Go, Go Godzilla

     What, we may ask, is the usefulness of the repetition "Everything has changed since 9/11?"  We can say fairly that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes true.  What is the advantage to the powerful to tell us that everything has changed?

     In truth, bomb-plots and terrorism have existed for centuries (see, Gunpowder Plot).  In addition, there will be no more skyjack-missile-attacks in any future I can see.  This reemphasizes the need to ask, why the repitition?

     All along history, governments which become authoritarian have followed similar patterns.  These patterns have more than a passing familiarity to what is occuring in America today (see, Thom Hartmann).  When one claims that "everything has changed" one has declared that history has no relevancy, that no lessons can be learned from the past.  A government moving towards authoritarianism has every reason to claim that what it is doing should not be compared to earlier Republican falls.

Bush Unaware of Bush Policies

     Remember the recent stories that one would need a passport to cross the border from Mexico?  Currently, one can use a state driver's license.  Speaking in front of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Bush impressed them by saying

When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today's crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, `What's going on here?'

     Tip to the AP.

Patterns of Global Terrorism Report, US State Department

     Cancelled due to bad results?

     This is an annual report.  The 2004 report (on 2003), it should be remembered, got into the press this way

WASHINGTON — The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate and was politically manipulated by the Bush administration.

… On Tuesday, State Department officials said they underreported the number of terrorist attacks in the tally for 2003, and added that they expected to release an updated version soon.

Several U.S. officials and terrorism experts familiar with that revision effort said the new report will show that the number of significant terrorist incidents increased last year, perhaps to its highest level in 20 years.

     It turned out it was the highest level, and 2004 report showed "more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered."

     The report has now been cancelled.  I'm deciding whether or not they did it because terrorism is "turning a corner" (and hence will be over in a moment) or because they simply no longer consider it a problem.  The idea that it was cancelled because it was bad news is strictly the position of crackpots and criminals.

Expressions of American Power

     The next Pope will be an Iraq War supporter.  115 or so Cardinals, and yet I can read their minds.

     As the last Pope was such an ardent anti-Communist that he degraded honest liberation when it wasn't part of the US plan (see, where the Catholic Church helped support every US dictatorship in South America, even as Churchmembers were instrumental in overthrowing the dictator of Chile, and then Pope John Paul II even supported mass-murderer Pinochet long after the overthrow of his reign), so to the next Pope shall be an ardent supporter of the Bush plan for bombing the poor and helpless into democracy.

     In his later years, the Pope came out against the war in Iraq. 

     The next Pope, and I will bet anyone $10.00US on this, and possible more than one person, the next Pope will be a supporter of the Iraq War.

Amnesty for Criminals Offered

     Dear Leader, El Presidente, has offered amnesty, if he has "anything to do with it," to anyone who would dare offer alternatives to the infallible plan of Dear Leader, which never has actually seen the light of day, concerning Social Security.

     Bloomberg reports the amnesty plan.  I would like to step forward to congratulate El Presidente, for all True Patriots©® have long known that Bush's plans are perfect, and to offer alternatives is the height of arrogance and, by itself, indicative of a criminal mindset and character.

DeLay Scandal Flash Animation

     House of Scandal.

Iran Warmongering, Part 726, Executive Summary

     Question from Fox News' J Griffin for Israeli PM A Sharon.
"If Israel is left with a choice of protecting Jews and preventing another Holocaust, will you let Iran get the bomb or will you act militarily?"

     This is exactly the same sort of shit the Yellow Journalists (esp. Creelman?) were pulling in Cuba before the Spanish-American War.  Try to imagine Les Kinsolving as s diplomatic correspondent...

Iran Warmongering, Part 726

     Who is worse here, Prime Minister A Sharon of Israel, or J Griffin, interviewer at fox "news?" The real zinger comes as a _question_ from J Griffin, warmonger.  She none-so-subtly compares the mere possession of an Iranian nuclear bomb with the holocaust.

