The Neverending Saga of Phase II

Why is it taking the Senate intelligence committee forty times longer to examine how the Bush administration used--or misused--the prewar intelligence on Iraq and WMDs than it took for the United States military to topple Saddam Hussein? American troops reached Baghdad in three weeks (there were a few complications after that). But the intelligence committee, led by Republican Senator Pat Roberts, has dilly-dallied for two-and-a-half years when it has come to reviewing how George W. Bush and his top aides represented--or misrepresented--the WMD intelligence as they led (or misled) the nation to war. Last fall, the Senate Democrats shut down the Senate for a few hours to protest the committee's lack of progress in producing the so-called Phase II report that was supposed to focus on this matter. Roberts and the Republicans promised to conclude the inquiry soon. Yet another nine months have gone by, and as The Washington Post reported on Sunday, the committee is still not yet done. The Post noted:

The Republican-led committee, which agreed in February 2004 to write the report, has yet to complete its work. Just two of five planned sections of the committee's findings are fully drafted and ready to be voted on by members, according to Democratic and Republican staffers. Committee sources involved with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they are working hard to complete it. But disputing Roberts, they said they had started almost from scratch in November after Democrats staged their protest.

And those two sections do not focus on the central subject--the administration's use of the prewar intelligence. One examines the intelligence agencies' prewar WMD estimates with what was found on the ground in Iraq. The other looks at what information provided by Iraqi exiles made it into official intelligence estimates. (It does not explore the influence of Ahmad Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress on Bush administration officials before the invasion.)

I take the committee's lackadaisical approach to this issue personally, for Roberts once directly promised me that the Phase II would be a priority. This is what happened. On July 9, 2004, Roberts and his committee released a 500-plus page report on how the intelligence community screwed up the prewar intelligence. But the committee's report (over the objection of its Democratic members) ignored the touchy matter of whether Bush officials had mischaracterized the intelligence to win support for the invasion of Iraq. Not surprisingly, the committee, under Roberts direction, was avoiding this subject as the 2004 election neared. At the press conference Roberts held to mark the release of the committee's report on the WMD intelligence, I asked him about this missing part of the inquiry. Here's the exchange:

QUESTION: Given the 800 American GIs who have lost their lives so far, thousands have had serious injuries, lost limbs, all on the basis of false [WMD] claims...[and that] American taxpayers have had to kick in almost $200 billion, doesn't the American public and the relatives of people who lost their lives have a right to know before the next election whether this administration handled intelligence matters adequately and made statements that were justified -- before the election, not after the election?

There is a third one, and I don't know why I can't come up with it right now. But, anyway, it is a priority. And, hey, I have told [Senator] Jay [Rockefeller, the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee], I have told everybody on the other side of the aisle, everybody on our side of the aisle, 'We'll proceed with phase two. It is a priority.' I made my commitment, and it will be done.

So Roberts looked straight at me and said that the Phase II report was a "priority" for him and that he had made a commitment to complete this mission. Yet he has not made good on that commitment. It causes me to wonder if he misled me--that is, if he falsely declared he was committed to such a review only to kick the can down the road past the 2004 election. Now, according to the Post, he's trying to do the same with the 2006 elections. The paper noted:

The section most Democrats have sought, however, is not yet in draft form and might not emerge until after the November election, staffers said. That section will examine the administration's deliberations over prewar intelligence and whether its public presentation of the threat reflected the evidence senior officials reviewed in private.

Were Roberts truly committed to this task, it would have been done before the 2004 election. One committee staffer once told me this sort of review could be finished within months. Yet Roberts has been playing games--and he has got away with it. The Phase II controversy boils up (into public view) every six months or so and then fades. And only once has the Democrats succeeded in embarrassing Roberts for doing nothing. So he keeps kicking that can--rather than looking inside it. It's a funny way to treat a "priority."

******

BLATANT SELF-PROMOTION: If any of you happen to be near Cape Cod this week, I will be speaking/performing at the Payomet Theater on the evening of Wednesday, August 2. The event is billed "An Evening of Political Insight, Gossip and Outrage, Volume II," and it will combine satire, humor, analysis, self-righteous indignation, and bombast. I'll let the reviewers describe it in further detail. But as regular readers of DavidCorn.com know, I've taken a stab at stand-up during the past few years, and last summer when asked to participate in a spoken word series at the Payomet Theater in Truro (a town situated between Wellfleet and Provincetown), I let portions of that stand-up routine bleed into my usual lecture on the Current Political Situation. For some odd reason, I was invited back this summer. If you need more information, go to the home page of the Payomet Performing Arts Center.

Comments (167)

1. well, there are still phases 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.....who knows how many phases. just be patient mr. corn! the republicans are really really really serious about getting to the bottom of this. would they lie?

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/31/2006 @ 3:09pm

2. david, get over the personal bs...here's some news you need to digest: it really isn't about you. and after all this time, how can you be surprised that a true nobody like roberts is more beholden to his friends in the white house than to you or rockefeller or even the senate. what has he ever done to demonstrate that he cares about the integrity of the senate and its independent oversight role? is naivete a prerequisite for working at the nation?

   Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 3:09pm

3. Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 3:09pm |

   i take it personally and no one promised me anything, except to faithfully uphold the duties of their elected offices. i pay their salaries and when they play politics and act in ways deletorious to the welfare of the country i take it personally. i dont lose sleep over it, but do take it all very personally. just because they dont know me dont mean i dont know them!

   people should not fear their governments. governments should fear their people - and not just well heeled political action groups, which are not, in fact, the people...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/31/2006 @ 3:16pm

4. roberts is not losing any sleep about david corn and his blah blah. roberts has accepted his assigned role in the republican hierarchy, which is to play a stalling game that protects white house interests. he goes out sunday mornings and his questioners are amused by his doofus kansas act that masks his non-replies and attack on dems for supposedly politicizing national security. if you want to take all this stuff personally, there's at least 95 others faithfully playing their own curious roles over which you can go have a heart attack. there might be a small handful independent enough to take seriously when they talk policy. corn really ought to know better than to take roberts at his worthless word.

   Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 3:28pm

5. So what does it take to get the Democrats to shut down the Senate again?

   Should the electorate wait 9 more months? 10 years? Does the electorate have to do their own investigation? Can the people get at least a token of a bone of representaion at any point in this wasted decade?

   Posted by freedomplease at 07/31/2006 @ 3:41pm

6. Hard for the NeoNuts to write that much BS at one sitting. Probably takes 6 months between chapters just for the flies to clear out....

   Posted by leftofcenter at 07/31/2006 @ 3:44pm

7. How about we shut it down first week of November....point out to the voting public that the GOP refuses to do the job the public has paid them for....might give them something to think about while waiting in line to vote!

   Posted by leftofcenter at 07/31/2006 @ 3:45pm

8. Don't worry, if the dems win the House, then this is all we will hear for 2 years(the Nation will orgasm for 2 years)until they lose again....and during the 2 years the Dems rake this BS over our coals(only the libs and MSM care about the so called "Lied about WMD" issue, we will have have listen to clowns like Conyers drone on from the TV and not the basement behind the furnace...the audience will be about the same size)and the country will be paralyzd as all real defence grinds to a halt and as the Zealots of Muhamand will not be able to believe theri lick at the dems sleeping as we are attacked again...and the dems will be slaughtered at the polls in 08 and perhaps forever...

   Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 3:46pm

9. Just my opinion...

   Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 3:46pm

10. shutting down the senate is a loser...only confirms what most think about dems: no ideas, no mature leadership...just obstructionist partisanship. only alternative is to speak out forcefully and often and stop accommodating and playing nice with clowns like roberts

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 3:48pm

11. I'm making this up, but it occurs to me that because the Bush administration has so overloaded the political blotter on crimes committed against the American people and much of the rest of the world, none of them has a chance in hell of making it on any court docket soon. With Mr. Rove at the helm, it's not outside the realm of possibility that this is no accident. Were it not for the myriads of other crimes needing a hearing, the lie that is Iraq would have been front and center three years ago.

    Posted by felicity at 07/31/2006 @ 3:48pm

12. Why not go for winning and bring the public in on suggestions besides run away...instead of put them to sleep and in a state of glazed over eyes as partisan politics once again freezes over commen sense and purpose. Maybe we can have a picnic with the gitmo guests and discuss how it is Bush fault they are trying to kill any one that is not a muslim?

    These hearings are going to only degrade our resolve and will and get more of us killed so ther libs can get power over anything else in the national intetest. They will be the ruin of the democratic party.

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 3:50pm

13. Felicity,

    You and the opinions such as yours, which anyone is absolutely free to hold , have got to be music to the ears of anyone in the Allah akbar division...gotta think that if we only have a few more martyrs and more like the posters on the Nation, we can win this thing!!!!!

    If I were one of the guys wating in line for my 72 virgins, I would seek comfort here.

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 3:56pm

14. maasch - country may no longer care that much about wmd argument, or the other rationales used to convince americans that going into iraq was good idea...enough americans bought into enough of the shifting rationales. but americans are seriously pissed off their govt is so incompetent and inept and unprepared to deal with what it once said, falsely, was a critical part of the war on terror. if it was that big a deal, how could they screw it up so bad? that's why gop will pay heavy price this november, not because of wmd.

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 3:57pm

15. Gosh Maash.........I'd hate for the public to actually learn the truth about the runup to the war in Iraq. You're right......the Dems may spend some time really investigating prewar intelligence and its misuse if they take congress this fall. Would that be so bad.....to acutally know the truth.

    Sadly, I feel that you and most of your bretheren already know the truth........it was all a bunch of bullshit. Lies, deception, overstating of evidence..........it all took place.

    The irony is you are now complaining because we may spend time investigating a presidency that lied to get us into a disastrous war...........but you continually revert to Clinton rhetoric on this site.........didnt we spend roughly two years investigating a blowjob.........why not two years for a war based on lies and deception?

    Posted by jpolston at 07/31/2006 @ 3:57pm

16. The interminably-delayed Phase II hearing is actually one of the smaller problems compared to this one [tinyurl.com].

    Posted by fromredbird at 07/31/2006 @ 3:57pm

17. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 3:46pm | ignore this person

    See, and JOHN's nightmare scenario is what I hope "Speaker" Pelosi and "Majority Leader" Reid try desperately to avoid.

    Only by proving they can GOVERN....not endlessly investigate a lame-duck President, will Democrats win in 2008.

    But if they listen to the rabid "We Want Bush & Cheney's Heads" Crowd....they'll get NOTHING done and the Repubs will come back on a "Well, you gave them a chance, and look what they did with it" platform.

    Posted by Mask at 07/31/2006 @ 4:02pm

18. JOHN MAASCH's total contribution to this blog is nothing more than a neverending display of his visceral loathing of anyone who criticizes the criminal, treasonous stupidity of his Dear Leader, Bushalini. Someone has to do it.

    Posted by fromredbird at 07/31/2006 @ 4:06pm

19. NK,

    I'm happy for you that you listen to and absorb the talking points.

    On the other hand since the main function of the Senate is oversight it befuddles me how you think that a Democratic innitiative to get the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Commitee to actually do his fucking job instead of just drawing my tax paid salary year after year would be obstructionist!

    If Reid and the Democratic Party cannot insist on some sort of progress on this investigation then Reid and all of the Democratic Senators need to step aside.

