"A basic ingredient to achieving the American Dream is thrift... By hijacking our savings, the government hijacks our opportunity to experience the American Dream."

- from Restoring the Dream, the Bold New Plan (RNC, 1995)

By: Rich Procter  

A message from our beloved President, the Honorable (?) George W. Bush:

Hey, y'all! How're ya doin'! (Those of you that still have jobs, that is.) Ya know, when I was runnin' for President - not that I've ever actually STOPPED running, but y'all know what I mean - I had a great hoot n' holler line: "We Republicans never forget it's YOUR MONEY!"

So how am I spendin' YOUR MONEY? You'll be happy to know that I'm gonna carpet-bomb Iraq with it! Man, we're gonna give those freedom-loving dune goons everything but their own luxury-box filled baseball stadium - ya know, like the one the fine folks o' Texas bought for me! Maybe all this charity will get 'em to stop shooting at us! Ya think?

Here's where I'm sending YOUR tax dollars, friends! This is GREAT...

By: Robyn E. Blumner  

Last week, the administration announced new rules making it easier for overtly religious institutions to access $20-billion in federal social service grants and another $8-billion in Housing and Urban Development money. Tax dollars can now be used to construct and renovate houses of worship as long as the funds are not used to build the principal room used for prayer, such as the sanctuary or chapel. The fungibility of money makes this caveat pretty much worthless.

Soon too, hundreds of millions of federal dollars may be available for drug and alcohol addicts to get on the road to recovery by being reborn - the way President Bush wrestled his own alcohol monkey. During his last State of the Union speech, the President called for $600-million over three years in new substance-abuse treatment money, and a somewhat pared down first-year allotment is currently before a congressional conference committee. To make sure programs steeped in prayer and proselytizing qualify for the money and sidle past church-state separation requirements, Bush has called for the services to be paid for with federal vouchers.

Boycott Taco 'Crapo' Bell
Their 'Food' Sucks
...and So Does Their Politics!

By: Jay Price  

Soldiers from Fort Bragg's 82^nd Airborne Division are providing security for several members of an Iranian paramilitary group that the U.S. State Department lists as a terrorist organization.

The paratroopers are guarding a compound at Nasir Al Wa Salam that U.S. officers said is the home of a handful of members of the Mujahedin-E Khalq or MEK - also known as the People's Mujahedeen. Members are free to come and go.

The MEK is dedicated to overthrowing the Iranian government and conducted attacks on Iran during the 1980's and 1990's. The group was nurtured by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whose country fought a war with Iran in the 1980's. Now, with Saddam gone, the MEK's 4,000 to 5,000 fighters are in a strange limbo.

By: Mike Allen  

President Bush's aides promised yesterday to cooperate with a Justice Department inquiry into an administration leak that exposed the identity of a CIA operative, but Democrats charged that the administration cannot credibly investigate itself and called for an independent probe.

White House officials said they would turn over phone logs if the Justice Department asked them to. But the aides said Bush has no plans to ask his staff members whether they played a role in revealing the name of an undercover officer who is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, one of the most visible critics of Bush's handling of intelligence about Iraq.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the Justice Department has requested no information so far. "Of course, we would always cooperate with the Department of Justice in a matter like this", he said.

From:  

The California recall election is just a week away, and it continues to live up to its reputation as a three-ring circus of idiocy. At the top of our list this week is Darrell Issa, the flip-flopping former gubernatorial candidate who started this whole mess in the first place. Further down the list, we've got our typical assortment of Iraq-related idiocy. Colin Powell (2) was caught changing his WMD story, the Bush administration (3) is anxiously fearing the Kay report, and White House aide Dan Bartlett (4) is spinning that whole "mission accomplished" thing. Meanwhile, we've got college conservatives (7,8) and the head of the RNC (9) showing once again that they're good old fashioned bigots.

By: Tracy Warner  

Does Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have an annoying habit of making his point by asking his own question, then answering it?

Yes, he does.

Is Rumsfeld having a conversation with himself?

No, not really.

Is he doing it as a way of sounding as if he is responsive to the public while he is really dodging the big issues?

You bet.

"The claim that government is free to reduce or cut off welfare and other forms of support for people in economic need is totally mistaken. Welfare is not a gift, nor is it, despite frequent assertions, a transfer from those who earn a living to those who are not. Welfare is rather an obligation from society - and from those who are working- to those who have been deprived of work and the opportunity to earn a living. If we want to speak of transfers, it would be more accurate to say that those with a secure place in the economic system are enjoying a transfer of wealth from those who have been excluded from the economic system. Welfare then is partial compensation for a deprivation of livelihood that allows others to work."

- Charles Reich, in his book, Opposing the System (Crown Books, 1995)

By: Stephen J. Glain and Robert Schlesinger  

The interim Iraqi government, set up by the United States to advise its senior administrator in Baghdad, has surprised Washington recently with a series of increasingly contentious positions as it presses for self-rule, from a push for sweeping economic changes to a move toward normalizing trade relations with Syria and Iran, countries branded by U.S. officials as exporters of terrorism.

