Mass murderers are rarely remorseful.
in reference to:"Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continued his reappearance to the media world for his new book Known or Unknown: A Memoir. And he continued to defend his decisions on Iraq with little to no regrets."
- Rumsfeld: Still No Apologies For Iraq | TPMDC (view on Google Sidewiki)
Travel restrictions.
in reference to:"Former President George W. Bush has canceled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday."
- Bush's Swiss visit off after complaints on torture | Reuters (view on Google Sidewiki)
A 118-page report issued Monday by the little-known Office of Special Counsel cites numerous violations of the Hatch Act by the Bush-era White House Office of Political Affairs. The report concludes that federal taxpayers footed the bill for improper activities that were intended to advance Republican political candidates.
As far as negatives for the Supreme Court go, it's hard to beat the appointment of George W. Bush as President. Allowing unlimited money into political races (Citizens United) comes in a close second. Compared to these, having the Court's right wing not attend the SOU Address is barely a blip on the wingnut radar.
Maybe Scalia will go hunting with Dick Cheney instead... And Alito can stay home and mouth off to the television.
"“If things devolve to where it looks like an implicit indication of support or non-support for whoever the current president may be, that’s a big negative for the court.”"
- Roberts Decision on Attending Obama `Pep Rally' to Send Message - Bloomberg (view on Google Sidewiki)
I'm sure the families of the thousands of people who died because Dick Cheney wanted to attack Iraq would love to have the choices about extending life that Dick Cheney has.
Just the thought that he could someday take a heart ahead of someone who truly deserves it sickens me.
"So I'll have to make a decision at some point whether or not I want to go for a transplant."
- Cheney may some day need heart transplant - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency (view on Google Sidewiki)
Lookout, Cheney's hunting again!
in reference to:"Mr. Cheney, as he did at several holiday receptions in Washington, chatted about his new pump. At one cocktail party, he even opened his coat jacket to show it off. While Mr. Cheney is noticeably thinner — his trademark stiff, one-sided grin now shows up on a markedly leaner face — he is returning, associates say, to his old life, including hunting and socializing."
- With New Heart Pump, Cheney Slowly Resumes Old Life - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)
This is by far the best take down of Decision Points I've seen. If you're a Bush lover, this might just be too much truth to take all at once. You might want to go to bed early. If, like me, you realize that Bush was a disaster of historic proportions, you'll want to cherish every word of this, even though it will bring back that slight nausea you felt for 8 years.
in reference to:"A pup in a valley of alpha males, inadequate compared to Dad, humiliated by Mother, he classically became a bully to compensate: an ass-brander, noted for what he calls verbal ‘needling’; a boss who cussed out his subordinates and invented demeaning nicknames for everyone around him; a president who taunted terrorists, most of them imaginary, and challenged them to ‘bring it on’."
- LRB · Eliot Weinberger · ‘Damn right,’ I said (view on Google Sidewiki)
The Ghailani verdict proves that GW Bush was a bungling idiot who followed Cheney's lead, which led to us being unable to use evidence against a terrorist. Had this been done right from the start, we would have gotten more convictions on this guy. Instead we had a bunch of people who thought they were above the law--that they could torture people and get away with it. Oh, wait, they did. But now we have to pay the price.
Rule of law, folks.
"there was a lag of over six years between Ghailani’s apprehension and his trial—that resulted from a political decision. During that time, two key witnesses for the government died, undermining their case. So it’s clear this case was not handled in the best or most efficient way, but the blame for that rests with the Bush team and not their successors."
- The Verdict on Ghailani—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine) (view on Google Sidewiki)
Like a slow-motion car wreck, I just can't take my eyes off the fabulous take-downs of GW Bush that have been scorching the presses since Decision Points came out. This piece, though, really hits the dry drunk on the nose.
His obliviousness to the contradictions in his own logic--if one can really call it that--make me want to scream in his face, but what could I scream that he would understand? He wouldn't get it if you branded it on his ass.
Maybe that's the ultimate insult from this man. You could make him read this critique and he would just sit there with a blank stare, not really understanding any of it. It's like trying to be mad at a retarded child.
"His paramount distress over Iraq is not over the loss of life, civilian and military, but how that banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" on the aircraft carrier came to make him look naive and vainglorious. He reveals his shallowness and vapidity with these reflections in the most crystalline of clarity, and hasn't a notion he is doing so."
