Slimebag.

It's torture just looking at him. How do humans come out like this? What gene cesspool was he created in?
Please help me through this.

Where's his neck? His suit doesn't look right, either? Maybe we'll be OK.

The worse part is all those sickening pink pasty (2 token brown), flappin, clappin, useless hands that will never touch the tortured bodies.

Consistent with what values? Scum!!

Look at his mentor, tudor and boss, and ya might have the answers. Birds of a feather...flock together.

Gonzales Is "Bush's Watergate-on-Steroids"

Fact. The allegations of massive illegal acts (from violations against the Constitution to the Geneva Conventions to.....), on the part of Gonzales are now part of the Congressional Record.

Fact. All those illegal acts were premeditated and perpetrated by the chief legal counsel to the President --- as direct of a report to the President of the United States of America as you can get.

Fact. Repeatedly, Gonzales was admonished for obfuscation, refusal to answer questions, refusal to supply documents, and more, during his under-oath hearings for AG and he was confirmed today still stone-walling, still arrogantly and dishonestly 'covering-up' or, if you will, lying.

Fact. The Republican leadership of the US Senate brought to vote an individual who refused to provide full disclosure of requested information; they acquiesced and are now active participants in Gonzales' 'cover-up.'

Fact. Those Senators who voted for Gonzales did so with full knowledge of the allegations and the extensive documentation that supports the allegations and the fact that Gonzales refused to provide requested information.

Now, allow me to quote from the Articles of Impeachment of Richard M Nixon, on his role in the attempted cover-up of ONE ACT OF UNLAWFUL ENTRY:

http://watergate.info/im...peachment-articles.shtml

ARTICLE 1

In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, in that:

On June 17, 1972, and prior thereto, agents of the Committee for the Re-election of the President committed unlawful entry of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, District of Columbia, for the purpose of securing political intelligence. Subsequent thereto, Richard M. Nixon, using the powers of his high office, engaged personally and through his close subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation of such illegal entry; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible; and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities.

Fact. Gonzales is truly Bush's Watergate-on-steroids because his crimes were committed in service of the President and his obstruction of the process, throughout his confirmation hearings, of revealing information requested by members of the US Senate, not only compounds the scale of his violations but effectively set a 'complicity trap.'

Fact. 60 US Senators, by voting for Gonzales, aided and abetted the cover-up of massive violations of the rights of prisoners and the torture of human beings (the implications of their vote will haunt them for the remainder of their lives). Those 60 US Senators are complicit with Gonzales and the President in covering up, in refusing to tell the American people the truth about past and ongoing brutally inhumane treatment of prisoners.

For instance, among the still-ongoing activities those 60 US Senators are now directly and actively aiding and abetting, here's just one example:

"Some attorneys for detainees say they believe the administration is hoping to avoid having to defend in court its alleged practice of sending suspects to foreign prisons where questionable interrogation tactics are used. "The political folks have decided this is now hurting the administration and they need to make it go away," said Brent Mickum, an attorney for Mubanga (British citizen released from Gitmo in Jan 2005). "And they're looking to avoid having any bad precedent that would affect their ability" to transfer detainees to third countries."

The scale of crimes that Mr Gonzales has committed, on behalf of the President of the USA, vastly exceed those that drove Mr Nixon to resign (even including Articles 2 & 3 against RMN). The President, in appointing him AG, has taken an extraordinary step to cover-up war crimes; he's appointed the architect of torture to the #1 "law enforcement position" in the USA. That's some kind of 'steroids.' In fact, that is way more than adequate to qualify Bu$h for the following:

"RESOLVED, That George W Bush, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours, and that the following articles of impeachment to be exhibited to the Senate:

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE NAME OF ITSELF AND OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AGAINST GEORGE W BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF ITS IMPEACHMENT AGAINST HIM FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANOURS."

If those Articles of Impeachment are not already being drafted by members of the House of Representatives, assisted by their colleagues in the Senate, I will be surprised.

In any event, "We The People...." will make it happen, just as we will force the resignation of every Senator who decided, by voting for Gonzales, to align themself with a war criminal and actively allow him to continue to lie about both the President's torture policies and the extent of those already, as well as currently being, tortured.

COMMENCE THE PURGE

Peace.

BE THE BU$H OPPOSITION; 24/7

Hi, Understandinglife - Thank you for #5. Pardon my ignorance, but do you really think Articles of Impeachment are being drawn up by Congress, since DUMYA must feel certain that the Republican majority will protect him/them? I surely hope DUMYA and the whole gang are running scared, but they obviously think they are going to get away with everything. Can you provide any more info, or do we just have to wait for some things to develop?

