Tag: 9/11
The Lies Continue: Osama Bin Laden was not hiding behind a woman
When will people finally realize that this Government is lying to them?:
The White House backed away Monday evening from key details in its narrative about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, including claims by senior U.S. officials that the Al Qaeda leader had a weapon and may have fired it during a gun battle with U.S. forces.
Officials also retreated from claims that one of bin Laden’s wives was killed in the raid and that bin Laden was using her as a human shield before she was shot by U.S. forces.
At a televised White House briefing Monday afternoon, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said bin Laden joined in the fight that several residents of the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound put up against the Navy SEALs during the 40-minute operation.
“He [bin Laden] was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don’t know,” Brennan said.
At a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day, a senior defense official said bin Laden used a woman as a human shield so he could fire shots. “He was firing behind her,” the official said.
In another background briefing early Monday morning, a senior administration official also said bin Laden put up a fight. “He did resist the assault force. And he was killed in a firefight,” the official said.
However, during a background, off-camera briefing for television reporters later Monday, a senior White House official said bin Laden was not armed when he was killed, apparently by the U.S. raid team.
Another White House official familiar with the TV briefing confirmed the change to POLITICO, adding, “I’m not aware of him having a weapon.”
“The bottom line is the team that entered that room was met with resistance and took appropriate action,” said a third American official.
The White House on Monday night declined to elaborate on the nature of the resistance bin Laden allegedly put up. However, an official confirmed that the Al Qaeda founder was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest.
via White House modifies Osama bin Laden account – Josh Gerstein – POLITICO.com.
Again, the White House lied about this little detail and quickly backed the bus up and changed their story. Now, they are saying that Osama was not even armed. Possibly. Because they have not decided whether to go with that lie or not. My question, as I have asked before; If the liberal left did not trust this Government under George W. Bush, then why trust it under Barack Obama? I do not trust them and neither should you. This is all a political ruse, to get Obama in the good graces of the American people again.
Others: Michelle Malkin, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, ABCNEWS, Reuters, Maggie’s Notebook, The Gateway Pundit and FrumForum
UPDATED: My Official Response to the killing of Osama Bin Laden
As someone who was drawn to the world of Blogging, by the Government’s and by default, the George W. Bush Administration’s handling of “The War on Terror and the war in Iraq —– I am highly suspicious of this whole thing.
They say, Osama is dead. I have my doubts. Until I see a bloody corpse picture; I remain a skeptic.
I just do not trust this Government at all. I did not trust it, when George W. Bush was running it and I really do not trust it, now that Barack Obama is running it.
Of course, the Neo-Cons are over the moon. …and some of the left are either giving the credit to Obama or saying Osama won.
Me? I sit here; suspect of the whole damned thing. I am not easily convinced of anything this Government says or does anymore.
Oh yeah, Obama just won 2012 —– sorry Republicans; four more years of Obama’s socialist stupidity. Enjoy it and get used to it.
If you want to read the rest of the blogging world’s reactions, Start here.
Update: OK. I have seen enough evidence to concede, that the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks is, in fact, dead. For one Al-Qaeda has confirmed this and the Defense Dept has released videos from the compound.
Video: Fox News’s Sean Hannity surprisingly treats Representative Ron Paul with respect
I found this to be very shocking… Sean Hannity was respectful to Representative Ron Paul:
Now here, when I saw the lead in to this segment, I thought “Oh boy, here we go… Hannity is going to cream this guy…” and you know what? Hannity just ribbed him about it and you could tell, it was just a gentle ribbing.
Now, I will say this about Ron Paul, he did stick to his guns on foriegn policy and in this day and age of wishy-washy politicians and flip-floppers; it is a refreshing change to see a guy stick to his guns, even when he knows it will not popular with the person interviewing him. I also commend Sean Hannity for not keeping on and on about it. Hannity made his point and Ron Paul made his and that was good enough, I thought.
Unlike some on the Neo-Con right, I will not treat this announcement dismissively. I think if Ron Paul could overcome some of stuff that the left likes to bring up and maybe hire a damn speech writer! He could very well win the Presidency; and right now, I would vote for Ron Paul over say, Bachmann, Palin, Trump or even Romney. The rest of the crowd, I either do not know, or think is too weak of a person to seriously be considered.
U.S. Military talks with Iraq faltering
I have some very mixed feelings on this story….