    Posted by freedomplease at 07/31/2006 @ 4:11pm

20. Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 3:48pm

    I don't agree. Dems do have ideas....like holding the GOP accountable for the lack of a report. Of course, if they refuse to follow thru then what is the options for the party holding neither house *other* than shutting things down to say "Hey, asshats. We're serious here!"

    Posted by leftofcenter at 07/31/2006 @ 4:13pm

21. i said the majority of the american people view it that way...i wish it wasn't true, but i try to operate in the real world and not in the world of blah blah blogs where you can whine endlessly and come up with dopey ideas that sound brilliant here and end up as worthless where it counts. be my guest and have your fun

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 4:18pm

22. NK,

    I think you are right regarding the wmd nonsense...most people who I know and speak with couldn't care less about wmds as they correstly feel Iraq is just one step in a long war begun against the west and US since before Carter....the truth to me and mine is Bush is no conservative and Iraq, when the battle ended, there seemed to be no step by step plan to secure the victory on the battle field..and the repubs will pay a price for this and for not being conservative at the polls as they promised. It is almost irrelevant what the posters here beleive about Cheny, Halliburton and most of all..Bush lied....that will have much effect at the polls in Nov..IMO...

    Jpolston,

    I don't think you read my posts at all, which is OK...otherwise you would comment on things that are never there in them.

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 4:29pm

23. JP,

    .."I'd hate for the public to actually learn the truth about the runup to the war in Iraq. You're right...."

    They know the truth..it is just not the truth you want them to believe or as you see it..that Bush planned all this to get he and his friends rich...lunacy and most see it for what it is..fringe freak outs..

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 4:32pm

24. just for the record, i never said it was nonsense to bring up the bogus wmd argument...just that americans are finally holding bush accountable on other grounds, namely incompetence. had the admin not lied about an iraqi nuclear program and used language such as mushroom clouds and whipped the public into a frenzy, there would not have been the fear to generate what really was uncertain support. in the context of fear following 9-11, the admin cynically manipulated the public by hyping the nuke argument. i accept they believed, along with every other intel operation around the world, that saddam still possessed chem and bio weapons, but that would not have been enought to convince americans to go to war. as for the long war against the west, iraq did not have to be part of it, but due to the incompetence even you acknowledge, it obviously part of the mess today.

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 4:38pm

25. Saw that "You Know Who" ("Three World Wars and Albert Pike"?!?!?---Posted by RESE 07/31/2006 @ 4:24pm) had popped in with 10-12 Cut & Pastes from www.hitlerstillalive.org when I noticed the "spike" in posts I wasn't seeing.

    Curious, what is it about David Corn in particular that attracts the paranoid conspiracy theorists? Not as much Ms vanden Heuvel or Mr Nichols or Mr Berman, but Mr Corn?

    Posted by Mask at 07/31/2006 @ 4:42pm

26. Posted by FREEDOMPLEASE 07/31/2006 @ 4:11pm

    Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 07/31/2006 @ 4:13pm

    Explains why I laugh about NK continually referring to me as "birdbrain". He may eventually be singlehandedly responsible for evolving the saying, "Consider the source" to, "Ignore the source" or, "Pity the source".

    Posted by fromredbird at 07/31/2006 @ 5:05pm

27. Bush planned all this to get he and his friends rich

    (an idea ridiculed by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 4:32pm)

    Well, almost. He took the opportunity to ensure high defense spending, exaggerated executive power, and heightened national security awareness for well over a decade. Which does in fact empower and enrich his "friends", the elite of the Republican party.

    Could be I'm crazy. Or overcome by high-priced gas fumes.

    Posted by MyParadigm at 07/31/2006 @ 5:15pm

28. thanks birdbrain...once again you have no clue, as the buddies on whom you relied -- thanks to my being on your ignore list (and i beg you not to deny me that honor, milhouse) -- misunderstood or just got too confused, leading you astray, not that you really need any help. now, is that the best you can do? what happened to your usual analysis about everything being the fault of fasczionazis...are they manipulating the naive corn, the feckless roberts, or the small minded dems, or do you have a toothache and not getting your signals clearly in that itty bitty birdbrain mouth from which you provide us your chirps?

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 5:16pm

29. MYPARA

    Step away from the gas pump.

    Posted by CPT at 07/31/2006 @ 5:22pm

30. Posted by FROMREDBIRD 07/31/2006 @ 5:05pm

    "A source is a source of course, of course. Unless its a source we don't endorse...and then we ignore that source, of course...I'm a NeoNut" sung to the Mr. Ed theme... LOL

    Posted by leftofcenter at 07/31/2006 @ 5:26pm

31. are you suggesting birdbrain is also a horse's ass...quite an image for us to hold onto

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 5:33pm

32. DAVID CORN wrote

    Why is it taking the Senate intelligence committee forty times longer to examine how the Bush administration used--or misused--the prewar intelligence on Iraq and WMDs than it took for the United States military to topple Saddam Hussein?

    Of course, David knows the answer. In a nutshell, it is "one party rule". The GOP might loosen up a bit from their fawning deference mode after the midterm election (when Dubya officially becomes a lame duck), but we won't see any real action until we get some opposition power in Washington.

    Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 07/31/2006 @ 6:09pm

33. Just my opinion...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 3:46pm

    No kidding! I don't see your scenario as even remotely plausible. Far more likely in the event of a Dem win this November is shrinking budget deficits and surging job growth. The troops will be in Iraq past the end of Dubya's term. He has said as much, and since they take orders from the commander in chief it is silly to suggest that the troops will leave Iraq before W leaves office.

    Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 07/31/2006 @ 6:12pm

34. Imagine that... A politician playing politics. Mr Corn, you have a real scoop here!

    Posted by FREIHEIT 07/31/2006 @ 3:22pm

    Now THAT is funny!

    Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 07/31/2006 @ 6:13pm

35. It is not obstructionist partisanship for the Senate to demand that the INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE examines the administration's use of intelligence before the war. People like Maasch now seem to use Roberts' inordinate delay as an argument for doing nothing further, as if WMD is "old news" and just a bunch of Democrats grinding their axes. He presupposes that the administration did not misrepresent intelligence before a real investigation even happens, so he already has his answer. Well, the rest of the country doesn't have those preformed answers and they and the people that have died in this war deserve them.

    Sorry, Mask, but providing a check on the executive is as much of a part of "governing" as passing legislation. And, it's not as if the activities of the Senate Intelligence Committee would bring the entire Congress to a grinding halt either. Other work could get done. Following Mask's line of thought, second term administrations have a blank check to do whatever they want, and Bush should be able to escape scrutiny simply because Roberts was successful in blocking an investigation before 2004. Lame duck or not, people need to be held accountable. Even if Bush cannot suffer at the voting booth any more, whatever is left of his legacy as he leaves office should be at stake.

    Roberts' intentional dereliction of his duties is partisanship at its highest level. I can think of nothing more partisan than purposefully stonewalling an investigation into how the administration got us into a war that has cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars simply because an "(R)" follows his name.

    Posted by Hman23 at 07/31/2006 @ 6:14pm

36. Maybe we can have a picnic with the gitmo guests and discuss how it is Bush fault they are trying to kill any one that is not a muslim?

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 3:50pm

    JOHN, It is time to cut back on the gin-and-tonics! The gitmo guests, as you call them, are there because they AREN'T trying to kill anyone that is not a muslim.

    If they WERE trying to do that, they would have been put on trial long ago.

    Some of them were put there because their neighbors in Afghanistan lied about them to the US troops in order to take revenge or collect bounties. They include humble farmers, bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time, etc.

    Do you honestly think that if they were truly terrorists they wouldn't have been tried by now??? Hell, Bush is desperate for victories! He'd preside at the trials himself if he thought he could get convictions.

    Come on, man! Think about it.

    Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 07/31/2006 @ 6:20pm

37. thanks birdbrain...once again you have no clue, as the buddies on whom you relied -- thanks to my being on your ignore list (and i beg you not to deny me that honor, milhouse) -- misunderstood or just got too confused, leading you astray, not that you really need any help. now, is that the best you can do? what happened to your usual analysis about everything being the fault of fasczionazis...are they manipulating the naive corn, the feckless roberts, or the small minded dems, or do you have a toothache and not getting your signals clearly in that itty bitty birdbrain mouth from which you provide us your chirps?

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 5:16pm

    are you suggesting birdbrain is also a horse's ass...quite an image for us to hold onto

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 5:33pm

    Oh, no . . . no one can produce rhetoric as superlative as your s*** talk, NK. Such a highly distilled self-regard seems to be the calling card of the, "No way can we cut israel's US financing, they have more kindergartens to bomb while we discuss a new and improved peace plan", crowd.

    By the way, when are you going to start calling Ari Berman an anti-semitic nazi for writing this [tinyurl.com]?

    Good thing RESE is around- it gives guys like you, MASK, Rio Blotto, and MAASCH someone to exchange insightful, informed, and thoughtful ideas with.

    Posted by fromredbird at 07/31/2006 @ 7:09pm

38. "...a new Zogby poll ( 5/23/06 ) reveals that less than half of the American public trusts the official 9/11 story or believes the attacks were adequately investigated".

    "Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and "Consciously Failed" To Act; 66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions by Congress or New York's Attorney General, New ( 8/30/04 ) Zogby International Poll Reveals."

    More to the point of this thread:

    "As Memorial Day approaches, 51 percent of Americans, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll ( 5/25/06 ), think the commander in chief "deliberately misled" us about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction".

    Yesterday out of curiosity I watched a pannel discussing evidence, much of it suspect but some of it intriguing, that 9/11 was planned by elements within our own government to furnish hawks with the excuse of a "new Pearl Harbor". These rumors have been circulating for a long time of course but what was interesting was that C-Span's coverage gave it a certain imprimature of respectability.

    So do I think the Cheney Administration manipulated intelligence on WMDs ? Absofuckinglutely. Do I think the Cheney Administration is behind 9/11 ? I ain't touchin' that one but what I think is not important in any case. What the trolls think who find this sort of thing comical and just a part of the tin-pie-plate-hat-conspiracy-nuts-culture is not important. What is important is the ambiance of festering paranoia and mistrust of our government in which this kind of thinking is daily gaining credence.

    Is this surprising when a government, obsessed with secrecy,stifles the press and treats the public like mushrooms keeping them in the dark and feeding them shit ?

    Unlike the trolls on this site who argue that an investigation of the Cheneny Administration by Democrats if they regain control of the House in November would be politically damaging I believe the public will welcome it like a breath of fresh air in a musty, fetid cellar.

    Posted by Red Neckerson at 07/31/2006 @ 7:56pm

39. Doesn't anyone want to hold this administration accountable?

    Not really. Show me the 1991 cease-fire agreement, and with the approval of Congress, I'll rubber-stamp approval for military action. If you have a problem with the intelligence, investigate the intelligence community. Start with France, and head west.

    Besides, I was not aware that our time is up in our hunt for WMD's with only 500 canisters of nerve gas on the scoreboard. After finding such concealable items as French Mirage Jets buried in the sand, it stands to reason that there might be a few more things buried in thousands of square miles of sand.

    I was taking this thread seriously, until someone made the claim that "Cheney engineered 9/11" Bwahahahaha!!

    Followed up with what looks like the recipe for Twinkies.

