Dear Mr. Ratfucker...

A reader...a freeper reader...says he knows Mr. Ratfucker is a “lib” and has asked what Mr. Ratfucker would do differently to end the war in Iraq. Mr. Ratfucker would not have to be a lib to believe American soldiers should not die protecting oil that does not belong to the United States. Mr. Ratfucker would only have to be the “reasonable man” referred to in legal documents, to believe that the United States should not engage in global aggression when the invaded country has represented no threat to the United States. Mr. Ratfucker cannot conceive any reasonable person would start a war the way this war was started, for the false and fraudulent reasons this war was started. Proceeding differently in this war would have been to have no war. There is no scenario that can plot a circumstance that would make this war honorable, or right or winnable. To answer the question, Mr. Ratfucker would have to accept the fact that the war is what it is. In other words, he would have to accept that the United States has engaged in an ill-planned illegal war without having declared war and without the consent of Congress, that the United States lied to the world about the reasons for going to war, that the United States invaded a foreign country but had no exit strategy for ending the war it started, that the United States has spent $79 billion dollars on the war and plans to spend $87 billion more, that the United States has raised the nation’s debt ceiling beyond all rational limits because of its illegal war, that the United States has mortgaged the future of its citizens and its children’s children, that the value of the dollar is shrinking day by day, and that the actions of the Bush administrations have caused the rest of the world to revile us and hate us. With these facts in play, what would Mr. Ratfucker do differently to end the war in Iraq? Mr. Ratfucker would have to imagine that he is a criminal, capable of devising criminal acts in order to end this illegal war, and therefore, Mr. Ratfucker declines to join the group of warmongers who invaded Iraq. He leaves the ending of the war in Iraq to the warmongers who started it. Mr. Ratfucker can only repeat, he would not have engaged in an illegal war in Iraq in the first place and he would not have committed the war crimes for which the White House is now liable.

Now It Takes 72 Hours to Reprogram the BushBot

On the morning of the 9/11 attacks it took nine minutes for the White House to alter the Bushmaton so that it would stop staring into space while second-graders read to it at the Emma Booker elementary school in Sarasota, FL. Having been awakened from its WH-induced coma, the robot was then allowed to advise the world of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. But it took seventy-two hours for the Bush replicate to respond to the mounting death toll caused by the earthquake/tsunamis in the Indian Ocean on December 26th. WH aides said the US response was not immediate because the White House was “trying to understand the magnitude of the tragedy and to plan a recovery effort” . Uh-huh. Let me ask you, at the moment you heard 15,000 people had been killed by tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, which was less than 24 hours after it happened, did you have to do complicated calculations to understand that the tragedy was humongous? It was Tuesday before the WH decided the disaster qualified as a by-God “tragedy”. Finally, it was announced that the US would offer up a scant, paltry, tight-fisted $15,000,000 in aid. By Wednesday the latest miserly donation from the Bush administration was being viewed with a hairy eyeball. So the official White House liar and apologist Colin Powell was summoned to say that the amount would be upped to $35,000,000. Eventually, the Bushmaton was roused and reprogrammed at the Crawford Ranch and belatedly declared the United States had a plan for conveying the feeling of "loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension." Right...$35,000,000 to people whose loss and grief is beyond the White House comprehension. Okay...to get some perspective on what the White House finds comprehensible, Crunchland.com has crunched the numbers for us. As of October 2004, the WH had already spent $79,000,000,000 billion (BILLION!) on the war in Iraq. And it intends to spend $87,000,000,000 billion (BILLION!) more. Which adds up to $166,000,000,000 billion (BILLION!). Crunchland.com’s graphics and computations show us that “One-Hundred-Sixty-Six Billion dollars is a pile of money 500 feet long at its longest point, which is quite a bit longer than an American football field. The roof opening of the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, is 500 feet long. This pile of money is still 100 feet tall, and 125 feet wide. If you stacked the bills in a single column, it would be 55,333,200 feet tall, or almost 10,500 miles, or 1.68 times the distance between Washington DC and Baghdad, Iraq.” This incomprehensible amount of cash cannot be understood or envisioned by a normal human being without the aid of explanation and graphics. But this incomprehensible amount of money is a sum which the White House and the Bushmaton can comprehend and understand. The loss and grief occasioned by a natural disaster which has killed over 100,000 people (and more will be reported dead as time passes)...is beyond their comprehension. So they are committing $35,000,000 toward the lives of survivors of the worst natural disaster in the memory of mankind. The American voters who empowered a drug-dependent alcoholic failure to ostensibly run the country, while empowering a gang of White House fascists and the Carlyle Group to in fact run the country, and who sponsored another bogus election have much to answer for. When the Bushmaton stands before the world on January 20 and is confirmed as President of the United States, watch the face, watch the jaw. Will he flawlessly mouth the words given him by the White House gang, or will he twitch and grimace, and show the tics of a mood-enhanced religious zealot who is out of his depth? When will he break down in front of millions? Will it be this TV performance? The next one? In a year? On one thing you can bet the rent. The WH has made plans for the melt-down. Have 50% of the voters in the US who elected this drugged-up moron made plans?

White House Fascists Stung By Stingy Word

There’s Colin Powell again, standing before the world, defending the indefensible. This morning, The New York Times reported that Powell “displayed irritation” after the UN’s emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland suggested the West had been stingy in aiding poor countries. Powell immediately went on the stump to refute Egeland’s allegation. He started with ABC's "Good Morning America“ where he claimed, “the US has been the most generous of aid donors in recent years.” That’s bullshit, Colin. Farhad Manjoo reported in Salon.com yesterday that, ”The United States contributes about a tenth of one percent of its income in aid to poor countries--an abysmal rate that falls below that of all industrialized nations, and is dwarfed by the giving rate of Canada (0.26 percent), Germany (0.28 percent), the United Kingdom (0.34 percent), and France (0.42 percent).” In addition, Manjoo said, “the Bush administration has quietly reduced its commitments to global anti-poverty programs, cutting its contributions to groups like Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services by as much as $100 million.” In other words, we can pony up $87 billion to invade Iraq for no good reason but the USA gives the lowest percentage of its Gross National Product of any industrialized nation in the world to poor countries. The US trumpets that we give the highest dollar amount. That may be true. But that is because we give emergency funds during disasters, while cutting back on permanent aid to poor countries. Our giving increased in 2001 only because we dispersed $600 million to Pakistan for economic support after 9/11. And the US will give aid only when we are shamed into it, like increasing aid to the recent tsunami victims after Egeland said we were stingy. We give aid during disasters if it gets headlines. But when the US reaches into its deep pockets to throw pennies to the hungry, it invariably is the wrong kind of aid. We airlift rice and wheat and dump it in starving countries where we know it will be stolen by bandits and warlords. Or worse, it will lie in heaps to rot in the rain or shrivel in the sun because the poor have no way to get to it. However, the airlifts have gotten what the US wanted...headlines...the richest nation in the world gives compassionate aid to the poorest countries. Baloney! The facts are, the US is pisspoor at giving real aid where it counts. We could change the world if we spent our aid money on teaching poor and starving countries how to increase their crops and that drinking contaminated water will kill them, or that women don’t have to have a baby a year during all of their adult lives. And we could send top-of-the-line medical supplies instead of allowing drug companies to contribute outdated, untested or unneeded drugs to the needy of the world. The US is not just stingy. The US’s neglect of poor and starving countries is arrogant, venal, corrupt and mean--which is a perfect description of the Bush fascist empire.

