A little more:

``Andrew Wilkie ... is a former [Australian] soldier and intelligence analyst who resigned from the Office of National Assessments (ONA), an Australian intelligence agency, in March 2003 over concerns that intelligence was being misrepresented for political purposes in making the case for Australia’s contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

``Wilkie trained at Duntroon (1980-84) and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel (1999) before transferring to the ONA. He joined the Young Liberals while a cadet at Duntroon, and after graduation and being stationed in Brisbane, he became a member of the Liberal Party [John Howard’s party. Howard was PM at the time; the Liberal Party (conservatives) were in power]. Wilkie has reportedly since let his membership lapse.

``In the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, the Australian, UK and U.S. governments were asserting that intelligence reports showed that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction. Wilkie resigned at this time, claiming that the reports did not support such claims and in the years since his resignation, no valid evidence supporting the pre-war claims of weapons of mass destruction has ever been found.”

More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wilkie

Thanks for the posts on the Indonesian and London false flag operations, Maani and Sam Brown.  The only way we can piece them all together is if everyong reports what he knows.  Apparantly the Bushite false flags were a world operation.

Dennis writes:

”..In this writers opinion the Bush’s administrations goal was to take this country into such debt that there could be no money left over for future administrations to develope any progressive programs for years to come. They believe ,with some sense of evidence,that most all social programs would fall on the chopping block in order to finance the military budget even if Dem’s were in the white House….”

~~~~

I agree…with this as well as your good wishes that Obama can deal with this. It’s really like nothing we’ve ever experienced (as Americans) in our own lifetimes. Specifically, the determination of the Dick Bush Regime to take this country into a debt from which we could never recover. At least not in any traditional form.

I would go even further and say that it was not so much a determination to run us into debt, as much as it was a determination to STEAL everything they possibly could, of the US Treasury, and use us as the ‘institution’ by which to launder all of the trillions they’ve pilfered that way. I mean, who’s gonna pay back China and all of the other people/nations in the world who own us?

So indeed, this was all very intentional and well planned. I call it the Greatest Heist in the history of the US, right behind the original theft of North America in it’s entirety, from those who had occupied it for thousands of years. I can admit though, that it’s really even worse than *I* thought it would get, and I’m pretty realistic. I’ve also acknowledged this rapid decline a lot sooner than most of the people I know. (many of whom are only just now beginning to realize that things aren’t looking so good in River City.) I don’t even wanna think about a whole other industry collapsing and turning that many more people out in the street. But, we’ve been watching that for 8 years now, so it should scare the beejesus out of all of us.

Then again, I guess that’s the problem. We ARE scared. More like TERRORIZED!! This is the real terror…the collapse.

By sam brown, November 11 at 4:00 pm #

Thanks for this informative post. It dovetails with my view that elements of the CIA combined with Cheney’s black ops people helped Osama bring off 9-11 (as well as the subsequent anthrax attack on Democratic offices in the Capitol.)

Tony:

LOL!!  But I would add: isn’t subverting the Constitution in at least half a dozen ways pretty egregious as well?!

Peace.

Re FENWICK, November 13 at 6:41 am #

Heard yesterday on Dem. Now, one of Obama’s legal adviser said that only the most egregious crimes should be pursued.
————————& #8212;———————R 12;———————— -
Well, blowing up the World Trade Center and sending anthrax to the office of Tom Daschle are pretty egregious, don’t you think?

Folktruther,

``On global exchange, the argument was made that the Indonesia explosiion [Bali bombings, 12 October 2002] that killed many Australians [88 among 202 innocent people murdered in cold blood all up] ... was a CIA false flag operation to influence Australian opinion in favor of the Iraqi war.”

This was more or less confirmed in a story on Dateline (Aust) on the 3rd anniversary of the bombings [12 Oct, 2005].  There’s little doubt the bombings were sanctioned by the Indonesian gov, your secret service mob (with perhaps even some knowledge of what was about to transpire known to the Australian intelligence community and gov itself), and former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, referred to as an “eccentric” because he won’t endorse the official line didn’t hold back saying: ” ... The proof is that the bomb is similar to that belong to the police.  It’s a problem for us then.  Every bomb there until now it belongs to the government.”
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/inside_indonesias_war_ on_terror_130582

Folktruther:

Re the Spanish train bombings, are you aware that the London bombings WERE a “false flag” operation? This was proven by the fact that a private firm was conducting “interagency response exercises” that included bombings at the EXACT four stations that were hit, at the EXACT time that they were hit.  This was reported in multiple media outlets.