- Matthew Norman: How did this wastrel ever find his way to the White House? - Matthew Norman, Commentators - The Independent (view on Google Sidewiki)
A Brief Publisher's Message
Dear Reader,Tomorrow, November 9, 2010, we are officially releasing former president George W. Bush's new book, Decision Points, and we would like to make the following request:> Please do not take copies off the shelf, open them to a random page, insert a quantity of spit, nasal discharge or chewing gum, slam them shut and put them back on the shelf.> Please do not draw horns on Mr. Bush's head---be they a ram's, a goat's or Satan's. Please also no forked tails or thought-bubbles that say "Heckuva Job."> Please do not throw the book to the ground and stomp on it while yelling, "You suck!"> Please do not knock over the bookcase on which Decision Points is displayed, as this could result in a domino effect on the other bookcases and cause damage and/or injury to other customers.> Please do not attempt to move copies of the book from the Non-fiction section of the store to the Humor or Fantasy sections.> Please do not whip out a Sharpie and add "Awesome book---if properly shredded" to the list of testimonial blurbs on the back cover.We know you're upset at how badly he screwed you over, but please: let's be civil.Thank you,Your Friends at Crown PublishingP.S. Democrats, this letter applies to you, too.
I don't think the Republicans who glorify Tillman even know about the man, much less the shame behind his death: Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld covered up the facts surrounding Tillman's death, and yet Republicans keep milking Tillman's patriotism for every last dollar and vote they can get. This is particularly galling when they mix war and God.
in reference to:"“He’s not with God, he’s fucking dead,” asserted Mr Tillman. “Thanks for your thoughts but he’s fucking dead.” Mr Tillman, who has a low tolerance for lies was clearly offended by the sentiments, stating that his deceased brother “was not religious.”"
- Propaganda Tool Sarah Palin Uses Pat Tillman to Glorify War (view on Google Sidewiki)
Can't help but think of all the people that weren't so lucky as to survive Dick Cheney's attack. This is why I don't say the pledge; there is no justice for all.
in reference to:"The lawyer shot five years ago by then vice-president Dick Cheney told the The Washington Post Thursday that his injuries from the hunting accident were more extensive than revealed at the time."
- Man shot by Cheney 'lucky' to escape death - U.S. news - Life - msnbc.com (view on Google Sidewiki)
I remember hearing Republicans say that this is a pro-speech court. Ha. Apparently it's only free speech if you're a corporation.
The Bush Five still have their lips planted firmly on Bush's flight-suit pants.
Shove that in the face of anyone who tells you that Bush, or Republicans in General, support the troops.Overused and over-extended.Seattle Post-Intelligencer: By the middle of 2005, Stop-Loss policy had prevented at least 50,000 troops from leaving the military when their service was scheduled to end.USA Today: Multiple deployments were adding to the troops' stress.CNN: In April 2007, tours of duty were extended from 12 to 15 months.New York Times: Republicans killed Democratic Senator Jim Webb's attempt to give troops more down time between deployments.Associated Press: Deployed single parents were having to fight to retain custody of their children.International Herald Tribune: The bipartisan National Governors Association warned Bush that use of National Guard troops for his Iraq escalation was overburdening already overburdened units, and undermined the Guard's ability "to respond to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires and other emergencies."CBS News: To accommodate Bush's Iraq escalation schedule, two Army combat brigades had to skip their planned desert training.Agence France-Presse: Nearly two-thirds of polled veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars considered the military over-extended.Inadequately protected and inadequately cared for.New York Times: A 2006 study showed that 80 percent of marines killed from upper body wounds would have survived, if they'd had adequate body armor.Newsweek: Troops were forced to improvise their own vehicle armor because the military wasn't providing the real thing.Washington Post: Even as the Iraq escalation began, thousands of Army Humvees still lacked FRAG Kit 5 armor protection.TXCN News: Soldiers were provided such inadequate supplies of water on the battlefield that it was literally making them ill.Salon: The Veterans Administration knew as early as 2004 that there were serious problems with the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center- and did nothing.Salon: The Department of Defense also knew about the problems long before public exposure, and the resulting outcry forced them actually to do something about it.NPR: Veterans were receiving fewer medical disability benefits than before the warMSNBC: Up to 20 percent of Iraq vets may have been suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.Washington Post: A Pentagon task force concluded that the available medical care for those troops suffering psychological problems was "woefully inadequate."Salon: Wounded soldiers classified as medically unfit for battle were being reclassified as fit so they could be sent back into battle.Salon: These reclassifications were done to provide enough manpower for Bush's escalation.Salon: Even soldiers with acute Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder were being sent back to Iraq.Understandably, morale deterioratedSpiegel Online: Troops stationed in Germany were increasingly going AWOL rather than be used as cannon fodder for Bush's insanity.New York Times: The army had to revise upwards its understated desertion rate.Boston Globe: West Point graduates were leaving the