WH Daymare: Bush Finds Out He’s President

So far, Karl Rove and the White House Backroom Boys have promised the Bushmaton they will make him a great man. All he has to do is follow orders...their orders. But what happens, as in the movie “Dave”, when the pretender realizes his title alone confers total power. Admittedly, Dave was a good guy. But one day he was struck with the amazing understanding that even though he was an impostor, the title “President” meant he could do anything and no one could stop him. What will happen when (not if, but when) George W. Bush wakes up to the fact that he, not Karl Rove, has supreme power? I, personally, cannot wait for that wondrous day. Rove’s genius has been to present his evil machinations as though they were beneficial to the country and the world. Or at least, as though God blessed fascists who called themselves born-again. But Rove’s greatest masterwork--the Bushmaton puppet--has no real understanding of the delicate balancing act required to appear benign while destroying the country like a flesh-eating parasite. So far, Bush has shown his true colors in teeny ways. Like the day after the election when he said he planned to reach out only to like-minded people and that anyone not agreeing with his policies would be left behind. And the grandiose and fanciful statement, “I have a mandate”. Those moments of truth were played down by the WH press secretary as having been occasioned by the euphoria of his election win. And almost immediately afterward, Bush finally submitted to his annual physical check-up when his meds, no doubt, were re-evaluated and adjusted. But the day will come when the BushBot will have an epiphany: I don’t need these meds, I don’t need my minders, I don’t need advisers, I don’t need cooler heads, I don’t need to sit down and reflect, I am the President of the United States, I Am God’s Representative on earth. Give me that microphone, I am going to speak plain and from the heart...I am George W. Bush, hear me and know my wrath. I am the Great I Am! Oh heavenly day in the morning...then what? Has Rove planned for that day?

Tsunami Deaths-24,000; Bush Iraq Deaths-15,000

Lest the natural disaster and horrific accounts of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis in southern Asia and the Indian Ocean wipe from our minds the unnecessary war in Iraq, remember: George W. Bush and the criminally insane bunch in the White House have killed between 14,880 and 17,076 civilians in Iraq for no reason except the WH wants to rule the world. And because of their imperialistic conquest of Iraq, at least 1,325 American soldiers have died for no good reason. Yes, the earthquake and tsunami deaths are horrible. But they were caused by a natural disaster. George W. Bush and the White House gang are no doubt happy that headlines in the MSM about the worsening situation in Iraq have been replaced by news of a cataclysmic natural disaster. And the MSM is no doubt pleased to be able to orgiastically mourn an event that has killed more people than those who have been killed in Iraq. But the difference is that the deaths caused by the White House fascists could have been avoided. A natural destructive force like an earthquake leaves no choice. The White House chose to cause destruction, mayhem, chaos and the deaths of at least 1,325 American soldiers and upwards of 15,000 Iraq civilians. While mourning the tsunami victims, be mindful that the BushMen had a choice and they opted to commit mass murder.

Golden Rule Sermon From Emperor George

In a Christmas Day radio address, the Bushmaton exhorted Americans to care for the sick, elderly and poor. "Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty, others fight cruel addictions, or cope with division in their families, or grieve the loss of a loved one," he said. What arrogance! What balls! President Bush’s proposed budget for 2005 cuts aid to the poor and elderly. The ”No Child Left Behind” program is underfunded by $9.4 billion. Yet he has the effrontery to preach to the nation about reaching out to the needy. "Christmastime reminds each of us that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, that we are called to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves,” Bush said. What hypocrisy! What crass nerve! According to the Wall Street Journal, George W. and Laura Bush had an income totaling $822,126 last year, and their net worth is between $7.7 and $18.9 million. However, people trying to live on minimum wage get no help under the Bush tax cuts. And the cuts to social programs have left fewer places to seek help. "By volunteering our time and talents where they are needed most, we help heal the sick, comfort those who suffer, and bring hope to those who despair, one heart and one soul at a time,” Bush said. What unmitigated gall! The only way the White House was able to pay for the $600 billion in tax breaks that went primarily to those who earn more than $288,800 a year and to pay for the unnecessary war in Iraq, was for the White House to raise the federal debt ceiling to stratospheric levels, and scale back programs that aid the poor, elderly, students and children. "By bringing liberty to the oppressed, our troops are helping to win the war on terror, and they are defending the freedom and security of us all," the president said. "They and their families are making many sacrifices for our nation, and for that, all Americans are deeply grateful." What lies! We are winning the war on terror only in White House fantasies. We are defending freedom only if global aggression and fascism can be called defending freedom. And none of us have security because GOP policies have strengthened the resolve of all terrorists in all countries of the world to bring down the USA. Over 1325 soldiers have died to assure George W. Bush that he’s the man. And the worst of it is this: Little Georgie Bush is so disconnected from reality, so out of touch, so delusional, so insane that he really believes he is a holy anointed ruler giving hope and succor to his minions. Who will tell this wee man, this insignificant toad, this grinning foolish twat, this King of Assholes in a realm of assholes that he’s not wearing any clothes?

Rumsfeld, Stay Home and Shut Up For God’s Sake!

The earliest reports about Rummy’s surprise Christmas Eve visit to Iraq to cheer and encourage our soldiers included the following quote, “In 10 to 20 years, when you’re an old man like me, you will be able to look back and know you have been involved in something historic, something important.” Within two hours, the quote had been edited to leave out “when you’re an old man like me”. Within four hours the news stories used phrases like, “he said that later on” the men would look back”, etc. At this writing, the quotes about looking back are hard to find. We read that it’s difficult for Rummy to sleep at night for worrying about the troops. We read that the situation may look bleak at times but he’s confident our soldiers will crush the insurgents. We read that major conflicts always have naysayers and doubters. We read that Rumsfeld shares the grief of people who lose loved ones. We are told he is truly saddened anyone would think he has not properly protected our troops. But the line about soldiers looking back when they are old and knowing they were part of something historic is being buried. And the part about “old like me”, has been lost altogether. The managed news we all read is edited to make the White House and the war in Iraq look as valiant and heroic as possible. Those editors who rewrite history must have had the same visceral feeling of disgust as I did when reading that Rumsfeld told our soldiers they would eventually understand they’d been part of something historic. And into the bargain, it’s ludicrous he said they’d be old like he is in 10 or 20 years...if they’re alive they’ll be 40 or 50. As the managed news guys immediately realized, it’s a terrible PR blunder for Rummy to remind the public he’s 72 years old and is way-way-way past it. He did the same thing in his horrific performance on December 8th when he made the statement about going to war with the Army you have. He said to the troops querying him, “Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here." That cannot be denied. Donald Rumsfeld is an inept, ineffective, stubborn old man. Rumsfeld was talking to men in Mosul where the December 21 attack on a mess tent killed 15 American soldiers. It’s offensive to tell these men that they’ll look back and be proud to be part of something historic. Many won’t look back because they’ll be dead. And this unnecessary war is only historic and important because it’s a criminal act of global aggression of unprecedented proportions. After spreading cheer and encouragement and reminding the men that they are winning his unwinnable unholy unnecessary war, Rumsfeld wished the soldiers a Merry Christmas.

