Real Americans vs Real Americans

That’s right, you read that correctly.  We live in a strongly divided nation.  One where Americans hate other Americans.  Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist, bombed the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma killing 169 Americans which included seniors and little children and he felt no remorse.

In took weeks of sorting through debris to find the victims. In all, 168 people were killed in the explosion, which included 19 children. One nurse was also killed during the rescue operation.

Recently, Scott Roeder, believed it was perfectly acceptable to walk into a church and shoot another American because he hated him.  Mr. Roeder did not know the man he killed.  He never even met this man until he faced him with a gun.   Jim David Adkisson walked into a church in Tennessee and started shooting because he hated liberals.  Mr. Adkisson was encouraged to hate liberals by the authors of books that he read.

The media gives us Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly.  All of these people preach the hatred of other Americans, especially liberal Americans.  Some have even gone as far as suggesting that Supreme Court Justices be murdered and promoted the poisoning of the Speaker of the House.  This isn’t just freedom of speech.  This is promoting violence.  This is pitting Americans against Americans and it isn’t humor or funny.

Where did all this hate other Americans begin?  It started with Ronald Reagan and his designating liberal as a dirty word and lying about poor people on welfare driving Cadillacs.  Yes indeed, Ronald Reagan loved to divide this nation into the conservatives that were real Americans and that other group known as the liberals.  Reagan preached that the 11th commandment was to never speak ill of another Republican but it was certainly acceptable to trash non-Republicans.   What is really disturbing about Reagan’s words is that he was President of the United States which includes every American and not just Republicans.  Rush Limbaugh is an admirer of Ronald Reagan and Rush is always telling Americans to hate other Americans.  He even went as far as stating that he hopes America fails at a time when Americans need to pull together.  Ann Coulter has gone as far as stating that college liberals should be beaten up and pushed around.

“When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty. We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.”

Many Americans are out of work, lack health insurance and are at risk of losing their homes, yet the media keeps tearing this country apart by providing the disciples of hate a platform from which they can preach their hate.

It seems like the real enemy is within our own nation.  When we pledge allegiance to America, we say “one nation…, indivisable… “.  Our military fights and defends this one nation.  If can’t learn to live together and accept each other, then we will become our own worst enemies.

“We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.” – Barack Obama

No Bids

My, oh, my… what is it with this media? The current topic to hit the big time is “no bid contracts” and it seems that the Democrats are the devils making these deals. Never mind that Bush and Cheney made no bid contracts that cost trillions of taxpayers money, not to mention both American and Iraqi lives lost. If a Republican does it, then that’s okay. If a Democrat does it, well, that’s big news.

• On Sunday, we read about Governor Bill Richardson withdrawing his nomination for Secretary of Commerce because of a Grand Jury investigation regarding funds that his campaign received from CDR. The investigation centers around CDR receiving preferential treatment by the state of New Mexico in receiving contracts from the state. More from the Albuquerque Journal.
• The plot thickens as ABC reports that the Obama campaign received from David Rubin, yes, the very person involved in the Richardson investigation. Oh, dear, where will this end?
• Even our very own Governor Ed Rendell is being accused of a “pay-for-play” with David Rubin. Talking Points Memo has more on the story of this scandal.

Now this is serious stuff, folks. Don’t let these famous names scare you. Let’s do a body count… how many people died as a direct result of David Rubin’s contributions to campaigns? None, that I am aware of. Let’s visit the Bush/Cheney no-bids.

• The Bush/Cheney Regime were working on a no bid contract with Iraq to steal purchase their oil back in June of 2008. Article from the NY Times.
• Here’s a juicy story from CBS 60 Minutes. Seems like Cheney wanted to keep it “all in the family” BEFORE the US invaded Iraq by having the Pentagon award a no-bid worth $1.3 billion to Halliburton and its subsidy Brown and Root. Wonder if David Rubin is collecting this much from New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Rubin can forget getting anything back from the Obama campaign.
• Now this story about a water deal from the San Francisco Chronicle may not sound like much, however, it did have an impact as it was just one more slap in the face of the Iraqi people. You see, the Iraqi people had lost their source of income when we bombed their businesses and then the Bush/Cheney Regime said, no work for the Iraqis unless they are working for American companies that received no bid contracts for very low wages. You figure this one out.

So what exactly is the body count from the Bush/Cheney no bid contracts? There are the thousands of Americans that have either lost their lives or been injured in Iraq and no one knows the true number of Iraqis that died or were injured. The Iraq war was all about OIL and Halliburton’s no bid contracts were the reward for contributing to the Bush/Cheney election.

