Bad news for the bad guys

President Bush has a strong history of demonstrating his lack of proficiency with spoken language, but I think this takes the cake. While addressing the crowd at the Middle East Conference in Anapolis earlier this week, Bush fumbled over the names of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders who were standing RIGHT NEXT to him at the time. He didn't just mispronounce their names, he completely BUTCHERED both names. That's not just stupid, that's unbelievably incompetent. The incident occurs at 1:25 in the video below.




You may have heard about this recent story about Blackwater International, the mercenary army operating above civil or military law in Iraq. There have been some interesting developments in the past few days. First, the Blackwater agents were not protecting a principal, as first reported. Instead, in defiance of orders, after dropping off the official, the guards went to the area where the massacre took place, reportedly under a hunch that an insurgent with whom the guards had a grudge was present there. As it turns out, the Blackwater guards ended up killing 17 innocent civilians including women and children, precipitating their expulsion from Iraq. Last week, The Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit against Blackwater over the incident. The suit also accuses Balckwater of knowingly allowing guards to work while taking steroids and other "judgement-altering" drugs.

The Blackwater story is especially poignant in light of the new best-selling book by Naomi Wolf, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, in which Wolf outlines, "Ten steps to fascism" which have historically occurred as nations transition to a fascist state. One of these steps is the creation of a para-military army. Another is the establishment of secret prisons. Yet another is the expansion of executive powers and erosion of traditional civil protections. Sound familiar?


As you have heard, Trent Lott, Senator from Mississippi and notable scumbag racist, announced his resignation from the senate this week. It is widely speculated that Lott is resigning now to avoid the new law that bans senators from entering the lobbying business within 2 years of resigning. It is estimated that lobbying would secure a multi-million dollar income for Lott. When asked at a news conference yesterday whether the new law had anything to do with his decision, he replied that it "didn't have a big role". I call bullshit. We'll see.
Interestingly, Lott voted against the senate ethics reform bill, which set forth the provision against lobbying by recently resigned senators, i.e., the law he is seeking to avoid now. Let it be noted that Lott is a big fan of lobbyists in general, earning a top spot on the Washington Post's list of Senators who accept the most favors from corporations. He also has a strong record of voting against legislation that would curtail the influence of lobbyists in Washington. From Barack Obama's website, "Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican who hopes to regain a Senate leadership job next year, warned against going too far in reaction to the Abramoff scandal. He singled out moves to end the practice of secretly inserting special projects into spending bills at the behest of lobbyists. While those "earmarks" have "gotten out of control," Lott said, they can be an effective way for Congress to address a problem or need back home."

Lott is one of six Republican senators, along with 17 Republicans in the House to announce their resignations recently. The lobbying reform law which takes effect on Jan. 1 may account for some of this mass exodus, which in itself says something about the motivating factors that lead many Republicans to public "service", but as described this week in the conservative vomit rag, The National Review, many Republicans fear "a coming cataclysm" of Democratic control in Washington. A recent Pew Center poll found that 50% of Americans now consider themselves Democrats, compared to 35% Republican. Self-described "independent" voters find themselves overwhelmingly leaning toward voting Democrat.

Encouraging, perhaps, but also depressing. 35% of Americans still lean Republican? How bad can those guys screw up and still retain considerable support? This is the party of Rumsfeld, Abramoff, Delay, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, Alberto Gonzalez, torture, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, every snake-handling toothless racist inbred redneck troglodyte in America, and... AND, by God, George W. Bush. It is, after all, impossible to separate the man from his party. They put him in office, and they, albeit unenthusiastically, continue to support the imbecile.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health."

-Dennis Kucinich on President Bush

Oops. Listening... again.

"The oil is here for a reason, folks. God put it here because he wants us to use it."
-Rush Limbaugh

Incredible. God gave us an energy source that gives children asthma? How good of him. Also, is the implication he's making that just because something is here, God meant for us to use it? Does that also apply to smallpox, tobacco, marijuana, and pond scum?

