imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Saturday, May 08, 2004
WARNING! PROFANITY AHEAD!
Welcome to the anonymity of hate e-mail. I received the following and have decided to post it here in all its glory with no redacting and/or editing of any kind:
Lynddie England has undoubtedly became the symbol of shame and disgust to the so called "United" States of America. It is not all bad as you have pointed out, since at least it has revealed the ugly face of American policies and the immoral behaviours of this country which has become the hosting country of narrow minded, empty headed people like you and your stupid, ignorant president George Bush. I would say that i am not surprised to see such images of torture from an army full of gay men and lesbian women coming from a country with no cultures or values, no history or moral ethics, a country that elects the TERMINATOR as governor and maybe president someday! I am also not surprised to know that this is your opinion about the beastial actions Lynddie and others have done since your brains have been "screwed up" by that media you are exposed to in your country and since you are nothing more than an "american".
If you really want to know how ashamed americans feel and how they are looked upon as idiots and barbarians of the 21st century, come to Europe (if you know where it is) and see how an american could'nt raise his head and look at others, how americans could'nt interact with others and how americans feel ashamed of themselves when humiliated by the civilised european nations and confronted with the deep rooted european cultures that you will never have. The word "american" is now used as an insult in Europe for all those who are narrow minded, ignorant, idiots, stupid or as you call them in your "cowboy" and "McDonald's" culture (ass holes), simply like you.
I finally greet you in the american way: Fuck you very much
Where to begin?
Well, first of all, I’m fairly certain this was sent from the UK, which is interesting since England has been battling this same problem, too. LoanCat reminded me and, bless her heart, she researched the subject and came up with 2 accounts of the same story from last year:
1) Soldier's war snaps show British troops abusing prisoners
2) Photos indicate torture and sexual abuse by British troops in Iraq
and another story this year concerning the prison at Abu Gharib, where the Americans abused prisoners:
New Torture Accusations Implicate UK Soldiers
Unfortunately, there is no country void of such problems. One only needs to see the rampant skinhead anti-Semitism plaguing present day Europe, and the bigotry the Muslims are subjected to in the UK, to realize that hatred exists everywhere.
But back to the writer. I believe it’s a male and a misogynist, possibly of Arab descent. Whatever his heritage, he’s obviously not a happy camper. For all his references to me being the uncultured, uncouth, ignorant one, his letter is filled with elementary mistakes, and his bile only becomes more rancid as he writes. And yet, for all his vitriol, I don’t think he hates America as much as he envies us. I could be entirely wrong; it wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last.
The prisoner abuse story has rocked this country to its core. I don’t know of anyone who isn’t repulsed by the descriptions of the abuse, to say nothing of the pictures themselves. It is, as I stated below, a nightmare.
In America, you can find people who will greet you as the writer has greeted me in his last sentence. That’s the beauty of our free country: look for it and you’ll find it. (I've washed my kids' mouths out for less.) But most Americans I know are warm and gracious and far more apt to smile and say “Hi!” or “How are ya!” or even “Howdy, y’all!” I hope this person will some day have the opportunity to experience American hospitality for himself. I wish him well.
Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I’m taking a rest. I’ll check in but I doubt I’ll be posting anything until Monday morning. My family is taking me out to eat … not to McDonald’s, though. And thanks again to LoanCat!
Kitty
Lucianne's Quote of the day
"The behavior by Americans at the prison in Iraq is ... intolerable and un-American ... I cannot help but say, however, that those responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, never apologized."
Senator Joseph Lieberman, (D-Conn)
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS
Thanks to my buddy at Airborne Combat Engineer, here’s a soldier who knows right from wrong.
Joseph Darby show soldiers know right from wrong
Army Spc. Joseph Darby, 24, is the man who sounded the first alarm about the abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison — by people in his own 372nd Military Police Company. Darby put an anonymous note under the door of his commander, describing the incidents and the photographs he had seen.
We must never forget that there are literally thousands of soldiers who are serving honorably doing a job many people would never do. Does the term "loathe the military" ring any bells? Especially in connection to "political viability"?
So, as the Dems are abusing this abuse story for their own political ends, there are thousands of our men and women daily putting their lives on the line so that disgusting bastard Kennedy can exercise his freedom calling for Bush's head.
THIS IS A NIGHTMARE
I watched fragments of the hearings on TV yesterday and wondered, Is this what politics has come to? One inquisition after another? The Washington Times has a good summary.
The Rumsfeld hearings
Yesterday's congressional hearings on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners had two basic purposes: identifying misconduct and coming up with procedures to prevent it from occurring in the future.
…
Although Mr. Rumsfeld and the other officials who testified have not acted in ways that would grab headlines (and thereby compromise the integrity of their investigations and allow guilty parties to escape punishment), the American people appear to recognize how foolish the media frenzy demanding his resignation is. According to an ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll released yesterday, more than six in 10 Americans view the incidents of misconduct as isolated, and by a 69 percent to 20 percent margin, Americans believe that Mr. Rumsfeld should keep his job. Democrats support Mr. Rumsfeld remaining in office by a margin of almost 2-1.
…
A lesser man would have sought to hide behind evasions or parse words. Fortunately, that's not the way Mr. Rumsfeld operates.
It must piss off the Dems that more people … voters … aren’t calling for the heads of Rumsfeld and, most importantly, Bush. After all, getting rid of Bush is the Dems’ primary goal.
Excluding President Bush and his cabinet, I’m developing a mighty jaundiced view of The Hill as a whole, which I interpret as a healthy sign. But that says damned little for our elected officials. Like Bluto Blutarsky in “Animal House” screaming FOOD FIGHT!, they scream INVESTIGATION! The Hill has become Delta House and investigations are their frat parties. Kennedy, that bloviating bastard, uses every nano-second of camera time for vile denunciations. Bluto was likable; Kennedy is loathsome. Our tax dollars at work; God help us. (My apologies to “Animal House” aficionados.)
I’m not trying to diminish the gravity of the prisoner abuse issue. It’s wretched and, according to Rumsfeld and Lindsey Graham, it’s only going to get worse.
WORSE P.O.W. PIX LOOMING
"We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience; we're talking about rape and murder and some very serious charges," Graham told reporters in the hallway outside of Rumsfeld's appearance before the House Armed Services Committee.