    Posted by Sliver at 07/31/2006 @ 8:16pm

40. Unlike the trolls on this site who argue that an investigation of the Cheneny Administration by Democrats if they regain control of the House in November would be politically damaging I believe the public will welcome it like a breath of fresh air in a musty, fetid cellar.

    Posted by RED NECKERSON 07/31/2006 @ 7:56pm

    Might prove to be a vain hope if the Democrats get control of Congress. Could be that "moderate" Democrats prefer to breathe in the manner to which they are accustomed. Must be some reason why the great majority of them were willing to give Bushalini a blank check to invade Iraq.

    Posted by fromredbird at 07/31/2006 @ 8:23pm

41. way to go birdbrain, i knew it wouldn't take you very long to throw in a nazi reference...when it comes to rhetoric really ought not be so shy; you are truly in a (peewee) league of your own. good of you to prove once again that your baseless assumptions match your ignorant views: what would you know about what any of us who refuse to join your blame-israel-for-everything crowd have to say regarding the level of u.s. aid for israel? frankly, it would be healthier for both the u.s. and israel to see the aid amount reduced, but not for the reasons you submit. and that was quite an ironic touch to bring up kindergartens, since the rain of katyushas falling on metulla must be the worst fear experienced there since hezbollah's plo predecessors murdered more than 20 schoolchildren right in their classrooms. no, israel did not at that time, nor today, put rocket launchers or other weapons in or next to the school; that's the tactic of those you support. the plo just walked into the school and killed them anyway, much like hezbollah today randomly targets israeli civilians. i think that was awful. i also think the deaths of civilians yesterday, and everyday, is awful, on both sides of the border. but you don't agree with that, do you, birdbrain? brunowe can fight his own fight, but it has not escaped anyone's notice that you sill refuse to answer the question about whether you accept israel's right to exist in peace or if you side with those who want to see it eliminated. and you have the nerve to complain about what you see every day in the mirror, birdbrain.

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 8:46pm

42. one more thing, birdbrain: i'm not in that right wing crowd...i'm a life long, liberal dem. i just happen to have more than a little sympathy for the underdog israelis, who are a relative handful of jews in a sea of angry arabs calling for israel's annihilation every single day for the last 58 years.

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 8:50pm

43. typical of right wingers that they fight desperately to cover up the truth about the tragic blunders and lies that got us into the iraq quagmire. you can talk to them about patriotism, but it wont do any good. the good republicans are repudiating bush, it's the dead enders who cling desperately to any lie to support him.

    Posted by pretzel at 07/31/2006 @ 9:01pm

44. SLIVER

    Besides, I was not aware that our time is up in our hunt for WMD's with only 500 canisters of nerve gas on the scoreboard. After finding such concealable items as French Mirage Jets buried in the sand, it stands to reason that there might be a few more things buried in thousands of square miles of sand.

    You've had three years, access to Hussein's documents and some of his people. Give it up.

    Posted by brunowe at 07/31/2006 @ 9:52pm

45. "A source is a source of course, of course. Unless its a source we don't endorse...and then we ignore that source, of course...I'm a NeoNut" sung to the Mr. Ed theme... LOL

    Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 07/31/2006 @ 5:26pm

    IS THIS REGARDING ALGORES MOVIE?

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 9:59pm

46. ILP,

    "Far more likely in the event of a Dem win this November is shrinking budget deficits and surging job growth. "

    NOT IF THEY RAISE TAXES, AS THEY PROMISE TO DO. NO JOB GROWTH.

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 10:01pm

47. who are a relative handful of jews in a sea of angry arabs calling for israel's annihilation every single day for the last 58 years.

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 8:50pm

    Your premise would be slightly more believable if the sea of angry Arabs actually attempted to annihilate Israel. But then that hasn't happened since the Yom Kippur war. Which I believe was 33 years ago

    And since then two of Israel's Arab neighbors have made peace with the country

    Posted by Will C. at 07/31/2006 @ 10:03pm

48. NOT IF THEY RAISE TAXES, AS THEY PROMISE TO DO. NO JOB GROWTH.

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 10:01pm

    You know... it's weird. Clinton raised taxes and it was followed by crazy job growth

    and rising wages

    now how can that be when john boy and every other hamster conservative claims it can't be?

    Posted by Will C. at 07/31/2006 @ 10:07pm

49. Don't worry, if the dems win the House, then this is all we will hear for 2 years(the Nation will orgasm for 2 years)

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 3:46pm

    sounds like fun to me...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/31/2006 @ 10:12pm

50. Rese just cracks me up! " Raining down bombs on Lebanon's children"? You are insane! First of all, Israel does not target innocent women and children, Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda etc. DO! Yet, I don't ever see any criticism of these TERRORIST groups, when they kill innocent women and children, in any of Rese's jibberish! Second, when innocent women and children die due to Hezbollah ( or any other terrorists ) using them as human shields while firing rockets and other weapons from their homes, Israel holds little if any responsibility! Yet, it's the moronic fools ( the MSM included ) like Rese that these terrorists count on to get angry and blame Israel when they ( Hezbollah ) use innocent lives as cover in wars that they themselves start! Third, do the Israeli people dance and cheer at the loss of innocent arab women and children when they are unintentionally killed? The answer is " ABSOLUTELY NOT"! Do many arabs dance and cheer when innocent Israeli's and Americans are targeted and killed? The answer is " Absolutely YES"! Will anything other than the destruction of Israel and America appease or satisfy these people? No! To blame Israel in any of this is flat out psychotic! Rese, you are shameful!

    Posted by barry25 at 07/31/2006 @ 10:13pm

51. Hey... suicide bombers don't target innocent women and children either

    They have it in for busses and pizza parlors

    Posted by Will C. at 07/31/2006 @ 10:29pm

52. willc -- it's absurd to argue that there isn't a significant portion of the arab world that doesn't want to annihilate israel...that the last time that applied was during the yom kippur war (or, as egypt calls it, the ramadan war). just because they haven't succeeded doesn't mean you should ignore their objectives. it is not a very well kept secret that books and curriculum in most arab countries, including those that have made "peace" with israel, do not show israel on their middle east maps. it is not a very well kept secret that even public officials often have a hard time even saying "israel," regularly referring to the country as "the zionist entity." and while israel is happy to have a cold "peace" with, as you point out, 2 arab countries, that still leaves more than a dozen who maintain, after 58 years, an official state of war. most important, the palestinian parliament is headed by hamas, a violent terrorist organization that openly and brazenly calls for israel's elimination, and revels in the success of its young people blowing themselves apart in the midst of as many israelis as possible. and that too is not a secret; so why would you write something as disingenuous as your note challenging a premise that states that israel has many mortal enemies? why do some people who want to be thought of as friends and supporters of palestinians act with such disdain, and insult them by not taking seriously what they say? when meshal or nasrallah or ahmadinejad offer their views, why do you not give them the courtesy or respect they demand when they tell you their beliefs?

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 10:41pm

53. willc -- i completely agree with your last comment about buses and pizza parlors. long ago i thought it would be "proportional" for israel to go into palestinian cities following a terrorist bombing of an israeli bus full of innocents and to force every bus into the central square of that town, make sure everyone was off the bus, and then blow them all up and tell the palestinians that they evidently don't like buses and that israel will do them the favor of taking their buses out of service, permanently. same with pizza parlors. blow up one in jerusalem and then go into ramallah and burn down every fast food joint in town, making sure there was no one inside. i take it you agree.

    Posted by nk at 07/31/2006 @ 10:46pm

54. Neo-cons, go back and watch old video of the republicans defending Nixon to the last. I especially like the youthful congressman/actor Fred Thompson. ( damn those activist actors!) They would not budge an inch, till the sht was knee deep and they had no galoshes. Do you still think it harmed America that Nixon was impeached? If so, was that Nixons fault or The Vast Liberal Conspiracies attempt to bring down the great man?

    The same argument applies to chimpy that he has used too often, if he has nothing to hide, out with it. Why are you guys so eager to hide the truth if it is as you say? Do you think it a waste of time to settle it once and for all? If Douglas Feith didn't fuss with the facts why not take the oath and tell it like it was? I mean, I've never heard of a republican operative lying under oath before, have you? So we could trust him. Then Dickie, and chimpy, and Rummy and Condi. ooooh, condi, condi.

    Hey look folks, we found 500 12 year old artillery shells out of 25,000 tons of of neuro-toxin we KNEW was there!!! The rest is in Syria! I know 'cuz Rummy said so. God, that darn Expeditionary Force was lead by liberal scum, and they lied, lied , lied.

    Give it up, there were no WMD's in Iraq that were any threat to you and yours.

    Posted by crabwalk at 07/31/2006 @ 11:26pm

55. Yea, but the remaining bunch of arabs are so strung out about being whipped so badly so many times by an Israeli army they have decided it is safer to target Israeli women, children, unarmed Israeli citizens, and sometimes tourists!

    Posted by RIO BRAVO 07/31/2006 @ 11:29pm | ignore this per

    Hezzbolah does not target so much as lob indiscriminately with no regard for human life. Israel knowingly targets civilian areas with high tech weaponry. I don't see a big moral difference. But, you have been willing to trade 50-100,000 Iraqi lives for your false sense of security, so I know we have a different standard.

    Posted by crabwalk at 07/31/2006 @ 11:35pm

56. Will,

    Took the advice and removed you from ignore list..for a while at least...only to find a gem immediately..

    "You know... it's weird. Clinton raised taxes and it was followed by crazy job growth

    and rising wages "

    There isn't an economist alive nor a businesman who runs the nuts and bolts of his/her company, that will even come close to equating rising job growth with raising of taxes...for if this were true, one should raise taxes to 99% of all monies and job growth shoud expolde under your ,ah, theory or what ever,...no one in any money business that wants to be taken seriously subscribes to that lunacy..

    Every time taxes are CUT, the amount of dollars to the treasury INCREASES and jobs grow.. EVERY TIME IT IS TRIED..but you don't know about pies, so...and please,..no more site loons as references as you did with the Denver school districts "success"...it was embarassing for you...we know all about Denver schools and the stats...we had children IN it and we actually EXPERIENCED it firtst hand and rescued our children FROM it, as did and do thousands each and every year..despite your "sites studies"..Real experience Will is the key , not other peoples,ah, " white papers"... especialy government written..by the same people who need funds to write more studies for people who need funds for.......

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 11:52pm

57. Gotcrabagain,

    "Give it up, there were no WMD's in Iraq that were any threat to you and yours.

    What do you say we give them 14 years or whatever,like we gave the UN Clouseaus to find the wmds before we declare no threat to us..? Fair is fair...

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 11:54pm

58. Crab,

    "Hezzbolah does not target so much as lob indiscriminately with no regard for human life. Israel knowingly targets civilian areas with high tech weaponry."

    I think you have it backwards...an article with pictures shows Hellsboola clowns in street clothing fire rockets from neighborhoods and apartments and then leaving as Israelis rockets follow in after the rocket that just left ...

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 11:57pm

59. The fact you see no moral differnce between the two sides in symtomatic of the hard left won't defend me or my group no matter what crowd. We can't all get along and never will, as long as one side celebrates the death of their children on suicide missions as a happy day complete with BBQs....no reasoning ability to negoiate with...