Via WSJ:
WASHINGTON—Senior U.S. and Iraqi military officials have been in negotiations about keeping some 10,000 American troops in Iraq beyond the scheduled withdrawal of all U.S. forces at year’s end, according to officials familiar with the talks.
But the discussions face political obstacles in both countries, and have faltered in recent weeks because of Iraqi worries that a continued U.S. military presence could fuel sectarian tension and lead to protests similar to those sweeping other Arab countries, U.S. officials say.
A separate drawdown deadline is looming in Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama wants to see a substantial U.S. troop reduction starting in July. Some U.S. commanders have cautioned against making reductions too quickly.
Underlining Obama administration concerns that U.S. forces have been stretched too thin, the White House has put strict constraints on American military involvement in Libya. On Thursday, the U.S. said it was sending armed drones to support operations in Libya, but the administration has stood firm against sending any ground troops.
In Iraq, top U.S. military officials believe that leaving a sizeable force beyond this year could bolster Iraqi stability and serve as a check on Iran, the major American nemesis in the region, officials said. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have echoed the concern that if the U.S. pulls out completely, Iran could extend its influence.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad Thursday, urging Iraqi leaders to step up discussions soon if they want U.S. forces to stay beyond the end of 2011.
The timing is critical because the U.S. is scheduled to start drawing down remaining forces in late summer or early fall, and the military would have to assign new units months in advance to take their place.
While American defense officials have made clear they want to leave troops in Iraq, such a decision would require presidential approval. President Obama has yet to indicate publicly whether he would sign off on such a deal.
Mr. Obama could face a political backlash at home if he doesn’t meet his campaign pledge to bring troops home from Iraq. If the U.S. pulls out of Iraq and violence there surges, the president could face tough questions, particularly from Republicans in Congress, about whether the U.S. misjudged Iraq’s capabilities.
As a Conservative, A Paleo-Conservative, as opposed to a Neo-Conservative — but I digress; I have some very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I would hate to see the United States withdraw from Iraq, it fall into chaos and Iran or some other surrounding Country invade the Country and mount attacks against Israel or even worse, even the United States. On the other hand, I feel that the invasion of Iraq was based on bad intelligence, largely based upon lies told by a man they called curve-ball.
Because of this, I believe we should really get out of there. Because, quite frankly, we have done our jobs. We got rid of Saddam, who was, admittedly hurting his own people and was corrupt as hell. We have trained the Iraqi army to protect themselves from attack or foreign invasion and uprising from within its own Country. Which it appears they are using to hurt dissidents. So, I really do not understand why we are still there. It appears that the Iraqi Government is most likely worried about our interests there — such as oil.
Either way, this is a very sticky situation; no matter what we do, we are going to be the bad guys. If we stay, we will be blamed for any and all uprisings in the Country. If we leave and that Country falls into chaos; we will be blamed for that too and some idiot with a grudge will try to attack us for allowing his Country to invaded. So, either way, it is going to be a mess for us for a long time to come.
This is why, that as a Paleo-Conservative, who rejects the foreign policy stance of the Neo-Conservative right; that we as Conservatives and Republicans should rethink our entire foreign policy status. The very idea of exporting freedom to other Nations is foolish on its face. Even David Horowitz, much to his credit, said this:
The Obama Administration, in my view, is the most dangerous administration in American history, and conservatives need to be very clear about the limits and objectives of American power so that they can lead the battle to restore our government to health. To accomplish this, neo-conservatives need to admit they were wrong, and return to the drawing board. They should give up the “neo” and become conservatives again.
Let me go on the record as saying, I wholeheartedly agree. Not so much about the Obama administration; I have yet to see anything that they have done that is overly dangerous to the Country. I do not agree with Obama’s whole, “Spread the Wealth around” nonsense; but Bush was not exactly my idea of a “perfect” President either. So, that whole argument is basically mute with me. However, I will say that Conservatives do need to get back to their pre-George W. Bush Neo-Conservative lead foreign policy stance. Because quite frankly, our Nation cannot continue on this idiotic path and survive. I mean, tomorrow China could cut us off and we as a Nation would be done. They basically own us and could decide to collect on their debt — Militarily. If you think about it, that would be quite scary; because what would we fight them with? They own our money and if they decided to defund us, where would we get the money to fight them with? Again, something to think about.
