Yellow Dog

O'Connor Retires From Court After 24 Years - Yahoo! News

Let's review: Bush is the type of "leader"who puts timber lobbyists in the forestry dept., chemical company advocates in the EPA, Iran-Contra criminals in ambassadorships and seeks to appoint the biggest critic of the UN (Bolton) to the UN!

Soooo, how soon before Bush nominates to the highest court in the land a radical, far right-wing, foaming-at-the-mouth fundie extremist to challenge our fundamental freedoms?

Meanwhile, in the war that, unlike Iraq, actually DOES have something to do with 9/11--the war in Afghanistan--a Chinook helicopter was shot down, likely by hostile fire. The status of the 17 service members on board is "unknown."

From the article:
"The troops were on a mission against al-Qaida fighters when the helicopter went down in mountainous terrain near Asadabad, in Kunar province.

Concerns already have been on the rise that rebel attacks here have been escalating into a conflict on the scale of that in Iraq.

More than 660 people have been killed in Afghanistan since March — including 465 suspected insurgents, 29 U.S. troops, 43 Afghan police and soldiers, and 125 civilians — a level unprecedented since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001."

This is all the more reason we should have saved our resources for finding and fighting the real perpetrators of 9/11 instead of pouring billions of dollars and all of our troops and reservists into launching an unnecessary, preemptive war based on non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has been Bush's weapon of mass distraction, distraction from the real culprits of 9/11.

Hostile Fire May Have Downed U.S. Copter - Yahoo! News

Bush's speech last night was nothing more than another "stay the course" PR campaign. I half expected him to don his old cheerleading uniform from his college days and do some of his old moves to go along with his "rah rah" speech. But instead, in his desperation to get his sinking poll numbers up, he relied on a cheap trick he's used before--using 9/11 to confuse people about why we are in Iraq.

It doesn't matter that the 9/11 commission found no credible evidence of Saddam Hussein's involvement in 9/11. Even Bush himself, on September 18, 2003, admitted, "No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th."

Bush also provided no timetable or concrete strategies for the continued fighting in Iraq, saying “Setting an artificial timetable would send the wrong message to the Iraqis – who need to know that America will not leave before the job is done. And it would send the wrong message to the enemy – who would know that all they have to do is to wait us out.”

That's not what he said back when he was in campaign mode. From Thinkprogress.org:

George W. Bush, 4/9/99:

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

George W. Bush, 6/5/99

“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

Different days, different lies, but still the same old crap.

Bush Criticized for Linking 9/11 and Iraq - Yahoo! News

It's hard to believe this happened in America, but 3 months ago, 3 individuals were thrown out of a taxpayer-financed Bush Social Security event in Denver, reportedly because they drove up in a car with a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker.

How creepy is it that the President had "his people" watching the attendees as they drove up, and how much creepier is it that an anti-war bumper sticker can get you thrown out of an event that is TAXPAYER-funded--that you helped pay for. To make matters creepier, the White House host who tossed the "Denver Three" likely impersonated a Secret Service agent in order to get them to leave. And the White House, of course, is protecting this person's identity. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

Thankfully, a criminal investigation has been opened. The fact that Bush handpicks audience members so that he doesn't have to ever face anyone who disagrees with him is frankly, in a supposedly democratic nation, criminal.

Evicted 'Denver Three' Gain Support in Quest - New York Times

It's pretty sad that print journalists still feel the need to clarify what everyone should know by now is fact. But when you have millions of sheeple getting their news from Whitehouse propaganda networks like Fox, I guess it's necessary to reiterate these facts:

1) THE WAR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SEPTEMBER 11.

"Saddam Hussein was a sworn enemy of Washington, but there was no Iraq-Qaeda axis, no connection between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attacks on the United States. Yet the president and his supporters continue to duck behind 9/11 whenever they feel pressure about what is happening in Iraq."

2)THE WAR HAS NOT MADE US SAFER FROM TERRORISM.

