Why are SOME terrorist organizations not treated as terrorist organizatons?

inquiring minds want to know...

glenn...

[T]hose who are politically and financially well-connected are free to commit even the most egregious crimes; for that reason, the very idea of prosecuting [Rudy] Giuliani, [Ed] Rendell, [Tom] Ridge, [Fran] Townsend, [Howard] Dean and friends for their paid labor on behalf of a Terrorist group [Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)] is unthinkable, a suggestion not fit for decent company, even though powerless Muslims have been viciously prosecuted for far less egregious connections to such groups. But this incident also underscores the specific point that the term Terrorism is so completely meaningless, manipulated and mischievous: it’s just a cynical term designed to delegitimize violence and even political acts undertaken by America’s enemies while shielding from criticism the actual Terrorism undertaken by itself and its allies. The spectacle whereby a designated Terrorist group can pay top American politicians to advocate for them even as they engage in violent Terrorist acts, all while being trained, funded and aided by America’s top client state, should forever end the controversy over that glaringly obvious proposition.

but, glenn, terrorism is whatever we say it is and, besides, it's NEVER terrorism when WE do it...

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A terrorist is tried in NYC... Say what...?

marcy - emptywheel - wheeler...

[A]s Bob Schacht pointed out, not that anybody would know it, but there has been a terror trial going on all week in a real live Article III courtroom in the heart of Manhattan. Exactly like all the Republicans with vapors and trembling Democrats said could not be safely done.

from human rights first...

Despite repeated warnings that trying Guantanamo detainees in New York would result in chaos, mayhem, kidnappings, astronomical security costs, a police take-over of Lower Manhattan, snarled traffic, street closures, and “utter, unmitigated disaster,” New Yorkers interviewed by Human Rights First are going about their daily business within blocks of the federal terrorism trial of a former Guantanamo detainee.

In an exclusive video released today, the group reveals that many New Yorkers are not only failing to fear, they do not even realize that accused terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani’s trial is underway. Some, despite the urgent warnings from those trying to “Keep America Safe,” even expressed pride that the prosecution was happening in New York City.

“We have trials like that here all of the time,” one woman observed as Human Rights First correspondent Reagan Kuhn interviewed her near the federal courthouse in Foley Square.

Despite the best efforts of Liz Cheney, Deborah Burlingame, Rudy Guiliani, and Karl Rove to spread panic, many naïve New Yorkers seemed completely uninformed about the chaos that was supposed to reign. Some even observed that “everything seems pretty normal,” “I haven’t noticed anything,” and “I’m sure everybody knows what they are doing.”.

all of the cravenly manipulative exhortations demanding that we live in endless, paralyzing fear are clearly aimed at one thing and one thing only - allowing those in power to exert more control over our minds and our lives... marcy offers a nice closing paragraph...

They have been holding terrorism trials of the highest order for years in New York City. SDNY is where the Blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman was tried for the first World Trade Center Attack. There is not a better secured and more appropriate place in america to try the 9/11 terrorism suspects. That is what we do in America, and what we do as Americans. Giving in to the fear and bed wetting of the Cheneys, Rudy Guiliani, Lindsey Graham, Lieberman and others of their ilk is giving up on our principles and giving in to the terrorists themselves. Besides, NYC is always a target of terrorists and would be even if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four 9/11 suspects were tried in Gitmo.

Put the trials where the crimes happened and deal with it.

don't give in to the fearmongers...

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Dropouts

rudy could disappear from the public eye permanently and no one would be the worse off... edwards, on the other hand, was the only real voice speaking out against our corporate rulers...

p.s. in all the blather i'm reading about rudy's spectacular flame-out, i am seeing nothing whatsoever about the precise point at which his free-fall started, namely the scandal involving nyc paying for expenses related to his mistress while he was mayor... ain't THAT interestin'...?

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"Every election in modern US history has been a criminal manipulation"

larry chin at global research...

Every election in modern US history has been a criminal manipulation, choreographed and rigged by political elites and performed by hand-picked elite puppets, each backed by their teams of corrupt war criminals, intelligence/security “advisors” and think tank assets. The 2008 affair will be no different.

It is time once again to dispel the mass insanity and unfounded hopes as another fresh election hell ensues. There will be no savior, no end to the continuing world crisis, and absolutely no “change."

in all seriousness, review this extensive list and then tell me if you think there is a snowball's chance in hell of seeing ANY change in the status quo WHATSOEVER no matter which one of these yay-hoos gets elected...

more larry chin...

Some of the most nightmarish individuals who walk the earth today can be found behind the candidates, as follows:

DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton

Madeleine K. Albright, President Clinton’s secretary of state and now chairperson of the National Democratic Institute, foreign policy adviser
Samuel R. Berger, President Clinton’s national security adviser and now a principal at business consultancy Stonebridge, foreign policy adviser
Lt. Gen. Daniel William Christman, a former West Point superintendent and now senior vice president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, foreign policy adviser
Gen. Wesley K. Clark, President Clinton’s Kosovo commander and now a Democratic fundraiser, endorsed Sen. Clinton Sept. 15
John H. Dalton, President Clinton’s Navy secretary and now president of the Financial Services Roundtable’s Housing Policy Council, veterans and military retirees for Hillary
Lee Feinstein, a deputy in President Clinton’s State Department, national security coordinator
Leslie H. Gelb; president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, a former New York Times correspondent and a former State and Defense Department official, informal adviser
Richard C. Holbrooke, President Clinton’s UN ambassador and broker of the Dayton Peace Accords (and now a Washington Post columnist), foreign policy adviser
Martin S. Indyk, President Clinton’s ambassador to Israel and now director of Brookings’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy, foreign policy adviser
Gen. John M. ("Jack") Keane, a former Army vice chief of staff who co-crafted the Iraq "surge" and is now a military analyst (sometimes for ABC news), military issues adviser
Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy, former deputy chief of staff for intelligence, veterans and military retirees for Hillary
Lt. Gen. Donald L. Kerrick, President Clinton’s deputy national security adviser, organizes meetings of retired officers
Col. Andrew F. Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, briefed Hillary Clinton as well as Sen. John McCain and Gov. Bill Richardson
Vali Nasr, Naval Postgraduate School professor, Middle East adviser
Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings senior fellow and former Congressional Budget Office defense and foreign policy analyst, supporter
Rep. (and retired Vice Adm.) Joseph Sestak, veterans and military retirees for Hillary
Andrew Shapiro, Sen. Clinton’s Senate foreign policy staffer
Jeffrey H. Smith, former CIA general counsel and now a partner leading the public policy and government contracts group of law firm Arnold & Porter, national security adviser
Strobe Talbott, Brookings president, informal adviser
Togo D. West, President Clinton’s secretary for veterans affairs and former secretary of the Army, veterans and military retirees for Hillary
Former Amb. Joseph C. Wilson IV, the half of the Plamegate couple who criticized the administration for using questionable evidence to promote the Iraq war, endorsed Sen. Clinton July 16