As for the “other” war in Afghanistan; we need to define that mission and if we cannot do, what we set out to do there — which was to capture or kill Osama Bin Ladin, then we need to get out of that Country. Period. End of Story. Nation Building does not work. It was tried there by the Russians and it failed horribly and almost bankrupted the Russian Government. Establishing Governments and Nations should not be the responsibility of the United States armed forces; it should be the job of NATO and the U.N. — let them deal with that idiotic backward Nation — not us.
Sadly though, the United States Government will not listen to the voice of people like me or you. Who feel that this road to ruin that we are on, is not sustainable. That my friends, is the true crime of this Country.
Video: Another reason why I will not vote Democratic Party again
You know what is worse than old racist dinosaurs in the Republican Party?
This, which comes via my facebook page:
Key phrase here is:
I wipe my ass with the American flag!
I am sorry, but there is no justification for this of Anti-American bile. If you are a minority in this Country and you feel this way; I got one thing to say to you:
GET THE HELL OUT OF MY COUNTRY!
It just so damned happens that these same minorities, who say that they wipe their ass with the American flag, are here making a good living in this Country. Want to know why? Because they know good and damned well, that they would never be able to do that in their Country. Which is, if the truth be known, Mexico, who treats their own people like crap; and pays them like crap too. Which is why Mexicans are sneaking across that boarder, so they can make a decent wage here.
Unlike this here; this is not about racism. This is about being angry about watching people, who come from another Country, trashing the values and the flag of the United States of America —- all the while making a decent living here in the United States of America. It is straight up hypocrisy of the highest order. You come to my Country, and you make a living for your family; you show some damned respect for its flag, culture and values or you get the fuck out and go back home. Just that damned plain and simple.
Anyone says or believes anything different than that; is either one of three things:
1. An Anti-American
2. A Communist
3. An Asshole
But then again, I might just be repeating myself.
That is all.
Video: What the Neo-Conservatives created in Iraq
First some very disturbing video from Fox News:
Now the story via Fox News Channel:
On April 8th, the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting leaders in Baghdad, a 2,500-man Iraqi Army unit raided a compound occupied by Iranian dissidents in Iraq, killing 34 people and injuring 325 others. Eight of those killed were women, according to the United Nations.
The attack occurred just hours after members of the same group in Washington revealed what they said was a previously undisclosed Iranian centrifuge production facility near Tehran — part of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program.
Camp Ashraf has long served as a sanctuary for members of the anti-Iranian government group known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK) — a place the U.S. military vowed to protect shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But with only 47,000 U.S. troops still in the country, and a new Shiite-led government in Iraq looking to bolster relations with Iran, the camp is threatened.
A 12-minute video released by the MEK documents the nighttime attack, beginning with images of Iraqi soldiers driving through crowds of civilians and running men over with trucks and armored Humvees. It shows soldiers firing on and killing groups of unarmed men and women. Gaping wounds suffered by survivors are displayed in detail along with images of the dead laid side by side and covered to the neck by white sheets.
The Iraqi general who led the raid claims the shootings came in response to residents pelting his troops with rocks and throwing themselves in front of his military vehicles.
MEK say those same soldiers are still preventing the wounded from getting proper medical treatment.
MEK was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. after it carried out an assassination campaign targeting American military leaders in Tehran in the 70’s, as well as later attacking Iranian government targets. Since then the group has become better known for revealing secret production facilities related to the Iranian nuclear program, as it did with uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in 2002.
Sen. John Kerry, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, wants the Iraqis to conduct a full investigation and the called the raid “deeply disturbing” and “simply unacceptable.”
Gates commented on the incident while he was in Iraq, saying he was “concerned” with the reports of deaths and injuries.
And State Department spokesman Mark Toner later condemned the attack, but called it a “sovereign” matter for the Iraqis. By law, the U.S. security agreement with Iraq prohibits the U.S. military from intervening.
A number of former U.S. government officials spoke out about the raid during a conference at the Mayflower hotel in Washington Thursday, many of them calling on the State Department to remove the MEK from its list of terrorist groups.
Michael Mukasey, an attorney general under George W. Bush, called the Iraqi’s guarantee in 2003 to protect the group, “worthless.” He said that unless the U.S. removes the MEK from its terror list the killings will continue.
