If you wonder where the money has gone read this: Crisis could crimp defense spending, now at World War II levels All this over what in 2001 was a 5000 person militia (Al Qaeda). Guess what it isn't WWII and does not deserve that kind of spending. Bush and his wartime delusions have cost us dearly. As McGovern said "Come home America"
Oh hell yeah! Tell it! Yell it! This M.I.C. bullshit has got to end!

From secrecy and deception in high places; come home, America From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation; come home, America. From the entrenchment of special privileges in tax favoritism; from the waste of idle lands to the joy of useful labor; from the prejudice based on race and sex; from the loneliness of the aging poor and the despair of the neglected sick -- come home, America. Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward. Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world, and let us be joyful in that homecoming, for this "is your land, this land is my land -- from California to New York island, from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters -- this land was made for you and me." So let us close on this note: May God grant each one of us the wisdom to cherish this good land and to meet the great challenge that beckons us home. And now is the time to meet that challenge. Good night, and Godspeed to you all

George McGovern WWII veteran and liberal icon. May the Gods bless him.
That was 1972 have we learned nothing in 36 years?

On September 11, 2001 our country was attacked. The world rallied around the U.S. and mourned our three thousand dead. George Bush and company then had a plan to alienate our allies and start a war without end. Here is that story from the ancient Book of the Shortsighted Idiots......

   

On the day of the massacre the W was reading the Book of the Pet Goat. His mind wrapped around the powerful words and none could distract him. Having finished this powerful story the W sensed the danger and hid from his people. The W spoke with God. He began strategerize and saw that it was good. "I am a prophet" he said "I cannot show my face until the danger is past, except of course for free teeth cleanings." The people believed and praised unto him.
    When the danger had passed the W called a meeting of his ministers. They arrived one by one, The Dick, The Rummy, The Soldier Secretary, The Turd Blossom and The Condiment all gathered at his table. They were W's deciders and they would devise a stupid and shortsighted plan. "Our plan will be as stupid and shortsighted as the Senile Old Reagan's tax cut plans of yore" they exalted. "We will use the lies that come from the Dick he knows the words of the secret one called Curveball. We will attack not only the land of the attackers but the land of the terrorized peoples. The land we call Iraq. They have oil and gold that we can steal.  We attacked them in the time of  the W's father and had much self-gratification. We will honor the Senile Old Reagan and take money from our children to pay for this shortsighted plan." So said the ministers. "We will send the Soldier Secretary to the UN. We will give him the lies of the Dick and the Curveball and he will read them." The Soldier Secretary was nervous "I'm not taking this bullshit to the UN" he said. But he was weak, and felt pressure from the Dick and the Turd, and so the war came to pass.
   In the beginning the war was of great success. The Rummy laid simple and shortsighted plans, then stared trancelike upon his reflection. He would pause to create blizzards of snowflakes that served as testament to his unhinged thinkings. Then the Rummy would return to his beloved reflection and acknowledge no other. The W flew in a jet and praised the mission accomplished. He wore costumes and pranced about on the ships of his fleet. His love of self had no bounds. The ministers celebrated, called themselves neocons, then had orgies with their oracle Anne the Cruel. Anne the Cruel would scream and speak in tongues to obtain the affections of W and his ministers. She made not sense and smoked cancer sticks. She drank of the 80 proof fermented beverages and stimulated the orgies with lies and loathing. She proved herself a true seer for the neocon way.
   The people watched the stupid plan from their homes. They watched on electric coliseums bought with gold stolen from their children. Many coliseums were flat screens with surround sound. They heaped praise on the W and his ministers. They grew fat and self-righteous to honor the plans of the W and the Senile Old Reagan. They saw their reflections and said that it was good. They called their way "American Exceptionalism." Their love of self knew no bounds.
   Unfortunately the war went on forever and the economy collapsed. Thousands of American soldiers died, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died and it was all for nothing. Many of the people's homes and flat screens were repossessed. The people's descendants were broke and pretty pissed off. Sometimes they would steal the American Exceptionalist's golf carts, then run them down and beat them with their golf clubs. All in all it was pretty ugly. Of course that's what happens when you make stupid and shortsighted plans. They should have known right?

THE END

 I found this book buried in my back yard. I was using seeing stones to look for buried treasure. Serendipity eh? The next chapter is about how I should know a hundred women. I gotta quit my job and they have to support me and stuff. Oh well its God's will.

   The country as a whole has not seen truly bad times in 70+ years. The 1981 recession was as near as we have come to a depression. Only from greed are we at the brink now. This is a story from The Book of the Shortighted Idiots...
   