"The breeding grounds for terrorists used to be Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia; now Iraq has become one. Of all the justifications for invading Iraq that the administration juggled in the beginning, the only one that has held up over time is the desire to create a democratic nation that could help stabilize the Middle East. Any sensible discussion of what to do next has to begin by acknowledging that. The surest way to make sure that conversation does not happen is for the administration to continue pasting the "soft on terror" label on those who want to talk about the war."

3) THERE IS NO PLAN FOR WINNING THE WAR.

"If the war is going according to plan, someone needs to rethink the plan. Progress has been measurable on the political front. But even staunch supporters of the war, like the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a hearing this week that President Bush was losing public support because the military effort was not keeping pace. A top general said this week that the insurgency was growing. The frequency of attacks is steady, or rising a bit, while the repulsive tactic of suicide bombings has made them more deadly.

If things are going to be turned around, there has to be an honest discussion about what is happening. But Mr. Rumsfeld was not interested. Sneering at his Democratic questioners, he insisted everything was on track and claimed "dozens of trained battalions are capable of conducting anti-insurgent operations" with American support. That would be great news if it were true. Gen. George Casey, the commander in Iraq, was more honest, saying he hoped there would be "a good number of units" capable of doing that "before the end of this year."

Americans cannot judge for themselves because the administration has decided to make the information secret. Senator John McCain spoke for us when he expressed his disbelief at this news. "I think the American people need to know," he said. "They are the ones who are paying for this conflict."

Three Things About Iraq - New York Times

Several liberals in the military have written letters expressing their outrage at Presidential Advisor, KKKarl Rove's recent statements: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

There's so much BS in this statement that it's hard to know where to begin, but let's start with some facts: Not one Democratic senator voted against the resolution for the war in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq, of course, had nothing to do with 9/11 but was still widely supported by Democrats (misguided though they were to trust the President's lies).

An AP story out today reports that the US is in secret talks with leaders of the Iraq insurgency. Hmmm, sounds a little bit like that "therapy" that Rove was blaming on liberals.

But the best response to KKKarl's ridiculous claims come from the soldiers themselves:

"I'm writing you from [Location Withheld] Iraq, about 35 miles NW of Baghdad.. And I'm too tired to give Karl the verbal beating he deserves for his insults. I'm too tired because we're just a bit shorthanded over here, fighting his war for him. A war that has made nearly every country in the world fear and distrust America, a war fought for a knowing lie dreamed up by Karl and his buddies, none of whom have ever heard a shot fired in anger, or helped pick up the parts of another human being after an IED blast.

I enlisted after the war began and after I'd gotten my degree. I could easily have stayed home and watched the war on TV, as Karl does. I do not support this war in the slightest, but I will not sit at home and lecture others on their insufficient patriotism when the nation is in need. I joined because I believe in giving back some measure of service and devotion to my country.

To hear a man like Karl insinuate that only conservatives are really patriotic is a knife in the back to every man and woman in Iraq who serves here. At least a third of us voted against Bush and pals. The number increases every day that we stay here, forced to make bricks without straw for months on end.

Never insult me and my fellow liberals again, Karl. Watching a fat, hateful thing like you that has never faced any greater danger in your life than a long golf shot denigrate every liberal who has put on a uniform is more demoralizing than ten thousand speeches that uphold America's highest ideals from Sen. Biden or Byrd."

Take it to Karl

Once again, Bush sides with industry and against citizens and their rights to breathe clean air. In a decision "cheered by industry officials" (so you know how one-sided it was), a federal appeals court upheld the Bush administration's plan to let aging industrial plants modernize without installing pollution controls.
thedailytimes.com - Court lets aging plants skip pollution controls

In other news, Bush has selected another polluting fox to guard the EPA henhouse. The individual he has chosen to lead enforcement of environmental laws also represents huge chemical companies, like BP, Dow and DuPont. Conflict of interest, anyone?

I have to agree with Sen. Patty Murray who expressed concern that "This appointment is just the latest in a series of moves that calls into question this administration's commitment to protecting our environment, our natural resources and the health and well-being of all Americans."
Concerns arise over Bush's pick for EPA job

Only it doesn't really "call into question" Bush's motives, which are and have always been crystal clear: The interests of industry come first, the health of the American people second.