U.S. General Says Bin Laden 'Out of the Picture'

THE BALL HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY DROPPED

After the "sideshow" of iraq (Wesley Clark's words), diverting our time, ability, and emphasis away from the Afganistan-based terror organization that attacked our country--we get this.

It seems a Senior US General has stated that finding bin laden is not a top priority anymore. It fills me with a great anger to think that we are searching for Saddam with such zeal, and we are dropping the one terrorist that actually attacked us and promised to do it again. Is this what we are to expect from a Bush Administration? Before we started the job in Afganistan (let alone finish it), we find a deversionary war in Iraq. All the while, our President plays a shell game with our soldiers and the good will this nation has built over generations in order to put aside two facts--This administration has hardly completed its task in either country and had not the planning to properly succeed in the first place.

We can only be told to look elsewhere, or told that things are better than the reality bares out, for so long. We are clearly no safer now than before invading Iraq. The risk Iraq was made of as much fabrication and truth stretching as it was weapons of mass destruction. Never in the last century has this nation been held in lower regard. I am curious to know when, in the history of our nation, has a president and an administration been held so low in world opinion.

This contempt is no mystery. it is born out of our own actions, which have over and over been shown to be the product of medacity. There were no credible ties between the Taliban and Iraq. There was no imminent threat of attack from WMD's in Iraq. And, finally, we have this article here. Richard Perle, has served as the chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an advisory panel to the Pentagon. Here he puts it in simple words. when the Bush administration (the administration he advised to go to war) said that we had the Authorization of the UN to attack Iraq, he was lying. it was widely claimed by Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, and a host of my republican friends that we had all the authorization we needed in previously passed UN Resolutions. he states, "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone."

SO WHY DID WE DO IT?

Partly due to the paranoia of Dick Cheney. our VP that has spent the bulk of his time in office (since 9/11) in hiding. He hides from public view and scrutiny, consumed by 2 issues--his fear that the twin towers attack was a preamble and the need to 'complete' the job of the first gulf war. Our own President has the conviction to do what is right--stay the course--but not the mental compass to set the course himself. Enter our cabal of Hacks. men culled from the GOP administrations past. hand picked unilateralists that need no assistance from anyone on earth...that would mean that decisions and spotlights and victories would have to be shared.

Shared victories are not savored by a party that courts the isolationist. War profiteering is not as lucrative if there are other nations in on the action. In every instance the president has wanted as little oversight or input as possible at every juncture. To his suprise, the presidential will did not find acquiescence, and this clearly seemed to shock him. it was as if the mode and tone of international relations, as developed over the last 50 years, was lost on him. It has always been the case that you can act without approval, but there is a cost. Bush's minders did not care because they held these institutions in contempt. Bush was left wondering, clearly wondering why there was no rush to agreement.

"Why did the world not see Iraq in such clear black and white?" "Do we need proof in the form of a mushroom cloud?"

The evidence was not convincing because it did not exist. the exaggerations place before the world were believable to leaders that wore blinders, or sought American aid or acceptance into NATO. Bush called them the "Coalition of the Willing". None of this mattered much because most every party involved needed Iraq. One needed the massaging eyes that military power provides the ego (Rumsfeld). One needed to sooth his paranoia over this terrorism blunder (Cheney, see previous writing on this matter). Finally, one needed to be a leader in action, not just talk. He needed to strap on his holster and show he wasn't just in the fight, like he said at ground zero, but prove he'd WON the fight. He needed the military fortitude he did not himself have in Vietnam when he used his father's strings for safety--stateside. The problem is that he hasn't truly won a war that we did not have to fight in the first place. we have not been made safer. our very nation is held in contempt by former allies. Our President needed to stand tall, but he could only do that on the backs of our dead soldiers, fighting not for truth, but rather his mendacity. Our soldiers swore to fight for our nation and our freedom. they did not pledge themselves to our president's mendacity. I am tired of watching our president spit on our soldiers and tell me i am not patriotic for agreeing with it.

My nation needs protecting, Iraq needs direction, and my president is sorely unqualified for the job.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

wow.

Here Is the Breakdown

...of how the Michael Jackson story developed.

