SUNDAY REPORTS AND READINGS
November 25, 2003
History 101 -- Today's Reading: THE BUSH EMPIRE: How four generations of arms, oil, fascism, and US Govt. defiance made America's First Family by Charles Shaw. Gambino, stand aside! Make way for the biggest racketeer family in the world. Shaw: "What should have been the biggest story of the 1980s seems to have been wiped clean from history, systematically prevented from ever again being mentioned by corporate media. Held at the home of Neil Bush, the son of George Herbert Walker Bush, who himself was the very ambitious former CIA director and current Vice President, the guest of honor at the dinner party (which was quickly cancelled after news of the failed attempt on the life of the President), was Scott Hinckley, the brother of John Hinckley, the man who just that afternoon shot President Ronald Reagan, coming one half-inch from killing him. A half-inch from putting George H.W. Bush, into the White House. The Bush team's response to this chilling revelation on the planned dinner date was to barricade themselves behind a wall of the biggest PR Firms in the nation and issue the following statement 'This horrible coincidence has been devastating to the Bush Family. Our condolences go out to all involved. And we hope to get the matter behind us as soon as possible.' (sic)" While We're On the Subject of Assassination: take a look at John Judge's Assassination as a Tool of Fascism. Judge: "The real government kills people, and that's part of how it stays in power. Now, if you go back to the period at the end of the Weimar Republic, in the late `20s and the early `30s, before Hitler rose to power, you'll find a pattern of political assassinations. It's depicted, interestingly, in Ingmar Bergman's probably least distributed film, The Serpent's Egg. And, the people that begin to die are the labor leaders, the political activists, the musicians. The people who might have an effective public voice, and might stand against the Fascism, begin to die in large numbers. And the German police admitted that these were political assassinations. But they said they couldn't solve them. They couldn't make the historical link to what was happening, or they could but were paid not to, like many of the investigations that we have now in this country: They couldn't solve those murders.... Elements of the state, and elements of the rich, and the monarchies that still existed, formed a bond of interest. And, in large part, one of the motivating people who went around and collected their monies and their energies, in order to reverse the revolutionary change in Russia, was Herbert Hoover, who spent actually more time in Europe than he did in the United States. He was also later responsible for the formation of the ideas that led to the National Security Council and the National Security State. And part of what happened was that the Romanoff treasury, which was stolen and secreted out of the country, was then turned around along with money collected by Hoover and these monarchists and others to finance the rearmament of Germany, secretly, from 1918 to 1932. And it's that rearmament that then gave them the impetus to set up the drive to essentially get back the Soviet Union. And only because that drive was defeated at tremendous human cost - about 20 million lives in Russia and those countries, some of the worst killing went on there, and the civilians also, but tremendous cost - they were militarily stopped in 1943.
November 26, 2003
The Voting Machine Fraud: See Commondreams.WEEKEND SPACE
November 27-8, 2003
Amy Goodman interviews Robert Fisk -- "This is a Resistance Movement, Whether We Like It or Not". Fisk writes: "In Baghdad, the message of the past two days was simple: it told Iraqis that the Americans cannot control Iraq; more important, perhaps, it told Americans that the Americans could not control Iraq. Even more important, it told Iraqis they shouldn't work for the Americans. It also acknowledged America's new rules of combat: kill the enemy leaders. Some of America's enemies may come from other Arab countries, but most of the military opposition to America's presence comes from Iraqi Sunnis; not from Saddam 'remnants' or 'diehards' or 'deadenders' (the Paul Bremer titles for a growing Iraqi resistance), but from men who in many cases hated Saddam. They don't work 'for' al-Qa'ida. But they have learnt their own unique version of history. Attack your enemies in the holy month of Ramadan. Learn from the war in Algeria. And the war in Afghanistan. Learn the lessons of America's 'war on terror'. Kill the leadership. You're with us or against us, collaborator or patriot. That was the message of yesterday's bloodbath in Baghdad." See thetruthseeker.co.uk. 60-year veteran of journalism Walter Cronkite on the unilateral president. Denver Post Miami dealing with protest, the model police state -- Democracy Now.
