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A History of the Bush Administration in One Sentence

By WilliamPitt

Thu Mar 3rd, 2005 at 08:43:48 PM EDT :: General

Just because the Supreme Court set a poison precedent and appointed Bush, who brought in his crowd of neocon yahoos that no one discussed during the 2000 campaign because we 'Muricans vote for the man and not the mob of frothing dogs that come in his wake, just because the twin bill of unreasonably massive tax cuts were combined with the economic depth-charge that was the Enron/Arthur Andersen scandal that was umbilically connected to the White House, just because the economy (not to mention our whole psyche) absorbed another blow when four commercial airplanes somehow managed to pierce the most impenetrable air defense system in the history of the universe, fooling the entire intelligence community as well if you believe what you hear on Fox...


...despite a blizzard of warnings and a raft of information from the previous administration, just because a bunch of anthrax got mailed to Democrats by the Ashcroft wing of the Republican Party in what were obvious assassination attempts and yet nothing but nothing has been done about it, just because the 9/11 attack was immediately and I mean the day after immediately grasped as an excuse to invade Iraq, just because virtually everyone in the administration lied with their bare faces hanging out about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, terrorism ties in Iraq, so break out the plastic sheeting and duct tape because we're all gonna die, just because they did this in no small part to win the 2002 midterms by any means necessary, just because 1,502 American soldiers have been killed looking for the 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons (which is 1,000,00 lbs.) of sarin and mustard and VX nerve agent, 30,000 munitions to deliver the stuff, mobile biological weapons labs, arial drones to spray the aforementioned stuff, and let's not forget the uranium from Niger for use in Iraq's robust nukular program, all of which was described to the letter by Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address, all of which remains on the White House website on a page titled 'Disarm Saddam Hussein,' just because the medical journal Lancet estimates that as many as 198,000 Iraqi citizens have been killed as well in the war to get at this stuff, just because none of the stuff was there, and by the way nonee of the stuff was there, and did I mention that none of the stuff was there, just because the idea that Hussein was allied with bin Laden was laughable because Osama has wanted Saddam's head on his battle standard for decades, just because the true source of world terrorism, which is Wahabbist extremism in Saudi Arabia, goes completely unaddressed because the Houses of Bush and Saud have been partnered for decades, just because so much of 9/11 and this 'War on Terra' has to do with business arrangements going awry between these two Houses, just because a deep-cover CIA agent who was working to track any person or nation or group that would give weapons of mass destruction to terrorists got her cover and her network blown by Administration officials who wanted to shut her husband and any other potential whistleblowers the hell up, just because the front company she was working out of called Brewster Jennings and Associates was likewise blown, thus torpedoing other agents and their networks, just because absolutely all of this went virtually unreported by the mainstream media until it was too late, if it was reported at all, just because dangerous spies like Ahmad Chalabi used Judy Miller and the New York Times to disseminate the lie that Iraq was riddled with weapons, thus opening the floodgates for the rest of the media to repeat the lie because once the Times says it, it must be true, just because this lack of reporting combined with an astounding level of cheerleading from the aforementioned media combined with some good old-fashioned vote fraud in places like Ohio, Florida and New Mexico gave the aforementioned group of yahoos four more years and a congressional majority in both houses of congress, just because this means the Iraq war will continue and Iran will probably be next and draconian legislation further restricting our rights will get passed along with things like the Bankruptcy bill and media reform of any kind will be nowhere on the menu, just because a lot of the Justices on the Supreme Court are sure to step down or die soon and Bush will be able to recraft that high court for the next 20 years, just because the Christian Reconstructionists are becoming mainstream with their goal of having every American singing "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me" in a droning monochromatic hypnotized voice all day every day...

...doesn't mean anyone should be worried or anything. Get a grip.

Display:
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...and unfortunately not the only, nor the last, I'm quite sure...
You do wonderful work, Will... this is just one of many wonderful pieces I've read of yours over the past several years...
And truthout is this titanic resource...
Yet we, the conscient and the thinking and the deeply concerned, don't seem to be getting anywhere...
I am convinced that I am not the only one out there who shares the same sense of urgency, and creeping sense of doom and all that... in fact, I think there are millions of us out there, but we aren't bonded to common purpose the way the neocons are... they've been setting this stuff up for years, and unfortunately, much of America is still just beginning to groggily wake up...
Sometimes I think it's just gonna have to take some sort of miracle...

Anyway, in the interest of lightening things up just a bit, I invite you and all other interested parties to stop by my new website and have a look at a wee fun lil' graphic of

Dick Cheney's Head Exploding!

http://www.presidentevilonline.com/sn_explosion.html
(animated gif; no player required)

I hope you'll get a grin or two from it.
Keep pushing, Will, and don't lose hope. Like the Chinese curse, we live in interesting times... and I think it's about to get even more interesting very soon...
All my best,
D
D X Stone "I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one."
by dxstone (dxs@presidentevilonline.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 07:52:07 AM EDT http://www.presidentevilonline.com/

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Ditto to dxstone's comments.  Farbie

by farbie on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 11:10:37 AM EDT
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.....too bad he got reconstituted below!
Will have to bookmark that!
(-:G
"Give up those treasured wounds, let go the tempting memory of the pain...." Buffe St.Marie
by G Achin (XLexcel at zia net dot com TruthOut in subj.line) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 03:57:39 PM EDT http://www.zianet.com/XLexcel/moons.html
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have you caught your breath yet, Will.  That's the longest sentence I've ever read.  Good work!

SharonRB

by SharonRB (sharonbaseman@hotmail.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 10:02:58 AM EDT

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Love how you tell it
I don't have credit card debt
Want to get married? ;)

by travelstovegas on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 10:40:31 AM EDT
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Would like to be next in line.

by Suzanne Taylor (suzanne@mightycompanions.org) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 08:49:24 PM EDT http://www.theconversation.org
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VP Cheney secretly injected multiple blips into the air traffic control system. Military and FAA was confused not knowing what was "real world or exercise". Part of the problem I have with religous people is that they so easily except the impossible as the truth.  A real investigator will always "follow the money" which happens to end up in many of the same companies that profited from Vietnam.  It only takes two to make a conspiracy.  If you think that they don't happen, then I'll just pray for you.

by MrEdward (edward@suitopath.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 12:17:29 PM EDT http://www.suitopath.com
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 If only, they had listened; they didnt. And today the world has to wonder, as its going to bed, if they would wake up to a horror of some chimp-dolt's making. I am glad that the term ends after this spell. Until, then, we ahve to hunker down and Pray!!!

by habbakkuk on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:39:13 PM EDT
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I'm jumping in to ask what you have in mind when you say "I am glad that the term ends after this spell."  Do you mean the Bush term in office?  If so, then realize that the end of his term isn't going to make one damned bit of difference.  We're not getting out of this mess that easily.  We'll never have another fair election if we go on as we are.  Maybe I misunderstood.

by NH on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 02:23:38 PM EDT
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The media is preparing us for the national emergency (dirty bomb?) that will result in cancelling the next election.  I think we should all concentrate on getting a democratic house in the mid-terms.  The democrats are getting ready to shove Hillary down our throats (She and Bill are part of the team - albeit the "smart" part of the team). We'll see if Howard Dean can maintain some independence.

by MrEdward (edward@suitopath.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 06:34:36 PM EDT http://www.suitopath.com
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Please note these two headlines from Citizens for a Legitimate Government:

http://legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

"Judge: Online Journalists Must Reveal Their Sources --'Blogger fear' in Apple leak case --Three blogs which published sensitive information about upcoming Apple products could be made to disclose where the leaks came from. A California judge said in a preliminary ruling that bloggers should not have the same protection afforded to journalists under US law."