    Posted by john maasch at 07/31/2006 @ 11:59pm

60. willc -- it's absurd to argue that there isn't a significant portion of the arab world that doesn't want to annihilate israel...that the last time that applied was during the yom kippur war (or, as egypt calls it, the ramadan war).

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 10:41pm

    It appears your sea of angry Arabs has now transmogrified into a significant portion of the Arab world

    And later the Arab world becomes Arab countries… who may still maintain a state of war with Israel.

    Ok let me try to clarify some of this mess. Only four Arab countries border Israel. Two: Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel. Syria and Israel began to negotiate a peace treaty in 99 but nothing came of it once clinto left office. Lebanon hasn't really been a country for most of my life time due to its own internal strife and the various foreign occupations up until one year ago when the last occupation ended and a democratically elected government came to power.

    Any other Arab country would have to go over or through these Arab countries to get to Israel

    So now let's take a look at these other Arab countries

    Saudi Arabia isn't going to attack Israel because it doesn't have the forces

    Iraq is occupied by us

    The North African nations don't have any real military power and their political attention is focused on the violence in Sudan.

    All the other little piss ant Arab countries in the gulf also don't have any real military power and are either poor or too busy living the rich boy life(and that's all determined by how much oil they have)

    So what's left of your sea of angry Arabs? Hamas, Hezbollah and various other spin off groups that are united around the continuing occupation of the territories gained by Israel in the 67 war and not returned by treaty.

    That's it. That's all the threat Israel has from the Arabs. And Israel could very easily begin to undo the animosity that is stoked by the injustice done to the Arabs in those occupied territories… by abiding by the UN resolutions that insist they get out of those occupied territories.

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:19am

61. Every time taxes are CUT, the amount of dollars to the treasury INCREASES and jobs grow.. EVERY TIME IT IS TRIED..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 11:52pm

    Yet Clinton not only raised taxes, got tremendous job growth coupled with increased wages

    and the treasury was so awash with cash that the nation was running surpluses as far as the eye could see

    Until you hamsters fucked it all up with your tax cuts

    Remarkable isn't it

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:23am

62. willc -- i completely agree with your last comment about buses and pizza parlors. long ago i thought it would be "proportional" for israel to go into palestinian cities following a terrorist bombing of an israeli bus full of innocents and to force every bus into the central square of that town, make sure everyone was off the bus, and then blow them all up and tell the palestinians that they evidently don't like buses and that israel will do them the favor of taking their buses out of service

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 10:46pm

    if only they had do just that to the buildings with the little kids and the women in the basement

    But the Israeli's had it in for those building something fierce

    You know what I mean vern

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:26am

63. and maasch

    your little vacation in la la land didn't make you any smarter

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:28am

64. but then I didn"t expect it would

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:28am

65. if only they had do

    correction... if only they had done

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:34am

66. The fact you see no moral differnce between the two sides in symtomatic of the hard left won't defend me or my group no matter what crowd. We can't all get along and never will, as long as one side celebrates the death of their children on suicide missions as a happy day complete with BBQs....no reasoning ability to negoiate with...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 11:59pm

    maasch

    this post was jebberish

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:36am

67. no wait gee-berrish

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:37am

68. geeduberish?

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:37am

69. Kinda reminds me of that old Johnny Cash song from "The Bitter Tears" album about Custer! "With victories he was swimming, he killed children, dogs and women, but the general he don't ride here anymore!

    Posted by RIO BRAVO 07/31/2006 @ 11:29pm

    shit rio

    if he didn't throw the timin chain on an old ford pickup

    then it ain't real country

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:42am

70. "Yet Clinton not only raised taxes, got tremendous job growth coupled with increased wages"

    REAGONOMICS CAUSE THE LONG TERM GROWTH..CLINTON LAST YEARS TANKEDINTO RECESSATION 6 MONTHS BEFORE BUSH TOOK OFFICE..THE ECONOMY TAKES A LONG TIME TO RESPOND TO POLICYS EXCEPT TAX DECREASES..

    I DO THINK YOUR LAST POST ON THE ISRAEL/ARAB THIHG IS WELL THOUGHT OUT...I STILL BELEIVE IT IS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN...THE ARAB WORLD IS PAYING MINIMAL LIP SERVICE.

    GOING TO BED..

    Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 12:48am

71. REAGONOMICS CAUSE THE LONG TERM GROWTH..CLINTON LAST YEARS TANKEDINTO RECESSATION 6 MONTHS BEFORE BUSH TOOK OFFICE..THE ECONOMY TAKES A LONG TIME TO RESPOND TO POLICYS EXCEPT TAX DECREASES..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 08/01/2006 @ 12:48am

    a whole six months before bush took office eh Maasch?

    well your right about one thing. An economy takes a long time to respond to policies. It tolk the better part of clintons two terms for our economy to reach the heights it did.

    and only six months to tank in anticipation of the bush tax cuts

    remarkable isn't it

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:54am

72. correction.. took

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 12:55am

73. GOOD NIGHT WILL.

    Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 12:59am

74. what is this the fucking waltons

    you have to say good night three hundred times john boy

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 01:02am

75. tell the idiot that israel is having to withdraw troops from contested areas, because of hizbullah's effectiveness in resisting on the ground.

    Thanks for the update, Tokyo Rose.

    Posted by Sliver at 08/01/2006 @ 01:15am

76. So Republicans don't care that their government has poured multiple billions of dollars into the war in Iraq? What would it take for them to criticise this administration?

    Posted by vantom at 08/01/2006 @ 01:15am

77. Thanks for the update, Tokyo Rose.

    Posted by SLIVER 08/01/2006 @ 01:15am

    you're off by almost half a planet...

    and more than half of a century

    Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 01:17am

78. willc -- it's absurd to argue that there isn't a significant portion of the arab world that doesn't want to annihilate israel...that the last time that applied was during the yom kippur war (or, as egypt calls it, the ramadan war). just because they haven't succeeded doesn't mean you should ignore their objectives. it is not a very well kept secret that books and curriculum in most arab countries, including those that have made "peace" with israel, do not show israel on their middle east maps. it is not a very well kept secret that even public officials often have a hard time even saying "israel," regularly referring to the country as "the zionist entity." and while israel is happy to have a cold "peace" with, as you point out, 2 arab countries, that still leaves more than a dozen who maintain, after 58 years, an official state of war. most important, the palestinian parliament is headed by hamas, a violent terrorist organization that openly and brazenly calls for israel's elimination, and revels in the success of its young people blowing themselves apart in the midst of as many israelis as possible. and that too is not a secret; so why would you write something as disingenuous as your note challenging a premise that states that israel has many mortal enemies? why do some people who want to be thought of as friends and supporters of palestinians act with such disdain, and insult them by not taking seriously what they say? when meshal or nasrallah or ahmadinejad offer their views, why do you not give them the courtesy or respect they demand when they tell you their beliefs?

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 10:41pm

    A person could listen to your ranting all day long and never guess that israel has spent the last 60 years doing everything it could to annihilate Palestine. It's a real tragedy for your agenda that there are public sources of information. Genius.

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 02:49am

79. willc -- i completely agree with your last comment about buses and pizza parlors. long ago i thought it would be "proportional" for israel to go into palestinian cities following a terrorist bombing of an israeli bus full of innocents and to force every bus into the central square of that town, make sure everyone was off the bus, and then blow them all up and tell the palestinians that they evidently don't like buses and that israel will do them the favor of taking their buses out of service, permanently. same with pizza parlors. blow up one in jerusalem and then go into ramallah and burn down every fast food joint in town, making sure there was no one inside. i take it you agree.

    Posted by NK 07/31/2006 @ 10:46pm

    See. I was right. You're a genius. If you continue with this humorous form of mental drooling I may just take you off my ignore list rather than only coming across your israel-centric mewling when I reboot and haven't signed in yet.

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 02:54am

80. NK's innocent israelis. And these people whine about Hamas and Hezbollah.

    Yesha Rabbinical Council: During time of war, enemy has no innocents [tinyurl.com]

    The Yesha Rabbinical Council announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar Qanna that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy."

    All of the discussions on Christian morality are weakening the spirit of the army and the nation and are costing us in the blood of our soldiers and civilians," the statement said. (Efrat Weiss) (07.30.06, 17:37)

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:03am

81. Indiscriminate Bombing in Lebanon a War Crime [tinyurl.com]

    Responsibility for the Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 54 civilians sheltering in a home in the Lebanese village of Qana rests squarely with the Israeli military, Human Rights Watch said today. It is the latest product of an indiscriminate bombing campaign that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have waged in Lebanon over the past 18 days, leaving an estimated 750 people dead, the vast majority of them civilians.

    "Today's strike on Qana, killing at least 54 civilians, more than half of them children, suggests that the Israeli military is treating southern Lebanon as a free-fire zone," said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. "The Israeli military seems to consider anyone left in the area a combatant who is fair game for attack."

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:09am

82. NK, is Chuck Hagel an anti-semite? You and BRUNOWE continually accuse me of anti-semitism for saying the same thing that he's saying. I think your israel-centric rhetorical agenda is doomed if that's the best rejoinder that you and BRUNOWE have to the facts of israel's nazi-like behavior.

    "Hezbollah is not the source of the problem; it is a derivative of the cause, which is the tragic conflict over Palestine that began in 1948," wrote Scowcroft, who went on to argue in favor of Washington taking the lead in forging and imposing a "comprehensive settlement" of all of Israel's security issues.

    His plan, parts of which he has presented before, include the creation of a Palestinian state close to the 1967 Green Line, a broader Arab-Israeli peace along the lines of the 2002 Saudi plan by King Abdullah, and the deployment of a NATO or NATO-led international force to police traffic between Gaza and the West Bank and to enforce a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon.

    "The benefits of reaching a comprehensive settlement of the root cause of today's turmoil would likely ripple well beyond the Israelis and the Palestinians," according to Scowcroft. "[It] would not only defang the radicals in Lebanon and Palestine … it would also reduce the influence of Iran – the country that, under its current ideology, poses the greatest potential threat to stability in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan."

    http://tinyurl.com/p8yay

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:14am

83. Oops.

    Lebanese PM (Rafik Hariri's son) supports resistance (Hezbollah):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMw6cKGksfM&search=hezbollah

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:16am

84. Double oops.

    Last week, Jews in the southern city of Shiraz held a pro-Hezbollah rally that was covered by state-run television -- a sign that the march was likely overseen by the Islamic regime to reinforce the idea of national solidarity.

    The Web site of the Tehran Jewish Community includes statements opposing Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip and praising uranium enrichment by Iranian scientists. The U.S. and many of its allies, including Israel, believe Iran is using its nuclear reactor project as a cover for a weapons program.

    ''For Iranians, there is a distinction in their mind between Zionism and Judaism,'' said Motamed. ''This is a very important distinction for us.''

    Iranian Jews face no restrictions on their religious practices, but they must follow Islamic codes such as head scarves for women in public. The same rules apply to the larger Christian and Zoroastrian communities.

    But the Jewish population in Iran continues to shrink from emigration to Israel, the United States and elsewhere. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, nearly 100,000 Jews lived in Iran, Motamed said.

    Anti-Semitic acts are rare, but Jews often are the target of degrading caricatures in the Iranian press. Tensions rose considerably in 2000 when 10 Iranian Jews were convicted of spying for Israel. An appeals court later reduced their sentences under international pressure and eventually freed them.

    http://tinyurl.com/qjhjs

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:21am

85. GOING TO BED..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 08/01/2006 @ 12:48am

    Have a pleasant interlude in MAASCHBOLLAH-LAND.

