The Reason Why

This picture shows the reason why we should care what the USA has done to Iraq. We should care because we are destroying lives.

But the corporate media is not going to make money caring about what happens to foreigners, so you won't see this on the front pages of any newspapers, or any editorials written about it. And if a corporate paper publishes an op-ed on it, you can be sure they won't point out that it is AMERICA'S FAULT that this genocide in Iraq is going on.

May God help this man.

Op-Ed Piece

Submitted to Asheville Citizen Times in October 2006 - I called several times to try to get it published, and they have not published it. Dave Russell of the Asheville Citizen Times said he would get back to me two weeks ago - he never did. Very rude behavior, but to be expected from the corporate media. The Asheville Citizen Times did very little coverage of the anti-war voices prior to the war, and once the war started, very little coverage of the get-out- of- Iraq voices and now they will not talk about the genocide the US is committing in Iraq. It is totally sickening that they act this way, but it is par for the course for them. They did not publish an op-ed I wrote against torture in January 2005 and the only op-eds of mine that they have published are nice little pieces about pacifism and peace..... no calling the American people KILLERS is allowed, no matter how true it is..... after all, the Asheville Citizen Times is also helping the US government to KILL people and blame everyone else besides themselves.

My Op-Ed Piece:

I think of it as “George’s Genocide” but in actually, all taxpayers in America are complicit in this crime. Of course, our former and current Congress Without a Conscious has even more responsibility than the rest of us. Yes, that recent report on excessive deaths in Iraq has clearly pointed out that our invasion and occupation of that country has resulted in genocide. The number of 600,00+ is certainly sobering, but it was not surprising to me. I have been following the news of Iraq for four years now, and I knew the death toll of Iraqi civilians and combatants had to be well over 250,000. I knew there are many more incidents of violence that never made it into the corporate media reports. I have read the Iraqis’ blogs written about the deaths of their friends and family members, often times at the hands of US troops. I know the water is not safe to drink, that overall electrical supply is lower now than four years ago, and that the simple act of going to the neighborhood store is fraught with danger. Their health care system is in total shambles; and I know all these factors lead to more and more death.

I knew full well that no nuclear WMDs would be found in that country, just as there are no nuclear WMDs in Iran today. For anyone who believed the WMDs were there, you were sold a pack of lies. And you can count on the fact that they have not stopped lying, even to this day. It is clear to me that vast segments of our population are willfully ignorant of the above facts and willfully apathetic to the suffering of the Iraqi people. It was always clear to me that the US administration’s policies were designed to ferment chaos and strife and sectarian differences in Iraq. The common term would be “divide and rule” for what the Bush administration has done and continues to do. And even today, this Bush administration is discussing what they should do with Iraq – as if the country were their own property, instead of belonging to the Iraqis! Any month now, I expect the Bush administration will kick the leader of Iraq out of office and put someone else in place. And I guess Mr. Bush will tell those Iraqi people that they can take their purple fingers and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.

It is clear to me that Americans are the ones responsible for allowing this situation to develop. It is also clear to me that it is beyond our ability to “fix” – if such a thing was even on the agenda of those who say “stuff happens” while society is breaking down, or “bring em on” when their own troops are in harm’s way or “we don’t do body counts” in the face of massive death of innocents. This war has spawned massive lies, deception, graft, corruption, theft, rape, torture, murder, illnesses, PTSD, and God only knows what other evil – and for what?

Back in the 1950’s, there were bombings of black churches in Birmingham. It was pretty clear it was racially motivated, and that some white folks were behind it. Now, imagine if the people of those churches (that were bombed) had decided to get revenge and bring the evil ones to justice by bombing every single white church in the city the following Sunday morning – massive bombs that killed everyone inside. There is a chance that they would have killed the evil ones and their supporters – but of course, they would have also killed a lot of innocents in the process. And, I expect, there would have been even more violence in response to that violence! This is essentially what we have done in the Middle East – we sent our bombers and troops over there to kill off the evil ones who planned and supported an attack on us. For the most part, we did not get them. Instead, we started a genocide that we are willfully ignoring. And the killing is far, far from over.

Every American needs to work to stop this war and stop this genocide. Call Senator Dole (202-224-3154) and Senator Burr (202-224-3154) and tell them to get our troops out of Iraq now. Call them everyday! And in January 2007, go to DC and join the protest there. Then stay a week and visit members of our congress and tell their staff what you think. And if you see any members of congress walking the halls (and you will), stop them and tell them directly what you think. We are the only ones who can stop this genocide being done in our names. And never forget we are the ones paying for it.

Taken from The Heretic Blog

Go to: http://theheretik.us/ to read more from his blog.

I just liked this cartoon.


May Cheney and George's Devil Party "go cheney themselves!"

Representative Mel Watt

Representative Watt came to Asheville the Sunday before the election to do a GOTV rally for Shuler’s campaign. I had a chance to talk with him and shake his hand, and let him know that I was hold the position of state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America. Representative Watt is a member of the Progressive Caucus and the only Representative from North Carolina who is a member of this caucus. I have a lot of respect for Mel Watt, and a deep appreciation for his votes that reflect his values and my values also. I also told Representative Watt about the Voters Peace Pledge and how over 560 people have signed that pledge in congressional district #11, which is more than twice the number of people who have signed in Representative Watt’s district. Representative Watt said that maybe that was due to the fact that they were already represented by someone who was against war, and maybe they don’t feel the need to sign such a pledge or promote the pledge within their district.