"US developing 'pain from a distance' weapon --The US military is developing a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from afar to use against protesters and rioters."

P.S. I repeat: Does anyone really believe we will have an election in 2006?

by NH on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 08:36:35 AM EDT
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whoever follows, will definitely be better than this chap. And there are diplomatic avenues, if aggressively pursued, that would bear fruit in a few years. I sometimes believe in miracles!!

by habbakkuk on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 09:38:54 AM EDT
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Having spent time in radar, USAF, I do know of any way to secretly inject multiple  blips.  Blips, skin paints, are radar returns of aircraft - they move.  Aircraft can dump chaff, refecting surfaces, but they do not move.  Any aircraft in the positive control area must be known to the FAA - in theory.  These aircraft have transponders which signal their position electronically.  In the case of Gary Powers, shot down U2 pilot who spied on the USSR, no transponder only blip, skin paint. There were many overflights of the USSR.  It is amazing that they did not shoot down more U2's, but it was not easy - the single aircraft is the most difficult to detect.

There are many unanswered questions concerning the hijacked 9/11 flights, but secretly injecting multiple blips...

by stugandolf on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 05:06:13 PM EDT
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The secret service has a parallel system that can over-ride the FAA.  While listening to CNN coverage of the 911 hearings, I heard an FAA controller on a tape recording say, "Is this exercise or real world" when responding to hijack reports.  Anything electronic can be manipulated and this manipulation could have been done in the open under the guise of military exercises.  Four military exercises were being run the morning of 911 which involved airliners being hijacked.  This is a fact.  Cynthia McKinnery, congresswoman, publicly asked Donald Rumsfeld about them at a congressional hearing this past week.

by MrEdward (edward@suitopath.com) on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 05:33:06 PM EDT http://www.suitopath.com
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DXStone, you've got it right!  Kudos!
Denise D
by Denise D on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 12:47:45 PM EDT
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Would you please read that sentence out loud without taking a breath?

by Bama Pro on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 12:53:12 PM EDT
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Worst Presidency Ever.  nuff said.
Davol White Fantazine
by dajson (dajson@newcity.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:09:20 PM EDT http://www.fantazine.net/dajpage
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I can do it in one word:  Bullshit.  Phil Hoffman
Phil Hoffman
by PhilHoffman (hoffmanp001@hawaii.rr.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:16:12 PM EDT
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Wouldn't that be "Bushshit"?
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We have become Mordor.
by wetcortex on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 02:44:28 PM EDT
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Assume I know what it is and how to solve the problem all in the world must solve.  Assume I have met with Osama, Kings, Presidents, and Generals.  Assume my life and my family are in danger.  Should I hold a signpost at the crossroads between war and peace?  To what end?  Who do I tell?  Do I tell the President, the American public, the press?  

The believers of the Koran follow that all is fate; the fate or term of an individual or State was written by God and nothing can change that fate.  They will standby and watch the West crumble into the new Dark Ages from lack of energy and homeland fascism.  Dry-hole Bush knows the empire will not exist without oil, so he will lie, cheat, and steal (and kill) for future oil.  

Cassandra knew the future but could not change the cause and effect of the future.

Friedman of the NYT has it right, stop using oil or surrender to the prophecy of oil.  Something more than public knowledge will be required to seize this moment at the crossroads.

by sunflower on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:26:19 PM EDT

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I think people would get innovative very fast and adjust -- look at the folks in Europe who has had double the gas-price for decades and doing fine. So double the price with a new energy-tax and use that tax-income exclusively to develop decentralized hydrogen production like they are doing in Holland ... every farm is equipped with a large windmill for electrcity and potential hydrogen production. I'm afraid the problem is that we are in the hands of powers with other interests.
 In the 1980'ies I sailed through the Bahamas and the country's Commander in Chief was a fellow called Pinder, who everybody said was the head of the drug running operations. Part of why I didn't want to stay around was this question: who do you go to, or report to, if you see a suspect operation at sea ? And there were sometimes sightings of freighters at sea with a neckless of fast speedboats around it. I did what any reasonable person without a navy did ... change course to get out of the way. I never ever thought that I would have to have that feeling at home.
"Authority that can make us deny our feelings can make us do anything" N. Svendsen
by gingiskahn (carl@websida.com) on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 08:46:31 AM EDT www.feelingdictionary.com
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Will, the only problem with your sentence is that it is too short.  :-)   There are LOTS more "just becauses"  you could have included.

Yours in peace, Synchro
by Synchro (cembalo@insightbb.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:34:22 PM EDT http://synchrospoeticthoughts.blogspot.com
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posolutely Faulkneresque!  Glad someone can summon the energy to sum up the history of this shower of bastards that have so plagued the world lately.

Bravo!

by Hazel Catkin (kathmalen@aol.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 01:47:16 PM EDT http://www.alexanderway.blogspot.com

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Good Job Will!

These people[neo-cons] have already built fear to wage an
unworthy war, don't for one moment think they won't
use that same fear to take more of our own right's from us,
again.
It is not an erie day anymore, after day after
day that it keeps going to much to the right. It is
kind a like an American Flag with too many stripes, or
less then enough stars, it's just too much to the
right that it is wrong. If you could get a ticket driving your car too
much to the right that would be not even close to the wrongs
they have done to America! It's just not right, it's too
far to the right to be right.
Vi

by vifran (vifran) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 02:09:35 PM EDT

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I too, congratulate you Will, on your Guinness Book of World Records sentence. I thank you and all the FYI forum participants who can so concisely and eloquently express the complex confluence of thoughts and feelings that rise like yeasted bread within my being every day.

Does anyone feel as schizophrenic as I do? I consider myself to be a caring, compassionate, conscious person who tries to "Be the change that I want to see in the world" (Gandhi). Yet, now I find that I have to work very hard to rein in a blinding rage that makes me physically ill. When I am out in the world, be it driving in traffic, shopping in a store, or sitting in a movie theatre, I often find myself mentally pigeonholing those around me. I find it so easy to sit in harsh judgement regarding THEIR grasp on reality. I have fantasies of running through a parking lot with a magic marker, editing all those "Support Our Troops" car magnets. I want to scream, "WAKE UP!!!"...until my throat is raw.

Anger is not becoming on me. A good friend once told me, "Don't get sad, get mad!" Sadness and discouragement leave me paralyzed. Anger makes me sick. Does anyone have any suggestions? I make it a point to spend most of my energies involved in things that are positive and progressive. I'm not used to living with such an underlying feeling of pessimism. This is where the schizophrenia comes in.

Knowing that I am not alone, as evidenced by the people who share this forum, is somewhat comforting. There at least will be some familiar names to match with faces when we all meet on those common grounds someday.
P.Rose
by prose (rosaleeta@yahoo.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 02:39:21 PM EDT

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To Prose. I'm knew to this blog. It took a while to decide on a username. I decided on "karma' because it represents the law of "cause and effect"

As a yellow dog Democrat, I too am angry, frustrated, worried, and have been since the 2000 election. Knowing there are others who feel the same way helps. A glass of wine helps too, but reading this blog, also has me worried, because, forgive me, it seems like there is a whole lota "complaining going on, and not enough "ideas or conversation" about what "we can do" about what is happening to OUR country.

As reflected in WRP's long and wonderful sentence, there are so many things that are "wrong" going on, it is hard to know where or how to begin, isn't it?