As for Spain, it would not surprise me at all that those were “inside jobs” as well.

Peace.

Convicting a few people of isolated crimes doesn’t do it.  The Bushite era has fundamental transformed our manner of governance, and this must be recognized publically before any significant change can occur.

On global exchange, the argument was made that the Indonesia explosiion that killed many Australians among others was a CIA false flag operation to influence Australian opinion in favor of the Iraqi war.

I talked to a Spanish scientist last week, who considers himself a conservative, and he told me that the population of Spain suspect that the explosion on the train that killed another 100 or so people was a CIA false flag operation.  He did himself.

It has just been revealed that US murder squads are operating in a number of countires which have been kept secret.

The US power system is a criminal, corrupt, and obsolete system.  Although criminal trials are necessary, they are far from sufficient.

Heard yesterday on Dem. Now, one of Obama’s legal adviser said that only the most egregious crimes should be pursued.

If we want to help President Obama change the direction of our nation, we need to expose the mis-direction of the last administration. It seems obvious that certain high ranking policy makers in the Bush administration (primarily Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rove, Libby, Addington, Gonzales, Yoo, and countless others) conspired to break constitutional law routinely in order to maintain a ‘permanent neo-conservative administration’ that almost succeeded in destroying our democracy.

Their actions went far beyond political policy into the realm of organized crime. A full congressional and judicial inquiry is needed to bring there actions (many hidden behind the walls of national security) into the public eye. The cult of secrecy that cloaks many government actions only fools the American people, and endangers our democracy. Our enemies already know most of what passes for national security, we are only fooling ourselves.

This is the responsibility of congress and the courts, not the new executive. It’s high time we held our representatives feet to the fire, and demanded a public accounting. This crisis is so big that only a joint effort of the entire nation will be able to solve it. The recovery of the American economy and reputation will never happen without a public understanding of the actions that lead us into this mess, while prosecution of the perpetrators will keep us from repeating it in the future.

Pt.1

“C’mon: we found Hussein in a hole in the ground in a tiny village.  Are we then to believe that the Navy SEALS and Army Rangers - any dozen of whom could take over a small country - could not locate one man?  Poppycock!”

Maani, thanks. 

From page 137-138 of Tarpley’s book:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2005/07/317436.pdf

The CIA was quick to deny these embarrassing facts reported by real investigative journalists, who apparently still exist in France. A spokeswoman at CIA Langley, VA headquarters described the Le Figaro article as “complete and utter nonsense. It’s nonsense, it’s absurd, it’s ridiculous, it’s not true.” The CIA said it intended to protest to Le Figaro. The American Hospital in Dubai denied that Bin Laden had been a patient. (The Scotsman, November 1, 2001) But the French author Richard LaBevière countered that Osama Bin Laden had been working for the CIA since 1979, a fact which was generally accepted in Europe. (October 31, 2001) Radio France International stuck to its guns and followed up on its story with further details about Bin Laden’s CIA handler and case officer, Larry Mitchell: “The local representative of the CIA who visited Osama Bin Laden last July 12 [2001] at the American Hospital in Dubai is called Larry Mitchell. If his visiting card specifies that he is a “consular agent,” everyone in Dubai knows, especially in the small expatriate community, that he is working under cover. To say it openly, Larry Mitchell belongs to the ‘big house’, otherwise known as the CIA. He himself does not hide it.” RFI went on: “An expert in the Arab world and especially in the Arabian peninsula, Larry Mitchell is a colorful personality who livens up the somewhat drab evenings of the expatriates of Dubai. One of his friends likes to say that his natural exuberance often gets into classified matters. That is perhaps one of the reasons why he was called back to the United States last July 15 [2001]. About twenty days after the September 11 attacks, in a statement dated October 5, the CIA dismissed as baseless rumors the story that the agency had had contacts with Bin Laden and his group in the past, especially at the time of the war against the USSR in Afghanistan. It happens that this communiqué of the CIA is in complete contradiction with the earlier official statements of several representatives of the US administration itself.” (http://www.rfi.fr/ 1 Novembre 2001)

It is thus clear that the CIA was providing vital support services to Bin Laden long after he had allegedly turned into the world’s leading anti-American monster. The reality is that Bin Laden and al Qaeda have never stopped serving the CIA strategic agenda, whatever that happened to be. As Thierry Meyssan writes, “In reality, the CIA continued to have recourse to Osama Bin Laden’s services against Russian influence as it had done against the Soviets. You don’t change a winning team. The ‘Arab Legion’ of Al Qaeda was used, in 1999, to support the Kosovar rebels against the dictatorship in Belgrade. It was also operational in Chechenya, at least until November 2001, as was attested to by the New York Times. (Michael Wines, December 9, 2001) The alleged hostility of Bin Laden against the United States permitted Washington to deny responsibility for these dirty operations.” (Meyssan 2002 106-7)

