I guess we’ve already killed all the number 2 al Qaeda leaders, so it’s time to start catching those White House spies.
So is Michelle Malkin gonna demand that we throw all Filipinos into internment camps, for national security? Just wondering.
In 1974, an assistant to Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt was discovered to have been spying for the East Germans.
It had nothing to do with Brandt, except that the guy had been working for him, and there was nothing in the world for Brandt to do but take responsibility for that.
So he resigned. I don’t have the exact quote or etc. in front of me, but his resignation was built around the idea that it wasn’t enough that he (Brandt) was “innocent” as regards his intentions or actions.
He said something like that the most important thing was that the citizens of Germany be able to trust their leaders, and that he had quite unintentionally betrayed their trust. Something about how no one was doing anyone any favors by continuing to lead in the absence of trust. Don’t bet your enron stocks on it happening here…
Oh well, when it rains it pours. Now, when are those Fitzgerald indictments coming down?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 6 2005 7:41 utc | 4

In his first inaugural address, FDR said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to
convert retreat into advance.” Fear has become an American industry,its ruling political philosophy and fearfulness the defining nationalcharacteristic. Pity. DS
Beyond the(In)Security State – TomDispatch
Where Fear Can’t Take Us
By Ira Chernus
Who can deny it? It’s an almost physical pleasure to watch George W.
Bush’s fall from grace. And it’s so easy. All you have to do is say,
“Bush has botched the war on terrorism. Bush is not keeping us safe
from terrorists — or from the terrors of nature.” You’ve already got
over half the country with you, and more are jumping on board the
anti-Bush train every day. But before we settle in to ride that train
to political glory, we ought to consider whether it can really take us
to a better future.
A recent TV ad from MoveOn.org sums up the commonest theme of the
campaign to cripple, if not topple, the Bush presidency: “We’re no
safer today than we were four years ago.” The rest of the case goes
something like this (and who can deny its accuracy): We have good
reason to be afraid. We’re more vulnerable than ever to another attack
on our soil, because the Bush administration is fighting the war on
terrorism totally the wrong way. In fact, in Iraq it isn’t really
fighting the war on terrorism at all. In growing numbers, critics, even
conservative ones, agree that the President’s misadventure in Iraq has
diverted us from the war we have to fight, the war against the real
threat: Al Qaeda.
[ed.note – cut the rest of the long article posted here in full. Please use the link. b.]

Posted by: David Seaton | Oct 6 2005 8:37 utc | 6

Part of Rumsfeld’s coup:
Domestic Defense

The Pentagon would be granted new powers to conduct undercover intelligence gathering inside the United States—and then withhold any information about it from the public—under a series of little noticed provisions now winding their way through Congress.
Citing in part the need for “greater latitude” in the war on terror, the Senate Intelligence Committee recently approved broad-ranging legislation that gives the Defense Department a long sought and potentially crucial waiver: it would permit its intelligence agents, such as those working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), to covertly approach and cultivate “U.S. persons” and even recruit them as informants—without disclosing they are doing so on behalf of the U.S. government. The Senate committee’s action comes as President George W. Bush has talked of expanding military involvement in civil affairs, such as efforts to control pandemic disease outbreaks.
…
At the same time, the Senate intelligence panel also included in the bill two other potentially controversial amendments—one that would allow the Pentagon and other U.S. intelligence agencies greater access to federal government databases on U.S. citizens, and another granting the DIA new exemptions from disclosing any “operational files” under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). “What they are doing is expanding the Defense Department’s domestic intelligence activities in secret—with no public discussion,” said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, a civil-liberties group that is often critical of government actions in the fight against terrorism.

Posted by: b | Oct 6 2005 9:11 utc | 8

The Pentagon would be granted new powers to conduct undercover intelligence gathering inside the United States—and then withhold any information about it from the public—under a series of little noticed provisions now winding their way through Congress.

