Remember

9/11: Press for Truth

A Nation Remembers...

Fiore

Remember.

November.

No. 1 or not, "out of the box" is a good thing at his age...

Straight from Cursor:

The successful debut of "Modern Times" makes Bob Dylan "the oldest living person to go straight into the chart at number one" -- aided by an edgy TV ad and a dead poet -- but 'That's Not Bob Dylan!'

Speaking as a certified genuine Olde Farte (Lctp!)and one who has purchased Modern Times, I'm glad to see Dylan doing good. It's a good album.

The main difference between old folks' concerts and young folks' concerts is that at our concerts we throw Depends up on stage. Throwing our underwear is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention.

November '06, WWIII, and the end of the United States

Robert Parry at Consortiumnews.

As Americans go to the polls in two months, they should have one thought fixed in their minds: they will be voting on whether to commit the nation to fighting World War III against large segments of the world's one billion Muslims. Beyond the cost in blood and treasure, this war will mean the end of the United States as a democratic Republic.

The failure to trap or kill bin Laden at Tora Bora might rank as one of modern history's worst military blunders. But in his Sept. 5 speech, Bush instead cited other historical failures - what he called missed opportunities to eliminate Lenin and Hitler when they were living in obscurity and writing about their improbable dreams of power.

What Bush appears to be advocating is the end of free speech and free thought, or at least the regulation and punishment of speech and thought that he disdains. Bush is extending his concept of "preemptive war" - launching attacks against countries that might present a future threat to the United States - to "preemptive thought control," eliminating political opponents who might pose some future threat.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the U.S. government from criminalizing speech. But Bush is indicating that he and his political followers believe that, amid the "war on terror," it is justifiable to do just that.

As Bush defines domestic criticism of his war's costs "in finances and casualties" as part of a terrorist scheme, it's not hard to imagine how Bush's devoted followers will react. Any expression of concern that Bush is charting a course toward mad destruction will be attacked as somehow acting in concert with terrorists.

Though Bush has said that his goal in waging his vague and seemingly endless "war on terror" is to defend freedom, the reality behind Bush's grim vision is the emergence of an American totalitarianism where objectionable thought will be repressed and dissent will be equated with treason.

The President has now made clear that he wants the Nov. 7 congressional elections to be a referendum on whether Americans will follow him into this dark future.

He must be stopped.

November.

The American Legion

Like Commander Huber, they've been bugging me to join. Not any time soon:

Every six months or so the American Legion sends me a letter asking why I haven't joined yet. Last week, at its annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Legion answered its own question.

It's bad enough that the Bush administration abuses its authority at every opportunity to use active duty troops as a Leni Riefenstahl style backdrop for its political rallies. The military, constitutionally under young Mister Bush's command, has no other choice but to play along. But for a so-called "veterans' service organization" to volunteer itself as a wall in the neoconservative GOP echo chamber is a particularly offensive piece of Rovewellianism.

...

I'm not one for clubs in general. I got a deal with the exclusivity thing (to me, the reason for most 'clubs' existence is to exclude a certain type of person), but that's just me. As for the American Legion, I won't be a member of something that's just another arm of the White House Propaganda Machine, I don't give a fuck what they do for veterans.

...

One of the best examples of the Legion's adherence to the Karl Rove propaganda playbook is its Resolution 169 titled "The War on Terrorism: A Guide to Building Public Awareness" that the Legion adopted during its 2005 convention in Hawaii.

...

Proposition 169 acknowledges the right of war protestors to speak out, but admonishes them to limit their activities to things like writing letters to their local newspapers, e-mailing their representatives in Congress, and voting against political candidates whose stances on the war they find objectionable. In other words, anyone who disagrees with the administration's policies and war strategies should feel free to voice their opinions as long as they do so in a way that no one can hear them.

And that fed directly into Donald Rumsfeld's speech at the 2006 Legion convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he accused Iraq War critics of "moral" and "intellectual" confusion.

...

Want to help vets? Help vets and don't take sides. Don't play politics. Use your influence in a bipartisan attempt to get more funding for the VA and vets' services. I won't support an organization that supports war criminals.

Wild horses* ...

Couldn't drag me away ...

Give your elected reps a call or drop 'em an email**. Granny, in toto:

Congress votes on the horse slaughter ban tomorrow [That would be today. - F]. What will they do? On one hand we have a couple of businesses raking in the dough, on the other, 65% [o]f the population opposes horse slaughter.