Maybe that's the problem.We feel overwhelmed.It's sort of deciding to clean the attic that we have been ignoring for the last 10 years, opening the attic door looking around and being tempted to put it off another year, because you just don't know where to begin.

There is no magic wand to just zap it and have it all cleaned out and organized "presto"...but there is power in "determination" and then taking the first step to begin on just one square foot at a time....or in the case of all the issues we are faced with, just pick one and begin thinking about solutions or actions that we can take to change it, together, and then start. The law of Cause and Effect can't happen if we don't give it a push.

I truely believe in what Howard Dean always says..."We have the power" this is our country, and I want it back. I know there are millions of us who have good ideas that we "think about" Maybe we should start sharing and offering them collectively. Even if ONE idea out of a thousand offered, is actually worth considering, it's worth inquiring about and talking about isn't it? This blog might be a good place to respectfully start.

I think so much of what we are all feeling is due to feeling overwhelmed and helpless, so we spend alot of time venting, and not enough time believing we can use our own brains and creatively to collectively change the direction our country is going. But we can.
Karma
by karma on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 09:18:52 AM EDT
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Thank you for the feedback, Karma. Much appreciated. I agree, less venting and more ideas about how to take two steps forward instead of three steps backwards is preferred, but it sure felt good to put those words down onto the virtual paper. Once I did that, a lot of my angst vaporized. And, as a bonus, several kindred spirits got in touch with me via email to share their ideas about how to move beyond anger and rage.

What we need is Woody Guthrie and Joe Hill! Now, they knew how to ORGANIZE!

What's your first idea?

 
P.Rose
by prose (rosaleeta@yahoo.com) on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 06:02:15 PM EDT
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In my mind, the issue of TRUTH, or lack of it, is a big reason we have so many problems. For four years this administration has shown little respect for truth.
Nor has there been much in the way of "accountability"

This administration seems to opperate with the attitude that half the population of our country, Democrats, are simply irrelevant. Well, the last time I checked, Democrats are also "We the People"....millions of us, and as "We the People" we have the right, actually the "duty" as responsible "share holders" of our country, to question and expect answers concerning possible corruption, law breaking,or deceit, relating to our country, and the right to expect accountability.

From Enron and the "Energy Task Force" meetings, way back when,...Does anybody remember that?....to the bogus WMD Mushroom cloud reasons for invading Iraq.... to Valerie Plame...to lies about Medicare costs to Congress...to no-bid contracts to Haliburton who has managed to pilfer $9,000,000,000 of OUR Tax money....Abu Ghriab torture...on and on....the administration has refused to coroperate with, stalled investigations, covered up, did a "spin job" on the facts, or just simply ignored the issues. Our Democrat and even some Republican representitives in Washington, for some reason do not seem to be very effective in getting answers from this administration. Even court ordered demands for documents, are ignored. To me it feels like this administration choses to ignore "who they WORK FOR" or REPRESENT....isn't it "We the People"?
When CONGRESS asks for documents and information from the White House and the White House refuses them, the White House isn't just refusing Congress...the White House is refusing US. Congress represents US.

I don't get it. Maybe I just don't understand the legalities of our People/Government Relationship....some Lawyers willing to give us some input on these matters would be nice, but it seems to me that if 'We the People" collectivly demand answers and accountability from OUR government representitives....we ought to get it pronto. Has anyone else been thinking this? For all the POWER that "WE GIVE" OUR President, doesn't he still, in the end, HAVE to answer to us...We the People..if we "collectively" request it? (As long as it is not an endangering our  "National Security issue")

Knowing the answer to this question is the first step, in my mind, before we can address issues effectively.

Here is just one example.....Haliburton has "misused, misplaced, misrepresented, (polite words) around $9,000,000,000 of OUR TAX MONEY. Haliburton is still on the job, and still getting our TAX DOLLARS. WHY?
Would you run your business this way? If you had a business and you contracted out work, and the contractor couldn't account for huge amounts of YOUR money that you paid him for jobs, and overcharge you for work not done etc....would you "keep him on the job and give him more of your money"?! That is what we are doing with Haliburton. Why are "We the People" not collectively outraged and demanding Haliburton account for and return every penny of OUR 9,000,000,000 tax dollars.....and oh by the way..."You're Fired"?! Why are just kind of rolling our eyes and waiting for Washington politicians to do something, knowing that while we are struggling to work hard and pay our taxes, Haliburton is ripping us off and continueing to work FOR us and being paid MORE of OUR TAX MONEY?
This administration has asked for MORE money for Iraq, which will go in part to Haliburton I'm sure.
This makes me furious. Why aren't WE THE PEOPLE collectively, by the millions, outraged and seriously petitioning our government to ACT NOW on OUR behalf?
This is OUR $9,000,000,000 friends, not Washington's $9,000,000,000, that's BILLIONS with a capital B.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Do "I" just not understand "these things"?

Karma
Karma
by karma on Tue Mar 8th, 2005 at 06:48:13 AM EDT
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Wow, what a sentence that was! But I have one that's short and simple, and I believe it hits the nail on the head while saying all that needs to be said:

Giving credit where credit is due, I have to admit that George Bush has devoted virtually his entire public life to improving the awful plight of the "Haves".

If you stop to think about it, you'll see how this explains much of what the President is all about, especially on domestic policy. He really seems to believe that the "Haves" suffer an awful plight in America and, by golly, he's the man who's finally going to do something about it.

Clear View
by Clear View (bzehren@gsb.uchicago.edu) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 02:49:28 PM EDT http://www.bartdz.blogspot.com

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The history of the Bush administration is that there is NO history BUT the Bush administration.

New GSA Specification:  All new and existing computers used by administration officials and staff shall hereafter be equipped with a new chip called a WOM - Write Only Memory.  All conventional hard drives, RAM and ROM shall be replaced with WOM immediately.  This move will preclude the possibility of troublesom facts and burdonsome historical precedents interfering with administration policy and avoid the need for consistency and integrity in the relationship between prior representations and current actions. Computers using WOM technology will also be provided to friendly news organizations (regardless of ligitimacy) Republican PACs, and right wing think tanks, free of charge. Note: there will be no problems with making gifts of public resources to private organizations since the WOM technology precludes the existance of any transactional records.  

by locolobo on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 03:00:44 PM EDT

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Hi,
Well, I hear turning off the TV and drinking a couple of glasses of wine helps.

You are not alone in the way you feel. I feel like I need to get my daily dose of news via the internet after hearing the local televised news. I mean who cares if some billionaire basket ball player settled his bazar case out of court, or that a mega billionaire is returning to her 16 million dollar home in NY after a short visit to camp cup cake, or that a aging pop star has asked children into his bedroom, or that the people's house is full of $1000$ dollar dresses and suits for designer luncheon's on the tax payers expense, or that we some of the people of the US are more concerned in the price of gas than the deaths and displacement happening in Iraq, or that the media thinks that all of these 'who cares' are the most important news to report. I do! And I am reminded daily that the price of freedom is not free, it takes a lot of work and time. That work and time for most Americans is best found in joining groups like this one.

