SHAME ON CONGRESS

Amen Keith Olberman....Shame on Jim Webb for JOINING the Bush/Cheney war crime folks AND the special interests corporate lawbreakers. So much for his oath to defend our civil liberties, the rule of law, and our constitution.

Hopefully, there will be a day of reckoning and Senator Harry Reid,Senator Rockefeller, and other Dems who want to be complicit in the Bush war crimes can share adjoining cells to George Bush and Dick Cheney.

Why the Democrats were so quick to help the Republicans cover up so much info that would have come out in court....information such as...Bush's illegal wireless surveillance program has NOTHING to do with capturing terrorists or 9/11....In fact Bush started the program BEFORE 9/11 occurred......

Makes me wonder how many Dems like Harry Reid, Rockefeller, ex dem Lieberman have been comlicit partners in the Bush war crimes.

WE are NOT going to forget this folks. The majority leader and the party are now brazenly supporting the Republican agenda. We need folks to run against these turncoats....

To the Democratic Contenders. Barack Obama made sure he voted on this important bill...and he voted to uphold our constitution. Hillary Clinton was in Washington but Hillary could not be bothered to take the time to do her job...the job she is being paid to do as a Senator. Sorry Hillary, but I'll say it again. Yours is the type of experience this country does not need any more of.

Hopefully, some of us will be able to take some time to follow the telecommunication money trail so we can report who the Dems are that can be bought. We don't need any more Senators for Corporations and special interests in "our" Congress....It's ready for our Congress to REJECT the OLD EXPERIENCE AND CREATE AN HONEST WAY TO DO THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS....

Any chance the House Dems have encough shreds of honesty to do the right thing and not approve the Senate version with it's telecommunications immunity? (A piece of the bill that has NOTHING TO DO WITH PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND IS ANTITHETICAL TO THE PUBLIC'S INTEREST.

BUZZ...BUZZ...

The Change Process in Motion

Watch Condoleeza Rice Spin her Lies to Congress

John McCain is set on continuing Bush and Cheney's policies. It is even rumored that McCain is considering Rice as his running mate. WOW...what a "dreamy" ticket for the Republicans.



If dreams really do come true Condi Rice may end up in a court of law for a war crimes trial in the near future.

Media Alert--Huckabee May Have Won Washington

The Corporate Media is once again back on task and simply broadcasting the Republican Party's propaganda with no questions asked.

In Washington, the vote counting stopped at 87% of the votes counted when McCain pulled slightly ahead of Huckabee by just 242 votes with only a 1.8% lead by McCain. Huckabee announced he was not conceding the election, discussed the "wierd things going on," and is checking his legal options.

Meanwhile Reuters simply reported the Washington State Republican's verdict that McCain has won the state, making no mention that the state had stopped counting the votes with 13% of the votes not counted. (I'm willing to bet that the remaining 13% of the votes did not belong to many precincts that were predicted to vote favorably to McCain. Why else announce McCain the winner without completing the vote tally.

Why does any American rely on Corporate media to keep them informed when the Corporate Media leaves out such pertinet facts? For more info here's the link.

McCain....definitely different....

Karl Rove actually spills the beans on McCain. Interesting....Rove actually gave McCain some money this time for his presidential campaign. With the Republican Senators speaking out that they are "worried" about McCain's temperament in the White House this just adds more fuel to the "character" of who John McCain really is. Will McCain ever reveal his nasty dark side when the news media is around? One can only hope.

Moore on religion....

I adore Michael Moore. It's shameful how the Corporate propaganda machine has tried to turn Michael Moore into a villain.....instead of the American hero this man is.

Moore exemplifies the values of freedom, equality, and social justice.

buzz...buzz...

Everything by the Book? The Torture Police in Action

Woman is stripped naked and abused by Start County Sheriff Dept. http://www.sheriff.co.stark.oh.us/ Email the sheriff at strkshrf@raex.com (copy/paste this in your own email-the Blog link won't work) to let them know how you feel.

I pulled this video from an article by Mark A. Goldman entitled "Guantanamo Comes to Main Street U.S.A." Click here to read it.

Welcome to Bush Amerika. Seven years of corroded ethics and a festering culture of international sadism and mass murder by our benighted government have slowly but surely transformed our country into a budding Fascist police state. I started telling people five years ago that this new Right-wing pseudo religion of sadism masquerading as the "War on Terror" will come home to roost. We know that the police in this country have often tortured and abused minorities in manners similar to what is shown on this video, but now their perversity is being directed at white, middle class men and women. This America is becoming increasingly grotesque to its own citizens, not to mention the rest of the world.

We are a country going to Hell in a handbasket. We have lost any connection to the Divine collectively through our actions, and are descending deeper into the Pit weekly. This is the way things went in Nazi Germany, Stalin Russia, Pinochet Chile, to name a few odious examples. Stand up now, speak out and fight back, or risk seeing yourself or your loved ones in a position similar to that of the woman in the video one of these days.

John McCain....John is.... different?

Vote for Change....Vote for Hope.....Obama '08

Hillary Clinton will NOT release her income tax returns...

The Candidate who loves to say that "I've been fully vetted...." and promotes this as a strength appears to be hiding something. Obama has already released his income tax returns....Clinton refuses to release hers....UNLESS I become the Democratic nominee.

Does Hillary think she can keep us distracted from information like this?

I alway;s thought that Who's got the money? Where the money goes...and Who it ends up with are vital questions that voters need to know in order to make an informed decision.

No one needs a nominee like this. Here's the source.

GOTV--Get Out and Vote

GET OUT AND VOTE


It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Make Some Noise

Welcome to the Dark World of Operation Gladio and Its Children

This information is a little dated, but still worthy of note. I originally posted it at OpEdNews.com:

Here is an excerpt from an eye-popping article by Paul Joseph Watson, dated December 3, 2007:

Ex-Italian President: Intel Agencies Know 9/11 An Inside Job

Man who set up Operation Gladio tells Italy's largest newspaper attacks were run by CIA, Mossad (original article)

Former Italian President and the man who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, Francesco Cossiga, has gone public on 9/11, telling Italy's most respected newspaper that the attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad and that this was common knowledge amongst global intelligence agencies.

Cossiga was elected President of the Italian Senate in July 1983 before winning a landslide 1985 election to become President of the country in 1985.

Cossiga gained respect from opposition parties as one of a rare breed - an honest politician - and led the country for seven years until April 1992.Cossiga's tendency to be outspoken upset the Italian political establishment and he was forced to resign after revealing the existence of, and his part in setting up, Operation Gladio - a rogue intelligence network under NATO auspices that carried out bombings across Europe in the 60's, 70's and 80's. (again, click here for full article)

Cossiga is a man with deep ties to intelligence communities who are privy to knowledge and information the general public doesn't get to see. Now the truth is being allowed to surface, slowly but deliberately perhaps. Cossiga likely would not have come forward if he did not have some kind of support from these communities.

Now, what is Operation Gladio? In a nutshell, it was a European-wide, criminal enterprise that recruited from the Right, up to and including ex-Nazis, serving Western powers against both the Soviet Union and Leftist political organizations in general. It specialized in False Flag Ops, violent acts that enraged the public and were engineered in such a way that they could be blamed on an intended victim, such as a political party or radical group.