Tom Friedman Has Gone Round the Bend

At times in the past, New York Times Op/Ed columnist Tom Friedman has seemed stubborn, misguided, naive and unrealistic. He has tirelessly backed the US invasion of Iraq. But it was understandable. As a journalist who was based in the Middle East and who has lived in the Middle East, Friedman longs for peace in an area of the world for which he has a deep understanding and affection. But he has never sounded silly. Until this morning. His column is imbecilic. We may lose in Iraq, he says, “because the Bush administration is so hated around the world that any opponents will be seen as having justice on their side”. We may lose “because most Europeans, having been made stupid by their own weakness, would rather see America fail in Iraq than lift a finger for free and fair elections there”. We may lose for the same reasons that “Johns Hopkins foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum so rightly pointed out to me, ’These so-called insurgents in Iraq are the real fascists, the real colonialists, the real imperialists of our age.They are a tiny minority who want to rule Iraq by force and rip off its oil wealth for themselves.'” We may lose because “many conservatives would rather fail in Iraq than give liberals the satisfaction of seeing Mr. Rumsfeld sacked.” Mr. Friedman, take a deep breath, sit down and listen. The mess in Iraq is not winnable because the Bush administration lied us into a war. It’s not the insurgents (bad guys that they are) that want the oil for themselves. It’s the Bush administration that wants to control the oil in Iraq. The Europeans are not weak or stupid. They rightly saw that the reasons given for attacking Iraq were bogus and they wanted no part of the false charade the US presented for its attack on Iraq. The US is hated around the world because we are hateful. We are mean aggressors. We are self-absorbed. We are stingy and grasping and greedy. We won’t give aid to countries desperately needing aid because we have squandered our capital on an unnecessary war. Plus the fact that Republicans don’t want to really give aid in the world, they merely want to be perceived as giving aid. The real fascists, the real colonialists, the real imperialists of our age are exactly those who have been accused of those crimes--the Bush administration, the Bush White House, the Bush Pentagon, the Bush Republicans in Congress. The real fascists control the United States of America. It is true that Rumsfeld should be canned. But whether he is canned or not, the war in Iraq and the plans for democracy are doomed to fail because the premise for the war was false. The war in Iraq was built on the sand of lies and it has become a sinkhole. Tom Friedman concluded his article by saying he’s a “Blair Democrat”. He quoted from Tony Blair’s recent speech. "On the one side you have people who desperately want to make the democratic process work, and want to have the same type of democratic freedoms other parts of the world enjoy, and on the other side people who are killing and intimidating and trying to destroy a better future for Iraq." Wrong again, Tom/Tony. On the one side, we have Blair and the White House killing thousands and thousands of people in Iraq, including at least 1321 American soldiers for wrong-headed reasons and blatant lies. On the other side we have the rest of the world saying Blair and the US White House are wrong. Blair Democrat? Must be a party of one.

Bush is “Confident Democracy Will Prevail In Iraq”

That’s odd. What rational person could think that? The New York Times has a headline today saying, “Fighting on is the only option, Americans Say”. That’s also odd. How many of America’s 297 million were interviewed? The article doesn’t divulge exactly how many people Kirk Johnson interviewed to form his opinion about what Americans are saying. But Johnson said, “Americans across the country expressed anguish.” He fleshed out his view that Americans are anguished by saying, “But it was the question of where the nation should go from here that produced the biggest sigh from Dallas Spear, an oil and gas industry worker from Denver.” “’I would never have gone there from the beginning, but that's beside the point now,’ Mr. Spear said, his jaw clenched. ‘We upset the apple cart and now there's pretty much no choice. We have to proceed.’ Mr. Spear's sentiment was echoed in interviews in shopping malls, offices, sidewalks and homes on a day when the news from Iraq was bleak,” Johnson said. Then Johnson quotes a man named Charlie Eubanks who says we’ve got to hang in and get the job done. A few more quotes from a few more anguished, sighing, clenched folks, and Johnson reports that Americans say our only option is to stay in Iraq. For some unfathomable reason, known only to the editors of the New York Times, the paper has decided to noise the opinion of a few people and call it “The Public”. Well, I too have spoken to The Public. From Philadelphia to LA. And my anguished, sighing clenched folks, in banks, restaurants, a dentist office, sidewalks and homes feel that a good outcome in Iraq is impossible, that the prospects for democracy are so bleak as to be nonexistent, that enough is enough, and that we should get out of Iraq now, forthwith, immediately. I have even asked Mr. Ratfucker and Mr. Ratfucker says, “We have a President who would serve himself and the nation better were he committed to a mental institution. The man is delusional and possibly a paranoid schizophrenic. The only reason the White House allows him to roam about is that they need a spokesperson for their insane fascistic views.” Mr. Ratfucker went on to say that he feels anguished, unsettled, devastated, dispirited, unhappy and angry about America’s involvement in Iraq. He sighed when he said that our only option is to get out as soon as possible. Mr. Ratfucker also said he is confident only that chaos will prevail in Iraq for the foreseeable future. And he feels that anyone feeling confident about President Bush, the White House, the Pentagon, the war in Iraq, or that Condoleeza Rice should even be allowed to be a secretary for the Secretary of State, is either insane or worse, a writer for the New York Times. So...who are you going to believe, the President of the United States who is a lying insane person and Kirk Johnson, a member of the unreliable MSM, or Mr. Ratfucker and me?

Why Doesn’t the White House Fire Rumsfeld?

It’s simple. The White House won’t fire Rummy because they’d have to admit they were wrong. The recent mass exodus of Cabinet Secretaries and other BushMen has been accomplished by forcing them to resign. And many were only too happy to flee the Bush II fascist regime. But Rumsfeld won’t resign. Why should he? The Prez said he was doing a superb job. And White House chief of staff, Andy Card was quoted in the New York Times this morning as having said on ABC’s “This Week” news show, “Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job and the president has great confidence in him.” We know that the White House Lexicon defines “superb”, “spectacular” and “great confidence” as , respectively, “worse than bad”, “god-awful to the 9th power” and “the man can’t find his balls with a magnifying glass and a map”. But the White House has its ways. One of them is to praise a man to the skies and let the opposition raise a stink. Then the White House leaks to the press dark areas of malfeasance the person in question has been able to keep secret. The outcry for a public hanging (which never really occurs but is produced by the WH virtual reality department) makes it imperative that the person leave office while the WH never has to cop to its bad judgment in making the appointment in the first place. In Rummy’s case , the WH is going to have to discredit his performance both in the past and the present because he’s got info on everyone and their grandmother that would be embarrassing should it get out. But not to worry. Old DirtyTricks Karl is in charge. No prob.

The Great Christmas Scam Circa 323 AD

All the hue and cry about Christmas being sacred is nonsense. The celebrations and feasting on December 25th always were and continue to be a pagan ritual. Which is fine. But let’s call it what it is. When was Christ actually born? No one knows. There is general agreement among scholars that it was sometime between January and March. Although it could have been as early as October or November. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, better known as Constantine the Great--the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire--started the whole mess. His regime was all about politics, superstition and war. Sound familiar? In the year 312 AD, Turkish warlord Constantine had a vision. He saw a circle and a cross. Later, he saw the same symbol in a dream. Based on this vision, he decided to wage all his wars in the name of Christianity. In 313 AD when he named Rome the seat of Christianity, he didn’t mean Rome, Italy. Constantine meant the city that bore his name, Constantinople (now called Istanbul). However much Constantine envisioned Constantinople as the Rome of Turkey, the name was never accepted outside of Turkey and in a few Asian provinces. Even the real Rome--the one in Italy--didn’t become the base of the Holy Roman Empire until 800 AD. In 323 AD Constantine declared himself a Christian (although he was not baptized until his deathbed conversion in 337). In order to unify his empire, Constantine commanded that all the people under his rule had to believe that Jesus Christ was God or else. Constantine was master of all he surveyed and he renamed pagan festivals to honor Christian leaders. But his subjects were not happy. When Constantine was the supreme authority of the Byzantine Empire, he ruled over a fairly benign agrarian populace. Its economy and its people had a matriarchal belief structure. The people were left high and dry when he suddenly switched allegiance to a patriarchal deity. Where had their goddesses gone? Who would ensure that the crops would grow? Suddenly, god was male and the people were not only unhappy, they were fearful their goddesses would be so pissed off that the crops would fail. In an inspired move which would gain him acceptance among the Christians, appease his own people and also would appease the goddesses who regulated the seasons, Constantine elevated Christ’s mother Mary to goddess status. Before Constantine, Mary had been given little respect in male-dominated Christian lore. However misguided and superstitious and war-minded Constantine may have been, he is remembered with gratitude for one act he performed in 313 AD. In the name of two Roman generals he had defeated--Licinius and Maximin Daia--Constantine issued a decree that granted toleration to all religions, and restored property to the Christians. He also continued the tradition of celebrations and feasting on December 25. It was on this date at sunrise that the winter solstice was believed to occur. Constantine thought the Roman Sun God and Jesus Christ were one and the same. He therefore decided to honor Sun God Jesus on December 25th. The first reference to December 25 being the birth of Jesus was in 336 AD. As is particularly evident this year, pagan celebrations on December 25th have only gotten bigger and more obnoxious as time has passed. Decorating trees and sending cards started in Great Britain around 1840. The first State to declare Christmas to be a legal holiday was Alabama in 1836, the last was Oklahoma in 1907. On June 26, 1870, the US Congress declared Christmas to be a legal holiday. Hallmark made the first commercially-sold Christmas cards in 1915. Celebrating Christmas is a relatively new holiday. It’s a commercial holiday. It’s a politically useful holiday. So just put a sock in it with whining about people not being allowed to venerate Christ by saying Merry Christmas or by singing Christmas Carols. Celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 never was about Christ. It’s always been about politics, appeasing social factions and making money. Just as Constantine used Christianity as a cynical political ploy, so the current administration is using Christianity as a cynical political ploy. The man who deemed December 25th the day that Christ was born because he thought Jesus and the Sun God were the same person would have applauded the idea of charging $250,000 to get into an inauguration ball.