Nixon and Treason

From Thom Hartmann

Part 1

Part 2

(h/t to nwmuse at TheZoo)

Nixon promised to pay for the return of ALL our POWs and then reniged.

The 2008 Bush Depression

Things are getting really rough out there.   Retail sales are way down and everyone I speak with is concerned about keeping their job.  Donations to charities have fallen.  Even the recycling business is having a tough go of it.   Our economy is slowly coming to a halt.  The Republicans under the leadership of George W. Bush have given tax breaks to US companies to send our jobs overseas and the Democrats in Congress under the leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have remained silent.  Can you believe this?  Tax breaks for taking jobs away from the American worker. In the meantime, CEO’s keep receiving “cash rewards” while the workers lose their jobs.  We don’t manufacture much in the US anymore so we have little to export.  We just provide “service” and that “service” has moved to other countries with the blessings of both political parties.

The Republicans actually had the audacity to attack Union workers while at the same time stuffing money into the pockets of Wall Street CEOs.  Remember the “crisis” in September where Congress had to approve a $700 billion bailout and the Bush administration didn’t want any oversight?  Well, there still isn’t any “real” oversight and our tax dollars keep flying out of the US Treasury.  The Chinese are now recruiting for the banking industry and this can only mean that the Chinese want to take over our banking system.  The Bush administration has sold US out and the media is worried about 21 conversations that DIDN’T happen between Blagojevich and Obama’s transition team.  No one wants to assume responsibility for our current crisis and the media remains silent.

A sign that the times are tough is when no one applies for a rental property.  We own a few rentals and usually when one becomes vacant, we get a long list of interested people.  Right now, we have an empty apartment and very, very few applicants.  Without a job, no one will apply for a rental and we can’t afford to rent to someone without an income.

Bush doesn’t give a rat’s ass about any of us.  His only concern is his new portrait and making sure that he can pass the blame for his failures onto someone else.   He is set for life and if things go crazy, he can always move to Paraguay.   In the meantime, American workers must scrounge for “cake”.

This is the real Bush legacy, the Depression of 2008.  Times are tough.  Hey, brother can you spare a dime?

(Dr. John and Odetta)

Anyone Want A Cracker?

Just how would the media react if the head of the DNC defended a song titled “Bush the Idiot Cracker”?  Sounds like a racist title to me.  Yet, Tennessee Republican Chip Saltzman defends the RNC sending out a CD to its members that include a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” among several other songs.  Saltzman seems to think that members will recognize this as satire.

From CNN:

“I think most people recognize political satire when they see it,” Tennessee Republican Chip Saltsman told CNN. “I think RNC members understand that.”

The song, set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon,” was first played on conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh’s radio show in 2007.

Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested President-elect Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation’s history of mistreatment of African-Americans. Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times.

The CD sent to RNC members, first reported by The Hill on Friday, is titled “We Hate the USA” and also includes songs referencing former presidential candidate John Edwards and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, among other targets.

According to The Hill, other song titles, some of which were in bold font, were: “John Edwards’ Poverty Tour,” “Wright place, wrong pastor,” “Love Client #9,” “Ivory and Ebony” and “The Star Spanglish Banner.”

Saltzman was once the national campaign manager for Mike Huckabee and he once held a position under the “cat killer”, former Senator Bill Frist.

This CD demonstrates the blatant racism and elitism of the Republican Party. It would be interesting to get a reaction from Colin Powell or Condolleza Rice on this. If the Repubicans want to keep marginalizing themselves, they should send this out to all the media. I mean, why hold back, if this is just ‘satire’?

Bush and The Detainees

According to a bipartisan Senate Armed Service Committee report, Bush approved of the torture of the detainees at Guantanamo and stated that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to Bush’s war with Al Qaeda.

The executive summary also traces the erosion of detainee treatment standards to a Feb,. 7, 2002, memorandum signed by President George W. Bush stating that the Geneva Convention did not apply to the U.S. war with al Qaeda and that Taliban detainees were not entitled to prisoner of war status or legal protections.

“The president’s order closed off application of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment,” the summary said.

Members of Bush’s Cabinet and other senior officials participated in meetings inside the White House in 2002 and 2003 where specific interrogation techniques were discussed, according to the report.

As result of the policies of Bush, Rumsfeld and some other top Bush members, numerous detainee murders occurred.  According to autopsy results, some detainees died as a result of trauma.

