Democrats Duck Bush Torture Probe

As we have said on numerous occasions and numerous blogs, if the Goopers are truly unraveling, just hide and watch the Dembulbs save them.

I know. I've seen this film before and I didn't like it the first or second time around.

Nevertheless, this time it seems a little different. Is someone being blackmailed? BuCheney, Inc have been wiretapping for 8 years. Don't you just know that anyone of the opposition, of whom is perceived as is any threat at all has been wiretapped and something either criminal or embarrassing as hell isn't being held over their heads? (Not that that is an excuse for a truly patriotic, courageous public servant.) LOL, LOL, LOL!

By Jason Leopold
March 30, 2009

Despite now overwhelming evidence that ex-President George W. Bush and many top aides engaged in a systematic policy of illegal torture, national Democrats appear to be shying away from their recommendation last year for a special prosecutor to investigate these apparent war crimes.

Last June, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and 55 other congressional Democrats signed a letter to then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey demanding a special prosecutor to investigate the growing body of evidence that Bush administration officials had sanctioned torture, which had been documented by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Not unexpectedly, Mukasey – a staunch defender of Bush’s theories about expansive presidential powers – ignored the letter. Now, however, despite even more evidence of torture and a Democratic administration in place, the calls for a special prosecutor have grown muted.

Aides to several Democratic lawmakers who signed the June 2008 letter told me that the focus has shifted to the economy and that pressure for a special prosecutor to bring criminal charges over the Bush administration’s past actions could become a distraction to that focus.

They added that the most that now can be expected is either a “blue ribbon” investigative panel such as Conyers proposed earlier this year or a similar “truth and reconciliation commission” as advocated by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. Not a single signer of last year’s letter has stepped forward to renew the demand for a special prosecutor to the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder.

The loss of Democratic interest in a special prosecutor suggests that the signers made the recommendation last year knowing that Mukasey would ignore it but thinking that the letter would appease the Democratic “base,” which was calling for accountability on Bush’s war crimes.

This readiness of Democrats to put the pursuit of bipartisanship over the pursuit of justice – after a victorious election – parallels their actions 16 years ago when President Bill Clinton and a Democratic-controlled Congress swept under the rug investigations of the Reagan-Bush-41 era, such as the Iran-Contra scandal and Iraqgate support for Saddam Hussein. [See Robert Parry’s Secrecy & Privilege.]

However, this time, Bush-43’s apparent violations of international laws prohibiting torture are forcing global demands for action, if the United States fails to live up to its obligations to enforce its own commitment to anti-torture laws and treaties.

Torture is a war crime that carries universal enforcement, which means that prosecutors of other nations can bring charges if the nation directly implicated doesn’t act. In that regard, Spanish investigative judge Baltasar Garzon took the initial steps last week to investigate whether six high-level Bush officials, including key lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee, violated laws against torture.

Torture Results

Also, over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that the waterboarding – or simulated drowning – of “war on terror” suspect Abu Zabaida induced him to provide a host of new leads about al-Qaeda plots, but that his torture-induced claims turned out to be time-consuming dead-ends.

“Not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida’s tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations,” the Post reported.

“Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida – chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates – was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.” [Washington Post, March 29, 2009]

Two weeks ago, other evidence about Bush’s torture policy surfaced when journalist Mark Danner published chilling details from a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross that concluded that the abuse of 14 “high-value” detainees at CIA secret prisons “constituted torture.”

“In addition, many other elements of the ill treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” according to the ICRC report cited by Danner. Since the ICRC’s responsibilities involve ensuring compliance with the Geneva Conventions and supervising the treatment of prisoners of war, the organization’s findings have legal consequence.

The June 2008 letter from Conyers apparently was prompted by the same or similar ICRC findings, citing “several instances of acts of torture against detainees, including soaking a prisoner’s hand in alcohol and lighting it on fire, subjecting a prisoner to sexual abuse and forcing a prisoner to eat a baseball.”

Conyers and the other Democrats told Mukasey then that the ICRC findings alone warranted action but were buttressed by other information that senior Bush administration officials met in the White House to approve the use of waterboarding and other “enhanced techniques” and that “President Bush was aware of, and approved of the meetings taking place.”

The letter added: "This information indicates that the Bush administration may have systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture or otherwise violate the law.

“We believe that these serious and significant revelations warrant an immediate investigation to determine whether actions taken by the President, his Cabinet, and other Administration officials are in violation of the War Crimes Act, the Anti-Torture Act, and other U.S. and international laws.

"Despite the seriousness of the evidence, the Justice Department has brought prosecution against only one civilian for an interrogation-related crime. Given that record, we believe it is necessary to appoint a special counsel in order to ensure that a thorough and impartial investigation occurs."

Still Waiting

Nearly nine months have passed since Conyers and the other Democratic lawmakers sent the letter to Mukasey. Since then, more evidence has piled up implicating at least a dozen senior Bush administration officials in sanctioning a policy of torture.

For instance, in January, Susan Crawford, the retired judge who heads military commissions at Guantanamo, became the highest ranking U.S. official who said the interrogation of at least one detainee at Guantanamo met the legal definition of torture and as a result she would not allow a war crimes tribunal against him to proceed.

Last week, Vijay Padmanabhan, the State Department’s chief counsel on Guantanamo litigation, told the Associated Press that the Bush administration overreacted after 9/11 and set up a policy of torture at the facility.

“I think Guantanamo was one of the worst overreactions of the Bush administration," Padmanabhan told the AP. He criticized other “overreactions” such as extraordinary renditions, waterboarding at secret CIA prisons and "other enhanced interrogation techniques that would constitute torture.”


Meanwhile, other Bush administration veterans, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have spoken openly about their support for and approval of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation methods, although they continued to insist that the tactics did not constitute torture.

During a speech at the University of Texas at Austin recently, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said, "there are things that you can call waterboarding that I am thoroughly convinced are not torture. There are things that you can call waterboarding that might be torture. …

“The point that ought to be understood is that throwing a term around recklessly for its emotional content doesn't really get you anywhere."

