling democracy" by under reporting issues important to voters which invokes passive disengagement from them due to superficial analysis of a matter. The argument about modifying health care exhibits this kind of bias because they've totally excluded from the discussion a sensible reform initiative put forth in 2003 by a current Presidential contender who lacks campaign funds to promote it. Instead, the media would rather cover candidates with large war chests who speak about the subject using corporate buzzwords to rationalize their plans for change because that's where the money is.
Millions of adults and children in America have told both the media and politicians they want government sponsored medical insurance and not more of the same or a lite version of what they have now. Their petitions have been ignored because the will of the people has become irrelevant in today's market economy which has replaced intrinsic law with unfettered greed brushing aside the humane principles upon which this country was built. In the process, our values have changed from civilized to regressive materialism which can only be restored by recommitting to the original ethical authority prescribed by the U.S. Constitution.

Movie Review
From CDP for Aunt Dahlia

We had a babysitter Saturday night, and anytime we have a babysitter, we try to see a movie. We even had time to have dinner and a few beers, so it was a really good night. Anyway, we arrived at the megaplex at around 7:05, so our object was to find a movie that we A. wanted to see and that B. was not either already started or starting more than 25 minutes from the time we arrived. With those criteria, we had a few to choose from:
1. Michael Clayton. Nothing wrong with George Clooney, but it was sold out.
2. Elizabeth, The Golden Age. I spared my husband…he wouldn’t make me see Alien v. Predator, so I don’t make him see costume dramas
3. Gone Baby Gone. No good…I hadn’t been privy to any spoilers on this one, and I’m not seeing a toddler-in-jeopardy movie unless I have cast-iron certain assurance of a happy ending (and WTH with the title, too? It sounds like some annoying-ass Tarantino-lite grunge boys with guns fast-talkin’ and wise-crackin’ to a too-cool-for-you soundtrack mess). So that left us with
4. The Kingdom. OK. Jamie Foxx, good, Jennifer Garner, OK, Chris Cooper, fine…we bought our tickets, our popcorn and our Snocaps (and the word “our” with regard to the Snocaps should be interpreted as “my”) and sat down.

I expected the movie to be decent, but we LOVED it. It was intelligent, it was funny, it was action-packed, suspenseful, dramatic, sad…everything you go to see a movie for. It also had great dialogue, including my favorite movie exchange from 2007:
Saudi diplomat: Define “immediately”.
FBI agent played by Jamie Foxx: Right the f*&% now.
I don’t expect that it will hang around theaters much longer, it apparently didn’t make the top ten this weekend, so if you haven’t seen it already, and if you’re looking for a good couple movie (interesting characters and plot combined with action), run right out and see it. Look for the scene in which the Saudi policeman is left with the task of explaining to the tough-girl Jennifer Garner character that she (as the only female) is excluded from the invitation to the prince’s castle…very funny.

No Money For SCHIP But Bush Wants More Money For War
From PoliShifter for Pissed on Politics

So Bush and his attack dogs that went after the family of Graeme Frost cried that we didn't have the money for SCHIP which would have cost $7 Billion a year over 5 years for a total cost of $35 Billion. To put it another way, that's about what it costs us to be in Iraq for 3 months.

Coming off the heels of his veto it appears Bush has his swagger back even if his popularity has dropped down to 25%. Bush has the nerve to ask for $46 Billion more to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after crying about the spending on SCHIP. We'll see how this all plays out come election time for Republicans. I don't think Americans are going to forget this one.

Bush Wants $46 Billion More for Wars

By ANDREW TAYLOR
The Associated Press
Monday, October 22, 2007; 12:23 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will ask Congress for another $46 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and finance other national security needs, The Associated Press has learned.

The figure, which Bush was expected to announce later Monday at the White House, brings to $196.4 billion the total requested by the administration for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere for the budget year that started Oct. 1. It includes $189.3 billion for the Defense Department, $6.9 billion for the State Department and $200 million for other agencies.

The figures were disclosed by congressional officials briefed on the request this morning and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

The Iraq war, now in its fifth year, already has cost more than $455 billion, with stepped-up military operations running about $12 billion a month. The war has claimed the lives of more than 3,830 members of the U.S. military and more than 73,000 Iraqi civilians.

More Here

Note to WaPo: The number of Iraqi civilians that have died since the invasion of Iraq is over 1 million.

