In Memoriam, a site for all to bookmark:

HONORING THE FALLEN

A site complete with photos and short bioographies of those who have given their lives for the "War President" and Halliburton.

Remember the "No-Fly Zone?" And the sorta-kinda "reports" of US "missions" to maintain control? Our media falling all over itself to maintain virtual opacity? Well, dearly beloved friends, as you too probably know by now, this was a hoax and a massive coverup - because UK and US were bombing Iraq to get it riled and to destroy its communications capabilities - in 2002.

When I read this this morning, it manifested in the form of an echo of some prescient voice from 'way back.

Memorial Day would be a great day to say thank you to Tony Blair

I was pondering the neocon "position", because we must understand them to really respond to them effectively.

It is this: Iraq is a great victory, because a relatively few american lives were lost to gain control of very large oil reserves.

The president recently said that history would record it as america's golden moment.

In this neocon world view, since PEAK OIL is probably the most staggering reality to come upon us in recent times (link here, and here), the control of strategic oil resources and military bases in a strategic location on the world chess board is significant.

This neocon world view says continue to use military power to further secure that and all other regions to the US's advantage.

Finally, they say "who cares" about what the rest of the world or the UN thinks about all this.

The moderate or liberal view is that fair is fair and goods and services should be attained by free markets and fair dealing.

Militarism should not have a place in economic considerations, and if oil is a product that threatens world peace and even the existence of humanity, then we should have found renewable energy and have been using it.

The positive side in this ideology says it is not too late to do so now, while the more negative view wonders if it is already too late.

This ideology says pull out of Iraq, get busy with mending the US image in the world, and work with other nations to bring energy peace and other peace to the world.

Could world views be further apart?

You should be ashamed of yourselves. Today is a day to honor the Troops wether you agree or not.
Instead you are using them and the image of their casket to attack a political opponent.

You have disrespected yourself and the fallen heros.

I don't feel that it dishonors them to be shown here. I believe that the dishonor lay with a President who used them for dishonorable causes. Doesn't it say something to you that Bush hasn't attended even one of the funerals for deaths that he caused? Doesn't the dishonor lay with an un-necessary death to line the pockets of the already rich? Isn't it a horrible thought to think that these soldiers died for a lie? That they died for oil?

I think the best way we could honor them would be to make their deaths stand for something other than a lie.

The ignorant "medium left" troll falls over itself to show utter contempt for those that would enlighten the sleeping masses that the American troops in Iraq are not (and never were) fighting for the American people.

It is fitting to remind people that the compassionate conservative war president sent Americans to their deaths with deliberate lies and deception.

The trolls can take their hate and false patriotism and be damned.

Go straight to jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200.

The troops we honor on Memorial Day are those that fought to defend us against our enemies. The troops serving in Iraq invaded a sovereign country; they aren't defenders of anything or anyone.

It's unfortunate that many of them don't understand the distinction, as you don't. But their failure, and yours, should not be blamed on those who are willing to point it out, and who are further willing to expose the lies that have undergirded this disastrous adventure from the outset.

That's not "attacking a political opponent," that's telling the truth. If the truth hurts...get over it.

It's staggering to me to consider all the dead, as are listed every sunday on George Stephanopoulos morning show, and to consider that it's all for nothing. Bush lied to Americans and turned this country into a giant mugger-thief and is willing to toss our Constitution for some unstated goal(s).

How can we tell the troops returning home or the family of those who died that it was worth it, that it was a just cause, that those soldiers didn't die in vain?

This, above all else realted to the War, makes me very sad. I grieve even though I have no family or friends in the war.

Medium Left #6 I don't know who you refer to when you say "You", since it would apply to all posters above your comment.

So that would include Brad, Jpentz, Peg C, me, and Winter Patriot.

The truth always honors all who are honorable. Understanding does the same.

Are you saying this is a day where "honor" is composed of avoiding truth and understanding?

If so, here is a newspaper that you can include in your accusations.

This newspaper points out that it may be honorable to sacrifice for the country on the part of young folks, but it can never be honorable to take their lives thru lies (link here).

I respect your right to speak your ideas but I do not think you are accurate in your post. At least I can't yet find a way to agree with it.

This day is a memorial of america, and here truth and understanding are honorable 24/7 365.25 days per year.

Listening to the stories of veterans who survived POW/concentration camps/death marches has always made me think of the incredible sacrifice of our servicemen and their bravery that we honor on this day.

But as a young american boy, I'd always been taught that America did not subject enemy POW's to such humiliation, torture and abuse. This was the key component in making a distinction between the "good guys" and the "bad guys".

Thanks to the idiotic "leadership" of King George the Lying-Hearted and the collapse of command and control and accountability, our troops have been set up for failure - taking the blame and the losses in life, limb and worst of all, reputation. They deserve better... We all deserve better.

The fallen friends and comrades of Iraq, fatalities of two stolen elections, cloud and confuse the usual feelings of reverance that this military family usually experiences on this day every year!

You Think the soldiers would say your honoring them by using their death as no more than a political tool?

It isnt about them for you people, its about attacking a politian you dont like. Get over your hate for one day, and just say thanks.

Emperor George and his assistant "DICK Haliburton" cares nothing for our troops. Lies, Lies and more lies!!

No Credibility Left #14 Your question assumes facts not in evidence. It is therefore invalid.

You need to realize that when people die unnatural deaths something is wrong - not right. It is not natural.

Is it better to have more unnatural deaths so there can be more "honor"? Something wrong happening is the source and definition of "honor"?

You are a death worshipper and should realize that they would be serving their honor whether or not they die.

Neither they nor anyone else has to die unnaturally to attain honor.

What a pathetic lie.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. When I see a bumper sticker like this on the car in front of me, I know one thing: the man at the wheel is not very bright. He has not thought about the issues. He has not delved into the realities of history. He is intellectually shallow. For he is saying war was not the answer to stop Hitler.

This is a really special day to honor those who have died in this HERRENDOUS war. My thoughts and prayer are with their families today.

America's Work Stories
http://usaworkstories.blogspot.com
usaworkstories@aol.com

Jose Chung #17

What is the question? It is disingenuous to provide an answer without a question.

If Hitler had followed the bumper sticker "WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER" millions of people would not have died unnaturally.

It applies to everyone. And Hitler was wrong to ignore the bumper sticker, like you.

The bumper sticker applies to would be invaders and tells them there is a better way.

They rarely listen because they have so much support.

A moment of silence for all the children, women, and men who have died because of that support.

"Medium left" is right, I'll take the time to thank the president.

Dear Mr. President, Thank you for attacking a country that was in no way threatening us. It has caused the deaths of over 1600 soldiers and over 100,000 civilians.
I have gained nothing personally from the war or the deaths, but war profiteers have gained substantially.

On their behalf, I say fuck....I mean thank you.

Perhaps I should let Smedley
Butler speak on behalf of the fallen troops.

“That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Please forgive me if it seems like I'm beating a helpless troll over the head ...

re #17: --- Jose --- If you saw a bumper sticker saying "WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER" in 1943, you would be justified in thinking "He is saying war is not the answer to stop Hitler".

But Hitler was stopped a long time ago, so perhaps you might consider the possibility that the bumper sticker you saw was a comment on the current situation.

America has many problems, Jose --- too many to list here --- and many "bright" people who have "delved into the realities of history" happen to believe --- quite sincerely and on very firm evidence --- that war is not the answer to any of them.

Oh yes, America has many problems, Jose, and you are one of them. You have been lied to over and over --- not by the people who post on this blog but by your President and your Vice President and your Secretary of Defense and your Secretaries of State among others --- and you have believed them ... and now, you are so confused that when you see an anti-war bumper sticker, you think it refers to a war that ended sixty years ago. How unfortunate!

