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The truth, the whole truth, nothin' but the truth.

"God Told Me to End the Tyranny in Iraq" — George W. Bush

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." — Benjamin Franklin

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America." — French philosopher Alexis DeTocqueville

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The Gross National Debt

Price of Addiction
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to Foreign Oil



"I've seen the future, I can't afford it." — Martin Fry



Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator

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What is the "Wake-Up Wal-Mart" campaign all about?
Well, there are two visions for America: Wal-Mart's America, where profits come before people, and my vision, where people come first.

In Wal-Mart's America, workers are paid poverty level wages even when they work full-time.
In my America, workers are paid a living wage with proper health and retirement benefits.

In Wal-Mart's America, wealthy companies shift their health care costs onto taxpayers like you and your families.
In my America, corporations live up to their responsibility and provide their employees with adequate and affordable health care coverage.

In Wal-Mart's America, suppliers are forced to make their goods cheaper even if it means shipping U.S. jobs overseas.
In my America, we value U.S. jobs and companies that buy and sell "Made in America."

In Wal-Mart's America, women are paid less than men.
In my America, women and men are treated equally - fair pay for everyone.

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OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the bailout.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on FISA.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the endless "War on Terror".
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on the endless "War on Drugs".
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on continuing the Bush tax cuts.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong on impeachment.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong to not prosecute the Bush torture team.
OBAMA/BIDEN: Wrong to appoint the criminals who caused the financial crisis to positions responsible for fixing it.

See what blind hope will get you? I voted for Cynthia McKinney.

I pledge allegiance to NO FLAG. Certainly not one that stands for corruption, injustice, murder, genocide, torture, invasion of privacy and unlawful search and seizure. With liberty and the free pursuit of happiness for corporations and the criminals who run them. Bankruptcy, hunger and homelessness for the rest.

America: land of the deceived, home of the afraid. Fear level: ORANGE

Brought to you by so-called "democracy" from what was once described as "the greatest country in the world". Today we are the greatest polluters of the world, proclaimed proudly by George W. Bush at the G8 Summit on 7/10/08. By my count, we lost the moral high-ground at least as early as 1962. In that year, the United States began pouring Monsanto products over the globe, killing crops and foliage, poisoning habitats, and causing pain, suffering and birth defects yet today. Since then, we have also insisted on using depleted uranium munitions which have created environmental disasters that we take no resposibility for cleaning up. Chemical and radiation poisoning: the coward's gifts of death. And ones that keep on giving for generations to come.

I wish not to live in a failed fascist empire that roams the world MURDERING and TORTURING for oil.

GOD DAMN the Terrorist States of America!


"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." — Henry David Thoreau

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"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor." — Martin Luther King, Jr.


"Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war...Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters." — Martin Luther King, Jr.


"Everyone knows that this country is being run by a criminal syndicate that has rigged elections, hidden its knowledge of the 9-11 attacks, lied the country into war, plotted to out an important CIA undercover operative and then obstruct a criminal investigation into that treasonous act, subverted most of the articles of the Bill of Rights, emasculated the Congress and the Courts (which it has also shamelessly packed with shameless hacks), betrayed veterans, surrendered a major American metropolis to the devastation of a hurricane, plotted to enable the declaring of martial law, tortured kidnapped and killed people in violation of international law and obstructed efforts to deal with the unprecedented crisis of global warming for an unconscionable seven years." — Dave Lindorff, award-winning journalist, former New York Times contributor, graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, two-time Journalism Fulbright Scholar, and co-author, with Barbara Olshansky, of the book The Case for Impeachment.


I supported Dennis Kucinich in the primaries and caucuses


I supported Cynthia McKinney in the general


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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Loser of the Day: Former President Gerald Ford

I just read this news item:
Ford disagreed with Bush over Iraq invasion: WPost Thu Dec 28, 11:52 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and his top advisers made a "big mistake" in their justification for invading Iraq, Gerald Ford told journalist Bob Woodward in an interview embargoed until after the former president's death.

Ford, who died on Tuesday at his home in California at age 93, said he would not have gone to war, based on what was known publicly at the time, said the report on The Washington Post Web site on Wednesday.

"I don't think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly," Ford said, "I don't think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer."

Thank you very much, Mr. Ford. That's great news for the country to hear right now. Mr. Ford's decision to hold back this information is nearly as brilliant as his pardon of Richard Nixon. I for one have heard more than my share of Talking Heads praise Ford for putting the good of the nation before the deliverance of one man to justice. Hogwash!

Through Richard Nixon's pardon, Gerald Ford helped create the idea of an imperial presidency that haunts us today. Richard Nixon argued that it was impossible for the president to break the law. And Ford's pardon effectively ratified that notion.

We are not content to have a crook's "embarrassment" be his only consequence, and for good reason. Sending Nixon to jail would have sent a powerful message, that we are truly a nation of laws, not men, a concept which is now tenuous at best.

Instead, Ford sent the message that the President need not fear facing the consequences of any of his decisions or law breaking. That leaves the only punishment for breaking federal laws like FISA to be "embarrassment." Whoop di doo. As we have seen over and over, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are impervious to embarrassment.

So, what about the news item quoted above? Apparently, Ford told Woodward some two and a half years ago that he thought Bush was making a "big mistake" by going into Iraq, but that Woodward shouldn't tell anybody until after he died.

I think that's awful, and frankly, stupid. If I were a bit more brazen, I might even say that it lacks courage. But Ford is dead, so I'll just leave it at awful and stupid.

Yes, it may break the tradition of ex-presidents not talking about the policies of current presidents. So what? Who cares? Soon you'll be dead and no one will give a damn about any tradition. Soon they'll be busy talking about how many varsity letters you got when you were eighteen and that you accidentally become president.

The Almighty didn't give you a life so you can sit on your rear end and wait to say things when you're dead, Man! Just say it!

Besides which, who cares what people say when you're dead - you're already dead. If Ford had said something while he were alive, it might have had a minor effect. I suspect nothing was going to stop Cheney from going to war with Iraq. As Ford himself agreed, Cheney had the "fever."

But it might have helped if reasonable people all stood up at the same time and voiced their objections. If Colin Powell, Tony Blair, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush all said how foolhardy the Iraq War was in unison perhaps the President, or the country, would have heard them. Even if they had said it a whole two years after the war started, it still could have helped to get us on the right track.

Except Blair chose the role of the inexplicable lapdog. Powell chose the role of the wounded but foolishly loyal soldier. George H. W. Bush chose the role of the doting father who put the feelings of his dimwitted son ahead of what he knew was right for the country. And Gerald Ford sat around waiting to die.

And now, nearly the entire country has Gerald Ford Disease! That's what we should call it when someone is afraid to speak up until after it's too late from now on. Or anyone who waits around to do something until after they die.

We're in a war that never should have been started, the administration is at the point of escalating our involvement rather than withdrawing, budget and trade deficits are growing worse by the day, global warming is dismissed as a mere liberal hoax, the U.S. is down to 20th place on the world corruption index, and most of our citizens have Gerald Ford Disease.

Please, I beg of you, don't wait to do something until after you're dead. It's an awful strategy. It leaves you dead both before and after you die.

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