Many people remember white phosphorus from high school chemistry--it's that innocent white powder that immediately burst into flames when exposed to the air. Not the kind of stuff that people would want to have poured over their skin, huh? And pouring stuff like that over people's skin, well that's not the kind of thing America does, that's the kind of thing that Saddam would have done. That's why we invaded Iraq if I remember correctly (wasn't there a small window in there somewhere when that was the motive?).
Coming on top of known torture in Iraq, known torture in Afghanistan, known use of other countries to conduct torture for us, and now formerly-secret bases in Thailand and East Europe, we get the BBC story below indicating some believable evidence that we have used chemical agents in our bombs in some areas of Iraq.
And 35% of the country STILL thinks Bush is good. I guess free market philosophy and tax cuts for the rich outweigh just about everything else in several million minds.
The honor roll of major "Republican Fundraisers" 2003-2005:
Tom DeLay--Indicted in Texas, involved in the national investigation of Jack Abramoff
Michael Scanlon--Former associate of both DeLay and Abramoff, and implicated in the Abramoff investigation re Indian affairs; author of now-famous e-mail saying ""The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees. Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
Jack Abramoff--Indicted and/or under investigation for fraud, money laundering, and a host of other potential wrongdoings
Tom Noe--subject of a three count indictment against him for allegedly laundering $45,500 into President Bush's re-election campaign; central figure in Ohio's "coingate" scandal where millions of the state's Workers' Comp funds have gone missing after being "invested" in Noe's rare cin business
John Colyandro--indicted in Texas on conspiracy and money laundering; executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, a political-action committee founded by DeLay
Jim Ellis--indicted in Texas on conspiracy and money laundering; head of DeLay's national fundraising committee, Americans for a Republican Majority
Warren RoBold--indicted in Texas on conspiracy and money laundering; Republican fundraiser in Washington
Grover Norquist--implicated in investigations of Abramoff, possibly DeLay as well
Joe Allbaugh--widely believed to be moving force behind having Bush appoint Michael Brown to head FEMA
David Safavian--federal indictment for obstructing Senate and executive branch investigations into whether he aided Abramoff in efforts to acquire property around the nation's capital controlled by the General Services Administration
Adam Kidan--indicted along with Abramoff on fraud and conspiracy
Andrew J. Futey--Ohio Republican lobbyist fined and put on probation for role in getting state investment business for a stockbroker
Robert Brownell--charged in Wisconsin with money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail fraud
Ralph Reed--implicated in investigation of Abramoff and Indian tribes; former head of Christian Coalition
Katrina Leung--indicted by feds as spy for China
Sherry Schultz--indicted in Wisconsin for role in scheme to fundraise for two state representatives while paid by state
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?????The Party of Moral Values?????
Significant accomplishments of the last three 2-term Republican presidents:
Richard Nixon--Watergate
Ronald Reagan--IranContra
George W. Bush--"Iraqgate" Manipulation of intelligence, "cronygate" appointment of Michael Brown to FEMA, David Safavian to federal procurement, Gail Norton to Dept. of Interior, and on and on
As I mentioned a few sessions back, quite a few friends and associates are what I deem "Ike Republicans", and yes, happy they ain't...
George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War, lived through horrific bombings in World War II, and was far from a pacifist. All of which has led some misguided souls from the right to quote him as though he would be all gung-ho in favor of our little Iraq adventure.
I kind of doubt it...a lot.
Oil prices up there with air fare. Pension funds evaporating at warp. More jobs going overseas. A war going into the toilet. All that, and some actually ask "Can all this be fixed?"
We're fast approaching the 2006 election cycle, with 2008 not that far off as politics goes these days. So why wait any further, get started NOW. Get your Slogans here for the 2006 & 2008 election cycle, and remember, check back often--every Republican day brings another slogan worth your time and money.
Frist, Abramoff, DeLay--TIRED OF THE REPUBLICAN FAD?
FEED A CROOK--VOTE REPUBLICAN IN OHIO
INVEST IN A CROOK--VOTE REPUBLICAN IN OHIO
HURRICANE BUSH--THE ONLY LEVEL 6 WIND IN HISTORY
RESTORE DISHONESTY TO POLITICS--VOTE REPUBLICAN
SEND THE REPUBLICANS WHERE YOUR JOB WENT AND YOUR PENSION IS GOING
REPUBLICANS--BRINGING YOU UNIVERSAL WEALTH CARE
SUPPORT A CRIMINAL--VOTE REPUBLICAN
DECRIMINALIZE POLITICS--VOTE DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLICANS--MISERY FOR MILLIONS, MILLIONS FOR A FEW
REPUBLICANS CLAIM LACK OF MEMORY FOR THEIR CRIMES, BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER WHERE THEY BURIED THE MONEY
REPUBLICAN LOTTO--ALL YOU NEED IS A DULLARD AND A DREAM
REPUBLICANS--BAD GOVERNMENT ON A BIG BUDGET
KEEP PROPAGANDA PROFITABLE--VOTE REPUBLICAN
TEXANS FOR DELAY--A DELAY IN WASHINGTON IS ONE LESS DELAY IN TEXAS
Unless you just spent the last 24 hours at warp around the Orion Nebula, you already know what took place today, so, we won't rehash it.
So Libby's indicted, Rove isn't, and the indictments do not charge any violations of law related to leaking classified info, disclosing names of covert agents, etc.
Almost immediately after Fitzgerald said in his press conference that he had made no finding one way or the other on whether Plame was a "covert" agent, and that no one should view his charges as supporting one view or the other, Senator Orrin Hatch appeared on Wolf Blitzer's CNN show and claimed that Fitzgerald had concluded that Plame's status was not covert. Hatch also felt compelled to get in some shots about Joe Wilson's character--pushing the theory that doing something bad to a bad person is okay?
Let the new questions, and the desperate Republican spin, begin. Lets begin with a brief timeline.
If you can promote the No Child Left Behind Act and the proposed Social Security privatization plans as if they were new products straight from the Corporate Board Room, why not mess with the National Parks? If you've already established that no hack is too much of a hack to be made the head of FEMA, or the head of federal procurement, why not screen National Park Service employees for politics before allowing them to enter the ranks of management? Who knows, maybe political screening will turn out to be an improvement over the usual Bush administration policy of no screening.
I'm telling you, we're even one more step closer to having to buy air from some multinational air vendor.
Beginning some time in the next week, Watching The Watchers will officially be sold. The sale of the site has already taken place, and new management will be taken over shortly. What does this mean to the site and the people who post on it?
