In a rather horrifying instance of deja vu, Obama is following in Dick Cheney's footsteps

i keep getting 4-5 solicitations every day asking me to donate or otherwise support obama's re-election, but my enthusiasm is at a low ebb, to say the least, and reading things like this certainly doesn't help...

michael t. klare in tomdispatch...

Through his speeches, Congressional testimony, and actions in office, it is possible to reconstruct the geopolitical blueprint that Cheney followed in his career as a top White House strategist -- a blueprint that President Obama, eerily enough, now appears to be implementing, despite the many risks involved.

That blueprint consists of four key features:

1. Promote domestic oil and gas production at any cost to reduce America’s dependence on unfriendly foreign suppliers, thereby increasing Washington's freedom of action.

2. Keep control over the oil flow from the Persian Gulf (even if the U.S. gets an ever-diminishing share of its own oil supplies from the region) in order to retain an “economic stranglehold” over other major oil importers.

3. Dominate the sea lanes of Asia, so as to control the flow of oil and other raw materials to America’s potential economic rivals, China and Japan.

4. Promote energy “diversification” in Europe, especially through increased reliance on oil and natural gas supplies from the former Soviet republics of the Caspian Sea basin, in order to reduce Europe’s heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas, along with the political influence this brings Moscow.

[...]

This four-part geopolitical blueprint, relentlessly pursued by Cheney while vice president, is now being implemented in every respect by President Obama.

When it comes to the pursuit of enhanced energy independence, Obama has embraced the ultra-nationalistic orientation of the 2001 Cheney report, with its call for increased reliance on domestic and Western Hemisphere oil and natural gas -- no matter the dangers of drilling in environmentally fragile offshore areas or the use of hazardous techniques like hydro-fracking.  In recent speeches, he has boasted of his administration’s efforts to facilitate increased oil and gas drilling at home and promised to speed drilling in new locations, including offshore Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.

[...]

In virtually every respect, then, when it comes to energy geopolitics the Obama administration continues to carry out the strategic blueprint pioneered by Dick Cheney during the two Bush administrations.  What explains this surprising behavior?  Assuming that it doesn’t represent a literal effort to replicate Cheney’s thinking -- and there’s no evidence of that -- it clearly represents the triumph of imperial geopolitics (and hidebound thinking) over ideology, principle, or even simple openness to new ideas.

When you get two figures as different as Obama and Cheney pursuing the same pathways in the world -- and the first time around was anything but a success -- it’s a sign of just how closed and airless the world of Washington really has become.

if the u.s. had taken the initiative to develop alternative and sustainable energy sources when jimmy carter first put them on the national agenda over 40 years ago, the world of energy would look nothing like it does now... instead, we have a perpetuation of greedy oilmen, exploitative oil companies, and a world full of gadgets and machines that either suck up oil products or are made from them... we tend to think only in terms of oil as fuel... but look around you... virtually everything you see that's made from plastic or uses synthetic materials is an oil-based product... we have steadily built our dependence on oil to unimaginable levels, so much so that, if oil suddenly went away, the world would grind immediately to a stop...

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Priceless, Simply Priceless

I know this extends beyond the normal definition of 'fair use'; but I believe reprinting it in full IS fair use. And I'm certain that Pravda would agree.

From Pravda......Bush: Why don’t you shut up?

Taking the words of the illustrious King of Spain, in his imbecillic retort to President Hugo Chavez, we use them not as a response to a diatribe but rather, a just retort to an imbecile. President George W. Bush, why don’t you shut up?


President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? In your statement on Monday regarding the legitimate actions of the Russian Federation in Georgia, you failed to mention once the war crimes perpetrated by Georgian military forces, which American advisors support, against Russian and Ossetian civilians. Kinda embarrassing, eh?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? Your faithful ally, Mikhail Saakashvili, was announcing a ceasefire deal while his troops, with your advisors, were massing on Ossetia’s border, which they crossed under cover of night and destroyed Tskhinvali, targeting civilian structures just like your forces did in Iraq. Kinda humanitarian, eh?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? The military forces of your faithful ally, Georgia, supported by American advisors, while on a mission as peacekeepers in Ossetia, were ordered to open fire on Russian peacekeeping forces in the same team. Kinda noble, eh?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? Your American transport aircraft gave a ride home to thousands of Georgian soldiers from Iraq directly into the combat zone. Did your boys wish them good luck as they stepped off the aircraft? I can almost hear it, “Give ‘em Hell!” Kinda friendly, eh?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? How do you account for the fact that among the Georgian soldiers fleeing the fighting yesterday you could clearly hear officers using American English giving orders to “Get back inside” and how do you account for the fact that there are reports of American soldiers among the Georgian casualties? Kinda odd, eh?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? Do you really think anyone gives any importance whatsoever to your words after 8 years of your criminal and murderous regime and policies? Do you really believe you have any moral ground whatsoever and do you really imagine there is a single human being anywhere on this planet who does not stick up his middle finger every time you appear on a TV screen? Kinda makes ya’ll think, eh?