Barack Obama

Former Amb. Jeffrey Bader, President Clinton’s National Security Council Asia specialist and now head of Brookings’s China center, national security adviser
Mark Brzezinski, President Clinton’s National Security Council Southeast Europe specialist and now a partner at law firm McGuireWoods, national security adviser
Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security adviser and now a Center for Strategic and International Studies counselor and trustee and frequent guest on PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, foreign policy adviser
Richard A. Clarke, President Clinton and President George W. Bush’s counterterrorism czar and now head of Good Harbor Consulting and an ABC News contributor, sometimes Obama adviser
Gregory B. Craig, State Department director of policy planning under President Clinton and now a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, foreign policy adviser
Roger W. Cressey, former National Security Council counterterrorism staffer and now Good Harbor Consulting president and NBC News consultant, has advised Obama but says not exclusive
Ivo H. Daalder, National Security Council director for European affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a Brookings senior fellow, foreign policy adviser
Richard Danzig, President Clinton’s Navy secretary and now a Center for Strategic and International Analysis fellow, national security adviser
Philip H. Gordon, President Clinton’s National Security Council staffer for Europe and now a Brookings senior fellow, national security adviser
Maj. Gen. J. (Jonathan) Scott Gration, a 32-year Air Force veteran and now CEO of Africa anti-poverty effort Millennium Villages, national security adviser and surrogate
Lawrence J. Korb, assistant secretary of defense from 1981-1985 and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, informal foreign policy adviser
W. Anthony Lake, President Clinton’s national security adviser and now a professor at Georgetown’s school of foreign service, foreign policy adviser
James M. Ludes, former defense and foreign policy adviser to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and now executive director of the American Security Project, national security adviser
Robert Malley, President Clinton’s Middle East envoy and now International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa program director, national security adviser
Gen. Merrill A. ("Tony") McPeak, former Air Force chief of staff and now a business consultant, national security adviser
Denis McDonough, Center for American Progress senior fellow and former policy adviser to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, foreign policy coordinator
Samantha Power, Harvard-based human rights scholar and Pulitzer Prize winning writer, foreign policy adviser
Susan E. Rice, President Clinton’s Africa specialist at the State Department and National Security Council and now a Brookings senior fellow, foreign policy adviser
Bruce O. Riedel, former CIA officer and National Security Council staffer for Near East and Asian affairs and now a Brookings senior fellow, national security adviser
Dennis B. Ross, President Clinton’s Middle East negotiator and now a Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow, Middle East adviser
Sarah Sewall, deputy assistant secretary of defense for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance during President Clinton’s administration and now director of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, national security adviser
Daniel B. Shapiro, National Security Council director for legislative affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a lobbyist with Timmons & Company, Middle East adviser
Mona Sutphen, former aide to President Clinton’s National Security adviser Samuel R. Berger and to United Nations ambassador Bill Richardson and now managing director of business consultancy Stonebridge, national security adviser

John Edwards

Barry M. Blechman, President Carter’s assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and founder and chairman of the Henry L. Stimson Center, military advisory group
Irving N. Blickstein, former assistant deputy chief of Naval operations and a RAND researcher, military advisory group
Derek Chollet, Edwards’s Senate foreign policy aide, chief national security adviser
Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hough, former Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation, military advisory group
Gen. Paul J. Kern, former Army Materiel Command commander who directed the internal investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib and now a lobbyist with the Cohen Group, military advisory group
Gen. Lester "Les" Lyles, former commander Air Force Materiel Command and now an aerospace consultant, military advisory group
Gen. Gregory S. ("Speedy") Martin, former commander Air Force Materiel Command and now a consultant, military advisory group
Rear Adm. William J. McDaniel, former commanding officer of Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, military advisory group
Rear Adm. David R. Oliver Jr., former principal deputy under secretary for acquisition and technology and now CEO of aerospace and defense company EADS North America, military advisory group
Michael Signer, onetime aide to former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, deputy policy director for foreign affairs and national security
Maj. Gen. Allen Youngman, former Kentucky adjutant general and now a defense lobbyist with American Business Development Group, military advisory group

REPUBLICANS

Rudolph Giuliani

Gerard Alexander, University of Virginia politics professor and American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar, European advisory board
Peter Beering, Indiana terrorism preparedness coordinator and principal with consulting firm Indianapolis Terrorism Response Group, homeland security advisory board
Peter Berkowitz; Hoover Institution senior fellow and George Mason Law School professor focusing on laws, ethics and politics; senior statecraft, human rights and freedom adviser
Robert C. Bonner, former U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner and now a partner with law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, chief homeland security adviser
David R. Cameron, Yale political science professor, European advisory board
Robert Conquest; Soviet-era historian and former adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and now a Hoover Institution research fellow; senior foreign policy advisory board
Lisa Curtis, former staffer to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and now a Heritage foundation senior research fellow, senior South Asia adviser
Carlos Eire, Cuban activist and Yale renaissance studies professor, senior foreign policy advisory board
Joshua Filler, former director Department of Homeland Security Office of State and Local Government Coordination director and now a homeland security consultant, homeland security advisory board
Louis J. Freeh, former FBI director, homeland security advisory board chairman
Nile Gardner, Heritage Foundation senior research fellow and onetime foreign policy researcher for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, European advisory board
Stephen Haber, Hoover Institution senior fellow and Stanford history and political science professor, senior western hemisphere adviser
Charles Hill, former aide to Reagan-era secretary of state George P. Shultz and now a Hoover Institution research fellow, chief foreign policy adviser
Kim R. Holmes, President George W. Bush’s former assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs and now the Heritage Foundation vice president of foreign and defense policy studies, senior foreign policy adviser
Daniel Johnson, former Minnesota homeland security director, homeland security advisory board
Former Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wisc., former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Foreign Operations Subcommittee, senior foreign policy advisory board
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., homeland security advisory board
Martin Kramer, former director of Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, senior Middle East adviser
Andrew B. Maner, former Department of Homeland Security chief financial officer and now a member of the board of directors at emergency management software provider Previstar, homeland security advisory board
John T. Odermatt, former commissioner of the New York City Office of Emergency Management and Citigroup’s corporate director of business continuity, homeland security advisory board
Norman Podhoretz, Hudson Institute adjunct fellow and former editor of Commentary magazine, senior foreign policy advisory board
David Pryce-Jones, novelist and essayist, senior foreign policy adviser
John Rabin, former program director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Lessons Learned Information Sharing and now a consultant, homeland security advisory board
Stephen Peter Rosen, President Reagan’s National Security Council staffer for political-military affairs and now a Harvard professor of national security and military affairs, senior defense adviser
Howard Safir, former New York City Police commissioner and now a crisis management consultant, homeland security advisory board
Richard J. Sheirer, former New York City emergency management commissioner and now a senior vice president with Giuliani Partners, homeland security advisory board
Seth Stodder, former Customs and Border Protection director of policy and planning and now a senior counsel and lobbyist with law firm Akin Gump, homeland security advisory board
C. Stewart Verdery Jr., former Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for policy and planning and founder of lobbying firm Monument Policy Group, homeland security advisory board
Thomas Von Essen, former New York City Fire commissioner and now a senior vice president with Giuliani Partners, homeland security advisory board
Kenneth Weinstein, CEO Hudson Institute, foreign policy adviser
Joe Whitley, former Department of Homeland Security general counsel and now partner with law firm Alston & Bird, homeland security advisory board
S. Enders Wimbush, Hudson Institute director of future security strategies and former security consultant, senior public diplomacy adviser
Stephen Yates, former deputy assistant to Vice President Cheney for national security affairs and now a lobbyist and American Foreign Policy Council senior fellow, senior Asia adviser