Lynndie “Leasher Gal” England’s family is engaged in an uphill battle to portray their kin in a better light, if that's possible.
LEASHER GAL LASHED WITH ABUSE RAP AS KIN DIG IN FOR COURT BATTLE
[Her family’s lawyer Mr. Hardy] added grimly, "There's nothing I can say here today that is going to vindicate her in the eyes of the military."
…
"You don't know her. You're just looking at pictures," said Klinestiver, 24. "I don't believe my sister did what she did in those photos. I believe they're posed."
…
Hardy confirmed reports that she is five-months pregnant with Spc. Charles Graner's child.
Graner, her 35-year-old boyfriend, had been charged earlier by prison-torture investigators.
Fox has provided a concise timeline of the events, beginning last year on June 30th and running through May 5th of this year.
The following is a list of important dates in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal:
I discovered a wonderful, comforting, new blog called The Mudville Gazette. Mudville’s Greyhawk has an indepth look into Seymour Hersh, who broke the story in The New Yorker, and an interview he had had with Fox TV’s Bill O’Reilly.
The Greyhawk Factor
Seymour Hersh has had an amazing story dropped into his lap. A group of American GIs, caught on camera, abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Heinous acts. The wheels of justice were certainly turning, but nailing the abusive guards is not enough for the intrepid reporter. Indeed, since evidence indicates that one of those guard's attorneys most likely provided that information to Hersh, it follows that getting the higher ups was likely part of the deal.
But, having failed to provide "actionable intelligence" against those "higher ups" in his largely factual (albeit chronologically challenged) New Yorker article, Hersh has embarked on a televised disinformation campaign, recently appearing on the "O'Reilly Factor" in an effort to sow additional confusion in a public already stunned into incomprehension by the graphic photos he helped make famous worldwide.
All of this has brought out the crazies from the Left’s woodwork. Check out this scream fest posted as a comment on Kerry Haters (look for Let's Have a Big Hand for the Little Lady):
Propriety, even my anemic variety, prohibits me from reprinting the all-caps rant, so I’ll improvise.
“YOU (verb) (proper name used as a noun) (noun). Anonymous”
There’s more, so check it out.
HE FOUND HIS THRILL IN GUMBO
It’s nice to know, in these trying times, that there are other kinds of "insanities" … tastier ones.
FATS Domino would rather live up to his name than starve himself on a fad diet. "I can't lose no weight," the piano-playing porker complains to Mojo magazine. "Right now I'm at 245. I ain't but 5-foot-4." But the "Blueberry Hill" legend's girth comes as no surprise when you consider his typical meal is a vast vat of gumbo made with 20 pounds of shrimp, half a dozen crabs and several different kinds of sausages. "Sometimes I cook so much I don't know what to do with it," he said. "Very seldom does a day pass that I don't spend $200 cooking."
Friday, May 07, 2004
IS THIS FOR REAL?
Drudge reports that AIR AMERICA MISSES PAYROLL. ‘In yet another sign of trouble for Air America Radio, the liberal talk network entering its fifth chaotic week on the air, co-founder and chairman Evan Cohen resigned Thursday, as did vice-chairman and investor Rex Sorensen.
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is planning to report in fresh editions: The company also failed to make its scheduled payroll, leaving its staff roughly 100 radio personalities, writers, and producers unpaid until Thursday.
The departures of Cohen, a former political operative from Guam who was among the network's initial investors, and Sorenson, an investor who owns radio stations in Guam, mark the second executive shake-up at the fledgling network in as many weeks.
Developing.…’
Pat posted it on Brainster, and Right Side Redux not only posted the story, but the picture of one of the Air America checks (above). Is the check real or is it a joke? It’s made out to Al Franken’s obnoxious character Stuart Smalley. Joe Intern? And none of the signatures look as though they're actually written. The whole thing screams FAKE to me. Right Side Redux has a bigger picture of the check, easier to read.
WORSE THAN TORTURE?
Well, I found the photo, posted by our buddies at Airborne Combat Engineer. They have an accompanying story about the female soldier: Lynndie England now Symbol of Abuse.
I'll ask again: What do you think Arab women think when they see that picture? Secretly think. Arab women who have suffered their own abuse all their lives at the hands of abusive and oppressive Arab men. Do you suppose they might deep down wish they could retaliate a la Lynndie England? Could Lynndie England be their secret idol?
AND ON HIS LEFT FLANK
KERRY'S NEW WOE
YOU might think the Abu Ghraib prison scandal would be helpful for John Kerry's presidential hopes. But the early indications - from the Gallup polling organization - suggest yet again that President Bush's problems are not doing much to boost Kerry's standing.
Indeed, it's possible that the images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib might push more than a few hundred thousand potential Kerry voters in a direction that would be disastrous for the Democratic nominee - toward Ralph Nader.
…
Every vote Nader gets in November is a vote Kerry needs. This has been a good week for Nader, and that makes it a bad week for Kerry
It Takes A Lot Of Nerve!
Rev. Ken Joseph Jr
On a brief stopover on the way back to Baghdad the story of the terrible treatment of Iraqi Prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison broke. Having been by there many times and having a family member who was actually forced to work their during the time of Sadaam Hussein I look at it from a very different perspective.
…
While we must rightly condemn by all means possible and prosecute each one who violated the rights of the Iraqis put in their charge, it seems so very strange that the loud cries of outrage ring out so strong and true when the crime is on the side of the United States, but those same voices were completely silent for 35 years during the terror that was Sadaam Hussein and to this day are silent on the `thug rulers` throught the Middle East and throughout the world who must have all had a good laugh as they looked at the pictures and read the descriptions of the terrible abuse of the Prisoners under US control.
Sadaam himself, must have smiled at the `Childs play` in comparison to what he did on a daily basis and what occurs throughout the region even as I write.
The UN itself, currently being considered for a role in the future of Iraq according to the Iraqis who despise it so intently never lifted a finger of opposition to Sadaam and his daily terror.
…
Ask the Iraqis why they do not rise to the challenge given them by their liberation by America! It is because they are afraid, and rightly so that after the US hands over power on June 30th the `thugs` will be back and will as they always do `take care of` all who spoke the truth!
