By: Rebecca Knight  

Call us anti-American. Call us traitors. Call us liberal socialist commie pinkos. We don't give a damn what the right wing nuts think of us. We know what we are. We know what we believe and we have the courage of our convictions. We know that we have within our hearts, minds, and souls a love of America that will never allow us to remain complacent about wrongs forced upon us by those who would silence us. We will fight that latest incarnation of fascism. We will protest, write letters, make phone calls, speak up, and VOTE. If only we could believe that our votes will be accurately counted!

The resident of the White House sits in the Oval Office through a coup perpetrated on the American people. There is no question that he lied to the American voters in campaign 2000, re-inventing himself and his record in Texas, spreading lies and innuendo about Al Gore, misrepresenting Democratic positions, and painting a false image of himself as a "compassionate conservative". What a crock! What a crook! "Compassionate conservative" is the epitome of oxymoron. The dictionary should be revised to include "compassionate conservative" as the very definition of oxymoron.

George W. Bush is an impostor, an illegitimate President, anointed by the Felonious Five of the United States Supreme Court. Just as surely as the sun rises every morning, the fix was in and the Republican Party eagerly supported and cooperated with the fix! Republicans who knowingly and willingly helped make Bush President through lies and manipulation of the voting process are nothing short of criminal.

Editorial from:  

Iraq's offer yesterday to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back to Baghdad without conditions could open the way to resolving the crisis peacefully and should certainly be tested. Given Saddam Hussein's machinations over the years, however, the offer could also be an insincere gambit aimed at delaying and dividing the Security Council as it begins to consider President Bush's demand to force Iraq to give up its unconventional weapons. It shouldn't take long to tell whether Iraq will really give inspectors a free hand, or will follow its invitation with limitations that render it meaningless.

As the Iraqi offer is assessed, Washington must confront a related issue raised in recent days by the capture in Pakistan of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is believed to be one of the architects of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. That critical issue is whether the United States can effectively combat terrorism at the same time it is engaged in a confrontation with Iraq...

By: Arianna Huffington  

I feel nothing but sympathy and concern for Noelle Bush. Her latest stumble on the rocky road to recovery - being caught with crack cocaine at a drug rehab center - shows that she is in desperate need of help.

As a parent, I can also easily empathize with the anguish Noelle's father, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, must be experiencing. And I'm in total agreement with his insistence that his daughter's substance abuse problem is "a private issue".

But when I think about the heartless stance the Governor has taken toward the drug problems of those less-fortunate and well-connected than his daughter, my empathy turns to outrage.

While Noelle has been given every break in the book - and then some - her father has made it harder for others in her position to get the help they need by cutting the budgets of drug treatment and drug court programs in his state...

By: Rick Weiss  

The Bush administration has begun a broad restructuring of the scientific advisory committees that guide federal policy in areas such as patients' rights and public health, eliminating some committees that were coming to conclusions at odds with the President's views and in other cases replacing members with handpicked choices.

In the past few weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services has retired two expert committees before their work was complete. One had recommended that the Food and Drug Administration expand its regulation of the increasingly lucrative genetic testing industry, which has so far been free of such oversight. The other committee, which was rethinking federal protections for human research subjects, had drawn the ire of administration supporters on the religious right, according to government sources.

A third committee, which had been assessing the effects of environmental chemicals on human health, has been told that nearly all of its members will be replaced - in several instances by people with links to the industries that make those chemicals. One new member is a California scientist who helped defend Pacific Gas and Electric Co. against the real-life Erin Brockovich.

By: Paul Krugman  

In February 2001 Enron presented an imposing facade, but insiders knew better: they were desperately struggling to keep their Ponzi scheme going. When one top executive learned of millions in further losses, his e-mailed response summed up the whole strategy: "Close a bigger deal. Hide the loss before the 1Q."

The strategy worked. Enron collapsed, but not before insiders made off with nearly $1 billion. The sender of that blunt e-mail sold $12 million in stocks just before they became worthless. And now he's Secretary of the Army.