Karl Rove is Worse Than We Thought

This morning, Bob Herbert says in his New York Times Op/Ed column,“The White House seems to have slipped the bonds of simple denial and escaped into the disturbing realm of utter delusion.” Herbert then relates the recent handing out of medals to total incompetents and the trumpeting of claims that the economy is just ducky and that the war in Iraq is going great. Just when I was beginning to wonder if the White House was simply inept and not twisted and malevolent, I ran across an article in CounterPunch, “Exposing Karl Rove”, written by Wayne Madsen in 2002 It’s clear. The Karl Rove White House gang are sociopaths and Karl Rove is malicious, mean and will stop at nothing to rule the world. Madsen wrote, “He's America's Joseph Goebbels. As a 21-year old Young Republican in Texas, Karl Rove not only pimped for Richard Nixon's chief political dirty tricks strategist Donald Segretti but soon caught the eye of the incoming Republican National Committee Chairman, George H. W. Bush. Rove's dirty tricks on behalf of Nixon's 1972 campaign catapulted Rove onto the national stage. From his Eagle's Nest in the West Wing of the White House, Rove now directs a formidable political dirty tricks operation and disinformation mill.” Madsen went on to say, “Rove's own tendency to be sick-minded originates with his mentor Segretti. The 2000 GOP primary was a chance for Rove to hone his skills in dirty tricks. His target then was Senator John McCain who appeared to be within striking distance of Dubya in South Carolina after the then-GOP maverick's surprise upset victory in New Hampshire. Rove's operation proceeded to target McCain with false stories: McCain was a stoolie for his captors in the Hanoi Hilton (this from a lunatic self-promoting Vietnam "veteran"); McCain fathered a black daughter out of wedlock (a despicable reference to McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter); Cindy McCain's drug "abuse"; and even McCain's "homosexuality." In the spirit of Segretti, Rove engineered a victory for Dubya but at the cost of trashing an honorable man and his family. Muskie, McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Hart, Tsongas, Clinton, Biden, Dole, Perot, and others had all seen the Segretti/Rove slash and burn tactics before.” Later on in the article, Madsen writes that George W’s take on politics is, “If you're not with me, you're against me.” Madsen says, “Bush's binary view of "good and evil" and "friend and enemy" sits well with the Rove strategy. Georgia's conservative but libertarian-minded Representative Bob Barr found out about this in last August's primary when his GOP primary opponent John Linder began spreading around stories that Barr was "soft on terrorism." Because Barr was skeptical about a number of aspects of the Bush-Ashcroft USA PATRIOT Act, he became a target for the Rove machine. However, it was likely that Barr became a target earlier on when he supported Steve Forbes against Bush in the 2000 primary. Bush apparently means to say, "If you've not always been with me, you're against me." It must have really been a dilemma for Bush and Rove to have to come to the support of John Sununu, Jr. in the New Hampshire Senate race. Although Daddy made George W. unceremoniously give the axe to Sununu's father as White House Chief of Staff during the Bush 41 administration, the man who the junior Sununu defeated in the primary, Bob Smith, was even more of a problem. He had the temerity to quit the Republican Party in 2000 and run against Dubya for President. So in Bushspeak, which is obviously borrowed from Forrest Gump's scripts, "if you're less with me than the other guy, you're more against me." Unfortunately, we didn’t take Madsen’s advice in 2002 when he concluded his article by writing, “In all seriousness, rewarding the GOP on November 5 will only increase the appetite of Rove to amass more and more power into the White House. The advent of a Democratic-controlled Senate and House might even begin to spell the end of the road for Segretti's star pupil. German opposition figures in the mid-1930s often lamented the fact that they could have stopped the rise of the Nazis if only they had been more united in a common front when they had a chance. However, they fell prey to the media manipulation of Goebbels and fought among themselves more than they did against the menace from the far right. We Americans also have an early opportunity to stem an out-of-control and anti-constitutional regime with the Rasputin-like Rove at the after steerage helm of our ship of state. That opportunity presents itself next Tuesday--Election Day. “ But it doesn’t make Madsen’s message any less true. That Karl Rove single-handedly controls the White House becomes more evident each day. And the one item that leaps out is this. John McCain has signed a devil’s pact with this crew. Can there be any other explanation for his kissing the asses of the men who sought to destroy his reputation and the reputation of his whole family? I cannot imagine being in the same room with Karl Rove if he had done to my family what he did to the McCain family. And yet, John McCain makes nice with the GOP and smiles and smiles. His ambition to be President surpasses anything anyone can imagine. John McCain obviously has the White House blessing for 2008. If McCain toes the mark, watch for Rove to start destroying other contenders. Is this what the Kerik/Giuliani debacle was all about?

In White House-Speak, What Does “Superb” Mean?

Put another way, if the Bushmaton said you were “superb” would you be pleased, run for cover or hide in shame? “Tom Ridge has done a superb job. He's the right man for this new and great responsibility.“ (November 26, 2002-Prez signs Homeland Security Act) “...the Department is under the command of a superb leader who has my confidence.” (January 24, 2003-Swearing-in Tom Ridge.) “The secretary of defense is doing a superb job and is courageously leading the nation.” (May 10, 2004-Bush backing discredited Defense Secretary.) "George Tenet did a superb job for America. It was a high honor to work with him, and I'm sorry he left.” (June 5 2004-George Tenet resigns (or else) for “personal reasons”.) “In the work we have done, and the work we will do, I am fortunate to have a superb vice president.” (Sept. 2, 2004-Bush accepting GOP nomination.) “I want to thank my superb campaign team.” (Nov. 3, 2004-Bush election acceptance speech.) “(Paul Bremer) will be remembered for his superb work in laying the foundations of a new democracy in the Middle East." (December 14, 2004-Prez gives Presidential Medal of Freedom to the former Coalition Authority leader in Iraq who fled Iraq Iike his pants were on fire.) Even Cheney got into the superb hyperbole game. “The President has put forward superb nominees to serve on the federal bench” (October 29, 2003-Reception for Bush-Cheney ‘04.) Do the WH speechwriters need a Thesaurus? Can’t they think up a new word? Or does “superb” have a secret meaning in the White House Nasty Boys’ Club? Like, “Deactivate Soonest”.

