Saturday, October 11, 2008

Palin's abuse of power is the Bush/Cheney legacy

Guest post by Bob Poris


Does anyone think the news that Palin is guilty of abuse of power by venting her anger at her ex-brother in law, Trooper Wooten, to try get him fired and then eventually canning his superior for resisting her illegal pressure will make a difference?

Palin's abuse of power was investigated by a bi-partisan group and started before she was picked to run for VP. Obviously, McCain did not investigate her very well, as the investigation and story was public knowledge at the time. What a cynical act!! Have we not had enough of a VP ignoring and flaunting the law?

One might say that abuse of power is the real legacy of the eight Bush/ Cheney years! That is obvious when we consider the Bush administration's cavalier disregard of our Constitution, laws, precedents, morals and ethics. Bush/Cheney have changed the way we run our government -- and not for the better!

Congress sat by and voluntarily gave up its rights and obligations. Congress failed to exercise due oversight of the Executive Branch. Congress failed to do its duty, the result of which is an imperial Presidency.


We were lied to and led into an unnecessary and futile war because we were not diligent. We sat by and watched as our financial world crumbled around us. We have alienated the rest of the world. We have lost over 4000, young men and women, and thousands more are permanently disabled. We sat on our hands as Iraq descended into a chaotic and deadly mess, with countless deaths and an uncertain future. We have seen Iran grow in power.

We were led into this morass by leaders who justified their chicanery through false premises. We were given a variety of reasons as to why we must invade a small, non-threatening country and those reasons changed constantly.


Sadly, the effects of the failures of the Bush/Cheney years will be felt by every American and people around the world for decades to come.

And for what? We continued to be threatened by the radical Islamists, emboldened by their successes and excesses. Unfortunately,Israel will remain the pariah of the Middle East, even though it is the only successful democracy in the area. With just a modicum of respect and cooperation from its Arab neighbors, Israel could have helped create a Middle East geared to live in this century and with healthy trade amongst its peoples. Tragically for all involved, the Arab nations chose to waste the past sixty years. Israel, on the other hand, with its strong economy, health care, scientific advances, medical marvels, and strong ties to the progressive nations of the world, is a paradigm of what is possible.

Furthermore, during all these years, the USA, has been weakened, not strengthened! The next administration will be stuck with decisions made by incompetents and short sighted elected and appointed officials who seemed to have little knowledge of our Constitution or history. Our nation is split in half and one half is convinced the other is unpatriotic, and not worthy of consultation in most affairs. United we were strong! We are not strong at the moment and I am worried about our long term future unless we can return to the real values that made us great.

Meanwhile, we remain at war. We need to strengthen our armed forces, yet our leaders are strangely silent with regard to enlisting and serving in our military. We hope our neighbor’s kids will enlist to fight for us, but we do not even ask that we all participate in our wars or our future. No wonder we think our kids are too soft and value play more than duty or responsibility. We show little of the concerns that “The Greatest Generation” took for granted. That generation won, unconditionally, the only "real" war in our time. It's true we've been involved in policing actions, UN mandates, etc., but no real war declared by Congress as our Constitution mandates! If we do not intend to win, we should not risk war and no euphemism makes it right!

Bob Poris

Friday, October 10, 2008

The Palin fantasy world

Bill McAllister, Palin's communications director claims that the "troopergate" report accusing the governor of abuse of power, "vindicated" Ms. Palin.

At the same time, McAllister and others are questioning "how Mr. Branchflower reached the conclusion that Governor Palin abused her power with respect to Trooper Mike Wooten."

Maybe somebody ought to read the damn report to Mr. McAllister "and others."


But this is the new Republicanism. In the fantasy world inhabited by these creatures of the right:

War is peace.
Death is life.
Dictatorship is democracy.
Law is license.
Defeat is victory.
Lies are truth.
Ceding one's rights is freedom.
God is hate.
Reason is irrational.
Trust is suspicion.
Dead civilians are collateral damage.
Laws are for other folks.
Health is sickness.
Poverty is wealth.
Truth is what George W. Bush and John McSame say it is.
Sarah Palin is qualified.
Tax breaks for the rich help the poor.
The White House is for white people.
Being a POW qualifies one to be president.
A small-town mayor is a major executive.
Obama is an elitist.
Owners of 13 houses are not elitists.
Infidelity is fine if you're a Republican.
Liberalism is bad.
Republican shit is really caviar.

And, oh yeah, guilty is vindication.

The wheels are coming off the McCain campaign

It's one thing when your political enemies refuse to give credence to your views. It's quite another when your friends believe your train has left the track.

1) In the past few days, we've learned that a former Republican governor of Michigan, William Milliken, who endorsed McCain during the primary, is now leaning toward supporting Barack Obama. "He's not the McCain I endorsed," said Milliken. "...his campaign has become rather disappointing to me."

2) Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator from Rhode Island announced yesterday at Obama's Grand Rapids [Michigan] headquarters, that he would be voting for Barack Obama. He urged other Republicans to do the same. Chafee dislikes McCain's kind of Republicanism. And he thinks Sarah Palin is "totally unqualified."

3) Phil Arthurhultz, a former Republican state senator from Whitehall [Michigan] is traveling with Chafee to encourage people to vote for Senator Obama.

4) Bob Eleveld, a former Kent County Republican chairman who headed up a division of McCain's 2000 campaign is disillusioned also. While not ready to swing publicly to Obama, he said "I'm not supporting either of them at this point. Suffice it to say there are a number of people who have been strong Republicans in the past, including party chairs, who feel as I do."

Eleveld is concerned about McCain's "pandering to the Christian right." He went on to say "I think the straight talk is gone."

5) Christopher Buckley. This is the biggie. The son of one of the most famous Republicans in the recent memory, William F. Buckley, Christopher has abandoned the so-called "Straight-talk Express."

McCain has become "inauthentic," says Buckley. He has become "irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget 'by the end of my first term.' Who, really, believes that? ... His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And ... there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?"

Then Buckley went on to praise Obama. "He has exhibited throughout a 'first-class temperament' ... I've read Obama's books, and they are first rate. ... He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for."

6) Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the late Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ms. Eisenhower gave a ringing endorsement of Obama at the Democratic Convention.


I think it's fair to say that the wheels are coming off the McCain campaign.

I would also say, tongue in cheek, "Thank god!"

Palin guilty of abuse of power

In spite of the fact that McCain campaign staffers issued a 21-page report yesterday -- before the official report was released, and without the facts of the case, and whining that "the inquiry has been muddied by innuendo, rumour and partisan politics," and further determining for the whole world that Sarah Palin was not guilty of any malfeasance in office -- the Alaskan Legislative Council voted unanimously today to release the official report by investigator Steve Branchflower which contradicted the McCain campaign's protestations of innocence.

In fact, Sarah Palin is guilty as charged of abuse of power.

Branchflower's report contained four "findings."

Don Hunter, writing for the Anchorage Daily News, says, "The first [finding] concludes that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that 'each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.'"

In other words, Palin's attempts to get her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten fired, was against the law. It was not only unethical, but illegal.

The second finding found that Monegan's refusal to fire Wooten was a "contributing factor" for his dismissal, although Palin did have the right to let him go.

The third finding says a workers compensation claim filed by Wooten was handled appropriately.

The fourth finding concluded that the attorney general's office failed to provide e-mails relative to the case.


None of this is surprising to those of us who have investigated Palin's background as mayor of Wasilla and her behavior on the campaign trail.

It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign sticks to its story that all of this was politically motivated and Poor Sarah has done nothing wrong: She's merely the target of a bunch of disgruntled political hacks who have it in for her.