I'm going to let the BBC introduce the subject with the following videos. You are about to enter a covert, dangerous world that most of you had no idea existed, yet which has been influencing our lives for decades, a world of Right-Wing and State-sponsored terror, assassinations and, as I mentioned, False Flag Ops designed to manipulate public opinion and eliminate enemies. Such methodology and philosophy is ongoing today on the world stage and is practiced by our own government. To what extent might shock you.

Here is the first video on the history of Operation Gladio. Note that a lot of this series is in French or Italian with sub-titles:



Here is the second video:



And the third video:



There are twelve more videos in this series. If you are really into this, here are the links to the rest:

Part 4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbW-L_xYzE&NR=1

Part 5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8f6dcMwVrw&feature=related

Part 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73U9v9aMcFk&feature=related

Part 7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XXl-6nQWSg&feature=related

Part 8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyh0kZjdqdc&feature=related

Part 9) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zP4VJAhTLY&feature=related

Part 10) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma6Mgr9hgFI&feature=relat

Part 11) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gNL_uwxRtM&feature=related

Part 12) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzVW5V12k3I&feature=related

Part 13) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hg0UNzoWVA&feature=related

Part 14) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3CAcjsdxBs&feature=related

Part 15) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vNLjtE-LTk&feature=related

MONEY TALKS! OBAMA VS. CLINTON

The "buzz buzz" is that the Clinton's are now having to put their own money into the campaign starting at 5 million dollars. (Hillary must be thankful that they have deep pockets and can keep digging in as needed.) Obama supporters have already matched this and then some within the last 24 hours.

I tried to buy shirts and jackets at Obama's website store. They are all sold out and they wouldn't let me buy some really nice stuff that is on back order....I was able to get one back ordered shirt though.

Out of curiosity I visited Hillary's website. They appear to have plenty of shirts and jackets in stock, sitting there, waiting for someone to purchase them. Any business person with sense knows that if you "need money" and your inventory isn't selling you must lower your prices. I wonder when Hillary will be advertising a sale on her items?

Meanwhile, Obama's store is struggling to meet the demand. They have even had to start raising prices.

I have heard of campaigns having to run to their state headquarters to get restocked with bumper stickers and yard signs but I can't remember ever visiting a national campaign website and ALL the t-shirts and jackets sold out....Looks like Obama is making history again! LOL

I've always been told that money talks....It's speaking LOUDLY right now. We, the people are going to keep Obama supplied with enough money so that he will end up being our next President.

MoveOn.Org Super Tuesday Party at Croc's

The MoveOn.Org Super Tuesday Party was a rousing success at Croc's last night. MoveOn,Org provided us with free hors d'oeuvre. We stayd until the place closed down.. The wonderful Kay Gore and Dr. D. C. Singh helped put the party together for everyone. Notables such as Susan Mariner, Alma Kessling, Tom Palumbo, Anne Williams, Connie Hannah, Jerry Tenney, John Erb (author of Poisoning of America), Sharon Bivens, and a local Barrack Obama local coordinator were among the many attendees. (Sorry if I missed out on a name....I was enjoying a few margaritas last night.)

A documentary film crew filmed the party and interviewed folks for a MoveOn documentary. I always love talking to film crews since I've had the treat to work on one documentary in the past.

The buzz is out that Barack Obama will be coming to VA soon...so keep your eyes and ears open...you won't want to miss attending a live Barack Obama event. Besides, don't you want to "check out" this Presidential contender for yourself?

Cable Cuts up to Six Now - Ominous

Is there a cable chewing whale out there, racing across oceans to appease his habit, perhaps even Moby Dick still trying to destoy Captain Ahab and mistaking the thick cables for his one good leg, or is, realistically speaking, active sabatoge going down for some malevalent purpose, such as an attack on Iran. Time will tell. They are starting to repair some of the cables this week, so if something is going down, it will go down soon.

Or perhaps, James Bond's SMERSH really exists, and they are getting ready to blackmail the planet.

Here is a news update from The Wayne Madsen Report (source):

February 6, 2008 -- Cable cuts now up to six
publication date: Feb 6, 2008

After four submarine cables carrying Internet and phone traffic were cut, two off of Alexandria, Egypt and two in the Persian Gulf, two additional cable cuts are now being reported, another in the Gulf off Iran and the other off the western coast of Malaysia.

.......The report continued, "Contrary to previous reports in the corporate media, Egypt's Communications and Information Technology Ministry said the two cables that were severed near Alexandria last week, FLAG Telecom and SEA-Me-We4, were not cut by the anchors of ships. Egyptian authorities examined photographic footage of the restricted maritime area and no ships were seen 12 hours before and 12 hours after the time of the cable cuts."

The fifth cable cut reportedly came off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and affected the FLAG FALCON ring cable the serves the Persian Gulf. The other cut was on the SeaMeWe-4 cable off the city of Penang, Malaysia.

The six cable cuts are being blamed on a covert sabotage operation. A hundred million users in Iran, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, and Maldives have been affected by the six verified cable cuts. Since Israel and U.S.-occupied Iraq have been unaffected by the sabotage, Middle East intelligence agencies and computer users are blaming the United States and/or Israel for the attacks.

Willie Nelson: Twin Towers Were Imploded On 9/11

American Icon, Willie Nelson (source)

Well, Willie Nelson said it Monday, Feb 4, and then ABC News picked it up on Tuesday. This will send ripples throughout the collective consciousness of America. Nelson is too well-loved to be Swift-Boated, so people are going to take note of what he said, especially in Texas. Just what did he say? Here is an excerpt from an article by Paul Watson on the radio interview he had with Alex Jones:

Straight talking American icon Willie Nelson today told a national radio show that he thought the twin towers were imploded like condemned Las Vegas casino buildings, as the country music superstar controversially voiced his doubts about the official 9/11 story.

Agreeing with host Alex Jones that he questioned the official story, Nelson elaborated, "I saw those towers fall and I've seen an implosion in Las Vegas - there's too much similarities between the two, and I saw a building fall that didn't get hit by nothing," added Nelson, referring to WTC Building 7 which collapsed in the late afternoon of September 11.

"How naive are we - what do they think we'll go for?," asked Nelson, pointing out that his doubts began on the very day of 9/11. "I saw one fall and it was just so symmetrical, I said wait a minute I just saw that last week at the casino in Las Vegas and you see these implosions all the time and the next one fell and I said hell there's another one - and they're trying to tell me that an airplane did it and I can't go along with that," said Nelson.

The former Highwayman, fresh from his appearance at this past weekend's superbowl, questioned why Afghanistan became an immediate target in the aftermath of 9/11 when the official story posited that mostly Saudi Arabians were responsible for the attack.

"When I get hit I like to look around and see who did it before I start swinging at everybody in the room and that's kind of what we were doing," said Nelson, "We get hit over here and then next thing you know we're jumping on everybody in the town - so (if) we got hit from Saudi Arabia, I think we've got some questions that need to be answered from those folks," said Nelson.

In light of his viewpoint, Nelson said that recent revelations concerning the impartiality of the 9/11 Commission and its close links with the White House did not surprise him.

"What does it take for us to realize we're having the wool pulled over our eyes one more time?" he concluded.

(to read the entire article, click here)

To hear the entire one hour radio interview, go to the bottom of the linked article and click the MP3 link.