The WH: Evil Geniuses or Nincompoops? Your Call

Either the BushMen are the most twisted, nasty, dirty-tricks playing, lying, cheating low-lifes ever to hit Washington, DC. Or they are the worst bunch of bungling ignoramuses since the burglary of Democrat headquarters in the Watergate office complex. A woeful choice alas, but there it is. Either the WH set up Kerik/Giuliani to fall by knowing Kerik would not survive even a half-hearted investigation, or their corruption sniffers couldn’t find a crook with a map and John Walsh as a guide. The White House fascists (Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, The Carlyle Group, and nominally, the little Bushmaton puppet) may be global supremist sociopaths but they aren’t stupid. So that leaves only one option. This morning’s New York Times lays the entire Kerik debacle at ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s feet. Since he investigated Kerik early-on when he made him head of the New York Police Department in 1995, he should have known all the unsavory items in Kerik’s past. And he should have given the White House a heads-up. Why? Why was it up to Giuliani to rat-out his business partner? Doesn’t the White House do its own investigations? Of course it does. And you can bet the rent and take no risks that the White House has a book as big as a Tom Wolfe novel on Rudy Giuliani, including all the irregularities in Bernie Kerik’s life. So, knock it off New York Times and the rest of the MSM. It will not fly that the White House didn’t know specifics and details on Kerik/Giuliani/mob suspicions/petty crimes et alia and etcetera. Of course there is a possibility that has not been advanced yet as to why the White House would lead Kerik/Giuliani down the garden path only to crucify them. Maybe the WH is just having fun. Remember the stories that George W. Bush used to blow up frogs for fun when he was young*? Maybe that’s what the White House is doing. You know...even fascist sociopaths get bored. *Nicholas Kristof, NYT 5/21/00 --interview with George W. Bush's boyhood buddy, Terry Throckmorton. ''We were terrible to animals,'' recalled Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. "A dip behind the Bush home turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out. Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them,'' Mr. Throckmorton said. ''Or we'd put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up.''

Tom Friedman, Sir, You Are a Stiff-necked Fool

It took New York Times Op/Ed columnist Tom Friedman over a year to decide that the war in Iraq had been mishandled and mismanaged. He keeps making trips back to convince himself that all of the wrongs committed in Iraq by the US will eventually add up to a right somewhere down the line. Friedman has made a career of writing about the Middle East. He lived in the Middle East. One of his daughters was born in Jerusalem. If there is any American who has the ability to understand the mindset and culture of the people in the Middle East, it’s Tom Friedman. He knows better than anyone that the men who sent our soldiers to Iraq haven’t the vaguest idea about Iraq culture, nor do they care to learn. I can only assume that Tom Friedman’s insistence that the USA invasion of Iraq was righteous is because it’s as difficult for him to admit he’s wrong as it is for the BushMen to admit they are wrong. This past Sunday, Friedman’s drumbeating for the war was particularly offensive. (December 12, New York Times Op/Ed section, "Iraq, Ballots and Pistachios”.) He says all NATO countries, all Arab countries and all European countries should contribute soldiers to help train the Iraqi army and to help the security of the polling stations in January. “Yes,” he says, “the Bush team’s incompetence in securing Iraq is a travesty. But even with all that said, is it such a hard call for Arabs and Europeans to figure out on whose side they should be?” Each NATO country could contribute 100 soldiers for a long weekend, he says. No, it’s not difficult to figure out whose side to be on. I am on the side of every mother’s son who has been sent to Iraq to be killed in an unnecessary war. Is Friedman out of his mind when he talks about countries contributing soldiers for “a long weekend”? Iraq is not a lark. It’s not a place where you play soldier for the weekend. Countries who send soldiers to Iraq are sending men to be killed. And the consensus in most countries of the world is that it’s a damn shame Iraq is in the pickle it’s in, but the USA decided unilaterally to force democracy on Iraq, let the USA solve the problem it has made. The leaders of most countries in the world thought our invasion of Iraq was a horrendous mistake. Apparently Friedman believes that no matter how wrong we were to invade Iraq, it now is the world’s duty to back us up. No it isn’t. Every country in the world has a duty to its own people first before meddling in other countries’ affairs. And in this particular instance, any country sending soldiers to Iraq is saying, We support the USA in its plan to rule the world by force. We were wrong, wrong, wrong to invade Iraq under the pretext of bringing the gift of democracy to the people. There are groups of people in the United States who know and understand democracy. But the group that decided to invade Iraq hasn’t the foggiest notion what democracy is about. Right here, right now, a bunch of fascists are in the White House. They are the same fascists who lied us into a war with Iraq. Fascists are incapable of bringing democracy to any country...and certainly not to their own. Mr. Friedman, democracy needs to be fixed in the United States. How can we presume to set up a democracy anywhere else when it’s not working here?

Starting Premise: The WH Knew ALL About Kerik

Thanks to Supersnoop John Ashcroft and his Patriot Act, the White House can peek and pry into anyone’s life. And if you have a high-profile life, your dossier is thick as a file of born-again adulterers and molesters. Plus, thanks to Echelon, a little global surveillance program, Big Bro can listen in on anyone’s telephone conversations and monitor anyone’s e-mail. Plus-plus, the WH has the Carlyle Group at its beck and call and the Carlyle Group’s tentacles reach into all politics, all military programs and arms manufacturers and all corporations in the world. Plus-plus-plus the US has a satellite that can pinpoint anyone anywhere, even if he’s pedaling a bike in the wilds of Wyoming. And now the WH is saying it didn’t know their very own Rambo-Baghdad-Terminator stank like three-day-old fish? GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! If Newsweek was able to find out (and it was) that a judge issued an arrest warrant on Bernie Kerik in 1998 because of lawsuits on unpaid condo bills, the White House knew about it six months ago. If Kerik had an illegal alien for a nanny and didn’t pay required nanny taxes, the White House knew and kept mum. If Kerik had questionable income and monies from questionable sources, the White House knew and sat on the info. The question is not what did the WH know and when did they know it. The question is: Knowing what they knew, why did they name Bernard Kerik for the high-powered Homeland Security boss position? Here's my reading of the Kerik chronicle. The appointment accomplished so many goals that it was a master stroke. Kerik had done favors for the BushMen and he thought he was owed a big payback. He submitted his claimcheck. Giuliani had done favors for the BushMen and thought he was owed a big payback, not the least of which was a run for the White House in 2008 as the anointed Heir-of-9/11-Profiteers. Giuliani and Kerik were a matched set. Get one you get the other, for better or worse. How could the White House be shut of both these major annoyances in one swipe of the sword? Promote Kerik, nominate Kerik and watch the opposition destroy both Kerik and Giuliani in a swift and deadly coup de grace. And the fringe benefit, the icing on the cake is that whoever is appointed now will get a fast confirmation. First, because he is NOT KERIK. And second, because every day without a Homeland Security Chief is a day the land is in jeopardy--which is baloney, but the White House will float the lie anyway. If the above scenario is true, watch the Machiavellian Maestros do it again. It works.

