We Don't Need No Stinkin Atrocities

John Kerry may have Springsteen, REM, and Moby raising cash and doing concerts for him, but Bobo scored a major coup by convincing the greatest rock acts of all time to headline a Bands for Bush tour. We are, of course, speaking about Ted Nugent, Charlie Daniels and Tobe Keith.

It's because the nation is being deeply divided over Vietnam and we need some manly music to calm our nerves. Kerry has to be lying to the nation's christian coalition about his medals and he's a disgrace for mentioning atrocities in South Vietnam. We don't need no stinkin atrocities to shape the Rethug message - we've had no such things in Iraq.



Does anyone know if the Greneda Incident Veterans for Truth and the Kosovo Insurgency Brigade support Bobo. We are desperately searching the roles for a 527 that may have an ad in store for us.

Regretably suffering from a French moment, I must admit that the RNC coronation next week has some really catchy slogans for the viewers at home on FOX as an exclusive.

Free trade, free ammo, privatize the rest

All you can eat religion

Remember the terrorist alerts

At least he didn't press the button

Peace with Private Military Companies

Gas ain't six bucks.

George Bush. Deja Vu.

Isn't it better now that Clinton's penis ain't on CNN?

It's Jim Beam time in Crawford

Values for the 19th Century

There could have been WMDs

We don't need no stinkin atrocities

Lipstick on a Pig

So where has General Powell gone? He's a main dude, a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and our distinguished Secretary of State, for chrissakes. Our understanding is that the General has undergone a transformation in these last few months and will be taking to Las Vegas with the Village People after November 2nd.



As this embedded video (Real Player) illustrates, the Secretary of State auditioned for the construction worker position last month and did a damned good rendition of the VP's greatest hit, YMCA. Of course, VP is the Village People and not Vice President.

People love the Village People, especially Rethugs. Each of its members represents an important American masculine archetype -- a policeman, a sailor, an Indian, a construction worker, and a biker. And their songs always get those manly juices flowing. How can they miss with such testosterone-charged tunes such as In the Navy, YMCA, and Macho Man?

As a proud owner of an authentic pair of cowboy chaps, I can truly say that the addition of General Powell will only make this great group even greater.

Construction Worker Powell, the manly wing of the Rethug party salutes you. And so does Bobo.

A Swift Boat for The Truth

"It's become so petty it's almost pathetic in a way as I listen to these things. You know every -- (Rep.) Chaka (Fattah) was telling me a minute ago he keeps hearing these commentators, Republicans all of them, saying "well John Kerry was only in Vietnam for four months blah blah blah." Well, I was there for longer than that number one. Number two, I served two tours. Number three, they thought enough of my service to make me an aide to an admiral. And the Navy 35 years ago made the awards that I made through the normal process that they make. And I'm proud of them and I'm proud of my service and I'm proud that I stood up against the war when I came home because it was the right thing to do." "I've been 35 years now involved in foreign policy one way or the other. From being at the tip of the spear when leaders made bad decisions to trying to oppose it when I came home as an act of conscience. And you can judge my character incidentally by that. Because when the Times of moral crisis existed in this country I wasn't taking care of myself, I was taking care of public policy. I was taking care of things that made a difference to the life of this nation. You may not have agreed with me but I stood up and was counted and that's the kind of president I'm gonna be."

- Big John, in a speech yesterday in Philadelphia, 8/24/2004

Meanwhile on Newsnight: The co-author of the book "Unfit for Command," former swift boat commander John O'Neill said Kerry made up a story about being in Cambodia beyond the legal borders of the Vietnam War in 1968.

O'Neill said no one could cross the border by river and he claimed in an audio tape that his publicist played to CNN that he, himself, had never been to Cambodia either. But in 1971, O'Neill said precisely the opposite to then President Richard Nixon.

O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.

NIXON: In a swift boat?

O'NEILL: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE) --- OOPS!! ... you missed an important piece of the story Karl Rove. And Big John is going to beat you all mercilessly with it. Better get the keys to one of V.P. Repo's secret bunkers to protect you from the shrapnel.

The first sketches of the Swiftie counterattack was Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe on Scarborough Country, of all freakin places. Being from Massachusetts originally, I, too, knew that Kerry was gonna drive this race right into Vietnam and steer his boat right into the political gunfire.

It's what Big John does when he's sizing up the competition and getting ready to pounce - he's done it this way for 30 years. Trippi has even stated that Kerry ate Dean's lunch when he went underground. It's his M.O. and he always wins with this card; are you beginning to notice how Bobo is now becoming the Swift Boat Ad? Another week of relentless pounding and they'll have Bobo running the camera for the Swifties in the voters' eyes. Pretty soon every ad out of the Rethug party is a smear ... are you catching the drift of what's going on?

And now we hear that Max Cleland and Rassmann are going to drop in for a visit in Crawford with Preznit Bobo to ask him to stop the smear. The letter, which was signed by at least seven members of Congress -- all veterans -- urge Bobo to specifically condemn the ads, saying they "represent the worst kind of politics." Talk about a true Michael Moore moment -- cameras running and two simple veterans asking their Preznit to stop an injustice? Might as well be asking WalMart to stop selling cyanide to minors.

Refight the Vietnam War, pick at the scab (as Tom O of the Globe put it), and lay the trash heap on Bobo's doorstep. This fight is gonna get nuclear before long and you watch the comparisons to Iraq and Vietnam creep up once Kerry has regular people taking sides. It will fire up the base, get people concerned and active.

A viewer could witness Scarborough double-take when he heard the history lesson from Oliphant? He knows that Kerry is pulling a fast one with this minefield. Bobo is getting sucked into the mess already, and this is how Kerry will dictate the agenda going forward with Iraq. Don't debate the war itself, debate the policy. The Dems want the Rethug convention "consumed" with Vietnam (err, Iraq) on the cable news shows, and it will be -- which means Kerry controls the debate. It also means that the lunatic fringe of the Left will take to the streets to further distract from the Rethug message.

Every time I have watched Kerry go to Vietnam, he has come out looking like a hero and he always wins. Kerry was a guerrilla in Vietnam and he's a guerrilla with elections. The scrap heap is just beginning to come into veiw for Bobo. And the Rethugs are falling into the trap by overestimating O'Neill and underestimating Kerry.

God's Attorney General

Too many French-leaning Americans have been complaining about John Ashcroft. Non God-fearing hacks screech about how he's going after Internet scams when he should be prosecuting Muslims and ransacking mosques. And they whine about him covering up Justice's breasts and call him a nut because he is a deeply religious man who sings like Jim Nabors and thinks that kitties are possessed by Satan.

Let's review some of the important changes that have occurred under his watch:

• much of the government information previously available upon request is now considered secret and cannot be released to the public
  
• the government may watch over what you read and arrest librarians who tell you they're watching
  
• the government may monitor federal prison jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes
  
• the government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigation
  
• Americans may be jailed without being charged or being able to confront witnesses against them.

Have these people forgotten the Clinton years already? Our god-fearing nation became a slagheap of permissiveness and criminal behavior. Thank God for Ken Starr. During those dark eight years of despair, not one, single American citizen was held without charges being levied against him and nobody was denied access to an attorney. That's commie-pinko logic and bending over for the ACLU. It's certainly not the Pastor General Ashcroft way of administering justice.

Today, you're lucky if you hear a talk radio journalist rant about Clintonian crimes more than 60% of the time, and even then it's little more than a few words tacked onto the end of a sentence. It's like, "President Bush isn't responsible for alienating all of our allies, Clinton caused it", or "President Bush would not have waived the requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to search for plutonium stockpiles if Clinton wasn't dancing around the Oval Office with penis in hand." Sure, all these things are Clinton's fault, but we have excuses to hate him now, when in the past, hatred was enough by itself.

And yes, it's about time to arm Fetus-Americans. It's the only way we'll ever be able to guarantee their safety. No anti-abortion law will do it. The fetus' hosts will just go into a back alley if it's illegal; however, if that fetus is armed, no back alley abortionist is going to go messing around in there. An armed Fetus-American is a safe Fetus American. But it won't be easy, and those stem-cell fat cats are aggressive while Fetus-Americans aren't very smart. They touch themselves inappropriately. They don't see very well, and they have a hard time controlling their movements. They're going to need a lot of training. The NRA is very good at this kind of thing. Their Eddy the Eagle program for children is outstanding. I'm thinking they could use the lessons they've learned there to create a Freddy the Fetus program. They'll have those little bastards nailing gynecologists in no time.

First comes Jesus, then comes Smith and Wesson.

Dare We Say Kaput?

"To announce that there should be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. [There is an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and…degeneracy of manners and of morals…No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
- James Madison



And there still isn't a Starbucks or McDonald's in Fallujah. And there is no Walmart in Kabul.

Forty years ago, when Lyndon Johnson believed the United States could afford both Great Society and the Vietnam War, smart conservatives attacked his fiscal policies as extravagant and reckless. Ten years ago, the Rethug Party wrested control of Congress on the Contract with America, which included a balanced-budget amendment to restore fiscal responsibility. But today, thanks to tax cuts and massively increased military spending, the administration has transformed, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a ten-year projected surplus of $5.6 trillion to a deficit of $4.4 trillion: a turnaround of $10 trillion in roughly 32 months.

Bobo and his Texas Mafia can't even pretend to keep an arm's length from Halliburton, the master of the no-bid government contract. Sugar, grain, cotton, oil, gas and coal: These industries enjoy increased subsidies and targeted tax breaks not enjoyed by less-connected industries. Heck, if these guys' names ended in vowels, Rudy Guilliani would be dropping the RICO statute faster than Michelle Malkin could "insinutate" hearsay and rumor as iron-clad journalism.