Russian dies after winning vodka-drinking contest

Poor guy, he wins the contest and what does he get? A Coffin! several runners up had to go to the ER.

"The competition lasted 30, perhaps 40 minutes and the winner downed three half-litre bottles. He was taken home by taxi but died within 20 minutes,"

YEESH! i usually avoid vodka myself.

Listening to ATLANTIC CITY tonite

This is probably my favorite Springsteen song, but I really only listen to it when I'm in a very serious mood. It's powerful in many directions and pulls thoughts out of my head. It starts:

Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
Now, they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do
Now, there's trouble bustin' in from outta state
And the d.a. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gamblin' commission's hangin' on by the skin of his teeth.

Its a vague talk about some sort of muscle (gangland?) getting out of hand. those lines are a strong pull to this song for me. the song often helps me focus on my work, which is often fighting people or fighting for people, in one way or another. i find the stark and serious nature of the words gripping.

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew what I had from the central trust
And I bought us two tickets on that coast city bus.

I have no explanation for you. but there have been several times in my life when my whole world was literally up in the air. if a few things didn't fall just right--and much of it was down to luck as much as anything else--every inch of my life and the furture i'd planned for myself would have crashed. the hopelessness of those words are painfully clear. you have yourself behind the 8-ball and you've got to cling to the desperate chances you find. often it's the only one that you can find. Finally, the chours (in part):

Well now, ev’rything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe ev’rything that dies someday comes back

perhaps the best string of words Springsteen ever strung together...at least if you felt like you were losing everything. always some hope, even if it sounds wrenchingly out of reach. what ever gets you through the nite, you know?

good song.

AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW ALREADY...

There are already some polls out concerning former justice moore's possible run for governor. he'll likely challenge the sitting gov. in the primary which may leave an opening for the DEMS if they have anyone, particularly w/ how weak the gov. is at this point. After watching that film AGAIN of Moore pretending to install the 10 commandments monument and then praying before it like an alter, his face tight, as if in anguish...its sickening to this christian. the sad part is that people don't mind this man stepping on our freedoms AND our/my religion as a publicity stunt to get votes. what scum.

Poor Alabama, they get tricked into voting against shifting the tax burden off of backs most of the public, in favor of thestatus quo which can no longer pay for basic services like roads and schools. i'm anxious to see how all this pans out when the GOP types REALLY get what they want in hard times. lets see how it works out.

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS NOW!!

HERE WE GO! i think this guy can win. General Wesley Clark goes OFF on the FOXNews anchor calling them on their conservitive slant--ON AIR!! AMAZING. now THAT is the sorta thing i've yet to see from ANYONE this high up in the game. kudos for Clark.

THIS CRACKS ME UP

OK, get this. Congressional slime, Tom Delay (R, TX) has this deal where he calls you in a recorded message saying YOU WON "a national leadership award." you are supposed to return his call ASAP to get the low down, but guess what? when you call you get a telemarketer hitting you up for a political DONATION, after which you get your award. MSNBC reports a convicted sex offender won the Delay leadership award. i guess he's proud to be on the Tom Delay team!

Got any other loathsome, criminal types you wanna recruit there Tommy?

SO TELL ME THIS...

Is Roy Moore breaking the 2nd Commandment when he places a giant stone monuments, and idolization of Moses' tablets, where people have gone to kneel (before it) and pray? just wondering.

CRIB NOTE:
2nd commandment--no graven idols/images

GOP Filibuster

the GOP recently filibustered to protest the fact that 4 of Bush's court nominees aren't getting an up/down vote (compared to 68 of Clintons, or that Bush has gotten more judges appointed--at this point in his term--than any president in a generation). the funny thing is that the Dems haven't filibustered ANY of these judges, the only filibusters done were by the GOP. and they say Dems are wasting time.

cry me a river. oh, in case you missed it--

Bush got mad at the Dems "playing politics" with his judicial nominations. But OOPS! Seems someone leaked a memo from Elizabeth Keys, a senior communications advisor for the Senate Republican Conference,showing that Senate Republicans were in with Fox News over this whole thing! The memo to the senate staffers says:

"It is important to double efforts to get your boss to S-230 on time ... Fox News Channel is really excited about this marathon and Brit Hume at 6 would love to open with all our 51 senators walking onto the floor - the producer wants to know will we walk in exactly at 6:02 when the show starts so they get it live to open Brit Hume's show? Or if not, can we give them an exact time for the walk-in start?"

