Iran, Bigotry and the Bomb (Part I)

While I personally am gratified at the recent Democratic electoral victories (William Jefferson not withstanding) I have mixed emotions about the current state of affairs because of policy, specifically our foreign policy. While Iraq is "the issue of our times" and was certainly a core issue which helped propel Democratic victories last month, I would like to move beyond the issues surrounding the extrication of our troops from Iraq and the political/electoral ruminations various options might portend, to the looming backdrop of our historical and current posture within the middle and near east, and one of the larger metaphorical elephants in the room...Iran.

ABC/Disney “Docudrama” Lies About 9/11

Mickey's Lying

As numerious media and politcal observers have pointed out in recent days -- and nearly everyone from 9-11 Commission members and members of Congress to prominent conservative pundits and executives at ABC has already acknowledged — Disney-owned ABC's two night "docudrama" The Path to 9/11 is a fabricated, inaccurate, and misleading portrayal of the events leading up to 9-11, one which Disney and ABC deceptively marketed as a documentary-style film based on the 9-11 Commission report. This fictionalized drama of the events leading up to 9-11 were aired in two parts on consecutive nights, concluding on Sept. 11th, 2006.

So what if Iran gets a nuke?

That is the question that is being begged in all this fear-mongering and hand-wringing about Iran and its alleged nuclear program (which is not even capable of producing nuclear weapons). But step back, and actually think about it.

So what if Iran does (even given the worst) develop some nuclear devices? What do people honestly think would happen then? Do people honestly think there is even the remote possibility that they would ever be used?

Iran has never attacked us and sought to kill Americans. Yet we are suppose to envision some nuclear holocaust because Iran gets a nuke, yet Pakistan, whose intelligence service, the ISI, which backed created the Taliban, has had nukes for a decade now yet somehow we still don't have any mushroom clouds to show for it. It seems this administration, the media punditry, the GOP and yes... a vast number on "the left" seems to think that a nuclear armed Iran is "unacceptable"... which begs the question which never gets substantively answered... why is it unacceptable?

My take on today's train-wreck

There has been a flurry of commentary in the wake of the R.M.S. Titanic Bush press conference today. And many have also commented about an exchange where Bush goes even further in stating that Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11 than he ever has (when will that ever sink into the craniums of the Bush-bot base who still believe that Iraq was involved in the WTC attacks?)... but I feel I must share my reaction, if for no other reason than a cathartic release so as to not shred the remains of relaxation I managed to stitch together in my vacation trip to San Francisco this past weekend to catch the Gary Numan concert at The Fillmore (which was a phenomenal show).

And without further adieu, my running talk-back to the Idiot-in-Chief.

Katrina

On August 26, 2005, President Bush declared a "State of Emergency" in Louisiana. A day later he did the same for Mississippi. The hurricane hit on August 29, 2005, three days later.

Bullshit Deflectors

Bullshit Deflector The original Bullshit Protectors

Various downloads for the above design are found below.

The "Bullshit Deflector" flaps are a great way to protect yourself from GOP or punditry bullshit and spin when spewed by the likes of George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, or even your local home-grown GOP wingnuts. It was inspired by Bill Moyer, a 73 year old vet, who was seen wearing "Bullshit Protector" flaps over his ears while Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City, Utah.

By request from down-under, the Australian version is available here.

Instructions

Step 1 — cut out ear slots first

Step 2 — cut out bullshit deflectors

Step 3 — place over earlobes

Say ‘No’ to Nukes

Why oppose the ‘nuclear option’...?
A filibuster is a common tactic used in the Senate, where debate time is unlimited, to prevent the legislation on the floor from passing. It is part of the Parliamentary Procedure used in the Senate since its inception.

During Bush's first term, 10 of his judicial nominees were stopped with the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats. This month, when the 109th Congress convened, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist declared war, calling the filibusters an “unfortunate break with more than 200 years of Senate tradition,” and adding “...we cannot be certain judicial filibusters will cease. So I reserve the right to propose changes to Senate Rule XXII...” In other words, if Democrats don’t rubber-stamp all of Bush’s judicial nominees, even those that were previously rejected, and which Bush resubmitted, Frist reserves the right to destroy the Senate rules by invoking what GOP Senator Trent Lott termed a few years ago as the “nuclear option”, a parliamentary ruling that eliminates judicial filibusters by fiat, without a vote of the Senate.

GOPspeak for Freedom

Pair of handcuffs

How to make sense of the Bush, Gonzales and the GOP.

From pushing the Patriot Act which allows the Government to detain you, hold you indefinitely, not allow you access to a judge, trial or even stand accused of a crime all in the name of "national security"... to instituting laws that allow open-ended fishing expeditions into what you and anyone else want to read in your public library, all in the name of rooting out "enemies" yet without any probable cause to investigate you or anyone else. That the Bush administration can put someone like Alberto Gonzales in the position as the chief law enforcement officer, someone who was the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration is astounding.

Gonzales' advice led directly to the abandonment of long-standing federal laws, the Geneva Convention, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales' legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.

ignore rant... ignorant (Pat Robertson)

Pat Robertson, the founder and show-runner of the Virginia-based Christian Coalition, it's television station, CBN, and fundamentalist propaganda hour, 700 Club, has long been a public enemy of equality and the ideals of America.

Fox News Presents: Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004

by James A. Bartlett - Fox News Service, Tuesday, June 08, 2004

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - Ronald Reagan, the greatest president in the history of the Republic, was taken bodily into Heaven on Saturday at the age of 93.

Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, in 1911. The first 30 years of his life, like the first 30 years of Jesus, are largely shrouded in mystery. After a brief career as a radio announcer, Reagan became a successful movie actor beginning in 1937, making nothing but wholesome films that could be enjoyed by the entire family. Some believe that he was a New Deal Democrat during these years, but this is a vile slander by the Hillary/Kerry wing of the liberal media elite.

Reagan enlisted in the Army during World War II. On D-Day, he led the American column ashore at Omaha Beach, carrying one machine gun in each arm and a dagger in his mouth, even though his poor eyesight made him technically ineligible for combat. Returning home after winning the war, Reagan returned to his film career and later worked in television as executive producer and head writer of the popular 50s series Leave It to Beaver. The Beaver years were a time he would never totally leave behind.

Reagan served six terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild during the late 40s and 50s. What looks on the surface like an unfortunate flirtation with unions was in fact a brilliant triumph, as Reagan helped uncover dozens of Communists in Hollywood. The brilliance of Reagan's undercover work - not to mention his scandalously overlooked talent as an actor - is typified by the fact that he campaigned for Harry Truman in 1948 and no one ever suspected his true role. The Communists uncovered by Reagan were executed in 1955.

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