Oh what will they do?

Backstory here.

*Apologies to Mick and the boys.
**Use the handy form in the left sidebar in the 'Complaint Department' section.

Quote of the Day

Our pal Creature*:

How is it possible that 2 in 5 Americans still support Bush's handling of international affairs? FOX News Channel.

Over the past 6 years, I've pretty much lost faith in the intelligence and common sense of my fellow Americans. We're a nation of morons and chickenshits. To wit**:

MIAMI, Sept. 5 -- Shunned by party leaders and battered by repeated campaign controversies, Rep. Katherine Harris nonetheless held on to enough support from the state's Republican voters Tuesday to win Florida's Senate primary convincingly over three little-known candidates.

...

*Go see the cartoon.
**Link thanks to Lambert.

Sorry

Sorry about my sporadic posting and commenting lately. There's been a lot going on in my non-online world. Namely business (we've gotten really busy at the shop and I've been working late) and personal things (a very dear friend is dealing with some serious medical problems) and getting ready to be at sea for 2 1/2 weeks at the end of the month. Hopefully things are going to mellow out soon. God I can't wait for this vacation.

This Want Ad Says It All

Z's Ominous Psyops Blog

MORTUARY AFFAIRS/ LOGISTICS ASST.
Two PT temp contractor positions at Dover AFB Port Mortuary (13+/hr. thru 8/18/05). Provide logistics-related support services as members of a Serco, Inc. team of employees working for the US Army Casualty and Memorial Affairs Operations Center. Principal duties include the cleaning, sanitizing, repairing, and preparing for storage and/or reutilization the aluminum "transfer cases" that are used to transport to the Dover Port Mortuary the remains of deceased members of the US Armed Forces. HS diploma. Reliable self-starter with respect/compassion for deceased military members and families. Military and/or funeral home experience a plus.

No doubt a burgeoning field.

Serco is also a contract military recruiter.

Comin' in or goin' out, they get a check.

Bush is the Bitch

MoDo via Tennessee Guerilla Women:

W. and Katie were both on TV at 6:30 last night, trying to prove they were a man.

Katie won, by a whisker.

Heh. Go read.

Charlie Brown Update

Go read Charlie's post at Kos:

Hawkish Members of Congress who never served one day in uniform (like my opponent John Doolittle) like to equate speaking out against the mistakes and missteps of this Administration on matters of national security with "not supporting the troops." Exhibit A is Doolittle's most recent column on the subject.

Like his "stay the course" colleagues, Doolittle's hopeless strategy here is to try and distract voters from his hypocritical record on the subject by smearing his opponents. Unfortunately, no amount of taxpayer funded campaign mailers will change the fact that he voted to send our troops to war in Iraq without a plan, proper equipment, or sound intelligence. It won't change the growing tensions in Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and elsewhere that have occurred under John Doolittle's watch. And it certainly won't change the fact that he had the second worst record in the entire House of Representatives on Veterans issues in the 109th Congress (per Disabled American Veterans).

Near the close of my 26 year Air Force career, I served two rotations coordinating surveillance flights over Iraq's "No Fly Zones" (mid 1990's). I attended the General's briefings every morning, spoke with intelligence officers, and we regularly discussed what we would target if we went to war with Iraq the next day. As I've reported on many occasions, no one was worried about WMD during those times, because we knew those programs had been shut down.

Accordingly, I spoke out early and often against the false assertions used to justify the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Now that we are there, I've consistently called for a timetable for re-deploying our troops elsewhere, turning over authority to Iraqis, and reducing the suspicion of occupation that is fueling insurgent violence and civil war. And, I support an immediate end to the "make it up as we go along" security strategy that has so dangerously isolated our country from the allies around the world that are needed to win a Global War on Terror. Most importantly, I recognize that when it comes to keeping our promise to veterans, the true measure of leadership is performance--not empty rhetoric. And the only acceptable result is "no one left behind."

"No one left behind" except Doolittle in CA-04, that is.

Charlie Brown for Congress

Veterans For Peace

Go watch this video, then check out Veterans For Peace.

God ... heh

This is why I am so anti-religion; all religion. Since the beginning of recorded history, more people have been killed, more lives destroyed, and more atrocities committed in the name of God than for any other reason. It is also obvious the people who are supposedly charged with spreading God's message are the ones usually responsible for committing the sins they so loudly rail against.