But being found guilty of abuse of power, while indicative of the kind of person she is, is really not the main concern. Sarah Palin is about as unqualified to be vice president as a polar bear. She is a religious extremist and theocrat and a member of an ultra-fundamentalist Christian cult; she holds views on many subjects (abortion, sex education, teaching creationism in public schools, separation of church and state, freedom of speech, etc.) which are not shared by the majority of the American people; and her ties to the Alaska Independence Party should immediately disqualify her from holding any public office in the land.

While campaigning on the Republican ticket, her attacks on Senator Obama have been riddled with lies, rife with subtle racism, shot through with attempts to assassinate his character by raising issues long ago laid to rest, and all the while she has failed to provide anything of substance relative to the major issues facing our country.

When required to speak without her "talking points, she dribbles into comic incoherence for which there is only derision heard around the world.

She has pandered to and incited the crazies and the fruitcakes which has resulted in her rallies being filled with strange loonies who "Boo" when she mentions Obama, call out "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!" and otherwise denigrate the senator.

If McCain has any moral integrity left, he will drop her from the ticket immediately and send her back to the mooses.

al-Qaeda - an American creation (thanks to Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and Brzezinski)


The information that follows comes, in large part, from Craig Unger's book, House of Bush, House of Saud (Scribner, New York, NY, 2004)


It all started, actually, with President Jimmy Carter. Upon the advice of his "hawkish national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski," Carter, on July 3, 1979, "signed the first directive to secretly aid Afghan rebels known as the mujahideen who were fighting the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul."

It was part of a plan to involve the Soviets "in a brutal, expensive, futile, and endless war that would lead to the disintegration of their entire empire." The ultimate goal was to win the Cold War!

It worked. Five months after Carter's directive, the Soviets marched into Afghanistan to put down the rebels.


When Ronald Reagan and his sidekick, George H. W. Bush, took office, "they eagerly embraced" the strategy devised by Brzezinski and Carter. William Casey, CIA director, was also an avid supporter. And, at the time, it made a certain kind of sense. A CIA report in late 1982 determined the the Soviets would never be able to beat the mujahideen, even with 50,000 thousand additional troops.

After a certain amount of cajoling and wining and dining, the United States convinced Saudi Arabia to assist with funding the mujahideen. The Saudis agreed, not only providing money but also men. "Thousands of young warriors calling themselves Afghan Arabs streamed out of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, and all over the Middle East to aid the mujahideen. Neither the United States nor the Saudis seemed to mind that the crusading young Muslims could not have cared less about helping America win the Cold War."

Enter Osama bin Laden. He was young then, the son of a mega-rich Saudi businessman. He left the good life behind and headed to Afghanistan, "incensed and enraged," to fight the atheist Soviet invaders.

"For bin Laden, the war was not only a historic turning point during which he would emerge as a leader, it was also a momentous time in Muslim history." Osama and his friends saw their battle in cosmic terms - Muslims against one of the world's great superpowers. "One day in Afghanistan," said Osama, "counted for more than a thousand days praying in a mosque."

At that point the interests of George H. W. Bush and Osama bin Laden converged. "In using bin Laden's Arab Afghans as proxy warriors against the Soviets, Bush advocated a policy that was fully in line with American interests at that time. But he did not consider the long-term implications of supporting a network of Islamic fundamentalist rebels." [My emphasis]

[Note the parallels between George H. W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush: The pertinent line is "he did not consider the long-term implications..."]


The support Bush provided to the Afghan rebels was fed through MAK (Maktab al-Khidamat or Services Offices). According to John Loftus, an official with the Justice Department at the time, "Bush was in charge of the covert operations that supported the MAK. They were essentially hiring a terrorist to fight terrorism."

One of the cofounders of MAK was Osama bin Laden, and MAK later metamorphosed into al-Qaeda! MAK has been linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.


To reiterate: George H. W. Bush sided with one devil to fight other "devils." Unger says, again, the strategy "worked," at least for a time. "In 1985, a CIA assessment estimated that there had already been ninety-two thousand combined Soviet and Afghan casualties -- more than twice that of the rebels -- and that the Soviets were 'no closer than they were in 1979 to achieving their goals.'"

Reagan, Bush, William Casey and other American leaders were delighted and the United States upped the ante. "By 1987, well into the second term of the Reagan-Bush administration, the United States began to provide the rebels with nearly $700 million in military assistance a year."

But that was only part of our support for bin Laden and his mujahideen. We gave them "intelligence, training, and equipment that allowed them to make scattered strikes against factories, military installations, and storage depots that were actually inside the Soviet Union."

The Bush team also provided "satellite reconnaissance data, intercepted Soviet intelligence ... sniper rifles, timing devices for tons of C-4 explosives for urban sabotage, antitank missiles, and other sophisticated equipment."

For the mujahideen it was like an American Christmas. Bush and company sent Stinger missiles, those "portable, shoulder-fired antiaircraft guided missiles with infrared seekers for downing low-flying helicopters and planes." These were used very effectively, with a hit rate of 89 percent. The Afghan rebels, using Stinger missiles, shot down an average of one airplane a day.

While this was going on, bin Laden was engaged in building a huge complex which included arms storage, a training facility and medical center. More than 25,000 Islamic militants gathered to do battle against the Soviet atheists.

The Soviets were bleeding, besieged and bewildered.

According to a February 1987 CIA assessment, the Afghan war "had led to censure of the Soviets within the UN, impinged on Soviet relations with China and nonaligned third world nations, caused domestic social unrest, and diverted energies from pressing economic problems. What the report did not say, but the Soviets felt, was that tens of thousands of Soviet youths were dying on killing fields in a foreign land, fighting for a cause they didn't believe in, detested by the local populace they allegedly fought for, bleeding the crippled economy of their own country dry."

Read the above paragraph carefully. With just a few word changes, the same could have been written about the U.S. and Vietnam, the U.S. and Iraq, and the U.S. and Afghanistan.


When George H. W. Bush took over as president in January of 1989, the Soviet military, suffering multiple wounds, was in process of withdrawing from Afghanistan, finally recognizing that their "war" was unwinnable.

The CIA director, then William Webster and others were ecstatic. They had won, they thought.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. Because no one had stopped to ask long-range questions early on, U.S. strategists were now confronted with new problems. The "pipeline" through which the CIA had pumped weapons had also become become a drug pipeline. It had developed into one of the main routes for shipping heroin to Karachi and then on to the United States and Europe.

More importantly, and for some unfathomable reason, the U.S. continued to send billions of dollars and much high-tech weaponry to the rebels who at the time were constructing a huge Islamist army.

The result was a catastrophe! As one senior investigator said, "We set up the very system [of Islamist terrorism] we are now trying to dismantle. People forget that we invented this shit, that Bill Casey was getting the Saudi fundamentalists to assemble all these kooks and go out and kill Russians. No one asked what would happen when it was over." [My emphasis]

Here, of course, is another parallel to our the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq by George W. Bush and the neocons and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. It would appear that no one considered the long-range implications or the consequences of our actions.

McCain and others argued our invasion of Iraq would be short and sweet, we would be welcomed with open arms, and the cost would be minimal. He and the others were wrong on all counts.

[A side note: Unger writes that the CIA claimed to know nothing about the heroin. However, the Financial Times noted contrarily, that, not only did the CIA know about the heroin, "it actually started a special cell that 'promoted the cultivation of opium and the extraction of heroin in Pakistani terrority as well as in the Afghan territory under Mujahadeen control for being smuggled into the Soviet-controlled areas in order to make the Soviet troops heroin addicts.'"]


The situation became even more complicated and more bizarre. As early as 1983, word was out that the mujahideen had received so many weapons from the U.S. they were selling them to third parties.

But, again for unknown reasons, that did not stop the Reagan administration. "Washington actually responded by sending more and more sophisticated weapons. By 1986, The Reagan administration was supplying hundreds of the sought-after Stinger missiles to the mujahideen.