U.S. Navy 'Top Gun' Pilot Questions 9/11

Last September or so, US Navy Top Gun Pilot Ralph Kolstad spoke out about 9/11, more or less dissing the 9/11 Commission Report, pointing out that he could not perform some of the maneuvers the 9/11 Commission claimed the minimally trained hijackers managed to pull off. Something stinks to high Heaven he states.

What might that be? The entire scenario that the Bush Administration constructed to explain 9/11 and take us to war perhaps?

Here is the link to the original article in the video if you are having trouble reading it: click here

The Untold Story of 9/11 and the 9/11 commission

This book should be considered a "must read" especially if the "reader" believes that the Bush administration has ever tried to seriously protect us.

The Buzz--Major GeoPolitical Events in Middle East

Cross-section of a submarine communications cable.

LAYERS:

1--Polyethylene
2--"Mylar" tape

3--Stranded metal "Steel" wires
4--Aluminum water barrier
5--Polycarbonate
6--Copper or aluminum tube
7--Petroleum jelly
8--Optical fibers

The Buzz in the Middle East is that the internet has been intentionally cut off...to add fuel to this fire both Israel and Iran are not affected by the current internet blackout. "Large areas of the Middle East, Asia. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Pakistan and India, are all experiencing severe problems.According to InternetTraffic.com, Iran has been completely cut off from the Internet, though Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blog can still be accessed." (Source)

WhatReallyHappened.com speculates that skepticism was deserved with one cable being cut by a ship's anchor...You'd think the developers would have planned for such an occurrence (and they have.) Now four separate cables in different locations have been cut. Even more bizarre is the fact that Israel and Iran are the only two countries in the Middle East that aren't affected. Dr. Richard Sauder speculates that this is a Zionist Neo Con aggressive act of war against Iran. Sauder's theory encompasses the ability of the U.S. Navy to blakout the world wide web:

For the uninitiated it seems bizarre and unlikely, but the plain fact of the matter is that American military divers really go out onto the seabed from special submarines outfitted with airlocks and they actually cut undersea communications cables-- then patch in sophisticated surveillance equipment -- then they splice the cables back together. That is if the motive is espionage. If the purpose of the operation is garden variety sabotage, then simply cutting the cable suffices. It's like something out of a spy novel thriller, but the U.S. Navy really does have submarines and deep diving, special operations personnel who specialize in precisely this sort of operation. So cutting a few undersea cables in two or three days is well within the operational capabilities of the United States Navy. (Source)

Khaleej Times Online reports that Egypt's communications ministry states that no ship caused their outage:

The transport ministry added that footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged....The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone and it is therefore ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by ships....

Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to Internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia.

A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said.

Folks in the middle east are worried that this internet blackout maybe the precursor to an American attack on Iran. Some people in the U.S. are worried that the Pentagon may cut on internet service in parts of the U.S. ( or the entire U.S.) in order to control information. This soundx outrageous until you read what the Pentagon says about the internet.

The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".....

"When implemented the recommendations of this report will effectively jumpstart a rapid improvement of CNA [Computer Network Attack] capability." - 7 "

Enhanced IO [information operations] capabilities for the warfighter, including: ... A robust offensive suite of capabilities to include full-range electronic and computer network attack..." [emphasis mine] - 7(Source)

Bottom Line--This is one way to control information in the Middle East for at least a few weeks. Wonder what the "instigators" are planning to do within the next few weeks.

We still have to fight to keep the corporations from trying to "own OUR web" and internet neutrality is not being talked about by either the Democrats nor Republicans. Now we have the Pentagon with plans to take over the net and control information.

It looks like there are some big fights ahead for those of us who cherish our freedom of speech.

Hopefully, enough government heads are questioning why this blackout has occurred and there will be no invasion of Iran and these cables will soon be fixed.

Civil Unions available now in Oregon

Oregon has legalized civil unions. This is great news from a state with a bright future that is not mired in a bigoted past.

Obama or Clinton--Change or Status Quo?

If you are on the fence deciding between Obama and Clinton consider these factors.

1--Honesty --We've just been through 8 years of a President who lies...do we want more? Read this brilliant piece on Hillary's latest lie in The Richmond Democrat.
2-Inability to admit a mistake.--We've been through 8 years of a President who has a big blindspot. He cannot admit an error or a mistake. Sound like someone we know? The last debates, once again, Hillary was given a great opportunity to "admit" her mistake in voting to give President Bush the power to invade Iraq. She could not admit that she'd made a mistake.
3--Divisiveness- -Haven't we had more than enough of this in 8 years. For whatever reason, it appears Hillary's greatest natural talent (maybe because of 1 and 2?) is to divide people...this makes her the "choice" Democratic candidate among the Republicans. Hillary will not be able to unite folks. But we have a GREAT candidate who can.

Barack Obama is NOT more of the same. He can bring the honesty, the ability to admit a mistake, unity, and inspiration back to our white house.

Isn't it time for a real change for the better? We have a clear choice in these two candidates. Hillary will be the status quo, politics a usual, with a ring of corporate lobbyists around her. Barack Obama ha pledged greater transparency in goverenment operations and creating a more inclusive government process for the American people.

Yes it would be great to have a woman as President of the United States. But that's not enough reason to vote for a second rate, status quo candidate that will bring us more of what we are already sick of. When a woman does win the white house (and she will) I would prefer it to be a great, positive experience for our nation and one that will open the doors for more women to run in the future. It will be terrific when our woman candidate really is the best candidate running. But that is not true in this race. The best candidate running is Barack Obama. And he's not running on the history making fact that he will be the first black man in office. He's running on his own merits. This is the moment, the time, to put the best candidate into the White House AND make history at the same time.

It just doesn't get better than that does it? Feminists should have no trouble supporting a man of color....it's a feminist ideal to support people of color. This will only open the door to new candidates and new possibilities because I am positive that Barack Obama is the best candidate for these times.

I'll be phone banking for Obama as much as possible between now and Super Tuesday evening.
I really do want to be able to vote for a Presidential Candidate this election cycle. Unfortunately, my heart and my soul cannot be forced to support Hillary Clinton. I beleve if Hillary makes it as President, this version of "Margaret Thatcher" (she compared herself to Margaret Thatcher) will only make it more difficult for women running in the future.

Buzz...Buzz..

Life Long Noted Republican Backs Obama

Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower is endorsing and pledging to work to bet Barack Obama elected. WOW!!

According to Susan Eisenhower:
Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow....

It is in this great tradition of crossover voters that I support Barack Obama's candidacy for president. If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate, this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help.

The choice is clear...The Democratic candidate with the ability to crossover is Barack Obama. He's a unifer....Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, Hillary is the exact opposite...a polarizing candidate. Let's choose the best candidate who can truly unite our nation to fix the multitude of problems we are facing. Support the best candidate for the job of President of these United States--Barack Obama.

According to Robert Kennedy's Wife and Daughter

Rory Kennedy writes:

Times are far too dark, the price of failure too steep and the road ahead too perilous for us to vote on identity politics. I would love to see a woman be president. I would love to see an African American be president. But right now, what I would love most is to elect the best person for the job.

I believe that person is Sen. Barack Obama. As a leader, he has inspired generations of Americans to look beyond reductive categories like gender or race. Instead, he calls on us to think past our own individual interests, to envision a world that is better for every person in it.

Recently, my mother, Ethel Kennedy, said of Obama: 'I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did. He has the passion in his heart. He's not selling you. It's just him.'

