The torture never stops.

With the moral and ethical standing of the United States at an all time low, this administration and its rubber stamp republican Congress has made it perfectly legitimate for Our soldiers to be tortured by their captors, according to what the president decides that to mean on any given day, they can be detained indefinitely after their arrest, I mean abduction since there doesn't have to be any charges, and if/when they do go to the "military tribunal", hearsay evidence from people who would probably say anything for fear of drowning, electricution, or being eaten by dogs will be admissable (as long as it was prior to Dec. 2005 or as I call them, with bile in my throat, the abu ghraib days). And of course the bill, passed by this pathetic Congress (Friggin' Menendez was a yeah), retroactively allows all the felonies committed and okayed by this administration, the CIA, and others against the War Crimes Act. A very slippery slope indeed. At least they are not allowed to rape and kill prisoners anymore, right?

Not that I'm surprised. I mean the War, being covered on page 15 (if at all), is costing us $2,000,000,000.00 a week. Iraq, where new laws (some verbatim from saddam's) ban any journalist to write out against the government, is, according to a National Intelligence Estimate given to little bushco. in April, a "cause celebre" for terrorists. Not to mention that most Iraqis don't just want us Out of Their country, but most Iraqis are actually okay with attacks on Our troops. Why not Let Democracy rule george junior? Let's have the Iraqis vote on whether we stay or go.

I'm sorry, but it all makes me sick.

This illegal and unneccesary war based on nothing but oil and vengence.

The lies told by this administration during the lead up to the war that pulled Our resources from Afghanistan, bin laden, etc.,

The propaganda campaigns perpetrated by Our government.

Its ties to corrupt capitalists.

The ever increasing ties to corrupt lobbyists.

The leaking of classified information.

The changing of history.

The okaying of torture.

The 5 days it took to get a helicopter to the drowning poor people in New Orleans.

Are these not high crimes or misdeanors? If not, are they not examples of an administration, incompotent and unable to lead. The oath sworn is an oath to "uphold the Constitution of the United States". Mr. bush has not. But it was Clinton who got a BJ (NSFW but a hilarious song/video).

So On Clinton, on Oberman, on Gore, and on Riekhoff! On generals, On Craiglist guy, on Obama, and on Leahy. On Carter, on Feingold, on Greenwald, and on Oberman (again). And of course on Stewart.

At times it feels like all we can do is watch, but we can do more. We can type. We can talk. We can yell. We can spend according to our beliefs. And we can vote. And that's just what I'm going to do.

Down with the bush administration and the rubber stamps wimps who support it.

Surprise and the UN

Iraq is getting deadlier. Afghanistan is getting worse. And Darfur is still in a state of "genocide" that the president acknowledged some time ago, but has yet to do anything substantial about. I wonder what rover's "October surprise" could be.

Maybe the surprise will come in form of osama bin laden, whose capture the president has flipped flopped from "wanted dead or alive" to "not that concerned about him" on. Maybe that's why Pakistan was allowed to make the deal with the Taliban/al qaeda buds on it's border. You know, because they finally got him.

Wouldn't we all be surprised if it was announced that the president understands that the Geneva Conventions should not be circumvented. Realizing that doing so legitimizes acts of torture and inhumane treatment, which would then be allowed to be inflicted on our men and women in or out of uniform, not to mention what circumventing the Geneva Convention does to Our already diminished ethical and moral standing in the world.

And speaking of that standing, maybe the surprise will be in the form of foreign dignitaries, aside from Prime Minister blair, once again standing by the United States because of changes in this administration's (strike first) doctrine and (hands off unless there's oil) foreign policy. It pains me to agree with leaders who rule with an iron fist, who do not allow Freedom of Speech in their own country, when they say the president talks "as the owner of the world". It pains me to understand the hypocrisies of Our Country's "behavior" in the world, especially when that idea is brought up from a man that denies the existence of the holocaust. It pains me even more when the United Nations, itself, condemns the policy of Our president. We must lead by example. We must inspire. I fear that we are becoming one of "them".