...

A woman in the group soon told a sheriff's deputy horrific stories of how the compound's leaders had molested girls as part of religious ceremonies during which they were told their bodies were being prepared for "service to God."

...

Fuck the lot of 'em. You don't have to believe in God to be a good person and wrapping yourself in the cloak of religiosity doesn't make you one. As they say in my neighborhood, 'bullshit walks'. Prove you're a good person by your deeds. Words mean nothing. Throw whatever holy book you read from away and do what's right. You shouldn't need a book or a preacher to explain it to you.

Our 'friends'

The Paks, who have received billions in U.S. anti-terror aid, who have done more to increase illegal nuclear proliferation than any 'rogue state', and who are the ones who built Iran's new hard water nuclear reactor, don't feel the need to police the worlds largest terror breeding gorund:

...

Q. ABC News: So, he wouldn't be taken into custody? He would stay there?

A. Gen. Sultan: No, as long as one is staying like a peaceful citizen, one would not be taken into custody. One has to stay like a peaceful citizen and not allowed to participate in any kind of terrorist activity.

...

Former White House counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant, said "What this means is that the Taliban and al Queida leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan."

...

The Paks are also pulling out of Waziristan so the Taliban and al-Qaeda will have a place to plot, plan, and connive in relative sanctuary. So tell me again how we're going to bring the people who killed 3000 of my friends and neighbors (and nearly my wife) to justice?

And who says the terrorists didn't win? The leadership of this nation are nothing but greedy war criminals and the Paks are their accomplices.

Cheney bio

I got turned onto a little light entertainment by our pal Lurch.

An excerpt from Rising Hegemon

Dick takes time off from school, working for an electrical company as a lineman. However, in reality, Dick is listening in on phone conversations involving the Kennedy Administration. Later that Year, Dick visits Hollywood and gets a job as Marilyn Monroe's housekeeper going by the name "Eunice".

Dick and his High School Sweetheart Lynne begin sending each other letters and gifts. Lynne sends Dick the heart of a local farmhand, Dick sends Lynne the pelvic bone of a vagrant who's flesh he had boiled away. Their co-dependency grows stronger. On Valentine's Day 1963 Dick sends Lynne a letter that reveals the poet in Dick Cheney's soul:

'Eunice' indeed! Please enjoy.

Dems to Bush: Wise up, Fuzznuts

Via HuffPo:

Today top House and Senate Democrats wrote President Bush to urge him to change his Iraq policy. The letter proposed four changes, which included a phased redeployment of US troops, disarming militias and positioning the US Military as a counter-terror force. The democratic leaders also told Bush that "to demonstrate you recognize the problems your policies have created in Iraq and elsewhere -consider changing the civilian leadership at the Defense Department."

The text of the entire letter is included below:

And so it is! Go read.

Rice ups the bar on stupidity

The Carpetbagger Report

Last week, top administration officials, including Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, equated the war in Iraq with fighting Nazis in World War II. As part of this analogy, the Bush gang made its critics out to be Neville Chamberlain - as if troop redeployment in Iraq is the moral equivalent of appeasing Hitler.

As if that weren't quite offensive enough, Condoleezza Rice has upped the ante a bit, suggesting that opponents of the war are the moral equivalent of those who would tolerate slavery in 19th century America.

[...]

"I'm sure there are people who thought it was a mistake to fight the Civil War to its end and to insist that the emancipation of slaves would hold," Rice said in the new issue of Essence magazine.

"I know there were people who said, 'Why don't we get out of this now, take a peace with the South, but leave the South with slaves?'" Rice said.

Now, I know that Rice, like much of today's Republican Party, is desperate. I realize that this appears to be a challenging campaign cycle for the GOP, and they're willing to engage in whatever demagoguery necessary to survive the next 10 weeks.

But to suggest, out loud, on the record, that critics of the war in Iraq are similar to those who would approve of slavery is perhaps the most breathtakingly stupid remark ever uttered by a Bush administration official. And given the competition, that's no easy feat.

And she's supposed to be the smart one in that outfit!

What's next? Are we to analogized to the people who nailed Jesus up?

I'd rather think of us as analagous to the folks who tried to tell the Skipper of the Titanic to maybe steer a little to the left of the iceberg, and bitched at him while we sank after he didn't.