The conservative Heritage Foundation blasts the administration's agricultural subsidies as the nation's most wasteful corporate welfare program. The libertarian Cato Institute called the administration's energy plan "three parts corporate welfare and one part cynical politics...a smorgasbord of handouts and subsidies for virtually every energy lobby in Washington" that "does little but transfer wealth from taxpayers to well-connected energy lobbies." And the Rethug Party's Medicare drug benefit, the largest single expansion of the welfare state since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, was designed to appeal to senior citizens who, as any competent politician knows, show up at the polls.

Wolfowitz, Perle and their allies in the Administration claimed the Iraqis would greet our troops with flowers. Somehow, more than a year after the president's "Mission Accomplished" photo-op, a disciplined body of well-supplied military professionals is still waging war against our troops, their supply lines and our Iraqi collaborators. Indeed, the regime we have just installed bids fair to become a long-term dependent of the American taxpayer under U.S. military occupation.

Bobo's 2000 campaign supposedly rejected Wilsonian foreign policy by articulating both the historic Rethug critique of foreign aid and explicitly criticizing Bill Clinton's nation-building. Today, the administration insists we can be safe only by compelling other nations to implement its vision of democracy. This used to be called imperialism. And empires don't come cheap - ask the British and the French; worse, "global democracy" requires just the kind of big government conservatives abhor. When the Wall Street Journal praises the use of American tax dollars to provide electricity and water services in Iraq, something we used to call socialism, either conservatism has undergone a substantial shift or the editors are in bed with Bobo and his boys in Crawford.

So you want to talk more about Swift Boats when this is going on? Us middle of the spectrum folks digress:

The New Republic: Bobo Pressures Pakistanis for 'High-Value Target' Before Election Day
Sources: "July Surprise?" John B. Judis, Spencer Ackerman and Massoud Ansari, The New Republic, July 19, 2004.

Powell: Terrorism Reports a "Big Mistake"
Sources: "Terror Report Big Mistake, Powell Says," Chattanooga Times Free Press, June 14, 2004; "Terror Report Paints Wishful Picture," The Virginian-Pilot, June 15, 2004

Use of Dogs to Scare Prisoners Was Approved; Focus Shifts to Bobo
Sources: "Use of Dogs to Scare Prisoners Was Authorized," Josh White and Scott Higham, The Washington Post, June 11, 2004; "Memo on Torture Draws Focus to Bush," Mike Allen and Dana Priest, The Washington Post, June 9, 2004

New York Times Apologizes for WMD Coverage
Sources: "The Times and Iraq," New York Times editorial, May 26, 2004; "Times admits flawed pre-war coverage; Reporters over- relied on Iraqi exiles' claims," David Folkenflik, The Baltimore Sun, May 27, 2004; "Chalabi Duped Us on WMD, Says New York Times," Alec Russell, The Daily Telegraph (London), May 27, 2004

Terror Warnings—Prime Timing?
Sources: "As Ashcroft Warns of Attack, Some Question Threat and Its Timing," Richard Stevenson and Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times, May 27, 2004; "Terror Warning Timing Questioned," Dan Froomkin, The Washington Post, May 27, 2004; "Analysis: Skeptics Wonder Whether Politics Motivated Warnings," Marc Sandalow, The San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2004

Bobo's Primetime Iraq Speech Falls Short on Answers
Sources: "A Speech Meant to Rally Public Support Doesn’t Answer Key Questions," Robin Wright and Mike Allen, The Washington Post, May 25, 2004; "Bush Starts Out on A 5-Week Uphill Run Concerning Iraq," Richard W. Stevenson, The New York Times, May 25, 2004; "Iraqis Skeptical on Bush Speech, Want U.S. Out," Alistair Macdonald, Reuters, May 24, 2004

Practice Can’t Perfect Bobo's Pronunciation of Abu Ghraib
Sources: "Bush Trips Over Abu Ghraib Pronunciation," Reuters, May 24, 2004; "Bush Speech: Was It Enough?" Dan Froomkin, The Washington Post, May 25, 2004

Moore’s Documentary About Bobo and Sept. 11 Wins Top Prize at Cannes
The Montreal Gazette noted the uncertainty surrounding the documentary’s release date: "Something about Disney not releasing it for fear of offending Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his nice Disney tax abatements there."
Sources: "Reel Hot Summer," John Griffin, The Montreal Gazette, May 15, 2004; "Moore Film Is Held Up By Questions About Rights," Sharon Waxman, The New York Times, May 25, 2004

Bobo Avoids Apology for Prisoner Abuse, Lauds Rumsfeld As "Superb"
Sources: "Hard to Say You're Sorry," David Sirota, Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, The Progress Report, May 7, 2004; "Allegations of Abuse Lead to Shakeup at Iraqi Prison," Sewell Chan and Jackie Spinner, The Washington Post, April 30, 2004; "Bush: U.S. Owes Debt to 'Superb' Rumsfeld," Jim Drinkard and Tom Sequitieri, USA Today, May 10, 2004; "The Gray Zone, How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib," Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, May 24, 2004.

As Prisoner Abuse Scandal Continues, House Works Three-Day Week
Source: "All Quiet on the House Side," Charles Babington, The Washington Post, May 11, 2004

Bobo's Job Approval Rating Dips, Support for War Declines
Sources: "Poll: Bush Job Rating Dips, Support for War Down," Reuters, May 10, 2004; "La Popularidad de Bush desciende a la cota mas baja durante su mandato," Europa Press, El Mundo, May 11, 2004; "Bush: U.S. Owes Debt to 'Superb' Rumsfeld," Jim Drinkard and Tom Sequitieri, USA Today, May 10, 2004

Bobo Claims Iraq War Is Not Political, Avoids Questions About Intelligence
Sources: "Meet the Press," Feb. 8, The New York Times, Feb. 10; MSNBC, Transcript, Feb. 8

Bobo-Linked Consulting Firm Set Up in Iraq to Profit from Rebuilding
Source: New York Times, "Washington Insiders' New Firm Consults on Contracts in Iraq," Sept. 30, 2003.

Bipartisan Criticism Increases Regarding Bobo's Spending Spree, Handling of Iraq
Sources: Washington Post, "Democrats Say Iraq Spending With Tax Cut Is Unaffordable," Sept. 9, 2003; New York Times, "Bush's Plans on Iraq Draw Criticism From Senators," Sept. 9, 2003.

Rumsfeld Pushed Bobo Into Iraq War, Former U.S. Diplomat Says
Source: Agence France Presse, "Former U.S. Diplomat Says Rumsfeld Led Bush to War," Aug. 17, 2003

Bobo Administration Shifts War Aims Post-Conflict
Source: Washington Post, "U.S. Shifts Rhetoric On Its Goals in Iraq," Dana Milbank and Mike Allen, August 1, 2003

Bobo Takes Personal Responsibility for Erroneous Intelligence
Source: Washington Post, "Bush Takes Responsibility for Iraq Claim," Mike Allen and Dana Milbank, July 31, 2003

New Doubts Cast on Bobo's Statements About Iraqi Weapons Capabilities
Sources: Los Angeles Times, "Classified Iraq Data Released: White House Seeks to Defend War Case," Greg Miller and James Gerstenzang, July 19, 2003

Bobo Administration's Provocation of Saddam May Have Created Greater Threat
Source: Washington Post, "Oct. Report Said Defeated Hussein Would be Threat," Walter Pincus, July 21, 2003

White House Launches Personal Attacks on Journalist for Reporting Declining Morale of Troops
Source: Washington Post, "Drudging Up Personal Details," Lloyd Grove, July 18, 2003

U.S. Officials Admit Bobo Erred in Statements About Iraqi Attempts to Purchase Uranium
Sources: Los Angeles Times, "White House on Defensive Over Intelligence," James Gerstenzang, July 9, 2003; Associated Press, "Democrat lawmakers urge probe after U.S. security officials say Bush was wrong to say Saddam sought Africa uranium," Deb Reichmann, July 8, 2003

Anti-American Resentment Fueled by Administration's Lack of Strategic Direction, Delay in Granting Leadership to Iraqis
Sources: New York Times, "Iraqis Were Set to Vote, but U.S. Wielded a Veto," David Rohde, June 19, 2003; The Telegraph, "America's Rebuilding of Iraq is in Chaos, Say British," Peter Foster, June 17, 2003; Washington Post, "Rising U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Spurs Concern: 9 Soldiers Killed in Attacks This Month," Peter Slevin, June 20, 2003.

War on Terror Criticized by Former Top Counter-Terrorism Bobo Aide
Source: Washington Post, "Former Aide Takes Aim at War on Terror," Laura Blumenfeld, June 16, 2003

Bobo Exaggerates Evidence of Iraq's Weapons Capabilities
Sources: The Nation, "Bush's Postwar Iraq Causing Cracks?" David Corn, May 27, 2003; Washington Post, "U.S. Hedges on Finding Iraqi Weapons," Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus, May 29, 2003; Knight Ridder Newspapers, "Postwar Problems in Iraq Raise Concerns Among Bush Advisers," John Walcott, May 31, 2003

Bobo Administration's Planning for Post-War Iraq Deemed Inadequate
Sources: USA Today, "Ex-Army Boss: Pentagon Won't Admit Reality in Iraq," Dave Moniz, June 3, 2003; The Nation, "Bush's Postwar Iraq Causing Cracks?" David Corn, May 27, 2003

Administration May Have Exerted Pressure to Report Questionable Evidence of Iraqi Weapons
Sources: U.S. News and World Report, "Truth and Consequences: New Questions About U.S. Intelligence Regarding Iraq's Weapons of Mass Terror," Bruce B. Auster, Mark Mazzetti and Edward T. Pound, June 9, 2003; Washington Post, "Some Iraq Analysts Felt Pressure From Cheney Visits," Walter Pincus & Dana Priest, June 5, 2003

White House Delays Inspecting, Securing Nuclear Sites in Iraq
Sources: Washington Post, "U.N. Atomic Chief Again Warns U.S. About Iraq," Walter Pincus, May 20, 2003; New York Times, "State Dept. and U.N. to Inspect Iraq Nuclear Site," James Dao, May 21, 2003; Agence France Presse, "Joint US-IAEA Inspection Team Expected in Iraq Soon," May 21, 2003.