Kerik Bites the Dust

When there is big stinky news coming out of the White House, it surfaces late on a Friday night. The White House reports it got a call from Bernard Kerik at 8:30 last night (which was later reaffirmed by letter) saying he was withdrawing his name from Homeland Security boss consideration. The WH didn’t get it on the wires Friday night until it was too late for banner headlines in print and on TV. As usual. At the same time the Kerik pullout news hit the USA, it showed up in China. Anything one-uping the White House gets around like fungus in a locker room. So why did Kerik chicken out? “Personal reasons,” he initially said. But seriously folks, the nasty stuff coming out about Kerik's affiliations with the stun gun company, Taser, was starting to smell to high heaven. And although I said he had recently sold Taser stock options to the tune of $5.8 mil, the figure now being reported is $6.2 mil. His other business arrangements with prescription drug labs, bulletproof materials companies, nuclear power plants, a telephone service and giving advice to Americans living abroad, apparently added up to more conflicts of interest than could be neutralized by skillful management of the truth. Of course, just before Kerik withdrew his name (read, was forced to withdraw by the WH because the stench was overpowering) the WH came out with this gem from press secretary Scott McClelland: “We have full confidence in his integrity and we are confident that he will take the appropriate steps necessary to make sure that there are no conflicts there.” The conflict that the WH says was the real deal-breaker was that Mr. and Mrs. Kerik had a nanny/housekeeper who was an illegal alien and for whom they had not bothered to pay required taxes. NYC ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was an ex-Kerik business partner said, "He made a mistake. I believe he would have been confirmed if it weren't for this." In your dreams, Rudy. He was bad news and his curriculum vitae was the stuff mob underbosses are made of, not WH appointees. So now we have another phrase from the WH lexicon which requires secret code definition: Full confidence. That means, you are toast, you miserable cretin, you toad, you PR horror. Previous definitions from the White House phrase book: Rumsfeld has done a superb job: You could bury us all, you foul odor, watch your step. Attorney General John Ashcroft has worked tirelessly to help make our country safer: Get out of our sight you born-again incompetent numskull, maybe you can get a job singing in a Salvation Army choir. Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans is one of President Bush’s most trusted friends and advisers: Just go, we never could stand looking at your face.     Colin Powell is one of the great public servants of our time: What?! You want to stay on? You can’t even lie and be believed. Condi should have had your job in the first place. Tommy Thompson is one of President Bush’s friends and is a true public servant who worked every day to make Americans healthier: Go on, get out! You're always muttering under your breath about bioterrorism in the food supply. We need loyalty here, you traitor scum. Scott McClelland about John Snow: John Card told Snow not to pay any attention to the rumors: That’s right, they aren’t rumors. We’re firing your stupid ass. The problem with kicking out all the old loyalists is that the ones who want in are barely able to stay out of jail.

Details...Details

Tom Friedman, the New York Times Op/Ed Columnist and Middle East maven said this morning that the problem in Iraq was not that we had invaded “too soon. We actually invaded 10 years too late.” By using the words “invaded too soon” I assume he meant the BushMen’s unnecessary preemptive strike. He then goes on to explain that the UN’s sanctions over the last ten years only destroyed an already beaten down society which lead to the upsurge of a bunch of ignorant, impoverished, fundamentalist youths who are now the ragtag insurgents causing chaos and death in the region. With all the intelligent analysis going on by pundits and writers about how the US got involved in the mess in Iraq, how come one detail is always left out? How come no one ever mentions that when George Bush Sr. was head of the CIA, the US was so cozy with Saddam Hussein and the bin Laden family that Daddy WarBush hired Saddam Hussein as a CIA paid assassin. Another detail we hear precious little about is that the US armed Iraq to the teeth to protect our oil interests in Iraq. Those arms and weapons are now being used against us. How did we get where we are in Iraq? We got there because the Husseins and the bin Ladens were welcomed with open arms into our middle east foreign policies by Bush Sr. That is, until they started to intrude on our plans for their oil. We did go to war, Mr. Friedman. Remember the little show of power that resolved nothing in 1991? It was called the Gulf War. So you’re saying that we should have gone back to Iraq in 1994 and finished the job? What a stupid idea. Clinton was elected in 1992. By 1994 he was beginning to have a positive impact on promoting peace in the world. The “International terrorists” (not Iraq terrorists, they were called international terrorists) who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 were convicted in 1994, Israel and Palestine signed an accord in 1994, the IRA declared a cease-fire in 1994. That would have been a perfect year for the USA to go back to Iraq and finish the job Bush Sr. left undone. Wrong. The perfect way for the USA to have dealt with its relationship with Iraq would have been not to crawl in bed with a corrupt regime in the first place. But thanks to the Bush family, we did go to bed with dogs. And guess what? We got fleas. Big surprise. I think I’ve figured out the White House strategy on the Rumsfeld problem. He has too much info (read, knows where the bodies are buried) on all his White House cronies, so he’s not going to get fired. But the WH knows Rumsfeld's nature is to be wildly insensitive, to always make the wrong decision, and to turn a photo-op into a sound-byte nightmare. The WH is going to let him destroy himself. Watching Rummy's scandalous performance with the troops in Iraq yesterday, three quotes are proof the White House is going to let him twist in the wind. They’ll leave it to an outraged populace to demand his resignation. "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” "Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here." "You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up. And you can have an up-armored Humvee and it can be blown up." He says it himself. The war Rumsfeld has is the war he designed. He sees no reason to protect our soldiers with anything, they’ll get blown to smithereens anyway. He’s an old man and he’s way past it. Better resign, Rummy, before an angry mob of soldiers' moms descends on Washington and demands your balls on a pike.

Oh, the Lies They Tell

Truly, the Republicans will do anything. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) told a whopper on ABC’s Sunday morning show hosted by George Stephanopoulos (December 5). Frist who is an MD said that AIDS can be transmitted by sweat and tears. Not willing to let this false statement go without confronting it, George Steph finally got Frist to admit that this was so unlikely as to be impossible. This is the kind of misinformation that the GOP is promoting in our schools. But truth to tell, a lie like that only works in the Amen corner of the seriously ignorant faction of the GOP. It offends intelligent Repubs. Why the White House panders to their low-IQ gullible-sheep minority is a mystery. After getting the White House heave-ho on December 3rd...um...er...I mean after resigning his cabinet position, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson said he was surprised our food supply hadn’t been hit by bioterrorists because it would be such an easy thing to do. His statement was picked up by all newswires around the world. Why did Tommy Thompson keep silent during his days as Cabinet Secretary? Why did he tacitly promote whatever lie the BushMen wanted to sanction? He’s a weenie, that’s why. Being a weenie is unfortunate...maybe it’s genetic and not the weenie’s fault. But weeniedom is not in the same category as a medical doctor such as Frist telling a lie about a medical condition in order to fortify a religious bias. And while we’re on the topic of White House medical sins, I have a question. The White House just announced that it is allowing a flu shot manufactured in Germany to be distributed in the US. This will cover the shortage caused by the government’s error in ordering flu shots from only one source, the Chiron lab in Liverpool England. This source turned out to have a contamination problem. The government is saying that it is making available flu shots manufactured in Germany which are “safe enough”. But since they come from outside the US, there are “risks”. Safe enough? Risks? What are the exact risks from getting a flu shot from Germany? What is safe enough? That’s what I’d like to know. We weren’t warned of any risks involved in getting a flu shot from Great Britain...although it turned out there were mega risks. What makes the German flu shot more risky than the Great Britain flu shot? Bush’s biggest asskisser is British PM Tony Blair. Does that make the English flu shot safe? Is the flu shot from Germany not safe because Germany is not in the ass-kissing Bushleague? Or, and this is a very real though ultimately sad possibility. Is the German flu shot riskier than the British flu shot because the Bushmaton doesn’t realize both Great Britain and Germany are in Europe? Newsflash to the Bushmaton: Great Britain is not part of the United States. Great Britain and Northern Ireland are in the United Kingdom. See, back in 1776....