It was crony capitalism at its worst. What kind of administration would keep Mr. White in office?

A story in last week's Times may shed light on that question. It concerned another company that sold a division, then declared that its employees had "resigned", allowing it to confiscate their pensions. Yet this company did exactly the opposite when its former CEO resigned, changing the terms of his contract so that he could claim full retirement benefits; the company took an $8.5 million charge against earnings to reflect the cost of its parting gift to this one individual. Only the little people get shafted.

The other company is named Halliburton. The object of its generosity was Dick Cheney.

Leak-Proof Briefings to Congress About Iraq May Backfire on Bush

By: Jim Vandehei  

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), strode into the most secure room in the Capitol for a "top-secret" briefing by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

With the windowless room swept for bugs and lawmakers sworn to deepest secrecy, Rumsfeld proceeded to disclose, well, absolutely nothing this group of lawmakers couldn't have read in the morning papers or watched on TV news channels, according to participants. Actually, they weren't told even that much. "It was a joke", said McCain, who soon rose and strode out the door.

This has become an increasingly familiar scene on Capitol Hill, especially since the Bush administration blamed senators this summer for leaking classified information about top-secret intercepts of communications among terrorists in the days leading up to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

By: Dana Milbank  

But the White House has sent contradictory signs about the role of politics. Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, has been photographed with the President in meetings about Iraq and has been put forward to speak publicly about the timing of the Iraq rollout. It was Rove who argued earlier this year that the war on terrorism should be part of Republicans' campaigns this year. Last week, White House political aides encouraged GOP candidates to emphasize national security. Also, Andrew H. Card Jr., Bush's Chief of Staff, said last week that the White House held back on promoting the Iraq policy in the summer because, "from a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August".

And Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-VA), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, made an Iraq vote explicitly political, saying: "People are going to want to know, before the elections, where their representatives stand."

That infuriated Democrats. "It only reinforces skepticism about the timing", said Chris Lehane, a Democratic operative who was Al Gore's campaign spokesman. "If Iraq truly is a threat - and it may very well be - Saddam is not constructing his weapons of mass destruction in accordance to our midterm calendar."

Bush Aide Says Iraq War Cost May Reach $200 Billion

From:  

President Bush's chief economic adviser estimates that the U.S. may have to spend between $100 billion and $200 billion to wage an Iraq war, but doubts hostilities would push the nation into recession or sustained inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Other administration economists say that their main fear is that an Iraq war could lead to a sustained spike in prices, according to the Journal.

The past four recessions have been preceded by the price of oil jumping to above $30 a barrel, the Journal reported, citing BCA Research in Montreal.

But the White House believes that removing Iraqi oil from production during a war - which would likely lead to a short-term rise in prices - would be insufficient to tip the economy into recession.

By: Frank Fuller  

I guess flossing every day wasn't so important after all.

I think George W. thinks Armageddon is an exclusive golf club, so exclusive even he can't get in. Or maybe he thinks it's a small town in Texas where everyone is rich and happy and all the women stay home, cook steaks, and submit to their husbands' wishes all the time. Or maybe he thinks Armageddon is the latest SUV from Cadillac (or Lexus or Mercedes or Lincoln). The ad will read: "This war brought to you by the Cadillac (or Lexus or Mercedes or Lincoln) Armageddon, the miracle SUV that will drive over anyone or anything, anywhere, anytime, and then repair its own dents before you get home!"

First they came for the kids on bicycles and told them to get off the roads and I said nothing. Then they came for the skateboarders, in-line skaters, and adult cyclists and I still said nothing. Then they went after pedestrians and folks like me - folks in small, old, rusty, dented cars - and told us to get off the roads. "The roads are for the Cadillac (or Lexus or Mercedes or Lincoln) Armageddon", they said. "It's the miracle SUV, the only vehicle worth going to war over."

