the truth is not partisan politics.

it's a matter of trust. let me demonstrate.

bush is in a hall speaking to a bunch of his sympathizers. he tells the crowd that the sky is yellow. they believe him, without going outside to look, even though he was told that's not true. he maintains that it is. then, everybody comes outside and sees that the sky is not yellow. but bush still maintains that he said what he said because of good intelligence. that he KNEW for sure, there was NO DOUBT that his information was correct. even when he was told he was wrong before the crowd went outside, he chose to believe what he wanted to believe and hence tried like hell to make us all believe it.

would the crowd trust this guy again? when is a lie a lie?

i think i figured out how they keep the 'inflation' rate down, and the spending numbers up. it's because of supply and demand or any of that gobbledygook, but rather people are spending about the same, but for less, so they have to buy more often. groceries comes to mind.

ya know what the high bush numbers tell me?

thast there's a whole lotta people that are easily frightened.

the choice is rather simple: who is profitting more from terror? i doubt john kerry's name would even be mentioned. his opponent however, had made billions for his buddies. i didn't think we elected presidents so that they can enrich themselves.

this must be what trickle down economics is all about. they think that if the owners save money, that the money saved will be pumped back into the business creating more for all.

nice theory. only, it's not reality. considering the average CEO pay raise this year alone was over 50%, many in the 70's... and with the common worker pay raise about 2.5%, one can not with a straight face say that the more a company profits, the more the company will distribute back into the business.

sure, there are companies that are doing this... of course. but there are many, MANY more that aren't. considering outsourcing. qwest outsources their services, eliminates say 1000 jobs. the profits saved by that is instead being dumped into more luxuriious accommodations for the elite. how else would you explain why businesses are nabbin up humvee's instead of ford rangers? they get more of a write off on the humvee. so what happens to that write off? it goes into the pocket of the CEO. or it's spent on new offices for them. if it was going back into the business, say like with new equipment, safer conditions, or even raises (god forbid), businesses would be doing so much better than they are.

like the union guy said tonite: how can you expect a worker to lose his job to india, and go work at mcdonalds or wal-mart, and pay for that caddy? this will bite the greedy echelon on the butt if they don't change course.

now that the bushies have admitted to making mistakes about iraq, especially in the aftermath, but who knows, maybe they thought saddam was going to fight harder too. there were reports out that had the two coming to some kinda agreement, but i don't know. however, given the history of what we've laid witness to already, i wouldn't put it past these sick bastards. look at how they're handling osama. nobody's heard from him for months, probably as long as iraq has been happening. which makes you wonder. the paks are to hand him up in october. everybody's layin odds on what day. i say the 18th. why? i have NO idea. it's close enough to the election so that the lapdog obedient presscorp won't get bored with their excitement. isn't it strange how osama will win george the election.

but still, why is nobody looking at WHY they thought the iraqis would be throwing flowers instead of bullets. whatever gave them this impression must have made a BIG impression since they obviously ignored the right advice about needing more troops. i'm sure that had we done 3 things differently in iraq, things wouldn't be this bad, if bad at all.

1. make sure the soldiers are trained in how arabs live. this would alleviate the occupation conundrum.

2. make sure the money FOR IRAQIS that has been requested, and received, from congress GETS SPENT on things FOR IRAQIS. and while we're at it, EMPLOY IRAQIS to do it.

3. get rid of the neocon men behind the curtain.

come to think of it, arnold schwartzenegger's screaming of how 'girley-men' economics is ruining us all, is kinda strange coming from someone who played a pregnant mom.

how can anybody claim that we are now safer than we were before 9/11? are they completely out of their collective minds? the fact that we're more aware of terrorists who are more determined now than ever to strike us again shouldn't be an excuse for george to claim that he's making us safer.

because of him, is why the terrorists want to hurt us. that was true before 9/11, and that's true today. i'm not saying that we get rid of george that we will be immune to a terrorist attack... but our chances sure dive in a heartbeat.

why? because we'll have the real international cooperation that we need to defeat terrorism. and actually, staying true to my rule that terrorism isn't something you can bomb to win, you have to use education to win. and to use education, requires intelligent people doing intelligent things. and we all know intelligence and the bushies are about as foreign to each other as martians are to humans.

one of george's promises in 2000 was to cut taxes.
then cheney uses 9/11 as an excuse to cut taxes (to revive the economy that was "already sliding but fell off the cliff"), wouldn't it make perfect logic to assume that 9/11 isn't the tragedy for bush as he would have America believe? where is his sacrifice?

the problem isn't what george did after 9/11, it's what he DIDN'T do before 9/11. would America have the same adoration for this guy if they knew he expected 9/11 to happen and didn't do what he should have done?

how can America accept that bush is this fighter he projects himself to be, when he holds a history of being a coward? because the media helps to project this image, that's why. there's no other sane reason to support the complete success the ultimate CONjob.

well, the speech was just that. all talk, and no walk. kerry has taken the gloves off, i think. i hope.