Pt.1a

In a discussion of the impact of the anonymous Imperial Hubris CIA tract during the summer of 2004, the Washington Post provided a succinct summary of al Qaeda’s strategic services to the CIA: “Al Qaeda’s camps were staffed by veteran fighters who trained insurgents who fought and trained others to fight, not only against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, but also against national armies in Indian Kashmir, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tajikistan, Egypt, Bosnia, western China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and the Philippines.” (Review of Anonymous, Imperial Hubris, Washington Post, July 11, 2004) Notice that all these states were or are targets of US destabilization. And even this list is far from complete; it leaves out Libya, for example.

Pt.2

The Iranian press also noted the strange affinities of al Qaeda for figures who were clearly still on the US payroll. While panning the 9/11 commission report, the Teheran Times observed that none other than KSM, “Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, the reported mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was a longtime associate of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance and current ally of the US-backed Afghans president, Hamid Karzai.” (Teheran Times, July 27, 2004)

_____________________________
Bin Laden ‘plans new attack on US’ - November 10, 2008
http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/world/bin-laden-plans-ne w-attack-on-us/2008/11/10/1226165435339.html

As I say, Mud, you make a good argument.  Hippy Pam it requires decades of talk before the people rise up and demand their due.  but in support of your justified impatience, I’m going to hold my breath unitl I turn blue.

Hippy Pam:

PLEASE UNDO YOUR CAPS LOCK.  THERE IS NO NEED TO SHOUT.  WE KNOW HOW ANGRY YOU ARE.  THANKS.

Peace.

So we all Talk..Talk..TALK…When WE-THE PEOPLE-Should be DEMANDING-NOW-That these persons…Rove-Cheney-Lay-Bush-AIG….ALL OF THE THEIVING LIARS WHO GUTTED OUR JOBS AND THE TREASURY along with taking THE LIVES OF OUR CHILDREN AND SOLDIERS….I THINK “BULLSH*T” KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING AND HAS DONE.HE KNOWS THERE IS NO WAY HE WILL EVER BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CRIMES.HE KNOWS THAT HE AND HIS FRIENDS ARE UNTOUCHABLE…BECAUSE WE-THE PEOPLE-ARE IMPOTENT….all we do is blah-blah-blah…...

Okay, fine. Mr. Bush is a completely delusional imbecile and his “rapture bound” supporters out do even George’s delusional machinations. But he got your money didn’t he. He got your civil rights. He got your military. He got your bloody government, Nancy off the table Pelosi included. He got almost everything he wanted delusional or not.

Sure it’s not over yet. We may still be able to “send a message” by parading George around in an orange suit. But considering the fact that Mr. Paulson is currently draining the life blood of America into the New World banking order and the crookedest of the crooks are gorging themselves on your money, it doesn’t bode well. It doesn’t bode well when the justice system continues to imprison petty thieves and recreational drug users, while protecting mass murderers and multibillion dollar white-collar thieves.

Maybe the real situation is just too depressing and that’s why we resort to labeling the most successful transfer of wealth and power in the history of the planet as the work of a delusional person. But doesn’t that sound delusional.

I do like that photo of W. Hopefully someone can Photoshop it and add an orange suit and a noose. Just make us feel better.

Mud, you make a good argument that Bush doesn’t have a delusional bone in his head.  But there is a question of proportion here.

It is quite true that he has gotten away so far with stealing billions of dollars, tens of billions, HUNDREDS, in plain sight with Dem leader acquiescence. And he has broken laws, the most sacred American laws, with impunity.  And of course his lies have been repeated by the media as if they were true or reasonable. 

But can this continue when he is no longer in power?  Obiden and the imperalist Dems will protect him as much as they can,  but even they have limits.  And the Bushites were probably complicit in the 9/11-antrax homicide. It may not seem so but even the American media has limits to what they can ignore.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bushites were indicted for something, like not having their shoes shined right or something like that.  That is no doubt why Bush has bought his fortified Estate in Paraguay.

And you forget that although you can argue that the leaders knew precisely what they were doing-which I don’t think is true- what about their followers who will rise in the Rapture.  Kevin Phillips estimates at least forty percent of Bushite support was that of religious loonies. 

But if you consider the geo-strategy of Rumsfield and his minions, it would be hard not to agree with the noted British historian Hobsbawm that extreme megalomania was operating here.

By mud, November 10 at 10:49 pm

“After 8 years of successfully raiding US good will, US human rights and the US treasury, W and friends are set to walk away free, wealthy and “honorable” men. Nothing at all delusional about getting away with setting us up for the the greatest depression in history and the implementation of that New World Order his dad talked about.”