In waterboarding, a person is strapped to a board with his head tilted downward and a cloth covering his face. Water is then poured over the cloth forcing the panicked gag reflex associated with drowning. It has been condemned as torture since the days of the Spanish Inquisition and its use has resulted in past criminal prosecutions under U.S. law.

Before leaving office, Vice President Cheney said he approved waterboarding on at least three “high value” detainees and the “enhanced interrogation” of 33 other prisoners. President Bush made a somewhat vaguer acknowledgement of authorizing these techniques.

Admissions of Crimes

Civil rights groups said Bush and Cheney’s comments amounted to an admission of war crimes. The ACLU called on Attorney General Holder two weeks ago to appoint a special prosecutor to launch a probe into the Bush administration's torture practices.

“The fact that such crimes have been committed can no longer be doubted or debated, nor can the need for an independent prosecutor be ignored by a new Justice Department committed to restoring the rule of law,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.

“Given the increasing evidence of deliberate and widespread use of torture and abuse, and that such conduct was the predictable result of policy changes made at the highest levels of government, an independent prosecutor is clearly in the public interest,” Romero said.

Holder has not responded to the ACLU’s request. Over the next several weeks, however, the evidence of torture should continue to mount.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to release a voluminous report on the treatment of alleged terrorist detainees held in U.S. custody and the brutal interrogation techniques they were subjected to, according to Defense Department and intelligence sources.

The declassified version of the report is 200 pages, contains 2,000 footnotes, and will reveal a wealth of new information about the genesis of the Bush administration's interrogation policies, according to these sources. The investigation relied upon the testimony of 70 people, generated 38,000 pages of documents, and took 18 months to complete.

The Justice Department also is expected to release a declassified version of a critical report prepared by its Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigated legal work by former attorneys at the Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the White House on the limits of presidential authority.

The report concluded that three key attorneys – John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury – blurred the lines between an attorney charged with providing independent legal advice to the White House and a policy advocate who was working to advance the administration’s goals, which included a legal justification for torture, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contents of the report are still classified.

On April 2, the Justice Department also is expected to release three still-classified legal opinions that Bradbury wrote in May 2005, reaffirming Bush’s claimed authority to subject “war on terror” prisoners to harsh interrogations.

Jason Leopold has launched his own Web site, The Public Record, at www.pubrecord.org.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

House ignores Bush, rejects $700B bailout bill

Wonder where we would be now, if the Greedy Old Pukes had rejected this drunken frat boy and his evil side-kick, Dick Vader, years ago instead of covering up for them.

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it. The Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 800 points, the most ever for a single day.

Democratic and Republican leaders alike pledged to try again, though the Democrats said GOP lawmakers needed to provide more votes. Bush huddled with his economic advisers about a next step. The House was to reconvene on Thursday instead of adjourning for the year as planned.

Stocks began falling even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor. The 777-point decline for the day surpassed the 721-point previous record, on the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, though in percentage terms it was well short of the drops on Black Monday of October 1987 and at the start of the Depression.

In the House chamber, as a digital screen recorded a cascade of "no" votes against the bailout, Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York shouted news of the falling stocks. "Six hundred points!" he yelled, jabbing his thumb downward.

Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite loud protest from their constituents back home. Not enough members were willing to take the political risk just five weeks before an election.

More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed the bill.

The overriding question for congressional leaders was what to do next. Congress has been trying to adjourn so that its members can go out and campaign for the election that is just five weeks away.

"The legislation may have failed; the crisis is still with us," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a news conference after the defeat.

"What happened today cannot stand," Pelosi said. "We must move forward, and I hope that the markets will take that message."

At the White House, Bush said, "I'm disappointed in the vote. ... We've put forth a plan that was big because we've got a big problem." He pledged to keep pressing for a measure that Congress would pass.

Republicans blamed Pelosi's scathing speech near the close of the debate — which attacked Bush's economic policies and a "right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation" of financial markets — for the vote's failure.

"We could have gotten there today had it not been for the partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House," Minority Leader John Boehner said. Pelosi's words, the Ohio Republican said, "poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get, to go south."

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the whip, estimated that Pelosi's speech changed the minds of a dozen Republicans who might otherwise have supported the plan.

That was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans, said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee: "Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country."

The presidential candidates kept close track — from afar.

In Colorado, Democrat Barack Obama said, "Democrats, Republicans, step up to the plate, get it done."

Republican John McCain spoke with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before leaving Ohio for a campaign stop in Iowa, a spokeswoman said.

The legislation the administration promoted would have allowed the government to buy bad mortgages and other rotten assets held by troubled banks and financial institutions. Getting those debts off their books should bolster those companies' balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan worked, the thinking went, it would help lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering.

Monday's action had been preceded by unusually aggressive White House lobbying, and Fratto said that Bush had been making calls to lawmakers until shortly before the vote.

Bush and his economic advisers, as well as congressional leaders in both parties had argued the plan was vital to insulating ordinary Americans from the effects of Wall Street's bad bets. The version that was up for vote Monday was the product of marathon closed-door negotiations on Capitol Hill over the weekend.

"We're all worried about losing our jobs," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. "Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it — not me.'"

Said Boehner, after the vote: "Americans are angry, and so are my colleagues. They don't want to have to vote for a bill like this. But I have concerns about what this means for the American people, what it means for our economy, and what it means for people's jobs. I think that we need to renew our efforts to find a solution that Congress can support."

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

So, Who Made the Satanic Bargain?

Seems like the answer should condemn members of both parties.

A Devil's Bargain

Thursday 03 July 2008

by: Carolyn Eisenberg, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Carolyn Eisenberg argues that with Congress granting $162 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a major rallying call should be issued for greater grassroots efforts to shatter the silence over holding elected officials accountable and getting the US out of Iraq. (Photo: PDXPeace.org)

With the president's signature now affixed to the bill, the clever deal is done. In exchange for another "blank check" for a year of war, the Democrats have wrested from their Republican colleagues and the White House a host of domestic benefits - tens of billions of dollars in educational funding for returning GIs, a thirteen-week extension of unemployment insurance, millions for Midwest flood relief and other laudable projects. "This shows that even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats can come together," George W. Bush boasted.