I was in Iraq during the time of Sadaam Hussein and can testify to the sheer terror of my family members at the horror of Sadaam Hussein.
…
While they rally against the unacceptable actions of the US troops, those in the middle east quietly and always in private admire a system where such misdeeds actually see the light of day, are apologized for and changes made.
WORSE THAN TORTURE?
Suddenly I can’t locate online that picture of the American female soldier with the naked prisoner on a leash. You know the one I’m talking about; it’s been plastered all over the Net and the news for days now. So, for the sake of expediency, I had to opt for the above.
When I saw the leash picture I wondered how many oppressed Arab women harbor fantasies of doing that themselves to all the abusive men in their lives. “There, how do YOU like it, you bastard!”
What do you think?
Abu Ghraib as Symbol
America awoke to the great jihad, wondering: What is this about? We have come to agree on the obvious answers: religion, ideology, political power and territory. But there is one fundamental issue at stake that dares not speak its name. This war is also about -- deeply about -- sex.
For the jihadists, at stake in the war against the infidels is the control of women. Western freedom means the end of women's mastery by men, and the end of dictatorial clerical control over all aspects of sexuality -- in dress, behavior, education, the arts.
…
The appeal of this fear can be seen in the Arab world's closest encounter with modernity: Israel. Israeli women are by far the most liberated of any in that part of the world. For decades, the Arab press has responded with lurid stories of Israeli sexual corruption.
The most famous example occurred in the late 1990s, when Egyptian newspapers claimed that chewing gum Israel was selling in Egypt was laced with sexual hormones that aroused insatiable lust in young Arab women. Palestinian officials later followed with charges that Israeli chewing gum was a Zionist plot for turning Palestinian women into prostitutes, and "completely destroying the genetic system of young boys" to boot.
…
It is no accident that jihadists around the world are overwhelmingly male. It is very rare to find a female suicide bomber. And when you do, as with the young woman who blew herself up in Gaza, killing four others in January, it turns out that she herself was a victim of sexual subjugation -- a wife accused of adultery, marked for death, who decided to die a martyr rather than a pariah. But die she must.
…
[The pictures] reenacted the most deeply psychologically charged -- and most deeply buried -- aspect of the entire war on terrorism, exactly as Osama bin Laden would have scripted it.
TARGETS
Blood in the Water
The target isn't Rumsfeld today, it's Bush in November
With that in mind, we'd like to know who thought it'd be smart to leak that Mr. Bush had "reprimanded" Mr. Rumsfeld in a private meeting for not fully alerting him to the details of the abuses. This is odd on the merits, since the complaint seems to be mostly about the public relations of the event, not the substance. The Central Command was itself pursuing the Abu Ghraib probe with vigor on several fronts, and we can only imagine how civilian Defense officials would have been criticized had they jumped down the military chain of command to interfere
Direct from CrushKerry.com:
Amidst the rancor surrounding the Iraqi torture scandal, it’s vital we remember John Kerry’s own history of admitted war crimes, atrocities and even genocide. At his May 5th, 2004 press conference John Kerry reminded people that he has called for Donald Rumsfeld to resign as Secretary of Defense. But if those shocking photos disqualify Rumsfeld for high public office … what do the most recent revelations about John Kerry's Vietnam record mean to his presidential campaign?
UPDATE: As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld takes the stand before the Senate Armed Services Committee to defend his investigation of Iraqi prisoner abuses, take a look at the original invitation to John Kerry’s Winter Soldier Investigation. “The Witnesses will testify about war crimes their units have committed,” the invitation reads. “Testimony of massacres, torture of prisoners, murder of prisoners will be offered …”
It goes without saying, much of the testimony at this show trial was later proved to be fraudulent.
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
Most of us have recognized the Clintons’ oxygen-sucking imprint upon Kampaign Kerry right along … the sandbagging, the shadowing … so this commentary is nothing new. Bill Roe declares that Kerry’s meltdown “has begun.” It hasn’t just begun, it’s been ongoing, but let’s not quibble. He paints a luridly dismal possibility. What do you think?
Hillary still in the mix
The meltdown of John Kerry has begun. The Clinton wing of the party, realizing Kerry is on the ropes, is starting to make its move. The purpose? Hillary in 2004.
…
These events that are embarrassing to Kerry have not come from the Republican National Committee but from, believe it or not, ABC television archives.
…
Now, along comes Bill Clinton hogging the headlines announcing that his memoirs will be released in June.
The $10 million dollar man will hit all the talk shows, pushing the Kerry campaign into the background.
I believe this to be a calculated move by the Clintons to destroy either Kerry entering the nomination process or to doom his candidacy in the general election.
Realizing the ruthlessness of the Clintons, I see these acts as a way to have the candidacy of Hillary Clinton packaged and to have her arrive to save the Democratic Party from virtual extinction.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Rush read a few paragraphs (below) from the book, “Memorial Day,” by Vince Flynn. It’s just out this month.
Beginning of Rush transcript:
Vince Flynn is the author, Mitch Rapp is the hero, and if you go through the acknowledgments you'll find out that there are sources named and unnamed in both the FBI and the CIA who helped Vince put these books together. It's fiction. It's a novel, and keep that in mind. It's like a movie, but when you read this and you've read the acknowledgments, you'll wonder how much of this is true. You do wonder. I will speak for myself. I will conclude that a lot of it is, you know, with some changes necessary for security and so forth.
So, given what's going on with all this torture and these pictures and everything and how everybody is having this reaction to it, I want you to listen to just these paragraphs. I'm going to open here with a little description of a place in Washington called the facility.
Rush reading from the book:
The facility was not a pleasant place, but it was a necessary evil in a world chock full of sadistic deeds and misguided, brutal men. This was something that Mitch Rapp was more than aware of. That didn't mean that he had to like it. He was neither delicate nor squeamish. Rapp had killed more men than he could even attempt to count, and he had employed his craft in a variety of imaginative ways that spoke of the sheer depth of his skill. He was a modern day assassin who lived in a civilized country where such a term could never be used openly. His was a nation that loved to distinguish itself from the less refined nations of the world. A democracy that celebrated individual rights and freedom, a state that would never tolerate the open recruiting, training, and use of one of its own citizens for the specific purpose of covertly killing the citizens of another country, but that's exactly who Rapp was.