~~~~

Well Mud, you’ve definitely got a point here. Guess we never really thought he was delusional at all. The Bush Doctrine is the Bush doctrine after all.

Just wanted to mention that i was watching C-Span Books last night and there was Obama at an nyc barnes and noble circa 2005 discussing Dreams of My Father.  He said that he believes in “american exceptionalism”.  I found that to be incredibly telling.  Perhaps one would need to hold that mindset in order to bother to run for president.  But i think it is at the root of hedgemony. 

Something like Christian exceptionalism and its centuries of evangelical vigor that was/ is the justification of so many infamous acts.

Bush’s Delusions? Bush’s Delusions?? What!!!

Robert Fisk takes the delusional prise for writing this pantiewaste crud.

Delusion = A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence.

Was W delusional for thinking he could get elected twice? Well no I guess not because he got away with it didn’t he.

Was W delusional for thinking he could take the nation into a war it didn’t want or need? Well no I guess not because he got away with it didn’t he.
Was W delusional for thinking he could get democrats to go on signing blank checks for his BS war even as voters wanted US out ASAP. Well no I guess not because he got away with that too didn’t he.

This could go on and on but I bet you get the point don’t you Bob. Bush does not have a delusional bone in his chickenshit little body. George W. Bush has been thoroughly validated by getting his pro corporate neocon way in almost every instance from 9-11 to the present.

After 8 years of successfully raiding US good will, US human rights and the US treasury, W and friends are set to walk away free, wealthy and “honorable” men. Nothing at all delusional about getting away with setting us up for the the greatest depression in history and the implementation of that New World Order his dad talked about.

9/11: More than meets the eye

http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/5056-911-mo re-than-meets-the-eye

Richard A. Falk is Professor of International Law and Practice at Princeton University, and an appointee to two United Nations positions on the Palestinian territories

Folktruther: ‘Oh, sure Anarcissie, American imperialism predates Wilson to T Roosevelt that McCain admires so much.  But the Bushite regime institutionalized VIOLENT imperialism, the violence partially supporting Likud Zionism rather than the American power structure.  Including the murder squads that the US has been putting in Muslim countries, according the yesterday’s NYTimes articles.’

As I am sure you know, that kind of thing didn’t start with Bush 2.  The U.S. has been doing violent imperialism throughout most of its career, and certainly right along through the 20th century and now the 21st.  Clinton allegedly killed more Iraqis than Bush, according to we-think-it-is-worth-it Albright.

Granting that Obama has more of a nerd than a jock mentality, can he resist this instutionalized impulse to militarism and police state-ism? ....’

Not without some help.  In regard to which, Obama may be tempted to be like Bush, but he sure doesn’t want to look like Bush.  Thus it’s time to be planning anti-corporatist, anti-war and anti-repression actions.  Don’t wait till January 21st.

Another wishful thinking that will not come true in my time would be for the Arab masses to cleanse themselves from the treasonous and parsitic rulers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other such countries.

Then the Arab league en mass should break complete diplomatic relations with the US and close down every American business from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

Shut down any possibility of having any dealings with the US or any of its companies as they are kicked out of the entire Arab world till the US recognises its culpability in maintaing the murderous Jewish hegemony in Palestine and redressing this decades old atrocity and abomination against the Palestinians by making sure that each and every UN security council resolution is implemented, all the way back to 1948.

If this is done, then I think America will soon realise that its compliance with the dictates of its masters in Israel is counter productive to its well being and just might break away from their deadly embrace.

But it will not happen any time soon. maybe some day.

As for Obama, unfortunately NOTHING will change since he is already, and has been, a bought and paid for Israeli and corporate whore: witness the appointment of the once Israeli citizen and Likudnick Emanual Rham, a son of a terrorist and mass murderer, as well as Mr. Ross and then tell me that I am wrong.

“Sorry but this is wrong…the power of the Pardon is extremely broad and virtually unlimited.  The President can pardon anyone for any crime for any reason. The Constitution does not limit it in any way other than prohibiting a pardon from impeachment, about which it is explicit.”

The people always have the option of upholding the Constitution by several means.  If the people shut the economy down, march to the White House and refuse to accept what has been done, they are doing what the law demands.  Don’t expect any part of the legal system today to uphold what is right. Be prepared to fight if you want to hold onto your rights.

When Ford pardoned Nixon, an illegal act if there was collusion and there was certainly collusion, it was the downfall of this nation.
**************************************

Sorry but this is wrong…the power of the Pardon is extremely broad and virtually unlimited.  The President can pardon anyone for any crime for any reason. The Constitution does not limit it in any way other than prohibiting a pardon from impeachment, about which it is explicit.