Propaganda

It was Clinton's fault! It was Clinton's fault!

There's a 9/11 movie to be aired on the Mickey Mouse channel on 9/10 and 9/11 which blames the Clinton administration for 9/11. His Republican congress had a lot to do with his failure as a president. As you will recall, for the past 6 years, everything wrong with the world has been blamed on Clinton. And if I recall, practically nothing could get past Clinton's Republican house at the time unless it was clearly in the best interest of fascists (but not the "Islamo-fascists". You know and I know that EVERYTHING in DC is political. You would have to be blind to not see it.

Let's take a trip down memory lane shall we? When Clinton wanted the executive powers and legislation to fight terrorism 10 years ago, Trent Lott and Orin Hatch didn't want to know about it. They were more interested in going on recess. Why not read the CNN report from July, 30 1996?

...

Who knew the Mouse was a card-carrying Repuke and part of the right wing propaganda machine? This 'docudrama' is nothing more than another way to frame the issue in the Repukes' favor just before Election Day. How many idiots will believe this is unadulterated fact? ABC wouldn't air it if it weren't true, right?

Hel-lo! 6 August is not just the anniversary of the Hiroshima nuking.

Labor Day

Or, what American Dream*?

...

Were that all that Wal-Mart did, of course, the answer would be "nothing." But as business writer Barry Lynn demonstrated in a brilliant essay in the July issue of Harper's, Wal-Mart also exploits its position as the biggest retailer in human history -- 20 percent of all retail transactions in the United States take place at Wal-Marts, Lynn wrote -- to drive down wages and benefits all across the economy. The living standards of supermarket workers have been diminished in the process, but Wal-Mart's reach extends into manufacturing and shipping as well. Thousands of workers have been let go at Kraft, Lynn shows, due to the economies that Wal-Mart forced on the company. Of Wal-Mart's 10 top suppliers in 1994, four have filed bankruptcies.

For the bottom 90 percent of the American workforce, work just doesn't pay, or provide security, as it used to.

...

This nation has turned into Gordon Gekko's Paradise. Benefits? Raise? Vacation? Shut up and get back to work** or find another job. American Dream, my ass.

*Thanks to C&L for the link.
**Thanks to Atrios.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Bush Warns Iran
Threatens it with undermanned invasion, inept occupation, incompetent reconstruction.

Support Grows for Dividing Afghanistan Into 3 Regions
One each for Taliban, warlords, opium farmers.

U.S. Military Puts Out $20 Million Contract for Positive News From Iraq
Having already shelled out $200 billion for negative news.

Be sure to go to page 3 for the Time Chart of WWII v. Bush's War and Occupation of Iraq.

Keepin' us safer ...

Yeah, right. Link via C&L:

Terrorism prosecutions have fallen back to pre-9/11 levels. A new report notes, "In the eight months ending last May, Justice attorneys declined to prosecute more than nine out of every 10 terrorism cases sent to them by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies."

... Nearly 4 in 10 of the rejected cases were scrapped because prosecutors found weak or insufficient evidence, no evidence of criminal intent or no evident federal crime ... [my em]

Just sayin'.

New Site Alert

Go see Evil GOP Bastards. Have fun.

Live by the sword ...

Die by the sword.

They Think We're Stupid

So this morning,as I do every weekend(ok it's Monday,and I'm a little behind on chores),I'm changing the feline's litter box.I'm not one to buy fancy cat litter,unless some unbelievably great deal comes along.The grocery store was discontinuing Arm and Hammer clumping cat litter at 60% off,so I picked up a box to blend with the el cheapo clay stuff I usually buy.

On the top of the box,I shit you not,it says:

Safe for use around pets.

Well,I would fucking hope so,seeing as how I buy it FOR the family pets.I personally don't use the litter box,neither do the rest of the humans around here.(and if they were to start,someone would be on the recieving end of my foot in their ass.I'd also assume,that if it's safe for pets,humans should be covered too)

Of course this isn't the first time I've found a ridiculous message sprawled on a common household item.For instance,my curling iron has warnings not to use it while sleeping or bathing/showering.I can't tell you the number of times I personally have done my hair while asleep.And taking a shower while operating an electrical appliance is a sure fire waker upper in the morning,better than coffee or even a double expresso.Damned if I knew you weren't supposed to do either of those things.