Curious that the American people are by reputation notoriously suspicious of government yet this suspicion evidently does not extent to the frankly Orwellian schemes being advanced under the spurious guise of “fighting terrorism”. Public health care bad, secret police good!
Less curious that conservatives, who ordinarily regard suspicion of government as proof of providential American exceptionalism and moral superiority, are silent about the apathy of the American people in the face of a massive incursion by the state on the individual freedoms that are the ultimate guarantor of the viability of a democratic system of government.
Least curious of all that conservatives are themselves the main architects of this assault.

Posted by: Lexington | Oct 6 2005 13:19 utc | 10

@Hannah K. O’Luthon
From your link:
“The US will use the leftists, the rightists,(and) everything in order to achieve everything that they want to achieve in our country,” he quoted a CBCP official as telling him. “It’s difficult to say that but that is the reality.”
remix version:
The US will use the leftists, the rightists, independants, young, old, black, white, yellow, red, rich, poor, male, female (and) everything/anything in order to achieve anything/everything that they want to achieve in our / any country, including it’s own” he quoted a CBCP official as telling him. “It’s not that difficult to say that but that is the reality.”
Club version?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 6 2005 15:10 utc | 12

Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.
Nabil Shaath says: “President Bush said to all of us: ‘I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.'”

BBC Press release

Posted by: b | Oct 6 2005 16:54 utc | 14

This is hugely important speech by the “president of the United States in exile”, Al Gore. It might be useful if it were widely reprinted. DS

Our Democracy Has Been Hollowed Out – Tom Paine

Our democracy has been hollowed out. The opinions of the voters are, in effect, purchased, just as demand for new products is artificially created. Decades ago Walter Lippman wrote, “the manufacture of consent…was supposed to have died out with the appearance of democracy…but it has not died out. It has, in fact, improved enormously in technique…under the impact of propaganda, it is no longer plausible to believe in the original dogma of democracy.” Like you, I recoil at Lippman’s cynical dismissal of America’s gift to human history. But in order to reclaim our birthright, we Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum and create new ways to engage in a genuine and not manipulative conversation about our future. Americans in both parties should insist on the re-establishment of respect for the Rule of Reason. We must, for example, stop tolerating the rejection and distortion of science. We must insist on an end to the cynical use of pseudo studies known to be false for the purpose of intentionally clouding the public’s ability to discern the truth.

Posted by: David Seaton | Oct 6 2005 18:08 utc | 16

memorable quotes
Samuel Bodman, US Energy Secy, October 5, 2005: ”The main thing that U.S. citizens can do is conserve. We simply have to do it.” He predicted conservation efforts would make ”a major dent” in demand.
Dick Cheney, US VP, April 30, 2001: “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.”

Posted by: Bill Hewitt | Oct 6 2005 18:56 utc | 18

Congratulations to Gore for noting reality. Yesterday I realized that we were understating the case by simply calling xAmerica a Plutocracy. A more complete description would be a Phallocratic Kleptocratic Rodentocracy – paying homage to rodents as the premier burrowers/hollowers.

Posted by: jj | Oct 6 2005 20:33 utc | 20

“President Bush said to all of us: ‘I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.'”
And then Satan turned to one of his trusted lackeys and said: “You know, I think the idiot actually fell for it.”

Posted by: Billmon | Oct 6 2005 21:04 utc | 22

Uncle $cam,
Your link at 9:18:18 AM, Meet Your Future, has psychically disrupted my day so far.
I believe in and try to practice peaceful and forgiving/loving relationships, but I reserve the actions of violence if I or my family are physically violated. Khalil Bashir’s adherence to the former principles over the most trying of times during those five years, is both troubling and yet inspirational. I can’t possibly imagine that I could have endured; and even if I had lived through such an extended atrocity to me & my family, I can’t imagine that I would still be a peaceful human.
My gratitude and admiration extend to Khalil Bashir and his family. He is indeed a light in very dark times.
And my thanks to you for your many pertinent-informative-astute commentary and links.

Posted by: Juannie | Oct 6 2005 21:12 utc | 24

There it is in black and white – the way to the President’s ear is via Israel:

“A senior Defense Department analyst has admitted that he shared secret military information with two pro-Israeli lobbyists and an Israeli official in an effort to create a back channel to the Bush administration on Middle East policy.”