Bobo Administration Acknowledges It Might Not Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, U.S. Inspection Team to Leave Iraq
Sources: Washington Post, "Frustrated, U.S. Arms Team to Leave Iraq," Barton Gellman, May 11, 2003; The Nation, "Now They Tell Us," David Corn, May 19, 2003

Administration Officials: Show of American Power Was Reason for War
Source: ABC News, "Reason for War?," John Cochran, April 25, 2003

Bobo Administration Proposes to Increase Control of Iraqi Oil, Finances
Source: Washington Post, "U.S. to Propose Broader Control of Iraqi Oil, Funds," Colum Lynch, May 8, 2003

White House Blocks Sept. 11 Report
Source: Knight Ridder Newspapers, "White House Refuses to Release Sept. 11 Info," Frank Davies, May 5, 2003

White House Excludes U.N. Inspectors from Weapons Search in Iraq
Sources: Agence France Presse, "Blix Says Intelligence Used to Justify Iraq War Was Shaky," April 22, 2003

Senior Officials Say United States Plans to Keep Military Bases in Iraq
Sources: New York Times, "A Nation at War: Strategic Shift; Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Key Iraq Bases," Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, April 20, 2003

Bobo Administration Holds Minors in Guantanamo Detention Camp
Source: The Associated Press, "Youths Being Interrogated at Guantanamo, U.S. Military Says," Michelle Faul, April 23, 2003

Religious Groups to Provide Aid, Proselytize in Iraq
Sources: Los Angeles Times, "Bundling of Aid, Christianity Stirs Concerns," Johanna Neuman, April 9, 2003

Ba'ath Party Quietly Regains Control in Iraq under U.S. Watch
Source: The Guardian, "Iraq: After the War: Ba'athists Slip Quietly into Control," Suzanne Goldenberg, April 21, 2003

Presidential Committee Members Resign over U.S. Inability to Safeguard Iraqi Museums
Source: Washington Post, "Bush Panel Members Quit Over Looting," Paul Richard, April 16, 2003

U.S. Government Under Pressure to Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and Cooperate with U.N. in SearchSources: Agence France Presse, "Pressure on the U.S. to Find Banned Weapons in Iraq," Francis Temman, April 8, 2003; Agence France Presse, "UN Must Verify Any Finds of Banned Weapons in Iraq: Nuclear Watchdog," April 8, 2003

Administration's Post-War Plan for Iraq Comes Under Fire, Criticism
Source: Washington Post, "U.S. Plan for Iraq's Future is Challenged," Karen DeYoung and Dan Morgan, April 6, 2003

U.S., Allies Disagree over Future of Iraqi Oil Industry
Sources: New York Times, "Arabs Have a Litmus Test for U.S. Handling of Iraqi Oil," Neela Banerjee, April 6, 2003; Washington Post, "U.S., Allies Clash Over Plan to Use Iraqi Oil Profits for Rebuilding," Colum Lynch, April 2, 2003

Hans Blix: Finding Weapons of Mass Destruction Is Not a Priority in Iraq
Source: Agence France Presse, "Iraq War Planned Long in Advance; Banned Arms Not the Priority: Blix," April 9, 2003

"Coalition of the Willing" Sparks Confusion, Amusement
Sources: Washington Post, "They Got the 'Slov' Part Right," Al Kamen, April 4, 2003; Agence France Presse, "The Curious Coalition: US Allies List Sparks Global Concern, Confusion," Matthew Lee, March 29, 2003

Bobo Requests "Down Payment" of $74.7 Billion for War in Iraq
Sources: The Associated Press, "Bush Tips His Hand on War Price Tag, After Resisting for Months," Scott Lindlaw, March 25, 2003; San Francisco Chronicle, "War Cost Estimate Approaching $100 Billion ­for Starters," Edward Epstein, March 14, 2003

Bobo's Administration Chided for Its Treatment of POWs
Sources: Agence France Presse, "U.S. Suffers Prisoner Blow in Iraq War," March 24, 2003; Human Rights Watch, "Iraq Must Not Parade POWs," March 24, 2003

Questions Surface About U.S. Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction
Source: Washington Post, "U.S. Lacks Specifics on Banned Arms," Walter Pincus, March 16, 2003

'Coalition of the Willing' Includes Countries with Appalling Human Rights Records
Sources: The Times, "Critics Deride U.S. Claim of a Broad Coalition," Richard Beeston, March 20, 2003; Human Rights Watch, "2003 World Report"; PR Newswire, "Remarks By the President in Press Availability Upon Return from Camp David," March 23, 2003

Companies with Ties to Administration, Republican Donors Considered for Iraq Post-War Rebuilding Contracts
Sources: Agence France Presse, "U.S. Plans to Tap Corporate America to Rebuild Iraq: Report," March 17, 2003; Agence France Presse, "Halliburton Subsidiary Wins Iraqi Oil Firefighting Contract," David Williams, March 25, 2003; The Daily Telegraph, "Halliburton Faces Row on Iran Link," Simon English, March 24, 2003; Washington Post, "Halliburton Unit Loses Out on Rebuilding Iraq," March 30, 2003

U.S., British Companies Will Be the Big Winners in War Against Iraq
Sources: Los Angeles Times, "Gauging Promise of Iraqi Oil," Warren Vieth and Elizabeth Douglass, March 12, 2003 Washington Post, "Companies Selected to Bid on Iraq Reconstruction," Peter Slevin and Mike Allen, March 11, 2003

Weapons Inspector Chief: U.S. Government Used Forged Evidence Against Iraq
Source: The Associated Press, "U.N. Inspectors: U.S. Used Forged Reports," William J. Kole, March 8, 2003

White House Refuses to Release Estimate of Cost of War and Aftermath
Source: Washington Post, "Democrats Denounce White House on Cost of War," Mike Allen and Jonathan Weisman, Feb. 27, 2003

Bobo, Head of International Agency At Odds Over Alleged Evidence of Iraq's Nuclear Program
Sources: Agence France Presse, "Bush, ElBaradei Appear at Odds over Iraq’s Nuclear Program," Jan. 29, 2003; Washington Post, "Doubts Remain About Purpose of Specialized Aluminum Tubes," Joby Warrick, Feb. 6, 2003

CIA, FBI Agents Baffled by Administration's Attempts to Link Iraq, al Qaeda
Source: New York Times, "Threats and Responses: Terror Links," James Risen and David Johnston, Feb. 2, 2003

White House Cancels Poetry Symposium Over Fear of Anti-War Poems
Sources: The Associated Press, "White House Cancels Poetry Symposium, Citing Concerns About Political Protest," Hillel Italie, Jan. 30, 2003; The Nation, "Poetic Protests Against War, Censorship," John Nichols, Feb. 4,2003

Bobo Steps Up Involvement in Colombian Civil War
Sources: Washington Post, "U.S. Moves Closer to Colombia's War," Scott Wilson, Feb. 7, 2003; Washington Post, "Once Held at Arms Length, Colombia's Military Gets Bush’s Embrace," Marcela Sanchez, Feb. 6, 2003

United States Escalates Bombing in No-Fly Zone
Source: Washington Post, "Airstrikes in Southern Iraq ‘No-Fly' Zone Mount," Vernon Loeb, Jan. 15, 2003

Bobo's Administration Using Questionable Military Interrogation Techniques
Source: Washington Post, "U.S. Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations," Dana Priest and Barton Gellman, Dec. 26, 2002

Bobo's Deadly Attacks Questioned
Source: Reuters, "Rights Group Questions Attack," Nov. 9, 2002

Bobo Withholds Information about North Korean Threat
Source: Washington Post, "N. Korea Issue Irks Congress," Mike Allen and Karen DeYoung, Oct. 19, 2002

CIA Director Says Iraq Might Not Attack U.S.
Source: The Associated Press, "C.I.A. Director Suggests Iraq May Not Strike Unless Provoked," Oct. 8, 2002

Bobo Makes False and Misleading Statements about Iraqi Threat
Sources: The Guardian, "White House 'Exaggerating Iraqi Threat'," Julian Borger, Oct. 9, 2002; Washington Post, "Bush Asserts Al Qaeda Has Links to Iraq's Hussein," Mike Allen, Sept. 26, 2002

Bobo Administration Continues to Alienate Allies
Source: The Washington Post, "New U.S. Doctrine Worries Europeans," Glenn Frankel, Sept. 30, 2002

Relatives of Sept. 11 Victims Criticize Administration
Source: Washington Post, "9/11 Panel Asks What Briefers Told Bush; White House Retreats on Independent Commission," Dana Priest and Dana Milbank, Sept. 22, 2002

So the Swift Boat Vets for (Mis)Truth are a more important revelation into the character of one of our candidates for President.

The Enemy Within

"The greatest strategic blunder in 40 years. If prudence is the mark of a conservative, [Bobo] has ceased to be a conservative."
- Pat Buchanan

It's starting to feel a little like 1992 again as an old Bush-family nemesis is rearing his head. Just in time for the Rethug debate over conservative values and issues, Pat Buchanan is burning down the house once again. Let me just state that I have never agreed with Old Pat's right to life agenda, but I find the man's discipline on conservatism compelling. Shrinking the deficit, aversion to nation-building, a smaller more effective government, a return to state's rights, repairing the disintegration of this nation's culture - dare we admit that these are prominent "american" themes, not just Rethug ones.

Yes, indeed. You can be a conservative and not support Bobo.

