Molly:
Your point about Susan R is well-taken.  They threw her off the train to hide the Abramoff-Rove connection.  The new mantra for the Republicans is, unlike the Democrats, if we find wrongdoing, they resign.  Hah! 
May I direct your attention to James Baker?  Dont you realize that a sea change has been occurring? First James Baker, then a couple of Senators like Warner and Hagel, then the leak that old Father Bush hands are in dismay over the direction of the war in Iraq. Theyre pumping up a campaign to change course and do exactly what Murtha has been calling for, only none of them is being called a traitor or a member of the cut and run group, as Murtha and others were. But thats exactly what theyre proposing.
Just watch as Bush himself starts to back-pedal, saying maybe if something isn’t working, we ought to change it.  With that, “cut and run” suddenly goes down the drain.  No “traitors” here anymore, even Bush when he says he’ll consider what Baker and his committee want to propose.  I call them all “traitors” because I grieve for the good men and women already killed, and the others who still will be killed, while this sea change occurs.

Georgie Boy seems to be willing to act as an agent of Chaos. But I wonder, where are we on the historical timeline?  Seeing Kevin’s post above and the stridency of “Carthago delenda est” makes me thing we are parallelling Rome far to eerily. 

Imagine two brothers, both born of privilege, both supporting those less fortunate.  Both assissinated at or near the height of their popularity. Sound like Jack and Bobby Kennedy to you?  Well, it’s also Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.  I was struck by this one 25 years ago in junior high school.

Where are our Julius Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Marcus Antonius?  I don’t know…yet.  But they are coming.  America, like Rome, is a world-spanning empire.  America, like Rome, is trying to make the world safe for her citizens. America, like Rome, is being overtaken by religious fervor in the public square.  And America, like Rome, is in grave danger of losing her democracy to the powers of “security” and “peace”.

All wise men and women are called to keep this from happening.

At the close of Molly’s disturbingly good read I found myself needing some serious deep breathes to find a moment free of fear, dread and anger. Simple, curious reader me dared to read on to find as much enlightenment from the comments as the initial read itself, but in a different yet similar slap in the face with the sledgehammer of reality. I am always in awe when so many intelligent, researched people are able to articulate the Bushco reality with extreme clarity. I go from angry to depressed to rage when I begin to comprehend that the very team “elected” and appointed, who are obligated to represent our existance as a nation, are the ones directing this nation in warp speed from “bad” to the “worst leadership in the history of the world.”

The current administration has spit on the ideals of the founding fathers. No only have they made dissent synonymous with being unpatriotic, but they have broken the law and crushed the constitution. In just a few short years, the Average Joe has had his freedoms squashed to an extent that this country is almost a police state. One man, the commander-in-chief, now has the power to arrest me in the name of national security, detain me indefinitely with no legal counsel, and torture me. And to be honest, I do not necessarily have a problem with that other than the fact that the executive branch of government decided to circumvent and change law without consulting the other two branches of government. You know, they went around that checks and balances thing our government is so noted for.

I often re-read Jan Frel’s respected piece on Bush prosecution for war crimes, if you missed it..treat yourself to a great read as it creates hope.
We can only hope the messengers such as yourselves find effective portals and global billboards to enlighten, inspire and motivate for change.

WMD here there, everywhere - be afraid, be very afraid - and I will continue to reiterate here there and everywhere: If WMD go off anywhere in the world, don’t look to the cave, bin Laden, the laptop or even to the Axis of Evil. Look to Cheney and Cheney’s handlers.

Molly, again please, lend your voice to 911Truth - only the truth of their treason revealed can pierce the heart of this vampier regime and inoculate against the mass hysteria of their next attack. Remember the Maine and the USS Liberty. This treasonous weapon of false flag terror must be broken before their faces!