GO BARACK!!

So we have the brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy endorsing Obama along with JFK's daughter and RFK's wife and daughter. Rory Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy have both put their strong, clear, direct, endorsements in writing so we will understand how they came to their decision to support Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton. This is unprecedented. This is the first major Presidential endorsement from the Kennedy clan that was not a Kennedy.

I hope that you will study the issue.

Rory Kennedy is an award winning documentary film maker.

To read Rory's full endorsement which includes recognition of Hillary Clinton and what it would mean to have a woman president go here.

Another former Clinton supporter speaks out.

Elizabeth B. Moynihan, the widow of Daniel Patick Moynihan, the NY senator who assisted Hillary Clinton's election to his Senate seat,endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nominee. Mrs. Moynihan successfully managed three of her husband's four Senate campaigns.

In an e-mail statement to the Obama campaign, Mrs. Moynihan wrote that she had been inspired by Caroline Kennedy's NYT op ed. Mrs. Moynihan added that she was "dismayed" at the Clinton's hostility toward Mr. Obama's candidacy.

Mrs. Moynihan wrote that her husband:

would have become excited, as I have, to see Barack Obama rekindle hope in our young as he encourages them to participate in the political process, and I know Pat would approve, applaud and encourage me to join Caroline Kennedy in supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.

It is a rare gift to be able to inspire people to share a vision that requires commitment and dedication....

The hope that John Kennedy characterized for Americans spread across the world, then faded with his death. I believe Obama, like Kennedy, has the gift to transcend obstacles and to inspire Americans to bring out the best in themselves. I firmly believe the election of Barack Obama would help restore hope and America’s image in the world.

Another former Clintonite defects. I hope more Hillary Clinton fans will take a long hard look at what's happening before your eyes. We have two candidates with similar issues and policies. Values and ethics are what separates them. It's because Barack Obama is showing sterling integrity and ethics that folks are flocking to his campaign. Meanwhile, folks are exiting the Clinton campaign because there is a noticeable lack of values and ethics.

Our country needs to united like never before. There is NO WAY that will happen under Hillary Clinton or John McCain.

Now if we can only keep the elections clean and fair.......

9/11 Commission--The Uncensored History

Think Progress reports that Philip Shenon's new book---The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation--reveals that Philip Zelikow, the 9/11 Commission executive director, interfered with the report. The Commission members were to have no contact with the White House. Yet Zelikow consulted Karl Rove on a frequent basis.

Furthermore, the other commission members wanted to submit a report stating that Rice's performance amount[ed] to incompetence. However, it is allegeded that Zelikow prevented this. Zelikow is alleged to have connections with the New American Century and was hired by Condi Rice when he finished his 9/11 commission job.

9/11 was never given the independent investigation that it deserved. Hopefully, there will be some material that will survive the Bush White House so that someday we will be able to figure out what did happen.

Initially world opinion was with us like never before. You can view images of some reactions from around the globe here. It may give you some idea of the value of world opinion that the Bush administration squandered in their lust for raising the price of oil. The Bush Cabal has been a true American tragedy.

Values--This is the difference between Hillary and Barack

The policies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are "similar." The New York Times Editors say:

On the major issues, there is no real gulf separating the two. They promise an end to the war in Iraq, more equitable taxation, more effective government spending, more concern for social issues, a restoration of civil liberties and an end to the politics of division of George W. Bush and Karl Rove.

What separates these two candidates? George Lakeoff identifies "values," not issues, as the major differences between these two candidates. Caroline Kennedy knew they held similar policy positions. She decided that Barack Obama's is the candidate with the ethics and integrity that inspire her:

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates' goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

George Lakeoff sees a striking difference between these candidates:

The difference is striking. To the editors of the New York Times, the quality of leadership seems not to be an "issue." The ability to unite the country is not an "issue." What Obama calls the empathy deficit -- attunement to the experience and needs of real people -- is not an "issue." Honesty is not an "issue." Trust is not an "issue." Moral judgment is not an "issue." Values are not "issues." Adherence to democratic ideals -- rather than political positioning, triangulation, and incrementalism -- are not "issues." Inspiration, a call to a higher purpose, and a transcendence of interest-based politics are not "issues."

Many in the Democratic base have left the Clinton camp and headed for the Obama camp due to the "old and dirty politics" the Clinton campaign has resorted to.

Senator Leahy states, "He [Bill Clinton] is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party.

Columnist Maureen Dowd writes:

“It’s odd that the first woman with a shot at becoming president is so openly dependent on her husband to drag her over the finish line. She handed over South Carolina to him, knowing that her support here is largely derivative.

According to the Nation's columnist Nicholas von Hoffman:

By the time Hillary and Bill have finished with Obama the real man may be unrecognizable to voters in Iowa or any place else … If he can wipe enough of the Clintonian slime off himself, Obama may be able to come out from under and explain to the world that sometimes less experience is more and better. (The Nation)

Senator Kerry states:

I think you had an abuse of the truth … I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last few days it’s been over the top.” (On National Journal radio)

Ted Kennedy: “With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion.”

The truly great presidents are gifted with the ability to inspire us and they have the values and authenticity that is needed so we will heed their call.

Hillary Clinton does not have the values necessary to inspire us. She will distort the truth....and the latest outcry from Hillary is that she offered her hand to Obama and he shunned her. But, Hillary, truly an authentic corporate girl, is so "nice" stating, that her hand is still reaching out to Obama. And the corporate media is playing Hillary's song. Hillary will lie, distort the truth, play dirty politics, do anything to become president. The fact that Hillary will take any cheap shot she can is a major reason I am running away from her.

If Hillary Clinton will lie to "win" the presidency how can we trust her to tell us the truth if she actually becomes president?

Due to Hillary's lack of values and authenticity I do not want her to be this country's first example of a woman president. I will end up more disappointed in Hillary Clinton than I have ever been with Nancy Pelosi's poor leadership in the House.

No one has has the audacity (yet) to define Hillary Clinton as a "uniter." She has surely been successful at dividing her own party....how much will she harden the divide that already exists in our country? Hillary is described as "competent" and "smart." This campaign is showing that she lacks the values I hold important--honesty, integrity, and authenticity. After encountering Hillary on tv I often am left with the feeling of "Who the "heck" is Hillary Clinton and who does she think she's fooling?"

Out with the old divisiveness...it's time for the best person to step into the office....and if we are so lucky to have a candidate who has the potential greatness to inspire and lead us as Kennedy and Reagan possessed...then we are truly blessed to have that person running for office this year. I believe in my heart that person is Barack Obama.

SOURCES:
Source 1

Source 2

The State of the (Iraqi) Union

We are told fairy tales every day by the government and corporate media that things are getting better every day and every way in Iraq. So why are Americans dropping four times as many bombs as several years ago, still launching major offensives, spending some 11 billion dollars a month, and on and on? Because the delusion that Iraq is some sort of quasi-American suburb under attack by alien "terrorists" is just that, a delusion. Despite all the internicene conflict that we have helped foster by continuousy playing one side off against another, this is still a war of resistance against a brutal, brutal occupation, no matter how many candy-bars the Pentagon tells you they have handed out. Most red-blooded Iraqis are going to continue to fight against the occupation just as we would, if, say, China came over here to "liberate us". But most Americans are so far down the rabbit hole that they can't see this.