November 28, 2003
Thoughts for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Message from SF Gate's Mark Morford: Be thankful you're not Dubya. "Be thankful that you do not have to suffer Dubya's massive crushing karmic burden, as wrought by inflicting heaps of environmental disaster and vicious unnecessary war and a stunning string of lies lies lies like a firehose of giblet gravy splattered all over the planet. For it really is all too plain: G.W. Bush is one of the most reviled and openly disrespected major world leaders in modern history. America has never been so embarrassed and reluctant to send a president abroad. We cringe when the man takes the stage. We offer humiliated apologies to our former allies, and to the 200,000 Bush/war protesters in London, just last week. In Bush's defense, it cannot be easy to be so undeservedly powerful, yet so bumbling and inarticulate and globally loathed for your abhorrent policies and hollow corporate agenda and baffled doofus manner. This Thanksgiving, be grateful you are not him." The Neil Bush divorce case is providing some wonderfully entertaining moments. Although Bush admitted in court to having sex with a number of women when he was on business trips to Asia, but denied that he was involved in prostitution. According to the New York Times: "The women, he said, simply knocked on the door of his hotel room, entered and had sex with him. He said he did not know if they were prostitutes because they never asked for money and he did not pay them. `Mr Bush, you have to admit it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her,' Brown said. `It was very unusual,' Bush said." AARP is experiencing a richly deserved revolt over its support of the Republican Medicare privatization bill. See NY Times The Pentagon is Gunning for Democracy -- General Tommy Franks' speculation that the U.S. Constitution would probably be scrapped if the U.S. were attacked by WMDs is a glimpse at the ideal world of the military industrial complex. The frightening irony is that it is the military's job to prevent such an attack on the U.S., and yet it's the military's ideal scenario. What is to prevent it from happening? See Global Research Meanwhile, the military is already involved in domestic spying. See Truthout Diebold, maker of the guaranteed-victory-Republican voting machines withdrew its threat against ISPs that are hosting users who publish or link to corporate documents suggesting there are flaws in its equipment and irregularities. with certifying the systems for elections. See p2pnet.net Bush is a Fraud and a Liar -- Let Paul Edwards count the ways. "If a person was shot in front of the World Trade Center, there would be more of an urgent inquiry into that killing than was accorded the murder of thousands of people in broad daylight," says Danny Schechter and Colleen Kelly, of AlterNet. "There would be a trial, witnesses giving sworn testimony, evidence presented in public for anyone interested to review and discern." The media are not talking about it. Paul Krugman, the New York Times'> most vital columnist in the Bushwar era, is helping to temper the paper's unwillingness to challenge the madness of Prince George in The Uncivil War. "And even aside from the double standard, how important is civility?" says Krugman. "I'm all for good manners, but this isn't a dinner party. The opposing sides in our national debate are far apart on fundamental issues, from fiscal and environmental policies to national security and civil liberties. It's the duty of pundits and politicians to make those differences clear, not to play them down for fear that someone will be offended." Bush's disastrous war policies are destroying the military as an exodus of reservists gathers momentum -- According to Robert Schlesinger of the Boston Globe, "The U.S. Army Reserve fell short of its re-enlistment goals this fiscal year, underscoring Pentagon fears that the protracted conflict in Iraq could cause a crippling exodus from the armed services." The Republicans have taken a step toward privatizing Medicare, turning it into a profit center for Republican cronies on the model of an HMO, instead of a program focused on medical care for the elderly. See LA Times But there could be a revolt among the elderly -- See NY Times Watergate Redux -- A member of the staff of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch hacked into "secure" computer networks Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Edward Kennedy and stole private memos. NY Times What Homeland Defense Really Means -- Florida, "is the state that Governor Jeb Bush vowed to 'deliver' to his brother during the 2000 presidential elections, even if that meant keeping many African-Americans from exercising their right to vote. Now Jeb was vowing to hand his brother the coveted [FTAA] trade deal, even if that meant keeping thousands from exercising their right to protest," writes Naomi Klein in The Guardian. "The FTAA Summit in Miami represents the official homecoming of the 'war on terror'. The latest techniques honed in Iraq - from a Hollywoodised military to a militarised media - have now been used on a grand scale in a major US city. 'This should be a model for homeland defence,' the Miami mayor, Manny Diaz, said of the security operation that brought together over 40 law-enforcement agencies, from the FBI to the Department of Fish and Wildlife." As Klein makes chillingly clear, the war is coming home. See Al Aronowitz for an article from the Sunday Herald on the five Israelis on the Jersey side of the Hudson River who filmed the WTC bombing... and danced. Why Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas is a puzzling question, but he has some very good things to say. As he points out, the politicians who feed the war machine are likely to try to re-institute the draft, which Paul calls "The Crime of Conscription" "A government that is willing to enslave a portion of its people to fight an unjust war can never be trusted to protect the liberties of its own citizens," says Paul. "The ends can never justify the means, no matter what the Neo-cons say." According to Aljazeera, "A series of shocking pictures revealing US soldiers tying up Iraqi women and children in their own home has provoked international outrage. The occupying forces have now come under renewed fire for their treatment of ordinary Iraqis as shown in the pictures published today by Aljazeera.net." The War Stories They Couldn't Tell -- CBC News.