    In 1980 a senile old man had a revelation. "My country need not pay its bills" he said. He urged all the people to follow him on his righteous path. His stupid and greedy followers said "deficits don't matter" and they named airports after him to celebrate. They praised his name and and left the bills unpaid. His greedy followers piled debt on top of debt in his honor. "The next generation be damned" they crowed. Some calling themselves W and Dick reveled in the simplicity of the revelation. "Steal from the poor and give to the rich" they said. It is the righteous path. They waged wars on borrowed money. They bought yachts and mansions. They drank expensive wines and said "Greed is good, all hail the senile man."
    When the senile man died they mourned him as a king. His stupid and selfish wife cried on his coffin. The senile old man is gone but his legacy survives. Now his country will pay the price. His prideful and stupid country slides into depression. There is no security for the shortsighted as they age. There is nothing left for the damned generations. They have nothing and the country has become weak. Their foreign lenders dictate to them. The damned are bitter and curse the senile old man. The damned generation also curses his stupid and shortsighted followers. Sometimes they sneak in and smother their fat asses as they sleep.

The End

Oh yeah and his greedy and selfish wife is still around to make everybody sick.

 A quick diary goodluck to Booman, Bootribbers and the other marchers in DC today. Weather is beautiful in this part of the country today. On the media coverage it sucks. WTOP news radio from Washington did a piece that started off with tamborines, singinging and drums which never cut off and drowned out the commentator who was having technical problems. They let it play for the full minute and then apologized for the problems. Any other time technical problems are cutoff immediately. Just a coincidence I'm sure.
  Later they did a small piece on the march focusing on the size of the crowd being smaller then Vietnam war marches and then gave an equal amount of time to 30 people protesting Jane Fonda's presence. I'm aghast at this being represented as a bunch of fringe types and putting front and center one of the most divisive figures from that era. WTOP news radio sucks call and tell them that I just did, they blamed the technical stuff on CBS.

"Ask The..." Program Line
1-877-628-WTOP

Yahoo also has a picture of Jane Fonda featured in their article. Jane Fonda is not the story here. Bush, Cheney and neocon imperialist policies are the story. Focus on the pain and the criminal policies of the administration.

   In today's Washington Post might I point you to this damning bit of editorial "What is an Iraqi Life Worth?"
   There are pictures in the print edition that we have seen in RubDMC's Iraqi War Grief diaries. Here in the U.S. the media is in collusion with the war profiteers in not showing any of the suffering we have inflicted on the Iraqi people. So I'm a little surprised to see these photos in today's Post.That poor, horribly wronged, little girl's picture should be on every frontpage everyday. Nothing is worth this grief.

A short rant inspired by Oui's diary on the Israeli murder of four adults and three children aged 1,3 and 10.

    How the fuck do you shell a beach full of people having a picnic by accident? This is outrageous, the assholes responsible need to be shot. I am really sick of this shit and Israel needs to back off. They violate every truce and we back them up everytime on every atrocity. They reciprocate by backing us up when we start an illegal war and commit our own atrocities. A lot of fucking people are out of control right now and the governments of Israel and the United States need to get a grip and start acting humane and reasonable to the rest of the world.
    I really cannot believe this has happened. If Hamas lifts one finger to retaliate, and believe me we will see those pictures live, Israel is going to lay a world of hurt on the long suffering Palestinian people. Its a setup for sure designed to enrage and get a showdown with Hamas. How much can one people take? Mercy Corps has front paged the Gaza crisis as it stands now. It will only get worse in the coming months. It might be a good time to send a little money. It might be a good time write congress and plead with them to think of the Palestinian children, women and men who are suffering at the hands of the Israelis. At least try to pretend they are not bought and paid for by AIPAC.
    Palestine needs to be free of the occupation and free of all of the illegal settlements. Maybe just free to have a picnic without a boat load of psychopaths shelling you. They have suffered enough this is not right by anyones logic. I am really sick of this shit.
Mercy Corps

In respect to wire tapping and phone logs what really bothers me is this statement: "If you don't have anything to hide then it shouldn't matter to you."

   For this to make sense you have to take a very long leap and say the administration has our best interests and security at heart. These are the people who outed a CIA agent and twisted intelligence about Iraq. Do you not think that if they decide you are a threat they will not cherry pick and take statements out of context when it comes to your phone conversations. Who decides who is a threat. If its an ann coulter type then all liberals are traitors and a threat to security. Believe me there are a lot of ann coulter types in this government.
   For the sake of argument lets take the big leap here and say the administration will not use this information for anything but protecting us. Remember its a big leap. What guarantee do we have that the NSA will discontinue these practices when the "threat" is over. What guarantee do we have that some G. Gordon Liddy or J Edgar Hoover wackjob won't use your info to crush any dissent through blackmail and slander. Something along the lines of "I see you made a hotel reservation in your hometown while your wife was away. Maybe its in everyones best interest if you shut your traiterous left wing blog down so she doesn't get upset in case she finds out." or "I think your right wing boss needs to know you are calling congress from the company phone." I'm sure we could think up many more.
   So you very much have something to worry about even not being a terrorist. This is pure Big Brother and its not a healthy way to run a democracy. It is however a great way to stifle dissent and keep an eye on your political enemies.