Evansville Courier Press: False Balance
From Doug Masson for Masson's Blog

The Evansville Courier Press sees the need to provide health insurance to children. That’s good. The Evansville Courier Press seems to be holding both the Democrats and the Republicans equally to blame for failure of the SCHIP bill that would have accomplished this goal. That’s stupid. First of all, it needs to be made abundantly clear this wasn’t a Republican and Democratic schism. Plenty of Republicans were in support of this version of the SCHIP bill. The Evansville Courier Press says that the Democrats need to go back to work and prepare a compromise bill. They fail to mention that this was a compromise bill.

This wasn’t R v. D. This was supporters of a children’s health insurance policy versus the President’s men. And The President’s Men haven’t come up with a convincing explanation of why they opposed this version. They complained about the expense, and it’s nice for legislators to be mindful of expenses, but The President’s Men are willing to spend plenty of money for other purposes — Iraq being the waster in chief of American treasure. So they need to explain why Iraq and not children’s health. Congressman Pete Stark used intemperate language to put this choice in harsh relief.

You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.

Rather than address the substance of this statement, the Courier Press instead blanches at its harshness and uses it as an excuse to blame each side equally. This tendency of the news media to cast blame equally is degrading our political discourse more than over the top language like Starks. In the name of objectivity, newspapers have a tendency to say Side A says, “X” and Side B says “Y,” rarely trying to enlighten readers as to where the truth might be. I wouldn’t be surprised one day to see reporting to the effect of Incumbent Smith says the sky is green, Challenger Jones disagrees.

And so, you get milquetoast editorials like the one in the Evansville Courier Press that casts blame equally, regardless of the actual culpability of each side. Now here is an editorial:

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.

Maybe Pete Stark was familiar with the abolitionist editorials of William Lloyd Garrison.

Caturday
From The Fat Lady Sings

Hat-tip Meg from Cute Overload

Opposition win could trigger Polish withdrawal from Iraq
From The Richmond Democrat

Will all the countries who plan to support George W. Bush's policy in Iraq no matter what happens please stand up?

Not so fast, Poland.
A pro-business opposition party that wants Poland's troops out of Iraq ousted Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's government in parliamentary elections Sunday, as Poles opted for leadership offering a more cooperative approach to the European Union.

Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party led with 41.1 percent of the vote after 11 percent of the ballots were counted early Monday, and exit polls for TVN24 private television showed the party projected to win 226 seats in the 460-seat Sejm lower house.
The Civic Platform party will likely call for the withdrawal of the remaining 900 Polish troops in Iraq; this will further complicate Bush's attempts to lie about the number of allies we have in Iraq.

"One of these Days ..."
From Tengrain for Mock, Paper, Scissors

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government regarding the Supreme Court's 2008 fiscal budget request on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., in this March 8, 2007 file photo. The conservative justice says he was repeatedly turned down in job interviews at law firms when he graduated from Yale in 1974 in the years after affirmative action had taken hold at universities. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

“…the Bushes will let me work inside their house.”

 

Letting the country and the world fall apart Bush is off protecting fish while culturing reasons to declare martial order!
By James Joiner for An Average American Patriot


Martial order geting closer as the idiot goes fishing!
As usual Bush's priorities to us are all screwed up because they are counter to what is right for us and our America. He has shown us and the world what the environment means to him and we the people matter not at all as he continues to purposely widen the gap between the haves and have not's while fighting his forever wars in the middle east.
I say it so often I am sick of hearing myself say it but once again this idiot has stunned me showing he could care less what he has done to us and the world and he will continue to play his idiotic selfish games. Anyway as you know Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in most of Georgia on Saturday, and called on President Bush to recognize that the historic drought had created a disaster for 85 counties.
In a defiant plea Saturday at Lake Lanier, Perdue asked Bush to issue a federal disaster designation that would:
•Empower the president to order less water released from Lake Lanier.

• Make federal funds available to state and local governments.

• Offer low-interest loans to Georgia businesses hurt by the drought.

"We will continue to conserve," the governor said, "but we have to have help." Perdue's actions came as the federal government continue to release water from Lake Lanier to protect endangered mussels in Florida at the expense of water-starved North Georgia. The governor, lieutenant governor, two congressmen and several legislators and state officials gathered at the top of a trio of now-landlocked boat ramps at Lake Lanier to deride the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife for "putting mussels in front of people." They also accused the federal agencies of endangering one of the country's most populated areas, which is seeing its drinking water disappear down the Chattahoochee River for the Gulf of Mexico.

