The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

Afghanistan. Iraq. Social Security. Economics. Education. No matter your political affiliation or beliefs, George W. and his administration have failed on nearly everything they have tried. Whether you believe their intentions were good or evil, their incompetence has crippled or ruined their attempts. First Afghanistan. Was it a just war? I think so. However, it was crippled by too few troops and mismaneagment of the troops that were there. In December 2001, bin Laden and close to 2,000 experienced, well armed Taliban fighters were cornered in a system of caves at Tora Bora. The force used to get him out? About 2,500 ill-equipped, ill-trained Afghani militiamen and some 40 US Special Forces troops. After repeatedly repelling attacks from the safety of their caves, bin Laden and his troops slipped our of the mountains into Pakistan. The worst part of this whole ordeal was that the caves could have been adequately surrounded if not taken. Brigadier General James Mattis requested to deploy his 4,000 Marines around Tora Bora, but Central command denied his request.

fascism: fas·cism fa-"shi-z&m noun a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

According to sociologist Dr. Laurence W. Britt in the Spring 2003 edition of Free Inquiry magazine, analysis of seven fascist regimes (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos’s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia) reveal fourteen recognizable commonalities:

The White House thinks it's onto something.....since they can't sell policy on substance, go for appearance!

So......Heeeeeeeere's Georgie!

Maybe the White House is getting its political ideas from the last episode of West Wing where Alan Alda, playing a falling-polls Presidential Candidate (GOP by the way), holds a long in-your-face press conference and turns public opinion.

Presto change-o! Polls heading up!

Good old Yankee common sense tells us that it is dangerous and wrong for a foreign government to be in charge of any of our seaports.

But common sense, and truthful motives, are in short supply in the Bush administration. We are now in a tornado of Dubai World Ports and United Arab Emirates spin by the Bush administration.

We are being told that Americans who object to this deal are Arab and Muslim bashing bigots. That we are destroying our trade relations with the Middle Eastern world. That Dubai Ports World used to support terrorist states, but since 9/11 they are our fast friends (see my "UAE Not US Supporter Since 9/11" and "Portsgate: Public Outrage be Damned" blogs). And most absurd, that there are more important issues.

The Bush administration strategy for implementing its agenda seems clear.

Slash and burn!

Go full speed ahead on all fronts knowing that while some things may be stopped, vast chunks of their agenda will get through. In this way they are quickly, and with total indifference to public outrage, dismantling years of progress in social policy, financial accountability, international relations and respect for the rule of law.

Just look at the damage from the audacious Bush agenda...the national debt and trade deficit, education, the environment, science, borders and ports, social programs, individual rights and freedoms, separation of church and state, defense policy, human rights....an all out assault!

One of the problems with politically progressive people is that, themselves being decent people, they often misinterpret the real meaning of what the other side says, because they are unable to comprehend just how indecent and structurally corrupt the other side is. Hence progressives naively tend to give credit to the other side where credit is not due, because they cannot see that what looks and sounds good is not necessarily good in reality. In brief, they often fail to perceive the actual quality of what is right in front of their eyes. By the way, by “the other side” I don’t just mean conservatives. To me, most “moderate” liberals are also an integral part of "the other" camp -- they are the "good cops" to the conservatives' "bad cops," so to speak.

Why is George W. Bush so dug in and inflexible in his support of the takeover of P&O by the United Arab Emirates-controlled Dubai Ports World? To the point of threatening his first veto ever.The UAE is rich in oil and natural gas reserves. It has been in a long and continuing dispute with Iran over ownership of three small but oil-rich and strategically-placed islands in the Straits of Hormuz, the Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. These three disputed islands were effectively occupied by Iranian troops in 1992. In 1996 the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proposed the dispute over these islands be resolved by the International Court of Justice, an option supported by the UAE and rejected by Iran. In December 2001 the GCC issued a statement reiterating its support of the UAE's sovereignty of these islands and declared Iran's claims as "null and void." The Straits of Hormuz sits at the narrowest point of the 600-mile-long Persian Gulf through which 80% of the oil produced in the region is transported by tanker. At one point this "jugular vein" for the world's economy is just 34 miles wide between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.The takeover by UAE's DP World of operations in important U.S. ports appears to be intertwined with the Bush administration's lust for oil and its strivings for influence over Middle Eastern political matters. With the United States as its close ally, the stage will be set for an “urgent” and “necessary” pre-emptive attack on Iran in order to protect the UAE from an “imminent threat to our interests and national security.” Sound familiar?

In other words, the Bush administration is setting the stage to embroil us in a larger, much more deadly war in the Middle East.

This is an important story, and needs attention.   Any readers with blogs, and websites, please post about this, apparently some newspapers will be running with this story, according to the author we need to get more people to post and talk about this:

To summarise, very very briefly, Bill Saxon, a Dallax, Texas oil boss, and close friend of Bush got involved in a business venture, and assisted one half brother and his wife to steal a sawmill in Honduras from a man called Richard Nolan Thomas.