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee has been secretive about his team. Among the names floated so far:

Ed Rollins, Republican operative
Frank Gaffney, neocon
John Bolton, George W. Bush U.N. ambassador (as of this writing, Bolton’s participation is a strong rumor)

John McCain

Richard Lee Armitage, President George W. Bush’s deputy secretary of state and an international business consultant and lobbyist, informal foreign policy adviser
Bernard Aronson, former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs and now a managing partner of private equity investment company ACON Investments, informal foreign policy adviser
William L. Ball III, secretary of the Navy during President Reagan’s administration and managing director of lobbying firm the Loeffler Group, informal national security adviser
Stephen E. Biegun, former national security aide to then-Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and now Ford Motors vice president of international government affairs, informal national security adviser
Max Boot, Council on Foreign Relations editor and former Wall Street Journal editorial editor, foreign policy adviser
Brig. Gen. Tom Bruner, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Lorne W. Craner, International Republican Institute president, informal foreign policy adviser
Lawrence S. Eagleburger, President George H.W. Bush’s secretary of state and a senior public policy adviser with law firm Baker Donelson, endorsed McCain April 10
Brig. Gen. Russ Eggers, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Maj. Gen. Merrill Evans, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Niall Ferguson, Harvard historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow, informal foreign policy adviser
Michael J. Green, former Asia adviser to President George W. Bush and now Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Asia policy adviser
Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr., President Reagan’s secretary of state, endorsed McCain April 10
Maj. Gen. Evan "Curly" Hultman, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Robert Kagan; senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington Post columnist and former speechwriter for then-secretary of state George P. Shultz; informal foreign policy adviser
Brig. Gen. Robert Michael Kimmitt, current deputy Treasury secretary, informal national security adviser
Henry A. Kissinger, President Nixon and President Ford’s secretary of state who met McCain in Vietnam and is now a consultant, informal adviser
Col. Andrew F. Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, briefed McCain as well as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson
William Kristol, The Weekly Standard editor, informal foreign policy adviser
Adm. Charles Larson, former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and now chairman of consulting firm ViaGlobal Group, informal national security adviser
Robert "Bud" McFarlane, President Reagan’s national security adviser and now a principal with Energy & Communications Solutions, energy and national security adviser
Brig. Gen. Warren "Bud" Nelson, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Brig. Gen. Eddie Newman, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Maj. Gen. John Peppers, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Maj. Ralph Peters, writer and retired Army officer, informal national security adviser
Brig. Gen. Maurice Phillips, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Gen. Colin L. Powell, President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, informal foreign policy adviser
James R. Schlesinger, President Nixon and President Ford’s secretary of defense, energy and national security adviser
Randy Scheunemann, national security aide to then-Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott and now a lobbyist, defense and foreign policy coordinator (for this cycle and 2000)
Gary Schmitt, former staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee and now an American Enterprise Institute scholar, foreign policy adviser
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush and founder of business consultancy the Scowcroft Group, adviser
George P. Shultz, President Reagan’s secretary of state and a Hoover Institution Fellow, endorsed McCain April 10
Brig. Gen. W.L. "Bill" Wallace, Iowa veterans advisory committee
Maj. Gen. Gary Wattnem, Iowa veterans advisory committee
R. James Woolsey, former CIA director and now a vice president at consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, energy and national security adviser

Mitt Romney

David Aufhauser, former Treasury Department general counsel and now general counsel of USB investment bank, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Jorge L. Arrizurieta, lobbyist and major Republican donor, Latin American policy advisory group
Former Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., onetime chairman of House International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Latin American policy advisory group
J. (Joseph) Cofer Black, former CIA and State Department counterterrorism official and now vice chairman Blackwater USA, senior adviser on counterterrorism and national security
Ted Brennan, former aide to then-Reps. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C. and Henry Hyde, R-Ill., Latin American policy advisory group
Lt. Gen. John H. ("Soup") Campbell, former vice director of Pentagon information systems and now a lobbyist for satellite communications, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Alberto R. Cardenas, lobbyist and former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Latin American policy advisory group
Robert Charles, former assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, Latin American policy advisory group
Samuel Cole, COO of BlueMountain Capital Management, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Mark Falcoff, American Enterprise Institute Latin America scholar emeritus and onetime consultant to President Reagan’s Commission on Central America, Latin American policy advisory group
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., ranking Republican on House Intelligence Committee, intelligence adviser
Kent Lucken, foreign service veteran now an international private banker with Citigroup, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
John McClurg, formerly of the FBI computer investigations and critical infrastructure threat assessment center and now vice president Honeywell Global Security, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Larry Mefford, former FBI agent and counterterrorism official, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Amb. Tibor Nagy, Jr., career foreign service officer with ambassadorial tours in Ethiopia and Guinea, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Amb. Roger Francisco Noriega, former assistant secretary for Western hemisphere affairs under George W. Bush and now a lobbyist, Latin American policy advisory group
Mitchell B. Reiss, former state department policy planning director, foreign policy adviser
V. Manuel Rocha, career foreign service officer and former ambassador to Bolivia, Latin American policy advisory group
Steven Schrage, former State Department international law specialist, foreign policy and trade director
Dan Senor, former Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman and now a lobbyist and Fox News contributor, sometimes foreign policy adviser
Jose S. Sorzano, Latin America aide to President Reagan and chairman of corporate consultant Austin Group, Latin American policy advisory group
Larry Storrs, former Latin America specialist at the Congressional Research Service, Latin American policy advisory group
Caleb ("Cal") Temple, formerly with the Defense Intelligence Agency and now executive vice president of Total Intelligence Solutions, counter-terrorism policy advisory group
Former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., lobbyist and chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, policy chairman
Ed Worthington, FBI veteran, counter-terrorism policy advisory group