He was a modern day assassin who was conveniently called an operative so as not to offend the sensibilities of the cultured people who occupied the centers of power in Washington. If those very people knew of the existence of the facility they would fly into an indignant rage that would result in the partial or complete destruction of the CIA. These haters of America's capitalistic muscle wanted to analyze what we had done to evoke such hatred from the terrorists, all the while missing the point that they were using the logic of a seedy attorney defending a rapist. 'The woman had on a short skirt, sexy top and high heels, maybe she was looking for it?' America was a rude and arrogant country, they thought, run by selfish colonialist men who were out to exploit the resources of lesser countries. Maybe we were asking for this terrorist attack
Under their narrow definition, the Washington elite would call this place a torture chamber. Rapp, however, knew what real torture was. And it wasn't this. This was coercion, this was sensory deprivation, it was interrogation, but it wasn't real torture. Real torture is causing a person so much unthinkable pain that he or she begged to be killed. It was hooking alligator clips to a man's privates and sending jolts of searing electricity through his body. It was gang raping a woman day after day until she slipped into a coma. It was forcing a man to watch as his wife and kids were sodomized by a bunch of thugs. It was making a man eat his own excrement. Torture was monstrous. It was barbaric. It could also be wildly ineffective. It was monstrous, it was barbaric. Time and time again such methods proved that most prisoners would say or do almost anything to stop the pain, sign any confession, create terrorist plots that didn't exist, even turn on their own parents.
Now, Mitch Rapp was a practical man, however, and the prisoners sitting cuffed to the chair on the other side of the glass knew firsthand what real torture was. The organization he worked for was notorious for its treatment of political prisoners. If anyone was deserving of a good beating, it was this vile bastard, but still there were other things to consider. Rapp didn't like torture, not only because of its effect on the person being brutalized, but for what it did to the person whose sanctioning carried it out. He had no desire to sink to those depths unless it was a last resort, but unfortunately they were quickly approaching that point. Lives were at stake. Two CIA operatives were already dead thanks to the duplicitous scum in the other room and many more lives were in the balance. Something was in the works, and if Rapp didn't find out what it was, hundreds, maybe thousands, of innocent people would die. End of the book passages.
This is just the prelude, and it goes on. I can't read the whole book to you. I can't even read the whole prelude to you; but I just found this fascinating, of all times to get this book and to be reading it in the midst of all this. Kind of puts things in perspective.
End of Rush transcript.
Our very own Mike sent me the link to this picture. I know it’s already made the rounds online, but, in my opinion, we can’t see this kind of honest emotion enough these days. And just in case you’d like to keep this man in the White House for another four years, here’s the link to make a donation to his campaign.
During his visit to the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, President Bush stops to hug Ashley Faulkner, who lost her mom in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Photo by Lynn Faulkner
Here’s the accompanying article.
Thanks Mike!
CrushKerry.com has posted the link to a video worth viewing:
Amidst the rancor surrounding the Iraqi torture scandal, it’s vital we remember John Kerry’s own history of admitted war crimes, atrocities and even genocide. At his May 5th, 2004 press conference John Kerry reminded people that he has called for Donald Rumsfeld to resign as Secretary of Defense. But if those shocking photos disqualify Rumsfeld for high public office … what do the most recent revelations about John Kerry Vietnam record mean to his presidential campaign?
AND, as always ...
it’s Kerry Haters for all things You-know-who.
ACE IS THE PLACE
For more info on the prisoner abuse story, log onto Airborne Combat Engineer. They’re giving it full, up-to-date coverage.
Prisoner abuse: the story that will not die.
BUSH LEADS
BUSH DEFIES DOUBTS
President Bush still holds a 4-point lead over John Kerry, despite worrying news from Iraq and a growing sense of anxiety among voters, a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll last night found.
…
Kerry's problem is that voters are cooling to him personally. This poll, like a University of Pennsylvania poll a day earlier, found the attacks on Kerry in Bush's TV ads are sticking.
SADDAM’S WAY
April 2003
Okay, the pictures are “abhorrent.” Now that we all agree, let’s inject this story with some perspective. We have enemies over there who hate us, and nothing, I REPEAT NOTHING, will change that fact. No apology, no making nice, no amount of money, NOTHING will make them like us. Get used to it. And I don’t care WHY they hates us, either. These pictures only fuel an already old hatred for us. I wonder how many of those nude men in the pictures would have preferred Saddam’s treatment instead. He murdered his own people wholesale and bulldozed their bodies into mass graves. Those nude men are well aware of Saddam’s ways, and I'm betting that their humiliation was nothing by comparison. According to the blog Iraq The Model, this story is not the outrage over there as it is here.
Abuse and the Army
The military, not CBS, discovered the outrages at Abu Ghraib.
As President Bush and everyone else in America has said, any abuse of Iraqi prisoners is "abhorrent" and should be punished. Yet it seems to us that an overlooked story here, and ultimately the most telling, is the degree to which the U.S. military is investigating itself and holding people accountable.
…
For a sense of proportion, let's rehearse the timeline here. While some accusations of abuse go back to 2002 in Afghanistan, the incidents at Abu Ghraib that triggered this week's news occurred last autumn. They came to light through the chain of command in Iraq on January 13. An Army criminal probe began a day later. Two days after that, the U.S. Central Command disclosed in a press release that "an investigation has been initiated into reported incidents of detainee abuse at a Coalition Forces detention facility." By March 20, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt was able to announce in Baghdad that criminal charges had been brought against six soldiers in the probe.
By the end of January, meanwhile, Major General Antonio Taguba was appointed to conduct his separate "administrative" probe of procedures at Abu Ghraib. It is his report, complete with its incriminating photos, that is the basis for the past week's news reports. The press didn't break this story based on months of sleuthing but was served up the results of the Army's own investigation.
DOWNSIZE THIS!
PETA says Moore’s size a weighty issue
Michael Moore is making headlines with his controversial documentary, but one group is targeting the filmmaker for his waistline.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has selected the gadfly filmmaker as one of its “Flab Five” and is treating him to a Veg Eye for the Fat Guy makeover. “Looks like the ‘Downsize This’ author has been doing too much supersizing,” notes PETA.