Richard's half brother, Gary, and his wife, Ollie, basically screwed Richard out of a whole load of money. 

Gary had apparently agreed to  approximately $7.8 million in notes for the mill. The letter also ensured that Saxon's $880,000 investment would be paid off first, with any remaining funds going to the other partners in the deal.

Cross_posted at Tannishblog ... and I'll say it again: I like Jan Schakowski! Here's why:Dear Friend: Thank you for contacting me to express your belief that President Bush should be impeached. I appreciate hearing from you, and I agree with you. I share your outrage over the fact that President Bush misled members of Congress and the nation in order to garner support for his pre-emptive and unilateral attack on Iraq. I also believe President Bush broke the law when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens in 2002. President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for an issue that held significantly less importance to our democracy and did not lead to the loss of innocent civilian or military personnel lives.

"The Rich Are Very Different From You and Me."
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Grindstaff Chronicles
And How! They Can Actually Eat
They also can afford better medical care, better housing, better medication, better education, and a remarkably better quality of life. So, Marie Christine said (I don't know where her tongue was) what's wrong with George Bush's budget if it helps the richest of the rich on the backs of the middle and poorer classes? Marie Christine continued, saying that Bush is planning on cutting, grotesquely, sizeable amounts from Medicare and Medicaid, in total she said, he plans to slash funds for 141 programs, none of which, thank you, hurt the rich. In her opinion, this budget is a moral disgrace.

The Grindstaff Chronicles

No Brilliance in This State of the Union Address

President Bush's talk to the nation was so lackluster it put many people to sleep. He said nothing of substance, and the speech will always be characterized more for the shameful facts about his administration that he left out than for anything he did say. Somebody forgot to tell Bush that a State of the Union speech is supposed to be a report on the nation's condition. It is supposed to report to We The People what the government has done in the previous twelve months, and that was glaringly missing. Just as glaringly missing, squandered: our treasure.

THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT…

The U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance–Part IV

 

By

So, the Disillusioned kid points up another of Dubya's (oxy)moronicisms:

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

This whilst addressing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, check it. Orwellian certainly, but i'm no longer surprised by the neo-cons contempt for the possibility of accountability.

What never ceases to amaze me though is how he gets away with spouting such utterly transparent rhetoric. This time he even refered to how it's done: education. As if his meaning of indoctrination wasn't plain enough, he then told us clearly how it will be reinforced: "faith groups" "educating" poor Americans about home ownership.

From The Republic of T.

Several years ago, I was a regular Oprah viewer. I had my VCR (that should tell you how long ago) set to record her show every afternoon, and I'd watch it while having dinner after work. When I read elsewhere that she confronted James Frey on her show yesterday, I cursed myself for having lapsed in my Oprah habit and not setting Tivo to record the show.

But Tivo and network television are very forgiving. The show re-aired at 1am, so I set Tivo and went to bed. This morning I watched about half of it before I went to work, and was impressed with Oprah's statement at the beginning of the show.

By Doug krieger

The colossus of Israel’s Center-Right is no more. Sharon’s cerebral hemorrhage, induced coma, and declared departure from Israel’s political life have created a grave and vacuous ability for Israel to carry on viable negotiations with either the Palestinians or other belligerents. This assessment is more an international impression and less an Israeli one; however, it is the international community’s perception that overwhelms.

Successors are no where to be found compared with the stature and personality of the “Bulldozer.” PM stand-in, Ehud Olmert, the quintessential bureaucrat, along with recently-rejected Labor leader, Shimon Peres—may try, but their finest hour will not survive the Humpty-Dumpty fall that Kadima (“forward”) sustained. Likewise, who knows, heard and seen Labor’s new choice: Amir Peretz? All we know is that he’s a flaming socialist!

That leaves Benjamin Netanyahu and the party which Sharon forsook, Likud. Kicking off the New Year some 400 Likud delegates championed the actions of a former leader of Likud, Menachem Begin: Preemptively destroy Iran’s all-too-clear nuclear program—designed to “Wipe Israel off the Map!”

Likud member, Ra’anana Deputy Mayor Uzi Cohen, expressed the overwhelming majority of Likud members: “Bomb Iran’s nuclear reactor before it is too late.” The echo from Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mirrored his holocaust remarks—Sharon should die.

Converging upon the Middle East landscape are the Israeli March, 2006 elections, and Iran’s nuclear bomb. Indifference is not an option—either on the part of Israel or the U.S.

Netanyahu’s break with Sharon was decisive—we will not back out of the territories; we will not close one more settlement! For Netanyahu to “move to the center” and become more Sharon-like, might be a wise political decision, but a bitter pill to swallow—he is no heir apparent to Sharon; he abides his rival.

In sum: Israel’s infrastructure, systems, military, ad nausea, ad infinitum, are irrefutable, but her political leadership is paralyzed by the current chaos created by Sharon’s diminishing.