Just a couple of thoughts inspired by Suskind and Starkravinglunaticradical.

I agree the history of the country is filled with lies and genocide. But with all their faults. Jefferson and Franklin saw something in the distance a light that they chose to write about. A base, something to work toward. Theirs was obviously not a finished piece of work. It was a start with a nod to the common man. Generations that follow need to finish this work. Expose our hypocrisy and use the Bill of Rights to carve out an island of freedom for all people. With one eye on our past and another on our future. We have no choice but to work and try to educate the rest. I want this country to be what the propaganda told me it was when I was a child. I want to be proud again. Not through covering up our sins  but by reading and writing about them (Zinn and Loewen). Shining the light of day on genocide and broken treaties. Be a force for good in the world. Not some rerun of the Roman Empire. I'm a citizen and I do not want anymore blood on my hands.

(CNN) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had trouble tapping into a group of hooded protesters at Georgetown Law School in Washington on Tuesday.
(snip)
But as the attorney general tried to convey that the extraordinary circumstances of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks justified the program, the protesters turned to one of America's Founding Fathers for their rebuttal.
(snip)
"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither" -- a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin -- had been scrawled in capital letters on a sign that required four protesters to hold it up.
Gonzales didn't acknowledge the sign nor did he stop his speech as 22 protesters, including the four with the sign, stood with their backs to him during the address.

Good coverage by CNN. Franklin is my favorite founding father after reading "Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacs. Franklin was able to manipulate the public in ways that would make Rove jealous. CNN had this as their lead web story for a bit. Like to know the names of the protesters and whether they are in the slammer now? Anyone know? Gutsy protest. Reminds me of our own Boo Tribbers this last weekend and last Autumn.

OT: Mr. Franklin did own a slave. A sad commentary on that time in this country.  So if anyone is offended by the founding fathers on principle. My apologies.

Man I wish we had Clinton's surplus right now. Bush wants the political pat on the back for rebuilding the gulf coast. But wants the children of the people he is helping to pay for it. His debt is now officially off the hook. If the bastard had funded the Army Corps of Engineers properly he could have saved 200 billion by investing 200 million on levees. Maybe 12 billion more on wetland preservation. Why must our children and grandchildren pay for this assholes mistakes. Now I understand how he has run his companies into the ground. The money has to come from somewhere you goddamn dimwit. Hello, taxes are how the government makes money to deal with disasters.

He ignores peoples pleas for help and then three weeks later throws 200 billion at their corpses. He ignores warnings about hijackings then throws 100 billion a year into a country that had nothing to do with the terror attacks. He's fucking insane. At least the people will get some help. Not as much help as Halliburton is about to get but its help.

From Newsweek:

Grover Norquist, the conservative activist with close ties to Karl Rove, blamed the chaos on "looting in a Democratic city run by a Democratic mayor and a Democratic governor."

Who is this asshole that blames the victim? Close ties to Rove the sociopath. Damn him to hell for blaming the victims for the administrations failure to provide security to the hurricane survivors. Damn them all to Hell for their games and spin. They have raped the government coffers with their tax cuts to the fucking rich. Its not enough that they do well the poor must suffer and die. Damn them.

This on top of the fact their original premise for war was cherry picked from intelligence that they themselves pushed for or mined themselves:

On the March 16, 2003, broadcast of CBS' Face the Nation, Cheney stated: "I think [the war will] go relatively quickly." When host Bob Schieffer pressed the vice president to offer a more precise estimate of how long the war would take, Cheney replied: "Weeks rather than months." On NBC's Meet the Press the same day, Cheney stated, "my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators [by the Iraqi people]."

In a February 7, 2003, appearance at Aviano Air Base in Italy, Rumsfeld projected that the Iraq war "could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

In a February 13, 2002, Washington Post op-ed, Ken Adelman, at the time a member of the Defense Policy Board, stated: "I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk. Let me give simple, responsible reasons: (1) It was a cakewalk last time; (2) they've become much weaker; (3) we've become much stronger; and (4) now we're playing for keeps."

These quote supplied by www.mediamatters.org/
The lying neocons need to have their faulty predictions thrown back in their faces on a daily basis. First they use their own crap intelligence then can't understand why their losing support from the people they snowed into supporting this stupidity.
This is my first diary entry and I want to thank Booman for this wonderful forum. Booman Tribune Rules!