Hi Peggy,
No insider knowledge. I just operate from the first principle of "We The People...." and am doing all I can to remind my fellow citizens that the folk in the 109th Congress are our employees --- we put them there, we pay their salaries, and its time we tell them what we expect. We want the criminals removed.

Here's a bit more info that will appear in The New Yorker this week. I branded it:

"CIAir: Cheap fares to 5-star torture havens, world-wide"

Today, here, we find the following 'heads-up':

"Michael Scheuer a former CIA counterterrorism agent told The New Yorker magazine "all we've done is create a nightmare," with regard to the top secret practice of renditions.

In an article titled 'Outsourcing Torture' due to hit newsstands this week, the magazine claims suspects, sometimes picked up by the CIA, are often flown to Egypt , Morocco, Syria and Jordan , "each of which is known to use torture in interrogations."

The report said suspects are given few, if any, legal protections.

Despite US laws that ban America from expelling or extraditing individuals to countries where torture occurs, Scott Horton --- an expert on international law who has examined CIA renditions --- estimates that 150 people have been picked up in the CIA dragnet since 2001." (more at the link)

Looks like some additional input to the Articles of Impeachment, I'd say.

[b]TBO;24/7[/b]

Hi understandinglife.
Here is another article I found regarding "rendition". The author lays out what he thinks are the four steps needed in order to stop torture by our government. Sadly, it requires that Congress and the pResident need to step up and take the lead in this effort, and as we have seen, very few in Congress have any backbone left, and we all know **sh will never undermine his own agenda, at least not purposely.

Still, I feel that the direction of the wind has changed somewhat, and now, more than ever, we must keep pressing, and reaching out to those who may be in a position to help us all in bringing about the end of these miserable traitors.

Peace

Alberto Gonzales--The 'Torturer's Apprentice'
Maybe he will find a spot for Toxic Anne, would be nice to have them all in one cozy spot.

Bush's Gitmo: "....a place that is devoid of due process and the rule of law."

Stories From the Inside
By BOB HERBERT

Published: February 7, 2005

"During the whole time we were at Guantánamo," said Shafiq Rasul, "we were at a high level of fear. When we first got there the level was sky-high. At the beginning we were terrified that we might be killed at any minute. The guards would say to us, 'We could kill you at any time.' They would say, 'The world doesn't know you're here. Nobody knows you're here. All they know is that you're missing, and we could kill you and no one would know.'"

"It's a place where human beings can be imprisoned for life without being charged or tried, without ever seeing a lawyer, and without having their cases reviewed by a court. Congress and the courts should be uprooting this evil practice, but freedom and justice in the United States are on a post-9/11 downhill slide.

So we are stuck for the time being with the disgrace of Guantánamo, which will forever be a stain on the history of the United States, like the internment of the Japanese in World War II."

(more at the link):

http://www.nytimes.com/2...t.html?oref=login&hp

Peace.

TBO;24/7

CBS exposes fox's o'Reilly for the LIAR he is, see michaelmoore.com, video

Kennedy wakes up and the phrase "war crimes" is finally uttered:

Kennedy letter claims *smoking gun* against Gonzales

Cheryl #12, excellent!! I have added this to the pages on Gonzales at WikiPedia and SourceWatch.

Thank you very much Cheryl for #12!!

BE THE BU$H OPPOSITION; 24/7

It is a bad day in US history when blatant torture mongers counsel war mongers on how to hide the truth and facts from the public eye.

It is bad enough to have a ruling class, but an evil empire ruling class would have been unthinkable not too long ago.

Downhill ... building momentum ...

One song writer asks america:

"When you gonna wake up ... and strengthen the things that remain" Bob Dylan

Prof. Francis A Boyle: "Destroying World Order "

"In international legal terms, the Bush Jr. administration should be viewed as constituting an ongoing criminal conspiracy under international criminal law in violation of the Nuremberg Charter, the Nuremberg Judgment, and the Nuremberg Principles, due to its formulation and undertaking of war policies which are legally akin to those perpetrated by the Nazi regime in pre-World War II Germany."

Just so everyone realizes why we can never allow a 'secret vote count', ever again; so everyone realizes why I insist on "Not one single line of software code between a voter and a vaild election." Just so everyone realizes how much support we will all want to provide "Land Shark" (at DU) and his colleagues as they pursue their suit against Sequoia.

