ƒc Has her power become so strong that she has actually convinced "The Decider" that he better get up off his ass and do something or the Middle East and it's oil is going to hell in a hand-basket...   I imagine it is more likely that she is having to drag the screaming little cowboy back into reality.   It's not very likely that he has made such a rational decision on his own...   I may have to quit marking up the side of the newspaper with "NeoCon" every time I see her name...   Well...   May have to reserve judgment on that one for a while... (visions of mushroom clouds keep poppin' into my mind)

washingtonpost.com U.S. Will Join Talks With Iran And Syria
Rice Announces Policy Shift as Iraq Plans Conferences

The United States agreed yesterday to join high-level talks with Iran and Syria on the future of Iraq, an abrupt shift in policy that opens the door to diplomatic dealings the White House had shunned in recent months despite mounting criticism.

"I would note that the Iraqi government has invited all of its neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to attend both of these regional meetings," Rice told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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She also told this same committee that she didn't know why the Iraqi were not spending the ten billion dollars we gave them for reconstruction.   I imagine they look at it like we are the ones who shock-n-awed the place to hell and back so we are the ones who are gonna have to pay for fixin' it...   They may have done some research and found out how we treated red people (Native Americans) and decided they shouldn't let brown people get treated the same way.   I wonder if Condi got the term "Indian Giver" laid on her...   When ya think about it, we have been really big on giving away money in Iraq for the last four years... [Including Arming Al-Queda (you know - the ones who are killin' our people) with help from the Family Saud]   That ten billion may be the only money in Iraq that is not buying guns and bullets that end up killin' our folks...

Just about the time you think they have turned the corner on their Idiot-ology, up jumps the devil and they sink to newer and more devious lows...   How low can these people get...?   Somebody needs to throw the little cowboy a rope...   Does Condi have the ass to dig her boot heels into the sands of Mesopotamia and pull them all out of the hole the NeoCons have dug for them...?   Story Developing...

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Tags ::  Politics • Rice • Iraq • Iran • Syria • Bush

ƒc This country needs Al Gore.   The grassroots efforts like this and the website Gore 08 are keeping our hopes alive.   For some background on why it is still possible for Gore to still run, check out The Politico article that states he can wait until the fall of 2007 before he must really decide.   Let's hope for some sanity to return to our national stage with the announcement later this year that he will run for and be elected the next President of these United States of America...   Over a thousand people have signed this petition since yesterday...   Join us in helping Al decide...

DRAFTGORE.COM

Draft Gore 08

He's eloquent, passionate, relentless, undaunted. The first political figure to oppose the Iraq war, Al Gore is also the lead champion in the fight against global warming, a passionate defender of our Constitution, and an unyielding voice against the Bush Administration's abuse of power.

Given his unmatched experience and leadership on issues of moral imperative, Gore is increasingly seen as Democrats' best bet to win back the White House.

Dear Vice President Gore:

Americans from every corner of our nation are calling on you. Please listen to our plea and run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States in 2008.

Never before has America needed a leader of your stature, vision and experience more than now. The next presidential election will be the most crucial one in our history, and you are the only Democrat who can unite the country and lead us to victory. And this country -- indeed, the entire world -- cannot afford anything less.

Our nation and the planet itself are entering “a period of consequences,” as you so well stated in “An Inconvenient Truth,” but in more ways than one. We are ruled by a government of the powerful and for the powerful -- a government that tramples our Constitution, wages unjust war in our name, sacrifices our economic future, and puts our very planet on the endangered species list.

America and the world need you now more than ever. Be our candidate. Run for president. And we pledge that we'll be there for you every day until the last vote is counted.

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Tags ::  Politics • Al Gore • Election 08 • Democratic Party

ƒc Seems history is repeating itself once again, as I have noted several times on these pages.   The instances have been replete and the analogies accurate in so many ways.   This latest farce in idiot-ology [Ideology of BushThink - (Yes, I made this term up and will soon list it at Wikipedia)] says they are gonna finesse their way to victory in their Conquest of The Middle East.   Those sly devils...   I am sure we will hear more of how they plan to dominate The Shiite Crescent...