Just as we have learned that Big Government can't solve all of our problems, neither can Big Business. Bobo and his ilk have been betting on winners and losers since Ronnie Raygun and his supply-side, trigger-happy chowderheads took to the stage and grass roots in 1976. To state that tax-breaks to the job creation universe will solve the problems of the average Joe is a short hop from drinking the Kool-Aid on Soviet-brand economic policy. Taxation and trade policy are the keys to economic strength in a global marketplace - not government spending programs which we can no longer afford nor the undeniably short sighted policy of selecting corporate winners.

I hate to say I told you so, but the passion is there within the conservative wing of the Rethug factory, and do not confuse this with the Neo-Con bunker residing in the Pentagon and V.P. Repo's humble abode. Noting that he criticized the first President Bobo - Mr Rogers on Xanax - for the first gulf war, Mr. Buchanan quotes himself campaigning as the Reform Party candidate in 2000. "How can all our meddling not fail to spark some horrible retribution?" he said then. "Have we not suffered enough - from Pan Am 103 to the World Trade Center [bombing of 1993] to the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam - not to know that interventionism is the incubator of terrorism? Or will it take some cataclysmic atrocity on U.S. soil to awaken our global gamesmen to the going price of empire?"

Among his fiercest attacks at Bobo is the frequent statement that "perceptions of weakness, not the use of force, invite terrorist attacks." Old Pat senses that a policy of containment is most effective while direct intervention creates a breeding ground for terrorism.

In case you forgot, Big John was also against the first Iraqi adventure using much the same logic. Only now, the Rethug War Machine pushes the "flip-flop" and "nuance" buttons. Even with a tiny bit of hindsight, isn't it clear that the first Iraq cabal was a precursor to this one? Wasn't leaving U.S. troops on sacred Arab lands a statement on American colonialism, forcing our enemies into Jihad against our interest? If you think not, I'd say you're at least somewhat uninformed.

European history shows us that the arrogance of power, the alienation of allies, and the waging of wars in regions where no vital interests are at risk leads to an imperial overstretch that brought down so many empires of the past.

Here's a few more interesting tidbits from Old Pat's direction, and if I'm Big John I would stake out a position on many of these issues because they speak to the core of the Independent voter. Just take a few of them and hammer them home night after night on the pundit shows, and be disciplined! No more DNC shrills, get to the centrist idealogues who can truly argue these points with conviction.

How the GOP has become not the party of Reagan, but of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and LBJ. [Take a look at the deficit].

Influential pseudo-conservatives who argued at the end of the Cold War for nothing less than the surrender of American sovereignty -- and aggressive wars to "wage democracy" all over the world. [This is a big government effort just like Welfare, Social Security and U.S. Agriculture policy]

Wolfowitz, Perle, and other key neocons: how they captured the President. [And destroyed our security in the process]

The revolutionary "neo-Jacobin" streak in neoconservatism that cannot be reconciled with any concept of true conservatism. [This is a divide and conquer principle of the mean-spirited right, and don't believe for a second that it cannot be used by Big John and his people - kick the floor boards and the cockroaches of dissent are there to be taken]

The ambiguous American position on Taiwan: how it has created the real possibility of war between the U.S. and China -- and seven elements of a new, realistic American policy toward China. [Environmental, monetary and trade policies are the keys. On an interesting sidebar, do a Google on Neil Bush, who in all of his infinite wisdom received $2M from a Chinese semiconductor company as a consultant (or click Contract With Chinese Chipmaker for a view).]

Why America's political independence, as Alexander Hamilton insisted, cannot survive without economic independence -- which we are wantonly squandering. [Just like 1992, "It's the economy, stupid!"]

How Bobo has bloated the deficit with social programs that out-liberal the most committed liberals. [Again, big government initiatives for the Right - take a look under the hood of Rethug "pork-politics" and you'll be reminded of Caligula]

Judicial supremacy: how today's activist judiciary came into being - and how it must be stopped. [Scalia, Rehnquist and Thomas - just to name three]

How the Bush threat of war upon nations that had not attacked us is utterly unprecedented in American history -- and puts us all at risk. And why the worldwide War on Terror as Bobo has framed it will continue not only through his presidency, but for the rest of our lives. [Think that Al-Queada was pissed before? Now it's splintered into new factions and groups that we cannot control. We have lost another generation to the cause of Islam and Jihad and your children will pay the freight both in terms of higher body counts and increased taxes to support the military industrial complex.]

How Bobo has unnecessarily thrown down the gauntlet to every rival and would-be world power, and issued a challenge to lesser powers to unite against us. [Any day now I can smell the European Union forming a new trade policy that eats away at us from the core]

The Islamic world: how Bobo has placed us on a course for endless wars with Muslims who are repelled by the social, cultural, and moral decadence they see in America and the West. [Force without hearts-and-minds are a tragic mistake - can you remember the fall of Saigon? Check back in six months and watch Baghdad turn into Beruit.]

How the Bobo Doctrine contradicts history and common sense, and will bleed, bankrupt and isolate this republic. [Both Spain and Portugal were once World powers, and witness their over-extension and what their place in the world is today]

What are the Rethugs doing about all this? Old Pat dares to state the truth: the traditional conservative party is abandoning its core principles in search of votes, signing off on imperialistic misadventures and economic treason, and helping to impose a social, moral, and cultural revolution upon our country.

While not always agreeing with Old Pat and his politics, the man is truly admirable. And he may have just helped Big John take down Bobo and his Texas mafia once and for all. Two one-term nitwits will forever banish the the Bush clan to the back pages of history. No more Jeb, no more Neil, and no more neo-con legacy.

How Much is That Bobo in the Window?

"I don't want to play like I was somebody out there marching when I wasn't. It was either Canada or the service. ... Somebody said the Guard was looking for pilots. All I know is, there weren't that many people trying to be pilots."
- Governor Bobo in 1998

"I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
- Another Revelation from Bobo, 1990

"I'm saying to myself, 'What do I want to do?' I think I don't want to be an infantry guy as a private in Vietnam. What I do decide to want to do is learn to fly."
- More Bobo in 1989

This should provide aid and comfort to the forces in Najaf. We always knew that Bobo was a corrupt little demogogue with half a brain and little common sense. But now we know that he's a paper tiger and a vile thug with deeper pockets than Uday and Qusay. That means Bobo and Jeb can buy media time and the Florida recount to confuse the masses; Uday and Qusay did it with electricity, cattle prods and the secret police.

Certainly much has been made of the Kerry War record, and for all its sensationalism it is equally clear that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign is nothing less than a smear campaign for the Bobo re-election effort. So let's just say that there is no "direct" involvement with the Administration ... perhaps, but the proximity of the players involved leads one to speculate that it obviously shares the same DNA. The same biological evidence surrounding McCain and Cleland and now Big John.

But what about Bobo? He's got an interesting military record as well, so maybe there's an "Unfit for Command" in store for the Fearful Leader. In 1968, Bobo graduates from Yale and joins Texas Air National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War, when there were long waiting lists to get into a Guard or Reserve unit. Bobo's unit, dubbed the Champagne Unit, included the sons of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and Gov. John Connally, as well as several members of the Dallas Cowboys.

Aug. 25, 1968 - Completes basic training in San Antonio and is promoted to second lieutenant.

1969 - Graduates from flight school at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., as pilot trainee.

1970 - Graduates from Combat Crew Training School at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas; promoted to first lieutenant. Is trained to fly F-102 jets.

1971 - Participates in drills and alerts at Ellington. Begins work for Houston-based agricultural company. Bobo's father becomes UN ambassador.

April 1972 - Takes last flight as a Guard member.

May 15 - Leaves his Texas unit and heads for Alabama.

May 24 - Bobo seeks permission to be transferred to an Alabama Reserve postal unit so he can work on Senate campaign of family friend Winton (Red) Blount.

May 31 - Bobo's request is denied because he has been trained as a pilot and this is not an appropriate posting for him. Bobo does not return to his Texas unit.

July - Misses annual flight physical.

Sept. 5 - Gets authorization to work on the Senate campaign and also is authorized to perform some of his service in Alabama. Records indicate he was paid for six days of service in October and November. No one has vouched for seeing him there, but Bobo insists he reported for duty.

Sept. 29 - Is suspended as a pilot for failure to take annual physical.

December 1972 - Returns to Texas but is not paid by the Guard for any service that month.

Early 1973 - Is paid for six days of service in January and two days in April. Bobo's father becomes chairman of the Republican National Committee.

April 1973 - Commanding officers in Texas say they cannot evaluate his performance for the previous year because he has not been observed.

Summer 1973 - To achieve the 50 points he needs to complete his annual service, Bobo does 14 days in May, five in June and 19 in July. These are all nonflying drills and include work at an inner-city poverty program.

Sept. 18, 1973 - Arranges to leave the Guard six months early to attend Harvard Business School. A deal for early release was not unusual at the time.

Oct. 1, 1973 - Receives honorable discharge.

The sole piece of evidence that Bobo ever showed up at a National Guard base in Alabama: He went to the dentist. Once. Pay stubs show Bush on duty the weekend of May 1-3, 1973, at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. Yet that very same weekend, on May 2, his two superior officers at Ellington signed a report saying they could not complete his annual evaluation because "Lt. [Bobo] has not been observed at this unit during the period of report." Then he used his father's connections to get out of the Guard five months early, so he could attend Harvard Business School.

"I would like to say for the record, and also for the men sitting behind me who are also wearing the uniforms and their medals, that my sitting here is really symbolic. I am not here as John Kerry. I am here as one member of a group of 1,000, which is a small representation of a very much larger group of veterans in this country, and were it possible for all of them to sit at this table, they would be here and have the same kind of testimony. I would simply like to speak in general terms. I apologize if my statement is general because I received notification [only] yesterday that you would hear me, and, I am afraid, because of the injunction I was up most of the night and haven't had a great deal of chance to prepare.

I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago, in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis, with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit--the emotions in the room, and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.