Plastic bags are NOT a toy for infants,read it,learn it,live it.

And please,for the love of GOD,don't drink bleach or eat laundry detergent,no matter how hungry or thirsty you find yourself.

This public service announcement has been approved by An Angry Old Broad specifically for you morons out there that can't find your ass in the dark with both hands and a laser beam.

39

It sucks being #2 I guess.

Tip o' the Brain to Pauly.

Election Day

You know Election Day is almost upon us when the price of a gallon of gas drops 15 cents and we get a weekly tape from al-Qaeda.

Honky-tonkin' fer truth

From azcentral.com:

NASHVILLE - The songwriters hunched over hamburgers and sweet iced tea at Brown's Diner allowed that a cut titled I'm Takin' My Country Back by the Honky Tonkers for Truth sounded like a hit to them.

But they don't expect it to get any airplay on country music radio stations, mainly because of lyrics like these:

"And I'm takin' my country back/Boys you ain't been doin' her right/Oh, I've been watching you and I don't like/How you been treating my Stars and Stripes.

"You took our jobs and sent 'em overseas/Now we owe billions to the Red Chinese/You blew the budget and you botched Iraq/So I'm taking my country back."

The song is one of 20 on a CD released online by the Music Row Democrats, an organization of country music songwriters, singers, executives and promoters dedicated to helping oust the Republican majority in Congress in the November elections.

Conservative Christian Right-Wing Republican Straight White American Male is another cut on the CD by Todd Snider, an artist who arrived in Nashville after stops in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta. Or, as Snider describes himself "a tree-huggin,' peace-lovin', pot-smokin', porn-watchin' . . . hippie."

Not your typical county music song or singer.

While conceding that country music is widely perceived as a bastion of conservative politics, the Democratic group claims a membership of about 1,200 in "the industry," including a slew of down-home liberals.

In their mission statement, the Country Music Democrats say their founders "were fed up with feeling as if they had to apologize for being Democrats."

About fuckin' time! It was time to come out of the closet years ago, but I understand about radio airplay and making a living in country music. I'm glad they're doing it at last.

I guess when Hag comes out, the rest of 'em feel it's safe.

When the country DJs, and more importantly, the radio station owners, wise up that their listeners ain't buyin' Bush's bullshit any more, it'll all be over.

On men ... again

Texas Jaye with some words of advice:

...

Remember that the next time, women, you go to bed with someone whose middle name you don't know. And how much fun is it to go to bed and perform sexually for a man who thinks your sole purpose in life is to clean up after him and stroke his ego by being his doormat, trapped in his house, with no credit, no real job, and no way out and no way in your own life.

...

As the Mrs. and I get older, we've noticed more of our friends whom we thought had great marriages are dealing with this problem now that the kids are out of the house. It's the women who are realizing they are the ones who've been doing everything for the last 20-odd years and they've had enough of being a maid, cook, and servant for guys who just want to sit on the couch and watch TV or go play golf.

Note to journalists ...

Or, life imitating art. If you want to learn something, buy this or watch the reruns. Regardless of the schtick, you might pick up something about ethics and principle.

Programming note

No not here. I got an email (reprinted below) this morning from a woman I love who's not Mrs. F. It's the lovely wife of Mrs. F's cousin, Encino Man (who's also way up there on my list of favorite people in the world). We've mentioned Mrs. Encino before (here, here, and here) because she's the voice of Xena Phobe over at Billionaires for Bush.

Friends & Family,

The pilot episode of a new show that I have produced will be airing on KPFK radio on Labor day. Wherever you plan to be on Monday, Sept. 4th, get to a radio (or if you are out of the Los Angeles area to a computer. You can hear the show streaming live on the radio web site - see details below) at 4 PM Pacific Standard time.

This is the World Premiere of a one-hour show that stars The Billionaire Players (including moi as Xena Phobe) with guest star, Mimi Kennedy, original music by Clifford J. Tasner, written by Tina Dupuy and Clifford J. Tasner.

If the station gets enough response after the broadcast we may get picked up for more episodes. Your comments are welcome at comments@kpfk.org

(And, of course, words of praise are always welcome directly to moi!
Best Regards to all,
~[Mrs. Encino]

Listen, comment, and show your support. This is a really talented buncha folks.