The picture above is of Susan Fisher (NC House), Mel Watt (US House) and Frieda Brown. (I do not know Frieda Brown.) Susan Fisher, like Mel Watt, is also very progressive and very responsive to voters in North Carolina. They both believe in decent human values and they both act from those values. They are both great people, and if we had a majority of people in office who were like them, we would have a MUCH better country and state. I will always support these two running for any office. I did not take notes of what Mel Watt spoke about, but I do remember him saying that he sure hoped he was right to be leaving his district to promote another Democratic candidate in another district. Representative Watt also brought some of his staff to work on Shuler’s campaign in the final days. Candidate Shuler was not at this rally because he had made a pledge to keep Sundays for his family and church only. I respect that decision. I am grateful to have the chance to meet Representative Watt and shake his hand. So far now, I have shaken the hands of Representatives Woolsey, Lee, McGovern, McDermitt and now Watt. I will only shake hands with US federal lawmakers who I consider to be decent and moral people.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 12

LEGACY OF WAR

(Video on this subject at the link above)

Pham Van Xong holds his son, Truc, who is a victim of the herbicide Agent Orange. (Travis Fox/Post.com)

For a stark reminder of the Vietnam War, people living near the airport in this central industrial city can still stroll along the old stone walls that once surrounded a U.S. military base. But Luu Thi Nguyen, a 31-year-old homemaker, needs only to look into the face of her young daughter. Van, 5, spends her days at home, playing by herself on the concrete floor because local school officials say her appearance frightens other children. She has an oversize head and a severely deformed mouth, and her upper body is covered in a rash so severe her skin appears to have been boiled. According to Vietnamese medical authorities, she is part of a new generation of Agent Orange victims, forever scarred by the U.S.-made herbicide containing dioxin, one of the world's most toxic pollutants. For decades, the United States and Vietnam have wrangled over the question of responsibility for the U.S. military's deployment of Agent Orange. But officials say they are now moving to jointly address at least one important aspect of the spraying's aftermath -- environmental damage at Vietnamese "hot spots" such as Nguyen's city, Da Nang -- that are still contaminated with dioxin 31 years after the fall of Saigon. For decades, the United States and Vietnam have wrangled over the question of responsibility for the U.S. military's deployment of Agent Orange. But officials say they are now moving to jointly address at least one important aspect of the spraying's aftermath -- environmental damage at Vietnamese "hot spots" such as Nguyen's city, Da Nang -- that are still contaminated with dioxin 31 years after the fall of Saigon. Though neither Nguyen nor her husband was exposed to the Agent Orange sprayed by U.S. forces from 1962 to 1971, officials here say they believe the couple genetically passed on dioxin's side effects after eating fish from contaminated canals. "I am not interested in blaming anyone at this point," the soft-spoken Nguyen said on a recent day, stroking her daughter's face. "But the contamination should not keep doing this to our children. It must be cleaned up." Vietnamese and U.S. officials last year conducted their first joint scientific research project related to Agent Orange. Testing of the soil near Da Nang's airport, where farmers say they have been unable to grow rice or fruit trees for decades, showed dioxin levels there as much as 100 times above acceptable international standards. Now the United States is planning to co-fund a project to remove massive amounts of the chemical from the soil. A senior U.S. official involved in Vietnam policy said the plan is evidence that the two countries, having embarked on a new era of economic cooperation, are finally collaborating to address the problem.

………

The more politically sensitive issues of responsibility and direct compensation for victims remain unresolved. Although medical authorities here estimate that there are more than 4 million suspected dioxin victims in Vietnam, the United States maintains that there are no conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and the severe health problems and birth defects that the Vietnamese attribute to dioxin.

………

During the war, American forces sprayed about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange over the jungle canopies and jade-green highlands of Vietnam. The most toxic of the herbicides used for military purposes, it defoliated countless trees in areas where the communist North Vietnamese troops hid supply lines and conducted guerrilla warfare.

"I find it ironic that on one hand you put [Saddam Hussein] on trial for using biological warfare, but in another country where you sprayed chemicals for warfare, you neglect your responsibility," said Duc Nguyen.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HYPOCRISY IS.

THIS BLIND CALLOULNESS TO WHAT THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED WHEN THE US MILITARY AND US POLITICIANS WENT TO ‘LIBERATE’ THEM IS SICKENING.

Free Speech in the USA

I have license plates that say IMPEACH. Normally, people in other cars and pedestrians have nothing to say about my plates, although I have gotten positive feedback on occasion. But yesterday, someone gave me the finger as they honked and drove past in Kentucky on I-75. They were driving a Toyota Cambry (white) with license plates 037 AGK.

I just wanted to make a note of that, in case someone decides to take it further and tracks me down. I did not respond to their giving me the finger and honking.

Also, the last two days, I have been busy calling the UCLA police department to talk to Karl Ross, the head of that department. I called because of the cell phone film of a guy in the UCLA library who got tazered five or six times, while he was not being violent or threatening. (He did say some ugly language like f**k you to the officers.) This film of this incident is about 6 minutes long. I am very upset with these police officers and have been telling Ross (via leaving messages) that the officers need to be fired and then arrested for assault. I think they should also be tazered themselves, for the same amount of time and intensity and with the same weapon. I would be willing to do that myself (hey, were did my pacifism go?). I also think the supervisors for these men should be fired. The phone number to call Karl Ross is 310-825-1491.

Movie

If you watch only one movie this year, this should be it! It is excellent at how we in the USA have become such a military-industrial complex, and only leaves out one aspect: THE MEDIA! They profit greatly from war and war mongering, and they also profit from the military industries advertisement - why else would Lockheed Martin advertise on CNN?