Anyway, one of the best and well-sourced journalists on the planet is Pepe Escobar, who writes The Roving Eye column for Asia Times. He has just published his own State of the Union retort to Bush's recent speech. However, Pepe's piece refers to the state of union in Iraq. This is such an important bucket of reality to splash in our collectively stupored faces that I am including a fair bit of it below, plus the link to the entire report:

The state of the (Iraqi) union

By Pepe Escobar

I say this to the evil Bush - leave my country.
We do not need you and your army of darkness.
We don't need your planes and tanks.
We don't need your policy and your interference.
We don't want your democracy and fake freedom.
Get out of our land.
- Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi Shi'ite leader

The George W Bush-sponsored Iraqi "surge" is now one year old. The US$11 billion-a-month (and counting) Iraqi/Afghan joint quagmire keeps adding to the US government's staggering over $9 trillion debt (it was "only" $5.6 trillion when Bush took power in
early 2001).

On the ground in Iraq, the state of the union - Bush's legacy - translates into a completely shattered nation with up to 70% unemployment, a 70% inflation rate, less than six hours of electricity a day and virtually no reconstruction, although White House-connected multinationals have bagged more than $50 billion in competition-free contracts so far. The gleaming reconstruction success stories of course are the Vatican-sized US Embassy in Baghdad - the largest in the world - and the scores of US military bases.

Facts on the ground also attest the "surge" achieved no "political reconciliation" whatsoever in Iraq - regardless of a relentless US corporate media propaganda drive, fed by the Pentagon, to proclaim it a success. The new law to reverse de-Ba'athification - approved by a half-empty Parliament and immediately condemned by Sunni and secular parties as well as former Ba'athists themselves - will only exacerbate sectarian hatred.

What the "surge" has facilitated instead is the total balkanization of Baghdad – as well as the whole of Iraq. There are now at least 5 million Iraqis among refugees and the internally displaced - apart from competing statistics numbering what certainly amounts to hundreds of thousands of dead civilians. So of course there is less violence; there's hardly any people left to be ethnically cleansed.

Everywhere in Iraq there are myriad signs of balkanization - not only in blast wall/partitioned Baghdad. In the Shi'ite south, the big prize is Basra, disputed by at least three militias. The Sadrists - the voice of the streets - are against regional autonomy; the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC)- which controls security - wants Basra as the key node of a southern Shi'iteistan; and the Fadhila party - which control the governorate - wants an autonomous Basra.

In the north, the big prize is oil-rich Kirkuk province, disputed by Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Turkmen; the referendum on Kirkuk has been postponed indefinitely, as everyone knows it will unleash a bloodbath. In al-Anbar province, Sunni Arab tribes bide their time collaborating with the US and controlling the exits to Syria and Jordan while preparing for the inevitable settling of scores with Shi'ites in Baghdad.

Obama and Hillary vs Iraqis

Meanwhile, in the Democratic party presidential race, Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war on Iraq, viciously battles Kennedy clan-supported Barack Obama, who opposed the war, followed at a distance by John "can a white man be president" Edwards, who apologized for his initial support for the war. Obama, Edwards and Clinton basically agree, with some nuance, the "surge" was a fluke.

They have all pledged to end the war if elected. But Edwards is the only pre-candidate who has explicitly called for an immediate US troop withdrawal - up to 50,000, with nearly all of the remaining out within a maximum of 10 months. Edwards insisted Iraqi troops would be trained "outside of Iraq" and no troops would be left to "guard US bases".

For their part, both Clinton and Obama believe substantial numbers of troops must remain in Iraq to "protect US bases" and "to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq". This essentially means the occupation grinding on. Both never said exactly how many troops would be needed: they could be as many as 75,000. Both have steadfastly refused to end the "mission" before 2013.

It's hard to envision an "occupation out" Obama when among his chief advisers one finds former president Jimmy Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski - the "grand chessboard" ideologue who always preached American domination of Eurasia - and former Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross, who always fought for Israel's dominance of the "mini-chessboard", the Middle East.

So far Obama has not given any signs he would try to counter the logic of global US military hegemony conditioned by control of oil; that's why the US is in Iraq and Africa, that's the reason for so much hostility towards Venezuela, Iran and Russia. As for Clinton - with the constant references to "vital national security interests" - there's no evidence this twin-headed presidency would differ from Bush in wanting to install a puppet, pliable, perennial, anti-Iranian, peppered-with-US-military-bases regime in Iraq.

But more than US presidential candidates stumbling on how to position themselves about Iraq, what really matters is what Iraqis themselves think. According to Asia Times Online sources in Baghdad, apart from the three provinces in Iraqi Kurdistan, more than 75% of Sunnis and Shi'ites alike are certain Washington wants to set up permanent military bases; this roughly equals the bulk of the population in favor of continued attacks against US troops.

Furthermore, Sunni Arabs as a whole as well as the Sadrists are united in infinite suspicion of the key Bush-mandated "benchmark": the eventual approval by the Iraqi Parliament of a new oil law which would in fact de-nationalize the Iraqi oil industry and open it to Big Oil. Iraqi public opinion as a whole is also suspicious of what the Bush administration wants to extract from the cornered, battered Nuri al-Maliki government: full immunity from Iraqi law not only for US troops but for US civilian contractors as well. The empire seems to be oblivious to history: that was exactly one of ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's most popular reasons to dethrone the Shah of Iran in 1979....

to read the entire Roving Eye Report, click here.

Obama DID win New Hampshire!!

Where ballots were counted by hand, Obama 38% and Clinton averaged 34%.

So will we ever "really" know who we've elected with the current process still in place?

I thought the New Hampshire recount was not going to show anything. First, ALL the programming cards that had been used in the election went missing. Big Red Flag there. Dennis Kucinich ran out of money and had to call his recount off...but with the disparencies it appears that NH should continue the recount. If the citizens of New Hampshire are wise they are going to dump the dieboldt machines.

If it's not some sort of a conspiracy then why is it the electronic handcount always favors the more conservative, corporate friendly candidates. Yes it even happened in the Republican primary also.

SOURCE

"Al Nakba"--The Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948

With the situation in Gaza and the West Bank growing more chaotic daily, and while the world is pressing for Israel and Palestinians to come up with a real and just solution, it is absolutely indispensible to know the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially what happened in and around 1948. To the Palestinians this was the time of the infamous "Al Nakba" (the Catastrophe), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven into exile from their villages and lands in areas Israelis were now claiming as their own, and where they needed to eliminate the Palestinian majority for political reasons as well.

Here is a video that gives you a look at events in 1948 from the Palestinian perspective. Some will criticize this as propaganda, or simply part of a more complex picture. However, be that as it may, this is still how Palestinians themselves largely view their history, and we cannot begin to understand their differences with the State of Israel unless we can see things through their eyes. Personally, my studies of history lead me to consider this video as quite representative of what happened. Leading Jewish scholars like Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim, and Tom Segev have debunked, to my satisfaction at least, the official Israeli revionist claims that Al Nakba is a myth.

Another reason to show this video is to simply point out, in photographs, that a viable Palestinian culture existed prior to 1948, and that, moreover, some Palestinians were and are Christians, not just Moslems. Revisionist propagandists on the Right have also been trying to paint a picture of wandering "Arab" populations that just happened to be more or less squatting on or enticed into settling in Palestinian territory just prior to 1948, and that they had no history, no culture, nada.