It was a national security disaster in the making.

By February 1989, the Soviet forces had departed Afghanistan. The government in Kabul, however, continued to be under Soviet control. Thus, President George H. W. Bush authorized further military aid to the rebels.

He did that in spite of the fact he had been warned specifically by Pakistan's president, Benazir Bhutto that "The extremists so emboldened by the United States during the eighties are now exporting their terrorism to other parts of the world to the extent that they use heroin trafficking to pay for their exploits."

Bhutto told Bush that things were out of control. Because the U.S. sided with the most extreme mujahideen groups, she said, "You are creating a veritable Frankenstein."


Unger believes that "Brzezinski and the Reagan-Bush administration were right about the extraordinary value of supporting the mujahideen. [I disagree] But they had resolved the past by endangering the future. They vastly underestimated the price America would pay in the long run. Thanks to the United States, Osama bin Laden had learned an important lesson: mujahideen warriors fighting for Islam could bring a superpower to its knees."


Thanks also to the United States, the terrorists who fought the Soviets with American help, had constructed a huge infrastructure they would soon use to export terrorism around the world. MAK became al-Qaeda -- the Base. Osama bin Laden became a hero. "Money poured into his operations from the mosques, the House of Saud itself, Saudi intelligence, the Saudi Red Crescent, the World Muslim League, various princes, and the kingdom's merchant elite."

On September 11, 2001, this terrorist organization, created in large part out of American resources provided to them by the Reagan and Bush administrations, as well as Saudi Arabia, sent out its warriors in a vicious attack on U.S. soil. The chickens had come home to roost.

The mainstream media said almost nothing about how al-Qaeda was able to mount such an intricate and devastating operation. George W. Bush, beholden to the House of Saud for bailing him out financially when his Texas oil operations failed, rushed to fly (secretly) all the Saudis currently living in or visiting the United States back to Saudi Arabia. Payback?


But it doesn't end there. Learning nothing from history and caring less, the second Bush administration invaded Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban and install a "democratic" government. That invasion, like the invasion of Iraq, has failed miserably. Part of the reason is due to the fact that Bush and company diverted the majority of our military and financial resources to settle a personal score with Saddam Hussein, a man the U.S. had previously supported with money and weapons (including WMD) in an earlier brawl with Iran. [We also secretly sent materiel and weapons to Iran at the same time!]

Today, after five long, miserable years, we remain bogged down in Iraq at a monstrous cost in terms of human lives and American resources!


Things are not much better in Afghanistan. In fact, at the moment, the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan is crumbling. The Associated Press reported today that "The situation in Afghanistan now is the worst since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 and the country is in danger of a 'downward spiral' into violence and chaos, according to an intelligence report draft."

The senior British commander in Afghanistan says the war there is "unwinnable."

American commanders have been calling for more troops for several months. One of these U.S. commanders bemoans the fact "We're not making progress."

The U.S. military reports that "Afghanistan has become far more dangerous for American troops than Iraq. More than twice as many Americans have died in Afghanistan than in Iraq since May, even though there are more than five times the number of U.S. troops in Iraq."

The Bush administration intends to send additional troops to Afghanistan. At the present time, the U.S. has 31,000 troops there and the coalition forces an equal number.

The heroin trade is flourishing, providing $100 million per year for al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Karzai government is losing what little support it had from the people for it cannot provide for the needs of the people, nor can it protect the people.

The United States, unfortunately, has killed a number of innocent civilians due to errant bombing by the U.S. Air Force. For example, on August 22, American airstrikes on a village in the western part of Afghanistan killed more than 30 civilians, a group that included women and children. Such "collateral damage," of course, creates great hatred for the U.S., already considered by many in Afghanistan as the "great Satan." Will Bunch, writing at philly.com says rightly that "every needless death creates more hatred toward America and our allies, and drives new converts to anti-U.S. terrorism."


What goes around comes around has become a commonplace saying and is now something of a cliche, but it still remains true, often enough.

In Afghanistan, we are fighting the very terrorists we formerly supported with millions of dollars and just as many weapons. The creature has turned on its creator. In fact, while al-Qaeda may have evolved to its present status in any event, the Reagan and Bush administrations must take most of the credit for providing the resources to allow it to grow to maturity.

The so-called "democratic" government in Afghanistan is not democratic, is dysfunctional, is corrupt through and through and incapable of governing competently. This dismal appraisal has not, however, stopped the United States from supporting that government monetarily and militarily and in many other ways.

At this moment, once again, our "leaders" are engaged in seeking ways to "shore up Afghan President Hamid Karzai's struggling government."

It won't work.

History has shown that wars in Afghanistan cannot be "won." For various reasons. Conventional forces rarely, if ever, defeat guerrillas. The terrain is hostile. The U.S. relies on air strikes. Wars are won on the ground.

While U.S. support of the rebels in their fight against the Soviets was a factor in the latter's eventual defeat, that defeat was assured from the moment the first Soviet boot stepped on Afghan soil. We merely forced an earlier timetable for the inevitable.

It didn't matter how many troops the Soviets sent to Afghanistan. The more the Soviets sent, the more Soviet troops died.

The United States cannot "win" the war in Afghanistan. The Bushites can send shiploads of boots on the ground and it will not affect the outcome. It may delay the outcome, but eventually we'll come crawling back home, carrying out our dead and wounded, our remaining resources depleted, our reputation destroyed with hatred for America increasing around the world, our future jeopardized.

[Do you suppose the Russians have turned the tables on us and are now secretly aiding al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan? That would be sweet revenge - for them.]

Both Obama and McCain have called for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan. They are both wrong. More troops is not the answer.

I don't have the answer. Maybe there isn't one. Americans always want to resolve a situation; want to get it over and done with. Hopefully in 30 minutes or an hour.

But while there may be no answer, there may be a solution. The solution might not be to our liking. That may not matter.

The next president will need to think "outside of the box." All those affected by this war will need to become involved.

When he first ran for president in 2000, George W. Bush castigated and mocked Al Gore for "nation-building." That's not the responsibility of the United States, said Bush. We know now that George didn't mean a word of it. He moved immediately to invade and begin rebuilding Afghanistan in our image. Then, before that job was hardly started, he invaded Iraq, initially for revenge and to secure the oil fields, and then to build a new nation and install "democracy."

Years later, hundreds of billions of borrowed dollars later, with both countries suffering massive destruction and suffering, we find ourselves in such an untenable situation that people cannot even discuss our problems rationally much less come to a consensus as to what needs to be done to try to solve them.

George W. Bush is a phenomenal failure in every respect. His attempts at "nation-building" have nearly destroyed our nation.

Unfortunately, his ghost and the ghost of his father will hang around to haunt us for a long time.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Palin pals around with Alaskan terrorists

She asked for it. Obama is not now and never has been a "pal" of William Ayers.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has been and remains good pals with a number of America-hating Alaskans.

David Talbot has summarized some of Palin's links to the anti-American Alaska Independence Party at salon.com. Much of this is not new, but needs to again be brought to the fore in light of Palin's outrageous and untrue attacks against Senator Barack Obama.

Joe Vogler, "the raging anti-American who founded the AIP, once said, 'My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand.'" Talbot says that "Before his strange murder in 1993 ... Vogler ... preached armed insurrection against the United States of America."

Vogler always went around armed and threatened to kill any federal bureaucrat who came after him. "When the federal bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion ..."

This angry anti-American began the AIP from nothing and built it up to 20,000 strong. His "greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States 'tyranny' before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

"That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.


Here's the deal. Todd Palin was a member of this anti-American, secessionist party for seven years! He may have been a card-carrying Republican, too, but that is irrelevant. A person can belong to any number of horrendous organizations at the same time.