“We’ll be sending him a nice little care package, a makeover kit filled with health and diet tips, PETA’s vegetarian starter kit, and suggestions on how he might change his lifestyle,” PETA’s Michael McGraw tells The Scoop.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Hillary Clinton goes to a primary school in New York to talk about the world. After her talk she offers question time. One little boy puts up his hand, and the Senator asks him what his name is.
"Kenneth."
"And what is your question, Kenneth?"
"I have three questions:
1st - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
2nd - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
3rd - Whatever happened to all those things you took when you left the White House?"
Just then the bell rings for recess. Hillary Clinton informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess. When they resume Hillary says, "Okay where were we? Oh, that's right question time. Who has a question?" A different little boy puts his hand up; Hillary points him out and asks him what his name is.
"Larry."
"And what is your question?"
"I have five questions:
1st - Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
2nd - Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
3rd - Whatever happened to all those things you took when you left the White House?
4th - Why did the recess bell go off 20 minutes early?
5th - What happened to Kenneth?"
METTLE vs. MEDALS
While Senator Snoopy may have displayed a few medals from Vietnam, it’s President Bush who has displayed the true mettle required to run this nation while at war. Along with some of his closest aides … Rove, Card, Powell, … President Bush sat down with Bill Sammon for one-on-one, on-the-record sessions for what turned out to be a pro-Bush certain-to-be best seller. Here’s just a taste; Drudge has even more.
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED MAY 05, 2004 13:05:27 ET XXXXX
ON THE RECORD: BUSH, ROVE, CARD RIP KERRY IN NEW BOOK; PRESIDENT VOWS TO MAKE KERRY 'REGRET' DISPARAGING WAR COALITION
President Bush vows to make John Kerry “regret” disparaging the coalition that liberated Iraq, a new book set for release next week will reveal.
…
Sammon quotes the president plotting to beat the Massachusetts Democrat by turning his own words against him.
…
Rove details for Sammon – Senior White House Correspondent for The Washington Times and political analyst for Fox News Channel – the Bush campaign's strategy to paint Kerry as a condescending elitist whose “blatant” attempts to capitalize on his Vietnam experience will ultimately backfire.
WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS DREAM?
Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush
The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday.
The film, "Fahrenheit 911," links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis — including the family of Osama bin Laden — and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Disney, which bought Miramax more than a decade ago, has a contractual agreement with the Miramax principals, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, allowing it to prevent the company from distributing films under certain circumstances, like an excessive budget or an NC-17 rating.
…
"It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle," this executive said.
Miramax is free to seek another distributor in North America, but such a deal would force it to share profits and be a blow to Harvey Weinstein, a big donor to Democrats.
…
Mr. Moore does not disagree that "Fahrenheit 911" is highly charged, but he took issue with the description of it as partisan. "If this is partisan in any way it is partisan on the side of the poor and working people in this country who provide fodder for this war machine," he said.
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE
Kerry Finding Himself Strapped to Clinton In Three-Legged Race
The kind of week John Kerry had, you’d wish on George Bush (except it wouldn’t dent his poll ratings):
…
But we haven’t gotten to the good part yet: That kicks off when Mr. Clinton puts aside autograph pen and starts campaigning.
…
Mr. Clinton is so helpfully omnipresent that the lurid-minded suspect he’s advising Mr. Kerry right into Palookaville, in order to clear the way for Hillary in ’08.
THE REAL THING
Bush attacks Kerry's foreign "mystery men"
US President George W. Bush …joked that his Democratic rival for the White House, Senator John Kerry … has foreign "mystery men" supporters -- but no real world leaders behind him.
Kerry said in March that decision-makers from abroad told him privately they hoped he will defeat the president in the November 2 election, but he has refused to identify them.
"He claims to have picked up some important endorsements from foreign leaders," Bush said. "Whoever these mystery men are, they will not be deciding this election."
"I'm here to ask for the endorsement, not of foreign leaders, but of the American people," he told cheering supporters here during a two-day tour through vote-rich Michigan and Ohio.
The Massachusetts senator defended his remarks after it was reported in April that he had not travelled on official business abroad in two years by suggesting that he met with them in New York.
"I've got a hunch this whole thing might be a case of mistaken identity," Bush said here. "Just because somebody has an accent or a nice suit or a good table in New York City doesn't make them a foreign leader."
WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?
Members of the Hatuel family are seen in this combination image, from left: 34-year-old Tali Khotel holding her daughter Meirav, 2, Hila, 11, and Roni, 7. Tali, who was 8 month pregnant and her four daughters were killed by Palestinian gunmen Sunday, May 2, 2004, near the Jewish settlement they were living in in the Gaza Strip
THE ATROCITIES THAT PASS IN SILENCE
THREE days ago, a pregnant Israeli woman and her four young daughters were shot to death at point-blank range by two Palestinian murderers. Each child - ages 11, 9, 7 and 2 - received another bullet to the head, and the mother was shot again directly in the abdomen.
It is useful to remember this incident and compare the dead silence it has elicited from those same human-rights organizations, media outlets and America-bashers involved in the feeding frenzy accompanying the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The disparity of outrage is quite revealing.
PROGRESS?
Thelma and Louise in Iraq
Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness predicted that women in combat would lead to their "coarsening." Speaking to TAS, she asked a question no mainstream newspaper will bother to ask: "Why were women assigned to watch the male prisoners?" The answer lies in the "interchangeability idea" the Clinton military hammered home, she says. The idea was "sexuality doesn't matter," she says. "Men and women are interchangeable."
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Now America needs a conditioning course not on the abuse of American women taken in defeat, but abuse by American female soldiers in victory. The feminists call this progress.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
BOO-BOO
Kerry Purple Heart Doc Speaks Out: Senator Snoopy sustained a boo-boo during his four months in Vietnam. (Yes, it’s true, he WAS there.) Actually, he suffered THREE boo-boos. This is the conclusion in the doctor’s report of the first one:
What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle.
I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound.
The wound was covered with a bandaid.
Not [sic] other injuries were reported and I do not recall that there was any reported damage to the boat.