Digby's reaction to Seymour Hersh's "The Redirection" ::

Hullabaloo

Rube Goldberg Policy Contraption

This is the part that gets me. When Bush brought that war criminal piece of garbage Elliott Abrams back in to the government we all should have known they were going down this road:

The Bush Administration’s reliance on clandestine operations that have not been reported to Congress and its dealings with intermediaries with questionable agendas have recalled, for some in Washington, an earlier chapter in history. Two decades ago, the Reagan Administration attempted to fund the Nicaraguan contras illegally, with the help of secret arms sales to Iran. Saudi money was involved in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal, and a few of the players back then—notably Prince Bandar and Elliott Abrams—are involved in today’s dealings.

Today we have the DOD equivalent of Brownie running around with boatload of cash making deals with Muslim extremists and Saudi princes, whom the administration has divided up into completely useless designations of "reformer" and extremist." Nobody knows who's talking to who or what agenda they really have. Liberals think up complex plots like this and make them into movies. Republicans steal billions from the taxpayers and actually try to implement their hare-brained schemes.

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Source Article ::   THE REDIRECTION - Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?   - by Seymour Hersh

Hat Tip to AnyMouse from the Comments to the Post below for the inspiration to create a new Bushism's hyphenated descriptor of the NeoCon MindSet.   (Please note capital letters placed appropriately throughout)   I am sure coining the term :: Idiot-ology - and the overuse of hyphens, commas, apostrophes and capital letters will assure me a place in history.   I am going to flagrantly insist that I made up this term, whether I am actually the first to use it or not.   After all, what is a little plagarism amoung liberals...   Once again, AnyMouse... Thanks bud...   Your fellow Maverick...   - fc

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Tags ::  Politics • Seymour Hersh • Pentagon • NeoCons • Bush

ƒc We know Rummy is gone but how many and which ones of his NeoCon cronies are left in the Pentagon.   A hint comes from the information Cernig at NewsHog posts about the Generals threatening to resign if Bush attacks Iran.

Cernig quotes a bit of info from Seymour Hersh's upcoming article which tells us that another "Office of Special Plans" (Douglas Feith and NeoCon Crew) type unit has been set up under the Office of The Joint Cheifs.   If this is the reality and knowing Gen. Pace's stance about Iran, it only seems logical that this new initiative is being forced on them from what would be left of the NeoCon contingency - post Rumsfeld.

Hopefully the wiser heads in the top positions in our military will make it known to the war-monger in chief that his war making days are over...

NEWSHOG

London Times- US Generals Will Revolt Over Iran Attack

A couple of days ago, I posted about Gwynne Dyer's claim that Gen. Peter Pace, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs, was prepared to resign if the White House insisted on war with Iran over threadbare "evidence".

Now, the London Sunday Times has a report which says it may well be more than just Pace, co-written by the interesting partnership of Michael Smith (who broke the Downing Street Memo story and is widely regarded as the British intelligence community's spokesman in the UK press) and Sarah Baxter (a well-connected pro-American insider in US military and diplomatic circles oft-quoted by neocon pundits).

I suggested back when Pace first broke with the until-then White House line on Iran that he might have been one of Sy Hersh's sources for his report that the Pentagon's generals were revolting over White House plans to use tactical nukes in any Iran strike. Now, Hersh is in the news again with a forthcoming story about alleged US contingency plans for an attack:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite the Bush administration's insistence it has no plans to go to war with Iran, a Pentagon panel has been created to plan a bombing attack that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George W. Bush, The New Yorker magazine reported in its latest issue.

The special planning group was established within the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent months, according to an unidentified former U.S. intelligence official cited in the article by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh in the March 4 issue.

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Update ::   THE REDIRECTION - Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?   - by Seymour Hersh

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Tags ::  Politics • Pentagon • NeoCons • Bush

ƒc Faux News is a farse...   It is not news, it is propoganda.   What are the Dems in Nevada thinking...?   They are not going to get a fair deal from the NeoCon Mouthpieces at Faux News.   Faux News watchers are not going to vote Democratic and they know it.   Sign this letter to Nevada Democratic Party Leaders and tell them to say NO-TO-FOX...

[blogpac.org]

Tell Democrats to Freeze Out Fox News

The Nevada Democratic Party is working with Fox News Channel to host a debate with all the Democratic Party presidential candidates in August. This is, to put it mildly, insane. Fox News is a partisan Republican propaganda outlet, not a news station, and it is irresponsible for any candidate or party official to lend it the immense credibility of a presidential forum. It would be better to do this on MSNBC, CNN, C-Span, or just stream it on the Internet where progressive blogs can carry it.