Do you really believe you have the right to give any opinion or advice after Abu Ghraib? After Guantanamo? After the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens? After the torture by CIA operatives? Kinda difficult, eh?

Do you really believe you have any right to make a statement on any point of international law after your trumped-up charges against Iraq and the subsequent criminal invasion? Like spittin’ into the wind, right?

President Bush,
Why don’t you shut up? Suppose Russia for instance declares that Georgia has weapons of mass destruction? And that Russia knows where these WMD are, namely in Tblisi and Poti and north, south, east and west of there? And that it must be true because there is “magnificent foreign intelligence” such as satellite photos of milk powder factories and baby cereals producing chemical weapons and which are currently being “driven around the country in vehicles”? Suppose Russia declares for instance that “Saakashvili stiffed the world” and it is “time for regime change”?


Nice and simple, isn’t it, President Bush?


So, why don’t you shut up? Oh and by the way, send some more of your military advisors to Georgia, they are doing a sterling job. And they look all funny down the night sight, all green. Hahaha!


Thank you, That would be all.

Bush, McCain, and the entire MSM, is turning America into the world's laughing stock.

Heckuva job, Chimpy, you hypocritical SOB.

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Three generations of war profiteering, genocide, gangsterism, corruption, and rape of the U.S. Constitution

that about sums it up, eh...?

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It's all because liberals HATE George W. Bush!

another home run by tom tomorrow...

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"Thou shalt not kill........

........Unless it maketh thee a profit"

Exodus 20:13 NERV (Neo-conservative Evangelical Revised Version)

I am a man who stands firm and secure in his faith. Those that know me, either personally, or by my writings, are aware that I am NOT a proselytizer. It matters not, to me, if you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. I try (tho' I sometimes fail) to show MY faith by my works, deeds, and actions. I make an honest attempt to treat everyone with love, understanding, compassion, and respect. I strive hard, to be the embodiment of my teacher, Jesus, the Christ.

If some people have a propensity for iniquity; to kill, commit adultry, covet another's resources (like oil and water), or lie through their teeth with unabashed shame, I can understand and live with it. However, don't insult my intelligence by claiming to be a Christian, when your actions speak otherwise. It not only denigrates Christianity, but also my opinion of you. Jesus (the One you claim to follow) taught: "Ye shall know them by their fruits".

The title and lead-in are pure snark, as you may have guessed. ALL versions of this scripture are short, and to the point: Thou shalt not kill. The word, 'kill', is translated from the Hebrew, ratsach, meaning, 'to kill, murder, slay'. To take an innocent life. When God inspired those words, He made no caveats. He didn't say, "If you THINK someone MIGHT try to kill you, then kill them first". Calling it 'collateral damage', or a 'cost of war',is nowhere to be found. Neither is 'beyond reasonable doubt', in defense of capital punishment; for by who's standard of reasonable do we apply? We are but mere mortal humans, and it is a proven fact that we are definately not infallible. Death is final. It is one of the few things that are irreversable. You can't get a 'Mulligan' on death. All life is precious, it is a gift from the Creator; it should not be taken by mortal men, nor by the evil governments they have formed.

It never ceases to amaze (and sicken) me, to hear the Republican mantra of 'The Sanctity of Life'. They are pro-life only in regards to abortion, embryonic stem cell research (I still fail to understand THAT one), or Terri Schiavo. They seem to have no problem letting people die for lack of healthcare or from poverty. They seem also, to love sending our young soldiers and civilian contractors into an illegal, un-Godly, immoral war; knowing full-well that thousands will never return alive. The present leadership of this country is a disgusting disgrace at best, and despicably hypocritical at worse. This current band of criminals running our government, the chicken-hawk war-mongers, were afraid to serve in the military themselves, and went to great lengths to avoid service. How can they command people to do something that they, themselves, were/are too scared to do? Have these people no conscience whatsoever? How do they sleep at night?