So I say thanks for allowing us to vent, I am going home soon to have a couple of glasses of wine and listen to the Traveling Wilburys. Do something special for yourself and enjoy some of the day away from the politics and daily dose of the news[sic]!
Vi

by vifran (vifran) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 03:13:48 PM EDT

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Ah yes, the network newses are a really GREAT source for keeping up with what   ----pablum is being fed to 'the masses'.  If we didn't keep checking in with this 'source', we wouldn't know what is going on in the public gut/mind!  Really, though, if we don't stay "in touch" with what is being fed INTO the public mind, we would really have to wonder how in the heck such STUFF got IN there!  To debunk it, we have to know what stunk it!
(-:G
"Give up those treasured wounds, let go the tempting memory of the pain...." Buffe St.Marie
by G Achin (XLexcel at zia net dot com TruthOut in subj.line) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 04:10:26 PM EDT http://www.zianet.com/XLexcel/moons.html
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For your kind suggestions. I do not watch or listen to MSM, but unfortunately, I live with someone who is addicted to it. A recently heard comment by said someone was, "Well, how else am I going to find out what's going on in the world?".

Need I say more?
I hear that a couple of glasses of wine a day is good for the heart.

Cheers,
Rose
P.Rose
by prose (rosaleeta@yahoo.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 04:14:13 PM EDT
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Your welcome, I also have someone who occassionally watches MSN. But then we have to get our news. And some other sources are less irritating like CNN and PBS, but they too have a slight slant towards their views. Cheers it is, Vickie

by vifran (vifran) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 05:25:01 PM EDT
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James Joyce could not have done it better, although he might, if her were alive, use language to cause the religious zealots to stammer their outrage.  Please have Senator Reid include the sentence in the Congressional Record.  If you don't, I'll submit it.

by Truman2024 on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 03:49:53 PM EDT
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That was the most profound sentence I've ever read.  I think you did leave out the unclean and stinking neo-cons program of Social Darwinism, though.  Did anyone notice there was an ad to join the navy during Jon Stewart a couple of days ago.  Junior wants to keep the poor as poor as possible so their children will be forced to join the military to get any kind of advanced education.  Got to keep that cannon fodder coming.  Hence the big axe to the Pell grants.  

by watercolor on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 04:05:32 PM EDT
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Wow, that Cheney comment is frightening. What are your sources? Isn't there some way to bring it up to someone or help start the proceedings that could get them both outta the orifice?
That's  big, I'd say, real big, and  reason # 58 why we must oust the b$#@#@%'s  before we all get killed.
But following my dream sequence(above) ...I truly believe what goes around comes around.... How in the world do they sleep at nite? Bush is so much grayer than when he started out. Murderin' will do that to ya!!

by kimstress on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 04:08:29 PM EDT
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The list of crimes and outrages of this administration is indeed breathtaking enough without attempting it in a single sentence. In this  tangle of trouble, its hard to find the open ends to attempt to unravel it. But I think there are two starting places.

First, the corrupt, self-serving and cowardly American mass media will never provide the people with enough truth to act in their best interest. Therefore, fostering and supporting independent and alternative news such as Truthout are vital.

Secondly our election process itself suffers from hopeless corruption, particularly in Ohio and Florida, but by no means only there. In California, where I live, we were fortunate to have a Secretary of State who protected the integrity of our elections by requiring voter machine manufacturers to meet high standards of verifiability. However, he has now been forced from office and movements are in place to weaken the safeguards placed by law. Those in California should contact mwagaman@ss.ca.gov of the CA Secretary of State's office to demand that "voter verified paper audit trail system" continue to be a requirement for the year 2006. The hearing to weaken this standard ("grandfather" other systems in) will be held 3-15 in Sacramento.

Once honest voting is lost and honest Secretaries of State out of office, it becomes far more difficult to effect reform because one must persuade the beneficiaries of fraud to act against the processes that brought them to power. You see this happening? Me either.

In California, we need to act now.  
Margaret
by margaret (Ventura, California) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 04:13:43 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks, I sent off a letter as soon as saw your post! Here is a copy of the letter I sent.
======
To the Secretary of State's office:

I hope you will continue the efforts of your
predecessor to keep voter verified paper audit trail
system in place and to continue to be a requirement
for the year 2006.
I understand the hearing to weaken this standard will
be held 3-15 in Sacramento. Please be aware of how
little work is required to mess up a user's computer
system on the Internet as an example. Any computerized
system can be easily intruded and cause permanent
damage without the necessary software installed for
protection.
Our voter system is much the same in the fact that it
is a software package that can be intruded by
knowledgeable programmers. A paper trail is the only
way in the event of intrusion that we can avoid the
disaster of voter fraud.
Our great state of CA is seen as an entrepreneur by
other states and some follow our set example. So it is
of up most importance that we set a good example and
do everything humanly possible to protect the voter
system in CA.

Sincerely,

Vickie McCullough

(This message is being sent to you and posted on the Internet.)

========

I hope others take charge and send off their own letter to the CA sec. of State, if not any one can use my letter as a start or replacement of the letter they wish to send. Thanks again, Vi

by vifran (vifran) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 06:16:27 PM EDT
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
Every time I post, I seem to make some dumb mistake. The hearing in Sac. is 3-17 not 3-15. Sorry, my finger hit the wrong key.

Thanks for the support, Vi.

Margaret
Margaret
by margaret (Ventura, California) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 08:35:59 PM EDT
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know why but every time I post, I make some dumb mistake. The hearing is 3-17, not 3-15. Sorry, my finger hit the wrong key.

Thanks for the support, Vi.

Margaret
Margaret
by margaret (Ventura, California) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 08:38:35 PM EDT
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
I ve had a lot oops my self of late. I should have left my real name out of the last post, but you know what I don't care because I believe in what I said. Regardless of the dates being wrong I think my intent should be understood. Whether action is taken is another thing. Thanks Vi

by vifran (vifran) on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 02:23:59 PM EDT
[ Parent ]
------------------------------------------------------------
Firstly, Will Pitt must be more than commended, but immortalized for his tireless and assiduous efforts.

BUT, secondly, the danger of the impromptu blog is that one is tempted to "go off" uncritically, so that the emphasis shifts from "communication" and "persuasion" to "self expression". The latter at some cost to the former.

Result?

The focus on evil doers fails to target the real culprit: America's educational system, and the hordes of ignoramuses graduated therefrom. The problem is not "job training" or "skills levels" but a culture of inane student life which thrives like a slime mold in humidity, a humidity also reflected in the sodden lack of mental discipline amongst educational professionals.

No really creative initiatives encouraged from kids, no critical thinking, no true challenges, only age segregation and peer pressure (think of physics - when you apply pressure from any source in a vacuum, the path of least resistance means the source prevails).

But this isn't my blog, and I won't expand ad nauseam on the problems of our educational establishment, whether ensconced for decades in overburdened urban schools, or culturally challenged small town middle (and southeastern) America, or in elitist high rent enclaves wherever money has bribed the system.

Who continues to ignore your stuff, Will? Who re-elected (or, to be precise, generated a huge plurality, just shy of majority for) the Great Bush Hole? The great American electorate, fresh (or as the case may be, stale) from all those schools.