     Here is a warm-ups, parts in [] are my synposis of missing parts. Lines beginning with green bullet are my commentary.
Question 1 • Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. How bad would it be for Iran to get a nuclear bomb?
Answer 1a • [Very bad] [US should take lead put pressure on Iran] "No doubt that their main thought is to possess nuclear weapons. And Iran is a very big country, and you can hide everything there."
Commentary 1a • Sharon here is expressing Israel's long-held, but secret, support for the idea of the world's countries being divided up until they are the size of Lichtenstein or Monaco.
Answer 1b • But we know, and I believe the United States knows that they're working. They're working secretly, but they're working. (INAUDIBLE) is a result of more monitoring (INAUDIBLE), it will take a bit longer time, but they work.
Commentary 1a • These sound like quite industrious people, and very devout in their faith. They are likely members of the Republican Party.
Answer 1c • [Maybe greatest threat in the world.]
...

Question 13 • But Israel has never relied on Europe for its own defense. And if you're talking about sanctions, Iran has dealt with sanctions in the past, and yet, sanctions will not stop it from achieving a nuclear weapon.
If Israel is left with a choice of protecting Jews and preventing another Holocaust, will you let Iran get the bomb or will you act militarily?
Answer 13 • I've said we believe that that is a great danger, and we can only repeat and say that Israel is not leading the struggle. We are a country and a nation that face I'd say maybe the greatest danger here, but we believe that for the interests of the free world, should be lead by the United States. I would say an international activity, international coalition should be formed, and steps should be taken. And I think that free world should prepare itself to bring the issue to the Security Council, once, of course, if the Iranians will continue and do not take those warnings seriously. Of course it shall be not an easy thing to do, all those countries, there are so many interests, economic interests, other interests. But I believe that it might not be official pressure on Iran, and that also might bring the changes, because I know that people are expecting there will be internal changes in Iran. I think that can happen only if we (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pressure.

They Hate Our Freedom

     Do you think Bush means the freedom we feel, and exercise, in controlling their governments through covert means?  The freedom to destroy them in our press if we don't like the cause they support?  The freedom we have to bribe foreign nations to join with us against them?

     E Golinger, a lawyer with roots in America and Venezuela, has published a book (in Spanish only, so far), detailing the efforts of the Bush administration to end yet another leftist democracy (did I mention that Venezuela was America's 4th most important supply of oil?) through anti-democratic means.  Want to see Bush more and more like Hitler?  Here is a peice from Thomas Hartman.

     Lefti has some on Golinger, and a whole bunch more really good posts recently.  I've been sidetracked by counter-insurgency efforts.  Check it out.

The Tension of the Bush Presidency

     Even as this can not be seen but as the most open, the most free-wheeling, the craziest time in the history of information flow ever, the Bush administration plays the game like they can keep secrets.  Do you think they _planned_ to have the Office of Special Plans publicized?  Abu Ghraib?  They are flying into the headwinds of technology, and yet, they adopt/pay/co-opt that same technology, where the misguided morons who blog get funding (300,000,000.00/year is spent by rightist concerns annually, according to a Markos of DailyKos, and that must include blog-episodes like Jeff Gannon).

     Hitler used radio, the Rwandans used radio, the effect on the people is clear.  We might not be terribly bright as a species, but we listen real good.

International News

     Who is López Obrador?  He's the leading candidate, polling 20 points ahead of all rivals, for Presidency of the Republic of Mexico.  A parcel of land used for a palace for the Mayor an access road to a hospital was seized using eminent domain, while Obrador was Mayor of Mexico City, and the proceedings are being disputed.  Based on the existence of this unresolved dispute, the Congress of Mexico has voted to remove his immunity "to face charges that he flouted a judicial order during a 2001 planning dispute over the building of an access road to a hospital."

     Look for the mainstream media to ignore this, and for the Bush administration to praise Fox. 

     Thanks to NarcoNews.  I read NarcoNews irregularly, and found this article via James Wolcott today.