I'm not trying to hurt you, Jose, and I am not trying to belittle you either. I am trying to help you come to grips with the fact that this is the 21st century and not the 1940s.

The next time you go to bed, you should set your alarm clock, Jose. And when it rings, WAKE UP!!

Horkus #20

Good link. I quote from it:

"And above all, Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace . . . . War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the people who have the courage to meet it." (Premier Mussolini of Italy).

Let's see: photos of the reverent treatment of American military dead, the famous "Mission Accomplished" banner, and the President George W. Bush; all under the banner: In Memoriam.
It seems all wars have their dead and Memorial Day is a special day to honor all war dead. I find this composite of pictures to be profound by its open inference that perhaps Peace was not the goal measuring the success of the mission to be accomplished.
Well done Brad.

In memoriam
the truth still remains
the lies still lie
the remainder are still

the politicians are shrill
the people wonder why
no one still gains
in memoriam

Understand one thing, Mr. Medium Left: I don't give a fig or a farthing about George W. Bush as a politician. He's a liar and a cheat who stole two consecutive elections, and integrity matters more to me than politics. If we agree on anything here, it is that politics in 2005 is cheap, shallow, and soulless in the United States of America. There's no such thing as democracy here.

But I do care about George W. Bush as a so-called statesman. Because he works for me. I'm his boss. So are you, for that matter. Can you understand that concept, Medium Left? HE WORKS FOR US, BECAUSE WE'RE TAX-PAYING CITIZENS AND HE'S A PUBLIC SERVANT WHO CONDUCTS BUSINESS FOR US.

If you owned a business, and you had a liar and a cheat working for you, would you keep him on the job or would you fire him? And how would you feel if some ignoramus came along and said, "You just don't like this man." ????????

Dredd #21 Where did that quote from Theodore Roosevelt come from? As in what was the date and where was he speaking? I want to pass it along with a bit more info. Thanks for all your thought provoking posts.

Medium Left,
I understand what you're saying, but that's the same kind of thinking that got us to where we are. After 9/11 there was a perception that anyone who opposed the invasion of Iraq was failing to support the troops and failing to honour the 9/11 victims. Very few had the guts to speak out against the build-up to war because it wasn't how Americans were "supposed" to behave.

Sometimes it's important to realize that there may be more than one way to honour the dead - the people on this site honour them every day by fighting the injustice which brought about their deaths.

DaveM #26 Kansas City Star, May 7, 1918

Presidential Criticism link here, here, here, and here

You are quite welcome sir.

...Medium Left said on 5/30/2005 @ 8:37am PT...
It isnt about them for you people, its about attacking a politian you dont like. Get over your hate for one day, and just say thanks.

--------------

"you people"?

You've got to understand, it's hard for "us people" to not criticize Dubya. We have seen the lies and comprehended the evil he's done. We hate those terrible things he (or his subordinates) have done. We want to prevent further damage to America and our soldiers. We know how to say thanks, but that we don't do it to suit you is of little importance. You're no more our boss than George Bush is.

Bush is like the journalist who gets a job using a false resume, then robs the company openly and has the gall to smile (or smirk) and say everything's going great. What's not to hate?

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us --- if at all --- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

First part of The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot (1925)

It would be good to stop the rage and hate for a few hours at least. From all sides. Memorials include a moment of silence, or at least solemnity.

Raging against presidents, people, injustice, war, etc. is not going to bring these people back. Just a moment of reflection and thought might serve them in some way, though. And a suspension of the bickering for a minute while we all contemplate the resolution of conflict.

re, #31 --- Sorry, J. but I have to disagree with you...

In my opinion, we all have the right and indeed the obligation to mourn in our own ways ... If rage and hate are part of what some people feel, who are you to tell them not to express it?

As for me, my heart is full of sorrow: for those who have died fighting this war ... for their families, and especially their children ... but also for what we have lost ... and especially for what we have done.

Hi, first time posting. I'm Kat, helping out with The Brad Show these days. Brad has encouraged me to post and has mentioned to me how great all of you are around here! THANK YOU.

Today brings it all right home. Our military is made up of outstanding individuals who perhaps enlist or accept commissions for personal reasons, but take on a greater commitment when asked of them--the ultimate being going into battle on foreign ground. As you know, we've interviewed several on The Brad Show, and those interviews have all been powerful.

Given the circumstances and the fact that Bush led our troops into battle based on premeditated lies, today is the day to recognize war is not always the answer because the loss is just too great. The democratic principles on which this nation is founded are strengthened not by the deaths of those special to us, but by debate on the matter, failures and successes, honoring those who gave their lives in the process in meditation or at family gatherings, and praying for the souls of those who sent them into harm's way not for sake of the nation or greater good, but for the profit of a few.

Yes, I'm angry that Bush lied and that my brothers and sisters have been shot down in the line of duty. Having spent 7 years in the military, I would never dishonor them, nor do I tolerate anybody else dishonoring them.

Today, I say shame on those who choose to show allegiance to poor leaders and crafty commanders in chief --- those who do nothing to make the killing stop and to bring our troops home safely where they belong defending the ideals and role-modeling duty to country as members of communities across this nation.

Just my thoughts on this Memorial Day. Thanks everybody.

Going out on a limb here gang, but I think Jose's post was misunderstood. I've seen other posts of his on other boards, and he seems pretty much to agree that this war is false, he knows Bush lied and all of his postings elsewhere have been to inform people of what is really going on as we do. He reads The Nation, he reads Daily KOS, and definitely is not snowed by mainstream media. He knows it's a lie. At least that is what I have seen from other posts of his in other forums. The articles he posts and finds seem to be in an effort to educate people.

Jose, correct me if I am wrong. But if I am right from what I have seen, others here would welcome you. We are on the same side. I hope you prove me correct Jose. You have been an ally on other boards.

Thanks, Kat ... you have a good perspective on things and I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoyed reading you ... and now that you know how to post a comment here, I hope we'll hear from you often.

re #34 jpentz:

No problem about going out on a limb ... Perhaps this is a case of mistaken identity? ... You can judge for yourself whether Jose Chung has been helpful on this board. Here are links to his most recent comments:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Congrats Kat on your beautiful and powerful debut post! I think I can speak for about 98% here in warmly welcoming you aboard BB,.....for the other 2%, here's a re-post:

I'd like to dedicate this next song to all you TROLLS and TROLLOPS out there in Bradville and on the Conyers Blog! [ya know who ya are!]

Crippled Inside by John Lennon

You can shine your shoes and wear a suit
You can comb your hair and look quite cute
You can hide your face behind a smile
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside

You can wear a mask and paint your face
You can call yourself the human race
You can wear a collar and a tie
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside

Well now you know that your
Cat has nine lives
Nine lives to itself
But you only got one
And a dog’s life ain’t fun
Mamma take a look outside

You can go to church and sing a hymn
You can judge me by the color of my skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside

Well now you know that your
Cat has nine lives
Nine lives to itself
But you only got one
And a dog’s life ain’t fun
Mamma take a look outside

You can go to church and sing a hymn
You can judge me by the color of my skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside

One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside

Ah sorry Winter had not read those and did not realize he was posting frequently here and posting what he did, I've been busy with a project (among many) that I hope to share with everyone soon. That's a shame. sigh. I guess he just likes to go against the grain of whatever board he is posting on. Perhaps he is just anti-everybody.

MissionNOTAccomplished.

Period.