Francis A. Boyle is a leading American professor, practitioner and advocate of international law. He was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, the American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. He served as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations from 1991 to 1993, served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Court. Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign and is author of, inter alia, Palestine, Palestinians and International Law, The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law, The Future of International Law and American Foreign Policy, Foundations of World Order: The Legalist Approach to International Relations 1898-1921, and The Bosnian People Charge Genocide. Francis A. Boyle holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from Harvard University.

BE THE BU$H OPPOSITION; 24/7

Ethics? What ethics? We ain't got no stinkin' ethics!

The Ethics of War

Teresa...... where are you...........?

Hi, you had a post in the Feb.5 open thread here saying how disgusted you were **sh was asking for billions more for his war and how your tax docs. had just shown up or something like that. Anyway, Peg c suggested protesting your taxes, well at Raw Story tax protest there is a developing story headline posted, no story yet. You might want to check it out. Just a little heads up.

Hey, how many of us do you think they could put in jail before they got the picture?

Whoops. that didn't work too good. Try this
tax protest

Thank you ever so much, Supersoling. It's getting worse by the minute with his new social program slashing budget. No funding for Amtrak, either, and that is how I travel. What will hapeen if I ever want to go see all my new friends?

I'm going to come up with something.

"hapeen?"... I was going to correct that but I kind of like it.

This is from "The American Conservative" website (Is this a conservative website?)

"Hunger for Dictatorship

War to export democracy may wreck our own.

by Scott McConnell

Students of history inevitably think in terms of periods: the New Deal, McCarthyism, “the Sixties” (1964-1973), the NEP, the purge trials—all have their dates. Weimar, whose cultural excesses made effective propaganda for the Nazis, now seems like the antechamber to Nazism, though surely no Weimar figures perceived their time that way as they were living it. We may pretend to know what lies ahead, feigning certainty to score polemical points, but we never do.

Nonetheless, there are foreshadowings well worth noting. The last weeks of 2004 saw several explicit warnings from the antiwar Right about the coming of an American fascism. Paul Craig Roberts in these pages wrote of the “brownshirting” of American conservatism—a word that might not have surprised had it come from Michael Moore or Michael Lerner. But from a Hoover Institution senior fellow, former assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, and one-time Wall Street Journal editor, it was striking.
Several weeks later, Justin Raimondo, editor of the popular Antiwar.com website, wrote a column headlined, “Today’s Conservatives are Fascists.” Pointing to the justification of torture by conservative legal theorists, widespread support for a militaristic foreign policy, and a retrospective backing of Japanese internment during World War II, Raimondo raised the prospect of “fascism with a democratic face.” His fellow libertarian, Mises Institute president Lew Rockwell, wrote a year-end piece called “The Reality of Red State Fascism,” which claimed that “the most significant socio-political shift in our time has gone almost completely unremarked, and even unnoticed. It is the dramatic shift of the red-state bourgeoisie from leave-us-alone libertarianism, manifested in the Congressional elections of 1994, to almost totalitarian statist nationalism."

Please, read the article at:

http://www.amconmag.com/2005_02_14/article.html

Hi, Teresa -

That's the way the gonzo would say it if he hadn't been so thoroughly Texified. There are lots of good sites - I've seen them - including some run by lawyers. I'll go look.

But before I go, I have to say that the most shocking shocker of all, to me, on the "budget" was the slashing of heating assistance for poor families. Being from northern New England and knowing just how cold it can get and how fuel prices have shot through the stratosphere recently, I can tell you that that one item is destined to cause the deaths of many, entire families and the elderly. It's hard enough to get by as it is. "Compassionate," my you-know-what! OH GOD!!!

One winter when I was freelancing and my girls were in school, I had to swallow my pride and apply for help. The drifts were up around the windows, temps were permanently below 0 (F), and my ex wasn't helping. NOW what is a mother supposed to do?!

That's torture of an exquisitely refined type, to be sure...

#22 Same article:

"And yet the very fact that the f-word can be seriously raised in an American context is evidence enough that we have moved into a new period. The invasion of Iraq has put the possibility of the end to American democracy on the table and has empowered groups on the Right that would acquiesce to and in some cases welcome the suppression of core American freedoms. That would be the titanic irony of course, the mother of them all—that a war initiated under the pretense of spreading democracy would lead to its destruction in one of its very birthplaces. But as historians know, history is full of ironies."
F-word=Fascism

Teresa -

Back again with some tax sites (though not the ones I'd come upon earlier). Go
http://www.nwtrcc.org/mt...p0603.html">here or here or even there and over there.