It is probably inevitable that some prisoners who reportedly die of “natural causes” in truth died of homicide. However, the nature of Armed Forces’ medical investigations made this kind of error more likely. The AFME reported homicide as the cause of death in 10 of the 23 death certificates released in May 2004. The death of Mohamed Taiq Zaid was initially attributed to “heat”; it is currently and belatedly being investigated as a possible homicide due to abusive exposure to the hot Iraqi climate and deprivation of water.

Eight prisoners suffered “natural” deaths from heart attacks or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Threats, beatings, fear, police interrogation, and arrests are known to cause “homicide by heart attack” or life-threatening heart failure. People with preexisting heart disease, dehydration, hyperthermia, or exhaustion are especially susceptible.[11–15] No forensic investigation of lethal “heart attacks” explores the possibility that these men died of stress-induced heart attacks. There are a number of reports of “heart attack” following harsh procedures in rounding up noncombatants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A typically sketchy US Army report says, “Detainee Death during weekend combat …. Army led raid this past weekend of a house in Iraq … an Iraqi who was detained and zip-locked (flexi-cuffed with plastic bands tying his wrists together) died while in custody. Preliminary information is that the detainee died from an apparent heart attack.[16]” Sher Mohammad Khan was picked up in Afghanistan in September 2004. Shortly thereafter, his bruised body was given to his family. Military officials told journalists that he had died of a heart attack within hours of being taken into custody. No investigation, autopsy, or death certificate is available.[17]

Instead of exposing the Bush administration for their criminal behavior, the media is consumed with the Blagojevich story.  It’s true that Blagojevich has done unethical and illegal activities.  No one died because of Blagojevich’s poor judgement.  Many Iraqis, Afgans and 4000+ Americans have lost their lives because of Bush’s illegal behavior and poor judgement.   The difference in the stories is sensationalism.  Our media is so focused on sensational stories that other more important news gets passed by.

Read more about this at Slate.com.  Glenn Greenwald has more to say about this lack of integrity by our media.

Special thanks to Buzzflash for the link to this story.  While you are visiting Buzzflash, check out their “Premiums“.

Guantanamo

From Kamelot “Human Stain”… that’s what Bush is leaving on the world.  His nasty stain.

The Bitchin’ Pesky Media

President Elect Barack Obama

Campbell Brown actually had the nerve to call out Barack Obama on his response to a silly question by a reporter. During a news conference, President Elect Barack Obama was asked about his choice of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. This softball question was asked:

(excerpt from Huffington Post)

BAKER: You’ve talked about the importance just now of having different voices and robust debate within your administration. But, again, going back to the campaign, you were asked and talked about the qualifications of the — your now, your nominee for secretary of state. And you belittled her travels around the word, equating it to having teas with foreign leaders. And your new White House counsel said that her resume was grossly exaggerated when it came to foreign policy. I’m wondering whether you can talk about the evolution of your views of her credentials since the spring.

President Elect Barack Obama responded with:

OBAMA: Well, I mean, I think — this is fun for the press to try to stir up whatever quotes were generated during the course of the campaign. No, I understand. And you’re having fun.

The fact that Obama brushed the reporter’s question off his shoulder irritated Campbell Brown to no end. She slammed him stating:

BROWN: There we go again. The pesky media, all we want to do is have a little fun, stir things up for our own amusement.

I mean, really, how silly of that reporter to dare ask you, Mr. President-elect, how it is that you completely mocked Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy experience just a few months ago and yet today you think there is no one more qualified than she to lead your foreign policy team? It’s a clever device, treating a question so dismissively in an attempt to delegitimize it, but it is a legitimate question. As annoying how you may have found it, it is a fair question.

And her complaint went on and on and on. Listen to her at the Huffington Post video.

Really, now! Obama laughs at a silly question about “campaign politics” and Campbell Brown gets bent out of shape. Where the (fill in the expletive) has the media been for the last 8 years? There have been nothing but “fluff” questions asked of the boy Bush during his presidency.

Where were the tough questions about the August 6th 2001 memo? Where were the tough questions about torture? Where were the tough questions about WMDs in Iraq? Where were the tough questions regarding exposing a CIA Agent, an act that jeopardized the safety of all Americans and was akin to treason? Where were the tough questions when it was discovered that the boy Bush had been illegally spying on Americans? Where were the tough questions when billions of American taxpayer dollars were lost in Iraq? Where were the tough questions when the boy Bush trashed the US Constitution? Where? Where? Where?

Could this irresponsible press be accused of treason for NOT doing its job by questioning President George W Bush as he spit on his oath of office and by doing so, 4000+ Americans lost their lives needlessly in a war based on lies? A war that the press never questioned.