Depending on their source of news, few Americans may be aware that Congress has now allocated another $162 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan until next summer. In many media outlets, the only coverage pertained to the new educational benefits for soldiers. But even when the war funding received nominal attention, one would be hard-pressed to find in the mainstream media, or for that matter in the halls of Congress, any critical discussion of this political deal.

With more than 60 percent of the country opposed to the Iraq war and significant majorities saying they want the troops out within a year, this Congress has handed over to President Bush and his successor the right to persist in this failed enterprise. Or, to put the matter bluntly, Congress has just agreed to keep our soldiers in harm's way for another twelve months, killing and dying for no achievable end. Is this worthy of some attention? Perhaps even distress? Should it be a bland assumption, rather than a horrifying fact, that to get the government to provide adequate veterans' benefits, extended unemployment insurance and relief from summer floods, another year of senseless war is approved?

The reality of this dirty Washington trade is far removed from the inspirational rhetoric on the campaign trail. Whether on the stump or in formal debates, the Democrats reliably bring down the house when they denounce the Iraq war and promise to bring the troops home. Such things were also said in 2006, and two years later a Democratic-controlled Congress cannot even agree to a non-binding "goal" for troop withdrawal, let alone a binding deadline.

If challenged, members of Congress may point to the domestic benefits ("a lot of veterans are going to be happy with the United States Senate," claims Senator Jim Webb) and the need to provide support for US soldiers in the field. None of this justifies or explains the failure of Congress to insist upon a plan for taking the troops out of Iraq.

While the mass media have anesthetized the broader public to this moral collapse, there is a parallel numbness among committed antiwar people. The two are related. For years, there has been a virtual blackout of the grassroots organizing all across this country to get Congress to stop the war. Apart from the occasional story about mobilizations on the internet, one would never know about the thousands of local initiatives that have occurred - the vigils on street corners, the sit-ins at Congressional offices, the petitioners in the mall, the lobby visits, phone calls, public forums and confrontations at legislative hearings. Even the progressive media have tended to downplay these developments. Without sufficient news about a vibrant national effort, many individuals who might be inclined to participate feel discouraged and remain at home, while those who have been organizing feel less sense of accomplishment.

Also muffled are the positive results. Paradoxically, this month's vote on war funding holds significance because there were real choices. In actuality, it was not "the Democrats" who produced the recent debacle, but the Congressional leadership and some individuals from both parties. Twenty-six senators voted against war funding, as did one hundred and fifty-five members of the House. That reflected the largely unreported efforts of activists, who relentlessly pressured these legislators to take a firm stand.

As disheartening as the final result might be, it underscores the need for greater grassroots efforts, not less. All government officials, including a future president, will be affected by the unintended consequences of this administration's mistakes. An American withdrawal from Iraq is likely to mean a reduction of influence in a region of vital economic and strategic importance to the United States. Such a choice runs against the historic temptation to rely on military solutions, even when military activity has been demonstrably futile.

Unintended mistakes? I wonder....

I wish I could make as much money off my mistakes as they have theirs.

The only hope for a wiser policy is an aroused public, determined to cut American losses and to hold elected officials accountable for what they do. In an electoral season, we have our work cut out for us. Support for a GI bill or flood relief is no substitute for ending the war - that devil's bargain, which has so far escaped scrutiny. Herein lies the educational task, which can be accomplished. Congressional incumbents have made their record and many count on public ignorance to keep them afloat. To quote a presidential candidate, "not this year, not this time." A crucial task for the peace movement is to shatter the silence.

Carolyn Eisenberg is a professor of US foreign policy at Hofstra University and co-chair of United for Peace and Justice Legislative Working Group. Contact her at hiscze@aol.com.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Has The GOP Lost Its Faith?

Seems once tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, the corporate welfare state and military-mania sours on the tongues of Americans, the GOP has nothing left to offer. They have done about all the damage they can do, this time around, to the nation. What's more is that they may have finally shot themselves in the head with one of there own big guns, leaving a mortal wound.

The media loves nothing better than a neck and neck presidential race, so they will try to create one, whether one actually exists or not. Witness the Democratic Primary, which for all practical purposes, was over months ago. To watch an evening of punditry on Cabal news is much like having night duty a on locked ward in a mental hospital. Nonsensical conversations abound. One pundit will say, "The numbers don't lie, there is no way Hillary can win this nomination." Then, everyone else, so-called experts and analysts go babbling on about how she can, in fact win. Hillary, herself, seems to have gone totally 'round the bend, comparing her campaign to everything from the civil rights struggle to women's rights to, now, the election in Zimbabwe.
Whats' next, Patton's Battle of the Bulge?

For me the real kicker was all the references to election 2000, after which we all called for the abolishment of the electoral college and to allow the popular vote to stand as the will of the people. I remember clearly the new junior senator from N.Y saying that she was against that. Well, of course she was. Abolishing the electoral college would make it almost impossible for the two political parties to play their electoral games of voter manipulation and electoral calculation by state rather than by voter, and rarely have we seen anyone play those games better than the Clintons and the Bushes.

I am still for allowing the electoral college to go the way of the horse and buggy (though the latter may be on its way back). I'm also for another blast from the past; pen and paper ballots. Who cares how much time it takes to count ballots, as long as the count represents the will of the people.

What no one wants is another 2000, because this one will not end as 2000 did, with fake vote counts, Brooks Brothers riots and unconstitutional Supreme Court rulings. We live in an entirely different political world than we did then. I honestly don't believe that the people will stand still for another "stolen election" be it real or imagined. Because of all the shenanigans in the last 4 elections, the American people are finally becoming suspicious of all kinds of elections weirdness, and I can assure my fellow independents that illegal aliens voting is the last of their concerns.

This country is as a powder keg. The tension is so think one could cut it with a knife, even though the politicians continue to smile and wave as if that were not the case. We are all living in something closely resembling the Twilight Zone. Tempers are flaring in the hintertlands, mostly at gas stations, but in other places as well. We, Americans, are all playing pretty fast and lose with what's left of our sanity, and the psychotics in Teevee news land are not helping.

We are headed for a full-blown, national break-down and the folks in the D.C. bubble are either as clueless as they seem or they just aren't reporting it or talking about it in the halls of power.