[The above] list holds the key to the central issue: war.

As the names reveal, every major candidate (the favored puppets with any real chance of being selected) fronts for agendas set by current and former neoconservative and neoliberal “security” officers and politicos, members of the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, and apparatuses such as the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution, AIPAC, the Hoover Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, and others.

[...]

The “war on terrorism” will not only continue but likely intensify and expand under “new management." The only question is whether the bias will be towards a neoliberal brand, , , the “more nuanced” multinational New World Order, a “bipartisan consensus” in Washington, more orderly economic and political declines, etc. . . . .or a continuation of the open brutality and criminality of Bush-Cheney.

[...]

As Mike Ruppert wrote in Crossing The Rubicon: “That profits of crime and war, which are destructive of human life, of labor, of happy, healthy neighborhoods (whether in the US or in Afghanistan, Africa and Iraq) are in effect a keystone of the global economy and a determinant of the success in a ruthless competition, is a compass needle for human civilization. One cannot expect to follow the recipe for roadkill stew and produce a crème brulee.”

Criminals do not obey laws. Criminals do not believe in “democracy."

Criminals do not “permit” elections.

They will not permit an election in 2008. They will impose another one.

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We cant return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

- Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game

(thanks to kevin at cryptogon...)

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America's mayor

tom tomorrow's take on mr. 9/11...



most of last week's news rolled up into one compact package...

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"Is the medieval thumbscrew REALLY any worse than banging your thumb with a HAMMER?"

tom tomorrow...

"... a very different debate... one I damn sure never expected to see..."

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mirror effects

from The Seoul Times: "We Need a Moratorium on Agrofuels":

Caption: "Impact of Deforestation — Native indians walk through recently burnt rainforest in South America."

With biofuels being touted as our best great hope to undo climate change, it would be easy to ask yourself, "What's not to like?" Biofuels, proponents claim, will counter our global dependence on fossil fuels and help curb carbon emissions. But this "greening" of our energy sources is not all that green. A growing group of human rights and environmental activists point to the dangers that biofuels pose to environmental sustainability and the livelihoods of communities around the world, and call for a major shift: a moratorium on biofuels.

Most of the policies being put forward envision substituting biofuels for fossil fuels without reducing our overall consumption of energy. These proposals are backed by agribusiness, biotech companies, and oil interests that are now investing billions in ethanol and biodiesel plants, plantations of soy, corn, sugarcane, and palm oil, as well as genetically engineered trees and microbes for future supplies of cellulosic ethanol."

from UNHCHR - "The Rights of Indigenous Peoples":

Indigenous peoples inhabit large areas of the earth's surface. Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific, they number, at a rough estimate, some 300 million. Indigenous or aboriginal peoples are so-called because they were living on their lands before settlers came from elsewhere; they are the descendants - according to one definition - of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived, the new arrivals later becoming dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.

Among many indigenous peoples are the Indians of the Americas (for example, the Mayas of Guatemala or the Aymaras of Bolivia), the Inuit and Aleutians of the circumpolar region, the Saami of northern Europe, the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, and the Maori of New Zealand. These and most other indigenous peoples have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics which are clearly distinct from those of the other segments of the national populations.

Throughout human history, whenever dominant neighbouring peoples have expanded their territories or settlers from far away have acquired new lands by force, the cultures and livelihoods - even the existence - of indigenous peoples have been endangered. The threats to indigenous peoples' cultures and lands, to their status and other legal rights as distinct groups and as citizens, do not always take the same forms as in previous times. Although some groups have been relatively successful, in most part of the world indigenous peoples are actively seeking recognition of their identities and ways of life."

following a government sanctioned pogrom at a 50-year-old Southern California nudist colony, I observed that pogroms and ethnic cleansing of peoples and tribes, no matter how obscure, seemed to have the almost immediate predictable results of spontaneously occurring elsewhere, as if by some connected hidden thread. I noted shortly after that time, that then New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani simply couldn't cleanse the New York City culture of adult theaters, newsstands and porno shops by a sweeping declaration of his "Broken Window Policy", in order to be rid of those cultures of which he disapproved. He could not do that anymore than others could wipe out a tribe in a rain forest, and not expect a similar event to break out almost spontaneously, elsewhere. He clearly got back his Broken Windows Policy, in spades, on 9/11/01.

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Rudy Giuliani as seen by Frank Rich

no comment needed...

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Gaining public acceptance of torture through humor and the use of the "24" rationale

rudy giuliani on torture...

If there was a terrorist attack on an American city, and it was clear that there were all going to be additional attacks, some of them were going to be nuclear, and they were planned for the next couple of days and one of the people involved in it was arrested, and the head of the C.I.A. came to you and said we have to do certain things to get the information from him, would you authorize it? And I think most of us answered it, yes we would, we would authorize doing whatever we thought was the most effective to get that information.

[...]

And I see, when the Democrats are talking about torture, they’re not just talking about even this definition of waterboarding, which again, if you look at the liberal media and you look at the way they describe it, you could say it was torture and you shouldn’t do it. But they talk about sleep deprivation. I mean, on that theory, I’m getting tortured running for president of the United States. That’s plain silly. That’s silly.

this is just one more example of how our propaganda machine and its spokespeople are assiduously working to gain acceptance for torture as a norm of our society... such hypothetical scenarios are calculated to inflame and mislead and such mockery is neither cute nor in the least bit funny... it's merely camouflage for the real intent - persuading us that torture is a legitimate tool of our government... it's sad and sick and it's destroying our national soul...