They told stories that, at times, they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam, in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

We call this investigation the Winter Soldier Investigation. The term "winter soldier" is a play on words of Thomas Paine's in 1776, when he spoke of the "sunshine patriots," and "summertime soldiers" who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.

We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country, we could be quiet, we could hold our silence, we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel, because of what threatens this country, not the reds, but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.

I would like to talk to you a little bit about what the result is of the feelings these men carry with them after coming back from Vietnam. The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned with a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped."

We still don't know what Bobo did, which means he did nothing at all ... except drink and sometimes drive drunk according to those who recall the young Bobo. Folks in Alabama remember him as an affable social drinker who acted younger than his 26 years. Referred to as "George Bush, Jr." by newspapers in those days, sources say he also tended to show up late every day, around noon or one, at Blount's campaign headquarters in Montgomery. They say Bobo would prop his cowboy boots on a desk and brag about how much he drank the night before.

Many of those who came into close contact with Bobo say he liked to drink beer and Jim Beam whiskey, and to eat fist-fulls of peanuts, and Executive burgers, at the Cloverdale Grill. There are numerous allegations of drug use. According to Cathy Donelson, a daughter of old Montgomery but one of the toughest investigative reporters to work for newspapers in Alabama over the years, the 1960s came to Old Cloverdale in the early 1970s about the time of Bobo's arrival.

"We did a lot of drugs in those days," she said. "The 1970s are a blur."

Bobo also made an impression on the "Blue-Haired Platoon," a group of older Republican Women working for Blount. Behind his back they called him "the Texas soufflé," because he was "all puffed up and full of hot air."

No wonder that he went AWOL; Bobo was having too good of a time drinking and carousing. Until the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Bobo got a free pass on Vietnam, but not now. Big John not only went when he could have cut and run, but also came back to seek the truth.

The thing speaks for itself.

Osama's Politboro

Failure and shame are extremely painful jolts to the Right Wing in all of us. It's what makes sport and politics so vaguely reassuring. And the cure for this terrible Western White House disease is almost as bad as the illness itself. It's a combination of scabies and final stage typhus, a violent fever that is almost always curable and often politically fatal.

The key symptoms are open sores, cold sweats, constant weeping, delusionary tales for the corporate media outlets and old-fashioned skullduggery. It also fuels the opposition, whether it exists in the Beltway or Tora Bora. Which leads us inexorably to our favorite National Security Council advisor, Condi.

U.S. using Cold War techniques in war on terror, which at first brush is simple logic for plain folks, or what the White House terms as targeting the average "circus drunk" or "broke yokel" voter. But even the red states are starting to smarten up, and few of them are now in play for Big John.

Obviously the goal of the Rethug Committee is cooking up these strange ideas to keep the masses amused. Rove knows what the people want: freaks, idiots and extreme talking points memos to feed the media beast. Heck, the election comes once every four years, and these days are marked as sacred holidays to the glorious throngs of FOX, CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC. And like Bozo's bigtop before it: sometimes we get caught in a weak moment and actually believe that this crap is true. Heck, even a beautiful farm daughter disappeared when the circus came to town.

Which takes me back to Condi. Where exactly has she been all this time? She disappears for a number of weeks and this is the best she can come up with? Comparing the "war on terror" (notice I put this in quotes, because there isn't really a war on terror) to the Cold War is like saying that the Olympics aren't political events.

Even the Iraqi soccer team knows this much. Shit, they were kissing enough bare wires and burning cigarette butts to know what a hard boot to the solar plexus feels like. Trade in one dictatorship for a public relations effort with the single-mindedness and morality of a "snuff film." That's what four years of Bobo bought the American people, and being a good and great people we might as well share the warmth with the vanguished.

But the immediate question is that if we are fighting another Cold War, who gets to play the Soviet Union this go round? There is no end to the sordid speculation. My guess is that it's us - given that the FBI is running around the countryside KGB-like shaking down demonstrators before the convention. Christ, the Rethugs even have their own version of Pravda - FOX News - to drive the point home with the peasants who are sleep-deprived because they have to work two jobs or live with a relative to pay the bills and a disgustingly inflated national deficit. And all of this insurgent activity in Iraq only tells us one thing: Najaf is an Osama recruiting poster aimed straight at us while Baghdad is beginning to look like Bobo's Bay of Pigs. These are unusual times, kemosabe.

We have Eddie Haskell as President and Doctor Evil as his running mate. But underneath all of it there is a vast politboro of swine that has tipped us to the edge of totalitarianism. And just like the Soviet model before them, there are tank drivers and ditch diggers running the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency.

Is it any wonder that after an internal audit that $8.8 billion turned up missing in Iraq on the day that the Najaf battle started? What's a good politboro member to do? Keep picking fights until no one notices. That's what a tank driver does in moments of diplomacy.

Where's Rummy?

Better yet, where's Waldo. It's the same answer, of course. Nowhere in particular. And that's the object of the game.

Rumsfeld and Bobo Failed Us on Sept. 11

"Two planes hitting the twin towers did not rise to the level of Rumsfeld's leaving his office and going to the War Room? How can that be?" asked Mindy Kleinberg, one of the widows known as the Jersey Girls, whose efforts helped create and guide the 9/11 commission. The fact that the final report failed to offer an explanation is one of the infuriating holes in an otherwise praiseworthy accounting.

How is it that civilians in a hijacked plane were able to communicate with their loved ones, grasp a totally new kind of enemy and weaponry and act to defend the nation's Capitol, yet the president had "communication problems" on Air Force One and the nation's defense chief didn't know what was going on until the horror was all over?

Great questions, just like "where's Waldo, er, Rummy?"

Immediate thoughts are that Bobo and Rove sent him to an underground NORAD bunker in the Rocky Mountains, especially after this gem with the 9/11 Commission. Asked point-blank by Commissioner Jamie Gorelick what he had done to protect the nation — or even the Pentagon — during the "summer of threat" preceding the attacks, Rumsfeld replied simply that "it was a law enforcement issue." That obfuscation — was the FBI expected to be out on the Beltway with shoulder-launched missiles? — has been accepted at face value by the commission and media.

Meanwhile, Bobo is campaigning with the slogan "Turning the Corner" and flipping colors on the terror alert spectrum like a contestant on the "Price is Right".

The question that comes to mind: If we have turned the corner, why is Bobo still in office?

Houston, We Have a Problem

Many are called, but few are chosen at this level. And if it was left up to me, I would have voted John O'Neill off the island years ago. He was a repugnant shithead when he debated Big John on the Dick Cavett show in 1971. And he still is. Typical right-wingnut with more fury than common sense.

And then he goes on Hardball with Chris Matthews unprepared; what a fatal error as O'Neill got ripped a new one as the opening reared itself throughout the interview. He must have thought that Matthews was Nov-hack - who never missed a piece of demogoguery he didn't like.


O'NEILL: First of all, I'm not a Republican from Texas. That's just not true.

...

O'NEILL: Absolutely. I haven't voted for a Republican since 1988. As a matter of fact, I just backed the Democratic mayor of Houston, Bill White.

...

MATTHEWS: Did you vote for Clinton?

O'NEILL: No, actually.

MATTHEWS: Did you vote for Gore?

O'NEILL: I voted for Perot twice.

MATTHEWS: OK. Did you vote for Gore?

O'NEILL: I voted for Gore. I voted for Gore. I don't know really why I should go into my voting record.

Since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, O'Neill has contributed $14,650 to federal candidates or national political organizations -- all Republicans:

• 2004: $2,000 to Duane Sand (ND)
  
• 1999: $1,000 to Peter Staub Wareing (TX)
  
• 1998: $250 to Rudy Izzard (TX)
  
• 1996: $1,000 to Brent Perry (TX)
  
• 1994: $2,500 to Texas Republican Congressional Committee
  
• 1993: $2,500 to Texas Republican Congressional Committee
  
• 1992: $1,000 to Texas Republican Congressional Committee
  
• 1992: $1,000 George H.W. Bush (click your heels if you're surprised)
  
• 1992: $1,000 to Clark Kent Ervin (TX)
  
• 1991: $1,000 to Clark Kent Ervin (TX)
  
• 1990: $400 to Hugh Dunham Shine (TX)
  
• 1990: $1,000 to A Tribute To Ronald Reagan

Now, this is where this little Rethug shrill gets simple-minded. It's a little hard to believe that a man who has given nearly $15,000 in contributions to Rethugs -- and not a cent to Democrats or independents -- "[hasn't] voted for a Rethug since 1988." Even the claim that he voted for Ross Perot twice is prime cut-and-run, considering that he donated $1,000 to George H.W. Bush's campaign in 1992. According to OpenSecrets.org, O'Neill's contribution was made on April 27, 38 days after Perot threw his oversized hat into the race. So O'Neill was actively seeking to defeat a candidate he now says he voted for, so I guess you'd want to share a foxhole with Wingnut John?

This is also the guy who worked for Chuck "Crazy Legs" Colson, the man famous for saying he'd run over his own grandmother to get Nixon re-elected, clerked for Rhenquist, and now he goes on TV with his pie face and squinty little eyes claiming he's an Independent? Don't let the dog hair fool you, this is the same O'Neill who got flogged repeatedly by Big John in the 1970's, and you think O'Neill doesn't have a score to settle?

And then this right wing moron starts complaining about unfairness after he had an uninterrupted half hour with Buchanan in Idiotland (Scarborough Country) and another half-hour on Crossfire and countless opportunities with FOX - but actually the weasel is correct in this simple regard: the complete lack of research the mass media has shown toward O'Neill and Corsi borders on treason.

Do a Google sometime on Corsi and you'll discover all forms of debauchery and swine behavior at its lowest form.

Why doesn't someone point the investigation to that other famous Texaholic-slash-Chickenhawk, Deserter Bobo, for a change. It isn't old news; it just keeps getting swept under the couch. Yet it is an undeniable fact that there is no record of our Commander-in-Chief having reported for duty for a year or more during his time of service during 1972-73, as a commissioned officer in the Texas and Alabama National Guards. Any last requests, Bobo? Say some Tobe Keith, a burger and a shot of Wild Turkey?