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:29am

86. tell the idiot that israel is having to withdraw troops from contested areas, because of hizbullah's effectiveness in resisting on the ground.

    Posted by ZERO 07/31/2006 @ 11:37pm

    Hezbollah's effectiveness or the israeli troops cowardice? Most likely some of both. Facing armed men who've had some training is different from beating and stomping 12 year old unarmed Palestinian kids.

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:44am

87. Oops.

    Lebanese PM (Rafik Hariri's son) supports resistance (Hezbollah):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMw6cKGksfM&search=hezbollah

    Posted by FROMREDBIRD 08/01/2006 @ 03:16am

    This link works. [tinyurl.com]

    Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 03:48am

88. ISRAEL BLACKMAILS AMERICA

    NUCLEAR WAR IMMINENT.

    "PURE EVIL" Does A Deal With "THE DEVIL."

    PURE EVIL is Dick Cheney.

    THE DEVIL is Israel's Mossad.

    THE DEAL was 9/11.

    Cheney perceived the perfect partner in the perfect crime to be Israel's Mossad. Cunning, ruthless, skilled, connected, covert - the "False Flag" experts.

    As is now clear and agreed upon by all, the Bush Sr. / Cheney Administration (in which Shrub is merely a spokesperson and useful idiot) adopted the PNAC plan as its own. Cheney found within it the opportunity to capture vast resource-rich territory in a World War blamed on others, and thereby enrich himself and his friends.

    9/11 proved not to be the perfect crime, and the co-conspirators actually got caught, and have been covering up their crime and silencing their "enemies" ever since.

    Israel and Cheney were both caught red-handed on 9/11 itself.

    Cheney was caught when Norm Minetta walked in on him in the midst of barking out the orders that allowed the A3 Skywarrior to strike the Pentagon without being shot down.

    Israel's Mossad was caught when their five agents were arrested after being observed celebrating and filming the impact and subsequent collapse of the Twin Towers. They weren't just arrested, they had with them video taped evidence of themselves celebrating on camera as the towers fell (as would a demolitions team after a successful implosion).

    These events are factual. They occurred.

    The lengths to which the US and Israeli governments have gone to bury these and other historic events are evidence of their complicity in 9/11.

    Cheney was wrong to have selected Israel as any kind of partner in crime. Israel was not going to be content to share the spoils of war, Israel wants ALL the spoils of war, and has at its disposal ALL of the tools and leverage to literally destroy the United States, and is in the midst of doing so right this very moment.

    Why the silence from the Bush Administration with respect to Israel's destruction and acquisition of territory?

    BLACKMAIL - plain and simple.

    Through Abramoff, Franklin, Lieberman, Chertoff and their thousands of moles within the US Government, in concert with their vast network of installed monitoring software, data retrieval and listening devices, Israel has compromised virtually every Administration official AS WELL AS nearly every US Senator and Congressman.

    Israel has evidence of all of them accepting bribes, because Israel was behind the bribes and recorded evidence of all of it. Israel has evidence of sexual escapades out of wedlock, because Israel arranged for it, and documented it. Israel has direct evidence of the Administrations role in 9/11, because Israel partnered in it.

    Israel controls the Mainstream US Media, and the Administration KNOWS IT.

    As we speak, Israel is threatening the administration with the total exposure of their role in 9/11 if they even begin to interfere with Israel's plan to take out not just Lebanon, but also Syria AND Iran, using NUCLEAR WEAPONS - all within the next ten days.

    The bombs that we are rushing to Israel at this very moment...the bunkerbusters to be delivered by the F-15s - are they nuclear?

    If the US had any ACTUAL LEVERAGE or ability to slow down Israel's mad territory grab and death machine, the least they would be doing is holding back delivery of bombs.

    As with EVERY member of the Bush Administration, Condaleeza Rice has no power whatsoever over Israel. They're blackmailing her too.

    Israel has already accomplished its goal. It has completely compromised the integrity and security of the United States Of America. It is in total control of the US Treasury, Defense Department, Congress - every institution and branch of government.

    The culture of corruption in Washington met its match in Israel. The co-conspirators thought they had an equal partner in crime, but they have now come to realize that this was a very long term and elaborate sting - for the ultimate prize - control of the United States Of America and its Nuclear Arsenal.

    This is where we stand today. Literally everyone in Washington knows it. All of the retired Generals and Bush Senior advisors are on highest alert.

    The Bush Administration is in the midst of the biggest disaster ever conceived, and unless they do EVERYTHING that Israel demands, the evidence of their crimes will be plastered across every major newspaper in the United States.

    The Administration knows for a fact that Israel is going to nuke Iran and Syria. The only choice the Administration has to stop Israel from nuking these two countries, is to Nuke Israel itself. Even this though will not prevent the Truth of 9/11 from being revealed.

    CHECKMATE.

    Nuclear war is coming either way, and its coming right now.

    "The Crazies" as Colin Powell referred to the Zionists, have won - and he personally enabled it.

    "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. 'God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan'." "And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq...' And I did.

    Secretary of State Rice's response to the disaster in New Orleans was: "The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come on time." She added: "If we just wait." "On time"? How does Rice know the exact time Armageddon starts? "If we just wait"? That means in her, that is our, lifetime!

    "At Church one day [Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader] listened as the pastor declared that 'the war between America and Iraq is the gateway to the Apocalypse.' DeLay rose to speak, not only to the congregation but to 225 Christian TV and radio stations. 'Ladies and gentlemen,' he said, 'what has been spoken here tonight is the truth of God.'"

    LESS THAN ONE MONTH AFTER 9/11:

    "Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." - Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.

    Only by revealing the entire truth and arresting all of the guilty parties can the threat of Blackmail be removed.

    Posted by plunger at 08/01/2006 @ 03:52am

89. Plunger, thy name is Mel Gibson.

    Shouldn't you be in rehab right now?

    Posted by usc1 at 08/01/2006 @ 06:54am

90. I think you have it backwards...an article with pictures shows Hellsboola clowns in street clothing fire rockets from neighborhoods and apartments and then leaving as Israelis rockets follow in after the rocket that just left ...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 11:57pm | ignore this person

    Just like you wrote.."then leaving". So israel knows they hit and run, but they choose to drop missiles onto apartment buildings anyway.

    Did you read anywhere were I apologized for Hezzbolah? Same as with Usama, I totally condemn their behavior. But I also totally condemn israels response. Last i looked the totals were something like; israels citizens dead 30, Lebanese ciitizens dead 435. Hezzbollah dead 10 or so. Fair and balanced response to 2 captured soldiers? Only in hamster land. If Israel had the cojones they would go in on foot, door to door and root out hezzblolah. Instead they bomb innocent women and children, creating the next generation and wave of islamic terrorists. And hezzbolah bombs women and children, creating the next wave of zionist terrorists.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:14am

91. But we digress, this is a thread about the inability of the repube controlled congress to find out why chimpy was sooo wrong about the nonexistent threat posed by Saddam. A war he wanted from day 1. A war that was to bring peace and stability to the middle east. Mr. Maasch, how is that going? How many liberal democracies have been gestated since March of 2003? In Iraq 300 garbage men have been killed in sectarian violence that YOUR sec. of defense said would never, ever happen. These Iranian backed clowns that govern nothing from the green zone can't even get the garbage picked up, let alone get the country running again.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:17am

92. Posted by USC1 08/01/2006 @ 06:54am | ignore this person

    USC, you must really, really hate christians with a comment like that. Why Mel is a good father, fine actor and class act drunk. And it appears that like any good repube, he has the town sherrif on his payroll. But we digress , again.

    Rese/plunger, GET A LIFE!!! you wackjob. seek medical assistance, drugs if need be.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:21am

93. birdbrain, your comebacks are pathetic. no amount of public sources was sufficient for you to know that hariri's son is not the PM, and it is not much of a shocker that for public consumption, not to mention the sake of his life, he feels compelled to say something supportive about hezbollah. perhaps i should be more generous given that, at least for now, you refrained from claiming he was actually supportive of syria/hezbollah's murder of his father. and how about that birdbrain gem you offered with the jews of iran -- that famously open, tolerant, civil society where jews undoubtedly feel free to speak their minds -- as evidence of...what, exactly? priceless. as for the views of some extremist settlers in the west bank, they don't speak for israel or for me. there is a great deal of diversity of opinion in a democratic country like israel, and people exercise their rights, including idiotic minority views. please show me where else in that neighborhood this practice exists, especially since you have so many public sources on which to rely.

    Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:32am

94. and as for will's summary of the practically non-existent threats facing israel, it's a shame the arab world hasn't yet received your memo

    Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:34am

95. "Great shakings and darkness are descending on Planet Earth," says the ID philosopher Paul Nelson, "but they will be overshadowed by even more amazing displays of God's power and light. Ever the long-term strategist, YHVH is raising up a mighty army of cutting-edge Jewish End-time warriors."

    And you neo-cons talk about the left being loony?

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:41am

96. "The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

    The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

    You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

    Rapture Index of 85 and Below: Slow prophetic activity Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts "

    ... From Rapture Ready.

    As of July 30 the speedometer reads 157. Get your airbags out boys and girls, w's man is a'comin'. Sorry Maasch, no room for libertarians, even in the back of the bus. You will be stuck with us heathens roasting tofu wieners in hell. I'll bring the the condiments.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 08:49am

97. Let it be known...For the record, I'm speaking to all of you conservatives...9/11 happened on GW's watch and history cannot change this, as much as all of you want to spin this, just read the 9/11 commissioners report...Bush,Rice and company ignored all the warnings...

    Posted by djmarch at 08/01/2006 @ 08:54am

98. Here I go again with my same old song: Stop engaging the knuckledraggers. Who reads Maasch's, Rio's, LoveLib's, CPT's, et. al's, posts and thinks: here's an intelligent, educated fellow with opinions opposed to mine. I'll engage him in debate? Nobody. It's not possible. These guys are simply stupid and gullible and they prove it with almost every post. Stop wasting time trying to explain Civics 101 to them. If there weren't millions of these Fox News echo chambers in America, Bush wouldn't be president. The Bushies rely on idiots to support them and the wingnuts who post here are perfect exemplars thereof. We never really get a good intellectual exchange going here because they always hop in with their dumb-as-a-stump goofy shit. So, by all means, read what they write--it's good to understand how and what they think. But don't waste precious bandwidth responding. Let's try to get some lively intellectual debate going about the Nation's columnists' essays. Let the wingnuts masturbate; don't respond.

    Posted by bookmanjb1 at 08/01/2006 @ 09:03am

99. Bookman, you are partially correct. But just once I would like to read a GOOD reason that phase 2 should not go forward. After all we all KNOW that the facts supported the invasion, right? Nothing to hide.

    Oh, right, we don't want congress "waisting time".hehehehe.

    Posted by crabwalk at 08/01/2006 @ 09:07am

100. "Far more likely in the event of a Dem win this November is shrinking budget deficits and surging job growth. "

     NOT IF THEY RAISE TAXES, AS THEY PROMISE TO DO. NO JOB GROWTH.

     Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 10:01pm

     IF YOU THINK THE ECONOMY CANNOT ADD JOBS AFTER A TAX INCREASE THEN I'D SAY YOU NEED TO STUDY ECONOMIC HISTORY MORE CLOSELY.

     Not only can it happen, it has happened, most recently during Clinton's administration.

     I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Individual income tax rates are less important than Federal Reserve policy and technical innovation, when it comes to growing the economy. Why do you think the equity and bond markets respond so quickly and seriously to the actions of the Fed??? The markets give the Fed WAY more attention than they give to income tax policy.

     Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 08/01/2006 @ 09:13am

101. Cabscake,

     " Mr. Maasch, how is that going? .."

     As I hve said...the war went exremely well, faster than any planners thought poosible (remember the lefts panic over body bags for our troups by the 10,000's?), it is the lack of planning after victory on the field that takes time. We had no plans as was painful clear.

     It takes time..it is horrible to watch all those peace loving islamic heros slaughter their neighbor like sheep and blame the infidel...kinda like it is the jews fault Hilter killed them...then judging by many post on this site...many here seem to do exactly that..

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 09:13am

102. ILP.

     "Not only can it happen, it has happened, most recently during Clinton's administration.

     But that is not the reason jobs and economy grew..tax increases...

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 09:15am

103. What do you say we give them 14 years or whatever,like we gave the UN Clouseaus to find the wmds before we declare no threat to us..? Fair is fair...

     Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 11:54pm

     Except that the Bush Administration officially called off the search a couple years ago! LOL

     Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 08/01/2006 @ 09:16am

104. birdbrain, what were you saying about the jews of iran... you still have time to sign up.

     Muslim states' Jews pray for IDF Matthew Wagner, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 31, 2006

     Jews living precariously in the world's most violently anti-Israel states in the Middle East have apparently signed their names and countries of origin on an Internet site that is coordinating a world-wide prayer rally slated for Tuesday for IDF soldiers.

     Twenty-eight from Iran, 12 from Syria, and five from both Lebanon and Iraq have signed up so far, according to Eran Gefen, CEO of Y&R Interactive, a PR firm that established the site with the aid of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger. Others involved with the effort include the Jewish Agency, the Foreign Ministry and numerous media, including The Jerusalem Post.

     Gefen admitted that he could not know for sure whether those who signed up were actually Jews. "We can't check their family tree, but they are joining the prayer for the IDF," he said. He added that he would keep the names of these signatories secret to protect their safety.

     "Iranian Jews normally do not have access to Israeli Internet content," said Gefen. "But it seems that some managed to bypass the block and it is very exciting to hear their virtual voices."

     Anti-Israel hackers from Saudi Arabia and other countries have launched an aggressive attack on the site, Gefen said. But, despite numerous delays, Israeli technicians have managed to keep the site up and running.

     "Hackers create thousands of artificial hits a second, which puts tremendous strain on the servers." Gefen added that there were thousands of hits from Arab countries, most of them anonymous.

     At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jews from all over the world will simultaneously say a prayer for IDF soldiers fighting against Hizbullah and for kidnapped soldiers. So far more than 50,000 Jews from 170 different countries have registered as participants in the prayer session. Registration is at www.tfila.org.il.

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 09:20am

105. REAGONOMICS CAUSE THE LONG TERM GROWTH..CLINTON LAST YEARS TANKEDINTO RECESSATION 6 MONTHS BEFORE BUSH TOOK OFFICE..THE ECONOMY TAKES A LONG TIME TO RESPOND TO POLICYS EXCEPT TAX DECREASES..

     Posted by JOHN MAASCH 08/01/2006 @ 12:48am

     Who was prez after Reagan, JOHN? If you answered Clinton, think again. It was George Bush Sr.

     So according to your reasoning, if Reagan's policies were responsible for job growth all the way to the near end of Clinton's term, then what policies are responsible for the "tank" at the end of Clinton's term?

     By your reasoning, it must be the policies of the first Bush!

     I understand you want to have it both ways - crediting Reagan for Clinton's economic success, and then blaming Clinton for what came after.

     However, that argument is self-contradicting. Therefore it can be rejected as wrong out of hand, with high confidence. So sorry...

     Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 08/01/2006 @ 09:24am

106. Until you hamsters fucked it all up with your tax cuts

     Remarkable isn't it

     Posted by WILL C. 08/01/2006 @ 12:23am

     Yup, the GOP cannot even do a tax cut correctly. As Warren Buffet suggested, instead of cutting taxes mostly for the wealth, an equal tax cut for everyone is the right way to go about it. Buffet suggested a 6-month payroll tax holiday. I'd prefer something like raising the exemption to $12,000 (or something even more radical, like the Fair Tax plan).

     These ideas would cut taxes for ALL workers and lead to MASSIVE economic stimulus, not just more wealth in the coffers of the super rich.

     Posted by ILOVEPHYSICS at 08/01/2006 @ 09:30am

107. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 10:01pm

     IF YOU THINK THE ECONOMY CANNOT ADD JOBS AFTER A TAX INCREASE THEN I'D SAY YOU NEED TO STUDY ECONOMIC HISTORY MORE CLOSELY.>/i>

     You know, the economy was the only thing GW had going for him and now all of his oil buddies and huge deficits are going to f*ck that all up for him in his final years of office..Before its all over with there won't be much legacy at all for him. He'll go down in history as thee worst president...

     Posted by djmarch at 08/01/2006 @ 09:34am

108. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/31/2006 @ 10:01pm

     IF YOU THINK THE ECONOMY CANNOT ADD JOBS AFTER A TAX INCREASE THEN I'D SAY YOU NEED TO STUDY ECONOMIC HISTORY MORE CLOSELY.

     You know, the economy was the only thing GW had going for him and now all of his oil buddies and huge deficits are going to f*ck that all up for him in his final years of office..Before its all over with there won't be much legacy at all for him. He'll go down in history as thee worst president...

     Posted by djmarch at 08/01/2006 @ 09:35am

109. Monday, July 31, 2006

     This shit's gotta stop

     http://xymphora.blogspot.com/

     Posted by plunger at 08/01/2006 @ 10:11am

110. Remember how George Bush has "secret information" that he cant share because it would "compromise intelligence sources". We gotta go to war, gotta go to war, gotta go to war, it is an imminent threat, an imminent threat, an imminent threat.

     It'll be over with in weeks not months, man, the Bush family's investments in oil and the arms trade are going to go up, George Bush gets to be a War President - so that he can be respected by history - thats what he told his biographer. Go down in history, as a great President who turned America around - got rid of good government, got rid of liberalism, got rid of blow-jobs - and other jobs. What a failure, what a disgrace, look at the slaughter - the lies - the profiteering.

     Posted by conshame at 08/01/2006 @ 10:31am

111. Surprised to see that my post about C-Span coverage of the 9/11 conspiracy pannel only drew one scoffing put down. ( By the way thanks for the heads-up Freiheit. Maybe I'll remove my belt and start wearing suspenders to be on the safe side ). However my point was not whether one should lend credence to popular beliefs like this but simply that they reflect a growing mistrust of this Administration. And from my perspective this can only be a good thing.

     Popular beliefs hang on forever against all logic and any and all evidence to the contrary. Just think of thousands of people out there like Silver and Rio waiting patiently, tuning into Fox news every night, hoping that today will bring the smoking gun that will prove Sadam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. These Right Wing fantasies are kept alive in the popular imagination and the fires are deliberately stoked and kept smoldering by Fox news, talk radio and other sources including unscrupulous politicians like Rick Santorum.

     But these Urban legends can cut both ways as we see with the "uncle Dickie is responsible for nine eleven" scenario. Progressives can profit from this too. I'm not suggesting we lower ourselves to the Right's level and start actively trying to fuel these urban legends with specious and misleading statements and outright lies. But I don't feel the least bit guilty gloating over the fact that C-Span covered the 9/11 conspiracy pannel. And I have no compunctions about passing on the word. Let the legend grow !

     Take off the gloves folks. Marquis of Queensbury rules were for another century.

     Posted by Red Neckerson at 08/01/2006 @ 10:41am

112. birdbrain, your comebacks are pathetic. no amount of public sources was sufficient for you to know that hariri's son is not the PM, and it is not much of a shocker that for public consumption, not to mention the sake of his life, he feels compelled to say something supportive about hezbollah. perhaps i should be more generous given that, at least for now, you refrained from claiming he was actually supportive of syria/hezbollah's murder of his father. and how about that birdbrain gem you offered with the jews of iran -- that famously open, tolerant, civil society where jews undoubtedly feel free to speak their minds -- as evidence of...what, exactly? priceless. as for the views of some extremist settlers in the west bank, they don't speak for israel or for me. there is a great deal of diversity of opinion in a democratic country like israel, and people exercise their rights, including idiotic minority views. please show me where else in that neighborhood this practice exists, especially since you have so many public sources on which to rely.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 08:32am

     Saad Hariri is majority leader in the Lebanese Parliament. Big deal. Everything else you say above is more NK-style BS. Your claim that he's making statements in fear of his life is downright asinine. He and his allies have in the past openly mocked Hezbollah and Syria. That was before they finally woke up and realized that the real enemy of Lebanon is nazi-like israel.

     Same BS in the case of Iranian Jews. There are Muslims in Iran who openly criticize their government's support of Hezbollah on the grounds that the money should be used domestically. I considered the previous Iranian spy accusations against some of it's Jews deplorable but it's signally noteworthy that Iran's Muslims treat their Jewish minority thousands of times better than israel treats Palestinians. israel murders Palestinians on a daily basis. israel is a mechanism of homicide and israel's indiscriminate mass murder of civilians is classified as a religious duty by some of it's religious leaders. [tinyurl.com]

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:09am

113. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jews from all over the world will simultaneously say a prayer for IDF soldiers fighting against Hizbullah and for kidnapped soldiers. So far more than 50,000 Jews from 170 different countries have registered as participants in the prayer session. Registration is at www.tfila.org.il.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 09:20am

     Have a good "hour of power" NK. While you're at it why don't you ask G-d to confirm whether it's really a religious duty to commit mass murder against civilians. You wouldn't want israel to lose it's Kingdom on Earth over a dumb mistake like that.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:15am

114. But I don't feel the least bit guilty gloating over the fact that C-Span covered the 9/11 conspiracy pannel. And I have no compunctions about passing on the word. Let the legend grow !

     Take off the gloves folks. Marquis of Queensbury rules were for another century.

     Posted by RED NECKERSON 08/01/2006 @ 10:41am

     The plain truth is bad enough as pointed out by DJMARCH (08/01/2006 @ 08:54am). Shiftless incompetent Bush was taking extended vacations while the republic was slowly and methodically drifting toward peril.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:22am

115. israel has "religious leaders" the same way we have billy graham. their role in their government's decision making is zero, but they are free to make whatever stupid pronouncements they like to the small religious constituency they serve. no, making another birdbrain factual mistake is not that big a deal, especially for a habitual distortionist like you, but you are incredibly naive to think that the younger hariri, after his father's assassination, feels as free today as he once did to offer his genuine views about hezbollah. you'd have to be a birdbrain to think otherside. and before i forget, let me say how really and truly impressed i am -- and i mean this sincerely -- with your ability to bold certain words, and to know that you consider my b.s. to be so unique and noteworthy as to be put in a special category. good for you, milhouse.