I've made my point.
alkrauss
by alkrauss on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 05:00:45 PM EDT

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The "sentence" is both a description and should be a "sentence" for the Bush Administration [in the jurisprudential sense] for what it has done to this country and its citizens. The single thread that runs through comments is the acknowledgement that Bush and the neocons have been successful in robbing us of our HOPE. We now think in terms of how we will survive the remainder of this Administration and beyond. All messages from the administration are about the "impending disaster" of....[fill in the blank] social security, threat of terrorism, civil litigants getting justice through the courts, imposing profitability constraints on multinational corporation by preventing them from destroying the environment and eradicating endangered species and flora...etc. I long [wistfully] for any so-called "leader" to state a plan of action that can make us feel that tomorrow has the very real prospect of being better than today. And that my children and grandchildren will have a better more peaceful and sane world than the one we have now to leave them. This supressed desire and need for HOPE is, I think, what causes Prose such anxiety. She is far from alone in that angst.

by Searcher 50 on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 05:35:32 PM EDT
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 A thorough basic observation to be sure. However we all must remember that our national identity has survived worse circumstances than Mr. Bush.
The real question is: Has the fundamental mechanisms which serves as the gyroscope to the political pendulum of the American electorate, namely the voting booth, and the media, been compromised beyond repair?
Perhaps either the attempt to destroy Social Security or the continued payment
in the currency of blood in Iraq, will inflame the electoral wrath needed to
provide enough "critical mass" to sweep the neocon monopoly from our government.

by columbialion on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 06:18:35 PM EDT
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Hellooo Canada.

by Ron on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 06:21:24 PM EDT
------------------------------------------------------------
Great sentence!  But what I want to know is:  Where are the outraged protesting?  I've looked and looked.  There was one protest today in New Jersey where Shrub was haranging on Soc. Sec., but they were located 4 or more blocks from the speech... what happened to "in his face" protests... oh yeah, police state!  However, there were only a couple of hundred people.  If someone in my city (hello MOVEON!) were to have a protest I could get 10 people in a few hours who could get a few people, who could etc!  AIR AMERICA would be happy to announce events to be held simultaneously all over this country!  No one would report it to the mainstream, but maybe the local news would cover it... ARGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

by djean102 on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 07:35:07 PM EDT
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James Joyce woulda been proud.....


by shadowmom on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 09:22:00 PM EDT
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"First the sentence and then the trial".

by stugandolf on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 11:18:30 PM EDT
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Honorable Mr. Reid, Thank you so much for fighting for us. This man (bush) in my view is a bigger enemy to Democracy and America than any outside enemy we face. He fight's dirty with half truths and distortions and fear and this is not in the tradition of an honest God fearing Nation... Keep up the good fight, I will support you with my life if necessary, Thomas Milcarek, A Patriotic American

this is the letter I sent to senator reid to encourage him in his efforts to stand up to bush on social security... and the rest of the unAmerican things he does constantly to steal our democracy out from under us all the while sending our young folks to die for "democracy"... after being a f___king coward hiding behind his daddy and prividledge when it was his turn to fight... what a pathetic situation and yes we may have to die some of us to change this...

by seasaints on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 11:37:32 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
Exemplary!!!  That is a keeper.  Made a hard copy.

I read the bloggers and found I really connect with those of you saying you feel alone in this mess.. angry, impatient, frustrated... and I got to thinking how I wish there was a subtle way we could "identify" one another in a crowd, since it seems we can't muster ourselves to gather in group protests.  

Forming an "L" with your hand couldn't work.  That's been taken by "loser," and they've been calling Liberals losers and worse for several years now like we're lepers.  

The Lance-Armstrong-effect rubber bracelets are becoming too propular for multiple causes... even non-causes.

Some days I feel like wearing a mourning band around my arm but some conservative would jump all over that claiming things like: Nazis, a wannabe Michael Jackson, and again, Loser... whatever!

So, I decided to sign-on here to see if there are any creative ideas out there.  Talk to those you know and trust and see what you can come up with.  Who knows?  You might come up with a lucrative idea!  

sallyb

by sallyb36 (sallyb36@wowway.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 11:54:50 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
"Exemplary!!!  That is a keeper.  Made a hard copy.

I read the bloggers and found I really connect with those of you saying you feel alone in this mess.. angry, impatient, frustrated... and I got to thinking how I wish there was a subtle way we could "identify" one another in a crowd, since it seems we can't muster ourselves to gather in group protests.  

Forming an "L" with your hand couldn't work.  That's been taken by "loser," and they've been calling Liberals losers and worse for several years now like we're lepers.  

The Lance-Armstrong-effect rubber bracelets are becoming too propular for multiple causes... even non-causes.

Some days I feel like wearing a mourning band around my arm but some conservative would jump all over that claiming things like: Nazis, a wannabe Michael Jackson, and again, Loser... whatever!

So, I decided to sign-on here to see if there are any creative ideas out there.  Talk to those you know and trust and see what you can come up with.  Who knows?  You might come up with a lucrative idea!  

sallyb

by sallyb36 (sallyb36@wowway.com) on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 11:54:50 PM EST
[ Reply to This ]
A History of the Bush Administration in One Sentence"

I agree with you Sally, and just about everyone else on this thread too, I think. And the other posters saying how much the state of our nation is bothering them every day, just about every day now. And thanks for writing it Mr Pitt.

I had a thought. I wonder if, in all honesty, we have to admit to ourselves, at this point, that many will end up leaving this country, if current trends lead to their logical conclusion, and the admin manages all, or even only some, of the "changes" they envision. It means draft and that means my kids and that just can't be allowed. I won't be the only one. So...that's it then. 's not how it was supposed to be. I remember too many '60s protest songs. Sang them as a kid.

I think I will never forgive the other, and elder, baby-boomers of my generation for what our nation has become. Shame.

by whatever on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 07:11:06 AM EDT http://www.gstlnorml.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The neocons are NOT Boomers!
They are their OWN destructive wave, all to themselves.
It is the neocons that have done this to the country, and the world.
It is more the efforts of the Boomers than just about any other 'generation',  who brought us ecological concerns that gradually crept in,  cracking the authoritarian war-mongering (Viet Nam) and polluting patterns already existing, from the unconscious industrial habits of the previous generations, and seeping in through those cracks more and more with more and more ecologically responsible and socially progressive and compassionate policies.  There was noticeable advancement of these improving policies and actions during the 8 years of the Clinton admin., until most of us thought we were on a bit of a roll and moving ever forward with all that.........
Pollution, crime and the deficit were all on a progressive DOWNward slide.......
The disabled were no longer treated with the attitude that they should do the patriotic thing and commit suicide, as was the attitude during Reagan/Bush1.
.....Until Bush and the neocons stole the election in 2000 ---------
.....Until silly fearful sheeple interrupted all that with enough votes for BushINC to cover for the widespread fraud in the stolen election of 2004--------
So, it's not the "Boomers" you should be bemoaning and shaming, unless you think the ecological, etc., improvements that were instated and gradually increasing (until we fell into the bush-hole) were NOT a good thing!  
Who's driving those SUV's?
(-:G

"Give up those treasured wounds, let go the tempting memory of the pain...." Buffe St.Marie
by G Achin (XLexcel at zia net dot com TruthOut in subj.line) on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 03:06:55 PM EDT http://www.zianet.com/XLexcel/moons.html
[ Parent ]
------------------------------------------------------------
I can see your point about the neocons, rather than the boomers. From my perspective, it's just hard not to look with disqust at my neighbors and others about my age. Midwest living here. My parents are boomers too, and as one of the last generation of boomers, I know how they grew up and that most them KNOW BETTER and have STILL fallen for a pack of lies from this Administration. We had assasinations, Vietnam and Watergate; I just can't cut anyone over forty any slack ANYMORE for not understanding what's going on. Or for caring to say, much less do, anything to stop it. They wave flags and talk about their forefathers - the same one's they'd sell down the river now for the same beliefs. imho

by whatever on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 12:40:46 PM EDT http://www.gstlnorml.org
[ Parent ]
------------------------------------------------------------
To "whatever", in reply to your comment....
As an old Baby Boomer "elderly" old codger, grandmother, I would like to enlighten you.

