Funeral of a Hero; Millions Mourn, Pay their Respects

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Today's Look at Iraq

A new National Intelligence Estimate:

The last time the CIA produced a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, George W. Bush said the agency was "just guessing as to what conditions might be like" in the country. That was in 2004, and the Bush administration has been dragging its feet on a new NIE ever since. As Ken Silverstein reported for Harper's last July, John Negroponte had put the brakes on the production of a new NIE because he knew that "any honest take on the situation would produce an NIE even more pessimistic than the 2004 version" that Bush had rejected.

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But pray tell (or WTF) does this mean "Bush rejected"? How does one without direct knowledge "reject" research findings? I mean, you know, if policy was made on the basis of anything other than simple beliefs, shibboleths, prejudices, biases, etc. -- anything other than facts.

(Of course, we all know the solution is out there: the solution for an insurgency is to do as much as possible to deal with the bases, that is, what's getting the insurgents, or at least their supporters and sources of future insurgents pissed. Of course, in Iraq's case, the primary basis is tribal hatred and intolerance. That's a bitch to deal with, particularly with a weak mis-structured government but a "surge" is no solution to nothing.)

And my God, how quickly a weakened and scared GOP turns on its leaders from yesterday. Here -- massive flip-flopping from the paragons of principle, including our straight talking Next Leader.

And what our former Supreme Commander for All Things Iraq has to say for himself as he tries for the final pre-retirement post of Chief of Staff.

Molly Ivins' Last Words

Stand Up Against the "Surge"
By Molly Ivins, AlterNet
Posted on January 12, 2007

The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that we simply cannot let it continue.

It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost. Gen. John P. Abizaid, until recently the senior commander in the Middle East, insists that the answer to our problems there is not military. "You have to internationalize the problem. You have to attack it diplomatically, geo-strategically," he said.

His assessment is supported by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who only recommend releasing forces with a clear definition of the goals for the additional troops.

Bush's call for a "surge" or "escalation" also goes against the Iraq Study Group. Talk is that the White House has planned to do anything but what the group suggested after months of investigation and proposals based on much broader strategic implications.

About the only politician out there besides Bush actively calling for a surge is Sen. John McCain. In a recent opinion piece, he wrote: "The presence of additional coalition forces would allow the Iraqi government to do what it cannot accomplish today on its own -- impose its rule throughout the country. ... By surging troops and bringing security to Baghdad and other areas, we will give the Iraqis the best possible chance to succeed." But with all due respect to the senator from Arizona, that ship has long since sailed.

A surge is not acceptable to the people in this country -- we have voted overwhelmingly against this war in polls (about 80 percent of the public is against escalation, and a recent Military Times poll shows only 38 percent of active military want more troops sent) and at the polls. We know this is wrong. The people understand, the people have the right to make this decision, and the people have the obligation to make sure our will is implemented.

Congress must work for the people in the resolution of this fiasco. Ted Kennedy's proposal to control the money and tighten oversight is a welcome first step. And if Republicans want to continue to rubber-stamp this administration's idiotic "plans" and go against the will of the people, they should be thrown out as soon as possible, to join their recent colleagues.

Anyone who wants to talk knowledgably about our Iraq misadventure should pick up Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone." It's like reading a horror novel. You just want to put your face down and moan: How could we have let this happen? How could we have been so stupid?

As The Washington Post's review notes, Chandrasekaran's book "methodically documents the baffling ineptitude that dominated U.S. attempts to influence Iraq's fiendish politics, rebuild the electrical grid, privatize the economy, run the oil industry, recruit expert staff or instill a modicum of normalcy to the lives of Iraqis."

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

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Today's Iraq Round-Up

Look look look!! There are benchmarks. Of course, question is: Are we doing anything to enable the nascent Iraq government to meet them? (And if so, what?)

Spot the Difference

President Hugo Chavez was granted free rein Wednesday to accelerate changes in broad areas of society by presidential decree, a move critics said propels Venezuela toward dictatorship.

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Given the Bush administration’s record of ignoring scientific findings that don’t match its ideological views, the public should be skeptical of President Bush’s directive last week ordering that political appointees run the regulatory policy offices at federal agencies. * * * ...Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told the New York Times that "the executive order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions on health and safety issues, even if the government’s own impartial experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for special interests."

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An answer of sorts is here.

But the short answer: Our Leaders are just perfect even if they hate everything about the US except the opportunity to engage in absolute greed.

State of Our Leader; How He's Looking

Not so good....