The majority of Americans are sleepwalking through life thanks to there televisions and toys made so readily available to them through our alliance with China. Bushco knows this and has taken full advantage of the comfortably numb. While strolling through Best Buy I saw young couples shopping for the biggest TVs and I thought they can’t possibly afford them. But wait, no payments until 2008.
A couple of nights ago I saw Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame in his second to last concert of a long American tour. In every performance he has been singing the song Leaving Bierut and shouting out a big Fuck You to George Bush. Here in Northern California the silence of a sold out show out-weighed the cheering of the progressives in the audience. Why isn’t the media telling the story of this brave Englishman who also mocked his own leader Tony Blair with the poodle reference.
America needs a catalyst to begin the revolution and get people off of their couches and out from in front of their monitors. The media is not going to be the one and a Rebublican October suprise will only send the sheep further out in the pasture. In the sixties the radical underground had their lives at stake knowing they could be drafted. Today’s young are made to believe that they should fear what is lurknig in the shadows and can only be seen by the NSA and Bush’s cronies behind closed doors.America’s wake up call might have to be real honest to god fear but where will it come from. I hope I’m wrong but I think it might be too late.

Hi Molly:

Our President clearly believes that the current “battle for civilization” is the most critical moment in our young nation’s history. I am willing to admit that he may be right. But let’s be perfectly clear: our nation is changing. George Bush and his people believe the following:

They believe that victory in the “war on terror” (and the war to keep WMD out of the hands of rogue nations and terrorist groups) is not an option. This war must be won, and at any and all costs; They also believe—-like Richard Nixon did before them—-that actions taken by the President during times of war and in defense of the nation cannot—-by definition—-be illegal or unconstitutional. Accordingly, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the NSA wire-tapping program, and the elimination of Habeas Corpus rights for accused “enemy combatants” are all justifiable and legal actions.

Molly, with George Bush’s unwavering belief in the aforementioned, all choices are now on the table. Election tampering, emergency suspension of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, reauthorization of the Sedition Acts; all of these options and more are being discussed by the President and his advisors. And the President will not be distracted from his duty. He is absolutely certain that his actions in defense of the survival of the nation are both legal and moral.

As astonishing as it may sound, it is my firm belief that the world is currently witnessing the end of America’s Republican Democracy and the birth of something new.

“...By any measure, North Korea continued to be more dangerous than Iraq…”

When will you at least understand that there is no country dangerous to the Bushitter mentality?

To become a “country of interest” you have to have oil, or at least gas.

The Bushitters have no interest in Palestine, Sudan, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, or even Israel; we concentrate our attention on Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates, Venezuela, and if we have time for a small time player, Nigeria.

And truth to tell, why bother with Korea? What can they do to us? The same would have been true of Iraq, but it isn’t what they could do to us which led us to Iraq, it is what their oil can do FOR us.

“Stay the course” means “keep control of the oil.”

the miracle of modern politics is that he is getting away with it all.

“How do you rally against this?  Come on.  Somebody tell me. “

Depression, anger and impotence are the price of carrying a liberal ideology in your heart.  We are so few, and can do so little as individuals.  Well, we can’t all be George Soros or Al Gore.

I resist by boycotting most of the news shows out there, and getting my information from disparate sources over the internet.  I resist by turning off my television.  I resist by asking my barber to change the channel to something other than Fox News when I receive my haircut.  I resist by having my facts straight about how this government has failed, and I blow up like a bomb whenever I am challenged by their victimized supporters. 

How would you describe many of the Republicans you meet?  Here in ruby-red southern Indiana, most of them are just scraping by, are conspicuously religious, have no health care, and are in debt to their eyeballs.  They are also all SCARED.  Let’s review what they are afraid of:

Gay men who want to get married.  These rednecks can’t be afraid of being seduced by qeers who are faithful to their spouses, can they?  There should be limits to homophobia.

A tall Arab who lives in a cave.  Nobody has seen him in five years.  Christ, people see Elvis more often than that.

Saddam Hussein, who is in jail.

A saber-rattling North Korean dwarf named Kim.

Bill Clinton.  Huh???  Thanks to Noot Gingrich, he was the best Republican president since Teddy Roosevelt.

And of course, Liberals, who will undoubtedly raise taxes for everyone and take away all the guns.  I plan to keep my firearms, guys, so don’t get any ideas.