Perdue's state of emergency declaration and request of a federal disaster declaration are the latest tactics in the escalating war between Georgia and the federal government over how much water can be released from Lake Lanier. "The actions of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service are not only irresponsible, they are downright dangerous," Perdue said at Saturday's news conference at Mary Alice Park, just yards from the retreating lake. "If the Corps and the Fish and Wildlife Service do not act now, I will hold them fully responsible for endangering the people of Georgia. Any harm that comes to humans is 100 percent on their hands." Read more of Georgia's wasted desperation

Katrina and history has shown us despite what he says, Bush does not care and like Louisiana Georgia is in trouble.
Everybody at least thinks they know about the role FEMA played, or mis-played, in the response to the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. What many people still don't realize is the role the US Army Corps of Engineers played in designing that disaster.
A lot of folks have bet against the lawsuits filed by a group of New Orleans homeowners against the Corps, on the grounds that the Corps, as a federal agency, is immune from legal action. Well, tell that to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, who Friday filed suit against the Corps to force it to stop shipping water from Lake Lanier, Atlanta's primary water source, to Florida.

As for FEMA, they're still doing a heck of a job. According to the NYT, the agency still has not begun field-testing their trailers for the formaldehyde fumes that many trailer occupants complain of. What the Times doesn't ask about the delay: does postponing the tests until the end of summer (a time when most Gulf Coast trailers have windows closed and AC on, thus preventing the venting of the fumes) mean FEMA is betting that fall-weather open windows will make the numbers look better? powerless against the Federal Government

While Bush is allowing America too fall apart so he can implement his new societal order the middle east breakdown he created for his new middle east order is progressing as cross border killings are increasing daily by Turkey and Iraqi Kurd's amidst increasing calls for full military intervention by Turkey. Anyway this idiot has the audacity while American's are suffering and his created breakdown is progressing so he has plenty of excuses to declare martial order, to all of a sudden act like the environmental President and go fishing. I am really peeved at this idiots calculated coldness.

President Bush traversed the Chesapeake Bay on an invigorating fall morning yesterday, announcing conservation measures for migratory birds while on the west side of the waterway and for striped bass on the east before getting in some fishing himself. At the national Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, the president promoted policies he said would protect habitat for 800 bird species that need resting places as they fly south for the winter and return when warm weather returns.

After a helicopter ride to St. Michaels, Bush unveiled an initiative to make red drum and striped bass, known locally as rockfish, more available to sport fishermen but less accessible as a commercial catch. Chesapeake watermen, who rely on the fish for income, are cool to the proposal. Knowing this idiot and what is being allowed to happen while this jerk protects fish and goes fishing, I was disgusted reading how the jerk was joking and having fun while even the State questions who this is helping and if it is right or not so I leave it to you to Read it if you want

Open Letter to America: Have You Learned Your Lesson?
From Phil in NY for E-News Daily

U.S. - Dear Country. Have you learned your lesson? For almost eight years now, you have managed to elect one of the most dangerous presidential administrations to date. One who was so destructive, the value of the American dollar went down.

One who was so destructive, millions of jobs were lost and discarded.

One who was so destructive, health care went so far corporate that it doesn't matter if you're covered, they will find a reason not to pay.

One who was so destructive, a pointless war was started, only to continue for years to come, killing tons of our youth.

One who was so destructive, religious ideology was used to appoint dangerous judges to serve life time appointments on America's most important court.

The beat goes on and on and on and on...........

Please America. Stop voting for Republicans. This is what happens when you let them reign for too long. Oblivion. It doesn't matter that there's a gay couple next door. What do you care? It doesn't matter that the pregnant teenager up the block is considering alternative options concerning reproductive rights. Mind your business. These issues are frivolous. Yet you really bought into the distraction, and while your back was turned, W took away your job, your health care, your rights, your child .

What more will it take for you to realize what's going on here?

Photo Courtesy of:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronjacobs/83115702/

Who's Jesus' BFF?
From Pissed Off Patricia for Morning Martini

I’m lovin’ watching the Republican candidates for president talk/argue about who loves Jesus the most and who is the most conservative. While the rest of the country is screaming at the top of their lungs to get us out of this damned war in Iraq and return our country to some sort of responsible governance, these guys are not talking about the war at all. Instead they are talking about which of them is Jesus’ *BFF.

Fred Thompson said that if he is elected as President of the United States he would spend his first hour in the oval office praying. Hell, if that dumb bastard gets elected even the atheists will be praying and with good reason. The idea of Fred Thompson being president, reminds us all that yes, things could get worse.

If it wasn’t so freakin’ serious, it would be humorous.