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Today's Video: Our Next Leader Lies When He Refers to his "Straight Talk Express"; First Hint: Flip Flopping is not Straight Talk

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Even the New Military Head of the Iraq Fandango Doesn't Fully Agree with Our Leaders

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The Real Surge is Already Here

The Bush Administration is employing private armies to fight in Iraq. These "private military contractors," that is, mercenaries, are often ex-U.S. special forces soldiers with additional paramilitary training operating below the radar. Their legal status in Iraq falls under neither civilian nor military jurisdiction, and they earn far more money than American troops.

This may sound crazy, but it's all true. Not all "contractors" are civilian truck drivers or mechanics.

The five Americans killed in the helicopter incident last week were employed by the largest military contractor company and war-profiteer, Blackwater, just like the contractors killed and mutilated on the Fallujah bridge in 2004. In his movie "Iraq for Sale," Robert Greenwald exposes the shady dealings between Blackwater and the government. The company was founded by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and heir to a billion-dollar fortune, and who also happens to be an ultra-Christian Republican campaign donor. Blackwater is still operating under a $300 million State Department no-bid contract to guard administrator L. Paul Bremer in Iraq, among other contracts.

The problem is that there is zero transparency with such private companies since their actions, costs, and casualties are not reported like military information is. Often their work takes place under multiple layers of sub-contracting. According to Jeremy Scahill of the Nation Institute, there are about 100,000 contractors in Iraq, of which 48,000 work as private soldiers. The Myrtle Beach Sun-News reported on 12/26/06 that as of last October, a whopping 646 U.S.-financed contractors had been killed in Iraq, a relatively high percentage of troop deaths. Further, every private contractor is insured by the U.S. taxpayers because of two WWII-era laws.

But it's not just about the money; it's about what these mercenaries are doing when nobody is watching. On 1/11/07 the Virginian-Pilot reported that a Blackwater contractor shot and killed an Iraqi security officer, but that no charges were ever filed. In fact, no private contractor has ever been charged for any illegal conduct in Iraq, in part because of "a legal gray area, in which it's uncertain whether they're subject to civilian law, military law or neither."

The problem of out of control contractors has become such a problem that U.S. Rep. David Price (D-NC) has introduced legislation to bring transparency and accountability to private contractors, and subjects them to oversight in civilian courts. "The lack of a legal framework for battlefield contracting has allowed certain rogue contractor employees to perpetrate heinous criminal acts without the threat of prosecution," Price said.

It turns out that the Fallujah incident itself also has some question marks behind it. On 9/29/06 the Raleigh News & Observer reported that congressional testimony regarding the incident revealed that the Army had not actually authorized Blackwater to guard convoys or carry weapons. "One unsolved mystery at the hearing," the newspaper notes, "was whether Blackwater . . . was ultimately working for U.S. taxpayers when its contractors were killed." The families of the Fallujah victims are currently suing Blackwater for wrongful death.

With tens of thousands of completely unregulated American mercenaries at his disposal, George Bush commands a considerably larger military presence in Iraq than most people realize. It is important to remember that each of these people are American citizens - at least one of the recent helicopter casualties was fresh out of the Marines. However, there are serious problems with subcontracting national defense to private corporations under secretive conditions with no oversight.

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How Our Leaders Care for Iraq Vets

He died of wounds received during his seven-month tour of duty in Iraq, wounds different from the ones that earned Schulze two purple hearts. This young man died of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, of wounds to the soul and not the flesh. He died because the government that was there to send him far away to fight in 2004 wasn't there for him when he got home.

Schulze had a harrowing time in Iraq, spending time in the heated battles of Ramadi in April, 2004. While he was there, 35 Marines in his unit were killed, including 17 of them in just 48 hours of combat.

The young Marine was wounded twice in battle but returned home to rebuild his life and to cope with the things he had seen, things he had done and friends he had lost. But, by the time he was discharged from the Marines in late 2005, he was deeply troubled with images of combat and violence that he could not get out of his mind.

According to Minnesota press reports, Schulze went to the Veterans Administration (VA) center in Minneapolis on December 14, 2006, met with a psychiatrist and was told that he could only be admitted for treatment four months later, in March.

On January 11, 2007, accompanied by his parents, he went to the VA hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota and told people at that VA facility that he was thinking of killing himself. They told Schulze that they could not admit him as a patient and sent him on his way.

The next day, January 12, Schulze called the VA, reiterating that he was feeling suicidal. He was told that he was number 26 on the waiting list.

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The Spread of Freedom in America

Political operatives in control of day-to-day activities at every federal agency? Wonderful! So Soviet!

Actually, it's a means to put government-financed lobbyists in every %$#&ing federal agency:

President George W. Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops regarding public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president's priorities.

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Let's Visit Iraq: Heckuva Job, Our Leaders!

