IndictBushNow.org:

IndictBushNow.org:

Let's face it, the Republicans in Congress are going to go back to their old playbook, investigating the president to see if he had a blow job on company time.

Obama MUST appoint a special prosecutor, if only to cover his own behind.

The old excuse was that he wanted to look forward, wanted to work with the Republicans, and wanted to avoid appearing vindictive and partisan.

Those arguments don't hold anymore, and when the Republicans go after him, he's going to have to fight back.

After all, they are a LOT more vulnerable to investigations than he is.

UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak declared that the Obama administration had a legal and moral obligation to fully investigate credible claims of US forces' complicity in torture. Nick Clegg, the deputy Prime Minister in the UK has, in the wake of the recent revelations, also called for an investigation into the reports of mass torture disclosed in the newly released documents.

Yemen bomb plot: key questions raised - Telegraph

Yemen bomb plot: key questions raised - Telegraph

Any successful terrorist attack on either US soil or on US aircraft during this period would have had an enormous symbolic and political impact, spreading fear and panic among voters and raising doubts over Barack Obama's strategy of containing terrorism in Afghanistan. The President's expected appearance in Chicago today would have given any terrorist attack further significance.

HOW WAS THE PLOT FOILED?

Details of the plot began to emerge on Thursday night when MI6 received a tip-off from Saudi intelligence services.

NEW EVIDENCE that Alvin Greene’s “win” in SC was STOLEN! :: News From Underground

NEW EVIDENCE that Alvin Greene’s “win” in SC was STOLEN! :: News From Underground

Mail-in paper ballot election results just received from each South Carolina county under Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests confirm that there were enough voting discrepancies in the recent U.S. Senate Democratic primary to have reversed the election outcome. That race had dramatic, inexplicable discrepancies between the verifiable mail-in absentee paper ballot results and the unverifiable electronic voting results recorded on Election Day, June 8.

U.S. public libraries: We lose them at our peril - Los Angeles Times

U.S. public libraries: We lose them at our peril - Los Angeles Times

McChrystal Drama is Sideshow; Can Obama define a realistic Goal? | Informed Comment

McChrystal Drama is Sideshow; Can Obama define a realistic Goal? | Informed Comment

In short, Karzai appears to be attempting to strike a deal with the very Taliban and insurgents that Obama says he is pledged to uproot and destroy.

How can that make sense?

How indeed, unless Karzai is so much Bush's man that he would rather lose the war than see a Democrat win it.

Texas State Board of Education approves new curriculum standards | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News

Texas State Board of Education approves new curriculum standards | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News

U.S. and its history as a “Christian land governed by Christian principles.”

The United States Constitution was not handed by God to George Washington on Mt. Sinai. It was written by a groups of "We the people" (including a lot of Deists and Unitarians like Benjamin Franklin) for six specific purposes, which I had to memorize when I went to school.

Isn't it about time students had to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution again, instead of saying the Protestant Lord's Prayer in public school?

U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric - NYTimes.com

U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric - NYTimes.com

It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said.

Really? Are you sure?

Didn't Robert Ford collect a reward for shooting Jesse James in the back of the head?

Robert Ford, it was a fact,
shot Jesse in the back,
while Jesse hung a picture on the wall.

- The Ballad of Jesse James

Meanwhile here's the Republican criticism of Obama's move (from the same story as above):

A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president.

WELL, WHY THE &%$#! NOT!!!

Bush was swaggering around shouting "Wanted: Dead or Alive" but not really doing anything.

At least now we have a president who's going to act more than he talks.

Ephphatha Poetry: "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise

Ephphatha Poetry: "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose

It goes on, but you get the point. Or you should.

Ron Paul: President Obama Is Not A Socialist | TPMDC

Ron Paul: President Obama Is Not A Socialist | TPMDC

"The question has been raised about whether or not our president is a socialist," Paul said. "I am sure there are some people here who believe it. But in the technical sense, in the economic definition of a what a socialist is, no, he's not a socialist."

"He's a corporatist," Paul continued. "And unfortunately we have corporatists inside the Republican party and that means you take care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country."

Finally, a sane voice in the Republican Party. Too bad they won't listen to him.

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Hope for Activist Judges

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Hope for Activist Judges

The attorneys general offer no serious rebuttal to this reality that Congress has sweeping authority to enact economic regulation, and a requirement that all Americans be insured is economic in nature. Instead, they claim that health reform is unconstitutional merely because it is unusual. In the words of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, “at no time in our history has the government mandated its citizens buy a good or service.”