I sense that these guys would have something to say about it: Veterans United For Kerry :: "Bring it on!"

The Whore of Babylon

Ray McGovern: Porter Goss as CIA Director?

This is what CIA would get with Porter Goss at the helm. Appointing Goss would administer the coup de grace to intelligence analysts trying to survive while still speaking truth without fear or favor. The only saving grace for them would be the likelihood that they would be spared "multiple visits" by Cheney to the inner sanctum where it used to be possible to produce unvarnished analysis without vice presidents and other policy makers looking over their shoulders to ensure they "had thought of everything." Goss, who has a long history of subservience to Cheney, could be counted upon to play the Cheney/Gingrich/et al. role himself.

That possibility conjures up a painful flashback for those who served as CIA analysts when Richard Nixon was president. Chalk it up to naivete, but they were taken aback when swashbuckling James Schlesinger, who followed Richard Helms as CIA director, announced on arrival, "I am here to see that you guys don't screw Richard Nixon!" To underscore his point, Schlesinger said he would be reporting directly to White House political adviser Bob Haldeman (Nixon's Karl Rove) and not to National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger.

No doubt Goss would be more discreet in showing his hand, but his appointment as director would be the ultimate in politicization. He has long shown himself to be under the spell of Vice President Dick Cheney, and would likely report primarily to him and to White House political adviser Karl Rove rather than to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Goss would almost certainly follow lame-duck director George Tenet's practice of reading to the president in the morning and become an integral part of the "White House team." The team-membership phenomenon is particularly disquieting.

If the failure-prone experience of the past few years has told us anything, it is that being a "team member" in good standing is the kiss of death for the CIA director's primary role of "telling it like it is" to the president and his senior advisers. It was a painful moment of truth when former Speaker Newt Gingrich, like Cheney, a frequent visitor to CIA headquarters told the press that Tenet was "so grateful to the president that he would do anything for him."

Rep. Goss has no chance of heading CIA: Roberts - At the end of last month, Rockefeller issued a public statement warning the president not to nominate a CIA director whom Democrats would view as partisan.

“We need a director that is not only knowledgeable and capable but unquestionably independent,” said Rockefeller. “I strongly urge the President to look for an individual with unimpeachable, nonpartisan national-security credentials and the stature and independence to bring about much-needed reform of our intelligence agencies.”

Key Democrats in the House also oppose Goss’s possible nomination to the CIA. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), formerly the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence panel, recently blasted Goss as too partisan.

She and other key Democrats were furious that during a floor debate last month Goss displayed a poster on the House floor criticizing Sen. John Kerry for favoring intelligence budget cuts.

“I didn’t get the impression on the floor yesterday that Chairman Goss was somebody who was putting himself in line for the director of CIA,” Pelosi said at a meeting with reporters last month, adding, “The crowner for me was when [he] held up something about John Kerry that was, I think, supposed to be clever.”

Bobo had not decided whether to nominate a new CIA director before the November election. But over the weekend, Roberts and Rockefeller publicly urged Bush not to delay his choice. It is widely believed that Bush will soon appoint a new CIA director, partly to avoid extra criticism should terrorists strike the homeland between now and November.

Couldn't we have done better than Porter Wagoner?

NOW THE STORM IS ALMOST OVER
WE HAVE ALMOST REACHED THE END
I CAN HEAR THE FINAL WARNING
THERE'S A SILENCE IN THE WIND

When the Going Gets Stupid ...

Hullabaloo : "For Immediate Release

August 5, 2004
BUSH THREATENED TO VETO THE $87 BILLION BEFORE HE USED IT AS A POLITICAL CUDGEL

Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said: George Bush can't be straight about his own record, let alone anyone else's. The fact is that George Bush twice threatened to veto this bill over the fact that it provided funding to veterans and reservists. As a combat veteran, John Kerry knows that you don't give a President a blank check to continue a failed policy, especially when our security and the lives of our men and women in uniform are at stake.

BUSH THREATENED TO VETO $87 BILLION SUPPLEMENTAL OVER ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR RESERVISTS AND VETERANS. As part of the $87 billion emergency supplemental appropriations for security and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, the Senate passed an amendment that provided an additional $1.3 billion for improved medical benefits for reservists and veterans. OMB Director Josh Bolten wrote to the Congressional Appropriations' Committees, stating, 'The Administration strongly opposes these provisions, including Senate provisions that would allocate an additional $1.3 billion for VA medical care and the provision that would expand benefits under the TRICARE Program. ...If this provision is not removed, the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.' [Foxnews.com, 10/21/03, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,100777,00.html; BVA legislative bulletin, http://www.bva.org/aut03bulletin/l_update.html; CQ, 10/20/03]


BUSH THREATENED TO VETO $87 BILLION PACKAGE ON ISSUE OF ALLOCATING GRANTS OR LOANS TO IRAQIS. 'Key senators reversed course yesterday and voted to make an $18.4 billion reconstruction package for Iraq entirely in the form of grants rather than loans, as House-Senate negotiators worked their way through President Bush's $87 billion request for military and rebuilding operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 16 to 13 vote represented a significant victory for Bush, who had threatened to veto the bill if Congress insisted on making Iraq repay some of the money.' [Wash Post, 10/30/03]

And then CNN chimes in: White House threatens veto of Iraq aid bill over loans - Oct. 22, 2003

So does Forbes: Bush threatens to veto Iraq bill over loans - 10.21.03

Save it for the debates, Big John. Make sure the nation is watching when you drop this poison pill on Bobo. He might even look something like he did in the Florida classroom, a retched little dunce without a clue in the world.

Friends at Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle Rehab Center explain that prolonged use of Wild Turkey or Absinthe will give you that devious, distant glare. Nice stuff, Digby. And thanks for the vine, Atrios. Keep the faith.

Has it Prevented the Capture of Bin Laden?

Informed Comment

Bush Administration outing of Khan Enabled 5 al-Qaeda Cell Members to Escape Capture. British MI5 was forced to have the London cell of 13 arrested immediately on Tuesday, fearing that they would flee now that they knew Khan had been arrested two weeks earlier. The British do not, however, appear to have finished gathering enough evidence to prosecute the 13 in the courts successfully.

Just wondering ... Is it possible that Blair regrets hitching his horse to the Bobo bandwagon?

Diebold and GEMS: R U 4 Real?

Gambling against the spread has never been good for most people. Heck, if you can hit 68% you're a player; anything over 70% and you're God-like or a manic idiot savant. "Take the road dog and six. Take the road dog and six. Take the road dog and six." I hit 72 for a season and I looked like Dustin Hoffman on an acid binge when I collected at the end of the year. Montana to Taylor ... touchdown! ... and the Bengie's still covered. The rush was pure heaven, and I swore off gambling from that day forward - I knew it couldn't get any better than that.

"Wapner at seven. I have to watch Wapner at seven."

You see, point spreads are rigged. They're based not on what team is better, but how the money is laid out. One of the big secrets is watch out for the West Coast and Tri-State money late, which means the Raiders, Jets, Eagles, Giants and Niners are always playing with a short or long spread. They could be favored by seven-and-a-half over the Fins, but in reality it's a five point game if you played it by the numbers. If you had a full education on sliding the spread, you, too, could have half of New Jersey reporting to you for White Slavery duty.

Here's a sample primer: The way a money line is established is first the bookmaker uses his best judgment to determine the probability that the favorite will win. For example let's assume 60%. He then converts this to a fair money line with no house edge. If the probability is p then the money lines are +/- 100*p/(1-p). If p is 60% then the fair money lines would be +150 and -150. Then the bookmaker will take a constant and add it to the amount the favorite better must bet and subtract is from the amount the underdog better can win. A common constant is 10 points. In this example the bookmaker would adjust the money lines to +140 and -160. This is referred to as a 20 cent line, referring the total line movement from the theoretical fair line. For games with a strong favorite the numbers of points will increase.

If the two money lines are x and y (for example x=+140 and y=-160) then the house edge taking odds (or betting on the underdog) is (x+y)/(200+x-y). The house edge on the laying odds (or betting on the favorite) is -100*(x/y+1)/(200+x-y). In the +140/-160 example the house edge on the taking odds is 4.00% and laying odds is 2.50%. If the player must lay odds on either team (for example x=-105 and y=-115) then the house edge on x is ((20000/x)+x-y+200)/(x-y+400) and on y is ((100/y)*(x-y+200)+200)/(x-y+400). In this example the house edge on x is 4.76% and on y is 4.24%.

The simple truth about point spreads is that it's chaos theory for degenerates. In the case of an arbitrage, it's the same way with buying and selling currencies, but lose out and you don't have a guy with a vowel at the end of his last name breaking your door down.

All of which leads me to voting machines - specifically the Diebold GEMS software.

A lovely little organization - Black Box Voting - Bev Harris - BlackBoxVoting.org - has taken the time to illustrate just how retched this new Diebold voting system is. In about 90 seconds she teaches Howard Dean - on Topic[A] with Tina Brown - to rig a vote using the Diebold GEMS program that is being used in 30% of this nation's precincts.

Think I'm kidding? Take a look over here or Google it for yourself.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Windows-based PC with 150megs free disk space and 128megs RAM (minimum). You also need MS-Access2000 or a later variant in order to severely circumvent the passwords and security - the whole point here is that MS-Access is basically a "hack tool" and once used, there's NO security on this "high security voting product" whatsoever!

Bobo's people aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but I think they've heard of Office XP. Still even more disturbing is that Diebold is using a basic database program file without encryption, no reasonable security measures, and leaving it in the hands of blue haired folk who typically have the computer savvy of a chimp. A simple query against the company's news index left me even more reassurred:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005'
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][TCP/IP Sockets]General network error. Check your network documentation.
/news/newsdisp.asp, line 119

Check your network documentation. I have and it's all over the internet.