I am a fifty-eight year old grandmother of four who still signs petitions, writes piles of letters to Congress, and signs up voters.... and takes to the streets in Protest. If you attended any recent Protests, i would wage a bet that if you looked around, you would realize that you were surrounded by many "old codger Baby Boomers" like myself.

Back in the "old days" my generation spent years standing up and fighting for our beliefs. Some of us actually laid down our lives fighting for what we believed in. Believe it or not, we even made a difference. We fought for "Civil Rights" and won. We fought for the Right to Vote" and won. We fought against segregation, we fought against the Vietnam War until it ended. We actually dodged real bullets, right here in our own country, from our own government, while standing up for our beliefs.

So, I'm not quite sure what it is that "you will never forgive us for" but here is my message to you.

Considering the "all time high, but still relatively pathetic low" turn out in "young people" this past Presidential election, I suggest that perhaps the younger generation is doing realitively little to make this country a better place for "their" children.

Also, untill the younger generation has passionately stood up and affected some monumental changes for the better, like my Baby Boomer generation did, and has experienced just how difficult that is and what determination and guts that takes, sitting in judgement on us "old gezers" is rather self-rightous, I'd say.

In case you haven't realized it, it is WE who are LOOKING TO YOU NOW,to choose your ideals and fight for them for the generations to come. We would love to pass the torch we carried for ten very long, non-stop years of our History....we will even stand up with you....proudly.
Karma
by karma on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 01:17:40 PM EDT
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
I don't like Ashcroft or his crew or any kind of radical religious fundamentalists  of any flavor BUT what earthly proof could you have of your assertion that Ashcroft and friends were guilty of any of those mailings? I have never heard of that before. I'd like a link to that proof.

chickenGeorge
by chickenGeorge (nobody@nowhere.com) on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 07:19:14 AM EDT
------------------------------------------------------------
This is in response to alkrauss's comments about our educational system. I take offense to the "sodden lack of mental discipline amongst educational professionals" in the response to the Bush administration in one sentence. There are many examples of excellent teaching, as well as, lack of skills (or motivation)all across America's classrooms, I'm sure. But to say we lack mental discipline is adding to the fashionable idea that our nation's children are floundering because of faulty teaching practices. It's almost as popular to bash teachers as it is to bash liberals! (And both groups are very diverse!) As you may have guessed, I am a teacher and I work very hard to develop skills and mental discipline to better reach and teach the five-year-olds that are in my care for 6+ hours a day, 5 days a week. These children, for the most part, have very few minutes with a caring adult (one-on-one) outside the school environment. They have lots of media exposure, including R rated movies and violent video games. Contrary to common thought, a child's vocabulary does not expand in a meaningful way watching TV. So, just from my limited exposure to the educational system, our nation's issues with education is more complex than the lacking of the educational professionals. I can compare it to the simplistic idea that "Iraq has WMD and we go to war" and a bunch of people say OK. (Nevermind that there really wasn't any WMD...) This forum(blog)has helped me to think beyond the box, however. I think there may be some validity to bush and company keeping the 'have not' children with few options so that they "graduate" and then "enlist". But my suggestion to alkrauss is to actually spend more than 30 minutes in any inner city Kindergarten classroom before making blanket statements about the profession.
Thanks for listening!, tdawn  

by tdawn on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 11:35:04 AM EDT
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Thanks for your ispiring Bush History.  No denying that Wahaabist extremism is a source of terrorism.  I'd have to say there's a very strong case to be made that the USA is the "true source of world terrorism."  State sponsored terrorism--a long, ugly, extremely bloody history of it.  See Chomsky articles below.

http://www.serendipity.li/wot/us_terr_st.htm
http://www.chomsky.info/articles/200205--02.htm

"Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that The State has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable. And so the evidence has to be internally denied."

-- Arthur Miller
playwright
   

by CrucibleX (Oak975@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 12:34:13 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
I've seen sentences this long from you with no breath taken when you used to: a) come home after curfew: b)with booze on your breath; and c) a dent in the fender. You have had PLENTY of practice!

by tinker on Sat Mar 5th, 2005 at 04:00:54 PM EDT
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Some people have been saying "What should we do?" Let's (at least some of us) pool some money that we were saving for the future and use it now, to start a company that will make polling machines that CAN'T BE and AREN'T RIGGED (printed ID numbered ballot, voter gets copy, maybe thumbprinted?, posted results show ID number, you can check your vote, precinct totals all the way up to the state (on-line, 1-2 day(s) after the election?) . Then maybe, just maybe, we can have an election that will leave us a FUTURE? I received a bunch of money from my parents' estates. I'd be willing to put up a chunk, anybody else interested? Let's kick Diebold's butt?
Brantl
by brantl (brantl@aiserv.net) on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 10:22:05 PM EDT
------------------------------------------------------------
You forgot the bumper crop of heroin now growing in Afghanistan, surrounded by  US troops, who, I am quite sure, leave the stuff to ripen; as well as forgetting the Swift Boat liars' club, and the curious inclusion of undocumented "press reporters"showing up at the White House to sidetrack and mollify any serious attempt by bona fide media to question the vicissitudes of the administration; as well as the yet secret energy files of the lackluster Vice President, which undoubtedly contain pre-9/11 partitioning of Iraq's oil treasure, and...oh hell I can't do it all in one sentence!

Rowland

by motamanx on Sun Mar 6th, 2005 at 11:01:14 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
The Good Old Dark Ages

OK, the world's flat, the sun revolves around the flat earth, and Eve sprang from Adam's rib.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've entered the Dark Ages, yet again, and brought with us another inquisition.  Reason, be damned, let superstition reign!  Such is life in America at the beginning of this new millennium... as we wait for the day of rapture.

I'm reminded of the way humans have of taking one-step forward and two back.  Take India for example, I think it was India.  Early in that country's history, they developed indoor plumbing with indoor working toilets...brilliant!  Then, somewhere along the road, a more civilized barbarian hoard, without indoor plumbing, invaded them.  Consequently, the Indians forgot how to do it, the plumbing that is, and it dropped from their technology.

We're doing that now, pedaling at breakneck speed-backward.  But, there's a big "But". Instead of losing our toilets, we're busy tossing all our education, compassion, objectivity, intellect, enlightenment, and democracy down into them.  With the light of reason thoroughly submerged in our septic tanks and sewers, depending on where you live, we're left following a fool's path.  I name no names.  

Ironies like this are everywhere to be seen today, provided you take the blinders off.  Let's expose one of the "Biggies" also one of the most sacrosanct, the Separation of Church and State.  Oh-oh, now I've gone and done it.  According to the religious sects riding roughshod over Humanity these days, I'm about to go to hell.  No matter, someone's got to begin the dialogue or we'll continue to take this stuff too seriously.  We all know where that leads, to positions of inordinate and unnatural power.   I name no names.

Throughout the history of our species, we have invented and reinvented Gods of all shapes, sizes, genders, and venues  (I'm convinced we're controlled, more than ever, by the Dollar God ).  Most of the time, we've imbued these deities with human strengths, weaknesses, good and bad traits.  Only we expand on these traits in order to bring our Gods into the "Supernatural" realm.

Furthermore, each religious sect created throughout history believed their theology was the right theology and those not embracing it were doomed, or worse, should be annihilated.  In the name of "God", we have:  Fought wars, mostly for economic reasons, and called them "holy", killed millions of people, brought fear, guilt and pain to countless individuals, and enslaved, mentally and physically, most of the people of the earth at one time or another.  Sounds a bit like what's happening today, doesn't it?  