Cuccinelli is not telling the truth. President George Washington signed the Second Militia Act of 1792, which required a significant percentage of the U.S. civilian population to purchase—at their own expense—“a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack” along with various other items they would need if the president ever called them up to serve in the militia. Many of the members of Congress who voted to enact this law were also members of the Philadelphia Convention that wrote the Constitution itself.

Granted that Qadhdhafi is a nutcase, but Arab nationalism just can't work.

It's time to abolish the Arab League | Muslims Debate

In 2009, Gaddafi stormed out of the Doha Summit after he denounced King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as a "British product, and [an] American ally." When Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar tried to rein him in, the Libyan responded: "I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level." In Sirte, Gaddafi took aim at the Qatari's weight, declared that Shaikh Hamad was "better than [him] at filling a void," before bursting into laughter. A few years ago, he told summiteers in Algeria that Palestinians and Israelis were "stupid" and that Israel should be invited to join the League. He even coined the term Isratine, Israel and Palestine, in the Oz-like fantasy land he envisaged.

"The Arabs have agreed to disagree." has been attributed to ibn Khaldun. I don't know if the attribution is correct, but the saying is certainly true.

It's about time!

Pakistan's Army takes control of al-Qaeda cave network on Afghan border - Times Online

Pakistani forces have taken control of a warren of caves that served until recently as the nerve centre of the Taleban and al-Qaeda and sheltered Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden.

Let's hope this good news can continue!

For those disappointed by Obama - it's 1965 all over again.

Cyrus Roberts Vance, Lieutenant, United States Navy & Public Official

This, in a nutshell, was the unself-conscious voice of the establishment - the one that Jimmy Carter ran against so vigorously that his campaign manager, Hamilton Jordan, once said: "If, after the inauguration, you find a Cy Vanceas secretary of state and Zbigniew Brzezinski as head of national security, then I would say we failed. And I'd quit.''

Mr. Vance was Mr. Carter's first appointee, followed soon after by Mr. Brzezinski. Mr. Jordan did not quit.

I remember that. I learned a big and important lesson about American politics.

If you didn't figure out then that the "outsider" and "independent" candidates are set up, or you weren't born yet, figure it out now. Obama was never the revolutionary (much less the Marxist or Muslim terrorist) the Republican party tried to portray him as.

You can get some change in the system. You can't overthrow the system. Nor should you. Few people really won when the Western Roman Empire fell. Not even most of the barbarians.

You get a choice of two candidates, and some protest votes, in most US elections. You have to choose the lesser evil. Obama was the lesser evil last time, not the second coming. And not the anti-Christ.

If you want to get angry about something, get angry about having your choice revoked.

McCain proffered an insurance mandate with no public option. That's the bogus plan they got in Massachusetts that they are rebelling against.

Obama offered a public option with no mandate.

So what are we about to get if we don't get active? What we voted against.

Anyone else remember 1964? We voted for a candidate who promised not to bomb North Vietnam over a candidate who promised to bomb.

What did we get? Carpet bombing, and a massive antiwar movement, and massive disgust with the government that lasted decades, from the credibility gap to Watergate to today's anti-government militants.

Don't let them take the public option away!! It's too important, not just for itself, but for democracy.

Legislation, smegislation! We need a Constitutional Amendment!

Left and right united in opposition to controversial SCOTUS decision - Yahoo! News

As noted by the Post's Dan Eggen, the poll's findings show "remarkably strong agreement" across the board, with roughly 80% of Americans saying that they're against the Court's 5-4 decision. Even more remarkable may be that opposition by Republicans, Democrats, and Independents were all near the same 80% opposition range. Specifically, 85% of Democrats, 81% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans opposed it. In short, "everyone hates" the ruling.

The poll's findings could enhance the possibility of getting a broad range of support behind a movement in Congress to pass legislation that would offset the Court's decision.

We need a Constitutional Amendment that says corporations are not "persons" in terms of the Constitution, before one decides it's over 35 and runs for president.

When another corporatist Supreme Court invalidated the income tax, people didn't wring their hands and passed legislation. They passed and ratified the 16th Amendment.

What is wrong with Congress that they don't get this? Everyone else seems to.

Finally, the US is really going after the enemy

Exclusive: Another Taliban Leader Captured in Pakistan - Declassified Blog - Newsweek.com

Another leader of the Afghan Taliban has been captured by authorities in Pakistan working in partnership with U.S. intelligence officials. Taliban sources in the region and a counterterrorism officials in Washington have identified the detained insurgent leader as Mullah Abdul Salam, described as the Taliban movement's "shadow governor" of Afghanistan's Kunduz province.

Harry Shearer: Wait a Minute -- If It's a War, Aren't You Supposed to Kill Them?

Harry Shearer: Wait a Minute -- If It's a War, Aren't You Supposed to Kill Them?

