presents...WayLeftofCenter

"There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring them on! We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation." _{- George W. Bush}

Justice: Sharing Lobbying Data Will Crash Computers: "The Bush administration is offering a novel reason for denying a request seeking the Justice Department's database on foreign lobbyists: Copying the information would bring down the computer system.

"'Implementing such a request risks a crash that cannot be fixed and could result in a major loss of data, which would be devastating,' wrote Thomas J. McIntyre, chief in the Justice Department's (search) office for information requests."

"Under Air Force policy in force at that time, the only way that someone in Bush's position could be placed in an 'Inactive Status' was if they were being 'completely severed from military status.' And the only way that could happen is if someone had become permanently disabled, or deserted. Bush was not disabled."

Bush's Monica Moment: "That moment exposes Bush's character. It reveals what his press conferences proclaim: his incapacity. If he were George W. Smith, what job would he be qualified for? Bush's presidency can be seen as one long cover-up of the most obvious thing about him. A life of upward failure, of being his father's son, left him without 'sand,' my nineteenth century-born father's word for the residue of strength acquired by 'standing on your own two feet' and 'taking your medicine.' Bush never stood on his own feet, never took his medicine - and he has never been his own man. He's the only president to be related to the Queen of England, and his biography is that of a 'royal.' Prince Charles would make a sorry prime minister. Like Bush, though, he'd give good strut."

Fahrenheit 9/11: A Conservative Critique by William Norman Grigg: "The film itself very much reflects its creator: It's shaggy, flabby, occasionally witty, and frequently infuriating. It will have a HUGE impact because Moore - his facile leftist economics notwithstanding - has nailed his case against the Bush regime flush to the plank. It will be all but impossible for anybody who sits still and watches this film to view Bush the Lesser as anything other than a petty, spiteful, dim-witted, bloody-handed little fool - and the figurehead of a murderous power elite. This explains why the Bu'ushists are threatening to go Abu Ghraib on Moore: They're busted."

"Why have a Constitution at all if the president can unilaterally decide who to torture, when to torture and why to torture?" _{- Michael Glennon, Tufts University international law professor}

Bush Plans to Screen Whole U.S. Population for Mental Illness: "A sweeping mental health initiative will be unveiled by President George W Bush in July. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing 'services in the community, rather than institutions,' according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative.

"While some praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of the public.

"Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 to conduct a 'comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system.' The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003. Bush instructed more than 25 federal agencies to develop an implementation plan based on those recommendations.

"The president's commission found that 'despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed' and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for 'consumers of all ages,' including preschool children."

A Moral Chernobyl - Prepare for the worst of Abu Ghraib: "In a recent public debate, so I was told, an American officer referred to the Abu Ghraib scandal as a 'moral Chernobyl.' You might think that this was overstating matters, even if in one important sense - because Chernobyl was morally an accident, albeit in some ways a 'systemic' one - it is actually understating them.

"But get ready. It is going to get much worse. The graphic videos and photographs that have so far been shown only to Congress are, I have been persuaded by someone who has seen them, not likely to remain secret for very long. And, if you wonder why formerly gung-ho rightist congressmen like James Inhofe ('I'm outraged more by the outrage') have gone so quiet, it is because they have seen the stuff and you have not. There will probably be a slight difficulty about showing these scenes in prime time, but they will emerge, never fear. We may have to start using blunt words like murder and rape to describe what we see."