Our success in Iraq is destabilizing Lebanon. Maybe we're not bringing an enlightened era of democracy throughout the Mid-East, huh?

Maybe the Iraqi forces' success in Najaf last weekend wasn't very successful after all? Well, maybe they were headed to certain failure but for the assistance of our forces?

The Enemy of Your Enemey Can Be Your Enemy Too

Chuck Hagel: Do we need this guy in our corner?

Voted NO on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)
Voted YES on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration.
Voted NO on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore. (Mar 2005)
Voted NO on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. (Mar 2005)
Voted NO on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)
Voted NO on funding for National Endowment for the Arts. (Aug 1999)
Voted NO on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005)
Voted YES on limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000. (May 2006)
Voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. (Mar 2006)
Voted NO on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25. (Mar 2005)
Voted YES on permanently repealing the 'death tax.' (Jun 2006)

Had enough? No? Then check out these statistics:

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 36% by the NEA, indicating a mixed record on public education. (Dec 2003)
Rated 0% by the [League of Conservation Voters], indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 100% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 12% by the [American Public Health Association], indicating an anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 8% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 22% by the [Alliance of Retired Americans], indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)

And, finally, the right-wing pieces de re.sis.tance:

90% conservative voting record; 95% support of Pres. Bush. (Dec 2006)

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Signs of Victory in Iraq

Is this a battle or just, well, um, a skirmish? And is it still true that winning a battle is not the same as winning the war? And Israel has successfully and permanently crushed its insurgency, hasn't it? Hasn't it?

And we go to all this trouble to install a puppet gummint in Iraq and what does it do? Invite Iran in to take care of security and help it achieve stability and peace which we are failing to do four years after the invasion and overthrowing the government. Remember, though; Our Leaders do not believe in nation building and they are ever proving that their beliefs have not changed.

And here's another POV of our, um, delayed success.

Really, as I've noted, it is something of a shame how we get, well, bored of a war, ignoring maybe the necessity of the war. But four years into an absolutely pointless war and things continue to get worse... well, sometimes boredom is right and understandable.

But in this case it's actually cool. If there is not real progress by 2008 -- there won't be, Our Leaders are incapable of it -- the Republican "brand" will 10 times more toxic than it is now.

Signs of Victory in Iraq

Is this a battle or just, well, um, a skirmish? And is it still true that winning a battle is not the same as winning the war? And Israel has successfully and permanently crushed its insurgency, hasn't it? Hasn't it?

And we go to all this trouble to install a puppet gummint in Iraq and what does it do? Invite Iran in to take care of security and help it achieve stability and peace which we are failing to do four years after the invasion and overthrowing the government. Remember, though; Our Leaders do not believe in nation building and they are ever proving that their beliefs have not changed.

Florida Has its Priorities Straight

At least they can't do something dangerous to society like vote:

Hundreds of criminals were able to obtain concealed weapons permits in Florida because of loopholes, errors and miscommunication, a newspaper reported Sunday.

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Well Qualified to Succeed Our Leaders

Mitt* Romney:

Federal law limits how much money individuals can give to presidential candidates -- $2,300 per election. But what about Compuware Inc. founder Peter Karmanos? Last year, he gave $250,000 to presidential aspirant and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Since 2004, 15 other Romney backers have sunk at least $100,000 each into the Republican's coffers, sometimes with a series of checks issued on a single day.

Because he doesn't hold federal office, Mr. Romney became subject to the federal rules only after he set up a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month. Until then, his team took advantage of a little-noticed gap between federal and state law. While most states limit political donations, about a dozen don't. Mr. Romney's political team set up fund-raising committees in three of those: Michigan, Iowa and Alabama. During that time, his political action committees raised $7 million.

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(*A "mitt" is what male youths use to satisfy themselves into.)

Lies Our Leader Tells Us

Truth: Our Leaders are still doing poorly on the "homeland security" front:

1. "We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast."

An October 8, 2005, LA Times story, headlined "Scope of Plots Bush Says Were Foiled Is Questioned," cited "several counter-terrorism officials" as saying that "the plot never progressed past the planning stages.... 'To take that and make it into a disrupted plot is just ludicrous,' said one senior FBI official...At most it was a plan that was stopped in its initial stages and was not an operational plot that had been disrupted by authorities."

On Feb. 10, 2006, the LA Times quoted a "US official familiar with the operational aspects of the war on terrorism," who said that "the Library Tower plot was one of many Al Qaeda operations that had not gone much past the conceptual stage....The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying that those familiar with the plot feared political retaliation for providing a different characterization of the plan that that of the president."