Not only so, but Sarah Palin herself, governor of Alaska, appeared before the annual convention of this anti-American, secessionist group earlier this year to praise its work. "Keep up the good work," said Sarah. Oh, and "God bless you."

Talbot notes that the chairwoman of the AIP, Lynette Clark, told him that "Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. 'She's Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler.'"


Imagine, asks Mr. Talbot, what would happen if it were revealed that Michelle Obama had "joined a black nationalist party whose founder preached armed secession from the United States and who enlisted the government of Iran in his cause? The Obama campaign would probably not have survived such an explosive revelation. Particularly if Barack Obama himself was videotaped giving the anti-American secessionists his wholehearted support just months ago."


Where's the outrage? Where the hell is the mainstream media, the media pundits, the blowhards on Faux News? What's Tom (McCain) Brokaw got to say about this? Has anyone questioned either McCain or Palin about her anti-American connections? Why hasn't this issue come up during the debates?

Write to the local papers, the national magazines, your members of Congress, the White House, the Obama camp, the McCain camp. Tell the story and ask for comments. Let everyone know that Sarah Palin pals around with anti-American secessionists and her husband belonged to an anti-American secessionist party for seven years.

And may God bless America!

Read all of Talbot's article here.

McCain refuses to answer AARP's questions

Maybe John McSame thinks he can win without the vote of the over-50 group, or maybe he thinks he's already got those votes in the can.

Maybe John McSame ought to think again.

AARP, in the September/October 2008 issue of the AARP magazine, offered the presidential candidates an opportunity to provide the voters over the age of 50 information on where they stand on the various issues confronting our country.

The article is labeled the "2008 AARP Voters' Guide. "AARP asked key questions about issues important to all Americans of each major candidate for this race. Each candidate was allowed up to 125 words to answer each question. ... The candidates were asked to check the support or oppose circles. The candidates may have chosen not to check a circle."

Here's how that worked out:

1. Priorities.

Obama checked that he would "commit to help end gridlock by working across party lines to develop and support common-sense, bipartisan solutions on health care and financial security.

McCain did not answer.

2. Social Security.

Obama checked that he supports a plan to ensure guaranteed benefits and opposes diverting Social Security payroll taxes to IRA's.

McCain did not answer.

3. Enhancing Retirement Security.

Obama checked that he supports automatic payroll deduction for employee IRAS and supports the creation of retirement accounts in addition to Social Security.

McCain did not answer.

4. Making Health Care More Affordable.

Obama checked that he supports subsidies/incentives/insurance reforms to make insurance affordable, and that he supports improved care for chronic diseases across all settings. He left blank the question of limiting Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs.

McCain did not answer the question(s).

5. Long-Term Care.

Obama checked that he supports increasing consumer choice and control for people needing long-term care and that he supports improving standards and incentives for quality care, and that he supports providing family caregiving initiatives such as respite care.

McCain did not answer the questions!


McCain did not answer! This from the guy who's out on the campaign trail blathering about "clarity" and "candor."

I suppose you can't deal with questions for which you have no answers that anyone would support.

McCain and the U.S. Council for World Freedom

[Photo: Rev. & Mrs. Moon - whacko heads of the Moonies]

We mentioned McCain's connection to the U.S. Council for World Freedom in a recent post, noting that he lied about when he severed his connection with this group, claiming it was in 1984. McCain's name appeared on the some of the group's letterhead until 1986, however, plus he attended an awards ceremony sponsored by the organization in 1985.

McCain and his campaign have made a concerted effort in recent days to tie Senator Obama to terrorists, going so far to say Obama "pals" around with terrorists such as William Ayers, a man with an unsavory past but also a man who has turned his life around and become an asset to the community in which he lives.


Let's look at McCain's less than tidy ties. The U.S. Council for World Freedom is a radical, extremist right-wing anti-communist organization. McCain was asked to join the board by General John Singlaub, a friend of his father.

Gabriel Winant at salon.com tells how Singlaub took "the helm of the group after being dismissed from his command in South Korea for criticizing then-President Jimmy Carter's decision to draw down American troops. It was under Singlaub that the U.S. Council for World Freedom became well known for its role as a front working with Oliver North to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras in the late 1980s. The organization began, however, as an affiliate of a worldwide group, the World Anti-Communist League, allegedly funded by the Taiwanese and South Korean dictatorships." One of the major sources of funding for the Council was the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the whacko leader of the whacko Moonies who thinks he is the Messiah and believes that all governments will unite to kneel at his feet.

This crazy old fart also happens to own the Washington Times, George W.'s favorite newspaper.


One should remember that McCain was a strong supporter of the Contras. And then there's that Taiwan connection again! McCain, as you recall, wants to arm Taiwan to the teeth. We thought it was merely because his foreign policy coordinator is/was a lobbyist for the Taiwanese. But maybe there's more here than meets the eye.

Winant continues: "In 1981, the Anti-Defamation League called the WACL 'a gathering place for extremists, racists and anti-Semites.' Singlaub himself said in 1985 [McCain was still involved with the group in 1985] that some chapters of the League contained former Nazis and had been 'terribly anti-Semitic,' though he claimed that he had purged the League's extremist elements, 'certainly by 1984.'

"...In 1983 and 1984, Washington Post columnist Jack Anderson wrote a series of columns linking the League's (expelled) Latin American affiliates to death squad assassinations. Two weeks after Anderson's column on the group's link to violence, McCain asked to be taken off the advisory board, saying he no longer had time for the Council. In 1986, he reiterated his request, and said, 'I didn't know whether (the group's activity) was legal of illegal, but I didn't think I wanted to be associated with them.'"

So far so good, but it begs belief to think that McCain was a part of this group for several years and did not know of its anti-Semitic tendencies and death-squad linkages in Latin America. It is also quite transparent that it was only after Jack Anderson revealed some of the League's rotten core that McCain suddenly got "religion." But he must not have pushed too hard to disassociate himself as it took two years before he was taken off the advisory board.

What do you think of a candidate for president who pals around with people who have known ties to Nazis and anti-Semites and Latin American death-squads?

For an excellent and more in-depth discussion of McCain's relationship to the WACL, click here.

When and where was Trig Palin born?

Not so long ago, in an attempt to check out the story that Trig Palin may not actually be the child of Sarah Palin, I researched the records at the Mat-su Medical Center in Wasilla, Alaska.

Palin claims that Trig was born on April 18, 2008 at 6:30 a.m.

The hospital's website lists two other children born on that date, but not Trig Palin. At that point I researched all the births on that date in Anchorage hospitals. I was unable to locate any record of Trig's birth in Wasilla or in Anchorage.

Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish has also attempted to locate a record of Trig's birth without success. He contacted the hospital and was told that births are included on the hospital's list by "parental choice" and all parents are asked if they want their child's name to appear.

Sullivan writes, "When asked if it was therefore a fair inference to say that they asked the Palins and the Palins chose not to have their child included on the list, the hospital told us that the Palins' privacy barred them from answering those questions."

Sullivan also contacted the McCain campaign for a comment, but they did not respond to his emails.

Why is this so hard? Why are the birth records of Trig Palin not readily available? It's not like this is a matter of national security! One cannot help but wonder if the birth records are non-existent because the Palins are hiding something.

Sullivan goes on to say: "As far as the propriety of demanding such basic publilc records, I am merely following Sarah Palin's own standards. In her first race for mayor of Wasilla, she demanded the marriage license of her opponent be made public. Why? Because his wife kept her maiden name -- and Palin deemed that sufficiently unusual to demand total transparency. If that level of transparency is necessary for the race for Wasilla mayor, why is it 'unspeakable' for the vice-presidency of the United States? Is being mayor of Wasilla more significant than possibly being US president?"

Sullivan notes that if anyone can find any birth record for Trig Palin, he will publish it.