Fear, paranoia and loathing almost always trump self-interest.

Most of the time, I am angry and frustrated.  The only time I’m happy is when I play with my children, and it fits into my reasons for resisting, for staying pissed off.  I must try to make our nation better, or die of shame for having failed my kids.

I get a little bit of pleasure from writing shrill letters to my representatives in DC, reminding them that they are sackless wonders who have presided over the most disastrous diplomatic failure our nation has known, that they have sold our troops to the oil companies as mercenaries, sold our senior citizens to the pharmaceutical companies, sold our poor to the credit card companies, and sold themselves to Grover Norquist.  The c*cksuckers won’t write back…

Don’t expect any easy, noble way out of this.  I think the best way any of us can get on board to change this is to volunteer your time and energy to the Democrats, and deny your money to the corporations who have suborned this erosion of our state.  If you’re stuffing envelopes for a candidate, sending a check to PBS, putting a sign in your yard, or turning off your TV, you’re rallying against these reckless tyrants.

Carthago delenda est.

Another Mission Accomplished

By Molly Ivins, AlterNet. Posted December 16, 2005.

IRAQ - the Votes, the Tally, the War

Posted by: bohdan on Dec 19, 2005 10:58 PM  

“The Inevitable”

The Bush Administration keeps stating that “we” cannot leave Iraq: until the votes for democracy are complete; until Iraqis establish a democratic government, until Iraqi forces can protect their citizens, not until…

Well, not until we realize The Inevitable will the true Iraqi solution come forth. It’s the obvious one, the one that Iraqis are in the midst of forming themselves through violence.

This “insurgency” is not going to end until the most important lines are finally drawn,—- the boundary lines, separating each “tribe” into their own ruling domains.

Mankind has always and will always fight to the end for their country, their territory, their religion, their everything….

That is a Truth of any country, any heritage. Call it nationalism, call it anything you want except an untruth.

Presently, lines already mark territories guarded by numerous militias that answer only to their own leaders.

Therefore—- The INEVITABLE—- divide the country into three sections: Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites. And most important, divide the wealth equally. Then and only then can true nation building take place. That should have been the goal from the beginning.

If it’s still not too late, perhaps it’s worth diverting our efforts towards that solution.

But would the Bush Administration condone such a change in its policy, it would mean admitting a mistake—- and aren’t they all infallible—- in their own words, in their own minds, it’s always someone else’s fault - (does “faulty intelligence” come to mind?)

“Stay the Course” has been their eternal mantra, a course mapped by lies.

Truth requires Courage, while Strength requires character, and Wisdom will ensure a lasting and true peace. Yet none of those qualities can be in effect until the curtain of lies is lifted. And that is where Courage still waits its turn.

Does the Administration have the Strength, Courage, and Wisdom to understand the future—- and not use the excuse of, “...nobody could have predicted, nobody could have imagined.”

Republicans used that excuse in their past, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the insurgency in Iraq. It’s become an idiot’s answer to the very end of time.

If they only saw the Truth….. they could predict the future!

Anecdote: Some time during week one of Bush’s illegitimate occupation of the Oval Office, he allowed a lowly reporter to sit at his feet for one hour.

Toward the end of the “interview” George suddenly said in a semi-stentorian voice, “I’m thirsty.” 

Within seconds a lackey appeared, bowed, scraped and said, “Yes, Mr. President?”  George demanded a glass of water - apparently reporters are not allowed to get thirsty in the Oval Office.

Shortly after, the lackey appeared with the glass of water and left. George turned to the reporter and said, “See that?  Now that’s power.”  And this is the same guy who has 15,000 nukes at his beck and call?  Talk about power!!!

Everybody is out now calling GWBush an idiot, moron, bully, etc., as loudly a possible.  I declare he is none of he above but that he and his clique are totally focused on an agenda and goal and are succeeding admirably in putting it into operation.  The agenda/goal is this:  Destroy The USA.  Every word, every act, every piece of b.s. that is spouted works towards that agenda/goal:  Destroy the USA.  Why destroy the USA?  So that a global cartel of profiteers mafiosi, CEOs, etc., can run their unregulated organizations as they like and without inferference from anyone, anywhere.  Crazy?  Yes. Crazy like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolina, several British/French monarchs, and so on.  How do you rally against this?  Come on.  Somebody tell me.