God, I hope.

lipstick on a pig folks.

when will people start interrupting this "created a million new jobs" line the bushististas shove down everybody's throat? i mean, c'mon. a million new jobs at wal-mart & burger king maybe. that STILL leaves 1.5 million lost overall.... and those that have been lost were much higher paying. a double whammy if you will.

which is better? being honest about being immoral, or being dishonest about being moral?

today's story in the des moines register about some vet speaking out against kerry... makes you wonder just what his motive really was.

not knowing the right thing to do is acting dumb.
ignoring the right thing to do is acting stupid.

can you believe the GALL rove has in coming out with this new ad campaign about kerry raising taxes, questioning what he says and what he does. i mean, really. one thing you can always count on from that baldprick: whatever he accuses kerry of, is something his own man is guilty of and needs to divert the attention away. the old adage that if you make the accusations first, regardless of their basis in fact, or whether you yourself are guilty of the very same charges, you've scored the first round.

it's no secret: rove's plan is to run kerry's money out. well, moveon had better step up to the plate and start bitchslapping the liars. God, if there was anything that pissed me off more than anything, it would be being lied to.

what's really sad is that there are people out there that'll swallow it like water. don't you find it simply amazing that given the adoration of almost deity proportions george commands of his sympathizers - forget the fact that such adoration should be worthy of in the first place, that he's not ahead in more than one poll? if he was so great, why is he not winning? he's losing and he's resorting to nixon's book of dirty tricks. that's what scumbags do. they only fight fair when they're winning.

i can just hear the rest of the world now: "America, if you can't see that you're being conned AGAIN, then you deserve what you get."

saw on bushwatch today (i admit i have been lax in reading his daily newsletter and only God knows why), but he has a grouping called SWIFT BOATS, SWIFT LIES, that really sums it all up.

it's really sad that when the truth becomes lies, and you have to fight the truth to kill the lies, America loses part of her heart & soul.

re: the switfyvets .... the problem isn't the ads, it's the truth in those ads, or the lack thereof.

but no, republicons must create enemies to justify being an enemy. they couldn't win their battle in bringing down the 527s, so they made the 527s ugly and distasteful by introducing the crackwhore swiftyvets. this is how they work. they can't have their way, so they attack & destroy it for the rest of us.

"i may be conservative, but that doesn't mean you have to be."

the bushite evangelicals. that's what all the anti-bush sentiment is really about. it's not about HIM, as much as WHO and WHAT he is. but those like rush limpbaugh and annthrax coulter will make it personal, that way they have an enemy, to justify being an enemy.

the next time some pukehead gives you some shit about your 'librul' attitudes, just remember, he wants you to be his enemy, so he can act out. the best way to deal with bullies, is to smile back as if they're making a complete ass out of themselves.

we need a change in America
a change in our Attitudes
by a change in the Administration

only then, will there be hope for us all.

modo is on real time with bill maher.. god i luv the premium channels. anyway, she's so very unpretentious. but she makes a very interesting point: KERRY NEEDS TO TAKE CONTROL.

the reagans, on showtime... i can now see why the r'pukes were so afraid of showing it on primetime cbs.

the po' paranoid sissies.

there's clearly a differentiation between the old school guard in the senate, and the new whippersnapper-egomaniacal freshman who are getting a stronger direction from those on the wrong side.

well, i got a flyer on the door yesterday, and it was from mediacom, my cable provider. advertising some new deals. well, i jus had to call and find out what they were doin on the dish buy-back thing. and in the process got hoodwinkd into ordering the #2 package. he came today, and now i finished watching my first movie. the italian job. and it was wonderful. i had to sign a contract for a year tho. so i gotta keep it. which is fine. got 12 ppv tickets. so that's kinda nice. anyway. havent been keepin up much on the politics of things. needed a serious break.

build a better chimp

WOW
Jane's Defense Weekly is reporting this week that Kim Jong-Il, unstable North Korean dictator may be able to target California with sea-launched missiles. His know-how, the Reuters story relates, comes from 12 ex-Soviet submarines that fell into his hands. They came with their original launch tubes and stabilizing gear intact. Where does Kim get those wonderful toys?