Enough already. Sarah Palin should immediately release those records to the public and put this uncertainty behind her. It's like, you know, I mean, she should be like transparent to the people. Right?

[Another interesting tidbit is that the doctor who allegedly delivered Trig is, after a number of years, no longer affiliated with the Mat-su Medical Center.]

McCain's increasingly addled brain

Some people, as they age, find that certain mental and physical attributes deteriorate. Forgetfulness is often a sign of aging. Physical strength tends to decline as we grow older. Then there are those who become confused, especially under stress.

John McSame seems to be exhibiting a few of these signs of aging. At the last debate, you'll recall, he could not sit still. He was antsy. He stood up, checked his notes, made notes, wandered around--all the while Senator Obama was speaking to the crowd. McCain's antics were distracting on television. I'm sure they were even more distracting to those watching in person. He grinned. He grimaced. It seemed he was deliberately trying to discombobulate Obama. It seemed he
couldn't help himself.

But more seriously, McSame may be suffering from some kind of mental confusion. If you watched the debate, you remember that he referred to Senator Obama as "that one." Could it be that he temporarily forgot Obama's name?

It gets worse. At a post-debate rally in Ohio, McSame addressed the party faithful as "my fellow prisoners."

"Across this country," he said, "this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent."

That's both sad and hilarious. Right after calling those gathered around in worshipful adoration "my fellow prisoners," McSame speaks of "clarity," and "candor," and then commands that Obama exhibit that same "clarity" and "candor."

Neither Sarah Palin nor Cindy Helmsley McCain "batted an eyelash," although Palin did seem a bit flummoxed.


McSame's comment is sad, because it appeared he had no clue what he said. Did he suffer some kind of post-traumatic flashback where he suddenly believed himself to be back in the Hanoi Hilton? It is hilarious because if there is anyone who has spoken without either "clarity" or "candor," it has been John McSame.

"Muddled" and "mud-slinging lies" would better fit the McSame campaign.

Clarity and candor, indeed.

McCain's McSame Campaign Suspension

When is a campaign suspension a campaign suspension?

McSame doesn't seem to know. You will recall how he ran off to Washington to "help" his fellow Congresspersons put together the "bailout." The urgency was palpable. Congress and the country needed him. Needed good ol' John McSame. They needed the war hero. To help them put the nation back on the right track. To bail out his old Wall Street buddies. The ones that paid his chief of staff, Rick Davis, big buckeroos for his lobbying work.

The need was so great for McSame to haul his broken down old ass off to Washington that McSame said he would be suspending his campaign during this "crisis." Can't work on a national crisis and campaign for prezident at the same time, you know. He also said he would probably not be able to attend the scheduled debate with Senator Obama 'cause, you know, it's like a debate was frivolous when the nation's banking system was coming apart at the seams.


But McSame flip-flopped, again!

He decided it wouldn't look too "prezidential" if he didn't show up to debate Mr. Obama, the "tax-and-spend" most liberal senator in the whole world since the beginning of time. In fact, people might suggest, just as "that one" had a nerve to do, that McSame couldn't do two things at the same time. He's John McSame, for god's sake, a war hero! He can too do two things at once! So, he went to the debate.

Secondly, McSame the war hero, did NOT suspend his campaign. He says he did. The truth-impoverished Palin says he did and keeps saying he did, because like, you know, he was good ol' John, trying to save the country. Even the MSM says he did. MSM reporters who should know better, like T for Tom Brokaw said he did.

JOHN MCSAME DID NOT SUSPEND HIS CAMPAIGN!

Here's a clue: On September 25, the only "full day of suspension," the McCain campaign ran a total of 1,304 ads in the media.

ONE THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND FOUR ADS.

If that's "suspending" a campaign, George W. Bush is the second coming of Christ.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Attacking McCain

It's time to take off the jacket and go after the heel, John McCain.

McCain is now dredging and throwing dirt in ever-increasing clumps. It's no more "Mr. Nice Guy." McCain no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. McCain's life is up for grabs.


Let's begin here with the United States Navy
.

John McCain is not very bright. He graduated 5th from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy and would have been thrown out on his ass if his daddy had not been a Naval poohbah.

His reputation as a pilot stinks. He was more concerned about chasing women than serving his country even while in the Navy. Most young men in back in the 1960s would have considered a career as a Navy pilot to be a dream come true. McCain's naval aviation career is a nightmare:

1. In 1960, McCain slammed his AD-6 Skyraider into Corpus Chrisi Bay. He said the engine quit. An investigation showed no evidence of engine failure. The 23-year old screwball "wasn't paying attention and erred in using 'a power setting to low to maintain level flight in a turn.'"

2. Sometime around December 1961, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over Spain and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout.

3. On Nov. 28, 1965, McCain claimed he heard an explosion in the engine of his T-2 trainer jet and lost power. He bailed and the plane crashed in the woods. Investigators could find no evidence of a power failure or explosion. But they said McCain had made several errors.

4. In 1967, off Vietnam, his plane was destroyed in an explosion on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

5. In October 1967, McCain was flying over North Vietnam - his 23rd bombing mission. A surface-to-air missile hit his A-4 attack jet at 3,000 feet above Hanoi. Aviators were told to stay at 4,000 feet! His plane crashed.

The Los Angeles Times, upon compiling a report detailing McCain's aviation mishaps concluded that the "examination of his record revealed a pilot who early in his career was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits."

Today, someone with McCain's record would be tossed out of the Navy.


After the Navy

McCain came home from Vietnam to toss out his wife, Carol, who had been maimed and disfigured in a car accident. He had several affairs, including one with a Brazilian woman, and one with his current wife, Cindy Helmsley, some 25 years his junior.

He divorced Carol so he could marry Cindy. Some reports indicate an overlap. He actually may not have been legally divorced when he married Cindy.

McCain went to work for Cindy's dad's Budweiser beer distributorship. Before long he was looking at a political career, backed with Helmsley's money.


The Keating Affair

This affair had nothing to do with sex. It had to do with money. Lots of it. McCain and other members of Congress tried to help out old Charles Keating who stole tons of taxpayer money in the Savings and Loan scandal. Their motivation derived from the fact that Keating had provided the senators with 1.3 million in campaign contributions. Keating had also put money into McCain's political races. So they "used their influence to get regulators to back off their investigations of Lincoln Savings and Loan, owned by Keating." Cindy McCain made out big time. The Ethics Committee determined that John used "bad judgment." You think?

Let's see: John got $133,000 in campaign contributions from Keating. He "and his family made nine trips aboard Keating's private jet to various vacation spots, including three to Keating's own retreat in the Bahamas."

Three of the others involved retired from Congress when their term was up.

McCain apologized and said he'd never do anything like that again. He lied. For years he's been the best friend a Washington lobbyist could ever have. Today his campaign is run by some of the biggest corporate lobbyists in the country, including his campaign manager, Rick Davis.


The U.S. Council for World Freedom

This is an extremist right-wing crackpot group with ties to rightwing death squads in Central America.

McCain served on the Council's board in 1984, but said he resigned that year because he became "uncomfortable" with the group's activities.

But John was lying again. His name appears on the group's letterhead up until 1986. "He also attended the group's 'Freedom Fighter of the Year' award ceremony on Oct. 3, 1985."

Someone should ask old John just what he did for this group. What exactly were his responsibilities? Why did he join such a group in the first place?

Talk about "palling" around with terrorists!


There's more coming in the future.

McCain sinks to new low

Where will it end? How low will John go? He's already sold his soul to the devils on the Christian right, so perhaps he's no longer afraid of eternity in hell.

McCain bombed in the second debate last night. Time is running out. He is flailing about wildly. Has he gone insane?