Yet nothing could be farther from the truth as you will see as you watch this video. And again, let me point out, especially for those of you who are Christians, that both Palestinian Moslems and Christians were driven from their homes by Israeli forces in 1948.

"A President Like My Father" ---Caroline Kennedy

A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY

The entire article is here. This is an excerpt.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We d

We Need HONEST Leaders

Hillary and Bill Clinton have been campaigning like neocons not like democrats. You'd think they had morphed into Karl Rove himself with the divisive lies they keep spreading.

There's one big fact that everyone can see....Hillary Clinton will lie and maybe stop at nothing to get elected.

If, with the electronic voting etc, Hillary Clinton does get the Democratic nomination then the Democratic leadership is going to be in for a major shock in November. There are too many folks who have been the base for the democratic party for decades who will either sit at home on election day, write in a candidate, or vote the green party.

Hillary is losing some strong noteable women supporters

I suspect that many pro-choice women will be leaving Hillary's camp over this.

The LGBT community has not been fond of the Clinton's. Clinton had promised the LGBT community that he would open our military forces to the worldwide standard...of allowing lesbians and gay men to serve openly. It was expected that Clinton would do this through an executive order. Instead, the Clinton word was broken and the horrible don't ask don't tell policy was put into place. Lots of folks in the lesbian/gay community remember how we were sold out and are no longer willing to play with the Clintons.

How anyone who is scraping can forgive the Clinton's for that awful welfare reform program that broke the safety net for those in need in this country. There are many more poor, hungry children and families in our country today because of the Clinton legacy.

Doubting that the Clintons are both notorious sellouts? Hillary has accepted alot of money from insurance companies. What happened to national universal healthcare that Clinton promised? He gave it to Hillary to run and she spent alot of time at the White House kitchen table with folks like Dr. Dozoretz and his wife from First Hospital Corporation, a very large HMO insurance company. When I heard that I knew that their promise for a national health care policy was nothing more than a vote getter and I swore NEVER to support Hillary Clinton again.

Oh and the biggest sellout of all...The Clinton's pushed NAFTA through Congress...So give me a break Bill when you want to preach about all the good that Hillary did for "us" by working on the Wal-mart board?? Give me a break. Do I want to return to the Clinton White House Days?

Hillary wants us to believe that she can take lots of money from the multinational corporations and yet she will represent "us" not "them." Well your cherished "record" says the opposite. There is no way that I will go to the polls and pull the lever for Hillary Clinton....I'd rather vote for write in the name Dennis Kucinich if the Democratic "alleged leaders" like Pelosi/Reid/Carville etc insist on Hillary being the winner. There are many others who are thinking they will sit at home and let that message ring out....

No way....besides breaking your promises to the people who put you into office...this country remained divided. We need UNITY in our country and Hillary Clinton is a divisive force. Her campaign is exposing the divisiveness....

And IF you still don't believe that Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton are liars....just look at how they are campaigning and smearing the Barack Obama campaign with horrible lies....the biggest lies are through their supporters, of course...they are actually stating that Barack Obama, a Christian, is "secretly a Muslim".....and then there's the lies about his record....

If you look at Barack Obama's Illinois record those "present" votes were put to good use. As a young state senator he has an impressive record of getting lots of great bills passed and a very impressive record of being able to unite folks to get things done.

This is the time we need someone who can unify this country once again....We need a UNITED States of America....where folks will discuss and disagree on the issues but the issues don't get lost in nasty hateful uncivilized behavior.

Buzz....Buzz....

Wasting America's Resouces

Report from Cairo on the Crisis in Gaza

I received this email from Jewish Voice for Peace today. It is well worth reading. It is a report from Joel Beinin in Cairo on the dramatic events taking place in Gaza. It includes information you likely won't get from the local media. Jewish Voice for Peace is battling to bring truth, justice and reconciliation to the embattled peoples of the Middle East. Their website is: http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/








About 3:00 am on Wednesday morning Jan. 23, well-coordinated explosions demolished the iron wall built by Israel to seal the southern border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (the Philadelphi axis). Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed across the border and entered the Egyptian side of the town of Rafah, which had been bisected by the wall, in search of food, gasoline, and other basic commodities which have been in short supply for many months in Gaza. The first wave of Palestinians to cross consisted of hundreds of women who were met with water canons and beatings by Egyptian security forces.














The wall was the starkest expression of the international boycott of Hamas imposed by the United States, Israel, and the European Union after Hamas won a majority of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections of January 2006 and formed a government the following March. Hamas has been in sole control of the Gaza Strip after it executed a coup d'état against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007. Since then, Israel has tightened the siege of Gaza which had been in effect since June 2006.

In response, Hamas and Palestinian Jihad militants have fired thousands of Qassam missiles on the town of Sderot and other Israeli population centers near the Gaza Strip. According to the 2007 annual report of B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, Hamas and Jihad killed twenty-four Israeli civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during 2006 and 2007 and thirteen Israeli military personnel.

In retaliation, Israel escalated the pace of its targeted assassinations of Hamas and Jihad militants, killing hundreds of civilians in the process. Based on B'Tselem's 2007 annual report, a Ha-Aretz investigation (Jan. 14, 2008) concluded that Israeli forces killed 816 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during 2006 and 2007; at least 360 of them were civilians not affiliated with any armed organizations; 152 of the casualties were under age 18, and 48 were under the age of 14.

Despite the siege, Israel continued to provide electricity and water to the Gaza Strip, allowing people to live on the edge of survival, hoping that the economic pressure would bring down the Hamas government. Half the population now depends on charity handouts from the UN refugee relief organization and other humanitarian NGOs. Four days before the wall came crashing down, Israel sharply cut back fuel and water supplies, imposing a harsh collective punishment on the entire population of 1.5 million.

According to Ha-Aretz columnist Amira Hass (Jan. 24, 2008), for several months Hamas leaders had been discussing measures to end Gaza's torment, described by Rela Mazali, an Israeli feminist peace activist with the New Profile organization and an editor of Jewish Peace News, as "an abomination." Apparently, Hamas decided that four days of hermetic closure, following months of siege, created conditions in which Egypt and the international community would be willing to accept bringing down the wall. Hamas did not take official responsibility for blowing up the wall, but praised the action.

The Egyptian press reported that several days before the wall was blown up the General Guide of the Muslim Brothers, the largest opposition force in Egypt, spoke by telephone to Khaled Mash'al, the head of the Political Bureau of Hamas who resides in Damascus. Hamas emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brothers; and there is a high likelihood that the actions of the two organizations were coordinated. Following this consultation, the Brothers began to organize demonstrations throughout Egypt beginning on Friday, Jan. 18. The number of its supporters in the street gradually increased, culminating on Wednesday. Jan. 23. That morning, thousands of Egyptian security forces surrounded Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo and arrested hundreds (according to some reports thousands) of people who were attempting to demonstrate in solidarity with the people of Gaza. The demonstration was supported by both the Muslim Brothers and secular nationalists.

Meanwhile, at Rafah Egyptian security forces initially tried to stop the Palestinians from streaming across the border. But as the numbers swelled to tens of thousands, the government had no choice but to acquiesce. President Hosni Mubarak told journalists that he had instructed the security forces to: "Let them come in to eat and buy food" and return "as long as they are not carrying weapons."

















What are the implications of these developments?