IRAQ THE MODEL
Here is an interesting take on the pictures-of-abuse story at the blog IRAQ THE MODEL:
I was surprised when I saw that the reaction of Iraqis to the subject of prisoners abuse by some American soldiers was not huge as we all expected to see, even it was milder than the one in other Arab countries and especially than that in the Arab media.
I mean about a month ago, we had considerable reactions and somewhat large demonstrations in response to the killing of Hamas leader, and in the mid of maniac reactions from Arab media and people, the absence of large demonstrations and outrage on the streets of Iraq becomes really strange and give rise to questions. Why the Iraqi people are not really upset with this issue?
Is it because of the firm and rapid response from the American officials to these terrible actions?
Or is it because the Iraqi people lack compassion with the majority of these prisoners?
Could it be that the Iraqi people and as a result of decades of torture, humiliation and executions, took these crimes less seriously than the rest of the world?
Or have the majority of Iraqis finally developed some trust in the coalition authorities and in the American army, to sense that these actions must be isolated and will be punished?
It's worth reading the entire piece.
TED RALL
Ted Rall, in case you haven’t heard, has penned a truly vile cartoon depicting Pat Tillman as someone who became a Ranger only to kill Arabs. Pat C. (Kerry Haters) is beyond offended by this, so he’s started The Ted Rall Unemployment Project over at his blog Brainster. He’s asking for our help.
The Ted Rall Unemployment Project
I strongly suggest that you make the focus of your email the first panel of the offending cartoon, in which Tillman is quoted by Rall as saying, "Never mind the fine print. Will I get to kill Arabs?" As offensive as the rest of the cartoon is, this is the part that Rall cannot defend, as he puts racist words in Tillman's mouth that Pat never said, never even hinted at. Be polite; remember that the editor will probably be on your side unless you turn him off with anger and profanity. And be sure to specify that you want to see Rall's cartoon pulled permanently from their publication.
Thank you!
KERRY'S LITTLE HELPER
CLINTON STEALS THE SHOW
BILL Clinton has now been out of office for 39 months. There are but six months to go until the election. Why must he choose June to publish his memoirs?
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He knows full well what he is doing and what its effect on the Kerry campaign will be.
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There is only so much oxygen in the room and the president will suck it all up.
Clinton is deciding to publish now because he wants to deprive Kerry of momentum. He realizes that if Kerry wins, Hillary will probably never be president. He knows that she won't be able to run in 2008 because a victorious Kerry would undoubtedly seek re-election. Even in 2012, it is Kerry's vice president who would be the likely nominee. And, if he or she wins, he'll run for a second term in 2016. By 2020, Hillary will be 73.
Or is Clinton publishing in June to generate momentum to force Kerry to put his wife on the ticket?
BUSH BOMB PLOT
A terrorist bomb plot to kill President Bush was thwarted yesterday when Turkish police nabbed 25 members of an al Qaeda-linked cell who planned to assassinate world leaders in Istanbul next month - then flee to Iraq.
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The plot had reached a very advanced stage and terrorists had begun testing explosives, The Times of London reported.
Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and dozens of other world leaders are scheduled to attend a NATO summit in Istanbul on June 27-28.
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The 16 suspects, all Turkish nationals, are members of Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group based in northern Iraq, said Bursa province Governor Oguz Kagan Koksal.
I’M RELEVANT?
Brock’s Content
David Brock, the conservative-turned-liberal who made Anita Hill into the infamous nut’n’slut, has a new journalistic project called MediaMatters.org. Its debut ‘-- via a well-placed story in Monday's New York Times, much like Richard Clarke making his debut on "60 Minutes." The gist of it is this: Brock's site will monitor conservative media for bias and misrepresentation, he's raised $2 million from liberal high rollers to underwrite this project, he's hired a half-dozen researchers to do the actual work, and he hopes their tracking of Rush Limbaugh & Co. will provide "fodder for fledgling liberal radio talk shows being started across the country, including those of the comedians Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo."
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More exciting still is word that Brock's project came about with the help of former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta's Center or American Progress, the political action think tank serving the interests of past and future Clinton presidencies. That's what it's all about.
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Brock claims his site will also monitor "marginal, right-wing websites that often serve as original sources of misinformation for well-known conservative and mainstream media outlets."
BUBBA’S BOOK REPORT
BUBBA BUMBLING TO FINISH BOOK
The publisher of Bill Clinton's forthcoming memoir is "despairing" that the ex-president hasn't churned out enough pages - and that the book is too full of self-justification and blaming of others, a new report claims.
Clinton has procrastinated writing "My Life" - for which Random House's Alfred A. Knopf imprint paid a reported $12 million - to such an extent that only within recent weeks did he begin jotting down memories of 1998, when he faced impeachment over of his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Vanity Fair says in its new issue.
Clinton's slow going prompted famed editor Robert Gottlieb to start sleeping overnight at the former president's home in Chappaqua as he helps the much-distracted Clinton finish the tome.
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But a Clinton friend says, "He does not act like he has anything to be ashamed about . . . He really believes this was some right-wing conspiracy and he didn't do anything wrong.
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Although he speaks to his wife six times per day on the telephone when he is traveling, Clinton reportedly only occasionally sees Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"Distance does not make the heart grow fonder," Clinton has told friends, according to the article.
KERRY WENT AWOL??!!
Ooooo! Be still my heart! But that’s exactly what the fab folks at Crush Kerry are surmising, what with the records L’Fraude DID produce. CHECK IT OUT!!!
Kerry Must Answer for Gaps in His Service Record:
Just as the Kerry campaign begins a new ad blitz to highlight the Senator’s alleged bravery as a Swift Boat Captain in Vietnam, new allegations threaten to stall the Democrat’s campaign yet again.
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John Kerry signed an agreement as part of his naval officer commission to serve at least 3 years on active duty and the remainder of his obligated 6 year service in the Ready Reserves. Ready Reserves are those who must attend drills.
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Also, if the timing of these records is correct, as a drilling Ready Reserve naval officer, in 1970-72 he was somewhat restricted by military regulations in what comments he could make in public regarding statements on the military leadership and the National Command Authority. Yet this is the period of his most public protests and anti-war demonstrations.