“What has enabled the Iraqi government — acting in the behest of the Iranian regime — and what enables the Iranian regime itself is this continued designation,”
Mukasey said.
Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, linked the incident at Camp Ashraf to current Arab uprisings in the region.
“How can we hope to help those inside Iran who are seeking a more open and liberated government if we can’t help those in Camp Ashraf who are simply asking for protection and an opportunity to live their lives in peace,?” he asked.
Critics say Iran is seizing on distractions in Libya by backing a Shia uprising in Bahrain and helping Syrian President Bashar Assad crack down on government protesters.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the MEK and the National Council of Resistance Iran, says the Iranians encouraged the Iraqis to attack Camp Ashraf.
“This is a pure crime committed intentionally by the Iraqi government against the Iranian dissidents to do the bidding for Tehran,” Jafarzadeh said.
The last portion of the video provided by MEK shows a 29 year-old Iranian woman, named Isiyeh Rakhshani, delivering a video message to Congress in 2010. Flash to April 8th where she’s shooting cell phone video of the attack on Ashraf. In the final frame Rakhshani’s mother is seen mourning over her dead body.
I really hated to quote that all; but friends, I wanted you all to see it for yourselves; just what Bush and the Neo-Conservative warmongers in the G.O.P. created. My friends, if that does not sicken you to your core, you do not have a damned soul. In 2003, after the euphoria and outrage over 9/11, the United States of America went into a sovereign nation and invaded it; based on the lies of a man, who they call “Curveball.”
America then proceeded to take a Nation, who’s army had, at best, soviet-era tanks and equipment; and proceeded to give them our very best equipment; and now, they are using it on their own damned people. Anyone who believes that Iraq is a free nation; is either lying to themselves or worse. The United States of America basically ousted one dictator and installed a new one in Iraq. Even now the most pro-war Conservative admits that.
It was indeed “Mission Accomplished.” But this mission that we accomplished, was not what Bush and his Neo-Conservative friends had in mind. Now, there are people in Iraq this day, who have lost family; all because a group of Jacobin Democrats decided to invade a Country and further their warped foriegn policy fantasies.
For every action, there is a reaction. For every action taken by the United States Government and its military there is “blowback.” It is an CIA term, and it is very real. Welcome to the middle east 2011; brought you by internationalist Democrats and Neo-Conservatives. We have no one to blame, but ourselves.
Democrats have no love for Obama, Part Two
Continuing with this theme…
Coming from The Nation:
President Obama cut a budget deal with congressional Republican leaders that outlined draconian cuts to needed programs while doing little if anything to address a supposed fiscal crisis. As such, it was a classic austerity agreement that served the special interests that dominate the upper ranks of both parties while ill-serving the great mass of Americans.
Congress has approved the deal that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says “moves America in exactly the wrong direction. It cuts programs for struggling working families, the elderly, children and the poor while preserving tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.” But Sanders and a majority of House Democrats opposed it.
That represents a significant break with Obama and his attempt to get congressional Democrats to buy into the austerity agenda — and the false premise that America has the resources for wars and bank bailouts but not for health care, education and meaningful investments in community renewal and job creation.
The House vote was especially telling.
Poor man can’t do nothing right. Continuing:
Sanders captured the sentiment of progressives in Congress and across the country when he said, “There is no question that we must reduce soaring deficits, but it must be done in a way that is fair, which protects the most vulnerable people in our country, and which requires shared sacrifice.”
Roughly translated: “But it must be done in a way that is fair, that protects my special interests; like those old fools who voted me into office.” It must be kept in mind, that Sanders is a socialist. I mean, this guy left the Democratic Party, because it was not liberal enough.
However, I will say this; like I told Karl Rove on twitter, all of this talk about cuts; without making any Military Cuts and ending the wars, especially Iraq and also end the war and more importantly, end the nation building in Afghanistan — is nothing more than a well-planned ruse on the American people. Heck, even Lew Rockwell agrees that making cuts on the back of the poor is just damned immoral. I have to agree, my parents are in their sixties; why should they have to suffer, because a bunch of idiots want to defend an empire?
Further more, why should my parents suffer, because a group of beltway thugs, of both parties, got drunk on spending? It makes no sense to me at all. End these wars, The Afghanistan War has outlived it’s mission, we’re simply nation building there, to make Bush happy. Iraq is done, let’s get the heck out of there! Libya is another mess. We should have never gotten involved with that, at all.