“Franklin said in court that he believed that the lobbyists had access and influence at the National Security Council, which coordinates policy issues for the president and was deeply involved in setting the administration’s course on Iran. He said he hoped the lobbyists could help influence policy by passing on information that he knew was classified.”

Posted by: PeeDee | Oct 6 2005 22:34 utc | 26

CIA Director Porter Goss: “I am not qualified.”
March 3, 2004
CIA, Goss said the agency has “been ignoring its core mission activities” and the clandestine service is on its way to being “a stilted bureaucracy incapable of even the slightest bit of success.” He called the CIA’s human intelligence gathering apparatus “dysfunctional” and adverse to change, and charged that its intelligence analysts were timid and lacked proper focus.
June 2004
“After great consideration of this report and its conclusions, I will not convene an accountability board to judge the performances of any individual CIA officers, half of those named in the report have retired from the CIA. Those who are still with us are amongst the finest we have,”
Oct. 05, 2005
CIA’s Goss says US must overcome language deficit
“The need is obvious,” Goss told a VIP audience. “As we start out today to do our job, we start out a little behind the curve because not enough people speak the languages we need. So we’re looking for ways to fix that.”
Today
Gays’ Ouster Seen Leaving Gap in Military
WASHINGTON — More than 300 foreign language specialists considered critical in the war on terrorism have been forced out of the military in the past decade because of their sexual orientation, according to the first government study to assess both the warfighting and financial impact of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prohibits openly gay servicemen.
The GAO reports that nearly 10,000 gay troops were discharged from the military from 1994 through 2003. Of those discharged, 322 spoke foreign languages including Arabic, Korean, Mandarin and Farsi. This idiotic “Don’t/Ask, Don’t Tell” policy also wasted $200 million of taxpayers’ money.
November 11, 2002

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 7 2005 0:13 utc | 28

To Die for the Patria
A friend of mine quipped that, America is like a pot full of frogs,
slowly being brought to a boil. Everything seems fine and toasty
and warm, although the frogs on the bottom have an annoying
habit of clawing their way up to the fresh air. But otherwise, OK!
A Spanish historian wrote a hard lesson a 100 years ago of Cuba:
Days of blood and sorrow await US, day when Americans will be
tested and will know how to redeem their honor — or perish in the
end — destroyed, but we will never carry around our necks a collar
of slavery, nor bear the stigmata of the submissive servant, who
chooses instead to accept his condition of servility, and kisses
the ring of the master, by whom he is whipped and humiliated,
pauperized and ultimately made bankrupt. [“To Die in Cuba”]
America isn’t a pot full of hot frogs, it’s a pot full of souls on ice.
Freezing in black waters, and sinking silent into dark oblivion.
America es un solo palenque, armed and dangerous.
Strangers in a strange land, all dressed up, with nowhere to go.
So, soto voce, back to the lessons of Cuban history:
First, kill all the gangsters, mobsters and cabals.
Second, build more shelters, more fertile ground.
Kill the parasites and improve the tilthe. Lessons so
blood-simple, that every down-home country-boy knows them.
“Iraq was the single worst foreign policy blunder in a century.”
“PRC was the single worst foreign trade blunder in a century.”
Federal Corporate Socialism is a Race to the Bottom. Word.

Posted by: lash marks | Oct 7 2005 3:01 utc | 30

=>b, isn’t “Lash Marks” a nom de guerre of troll de DoFW?

Posted by: jj | Oct 7 2005 3:27 utc | 32

BTW, completely OT, but Bilmon got a track-back on Danish public radio y’day — it was a five-minute segment on the afternoon program “Orientation” — they refered to Bilmon by name, which was only decent as the segment about Franklin, his “confession” and the prosecutor’s (don’t hold your breath)chances of going closer to AIPAC was pretty much exclusively based on what Bilmon wrote in “51st State revisited”.
Just wanted to let youall know.