If I see any others, I'll post them. Have fun.

Hello all my sisters and brothers,
Yep, Peg C. You are right. Most of us have been where you found yourself that one winter. Here's an article that shows the true extent of Bushco's compassion. I particularly like this part: (sarcasm)

"The targeting of social welfare programmes is not a political risk for a Republican administration, as few of the very poor vote for the party...."

What on earth has government come to when it only looks out for its own self-interest and not the needs of all? And what has caused people's hearts to harden so much that a statement like that doesn't cause outrage amongst the citizens? It's a very sad world that we live in. Makes me want to cry.

A very cold,and calculating agenda, with regard only for wealth and power. We don't mean anything to them other than to provide them with money and bodies for their conquests. It is indeed a sad world that we live in, which makes me that much more thankful for the peacefull and loving world that exists within the walls of my home, and here on this blog.

Here is another kind of torture that few have heard of yet, as if our souls could stand anymore, perpetrated by those who took an oath to save lives not endanger them. " Not only were some military doctors at Abu Ghraib enlisted to help inflict distress on the prisoners, but also the scarcity of basic medical care was at times so severe that it created another kind of torture".

Hi, Cheryl -

HOWL, more like. But, as you know, there IS plenty of outrage amongst us folks. Here's an article I just referenced on VR that addresses this issue and the fact that we'd better get busy DOING something about it.

You're a "good 'un," Cheryl, as we Mainers say.

Hi, Supersoling -

Our paths must have crossed in the ether.

Yes, we're disposable, infinitely renewable resources, all right. The fact that some of us might be carriers of the key to the creative "reason" humanity exists at all is, I suppose, beside the point. They don't have the imaginations to comprehend this very abstract notion.

Good article here by Stan Goff. Not the easiest to read, (or maybe I'm just tired) but worth it. Will make you feel a little better about the revolution.

We can win and we will win

Thanks again, Cheryl, this time for comment #30. It's great to see somebody who knows something saying:

"We can win, and we will win. If we don't stop, we will defeat not just the war drive, but imperialism itself. Have faith."

Peg C...... Thank you my dear North Country friend for the here, there, and everywhere links. You are so kind, all my fellow revolutionaries(revs from now on).

I, too, Peg was outraged by the suggestion of cutbacks on heating subsidies. I think, though, that a lot of this is just a big game. They love to bait us and see us jump into panic every moment. We are fools, to some extent. We should work on staying calm, I think, and mobilizing our resistance inch by inch.

Cheryl #30...

Absolutely great article! This guy is intelligent. I am so, so delighted with his criticism of television watching. That is one of my crusades.

Here's a sample:

>Even more significantly than merely sharing, which is in itself very important, it gives revolutionaries an opportunity to have the kinds of conversations we can not have on the Internet, where we can gain the deeper perspective that comes from face-to-face, secure communication.

>Anything that weakens the local compradors' hold on political power is a plus in our column, because these are the surrogates for US power projection.

If the conference is simply sharing our theses, we will have lost an opportunity. But if we go back to our own comrades with a new perspective for our own struggles and a renewed revolutionary faith, and even with some nascent partnerships, then it will succeed. Can the US war drive be defeated?

In many ways it is being defeated right now. This is the most important thing the left can grasp right now, in my opinion. Failure to grasp this fundamental fact could lead to that very fact being reversed because of demoralisation and demobilisation. We are having a material effect on US power, and we cannot let up.

You're gonna love this, fellow revs!

TU, Teresa,

We hold hope in our fists and hope on. With clenched fists, I hope!

Teresa -

I couldn't have said it better myself. You're treasure material.

Onward and upward!!

I love you guys!!!!

Ditto, Teresa.

What gene pool does Gonzales come from? I'd say it isn't genetics, rather a kind of perverse stepchild of affirmative action. A member of a minority goes over to the other side, becomes a sycophant for a president who uses him as a symbol of opportunity, and is rewarded for slavish obedience with a Peter Principle-type promotion. It's Condi Rice redux.

Bush values loyalty and strict obedience over all other qualifications, in the manner of Nixon and most privately insecure men who are surrounded by toadies. Blame Bush first. Gonzales is really just a sleazy opportunist.