Saturday toons

I've always loved political cartoons since I was young and one of my first stops on Saturday mornings is Bob Geiger's place to see the cartoons he's collected over the week. While I always get a smile from the creative marriage of thought and pen, they don't make me laugh out loud the way they did when I was younger, before the Chimp Misadministration.

I thought about that this morning as I scrolled down Bob's page and wondered why. I realized it's because the bar has been moved, thanks to Bush, Cheney, Rummy, et. al. Political cartoons used to be gross exaggerations, whether it be the caricature of the subjects (David Levine, a family friend, comes to mind), or the exaggeration of the dialogue in them.

Since the reign of George II began, no exaggeration is too great. Anything a political cartoonist can dream up is certainly within the realm of reality and probability these days. A sad, sobering, and scary thought.

Quote of the Day

Greenwald:

...

But for people like Jonah and David Warren, that is accomplished by urging fights where they have nothing at risk. This is not a "chickenhawk" argument. It is far beyond that. So much of our public dialogue is dominated by people -- exactly like David Warren -- desperate to bask in the reflected glory* of epic warriors without ever risking anything and to feel powerful and strong and resolute and "full-chested" while sitting at home, protected and safe but still scared of everything. They are people who have an endless need to parade themselves around as courageous nobles without ever doing anything noble or courageous. [my em]

...

*And an observation. There is no glory in war, only blood, gore, suffering, grief, and death. The 'glory of war' is something for those who were lucky enough not to have to fight it or try to stay alive though it.

Taxi, Senator Burns?

Satirical Political Report does it again! Liquid Alert!

In yet another of his grotesque exhibitions of ignorance and stupidity, GOP Senator Conrad Burns of Montana has alleged that "terrorists drive taxis by day, and kill by night."

The truth, however, as any schoolchild can tell you, is that taxi drivers are much worse than terrorists, and actually do most of their killing by day.

In fact, Local 72 Virgins of the International Brotherhood of Terrorists has issued a strong denunciation of Senator Burns, stating that he slandered them by unfairly comparing terrorists to taxi drivers.

A spokesman for the terrorist trade union, al-Check-off Mahdues, asserted that most taxi drivers were actually kicked out of the Terrorist Academy, for being too reckless to transport explosives.

Other taxi drivers flunked out for taking the longest route between the bomb pick-up and their destination, therefore increasing the chance of being caught by the authorities.

The only worse drivers are the ones who drive the Chinese Gambling Tour buses that go through my town on their way to Reno. At least I think they have drivers - their heads don't stick up over the steering wheel. Why anybody would risk death just to lose their ass at Pai Gow is a mystery to me.

The president's latest dumb speech

Fred Kaplan at Slate

In his speech this morning before the American Legion's national convention, President George W. Bush may have gone a bridge too far. It was the first of several speeches he plans to deliver in the coming days to rally support for the war in Iraq (and, not incidentally, for Republicans in November). But one passage in particular reveals that the campaign is getting desperate:

The security of the civilized world depends on victory in the war on terror, and that depends on victory in Iraq.

Here's the question: Does anybody believe this? If you do, then you must ask the president why he hasn't reactivated the draft, printed war bonds, doubled the military budget, and strenuously rallied allies to the cause?

Because he doesn't really believe his own bullshit, that's why. Go read.

Professor Smartass

No, I didn't get a doctorate in my specialty. It's a blog. He's based in the People's Republic of Santa Monica and might be a little to the left if the link to Tom Hayden is any indication. He's got some good Katrina/Compassionate Conservatism posters up. Give him a look.

Lie by Lie

Mother Jones has assembled a timeline of Bush lies that led to his criminal war. Handy. Extensive. Be sure to click on "How to use this timeline" or you're liable to get confused. I did.

The first drafts of history are fragmentary. Important revelations arrive late, and out of order. In this timeline, we've assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the first installment in our Iraq War timeline project.

A good reference work. Enjoy, if that's the right word.

The Bush Administration and Godwin's Law

Fixer touched on this the other day, and I'm fleshing it out a little.

Harper's

On the Internet, there is a dictum known as "Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies," coined in 1990 by a man named Mike Godwin. This law holds that "as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." Anyone who has spent time on political discussion boards can see that it's true; in any charged debate (abortion, Iraq, Israel, foreign policy), it's only a matter of time before someone compares his opponent to Hitler.