George W. Bush is arguably the most hypocritical of all. As Governor of Texas, he refused to commute Carla Faye Tucker's death sentence to life without parole. It was universally acknowledged that Carla Faye was a changed person, making a positive impact on many lives, even as she sat on death row. Even the Pope had tried to make intercession on her behalf. And what did Bush do? He made jokes and snide remarks about her execution. He stated he would not interfere with a jury's decision. Yet, he had the unmitigated gall to overturn 'Scooter' Libby's judge and jury, by saying he felt the sentence was 'too harsh'. Say whaaaaaat?????? Three years in a Federal Country Club for Libby is harsher than death for Tucker? To paraphrase Yakov Smirnoff: "Wow, what a Christian!"

What has this once-great nation become? The Republican's lies and deceit have apparently paralyzed the Democrats as well, as they refuse to put the brakes on this runaway freight train disguised as the Executive Branch. What, exactly, are they afraid of? Not getting the support of the 20% that is Bush's base? What about the other 80% of us?

I will continue to bang the drum, sound the trumpet, and beat the dead horse; but I believe we may have already crossed over the threshold, the point of no return. The Neo-cons, Republican and Democrat alike, are willing to kill anything, or anybody, that stands in their way. This includes the country that birthed them, and the Constitution it was founded on.

How, in God's name, can these people have the audacity to call themselves 'Christian'? That is ludicrous, absurd, and down-right farcical, and I might add, sacrilegious and blasphemous, too.

As Jesus (remember Him?) said, "Many are called, but few are chosen".

That's my opinion. What say y'all?

(Graphic courtesy of Jolly Roger @ Reconstitution 2.0)

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Coup You!

In response to this request, here is post on the topic of whether anyone is thinking ahead about a Bush coup.



In fact, some are. With this article, Pravda goes to some length theorizing "US GOV'T OUT, BUSH GOV'T IN":

Exec orders 11051, 11310, 11049, 11921 outline the bypass of the current leftovers of the US three branch gov't (technically, four branch since Cheney has swung himself onto a new vine last week) and install his own in its place.

In these exec orders, Bush consolidates the entire US gov't into a few dept's of his own which will oversee without any recourse the carrying out of his other exec orders that take over the US and thin the herd.

[...]

The US TVs pump the same lies. The web returns 505. No one knows a thing on the street but suddenly the dollar is no more. People fear but for themselves. Probably some bombs explode and the US media reminds everyone "the US is under attack". Bush blames the evil overseas terrists (sic) for conspiring against the US currency and promises to bring on help with some Amero food stamps programme. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico become the US but no one knows, not even most of Canada. By the time people work it out, it's too late.

[...]

Blighted areas are cordoned off and under the guise of protecting the rest of the US communities, fatal power is authorized against the starving mobs. Some areas are razed and executive order 11004 goes into effect: "communities are relocated"

CounterPunch continues the scenario with "Declaring the US a Battlefield":

The other thing we saw early on was the establishment of an underground government-within-a-government, though the activation, following 9-11, of the so-called "Continuity of Government" protocol, which saw heads of federal agencies moved secretly to an underground bunker where, working under the direction of Vice President Dick Cheney, the "government" functioned out of sight of Congress and the public for critical months.

It was also during the first year following 9-11 that the Bush/Cheney regime began its programs of arrest and detention without charge-mostly of resident aliens, but also of American citizens-and of kidnapping and torture in a chain of gulag prisons overseas and at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay."

And from an interview of American psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, Amy Goodman asks about "unpredictability":

AMY GOODMAN: Noam Chomsky says that a superpower can exert its power most effectively, not by being rational, but by being irrational, where others in the world cannot predict what this number one superpower in the world, in this case, the United States, will do. What do you think of that?

ROBERT JAY LIFTON: Well, he's certainly right about it being non-rational. In some ways, though, it is almost predictable. I don't think that our behavior has been so unpredictable once we saw its general direction. And part of the argument in my book [Superpower Syndrome] is that it's part of an ideology which pulls together a kind of military fundamentalism from a more or less secular influence, people like Rumsfeld and Cheney, together with a religious fundamentalism, the influence of the Christian Right to create a doctrine and a policy that has a certain consistency. And it polarizes the world into good and evil. It seeks to dominate militarily and it can employ cynical manipulations because they're in the service of what is perceived as a higher truth. So, in some ways the behavior is certainly consistent. It's certainly non-rational. It's a kind of fantasy of omnipotence, but it is consistent. We're doing this again and again and what we're doing fits into this category.

Expect the unexpected.

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Froomkin on Bush's "new phase" in Iraq

as dear leader prepares to announce his plan for a "post-surge phase" in iraq, dan froomkin offers us this...