“and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

That’s extremely broad powers….so people could fuss about Ford’s pardon for Nixon, but there wasn’t thing one anyone could do about it.

Our credibility has been destroyed by eight years of lies and deciet. The Obama adminstration will undoubtedly bring some respectability. Unfortuantely, his/adminstration hands will be tied as a result of “w’s” failed policies. This is my wish list for the Obama admistration:

1. Get out of Iraq, nation-building has proved to be a failure. Let the Iraqi’s or a coalition of willing nations to deal with the quagmire that ‘w’ created.

2. Close Guantanmo Bay! What an embarassment to a nation that prides itself on justice and right to a fair trial. We always complain about China’s violation of human rights, but we easily forget human rights abuses at home.

3. Stop the indiscriminate bombing in Pakistan. How are we going to win this war on terrorism when we are killing innocent people? When the nation kills innocent people, they are paving the way for more terrorist via hatred of U.S. policy. The terrorist do not hate Americans. The terrorist hate the failed foreign policy of the U.S.

4. Start a “reasonable” dialogue with North Korea and Iran. Iraq has not invaded/attacked another country since the days of Darius. Korea, well, was it not the U.S. that attacked them in 1950? Negotiation and a good neighbor policy is the way to win over the world.

5. This will not happen, but, how about an “apology” to the innocent victims of the war in Iraq.

6. Finally, President Obama must demonstrate that he is not an arrogant, stubborn, know-it-all, puppett that was the hick from Texas who supposedly joined the national guard (documents as to his status unknown) to stop our nation from the invading Vietnamese army, and who will go down in history as the WORST president EVER.

The moron factor aside, justice must be demanded unless we want to repeat the last eight years.  When Ford pardoned Nixon, an illegal act if there was collusion and there was certainly collusion, it was the downfall of this nation.  Those who are now singing the feeling sorry for Bush blues make me puke.  I have not a shred of sympathy for him, his family and those who followed him and, worst of all, the media he carries in his hip pocket.  I would hope that anything short of justice is met with fierce opposition in the form of a revolution.

“There is some evidence, for example, that the four-helicopter strike into Syria last month, which killed eight people, was – if not a rogue operation – certainly not sanctioned by Washington or indeed by US commanders in Baghdad.”

Hold it! Stop right there.

Yes, the Bush presidency has been disastrous and all. One hardly needs to argue that. But do you honestly expect me to believe that a special ops mission inside a foreign country, which probably depended on spy satellite images and live video feeds from Predator drones, was carried out by a rogue military unit in Iraq? That is as nonsensical as the Bin Ladin shopping mall sighting you criticize in your article.

mendez, November 10 at 11:20 am #

Those talking impeachment are hoping to move the center of the argument.  I don’t give a rat’s butt if Bush is impeached, but I do expect an indictment against him and others responsible for the crimes he committed during his reign.  I wish the dumb asses who simply can’t figure out how it works would just shut up and leave it to the people who truly understand the Constitution and want justice.  Get the bastards in front of a Grand Jury and indict them for crimes against humanity.  Get Bush sworn in and get Tenet sworn in and let’s get some answers about why the intelligence was fixed and let’s see what we’re going to do about it.  Those morons who can’t figure it, shut up already.
*****************************************

I agree, except it’s still a semi-free country and if morons want to talk, so be it.

However, if Bush has a lick of cunning left he will issue BLANKET pardons to everyone in his administration who will keep his/her mouth shut after 20 Jan as long as they won’t go to jail for anything they did from 2001 to 2009.  “I do not recall…..”  He may even be able to issue himself a blanket pardon—the legal scholars and the USSC would probably have to work that out.  Ford’s pardon of Nixon shut down all governmental investigations.

However, there is a catch: Presidential pardons have no force outside of the USA.  They all can still be tried at the International Court of Justice.

Those talking impeachment are hoping to move the center of the argument.  I don’t give a rat’s butt if Bush is impeached, but I do expect an indictment against him and others responsible for the crimes he committed during his reign.  I wish the dumb asses who simply can’t figure out how it works would just shut up and leave it to the people who truly understand the Constitution and want justice.  Get the bastards in front of a Grand Jury and indict them for crimes against humanity.  Get Bush sworn in and get Tenet sworn in and let’s get some answers about why the intelligence was fixed and let’s see what we’re going to do about it.  Those morons who can’t figure it, shut up already.