So, as I said, when Democrats and Republicans both want to get real on spending, then I will commend them and vote for a Republican President; until then, it is just all Hot Air.
The Late Night Music Express presents The Band & Friends
This is dedicated to those who are fighting to be free everywhere.
Quotes of the Day
Bastard. Graham is the sort of scum you get when you blindly vote for Republicans just because there is an R after their name.
Reid, who hates America and her liberties, him I expect to act this way. But Graham likes to call himself a “conservative,” and then, out of that same mouth, say that America might need to “limit” the First Amendment to appease Muslim barbarian savages.
He’s even worse than Reid, because ignoramuses think that Graham actually loves his country and our freedoms, even though his words and actions demonstrate exactly the opposite.
Yet there is a certain segment of “conservatives” who would expect me to vote for Graham no matter what, because he isn’t a Democrat.
I spit on that notion. I will never, ever vote for a candidate who espouses this sort of America-hating, anti-liberty, constitution-loathing crap, no matter what nominal party tag is dangling around his neck.
Video: Obama’s Libyan War
Seeing that things are changing with Libya; I thought this to be a be very appropriate video: (Via Reason Hit and Run, and Reason TV)
Video: Police State: This right here is why people kill police officers
This video is unbelievable.
There is a story behind this, and I very highly suggest that you head over to HotAir.com and follow the links for the back story.
The Video:
Eric Holder wonders why there has been an uptick in police shootings? I can tell you exactly why; because of crap like this right here.
I very humbly submit to you; that if this homeowner had decided to use lethal force against this woman and these police officers, it would be have been entirely justified.
This is not freedom, this is tyranny.
Wake up America; wake.the.hell.up….
In case you would like to contact these bastards; here is the contact information for the Department involved:
Headquarters
1441 N. DuPont Highway
P.O. Box 430
Dover, Delaware 19903-0430
(302) 739-5901
Call them and let your rage be known to them. This is not Communist Russia; this is America and we do not sit idly by and allow the police to run roughshod over us.
Somebody somewhere in Washington D.C. ought to be shouting from the rooftops over this one. Ron Paul? Where the hell are you? Why is not someone raising a royal stink about this? Investigation? Yeah right. It will be more like a self-justification. 🙄
Again, this is America and we just do not do this. Something must be done. 😡
Video: Guest Voice: Jack Hunter on Mark Levin’s Constitution
Once again, Jack Hunter outs a slime ball Neo-Conservative for what he really is; a warmongering pig. Notice in this video, that Jack Hunter points out the differences between Neo-Conservatives —– and Paleo-Conservatives or American Conservatives who are against interventionist foriegn policy. Something that the Republican Party was for prior to the mass exodus from the Democratic Party in 1964. Then these Jacobin Democrats brought their foreign policy with them. That, my friends, is the problem and what brought us George W. Bush.
Video:
U.K.’s PCC investigates Melanie Phillips blog posting
This is what happens when you coddle minorities, and yes that does include Arabs — and yes, Jews too:
A Melanie Phillips blogpost on the Spectator website which referred to the “moral depravity” of Arab “savages” is being investigated by the Press Complaints Commission.The online comment piece, headlined “Armchair barbarism”, focused on media coverage of the murder of five members of a Jewish family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar by Palestinian militants earlier this month.”The moral depravity of the Arabs is finding a grotesque echo in the moral bankruptcy and worse of the British and American ‘liberal’ media,” wrote Phillips.”Overwhelmingly, the media have either ignored or downplayed the atrocity – or worse, effectively blamed the victims for bringing it on themselves, describing them as ‘hard-line settlers’ or extremists.”To the New York Times, it’s not the Arab massacre of a Jewish family which has jeopardised ‘peace prospects’ – because the Israelis will quite rightly never trust any agreement with such savages – but instead Israeli policy on building more homes, on land to which it is legally and morally entitled, which is responsible instead for making peace elusive. Twisted, and sick.”
via PCC investigates Melanie Phillips’ Spectator blog | Media | guardian.co.uk.
I guess the dolt that brought this investigation on thinks that slaughtering a Jewish family; including a baby is just fine, right? What really makes it sickening, is that those who killed these poor people, were trained by the US.
Yeah, perhaps her wording was a bit harsh? So what? The Arab community should be glad that Israel has not bombed Palestine to powder for these crimes. For that matter; what if she is right? Then what?