For the Bush administration, which is already fending off demands from allies for a swift return to Iraqi self-rule, such assertiveness by the Governing Council is a mixed blessing, analysts and diplomats say: It means democracy is evolving in Iraq, but at a pace difficult for Washington to control and not necessarily compatible with its interests.

By: William Neikirk  

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) took the floor of the Senate last week to question a $9 million request by President Bush to overhaul Iraq's postal service by establishing ZIP codes, one small item in an $87 billion measure.

"How has Iraq made it for these thousands of years without Americans helping them develop a ZIP code?" he asked. "It is amazing... What a generous thing for this administration to do for other people on the other side of the planet, on our dime, borrowing money to do it."

Johnson's complaint is part of a growing chorus of congressional criticism over the $20.3 billion in reconstruction costs included in the President's plan. Democrats have discovered a political gold mine in the details and are now agitating for a separate vote on the reconstruction part of the bill when it reaches the Senate floor.

"The real question one must ask is: Why a man born to so much wealth and privilege and hence the power to do much good in the world has turned about to be such a miserable failure at everything he touched - student, businessman, Governor, and yes, the Presidency itself? Regardless of what he has undertaken, from tax cuts to war to homeland security to faith based charities to education, it is clear that the issues do not matter to him at all. It is all about himself. Even this egoism does not help him because he has such a small ego. As a result he is the perfect target for every charlatan who offers the ultimate cure for what ails him. The PNAC offering world domination, Rove offering reelection, Cheney and Rumsfeld offering oil wealth etc."

- 'bodhisattava', in the Smirking Chimp forum

Editorial from:  

Bush spoke about Saddam Hussien's use of such weapons in acts of mass murder, a reference to a 1988 poison gas attack against Kurds in Halabja that killed 5,000. Yet, he ignored the fact that a U.N. inspections program had destroyed most of Saddam's WMD programs after the Gulf War in 1991 and no evidence has been found since that supports Bush's assertion that Saddam had restarted those programs. Even so, the U.N. was moving toward more aggressive and intrusive inspections before an impatient Bush launched war against Iraq. Those inspections might not have happened or been ineffective, but had the inspections occurred, war might have been avoided.

Bush even had the audacity to claim that the United States acted to defend "the credibility of the United Nations". This from a man who once dismissed the U.N.'s "nation building" in the Balkans or Somalia as unworthy tasks for the American military. The same man who rejected the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, opposed the International Criminal Court, and withdrew from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, now expects the General Assembly to believe he has the world body's best interests at heart.

Meanwhile, Bush offered nothing in return for the assistance he sought at the U.N...

"Yesterday, a senior administration official said that before Novak's column ran, two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife... 'Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge', the senior official said of the alleged leak."

- from an article in the Washington Post, by Mike Allen and Dana Priest, Sept. 27, 2003

By: John Chuckman  

No, I did not read the book, but what words more perfectly describe George Bush making one of the oddest speeches ever made at the U.N.? There he was - with his designer suit, costly watch, and constantly-manicured haircut - stone-faced and unrepentant for the violent destruction he caused, for his obvious lying, and for his rage against the thoughtful objections of others. Actually, unrepentant seems an inadequate description, unaware or uninterested being closer to the mark.

The matter and manner of Bush's speaking are always an ordeal for thinking people. He seems convinced that every audience deserves the same approach given the pathologically credulous at a revival tent meeting.

But he outdid himself this time. His description of anti-social behavior on a global scale as support for the world community must have provided a sophisticated audience interesting dinner topics. One can imagine the bons mots around the subject of the world's most incorrigible, obvious liar claiming he defends U.N. credibility. As with Dostoevsky's Father Karamazov, it was as though all his recent vicious and disturbing behavior had simply never happened.

"We don't need any more dead sons in this war. My son died because Bush lied."

- Fernando Suarez, whose 20-year-old son Jesus died in Iraq

By: Alex Johnson and Andrea Mitchell  

The former envoy, Joseph Wilson, who was acting ambassador to Iraq before the first Gulf War, was dispatched to Niger in 2002 to investigate a British intelligence report that Iraq sought to buy uranium there. Although Wilson discredited the report, Bush cited it in his State of the Union address in January among the evidence he said justified military action in Iraq.

The administration has since had to repudiate the claim. CIA Director George Tenet said the 16-word sentence should not have been included in Bush's Jan. 28 speech and publicly accepted responsibility for allowing it to remain in the President's text.

Wilson published an article in July alleging, however, that the White House recklessly made the charge knowing it was false.

The next week, columnist Robert Novak published an article in which he revealed that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a covert CIA operative specializing in weapons of mass destruction. "Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate", Novak wrote.

By: Bridget Gibson  

The last tax cut enacted by Bush's Republican-led Congress was supposed to create 1,000,000 (one million) jobs. The truth has been quite the opposite. Jobs have been evaporating from all sectors of the economy. More than 500,000 were lost in the last quarter alone.

Iraq was "capable" of a "mushroom cloud" over American cities. The truth has been shown by more than 3,000 U.S. inspectors who have turned up nothing - dirt, dooda, zippo, nada.