Fahrenheit 451 wrote:  “Obviously you don’t know what your talking about.  Are you a moron?  Good engineers embody the breadth of a broad expanse of imagination and thinking outside of the box.  Good engineers are always exploring the outer limits of thought, experience, and possibilities.  Not your cloistered, limited, bound, parameters of thinking.  You need to get out of your prison of thought and belief.”

I’ve clearly touched a nerve here.  From your response, I think we can infer that either you’re a “good engineer” and have taken offense at my generalization or you’re a Christian civil engineer who suspects he has limitations but nevertheless bridles at the suggestion from others.  Certainly, not all engineers are as I have painted them, but the majority that I know are.  I think your closing remark is very telling with regard to which kind you are.  Honestly, Fahrenheit 451, “...prison of thought and belief.”  That could’ve come straight off one of those evangelical pamphlets commonly left in gas station restrooms.  But it’s not unexpected that you would express yourself in such a way.  After all, engineers tend to lack imagination as well.

KMarx, November 10 at 8:28 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

When we see statements like this, what are we to think? ...

*********************************************

My suggestion is to think that the writer is a crazy, conspiracy-fantasist wearing to tin-foil hat so “they can’t read my brain waves!”

Rahm Emmanuel’s job is to exercise President Obama’s will, even when he doesn’t agree with it.  He’s also to ensure that the Dems in the House don’t go nuts with everyone’s pet programs.

Louise,
NOBODY is going to impeach Bush and Cheney. Nobody, least of all Nancy Pelosi. Why?
1) It would take months, like the last one did.  Bush and Cheney are going to be gone in just over 2 months anyway.
2) No lame-duck Congress is going to impeach a sitting President unless there is a HUGE consensus in both houses to do so.  There isn’t any significant interest in either house.
3) Therefore it will have to wait until the new Congress convenes in Jan 2009, probably on the 5th…at which point Bush/Cheney will be gone in 2 weeks and a day anyway, so why bother?
4) In neither the lame duck nor the new Congress are you going to get anywhere NEAR the 67 Senate votes needed to convict—Currently only 49 seats are Dem, 49 GOP and 2 independent who caucus with the Dems—and one is Joe Lieberman.  At BEST in the new Senate there will be 59 Dems—nothing close to the 67 needed.
5) The American People have spoken definitively for Barack Obama.  Bush is gone and he has no successor in his policies. All impeachment can do for Obama is kill any cooperation he hopes to get from Bush over the next 2 months.  It will also prevent him (Obama) from getting critical work done.  It will prevent both the lame duck Congress and new Congress from getting new, timely work done.
6) Nancy Pelosi wants it about as much as she wants bunions, root canal and breast cancer all at once.  Think about it…Assuming ALL the objections above are bypassed and impeachment and conviction happens.  Under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution the Speaker of The House becomes President. Which means she must give up her seat in the House.  And then Obama would become President and she’d be nowhere, not President, not Speaker, not even a Congresswoman—that’s how it works.  So Pelosi will NOT let impeachment ever reach the floor of the House in the next 2+ months.

But I’ll bet you’ll ignore all of these objections…that’s the way of most posters here at TD.  Don’t let facts get in the way of your dogma!

Oh, sure Anarcissie, American imperialism predates Wilson to T Roosevelt that McCain admires so much.  But the Bushite regime institutionalized VIOLENT imperialism, the violence partially supporting Likud Zionism rather than the American power structure.  Including the murder squads that the US has been putting in Muslim countries, according the yesterday’s NYTimes articles.

Granting that Obama has more of a nerd than a jock mentality, can he resist this instutionalized impulse to militarism and police state-ism?  It doesn’t look like it, as Maani and Fenwick have pointed out among others.  I tend to feel as Troublesum does, that the next few years are not going to be happy ones.  And Gates has set forth a new doctrine updating nuclear weapons.

If you really want to make amends and apologies to the rest of the world, here are a few suggestions to get the US back on the right road:

(1)Impeach the whole cabal for treason, that would include but not be limited to:

George W. Bush
Richard(Dick) Chaney
Donald Runsfeld
Paul Wolfowitz
David Addington
John Yu
Douglas Feith
Scooter Libby
Karl Rove

I’m sure that the rest of the world would appreciate us more, and think of the cartharsis we in the U.S. would begin for ourselves.

sambrown:

Re Tarpley’s comment about bin Laden having medical treatment at the American hospital in Dubai post-9/11, I have friends there who say that this is something of an “open secret”; i.e., fairly widely known.  Trust me: despite Tora Bora, caves, etc., if the U.S. had truly wanted to capture bin Laden, they could have done so even had he NOT been “out in the open” like this.  C’mon: we found Hussein in a hole in the ground in a tiny village.  Are we then to believe that the Navy SEALS and Army Rangers - any dozen of whom could take over a small country - could not locate one man?  Poppycock!