It appears that the Annapolis summit and the sham "peace process" it was supposed to have reinvigorated are dead - killed by tens of thousands of unarmed Palestinians crossing the boarder into Egypt to meet their basic human needs. Shortly before President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East, Israel began an expanded campaign of pressure on the Gaza Strip, including an escalation in targeted assassinations. Hamas has sent several signals that it was prepared for an informal cease fire with Israel. But the political perspective articulated at Annapolis and its aftermath requires that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cooperate with Israel in crushing Hamas rather than try to restore Palestinian national unity. Egypt's task in this drama is to stand silently by.

This is an impossible task and cannot in any way contribute to peace. Even if Mahmud Abbas were to come to terms and sign an agreement with Israel, it would have no credibility and would be very short lived without some degree of approval and participation from Hamas. A government of national unity that represents all the factions of the Palestinian people is the only entity capable of signing a viable peace agreement with Israel.

The Israeli government led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert opposes the kind of agreement that a Palestinian national unity government would demand, as has every previous government of Israel. Such an agreement would require recognition of Palestinian national rights rather than paternalistic "concessions" granted by a magnanimous but ultimately all-powerful Israel.

The limited capacity of the Egyptian government to acquiesce to this program has been exposed. The Mubarak regime would like very much to see Hamas crushed, since it is an ally of the Muslim Brothers, its most substantial domestic opposition force. But the Palestinian cause is too popular and emotional an issue in Egypt for Mubarak to appear to be assisting Israel in starving the people of Gaza. Moreover, some of the demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza also raised slogans against the drastic rise in the price of food in recent months and against Husni Mubarak himself. Opposition demonstrations linking the Palestine cause with domestic economic issues and autocracy have the potential to threaten a regime whose legitimacy is already minimal.

Palestine, Israel, and Egypt after the fall of the Gaza wall are more unstable than before. It is desirable, but alas unlikely, that this instability will bring the leaderships to their senses and impel them to negotiate a just peace for the benefit of all. But it is more likely that Olmert, Abbas, and Mubarak - all weak and discredited leaders - will seek to hold onto power by clinging to the United States, which has a long record of opposing Palestinian-Israeli peace. The people of the Gaza Strip have taken their survival into their own hands and have shown that the power of ordinary people is more likely to shape the future than polished diplomatic formulas.

Joel Beinin
Cairo, Jan. 24, 2008


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lift the Gaza Blockade: Call on Congress to Speak Up and Join Us in the Streets!

Bush's new lap dog is not going to fold this time...

Senator Harry Reid who has been heavily criticized for folding whenever the Republicans threaten to filibuster.

FINALLY Harry is not going to fold. He's going to MAKE the Senators filibuster instead of folding his hand.

THE PROBLEM IS HE IS MAKING THE DEMOCRATIC SENATORS FILIBUSTER.

Does anyone doubt that Harry Reid has taken over Tony Blair's old role of Bush's new lap dog? Senator Harry Reid is Bush's new teacup poodle.

Thank heavens for Senators like Jim Webb, Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold, and Barrack Obama. They will support the filibuster. This filibuster is to protect the rule of law in America. Retroactive Immunity for the telecoms is a Bush/Cheney dream come true. Then "they" will be protected from being exposed for the wholesale illegal surveillance of millions of Americans...and guess what....I'm thinking there's a good possibility they did this BEFORE 9/11....

Maybe there is much more to this telecomunications surveillance story than meets the eye.....Could Bush and Cheney learned things they could use to "blackmail" important people? If that's the case it would sure explain why Senator Reid has his heels dug in so hard in his support to help Bush and Cheney get away with their illegal spying....Is this why Reid has been transformed into Bush's new lapdog---a teacup poodle? Or maybe, the telecoms simply bought him off. Senator Harry Reid's party is going to be leading the filibuster....thank heavens the Democratic party might still be salvageable. Senator Reid is surely not leading the Democrats....he's too busy protecting Bush and Cheney's interests.

CSpan will make for good tv viewing tomorrow!! Hopefully we'll hear some good speeches from Jim Webb and Barack Obama. Heck, Hillary Clinton may even have to show up in spite of all the corporate money she has stashed away.

If nothing else...at least Harry Reid has been exposed....only Democrats have to carry through with a filibuster....Republicans only have to threaten a filibuster to get their way.

SOURCE
Buzz...Buzz....

Alleged War Profiteer and Criminal Resurfaces at Heritage Foundation

If you only had this speech to go by you'd think Darth Vader was a patriot. But missing from the speech is his record of OUTING a CIA covert spy--Valerie Plame Wilson--and going after a REAL Patriot Joe Wilson for exposing Cheney and Bush's Lies that led us into an illegal invasion of Iraq.....so that Cheney can reap millions from his Haliburton stock....

He also rewrites History and pretends that the Bush Cabal went to Congress to get permission for their wireless surveillance program. LIAR...They simply broke the law and violated our Constitutional rights....because they believe in a President who is a KING....so they were doing their wiretapping wholesale of millions of Americans and not telling Congress a thing about what they were doing.

If the House and Senate doing it's job this would already have come out in impeachment proceedings...and probably even more stuff that no one has even had the time to imagine yet....

Now they want retroactive immunity for their partners in crime...and to protect themselves. The telecommunications corporations who ENABLED Bush and Cheney's unconstitutional surveillance knowingly chose to break the law. One corporation followed the law--Qwest Communication--they followed the law of the land and REFUSED to participate in the wholesale wireless surveillance of millions of Americans without a warrant or FISA court approval. IF everything is how Cheney portrays it then the telecoms will not be found guilty....However, the truth will come out in court and this scares Bush and Cheney...that's why Bush keeps vetoing the bill...because Bush and Cheney, it is alleged. started their wireless surveillance program BEFORE 9/11....it wasn't done to protect us....Nothing about the Iraq illegal invasion and occupation has been done to protect us. I'm wondering if it's possible if some of this "information" was used to blackmail members of Congress?? It sure would explain a lot of weird Democratic behavior in the House and Senate.

But Cheney is the ultimate snake oil salesman isn't he? He's so good that he has Harry Reid taking over Tony Blair's old role as the Bush/Cheney French Poodle of the White House. Careful Harry....we can tell you've been drinking the Kool Aid....I hear that results in lots of telecommunications money being steered your way...

Now the question is...How many Senators are feeding at the Telecommunications money trough besides Senator Reid and Rockefeeler??

Contact your Senators today and tell them that Congress has NEVER granted retroactive immunity in the past....and this is DEFINITELY the WRONG situation....

Reagan's Deputy Attorney General Calls For Bush's Impeachment

H/T to Cliff at Cobalt6 for the video

Virginia's House Representatives Need to get off the Fence

First I want to THANK Rep. Jim Moran for agreeing to co-sponsor an impeachment resolution.

Then I want to CHALLENGE my Representative, Bobby Scott, to get off the fence. Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines. Rep. Wexlar, had the decency to poll his constituents and now he's supporting Impeachment. Another Virginia Representative is supporting impeachment. Does Bobby Scott really believe that Bush and Cheney have not committed crimes that are impeachable?

There is NOTHING, NO BILL, NOTHING, more important than establishing that this is a country ruled by law and not a few crude cruel men who can do anything they want, regardless of what the people say.

