Richard Bluestein's Weblog » bush

The Post-Bush Era

Administrator — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:54:56 +0000

I believe that years from now historians will refer to the time in which we are living as the “Post-Bush Era.” Post-Bush because Bush will be seen as the idiot who fucked up everything. Hopefully there will be another era after this period, but who knows what crazy shit finna happen next?

But it will not be just about Bush. It will also be about The Supreme Court: The Court in 2000 which stopped the democratic process by ordering Florida to stop counting the ballots; The Court which in 2010 (or was it late ’09?) gave our democracy away to foreign countries and as Obama said in his State of the Union address, even to our enemies,

After the 2000 court decision I remember visualizing the crack in The Liberty Bell which I was taken to see on a field trip as a child. The Liberty Bell’s crack, however, meant the opposite of what had just happened, though. My mother explained to me at the time that the bell cracked because people were so happy to have gained independance that they rang the bell so hard that it cracked. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s what my mother told me and I like the story.

This time the crack is literal.

Ahmadinejad as America’s Mirror

Administrator — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:23:06 +0000

I’m beginning to wonder if Ahmadinejad is despised in the same way an un-selfaware person hates the acquaintance who visibly displays his own worst personality traits. For example, people who are impatient waiting for the cashier at the CVS annoy me but I do the exact same thing. This is know in certain circles as ‘You spot it, you got it!’

Anyway, I think that Ahmadinejad is in many ways a mirror for Bush. He is laughably stupid, insanely religious and has a retarded face, just like Bush. THe both share a fondness for executions and a hatred for homosexuals.

It’s a shame we really don’t have the moral high ground to tell him that executions are a human rights violation. Heck, we don’t even tell China not to kill yoga practitioners for their organs, and as far as I know, we don’t do that ourselves.

Just something I’ve been thinking about.

The Democrats as a Whole

Administrator — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:03:52 +0000

I haven’t been blogging much. There’s not much to say about the world except that the Democrats are not standing up to Bush. No excuses. We see through your grandstanding and your bullshit. The Democrats, as a whole, are not standing up to Bush. The hole is all that matters in this. That’s all.

Orphans in Iraq

Administrator — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:44:36 +0000

Andrea Mitchell Confirms what Koppel Said about Iran: It’s Coming Soon

Administrator — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 09:09:14 +0000

Prairie Weather: Condi’s mission: Iran attack is on
According to Andrea Mitchell who spoke today with intelligence officials and has just revealed this in discussion, Iran is the official target and that’s why Condi is flying east today — to alert the Saudis and others.

Update: Apparently Stratfor confirms that “this latest gambit is also directed at Iran.”

According to Stratfor the goal of this is to force Iran to meet the Bush goals for a negotiation. They point out that the new troops will not be in Iraq immediately and it will give Iran time to offer a deal. Whether is accurate or will work is not at all clear.

Bush’s Useful Idiots

Administrator — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:33:44 +0000

Here’s an interesting article about how liberalism died.

35,000 in Secret Prisons | CorrenteWire

Administrator — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:21:55 +0000

35,000 in Secret Prisons | CorrenteWire
I’m at the Center for American Progress, listening to Sid Blumenthal and Glenn Greenwald talk about the Imperial Presidency, and one thing is important enough for me to want to live blog. Sid says that Wilkerson, Powell’s old chief of staff, believes that the correct number of victims in secret Bush prisons is 35,000, only %5 of which “may�? have to do with terrorism. More than twice what I thought, and hardly any to do with the “war on terror.�?

Is it Vietnam Yet? by Cindy Sheehan

Administrator — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 19:50:00 +0000

With the mid-term elections looming dangerously close, and with public opinion in opposition to George’s failed foreign policies crossing the two-thirds mark, the White House announced that they are going to present their puppet government of Iraq with a “timetable�? for US withdrawal. This reminds me of Richard Nixon’s “secret plan�? to remove US troops from Vietnam that he touted in his narrow electoral victory over Hubert Humphrey in 1968.

The US plan for withdrawing from Iraq would include disarming militias and training more Iraqi security forces to take over security of the country—which sounds suspiciously like Nixon’s “Vietnamization�? program. With the incipient warmonger Kissinger (we were wondering why Iraq was such an unmitigated disaster?) back in the Oval Office advising George does this smell like a fiasco to anyone else?

Unbelievably, even though my own son was killed in Iraq, I am often told that the US deaths in this young century’s first conflict for profit are “negligible�? compared to Vietnam, or a “drop in the bucket.�? I have terrible news for these reich-wing carnage confederates: Iraq is even deadlier for US forces than Vietnam. In the first 3 years 7 months of the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq, 2791 of our volunteer soldiers have been tragically killed and in the first 4 years of the illegal and immoral conflict in Vietnam (which was never a “war�? constitutionally declared by Congress either), 1864 conscripts were killed.