Why We Fight

A Must Watch Film By Eugene Jarecki

What are the forces that shape and propel American militarism? This award-winning film provides an inside look at the anatomy of the American war machine.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 11

U.S. to Lift Ban on Latin American Military Training

"Concern about leftist victories in Latin America has prompted President Bush to quietly grant a waiver that allows the US to resume training militaries from 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries," USA TODAY's Barbara Slavin reports today. "The administration hopes the training will forge links with countries in the region and blunt a leftward trend." The training ban, "originally designed to pressure countries into exempting U.S. soldiers from war crimes trials," has caused the US to lose influence in the region, military officials tell Slavin. Public reaction appears limited so far. The School of the Americas Watch, which monitors and protests the U.S. military programs that have controversially trained Latin American military groups for decades, plans a large demonstration this month to protest the change and call for an end to the training.
The School of the Americas gained notoriety after the Pentagon's 1996 revelation that manuals used there "advocated executions, torture, blackmail and other forms of coercion against insurgents," as The Washington Post put it. A number of its graduates have also been accused of human rights abuses. A public forum this month covered by the Associated Press and others shows the debate around the issues here remain alive and well. What do you think of the return to training? Will it help American influence in Latin America, or does more involvement mean more trouble?

The School of the Americas Watch is this weekend in Georgia. Lots of my friends will be going there; lots of good people are protesting this human monstrosity.

I am with them in spirit, and next year I will be there in person.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 10

So, it is okay with the Republicans to go and bomb the snot out of Iraq, and to do the “shock(ing) and awe(ful)” and never bother to count the dead bodies. It is okay to flatten a city or two or sixteen (think Fallujah – 2/3rds destroyed!) and it is okay to imprison people without trial or arrest. It is okay to torture and abuse them while they are in prison. And it is okay to use chemical weapons and nuclear weapons (depleted uranium) and cluster bombs on civilian populations and okay to bomb TV stations, water treatment plants, electrical supply stations and even hospitals. It is okay to complete destroy people’s lives and country in the “name” of bringing them “freedom and democracy”. But this is not okay:

US Court Backs Fine for Iraq Humanitarian Visits

A Seattle man who traveled to Iraq nine times to deliver medicines during the 1990-2003 international embargo was properly fined more then $13,000, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Bertram Sacks visited Iraq and broke the embargo nine times to deliver humanitarian aid between 1996 and the start of the U.S.-led war there. He sued in federal court after he was assessed a $10,000 fine, a sum that later rose to $13,767.08 with interest and late fees. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals backed the travel ban regulations and the fine. "His challenge to the restriction on medical donations does not fulfill the constitutional requirements of standing and ripeness," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the panel. "The penalty against Sacks is valid." The United States imposed sanctions in 1990 after Iraq's invasion of neighboring Kuwait, a move that banned Americans from direct or indirect commercial trade with Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule. The United Nations also imposed sanctions.

Got that? Killing Iraqis is OKAY. Helping them out by getting some humanitarian aid to them (in this case, medical supplies) is NOT OKAY. And this judgment comes from the very same people who SAY they are bringing FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY to the Iraqi people.

So, in installment #10 in my Democracy Hypocrisy series, this one takes the cake. The Republicans are claiming to help people by bombing them - while prosecuting people who actually are helping them a little bit.

Only a REPUBLICAN CONGRESS AND PRESIDENCY COULD ACHIEVE THIS LEVEL OF HYPOCRISY.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 9

It’s Only Democracy when you elect who we want.

Democracy hypocrisy: We Palestinians find ourselves the targets of a systematic siege imposed by the so-called free world. We are being starved and suffocated as a punishment for daring to exercise our democratic right to choose who rules and represents us. Nothing undermines the west's claims to defend freedom and democracy more than what is happening in Palestine.

TWO YEARS AGO - THE US BOMBED FALLUJAH

This Night in Fallujah: Lailat Al Qadr in Ramadan

By Sam Hamod
November 10, 2004

Tonight, in Fallujah

We wait

For the known

For the follow-up

To the fighter planes

To the rockets

To the long days of shelling

To the depleted uranium killing us slowly,

We wait

To see their tanks

Their tanks will come first

They remind us of the Israelis

They remind us American planes killed our cousins

In Palestine

Killed them with American rockets,

Now

They have come for us

We were living

Just living our lives,

With our wives and children,

Just like the Americans

They went to school, they did their lessons

They ran innocently

In the schoolyards

And on weekends the boys

Would tease the girls

In the marketplace, but

Dare not let the mother or

Father of the girl see, the girls

Would twist their

Hair, their smiles

And blush

Away from the eyes

Of their mothers

We were just living

Not looking to fight, just

Wanting to be

Left alone

But they came

Hunting us, like

Animals, like wild

Things, they came

Shooting, randomly,

Dropping 500 pound bombs

Destroying our mosques, our

Churches, our schools, our

Hospitals, our water, our

Electricity—they bombed

Us back 300 years

But, we

Just wanted to live

Just wanted to pray each day

In our mosques, raise our

Children, take care of our

Wives, our old fathers and

Mothers, we are not for

Fighting—but now

There is no

Choice—what good

Would it be to run

To be shot down

Like an animal on the run,

Now it is time, even with

The small weapons

We have, we shall stand now

To protect what we have

To claim our own homes, to claim

Our own peace

They are strange

These Christians, not like

My cousin’s wife

Who is Christian, in our

Christian churches, they say

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,”