The only way to have "healthy forests" is to cut down all the trees. Hmm... Think about that one for yourselves. You, dear readers, are bright and thinking most of the time. I can count on you to not miss the forest for the trees.

"A [Congressional Research Service] report concludes that, under federal ethics standards, Vice President Dick Cheney still has a financial interest in Halliburton, the energy services company he used to run. The report says that the deferred compensation that Cheney receives from Halliburton as well as the more than 433,000 stock options he possesses 'is considered among the ties retained in or linkages to former employers that may represent a continuing financial interest in those employers which makes them potential conflicts of interest'."

- CNN Money, Sept. 25, 2003

"The Vice President has no financial interest in Halliburton. He has no stake in the company. He will in no way benefit from the rise or fall of Halliburton's stock price or the success or failure of the company."

- Catherine Martin, Cheney's public affairs director

By: Rosamond  

Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett floated yet another White House lie by claiming Bush never actually uttered the words "Mission Accomplished" during the infamous Operation Flight Suit spectacular that opened to SRO crowds aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Nobody in the White House complained last May when the media echoed "Mission Accomplished" in their reviews, so it's a bit late in the day to try to convince voters that the gigantic "Mission Accomplished" banner fluttering behind Bush throughout his appearance was completely accidental. Sorry, Dan, but "technically true" just isn't good enough anymore - people have been made disgusted and weary by Bush's untrue "technical truisms".

By: Nat Hentoff  

Ignored by most media, an array of prominent federal judges, government officials, and other members of the legal establishment has joined in a historic rebellion against George W. Bush's unprecedented and unconstitutional arrogance of power that threatens the fundamental right of American citizens to have access to their lawyers before disappearing indefinitely into military custody without charges, without seeing an attorney or anyone except their guards.

On May 8, 2002, Jose Padilla, unarmed and showing valid identification, was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport by the FBI while getting off a plane. As his court-appointed lawyer, Donna Newman - who has shown herself to be truly a credit to the bar - told Judge Andrew Napolitano on the FOX News Channel: "What they allege is that he had some 'loose talk'. That's their words, not mine, that he was planning, not a plan exactly, just loose talk about detonating a dirty bomb. Not him personally because, of course, he had... not even a pamphlet about bomb making when he was seized in the United States."

Padilla was not charged with a crime, or with planning a crime. He was held as a material witness in a high-security prison in Manhattan. But suddenly, without Padilla's lawyer being informed, Padilla was hauled away by the Defense Department to a military brig in North Carolina where, in solitary confinement, he remains.

March 18, 2003

Dear Mr. Speaker [of the House]:
(Dear Mr. President [of the Senate]:)

Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I determine that:

1. reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither (A) adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor (B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and
   
   
2. acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
   

Sincerely,

George W. Bush

By: Lynnley Browning  

The richest 2.8 million Americans had $950 billion after taxes, or 15.5%, of the $6.2 trillion economic pie in 2000, Isaac Shapiro, a senior fellow at the center, said.

The poorest 110 million Americans had less, sharing 14.4% of all after tax money.

But the higher incomes of the last decade did not lift all people equally.

In 2000, the top 1% of American taxpayers had $862,700 each after taxes, on average, more than triple the $286,300 they had, adjusted for inflation, in 1979.

The bottom 40% in 2000 had $21,118 each, up 13% from their $18,695 average in 1979.

By: William Rivers Pitt  

There is not enough grammar in the entirety of the English language to describe the incredible international humiliation that has befallen the United States of America. That this humiliation was brought down upon the American people by the man supposedly in charge of the country is, in all honesty, no big surprise for those who have been watching this all unfold. The layers of crushing embarrassment have been building like river sediment for months upon months upon months. On Tuesday, however, George W. Bush managed to completely obliterate the hard-won standing the United States has earned within the global community.

Over the last 227 years, the United States of America went from a brawling, rebellious infant to the greatest democracy in the universe. This nation spent oceans of blood, sweat, and tears to earn the respect of the world. Too often, it abused that respect by abusing the world, but always managed to regain its standing within the global community by the sheer force of its goodness, its ideals, and its willingness to help other nations in need. When the attacks of September 11^th came, that global community responded to our essential goodness by embracing us with a passionate ferocity that has no precedent in the annals of human history. That standing is dust now, ground under the heels of a pack of ideological extremists who would wrap the world in flames if it profited them a few more ducats. The world sees this, and has seen it for some time now. The United Nations was used on Tuesday as a prop for a failing President's Fox newsbite writ large. It is a shame and a scandal and a disaster beyond description that this great nation has fallen so very low.

A moment will come on January 20^th, 2005. It will be cold in Washington DC. A man who is not George W. Bush will raise his hand and swear and oath to preserve, protect, and defend the United States of America. The words "So help me God" will be snatched by the wind and carried across seas and mountains to the furthest corners of the planet. When that happens, all of the Earth will be joined together in the deepest and most profound exhalation of relief. When that happens, George W. Bush will have become in his absence what he completely failed to be with his presence: A uniter.

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