Michael D. Shear of WaPo, says that the McCain camp put out a statement in which "the son of a former New York State Supreme Court Justice whose house was firebombed by Ayers' group condemned Sen. Barack Obama, declaring that 'Barack Obama's friends tried to kill my family.'"

The son's name is John M. Murtagh. He's an attorney. He was nine years old when the Weather Underground attacked his family's home. His father was presiding over a trial of Black Panthers.

"The terrorist group founded by Barack Obama's friend William Ayers, firebombed my house," said lawyer Murtagh. "Barack Obama may have been a child when William Ayers was plotting attacks against U.S. targets -- but I was one of those targets. Barack Obama's friend tried to kill my family."


So the McCain campaign sinks into the slime. I would think they can't go any lower, but I would not bet money on it. There will be a special place in hell reserved for Murtagh, too. These slimeballs know very goddamn well that Obama had nothing to do with Ayers' previous life. These slimeballs know very goddamn well that Obama and Ayers have never had a close relationship. These slimeballs know very goddamn well that they are casting mud upon the waters in hopes of destroying Obama's character in the eyes of the those voters who put up McCain/Palin signs in their yards but are incapable of making the effort to learn the truth.

McCain is one sick puppy and the people who work for him are immoral, unethical sleazebags!

McCain, lobbyists, Taiwan and weapons

John McCain has no ethical core.

Last week the Bushites announced a new weapons package for Taiwan. 'Tis a risky business, that, sure to invoke the wrath of the Chinese government.

McCain, the ultimate warrior, was not happy, though. Not because he thought the Bush administration should not sell weapons to Taiwan, but because the Bush administration didn't sell enough weapons! McCain wanted to add submarines and F-16's to the mix.

McCain, in his usual blustery form, said he believes that Taiwan is better off if it can deal with China from a position of strength. Unfortunately, Obama seems to agree on that particular. Unfortunately, it is never smart to tease a tiger, and China is one hell of a tiger.


But here's the problem (which McCain evidently doesn't see as a problem): McCain's foreign policy coordinator is Randy Scheunemann. Randy Scheunemann is a big-time lobbyist for foreign governments.

Don't you just love it? McCain stands in front of a world audience while debating Obama and castigates the dastardly lobbyists at the same time his campaign includes 84 of the dastards, some of which are the biggest corporate lobbyists in the world!

Anyway, Scheunemann (according to WaPo), "as recently as May ... had a $200,000 contract with Taiwan to provide 'advocacy ... with the U.S. Congress and executive branch,' which it renewed in June..."

"...The McCain campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether Randy Scheunemann ... had a role in drafting the statement [McCain's desire for subs and F-16's] or if he had recused himself."


This is the same Scheunemann who was advising McCain on foreign policy even while a lobbyist for Georgia. While the McCain campaign paid Scheunemann $70,000 between January 1, 2007 and May 15, 2008, his firm collected $290,000 in lobbying fees from the government of Georgia.


John McCain has no ethical core and he knows not the truth!

More on Sarah Palin, John McCain and the Truth

Guest post by Bob Poris

The contradictions of Sarah Palin

Item: On the one hand, Palin seems to think government is the problem. On the other hand, Palin seems to think government is the solution. Perhaps one should ask Sarah Palin what she wants from the government. Should it get out and stop paying her salary or should it do more to solve the current crisis? She said both during her debate with Joe Biden debate, thus contradicting herself!

Item: Palin claims Obama is "palling around" with William Ayers. Perhaps Obama should show her a photo of himself when he was eight years old, wherever he lived, when the "hippy" terrorist was spouting his stuff. Obviously, she's a liar. And today William Ayers is a professor at a recognized, conservative university. It would seem that Palin/McCain have a problem. But it is their problem, not Obama’s.

Item: In contrast, John McCain was an adult when he got involved in the Keating Five and ended up being called for "bad judgment" by the U.S. Senate, which was a mere "slap on the wrist," probably because he was considered a "war hero."

Item: Palin and McCain, by charging Obama with some sort of hidden childhood association with Ayers, and by other charges, are implying that Obama does not love the United States, and is somehow concealing his true identity. That's nonsense.

But this is not: Palin, as an adult, gives reason to believe she and her husband are the ones who do not love the USA. They've associated with a fanatical group that espouses secession from the Union. Evidently, they are willing to leave the Union and Todd and his secessionist buddies have expressed more hate than a black preacher who may have some reason to be bitter. Palin's charges about Obama not loving his country is a crock, but Obama allows it to pass. He could respond with the contempt such a charge deserves and avoid an argument once he asks those questions.

Item: Palin has been blessed by an African witch doctor, the intent of which was to exorcise her of any connection with witchcraft so god would make her governor of Alaska. When does Palin get her next exorcism or has she been cured of whatever evil being possessed her before?

Item: The McCain campaign has kept Palin under wraps until very recently. Now that she is free, is it possible she will provide some specifics as to how to solve our numerous problems? Winking and blinking is not the answer. Putin is a Black belt and doesn’t seem to scare easily. How would she deal with him? What would she tell him? How would she handle Iran and with what army? And why is it that neither she nor McCain suggest their supporters enlist in the military to serve and help win these wars! Talk will not do it. The generals need boots on the ground, not windbags.


There are many other questions with which Palin should be confronted. But she continues to get a free pass. Maybe that's because we tend to treat the mentally deficient kindly. In other countries, women leaders are treated as leaders, not as sex objects. Were Golda Meir, Thatcher, Gandhi, Merkle, etc. handled with kid gloves because they were thought too delicate to answer important questions? Are we such wimps that we give in to the notion a female politician such as Palin needs protection from tough questions and critical comments? If so, we have bigger problems than I thought.

Bob Poris



Sarah Palin reads Starbucks

When asked by Katie Couric which news publications she read, Sarah Palin hemmed and hawed and finally said she read "all of them," but wasn't able to be specific.

Just like Bush.

She evidently does read Starbucks coffee cups, though. Maybe. We're not sure. It could be that her handlers introduced her to the now infamous Starbucks coffee cup which contains a quote by former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright.

Palin, however, imagining herself to be in the same class as Albright and other bright women, referred to this quote at a rally where her beloved fans screamed high-school-like, in adoration. She claimed to have personally seen the quote on her cup of Starbucks mocha:

"Now she said it, I didn't," said Palin of Albright. "She said, 'There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't support other women.'"

Well, maybe Palin didn't really see the quote. Maybe it was her handlers who pointed it out to her. Because Sarah failed to get it right. Again.

The quote actually reads: "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

Not only so, but Palin knew not the context and thus came off looking like the insufferable fool she is.

Madeline Albright herself set Palin straight. Albright told the Huffington Post:

"Though I am flattered that Gov. Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics.

"This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women.

"The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."


Three things:

1) The photo above comes from the Huffington Post.

2) This story, as reported by Thomas M. DeFrank, the Daily News Washington Bureau Chief, failed to include the last sentence, by far the most important sentence in Albright's response. Why would that be? Is this another example of how the media is biased in Obama's favor? Or could it be the MSM, owned mostly by huge corporate conglomerates, continues to favor Mr. McCain?

3) The MSM's corporate owners will receive a humungous, multi-billion dollar tax break under the McCain tax proposal.

Hmmm...

The Virgin Mary in the toilet

The following comes from onegoodmove.org


Cincinnati,OH--Hundreds of people are being drawn to the Creation Museum by what they say looks like an image of the Virgin Mary in a toilet bowl.

As many as 300 people, some weeping, gathered outside the third stall of the Museum's men's room. They prayed, they took photographs, and they said the rosary.

The museum curator said the cause of the image was not immediately clear, but he plans on talking to the head of the janitorial staff, Benedict.

Sarah Palin, in the Museum preparing for this evening's debate, said it was comforting to know that God's spirit was there in this time of turmoil for the nation.