*(Texting messaging shorthand for Best Friend Forever)

Know a blog that deserves to be featured on the Blog World Report?  Contact Robert.

Sorry, but you need flash to view this video

Has Hillary Clinton Lost Her Mind?
By Christopher for From the Left

Has Hillary Clinton lost her mind? I’ve seen politicians try to spin their votes but, this takes “spin” to a level bordering on insane.

From The Atlantic:

In an unusual campaign mailing sent to voters in Iowa, Sen. Hillary Clinton defends her vote in favor of the so-called “Lieberman-Kyl” resolution on Iran, calling it a “vote for stepped up diplomacy” and not permission for the Bush Administration to invade the country.

Two rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, have compared the September vote to the 2002 authorization granting President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, accusing Clinton of another failure of judgment.

Winners and Losers
Posted by TUA for The Future Was Yesterday

Boston's in, O.J.'s out, Rockies are in, Britney Spears is out (again). World Series is out, drug scandal (forget the player or team; just saw it on ESPN today) is in.

But my title is a misnomer; there are no winners in any of the above mentioned.

Baseball? I love the game. But I haven't attended a Pro game since I came down here, and I have an excellent Pro team just a few driving hours away; the Atlanta Braves. I haven't watched a full game this year. Why? Doping scandals. Baseball knew of these long before we did; they condoned them because the new records being set drew more of us to the seats, which put more money in MLB's pocket. It was only after the public learned of the doping, that baseball started making half hearted efforts to address it, and they're still half assed. Mark McGuire, testifying before Congress: "I'm not here to talk about the past." Barry Bonds, the asterisk laden San Francisco Joke. There's a very simple way to clean up the game: one positive test for illegal substances, and you're out of baseball for life, and your name is expunged from all record books, with no chance of reentry. Watch the needles come flying out of the clubhouses. MLB got all moral about Pete Rose gambling, as they should have. Where's equal morality now? There's nothing wrong with the game. It's still pristine. You still need nine players on the field; you still need more runs than the other team; you still need 27 outs to win. It's the increasing amount of garbage allowed to play it that makes it not worth the trouble of watching or attending.

O.J. Simpson. I saw him make his first run in a football game, as a rookie. I saw him make his last run, from the L.A. cops. He's went downhill, and fast, from there. He was music when he ran on a football field. He didn't run; he glided like a spirit no one could touch. But O.J. started believing in the myth of O.J., and it was his end.

Britney Spears. I hate the sight of that woman, I hate the sound of her name. But when I look past that, and I see the human being, I close my eyes and cry: "Stop it! Stop it right now!! You have your whole life ahead of you, and you're throwing it away! STOP IT!!" But she'll have to decide when she's had enough. I used to be a "Britney Spears." Somebody said the very same thing to me. And I didn't listen, either. Now I work to try and help put the pieces of the Britney Spears of this world back together again. She has to put her hand on a red hot stove ten million times, and expect different results each time, just like I did. After her last time, I just hope there's enough human being left to put back together. Sometimes, there isn't.

All the above are Stars. Rich, famous Stars, that can do what only a handful of people on this earth can do.

Too many of them don't realize that doesn't put them above this earth, and until they learn that, it will continue to drag down the greatest of stars.

They flame brilliantly for a moment as they reenter the atmosphere, and then they're done.

Forever.

TUA


BLOG RECOMMENDATION

Down in Australia is a 18-year old kid with a camera and a good eye for photography.  His Photo Blog is among the best I have ever seen.  Edouard Mouy lives in Melbourne and attends The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology where he's going after a BA in - SURPRISE!!!! - Photography.  Check out TheFotoKid.  BTW, if there are no photos on the home page, just click previous and see what I mean by a good eye for the art.

Is Gonzo Really Gone?
From Ron for Middle Earth Journal

Fired U.S. attorney John McKay thinks so!
Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says
The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday.

His refusal to open a federal criminal investigation into voter fraud allegations in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s razor-thin victory over Republican challenger Dino Rossi in 2004 may be the reason he was fired, John McKay told the Federal Bar Association.

Appointed by President Bush in October 2001 to the top law enforcement job in western Washington, McKay said he believes he and seven other U.S. attorneys were fired last December by Gonzales for political reasons, perhaps with former White House chief of staff Karl Rove pulling strings.

Career prosecutors in his office and FBI agents agreed there was no reason to go forward with a federal investigation of the Gregoire-Rossi election, and issues associated with it were more properly addressed by state officials, McKay said.
McKay says he spent eight hours testifying on his firing at the Office of Inspector General, who will forward their final report to Congress.
“My best guess is it will be released sometime next month,’’ and likely will include recommendations for criminal prosecutions of Gonzales and maybe others, McKay said.