In fact, his hairdo alone in the 1970-72 period would not meet Navy standards, and he would be sent home from drill if he had ever attended one.
And there's more, lots more.
Hat tip to Kerry Haters.
Monday, May 03, 2004
KERRY WAS IN VIETNAM?
Local Vietnamese protest Kerry
Members of Lincoln's [Nebraska] Vietnamese community gathered Sunday at Antelope Park to celebrate their heritage, to remember what brought them to America and to speak their collective political mind.
Their opinion of the presidential race was clear: They oppose Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist.
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Nguyen said members of the organization disagree with Kerry's anti-war activities and the fact that he blocked a bill that would have linked U.S. aid in Vietnam to the improvement of human rights conditions.
STONEWALLED
Gorelick's Stonewall
Newly released memos contradict [Gorelick's] 9/11 Commission assertions.
So President Bush and Vice President Cheney had their long-awaited sit-down with the 9/11 Commission last week--an event the Commissioners took so seriously that two of them walked out early citing prior commitments. Meanwhile, White House Spokesman Scott McClellan says the President disapproved of the Justice Department's release last week of further memos relating to the pre-Patriot Act "wall" between intelligence and law enforcement.
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[W]hat John Ashcroft and his team have revealed about the wall is by far the most important thing to come out of the hearings so far. So long as the 9/11 Commissioners are refusing to probe this matter further for fear of damaging a colleague, someone has to look out for the public's right to know.
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We've never expected much from this Commission, but the stonewalling is getting ridiculous.
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How long will they continue protecting their colleague at the cost of their own credibility?
RETREAT
Leftport, Connecticut
Why I'm taking flight from the Bush-hating 'burbs.
These weekend invitations to Westport, Conn.--I've started calling it "Leftport"--are becoming burdensome. I find myself surrounded by people who have moved from Manhattan to homogeneous suburban enclaves encircled by white fences, white neighbors and purer-than-thou philosophies. Never mind that they moved there for better public schools and lower tax rates--and to see Paul Newman at the local grocery store. They are now of one mind: to defeat President Bush!
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[W]e hold our glasses of mediocre Chardonnay, pick at little watercress, bread-enveloped triangles, while I long for herring filets and vodka. I mean, we're all Jewish, for God's sake!
Then our host chants the liberal mantra: "Bush has alienated us from the rest of the world. Europe hates us. The Muslims hate us. He's taking us into an abyss!"
The crowd raises their goblets, yelling "Kill Bush."
BEYOND KVETCHING
Buyer's Remorse: Dems start to worry that Kerry can't win.
It's six months until the election, and Democrats are already having buyer's remorse. The Bush campaign "is kicking Kerry's ass every damn day," one prominent Democratic operative told the Washington Post last week. "Kerry hasn't owned one day in the news yet. Not one day!"
Some liberals are so frantic that they want to pull the plug.
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It is traditional for party activists to grumble about their prospective nominee between the time he wraps up the primaries and when he is actually nominated. But the doubts about Mr. Kerry go beyond campaign kvetching. At times, they seem to verge on quiet panic.
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ONLY THE VERY BEST EARN THIS!
HARD CORE LIAR: Pat has an expose posted at Brainster about a lowlife creep who tried to profit by claiming he was a Ranger. (If I posted the wrong patch, I apologize.)
Anti-Warrior Exposed as Fake Ranger
In the Style section last summer we profiled a Los Angeles writer named Micah Ian Wright, who'd just published a shrill antiwar poster book called "You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want!" In his book, he described himself as a veteran of combat, a former Army Ranger whose experiences during the 1989 invasion of Panama turned him into a peacenik. In interviews with The Post and other media, he played up that background.
Wright, it turns out, is a liar. He never served in the military -- and confessed that last week to his publisher, Seven Stories Press, after we insisted on evidence of his service. Pursuing a tip from real Rangers who'd never heard of Wright, we filed three Freedom of Information Act requests with separate Army commands -- and last month finally confirmed that Wright never served.
BACK STABBER?
YEE-HAW! Lucianne and her cadre of L.dotters made Page Six! CONGRATS, y’all!
SNOOTY TINA: TINA Brown may be doing her pal John Kerry more harm than good with her latest condescending column for the Washington Post. In Brown's Thursday entry, she detailed a run-in with a common waiter who dared tell the luminaries at one of her famous dinner parties that he'd be voting for President Bush. "There was a surreal moment at a serious Manhattan dinner party Tuesday night when 12 power players who had all been talking at once about the mess in Iraq suddenly fell silent to listen to the waiter," begins the equally surreal piece, which contends that anyone supporting Bush must have been hoodwinked by Karl Rove and his operatives. "Patronizing and offensive balderdash," writes one reader on Lucianne Goldberg's Weblog. Another chimes in, "I have a flash for Tina. When it comes to elections, anyone who votes is a 'power player.' They must have nightmares about all of us little nobodies going to vote."
Sunday, May 02, 2004
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STRICTLY BUSINESS
I worked at a Dexter Factory Outlet Shoe Store for 5+ years. Headquartered in Dexter, ME, the Dexter Shoe Company was known for its Made In America label. As other shoe companies were forced into “outsourcing” the manufacture of their shoes and goods, Dexter still held tight to their proud claim. Our store had a fairly staunch, albeit small percentage, of customers who refused to buy any foreign made goods. They bought Dexter shoes first and foremost because of that Made In America label.
Several years ago, Harold Alfond sold his Dexter Shoe company to Warren Buffett, which indirectly made the shoe company part of the huge conglomerate known as Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett has always regretted that purchase and has referred to it as his biggest mistake.
The company was bleeding red ink by the bucket, so decisions were made. Outlet stores were closed one after the other. When I began working there in ’98, there were 90+ outlet stores all across America. By the end of 2003, there were maybe 50 +/- remaining, with nearly all of the stores west of the Mississippi closed. Outsourcing the manufacturing was a forgone conclusion, so it wasn’t long before Dexter shoes were being made in China, Romania, Italy, Brazil and Mexico. (The style, fit, appearance and quality were not the same, either.) As manufacturing was shipped overseas, the factories here in America were closed. Today nothing of the company remains in Dexter, ME, except shuttered factories.