Brigitte Bardot slugs (verbally) Sarah Palin

People my age will remember with lecherous fondness the French actress, Ms. Brigitte Bardot. She was, in those times, for us young men, the epitome of a sexpot!

Bardot has always been feisty, has always gone her own way and never hesitated to speak her mind. Sometimes that has gotten her into trouble. Some have said that she's a bigot. Or was. Maybe.

But she hasn't mellowed much over the years.

Bardot, regally pissed when confonted by the monumental ignorance that is Sarah Palin, wrote the Alaska governor an "open" letter which went like this:

"I hope you lose these elections because that would be a victory for the world. By denying the responsibility of man in global warming, by advocating gun rights and making statements that are disconcertingly stupid, you are a disgrace to women and you alone represent a terrible threat, a true environmental catastrophe."

Aidan Maconachy notes that Bardot is an animal rights activist and is angry "by Palin's emphasis on oil exploration at the expense of polar bear habitat.

"In a final shot, Bardot picked up on Palin's self-reference as a 'pitbull wearing lipstick.' She implored the governor to refrain from comparing herself with dogs.

"She wrote:

"I know them well and I can assure you that no pitbull, no dog, nor any other animal is as dangerous as you are."


We say, well said.

More here.

Link to Palin gaffes

Kudos to 23/6 (236.com)!

Here is a link to a comprehensive collection of videos which show Sarah Palin preaching about how Iraq is god's war, being blessed by a witch doctor, etc.

You may wish to bookmark the page for future reference.

Click here.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Palin is a religious nutcase!

Sarah Palin, pit bull, the sidechick of Senator John McCain on the Palin/McCain ticket, ordered up a dish of nasty, but she ain't gonna like what she's gonna get served.

At one of her recent rallies, surrounded by a rabid rightwing crowd, Sarah, in her usual snarling manner, attempted to tie Obama to the economic meltdown on Wall Street. "What's next," she cried, "claiming he didn't know that two of his biggest supporters were running Fannie Mae?"

It is true that James Johnson and Franklin Raines, both former Fannie Mae execs, are Obama supporters. That isn't what Palin cared about, however. Her goal was to make it appear that Obama had something to do with the economic mess wherein we now find ourselves. That, in spite of the fact, it was McCain who voted for deregulation and McCain's financial advisor, now in absentia, Foreclosure Phil, who is mainly the man responsible.

Not only so, but while Johnson was at one time an adviser to Obama, they have not had a conversation in more than a year. Raines has never been considered Obama's close friend.

In other words, Palin is casting for a way to smear Obama's character, just as she is doing by trying to link Obama to William Ayers.


Palin has also resurrected the old guilt by association tactic by dredging up Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Not good - for Ms. Palin.

Palin's pastoral ties are much more suspect and much more dangerous than any ties Obama might have had with the Rev. Wright. As Buzzflash puts it, Palin "is a believer in a renegade theology called "The Third Wave," that believes God has chosen certain people (her) to lead America into preparation for Armageddon, indeed that her ascension to the presidency is a prerequisite for End Times."

Alex Koppelman writes at Salon.com about an e-mail now circulating on the Internet, the text of which was originally written by Jim Bramlett, "an author and former vice president with the Christian Broadcasting Network," The thrust of the e-mail is that Palin has been chosen by God to act as God's ambassador when the End Times arrive.

"Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the annointing ... Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin."

[You might note that Bramlett also claims to have "obtained recordings of angels singing."]

Koppelman, goes on to refer to an article by Sarah Posner, which said, in part: "Many evangelicals are talking about Palin being like the biblical Queen Esther, who saved the Jews from the genocidal Haman, and believe that Palin has come, like Esther did, 'for a time such as this.'"

The aforementioned e-mail also derides Obama's acceptance speech, claiming that Obama was portrayed as "god-like." It said "His voice thundered as a god's voice.

"God was not pleased.

"Enter Governor Sarah Palin. With incredible timing, the very next day, Sarah Palin also appeared out of nowhere...

"We quickly learned that Sarah is a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, attends church, and has been a ministry worker. ...

"Only God knows the future and how she may be used by Him, but may this noble woman serve to bring renewal in the land, and inspiration."


Obama, as we know, as eschewed any relationship with the Rev. Wright and has resigned from Wright's church and has denounced Wright's racist ramblings.

Sarah Palin, however, remains very much a devoted follower of some of the most extreme elements in fundamentalist Christianity. Her pastor claims that his prayer helped her become governor of Alaska. Her church is part of the radical Christian fundamentalist Dominionist movement which looks forward to capturing the White House, the Congress and the Courts and turning the United States into a Christian nation, ruled, not by the Constitution, but by the Dominionist interpretation of the Bible.

Not only so, but Palin is also a believer in witchcraft. A Kenyan witch doctor by name of Thomas Muthee, who claims to have run off a witch in a Kenyan village, actually laid hands on Palin when he visited her church in 2005. Maybe he thought she was a witch. But Palin explained it this way in a video:

"As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he's so bold. And he was praying 'Lord make a way, Lord, make a way.'

"And I'm thinking, this guy's really bold, he doesn't even know what I'm going to do, he doesn't know what my plans are. And he's praying not 'Oh Lord, if it be your will may she become governor,' no, he just prayed for it. He said, 'Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that's exactly what happened.

"So, again, very, very powerful, coming from this church."


Palin believes that God put her into the governor's office and God wants her in the White House. Back on June 8, she flew to Wasilla (charging the State of Alaska for her expenses) to attend a graduation ceremony of the Master's Commission program at the Wasilla Assembly of God.

Ms. Palin spoke for about eight minutes, quoting from the New Testament epistle to the Ephesians. Her brief speech was a plea for the students to bring God to the people of Alaska. "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys as you go out throughout Alaska -- I can do my part in doing things like working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline. Pray about that also."

She then referred to some other of her duties as governor saying she could do those things, but, she continued "...really, all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's hearts isn't right with God. And that's going to be your job."


So, in 2008, on a presidential ticket, we have this crazy person who believes that God made her the governor of Alaska and that God wants her to become president in order to prepare our country for Armageddon. She associates with and is a member of one of the most extreme fundamentalist Christian cults in the world. Pastors and laypeople in this cult have organized on-going prayer networks believing they can pray her into the White House. Palin sees it as part of her job to exhort these true believers to convert all people to her version of crazy Christianity. She ascribes to a truly fantastical non-rational end-times scenario based upon the rantings of a few insane biblical authors; a scenario that has no basis in reality.

No, Ms. Palin. You'd better leave Obama's connections to William Ayers and the Rev. Wright alone. Who knows, maybe the corporate media will suddenly discover some backbone hiding behind their yellow spines and begin reporting the truth about your whacko religious beliefs, your whacko pastors, your whacko churches.

That couldn't be good. For you.


Talk2Action has compiled a mountain of detailed information related to Palin's religious and pastoral associations. You can access that information here.

Palin, the sidechick, explains why war is good

This is from The Plank.

McCain's sidechick, Sarah Palin, made an attempt to talk about why war is good and why war is important. She also tried to tie the need for war in with freedom of the press. Not all the press, I guess. Just some of the press. The press that gives the sidechick a pass, it seems.

Here's what she said and if you can make sense of it, you ought to become a teacher of English:

"As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we've really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance."


I'm guessing she's pissed at the press for failing to ignore her numerous idiocies and misstatements and outright lies. The press, she seems to think, have taken "advantage" and "exploited" a situation by not being fair and balanced (like Faux News) and by not presenting the truth as she explains it to the American people.

I think.

The statement is so incoherent, however, that she may have meant something else altogether.


Now, according to what some medical people have said about McCain's melanoma, it is possible that should the Repugnican ticket be elected, McCain would not last four years. It is even more unlikely that he will last eight years. We can't be sure about this because McCain continues to refuse to release all of his medical records -- you know, the important stuff!