Gonzales “lied about” reasons for the firings when questioned under oath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired a lawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General, McKay said.

The White House said McKay was fired for poor performance ratings of his office, but the ex-U.S. attorney said he and his office got exemplary reviews just three months before he was fired.

“The chief law enforcement officer for the United States should not lie under oath,’’ McKay told the bar association.
Gonzo shuts up and lawyers up!
It was reported last week that Gonzales has now retained a high-profile defense lawyer, and apparently is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General, which could signify the investigation is nearly complete, McKay said.
It looks like Rove may be in for some tough times himself.

This will be an "I told you so" moment for we members of the PBRC (Indie 500) but I'm sure we all wish we didn't have to say it.

Let's Cook Again
From Spadoman for Round Circle

We're in flux right now. We take over the place in town that we'll be house sitting today. The woman is leaving later in the afternoon. There won't be any bum's rush to start staying there as the weather is good and the cabin is beautiful as Fall grabs control. The wood fire is always nice. So, we'll gradually bring some things over to the house and set up shop there this week. I'll have an internet connection right at home again, that will be nice.

In the meantime, In the comments on the last post, there was talk of meat loaf. E4E graciously put in a meat loaf recipe. I happen to actually have the desire for meat loaf. I'll try this one and report in the next recipe post. I'll also give you my personal mouth watering meat loaf recipe.

But before that, I mentioned a potato salad recipe, Dawn and Queen Anne are itching to have potato salad, so today is the day.

This is not your usual potato salad. This has a southwestern flair. It can be made to give your mouth some spiciness or as bland as it needs to be for those that don't like hot food. Here is how I make this.

I get three or four differently kinds of potatoes. Reds, Yukon golds, yellow fingers, russets. I also use one sweet potato. This batch I made had one sweet potato, yukon golds and reds. I leave the skin on. Peel them if you want to. More vitamins if the skin is on, though. Just wash them, then cut them into cubes about 3/4 of and inch square. Use any kind of potatoes, just make sure one is a sweet potato, and NOT a yam.

Sweet Potatoes, NOT yams!

Boil up the potatoes until the crunch is out of them, but don't let them get mushy. Watch them, taste them, feel them with a fork, or if you're like me, use your fingers and tongue, being careful not to burn yourself. Take the bits off a spoon, don't reach your hand in the cauldron of boiling water. When the potatoes are done, drain them and set them aside in the refrigerator.

I use green chiles in this recipe. These are readily available in cans. Ortega whole green chiles are found in the ethnic section along with other Mexican food like refried beans and stuff. There are other brands, too. LaPreferida is good, Hatch is the best brand of canned chiles in my opinion. Just drain them and chop them into pieces about the same as the potato cubes, 3/4 of an inch or so. Set these aside in the refrigerator as well.

Now I use the canned chiles, but to really make this with an exceptional flavor, I use roasted green chiles that have been roasted where they grow, Hatch New Mexico, where they are picked fresh in late summer. They are frozen and shipped.

Fresh Green Chile peppers

Also, it is a lot of work, but they do sell these chile peppers in grocery stores as fresh peppers. They are called New Mexican greens or Anaheim chile peppers. You can roast them at home. You roast them so the skin can be removed and the flesh can be used in this recipe and so many more. Roast them by holding them over an open flame until the skin turns black, then peel the skin and stem off, cut them open and take out the seeds.

These green chiles sold in the stores, fresh or canned, are usually mild, no heat at all. I find them fresh roasted and frozen on line and find varieties that are hot, muy caliente. I also have some powder that was made from hot green chiles and if I use the canned mild ones, I add this hot green powder for the heat level.

I know this is a lot of explaining about this one ingredient, but these are all the options. If you play with food, like I do, you are patient and accumulate the ingredients however you can and try to create a masterpiece. I realize that sometimes you just want to go to store, or reach into your cupboard and make some food. That's all okay. But these are the options.

Now, back to the recipe. You have the cooked potato cubes and chopped green chiles in the fridge. Now, get some scallion onions and chop them. I get some raw shelled pumpkin seeds and some pine nuts. I mix all of this into a bowl and add mayonnaise. The next ingredient is mustard. Use yellow mustard if your taste buds can't take any heat. It you like the spicy side of life, then use jalepeno or habanero mustard.