It's cyclical, you know.  Our species has always been extremely insecure, fear-ridden, you might say, and superstitious.  When a society is much put upon for one reason or another, it resorts to its religious beliefs for solace or justification for what it does in "God's" name.  This is when a religious organization, sect, or motley crew can go wrong.  The followers may become fanatical, dangerous or easily manipulated by those among them who are stupid, cunning and/or unscrupulous.   I name no names.

That's why the founders of our democracy clearly articulated a need for a separation of Church and State.  In a true democracy, freedom of religion is a right, but the imposition of any one religion on a democratic government cannot be allowed, lest their belief system dominates everyone.  They do this by repealing laws that, although constitutional, are contrary to their doctrine.  With the stupid, cunning and/or unscrupulous, this serves their own ends.  They, then, enact new laws contrary to democratic philosophy but supporting the party line.  In so doing, the Constitution and the Bill of (Human) Rights governing this country are compromised.  

If what I've just said is true, then various religious theologies, once institutionalized, become powerful manipulators and controllers of human kind.  They do this by proclaiming their word/writings "sovereign" and undisputable.  It becomes blasphemous to even question the authority or the right of the erstwhile leaders who proclaim their word, "God's" word.  

To understand the religious beliefs that dominate our current highest government office and its power structure, I suggest you read the article below:

http://www.trinicenter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=573

The bottom line is this; we have a person running our government with his finger on the trigger, who believes he's ordained by his God, to move the earth forward to the "Day of  Rapture".  At that time, only those who believe as he does will be saved, although dead, and taken to "his" heaven to be reborn.  The rest of us, approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of the world's population, past and present, men, women, children, fetuses, and embryos, will be "officially" dead or in hell.    This is the belief system that has invaded our democracy and the highest office in our government.  Talk about immorality, talk about superstition, talk about stupidity.  

This era will go down in history as one in which holier-than-thou hypocrites resurrected the dark ages and placed humanity in a state of chaos "...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".  But, then, I name no names.

Ilona  

by Ilona on Mon Mar 7th, 2005 at 04:44:39 PM EDT

------------------------------------------------------------
You're an excellent writer, and I'm sure you speak for so many of us here...
Dark days indeed... it's why I do what I do on my site; it's all I can think to do at the moment, just keep sending up my smoke signals from Mars... that's what it feels like half the time, anyway...
I bill my site as a "horror n' humor political parody website", and I laugh and joke about all this stuff, cuz I feel people need some relief, and some clarity, too... there are still so many who haven't even begun to wake up; sometimes I wonder if they ever will, at least until it's far too late...
I laugh and I joke, but what I'm really thinking so much these days is this: We are in some serious shit here, folks...
I am a fantasist, and so I remain hopeful yet, even as the skies continue to darken measurably with each passing day before my horrified gaze... and I am only one in a vast sea...
I am reminded of Lord of the Rings. There is a shadow looming dark upon this land... and we are all going to have to learn to stand together, in true fellowship, if we are to defeat this very real threat to our very existence.
It helps that I am a fantasist... but what do I really think?
I think we need a miracle, and very soon... that's what I think.

DXS
D X Stone "I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one."
by dxstone (dxs@presidentevilonline.com) on Tue Mar 8th, 2005 at 01:58:03 AM EDT http://www.presidentevilonline.com/
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks, DXS.  I've got a lot more where that came from.  Unfortunately, right-wing religions and Bush and the neocon regime (corporations included) he represents, offer up a plethora of stupid words and deeds to draw from.  I wish it were'nt so.

I feel very much like you do.  I'm losing heart as I see so much harm being done by this administration and in our name, the name of God, patriotism and democracy.  They have the money and they have the power...who will stop them?

Ilona  


by Ilona on Tue Mar 8th, 2005 at 11:53:54 AM EDT
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
We are the ones for whom we have been waiting.
It is us.
and we MUST get together, more, and ever more.
We must pull this off........ peal off all the layers of grime and obscuration.
We must go on about life in spite of all this darkening that is 'afoot upon the earth', and begin doing and being all the sustainable and progressive things that the present gov refuses, blocks, politically sabotages.  Instead of wishing for a gov that supported sustainable energies, we must begin supporting sustainable energies, building them in spite of the gov,  put solar collectors on our rooftops........  (new solar cell technology is raising the efficiency, commercial viability, and applicability of solar collection devices....)  And so, we ARE, gradually and more so, doing and being these things, and in places like this we are meeting with more and more people who are doing and being these things, bringing parts of the puzzle together.

And we must water and fertilize all the grassroots.
(-:G
"Give up those treasured wounds, let go the tempting memory of the pain...." Buffe St.Marie
by G Achin (XLexcel at zia net dot com TruthOut in subj.line) on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 03:05:50 AM EDT http://www.zianet.com/XLexcel/moons.html
[ Parent ]

------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe I just don't understand how our Democracy works. Someone enlighten me please.

With my limited knowledge, it is my understanding that our Democracy and country "belongs to the people".... each and everyone of "us citizens, equally"
That is my first assumption. Based on that assumption...I look at our country sort of like one big "Corporation" each of us holding "only one equal share" (I use the corporation analogy for the purpose of being able to apply logic and successful intelligent responsible management of our country in this conversation)

We the People, as equal owners of our country, hire representatives to manage things for us according to our needs. We do this by voting for individuals and then paying them a salary, effectively "hiring them" for their management.

The top "CEO" that we hire, is the "President" of this corporation/country....and while he may have different "management style and policies, due to his "idealogy" ....and the "number of share holder "votes" is what put him in office... over a different managment style candidates"...that doesn't change the fact that "each individual citizen still has an equal share in our Democracy/Country" or "Ownership" (as the present President likes to talk about an OWNERSHIP SOCIETY) The country already belongs to the people, lock stock and barrel. Isn't that what our Constitution says?

"We give" a lot of power to our representives...and especially to our President/CEO, but when all is said and done, they and he are still accountable to We the People...we are the boss collectively. The President himself, does not "have more shares then the rest of us individuals" he only has ONE equal share too. We have simply hired him to do a job for us, granted it is the most important job in the country...which to me means....he has the highest "Fiduciary" responsibility to We the People who have hired him.  Am I wrong so far?

If I'm not, then my question is, "Why are We the People, not demanding or getting, the same accountability from our Ceo in the White House and other representives, that we would demand from ANYONE else that we would hire to manage any collectively owned, by us, corporation?

How is it that this administration seems to be able to "withhold" documents and information from "us" when "we" request them via our Congressional representitives or even our courts, and....also get away with being less then honest and straightforward about policies he is suggesting and trying to pass, or, has no accountability for actions he takes "for us" on our behalf, that have been wrong or big mistakes?

Anyone see where I'm going here?

"We" keep say things like "The President never takes responsibility for mistakes"
 Well, Why not? Isn't it up to "us" to collectively HOLD him responsibile?

Are elections our only recoarse for dealing with individual issues we do not  agree with or think have been managed irresponsibly or dishonestly?

If We the People, hire a CEO to manage our business and it's a four year contract, if HE mismanages certain aspects of management, do we have to allow him to continue to make the same mismanagement decisions for four long years....(even though we may have to keep him as CEO due to the four year term of the contract)?
Anotherwards, can "we the people" legally collectively demand accountability or changes in policy on certain idividual issues....as the "OWNERS of this country"?