Our MIA (Made In America) customers were fiercely passionate about their commitment to buy American goods, and they were equally as bitter that the one last big American made shoe company capitulated to Big Business and the Almighty Dollar. A few times I tried to explain that the cost of making shoes in the U.S. had become prohibitive, that customers would not buy the shoes for what they cost to produce. However, the very people who complained about foreign made shoes were the same people who complained about the price of American made shoes, so my explanation fell on deaf ears.
Our shoe store closed on October 25, 2003. There were several reasons why. Part of the reason was due to the recession at the time and then 9/11. The store was in Corning, NY, which had suffered a devastating blow when its chief employer, Corning Inc., dumped 3,500 of its local employees (Corning’s pop. is about 12,000) a year or two before, and it was struggling to recover. Our sales alone told us that the store’s days were numbered. We understood that it wasn’t personal, that it was strictly business. We certainly didn’t (and still don’t) blame Buffett or even Bush, as a few of our MIAs suggested.
Ever since Dexter was sold and became part of Berkshire Hathaway, I take notice when I see its chairman, Warren Buffett, in the news. He’s known as the Oracle of Omaha because he knows business. People flock to his meetings in the dim hopes of learning something which will benefit them. And, yet, the fact that he’s worth BILLION$$$$$ does not make him an oracle of politics. Why he supports Democrats, I’ll never understand. It could be, as with many wealthy people, his uber-wealth foments a sense of shame of inequity and the subsequent need to “give back.” Regardless of his business acumen, Buffett is not perfect; he does make mistakes. He considers his purchase of Dexter Shoes to be his biggest mistake. Just keep that in mind.
STRICTLY POLITICS
Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire's Buffett, Apple's Jobs Join Kerry Advisers (Update1)
'Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs are advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on economic issues.
Kerry, 60, the four-term Massachusetts senator challenging President George W. Bush, ``reached out to them and they're giving him economic advice about the deficit and job creation,'' said David Wade, Kerry's campaign spokesman. …
“I support John Kerry,'' said Buffett. … In the choice of the two candidates he's the one I would vote for. I think I would rather have him as president than George W. Bush.''
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Neither Buffett nor Jobs, who ranks 262 on the Forbes list of billionaires, has personally contributed to Kerry's campaign. Buffett donated last year to former Democratic presidential contenders Wesley Clark, a retired Army general, and Florida Senator Bob Graham.
Just as a point of interest: Shares of Berkshire, which owns energy, aviation, paint and carpet companies, have increased 28 percent in the past year compared with a 19 percent gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The shares fell $110 to $93,390 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Friday.
DO WE REALLY NEED TO BE REMINDED, TED?
Don't count on Koppel for whole war story
'According to Ted Koppel, dragging his gravitas like a ball and chain, ''The most important thing a journalist can do is remind people of the cost of war.''
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As Stalin said, one death is a tragedy, 1 million is a statistic. The fact that America's dead in Iraq are not yet statistics, that they're still small enough in number to be individual tragedies Ted can milk for his show tells you the real cost of this war. In Afghanistan, the numbers are even lower, which is why ''Nightline'' hasn't bothered pulling this stunt with America's other war.
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The cost of war is the cost of losing it measured against the cost of winning it. We can reach our own conclusions about which the coalition's dead would opt for.'
And while we’re on the topic of the COST of the war, let us not overlook the BILLION$ we taxpayers were forced to pump into the U.N., which is now a blooming scandal on its own.
Iraq oil-for-food kickbacks 'higher than suspected'
'Kickbacks paid to Saddam Hussein's regime on contracts signed under the United Nations' oil-for-food programme were far higher than the 10 per cent rake-off previously assumed to be the norm.
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Now, its latest discovery means that the total lost to kickbacks and surcharges could far exceed the American Congressional estimate of £2.6 billion. Oil smuggling is believed to have lined the coffers of Saddam's regime with a further £3.4 billion.
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Last week, a US Congressional investigator testified that UN auditors had refused to release 55 internal audits covering seven years of the oil-for-food programme to the General Accounting Office, the federal body carrying out one of the investigations into the scandal.
Joseph Christoff, a GAO official, said that the audits were shown routinely only to Benon Sevan, the UN Under Secretary General who ran the programme whose name was on a list of 270 companies and individuals who allegedly received vouchers. Mr Sevan has denied wrongdoing.'
MOON HILLARY
BEHIND THE MASK OF HILL'S DISGUISES AS SHE EYES RUN FOR PRESIDENT
Political adviser DICK MORRIS was a first-hand witness to the two faces of Hillary Rodham Clinton during his tenure as Bill Clinton's confidante. In his new book, "Rewriting History," he offers a rebuttal to the New York senator's best-selling autobiography, showing the Hillary he knows - warts and all.
Comparing Hillary to the moon, Dick Morris says she puts forth her sunny side for the public, but 'she has developed a sinister side, which is chilling even to those who know her well.' …
Where Bill's instinct for deception is neurotic, Hillary's is opportunistic. He wants to hide his private life from our eyes; Hillary seeks to conceal her character from our view.
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What makes Hillary's unseen side unique is that, for the most part, it represents her real personality, her true self, far more than the person who smiles and giggles at us day and night. …
I worked closely with her for two decades. And that firsthand experience tells me that the person Hillary's supporters want to see in the White House is a fiction - a character carefully and assiduously cultivated for decades to mask the real Hillary.
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In her decades of public life, she has adjusted her opinions, modified her ideology, altered her priorities, and revised her rhetoric.
Hillary might like to describe this wholesale alteration as a product of growth or maturity. But most of it is the result of simple calculation. Hillary Clinton's image became what it needed to become in order to maximize the chances of election to high public office.
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She keeps a mental enemies list.
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'[S]he has a real problem telling the truth.' Such as 'her nutty claim that her mother named her after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest,' and when 'she invented a story about 9/11 on the "Today" show, implying to Katie Couric that her daughter, Chelsea, had narrowly missed being on the grounds of the Twin Towers at the time of the attacks.'…
Chelsea herself, though, flatly contradicted her mother's account …
Hillary had lied. Effortlessly, spontaneously, chillingly, Hillary simply invented the tale.'
From the forthcoming book REWRITING HISTORY by Dick Morris. Published by arrangement with ReganBooks/HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