"Formerly admired almost universally as the preeminent champion of human rights, our country has become the foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life. We have ignored or condoned abuses in nations that support our anti-terrorism effort, while detaining American citizens as 'enemy combatants', incarcerating them secretly and indefinitely without their being charged with any crime or having the right to legal counsel. This policy has been condemned by the federal courts, but the Justice Department seems adamant, and the issue is still in doubt. Several hundred captured Taliban soldiers remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay under the same circumstances, with the Defense Secretary declaring that they would not be released even if they were someday tried and found to be innocent. These actions are similar to those of abusive regimes that historically have been condemned by American presidents."

- President Jimmy Carter

By: Linda Deak  

There is an enormous chasm between the outside world and America and it has a lot to do with the enormous chasm that is in the collective brains of our population, benumbed by tabloid media, successful propaganda, and the ever-stirred fear. People in the outside world think Americans are dumb. I say: "No they are not. They are just not stimulated. They know very little about history and geography and other cultures." A person can tell an American they are xenophobic and they will say: "What is that?"

People in the outside world complain that we speak too loudly and then only talk about trivialities. They believe that all we care about is our own stash of earthly goods. They think that we know way too much about eBay and way too little about Erasmus. They think we have too much starch in our clothes and not enough starch in our character. They think we spend too much time in assertiveness training classes and not enough time in art appreciation classes. They wonder about our literacy; do we only read simple texts about people moving cheese or telling us that women are different from men or that our press is liberal and tries to slander conservatives?

"It's hard not to notice that the sudden urgency of war with Iraq has coincided precisely with the emergence of the corporate scandal story, with the flip in the congressional [poll] numbers, and with the decline in the Republicans' prospects for retaking the Senate majority. It's absolutely clear that the administration has timed the Iraq public relations campaign to influence the midterm elections... and to distract the voting public from a failing economy and an unpopular Republican domestic agenda."

- Jim Jordan, director of the Democrats' Senate campaign committee

By: Niles Lathem  

The officials came up with the nightmare scenario - which could include easily concealed briefcase bio-bombs - after concluding that Saddam has few options available to him once U.S. attacks begin. They're convinced his military would crumble and he'd face serious internal challenges from powerful Sunni Muslim tribal chiefs and a majority of his population.

The wild card in Pentagon invasion scenarios is Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, military officials say.

Faced with a war that would bring down his regime, the Butcher of Baghdad, they fear, will fire chemical or biological warheads on U.S. bases in the region, as well as at Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

Even more chilling, Saddam could provide al Qaeda or other terror groups with easy-to-conceal biological agents that could be smuggled into U.S. and Israeli cities - once he sees a serious American military build-up, officials said.

From:  

Jeb usurps George as chief conservative idiot this week, jumping straight into the top spot with a fantastic performance this week. Election misadventures, doped-up daughters, terra alerts - it's all here. Slinking up behind Jeb this week we find Rep. Mark Foley (2) with a wonderful display of conservative hypocrisy, and GOPAC (3) who have been playing the race card and trying to scare voters. Wait a minute, I thought that's what they accused us of doing! Elsewhere we find the Denver Police Department (6) with their own version of Operation TIPS, Edward Fine (8) who is making a quick buck off 9/11, and Benjamin Netanyahu (10) new spokesperson for the FOX network. Enjoy.

By: Elizabeth Becker  

The Bush administration is shifting its emphasis in seeking exemptions for Americans from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, telling European allies that a central reason is to protect the country's top leaders from being indicted, arrested, or hauled before the court on war crimes charges, administration officials say.

"The soldiers are like the capillaries; the top public officials - President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell - they are at the heart of our concern", the senior official said. "Henry Kissinger, that's what they really care about."

"They don't really care about the Lieutenant Calleys of the future", added the official, referring to Lt. William Calley, who was given a life sentence for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, but was then paroled.