“Like a New Pearl Harbor”

“The process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor.” That’s the most widely quoted sentence in the PNAC’s (Project for a New American Century) 2000 report, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”. The report has been called a “blueprint for US world domination” and the “Mein Kampf” of the first Bush Administration. The Pearl Harbor reference has been defended by those who act as apologists for the White House fascists. They point to the sentence that precedes it, saying it proves the writers had no evil intent in mind. “A transformation strategy that solely pursued capabilities for projecting force from the United States, for example, and sacrificed forward basing and presence, would be at odds with larger American policy goals and would trouble American allies.” If “forward basing” and “presence” means keeping American forces in our occupied countries forever, I don’t see any conflict with the assumption that the PNAC 2000 report is a blueprint for global supremacy. And God knows, our American allies have been troubled by our warmongering, so much so that we are reviled around the world. But the “larger American policy goals” is even more troubling. After reading that 80 page report (http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf) it’s clear that the PNAC advises that our goals should be to rule the world, and to rule the world by force. But back to the Pearl Harbor reference. Could the PNAC be so obsessed with global supremacy that in 2000 it sneakily suggested that the final goal could come about much sooner if the USA allowed another Pearl Harbor? The report is out there. Read it. And don’t skip the final page with the list of people who signed off on it, which includes Deputy Defense Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, Super Chickenhawk William Kristol and Neocon Eliot A. Cohen who teaches war strategies, has worked with Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and may or may not be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Odds and Ends

Is there anyone on TV with worse manners than Hardball’s Chris Matthews? Is there anyone more egotistical, more self-serving and self-absorbed? Maybe Charlie Rose, but that horserace is too close to call. Chris Matthews can’t wait for his guests to stop their nonsense so he can talk. All opinions other than his are nonsense. He’s an equal opportunity interrupter. Whether you’re a head of state, a panelist or some poor moke the producers pulled in to add color, Chris Matthews will step on your lines and not allow a complete thought to escape your lips. He usually interrupts to say a funny. He rarely is funny. No one gets a greater kick out of Chris Matthews than Chris Matthews. He ended his latest show by suggesting that if TV watchers feel their news shows are biased they should switch the channel. Find a news show that is biased in the other direction, he counseled. It’s up to the viewer to ferret out the truth. It’s up to us to weigh the information and arrive at an analysis of what is going on in the world. It’s true, all news shows are biased. But if everything that filters down to us is bullshit, then how do we arrive at the truth, you silly hyper fast-talking conceited twit? Answer me that. The MSM--whether left-biased or right-biased--only gets managed news coming out of the White House. Weigh the information? A ton of crap weighs a ton. And it’s crap. And what about Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) the new Senate Democratic leader? I’m getting a bad feeling. I had gone off the previous Minority leader,Tom Daschle (D-SD) way before the South Dakotans handed him his hat. Who or what stole his spine, I’m not sure, but in every instance during the last four years when the Democrats needed a strong voice, Daschle caved. Now Harry Reid is pushing for the Republicans and Democrats to quickly pass the intelligence bill. He is urging the President to get tough and demand that Congress pass the bill. Surely Harry Reid has been around long enough (he is beginning his fourth six-year term in the Senate) to realize the Prez doesn’t want the bill to pass, House Speaker Hastert doesn’t want the bill to pass, the Pentagon doesn’t want the bill to pass. Why is Reid maintaining the fiction that the White House is pushing for passage of the intelligence bill? The White House thugs don’t want the bill to pass. It’s obvious. Reid bothers me because he’s a Mormon. Whoa! Before you give yourself a wedgie, read up on the Latter Day Saints Mormon religion. It’s bizarre! A good biography of Joseph Smith who founded the religion in 1830--he said the Bible’s Garden of Eden is in Missouri--can be found at: www.lds-mormon.com/jsmith.shtml. And for all their hawking family values and HUGE families and father knows best, the divorce rate in Mormon Utah is 4.3 per 1000 (the national divorce rate is 4.1 per 1000). And child abuse in Mormon Utah is 8.13 per 1000. Reid is against abortion. And you can’t get a straight answer out of him about how he REALLY feels about Roe v. Wade. Also, he likes Justice Antonin Scalia. Yikes! At least Reid says the Supreme Court’s Clarence Thomas is a fool and a bad Justice. Other oddments.... Turns out that Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan was even worse than we thought. The man who was a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinal’s football team and who decided to fight a war rather than do battle on football fields died in Afghanistan last April 22. It wasn’t long before reports that he was killed by friendly fire hit the news. The December 5th Washington Post ran a story on the real story. And it’s maddening. Once again, the Pentagon would rather protect its own than tell the truth. Although Pat Tillman never shirked his duties and he fought bravely, the Pentagon burnished the tales of his last hours in order to downplay the fact that he died because of military errors and because raw recruits were firing their guns wildly. Pat Tillman deserved better than to be treated like a Pentagon-fabricated Jessica Lynch lie-of-the-week war story. The Pentagon’s only interest is in protecting itself and maintaining the status quo. The White House can only keep its crimes hidden by protecting the Pentagon and maintaining the status quo. Pay no attention to anything the Bushmaton says. He’s programmed to tell the truth only if it supports a lie.

Bernie Kerik is a Piece of Work

If the Bushmaton were smart, which he isn’t, he would have replaced Rumsfeld with Kerik. But there’s still time. The White House (as you know, that means Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and The Carlyle Group) has just announced that Rumsfeld stays. Translation: Rumsfeld is out. He is outer than Powell, outer than Ridge. Rumsfeld is so out he thinks he’s in. It’s like being kissed on both cheeks. Poor Rummy. He doesn’t even know what just hit him. But back to Bernie the new Homeland Security boss. Bernie the Loyal. Bernie the Ambitious. Bernie the there’s-no-ass-I-won’t-kiss Kerik. Here’s the short version of the Kerik bio. Bernard Bailey Kerik was born Sept. 4, 1955, in Newark, N.J. He dropped out of high school but got a mail-order Bachelor’s Degree from Empire State College in 2002. In addition to being the most ambitious law enforcement man ever to come on the scene, his credentials include, Warden of Passaic County, NJ jail in 1986; NYPD police officer, 1986-94; Commish (and other things) for the NYC Department of Correction, 1995-2000; Commish, NYPD, 2000-01; partner Giuliani Partners consulting firm, 2001-03; Iraq’s interim Minister of the Interior, 2003; CEO, Giuliani-Kerik LLC, 2003 to present. When Kerik was appointed Commissioner of the Correction Department, an official in the department was widely quoted saying, “Congratulations. You’ve just hired Rambo.” Kerik has been married twice. He has a son by Jackie-the-first, two daughters by Halah-the-second. He met Halah in Syria during his stint in the 80’s as security chief (bodyguard) for the royal family’s hospitals in Saudi Arabia. He has a daughter in Korea whom he fathered when he was stationed in Korea. Six months after Kerik became then-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s NYPD Commish, which was shortly after Giuliani made a book deal, Kerik made a book deal. “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice” was published in 2001. The book was written by writer-for-hire Jess Walter. On October 14, 2003, Miramax Film’s Harvey Weinstein announced Miramax had obtained the film rights to the Kerik book. The BushMen owe Kerik a lot and they have just paid him off. Kerik and Giiuliani were attached at the hip during the Bush campaign. They unflaggingly stumped for Bush using the constant chant of “9/11-9/11-9/11”. Kerik never tires of reliving his experiences on September 11th when he arrived at the World Trade Center only minutes after the planes hit. Giuliani said at the RNC convention in Madison Square Garden, "Without really thinking, based on just emotion, spontaneously, I grabbed the arm of then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and I said to him, 'Bernie, Thank God George Bush is our president.' And I say it again tonight: Thank God George Bush is our president." From God’s mouth to Giuliani’s ear to Bernie Kerik’s arm. Got the picture? Kerik only recently finished a White House assignment in Iraq to rebuild the Baghdad police force. He was called the “Baghdad Terminator” The Kerik book mainly deals with his devastating experience of learning that his mother, a working prostitute, had abandoned him when he was two years old and that she had died in Ohio in 1964, a murder victim of her pimp. Kerik decided to investigate the incident. That investigation, as well as some of Kerik’s financial arrangements and lucrative deals since leaving law enforcement are coming under scrutiny now that he’s been named Homeland Security Chief. This morning’s New York Times says the appointment will have little trouble being confirmed. Not so fast. During the period that Kerik was investigating his mother’s death in Ohio, he sent two NYPD officers to Ohio to do the legwork. They supposedly were on their own time. They weren’t. Kerik was fined a small amount, $2,500, for sending the officers to Ohio five times on NYPD time. It would be interesting to know if the writer of Kerik’s book ever went to Ohio...Kerik doesn’t tell us. But we do know that Kerik made only one trip to Ohio and that was in August 2001. In what has become the Kerik method of doing things, Bernard Kerik was accused of sending homicide investigators to fingerprint Fox News employees because his publisher, Judith Regan, suspected them of stealing her cellphone and necklace. When Giuliani’s tenure as NYC mayor was over, Kerik joined Giuliani’s consulting firm. A December 3 article in the New York Times says that one of Kerik’s jobs for Giuliani Partners was to give presentations on disaster readiness around the country. However, The Times says, “his appearances were often sponsored by companies that were selling just the kinds of products that the former police commissioner was indirectly promoting, like Nextel, the cellular phone company that many police and fire departments use.” The Times also noted that Kerik has served on the board of directors of Taser, a company that makes stun guns used by police departments. Kerik just exercised options he received as a director and sold $5.8 million of its stock. Its unclear whether his selling his stock had anything to do with the fact that claims are surfacing that 50 people have died from Taser shocks. (Taser denies the claims.) So what does any of this, or all of this add up to? Bernie Kerik is a loyal staunch Republican who campaigned for the Bush election in the only way he knows how...vigorously and with no holds barred. If his appointment is confirmed, he will oversee the security of USA borders, ports, airports and he will be in charge of the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, customs and immigration. Can he handle this job? If he’s allowed to use the power that comes with the title, he probably can handle the job. Will the White House let him off the leash? Probably not. Will Rambo Kerik cotton to The Carlyle Group telling their glorified bodyguard what to do, how to do it, and how to put his pants on in the morning? He really would be happier in Rumsfeld’s job. Poor Rummy.