Michael Scheuer, an al Qaeda expert in the CIA's counter-terrorism center, told the Voice of America: "This doesn't sound like anything that I would recall as a major threat, or as a major success in stopping it....My impression [was that the National Security Council] culled through information to look for something that resembled a serious threat in 2002. It doesn't strike me, either as someone who was there or as someone who has followed al Qaeda pretty closely, that this was really a serious sort of effort."

A February 10, 2006 Washington Post story cited "several U.S. intelligence officials" who "said there is deep disagreement within the intelligence community over the seriousness of the Library Tower scheme and whether it was ever much more than talk."

A February 10, 2006, New York Daily News story cited one senior counterterrorism official who said: "There was no definitive plot. It never materialized or got past the thought stage."

Back on June 17, 2004, the New York Daily News quoted John Pistole, the FBI's counterterrorism director. Asked to comment on a CIA agent's statement that "I think we've probably prevented a few aviation attacks against both the East and West coasts," Pistole at first said he was "not sure what [the CIA] was referring to." The Daily News reported that "Even after consulting CIA officials, Pistole still would not call the alleged threat uncovered in the summer of 2003 an advanced plot."

2. "We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America."

An October 31, 2006, Washington Post article describes al Qaeda's efforts as well short of "developing" and the case to tie them to the anthrax attacks in the United States as leading nowhere. A September 25, 2006, Washington Post article describes the FBI's investigation of the anthrax attacks in the United States as still open, but just barely active. If that investigation has reached any conclusion, or if Bush has discovered a plot of some other attacks that were prevented, he should produce evidence of such.

3. "Just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean."

Well, the British "authorities" did arrest two dozen people at the insistence of the Bush Administration, but numerous reports found consensus among experts that those arrested could not have possibly mixed together on an airplane the liquid explosives they allegedly planned to use. And common sense suggested that if they had managed such a sophisticated plot, it was unlikely anyone else was working on the same thing (the assumption that prevents us all from traveling with toothpaste and deodorant unless sealed in a proper protective plastic bag, and leads to government employees carelessly tossing deadly dangerous toothpaste tubes into trashcans in the middle of unsuspecting crowds).

Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, summed this case up well:

"None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn't be a plane bomber for quite some time. In the absence of bombs and airline tickets, and in many cases passports, it could be pretty difficult to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that individuals intended to go through with suicide bombings, whatever rash stuff they may have bragged in internet chat rooms.

"What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for over a year - like thousands of other British Muslims. And not just Muslims. Like me. Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for early arrests. Then an interrogation in Pakistan revealed the details of this amazing plot to blow up multiple planes - which, rather extraordinarily, had not turned up in a year of surveillance. Of course, the interrogators of the Pakistani dictator have their ways of making people sing like canaries. As I witnessed in Uzbekistan, you can get the most extraordinary information this way. Trouble is it always tends to give the interrogators all they might want, and more, in a desperate effort to stop or avert torture. What it doesn't give is the truth."

4. "We broke up a Southeast Asian terror cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States."

Was this the one broken up in 1995, before Bush, when we still had much of our Bill of Rights intact? Is this the "tallest building on the West Coast" story by another name in order to expand the list? I've seen a lot of reports on Bush's speech, but no explanation of what he's talking about here.

What We're Fighting for in Iraq and Why We're Not Winning Yet

Oil, it's only about oil:

Since our invasion in 2003, the US has encouraged Iraq to come up with an oil law that would turn the state-owned oil system over to foreign oil companies. Such a law would allow Production Sharing Agreements, called PSAs to be signed with Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell to capture and control all the oil production from new fields and reap a large share of the profits for the next 15 to 30 years.

So long as a well-organized insurgency has seriously challenged foreign occupation, there has seemed little chance that the major oil companies would risk bringing their exploration, drilling and production crews into this dangerous and unstable country. The very divided government in Baghdad made little progress for three years towards such a law that would divide up future oil revenues amongst the contending factions and spell out what share of the profits could be safely handed over to foreign exploiters without getting government officials hanged in the streets. The N.Y. Times now reports (20 January 2007)[1] that a cabinet level committee in Baghdad has finally produced a draft oil law that offers up Iraq's vast oil fields for foreign exploitation. US and Iraqi officials are moving for quick approval by parliament. The draft has been prepared in secret, and has not been published or debated in parliament. While only members of a small cabinet committee have actually even seen the draft, contending factions such as the Kurdish Regional Government[2] and the Iraq Trade Unions Council[3] have already begun to denounce it.

What CBS News Doesn't Want You to See and Learn About

Everything is here.

Our Other Next Leader's Plan for Success

Here.

Our Next Leader

This is precious. Apparently Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is going to go after outgoing Iraq commander Gen. George Casey in his nomination hearings to become the next Chief of Staff of the Army.

Said Sen. McCain: ""I have very serious concerns about General Casey's nomination. I'm concerned about failed leadership, the message that sends to the rest of the military."

'Failed leadership' here, of course, is code for toeing the Bush line for the last two years and then resisting the new effort to dig the US even deeper into the mess of Iraq. In other words, Casey becomes the lamb in whose blood the sins of the Iraq War dead-enders (Bush, McCain, et al.) are washed clean.

Comic, Orwellian, so many possible descriptions.

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Who Wanted To Eliminate The Federal Minimum Wage?

Here are the Republican Senators who voted for the measure killed in the Senate yesterday that would have eliminated the Federal Minimum Wage entirely:

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thomas (R-WY)

For the record, those running for reelection in 2008 are Alexander, Bennett, Chambliss, Cochran, Cornyn, Craig, Enzi, Graham, Hagel, Inhofe, McConnell and Sununu.

Link.

It's good to know that Our Leaders will be succeeded equal competence and leadership.

A System of Law, not Fiat

Not here. Here, Our Leaders rule by fiat.

That's "Beloved" Leader

Public fatigue over the war in the Iraq is not reflected solely in the president’s numbers, however.

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Public fatigue unfortunately comes with any war to a degree. People are anxious for an end, maybe any end. Cutting and running was pretty popular by the end of our exit from Vietnam.

But in the case of Iraq: Almost four years after destroying that nation, Our Leaders have no significant success to show.

In this case, public fatigue is completely understandable.

Meet One of Our Beloved Leader's Supporters

ON MILITARY SERVICE

[Ted Nugent] claims that 30 days before his draft board physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last 10 days, he ingested nothing but Vienna sausages and Pepsi; and a week before his physical, he stopped using bathrooms altogether, virtually living inside pants caked with his own excrement, stained by his urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment, he says. "... but if I would have gone over there, I'd have been killed, or I'd have killed, or I'd killed all the hippies in the foxholes...I would have killed everybody." - Detroit Free Press Magazine , July 15, 1990

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(Link to photo.)

Meet a Big Media Lapdog

Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions. Option 1: "MTP-VP," she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under "pro," she wrote: "control message."

"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used," Martin testified. "It's our best format."

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And this is the real reason the press is in trouble: People can only take so many lies. When a paper is so full of shit, people simply stop being interested in paying for non- and false information.

(Link to photo.)

And here is an analysis of Big Media's accuracy assessing Pelosi.

A Historical Note

War by insurgency is so bad that it was used in our own war of liberation in the 1770-80s. But of course losers always and fall back on excuses for their failures. (Link to photo.)

The Future of America

Or probably just the future enablers of Our Leaders' next generation of Beloved Leaders.



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Our Pro-Life Leader

If you can publicly condemn the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and yet do nothing to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to protect this country from future attacks, then you are not pro-life.

If you can use the attacks of 9/11 as an excuse to launch a war of aggression, based on lies, against an unarmed country that posed no threat to us, killing countless innocent civilians, then you are not pro-life.

If you can send other people's children (but never your own) into that unnecessary and unjustified war without the equipment they need to protect themselves, then you are not pro-life.

If you can add insult to injury by telling our brave troops to their faces that "you have to go to war with the army you have, not the army you want", then you are not pro-life.

If you can thumb your nose at the Geneva Conventions and other international and domestic humanitarian laws and standards, and play semantic games to justify the denial of due process and the abuse and torture of human beings, then you are not pro-life.

If you can insist on tax cuts for multi-millionaires, while 13 million children in this country suffer from hunger due to poverty, then you are not pro-life.

If you can spend your time protecting pharmaceutical companies' profits by keeping drug prices high and preventing foreign (even Canadian) competition, while 12 million seniors are forced to choose between medicine and food, then you are not pro-life.

If you can pull strings for corporations that pollute the environment, censor the scientists, and deny the threat to the health of our children and our planet, then you are not pro-life.

If you can insist on abstinence-only sex education, and thereby deny the critical disease prevention information that our young people need to avoid AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases should they succomb to their hormones and stray from your mandated path of abstinence, then you are not pro-life.

If you can deny funding for stem cell research that would ease the suffering of countless victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases, even though the needed stem cells would come from embryonic remains that would otherwise be tossed into the trash, then you are not pro-life.

If you can casually sign death warrants while ignoring mitigating evidence, and publicly mock death row inmates who plead for clemency, as George W. Bush did while governor of Texas, then you are not pro-life.

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