When ethnic and religious minorities control freedom of speech; something is seriously wrong. America and the U.K. both need to tell both sides of that little dispute to take their damned Religious wars back to their homelands and stop involving Government’s like the U.K. and the United States. This is why 9/11 happened and why terrorism exists; because we, that being the United States; keep involving ourselves in a dispute between to religious factions in the middle east.
Having said that, Melanie Phillips, has the damned right to say what she wishes. So what if some turban wearing fool does not like it? Who cares, what the Arab people think in the U.K.?
Others: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, National Review, Jihad Watch, Israel Matzav and American Power
Rep. Anthony Weiner said What?!?!?!
Hoo Boy! 😯
Oh no he did not.
Oh yes he did.
This from Amanda Terkel, who, in this writers opinion is a very pretty lady — for a liberal. 😛
Headline:Anthony Weiner: Obama Is ‘Not A Values Guy’
Needless to say; my eyes did bug out over that one! 😯
The Story:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and a handful of other House Democrats expressed deep frustration with President Barack Obama’s leadership on Wednesday, saying he needs to do more to set the direction for the progressive movement.
Across the aisle, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has struggled to wrangle the various wings of his conference and pass budget measures through the lower chamber. Weiner told a group of journalists and bloggers on Capitol Hill that the Republican leader has a tough job of trying to hold “a coalition of crazies and completely crazies together.”
But Republicans, Weiner said, have nonetheless long done a better job of making their case — “smaller government, smaller deficits, lower taxes” — to the public and each other. The Democratic Party remains unclear as to its core policy principles, Weiner said, and part of the problem is Obama.
“On our side is this weird squishy affirmative sense of what government should do and how we’re opposed to this cut and that cut, rather than saying, ‘Here are the things: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, environment and education. We’re not cutting those. Those are off the table. That’s non-negotiable,'” said Weiner, adding, “We haven’t really done that very well. That’s because the president fundamentally — he’s not a values guy. He wants to try to get the best deal for the American people and that’s virtuous in its own right, but it becomes very difficult to make a strategy. There’s been much greater global strategy thinking on [progressive media] outlets, frankly, than at 1600 Pennsylvania.”
(****)
Continued Weiner: “It is now pretty clear to me — I’m not saying this is pejorative — the president, he doesn’t animate his day by saying, ‘All right, what is the thing that has me fired up today? I’m going to out and try to move the ball on it.’ He kind of sees his job as to take this calamitous noise that’s going on on the left with people like us and on the right on Fox News, and his path to being a successful president, in his view, is taking that cacophony and trying to make good, level-headed, smart policy out of it and moving it incrementally down the road. That’s nice. That’s a good thing. We need that, obviously. The problem is there’s no substitute for someone really leaning into these values questions. “
I have to hand it to Rep. Anthony Weiner, he is not afraid to speak his mind. After all, this is the same guy, who went ape over a vote for 9/11 recovery workers. That little performance was a piece of work. 😛
I will refrain from the whole “rats jumping from ship” analogy. But, I do find the whole thing quite ironic. What happened to unity, and the whole “Hope and Change” idea?
I guess even “The One” is not even immune to the old “Party Backlash” syndrome. I have one thing to say about that:
It’s about friggin’ time!
I just wonder when someone of the “Black Left” will holler “RAAAACIST!” and complain that the joooos are picking on Obama?
Stupid: Federal Court rules that Colorado Man Can Sue Secret Service
My God, how stupid can the leftist fools be?
DENVER — A Colorado man can sue two Secret Service agents who arrested him after he touched former Vice President Dick Cheney on the arm in 2006 and told him his Iraq War policies were “disgusting,” a federal appeals court ruled Monday.The ruling means Steven Howards can try to subpoena Cheney to testify about the incident, said David Lane, Howards’ attorney.”I fully intend on deposing the former vice president,” Lane told The Associated Press.Lane has been trying for years to subpoena Cheney, but his motion has been delayed as judges weighed the question of whether the Secret Service agents were immune in the case. He has said he wants to subpoena the former vice president because he’s “the best eyewitness to the case.”
via Federal Court: Colorado Man Can Sue Secret Service – FoxNews.com.