[I]t's time to move the goalposts. Or, carrying the analogy further, to replace them with toothpicks.

meanwhile, as i said in the previous post, we ain't leavin'... you can bank on it...

A Bush administration report to Congress citing a lack of progress by the Baghdad government is "a look at the starting line" of the U.S. troop surge and shouldn't be used by critics to demand withdrawal, a White House spokesman said Tuesday.

"What Congress will get this week is a snapshot of the beginning of the retooling of the mission in Iraq," said Tony Snow, who defended the administration's war policy and argued that it's too soon to be talking about end-game strategies.

"Some of the benchmarks have been made, some of them haven't," he said. Snow confirmed the coming report would say that Iraq has not met all the benchmarks set for it. The nature of the report was revealed earlier to The Associated Press by a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Rebuffing all such talk, President Bush said he won't succumb to political pressure. During a visit to Parma, Ohio on Tuesday, he reiterated that troop levels in Iraq "will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C."

ain't gonna happen...

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Dear Senator Kerry, - Sincerely, David Addington

i posted on these executive orders the other day (Executive Order 12958 as amended by Executive Order 13292) and kagro x's spot on excerpts, which make no mention whatsoever of treating the president and vice president any differently than "agencies..." imho, addington's way out on a limb on this one...

David Addington, issued a letter to Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) today defending the Vice President's interpretation of his office being outside the executive branch - only this time, he said it was because Cheney's office isn't an "agency."

[...]

"Dear Senator Kerry," Addington writes. "The executive order on classified national security information -- Executive Order 12958 as amended in 2003 -- makes clear that the Vice President is treated like the President and distinguishes the two of them from 'agencies.'"

[...]

"The executive order gives the [Information Security Oversight Office], under the supervision of the Archivist of the United States, responsibility to oversee certain activities of 'agencies,' but not of the Vice President or the President."

[...]

Addington insists that the question of whether Cheney is in the executive branch does not apply to the discussion of classified materials.

"Constitutional issues in government are generally best left for discussion when unavoidable disputes arise in a specific context instead of in theoretical discussions," Addington adds. "Given that the executive order treats the Vice President like the President rather than like an "agency," it is not necessary in these circumstances to address the subject of any alternative reasoning, based on the law and the history of the legislative functions of the vice presidency and the more modern functions of the vice presidency, to reach the same conclusions that the vice president is not an 'agency' with respect to which ISOO has a role."

what a gigantic load of steaming, fresh horseshit...

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And, oh, btw, about that Executive Order that George and I aren't subject to

just so that everybody's singing from the same hymnal, here's the link to the executive order that both cheney and bush now claim they are not subject to...

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 25, 2003

EXECUTIVE ORDER 13292

- - - - - - -

FURTHER AMENDMENT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958, AS AMENDED,
CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION

kagro x over at daily kos has taken the time and trouble to read through it for us and notes the following excerpts...

I just thought it was weird to say the order wasn't meant to apply to the President or the Vice President, considering that they appear...

here:

Sec. 1.3. Classification Authority. (a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:

(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;

and here...

[Sec. 1.3.(c)](2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section; or the senior agency official described in section 5.4(d) of this order, provided that official has been delegated "Top Secret" original classification authority by the agency head.

and here...

[Sec. 3.1.](c) If the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office determines that information is classified in violation of this order, the Director may require the information to be declassified by the agency that originated the classification. Any such decision by the Director may be appealed to the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The information shall remain classified pending a prompt decision on the appeal.

and here...

[Sec. 3.3.(c) An agency head shall notify the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs of any specific file series of records for which a review or assessment has determined that the information within that file series almost invariably falls within one or more of the exemption categories listed in paragraph (b) of this section and which the agency proposes to exempt from automatic declassification.

[...]

The President may direct the agency head not to exempt the file series or to declassify the information within that series at an earlier date than recommended. File series exemptions previously approved by the President shall remain valid without any additional agency action.

hey, he's just keeping us on top of things...

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NeoCons and Israelis Attack Carter, Abbas is Bush Junior

I always thought Jimmy Carter was a less than spectacular President. In his defense, I don't think anyone would have been able to do a good job at the time.
Carter is, without doubt, our nations best expert on the Middle East. He was pissed after the elections in the occupied territories because Bushco, the NeoCons, and the Israeli hardliners refused to recognize the outcome of a democratic election.
I didn't like it either, but that's how the Palestinian people voted.
Now, the obvious outcome has transpired, Palestinian civil war. Carter is speaking out, and the Administration has immediately set to work to discredit Carter as being "out of touch" in the Middle East.
Unbelievable.