Sometimes, it is better to just stop resisting and hit bottom. Then, there will be nowhere to go but up. From the ashes the Phoenix does rise., or even better, a humble nation of can-do, courageous people, who long for the country we started out to be and finally see the evils of empire, will emerge. They will see the faces of the monster for which their sons and daughters are killing and dying and who will find their courage, if not their faith, and decide to pull the plug on the whole sociopathic government/corporate protection racket, a better word for which is fascism.

Fascism was not defeated in 1945. It simply moved.

It can't happen here?

It already has.

The only question for American voters now is who can lead us forward from here. Which way do we want to go? Toward peace, social and economic justice, beginning to really think outside the box, without destroying what makes us a people; our constitution? Or do we want to attempt to "shoot the moon" and continue down a path begun by some of the most idiotic people to ever gain power in modern day America with the most horrendous deception and fear-mongering, amounting to the most abject betrayal of the American people in history.

What's worse, it is a betrayal that threatens the whole world, in one way or another, very little of it good.

We, Dear Compatriots, are about to get smacked with the biggest load of karma to hit any nation since WWII. In my lifetime, I have found that when karma rolls around, it is far better to accept my due and be grateful for the profound lessons it offers. Karma is about balance, not punishment or reward. It is the correction of error; the error that caused the imbalance in the first place. Anyone care to guess what that error was? Think about it.

America had gone seriously off the rails. It isn't all that sudden. We have been careening back and forth on a down hill slide for the last 40 years, in many ways. Even in ways where we believe we have made progress, now we find that that progress may have been all for show; skin deep. Or perhaps, now, it is real, deep down, and the breathless reporting of an occult racism and/or sexism, possibly even more poisonous and than that which permeated this country back then, is just typical of today's idea of news reporting.

Sometimes I wonder, how divided are we really? Are we really in the middle of a cold civil war that could turn hot at any moment, or are we simply convinced of that, because it is far more entertaining than the truth of the matter, which is that we are all in the big ship of fools....er....state together, for better or for worse. Some of us who saw the writing on the wall early on have long since, quietly, left the country. Some of us may still leave. But many more will stay, ride it out and do the hard work to begin to turn things around, if that is still possible.

No decision is any better or worse than the other. For those who have left, America may well, one day, need her ex-patriots. For those who stayed, America needs her peacemakers and her conscious citizens, her independent thinkers and, especially, the generation coming of age now.

To them, I say only this, "Make peace with each other, but only an authentic peace; one that does not require that you trash your highest principles, park your brain at the door, or sell out to the highest bidder. Some things should not ever be trashed or be up for sale.

Democracy cannot exist where the people are unwilling to compromise. Compromise and consensus are as necessary to Democracy as oxygen and water are to human life. Nevertheless, when and where one group must always compromise, even their deepest held principles, Democracy does not live anyway, but is only a pretty word, turned into a most dangerous deception.


By P.M. Carpenter

If the Democratic Party thinks it has problems -- which it obviously does, what with its presidential-nomination process so clearly resembling Zimbabwe's and all, or so we're told -- it should pause for a moment and consider its blessings: chief among them, it isn't the GOP.

Now there's a party with problems, from its sitting president with Hooverian popularity to its larger image as "dog food" in need of mass recall.

It's panic time at the Grand Old Party, but I've got to give its operatives credit. "Mum" isn't their word, for they are airing their problems hither, yon and with stentorian force. He of last week's ground-meat metaphor is a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and then yesterday there was this honest assessment in the New York Times from a prominent Republican adviser:

The loss of a congressional seat in Mississippi was only the second most disturbing sign for Republicans last week. The exodus of lobbyists from John McCain’s campaign wasn’t even close. The most ominous warning for what the fall might be like for the GOP was the throng of 75,000 people that Barack Obama turned out for a rally in Portland over the weekend ... [which was] was roughly two-thirds the number of Republicans who participated in the Iowa caucuses this year.

This, as the adviser continued for the benefit of those few still lingering in denial, is "growing and irrefutable evidence of an enthusiasm gap between the two parties."

Something, most Republicans realize, must be done. But what?

Most fortunate for the nation is that they haven't a clue. They are simply stumped, void of new ideas and doubtful of old tricks. Even the House GOP's starting point of a new slogan -- "The change you deserve" -- hit a depressing snag right off the bat. And as anyone familiar with modern politics knows, if one hasn't a spiffy slogan, one can't possibly advance one's cause.

Yet the even bigger problem for the GOP is that the party no longer knows what its cause is, let alone market the bloody thing. This huge bump in the electoral road became blisteringly clear this week as Republican House members convened to consider the thematic fate of their party.

As The Politico reports, "Rank-and-file Republicans met to clear the air Tuesday in a crowded, members-only session on the fifth floor of the Longworth House Office Building. Members who attended said the summit was typical of previous meetings, with lawmakers offering their individual visions for the party but failing to come to a consensus about a way forward."

Upon reading the story, however, what struck me wasn't so much their inability to come to a consensus -- they were, after all, a recently stunned assemblage, meeting as they did on the heels of three special-election losses deep within GOP territory -- but the almost morbidly anemic properties of the ideas that members proposed.

One would think that after suffering such humiliating setbacks, and now clearly seeing the writing on numerous other walls, that Gingrichlike fire-eaters would be coming out of the GOP woodwork, bellowing the newest, latest and hottest in demagogic folderol -- you know, exactly what once put them in power to begin with. But that wasn't the case. No, that wasn't the case at all.

Instead, for instance, no less than the chairman of the oxymoronic Republican Study Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, proposed the utterly nonrevolutionary ideas of "reform[ing] the tax code and a unilateral earmark moratorium." And those were the meeting's blockbusters -- tax codes and earmarks, two items around which no typically uninformed electorate will ever wrap its brain. What's more, even the chairman's colleagues were unenthusiastic, having rejected for obvious reasons "the moratorium proposal on two previous occasions."

And things went downhill from there, ideologically -- which for this party is to say, demagogically -- speaking. For example another House member dusted off his years-old plan for a "suburban agenda," the "new version" of which "includes many of the same policy prescriptions as the original -- college savings accounts and legislation to target online predators -- plus new items, such as a food safety measure." A what? We're talking Rome burning here, and the fire brigade is fiddling and piddling. It's almost sad.