DU thread

website

Peace.

re #37 bushw@cker: Thanks for that one, mate, and here's one for you:

Gimme Some Truth
by John Lennon

I’m sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of hope
Money for dope
Money for rope

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of soap
Money for dope
Money for rope

I’m sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending, mama’s little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth now

I’ve had enough of watching scenes
Of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of soap
It’s money for dope
Money for rope

Ah, I’m sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

re #38 that's ok, JP ... I have a an advantage because I work here ;-()

re #39 understandinglife: nice to see you here again and thanks for this ... I have changed the URLs to links [hope you don't mind] in the hope that this will encourage readers to click on them!

Nice one Winter!

WinterPatriot & Bushw@cker - Thanks for the warm welcome! I'll make sure to find time to post regularly.

And I do look forward to your calls on next week's show! We should have Brad back on live!

Cheney now tells the American people via Larry King that "the insurgency" (in fact, indigenous Iraqis whose country we invaded) will be over by 2009. In fact, he has no clue what an insurgency is, and no way of knowing what Iraq will be like at any time in the future. Two years ago, his boss Bush(really, his puppet) stood in front of a sign that proclaimed "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." Now, we're supposed to be reassured that this mission will be accomplished sometime before 2009?

This is the same Dick Cheney who argued that
Saddam Hussein had WMD even after Bush had admitted he didn't. The same Dick Cheney who held secret meetings with oil executives, promised them no-bid contracts to repair Iraq after our invasion, then pretended that no invasion would have taken place except for 9/11...which was then linked to Iraq through bogus intelligence and lies. The same Dick Cheney who, as Secretary of Defense, warned the first President Bush against getting involved in Iraq.

Larry King should be embarrassed. But a guy who's had eight wives and wears purple neckties with green shirts is beyond embarrassment, I guess.
Where, oh where, are the Edward R. Murrows of this generation?

Did they really think it would be a "cakewalk"?

Anyone can understand the truth by stopping for just a moment and considering how it would feel if a foreign country invaded the United States, killing thousands upon thousands of innocent Americans, bombing our cities to rubble and driving tanks up and down the streets of what's left.

Of course they'd tell us they're here to free us...

The Iraqis are free alright
- Free to vote for a puppet government
- Free to starve
- Free to live in fear
- Free to do exactly as we say
- Free to be economically raped by multinational corporations
- Free to die

Don't believe this shit about leaving in 4 or 5 years. We are there for geostrategic control of the region and its oil (and for Israel and neocon lunatics), and have no intention of leaving, at least not until the oil's all gone. As I mentioned a few days ago, Rice recently admitted the truth with her line "He doesn't have an exit strategy, he has a success strategy"

They are the hollow men. They are the stuffed men.

WP #36, Jpentz #38

In this link Jose admits, after Kira confronts "him", to there being at least two "Jose Chung" personas and obfuscates which one "he" is.

Jose may simply be a more subtle troll than the others.

Saw "Horns and Halos" over the weekend, on DVD. Wow. A story about one individual ( out of many ) that the Bushes rolled over and buried.

Last night at my gym the TV was stuck on a soundless Larry King interview with that Dick Cheney. His teeth should have fallen out on camera. Lying bastard profitting from the Iraq war. Cheated to win in the last 2 rigged Presidential Elections and willingly and knowingly lyed to the American people about reasons for attacking Iraq. He must not become the next President when Bush gets impeached. We the people must become vocal and demand a new Presidential election with new ELECTION CHANGES so the bastards can't get away with another theft this NOVEMBER. If we the people put enough pressure on the system it will buckle because our US electoral system was created to endure as a representation of the US vote.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. If not for war then all of South Korea would be another giant Concentration Camp just like its neighbor to the North. WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. Only someone who went to college could believe such a stupid thing.

Ignore the trolls. Notice how they have flooded this list in the last few weeks, as greassroots organizing inspired by the Downing Street Memo is picking up steam.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are the Administration's hookers (doing it for money) or sluts (doing it for free), but they all say the same things. I will provide a digest version so that nobody has to waste time with their distractions ever again:

1) "You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are anti-American." (In other words, the President is America and we, the People, are not.)

2) "Support the troops." (In other words, we, the People, have no say in how our military is used. To sickos that say this, the troops exist for one purpose alone, to fight and die, and those of us who obstruct this message are against the troops. In this worldview, we, the People, have no responsibility to control the actions of our government nor should we feel burdened by the deaths that occur on our behalf. In the corporate mindset, troops and workers are just "human capital" to be bought and sold, cheaper than machines, provided we do what we are told.)

3) "Critics of the government are just doing it for the money (or to further their careers)." (This view pretends that all of these "lefties" are making money hand over fist. But it seems that there would be easier ways to make money: Buy an American business. Fire the workers. Hire some kids in Indonesia to do the work for a nickel a day. And then donate some money to Republicans so you don't have to pay taxes. It just doesn't make sense to be both a greedy capitalist and pinko commie. Think about it.)

4) "Bill Clinton did such and such." (These trolls are moral relativists, who think that if one person is immoral than we should all be immoral.)

5) "Where's my tinfoil hat?!?!" (This one would be a good one if we were talking about UFOs and aliens and freemasons... and if the writer were the first one to say it. But it is old and tired and just another way to dodge a head-on argument).

6) "I love it, people will flock to the Repuiblican party when they here what the CRAAAAAZY Howard Dean folks have cooked up now." (This one is a lie. They don't "love it." They are frustrated and a little worried about what they see as an inability to control what other people think, otherwise they wouldn't be trolls.)

7) "[Something about] Hitler." (This strategy tries to link any current event with something that the Nazis did or didn't do. It gets used by folks on both the left and right, both in Congress and on message boards. When you hear it, you know that the argument is going to get a little sloppy. In reflecting on the earlier post about "War is not the Answer," the poster wants to suggest that "War IS the Answer." But clearly war was NOT the answer to the problems that the germans were having, had they been more peaceful, they would not be remember as NAZIS. Maybe they would even be heroes if they weren't seeking violent solutions to their problems. But somehow, I imagine that the Nazis were a little bit more of the "don't mess with deutschland" and "peace through the decisive use of force" variety, rather than the "war is not the answer" types... but I could totally be wrong on this, Hitler was a vegetarian artist after all. And if you listen to Rush, they were probably women's libbers, too.)

8) "You looney libs twist the truth. The pictures are of a person packed in ice who died of heart failure after a severe beating, but you used the word 'murdered.'" (Don't even bother arguing with these people. They are sociopaths who feel that anything is OK if they can get the right lawyer to cook up a euphemistic version of anything they feel they'd like to do. These people also tend to be scrupulous about YOUR grammar, spelling, punctuation... making them especially annoying. If Bret Easton Ellis wrote a novel about an English teacher/serial killer, he could use the #7s as a model.)

There are other variations on these basic themes. I'd like to do a more scholarly analysis of the formulas that are being used. Also, I would also like to track trolling themes to radio talking points. Since they are so formulaic, you know that the trolls are about as creative and fun to be around as a box of rocks. And as support for the administration continues to dwindle, I'd imagine that some evil scientist is rapidly trying to replace the human trolls with some sort of chatbots that would always get the talking points right. Maybe it is exactly what they have done. Engaging them is a bit like chatting with a chatbot.... circular logic, obsession with minute details, inability to draw meaning from analogies, and a perpetual and obstinate evasiveness on questions that require any kind of committment to human values. Maybe they are real people who are just trying to survive the apocalypse by flattering our dystopian overlords. Who knows!

Well... Now you know.

Post #48 is so incredibly stupid that it is stunning to the point of being scary...

Dredd (#45), one Jose Chung is way too many.

Yep. Trolls proliferate when they have the most to worry about.

In mathematical terms, their numbers are inverse to the validity of their arguments. If posters on bradblog were really "unpatriotic," or "laughable," trolls would have nothing to worry about. They'd be attending Tom DeLay support rallies, or watching Fox Network, or shacking up with Jeff Gannon.