Peace.

Impeach Bush Before He Pardons Himself

According to Seymour Hersh there is a conga line of insiders waiting until January 20th to spill the beans on the gross criminality of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Waiting . . . because if they did it now the two of them would be tarred and feathered on the way out the door.

But we the people do not have to wait. We can and must demand the immediate impeachment of both Bush and Cheney for what is already known. At the very least the defiance of congressional subpoenas at
the behest of the White House is an open and shut case for accountability now.

Impeach Now Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_now.php

Because as his final constitutional insult, his final spit in the face to the American people and all rule of law, it is transparently obvious that Bush is planning the most wholesale and wrongful pardon of the worst political criminals in American history, his whole criminal gang, INCLUDING himself.

And don’t think that is not their precise plan.

Please, what power has Bush NOT abused? What heinous, self-serving, shameless and dishonest act has he ever shied away from, when he was torturing and eavesdropping and lying us into wars of corporate aggression.

Does anyone doubt that is what he is planning on doing?

Impeach Now Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_now.php

The MSM (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) is already setting the narrative groundwork for continuing the same foreign policy that this country has been carrying out so many years.  (Check “Hegemony or Survival” by Noam Chomsky for a good estimate of how long.)  They are saying that, of course, Obama will be at the mercy of circumstances. 
That’s not new either: The president being portrayed as a hapless victim of circumstance on the world stage.
It reminds me of the guy who periodically whacks a beehive with a broom handle and then complains about being stung.  When asked why he does it, he replies, “I need the honey.”

@ “G"utless “W"itless Hitler, November 10 at 6:49 am;

Obviously you don’t know what your talking about.  Are you a moron?  Good engineers embody the breadth of a broad expanse of imagination and thinking outside of the box.  Good engineers are always exploring the outer limits of thought, experience, and possibilities.  Not your cloistered, limited, bound, parameters of thinking.  You need to get out of your prison of thought and belief.

“But how is Barack Obama going to repair the titanic damage which his vicious, lying predecessor has perpetrated around the globe and within the U.S. itself?”

I love Mr. Fisk’s unwillingness to tip toe around the Bush regime’s sociapathic nature of no regard for others, corruption and lying. In orthodox journalism, we are supposed to address Bush as President Bush. In the real America respect should be earned, as is scorn. The latter is all that Bush has earned.

Folktruther—the imperial reorganization of the U.S. did not start with George W. Bush.  While some of the threads go back to the 19th century, it was certainly well under way by the regime of Wilson.  Of course Obama has no choice but to play along—he would not be president if he were not ready to.  I understand that the fundamental framework of imperialism and the police state are irrational, but assuming that framework, I think we can hope that Obama will be rational rather than hyperaggressive like Bush 2 and Kennedy.  In short, a nerd rather than a jock.  I think this is as much as anyone can hope for at the national level—the logic of the state tends inevitably towards imperialism, and acting against it requires widespread local action, not the leadership of Great Leaders.

leilah wrote:  “I work with educated engineers in the Northeast and I was struck by how they blindly followed this strange man.  I was struck by their nastiness at any voice to the contrary, their refusal or inability to accept what obviously exposed the truth and ran counter to their warped and blinded worldview.”

Seriously?  You’re perplexed by the political views and behavior of engineers?  It’s pretty well established in academic circles that engineering requires the narrowest set of aptitudes.  Consequently, people lacking a breadth or depth of understanding, people who find it difficult to deal with ambiguities, and people who have difficulty with synthesis tend to gravitate toward engineering (esp. civil engineering, aka engineering lite) and are, by no coincidence, politically conservative (in the worst way).  The discipline seems to attract its share of devout religious nutjobs too.

Both the total responsibility and the only effective means for acheiving the atonement called for by Robert Fisk here lies solely with theamericanpeople themselves.  Only they can disable and dismantle the apparatus of oppression and exploitation employed by home-grown gangsters to terrorize and loot the peoples of nations around the world.  This “rogue” regime belongs entirely to them in both law and fact.

Here’s the rub.  To shut-down the machinery requires theamericanpeople to shut-down the “economy” that “energizes” it.  There is little cause to expect such an heroic endeavor on their part….recent hints at necessary “sacrifice” notwithstanding.

That the damned contraption is already shaking itself to pieces, however, is pretty plain to see.  So it becomes a question of whether there’ll be anything or anyone left alive here when “civilization” finally grinds to its inevitable conclusion.  For Two-leggeds the best prospects abide in the Tiyoshpaye Way, as our Lakotah cousins call it.