Regarding torture itself, today's New York Times carries a review of "The Torture Papers," a new book published by Cambridge University Press (too hot for American publishers?). Regarding the photos at Abu Ghraib, and the resulting claims about "a few bad apples," the reviewer has the following thing to say:

"The Torture Papers"...definitively blows such arguments to pieces.

Robert:
"What gene pool does Gonzales come from? I'd say it isn't genetics, rather a kind of perverse stepchild of affirmative action. A member of a minority goes over to the other side, becomes a sycophant for a president who uses him as a symbol of opportunity, and is rewarded for slavish obedience with a Peter Principle-type promotion. It's Condi Rice redux."

Exactly right. It's a little like the medieval monarch's sponsorship of his "fools." Except that it is far more hypocritical. Those "fools" were adopted, through patronage, to inject humor, insight, and commentary into the very bowels of tyranny. They were laughed *with* because they were a pressure release valve. Our present, patronized fools have even had their opinions co-opted. Can anyone here imagine a **sh laughing at himself? It's easier to envision him turning to a bodyguard and quietly placing a "termination" order.

Cheryl #30 - My thanks to you also for the article. You're a "super-sharing-surfer".

Freebird? Are you on holidays, or what?

Peggy - I can't believe it. I just asked "Has anyone heard from Freebird lately?" on the previous thread! Where IS the bird?

Yeah, where is Freebird?

NewYorker #22.

Excellent dude!

Hey Freebird ... what up?

I sure hope Freebird didn't get manxed...

For Peg C: The court jesters who served medieval kings differ from Gonzales and Rice in that they were designed for comic relief, while Bush's toadies serve his agenda while filling Constitutional roles.

One way to view the relationship is through the prism of public service vs. corporate structure. Without any question, Gonzales and Rice work for US, THE TAXPAYERS, not for Bush. Bush also works for US. We are their bosses.

Bush doesn't see it that way. He sees government as a giant corporation. He's the C.E.O. and Chairman of the Board. Everyone else is like a vice president under him, subject to his bidding. That might work in private enterprise, where the board of directors and stockholders don't interact with employees. The boss makes all the decisions, and is accountable only if the stock goes down, in which case the board might ask, "What the hell have you been doing to our company?"

In many cases, of course, that never happens, because the directors are all bosom buddies of the C.E.O. It's called corporate cronyism, and Bush knows the game better than anyone. Only a (rare) stockholder revolt works in that case.

In government, employees are accountable to taxpayers who pay their salaries. WE ARE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CORPORATION CALLED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. RICE AND GONZALES DON'T HAVE TO PLEASE ONLY BUSH, THEY HAVE TO PLEASE US.

Well, I am NOT PLEASED.

Really, Robert LM... I have been saying this over and over to everyone... I keep saying that the politicians are our public servants. They do not own us. We are not slaves. This is our country. And they are our employees.
I think this is what disturbs me the most. Is how the people cower and are so afraid. How they cry and cry about Orwellian prophesy and how we are doomed.
We HAVE the power. And we have the numbers. How many times will we let a few men dictate our destinies?

People seem to be locked into a belief that we can do nothing, and to me, that is the greatest problem.
NO ONE ultimately holds the power. There are many forces in play. But we have to own our own strength, autonomy, and self-respect. Our governments reflect who we are. And they all are created from the germ plasm of the society. THe lost and ignorant sheep are probably not the majority. I think it is time to understand that we need responsible government and we need to act accordingly.

Obviously, Teresa, if the party in power can steal elections and get away with it, then you and I can be right about the rights of citizens, and about the duty of election officals, and it won't matter. So above all else, we have to keep battling to prove that Bush stole the election.

Bush has cronies on Wall Street, in the media, and on Capitol Hill, all of whom are dedicated to keeping him in power. None care particularly that he's an illegitimate president. What matters to Bush's friends is that his presidency works for them. It makes them rich. That's how cynical they are. Truly, we live in a corrupt age.

That makes it hard for us bloggers. As Bush would say, "It's a tough job." But we're smarter than he is, and have the truth on our side. Never give up.

Thanks Robert, for your clear-headed comments. It seems to me that politics has always been corrupt. And I think far more elections have been fixed here than is realized. But this one was so obvious. I agree, nailing Bush for this is above all else.
I wonder if that would bring a newfound honesty to the procedure.
This is one of the reasons I like the conversations here. They are staying focused on the issue, while so many are completely unable to face the election fraud reality.
I will not give up. I am still enraged about my vote being stolen. It's personal.

Stop the president's wishes to renew the Patriot Act.