The media never complained about George W. Bush’s inability to speak the English language and never complained when instead of answering questions, Bush would make jokes about nonsense. Heh, heh, heh.

Campbell Brown has nothing to say about the negligence of the media when it comes to the incompetence of George W. Bush. Instead, she gets her knickers in a knot over some silly campaign politics question that President Elect Barack Obama found amusing. Campbell Brown is going to have to get used to having an adult in the White House. The boy Bush is set to leave on January 20, 2008. There will be adults in the Executive Office running the business of this nation. This will be a change for the media and something that they will need to adjust to.

They Auto Know Better

Walter Brasch has something to say about the media fueling anti-labor fires.

WANDERINGS, with Walter Brasch
Nov. 30, 2008

brasch@bloomu.edu

Fueling Anti-Union Fires

by Walter Brasch

My local newspaper editor, as he does regularly, once again attacked unions as the problem in America. This is the same editor who once said “all the laziest goof-offs and goldbricks in the newsroom” where he began his career were union officials-and that the unionized New York Times editorial writers are nothing more than “limousine liberals.”

For this most recent attack, two days after Thanksgiving, he combined the economy with what he believes are greedy unions.

“[L]abor unions and their leaders are . . . distorting the truth about the American workplace,” wrote the editor. First he set up Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, who said that “Tens of millions of Americans are working harder than ever just to stay afloat. The latest Census Bureau report shows that wages are dropping and more people lack health insurance . . . a greater percentage of the economy is going to profits than to wages.”

Then, he cut apart Stern’s statement by gleefully citing data from the pro-business pro-management U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber said that wages, adjusted for inflation, for workers rose 30 percent from 1967 to 2007. Now, 30 percent seems good-unless you do the math. That’s about three-quarters of one percent per year, far less than any executive compensation. The editor then added in about 30 percent for benefits. Of course, these benefits also include federally-mandated deductions, like social security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes.

As an afterthought, the editor claimed the “poverty rate dropped from 22.4 percent in 1959 to 12.5 percent in 2007,” mysteriously trying to connect a reduced poverty level with reduced union influence. What he didn’t point out was that 1959 was a recession year, and that between 2000 and 2007, according to the Census Bureau, the poverty rate actually increased from 11.3 percent to 12.5 percent. About 37.3 million Americans are living below the federal poverty level; about 40 percent of all Americans fell beneath the poverty line at least once in the past decade.

Sounding the alarm, the editor tied together Democrats and unions. “[T]he plight of the American worker will grow more dire in the new year, as Democrats push to pass their legislation. . . . The danger is that their union-friendly legislation will hurt rather than help the American economy.” To wrap everything up, the editor of a newspaper with the median circulation of all dailies in America concluded by asking his readers to “consider the current state of the once mighty American auto industry, and ask yourself: What role did the powerful United Auto Workers play in its downfall?”

It’s the workers-and those pesky liberal Democrats-who the editor blames for America’s economic crises. Unfortunately, this editor isn’t alone in his contempt for the workers.

07 Sep 08

• A new language has been discovered.  It is known as Palinguage. and it comes with its own dictionary.  You will enjoy learning this new language.  It has only been recently discovered.  Do feel free to add more words to this language as it is still in the developmental phase.
• Oh Sarah Palin, did you not think that you would make enemies as you stepped on everyone while climbing to the top?  Lyda Green, Republican State Senate President (AK) had this to say about Governor Palin.

“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” said Green, a Republican from Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. “Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”

• Senator Joe Biden was on Talk of the Nation this past Sunday.  He was asked about the Iraq war and he had this to say. What is happening now in Iraq is exactly what he suggested two years ago… the formation of a confederation of States.  He also said that President Bush is now working on a deal with the Iraqis that would set time lines for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, just like Barack Obama’s plan.  Then Joe Biden went on to say that John McCain is the only one that wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely.  So everyone knows that we need to get out of Iraq except John McCain and Sarah Palin.  I’ve said it before and I will say it again.  Poor John McCain is still fighting the Vietnam War.  He never had closer.
• “Media man” John McCain is suddenly against the press.  This is stupid because the press is the way to get free publicity.  Watch this if you don’t believe me.  John McCain can’t take it.  He was scheduled to appear on the Larry King show and after his campaign worker, Tucker, was asked a simple question and couldn’t answer it, John McCain said that he wouldn’t talk to Larry King. This is just like a child saying “I’m taking my toys and going home”.  Grow up, John McCain.  And you too, Sarah Palin.  If you can’t take the heat, then get the hell out of the race.  This is not about you.  This is about America and the American people.