Instead they're here, telling us we suck. We must be doing something right.

BigTobacco #49 Nice post.

As to the trolls who are not machine automotons, but rather who are human automotons, when you get into your scholarly study, I know some of what you will find.

You will find people with snapped minds and emotions who could not allow changes to their world view. Changes in view which were mandated by changes in the real world.

President Bush said a short time ago today, when questioned about Amnesty International's Human Right's Report (very critical of US policy):

"It's absurd. It's an absurd allegation. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world..."

He is the leading neocon of those who's mind and emotions have snapped. He looks at the US gestapo fascist internment camps where prisoners are tortured and abused. Camps that have shown up under his watch. And he cannot let the facts into his being. He is unable.

Fear to and refusal to face the facts and the truth is a form of self preservation. But it is not a good preservation technique, because it has about the same effect as formaldehyde - the mental form of it.

There was a time when americans earned their mental state and experienced a pleasant reality.

That was when america was loved in the world. We were both good and strong in many ways. But america is morphing into amerika and democracy is morphing into demockracy and democrazy.

The american people who allow themselves to snap mentally and emotionally, who seek to preserve the vision of the past with images soaked in mental formaldehyde are suffering.

Suffering much more than they would have if the truth had been faced and they instead let their fear turn into righteous indignation like the Ukranians did.

Like in the movie "Revenge of the Siths", where the lady says "So this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause", the neocons are applauded.

But america has a strong heritage and the popularity of the Sith Lord is diminishing in the polls, and more and more are realizing they have been had.

Hopefully that will grow and we will enter the phase "Revenge of the People" (Return of the Jedi).

Thanks. Dredd. I missed this quote from the so-called president

"It's absurd. It's an absurd allegation. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world..."

Very reminiscent of what he said about allegations that he knew details of 9/11 in advance. That time he said

"It's an absurd assinuation [sic]."

Do you see a pattern here? It's not only bush but he's the most famous practitioner. When they cannot refute a statement they call it "absurd". Which of course doesn't prove anything.

If you want to know how freedom is doing in Iraq, you should read the very few reporters who are actually talking to Iraqis. Like Dahr Jamail.

If you want good news from Iraq, you can have that too. In fact you can have all you want, provided you don't mind if it's fiction.

WP #53 you are quite welcome sir.

Kat #33

I join my fellow bloggers and welcome your post.

I remember when Ike ("I like Ike") Eisenhower warned about the military industrial complex.

It was unheeded and "The Department of War" became "The Department of Defense".

And not only that, with that name change the military industrial complex (the war profiteers, link here, as pointed out by a famous marine and our own Horkus) began the changing of america.

The link is to a site handled by veterans like yourself. I am not nor ever have been military in any way shape nor form, so I do not know. But the arguments of those veterans seems in agreement with my own experience and observation.

I owe no one an apology for never having taken up arms against any other human being in any invasion anywhere on the planet earth.

The only thing I can tell you is that the suffering I have gone thru as a result of that, being persecuted by my own people for my views, is well worth it.

And I think my view is as honorable as those who in honesty thought they were doing the right thing by taking up arms.

That I leave to them to decide - and I have never persecuted them for their view.

Bush also repeated that nonsense that terrorists hate us because of our freedom. Of all the neo-con B.S. we've heard since 2001, that is the most intellectually bankrupt statement of all.

Earth to W.: From the perspective of an Iraqi whose sovereign land has been invaded by the world's largest superpower, the word "freedom" means "Leave us alone!" The only Iraqis who think we're promoting freedom there are the handful of lucky businessmen who have cut deals with us. That's isn't freedom, it's free-market capitalism.

Reagan thought they were one and the same. His philosophy was, "What's good for Wall Street must be good for Main Street." As long as the dialogue was domestic, it remained a semantic debate between laissez-faire economic devotees and advocates for sharing the wealth...like an argument between Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson.

But Bush raised the ante, and tried to apply Reagan's flawed logic to the foreign sphere. It didn't work. All he can say now is, "They hate us for our freedom." B.S. to a higher power.

These posts are based on a lie. We are not in Iraq for oil or Halliburton.

The top 3 suppliers of oil to America are:

Saudi Arabia (#1)
Mexico
Venezuela (25%)

I don't see Iraq in the above list.

Medium Left is correct.

War is not the answer?
American Revolution
US Civil War
WW1
WW2

If war stops an evil nation, war is good!

Don't you know it's gonna be alright - Lennon

Here is an example of what happens when world view is disrupted in a manner that an individual is not prepared for (link here).

The government of a nation is an extension of the parental cognition within. Its like when a young duck equates a dog, a human, or other species to a parental process within.

That duck truly believes that the dog, human, or whatever is their parent. They faithfully follow the object of their perception around "talking" affectionately to the "parent".

In humans when that assumption and world view is severed in an inordinate manner, disaster can result like the above seemingly inexplicable teen killing all those sitting in the parental seat and any in close proximity.

Iraq has the second largest reserves of oil. It is located where permanent military bases will intimidate the entire region.

If war is good why was the name "Department of War" changed to "Department of Defense"?

Because only fools do not realize the truth that War is the definition of the first move ... invasion ... and is not defined by the second move ... defense.

But for those who are reality challenged and are deep into the addiction that mental formaldehyde creates, stay on it until your handlers give you a better drug. Don't try treatment at home.

Better that you hate and kill with your mind and words than with your "happiness is a warm gun".

Brian Paul #56

I wish I had time to write something here --- I'll post these links. They're quite interesting and enlightening to those who wish to study the whole picture.

It's All About the Oil - Stupid~

3 articles show US planned attack on Afghanistan months before 9/11

Why Attack Iraq?

============

Brian Paul - to call a nation evil is shallow.
Maybe you'd like to elaborate?

It's about WMDs. (They weren't any).
It's about terrorism. (Well... terrorism has gone up).
It's about freedom. (Well... now we have re-hired the baathists to suppress the "insurgents" and are now finding handcuffed bodies in shallow graves. And please close one eye towards Uzbekistan.).
And, now it's not even about oil!?!?! (Well, for you and me, anyways. The oil companies are getting a pretty good return per barrel. It might be the best thing that's ever happened to them. It's like a tax increase, except that we don't get anything in return for for it. But to be friendly, I'll say, "it's not about oil.")

What is it about? Seeing people die? Like suicide bombers, is someone trying to prove that we are willing to kill our own and lots of innocents in pursuit of an enemy, no matter how weak? I hope it is not as stupid as that. Although, I know there are some folks that think that is an awesome idea... in high school these date-rapists hurt small animals for fun... and now they graduated (or didn't as the case may be).

I'd like to see that somebody is getting something for all the pain and misery that has been unleashed.

Perhaps for *sh, it's the sheer fun of tying firecrackers to frogs and watching them explode.

Paranoid, Sadistic Meglomaniac

... "Dr. Justin Frank, writing in Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President, also says the President has a 'lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions ... [and] pumping his fist gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad.'"

This article shows how one form of world view denial manifests.

The journalist concludes that a well known US government official will "owe the whole world an apology". The article does not mention the US citizen as being any part of any apology.

This article unintentionally shows the bankruptcy of citizenship that is chronically widespread in the US. We have lost our senses when we think a simple transferrence of guilt to the government in a passing comment is all our citizenship entails.

This journalist writes as if the US citizen has no responsibility whatsoever to monitor the government and to intensely react to wrongs of the government. To let it be known clearly that we are going to be the government.

It is a dream state that falsely reasons that the whole world thinks the american citizen has nothing to do with what its government does, and therefore will not be held to blame.