The disparity in KIA’s is huge and the implications of this makes me nauseous. October is turning into one of the grisliest months for soldiers and citizens in Iraq. With Henry Kissinger visiting Georgie on a semi-regular basis, and with the beat of the death-drums pounding for Iran, we can recall Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia and the resulting carnage in Southeast Asia and the violent protests (ie, Kent State) here at home. Apparently Nixon’s “secret plan” was increased slaughter, and I shudder to think of George’s plans for peace.

In 2000 dollars, the Congressional hacks of the War Machine splurged 161 billions of our dollars in the 14 years that Vietnam dragged disastrously on. However, that is a paltry sum. So far, in 2006 dollars, Congress has deliriously wasted almost 340 billions of dollars! The War Machine is busy laundering the blood out of their money before they make a deposit in the National Bank of Lost Hopes and Dreams.

The other similarities to Vietnam prove the old adage that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In 1967, Robert McNamara, JFK’s and LBJ’s, Secretary of War and prime architect of the Vietnam mistake, left his post as primary civilian death deliverer to become President of the World Bank. Similarly, assistant Secretary of War, and prime architect, cheerleader, and liar of the Iraqi mistake, Paul Wolfowitz left his post in the War Department for the apparent next logical step of President of the World Bank. Evidently, it is not only in BushCo that one’s penchant for butchery is rewarded handsomely!

Across the country, our fellow Americans despair that “young people�? aren’t involved in the anti-war movement, or there isn’t as much activism as there was during the Vietnam years. Historically, the anti-war movement is much more active and relevant in this conflict than in the same time period during Vietnam. There were enormous demonstrations before the invasion of Iraq because millions of people around the world did not want to be witnesses to another bloody struggle and did not want killing waged in their names. I, myself, have been involved in enormous demonstrations just in the last year. As the news coverage on the ground in Iraq vastly differs from the news coverage in Vietnam (I remember the daily dosage of nightly news regarding Vietnam—with uncensored footage), so does the coverage of the anti-war movement, which is terribly underreported.

Recently, Congressmembers from California wrote a letter to Rumbo to request that the Pentagon remove embedded reporters from CNN out of Iraq because, surprisingly, CNN showed some ghastly footage of Iraqi snipers targeting US troops. No one wants to see death as it happens (unless it’s fictional) and increasingly Americans are realizing that just because we are not shown the shocking images does not mean that they are not happening. We are beginning to come out of the media induced coma and contradict BushCo’s perception that Iraq is a hotbed of happiness and democracy. No, we the people are realizing that the criminals who put our young people in an avoidable situation are the ones to blame and the shocking images will stop when our troops are brought home!

In Vietnam, we saw a Lieutenant convicted and later pardonned for war crimes in the horrors of My Lai. In Iraq, we have seen a few privates and specialists be similarly prosecuted for such horrors as Abu Ghraib. After Vietnam, Nixon, Johnson, McNamara, Kissinger, etc. should have been prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. We all know what happened to each of them. Kissinger won a Nobel Peace Prize, McNamara went on to the World Bank and the Presidents retired in infamy to their estates to a cozy lifetime with their families. Did any of them have regrets, nightmares or feelings of abject guilt? Probably not, but we do know for certain that none of them went to prison. For this quagmire of Iraq, we the people must make sure that BushCo cannot retire to their ranches (in Crawford or Paraguay) or estates to live lives of relative ease. They must be prosecuted and imprisoned for the murders that their policies and greed have caused. Wars for profit will not end until those responsible for causing them are forced to face their mistakes and pay for them.

During the ‘60’s we were told to be afraid, very afraid, of the Commun�?ists.�? Now we are being bombarded daily with convenient and politically expedient warnings of the Terror�?ists.�? In 1968, a small majority of the electorate chose to believe Nixon and his “secret plan�? to exit Vietnam: a plan which killed almost 50 thousand more American soldiers before he was done and untold millions of Vietnamese. Now, we are supposed to believe known and proven liars about their “timetable�? for eventual withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. How many more of our human treasure (Iraqi, American, Muslim, Christian, Brown, Black and White) will be wasted before our elected officials decide to pull the plug on this one? Do not vote out of fear next month. Vote with your courage for candidates who are loudly anti-war and pro-accountability.

In 1975 the gut-wrenching debacle in Vietnam finally ended when Congress closed the treasury to killing. There is a proposed bill, HR4232 (McGovern, D-Ma) to cut the funding for continued killing in Iraq. Pressure your Congressperson to support this bill. It is the only way to bring our troops home, close the permanent bases and put the War Machine out of business, temporarily.

Statistically, twice as many Vietnam Vets have committed suicide than were killed in actual combat. We need to insure that some of the billions we are handing over to Halliburton, Bechtel, Boeing, Exxon, etc. to hyper-fund the VA so this tragedy is averted for Iraq Vets. We need to make sure our vets’ lives are as comfortable as their civilian leaders’ lives are uncomfortable.

So many people approach me and say: “I never thought this would happen again after Vietnam.�? I always ask them, “Why?�? After the troops limped home from Southeast Asia, badly wounded, physically and emotionally, the anti-war movement went home, too. The anti-war movement cannot rest on its laurels this time. We need to transform the anti-war movement into a radical peace movement to make sure unending wars for greed never “happen again!�?