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Hillary's Wall Street, weapons and defence industry contributors

just sayin'...

The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican party. Mrs Clinton has also emerged as Wall Street's favourite. Investment bankers have opened their wallets in unprecedented numbers for the New York senator over the past three months and, in the process, dumped their earlier favourite, Barack Obama.

[...]

Employees of the top five US arms manufacturers – Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon – gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to the Republicans. "The contributions clearly suggest the arms industry has reached the conclusion that Democratic prospects for 2008 are very good indeed," said Thomas Edsall, an academic at Columbia University in New York.

[...]

So far, Mrs Clinton has received $52,600 in contributions from individual arms industry employees. That is more than half the sum given to all Democrats and 60 per cent of the total going to Republican candidates. Election fundraising laws ban individuals from donating more than $4,600 but contributions are often "bundled" to obtain influence over a candidate.

The arms industry has even deserted the biggest supporter of the Iraq war, Senator John McCain, who is also a member of the armed services committee and a decorated Vietnam War veteran. He has been only $19,200. Weapons-makers are equally unimpressed by the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Despite a campaign built largely around the need for an aggressive US military and a determination to stay the course in Iraq, he is behind Mrs Clinton in the affections of arms executives. Mr Giuliani may be suffering because of his strong association with the failed policies of President Bush and the fact he is he is known as a social liberal.

Mrs Clinton's closest competitor in raising cash from the arms industry is the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who raised just $32,000.

thanks to kevin at cryptogon, who calls hillary "cheney in drag..."

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For the Clintons (and for all the powerful political elites), follow the money

salon does a great service by showing us some of the details of who is giving how much to who and for what... you can be sure this same picture could be painted for george h.w. bush and, to a lesser extent, for rudy giuliani... when we talk about money and politics in the united states, this is just a small part of the whole...

Donors to the Clinton Foundation

1	Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WA	$12,429,835
2	Alphawood Foundation	$4,250,000
3	Wasserman Foundation	$3,350,000
4	Walton Family Foundation	$2,000,000
5	The Alix Foundation	$1,075,000
6	Peninsula Community Foundation	$1,002,500
7	Sidney E. Frank Foundation, NY	$1,000,000
7	The Annenberg Foundation	$1,000,000
7	Walmart Foundation	$1,000,000
10	Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust	$950,000
11	Bernard & Irene Schwartz Foundation	$700,000
12	The Rockefeller Foundation	$600,000
13	Monterey Fund, Inc.	$517,800
14	Citi Foundation	$500,000
14	Marin County Foundation	$500,000
16	The New York Community Trust	$407,335
17	Anheuser-Busch Foundation	$400,000
18	Lewis B. & Dorothy Cullman Foundation	$265,000
19	Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation	$250,000
19	Ford Motor Company Fund, MI	$250,000
19	NoVo Foundation	$250,000
19	The Bank of America Charitable Foundation	$250,000
19	The Jon S. Corzine Foundation	$250,000
19	The Winnick Family Foundation	$250,000
25	Cumming Foundation	$200,000
25	The Engelberg Foundation, FL	$200,000
25	The Wedge Foundation	$200,000
28	The Berry Gordy Family Foundation	$150,000
28	Trinity Foundation	$150,000
30	Jonathan M. Tisch Foundation	$114,000
31	AT &T Foundation	$100,000
31	Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation	$100,000
31	Katz Foundation	$100,000
31	Regions Foundation	$100,000
31	The Dyson Foundation	$100,000
31	The Philip D. and Tammy S. Murphy Foundation	$100,000
31	Walter H. and Phyllis J. Shorenstein Foundation	$100,000
38	Charles Stewart Mott Foundation	$65,579
39	Altman/Kazickas Foundation	$50,000
39	Craig and Kathryn Hall Foundation	$50,000
39	Harman Family Foundation	$50,000
39	The David S. and Sylvia Steiner Charitable Trust	$50,000
39	Wood-Rill Foundation	$50,000
44	Waitt Family Foundation	$35,932
45	Riggs Benevolent Fund	$33,500
46	The William M. & A. Cafaro Family Foundation	$28,000
47	May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation	$25,000
47	Sandler Capital Management Charitable Foundation	$25,000
49	Lockheed Martin Corporation Foundation	$20,000
49	The Seattle Foundation	$20,000
51	The Tommy E. Short Charitable Foundation	$17,500
52	John S. and James L. Knight Foundation	$15,000
52	Willametta K. Day Foundation	$15,000
54	The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation	$14,000
55	Hassenfeld Foundation	$10,000
55	John M. O'Quinn Foundation	$10,000
55	The Floyd & Delores Jones Foundation	$10,000
55	The Semel Charitable Foundation	$10,000
59	Lone Pine Foundation, Inc.	$9,100
60	Boston Foundation	$5,000
60	JEHT Foundation	$5,000
60	The Gill Foundation	$5,000
60	The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation	$5,000
60	The Heyday Foundation	$5,000
65	Alan B. Slifka Foundation	$2,750
66	Community Foundation of Greater Memphis	$2,200
67	Sandel Family Foundation	$1,000
67	The Community Foundation for the National Capital	$1,000
69	Arkansas Community Foundation, Inc.	$700
70	Moss Foundation	$500
71	The Bert & Sandra Wasserman Foundation	$180