We are hated because we claim that government "is of, by, and for the people", but then let despots continue unabated.

We become hypocritical when we then say the government really isn't us.

We claim to be a republic and a democracy where the people are the boss and that is why we have freedom.

Yet we blame the government officials and say they should apologize because only they are responsible?

And then simply go on with our consumer mentality that we are somehow detached completely from responsibility?

Not at all true and the world is not buying it.

Comment #56: We (American government military) just took a detour overnight from looking for Bin Laden after 9/11 to FREE the Iraqi people with our bombs. Your "war is not the answer" shows a lack of education on the deaths of 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 1600 US military soldiers DUMBASS!!!

Dear Braddites, I'd like you all to take a look at the speech President Clinton made to America on the eve of his impeachment vote. I think you will find it interesting. It was on December 15, 1998:

{the long speech pasted here has been removed. Click here if you really want to read it.}

===================

{
jose:

WP
}

Thanks to TBRNews:

The Republican Congress in Action: The Trickle-Down theory

Pipeline is on the march!

by Kevin Good, Unknown News

May 31, 2005

'Shock and Awe' to 'Shush and Naw'...

This is a more inclusive map
of the area.

"The project has taken more than 10 years to finish and willunlock one of the world's biggest energy reserves. The pipeline has been an international effort and was built by a consortium led by UK oil giant BP (Amoco-Arco), which has a 30% stake.

It has not been without controversy, however, and there have been protests about the impact on the environment. (Right, the environment, not who gets the money. Russia is doing so well Putin won’t mind.) Some demonstrators were beaten and arrested last Saturday, with Azeri authorities saying that they acted because the protest was too close to the pipeline." **more**

The reason the media cannot cover the return in coffins of our men and women is because it is distasteful to Barbara Bush. This is her comment to Diane Sawyer on the eve of the war March 2003

"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day its gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, its not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?

This comment can be verified for the non believers in the book CRUEL AND UNUSUAL by Mark Crispin Miller 2004, pg 298 or look up the interview.

Check out how many "compassionate conservatives" have been in combat themselves. And also, check out how many sons and daughters are in the military right now. I did, 1 is a foot soldier and 6 are officers.

For any of you who so firmly believe in this Administration's war (and it is not just Bush it is Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice, Rumsfeldt)
Why are you still here and not over there?

Hehe TexasLady, because they (like their leader[s]) are Chicken Hawks, enlisted in the 101st Fighting Keyboard Reserves dedicated to spreading misinformation, propaganda and rhetoric of hate in the hopes of stopping the spread of truth throughout our last remaining refuge, the blogosphere. See this interesting interview with Reese Schonfeld, co-founder of CNN:

The Public Does Not Have the Right to Know

Connie Chung #63: You don't get it. We don't care. This is not about one party standing correct DUMBSHIT!!!

Thank you Kira, that explains CNN's policy. I think between threatening to take advertising dollars away and the fact that so few now own so much media contribute to the "misinformation" that is spooned to the public.

Case in point, Ret.Maj.Gen. John Riggs, 39 year decorated war veteran made a comment in Jan of 2004 that more troops were needed in Iraq. Wolfowitz demanded Rigg's commander to get him on a leash ! A month later Rumsfeldt requested 30,000 more troops but by now Riggs is persona non grata. Riggs decides to resign, but using trumped up proven false charges, the military demotes Riggs to a two star Gen and deprives him of $15,000 retirement benefits. Five other Generals have sought to exonerate Riggs but the military refuses so far.

So now we have threaten and shut off the media, threaten the military that speak out. Soooo who is left to tell us the truth? Well we do have a few very brave journalists left.

Kira,

Here's what Teddy Roosevelt had to say about kids like G.W.B. who think it's fun to explode frogs:

A healthy-minded boy should feel hearty contempt for the coward and even more hearty indignation for the boy who bullies girls or small boys, or tortures animals.

(emphasis added)

By the way, TexasLady #66 ... that quote by Laura *sh is simply shameful. She should not be regarded highly after making such comments.

Watching this administration taking benefits from our poorest people right and left, shows they are intent on creating a base of indigent folks that they can use in their wars.

Sickening aren't they. Laura can't look, it messes up her day. Oh wah. Maybe she can get her hair done, do a little shopping and then get a massage.

Mark Lloyd Baker #70

So --- we know he's not "healthy-minded." Of course it didn't take the exploding frog story to clue us in on that.

I hope they fall BIG TIME when they do.

oOPS CORRECTION for my post #71

I meant BABS - not Laura!

TexasLady #69

"So now we have threaten and shut off the media, threaten the military that speak out. Soooo who is left to tell us the truth?"

The next target is us - the blogs (link here).

Barbara Bush...."beautiful mind"?...Geesshh!

Washington Post Confirms Felt Was 'Deep Throat'
link here.

Bushw@cker #75

Woah! I was not expecting that info to come out yet! Good find.

Dredd #52 -

As I recounted on another thread, B*** got so exercised that he went on to ridicule the sources of the information, released prisoners who "hate us...and they're TRAINED to disassemble!...uh...that means they lie."

Giggle, guffaw. The visions this evokes!!! Lots of dutiful Muslim men obediently taking themselves apart!!!

A New Chapter in the Plame Case

By John W. Dean (at Find Law's Writ)

....Could the Supreme Court Become Complicit In Bush Administration Misdeeds?....

[snip] ... "a Court decision to docket the case should raise deep suspicions. This, after all, is the Court that installed Bush and Cheney in the White House with its dubious Bush v. Gore ruling. Delaying this case until the backside of Bush's second term could give the White House a pass through the mid-term elections as well.

Such delay, then, would suggest complicity by the conservative bloc (those most likely to take the case) of the Court in Administration crimes. Imagine, by comparison, if conservatives on the Court had managed to delay the Court's ruling forcing Richard Nixon to turn over his tapes to the Watergate Special Prosecutor until after the 1974 mid-term elections. That would not only have helped Republicans in the mid-term elections, it would also have enabled Nixon to survive an impeachment conviction --- for there was no smoking gun until the Court acted.

The Plame leak is a very serious one. It is an especially nasty case of revenge for truth-telling: To go after Wilson's wife, for his Op Ed, is dirty business indeed. Even more important, for Valerie Plame (and possibly others who covertly associated with her abroad, and were outed when she was outed) this leak could be life-threatening. " ***MORE***

Texas Lady #66

That Babs has been on my beautiful mind ... here's a bit more of the story ...

News Flash: Barbara Bush just as shallow and vacuous as Dubya

[snip] At a book signing for her memoir “Reflections: Life after the White House”, America’s favorite grandma admitted that President Bush inherited his lack of intellectual curiosity from her.

“George was always such an uncurious child just like I was,” Barbara Bush said. “It’s such an ugly world full of poverty and hunger. I did the best I could to keep him from questioning too many things.

She continued.

“As long as ‘those people’ are kept outside of the country clubs and my home, why would I waste time sullying the pristine soul that God gave me? I’m so thankful that George turned out as vacuous as I am.”

**more**

I'd be ROTFLMAO if it wasn't so close to the truth (or maybe it ... is ... the truth ???)

Kira #78 -

"Supreme" Court indeed! Complicit? Oh, heaven forfend! That supposedly august, pure and apolitical body has STOLEN our body politic and created a dictatorship. It has foresworn its Constitutional duties and become an administrative enforcer.

#79 -

Not vacuous: evil. That "woman" has a diploma from Smith College. So does my mother, my aunt, my grandmother. This is a calculatedly crass "vacuity."

"Beautiful" is undoubtedly a word which is grossly misunderstood in the B*** clan.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. We ought not have fought the Civil War. We ought to have let those four million slaves live in slavery another 40 or 50 years until slavery died out on its own. WAR IS NOT ANSWER. In the middle of an unpopular war Bush got 11 1/2 million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000. WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.