Posted by: Danish Pastry | Oct 7 2005 4:34 utc | 34

those are standard nuisance human viruses.

Posted by: eftsoons | Oct 7 2005 6:02 utc | 36

About the terror threat in NYC..
On Sky News this morning they were saying that people were being asked to be “aware” especially of people with briefcases or people with baby strollers.
I guess we should be aware=suspicious of everyone except for that big guy with the flak jacket and the AK-47. He is our protector.
It gets creepier and creepier.

Posted by: rut | Oct 7 2005 10:04 utc | 38

twin’s virginity?

Posted by: Anonymous | Oct 7 2005 12:04 utc | 40

FBI Examines Computers in Cheney’s Office
If only they investigated the Israeli spies this thoroughly!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 7 2005 15:07 utc | 42

this exchange from thursday’s wh press briefing reads like the script from a really cheesy movie, except that we’re living through it & there’s a lot of people no longer living b/c of it:

Q: Scott, all this talk about a radical Islamic empire stretching from Europe across to southeast Asia, even some Republicans are saying that it has the appearance of the President trying to cover up bad policy in Iraq by unduly alarming people.
MR. McCLELLAN: I haven’t heard any Republicans say that. Do you have one in mind?
Q: A couple in mind, yes.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, do you want to share them with me?
Q: You can call them and ask them, but I’m just wondering what you think of that?
MR. McCLELLAN: I — you made a statement. I haven’t heard any Republican make such allegation. So I was just wondering where that came from.
Q Part of the eight. (Laughter.)
Q: What’s your response to the allegation that you’re trying to cover up bad policy in Iraq by unduly alarming people?
MR. McCLELLAN: It’s an allegation by John Roberts.
Q: Pardon me?
MR. McCLELLAN: Are you saying it’s an allegation by John Roberts?
Q: It’s not my allegation, no.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, go and look at what the President said in his remarks. Today’s speech is one in a series of speeches that the President continues to make about the war on terrorism. It’s important to understand the nature of the enemy that we face. This is a determined and lethal enemy with a clear strategy. The President outlined that strategy in his remarks. He quoted some of the leaders of this radical ideology that they seek to spread. And he laid out very clearly what their strategy is. I think you can go and look at some of the propaganda and comments that terrorists have made, and it clearly shows what their strategy and what their goals and what their beliefs are.
Q: Does he really think they could take over countries like Italy, Spain, Austria, France?
MR. McCLELLAN: This is an enemy that is patient, it is determined, and it is lethal. It is a enemy that is determined to spread a hateful ideology. And what they first want to do is try to establish a safe haven. We took away a safe haven from them when we went into Afghanistan and liberated the people of Afghanistan. They want to establish a country that could be a safe haven from which they could plan and plot their attacks and be able to topple non-radical Muslim governments in the Middle East, and then carry out attacks against the civilized world. That’s why the President made the decision after September 11th that we were going to take the fight to the enemy, that the way to defeat this enemy is to take the fight to them and to spread freedom and democracy to defeat their hateful, murderous ideology.
Q: But again, does he really believe that they could take over western countries like Spain and France?
McCLELLAN: That’s what their strategy — go back and look at what the President said in his remarks, because he clearly spelled out what their strategy is. I’m not sure that he characterized it the same way as you just did.
Q: Does he think that’s realistic?
MR. McCLELLAN: Look at his remarks. They very much have a strategy —
Q: He warned of a radical Islamic empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia.
MR. McCLELLAN: — much like the strategy of communism to dominate and intimidate the world.