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UPDATE: I seem to have guessed half wrong.  The NY Times does a fair job of calling this move fraudulent, even as it attempts to tar Obrador by linking him to programs and policies without ever discussing their effectiveness.  The WaPo, however, puts his efforts to help aging sex-workers in the headlines, not something that will endear himself to Americans (although the article does spend some effort interviewing old prostitues, and describing their lives). The interests of the business elite critics are given anonymous opportunities to attack Obrador.  Chicago Tribune spends very little ink on the story, gives President Fox a chance to say it is all legal, and descibes the hospital access road affair as a case where "the city failed to obey a court order to vacate contested land."

Tip to DailyWarNews

     One link is to this Boston.com peice which includes these quotes

"It's all about perception, to convince the American public that everything is going as planned and we're right on schedule to be out of here," said one adviser, Army Staff Sergeant Craig E. Patrick, 40, a reservist from Rock Island, Ill. "I mean, they can [mislead] the American people, but they can't [mislead] us. These guys are not ready."

and

[Marine Staff Sergeant Lafayette] Waters, who has lived with the 23d Iraqi Battalion's First Company since Jan. 15, said that the Iraqi soldiers "have a lot of heart and are making progress" but that "we need to slow it down and do it right. The worst thing that could happen is to have to come back in and fix the problem."

Stalin and Hitler Would Be Proud

     This forced applause at every major pause for Bush and Cabinet appointees would be instantly recognizable to the Dictators I've mentioned.  Meaningless pap or vague phrases are treated with the same, unflinching and instant applause as serious policy statements.

Insurgency End Date

     I'm sorry to report a new revelation today.  The insurgency has no end date.  There will be no point after which the insurgents will find it impossible to continue.  That puts me in the oddball position of advocating 1) ignoring insurgents (identify,disarm,release), 2) targetting leaders for capture (hand receipts to peers?) 3)insurgent leader education (not interrogation) and 4) release into government.

     One, although it might be obvious that there is nothing that has to make the insurgency stop, I didn't see it till I was rereading President SG Cleveland's last State of the Union, which is mostly a discussion of the Cuban insurgency against Spanish authority.  The speech is called American Interests in the Cuban Revolution, and it should be noted that Cleveland was keeping America out of a war.

     As for re-integration of insurgent leaders, giving them government jobs, this follows the American experience with Shays rebellion.  Western farmers rose up, fought, and then found themselves elected.

     Identify, disarm and release is sneaky, and the military will hate it.  It risks our lives to try to gain trust and stability.  No second chances need be proffered.  The most severe of punishments can contemplated for repeat offenders.  In Arabic "Surrender.  You may hurt one of us, you may even kill one of us, but there are hundreds of thousands of us, and, if this battle goes on, we will kill you.  [Even now, we surround you.]  Come out, we will identify you, take your guns, and let you go."  Although the risks after the event exist from this same insurgent, his death won't inspire his relatives to take up arms.  His death won't add fuel to the fire.  And, possibly, the humane treatment, the forgiving nature, will both resemble the religion the occupiers claim, but also shake the heads of the insurgents, who really could care less for Beheading TV or propaganda that does not impact the ground situation.

Wall St Journal, Head Firmly In *ss

    

As for Curveball’s own motives, the panel merely brands him a “fabricator.” That he was also the brother of a senior aide to Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the exile Iraqi National Congress (INC), goes unmentioned. The report does acknowledge that the sole corroboration of his claims came from another source within the INC. But it then states, incredibly, that not only was “Curveball’s reporting not influenced by, controlled by, or connected to the INC,” but that “INC sources had a minimal impact on pre-war assessments.”

     Ignoring this, the Wall St Journal calls everyone else shrill.  Undoubtedly, they will never apologize.

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UPDATE: Be wary.  The original story I read said Curveball was a brother of a senior Chalabi aide.  That story was in the Guardian in 2004.  Now we are reading it is the cousin of such an aide.  As difficult as it might be to not know your own brother (although I must admit, I didn't know mine until I was 22), it is much easier not to know a cousin.  They don't even explicitly say 1st cousin.  I imagine that certain Arab tribes have tribespeople who all claims to be cousins to each other.