Jimmy Carter says U.S. aims to split Palestinians
19 Jun 2007 16:36:40 GMT
Source:Alertnet & Reuters

Israeli-Palestinian conflict
More By Jonathan Saul

DUBLIN, June 19 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Tuesday Washington's support for the Palestinian Fatah group and the blocking of aid to Gaza were part of a mistaken policy aimed at dividing Palestinians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah dismissed Hamas from the government last week and formed a new cabinet in the occupied West Bank after gunmen from the Islamist group took over the Gaza Strip.

Abbas violated the results of a monitored election and Palestinian authority law by doing this. He is becoming a wonderful NeoCon.

In a bid to shore up Abbas, the United States and the European Union pledged on Monday to lift a 15-month old embargo on the Palestinians imposed after Hamas won elections and rejected their calls to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

My, they moved fast, like they were expecting this to happen.

Carter, on a visit to Dublin, said the United States and Israel had done "everything they could to prevent accommodation between Hamas and Fatah".
[...]
Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has said he still considers a 3-month-old unity coalition, in which he is prime minister, as the legitimate Palestinian government and accuses Abbas of participating in a U.S.-led plot to overthrow him.

The criminal traitors in the White House and a small group of Israeli Likud racists just put Haniyeh and Hamas on the moral high ground. Shows how much they understand. Once again, they make the terrorists stronger.

Fatah has rejected a Hamas overture for "dialogue" and banned all contacts with the group.
[...]
"This effort to divide Palestine into two peoples now, I think it is a step in the wrong direction," Carter said.

"There is no effort being made outside to bring the two together."

BUSH CRITICISED

U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Washington on Tuesday and pledged to work together to strengthen Abbas against Hamas Islamists.

Carter, who was president from 1977-1981 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his charitable work, has been highly critical of Bush's Middle East policies. In May he described Bush's presidency as "the worst in history".
[...]
"This departure on human rights is completely incompatible with all the predecessors in the White House," he said.

Actually, I disagree with this statement with only one word---CHINA.

"It's excused inadequately by the aftermath of 9/11 that the terrorism threat is so great that we can abandon our basic American principles on human rights," he said. "I strongly disagree with that(emphasis added)."

That last passage alone puts Carter in direct conflict with the traitors in D.C.
I have been watching the "think tank" gang, Benjamin Netanyahu(former Likud P.M.), and the whole Bush/NeoCon machine lash out at Carter. Carter knows more about what's going on over there than all of those crooks combined.
I'm not Jewish, but I did grow up in a half Jew, half protestant household. I don't know any American Jews who think Israel should be getting such a blank check from the U.S. Most of my family have become more and more uncomfortable with the behavior of Israel at the expense of the U.S. They are a strange group of Jews, they think that they are Americans first, Jews second.
There are also a lot of Jews, here and in Israel, that remember the man who brought Israel the greatest wave of peace and security in its' history, Jimmy Carter.
Keep that in mind as you hear all of the Carter bashing in the days ahead.
If I can stick up for Old Jimmy, you can too.

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Another Kool-Aid Overdose

Think Progress has the Emergency Room Report.

Snow: President Bush Is ‘On The Frontlines’ Of The Iraq War ‘Every Day’

In today’s White House press briefing, reporter Helen Thomas asked Tony Snow if there are “any members of the Bush family or this administration in this war.” Stunningly, Snow claimed that President Bush is actually on the “frontlines” of the war in Iraq:

Q: Are there any members of the Bush family or this administration in this
war?

SNOW: Yeah, the President. The President is in the war every
day.

Q: Come on, that isn’t my question –

SNOW: Well, no, if you ask any
president who is a commander in chief –

Q: On the frontlines, where
ever…

SNOW: The President.

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What's Wrong With This Picture?

U.S. President George W. Bush enjoys a beer before an official dinner in Heiligendamm June 7, 2007. Leaders from the world's major industrialised nations meet in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on June 6-8 for a Group of Eight (G8) summit. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (GERMANY)

[UPDATE]

evil poet pointed me to americablog which has more photos that look pretty genuine to me... (as a side note, i've had buckler, and it's not bad...)

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Remember, Remember, the 7th of Nov.

We the people should never forget that day. Why?

Robert Parry explains...

By putting some brakes on George W. Bush's careening war policies, the Nov. 7 elections marked a political victory for citizen-run Internet sites and non-traditional media programs like "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Though vastly out-spent by right-wing and mainstream media outlets, these upstarts undercut the Bush administration's propaganda and helped millions of Americans figure out what was going on in Iraq and elsewhere.

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