FoxNews, you're the best!

Satan Causes Poor Mental Health, of God Does Not Like You

Well, look at good ole D. Nick Rerras. He's a state Senator from Virginia. it seems he drew some heat when he suggested that mental illnesses are caused by...get this...demons! According to the article, a conversation turned to the topic of mental illness, during which Rerras said "he believed mental illness was caused by demons," and, "God may be punishing families by giving children mental illnesses." Yeah. to corrupt a Dean Martin quote: Vote Republican and stamp out mental health!

FOX PRODUCER COMES CLEAN

Seems FOXNews producer Charles Reina published an open letter concerning the network after working there for the last 7 years. from the letter:

"Not once in the 20+ years I had worked in broadcast journalism prior to Fox - including lengthy stays at The Associated Press, CBS Radio and ABC/Good Morning America - did I feel any pressure to toe a management line. But at Fox, if my boss wasn't warning me to 'be careful' how I handled the writing of a special about Ronald Reagan ('You know how Roger [Fox News Chairman Ailes] feels about him.'), he was telling me how the environmental special I was to produce should lean ('You can give both sides, but make sure the pro-environmentalists don't get the last word.')"

Reina continues: "Editorially, the FNC newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management... the roots of FNC's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered....The Memo was born with the Bush administration, early in 2001, and, intentionally or not, has ensured that the administration's point of view consistently comes across on [Fox]."

NOW WAITAMINUTE! Bill O'Reilly promised us that we're in a "no spin zone" at foxNews? you mean he's lying?! i better go tell Al Franken about this.

Anybody in the University System out there? i have to wonder how communications departments look on FoxNews.

EVIDENTLY ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES, CALIFORNIA

Alright, get this. Gov. Gray Davis asks (personally) Bush to give up $430 Million from FEMA (Fed. Emergency Mgt. Agency) to prevent the Calf. wildfires disasters we have right now. answer? NO, he claims FEMA money is for AFTER the disaster. so guess what. we have the disaster and bush signs into law a $500 Million payment to calif to deal with the wildfires...now that they started. what a leader.

NEW POLL IN BRITIAN
(As published in the Sunday Times in London...not too shocking):

37% said Mr Bush was "stupid".
33% said he was "incoherent".

On his positives:
7% find him to be a good world leader.
6% find him articulate.
10% find him intelligent.

The Tabloids appear to be going nuts over the visit as well. THE DAILY MIRROR's headline: CHICKEN GEORGE!

haw haw haw!

I'm Ready for this to go away

It's a distraction for ONE and it give the GOP (controlling 3 branches of gvt) ideas. do you WANT this issue to be in the public forum again? do you think that the GOP couldn't DO this owning 3 branches of gvt AND the maj. of the governorships (ROCK ON LOUISIANA!--see below)? they are in better shape NOW to do it than in the past.

OK? got it? everybody quit talking about this! yeesh! don't give 'em ideas!

I Saw Love Actually

What a DAMN good movie. sweet but not too. totally not a cheese out love movie. so well done. go see it.

its better than ELF, (fyi)

DEMOCRAT Blanco elected Louisiana governor

LOUISIANA ELECTS ITS FIRST FEMALE GOVERNOR! This race has been only semi-close. The GOP was expected to walk away with this one....THEY DIDN'T!

HELL YEAH!

How Bush betrayed Blair

Interesting. it seems that bush would stand up against Sharon if Blair backed him in Iraq. this seems to be a very convincing reason as to why Blair would go to war w/o the proof. the problem is that Bush welshed.

MY WIFE...

tho sometimes she makes me feel like i'm living an Andy Capp Strip (and i like that), she's pretty damn great. Tonite she made a special Lasagna for my mom's birthday. i told her i wish i weren't full so i could go eat more of it.

ALSO, Chocolate pie instead of B-day cake. a GOOD tradition! Happy Bday mom!

HAW! someone came to my site after putting "pathetic workers comp lawyer." into google. heh... HEY! should i be offended!?!