“God’s greatest gift is mercy,”

but these men come

with large crosses on their chests,

their ministers teach them songs about

killing and killing for Jesus, these

Americans are strange, we had

Always heard

They were peaceful people, people

Who wanted what we wanted,

Peace, life, justice,

Decency, education,

We had heard----
So now they come,

Loudspeakers on their jeeps, loudspeakers

And louder music, drums banging,

They tell us to surrender or die, they have

Iraqi slaves among them, some of whom

Will, at the last minute, turn on these

Americans, kill some

And themselves be killed,

We have on our side, Allah

We have on our side, our families,

Our homes, our thousands of years

Of having to defend ourselves

From Persians, from Greeks, from

Romans, from Mongols, from Crusaders,

From Turks, from British—now

This new evil, this new devil

Flying their flags, red, white and blue,

Blaring their music and harsh words,

We see their eyes now,

They are young, like

Us, they are afraid, yet

They want to kill us, we

Are “ragheads,” “we are animals,”

We are “assholes,” “we are terrorists”

And every other name you can think of

And they have come to kill us

To wipe our city off the maps of the world,

Off the map of Iraq, they say

They come at the order of the exile

The Americans sent to rule us, Iyad

Allawi, Iyad the whore, Iyad the munafik,

Iyad the devil—and yes,

We shall die, but Allah knows

Who is the evil one

And who is the one who fights in his name,

There is always that short term victory

For the devils

But their long run is not long

And they too shall die

We do not want to die, but

We understand dying is only

Part of living, death is always

Waiting, sometimes

Patiently, other times

Takes us swiftly, but we understand

This is the will of Allah

Some of us must die

So that others will

Understand

Just what is going on

So that others will see

So that others will resist even more

Our deaths will echo in Saudi Arabia,

In Kuwait, in the Muslim halls of the world, in

The cries of our women, in the history of our

Muslim people, in the Khutba’s on Friday’s

Prayers—they know

That we die during Ramadan, they know

We die gloriously at the hand of the heathens, at

The hands of the unbelievers, for the sake of

What the Qur’an taught us,

To protect our families, our homes, our country and

Most of all to protect our mosques

And Islam

So we have stayed to fight

And die during Ramadan, this

Most holy of months, this Ramadan

That requires so much

Discipline and faith, this Ramadan

That is the month of our sign of commitment

To Allah, it is a glorious month

In which to fight, and if necessary

To die

No, we are not mad

We do not wish to die

We have more desire to live

Than these devils who have invaded our land

Attacked our fathers and mothers, who

Have raped our women, who have

Tortured our cousins and brothers in their

Prisons, all in the name of

“democracy,” and “liberty,” and “freedom”—

how hollow their words

how hollow their lies

how hollow their attacks on us

they do not realize

we do not die, we

live, we live

on now, as martyrs, as

heroes, as men who

were not afraid to die, as men

who believed in the Deen, in Allah,

in the same God they proclaim but do not truly follow—

but his wrath is coming

his wrath shall be coming upon them—

if they survive our fight, they

are being poisoned, just as we have been poisoned,

the depleted uranium has poisoned their blood,

has poisoned the eggs in their sperm,

has poisoned their lives

so when they have deformed children, the

children will be witnesses to their killing

us, to their killing of their own souls,

to their killing their own families, and

what of those who will go mad, whose

nightmares will not let them ever sleep

another peaceful night

and what will their faces tell them

when they look in the mirror

when they look on their dressers

and see the pieces of metal

they were given for killing us

in our own homes, in own cities, in

our own mosques and churches,

what will their eyes say,

what will they say when their twisted

lies are uncovered, when the rest of the

world speaks of their massacres of

women and children, of old men, of

bombing hospitals, what will they

do when they see the smirking face

of their presidents, their senators, their

leaders who have allowed them to do this,

have ordered them to do this

—and

what will they say to Jesus

when he speaks to them on Judgement Day

when he asks why they killed—

why they did not say, NO

why they did not prefer prison over killing of innocent

civilians, and to the pilots who

fly freely, without concern of any reprisal, F16s rocketing

our city day after day, night after night, surely

they will not fly with the angels, but

shall burn even worse than the rest—

and so we hear the rockets and hear the bombs

during our maghrib prayer, we have heard since our fajr

prayers, we do not much feel like iftar, the food

has lost some of its taste, no one wants to die,

no one wants to leave their wife and children,

no one wants never to see their father or mother again,

no one wants to have to fight, just to live,

no one wants to have to kill another human being—at least

none of us,

we were living peacefully in our city,

we did not attack anyone, we

did not do anything worse than defend ourselves,

and for that

now we know we must die, we

know that unless Allah produces a miracle

or sends legions of angels to protect us

that the planes will attack

with the tanks that will crush us

with the rockets and snipers who

will split our bodies into pieces, whose

concussions will split our heads open,

whose noise will puncture our eardrums

until we bleed

and like our blessed Prophet Jesus, who came

before our blessed Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,

we shall die, just as Jesus

was martyred—we shall be martyred

by the new Roman, the new crusader army,

on this Night of Power, where Allah’s message of

righteousness and courage is clear, where

we renew our commitment to our God,

where we know he gives us everlasting life

though we may die tonight on the earth,

we shall live forever, in Allah’s hands

We shall live

in history, and the world, yea

the world will remember

we stood and fought this day,

knowing we would die

but knowing that death is only a moment

in God’s time, in Allah’s time

and that those who kill us today

may live long and tortured lives

when they realize what evil they have done

and those evil men

who ordered them on, Allawi, Bush,

Cheney, Wolfowitz, Abizaid, Myers and the rest,

Allah will take care of them

On the earth and on Judgement Day,

And the men who did not have the courage to

Say, No, they will suffer each day

For the rest of their earthly days,

For it is written, that whosoever kills a believer

During Ramadan, will suffer hellfire and damnation

For eternity

So we choose to stand, to die if we must,

But during this blessed month of Ramadan

There is no death to the believer

Only the knowledge that Allah’s ways

Are beyond our understanding—we may not

Be on the earth so see what will happen

From our stand, but we will be looking

Down from Heaven

And we shall see Allah visit his wrath

On those who come to kill us in our homes,

In our city, in our country, in our churches, in

Our mosques—and though we may die,

Like these days of our battle,

Our spirits

Will live forever

Lailat Al Qadr: The Night of Power where God’s message is clear to the world, where God/Allah blesses the righteous and condemns the evil ones.