Last time I looked, if it's a war and you find an enemy on the battlefield, you kill him. That's pretty much the definition of what war is. You detain those who choose to surrender. Opting in the first instance to detain and interrogate someone, on the other hand, is what you're doing if you're running a criminal investigation. Oops.

Isn't it about time we forgot about this false dichotomy? The opposite of war is peace, not law enforcement. The opposite of law enforcement is crime, not war. There are even hybrid categories, like "war crime" and "illegal war" that would be especially appropriate in this instance.

In the struggle against al-Qa'ida there is a place for war and a place for law enforcement. There is even a place to combine them. War crimes should be prosecuted on both sides impartially. If you want to detain someone indefinitely just declare them a PoW. If you want to convict someone and put them in prison, get the evidence and bring them to court. If you want to try them in a military tribunal, declare them a war criminal. In this case we have a choice.

Lawrence O'Donnell Rages On Bush Speechwriter Marc Thiessen: 'Your Administration Invited The First Attack' (VIDEO)

Anyone else remember "Bin Ladin determined to attack inside the US"? The Bush administration was warned about al-Qa'ida and ignored all warnings. The Republican line was "Wag the Dog", that this was just a phony scare used by the Democrats to distract the nation from the all-important Monica Lewinsky "zippergate" scandal that was so important to them. Now they pretend that torture works.

You know what? The guy that tortured Sayyid Qutb thought he prevented a plot to flood the Nile Delta and kill millions of people.

They guys who tortured Muslim Brothers after the attempted assassination of Nasser thought they prevented plots to kill every Arab leader in the world.

Have these Republicans no sense of shame? Are they really stupid enough to believe their propaganda? Or are they just convinced Americans are that stupid?

Lawrence O'Donnell Rages On Bush Speechwriter Marc Thiessen: 'Your Administration Invited The First Attack' (VIDEO)

How to tell if your Senator reads your letter

Here's an actual letter, with my actual name, but the Senator's deleted:

Dear Dr. Ph.D.:

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views with me. Your comments will help me continue to represent you and other Californians to the best of my ability. Be assured that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate considers legislation on this or similar issues.

If you would like additional information about my work in the U.S. Senate, I invite you to visit my website, http://[deleted].senate.gov. From this site, you can send a message to me about current events or pending legislation, access my statements and press releases, request copies of legislation and government reports, and receive detailed information about the many services that I am privileged to provide for my constituents. You may also wish to visit http://thomas.loc.gov to track current and past federal legislation.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I appreciate hearing from you.

Good advice for Dems from Bernie Sanders

Blueprint for Dems

In my view, the Democrats--including the president--have absurdly continued to stumble along the path of "bipartisanship" at exactly the same time the Republicans have waged the most vigorous partisan and obstructionist strategy in recent history. . . .
§ Perhaps most important, let Obama be Obama. Bring back one of the great inspirational leaders of our time, who is more than capable of taking on the powerful special interests and rallying the American people toward a progressive agenda and a more just society. . . .
§ Pass the strongest healthcare reform legislation as soon as feasible - making it clear that it will be significantly improved in the near future. . . .
§ Pass a major bill that creates millions of new jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and moving our energy system in a different and sustainable direction. . . .
§ Pass legislation allowing workers to have the right to join unions without unfair and illegal opposition from their employers. . . .
§ Boldly address the economic and financial crisis, which has left 17 percent of our workforce unemployed or underemployed. . . .

Should there be a state of emergency in Jos?

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Jos - Senate Rejects Motion for State of Emergency

When Senate President David Mark put the question majority of senators voted against it. The Senate however resolved that the Plateau State Government and other relevant security agencies should "Fish out the perpetrators and sponsors of this latest act of violence and bring them to book to serve as deterrent to others with similar tendencies."

Good background on the riots from Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Clashes near Nigerian city of Jos

Charles Dokubo, from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera: "There is more than the religious aspect of it. There are two communities - one that call themselves settlers and one that call themselves indigenous communities.

"The crisis in the north started with the creation a local government."

Dokubo said that Muslim settlers were to manage the government, which was unacceptable to the indigenous Christian community who consider them non-citizens.

"The main cause of the crisis is about administration and the place where people belong."

The only correction I would add is that the indigenes don't consider them non-citizens, rather they consider them strangers or guests (same concept in Africa) and they believe they should have the rights of guests, not of indigenous people, or "sons of the soil" in African terms.

Great post from Juan Cole

Critics of Obama often charge him with failing to end the Iraq War. But there is no longer an Iraq War. There are US bases in a country where indigenous forces are still fighting a set of low-intensity struggles, with little US involvement. Obama is having his troops leave exactly as quickly as the Iraqi parliament asked him to.