This is why this strikes me as incredibly stupid; for one, this man made a choice to break the law and try to grab the former Vice President — to make a political statement. For two; now he is trying to capitalize on this incident and sue the Secret Service and the Government by proxy. In short; the man is nothing more than some leech, who wants to make a quick buck on the backs of the American people. Not to mention make a stupid political point.
Either way, I hope like hell that the courts toss this idiot’s case out. Because he does not deserve anything at all. Except maybe a swift kick in the butt. 😡
So, the next time some idiot liberal Democrat tries to tell you how horrible we Capitalist Conservative Christians are; show ’em this, please. I mean, I would rather be some money grubbing capitalist, than to be trying to make a quick buck on the back of the American people; and for what? To make a rather idiotic political point? How stupid. 🙄
….and I say this, as someone who was not too keen on Bush and Co’s polices either…..
Quote of the Day
You’d think, nearly a decade after the events of Tora Bora, that Mr. Rumsfeld would understand the extent of the error and the breadth of its implications. He does not. Needless to say, Tora Bora was the fault of someone else—Gen. Franks of course, and CIA Director George Tenet. “Franks had to determine whether attempting to apprehend one man on the run” was “worth the risks.” Needless to say “there were numerous operational details.” And of course, in a typical Rumsfeldian touch, he says he later learned CIA operatives on the ground had asked for help, but “I never received such a request from either Franks or Tenet and cannot imagine denying it if I had.” I can.
Osama bin Laden was not “one man on the run.” He is the man who did 9/11. He had just killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, in a field in Pennsylvania. He’s the reason people held hands and jumped off the buildings. He’s the reason the towers groaned to the ground.
It is the great scandal of the wars of the Bush era that the U.S. government failed to get him and bring him to justice. It is the shame of this book that Don Rumsfeld lacks the brains to see it, or the guts to admit it.
Are Conservatives finally waking up to the realities of war?
This all comes via Little Miss Whatsherface.
Kenneth Anderson writing over at The Volokh Conspiracy says:
It’s heartbreaking, if you’ve spent a lot of time and energy over years of your life, figuring out how to deal with the local village elders and try and start development projects and improve governance and send Afghan girls to school, to realize that the institutions that one believes one has started and got off the ground are far more likely to blow away like a Potemkin village. You have these hard-won skills and these small, on the ground achievements, and it looks like maybe you’ve started something that might someday bear fruit. You’ve actually done remarkable things, by any ordinary measure. But then it doesn’t bear fruit, because it isn’t rooted, not culturally or institutionally, and the belief that it will have a life after your funding is gone is illusion.
But it’s not an unusual story, if one looks beyond Afghanistan and indeed beyond war. It’s actually the oldest story in the world in development work. In development, we believe we need to develop institutional governance capacities so that the efforts that shelter and take root under those institutions will not be in vain. No doubt that’s true. But unfortunately we don’t have a clue how to do that — and even less of a clue how to do that in war.
I highly recommend that you go read that whole quote. Because if this is broadening feeling among Conservatives; we could be looking at a total change in attitude among the right.
Mark Steyn over at National Review puts it in more plain terms:
Before I got into the Derb/Andy discussion, I was reading an obituary in The Daily Telegraph of Anthony Brooke, former Rajah Muda of Sarawak, whose family reigned over much of the Borneo jungle for over a century until 1946, when the kingdom lost its independence and was formally incorporated into the British Empire. As often with flotsam and jetsam (Flintstone and Jetson?) from the imperial byways, you’re struck by how much London accomplished with so little. By contrast, we’ve spent a fortune in Afghanistan and have nothing to show for it.
I think the difference is this: When America goes into Afghanistan, it doesn’t think it’s prosecuting American interests. Quite the opposite: Regardless of whether it’s officially UN- or Nato-sanctioned, America goes in as the expeditionary force of “world opinion” or “the global commons”. It doesn’t believe it has a national interest in Afghanistan, and indeed assumes that it would be a kind of transnational faux pas to be seen to have one, so it’s hardly surprising that the “nation” it winds up “building” doesn’t look much like anywhere any American would want to have anything to do with. Even nation-building requires the builder to build it in what he perceives as his national interest – as the British did in India and the Americans in post-war Japan. If you have disinterested, transnational nation-building, you wind up as we have in Kabul.