Ramadan: The Muslim Holy Month of fasting, prayer and renewed commitment to God/Allah (Allah is the Arabic word for God, used by Muslims and Christians alike in the Middle East).

Khutba: The Muslim sermon on prayer days in the mosques.

Sam Hamod prays for the souls of all who will lose their lives in the wrongful American attack on Fallujah; he has published 10 books of poems; he also is the former Director of The Islamic Center of Washington, DC. This poem may be reprinted wherever and whenever anyone wishes; please inform Dr. Hamod if you wish to publish it. [I tried to reach Dr. Hamod, but the email address given did not work. – dancewater]

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 8

Evil Is As Evil Does

Perhaps Americans don’t notice, but the rest of the world does see the double standard applied when Saddam Hussein is put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while US, UK, and Israeli government officials commit far greater crimes by illegally invading countries, targeting civilian populations, and torturing detainees.

I sure noticed how the US government supported and funded Saddam when he was busy making war on Iran and killing off the Kurds. Now, he has been found guilty of ordering the deaths of 140+ Shi’ites. These poor people were living in a village where someone tried to kill Saddam. Saddam got his revenge.

I wonder if the US is going to put the CIA on trial for the car bombs (under Allawi) in the 1990’s in Baghdad. They were attempts to kill Saddam – but instead killed school children. Or how about putting Bush and Blair on trial for their “shock and awe(ful)” campaign in 2003 to kill off Saddam – that only killed civilians.

Or, more appropriately, how about the two assaults on the city of Fallujah? Some of the people there (a very small number) killed off some “security contractors” that happened to be Americans. That was in 2004. How is that any different than what Saddam did?

More HYPOCRISY.

One headline last week said:

Unclear if US Republicans Will Profit From Saddam Trial Verdict.

Profit? They should be on trial with him! They were aided and abetting him when he was doing his dirty deeds!!! They were selling him arms and intelligence!!! The stinking hypocrites!!!

However, I must add that the US Republicans did not profit from the announcement of Saddam's verdict. They lost BIG TIME in the election.

Election Night

First, I want to say that the voting process in NC was very different this time around. I played some part in that, but to be honest, I gave up at some point because I felt I was banging my head against a wall. FORTUNATELY, my friends did not give up. And we now have a paper-trail ballot that was easy and quick and counted by an optical scan machine. 75% of the state has optical scan machines, 25% still have electronic, but they still have a paper trail in the machines (they are just about impossible to read however). Also, we chased Diebold out of the state.

We also had early voting for two weeks. I have worked the early voting polls on three Friday afternoons. I also worked at a poll this afternoon and evening. I found most people had already decided who to vote for in the US House race and the NC House and NC Senate races. But they did not know who to vote for in the non-partisan races, like judges, school board, and water and soil board. So, the information I handed out was useful.

Tonight there is a party in downtown Asheville for the Democrats. I left because I am just too tired. Shuler was pulling ahead, but it is close. I did not vote for either Shuler or Taylor – NEITHER are peace candidates, and I will not vote for anyone who is not ever again. No exceptions.

I was working to promote Doug Jones for NC House. I still don’t know if he will win, but I do hope he does. He is young, a school teacher, a father of two small children. He is a great guy and would be great in the NC House or any elected position. I am hoping that he (when he wins) will join with Susan Fisher (also running for the NC House) and file articles of impeachment against Bush.

That’s my hope and plan. I also expect that the US House and US Senate will go to the Democrats tonight!

I am so glad the elections are over. I've been working on them quite a bit, and it is darn hard to spend that much time outside just standing around in the cold. Most people around here are receptive and polite, but some of those die-hard Republicans are nasty.

Hey, Clear Channel is still very nasty too, I found out tonight! I was at the party and I was telling the Clear Channel guys (One who’s name – I think – was “Mo”) that I hate Clear Channel for how they vilified any anti-war voices prior to the Iraq invasion and I hate them for how they trashed the Dixie Chicks. I said at one point "I will hate Clear Channel until I die." and Mo said "And that can't come soon enough" and walked away. Now, I might get upset if someone said they would hate my employer until they die, but I won't wish them dead!

I wonder if Mo will ever reflect on why someone who used to listen to Clear Channel (country radio) years ago now feels so strongly against the radio conglomerate that she goes around saying she hates them. I wonder if he will ever realize that the attitude he exhibited is exactly what’s wrong with Clear Channel – that you cannot hold an opinion that they don’t like. It is just not acceptable to them, and they will wish you dead if you do. Or else they will try to suppress you (read the FCC comes to Asheville post where the local Clear Channel radio host interrupted me during my 2 minute speech) or just plain vilify you (see “Dixie Chicks”).

Well, we can’t thank the corporate media, like Clear Channel, enough for the current mess we are in.