Better get back on your feet, Sisters and Brothers, find your Native voices, and get back into the everlasting Song ‘n’ Dance of Life Herownself.

HokaHey!

TheRealFish, November 9 at 11:34 am

Of course, that was before our economy collapsed but, if there is no other thing he proved through this two year long campaign, he is a multi-tasker.”
************************************

Thanks, RealFish and Cyrena (for spotting this). I’ve missed hearing that in the news but I thought that HAD to be a top priority for Obama, along with reviewing all the EOs Bush has been pumping out as fast as he can to lock in the Neo-Con’s “F**k-America-First!” agenda as much as possible.

To that, I’d LOVE to see Obama sponsor legislation to strictly limit and define the signing statements’ legality for all Presidents (including himself) going into the future.

I remember an old Peanuts strip where Charlie Brown is saying Linus will need to go to school twice as long as everybody else—because he’s going to need 12 years to UN-learn everything Lucy has “taught” him.  Somehow, the irony of it now is pretty bitter for us all.

Mr Fisk,

Quote: “If [Barack] Obama finds that he is inheriting mass graves from George W. Bush, there will be a lot of apologising to do.”

To whom exactly?

Was the claim on page 136 of Tarpley’s book “9/11 Synthetic Terrorism: Made in USA” that Le Figaro’s front page of October 31, 2001 carried by “Alexandra Richard” claiming that from July 4, 2001 to July 14, 2001, three months prior to 9/11/2001 that Bin Laden, even though he was wanted in connection with the US embassies’ bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, received treatment at the American Hospital in Dubai for his kidney ailment from a “Doctor Terry Callaway,” and also that Bin Laden met up with an operative from the “big house” [CIA] who used the field name “Larry Mitchell” ever actually verified as authentic? 

True or not? Was this Dr Callaway fellow ever tracked down for verification? How come the BBC and CNN, Fox News and 60 Minutes haven’t followed these claims up? Has The Independent? 

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2005/07/317436.pdf
 
Quote: “Our own dear Gordon Brown’s enthusiasm to Hoover up the emails of the British people is another example of how Lord Blair’s sick relationship with Bush still infects our own body politic.”

Dubya has been and is a mere puppet in all this. His life’s enjoyment is pretzels and football, even if he does occasionally choke; it’s his old man GHW Bush that is the truly sinister one.

I know many of you are not religious, but I pray to the Good Lord that Mr. Obama doesn’t let his newly-won power or the national and international adulation he’s received to go to his head. We’ve already had eight years of (arguably) the most hubristic president this country’s ever suffered under; we don’t need eight (or even four) years of another. There are practical limits to what this country, and the presidency, can accomplish; I hope he realizes that.

By TheRealFish, November 9 at 11:34 am

“He was asked point-blank about what he would or could do to help restore the constitutional damage done by Bush the Lesser.

He paused for just a moment, then answered that one thing he can do, one thing he will do, immediately on taking office—and one thing that does not require him to confer with the cabinet or committees or Congress or strike compromises—is to review the 700-800 (more by now I’m sure) presidential signing statements. Those that breach oversight and other constitutional checks-and-balances he can knock over with the stroke of his pen.

“That’s likely the very first thing I will do” he concluded his answer.

Of course, that was before our economy collapsed but, if there is no other thing he proved through this two year long campaign, he is a multi-tasker.”

~~~~~

Thanks for mentioning this TheRealFish!!!
This is what I’ve been following for the past several months myself. I remember when we were HOPING that’s what WHOMEVER won the election would do, but I didn’t realize that Obama had said that he would. Bravo!!

And, it looks like he’s already on it!!

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/2008110 9_obama_in_charge/?ln

And you’re right. He’s already proven himself to be a multi-tasker. I’m thrilled. There’s just something very reassuring about actually having somebody reliable and trustworthy at the helm. (for a CHANGE) Somebody that knows what the hell they’re doing, and doesn’t mind asking questions to find out if there might be even better ways of doing something.

Helps me sleep just a tad bit better at night.

Yeah, yeah…things are still difficult, and becoming more so in many ways that I’ve long known to expect. BUT…I see a light at the end of this tunnel already.

But, I’m with ocjim…can we really hang in there another 70 days?

“Bin Laden ‘plans new attack on US’”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bin-laden-plans-new-a ttack-on-us/2008/11/10/1226165435339.html

how ‘bout this?

they’re planning a whole new series of attacks to destabilise the incoming Obama team…

who’re they planning to massacre this time all in the name of, you tell me.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bin-laden-plans-ne w-attack-on-us/2008/11/10/1226165435339.html