If they really wanted to rouse the multitudes, they would flee from their incumbent party leader and his unrepentant policies with vigorous abandon. They would, that is, agitate for something completely different -- say, real "Fortress America" stuff such as a return to Taftian isolationism and Smoot-Hawley protectionism. They would, in short, turn on an ideological dime, since the electoral worm's sensibilities have already turned.

They wouldn't have to believe any of it or anything like that. After all, they never really have in the past. But need I remind them that this is politics -- Republican politics, which has always excelled at trumping sane or executable policy. So the nuts and bolts of it are entirely beside the point.

We want and we demand, for we have come to expect, nothing but the most spectacular of rabble-rousing from the Grand Old Party. It doesn't have to be calls for Taftian isolationism, if that fails to trip their trigger. They could even stick with some of the old. They could, for instance, insist on invading Ethiopia or something; you know, real empire-reinvigorating Mussolini stuff -- anything but, for heaven's sake, a food safety measure.

Come on, GOPers. Show us some of that old-time political religion.

For personal questions or comments you can contact P.M. at fifthcolumnistmail@gmail.com

THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Down The Tubes

This is How a Republic Falls

by NorthEasternJim

Tue Nov 06, 2007 at 06:29:39 PM PST

This Is How A Republic Falls
James Delinis
November 6, 2007

I sat on the steps of the Supreme Court on a hot, humid day in Washington D.C. this past summer, staring in disbelief at the protest developing around me. The most putrid character participating had to be the tax-exempt televangelist who had arrived in a new-model Mercedes blasting the godless liberals who "have brought ruin to our great country, murdering our babies, inviting God’s terrible judgement." I took a look at the hate-filled faces of the people gathering in anger and volume, and I thought: This is how a Republic falls.

Americans like to think of Washington D.C. as a city that does not represent the "heartland" of America, but in reality it exemplifies exactly what America is, and what it has become. Washington is a city whose geography invites corruption: the eastern boroughs are filled with office buildings that are hard to see from the main roads making it the ideal place for business of a sordid nature to be conducted. Congressmen gather with the lobbyists of defence firms, oil companies, investment banking operations, and media organizations to discuss exactly in what orifice these Congressmen will be willing to take the shaft in exchange for campaign dollars. In return, these cartels have extorted billions more dollars of taxpayer funds from the public coffers, or have killed the progress of legislation meant to reform a system that has long ago surpassed the corrupt and has now entered the obscene. This is how a Republic falls.

As Matt Taibbi recently wrote, "the United States is a massive militarized oligarchy patrolling half the world on borrowed money. Most of the country is dead broke but voting for candidates who campaign on keeping those uppity women in the kitchen, gays in the closet, and Arabs in Guantanamo. Once elected, these people serve their real masters by voting to massively subsidize an American war machine that long ago bought and paid for the federal political system, promising to continue massive tax loopholes that let millions of financial industry types avoid paying any taxes at all, and working to spread disinformation to kill the development of any alternatives to the multi-trillion dollar oil industry. For any candidate to get elected into any federal office, he has to swear by these machines or risk himself be targeted by these forces. Mounting any campaign for a Congressional or Senatorial district requires millions of dollars that can only be raised by cozying up to the aforementioned industries, or risk being destroyed by million dollar ad campaigns."

This is how a Republic falls.

The numbers are staggering: $800 billion a year for the defence budget, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. $9 trillion dollars in debt, mostly to foreign investors. Personal consumers, normal individuals, corporations and families, borrowing almost $1 trillion a year to buy consumer goods that they desperately need to keep up an appearance of affluence. A population that tells pollsters that illegal immigration is their most important concern, yet an open border with Mexico remains, for an open border is needed by the Captains of Industry to recruit cheap labour and keep wages down. This is how a Republic falls
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All of these problems can be fixed, for they are problems of legislation and habit, and these can be surmounted by a population that is determined for reform. That will not happen, because the corruption is in the bone marrow now, spreading to the vital organs even if it remains undetected on the surface by a country that remembers brighter days that they once experienced. Days when they were strong, and proud, and honourable, and free. The days before an entire generation of sociopaths rose to seize control over the levers of power in the most important country that the world has ever known.

This tragedy has to come to a climax, eventually. It may begin with international investors demanding higher interest on the massive loans currently keeping the United States afloat triggering a run on the banks and a collapse of the dollar. Two things will then happen: either the people will turn to genuine reformers who pledge the hard but necessary work to rebuild the country into what it was always meant to be, or a clever political leader will manipulate the fears of the people, manipulate their anger at what has transpired, and turn what was a beautiful Republic into a despotic Empire, with terrible consequences for the entire world. These are the days that we are living in, this is the fate of the Rome of our time. This is how a Republic falls.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Hillary's High Negatives and High Poll Numbers, Nationally

Adds up to something no one really wants to admit? Maybe. As the primaries unfold, we will have to face it, if it's true

Zogby’s recent poll asking “Whom would you NEVER vote for president?” was kind of mischievous, wasn’t it? But if I were a member of the Democratic National Committee, not to mention a congressional Democrat, I’d be sweating bullets over it.

A neat 50% claim they would never, even under pain of waterboarding (kidding), cast their presidential vote for Hillary Clinton.

“Never say never,” Howard Dean or the Democratic Leadership Council’s Harold Ford might say. That may have been right seven months ago when 46, not 50%, claimed they would never vote for Hillary. But now, at a time, when other polls show her pulling ahead of Senator Obama in the Democratic race, it’s looking more like “Always say never.”

Worse, her campaign is beginning to emit the stench of Bob Dole’s 1996 Republican presidential run. You know — hand her the nomination because it’s owed her. In his case, likely payback for key votes he swung the way of congressional colleagues. In hers, out of appreciation to the Clintons for their magic touch raking in money.

Dole never had a chance because of poor funding, his caustic personality and, of course, because he was running against a popular president, Hillary’s husband. Meanwhile, she’s been polling well against leading Republican candidate Giuliani. But, as one commentator explained, it just may be because voters are becoming resigned to her.

The cynicism of such a strategy notwithstanding, Democratic leadership forgets there’s little margin of error because of the likelihood that Republicans will engineer widespread voter fraud again.