I feel like we have forgotten what "We the People" means, and WHO actually has the ultimate power in our country and why.

example....
The CEO/President and the administration made the management decision to give no-bid contracts to Halliburton....with... We the Peoples TAX MONEY....that "WE" supply our government with, to run the country "for us" Halliburton has been dishonest with our money. Do "We the People" have to continue Halliburton's contract and swallow continuing to give Halliburton MORE of our Tax money? Are "We" the "owners" of this country and the money to run it, legally within our collective rights to demand Halliburton be removed from the job and replaced with new companies who will do the job honestly, more effeciently, and for LESS of our collective TAX money?

It seems to me that while the President is passionately concerned with CUTTING our taxes, he should also be... as or more concerned, that our TAXES are being well spent and not pilfored, as he is our "OUR" CEO and CHIEF.
Has anybody heard this administration get "cowboy tuff" with Halliburton in OUR behalf?

This logic can be applied to many issues. I would really like to understand the legallities of this, on behalf of "We the People"

I guess this is a average American Share holder legal question.
I wrote about this in another comment on this blog, so forgive me if this is redundant, but I would really appreciate any enlightenment. If my logic is incorrect, I want to know so I can stop thinking about this. Thanks.
Karma
by karma on Tue Mar 8th, 2005 at 09:30:04 AM EDT

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...the United States government took it upon itself to announce in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy that questioning said government aids and abets terrorists and is therefore tantamount to treason, and just because our recently reinstated president announced in the immediate aftermath of his reinstalment that he has a political mandate to pursue his draconian policies and myriad domestic and foreign wars without hindrance,
IS NO REASON why we should not return to the true source of his political capital, the events of 9/11, and rally the nation, now hopefully slightly less traumatized than heretofore, around the brazenness and deceit of the conspiracy theory that is officially promulgated as accepted history.

In the intervening years since that devastating day, like many progressives I suspect, and having satisfied myself through my own internet research that the entire thing was a carefully orchestrated organized crime choreographed and effected by a spate of criminals from readers of goat stories to
war-game facilitators second in imperial command, my attentions have been hijacked by the ongoing
pre-emptive strikes, genocides, ecocides and societal plagues against which we all rail seemingly so fruitlessly, and I have forgotten, until now, the source of the true mandate, and the vital importance, therefore, of dismantling its shaky foundations.

Screw the Kean commission. America is not yet quite so comatose that she cannot rouse to rally around a cause that, momentarily, brought forth her own unique and powerful heart. That heart has been hijacked and anesthetized. But the passage of time plays in our favor. I have come very recently to believe that we must all return to September 11th, 2001, with a focus more powerful than the most
finely ground magnifier in full sun. Here's why:

  1. it IS the source of the neocons' political power. That should be reason enough
  2. The events of the day and the scope of the wound have no link to partisanship in the eyes of the people
  3. Many tireless sleuths of courage and know how far greater than mine have already done more than sufficient investigative work to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the most egregious and horrifying wrongdoing-- more than enough to prosecute
  4. 9/11 holds everyone's attention, once it's in the fore
  5. The power it carries does not belong to its perpetrators and exploiters; they have no monopoly on
its potency
6. An unflinching focus will succeed eventually in rousing the timid, canned media, whose fascist
propagandists and poisonous owners do not yet command unilateral obedience among its ranks, but may soon; and whose mysterious lack of attention to the discrepancies, blatant lies, obfuscations, conflicts of interest and misinformation is the only obstacle to America's return.

Blow open 9/11, and you blow open the Iraq war; the New Inquisition; the entire neocon policy; the rape and death of the Earth; the suffering and blood on the Administration's hands, and the bogus and vicious War on Terra.

I think we should turn around, all of us: those of us most moved by peace and justice, or constitutional rights, or the environment, or social destruction, or the assault on education, or the infiltration of all three branches of government with fascist reactionaries, or the rigged elections-- and focus, focus, focus all our very considerable energies, intelligence, and attention on this one simple target.

They have nothing else to stand on. But the longer they stand, the less that will be true.

by 4gaia (4gaia) on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 01:42:53 AM EDT

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Thanks, again.  You're right.

Ilona

by Ilona on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 09:07:49 AM EDT

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A GREAT RANT!! Well said.
  but... what if anything is being offered as the alternative to right wing ideology?  I want to see an alternative plan for Social Security reform (instead of dismantling Social Security), undermining terrosim (instead of the "war on terra"), sustainable energy (instead of oil wars)...
  We desperately need to move beyond criticsm and start offering REAL solutions to the options that the Bush Administration is pushing.
:=) d
by drumsing on Wed Mar 9th, 2005 at 09:46:25 PM EDT
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Anti-disestablishmentarianism!  Hey, remember that from high-school - how funny it all sounded back then?  Don't tell me there's no such thing as prescience.
Great wealth is simply insufficient fodder on which to nurture humankind at its best.
by Traesom on Fri Mar 11th, 2005 at 12:27:30 PM EDT http://aardvarknews.blogspot.com/
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The history of the Bush Administration is a demonstration of the way people can be manipulated, and the way past events can be forgotten.

I remember when the FBI infiltrated anti-war groups during the Viet Nam war and then created disturbances themselves in order to cause public opinion to turn against the anti-war protestors.  This worked up until May 4th 1970.  After that the gig was up.

Since I know that those who have power are willing to do things like this (Kent State) to perpetuate their plans I also know that a lot of the things we see in the news are a mere charade.  That  what is on the end of that 'long newspaper spoon' is a lie.

What I do not understand is how only a generation removed from that experience the lessons of that era can be so completely forgotten.  That people have become docile and willing to capitulate their personal sovereignity and integrity in favor of lying rhetoric that has been ably demonstrated to be lying rhethoric and yet they continue to believe and wave the flag.

How is it that the public has such a gullibility?  Have those in power done anything good for us lately?  Does government serve the general public and their needs?  Of course not, so why are people so willing to give up their personal soverignity?

It boggles my mind.  If anyone has an answer to this that has some kind of rhyme or reason let me know.
When the game is over, the pawn and the king go back into the same box.
by Rocco Barbella on Fri Apr 1st, 2005 at 04:25:51 PM EDT

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  "He came, he saw, he conquered."(?)

   "He saw, he conquered, he came" )?)

         "He conquered, he came" He's blind.
Ask a question, look foolish for 5 minutes; Ask no questions, foolish for life. (Chinese proverb)
by DumbQuestions (BlackHoleGreetingCards@gmail.com) on Sun Jun 19th, 2005 at 02:26:51 PM EDT http://www.blue-in-the-face.blogspot.com

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Perhaps the real target was the take down of Brewster Jennings? to cover up -so much... Aramco....her outing was just a pleasant bonus?
that haunting e-mail from Dr. David Kelly to Judy Miller;
"I will wait til the end of the week before judging - many dark actors playing games. thanks for your support. I appreciate your friendship at this time".
written right be for he went missing and then killed himself or was mudered?
Really seems to indicate something very sinister; Of course there is so much more. Just sometimes something just strikes you.
 Aramco, the BCCI, Mafouz, the Saudi Royals and BushInc.'s links to terrorist?
"The Boston Globe reported that in 2001 ARAMCO had signed a $140 million multi-year contract with Halliburton..." I want to read about this some more....

Let people know this is happening. Do what you can." -Andy S. 7/04 NO BU**SH**zone
by jarnocan (jarnocanatiwondotcom) on Sat Jul 16th, 2005 at 11:27:24 PM EDT http://jarnocan.blogspot.com
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