Here are some facts:

A June 23-26, 2005, ABC/Washington Post poll found 52 percent of Americans believe the Bush administration "deliberately misled the public before the war," a nine-point increase in three months. And 57 percent say the Bush administration "intentionally exaggerated its evidence that pre-war Iraq possessed nuclear, chemical or biological weapons."

A June 27-29, 2005, Zogby poll found 42 percent of Americans say that "if it is found that President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should hold him accountable through impeachment." According to Zogby, in Eastern and Western states supporters of impeachment outnumber opponents.

The 42 percent above is significantly higher than the 27 percent of Americans who favored impeachment of President Clinton before impeachment proceedings began in 1998. (NOTE: this is an old poll...the percentage is now believed to be higher especially since the study was released this week proving that Bush, Cheney et al lied hundreds of times to lead us into an illegal invasion.)

If there was ever a reason to impeach it is now. Our founding fathers gave us the tools we needed to protect our constitution and preserve our democracy. Our elected officials, in failing to use the tools they have at their disposal, are becoming accessories to the war crimes and the dismantling of our democracy and our rule of law.

Some cry that it's too late. Try using that defense in court. It's bogus. It's not too late to restore the rule of law to our land. We need to know once and for all if Bush and Cheney are guilty or not guilty of impeachable crimes. I want to know if Bush and Cheney, as Washington "insider" talk goes, started their illegal activities such as the surveillance program BEFORE 9/11 occurred. Allegedly that's one of the reasons Bush is so adamant that telecommunications get retroactive immunity.

Contact your representative asap. Ask them to take a stand---Do they support impeachment, or would they rather defend the position that there is no reason to start impeachment hearings against Bush and Cheney?

The Democrats have been whining about how that mean ole President Bush is using his veto to get his way....while they hope this will get them more votes in 2008....Pelosi and Reid believe it's to their benefit to protect Bush and Cheney. They mistakenly believe that playing politics is going to GOTV. Every day the Congressional Dems sit on the fence gives their base, their major supporters more reason to sit in our homes come the November elections. I'm not going out to vote for the Democratic nominee if the Democrats won't uphold their congressional oaths to defend the constitution!!

It's never too late to stop playing politics and do the right thing. This is the time to take a stand right now. On January 29th, Dennis Kucinich will re-introduce impeachment. Get off the fence and support it or defend your stand that there's no reason to impeach. But get off the fence!! We didn't elect you to do nothing.

Blackwater Protestors Found Guilty

The Blackwater Protestors appealed their December verdicts and lost. The judge in that case illegally closed his courtroom to the public.

A jury found all seven of the protestors guilty of trespassing and also found six of the protestors guilty of resisting arrest.

They were sentenced today. Judge Duke sentenced five of the seven – who had already served five days in jail after their arrest – to five days with credit for time served. The other two received suspended five-day sentences.

Judge Duke allowed all seven to make statements. According to noted reporter, Bill Sizemore, of the Virginian Pilot:

Duke allowed the defendants to make statements during the hourlong sentencing hearing, and most did. They told the judge that they believe Blackwater enjoys legal impunity for war crimes in Iraq and that by holding an illegal protest they were following a higher law, citing the Bible and the Constitution.

“There may be no court that can prosecute these killers,” defendant Beth Brockman, of Durham, N.C., told the judge. As Christians we have an obligation to stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people.”

Duke responded at length, telling the group, “I’ve always thought that if you’re going to be a follower of Jesus or someone who appreciates the Constitution, you can’t select the portions that you like and disregard the rest.”

In particular, he cited the apostle Paul’s biblical admonition to his fellow Christians to abide by the law of man. As the judge went on, the protesters broke in several times with responses of their own.

“We’re not here about what’s happening in Iraq,” Duke told them. “We’re here about the peace and harmony of this particular community. The rule of law of this state is instituted to protect this peace and harmony. This is a place, a state, a nation, of laws – not of men.”

The judge quoted the noted Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter, who called the rule of law “all we have standing between us and the tyranny of mere will and the cruelty of unbridled, undisciplined feeling.”

“You’re kind and gentle people,” Duke told the protesters. “But the law doesn’t say treat kind and gentle people differently from those who would harm us. You’ve told me you’re not going to abide by the law. You’re not going to respect my judgment. That grieves me.”

Protester Bill Streit, of Louisa County, Va., responded: “I feel sorry that we’re grieving you. You have given us a lot of leeway, and I appreciate that.”

“Good luck,” the judge told the seven as they filed out.

Let's Look at Hillary Clinton's record

First I refer you to the earlier post about how Hillary, as First Lady, took what should have been a Republican scandal and singlehandedly turned it into a Clinton scandal--Travelgate.

Hillary OFTEN mentions her mentor at the Children's Defense Fund--the legendary Marian Wright Edelman.

So let's look at what Marian Wright Edelman thinks of Hillary Clinton's alleged "record." Democracy Now reports:

AMY GOODMAN: Marian Wright Edelman, we just heard Hillary Rodham Clinton. She used to be the head of the board of the Children’s Defense Fund, of the organization that you founded. But you were extremely critical of the Clintons. I mean, when President Clinton signed off on the, well, so-called welfare reform bill, you said, “His signature on this pernicious bill makes a mockery of his pledge not to hurt children.” So what are your hopes right now for these Democrats? And what are your thoughts about Hillary Rodham Clinton?

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: Well, you know, Hillary Clinton is an old friend, but they are not friends in politics. We have to build a constituency, and you don’t—and we profoundly disagreed with the forms of the welfare reform bill, and we said so. We were for welfare reform, I am for welfare reform, but we need good jobs, we need adequate work incentives, we need minimum wage to be decent wage and livable wage, we need health care, we need transportation, we need to invest preventively in all of our children to prevent them ever having to be on welfare.

And yet, you know, many years after that, when many people are pronouncing welfare reform a great success, you know, we’ve got growing child poverty, we have more children in poverty and in extreme poverty over the last six years than we had earlier in the year. When an economy is down, and the real test of welfare reform is what happens to the poor when the economy is not booming. Well, the poor are suffering, the gap between rich and poor widening. We have what I consider one of—a growing national catastrophe of what we call the cradle-to-prison pipeline. A black boy today has a one-in-three chance of going to prison in his lifetime, a black girl a one-in-seventeen chance. A Latino boy who’s born in 2001 has a one-in-six chance of going to prison. We are seeing more and more children go into our child welfare systems, go dropping out of school, going into juvenile justice detention facilities. Many children are sitting up—15,000, according to a recent congressional GAO study—are sitting up in juvenile institutions solely because their parents could not get mental health and health care in their community. This is an abomination.

The woman Hillary Clinton regularly mentions as her mentor strongly criticizes Hillary's alleged record. I personally would love to see a humane, progressive woman in the White House....but Hillary Clinton is NOT that woman. Hillary likes to compare herself to Margaret Thatcher, who was often jokingly referred to as a "man in drag" because of her policies.

Hillary will probably love the fact that Mosquito Blog is criticizing her...it will maker her appear more centrist.

I can personally understand the symbolic importance and progressive act it would be to elect our first woman president. That would be joyful indeed. But not if our first woman president is not progressive.

Does one's gender make one immune from betraying helpless children and the poor? The safety net in this country was ripped apart under the Clinton's and we have more children in poverty today because of their version of welfare reform.

Taking money from the poor to "give it" to the rich corporations is not beneficial to our country.

H/T to Buzzflash for the inspiration.