So you have 3-4 cups of potato cubes, a cup or so of green chiles, a bunch of chopped scallion onions, a 1/3 Cup of Pumpkin seeds, one small bottle of pine nuts, (these are sold in stores in a small bottle). You can buy pine nuts on line from a nut house, (some of you live in a nut house, don't be easily confused about this).

Pine Nuts, also called Pignolia, (Pin-yo'-lee in my house)

Mix all this stuff together with the mustard. Use a small amount, a few Tablespoons of the mustard. If you're using habanero mustard, use it sparingly. This stuff is really hot. Just use a little bit, like 1 Tablespoon. Add the mayonnaise a little at a time. Mix it up thoroughly until you get the moisture consistency you like. Some folks like it creamier than others. That's why you add the mayo a little at a time.

One variety of the Habanero mustard

Add some salt and pepper. Put a pinch of garlic powder in there as well and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

I like this served well chilled, and as I said, I like mine hot. Cold and Hot. Hot cold stuff, or cold stuff with heat. You get the idea. I use the hot green chiles and the habanero mustard. To make it totally mild, use yellow mustard and mild green chiles. It tastes so much better the next day when all the flavors have married.

Now if any of you actually make this recipe, please tell me about it, or write a post and tell the story. Tell us what kind of peppers you used, canned, or did you go online and buy some from the online sources I will mention here. By the way, if you want to make other things with green chiles, like authentic chile rellenos or a good chile verde, (Green Chile), sauce for enchiladas and huevos rancheros, these are the peppers you need.

In the future, we'll do more with chiles. I go down to New Mexico at least once per year and if I do nothing else, I buy chiles, dried and frozen, to bring home and use to make good food all year long. Besides all the Mexican sauces and rellenos, I make my own creation of Cream of Mushroom soup with green chiles, I call if Cream of Mushroom Santa Fe.

This is so much fun for me to talk to you about cooking and recipes. I know that many of you share this same love for food and making food and experimenting and playing in the kitchen. Let me know if you want to know how to make something we've talked about. Let me know if you want to tell me or others about a recipe and let me know if you have a question. My experience as a cook and a chef in many different venues over the years gives me a little authority, but I can learn from all of you as well. Lets all share this love.

Now, here are a couple of web sites to get chiles. One is Hatch Chile Express, the other is New Mexico Chile.

Okay, the potato salad is chilled and it's the next day, the flavors are melded together. I made a sandwich and I'll scoop out a serving of the Potato salad to have with it, along with a cold beer, or my other favorite beverage, Spring water from the shores of the Great lake Superior.

MMmmmmmMMmmmmmmmm, good stuff.

Ingredient List:
Three kinds of potatos, one a sweet potato
Green chiles
Scallion Onions
Shelled Pumpkinn seeds
Pine Nuts
Mustard, yellow or Jalepeno or Habanero mustard
Mayonaise
salt, pepper, a pinch of garlic powder
A dash of balsamic vinegar, (if desired)

Peace to All

Foregone Conclusion
From Darkblack

Let's Go To Our Correspondent

Esquire:
The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know

...It was an average morning in April, about four weeks into the war.
Mann picked up her daily folder and sat down at her desk, glancing at a fax cover page.
The fax was from the Swiss ambassador to Iran, which wasn't unusual -- since the U.S. had no formal relationship with Iran, the Swiss ambassador represented American interests there and often faxed over updates on what he was doing.
This time he'd met with Sa-deq Kharrazi, a well-connected Iranian who was the nephew of the foreign minister and son-in-law to the supreme leader.
Amazingly, Kharrazi had presented the ambassador with a detailed proposal for peace in the Middle East, approved at the highest levels in Tehran.

A two-page summary was attached. Scanning it, Mann was startled by one dramatic concession after another -- "decisive action" against all terrorists in Iran, an end of support for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, a promise to cease its nuclear program, and also an agreement to recognize Israel.

This was huge. Mann sat down and drafted a quick memo to her boss, Richard Haass. It was important to send a swift and positive response.

Then she heard that the White House had already made up its mind -- it was going to ignore the offer.

Its only response was to lodge a formal complaint with the Swiss government about their ambassador's meddling.

It appears the American Executive branch wishes for America to die.

Is this what America wants?

SPY VS. LIE: OUTING VALERIE PLAME AN ACT OF TREASON?
From Bartlebee for Lydia Cornell

We hear a lot of talk about patriots these days. In fact the word is literally used "left and right" to describe all sorts of people from politicians to pundits. One person you won't hear the term attributed to however, at least by the right wing in this country, is Valerie Plame

And here's why.