"In the middle of an unpopular war Bush got 11 1/2 million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000."

And just where did those votes come from? How could Bush have obtained so many more votes, and against all indications [including significant exit poll margins]?

That's the big question. Maybe too big a question for a lightweight like you, Jose, but that's ok. I've got a small question for you, too:

Do you still get paid even if your posts get deleted?

Jose answered his own implied question without realizing it.

If the election had been conducted honestly, it wouldn't have been possible for Bush to get even the same number of votes as in 2000 (also a phony number, by the way), let alone 11-1/2 million more. Opinion polls and exit polls separately confirm this. The numbers speak for themselves.

So where did Bush find 11-1/2 million people who didn't like him but voted for him anyway? Jose...he didn't. The votes were created by fraud. If you can't comprehend that fact, then you really should go somewhere else, because you're dealing with people here who understand things you don't.

The excellent Mission Accomplished frame on the homepage SHOULD have an asterisk, since presumably the the stats on killed soldiers are from "official" sources; and thus suspect to say the least.

It also should have an additional footnote re: the thousands with devastating injuries. How many hospital & rehab visits has Shrub made ?

* An honorably discharged army friend of mine tells me that many soldiers with serious injuries are shipped away from Iraq & Afghanistan as soon as possible, so that should they die, it will occur at some base (Germany, et al) away from the combat theater, where the deaths can be classified in a different way and therefore not counted as part of this war.

Thanks for your comments "My 2 Cents" #84. This is not the first time we have heard of injured soldiers being shipped out of Iraq as fast as possible so they can die elsewhere. Details are sketchy but you can read Washington conceals US casualties in Iraq and Pentagon Casualty Figures Don't Add Up for a few more of them.

In Memoriam

A minor, correction, or amendment:

"Funerals Attended by Geroge W. Bush"
1

The Pope's

Where george had a front row seat and his usual smirk. And reported he had a good time, which was the highlight of his pResidency.

It is only our dead troops that he snubs.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. We ought to have let Saddam keep Kuwait and take Saudi Arabia. WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. We were right to pull out of Vietnam and let two and one half million people get slaughtered.
WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

....

Masters Of War, Bob Dylan, 1963

Jose: as I have tried to remind you, we're talking about Iraq and the year is 2005. This is not 1991 and it's not 1966 either. But at least you're not talking about World War II or Korea anymore. You're getting closer.

You said "Vietnam", as if the mere mention of the word would provide support for your position. Unfortunately, history does not bear out your simplistic interpretation of that conflict.

In case you weren't paying attention, let me remind you: the Vietnamese people had never done anything to the United States --- but we waged war on them anyway. In that war we killed about 2 million Vietnamese civilians. We also made about 4 million Vietnamese people homeless. Our reckless use of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange caused widespread cancer and birth defects. Nixon's secret and illegal bombing of Cambodia destabilized a friendly government and left a power vacuum that was filled by the genocidal regime of Pol Pot --- leading directly to the deaths of another 2 million innocent people.

And what good has come of it? In 1975 when American troops finally left, Vietnam adopted a communist nationalist government, the very thing we were supposedly trying to prevent. So in that sense, we did not achieve a single thing. And more than 4 million people died for nothing.

Nothing, Jose. They died for no reason at all unless you count the fact that people who should have known better thought war was the answer.

Ho Chi Minh was a friend and ally of the USA during World War II, Jose. Did you know that? An American intelligence agent gave him his first weapons. Did you know that? Ho Chi Minh helped America throw the Japanese out of Indochina and he wanted to help us throw France out as well. But FDR was dead and so was his notion of "self-determination for all peoples". And harry truman was now the president and he was not only totally uninformed on world affairs but he was also a vicious little prick. And when harry truman told Ho Chi Minh to go buck a water fuffalo, that was the end of any chance for peace and stability in the region.

If the USA had stood with its wartime ally, Ho Chi Minh; if the USA had embraced the idea of Vietnamese national self-determination rather betraying it; if the USA had stood by its announced principles after the war, rather than rejecting them in favor of French colonialism; modern Vietnam's government would certainly be nationalist --- as it is today --- but it might very well be anti-communist, and it might even be pro-American. Ho Chi Minh would never have gone to Russia and China for help if he could have obtained help from the USA.

But no! truman told Ho to go screw and what was the result? Millions and millions of innocent people dead --- millions and millions more innocents homeless --- untold grief and anguish in America as well as Southeast Asia --- and all because some vicious little prick thought more war was the answer. In fact the answer was simple --- but harry truman was not about to tell the French to get their armies the hell out of Vietnam and let the Vietnamese people live their lives in peace --- even though it would have made perfect sense, even though the American government hat trumpeted the principle of self-determination all through the war, and even though America, having rescued the French from the Nazis, did not owe France one thin dime...

Yeah, I know: That was then, this is now. Now the answer is not for American troops to be planting explosives in Iraqi cars and trucks in a transparent attempt to trigger a civil war. Now the answer is not for Americans to contaminate Iraq any further with our radioactive ammunition. Now the answer is not more indiscriminate bombing of residential neighborhoods. Further violence by Americans in Iraq can only make this horrible situation even worse.

And as for you, Jose, I've had enough of your bullshit. Why don't you take your five bucks and hit the road? In fact, why don't you go spend some time with the people who share your views? Why don't you just click here and start being all you can be?

That's right, Juse! Put your soft tissue where your mouth is! Enjoy the war, always remember that war is the answer, and don't worry. We'll still be your friends, even though we're staying here --- and that's a good thing, too, because you're gonna need friends like us to bury your sorry ass when it comes home in a box.

Wow, Winter Patriot. Excellent post #89. That's a concise slice of history, easy to read & easy to fact check.

Bravo.

Jose, you've had lots of wake up calls. Stop reciting things you learned from propaganda-laced history books and rightwing sites that are nothing but arms of WH popaganda and explore the wonderful world of facts.

If you value your freedom and that of your children and care about the environment, study and wake up. Find out what Depleted Uranium is doing to the WORLD and (even if you are so callous as to not care about the Iraqi people) learn how our soldiers are bringing it back home to us in this country.

Learn about the lies that have been told to the American people to cover up the real reasons this war is being waged. Learn about the lies told down through history to the American people in order to garner support for other wars waged in order to make profit for the corporate elites of this country.

Visit this site and read what Major General Smedley Butler of the Marine Corps (Republican Candidate for Senate, 1932) has to say about war:
War Is A Racket

It's time to wake up, sleeping beauty.

The first george bush gave the green light to
saddam to do as he liked with Kuwait --by way of Ambassador April Glasby. Later an impending Iraqi attack of Saudi Arabia was 'shown' by aerial photos showing showing a massing of troops on the
Iraq/Saudi border. But Russian aerial photos did not show any such forces.

Those photos have never been released.

Colin Powell showed aerial photos in his U.N. speech
to justify a second Gulf War wanted by the bushmob.

Why have the first photos never been released. Can it be that the first Gulf War was a lie too?

Babies thrown out of Incubators onto the floor-GW1
WMD-GW2. Such clever lies.

Like father , like son.

Fact: The Secretary of Defense urged the president of the United States not to get bogged down in Iraq.

Fact: The president was George H. W. Bush.

Fact: The Secretary of Defense was Dick Cheney.

To My2cents and WP

I also have heard that all deaths once out of the combat zone are classified "not killed in combat". This from a friend who is serving as a doctor.