Molly is STILL the best at nailing idiot politicians for being the idiots that they are!

It’s SO nice to be able blame ALL your problems on one scapegoat, Bill Clinton.  Yet again, Mad King George and his band of Merrie Fascists have decided that the way to handle ANOTHER badly bungled and botched policy is to blame it on Bill Clinton, rather than their own arrogance, ignorance, and general hubris.

Years ago, in the Raleigh News and Observer, the local political cartoonist (Duane Powell? Was that his name?) did a spoof on then-Senator Jesse Helms.

It was Jesse dressed up as “Sherlock Helms” saying “Elementary, my dear Watson. The Communists did it!”

This is that same sort of buffoon-like refusal to face facts as they are.

Our relations with the DPRK were troubled but working and at peace.  Bush stirred them up for no damn good reason other than that he is an arrogant ignorant asshole, who reacted with his feelings and emotions about the creepy little weirdo who leads the DPRK, rather than logic and reason.  But “Curses are like young chickens: They always come home to roost!”

Once again Molly, you’ve summed up the disasterous state of our federal government.  The currently selected president is criminally insane and must be removed from office per the 25th ammendment. Typically, when someone commits a heinous act and says that God told him to do it; they’re put away or put down. By the way, he likes to torture people and he thinks that “God” talks to him.  If that isn’t adequate evidence of criminal insanity, I don’t know what is?  I certainly don’t like what I am seeing happen to our country.

First, he was irritated that an underling (from the CIA) bothered HIM during his month long vacation.  It is obvious that BushCo. was warned of an immpending attack and their choice was to do nothing, because as Bush said to Seymour Hersch, when originally commissioned to write Bush’s biography in 1999. “Great Presidents win wars!”.  Once again, his criminally insane mind was exhibited.

We have been presented with multiple instances of when his criminal insanity has been demonstrated: The Iraq war.  By the way, on March 21st, after (or really during) his Shock & Awe air assault on Iraq, he stated, “We’re all sinners!”.  That’s because as an alcoholic Bush was told by Billy Graham (who says the same thing to everyone he wants to convert) that “we’re all sinners” and apparantly Bush believes that to truly be a Christian, one must continually sin.  That’s just a thought.  I’ve read the bible (King James version), cover to cover and Mr. Bush is far more Old Testament than New Testament. That’s because love and forgiveness, which Jesus demonstrated throughout his life don’t work for a war criminal.  After the passage of the removal of the writ of habeous corpus and his being given the decision asto what IS and IS NOT torture, now we’re all war criminals.

This confrontation with North Korea is simply another example of his war criminal nature. And what about the fleet of nuclear powered and nuclear armed ships and submarine that are moving to occuppy the Straights of Hormuz, off Iran?  The October Surprise is possibly that he will attack iran. Nuts!!!

Nobody remembers that Bush cancelled the arrangement Clinton made with Jong-Il to provide non-plutonium reactors for N. Korea in exchange for Jong-Il NOT developing nuclear weapons.

Bush profits from crisis, conflict and catastrophe.
Why would he wish to avoid trouble if he can make political hay and further his scheme of military domination? After 600,000 Iraqi dead, you’d think folks would see his policy amounts to killing people, period. No need for diplomacy when they’ll all be dead, right?
Now, instead of a powerful friend, America is an impotent bully, building a burgeoning police-state world.
Unfortunately, even the best police state cannot compete with actual respect for life, not the ersatz “pro-life” we get from the death-dealing “Christians.” Humans will always find a way around borders and police states, as the KGB’s many failures have amply demonstrated.
“Compassionate Conservatism” is neither.
Bush reminds me of the joke about the dyslexic devil-worshipper who sold his soul to Santa.
Where’s the compassion, and what, exactly, is conserved?