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 11:29am

116. israel has "religious leaders" the same way we have billy graham. their role in their government's decision making is zero, but they are free to make whatever stupid pronouncements they like to the small religious constituency they serve. no, making another birdbrain factual mistake is not that big a deal, especially for a habitual distortionist like you, but you are incredibly naive to think that the younger hariri, after his father's assassination, feels as free today as he once did to offer his genuine views about hezbollah. you'd have to be a birdbrain to think otherside. and before i forget, let me say how really and truly impressed i am -- and i mean this sincerely -- with your ability to bold certain words, and to know that you consider my b.s. to be so unique and noteworthy as to be put in a special category. good for you, milhouse.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 11:29am

     You might like to back up your ranting declaration by pointing out when and where Billy Graham said the equivalent of "according to Christian law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy." It's noteworthy that I often source what I say [tinyurl.com] whereas you never seem to feel that to be a need for NK-style BS.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:37am

117. . . . making another birdbrain factual mistake. . . you are incredibly naive to think that the younger hariri, after his father's assassination, feels as free today as he once did to offer his genuine views about hezbollah. you'd have to be a birdbrain to think otherside.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 11:29am

     That would be impressively profound except for the fact that Saad Hariri and his allies were openly mocking Hezbollah and Syria after his fathers's assassination. That was a real touch of genius. Birdbrains like myself are helpless before the onslaught of your religious-like logic.

     Here's a logical exercise for you: is there any party in the world who had more to gain from Rafik Hariri's assassination than israel?

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:50am

118. "Otherside", NK? Get a grip.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 11:52am

119. Hot off the AP

     Administration Appeals Spy Suit Ruling

     Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 8:32am

     The Bush administration appealed a court decision Monday that allowed a lawsuit to go forward challenging the president's warrantless domestic spying program.

     In rejecting government claims that the suit could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled July 20 that the eavesdropping was so widely reported there appears to be no danger of spilling secrets. Walker also said he did not see how allowing the lawsuit to continue could threaten national security.

     The case, which names AT&T Inc. as a defendant, is among three dozen lawsuits alleging telecommunications companies and the government are illegally intercepting communications without warrants. Walker is the only judge to rule against the government's claim of a "state secrets privilege."

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/01/2006 @ 12:08pm

120. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 08/01/2006 @ 12:08am

     Democracy is still breathing, just not very well.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 12:14pm

121. some of these are just too easy. is there another party with more to gain...why, yes, birdbrain...look again in the mirror...you seem pretty pleased as it's more fodder for your blah balh. between israel being resonsible for hariri's death and you being responsible, picking you is a no brainer. let's make it simple for you: of the top 10 problems in the world, is there one for which israel is not responsible? how about things you could identify with, like bad arches and smelly feet? i feel bad for you, birdbrain.

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 12:49pm

122. good job, birdbrain, catching that otherside thing...i know you find this shocking, but some of us actually have something else to do and don't obsess with blogs and perfecting all this brilliant commentary. but you da birdbrain man to hone right on in. well done

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 12:53pm

123. some of these are just too easy. is there another party with more to gain...why, yes, birdbrain...look again in the mirror...you seem pretty pleased as it's more fodder for your blah balh. between israel being resonsible for hariri's death and you being responsible, picking you is a no brainer. let's make it simple for you: of the top 10 problems in the world, is there one for which israel is not responsible? how about things you could identify with, like bad arches and smelly feet? i feel bad for you, birdbrain.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 12:49am

     good job, birdbrain, catching that otherside thing...i know you find this shocking, but some of us actually have something else to do and don't obsess with blogs and perfecting all this brilliant commentary. but you da birdbrain man to hone right on in. well done

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 12:53am

     You're no fun anymore. You dwindled away to nothing in record time. Step it up or I'll put you back in the ignore bin.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 2:12pm

124. Posted by RED NECKERSON 07/31/2006 @ 7:56pm

     really? on cnn?

     wow - thats interesting indeed. some redemption for reese possibly?

     at the risk of being labelled a nut (and i have been labelled far worse) i do not disbelieve 9/11 was allowed to happen to "provide a modern pearl harbor" to get us rambling down the road paved by pnac and the sociopathic handlers of bushII known as the neocons that led to "regime change" and all the mess we see now.

     the gigantic, stupid stanislaw lemesque robot known as the neocon machine is dangerous in several ways...

     1. it is not nearly as smart as it thinks it is - it does not take much guile to decieve american idol pop culturally lobotomized america...those who possess less intelligence than they percieve themselves to possess are dangerous indeed, especially when the find themselves in power...

     2. again, the not-as-smart-as-they-think-they-are crowd are those most vulnerable to self serving pride and vanity, and this gigantic stupid robot is no exception. it is supremely proud of its self percieved cleverness and infuriated when others point out its stupidity, which only serves to entrench it all the more in its defense of its opinions and actions...

     3. its idiology, behind which it hides, is convoluted, complex, and clever, conjured up by those brighter than itself, and adept at assuaging rightfully guilty concience, yet can be boiled down to a simplistic, self serving, set of catch phrases and slogans easily digestible by the 6th grade vocabulary mindset of pop culturally lobotomized shmuk america.

     4. the gigantic, stupid robot is possessed of incredible wealth and power. watch out - sometimes it crushes those who are not even its enemies (and does not care in the least) because it cannot even see tham...

     5. although the gigantic stupid robot appears to possess enough intelligence to appear to possess some intelligence, it is robotically and sociopathically devoid of guilt or empathy. it may lumber into church (especially when the camaras are on) and lace its speeches with godly platitudes, but hell, even satan can do that!

     the hope is that eventually the arrogant, stupid, gigantic robot will run itself out, lose a few critical bolts and screws here and there, neglect self maintenance, and get itself stuck in some kind of ravine or canyon, where we lilliputions can swarm it, and destroy it with a buzillion little scratches, stings and hammerblows...

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 2:20pm

125. ILP,

     "By your reasoning, it must be the policies of the first Bush"

     yes, Bush 1 helped bring on recession...tax cuts are the fastest response effort for government.

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 2:27pm

126. ILP.

     "These ideas would cut taxes for ALL workers and lead to MASSIVE economic stimulus, not just more wealth in the coffers of the super rich."

     Now you are on track...cut ALL income taxes for everyone and tax only new consumtion...FAIR TAX PLAN....

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 2:29pm

127. Americans have become so good at calling each other names, being a dirty liberal has become a wonderful way to smear people who are apparently liberal first and American last. How sad it is to hear the right wing clamouring for an end to democracy while they hide behind religion and deception never seen before in the modern world, other than of course convenient and admirable dictatorship models.

     Posted by Tower at 08/01/2006 @ 3:00pm

128. MAASCH, why don't you just stick to the original israel Air Force version? Sounds better, doesn't it?

     As the Israel Air Force continues to investigate the air strike, questions have been raised over military accounts of the incident.

     It now appears that the military had no information on rockets launched from the site of the building, or the presence of Hezbollah men at the time.

     The Israel Defense Forces had said after the deadly air-strike that many rockets had been launched from Qana. However, it changed its version on Monday.

     The site was included in an IAF plan to strike at several buildings in proximity to a previous launching site. Similar strikes were carried out in the past. However, there were no rocket launches from Qana on the day of the strike.

     Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, 49 bodies were removed Monday from the ruins of buildings in ten villages. Medical sources in Lebanon say dozens more are buried in the rubble.

     The IDF account and those of survivors present contradictory versions of the Qana deaths. The IDF said that there is an unexplained gap of about seven hours between the IAF strike and the first report that the building had collapsed. Residents' accounts say only 10 minutes went by between the strike and the collapse.

     The survivors say rescue teams arrived only in the morning, as night conditions made the rescue mission difficult. The Red Cross in Tyre received a call for help only in the morning, explaining their late arrival.

     Sami Yazbek, chief of the Tyre department of the Red Cross, said his office received a call only at 7 A.M. The ambulances were further slowed by the bombed roads leading to Qana.

     The media first heard of the bombing at 8 A.M. The foreign press quoted Lebanese sources explaining the late announcement, saying the electricity and phones in the village of Qana were almost entirely cut-off by IAF attacks.

     http://tinyurl.com/emhny

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 3:00pm

129. know what, birdbrain? you are right. i'm bored. this has become a waste of time. no one learns anything or advances the arguments in a meaningful way. go back to page 1 of this blah blah and you'll see i tried to address the issue raised by corn, but i accknowledge that where it has ended up is juvenile. you can go on your merry may calling everyone a nazi and threatening to ignore them, but you can do it without me.

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 3:23pm

130. FROMRED,

     I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN?

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 3:27pm

131. Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 3:23pm

     i dont know, NK, i've seen some pretty good discussion here from all sides. truth is, how much more meaningful commentary can be generated after 3 or 4 pages of commentary about any topic?

     speaking of...

     moreblabbulance [virtualcitizen.org]

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 3:36pm

132. Posted by BOOKMANJB1 08/01/2006 @ 09:03am

     rio's having me and my future wife out to his ranch for barbequeing, tequila shots, john wayne movies and political argumentation. is that a good enough reason to engage these guys in debate?

     hey rio. hows the weather out there?

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 3:41pm

133. all within the next ten days.

     really, plunger? i'll be counting down...

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 4:07pm

134. know what, birdbrain? you are right. i'm bored. this has become a waste of time. no one learns anything or advances the arguments in a meaningful way. go back to page 1 of this blah blah and you'll see i tried to address the issue raised by corn, but i accknowledge that where it has ended up is juvenile. you can go on your merry may calling everyone a nazi and threatening to ignore them, but you can do it without me.

     Posted by NK 08/01/2006 @ 3:23pm

     Oh, come on. I never called you a nazi. You called me a nazi on a couple of other threads. Amazing.

     I never, in fact, have thought you were a nazi, just a zionist appeaser. I wouldn't even characteriaze all israelis as nazi-like. There are some that I definitely would. And the israeli state is nazi-like. It has to be as long as it's goal is to erase the history of the Palestinian people. We've seen that imperative before in Europe. One thing leads to the next if someone doesn't stand up. The israelis could change but most of them aren't expressing much interest in that now. Many of them still have faith that they can bomb the rightful owners into submission.

     It really is pretty lame to call me a nazi and then say that I call "everyone" a nazi. Jesus.

     Posted by fromredbird at 08/01/2006 @ 4:12pm

135. Posted by FROMREDBIRD 08/01/2006 @ 4:12pm

     i never refer to anybody other than avowed nazis as nazis. i use the term "fascists". naziism was a form of fascism, after all, and not all fascists were anti-semitic racists (mussolini only adopted the antisemite thing when pressured by his boss and protege, hitler).

     the current neocon machine is what i have often referred to as "obverse democratic fascists" and not hyperbolically inaccurately, i would argue...

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 4:33pm

136. birdbrain, your lying has induced me to write one last time, but it's worth it to expose you. show me where i have called you or anyone else a nazi. you can't. that's the language of a loser, someone without any sense of proportion, who can't argue legitimately, with facts and reason. go ahead and show me, but here's the deal: both of us will stay silent until you do it. and the rest of y'all don't have to bother thanking me for this.