Can anyone BE so stupid? That would make the Clintonites and/or the Democratic leadership dumber than a box of Bushites.

I can't figure this one out either.

Chairmen of a number of House and Senate committees have made it very hard for the most IQ challenged among us aware that the Republicans know, deep in their rotten little souls that they cannot win with smart or even acceptable policy; foreign or domestic, especially if they tell the truth about it. They know that in order to ever obtain one party rule in America, after the hellish years of Junior and Dick, they have to steal election and election.

If nothing else, the Dems have made it crystal clear that the GOP is being watched by huge bevies of hawks (not war hawks), both in and out of government and to that I can testify.. Their world is going to fall on them in 2008. If they try to steal one more election, the whole damn galaxy will squash them like the despicable cockroaches that they are. There can be nothing more despicable that election theft in a Democracy, with the obvious exception of assassination.

Why is it that we hear so little about election theft in the MSM, including the press. There has been a bit of a fire storm about the attempt by the GOP to change the way California counts its electoral votes, no longer giving all to the winner, obviously splitting up the vote, giving the GOP a very good chance of winning that heavily populated state. California is not as tru-blue as some commentators would have us believe. Southern California is heavily Republican, though far more moderate that those who are representing them in Washington now, with the exception of the immigration and border security issues; more fear/hate issues, the GOP can always count on those two lovely character traits, it seems.

So why are the Democrats committing suicide, dragging our nation right along with them, if that is, indeed, what they are doing? Is it possible that the Clintons own the touch-tones this time. There are quite a few GOP movers and shakers who seem to have suddenly developed the wildest crushes on Hillary. Bill has spent more than the required amount of time with America's Number One Crime Family. WTF is going on with that any how?

I would be willing to bet that if Hillary wins, even by a landslide, not likely in today's politics, all investigations of the Bush administration will go away, just as Iran/Contra did, even when the investigators knew that Poppy was the one who was really responsible for most of that horrible skulduggery. Bush I was also the first president to pardon members of his predecessor, Reagan's, and his own administrations that could put the finger on him and everyone knew it.

With the exception of Brad Blog, there just isn't much coverage between elections, even in the blogosphere, though there has been more since 2005 when it became clear to most of us who were following ElectionTheft 2004 that Kerry had been had, along with John Edwards and every American who voted for Kerry or against Bush.

It's hard to figure out what Democrats are thinking these days. Maybe they are hoping that the GOP will self-destruct. That is a very dangerous strategy...putting politics and party above country and constitution, because if it becomes evident that that is what they are doing, the Donkey will implode as well. Even worse, if it becomes obvious that there is collusion between the Bushites, NeoCons and the Clintonite/DLCers, they will all be lucky to get out of the country.

Hillary’s campaign seems to have developed a mind of its own. Is there any way to stop it before it leads the Democratic party over a cliff only to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below?

Sadly, I doubt it.

For more like this: sandrogues.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/following-hillary-over-a-cliff/#more-1038

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Lincoln Was The First Republican President.

......will Bush be the last?

It would be reason for great celebration if both national parties broke into smaller, more honest entities. Who the hell knows what it means when someone calls himself a Republican? One must wonder: Is he religiously insane, a corporate sociopathic thug of some kind or a garden variety conservative/libertarian.

The Democrats are just as bad. They may be the oldest political party, but they have morphed again and again. I think that is why they can't get their message out now. Do they have one?

As an over-the-hill American who still believes in our founding principles and who also believes that America should be about realizing those principles; manifesting them, right here, and now. Of course, we haven't managed to accomplish this feat yet, but we must never stop trying, let alone declare war on them, as this administration has done.

If the GOP actually implodes in 2008, I'll do my best to see that the Democrats follow shortly. Neither of these political parties have shown that they know what the issues of the masses are let alone are inclined to do anything about any of them other than pay lip service.

They whine about the coming insolvency of social security, yet fail to mention hat it isn't working now. Do you know that there are disabled people in this country who are required to lice n slightly more than $400/month. That's right. I said month, not week

We need several political parties that better reflect what its members really believe when it comes to governance.

The only way to get there is through public financing of campaigns. Why, pray tell, must our campaign for president, in particular, resemble a drunken circus rather than the most important, sober and responsible thing we do, every two years. Less money, less circus. (While we are at it, let's shorten the campaign considerably. Less money, less circus time.)

Who won't be sick and tired of everyone of these candidates for president by the time November 2009 rolls around, even the ones we like might like today?

As with the Republicans, one never knows with whom one is dealing when someone says they are a Democrat. What the hell does that mean, anymore? One must ask oneself, OK, is this a nanny-stater who is more busy trying to save me from myself or who gets it and knows that huge business cannot be left to self-regulate, as they are bottom-lie-feeders, who could care less if your toddler gets led poisoning or your whole family get wiped out by an exploding tire while your gas-guzzling Urban Assault vehicle is clipping down the highway at 80MPH like a fireball straight out of hell?

Is this a Blue-dog Democrat? I'm not sure who these guys are, but I think they are against the war in Iraq or the way it has been prosecuted. Other than that, they are every bit as conservative as their hero, Saint Ronnie.

Is this a cult-of-Clinton Democrat? These people are either mesmerized by the Clintons, for reasons I have yet to figure out or they fondly remember the relative calm, prosperity and peace of the Clinton years after 6 1/2 years of the Bushites, or they would love nothing better than to see Hillary win and jam it down the throats of the miserable Goopers who hate her with a hatefulness I can only term pathological.

I don't concern myself much with the so-called Bush-haters, because I really don't believe there are many of them. Fox Noise would have us believe that there are thousands of psychotic Democrats frothing at their mouths, while trying to scale the wall around the White House grounds, but that is not true. There are millions who despise his policies and to such a degree that they can in no way support them, but not so many can muster the energy to hate George W. Bush. It is a waste of time and energy; hate makes you sick after awhile. It rots your heart.

Then there are the liberal Democrats. They should be in a party by themselves. What in hell do they have in common with the Blue dogs over the long haul. They may agree on Iraq, but that's about it.