It took a few Americans to stand up and say stop!
Or actually, Hey, Hey, LBJ how many kids did you kill today? to get the politicians attention.
What country do we live in that considers dissent unpatriotic? My understanding is questioning brings resolution to a problem.
Perhaps if we had bloggers in 1970 I would have my brother here instead of MIA in Vietnam.

Thank you all of you for speaking out !

If this business about fudging the number of casualties is true, which wouldn't surprise me, we should start writing letters to our local papers (I know that folks still don't even know how many vets were disabled in the Gulf War I, but some estimates run as high as 2 in 5).

But the number of soldiers killed in Iraq should be easy enough to test. Go to Iraq Coalition Casualties and search the list for the name of the deceased. I think that the families themselves have enough incentive to see that their child's death is accurately represented. If it isn't, then, as in the case of Pat Tillman, the family should have little trouble raising the issue. Local papers, at least, tend to listen to grieving war widows and orphans.

But I think that this would be a tragic, but powerful scoop, for a reporter working for a regional paper. It connects local issues to national issues to world issues, and it makes the war personal. Right now, it isn't personal to the majority of the war's supporters. And it will never be to the chicken hawks. But, as I've said before, in my small midwestern town, everybody knows somebody who has been hauled over to Iraq... and people are not particularly pleased about it. It's too bad that the burden for change falls on the shoulders of those who have suffered the most under this administration already... but that's what grassroots organization is all about. Who needs the media when we can be real flesh and blood witnesses to the policies that need to be replaced, reformed, removed, etc.

If the President has said one good thing in his life, it's this: "Freedom is on the march." And we are going to keep on marching, no matter who tries to stop us. America belongs to all of us, ordinary people, who built it, who protect it, and who stand the most to lose if someone tries to trash it.

RLM #92
That was Sec of Defence the Dick Cheney.
That was 'before' the Dick Cheney, became the CEO of Helliburton. Who then realized there was big money to be made in, oh so many ways by bombing, invading, looting, fixing up, Iraq. Thanks to money paid out by taxes on you and I and of course Jose C.

Getting bogged down was no problem, it just increased the defence payout.

It is only the troops who are in the bogg.

The biggest inconvenience suffered by this bunch is in keeping their lapel flags on straight.

Remembering Sherwood.

A speech given by Dante Zappala at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in NYC; May 29, 2005.

Yes to the info that a soldier has to die "on the ground" to be listed as KIA. How about applying this rule to a murder case? If the stabbing victim dies in the ambulance or emergency room, his assailant is not guilty of murder, q.e.d.

What sleazy, sneaky, underhanded "accounting" this is! We need more Brads...

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. Afghanistan is an utter failure and a quagmire. Rivers of heroin are flowing like blood. Women are once more covering their ugly faces. Bob Dylan's plaintive wailing can no longer be heard in the fish market. And Boss Cheney knows where Bin Laden and the swarthy Mula Omar are hiding but is protecting them. Mr. Bush not know. WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.

Now what are you trying to say, jose?

KIRA! Do you thinks it's some form of code?

Sorry, squandered an "s" there!

========================
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
No matter where they've been.
========================

Jose is deep disorganization. Deep problematics. Deep dysfunactionality. Deep in the depths of the doo-doo. Leave the sick troll to his dire dynamics. He/she is a suicide bomber.

"dysfuntionality"-sorry about the typo

Gosh- I can't even correct a correction: "dysfunctionality."

This Jose Chung is severely challenged, perhaps deranged. Poor guy. Maybe he really wants allies and friends.

#89 Winter Patriot---- Bravo!! That was a Brilliant post!! You were on fire, Way to give em' a dose of friekin' REALITY!! There are none so BLIND as those who will NOT see!!!

Winter Patriot #107

I didn't know Dr. Robert Bowman until you posted the link. Here's another scathing speech (man he's good) ---

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT TERRORISM?

[snip] By Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, (retired).

October 2001

"Mr. President, you did not tell the American people the truth about why we are the targets of terrorism. You said that we are the target because we stand for democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world.

Baloney! We are the target of terrorist because we stand for dictatorship, bondage, and human exploitation in the world. We are the target of terrorists because we are hated. And we are hated because our government has done hateful things."

"We are not hated because we practice democracy, freedom, and human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in third world countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. And that hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism, and in the future, nuclear terrorism." [snip]

Hey Kira. Good find! As for me I've found that Paul Craig Roberts is ripping into it from the "detainees were bought" angle.

Here's a quote from his latest, Washington Is the Source of Terror

Afghan and Pakistani warlords simply rounded up people who looked Arab or foreign and sold them to the Americans as captured fighters. The "fighters" apparently included relief workers, refugees, and Arab businessmen. The tribunals looking into the classification of Guantanamo prisoners as "enemy combatants" have uncovered numerous examples of hapless victims of a naive U.S. government too flush with money.

The Bush administration, of course, denies that it bought its detainees, as it denies everything. However, on May 31, 2005, Michelle Faul of the Associated Press reported that in March 2002, leaflets and broadcasts from helicopters in Afghanistan enticed Afghans to "Hand over the Arabs and feed your families for a lifetime." One leaflet said: "You can receive millions of dollars. This is enough to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life, pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people."

Several more fine pieces popping up on my screen today and for once the news is not all bad:

Wreck It and Run describes how the neocons are ruining our armed forces. Here's the start:

Among the many unhappy developments in American industry in recent decades has been the advent of "wreck it and run" management. A small coterie of senior managers takes over a company and makes a brilliant show of short-term profits while actually driving the business into the ground. They bail out just before it crashes, cashing in their stock options as they go, and leave the employees, ordinary stockholders, and customers holding an empty bag.

It is increasingly clear that under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. armed forces have also been taken over by "wreck it and run" management. When Rumsfeld leaves office, what will his successor inherit?

Bases, Bases Everywhere is long and wide-ranging and excellent and here's a sample:

In the Uzbekistan of grim, authoritarian Islam Karimov, our ally in the war on terror (who received his third visit from Rumsfeld in 2004), the Bush administration, we're told, is wrestling with a most difficult problem in the wake of a government massacre of demonstrators: bases versus values (John Hall, "U.S. Wrestles With Bases vs. Values in Uzbekistan," Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 29). After all, while the White House values the spread of democracy, the Pentagon considers Camp Stronghold Freedom, the former Soviet base we now occupy there – "The air-conditioned tents at the base … are laid out on a grid, along streets named for the thoroughfares of New York: Fifth Avenue, Long Island Expressway, Wall Street" – to be valuable indeed. And then there's that handy matter of stowing away prisoners. Uzbekistan is one of the places where the U.S. has reportedly been practicing "extraordinary rendition" – the kidnapping of terrorist subjects and the dispatching of them to countries happy to torture them for us. Here's a guess: whether Karimov (to whom the Chinese leadership gave a giant smooch last week) remains in office or not, in the modern "Great Game" in Central Asia expect us to remain in the aptly named Camp Stronghold Freedom. (I'd like to see someone try to pry us out.)

Iraq War: Drafting the dead is an editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

President Bush was among the 260,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery when he said it. But it was clear Monday that the president was referring to the more than 1,650 Americans killed to date in Iraq when he said, "We must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives; by defeating the terrorists."

Bush insists on clinging to the thoroughly discredited notion that there was any connection between the old Iraqi regime --- no matter how lawless and brutal --- and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
...
Perhaps all presidents' remarks in military graveyards are by nature self-serving. But few have been so callow as the president's using the deaths of U.S. troops in his unjustified war as justification for its continuance.

and in Do you think they'll slam their poster boy's parents? the Seattle Times asks what will happen to Pat Tillman's folks now that they have spoken the truth ... and it tells some rare truth about Jessica Lynch in the process:

How many times have we seen facts shaded, bent, disregarded and discarded in order to create the "reality" that best serves the aims of various government offices, the military and the White House? How many scientific reports rewritten? How much intelligence ignored? How many dangers exaggerated?