Is Iraq “Vietnam yet?�? Yes and no. Yes that people are dying for no reason and the continued death is justified by not “cutting and running.�? Yes that families are being destroyed and our treasury is not only being emptied, but trillions in the red. But also, no…

…Iraq is worse than Vietnam.

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan who was KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is the co-founder and president of Gold Star Families for Peace and author of Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey through Heartache to Activism.

Join Cindy and Gold Star Families for Peace for their “sit-down” in front of the White House, Nov. 4th-9th.

William Kristol is INSANE

Administrator — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:09:44 +0000

He’s being even nuttier then Bush right now.
Understand that the real damage that’s been dome these past 5.5 is due to the neoconservatives as defined by the PNAC. Kristol is as nuts as Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, etc. In short, they thing we should go it alone. US vs. the world. Period. Insane paranoid morons.

This is very interesting! Why hasn’t bush signed the bill yet?

Administrator — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:40:21 +0000

Maybe there is some hope. No thanks to the left-wing bloggers who are obsessed with some old queen who can’t get his dick up anyway.

Griper Blade: Bush’s only Legal Argument for the Detainee Bill; The Supreme Court Doesn’t Exist
The Mark Foley scandal has been media wallpaper lately. I watched yesterday as Foley’s lawyer dropped the ‘bombshell’ that he’s gay. This ranks right up there among earth shattering revelations like Bush’s observation, “The United States and China are two nations divided by a vast ocean.”

But, beyond all of this, other things are happening in Washington or, in this case, not happening. On September 21, Bush announced, “I want to thank the members of the United States Senate for working with my administration to meet our top legislative priority, and that is a law that will help us crack the terror network and to save American lives.” Bush had his legislation to torture detainees and keep them locked up without trial. Huzzah for freedom…

On the 29th, congress sent Bush the bill, which Associated Press said, “…he was expected to do very soon.” Most expected him to sign it over the weekend.

So where is it?

Sure, the media spotlight has shifted to Foley, but why would that make any difference? If the bill is needed to save american lives, as the President tells us, why is he sitting on it?

Part of the problem may be that there’s almost no way the law will stand up in court. Before the bill passed, Sen. Russ Feingold delivered his statement of opposition to it.

Under this legislation, some individuals, at the designation of the executive branch alone, could be picked up, even in the United States, and held indefinitely without trial and without any access whatsoever to the courts. They would not be able to call upon the laws of our great nation to challenge their detention because they would have been put outside the reach of the law.

Mr. President, that is unacceptable, and it almost surely violates our Constitution. But that determination will take years of protracted litigation.

It looks like Feingold may have been overly pessimistic. Where Russ sees a life expectancy measured in years, others see it much closer to death.

here’s what you get with the torture bill

Administrator — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 03:41:35 +0000

Chico Town: The USA is a dictatorship, thank the Bush Crime Family – Urban Latino Life & Progressive Politics for the Hip Hop Generation
HR 6166 and S 3930 will do the following:
# revoke habeas corpus
# create a secret committee appointed by Bush and Rumsfeld that has the power to declare any person – even a US citizen – to be an enemy, instantly depriving them of their legal rights. There will be no appeal allowed.
# allow police to search through your home without a search warrant
# end protection of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions
# give George W. Bush amnesty for any war crimes he has committed
# allow for people to be put on trial in front of a kangaroo court military tribunal, even if they aren’t in any military, and have not engaged in military attacks against the USA
# allow the government to convict people of crimes on the basis of secret evidence that the accused never sees
# make it legal for the government to use testimony extracted through torture
# end the legal right to be protected from forced self-incrimination
# allow the government to imprison people without telling them what crimes they are being charged with
# remove the right to cross-examine witnesses
# allow for the records of trials to be kept secret from the American public
# enable trials to begin even before a thorough investigation of the alleged crime has taken place
# take away the right to a speedy trial, allowing people to fester behind bars without being charged of any crim

Is America Dead?

Administrator — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 21:01:10 +0000

nathaniel and the non-aggressive » is america dead? (updated below)
riday was, perhaps, the saddest day in American history. And it went mostly quickly and quietly, except for the “liberal” lefty blogger base.

These crazy opponents to Bush’s new bill, which passed in the Senate 65-34, actually believe that Bush should not be able to legally torture or hold detainees permanently, without trial or charges. Don’t they know people are trying to kill them? Like, journalists or whatever, for example. Habeas corpus no longer exists, Bush and his cronies have been unilaterally pardoned for war crimes, I can’t go on, I am too upset. As always, read some of Glenn’s last few blogs for insightful commentary and legal translations.

More importantly, read Feingold’s comprehensive, clear and patriotic opposition – if only he had broken rank and filibustered. I feel ashamed. Rome must fall.

Update. I think it’s important to further note here (and by here, I mean as an American ex-pat living in South Africa), that one of the most feared and hated aspects of the Apartheid state was the lack of habeas corpus. So officially, the US, Beacon Democracy and Fighter for Freedom, is where, exactly, now?