Valerie Plame first entered the world in 1963, the daughter of a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force. In fact, she was born on a US Air Force Base — Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage Alaska. Her father was not only a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force, but worked for the National Security Agency for about three years when Valerie was young, giving Valerie her first look at the clandestine world of national intelligence, and no doubt helped shape her future career plans, which involved one thing and one thing only.

Serving her country.

A career choice Ms. Plame was well suited to, given her superior intellect and skills not to mention remarkable good looks which are no doubt an asset in the clandestine world. In 1985 Valerie was accepted into the CIA's Officer training program, and never looked back. She was installed as a Non Official Cover Officer which is the most clandestine role the CIA has to offer. As a covert operative who speaks 4 languages, assignments took her to Greece, Iraq, Turkey and parts of Europe. She worked to protect US officials including George H W Bush during his visit to Greece, whose native tongue is included in her repertoire of languages. Plame was a rising star in the CIA with a BA from Penn State, and not one but two Masters degrees, one from London School of Economics and Political Science, and one from The College of Europe, in Belgium. Plame speaks English, German, French and Greek and is an expert in nuclear anti-proliferation.

Then, in 2003, it all came to a screeching halt.

ry 2002 the CIA asked Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame's husband, to travel to Niger to confirm the validity of a report of that Iraq had an agreement to purchase Uranium from Niger to be used by Saddam Hussein to manufacture nuclear weapons. Wilson traveled to Niger, met with the former Prime Minister who was the one approached by "an Iraqi businessman" who discussed strengthening trade agreements with Niger. Wilson researched the events and concluded there was nothing there and reported back to the Select Committee on Intelligence that the accusations of a sales agreement between Niger and Iraq was clearly false.

However in January 2003, President George W Bush announced in his State of the Union address, the opposite, with these 16 immortal words; "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa". Naturally Wilson was astounded that the President presented this information to the world as fact, even after Wilson had reported almost a year earlier to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee that the story was false.

This bothered Wilson, and on July 6, 2003, Wilson wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed piece that Bush had misrepresented the intelligence and wrongly used it to help justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Although several committees including the Butler Report, the Senate Intelligence Commission and the Senate Select Committee on intelligence at various times attempted to disprove Wilson's conclusions, none were ever able to produce any solid evidence to validate the claims that a sales agreement for Yellow Cake existed between Iraq and Niger, or that it was ever discussed with the former Prime Minister of Niger, Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki. In fact the US State Dept agreed with Wilson, as did the CIA, that the claims were false and thus discredited.
Eight days after writing his Op Ed piece reprimanding the White House for using the discredited information, his wife, and covert CIA operative, Valerie Elise Plame Wilson, was outed as a CIA Covert Operative, in a column in the New York Times titled, "Mission to Niger".
 
And just like that, her career as a CIA covert operative, was blown.
In Sept 2003, President Bush stated that if there had been a leak, then he would prosecute anyone in his administration found guilty of such a leak. The CIA had already contacted the Justice Dept. to request a formal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified intelligence in leaking Plames status to the press. Then, in February 2004, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed as Special Counsel to lead the investigation. During the investigation Fitzgerald filed papers naming Karl Rove and Scooter Libby as the primary leaker's of the information to the press, and not just to Bob Novak. However during the investigation Rove and Libby stonewalled, lied and did whatever they could to obscure and obstruct the facts of the investigation, most often resorting to age old "I don't recall" to avoid prosecution.

Fitzgerald knew Rove had leaked the information, as did Libby, but their diversionary testimonies and stonewalling made it impossible for Fitzgerald to prove it. Then on October 28, 2005, Libby was charged a 5 count indictment for lying to the Special Prosecutor Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. Libby, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, following his indictments, resigned in disgrace, and on March 6, 2007, he was found guilty of all but one of the indictments, and sentenced to 30 months in prison. a 250,000 dollar fine, and 2 years probation. President Bush immediately intervened, and overruled the courts ruling, granting Libby Clemency, and thus discarding the justice process.

Libby never denied that he learned of Plame's identity from Vice President Cheney, and thus while the Grand Jury's commission was expired and Fitzgerald returned to his "day job", the investigation is by no means over. But what we know is this. Rove and Libby leaked Plames identity, to discredit her husband Joe Wilson's report to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee to sell the war in Iraq to the American people and the Congress. This act alone would be enough for all but the most deluded of Bush followers, to abandon him as a traitor to the country. But the right wing has staved off a mass exodus by claiming over and over, that Plame "never was a covert op", which of course is a lie. Court records filed during the Libby hearing, and subsequent CIA information proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Plame was indeed covert and working on several clandestine anti-nuclear proliferation operations, including providing Iran with bogus data on the construction of nuclear weapons. But the right wing ignores this information, and continues to smear Plame, her husband, and her 20 year career as a covert CIA operative.