military at the highest rate in three decades, as repeated tours of Iraq drove out some of the army's best young officers.Associated Press: The Army had its highest desertion rate since 1980.Psychological trauma and suicide.Associated Press: By July 2007, some "38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines report psychological conditions such as brain injury and PTSD after returning from deployment. Among members of the National Guard, the figure is much higher — 49 percent — with numbers expected to grow because of repeated and extended deployments."The prevalence of reporting a mental health problem was 19.1% among service members returning from Iraq compared with 11.3% after returning from Afghanistan and 8.5% after returning from other locations (P<.001). Mental health problems reported on the postdeployment assessment were significantly associated with combat experiences, mental health care referral and utilization, and attrition from military service. Thirty-five percent of Iraq war veterans accessed mental health services in the year after returning home; 12% per year were diagnosed with a mental health problem. More than 50% of those referred for a mental health reason were documented to receive follow-up care although less than 10% of all service members who received mental health treatment were referred through the screening program.Soldiers who have served -- or are serving -- in Iraq are killing themselves at higher percentages than in any other war where such figures have been tracked.Associated Press: The Army experienced the highest suicide rate in 26 years.New York Times: By January 2008, traumatized Iraq veterans were leaving "a trail of death and heartbreak in U.S."Washington Post: Suicides among active-duty soldiers had reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records.Washington Post: In April 2008, 300,000 veterans of the Bush wars were reported to be suffering from PTSD or major depression.The Oregonian: In July 2009, a report showed a dramatic jump in the rate of mental illness, among veterans of the Bush wars.Boston Globe: By July 2009, homelessness was rising among female veterans of the Bush wars. Many are single parents.Science Daily: By November 2009, the rate of PTSD among Iraq troops was reported to be as high as 35 percent.San Francisco Chronicle: Homelessness, overall, was rising among veterans of the Bush wars.
This is what the xenophobic right wants to create: a country that denies citizenship to people born here. This will create stateless refugees--people with no nation, no rights, no protection of law, and no place to call home.
I'm sure this doesn't matter one bit to the people who want to deny birthright citizenship. Would they give a damn, I wonder, about Palestinians or even Jews and Gypsies under Hitler? Do they care about huddled masses yearning to breathe free?
But, hey, people who want to mess with the 14th amendment won't bother reading this Wikipedia page because they're convinced we should deny citizenship to people born here. Wouldn't want to cloud up your world view on citizenship with these kind of unintended consequences.
The right will just ignore the facts, or make up their own (like, is there really an invasion of pregnant Mexican women struggling through miles of hot desert to have their babies here?). They will plow on into this like they did with Iraq, unintended consequences be damned.
We are a nation of immigrants. We give chances to people who don't otherwise have them. In this case, we ruined small subsistence farming in Mexico with NAFTA and Monstanto, we have a whole bunch of businesses here that love the cheap illegal labor and hardly ever get busted for it, so what do we expect but a bunch of displaced people looking for work? Until we solve the problems of small farmers in Mexico and start punishing the companies that hire illegals here in the US, we will never stop or slow illegal immigration.
If the Xenophobes on the right get their way, we'll just create more problems, like statelessness, and never get to the core problem of poverty and joblessness that drives the immigration engine. Even George W Bush understood that.
"...when men are desperate no one can stand up to them." --Xenophon
"Senate minority leader Richard Tisei said the state was meddling with a system that was "tried and true" since the founding of the country."
- Mass. Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe (view on Google Sidewiki)
And the rest of their Junta. I thought all you fucking Republicans were for law and order?
IOKIYAR...
But, wait. This was on Fox? Huh? I guess none of the drooling hordes looking for what they're supposed to think were actually watching this particular program.
"Nader: What should be the sanctions? Napolitano: They should have been indicted. They absolutely should have been indicted for torturing, for spying, for arresting without warrants. I'd like to say they should be indicted for lying but believe it or not, unless you're under oath, lying is not a crime. At least not an indictable crime. It's a moral crime."
- Andrew Napolitano: Bush and Cheney Should Have Been Indicted for Torturing, for Spying and Arresting Without Warrants | Video Cafe (view on Google Sidewiki)
More proof that these fucks didn't give a damn about the environment, future generations, or anything else but profit. This Cheney crony set up the MMS to be a rubber stamp on anything the oil industry wanted. And now they have it, and the disaster capitalists will profit from the spill, and all will be right in Cheney world.
And any fucking Republican who says this is Obama's fault can shove it.
"Burton was in charge during the development of the offshore drilling plan that expanded drilling to the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster."
- Bush MMS director defends tenure: “When I was there it seemed to work well” « Climate Progress (view on Google Sidewiki)