Of course, Diebold Withdrew Legal Threats " ... against ISPs for hosting users who publish or link to corporate documents suggesting there are flaws in its equipment and irregularities with certifying the systems for elections. Nor will it issue additional cease-and-desist notices concerning these corporate documents, US District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel heard today. Diebold has until this point waged an intimidation campaign to repress circulation of employee e-mails that raise concerns about the security of its electronic voting machines. This move came after widespread public protest and requests to hold a hearing to investigate abuses of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by Diebold."

So, in the long and perverted tradition of gambling against the spread, we are left with another Rethug named Walden O'Dell who has actually guaranteed the Ohio electoral votes to Bobo. And that was after "Sweetheart Wally" donated $5,965 to the RNC while Diebold gave the RNC $95,000 in 2002. O'Dell claims to be "agnostic" on the necessity of providing voters with evidence that their choices are the ones reflected in the count. But the possibility that a future president can attain office mounted on a Trojan horse isn't a philosophical issue like campaign contributions. It's nice to know that Wally is no longer working to elect one candidate in particular. It would be even nicer to know, beyond any doubt, that his voting machines weren't, either.

And in case you missed it: RNC PROPAGANDA APPEARS ILLEGALLY ON U.S. TREASURY MEMOS

America has a choice: It can continue to grow the economy and create new jobs as the President's polices are doing; or it can raise taxes on American families and small businesses, hurting economic recovery and future job creation

You can find it on RNC Website and mysteriously again at JS-1313: April 15th Tax Day Reminder: Treasury and IRS Work To Make Paying Taxes A Little Easier as a cute little footnote. The exact same quote, falsely extolling the president's fiscal policies, in violation of federal law.

Given the news of the day Big John is a five point favorite, but Bobo is playing as fourteen point home underdog. Guess who pays out at the window?

Halliburton.

IOKIYAR:A Rethug Ballet

Dump Bush 2004 - Express yourself with your own customized button. Wear it with pride!

• 2.25 inch diameter
  
• Metal shell
  
• Mylar/UV protecting cover
  
• Pinned metal back

"Draft Dodging Coke Snorter": heck, I didn't make this up, but it's interesting. In the way that a jack-knifed tractor trailer is interesting - you can't take your eyes of the merchandise, Kemosabe. If the Swift Boat thing has legs, why not the Bobo allegations? I didn't link the one that said Laura Bobo looks like Squeaky Fromme with blue eye shadow. It was pretty low pool, Omar, and just a wee-bit over the top for my tastes. But just think: Because Rethug hypocrisy is so resplendent with Bobo, this would be a wonderful chant for the coronation in NYC.

IOKIYAR = It's OK if You're a Republican.

But it should be sung like "YMCA" by the Village People, albeit in a drunken stupor, and Bobo has a taste for Wild Turkey down there in Crawford. Truth. Support your Rethug friends, and buy a few from the site - they break the ice at parties.

Moment of Supreme Irony: Apparently Kemosabe in the Navajo language means 'soggy bush,' or 'soggy shrub.' Go figure!

Maybe Tonto was on to something.

Never Trust a Neo-Con

The Americanization of global intelligence failures rallies at an amazing pace. Bobo's Administration is taking to blown agents, falsely raising levels of fear and making the pro-Hussein Baathist regime seem downright nostalgic - all of it with the glee of Ray Lewis to an opposing running back. If this was the stock market for the CIA, FBI and DOD, chants of "sell, sell, sell" would drown out the words "four more years" faster than an RPG.

But back on the mainstream media front, no one has been quick to pounce on the fabric of international stories illustrating just how desperate that war on terror ... er, re-election effort ... is becoming. The one thing that Bobo appeared to have as a strength is now deserting him - namely - the omnipotent "war on terror" which is so vague it begs clarity. We might as well be fighting a war on decency because, in the current regime, we'd probably have a better chance at putting our arms around the concept to begin with. So what if it was an undercover operation? Bobo's spineless inner circle needed to deflect some heat for a while, and if that meant politicizing the CIA and Homeland Security ... well, you finish the sentence.

But as your eyes trail further along, consider the following: Exactly what kind of degenerate morons do we have running our counter-intelligence efforts?

Project Jerk-off, otherwise known as "Fifty Ways to Blow Your Cover".

Bobo and Ridge-boy have also managed to turn the Homeland Security department into another "pork-barrel" distribution center in the vein of prohibition booze. The red states - Rove's and Hughes' perception of the Rethug base - get a larger per capita slice of the pie, which means large cities and ports get left holding the bag while Biloxi, Waco and Wyoming have a better chance of being defended from dirty bombs. But what the hell, V.P. Repo has a bunker in Casper. And Bobo knows that NYC votes blue anyways ... and there aren't any bullhorns and Fox photo-ops for prevention. Can someone explain how Rethugs are considered stronger on national security issues? I need help recalling.

10-kiloton nuclear bomb (a pipsqueak in weapons terms) is smuggled into Manhattan and explodes at Grand Central. Some 500,000 people are killed, and the U.S. suffers $1 trillion in direct economic damage.

Some perspective to consider.

So Comrade Condi admits that they blew another asset, this time in Pakistan, not exactly a hotbed of free thinking and pretty close to where Bin Laden appears to be laying low.

Stupidity is plural and even MSNBC has joined in on the rotting carcass by jumping on the story. Even Rethug George Allen (R-Virginia) actually agreed that if Khan's name was released, it was a mistake. It kinda goes a little like this:

On Sunday at around 12:30 pm EST, Wolf Blitzer's show revealed how Bobo's Administration prematurely outed Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a double agent working for Pakistan against al-Qaeda. New York Senator Charles Schumer criticized the administration for revealing Khan's name. He noted the annoyance of British Home Minister Blunkett and Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat with the Americans for blowing Khan's cover. He said Hayat complained that if Khan's name had not been reveaeled to the New York Times by Bobo's crew, he might well have provided information that would have led to the capture of Osama Bin Laden himself!

Blitzer then revealed that he had discussed the Khan case with Condi on the QT. He reported that she had admitted that the Ministry of Disinformation (Bobo's Administration) had in fact revealed Khan's name to the press. She said she did not know if Khan was a double agent working for the Pakistani government. The outing of Khan, probably the most important asset the US has ever had inside al-Qaeda, is a huge disaster and a setback to attempts to finish off the top leadership of al-Qaeda.

Again, I ask: Can someone explain how Rethugs are considered stronger on national security issues?

Before you answer the question, let's turn to our closest ally on the "magical" war on terror, the Brits, to catch a glimpse at how our efforts are admired in the world. It is, after all, a global war on terror, according to Bobo.

Why I refuse to feed the media's summer frenzy, an otherwise subtle piece, about as subtle as a rubber crutch, on the lovely efforts of our falsely-elected, genetically-challenged Administration. Even the corporate media is applauding the details of the terror threats as very helpful to Americans, but exactly helpful to whom now?

" . . . over the last four days there has been column inch after column inch devoted to the fact that in the United States there is often high-profile commentary followed, as in the most current case, by detailed scrutiny, with the potential risk of inviting ridicule . . . it is important to be able to distinguish if there is a meaningful contribution that helps to secure us from terrorism. And to understand if there isn't. And there are very good reasons why we shouldn't reveal certain information to the public. Firstly, we do not want to undermine in any way our sources of information, or share information which could place investigations in jeopardy. Second, we do not want to do or say anything which would prejudice any trial."

British Home Secretary David Blunkett

So much for the coalition of the willing -- it's starting to look more like the conspiracy of the shell-shocked. Being hit with the "dumb" stick is one thing, but Bobo is a cornered rat, gnashing his teeth at anything that moves. And now there are even more interesting reports on our good friend, Ahmed Chalabi. He apparently has a nephew named Salem, who has striking posture that reminds the naive of a simple-looking fellow named Uday.

Chalabi Nephew Under Investigation in Killing - The organizer of Iraq's war crimes tribunal allegedly made threats. The case raises conflict-of-interest issues for the country's justice system. Chalabi, whose uncle is former Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, has been accused by two individuals of attempting to intimidate Haitham Fadhil, a Finance Ministry official who was investigating the Chalabi family's real estate holdings when he was killed in May.

But let us not forget about Ahmad Chalabi, who is starting to look more like Noriega each every day. In case you need some more background on our friend Mr. Chalabi, here are the cliff notes on this sordid character and upon whom Bobo's circle of Neo-Con doom justified the Iraqi "liberation" once the WMD wheels fell off the wagon.

1. received $27 million of US taxpayers' money in recent years


2. sat next to Laura Bush for a State of Union speech, lauded by Neo-Cons Perle and Wolfowitz as a key to long-term Iraqi stability


3. connections to the most hardline elements in Iran, particularly the intelligence officers of the Revolutionary Guards, are longstanding and still flourish today, leading to his public disgrace in Iraq earlier this year.


4. nearly bankrupted Jordanian bank system - tried in his absence (along with 47 associates), found guilty, and sentenced to 22 years jail on 31 charges of embezzlement, theft, misuse of depositor funds and currency speculation. However, because the trial had been in front of a military court underJordan's martial law, international law prevented his extradition.


5. one well connected Iraqi said of Chalabi recently, "he will play the Shia extremist card for all it is worth. He's quite prepared to break Iraq apart if it serves his purpose. He's really dangerous now."
   

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for Ahmad Chalabi, a former governing council member, on money laundering charges and another for Salem Chalabi, the head of Iraq's special tribunal, on murder charges, Iraq's chief investigating judge said Sunday.

One last time: Can someone explain how Rethugs are considered stronger on national security issues?

Good thing they carry extra thorazine on Air Force One.