But tonight, on CBS's 60 Minutes, Katie Couric interviews Valerie Plame for the first time since her cover was blown by the Bush administration. In the interview, Couric will outline some of the actual damage done to the CIA, their long term covert operations, and the absolute danger the outing has placed numerous CIA covert operatives around the Globe. Couric will report how the day the Novak story came out, embassy's all over the world began frantically researching to see if the stealthy Mrs Plame had entered their country, and who she had contacted during her visits. Intelligence agencies began investigations all over the world to determine the extent of Mrs Plames activities and the persons associated with those activities, thus compromising potentially dozens of CIA covert operations and potentially hundreds of CIA covert operatives around the globe. We will hear how the work she performed was actually designed to stop Iran from ever developing nuclear technology, and thus averting the threats that President Bush claims to be so utterly concerned with. We will learn, how a President, and his staff, caused the country to be placed in greater threat from nuclear war, simply because they wanted to invade the nation of Iraq.

So with all the talk of patriotism and patriots that we hear from the right, tonight, CBS news, and Katie Couric, will give the world a birds eye view of an actual Patriot. One who dedicated her entire adult life to her country, and to keeping it safe from nuclear weapons. And we will hear first hand how the President who cries so loudly about his fear of those nuclear weapons in the hands of countries like Iran, destroyed the operations the CIA had worked so hard to develop, to keep those nuclear weapons from countries like Iran. And perhaps more importantly we'll get a keen glimpse into the tactics and strategy of the right wing Bush supporters, and their never ending efforts to provide lies and misdirection to real questions and real issues.

Thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation we know that both the President's and Vice President's Chiefs of Staff were the source of the leaks, which implicates the President and the Vice President as their source. If it had been just one Chief of Staff working alone, then perhaps one could argue it was a solitary self motivated effort. But both Chiefs of staff along with the White House Press Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of State indicate that it was not a solitary effort, but a combined, decisive attempt to smear two American Patriots, and in doing so, they destroyed years worth of highly classified work that was designed to keep America safe from nuclear threats, something the President claims is his primary goal. And since the right wing knows that most Americans know that Bush and Cheney were the original sources of the leak, their strategy has changed over the last year to discredit the notion that Valerie Plame was a covert operative. But in just one short hour, their collective denial of "Yes they did it, but she wasn't a covert op and her job wasn't classified, so therefore no crime was committed, no harm was done" is about to be dismantled once and for all.
Tonight the entire country will learn what only the educated and informed blogger's and web surfers are currently aware of. That Valerie Plame was indeed a covert operative, and that her work was not only highly classified, but was designed to keep the one thing from happening that George W Bush claims is the primary reason he was willing to invade Iraq and cost us so much in American lives and treasure and commit so much destruction of a people that has never once attacked us, and the reason he is now threatening to attack yet another country, and butcher a few hundred thousand more people and turn the entire global community against us. Her work, was to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of countries like Iran and Iraq. And George W Bush, and Dick Cheney, destroyed that work for their own purposes and ruined the 20 year career of a covert CIA officer who's classified mission was to do precisely what George W Bush claims is his number one goal, and the reason he's using to blow the middle east back to the stone age.

Tonight we'll see a true American Patriot, who works for one of the most patriotic organizations this country has, the unsung heroes of the CIA, who's mission is to stop wars before they get started. Tonight we'll see what the crowd "calling" themselves Patriots, do to the actual Patriots of our country. Tonight we'll see why this Patriot, who dedicated 20 years of her life to serving her country in an organization where accolades are given only in secret, and medals are seen only by the recipient, had her career and work destroyed by the President and Vice President. To sell their lousy war. A war that if they had only let the CIA do their jobs, would never need to have been fought.
-----------------------------
UPDATE: Katie Couric introduced the story this evening by pointing out that Valerie Plame was no "glorified secretary" as the Bush administration and the right wing have falsely labeled her. Couric announced unequivocally that Plame was not only a covert op, but an officer, in charge of "dozens of agents" and a highly classified operation to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The 60 Minutes Interview has just aired. For those of you who missed it you can catch recaps and excerpts here on CBS's website.

 

Click here to comment on this Blog World Report