UPDATE: Shuler takes it (I had predicted he would lose, I was WRONG.) and Doug Jones loses by a slim margin. Also, Kissell, in the eastern part of the state, has lost by a very slim margin, but a count of provisional and absentee ballots could change that. The rest of my candidates won. The Democrats have taken the US House, not sure about the US Senate, but it isn’t looking too good.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 7

Guantanamo Prisoners Challenge New Terrorism Law

Lawyers for some Guantanamo prisoners urged a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday to strike down as unconstitutional a key part of the tough anti-terrorism law that President George W. Bush signed last month. They said the new law does not give the U.S. government the power to arrest suspects overseas and imprison them indefinitely without any charges and without allowing them to challenge their detention in U.S. court. A provision of the law unconstitutionally suspends the right under habeas corpus, a long-standing principle of American law, of the detainees to contest their imprisonment, they said. The attorneys, who represented six Algerians captured in Bosnia who have been in U.S. custody since 2002, said the authors of the U.S. Constitution recognized that people held in prison without being charged "must retain the right to obtain a court inquiry." The Bush administration says the new law means the appeals court no longer has jurisdiction to consider pending appeals filed by scores of inmates at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The law states: "No court, justice or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined ... to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination."

Yes, while we are busy bring “freedom and democracy” to the Iraqi people, we are busy denying it to our POWs in Guantanamo Bay, and stripping away civil rights here in the USA. The latest I heard was that we will now need to get “permission” to travel outside of the country. What slop!

Here is what one Iraqi had to say about the “freedom and democracy” Bush is bring to Iraq:

"S said if this is freedom, then I dont want it. If this is democracy, then to hell with it. In Saddam's time, we knew who was coming after us. Today we dont know which direction the bullet, the suicide bomb, the militia will come from. She said, Im in my thirties, the peak of my life. The time where I should be enjoying my life. And yet look at me. Im Christian, yet Im all covered up. I cant even say Im Christian. I cant wear my cross. I have to do it all in hiding."

BUSH IS BRINGING THEM THE FREEDOM OF THE GRAVE AND THE DEMOCRACY OF DEATH.

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 6

Cluster Bomb Victims Overwhelmingly Civilians

Civilians, a quarter of them children, make up almost all the victims of cluster bombs over the last three decades, a humanitarian agency said on Thursday. In a study of 24 countries and regions, Handicap International said the controversial weapons, which scatter munitions over a wide area, had killed, wounded or maimed 11,044 people of whom 98 percent were civilians. The under-reporting of victims in such places as Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam meant the real total could be almost 10 times higher, it said. Some 27 percent of the victims were children, mainly boys, who were working or playing in areas where munitions were lying around after failing to explode on impact. "For 30 years governments have failed to address the disproportionate, long-term harm these weapons cause to civilian populations," Angelo Simonazzi, the agency's director general, said in a statement. Cluster bombs were recently used by Israel in its month-long war in Lebanon against Hezbollah guerrillas.

Yes, the Bush administration claims the ‘terrorists’ target civilians, and then goes and uses cluster bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, which mainly target civilians. Furthermore, they sell cluster bombs to Israel, who goes and uses them in the last days of the war against Lebanon this past summer. Last I heard, 20+ people, all CIVILIANS, have been killed in Lebanon by the cluster bombs used by Israel and MADE IN THE USA. And that was after the war was over.

This is murderous hypocrisy!

And they wonder “why they hate us”?

Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 5

Bush talking about the Democrats (on November 2, 2006):

"If you listen carefully for a Democrat plan for success, they don't have one. Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, yet they don't have a plan ..."

This is President Bush, who is speaking while campaigning for Republicans. If Bush has a plan, it is to increase chaos and violence in that poor country. It is only the ‘central front on the war on terror’ because he made it so. Talk about creating your own reality!

Here is someone else’s take on Bush’s “PLAN” in Iraq:

OPINION: Bush Has A Plan, And It Is Working

So, does the Bush administration have a plan for Iraq, and if so, is it working? The answer to both questions could well be "yes". But it's not a plan that Bush could publicly boast about, despite the fact that it’s working like a charm. …….. A strategy of fomenting chaos makes perfect sense in a twisted sort of way: a stable, autonomous Iraq means oil will be pumped, bringing down international crude prices, and that's the last thing the Bush administration's backers want. Who are the administration's backers, and who has a hotline to the presidency, via Vice President Dick Cheney? Big Oil.

On Rush’s show, President Bush said this in November 2006:

“Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words”

Bush said: “BRING ‘EM ON!!!” in July 2003 while our troops were directly in harm’s way. And he has the nerve to tell other people to understand the consequences of words! That phrase was used in an insurgent’s video of attacks on US troops. This is an outstanding example of hypocrisy!

Here’s another Bush comment from October 2002:

“America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children.”

Well, it seems that all demands were met – before the invasion actually. That is, all the STATED demands about not have a WMD program were met. Yet, oddly enough, Bush shows no interest or concern about what is happening to the Iraqi people. His officials said “stuff happens” when civil society was breaking apart at the seams and “we don’t do body counts” in comment to civilian casualties. Even today, they show no interest in seeing what is happening to the Iraqi people or even counting how many have been killed by this war and occupation.

Okay, technically, what Bush said in October 2002 isn’t hypocrisy – it is just a lie. But the hypocrisy comes in when the Bush supporters make statements that those of us against the war and against Bush policy WANT to see Iraq fail and the Iraqi people suffer. This is total nonsense to think that we went out on cold February days and protested just because we want to see Iraqis suffer, but the true hypocrisy lies in the fact that BUSH DOES NOT EVEN NOTICE THE IRAQI PEOPLE’S SUFFERING!! I’m not sure he knows they exist.