This leads to the title of this brevity—it is time for the President of the United States of America to enter the playing field. If the Israelis cannot “get their act together” to follow Bush’s Roadmap for Peace (i.e., land for peace), there will be consequences that neither Israel nor the US wish to face—especially, at this time.

Today’s (January 5, 2006) super bowl input meeting organized by the President—bringing scores of former Secretaries of State and Defense together to discuss Middle East issues—did not circumvent Israel’s political crisis. Rest assured that prickly pear was discussed: What to do after Sharon?

Sharon’s void must be filled. Time does not permit that luxury. This is precisely why if Netanyahu by default ascends to the occasion, he will be getting a call from Washington posthaste. That exchange, you can be certain, will express the will of the Presidency of the United States. The Roadmap for Peace will be the express topic and staying its course will be the measurement of Presidential support behind Israel’s future leader.

Just as in each crisis the U.S. exacts something from Israel (e.g., Israel stayed out of the Gulf Wars); Israel then extracts something from the U.S. (more military cooperation, hardware, etc.).

This provides a unique opportunity—or should we imply temptation—for Israel. Is it time to go on the line and have the U.S., once and for all, guarantee—underwrite— Israel’s peace? For Israel to comply with Bush’s Roadmap—she will have her quid pro quo; she always does.

The U.S. and Israel are being driven together by events and forces beyond their immediate control. Iran’s reprehensible threats, Islamic radicalism on her borders (Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad), as well as throughout the region, and now political chaos in Israel—events have simply overtaken us.

It’s time for the President of the United States to make his move. Israel may have no choice but to swallow a bitter pill . . . in order to secure her survival by the world’s only super power. Indeed, it may appear bold, rude and even insensitive to the Israelis—but who else can get us back on the Road again?

“He will cause to bear upon the many a covenant . . .” (Daniel 9:27).

Washington, D.C.---Prince George crapped his pants last night upon hearing of the peasant revolt in Bolivia. According to a personal servant, The Prince is reported as having said "Oh shit!"---"Somebody get me another pair of pants! NOW!" It seems that the once enslaved peasants have risen up and taken over the Empire's State of Bolivia. Another servant of the Prince confirmed that the second the Prince was informed of the uprising he heard "fart like" sounds coming from the "pant" area of the Prince. He immediately began to smell something that he described as "crap like". The Prince was rushed to the bathing pool were he was washed from head to toe with perfumes. He was given a variety of narcotics intended to calm his nerves. Officials representing the Prince were called in to explain why the region that lies South of America is experiencing massive peasant revolts when they are living in the shadow of the Empire's great benevolence. "Aren't they happy being my children?" asked a confused Prince. "They just don't appreciate anything." he said in a depressed tone. The Prince continued with a nice relaxing aroma therapy bath (lavender) for the rest of the evening.

The Grindstaff Chronicles

Summary:
John McCain won an anti-torture battle yesterday, and immediately, the administration started to scuttle it. When George Bush and the guy who browns his nose, Dick Cheney, said they wanted to keep torture, they meant it, and they haven't stopped this insane war with John McCain. They are already adding a secret addendum to the Army Filed Manual. Nice people, those Bush people. Whew, if we could just have them on the ranch for one day they'd be singing a very different song.

PHILADELPHIA---At a rare impromptu question and answer session, U.S. President George Bush estimated the Iraqi civilian death toll at 30,000; give or take a few thousand. He admitted that he didn't really know how many had been killed because as he explained,"We stopped that counting non-sense after Vietnam"---"I mean, when you squash an ant bed you don't stop and count the ants do ya?" he said with his delightful Big Texas smirk. The President went on to explain that if the United States Military did count, "It would take approximately 100,000 or so dead Iraqis to equal one dead American, so you see the United States has lost much more than they have". These "Calculations" used by the President are of course well known within the United States, most Americans are very much aware that their lives are worth much more than the lives of "Foreigners". The President went on to say---"It's not like they're Christians or anything"---"They're Muslims"---"It seems there's a lot of Muslims over in that part of the World"---"I can't give an exact number of how many have been killed, I mean, why bother counting?"---"It's not like those are American babies being blown up for Christ's sake!"

The Grindstaff Chronicles
Catholic or Calvinist, Europeans Put Bush-Cheney to Shame

Many years ago, the Belgians arrested and brought to trial 18 men connected to Al-Qaeda. Tonight, we don't wish to go into the labyrinthine details of these arrests and trials. Why? Because we have only one point to make tonight: the Europeans are finding, arresting, and bringing to trial terrorists legally, without the American perversion of torture. The Europeans don't need to resort to medieval or Nazi methods, as Bush and Cheney seem to. Of course, the Europeans don't have a horrendous, toad-like Azteco-american Attorney General frothing at the mouth, just dying to by proxy use his obsidian knife to cut out the still-beating hearts out of the "terrorists" who under the system designed by the Devil's spawn cannot have valid, in the open to the world trials in a humane, timely manner.

Hasn't it occured to anyone that Bush doesn't make these decisions? Isn't it true that he is just a puppet?