I understand that the Nevada Democratic Party has decided to allow Fox News to televise the Democratic presidential debate on August 14, 2007 in Reno. I believe this is a mistake and I hope you will reconsider supporting this decision.

It is obvious to Democratic primary voters that Fox News is openly hostile to the Democratic Party with its exclusive line-up of conservative voices and conservative slant in its news. It's highly unlikely that its partisan audience will be persuaded to vote for Democrats nor should Democratic partisans be forced to patronize such a hostile news network to see its candidates debate one another.

More importantly, Fox News may choose to follow the example it set in a previous presidential debate when it cut away from the debate before it even finished to immediately offer a negative spin from their commentator in the studio, William Bennett. The audience had no time to absorb any positive message they may have received before they were inundated with a harshly partisan Republican spin on the entire Democratic field. They also put up a banner behind the candidates reading “Democrat Candidate Debate” instead of “Democratic Candidate Debate,” asked loaded questions, and produced vicious post-debate news “reports.” This did nothing to serve the Democratic candidates or the Democratic Party as a whole, and it certainly wasn’t “unfiltered.”

If Fox news were the only outlet available that would be one thing. But many outlets exist which would be thrilled to give the Democratic candidates a platform and a chance to make their case to the television audience without partisan Republican spin. I would urge you to retract your support for this counterproductive agreement and seek another news network to host this important event.

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The Petition Site has another petition in the same vein as this one...

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Tags ::  Politics • Democratic Presidential Debate • Fox News • Bush

ƒc History has come full circle once again in Bush's Bizarro World.   Wounded, criple and crazy all at the hands of a system that is overwhelmed.   We only have to think back to Katrina to realize how out of control this administration can be.   Now we get a glimse of the nightmare world that many Vietnam Vets went through in much the same kind of system.   This is very sad note in our 21st Century Bush's Amerika...

washingtonpost.com Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility

By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 18, 2007; Page A01

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.

This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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 ±  Click To Expand    Quotes From Other Blogs about this issue ::

Street
ProphetsA Daily Kos Community

It’s getting worse
by pastordan
Sat Feb 17th, 2007 at 18:58:21 PST

There's more, much more: disoriented soldiers with fractured skulls being handed a map and told to find their way across the base, psychologically fragile vets being left alone in an unsecured building on a drug-dealing corner, bureaucratic nightmares that swallow up months of work at making improvements. I'm with Aravosis on this:

Forget the agenda Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid had planned. It's high time we helped our troops. And if the Republicans won't do it, then we will. Let's ensure that the American people and our troops know which party got them into this mess, and which party is getting them out of it. Let the hearings and investigation and legislation begin until we fix these problems once and for all.

---

PANDAGON

Shame of the Bush Admin — deplorable conditions in Army hospital
by Pam Spaulding February 18th, 2007

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army’s Top Medical Facility. He sends them to fight in his military misadventures without enough armor, wears the best and the brightest down with stop-loss orders, and now, in the WaPo, we learn how Dear Leader takes care of his war-injured men and women. When you read this mind-boggling piece by Dana Priest and Anne Hull about Walter Reed Army Medical Center, one can only imagine what kind of hailstorm of criticism would hit if a Dem sat in the Oval Office.

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Tags ::  Politics • Military • Wounded Vets • Bush

ƒc We have compiled a list of Republican in the House who have stood up and said NO-TO-BUSH.   We now have a list in the Senate that have done so also.

As John Murtha has stated and re(d)-stated several times over that this is not the vote that counts.   The one that counts is the first one to start taking power from the megalomaniac in the White House.

We will only see America turning a corner when Congress truely and not just symbolically says ::

A point all the WingNuts keep forgetting is stated by Instaputz regarding the attacks on Murtha.   So quickly do they foget after a nationally voted mandate for change that the real American Body Politic also says ::

The Senate's White Flag Republicans
John Warner (Virginia) Norm Coleman (Minnesota) Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania)	Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) Gordon Smith (Oregon) Susan Collins (Maine) Olympia Snowe (Maine)

The true tests of the Republicans willing to stand up for America will start to take place when the legislation in binding.   Then and only then will the truth to power be raised proudly back to the rule of law.   The majority of the people of this great nation have spoken.   It is time for Congress to do it's job and return to the people the power to set the course.   For six long years a small wingnut minority has run rampant without control.   It is time to start taking the first real legislative steps to take that control back...   Now...

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Tags ::  Politics • Electronic Voting • Senate • 110th Congress • Bush • White Flag Republicans