Remember Pfc. Jessica Lynch? When she was captured in an Iraqi ambush in 2003, the Army depicted her as a tiny blond Rambo, shooting at enemy soldiers and taking hits herself until she ran out of ammunition. Only later did we learn that it was a fairytale. She didn't shoot anybody, wasn't shot herself.

But it made for a good story, didn't it? And in the current scheme of things, one never lets facts get in the way of a good story. More to the point, one never questions the great and powerful Bush.

Still, there's a difference between the Tillman tall tale and many of the others we've been told over the years. In this one, somebody died. And that ought to mean something. Something more than a recruiting opportunity, I mean.

So what will be said of Patrick and Mary Tillman after their outburst last week? Will they be called "unpatriotic," too? Or will that slur, finally and at long last, shame even the most ardent defenders of the misinformation age?

Surely, even they must realize that you shouldn't spin death. Indeed, you shouldn't even try.

Quite a haul here, and mainstream papers figuring prominently in it. Am I being overly optimistic or does the truth-bullshit pendulum seem to be swinging back?

That's a rhetorical question of course but here's my paradoxical answer:

-- If it's moving in our direction then now is the time to redouble our efforts
because our foe will be desperate and therefore more dangerous.

-- It it's moving in the opposite direction then now is the time to redouble our efforts
because if we let this build momentum it may be too late.

-- If it's not moving at all then now is the time to redouble our efforts
because we want the first movement to be with us rather than against us.

Oh yeah Just one more thing: Greg Palast has a good new column called "Deep Throat Cover Blown: Washington Post Still Sucks" which you can read here.

BU$H ADMINI$TRATION WELL OILED BY E$$O.

====================
He likes traffic lights,
He likes traffic lights,
He likes traffic lights,
No matter where they've been.

He likes traffic lights,
He likes traffic lights,
He likes traffic lights,
He likes traffic lights,
But only when they're green.
====================

Democracy Lite™.

Some Flash animations by Mark Fiore
(Here's the correct Democracy Lite link!)
Democracy Lite.

Electronic Voting.

It's Newsweek's Fault!

PBS Broadcast.

Texaslady makes a great point about protestors who sang, "Hey hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Those "traitors" made history.

LBJ decided not to run again under the weight of his lies and the damage Vietnam was doing to the country. The campus radicals who drove LBJ into early retirement, and W. Mark Felt, who helped drive Nixon to resign, are heroes and role models.

They didn't give up in 1968 and 1973. And we dare not in 2005.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you...then you win." Mahatma Gandhi.

[blushing] Hi again. I thought you might be interested in a few of the links I have picked up elsewhere lately ...

Retired lieutenant colonel gives scathing speech on Iraq policy

I will not stand by and watch an appointed president send our sons and daughters around the world to kill terrorists for the oil companies.

Papiere Bitte

Those were the magic words of the time: “Papiere Bitte. (Translation: “Papers, Please.”)

AP: Gitmo Detainees Say They Were Sold

a wide variety of detainees at the U.S. lockup at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, alleged they were sold into capture. Their names and other identifying information were blacked out in the transcripts from the tribunals, which were held to determine whether prisoners were correctly classified as enemy combatants.

One detainee who said he was an Afghan refugee in Pakistan accused the country's intelligence service of trumping up evidence against him to get bounty money from the U.S.

"When I was in jail, they said I needed to pay them money and if I didn't pay them, they'd make up wrong accusations about me and sell me to the Americans and I'd definitely go to Cuba," he told the tribunal. "After that I was held for two months and 20 days in their detention, so they could make wrong accusations about me and my (censored), so they could sell us to you."

Another prisoner said he was on his way to Germany in 2001 when he was captured and sold for "a briefcase full of money" then flown to Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo.

"It's obvious. They knew Americans were looking for Arabs, so they captured Arabs and sold them — just like someone catches a fish and sells it," he said. The detainee said he was seized by "mafia" operatives somewhere in Europe and sold to Americans because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time — an Arab in a foreign country.

Thanks to the fine Australian blog Bush Out (by Gandhi) for the first two links, and to Chris Floyd's excellent blog Empire Burlesque for the third.

Haloo! Y'all are making me laugh again! Thanks, I needed that.

I dunno, maybe jose in midst of mental melt-down? Is him gears grinding? Them rhetoric not work so good no more?

I'm not sure I appreciate the sentiment that "women are once more covering their ugly faces." Except in the case of double burqa with cheese Barbara *sh who ought to be doing her patriotic duty to spare us all. Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly is to the bone.

Isn't it amazing that after you bomb a poverty stricken country, reducing it into a pile of rubble, that the people have to rely on selling opium? Who would'a thunk?

jose, we feel your pain. It even affects our speling.

Bushw@cker, at least you only squandered an "s" since they're free. If it had been a vowel, you'd have to pay. I think we should be more frugal with vowels anyway.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER!!!

===================
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
I like traffic lights,
But only when they're green.
===================

If America arrested and handed over Bush and his gang to the Iraqi "insurgents" for trial (and execution), I think a lasting peace and understanding with the Islamic nations would be obtained, based on JUSTICE. What a beautiful day that would be!

How many have you attended, Brad? None? Yea, you're a real fucking hero, loser.

Peggy, if you really mean that, please post your home address so I can fwd your post to the Secret Service.

Brad, because you have failed to report Peg's IP address to the Secret Service, you are guilty of conspiracy.

#54 - Dredd! Thanks very much for your comments. The military isn't for everybody, and that's okay, goes both ways. The reasons I ended up there were mainly personal, get a job, education, and to get out of my small hometown where I felt stifled. Most of my friends were in similar positions. Maybe only a few were there because they were aspiring politicians, some others were more gung ho about weaponry, etc. Real people from all around the country, all thrown together and asked to conform in ways some would find intolerable.

There are many ways to stand up for freedom, justice, and for this nation, and against tyranny, whether in the military or as a civilian. Thanks for doing your part! And yes, to hell with the military industrial complex made up of corporations who many times are guilty of depriving our troops of necessary supplies/ equipment by cutting corners to pocket profit, and ultimately take away from military members benefits/health care, etc.

Eddie (The Incredible Engineer) and I (Show Coordinator/Producer) are on site at the studio pulling things together for tomorrow's show! Well, I'm posting, and Eddie's doing all the work right now! What fun!! Brad's been given the call-in number, which he'll post (if he hasn't done so already) when he finds the time (GO BRAD GO), so let's hear from you tomorrow! We've got a great show lined up, and it just may get better! (Saturday 7-11 PM ET).

Talk with you soon --maybe (don't start worrying yet Brad)!

Hi Kat! Thanks for that great post. Loud & Clear --- "to hell with the military industrial complex made up of corporations who many times are guilty of depriving our troops of necessary supplies/ equipment by cutting corners to pocket profit, and ultimately take away from military members benefits/health care, etc."!!!!!!

Thanks for all you, Eddie and Brad do for the 6 or 7 of us!

We love ya.

PS Can't wait for the new Brad Show! I can hardly wait to hear Brad & guests.

Peggy, if you plan to send the Secret Service your home address so they can arrest you, here's how you can reach them directly:

% Jeff Gannon
Secret Service Special Dispensation List
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Just tell them you're a journalist for an on-line news service, dedicated to the truth. They'll love you. And you might meet some interesting people.

Innocent men, women, and children killed on American soil since 9-11 = ZERO

Bullshit, Rusty: Innocent men, women and children are killed on American soil since 9/11 by the tens of thousands... BECAUSE of this administration's policies. And MILLIONS are dying around the world because of them.