TOTAL................................................................. $35,808,411

Bill Clinton Speaking Fees

A&E Television	$125,000
Adam Smith Conferences	$125,000
Ahmet San Productions bh of TUSIAD	$250,000
America Israel Chamber of Commerce	$125,000
American Academy of Achievement (2 events)	$300,000
American Assn of Nurse Anesthetists	$150,000
American Chamber of Commerce in Spain	$250,000
American Friends of the Rabin Medical Center	$125,000
America's Health Insurance Plans	$150,000
AMR Research	$150,000
Antwerp Diamond High Council	$200,000
Ardee's Festival	$150,000
Aripaeva Kirjastus	$150,000
Asian American Hotel Owners Association	$125,000
Association of Southern California Defense Counsel	$125,000
Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China	$300,000
Australian Information Industry Association	$250,000
Aventis	$125,000
Aventura-Turnberry Jewish Center	$150,000
Banco de Mexico	$150,000
Baugur Group	$250,000
Beth El Synagogue	$125,000
Biotechnology industry Organization	$150,000
Blex S.L.	$350,000
BMW Group on New Zealand	$137,500
Borsen Executive Club	$150,000
British Broadcasting Coporation	$75,000
Canadian Society for Yad Vashem	$125,000
Caribbean Council for Global Studies	$125,000
Carnegie Abbey Club	$150,000
Celebriti Forum II (2 events)	$200,000
CiscoSystems (2 events)	$300,000
Citigroup (3 events)	$550,000
CLSA Ltd. (4 events)	$700,000
Colonial Life Ins Co.	$200,000
Comitato per il Congresso Nazionale della Pubblicita	$350,000
Compuware Corporation	$125,000
Congregation Beth-El Zedeck	$150,000
Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers	$125,000
Credit Suisse First Boston	$125,000
Decision Makers InterAction	$150,000
Dentsu Inc on behalf of Aichi Gakuin	$250,000
Deutsche Bank (2 events)	$300,000
Diario de Noticias	$250,000
Dinamo Norge	$150,000
dnmStrategies (2 events)	$400,000
EchoStar Satellite Corporation	$100,000
Economic Club of Southwest Michigan	$125,000
Educatinal Institute of AHLA	$125,000
El Paso Holocaust Museum	$125,000
EPC International on behalf of Workshop Ischgl-Club of the Alps	$245,000
European Travel Commission	$125,000
Fatasma	$125,000
Financial Innovations, Inc.	$100,000
Fool Proof	$125,000
Fortune Magazine Forum (2 events)	$700,000
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center	$150,000
Fundacao Armando Alvares Penteado	$250,000
Fundacion Rafael Del Pino	$250,000
Future Generation Foundation	$175,000
Galeries Lafayette-Monoprix	$250,000
GBD Group	$250,000
General Motors	$200,000
Global Artists (4 events)	$580,000
Global Business Enterprises	$300,000
Global Strategic Ventures	$150,000
Gold Service International (4 events)	$800,000
Golden Tree Asset Management	$150,000
Goldman Sachs (4 events)	$650,000
Greater Washington Society of Association Executives (2 events)	$250,000
Greenwood House	$125,000
Griwa Consulting GMBH	$250,000
Group Vivendi Universal	$150,000
Gruner & Jahr Publishing USA on behalf of American Jewish Committee	$125,000
Hearst Magazines	$125,000
Hebrew Home and Hospital Inc	$125,000
HMS Italia	$125,000
Hon Frank McKenna's Business Networking Event (2 events)	$200,000
HSM America (2 events)	$300,000
Hubert Burda Media GmbH	$300,000
Hunter College Foundation	$35,000
Huron Consulting Services	$150,000
IBM	$200,000
IFE Institut Fuer Eventmanagement GmbH	$300,000
Independent News and Media	$150,000
infoUSA, Inc	$200,000
Institute for International Sports	$150,000
International Centre for Business Info	$125,000
International Council of Shopping Centers	$150,000
International Dairy-deli Bakery	$150,000
International Health Racquet	$150,000
International Profit Associates	$125,000
J.T. Campbell & Co.	$150,000
Jewish Federation Council of LA	$125,000
Jewish Federation of Chicago (2 events)	$300,000
Jewish National Fund (4 events)	$550,000
Jiannanchun Group Co	$250,000
Jim Pattison Group	$150,000
KMD	$250,000
Kushner Companies	$125,000
Lancaster Chamber of Commerce	$150,000
Latin American Institute of Education Communicaton	$300,000
Leading Minds (3 events)	$375,000
Lehman Bros.	$150,000
LIMRA International	$150,000
Listin Diario	$250,000
London Drugs	$125,000
London School of Economics and Political Science	$28,100
Long Island Association Inc	$125,000
Macklowe Properties on behalf of State of Israel Bonds Development Corp.	$250,000
Markson Sparks! (10 events)	$1,675,000
Maruri Communications Group	$200,000
Mass Torts Made Perfect	$150,000
McCreath Communications (2 events)	$275,000
MDM Investments Ltd	$125,000
Media Control GmbH (2 events)	$350,000
MiKI Corporation (3 events)	$450,000
Mito City Political Research Group	$400,000
Morgan Firestone Foundation	$125,000
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Co.	$125,000
Mortgage Banker Assn	$150,000
MPSF (3 events)	$300,000
National Apartment Association	$150,000
National Assn of Realtors	$125,000
National Mlti-Housing Council	$150,000
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children	$100,000
Ness Technologies	$150,000
Nordstrom International Aps on behalf of World Celebrity Golf	$300,000
Old York Road Temple Beth Am	$125,000
One Family	$125,000
Oracle Corporation	$125,000
ORT Montreal	$125,000
Paris Golf and Country Club	$150,000
PeopleSoft Inc	$125,000
Personal Dynamics on behalf of Provente.com	$125,000
Pinpoint Knowledge Management, The Portables	$125,000
Protocol Resouorce and Operation Services	$200,000
Puls Biznesu, Bonnier Business	$183,333
Radio and Records	$125,000
RDM Group	$125,000
Renaissance Calgary	$125,000
Salem State College Foundation	$125,000
Savage/Rothenberg Productions (4 events)	$550,000
Scherer Consulting Group and Jorg Lohr Training	$150,000
Seeliger Y Conde	$200,000
Seoul Broadcasting	$250,000
Serono International	$150,000
SFX Sports Group on behalf of Magna International	$125,000
St. James Place	$175,000
Standard Bank of America	$150,000
Stree-Global Investments in Women	$125,000
Success Events International (2 events)	$250,000
Success Resources Pte Ltd.	$250,000
Temple Beth Avodah	$125,000
The Abraham Fund	$125,000
The American University in Dubai	$150,000
The Dabbagh Group (2 events)	$600,000
The German Union of Small and Medium-Sized Companies	$100,000
The McCarthy Group	$200,000
The Power Within (8 events)	$1,870,000
The Star Forum	$125,000
The Sunday Times Hay Festival	$150,000
The Talar Forum	$183,333
The Varsavsky Foundation	$175,000
tinePublic Inc (5 events)	$650,000
TJ Martell Foundation	$75,000
Toranto Hadassah-WIZO	$125,000
Tufts University	$125,000
United Israel Appeal of Geneva	$150,000
University of California, Davis	$100,000
University of Judaism	$125,000
Urban Land Institute	$125,000
Valor Economico S.A.	$150,000
Value Grupo Financiero	$175,000
Verinvest S.C. on behalf of Mexico Business Summit	$150,000
VNU Business Media on behalf of Online Learning 2001 Conf.	$125,000
Warburg Pincus	$125,000
Wirtscafafts Blatt	$183,333
WIZO	$125,000
World Celebrity Events (5 events)	$1,340,000
World Leader's Forum	$150,000
Yorkshire International Business Convention	$200,000
Young President's Organization	$150,000
YPO Windy City Chapter	$100,000

TOTAL...............................................................$41,085,599

positively breathtaking...