World Can't Wait... but unfortuately will probably have to anyway

World Can't Wait is a rather charming organization whose premise is that the Bush administration does immeasurable harm every day that they remain in power, and therefore, should be forced from power. However, they do not advocate violence.

Let me get this straight: if we all just yell loud enough, Bush will simply give up and leave. The idea is quite attractive, but is also, of course, completely absurd for a number of reasons.

Despite the patheticness of their mission, they've got the right idea. I thought this was pretty cool. From Democracy Now...

Activists Stage Waterboarding Outside Justice Dept.
On the eve of the vote, activists with the group World Can't Wait gathered in front of the Justice Department Monday to demonstrate an actual waterboarding. Twenty-six year old Iranian-American Maboud Ebrahimzadeh volunteered as the mock terror suspect. Activists posing as interrogators poured several quarts of water into his mouth while a cloth was placed over his face. He was in visible pain as the waterboarding proceeded.

Maboud Ebrahimzadeh: "This is easily the most terrifying experience I've ever had, ever felt, and although it's a controlled environment when water goes into your lungs and you want to scream and you can't, cause you know as soon as you do, you are going to choke."
After the demonstration, anti-torture activist Clark Kissinger said waterboarding should only be seen as a form of torture.
Clark Kissinger: "Today we wanted to put together an actual demonstration of what waterboarding means when it is conducted by this government to people around the world. There seems to be some confusion in the media about this. Some people like to refer to this as an enhanced interrogation technique. It is not an enhanced interrogation technique. It is torture."
Meanwhile, twenty-four former U.S. intelligence officials are urging Senate Judiciary members not to back Mukasey's nomination until he declares his position on waterboarding. In a letter released Monday, the ex-officials write: "We are aware that the president warned last week that it will be either Mukasey as our attorney general or no one. So be it."

I really wish we would stop torturing people

It now seems that Michael Mukasey is likely to be confirmed by the Senate judiciary committee amid controversy stemming from his refusal to say that the interrogation technique known as "waterboarding" was torture.

I kind of understand the reason he gave for not doing so: it is not the role of Judges to define specific acts as "torture", but merely to interpret law. He did say, "if waterboarding is torture, then it is illegal". Well that seems simple enough. According to the UN Convention on Torture, waterboarding is explicitly defined as torture. The convention also said, "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture." Furthermore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." The US is signatory to both agreements. If that's not enough for you, THE US HAS PROSECUTED PEOPLE IN THE PAST FOR WAR CRIMES BECAUSE THEY USED THE TECHNIQUE. So it seems pretty clear, based on Agreements that have been agreed upon by the US, that waterboarding is indeed torture. Simple enough? Well nothing surprises me anymore. It is indeed troubling that Mukasy refused to even state an opinion on the matter. After the catastrophe of Alberto Gonzalez, we need someone who will take a stand; neigh, we need someone who will simply enforce existing laws. Wouldn't that be refreshing?

But what bothers me most about this whole debate is that it centers so myopically on waterboarding. Some Democratic Senators have suggested a Congressional Act that would specifically ban waterboarding. Okay, but why stop there? I'm sure US agents are creative enough to devise ways to torture people without using that one technique, right? Personally, I'd much rather be waterboarded than to be stuck in a suitcase for days, or locked in solitary confinement for months on end while being randomly subjected to extremes of heat and cold. If we are serious about enforcing human rights standards, why focus on this one technique? True, laws haven't historically seemed to be very effective, but maybe a Congressional Act would do something. This is starting to look troublingly like grandstanding by certain Democrats.

Uhm, if you feel like banging your head against a wall, here ya go.

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." G.W. Bush

This was said in 2002, but I just came across it today. This is once again one of those times when I am beyond words. That the media did not pick up on this when it was said is appalling. I guess it is true that "Ignorance is Strength."

And, by the way, remember....

Oceania is at war with Iraq. Oceania has always been at war with Iraq.