November 30, 2003
If you don't re-elect the president the bogey man will get you. "Fearmongers" by Charley Reese on LewRockwell.com Selective Reporting -- The New York Times put an article on its front page about Dean's deferment from the draft as though a medical deferment was some kind of disgrace, but never reports on Bush's going AWOL or his getting grounded for refusing to take a physical. See Daily Howler Bush's trip to Iraq was another phony photo op. See indymedia.org. Reporters were not allowed to talk to the troops to find out how they really felt about the AWOL Bush, who sends them to war hell on false pretenses. See Rocky Mountain News Open letter from a 911 victim family to Bush. "In the court of public opinion Mr. Bush, your lies are being uncovered each day. My husband, all of the other victims and their families and our nation as a whole, has been victimized by your failed leadership prior to and after 9/11! I will prove this in a court of law!" Scoop
December 2, 2003
Video on Bush and the WMD scam. angelfire.com Now that the privatization of Medicare has begun, Bush has his sights set on dismantling Social Security. See LA Times A lawsuit filed by 911 victim family members says: "Plaintiff believes the facts, circumstances and substantial evidence once presented to a jury will ultimately establish Defendants allowed the '911' attacks to occur to create an International War on Terror ('IWOT') for malicious personal agendas, to include, but not limited to war profiteering. A pattern of this financial war profiting and the 'Bush Family' goes back to their dealings with Nazi Germany during World War II. Plaintiff understands this assertion will be a shock to her fellow Americans who are not aware of this fact, however, her sentiment is expressed in the following Paul Donovan: 'Why Isn't the Truth Out There?' Observer (U.K.), October 5, 2003, article: 'This is the staggering story of the events of 9/11. No reasons have been given for the Bush administration's conduct on that day; no one has been brought to account. Yet from the tragedy that was 9/11, Bush has been able to deliver for his backers in the arms and oil industries.'" scoop.co
SOME LINKS
December 4, 2003
Check out some recent poll data. Scroll down to "BUSH FALLING DOWN IN POLLS" Helen Thomas: Only dictators ban news broadcasts seattlepi.nwsource Molly Ivins: the Uncompassionate Conservative "Jim Hightower's great line about Bush, 'Born on third and thinks he hit a triple,' is still painfully true. Bush has simply never acknowledged that not only was he born with a silver spoon in his mouth -- he's been eating off it ever since. The reason there is no noblesse oblige about Dubya is because he doesn't admit to himself or anyone else that he owes his entire life to being named George W. Bush. He didn't just get a head start by being his father's son -- it remained the single most salient fact about him for most of his life. He got into Andover as a legacy. He got into Yale as a legacy. He got into Harvard Business School as a courtesy (he was turned down by the University of Texas Law School). He got into the Texas Air National Guard -- and sat out Vietnam -- through Daddy's influence. (I would like to point out that that particular unit of FANGers, as regular Air Force referred to the 'Fucking Air National Guard,' included not only the sons of Governor John Connally and Senator Lloyd Bentsen, but some actual black members as well -- they just happened to play football for the Dallas Cowboys.) Bush was set up in the oil business by friends of his father. He went broke and was bailed out by friends of his father. He went broke again and was bailed out again by friends of his father; he went broke yet again and was bailed out by some fellow Yalies." motherjones.com PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
December 6, 2003
Signs of Bad Times
HOBOKEN -- There was a man on our fire escape a few days ago. Lucky for us, he brushed by the wind chime and our next door neighbor who shares the fire escape heard him. She called the cops and they got him. The police said he'd robbed the building next store, but then got caught when he tried to extend his success. They said there had been a lot of robberies on our block lately. I was glad he didn't break in and rob us, but I felt sorry for the guy. How bad must it be to go climbing into people's apartments for what you can steal and run away with? The guy was no smooth operator. Obviously he was desperate. Now he's in jail.It used to be like that in Hoboken many years ago. But it hasn't been like that for a long time. It got so there was hardly any crime in Hoboken. I don't have to consult a research project to see a correlation to the crime rate and the rotten economy under both Bushsters. Oddly enough those periods usually include a lot of breathless talk in the news about how great the economy is because some people are making a lot of money on Wall Street. That's what "good economy" means in that context. For people who work and are not independently wealthy, it's better to look at factors like "employment" and better yet, just look around.