That means we would have a president who lacks the ability to string together a few sentences in a coherent fashion, deciding:

Which war zone to send our troops; the details of a national budget; the priorities for our nation; whether or not to bomb Iran with nuclear weapons; whether or not to "punish" Russia for being bad by re-starting the cold war or perhaps engaging in a hot war; how to deal with the challenges posed by China; what to do about the economic meltdown; the right course with regard to American education; the role of church vs. state; the right of women to choose; how much influence lobbyists should have; which judges to appoint to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court; which are the best persons to serve as heads of our government departments and agencies; what are the most effective means to protect our country from terrorists, both domestic and foreign; how to bring the war in Iraq to a close; what to do about Afghanistan, which is not winnable, as the Russians discovered and the Afghan commander now admits; the place of torture in our "democratic" system; the role of the president with regard to the other two "equal" branches of government; how to stem global warming in the next few years in order to avoid unmitigated environmental disaster; the role of the federal government with regard to health care and how to provide health care for all of our citizens; how to stop the increasing poverty among our people...

I'm sure you could add many other "important" issues with which our next president will be confronted.

A few years ago, "they" said, especially on Saturday Night Live, that President Gerald Ford could not walk and chew gum at the same time. That was demonstrated on almost a weekly basis by Chevy Chase, playing President Ford, falling on his imperial ass.

We now have, as McCain's sidechick and potential president, a person who cannot speak or think coherently. It's like, well, shoot, it's like, she just ain't got what it takes. It's like, well, you know, she may be smart and all, but, heck, it's like she's...like, hell, she can't think straight. Maybe...I dunno, maybe...it's like she's just plain not too smart. Oh, yeah, it's like, well she's also real mean.

Palin encourages the crazies

Sarah Palin, impossible as it sounds, has descended to ever deeper depths of depravity. By word and deed, she is encouraging the crazies in our midst to think of Senator Barack Obama in the worst possible way, even as a terrorist. And what do the crazies think we should do with terrorists?

The answer came at one of Palin's rallies when she once again told the lie that Obama pals around with terrorists. What follows is from Americablog:

"'Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers,' Palin railed.

"'Boooo!' said the crowd.

"'And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, "launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,"' she continued.

"'Boooo!' the crowd repeated.

"'Kill him!' proposed one man in the audience.

"Palin went on to say that 'Obama held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayer's living room, and they've worked together on various projects in Chicago."

"Palin went on?

"Just like she did when speakers at her church said that terroist attacks against Israelis were 'God's judgment' for Jews having the audacity not to embrace Christianity. Just like she did when a visiting witch doctor at her church lamented the fact that, as he claimed, Jews control the banking industry and that's why Wall Street is so corrupt. Not a word from Sarah Palin when her supporters talk of killing Barack Obama. Not a word from Sarah Palin when her own church talks of the propriety of launching terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel.

"In one day, McCain's supporters are so enraged by McCain's new rhetoric, calling Obama an un-American terrorist sympathizer, that McCain's supporters are now labeling Obama himself a 'terrorist' and calling for him to be killed.

"And McCain has no problem with this. Nor does Sarah Palin."


There is no question that Palin knows very well that Obama has nothing of substance to do with Ayers. Obama was eight years old when Ayers was involved in his nefarious activities. Furthermore, since that time, Ayers has rehabilitated himself, obtained a doctorate at Columbia and now is a professor at a university in Chicago.

In other words, Palin is deliberately prodding the crazies - to do what? Assassinate Obama?


It is hard for this writer to comprehend the evil represented by the Palin/McCain Republican ticket. In all of his 72 years. he has seen nothing like it. The standard bearers of the Republican Party in 2008, John McCain and Sarah Palin, are hollow human beings, devoid of ethical or moral substance.

And that is the sad truth.

You can read Americablog's article here.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Osama and Bush - who's the "real" terrorist?

Consider this: On September 11, 2001, some 3,000 people - most of them American citizens - were murdered when a group of predominately Saudi Arabian terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers.

Consider this: Saudi Arabia, the breeding ground for not only Osama bin Laden, largely believed the one responsible for this terrorist attack, but also for 15 of the 19 people involved, has been a close ally of the United States for many years in spite of the fact that it is an autocratic and despicable Islamic dictatorship under which the people enjoy few personal freedoms and brutal suppression reigns.

Consider this: In the months preceding the 9/11 attack, George W. Bush and his administration were given "intelligence" which advised them that such an attack was imminent. Such an attack would be "led" by Osama bin Laden. Such an attack would likely involve airplanes flying into buildings. All of these things were known to Bush, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the Bushit Administration in the summer of 2001! George W. didn't care. He ignored the intelligence. From Day One, the Bush Administration was focused on contriving reasons to attack Iraq.

Consider this: On the basis of a series of lies, all now well-documented, George W. Bush instigated a preemptive attack, in 2003, on a country that was NOT a threat to the United States in any way whatsoever.

Consider this: The attack became an invasion became an occupation. The Bushites, including John McCain, said the Americans would be welcomed by the Iraqis for destroying their country; they said it would be a short war; they said it could be done on the cheap, only $50-60 billion.

Consider this: The war has continued for five years, is costing $10 billion per month [in borrowed money], has cost nearly $800 billion since its inception, and no end is in sight. In fact, the war in Iraq has nearly bankrupted the United States.

Consider this: Everyone involved with the Iraq war was wrong and everything they said about the Iraqi invasion was wrong. Still, their lies continue today.

McCain and his sidechick, Palin, harp on the so-called "Surge" and how successful it was, but not once have either of them explained exactly what that means. They've never answered the question as to what made it "successful" -- and what "success" means in this situation.

The problem is that McCain and his sidechick, Palin, don't have a freaking clue about Iraq or the Surge or anything else in the Middle East. If the Surge was successful -- and that is still an open question -- it's success was due primarily to the fact that a large group of insurgents laid down their arms.

Consider this: George W. Bush, his administration, and his cronies in Congress, used the 9/11 attacks to create an attitude of fear in the American people ("The terrorists are coming, the terrorists are coming"). They lied to the American people about, not only the nature of the threat, but the source of the threat.

Because George and the neocons started the war to ensure access to the Iraqi oil fields, a purpose to which they could not admit, they spread lies about Saddam Hussein, about al Qaeda and about the terrorist "threat." Saddam, they said, had weapons of mass destruction, perhaps nuclear weapons, poised to attack the United States. Iraq, they said, was behind 9/11 (people still believe that one). Iraq was harboring terrorists, they said.

All of this was bullshit.

Consider this: The result of these lies and the incredible, unbelievable stupidity, as well as the unbridled greed of the Bushites and neocons has led to:

4,177 American dead in Iraq

30,795 Americans maimed in Iraq

96,289 Iraqis killed (according to Iraq Body Count)

1,273,378 Iraqis killed (according to justforeignpolicy.org)


Summary:

1) Osama bin Laden, noted and notorious terrorist, is directly responsible for the deaths of 3,000 Americans which resulted from the attacks by his minions on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden should be captured and should stand trial for his evil ways and dastardly deeds.

2) George W. Bush and the leaders of his administration, notorious neocons and god-lovers, are directly responsible for the deaths of 4,177 Americans, the maiming of almost 31,000 Americans, the killing of some ONE MILLION Iraqis (many of them women and children), the destruction of the country of Iraq, and a raging and growing anti-American sentiment around the world.

3) George W. Bush lied and led the United States into an unnecessary, brutal and costly (in every way) war - these are indisputable facts with numerous historical documents of the highest caliber to back them up.

4) So who's the real "terrorist?"

Answer:

a) Osama bin Laden
b) George W. Bush
c) All of the above