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"Now when I see the eagle of freedom, I see an eagle of fascism"

from an interview conducted by Nina Berman with Christopher Morris "who has been covering George Bush as TIME Magazine's White House photographer for the last seven years, and has recently published My America, a book of photographs that affords us a complex and quietly creepy look inside the Bush bubble"... this excerpt was included with a photo slide show in a post on alternet...

Christopher Morris: This is my America. An America with Homeland Security, a Patriot Act. An America with paranoia. An America with hatred and ignorance. An America that wraps itself in its President and its flag. This is my America.

Now when I see the eagle of freedom, I see an eagle of fascism. Now when I see the American flag, I'm afraid for my America. We have become an ugly nation. A nation that has wrapped its eyes so tightly in red, white and blue that it has gone blind. Blinded by nationalism. This is my America. And this is why they hate us, and its not because we love freedom. They hate us because we think like that.

and then there's this revealing exchange...

Nina Berman: [H]ow does the Bush bubble differ from the Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or Rudy Giuliani bubble, or is there any palpable difference?

Christopher Morris: The only difference are the crowds. Republicans are drastically different than Democrats. You can see it in their fashion. I can pretty easily tell what type of crowd I am in. As for the three candidates that you mention, all three are very controlling of the media with the way they want to be portrayed. The most difficult candidates for access are Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, both, ironically, the front-runners.

i find it strangely comforting as well as profoundly disturbing that an individual who has spent seven years traveling with george bush, and is as close to being a true insider as anyone can be while still being an outsider, sees the same ugliness i am seeing...

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Good lord, I SO identify with this!

buhdydharma at daily kos took the words right out of my mouth...

I'm tired

I'm tired of fighting.

I'm tired of writing impeachment diaries.

I'm tired of fighting folks about me writing impeachment diaries.

I'm tired of people attacking me personally for writing Impeachment diaries.

I am tired of people questioning my character.

I am tired of people calling other people traitors.

I'm tired of folks saying I call people traitors when I never have.

I am tired of people taking what a small percentage of proponents of impeachment have said and ascribing it to all proponents of impeachment.

I am tired of folks trying to twist every word I write into a way to attack me for what I write.

I'm tired of people flaming impeachment advocates....and then acting surprised when they get flamed back.

I'm tired of asking people what their plan is to hold Bushco accountable and not getting an answer.

I'm tired of people arguing that the 'right' thing to do is let the clock run out and let the criminals head on out to the book tour.

I'm tired of people posting what they fear might happen if we actually do something to oppose Bushco.

I'm tired of people not realizing that the fear they feel is the fear that Bushco has 'installed' to quash resistance to them.

I'm tired of people saying they are tired of impeachment dairies.

I'm tired of impeachment diaries too.

I'm tired of not knowing what else to do but to write impeachment diaries.

I'm also tired of the 'press' blindly accepting Republican spin as fact.

I'm tired of the press ignoring Bushco's crimes.

I'm tired of Bushco committing new crimes daily.

I'm tired of our President thinking and acting like he is above the law.

I'm tired of subpoenas being ignored.

I'm tired of justice being obstructed.

I'm tired of the politicization of every branch and department of our government.

I'm tired of being spied on by my government.

I'm tired of my government kidnapping people.

I am tired of my government torturing people.

I'm tired of my government imprisoning people without trials.

I'm tired of my government ignoring real terrorists, both at home and abroad.

I'm tired of my government invading other countries.

I'm tired of war profiteering

I'm tired of Iraqi children getting blown up.

I'm tired of their parents getting blown up.

I'm tired of my government creating a mercenary army to blow them up.

I'm tired of the threats on Iran.

I'm tired of our rights being stolen.

I'm tired of the Constitution being destroyed.

I'm tired of thinking about Giuliani with Unitary Executive Powers.

I'm tired of thinking about Hillary with Unitary Executive Powers.

I'm tired of impeachment diaries too.

I'm tired of not knowing what else to do but to write impeachment diaries.

yeah, oh, yeah... when i get down to it, there really ISN'T much left for me to do except write about impeachment, or, as i often frame it, getting those bastards out of office by the most expeditious - and legal - means at our disposal... there is simply no other priority as critical or more worthy of our time and energy...

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Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend

go take a look... truth is powerful stuff...

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The troubling specter of candidates courting business leaders

this article, written for fortune magazine and re-printed in cnn money, is looking at which candidate might be friendlier to business interests, and puts the spotlight on hillary clinton who, it says, is making a number of advances to business leaders and who has landed several major endorsements...

why do i find this troubling...? for years and years, our country has pretty much been ruled by business interests, a situation that has been pushed to the extreme in the bush administration... i'm not anti-business, but the enormous contributions businesses and business-related groups can and do make to political candidates dwarf those made by individual citizens... and, given that the campaign universe remains all about money, candidates naturally gravitate to those interests in order to raise enough of it to stand even a chance of being elected, with the perfectly understandable result that, once elected, a politician will feel obligated to return the favor... it's a system that virtually INSURES the common good of the people and the nation as a whole will not receive first, or even second or third, priority...

The more than 150 top executives who have raised money for Clinton represent such brand names as Anheuser-Busch, Comcast, Estée Lauder, Palm, Sun Microsystems and Qualcomm. Venture capitalist James D. Robinson III, the former CEO of American Express and a longtime Republican, told Fortune he now supports Clinton for President, citing her "breadth of experience, especially on the international level, which is critical for going forward."

[...]

Business leaders can provide added heft to a candidate's fundraising efforts - the major candidates are expected to raise a record $1.4 billion in this race - but they also help a candidate's image branding. Democrat John Edwards, who offers sharp-edged populism, is a tougher sell to business. But Clinton and Obama view CEO support as a key part of their crossover appeal.

A roster of business endorsements "says to voters that you'll be strong on the economy," says Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe. Most of the top-tier candidates - Republican and Democrat - have made pilgrimages to the Business Roundtable's offices in Washington to pitch some 60 CEOs at a time.

i think it's important to know who is giving how much and to whom... while hillary's list of backers represents a laundry list of some of the country's most rich and powerful, rudy giuliani's list is positively frightening...