Rethugs New Slogan: Turning Back

The right wing forces of doom are as much swine as they are predictable. God works through most Rethugs in the form of government sanctioned school prayer and constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. So when the worm finally turns around, pandering to the flock is a next-best solution. Can't you just hear Bobo on his knees to Karl Rove and Karen Hughes in pure, Jimmy Swaggart-like tone, "I have sinned against you!"

No thanks to conservatives, I suggest. Even more sickening than the elevation of Ronald Reagan to patron saint, is their sanctimonious view on their own relevancy to this electorate. Having already termed Big John's Boston suare as the "stepford convention," now the conservatives are looking forward to their own and guess what? ... a small problem is already coming to the surface. According to Valerie Plame's favorite scribe, Bob Nov-hack, " ... no draft platform exists, no subcommittees have been named, and no special lodging for committee members has been assigned. Rather than signifying sudden collapse of accustomed Republican efficiency, all this looks more like a coolly calculated plan."

Maybe now conservatives will claim that they like deficit spending, higher oil prices and bigger intrusive government. This is all extremely credible given Bobo's results so far - don't we just find ourselves drawn to people who regularly expose us as cheats, liars, greed-mongers and hypocrites? Karma is a hard son-of-a-bitch sometimes.

Of course, and rightly so, Rethugs despise the moderate center of our political spectrum. Their Neo-Con family tree loath the center even more - the protests against our current regime are positively taking a toll already, and they are anemic when compared to the inevitable fight for the party's holy spirit come the end of August. The far right - dare I say the Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Rove, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld - faction, too, has looked at Bobo's political dossier and it leaves a lot to be desired. After 20 or so years of smaller government, faith-based social programming, lower taxes, let the states decide, stronger defense rhetoric, they are awakening to the fact that the deficit is now a Democratic virtue and that Big John is cutting into the Commander-in-Chief vote. That shrill creaking you hear is Barry Goldwater turning in his grave.

"Turn back, Bobo. Reach into the light."

And all the while "Sucker" Carlson gets a PBS gig. Matalin can't keep the straight face on CNN. Not even FOX can distort the truth any further. Bobo has deserted his base in terms of ideology, alone, and if one was to examine the polls in places like New Hampshire, Florida and Colorado, his hardcore folks are feeling left out.

When I heard it last night, I almost fell out of bed. One of the Rethug's court jesters uttered the phrase "media bias" when describing Bobo's acute and terrible dilemna. So Rove and Hughes are going to dress up Bobo in Reagan's old anti-commie, anti-liberal BBQ smock, and prop him up haphazardly as a "war president" until they can find a suitable replacement in four years. Because, as it was in the Roman Empire, the first rule of politics is survival.

Most confusing to voters, however, is this curious relationship that Bobo has with the higher power. Whereas Reagan simply appeared at peace and sincere about his Christian beliefs, Bobo would rather use the good book to relegate his opponents to oblivion (or is it purgatory for our Catholic supporters?). Here's just a sample of what we'll hear in these next 85 days:

Bobo on abortion: "We cannot have freedom when some folks decide that others are not fit to live. America is not ready to overturn Roe v. Wade because America's hearts are not right."

Bobo on gay marriage: "I am mindful that we're all sinners, and I caution those who may try to take the speck out of their neighbor's eye when they got a log in their own. I think it's very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country. On the other hand, that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on an issue such as marriage."

Bobo on North Korean weapons inspections:"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once -- shame on -- shame on you. You fool me, you can't get fooled again."

Bobo on government programs to feed the "hungry": "We are told that 7 million people went to bed hungry each night. They were all on a diet."

Bobo on Head Start: "I appreciate the desire for flexibility, I support the governor's desire for flexibility so long as, one, federal monies going to the states are used only for Head Start. In other words, what we really don't want to do is say we're going to focus on Head Start, the Head Start money goes for, you know, the prison complex -- I know that won't happen with Governor Ehrlich, but there needs to be a guarantee that the federal money spent on Head Start, only go to Head Start. Secondly, states and local governments must put money into the program, which would lock in the Head Start money for Head Start. So, the flexibility given to the State would not allow the state's budget flexibility. Governors ought to have that flexibility to hope that Congress will provide that flexibility so that when the accountability systems kick in, fully kick in, that a governor can truthfully say, well, I've had the tools necessary to make sure the Head Start program fits into an overall comprehensive plan for literacy and math for every child in the state of Maryland, in Governor Ehrlich's case."

Bobo on foreign relations: "I see a peaceful world, I do. The rest of the world watches us very carefully. I like to say, 'If the United States blinks, they'll go to sleep.' We're not going to blink."

Bobo on education: "You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."

Bobo on a potential second term: "Probably the best reason to put me back in there is so that Laura has got four more years as the First Lady."

The conclusions to draw from what Bobo is saying and what others are forced to say about him now is that the electable Rethug is always the one that Democrats are calling an extremist. But the problem for Bobo is that no one understands what he is saying in the first place. It used to be that Rethugs had a couple of really significant issues firmly in their corner, but Bobo blew through all of them, so there's no home turf to stand on.

He may feel encouraged with the gay marriage thing, even the terror thing. But overall, he will clearly assume the classic Rethug trends -- sociopathic speeches frothed with the words "patriot" and "freedom", utter disregard for truth, extended criminal behavior, underhanded dirty tricks and lots of babbling about "media bias" until November. And if all that doesn't work out for Bobo, he'll raise the terror alert to red and suspend the election. It's a good idea to take advise from your friends; I hear Prince Bandar issues martial law in Saudi Arabia all the time.

Unfit to Command: Bobo on the Environment

I am not a tree hugger or an earth biscuit, but clearly this Administration is weak on a beneath-the-surface issue. Just saw Bobby Kennedy, Jr on Hardball hawking his book with a hard line for Bobo's environmental appointees. Here's a sample from the article, a somewhat engaging read given the subject:

BW Online | Global Warming: "carbon-constrained"

Consensus is growing among scientists, governments, and business that they must act fast to combat climate change. This has already sparked efforts to limit CO2 emissions. Many companies are now preparing for a carbon-constrained world.

The idea that the human species could alter something as huge and complex as the earth's climate was once the subject of an esoteric scientific debate. But now even attorneys general more used to battling corporate malfeasance are taking up the cause. On July 21, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and lawyers from seven other states sued the nation's largest utility companies, demanding that they reduce emissions of the gases thought to be warming the earth. Warns Spitzer: "Global warming threatens our health, our economy, our natural resources, and our children's future. It is clear we must act."

Who will lead? Certainly not the right -- they are more concerned with gays getting hitched and preserving human forms of life, except unless they need to get executed, whether they are mentally retarded or not.

An Open Letter to Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm

To:
Greg Stevens, Founder and President
Rick Reed, Partner
Paul Curcio, Partner
Erik Potholm, Partner

Subject:
Check the Real Casualty List

From the Boston Globe yesterday
(here's the link in case you think I am spinning this -- click here):

Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.

''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said. ''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."

Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."

The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver Star.

So the story goes, but I am more than sure that you are proud of what you accomplished. And I am not taking the time to voice this outrage because I think that John Kerry is a better alternative than our current Administration, which I believe is morally bankrupt and is beginning to look like the last days of Daddy Bush. I am writing this because of who and what you're trampling on when you decided that this was a good way to make a buck.

Vietnam is a serious and open wound that still isn't healed. I don't know if it ever will be in my lifetime, so let me just state that I am disgusted that you chose to stick your finger into the gash, not because of politics, not because Kerry decided that Vietnam was a way to define his patriotism and service to country, certainly not because Iraq is starting to take on its very tone. This time you went too far and your exercise will backfire on the organization for whom you clearly support.

Go to any VA psychiatric hospital today or speak to a couple of homeless vets and you'll realize quickly how damaging your efforts really are. I know many Vietnam vets - no matter the personal politics - who know that Kerry is speaking the truth not only about his service record, but also about the wholesale atrocities that went on during that conflict. Like Kerry, they are haunted by the experience. Some of them may be alive, but many have never come home. I know guys who spent multiple tours in the stench of that Conflict, awake for days at time wondering if their last step was the last on this Earth, not sure that if beyond the next hill or patch of elephant grass the End was awaiting. This thinking probably didn't enter your algorithm or logic.

You went for the buck and the attention and I guess you feel terribly proud.

It is my sincerest hope that karma catches up to you: that you can spend a couple of nights wondering if this was your last professional step. I wish you no physical harm, just economic harm, because that's what fuels your existence. Certainly the truth or a simple sense of decency missed your conscience. There isn't a Vietnam veteran who doesn't deserve our simple thanks and support, or straight understanding. It was a terrible chapter in our nation's history, because it was based on a lie and good American kids who couldn't "sidestep" their commitment were sent to die. At least guys like McCain, Kerrey and Kerry did their duty. The same can't be said for some other well placed officials who, quite frankly, turned and ran.

Let me close with a simple analogy to put this in terms you may understand, I hope. The ad starts with a couple of escaped Nazis in Argentina, laughing about how the Holocaust is overblown and the numbers are greatly exaggerated. Your ad cuts in with some old black and white photos of these men as young officers on the Eastern Front, forcing a couple of prisoners to dig their own graves. We can see a tangle of corpses in the distance. The young officers are just standing there, watching with a frozen mask. Imagine the outrage it would have caused as soon as it hit the air and you'll begin to understand the anger that this effort has caused.

Sure, you got some attention, but was it worth it?

Here's to the next step, the next hill, a dense patch of elephant grass. Your professional reputation probably must feel real fragile about now, and maybe you have begun to feel what it was like to go to Vietnam and survive it. So let me just state this again so you catch my drift here: I have never written such a letter to anyone or any company in my lifetime that took something to task, and this dives deeper than a sense of moral decency. The shameful lies and scandalous allegations have to stop about Vietnam. Spend the money you make from this deceit real well, it may be the last time you ever make a living at something so disgusting. I hear that videotaping weddings can pay the bills.