More Deadly Than Saddam

The final indignity, if you are an Iraqi who was shot for accidentally turning into the path of a U.S. military convoy (they thought you might be a terrorist), or blown apart by a car bomb or an airstrike, or tortured and murdered by kidnappers, or just for being a Sunni or a Shiite, is that U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will deny that your death happened.

More Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 4

The American government has closed one of its websites after a newspaper reported the site contained instructions on how to build a nuclear bomb.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said yesterday that it shut down a public Web site after complaints from U.N. weapons inspectors that the site included sensitive details about constructing nuclear and chemical weapons.

It is important to remember that the right wingnuts were the ones who INSISTED that these papers be posted on the web. They were sure that these papers, found in Iraq, would help them determine that Saddam had an active WMD program in 2003. THAT’S WHY THEY WERE POSTED ON THE WEB IN THE FIRST PLACE. So the looney tunes right wingnuts could interpret the papers themselves and prove Bush was right all along.

One of the first things they discovered was that Saddam had chemical and biological weapons detectors – and they thought that proved an active program. Apparently, the definition of the word “detectors” escaped them. (No one has ever said they were very bright.)

Now, with this revelation, they are again claiming that Saddam had an active WMD program – even though the papers date from before 1990 and tell us nothing about Saddam’s program that we didn’t already know! What they do tell people, in Arabic, is HOW to build such programs as Saddam had going back in 1990 - and that he DIDN’T have going in 2003.

And these hypocrites thing the New York Times is endangering national security (See Michell Matkin) when they publish information that everybody already knew – like the fact that Iraq is slipping into chaos. Or the fact that Bush is spying on domestic phone calls.

The right wingnuts go crazy when the New York Times publishes a leaked report from the military, yet they care NOT ONE WHIT about the leaking of an undercover CIA officer’s name – and thereby threaten lots of undercover CIA operatives around the world. Oh, and it just so happened that those operatives were working on uncovering nuclear WMD programs, and were not too popular with the Bush administration because they kept claiming that Saddam did not have a nuclear WMD program. And they were correct, and they will stay correct until the end of time.

That’s today’s examples of DEMOCRACY HYPOCRISY. (I have nine posts in total in this series, and I am starting to think I will NEVER run out of material!)

More Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 3

This blog post was aided by a Republican who is running for the NC House. He says his opponent stands for the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA. Now, I am not sure what the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA is exactly, but this guy thinks he knows: “In the past Goforth has been endorsed by NC Equality, a homosexual rights PAC. In April, 2003 he voted in committee to put sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity into our Equal Employment Opportunity law.”

Got that? This guy thinks being opposed to discrimination under the law as the “homosexual agenda”. This guy think civil rights for all is UN-American and treating others fairly and humanly does not enter into his equation at all.

But, let’s take a look at other Republicans and their support for the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA.

First, there was the Jeff Gannon/Guckett agenda. This guy got a job in the White House press corps even though he was not a journalist. He was a male prostitute who ran an escort service and a pornographic website. (He was also 8” cut – per his website.) How he got a job in the White House press corps is anybody’s guess, but I think we can assume they either don’t check these guys out ahead of time, or he was “servicing” someone there in the White House. The latter explanation would also serve to explain the mysterious visits to the White House at funny hours. So, was this the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA? To pretend to be a reporter, even though you are a porn star, and go ask questions that are insulting to Democrats? Well, no, I would say that is the Republican agenda, at least for some Republicans.

I think if we had given Ken Starr about $80 million we could have uncovered the “blue stained shirt” in that little fiasco.

Then there is the Mark Foley agenda. He writes laws to protect children from on-line predators, and then goes after them himself. And blames it on alcoholism, a former priest, and who-knows-what-else!! Who is this the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA?? Being a total hypocrite about morality? Or is it yet again a REPUBLICAN AGENDA?

I report. You decide.

The last major election, the Republicans got their “base” out to vote in 14 states by getting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot. And apparently, extending civil rights to all Americans is NOT ON THEIR AGENDA, since they seem to think that homosexuality is evil (never mind that people are born that way!). Yes, they got their followers to go to the polls and vote against the HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA, just like the local Republican running for office is doing. They get people all riled up over something that does not impact on their lives, that they can ignore if they choose to, and something that Jesus himself (who they claim to follow) had nothing to say about. THE POSSIBILITY that homosexuals might get married is what they are concerned about – not the poor, not the hungry, not the illegal war in Iraq that has killed over a half million people. Just what some adults might do in the privacy of their own homes, and the fact that they may want to have the same civil rights extended to other people in this country.

Yes, they claim to believe in democracy, even to the point of exporting it to other countries, yet they don’t want equal civil rights for all Americans!

And the LATEST in this huge HYPOCRISY list is the Haggard affair. Pastor Haggard was the head of huge church out in Colorado that is part of the evangelical movement. They strongly condemn (as did Haggard) HOMOSEXUALITY as a SIN. They are against civil rights for all Americans and they are very much in favor of the US Government monitoring and interfering with what adults do in the privacy of their own homes – the last one being true only for the homosexuals and Democrats and other people they hate. (And, in spite of being a so-called “Christian” church, they think it is a-okay to hate anyone. That “Sermon on the Mount” stuff means NOTHING to them.)

Turns out Pastor Haggard not only engaged in HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITIY, he also paid a hooker for the ‘services’ while preaching that it was a sin! He engaged in homosexual activity with a hooker while trying to make other Americans feel bad because they engage in a mature honest relationship that happen to be homosexual! He engaged in homosexual activity with a hooker while he supports denying civil rights to ALL AMERICANS.