Funny story: According to U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency documents, they were furnished by Reverend Moon.*

Bush Truth Squad Members
Mr. Skip Barker, fellow skipper who served in Vietnam with John Kerry
Ms. Ann Lewis, former Clinton White House Communications Director
General Merrill McPeak
Senator John Breaux
Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Bob Graham
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Congressman Sherrod Brown
Congressman Elijah Cummings
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
Congressman Richard Gephardt
Congressman Mike Honda
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
Congressman Gregory Meeks
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald
Congressman Ciro Rodriguez
Congresswoman Hilda Solis
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones

from buzzflash

from today's SLATE on the impending announcement by John Kerry of some 200 corporations who support him: "George is a really good guy personally," said one. "He had an opportunity to bring the country together—which was his MO in Texas. But for reasons only his psychiatrist would know, he's chosen to do just the opposite as president. He's turning out to be the worst president since Millard Fillmore—and that's probably an insult to Millard Fillmore."

another difference between democrats & republicans. democrats, with their 'tax & spend' label clearly defines them as ones who pay for the necessities & pleasures they want. republicans however, will borrow the money for the necessities (of which are fewer by the hour) and pleasures (which are greater by the hour) and make our children liable. so, dems expect to pay for their shit, repubs expect others to pay for their shit.

which you would rather have in power defines your ability to get into heaven.

so junior talks about never turning over national security decisions to leaders of other countries, and got his expected standing O. well, i doubt kerry would do that either, but kerry WOULD not only ASK for their cooperation, but most likely GET that cooperation. the bush-go-it-alone doctrine can not work. only dictators have that ideology.

from today's slate (http://slate.msn.com/id/2104541/ . something that should scare the hell out of us a whole lot more than worrying about alqaeda.

In the WSJ, a Page One story on the Securities and Exchange Commission explores its new role as global corporate watchdog, investigating foreign companies that have presences in the U.S. but are based in countries with weak regulatory authority. The article attributes this new internationalism to integration of financial markets, a broader mandate in the post-Enron era, and global cooperation during the investigations into possible insider trading by the 9/11 attackers. The piece, at one point detailing how the agency deftly handled the French legal system, doesn't fully explain the legal reasoning that allows them to cross borders.

soldiers aren't what the iraqis need. they need people like democrats to build that barn the republicans tore down and can't replace because of their greed. like our own gov tom vilsack said: republicans are good at tearing down barns. democrats are the ones you call to rebuild them.

the net is surprisingly fast considering all the video feeds that must be going on.  either way, i'm glued to abc.  they seem to be the only ones who aren't breaking every 3 minutes.  or shoving inane commentary down our throats.

hillary's on, and she's off script, and she's energizing me.  bbl

i've figured it out.  watching cbs's face the nation, and this jackass c0-anchor is questioning kerry's 'saying a variety of things to a variety of people' with such disdain as if there's something wrong with it, is pure republiCON tactic.

why?  because, they can not comprehend that the democrats aren't a groupthink segment of the population.  they just can't comprehend individuality in its most basic form.

they perpetuate their lies with repetition.  we all know, tell a lie long enough, it'll become true.

oh shit, god dammit blogger.  this new GUI takes such a fuckn long time to load, that by the time i get the edit window, i've lost track of what i wanted to say. 

gimme a sec

oh yeah, if kerry was to be as fake as bush, his numbers would skyrocket.

MY LTTE TO THE GLOBE-GAZETTE, submitted at 02:30 7/24:

One day after the 9/11 Commission's report is released, and warning in no uncertain terms that we are not safe, even making recommendations on what can be done, our president leaves on vacation.

Isn't that what he did the last time?

This time however, it is the Congress who is failing miserably.  They have the opportunity to do something to prevent another attack, something they all like to tell voters they wished they had in 2001.  So, how can they possibly excuse themselves this time?  I am solidly convinced now:  the warnings we received before 9/11 were ignored.  The Commission didn't say it when they wrote the report, but if they had the chance to amend their report after witnessing what is happening now, I'd bet a dollar that they would have come to the same conclusion.

Our leaders have been virtually slapped in the face with not only the failings of the government prior to 9/11, but with solid recommendations on how to prevent another disaster.  And what does the republican leadership do?  They go on vacation.

Senator Joe Biden is correct when he stated: "Republican or Democrat, if they are not going to skip their vacations in order to do what is necessary to protect this country, they have no business being in office."
There's something different unfolding here.  I can smell it.  The report states:  "We do not have the luxury of time."  That is pretty stark language, and it seems only the Democrats are listening.  Too bad they are not in any position to do anything about it.