     Posted by nk at 08/01/2006 @ 5:07pm

137. heres one for rese and plunger, as well as the legion of 9/11 conspiracy poo pooers. an interesting and thought provoking link. who knows? truth can be a lot stranger than fiction sometimes...

     http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13969.htm

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 5:14pm

138. "?rio's having me and my future wife out to his ranch for barbequeing, tequila shots, john wayne movies and political argumentation. is that a good enough reason to engage these guys in debate"

     Can I come too? I love BBQ, shots, John Wayne movies, political argumentation, maybe I would like Ibbles future wife..good enough reasons for me to come..I'll even cook..

     Posted by john maasch at 08/01/2006 @ 5:46pm

139. Posted by RIO BRAVO 08/01/2006 @ 6:22pm

     remeinds me of the phillipines. but its the humidity, u know....

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 6:57pm

140. Alibis.

     Posted by Vic Anderson at 08/01/2006 @ 7:15pm

141. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 08/01/2006 @ 5:46pm

     my future wife is hot and kind of evil - i am a lucky man...

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 7:23pm

142. Alibis.

     Posted by VIC ANDERSON 08/01/2006 @ 7:15pm |

     nice first name. alaibis are great.

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 7:24pm

143. Not to get off subject, but...

     The Nation, and more specifically, David Corn was caled out on C-Span by the most idiot left wing nuts regarding the "inside job" of 9/11.

     Dave, I take back all I've said about you in the past. You are my new hero.

     Posted by USAPRIDE at 08/01/2006 @ 8:12pm

144. Sorry about the shabby spelling - better to type with the lights on.

     Posted by USAPRIDE at 08/01/2006 @ 8:32pm

145. i am an idiot - and lazy - sorry about not going to that tiny url thing and reducing this - but check this link out (copy and paste it into your address bar, then hit enter - its easy).

     http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13969.htm

     then go check it out, especially the byu physicist...

     really - if its all BS, whats the harm?

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 9:26pm

146. Concerning The WMD the following statements were made:

     "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

     "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

     "Iraq is a long way from the USA, but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." - Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary Of State, Feb 18, 1998

     "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." - Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

     "We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998

     "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

     "Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." - Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

     "There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." - Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

     "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." - Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

     "We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

     "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

     "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

     "The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities.Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." - Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

     "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

     "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

     "He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he hasrefused to do" -Rep.Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

     "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

     "We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." - Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

     "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ..." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

     Isn't it strange how the Democrat tune has changed? SO NOW THE DEMOCRATS SAY PRESIDENT BUSH LIED, THAT THERE NEVER WERE ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. If these were lies, the Democrats told them.

     The mistake president Bush did make was believing the Democrats as set out above. Dean Johnson, Sebring, Fl.

     Posted by Dean Johnson at 08/01/2006 @ 10:06pm

147. Posted by DEAN JOHNSON 08/01/2006 @ 10:06pm

     question 1 - what happened to them (the wmd's)?

     question 2 - what is your source for this?

     question 3 - what makes you think anyone on this site, including democrats, thinks elected democrats are geniuses?

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 10:18pm

148. Posted by DEAN JOHNSON 08/01/2006 @ 10:06pm

     Ha Ha Ha Ha

     Everything after Jan 2001 was based on the Intel that ol gee Dubya cherry picked before disseminating it.

     Repeating a lie doesn't make you a liar

     It doesn't even make you a fool

     Unless you know for sure that the president that told you the lie…

     was lying

     Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 10:38pm

149. which he was

     :)

     Posted by Will C. at 08/01/2006 @ 10:38pm

150. Posted by WILL C. 08/01/2006 @ 10:38pm

     what a pack of sociopaths...bushco

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/01/2006 @ 11:41pm

151. To get an update on the sterling progress in Iraq check out the current fiasco of rebuilding at Off Track

     ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -

     Posted by RIO BRAVO 08/01/2006 @ 6:22pm

     Must be that global warming that isn't happening, huh?

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/02/2006 @ 11:56am

152. "Why is the Senate Intelligence Committe taking 40 times as long ..." you ask? Simple answer! Because they are busting their lilly white little booties to find a way to report that WMD intelligence was not misrepresented. Their Exxon/Halliburton bankroll for re-election will run out before that report has any facts in it.

     You mentioned that it took the military "reached Baghdad in three weeks." This is the period that I refer to as "the 21-day media milking." Can you imagine that military strategy? Ole Saddam, his sons and cohorts were packing up the bucks and moving them out, so what is to tell us that they didn't pack up a few of their many Mercedes Benz semis with WMDs. Should he have had any, Ole Osama would have been so gracious as to offer to sit on them in a cave or two for a few years, you know, just until the batteries on CNNs cameras began to run down.

     Of course, I think you know the answer as well as anybody, and we all know that the report will never come until the committee comes up with what they believe is a credible cover-up story, one that can be marketed to the ignorant masses.

     Personally, I am amazed that there are intelligent people asking about "misrepresentation." Call it "lies." That way you are not a party to the misrepresentation stuff. All the world knows about W's push for the UN report on WMDs and that the report contained evidence that did not support his personal need to invade Iraq, yet he did it anyway. There is no question, therefore, that he lied. I merely ask why do we keep asking.

     Posted by The Budman at 08/02/2006 @ 10:08pm

153. You should have seen all the dust storms in the 1950s heat and drought when you could not see more than 75 feet all day for several days.

     Posted by RIO BRAVO 08/02/2006 @ 11:32pm

     interesting rant rio

     it looks like you have done a lot of reasearch into freak of nature weather days.

     but then none of that really explains away the steady, consistant warming tread we see across the world

     Posted by Will C. at 08/03/2006 @ 08:48am

154. and trust me baby, we stil be having dust storms if agricutural scientists, quacks I believd you called them, didn't study weather, soil and the farming practices of the day to come up with the best practices we are using now

     (thank jesus for science... and god for the mind to understand it)

     Posted by Will C. at 08/03/2006 @ 08:48am

155. Posted by RIO BRAVO 08/02/2006 @ 11:32pm

     Well I guess if anyone around here is qualified to recognize a whacko it would be you. Take one to know one and all that. However, I don't know where you drag up your pseudofacts, so I thought I'd send some real info your way... Record Temps1

     or Record Temps 2

     NOAA US and WORLD temps highest averages since records began in 1800s

     or:

     # 10 of the last 12 years were the warmest since 1850

     # The first six months of 2006 were the hottest since they started keeping records in 1890.

     from MSNBC

     or try the AIP (American Institute for Physics) which also declares anthropogenic global warming the real deal AIP albeit misunderstood.

     Not that I expect you to believe facts or anything, but gotta try to help the ignorant masses. And for the record, anthropogenic warming began in the mid 1800s when we started using fossil fuels beyond natural systems' ability to re-absorb the carbon released that had been stored for millions of years.

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/03/2006 @ 11:52am

156. On the Iraq debacle, off the AP 8/2/06

     TIKRIT, Iraq - A U.S. soldier testified Wednesday that four of his colleagues accused of murdering three Iraqis during a raid threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the shooting deaths.

     Pfc. Bradley Mason, speaking at a hearing to determine whether the four must stand trial, also said that their brigade commander, a veteran of the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" battle in Somalia, told troops hunting insurgents to "kill all of them." Mason is not one of the accused.

     Mason said the squad's 1st sergeant would tell soldiers they did a good job if they killed an Iraqi. Mason said he believed it was a competition for kills.

     "I know he said good job after we killed one of them," he said.

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/03/2006 @ 11:55am

157. Rio

     I don't know what your objection to global warming is. Hell, it seems to me that the whole idea fits right into the "end times" scenario.

     Rio I'm afraid what happened is that the Rapture has already occured. You and I together with all the commies who haunt this website just missed the bus. I mean why would Christ come looking for anyone who hangs out around here ?

     Satan's rule has already started Rio and things are just beginning to heat up. You're in denial dude. Get over it !

     Posted by Red Neckerson at 08/04/2006 @ 08:43am

158. The GOP, a coalition of crooks, morons and religious fanatics apparently represents the will of a majority of Americans who vote. If you don't vote and don't fit into any of those three categories, you might want to consider voting from now on. Don't fool yourself, things could get a lot worse if you don't

     Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.

     VOTE! . . IMPEACH! . . VOTE! . . IMPEACH!

     Posted by rabblerowzer at 08/04/2006 @ 09:12am

159. Posted by RESE 08/04/2006 @ 3:48pm

     hey nbc nightly news toninght - talking about serious problems with the 9/11 report...NBC NIGHTLY NEWS!

     Posted by ibbleblibble at 08/04/2006 @ 6:50pm

160. Rio I'm afraid what happened is that the Rapture has already occured.

     Posted by RED NECKERSON 08/04/2006 @ 08:43am

     the funny thing is, the only guy that disappeared...

     was Jimmy Hoffa

     Posted by Will C. at 08/04/2006 @ 9:28pm

161. Posted by IBBLEBLIBBLE 08/04/2006 @ 6:50pm

     I guess even the MSM can only sit on their thumb for so long. NBC finally decided to scratch their noses and guess what they smelled....

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/04/2006 @ 9:43pm

162. To all the naysayers of the "Paranoia Crowd"...they may owe Rese, Plunger, etc. an apology (to some extent)

     Updated: 7:48 p.m. CT Aug 4, 2006

     Sept. 11 panel considered Pentagon probe

     WASHINGTON - The Sept. 11 commission was so frustrated with repeated misstatements by the Pentagon and FAA about their response to the 2001 terror attacks that it considered an investigation into possible deception, the panel's chairmen say in a new book.

     ...Apparently the Pentagon lied like dogs re: scrambled jets, etc.

     Posted by leftofcenter at 08/05/2006 @ 12:22pm

163. in my opinion, david corn and all of the above need a good enema.

     if you don't agree, go to my blog, sfreddo1.livejournal.com,and tell me why. other than the fact that you're backed up. maybe i can give you a good flushing.

     Posted by ftuccillo at 08/05/2006 @ 10:34pm

164. Nice article

     Posted by aqua9 at 08/06/2006 @ 8:36pm

165. Investigate?I already did that , in the form of a song!

     The Truth

     Your always talking about freedom, It 's always freedom this and that. But if it wasn't for the oil, Wouldn't be boots in Iraq. You wanted war right from the get go, Regime change was your stated stance. Then along came 9/11, You knew at last you have your chance.

     Won't the truth , rear it's ugly head..

     Your always talking about service, Talking sacrifice. All those rich folks with those tax breaks, Thank you they 're doing rather nice. While the troops face redeployment, You cater to the elite. Facilitating their good fortune, While the boys fight street to street.

     Won't the truth , rear it's ugly head..

     the key to being a great leader, a successful president. to rally folks around the flag, dampen voices of dissent. only with war can you be seen as, the great commander in chief. push through your domestic agendas, we look on , in disbelief.

     Won't the truth , rear it's ugly head..

     there was no grave and growing danger, no looming mushroom clouds. all that inspired cheerleading, really fired up the crowds. You wanted war right from the get go, So your agenda could advance. Then along came 9/11, You knew at last you have your chance.

     listen to the truth at www.longlosthome.com

     thanx , Joe

     Posted by why at 08/09/2006 @ 04:33am

166. Can anyone say "OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE"?

     Posted by Shakyjake at 08/10/2006 @ 12:03pm

167. Leftofcenter had it exactly right. The dems should stage another shutdown/walkout at end October/first week of November if (almost certainly) repubs have not completed Phase II.

     Posted by jimsey at 08/13/2006 @ 7:10pm