Speaking of what pains me, the surprise certainly would be welcome if it came in the form of ending the massive killing and ethnic cleansing going on in Darfur. 400,000 people killed. More than 2,000,000 refugees forced from their homes. Does it really take George Clooney to tell us what the right thing to do is?

It would be a surprise if the president came out, like the pope has, and apologize for enraging a religion's worth of people with his comments about "islamic fascists" and the "third awakening" of christianity.

Condemning military coups, like the recent one in Thailand, and supporting the democratically elected government would certainly be a surprise.

I guess we'll see what the surprise turns out to be. My guess is it'll be about something nobody is talking about right now. I wish he would surprise us all and resign.

Docu-dramas, allies, and more

With another superior "special comment" for Keith Obermann fresh in mind (This time about bush, aka shrub). I look onto my "internets" for the trials and tribulations of a body politic and a nation divided...

First there was bush admitting to the cia secret prisons that the Supreme Court shot down and the Washington Post reported on and were called treasonous for. The president, who approved of this unconstitutional illegality, called on Congress to set the rules five years into our detention and interrogation of prisoners. Can anyone say mid-term elections?

Of course we've all heard the about the "docu-drama" "Path to 9/11" that literally makes stuff up and improvises to blame clinton for things leading to the biggest terrorist attack on US soil that occurred on bush's watch, while of course omitting the seven minute reading of My Pet Goat or the August 2001 memo reading "Bin Laden determined to strike in US". There's plenty-o-crap on the abc/disney GOP-u-drama out there. At this point with scholastic pulling the "educational" accompaniment out of high schools and former President Clinton howlin' at mickey mouse's handlers abc might actually pull the whole thing.

With the exception of the Simpsons 18th Season Premiere, I don't think I'll be watching much TV at all this weekend or Monday for that matter. Personally, I remember the attacks of September 11, 2001 very well, and if I forget them I can always look at the pictures I took that morning from across the Hudson River. Pictures of rising smoke, falling towers, and flying flags. I don't need a re-run of CNN's broadcast to remind my heart and mind of the shock and sorrow they felt that day, nor do I need the primetime speech from Our pet goat.

Speaking of the campaigner in chief, I would like to take a moment to agree with the R rated (at least) Rude Pundit's take on how the administration's "pedantic Nazi/Commie/Jihadi comparisons". I agree that they "have succeeded in elevating the status of Bin Laden and other terrorists to epic proportions." The nazis could have taken over an entire continent. The soviet union HAD the fire power to blow up the world. Not to belittle what happened five years ago Monday, but when put up against the destruction caused by state sponsored armies during WWII, et al. I mean let's step back, take a breath from the fear mongering and see what we have here. These "terrorists" are delusional, religious psychotics more akin to a network of serial killers than global powers.

But let's get back to the matter/issue at hand....
The war in Iraq will now cost us $63,000,000,000.00 more thanks to this administration. At least our allies are sticking by us, right? Wait, has Pakistan really signed a truce with the Taliban/al Qaeda harborers on their border? Quite the ally in the fight against terror, huh? And poor prime minister Blair. It looks like lap dog tony will go before bush, after feeling the pressure from his own party. If only the reds had the balls of England's Labour party.

So no I don't give a damn what Suri Cruise looks like or if karl rove's stepdad was gay.... wait what?

I do care about the fact that Rocky's back on the Art Museum steps in Philly and that Bob Dylan's #1 for the first time in 30 years!

I did said over 4 and 1/2 years ago that the air quality in lower Manhattan was no good after the attacks and now there's a memo to prove it.

Afghanistan is getting worse and worse. You remember Afghanistan, the country that actually was harboring terrorists and did have connections with al qaeda.

And finally, speaking of ties to al qaeda, the red headed Senate Intelligence committee has found that saddam did NOT have any ties to zarqawi and "his associates" (al qaeda)

Have a Nice Weekend.