It's commonly understood that once Godwin's Law is invoked, a conversation is dead - and that any person who invokes Nazis almost definitely has failed to make his point. It's what philosopher Leo Strauss, the great inspiration to neoconservatives like Rumsfeld, called Reductio ad Hitlerum - the absurd smearing of any opposing line of thought as "Hitleresque." He may not have been contributing to an online bulletin board, but Rumsfeld's invocation of Nazis and the G.O.P.'s sudden interest in fascism seem to be a perfect illustration of how deep this war's supporters must dig in order to justify a deadly folly.

Perhaps, with Godwin's Law in mind, you'll allow me to indulge in a little bit of Nazi-analogizing. The following comes from a post–World War II interview between Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was allowed by the Allies to speak with Nazi POWs, and Hermann Goering, the Nazi Reichsmarshall. Their conversation took place on April 18, 1946, during a break in the Nuremberg trials, and was recounted in Gilbert's book, Nuremberg Diary:

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the 'people' don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

A few days ago, defending the Iraq war, Donald Rumsfeld quoted World War I-era French leader Georges Clemenceau, who said: "War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory." Maybe there is victory at the end of Iraq. But the cost of the catastrophes is more than anyone, save for a few increasingly isolated members of the Bush Administration, is willing to bear.

Nobody's trying to appease terrorists, but that is what Rumsfeld said we are doing if we oppose Bush's criminal war.

We're not trying to appease the administration Nazis either. We want to jail them.

I wonder if they'll get so desperate they quote Goering and Goebbels directly? Or act like them more than they are doing already.

Update:

A BuzzFlash editorial:

Rumsfeld and Bush are Right About Evoking Nazism - But It's the Mirror That They Should be Looking At

Rumsfeld and Bush are on the right trail in bringing up Nazism, but it's because the Goering quote applies to them to a "T."

These are the tools used by dictators to direct the masses into a form of mass hysteria that leads to a population willingly giving up Constitutional powers and individual rights to the incontestable rule of a dictator.

They are asking us to support an affirmative action war agenda for failures: them.

So when Rumsfeld and Bush trot out the latest focus group tested Frank Luntz sound bites about Nazis, they should look in the mirror.

Staring back at them will be the visage of Hermann Goering, Nazi.

I think they'd do well to remember how Herr Goering ended up - dead in jail by his own hand to avoid prosecution and death by hanging.

Upate II:

William M. Arkin in the Wapo:

Rumsfeld's Enemy: It's Us

Rumsfeld stated there could be no appeasing the enemy and any "any moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere."

The "who" Rumsfeld is talking about is himself.

Rumsfeld is the "who" that is right, and everyone who disagrees is not only wrong, but a danger to freedom.

If I were the conspiratorial type, I'd say Rumsfeld was a particular menace to America because in his view of a monolithic and totalitarian terrorist enemy, and in his analysis of the weakness of American society, he can only come to the messianic conclusion that he indeed needs to takeover the country in order to save it. And this might even be worth speculating about were it the case that Rumsfeld reflected the views of those in the military leadership, or were it the case that Rumsfeld could actually engineer such a coup.

But alas, the secretary would get the intelligence wrong, employ too few troops and send tank columns on thunder runs through Manhattan and Hollywood, prematurely declaring victory and then being befuddled about the American desire to recover and preserve its way of life, which is not the Rumsfeld way.

Good OpEd. Please read the rest.

Exactly!

Our brother Lurch:

...

Today we officially announce the opening of the "WPS" attack. That's not a reference to MicroShaft's "Works", the third-rate word processor they package with every boat anchor they sell. WPS stands for Winger Projection Syndrome, a condition that occurs when liars and criminals realize one of their own basic moral, ethical or psychological shortcomings and in a burst of self-loathing try to dishonestly paint the "evil demon" of the day with the same failing in an attempt to lessen their psychic guilt. [my em]

...

Blood Money

WASHINGTON - The chief executives of corporations making big profits from the war on terror are enjoying far bigger pay increases than CEOs of nondefense companies, according to a study by two liberal groups.

The study, conducted by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, found that, on average, CEOs of corporations with extensive defense contracts are getting paid about double what they made before Sept. 11, 2001.

...

So who's winning the 'War on Terra'? Why, the corporations of course.

Tip o' the Brain to C&L.