To go back to Sarawak, it was ceded to His Britannic Majesty in 1946 and became independent in 1963, when it joined the new Federation of Malaysia: Seventeen years from colony to statehood – versus a decade spent presiding over Take Your Catamite To Work Day in Kandahar. And, as a New Jersey reader wrote to me the other day, “Does anybody really think we’re leaving anytime soon?” In Afghanistan and elsewhere, transnational nation-building is like a mangled Hotel California: We never seriously check in, and yet we never leave.
Now, if I were a rabid Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan type; I would say something to the effect of, “See? Now that the Neo-Conservatives are not controlling the war, they want to stop it!” Well, rest assured I am not a rabid anything at all. I think that it is encouraging to see that the Conservative Blogosphere is finally starting to figure out, what the rest of the America already knows; that we went into Afghanistan to hunt down, and capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and destroy Al-Qaeda. Now that has become like the secondary mission and defeating the Taliban and setting up Government there is now this goal, which is essentially “Nation Building.” Something that never works, ever. Especially in the middle east, where some, if not all, of the Governments are inherently corrupt.
Either way, it is good to now see writers question the very thing, that back in 2003, they were mindlessly cheerleading.
Video: WTC Attack September 11, 2001 from New York Police Helicopter
This comes via Gawker:
It’s so hard to believe, that this year will be the 10 year anniversary of those attacks.
So much for Democracy in Iraq
Next time some stupid moron Neo-Conservative tells you that Bush brought Democracy to Iraq, by invading it — show ’em this:
BAGHDAD – Among the revolts sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, Iraq’s has been an exception: Here, protesters are seeking to reform a democratically elected government, not to topple an autocrat.But protesters, human rights workers and security officials say the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has responded to Iraq’s demonstrations in much the same way as many of its more authoritarian neighbors: with force.Witnesses in Baghdad and as far north as Kirkuk described watching last week as security forces in black uniforms, tracksuits and T-shirts roared up in trucks and Humvees, attacked protesters, rounded up others from cafes and homes and hauled them off, blindfolded, to army detention centers.Entire neighborhoods – primarily Sunni areas where residents are generally opposed to Maliki – were blockaded to prevent residents from joining the demonstrations. Journalists were beaten.In most cases, regular soldiers and police officers simply stood aside, with one saying the matter was “beyond us.” In all, 29 people were killed.”Maliki is starting to act like Saddam Hussein, to use the same fear, to plant it inside Iraqis who criticize him,” said Salam Mohammed al-Segar, a human rights activist who was among those beaten during a sit-in. “The U.S. must feel embarrassed right now – it is they who promised a modern state, a democratic state. But in reality?”He shook his head.Last Friday, the U.S. Embassy here issued a statement saying that security forces appeared to have followed Maliki’s directive to allow peaceful protests. As reports emerged Saturday of the beaten journalists, the White House issued a statement saying that U.S. officials were “deeply troubled.” The U.S. Embassy has declined to comment further.
via Protesters say Maliki is using special security forces to shut down demonstrations in Iraq.
So much for that little pipe dream, eh? Iraq is no more a damned Democracy than North Korea. The elections over there were nothing more than a smoke screen to fool the American people into believing that the invasion in Iraq in 2003 was justified. Which thinking Conservatives, like me, knew was a pack of damned lies. As was the whole WMD story.
Nice work Dubya! 🙄
Conservatives of all stripes should really be following this coming 2012 election. If whomever the Republican Party chooses to be our next President; starts talking about “exporting Democracy” to foriegn lands, that Conservative should not vote or vote for a third party. Forget the Democrats, they do the same stuff as Neo-Conservatives. Vote different, because America cannot afford no more General’s wars. Just that simple. Exporting Democracy does not work people and this story here is living proof of that.
Fixed rather funny typo. I meant WMD’s, not WND’s… More coffee!
Video: Blowback from 9/11
The reason why I am posting this, is because I feel it needs to be shown. Andrew Sullivan and Digby the owner of the progressive blog Hullabaloo say this is hate and by definition, yes it is. However, I think more broadly, it is simply blowback; which is an C.I.A. term, from what happened on 9/11. Not only that, these people are simply fed up, with all the recent acts of terrorism happening in America and elsewhere, people are just simply fed up to their wits end.
Again, I do not justify these actions, at all. I simply think progressive liberals need to understand, that people are just fed up.
More than anything else, this just gets up my libertarian nose a bit. What if those were blacks? Ya know? I’m just sayin’
Video: