Oooh, nuance!

and yet, McCaca is still a warmongering asshole.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain said on Wednesday he would not rule out launching preemptive wars against future enemies.

President George W. Bush, in launching his 2003 invasion of Iraq, said it was necessary to forestall possible future attacks from a country that was developing weapons of mass destruction.

None of the weapons he alleged were in Iraq were subsequently found.

[snip]

When asked at a town hall meeting about the Bush policy on preemption, McCain said: "I don't think you can make a blanket statement about preemptive war because obviously it depends on the threat that the United States of America faces."

After the Sept. 11 attacks Bush approved a new national security strategy in 2002 that allowed the United States to strike first against U.S. enemies believed to be about to use weapons of mass destruction against America.

The doctrine triggered a wide debate and criticism from the administration's critics at the time.

Folks, as the once-great Randi Rhodes used to say, "When they show you who they are, BELIEVE THEM."

Iraq for 100 years? HE MEANS IT.

More wars? HE MEANS IT.

This is the future of our country if McCaca becomes president in 2009. Please don't be under any illusion that he is a moderate of any sort. He's just another tool of the military-industrial complex.

And don't forget that he doesn't really understand economics. Just what we need, since the economy is so awesomely strong and robust!

Waitaminute...

Okay, I admit it - I'm a fool for Tolkien, and the billion-hour extended DVD versions of the LOTR movies are beyond delicious. This weekend, my husband and I took some time off from our taxes and endless apartment work to watch some of the series.

All I could think of as I watched the misshapen Orcs toiling in a Mordor that resembled a nuclear wasteland, as I watched Saruman willingly turn his beautiful home of Isengard into a smoking hole, was Bush, Cheney, Rove, and the modern conservative movement.

In my mind, we humans are in the same desperate case as Tolkien's fictional Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. The craze for industry, without a thought to its effects on the world's natural beauty and resources, has polluted and destroyed much of our planet. The ice shelves in the Antarctic are starting to crack and melt, raising the possibility of the sea level rising several feet and drowning major American cities. Of course, the endless strife we have caused and exacerbated in the Middle East, has done its share of destruction as well. Besides the bombing of "shock and awe," we have also been poisoning the lands and people (including our own soldiers) with depleted uranium.

As a person who is not caught up in the elaborate Orwellian fictions of today's conservatism, you have to sit back and marvel. How can anyone see the results of this philosophy all around them - tens of millions in poverty, war that never ends, an environment turning blacker and uglier by the day - and still feel comfortable with the Mordor-ization of their world? Do they want to be nothing but Orcs, never achieving their full humanity, slaving away at dead-end jobs, living in filth and squalor, and being thrown into the grinder of the military machine whenever their Dark Lord deems it necessary?

The answer is simple. As John Dean points out in his invaluable book "Conservatives Without Conscience," today's conservative already sees the world as an ugly and essentially evil place. Human beings are not noble, they're sinners and fatally flawed. Thus, there is no hope for a better world. The religious conservatives, indeed, are actively trying to bring about Armageddon, in the hope that Jesus will return and Rapture the true believers into Heaven. In their case, the more destruction, the better. Praise the Lord!

No wonder we non-conservatives have been so despondent for the past 28 years (with a small eight-year respite during the Clinton Presidency). We are seeing the darkness of the conservative mind take shape all around us. Yet, like the characters in the Tolkien books, we are late and slow in taking action, and the Shadow appears to be too strong to be defeated. Many are taking the Elvish route of non-involvement, whereas others have joined the Enemy out of a lust for power and wealth.

Yet we must not despair, for the Shadow can never win. The forces of creation and renewal will always triumph over the forces of destruction. So it has always been, and so it shall ever be - as long as we are committed to defeating the darkness.

We do have hopes and dreams and plans for a better future, for we are liberals and progressives and moderates and independents, and we don't want to live in the Land of Mordor. And though we may suffer greatly at the hands of Bush, Cheney and their enablers all over the world, in the end, if we fight for our country and our globe, we will triumph.

Peace and love be with you today, and always.

From the Are You Fucking Kidding Me File:

FEMA stages fake news conference with P.R. people playing the role of journalists

Those weren't reporters questioning the deputy chief of FEMA earlier this week, they were federal employees playing the role of journalists during a televised briefing on the wildfires in southern California.

An agency spokesman tells The Washington Post that they didn't have time to wait for real reporters to come to their office near the U.S. Capitol. "We had been getting mobbed with phone calls from reporters, and this was thrown together at the last minute," Mike Widomski, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, tells the paper.

This has been a horrible, horrible week for the victims of the wildfires in San Diego and the surrounding areas. How must they feel, knowing that their government is so disingenous, so terrified of its own constituents, that it feels it can't even face the milquetoast, cowed traditional media at a press conference? That its incompetence would blaze so bright that even Fox News Channel might be forced to point it out?

Perhaps they had a clue when Bush showed up for his 4-hour photo-op yesterday and said this:

"We've got a big problem out here," the president said near the end of his quick, four-hour visit. "We want the people to know there's a better day ahead - that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life's going to be better," Mr. Bush said. "And to the extent that the federal government can help you, we want to do so."

To the extent that the federal government can help you? We WANT to do so? Talk about parsing. Talk about the "meaning of 'is'." Gee, is it me, or does it seem that Bush actually promised NO HELP WHATSOEVER?

Yes, this is what you get when you buy into the neo-conservative idea that government shouldn't do anything to help people - a guy who thinks that the government shouldn't do anything to help people. Do we understand yet how bankrupt, how immoral, how completely and utterly WRONG this philosophy is? Or do the victims of Katrina and Rita have to be drowned all over again? Do more bridges have to collapse? Do we have to bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran, as John McCain would quip?

What is it going to take for the press to stop giving these neo-con, fascist freaks valuable time and money, to realize that their point of view is not valid and is, indeed, harmful to the United States - and for them to state these truths on the front page and on the Teevee?

The original story in the Washington Post was on page A-19, and I'll be shocked if any news program other than Countdown with Keith Olbermann picks it up. You'd think that fake news would be a huge story, reminding people of Pravda and all, but apparently, it's more important that Britney Spears did something or other today. Or was it Lindsay Lohan?

If I were a California resident who had lost my home, I would be both hopeful and pessimistic today. I'd be hopeful because the state has a Republican governor; but I'd be pessimistic because FEMA will not be coming to my aid. Not now, not ever - unless I want to live in a formaldehyde-ridden trailer. And that is a tragedy of American proportions.

I haven't mentioned Ann Coulter's mind-blowing statements on The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch, mainly because it's taken me a while to process my outrage and horror. But here's how I feel about it.

Jesus said, "Turn the other cheek."

Ann Coulter said, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

If Ann's version of "Christianity" is perfection, then thank the Giant Green Lizard this Jewish woman hasn't reached it.

Many, many years too late, some brave few in the traditional media have finally begun making the Fascist/Nazi/Bushie connection many of us have been screaming about since the Supreme Court stole the presidency from Al Gore.

Frank Rich is one of them.

Our moral trajectory over the Bush years could not be better dramatized than it was by a reunion of an elite group of two dozen World War II veterans in Washington this month. They were participants in a top-secret operation to interrogate some 4,000 Nazi prisoners of war. Until now, they have kept silent, but America’s recent record prompted them to talk to The Washington Post.

“We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture,” said Henry Kolm, 90, an M.I.T. physicist whose interrogation of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, took place over a chessboard. George Frenkel, 87, recalled that he “never laid hands on anyone” in his many interrogations, adding, “I’m proud to say I never compromised my humanity.”

Our humanity has been compromised by those who use Gestapo tactics in our war. The longer we stand idly by while they do so, the more we resemble those “good Germans” who professed ignorance of their own Gestapo. It’s up to us to wake up our somnambulant Congress to challenge administration policy every day. Let the war’s last supporters filibuster all night if they want to. There is nothing left to lose except whatever remains of our country’s good name.

According to Senator Bernie Sanders, progressive and Independent from Vermont, the reason that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi don't force the Fascists to filibuster on the war is that all other business would cease while it continued. While I understand that line of thinking, I agree with Mr. Rich. There IS no other business until this war ends and our Constitution is restored. We are slowly becoming a fascist state, and going shopping won't fix it.

There are massive anti-war demonstrations on October 27th. NTodd has many ideas at Pax Americana. Whatever your way of protesting, I hope you are doing it loudly, strongly and often.

It's the American way. At least, it used to be.

Let's face it, the Founding Fathers of our country were incredibly prescient. One of the things they were most afraid of, having just liberated themselves from the grasp of King George, was another king. Thus, they instituted a nearly foolproof system of checks and balances. If a man with dictatorial ambitions became president, voila! The Congress would be able to stop him from doing real harm to the country. If the Congress didn't stop him, well, there was always the Supreme Court.

And of course, in the extremely unlikely event that all three branches of the government were compromised, the press would surely come to the rescue. An informed population would never consent to being railroaded into fascism.

The Bush Administration is very fond of the phrase "No one could have foreseen..." They use it for every situation, including 9/11, and usually in the most disingenuous manner.

But in their own case, they were right. No one could have foreseen the Bush Administration and their conservative allies. No one could have foreseen a decades-long, systematic takeover of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government. No one could have foreseen that this same cabal of determined corporo-fascists would also turn the media into nothing but a giant megaphone for their twisted, anti-American agenda.

And since no one had foreseen it, no one knows what to do to stop it. Extreme measures such as impeachment, or shutting down the government, appear to be the only way to end the war and stop the mad power grab of the Bush Administration. And although many members of Congress would have the courage to take these measures, the support of the dictator is so strong in Congress that every Democrat, and some Republics, would have to have the hearts of lions. And what are the chances of that?

I don't mean to say there is no hope. I do believe that we can find our way out of this terrible morass. But first, we need to recognize just how dire the situation is, and exactly why we are in it. Only then can we come together to make sure that we, the people, are never so powerless again.

It's the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall today. How are those conservative economic policies working out for the residents of New Orleans, I wonder?

New Orleans then:



New Orleans now:



I remember watching CNN after the levees broke. It was the first time that the traditional media had dared to criticize the naked emperor. Too late, of course, for so many dead in terrorist attacks, needless wars and man-made disasters like the flooding that destroyed the Ninth Ward.



And too late for the tens of thousands who are still living in these:



On September 19, 2005, in a speech given at Brown University, Senator John Kerry said this :

Rarely has there been a moment more urgent for Americans to step up and define ourselves again. On the line is a fundamental choice. A choice between a view that says “you’re on your own,” “go it alone,” or “every man for himself.” Or a different view - a different philosophy - a different conviction of governance - a belief that says our great American challenge is one of shared endeavor and shared sacrifice.

Over the next weeks I will address these choices in detail - choices about national security, the war in Iraq, making our nation more competitive and committing to energy independence. But it boils down to this. I still believe America’s destiny is to become a living testament to what free human beings can accomplish by acting in unity. That’s easy to dismiss by those who seem to have forgotten we can do more together than just waging war.

But for those who still believe in the great tradition of Americans doing great things together, it’s time we started acting like it. We can never compete with the go-it-alone crowd in appeals to selfishness. We can’t afford to be pale imitations of the other side in playing the ‘what’s in it for me’ game. One thing we know: the last thing America needs is a second Republican Party.

Instead, it’s time we put our appeals where our hearts are - asking the American people to make our country as strong, prosperous, and big-hearted as we know we can be - every day. It’s time we framed every question - every issue -- not in terms of what’s in it for ‘me,’ but what’s in it for all of us?

And when you ask that simple question - what’s in it for all of us? - the direction not taken in America could not be more clear or compelling.

Let this tragic anniversary be a reminder that conservatism is not just a philosophy that favors the rich over the poor; it is an evil virus that kills all those whom it infects. And our country is on its last gasp. The rule of law - broken, as top government officials commit treason and war crimes with no accountability. The separation of church and state? Almost gone. Economic justice? Please. Education? No, George, our children is NOT learning. Energy? We have solar and wind technology, but we're still invading and occupying countries for their oil.

Do we need a new direction? No. We need to go back to the old one. The Founders based our Constitution on the concept that government exists to improve the lives of its constituents. The only way to do that is to invest in people, not corporations - what I call trickle-up economics.

To do otherwise is to create Katrinas. And Iraqs. And poverty. And housing crises. And...

I wish I could stop being astonished at the sheer audacity and venality of the Vice President. In my opinion, he is the most purely evil figure in all of politics. While George Bush appears to be all vanity, stupidity, stubbornness and insecurity, Dick Cheney seems to love to, in the words of Monty Burns, "wallow in his own crapulence."

Yesterday, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, stated in a press briefing that the White House has run out of time to respond to his subpoenas to turn over documents regarding the illegal NSA warrantless spying program. As a result, when Congress comes back in session, if the White House still hasn't complied, the Judiciary Committee will vote on contempt of Congress charges.

...And interestingly enough, I pointed out that every single one of these subpoenas, they have been issued by a bipartisan vote. There have been no close votes on them.

So I would hope they’d do it. And, if not, the full Judiciary Committee will have to sit down and determine whether to seek contempt from the full Senate.

As fascinating and wonderful as that prospect is to contemplate, I felt the other revelations in Senator Leahy's statement were even more amazing.

Apparently the 109th Congress - the REPUBLICAN-LED Congress - was also very concerned about the warrantless wiretapping program. Arlen Specter and other members of the Judiciary Committee attempted to get the information, but something very strange happened.

QUESTION: Is your impression they’re dragging their feet?

LEAHY: Well, you know, a lot of these questions were asked by the former chairman a couple years ago, and we haven’t gotten an answer.

In fact, we were about to issue subpoenas then and one of the senators came to our meeting and said that the vice president had met with the Republican senators and told them they were not allowed to issue subpoenas.

Not quite sure that’s my understanding of the separation of powers, but it seemed to work at that time...

Not only that, but yesterday, Cheney apparently repeated his claim that he was not a part of the executive branch.

Incidentally, in the administration’s response today, they claimed the Office of the Vice President is not part of the Executive Office of the President. So it’s some kind of fourth branch of government.

Well, that’s wrong. Both the United States Code says it is part of the president — oh, incidentally, at least this morning, as I left Vermont, I checked the White House Web site. And even their own Web site, this morning, at least, says that the Executive Office — that the vice president is part of the Executive Office of the President.

WOW.

Now let's put this into a smaller perspective for a second. You suspect that your 13-year-old child is doing drugs. You knock on your child's door, and yell that you're going to search his/her room for such drugs. The child responds,

"First of all, Mom, I forbid you to search my room. Second of all, I've decided I'm not your child any more, and third of all, NYAH NYAH NYAH, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

As the child's parent, you are legally within your right to search the child's room. Furthermore, it is your duty to provide oversight of the child's activities, and of course, the child certainly cannot decide not to be your progeny! Finally, the child's last so-called point is nothing but a last-ditch effort to prevent you from doing your job as a parent. (It won't, but it will most likely result in an even harsher punishment than you would have prescribed at first! The nerve of that brat!)

Like the fictional child in my example, Dick Cheney's argument rests on nothing, and it's astonishing that a grown person - a person who holds the second highest political office in our country - would resort to such childish and ridiculous tactics. We can be absolutely certain that the documents the Judiciary Committee has requested are damning beyond all redemption.

As Senator Leahy said, the Republican Senators bought the act at the time. But thankfully for our country, oversight is back. I hope Dick Cheney likes the color orange, because he's going to be wearing it for a long time.

I'm just sick about what's finally coming out about the death of Pat Tillman. Turns out that "friendly fire" might be a pseudonym for "murder".

Of course, the death of a man like Pat Tillman, whether an accident or murder, did not fit into the carefully constructed, media-ready narrative of the football hero who gave up money and fame to volunteer in Afghanistan, then died heroically while fighting off Osama bin Laden and 500 Al Qaeda soldiers armed with rocket launchers. (A little snark there.) The Bush Administration wanted heroes to inspire war support, so it did what it always does when it doesn't like reality - it created its own real-ish reality.

I read a Stephen King book once where he described evil as basically unimaginative. It keeps coming back, in various forms, but when it appears, it always proceeds the same way. That's how you can tell it's evil - it never grows, it never changes, and of course, what results from its actions is ultimately horror and death.

Remind you of anyone?