Open Letter to Maureen Dowd

Dear Maureen Dowd: This morning your New York Times Op/Ed piece whines that TV news is a man’s world and NBC never considered using a woman to replace Tom Brokaw. Well, yeah...news show anchors predominately are men. But have you considered one important factor? Women newspersons are women. They are annoying. They have annoying hair. They have annoying voices. Women newspersons make normally sane and reasoned people want to slap them upside the head. Apparently, CNN has tried to lead the way by using women newspersons. It doesn’t work. Take Paula Zahn (anywhere...please!). If there is someone else in the newsbiz with a snottier, more supercilious, haughtier attitude, I have yet to see her/him. If I never see another shot of Paula Zahn’s legs it will be fine by me. Kitty Pilgrim cannot hold a candle to Lou Dobbs even though she is his sub of choice. She’s uptight, gives the impression she is just a newsreader not a news anchor. She’s prim and prissy. I don’t like prim and prissy. I have no confidence in Kitty Pilgrim. She can’t confront a topic or a person, she just gets stiffer, primmer, prissier. Judy Woodruff has been around long enough to inspire confidence but her hair won’t allow it. It’s impossible not to get caught up in meditations on new hair-dos, ruminations on her hair problem--head-wraps, shaved-head, hats. Men may have bad hair, they may go bald, they may even pay $25,000 for a rug, but men’s hair does not pull your eyes out of your head in awed disbelief. And speaking of which, the queen of I-can’t-hear-a-thing-she-says-for-looking-at-her-hair is Christianne Amanpour. A couple of months ago she seemed to be wearing a lampshade on her head. NBC’s Katie Couric has been described as “cute”. I don’t want cute if another 9/11 happens. I don’t want silly, or frivolous, or sentimental. I don’t want high-pitched voices that make me turn down the TV volume although that never helps. Women try too hard. I don’t care if it’s not their fault. I don’t care if they are in an impossible position in the news business. I don’t care if they are expected to do human interest stories that men won’t do as well as hard news stories. I simply don’t care that it’s tough being a woman in the newsbiz. Women haven’t made it as news anchors because they are women I don’t want to hear about news anchors’ cancer, broken marriages, sick husbands, birthings, efforts to get pregnant. Just the news. That’s what I want. I want the news delivered in a nice even tone with a little humor and no screeching. No high-decibal drama, please. No over-hyped women’s point of view in a hard world crap. Just the news delivered by a guy. That's what I want. It’s not my fault, Ms Dowd, that I don’t like women news anchors. It’s their fault. They are women. They may not be able to help it, but that’s not my fault either. Being a woman is not a flaw to be overcome in the TV news field. It’s a fact that can’t be overcome. It no doubt is true that the powers-that-be in the news media are men and they are prejudiced against women. So am I. Maybe the moguls just don’t like women in anchor positions. I don’t like them either. I don’t like men gynecologists. So?

Values Boiled Down to Essentials

Sifting through the rants and rhetoric coming from the values folks, I have gleaned the following Big Three on their agenda to save the world from Satan: 1. Undifferentiated cells in the womb are full-fledged persons with rights, so just shut up about that. Values 1, Satan 0. 2. Gays are trash with no rights because the Old Testament says so. And if the OT was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for the values folks. Values 2, Satan 0. 3. God smiles on US soldier deaths in Iraq, and He thinks abuse and torture is fine because God smiles on the values folks. No contest. Values 3, Satan 0. It’s true, there’s no use trying to reason with the 23% of the population that argues a zygote has a soul. There may be cogent reasons for being anti-abortion, but saying a clot of cells has a soul isn’t one of them. Just remember, the hard-core values folks also say the world and all its wonders including mankind was created 6,000 years ago. It’s also true that Jesus was raised believing in the ways of the Torah. And he died believing in the Torah. But he felt abuses had occurred within those teachings. He didn’t think they were good enough even back then and that’s what he was railing against...when he railed...which wasn’t often. I’ll grant that God is in the White House. But he’s also in my bathroom. If God is anywhere, He’s everywhere. It’s a huge stretch to believe that God is so tickled to be considered a peer of Karl Rove’s that He’s fine with White House fascistic policies and the killing, abuse and torture in Iraq and elsewhere. So here we are, once again, in a war. And theologians aren’t even wrestling with the Thou Shalt Not Kill precept anymore. It’s okay. We were attacked. It’s okay. Those people don’t believe the way we do. It’s okay. We’re protecting ourselves from something that might happen sometime somewhere. Anything goes. We’ve got the might. We’ve got the right. It’s okay. But it’s not okay. The policies our government is following are ugly, imperialistic, oppressive and immoral. With regard to the Red Cross stating that our practices in AbuGhraib and Guantanamo Bay amount to abuse and torture, Aaron Brown said on CNN last night, “This becomes semantics at some point, but, if you're sitting in the chair or chained to the chair, it's not a semantic argument.“ Jamie McIntyre who covers the White House for CNN said, ”It doesn't necessarily embody the U.S. definition of torture...clearly, the Red Cross believes this has crossed the line and the Pentagon is arguing it hasn't.” There is something so rank about these arguments that it’s difficult to consider they have validity in even the lunatic fringe. A zygote’s rights do not deserve more protection than those of a fully grown man with children who has to fight an unnecessary war promoted by an idiot. The rights of a clot of undifferentiated cells in a woman’s womb do not deserve more protection than the rights of a gay adult living in the USA who abides by the laws of the USA. Abuse and torture as defined by the Red Cross is abuse and torture. The latest tally for US soldiers killed in Iraq in November is 136. That tops the most-killed tally of 135 from last April. About 1,1oo US troops have been killed since Bush said “Mission Accomplished”. And 400 have died since sovereignty was handed over. These deaths are all okay because a sociopathic group of hawks in the White House want to rule the world? That is insane. Oh...and here’s something I wonder about. The Christian religion didn’t really get off the ground until it became the official religion of Rome in 313 AD. Protestantism dates back to 1520 AD when Martin Luther burned the papal bull in public that demanded he recant his doctrine. Pentecostalism started around the turn of the century in 1900. Since Jesus died a devout Jew and therefore couldn’t get into George Bush’s newly-formed born-again heaven, would Jesus have to become born-again, that is renounce his own religion and confess that he is his own Savior according to born-again requirements, or would the born-agains give Jesus some slack for not understanding what Christianity is all about?