Giuliani's Wall Street support isn't as broad as that of fellow New Yorker Clinton, but he has culled important business support in Texas and elsewhere. Billionaire hedge fund manager T. Boone Pickens has raised nearly $1 million for the candidate. "In New York he cleaned up the city, ran Mafia convictions, then [handled] 9/11," Pickens says. Giuliani also has the support of Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, billionaire investor Sid Bass, and superstar activist Carl Icahn.

pickens, bass, and icahn are some of the most predatory, devious, unscrupulous, capitalist plunderers on the planet, and their endorsement of giuliani tells me more about giuliani than i ever wanted to know...

as much as i try to avoid reading the business press, it pays - pardon the pun - to stay informed, particularly in this, among the most crucial presidential election seasons in the history of the united states...

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If you're gonna smear, do it in a bipartisan spirit

another taste of how the relentless attacks on 2008 presidential candidates are going to shape up... from one of the masters of the art, jonah goldberg...

John Edwards' poor scam

The would-be president and former ambulance chaser wants you to think he's the champion of the underclass.

There's a little hustler in every politician. But sometimes there's a little politician in a hustler. Such is the case with John Edwards.

and that's just the title,the teaser and the opening sentence...

i felt moved to compose a letter to the la times editor...

Dear Sirs:

I can see how the 2008 campaign is going to shape up - hyperventilating huffers and puffers, sitting in their foxholes, tossing out feces-laden grenades, and hoping none either roll back into their holes or get lobbed their way. Ok, if that's the kind of opinion writer you choose to support, so be it. Let me make a small request.

I would feel somewhat better about seeing such vituperation in print if the opinion writer in question, Mr. Goldberg, would opine in a more bipartisan fashion. It seems there are hypocrites and idiots galore in the current field of presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican. When entire op-ed columns are dedicated to savaging only one party's candidates, serious editorial bias starts to become a little bit obvious, don't you think? Even George Bush occasionally makes the effort to appear bipartisan (I emphasize the word "appear"). Couldn't you encourage Mr. Goldberg to follow suit?

Best regards,

i didn't deliberately didn't offer any examples of idiots and hypocrites from the "other party" because i think they are ridiculously easy to find... how about rudy giuliani, mitt romney, and john mccain for starters...?

from paul krugman (nyt select, subscribers only) via joe at americablog...

Here’s the way it ought to be: When Rudy Giuliani says that Iran, which had nothing to do with 9/11, is part of a “movement” that “has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us,” he should be treated as a lunatic.

When Mitt Romney says that a coalition of “Shia and Sunni and Hezbollah and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda” wants to “bring down the West,” he should be ridiculed for his ignorance.

And when John McCain says that Osama, who isn’t in Iraq, will “follow us home” if we leave, he should be laughed at.

so, jonah, whaddaya say...? lessee you take a crack at these idiots as well... it seems to me that you could have yourself a veritable bipartisan vituperation feast (if you want to, that is)...

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Very cool...! Ron Paul prepares a reading list for Rudy

it's one thing to say something, be attacked for it, and then refute the attack... it's another thing entirely to refute the attack AND provide a solid, irrefutable stack of reading material to back up your original statement...

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Thursday gave front-runner Rudy Giuliani a list of foreign-policy books to back up his contention that attacks by Islamic militants are fueled by the U.S. presence in the Middle East," Andy Sullivan reports for Reuters. "I'm giving Mr. Giuliani a reading assignment," the nine-term Texas congressman said as he stood behind a stack of books that included the report by the commission that examined the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

[...]

The "Reading for Rudy" list includes Chalmers Johnson's Blowback, Robert A. Pape's Dying to Win, and Michael Scheuer's Imperial Hubris, along with the 9-11 Commission Report.

paul also prepared brief excerpts from each as a kind of "executive summary", or, as paul termed it, "cliff's notes", in case rudy found himself short of time...

if i was in rudy's shoes, i would be thoroughly humiliated, but i would imagine his ego probably prevents him from even recognizing the depth of the insult... maybe paul could provide some humility guidelines to go along with the books and the cliff's notes...

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OMG, CNN opinion contributor dares to agree with Ron Paul and invite Giuliani's wrath

son of a gun...! ron paul's gone and convinced somebody that he might have a point...

Ron Paul's assertion in this week's Republican presidential debate that American foreign policy in the Middle East invited the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 should not be dismissed, lest Americans continue to ignore the lessons of history, a CNN contributor wrote in an opinion piece Friday on the network's Web site.

"As Americans, we believe in forgiving and forgetting, and are terrible at understanding how history affects us today," wrote Roland S. Martin, who also hosts a talk show in Chicago. "We are arrogant in not recognizing that when we benefit, someone else may suffer. That will lead to resentment and anger, and if suppressed, will boil over one day."

cue rudy... rudy...? RUDY...?? c'mon, RUDY...! let's hear it...

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Ted and Rudy belong to the World Wrestling Entertainment school of interrogation

everytime i hear the testosterone-fueled ravings of the pull-out-their-fingernails crowd, i can't help but think of world wrestling entertainment, imho, one of the principal shapers of today's u.s. culture, from shaved heads and goatees, to head butts and floor slams...

During tonight’s presidential debates, several candidates were asked whether they would support the use of waterboarding — a technique, defined as torture by the Justice Department, that simulates drowning and makes the subject “believe his death is imminent while ideally not causing permanent physical damage.”

Both former mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) suggested they would support using the technique. Specifically asked about waterboarding, Giuliani said he would allow “every method [interrogators] could think of and I would support them in doing it.” Tancredo later added, “I’m looking for Jack Bauer,” referencing the television character who has used torture techniques such as suffocation and electrocution on prisoners.

The audience applauded loudly after both statements.

tough talk, white boys, but don't let your mouths write checks your bodies can't cash...

p.s. i don't think it's any coincidence that jack bauer has a germanic last name...

(thanks to think progress...)

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WTF is going on with the media and Ron Paul?

when i posted last saturday at 6:50 p.m. PDT on this abc poll of last week's republican debate, ron paul had 1866 out of 2112 votes cast, or 88%... today, four days later, at 11:00 a.m. PDT, ron paul has 16,091 out of 18,602 or 86% of all votes cast...



'scuse me, but i have a small question...

WHERE'S THE GODDAM MEDIA COVERAGE?

if that was romney, mccain, giuliani, or even tancredo, ferchrissake, it would be page one banner headlines all across the goddam country... WTF...? i don't get it... or maybe i do and just don't want to admit it...

p.s. giuliani is misspelled on the abc poll list...

(thanks to prison planet via casey at open your mind's eye...)

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