I'm not sure what I am anymore, except independent. I came of age at another place in time when we were lied into a war of aggression by a Democrat and kept in that horrid quagmire by the lies of a Republican. The current quagmire will be just the opposite I fear, except worse. Bush got us into it. Is Clinton the Democrats' Richard Nixon; will she keep us in it, while pretending to get out. It won't work, Hillary. There will be too many eyes upon you.

You see, there are very good reasons why I don't trust either of the current major political parties and have remained independent all these years.

October 6, 2007

The Death of a Political Party

By Mike Kuykendall

I have posted a few times on how I believe the Republican party is in dire trouble, and without modifying their base of support, it is possible they could reduce themselves to a minority party for decades to come. That is if they don't disintegrate completely.

As you can expect every post in that vein has drawn freepers out like cockroaches when the lights go out. It infuriates them for me to even hint that the GOP is fallible, much less mortal and thus able to die.

As a history lesson to those who may not have been awake during American Government (for me it was Social Studies) I'd like to present a couple of American political parties that have gone down the same road. Take a look and see if you can catch any similarities between the demise of these parties and current goings-on;

Federalist Party- Formed by Alexander Hamilton and pals, this party started in 1793 and met its end anywhere from 1816 to somewhere in the 1820's, depending on which historian you talk to. In a sense this party died when Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel;

After John Adams, their candidate, was elected president in 1796, the Federalists began to decline. The Federalists' suppression of free speech under the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the assumption of closer relations with Britain instead of France, inflamed Jeffersonian Republicans. In 1801 Jefferson, with Vice President Aaron Burr at his side, assumed the presidency.

The Federalists feared and hated Jefferson, but partly due to infighting, they were never able to organize successful opposition. A last great hope -- that the New England states would secede and form a Federalist nation -- collapsed when Jefferson won a landslide reelection in 1804, thanks to the Louisiana Purchase. Alexander Hamilton was left with little power -- and with no choice but to meet Aaron Burr on the dueling ground in hope of reviving his political career. But Hamilton was doomed, and so was his party. The Federalists would never again rise to power.

Whig Party- Formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson in 1832, this party lasted until 1856;

In its 26-year existence, the Whig Party saw two of its candidates elected President of the United States—Harrison and Taylor—and saw Harrison die in office. Four months after succeeding Harrison, Whig President John Tyler was expelled from the Party, and Millard Fillmore was the last Whig to hold the nation's highest office.

The party was ultimately destroyed by the question of whether to allow the expansion of slavery to the territories. Deep fissures in the party on this question led the party to run Winfield Scott over its own incumbent President Fillmore in the U.S. presidential election of 1852. The Whig Party never elected another President. Its leaders quit politics (as Lincoln did temporarily) or changed parties. The voter base defected to the Republican Party, various coalition parties in some states, and to the Democratic Party.

The main similarities here are elitist parties suffering after huge nationalized failures (pushing secession to avoid Jefferson or trying to expand slavery.) Not too different than driving the country over a cliff following ephemeral and constantly shifting policies justifying the war in Iraq, or any of the other issues the Bush administration has been pushing.

One thing to remember after today's history lesson; even political parties don't last forever. Well, strike that- maybe some do (emphasis mine);

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is the oldest active political party in the world today.

The party of Jefferson, formed in 1792, carries on today fighting for the rights of everyday people. Any other interest is transitory; only progressive movements will stand the test of time.


Authors Website: http://indigentahole.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Mike Kuykendall is a progressive, patriotic veteran of the U.S. Air Force, fighting hard to save our democracy.


(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

We Are Under Attack

I understand just how Timothy feels.

October 3, 2007

America is Under Attack from Within!

By Timothy V. Gatto

I want to preface this article with this; I am really not in the mood to write this. Usually something hits me and I run to the keyboard and offer up what’s on my mind, and it gives me a kind of relief that I got it off my chest and whatever I was angry about isn’t eating my guts alive. This is different. For days now I have been in a funk that is just unbelievable. I feel hopeless and betrayed not only by my own government, but also by the people that I encounter in my daily life.

What I want to say here, no, what I have to say here, is that this country, our very way of life and everything we ever stood for, is under attack. It isn’t “Radical Islam” that is attacking the very fabric of our society, it’s the people running our government, our media, and the people in the shadows that run the corporations and the banks, along with the so-called “think tanks” that make policy. We in the United States are under attack from so many different sectors that it is almost impossible to point your finger at anyone that is taking this nation down the sewer of fascism. You have the right wing of the Republican Party, the right wing of the Democratic Party. Then you have Fox and CNN and ABC, MSNBC and a host of other media that won’t step on the toes of their corporate sponsors. Then you have the Federal Reserve that is run by a private corporation that lends the government their own money at interest and a few families that own America grow exponentially richer by the day.

Then you have these groups like this new group “Freedom’s Watch” that is one of the greatest oxymoron’s in history. These are right wing radicals that believe nothing for individual freedom that started their organization with a paltry 200 Million dollars from sources they don’t dare to identify. The people that run this organization are former White House staffers. Freedoms Watch is described in Wikipedia:

Freedom's Watch is an advocacy group in part run and supported by former officials of the Bush administration. [1] The organization states that its goal is "educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America’s interests at home and abroad, foster economic prosperity, and strengthen families." [2] The Freedom's Watch website states, "Those who want to quit while victory is possible have dominated the public debate about terror and Iraq since the 2004 election. Freedom's Watch is going to change that."

In case you want to know who is behind them here is a list of executives and donors:
The Washington Post lists the following members and donors for Freedom's Watch:

* Bradley A. Blakeman (president, a former deputy assistant to George W. Bush).
* Ari Fleischer (board member, former Bush press secretary).
* Matthew Brooks (board member, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition).
* Mel Sembler (donor, former ambassador to Italy who helped finance the 2000 Florida recount battle).
* John Templeton Jr. (donor, board member of the Templeton Growth Fund and financier of Let Freedom Ring).
* Sheldon Adelson (donor, CEO Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the third-richest American in Forbes magazine's rankings last year).
* Kevin E. Moley (donor, former U.S. ambassador to international organizations in Geneva, and a senior adviser to Dick Cheney during the 2000 campaign).
* Howard Leach (donor, CEO Leach Capital and former ambassador to France who also helped fund the Florida Recount).
* Anthony Gioia (donor, head of Gioia Management and former ambassador to Malta).
* Richard Fox (donor, co-founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition).
 Gary Erlbaum (donor, owner of Greentree Properties).