I heard from my daughter that one of her friends home was robbed. It's just a young man and his single mom who live there. They lost a lot, I heard. And what a devastating sense of invasion. What a horrible thing, for everyone involved. This is the kind of world that is produced by the Republicans relentless class warfare, by all the small and large political actions they are taking to rob America, to wipe away the democratizing programs of FDR and pushing us back to the days of the Robber Barons. This is not a good situation.
I'm tired of it and I know the broad mainstream of America is tired, weary. They have just been beaten down and want to just go to sleep and let all this be a bad dream. Unfortunately it won't go away that way. We are going to have to get off our asses one more time and re-establish a democratic system in America. Got to. There's no way around it. That or roll over and let the Cheney vision of totalitarianism establish itself further.
But there are very good reasons to think that a strong uprising will sweep these corrupt bastards out, even with phony voting machines. The wave of revulsion in America to these creeps and what they are doing is reaching projectile proportions. What it now takes is consciousness. Awareness. Access to good information.
Spread the word. Every action counts.
Meanwhile back at the freak show:
Not so dumb as you think, Rove -- According to USA Today, "a growing number of Americans, seven in 10, doesn't think the war in Iraq has reduced the threat of terrorism." About the same number think the U.N. should be in control in Iraq, not the U.S. And a majority believe the U.S. should really let Iraq be democratic, whether or not it elects a government that is pro-U.S. If Bush gets a second term, by whatever means he might pull it off this time, a military draft is virtually inevitable. Those who have young men in their lives that they care about take note. Ted Rall puts it in blunt terms. "This much is certain: If Bush resumes his neocolonial landgrab after 're'election, he'll have to bring back the draft. And a new generation of young men, ordered to disrupt their lives to feed the vanity and bank accounts of a cabal of gangsters, will ponder whether to flee or fight." "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" post cards from Buzzflash The old-line Democrats who have joined forces to stop Dean have only made themselves look pathetic and Dean's lead over his closest rival John Kerry has stretched to 30% at 42%-12% in a Zogby poll. The White House has gotten caught in another series of ludicrous fabrications, creating new ones to cover the one before, and each one disproven. See The Misleader and The Washington Post. Chile's General Pinochet, whom Kissinger and Nixon aided in overthrowing the democratically elected government of Chile and establishing a bloody dictatorship, recently appeared on Miami TV in an interview. Since he seemed quite sound of mind, Chilean lawyers are renewing efforts to bring him to trial for war crimes. Dallas-Fort Worth TV station WFAA, reported that Dean stoppped in Dallas and had a few criticisms of the Texas ne'er-do-well. "Borrow and spend, borrow and spend. This is a credit-card presidency," Dean said. "His fiscal model is Argentina. We can do better than that." More on the Day Reagan Was Shot, and the strange Bush-Hinckley family connection. Strange that Hinckley got off with a smooth ride in a mental institution. Now his shrinks say he no longer poses 'a danger to himself or others.' See the Guardian Catch up on a good summary of the data to date on "The Failure to Defend the Skies on 911" at Unanswered Questions. This "Abridged Timeline" is a good place to start. It starts with the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and President Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski saying that the CIA began destabilizing the pro-Soviet Afghan government six months earlier, in a deliberate attempt to get the Soviets to invade and have their own Vietnam-type costly war. So it's not too abridged.