With White House Approval,
EPA Pollution Report Omits Global Warming Section

By: Andrew C. Revkin  

For the first time in six years, the annual federal report on air pollution trends has no section on global warming, though President Bush has said that slowing the growth of emissions linked to warming is a priority for his administration.

The decision to delete the chapter on climate change was made by top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency with White House approval, White House officials said.

"Some people at pretty high levels in my organization were saying, 'take it out'", said an EPA official outside Washington who helped prepare the report. Others at the agency confirmed his account.

"I'm curious as to this change of heart in this administration. Was Iraq evil in 1998, when Dick Cheney's Halliburton was doing business there?

- Paul Begala, on Crossfire

By: Lionel Van Deerlin  

Leading the charge from behind a desk we should attack Iraq, the sooner the better. An air war for sure, maybe ground troops too. That's up to the President. Allies? - who needs 'em? Or utilize the United Nations? Hah!

I detect a distressingly familiar pattern here. Almost without exception, it seems, the loudest voices for sending Americans into battle are raised by persons who never have been to war themselves.

Instead, today's warmongers are being rallied increasingly by stay-at-homes. Example: What seemed an orchestrated call for pre-emptive action against Iraq was heard, just days apart, from Vice President Cheney and the GOP's House whip, Tom DeLay.

So what bugs me? Well, Cheney obtained his college BA and DeLay his high school diploma in the very same year, 1965 - a moment that marked the height of America's troop buildup in Vietnam.

I don't propose making a peep show of long-ago Selective Service records, nor shuffling through anyone's past. Suffice it to note that neither DeLay nor Cheney enlisted, and neither was drafted for America's last major military venture...

"They are the only superpower in the world today and they must be exemplary in everything they do."

- former South African President Nelson Mandela, at a press conference, after 'Oily Boy' George refused to take his call to discuss the Iraqi situation

Editorial from:  

What has Mr. Bush made of that moment of opportunity, which may have passed us by? Sad to say, not much. Most of us had expected the country to be in a different place by now, and the fact that it is not can be attributed largely (though by no means exclusively) to Mr. Bush's failure to leverage the political and moral capital Sept. 11 provided.

Mr. Bush had the words right. His problem was his failure to give them meaning, either because he did not know what had to be done or because what had to be done exceeded his political will. Sept. 11 summoned Americans to think differently about basic problems and to reach out to one another as never before. It was a moment to begin thinking about less wasteful energy policies, to envision new economic and social strategies, to examine programs of national service for the country's young people - in short, to entertain genuine sacrifices linked to an elevated vision of America's possibilities. Despite lots of oratory, however, no real sacrifice has been demanded, no vision offered.

From:  

Bouncing back hard from last week's disappointing tenth position, Dubya finds himself sawing logs in the number two spot this week. Sneaking past him into first place are those greedy corporate bastards - and we know you're going to be annoyed when you read what they're up to. Elsewhere we find Katherine Harris (4) who may soon know what Al Gore felt like in 2000, the Justice Department (5) forcing a stake through the heart of states' rights, and Ann Coulter, (7) who, as usual, has been telling fabulous fibs. Meanwhile the Associated Press (9) is makes a tiny, tiny apology, and Ed McGaa (10) has got warehouses full of sludge. Enjoy.

By: Molly Ivins  

Excuse me: I don't want to be tacky or anything, but hasn't it occurred to anyone in Washington that sending Vice President Dick Cheney out to champion an invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein is a "murderous dictator" is somewhere between bad taste and flaming hypocrisy?

When Dick Cheney was CEO of the oilfield supply firm Halliburton, the company did $23.8 million in business with Saddam Hussein, the evildoer "prepared to share his weapons of mass destruction with terrorists".

So if Saddam is "the world's worst leader", how come Cheney sold him the equipment to get his dilapidated oil fields up and running so he could afford to build weapons of mass destruction?

"I guess you have to be an earthling to attend."

- a grocery store clerk, on Dubya's refusal to attend the Earth Summit

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