Quite a list of Who’s Who in American Fascism. This is just one of the groups that want to make sure that the Progressive/Liberals are shut out of mainstream society. Their website looks like the “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln when Bush made that ridiculous speech that “Combat operations are over in Iraq”. See it here and tell me if the symbols and colors aren’t right in line with a fascist ideology.
http://freedomswatch.org/ .

Even as we speak the right is spinning tales about Iran in preparation for an attack. One must wonder whom exactly will that attack benefit? Will it benefit the American people when the straits of Hormuz are shut down and gas rises to four bucks a gallon? When are forces are spread so thin and our men are exhausted from fighting one tour after another in a combat zone what exactly do they hope to gain? Meanwhile Bill Kristof and the demonizers on FOX TV spread misinformation at the speed of light while the other networks soft-shoe it so they won’t antagonize their corporate sponsors, the average American that doesn’t read liberal/progressive websites believes that Iran is where Satan reigns supreme.

I recently attended a Move-On meeting right here in the belly of the beast, South Carolina. I met people that are genuinely concerned about the same things that I am concerned about. The only difference between them and I is that I was born and raised in New York and I really don’t give a damn what people think about me. These people at the meeting were afraid to speak to their neighbors and friends about the policies of our government for fear of being ostracized. The Baptists here give sermons about the evils of Islam and our “duty” to combat our enemies. This isn’t endemic to South Carolina, not at all… it’s rampant across the Midwest and the rest of the South to include Texas. This nation is under attack from the extreme right and they are winning.

The most noteworthy thing that I took from the Move-On meeting was that we should not “confront” those against the war, but to speak gently. How do you speak gently to a population that believes we are “helping” the Iraqi people when in fact we are committing genocide there? This is why I didn’t want to write this article. I have been so angry for so long that the anger is starting to turn inward. Unless people get their head out of their ass and start to make some noise, not on Progressive websites, but in the Newspapers, in noisy demonstrations, by boycotts and by telling the truth to their family and neighbors we are going to lose this fight, and believe me when I tell you this is the fight of our lives.

Trying to be civil isn’t the way we are going to shape this nation’s destiny. We are outgunned, and outnumbered, not to mention the fact that we are out-resourced. Just about the only way we are going to turn the tide in this country is by screaming the truth in the ears of anyone that will listen. The time for politeness is over. It’s time that we make our presence visible and meaningful, even if it takes getting arrested over and over again. This is a fight that we cannot lose, for if we lose this fight we lose our freedom and we lose everything that is good about America. Once I was a career soldier in our nation’s Army, now I am a career activist against all that is wrong with our nation. Ten years ago I was left of center. Today I am part of “The Radical Fringe Left”. My views haven’t changed, the nation’s views have changed, I’m the same man, and with the same beliefs I always had. I will work with Move-On, or any other Progressive Americans to change people’s views, one mind at a time. To do anything else is to turn my back on my country, for if ever my country needed me it is now. America needs you too.

That’s the way I see it.




Authors Website: http://liberalpro.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Now That Both Political Parties Are On The Verge Of Destruction...

What's Next?

Provided there isn't total destruction: Get rid of the outdated electoral college, Publically finance all campaigns, build more political parties.

September 28, 2007

By W. Christopher Epler (Bill)

NEITHER party will survive the now totally successful Bush/fascist coup d'etat.

The Democratic base is now predominantly liberal/progressive, but the "Democratic Party" is a DLC beltway nightmare. People like the DLC Hillary Clinton Doll are quite literally HATED by most of what used to be called Democrats. At great expense, effort, and sacrifice, progressives elected a 2006 Democratic Congress, but cowards and traitors like Nancy Peloci and Harry Reid converted this passionately hard won advantage into toilets down which they eagerly flush the slightest trace of liberal values and policies.

The "lunatic fringe" of the Republican Party has castrated the loyal opposition to what were formerly mainstream Democrats. The creative polarity between these two parties has ceased to exist. "Radicals" (that dirty word Republicans used to call Democrats) have eaten the Republican Party alive, with pathological religious fanatics babbling about Armageddon (the Baptist Big Bang) and vampire Texas energy companies raping Mother Nature to the verge of extinction. Said differently, it has been wisely pointed out that we rescued Europe from fascism twice, but now the fascists are HERE and no one is going to rescue us.

Other variables must include the neocon cabal which has direct associations with similarly lunatic fringe right wing Israelis. Hence, via this cabal, our national policy has been reduced to the tail wagged by the dog of another country. Indeed, this cabal is now virtually a 3rd Party in American Politics. The irony that a successful American 3rd Party is not based in America is infinite. At the very least, it utterly dominates what used to be the Republican Party, contributing to the inevitable death of the "American" Republican Party.

What happened to the Democratic Party is still something of a mystery. It has been obvious for years that the Democratic "Leadership" Council is a lapdog of America's Dictatorship of the Rich, but even with their limitless funding, the TOTAL disconnect between the DLC and the great majority of passionate progressives is a wonder to behold. And here again, the dog is wagging the tail, since DLC Democrats (a contradiction in terms) have tons of money, but relatively few members. A nearly exact comparison between the DLC and most Americans is that of the fascist collaborators in France during WW2.

It will take the highest quality poet combined with the highest quality historian to do justice to the boggling fact that the Neocon "Third Party" is all of a piece with the American 4th Reich -- a direct, and perhaps inevitable, extension of Germany's WW2 3rd Reich. Perhaps we should call our would be fascist masters the Neocon Reich.

It's interesting to speculate that since the neocon cabal has killed the Republican Party and the DLC has killed the Democratic Party, and since "establishment politics" is the modus operandi by which America's elites (1% or less) manipulate all the rest of us, one wonders what will happen now that establishment politics will no longer be a millstone around our necks.

*****************************************************************

W. Christopher Epler (Bill)

Authors Website: www.theliberationofrealism.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: A liberal American, PhD mathematician, bipedal Earthling.


(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.