Posted by: b real | Oct 7 2005 18:50 utc | 44

Debs, If you’re looking to NOAA, National Hurricane Center & rest of American Weather Services for information that could be your problem. I posted the other day – and to my astonishment as I thought it was A Major Story – no one pickuped up on the fact that the fascists have forbidden them to speak to the media. I cannot believe the ACLU isn’t suing and Hell isn’t being raised about this. Tax payer supported non-political weather service is now forbidden from delivering us information about our weather unless the Commerce Dept. decides they can…People are too involved in tittering away… Blogs have turned into Hate Big Brother Tabs for more educated folks…
Again, here’s the story w/link:
The Department of Commerce has issued a blanket media policy to employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), requiring that all requests for contact from national media be first approved by the Department, RAW STORY has learned.
According to a leaked Sept. 29 email memo sent out to NOAA staff, including employees of the National Weather Service (NWS) — both of which are under the Department of Commerce — employees must collect information from reporters and forward it to the Department.
The memo was leaked to RAW STORY last week.link
And here’s why:
Washington Monument Evacuated
POSTED: 2:57 pm EDT October 7, 2005
UPDATED: 3:34 pm EDT October 7, 2005
WASHINGTON — U.S. Park Police have evacuated the Washington Monument.
Police received a telephone threat to the Washington Monument. The National Mall area near the monument has been evacuated. A source said that the threat has limited credibility.
Constitution and Independence avenues have been closed, as well as 15th and 17th streets.
Authorities will search the area near the monument.
link
This is Obscene Political Manipulation. Fascists want to divert masses attention from Bu$hCo’s Toto moment to terrorizing us again – supposedly his “strength”. Allowing in weather info. in hurricane season just reminds those too stupid to think of Toto.

Posted by: jj | Oct 7 2005 20:06 utc | 46

Congratulations to the Belgians:
Belgium hit with one-day general strike
Construction sites, car plants, public transportation and the port of Antwerp shut down Friday as workers took part in a one-day national strike protesting planned changes to social security
The strike was called by Belgium’s largest socialist union to protest Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s attempt to raise Belgium’s retirement age from 58 to 60 as a way to cut social security and pension costs.
…
Xavier Verboven, head of the ABVV-FGTB union, said the strike would put pressure on the government not to do away with early retirement schemes.
“We are fighting for justice and rights of our workers, that they will not be penalized here under these reforms,” he said. “We are going to the negotiating table with a stronger mandate.”
Verhofstadt said he understood worker concerns, but said his reforms were not meant to force people to work longer or cut pensions.
“It’s not the goal that everyone will have to work until they are 65, though we are trying to curb early retirement schemes,” Verhofstadt told daily Het Nieuwsblad. “The goal is to get more people working, so that we can continue to pay for our social security system, and to keep our social security level high.”
Jesus…and they’re trying to move Americans up to 68…Americans are such Zombies. Hell, unions didn’t even raise hell over rebuilding NO w/goddamn foreigners. No one said peep. Americans are just being regarded as so much dry skin to be brushed aside for the new growth, and no one does anything. (Ever wonder if things would be different if Pirates couldn’t race bait liberals so effectively?) And waste of energy blogs just look the other way for some story to which they have some pathetic smart ass comment.

Posted by: jj | Oct 7 2005 20:29 utc | 48

@Uncle $cam – could you contact me via email? moonofa at aol.com

Posted by: b | Oct 7 2005 20:55 utc | 50

ck your e-mail b

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 7 2005 21:59 utc | 52

jj & annie- my wife & i finally had some time to go see the constant gardener tonite. a very powerful experience. thanks for the recommendation.
along the same theme, i’ve just begun reading carolyn nordstrom‘s book, shadows of war: violence, power, and international profiteering in the twenty-first century, in which she shares her research & experiences exploring the intersection of war & illicit economies in mozambique, angola & sri lanka. she also spends time drawing attention to the role these pharma companies play in “extra-state” economies. while illegal (recreational) drugs generate some estimated half-trillion outside proper channels, that figure is dwarfed by medicinal contraband. the film dovetails nicely w/ reading a real life tessa.

Posted by: b real | Oct 8 2005 3:15 utc | 54

Uncle $cam, I always look forward to your posts. Always pertinent, interesting, something I’m glad I read…You are first among equals around here. But how about an assignment? Just say once a week, something funny, beautiful, amazing, rejeuvenating, refreshing…something to make one glad one is alive?? Just a thght.

Posted by: jj | Oct 8 2005 4:48 utc | 56