Yet.

and just now, i wake up to this from MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Reacting to the Sept. 11 commission’s call for urgent intelligence reforms, key lawmakers announced Friday that the Senate would interrupt its August recess for hearings focused on immediate legislative proposals.

too weird.

i wonder who's taking the line on the odds of when OBL will appear during what day of the RNC convention.
 
i'll go on record and say on wednesday.

listening to wolf blitzer doing some interview with someone about how the administration used the intel.  if the intel is bad, then how can you blame the administration.
 
the only problem with that argument of course, is that if the intel was bad, and they KNEW it was bad and used it anyway....  well.  you can understand our concern.
 
war should be judged like a criminal in a court.  beyond any reasonable doubt.  that didn't happen with iraq.
 
ok?
 

i find it interesting that there's alllll this security for the DNC convention in boston, guarding against a 'very real threat' of terrorist attack. why? a because, it's not the democrats who are their enemies. plus, the only ones i know who would want to disrupt the democratic convention would be republicons.

another difference between republicans and democrats:

democrats hate republicans for what they do
republicans hate democrats for what they are

oh but there WERE those at the CIA who were getting it right.

they just weren't being heard.

new .sig?

dear Lord, they're going to let it happen. the rope is around their necks already, and before it tightens, there will be some event to shock the public again. it's as clear as day.

unless...

unless there are enough Americans, REAL Americans, who are in positions to just say no. so God, if you're listenin.... please, do not let America suffer another attack that benefits and strenghtens the real target of the attack.

Catalog Page for PIA00132: "This false-color photograph is a composite of 15 images of the Moon taken through three color filters by Galileo's solid-state imaging system during the spacecraft's passage through the Earth-Moon system on December 8, 1992. When this view was obtained, the spacecraft was 425,000 kilometers (262,000 miles) from the Moon and 69,000 kilometers (43,000 miles) from Earth. The false-color processing used to create this lunar image is helpful for interpreting the surface soil composition. Areas appearing red generally correspond to the lunar highlands, while blue to orange shades indicate the ancient volcanic lava flow of a mare, or lunar sea. Bluer mare areas contain more titanium than do the orange regions. Mare Tranquillitatis, seen as a deep blue patch on the right, is richer in titanium than Mare Serenitatis, a slightly smaller circular area immediately adjacent to the upper left of Mare Tranquillitatis. Blue and orange areas covering much of the left side of the Moon in this view represent many separate lava flows in Oceanus Procellarum. The small purple areas found near the center are pyroclastic deposits formed by explosive volcanic eruptions. The fresh crater Tycho, with a diameter of 85 kilometers (53 miles), is prominent at the bottom of the photograph, where part of the Moon's disk is missing."

well, it's my birthday today, and the only one to wish me happy birthday (other than joe on #interport) was sam congello. talked to him to let him know i'm done with josh's computer - had to install some dvd stuff. anyway, it's been an uneventful day. oh well. 48 came and gone.

sent letter to the editor of the des moines register after watching msnbc's lisa meyers lamblast michael moore's new award-winning documentary fahrenheit 9/11. she was going on and on and on about the 'facts', and while not 'disavowing' any of them, she certainly strains to give the impression that these 'facts' are false. impressive. the media is straining every ounce of integrity they have to check the facts of someone who exposes the lies that were covered up by the media. had the media done half the job they're doing now on moore's film, we wouldn't be in this mess-o-potamia we're in.

ok, watching lou dobbs (God bless his soul), is cornering some repuke about the massive tax-cut for corporate america, and it just strikes me: corporations need these tax breaks to be competitive, yet, their profits are so astronomically high that they can't 'create new jobs' without those tax breaks? i don't get it. companies whine for more federal dollars (tax breaks), and yet everybody on wall street's swimming in cash because of this so-called booming economy.

the ones who are not benefitting from all this money changing is the poor. in fact, we have a reverse robin hood game being played out. it's disgusting. nauseating. and frightening.

the American people 'know little about John Kerry' seems to be a line that is in the boilerplates of every newspaper in the country. it works well for the republicans because it helps them define kerry, er rather, un-define him. the very fact that we have a major-right-wing-slant in the media at the highest levels (and even at some lower levels), helps them to continue this charade that kerry has not yet defined himself.

but he has, and if anybody were to just pay attention to him, they would see it. but that's the whole point. republicans don't want people to see it. so the media, the lapdog pets they are, abides and falls into their rovish rituals of portraying kerry as 'someone who the people don't know', and bam! the people say they don't know. repeat a lie often enough, it'll become a truth.