Now, I don’t know if the Republican running for the NC House is also a closet gay that uses a hooker, but I do know that he is opposed to EQUALITY for all Americans and that he is willing to deny some Americans their CIVIL RIGHTS. I do know he belongs to the Republican Party, where all these HYPOCRITES came from. I know he is also the only one in this particular race to use smear attack ads (in print) against his opponent.

Together, I think these qualities make him unsuitable for just about any political office. I will make a copy of this blog post and mail it to him – and he will get it after he loses this election. I hope he does not run again, because I have been polite to him in the past, but I probably won’t be in the future. He just does not deserve it. He is a hypocrite, too.

Oh, and visiting his website shows that he supports the ACTION CLUB which is really an anti-immigration club that goes after the poor folks, not the rich guys who (illegally) give the immigrants jobs. Guess it does not bother him that this area was inhabited by natives until the immigrants from Europe kicked them out (or killed them).

Stay tuned for the next version of Democracy Hypocrisy!

More Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 2

More Democracy Hypocrisy, Part 2

I have a whole list of items to present on “Democracy Hypocrisy” but seriously, I can’t keep up with these a**holes. But here is one more installment:

ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING HYPOCRISY

A**holes blame Iraqis (or the Bush administration) for the disaster in Iraq. Glenn Greenwald has that summary of hypocrisy. Before they blamed the Iraqis for voting for the wrong leaders, they praised them for voting for the right leaders. And before they got busy blaming the Bush administration for messing up the war on Iraq, they were busy helping the Bush administration promote the war on Iraq. Ledeen, one of the main promoters of the war on Iraq, said this in 2002: “One can only hope that we turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If ever there were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, it is the Middle East today.” Well, he got what he wanted and now he claims he was against the war! What a liar – and hypocrisy doesn’t get much deeper than this.

However, Dole, our detested Senator from NC, is busy blaming the Democrats for the (in her mind only) upcoming loss of the war in Iraq. I called her office today to remind her that it was a REPUBLICAN president and REBUPLICAN congress that thought up this war in 2001-2002, it was a REPUBLICAN president and a REPUBLICAN congress that started the war in 2003, and it was a REPUBLICAN president and a REPUBLICAN congress that lost the war in August 2003 when the UN headquarters and the holy shrine in Najaf were bombed. IT IS FULLY A REPUBLICAN DEAL, no matter what the upcoming US elections show, and no matter how many despicable DEMOCRATS supported this illegal and immoral war, and no matter what happens next. To blame anyone else is the deepest of lies and hypocrisy, not that they care.

Then Ledeen goes and posts this about his critics (in response to the heat from Glenn Greenwald):

The usual suspects are up in arms that I am a "liar" for stating in response to the Vanity Fair piece that "I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place and I advocated - as I still do - support for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters."

Without including any links to the people who are making such claims or their overwhelming evidence. Yep, more hypocrisy – then he goes and says this:

As for the Scowcroft excoriation left bloggers are pointing to, I never address military action in it. Which, again, anyone who's been reading me all this time know wasn't my solution to the problem.

Well, see quote above! Taken right from the article he is linking to here! Apparently, turning it into a “cauldron” is not (in his mind) a reference to military action. What is it then, a reference to pure terrorism to be visited on the people of the Middle East? Only a truly evil person would want to turn some part of the world into a CAULDRON. And they wonder why “they” hate us!!

If you wish, you can email the National Review, where Ledeen now claims he was always against the war, and let them know what a liar he is. Below are two emails.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com

klopez@nationalreview.com

And you can also email the American Enterprise Institute, where Ledeen works, and let them know what a liar and hypocrite he is.

VRodman@aei.org

ALevy@aei.org

I guess technically, this goes way beyond hypocrisy and just is outright LYING. But they are still hypocrites to blame other people for their screw-ups.

Democracy Hypocrisy

Well, the Bush administration has done it again! Bush says he wants democracy for Iraq and Afghanistan and the greater Middle East, then he goes and invests HEAVILY in anti-democracy activities and programs. The best example was Haiti in 2004, where they engineered a coup. Aristide had been elected in 2000, and in 2004, the chaos and turmoil started. More information HERE.

“But did the rebellion really spring from nowhere? Maybe not. Several leaders of the demonstrations -- some of whom also had links to the armed rebels -- had been getting organizational help and training from a U.S. government-financed organization. The group, the International Republican Institute (IRI), is supposed to focus on nonpartisan, grassroots democratization efforts overseas.”

There is also the example of Palestine. They went and elected Hamas, and the USA responded by cutting off all aid, and worse, not saying anything when Israel decided to keep tax money belonging to Palestine. Now, they are trying to starve them out. All this because they don’t like the people they elected.

Today was a double header in the democracy hypocrisy game. The Bush administration has threatened Nicaragua with economic sanctions if they elect Ortega. What right does he have to interfere with the elections in Nicaragua? They claim it is because Ortega had a prior relationship with a terrorist organization that US laws permit them to apply sanctions. First, I don’t think Ortega was any more of terrorist than the Bush administration has been. Second, Ortega and his government would be no threat to the USA at all. More information HERE.

Today’s second entry in the democracy hypocrisy game is Lebanon. They are claiming that there is mounting evidence that Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are planning to topple the Lebanese government. Gee, didn’t Bush go and topple a few governments recently? Not just planned and talked about, mind you, but DID IT. Haiti comes to mind. So does Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush seems to fail to notice that Lebanon is a democracy, and that Hezbollah is part of that democracy. Yes, they are messing around with the government of this country also, and again fail to realize that they have no right to do so. (And neither does Syria or Iran.) More information HERE.

It seems in Iraq that Bush is only bringing them the democracy of death.