Former Iraq Interrogator: Torture Doesn't Work and Endangers Our Troops

For whatever reason, our government (all the way up to our current president) is endorsing the use of torture to get information out of suspected enemies. But former Air Force officer and interrogator Matthew Alexander was responsible for finding the location of Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi using interrogation techniques straight out of the official military interrogations manual and NO torture.

The Washington Post ran an Op-Ed piece by him recently... read it and wonder what our government is trying to prove by torturing people!

Fight Bush's Fight Against Real Change in Bali

Many of you may know that the UN's Climate Talks are underway in Bali, Indonesia right now. Naturally, the Bush Administration is doing what it can to derail any significant change.

That's why it's important to let the other representatives at that conference know that Bush does NOT speak for us as Americans in this matter.

Let them know here.

Olbermann: Bush Fires Assistant AG Who Proved Waterboarding is Torture by BEING WATERBOARDED!

American Hero Keith Olbermann talks about another American Hero, Daniel Levin. Watch and weep.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Reasons to be very scared... from an AP report:

Bush to Have Colonoscopy at Camp David
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush will have a routine colonoscopy Saturday and temporarily hand presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House said.

That's it, we're done.

I Wish They All Could Be.... Vermont Senators?

Senator Patrick Leahy hits the nail right on the head. Time to start impeachment procedings against the Cheney/Bush government.

The Lies That Led To War

CBC's documentary show The Fifth Estate produced a program on the lies that led to the War in Iraq. It should be required viewing for all Americans, though it's pretty obvious that many won't watch it because it's not produced in the US.

This is 44 minutes long, but please watch it.

Apologize to World for Bush's Actions

President George Bush has made the USA the only country in the G8 nations that did NOT agree to a goal of preventing the rise of the average temperature of the world by 2 degrees Centigrade, stating that it was against our policies.

"The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses multiple 'red lines' in terms of what we simply cannot agree to... We have tried to 'tread lightly' but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position."
- White House document; 5/14/2007

The president obviously doesn't speak for the majority of Americans, who in poll after poll say they want the government to address climate change as the hard science that it is, and do something to reduce it.

Friends of the Earth is sending a petition that basically states just that:

On behalf of the United States of America, I apologize for the actions of our president, George W. Bush. His rejection of global warming measures to be endorsed at the upcoming G8 meeting is shameful, and does not represent my views or those of the American people.

Please visit the link and sign this petition!

Bush Administration Wants To Let Beef Kill You

According to the International Herald Tribune, the Bush Administration is fighting to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for Mad Cow Disease, which has killed 150 people worldwide (3 in the US thus far).

Read the article, but apparently Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a Kansas company, wants to test all their cows regularly for the disease, a move that larger companies say will force them to do the same. So the Bush Administration appealed a federal court decision that denied the larger companies attempts to stop Creekstone from carrying out its new policy.

So let's sort this out: Creekstone wants to do the right thing and ensure that its product is fit to eat and won't kill the consumers. Larger companies want to stop Creekstone from doing this because they don't want to have to do it themselves. And the Bush Administration is helping the big companies get their way.

So, in essence, the Bush Administration wants to let the bigger companies kill their customers.

Nice, eh?

Bush Set To Disobey Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's landmark case regarding the Environmental Protection Agency and global warming is near to being totally defied by the Bush Administration - predictably.

From the Los Angeles Times:

President Bush, while acknowledging Tuesday that he took "very seriously" the Supreme Court's ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles as pollution, set up a potential conflict with Congress by attaching two conditions to comply with the decision.

Bush said that any regulatory program should not slow economic growth, nor should its benefits to the atmosphere be offset by mounting emissions from China, India and other growing economies.

So, let's sort this out:

First, Bush says that a regulatory program should not slow economic growth. Obviously, the Bush Administration continues to follow the mindset that environmental policy enforcement means slowing the economy, when most reports today indicate that such enforcement will actually HELP the economy in the long run. Otherwise, why would companies like Wal-Mart be attempting to go green? The big box store giant announced late last year that it was attempting to produce zero waste and use entirely renewable fuels. And companies like DuPont and General Electric have announced similar goals, as a SMALL example.

So it seems the encouragement and enforcement of environmental policies is actually a PRO-economy move... unless you're in an industry that makes its living from being a polluter, specifically energy, oil and coal industries. And guess who put Bush into the White House!

Second, Bush says that our efforts should not be offset by China, India, and other developing countries. So, in other words, Bush is applying the playground mentality of "Joey doesn't have to do it, why do I have to?" Grow up, Mr. President. The economic issue isn't valid, therefore neither is this issue - we don't have to pollute to keep up with developing nations like China and India economically. And the US is the number one polluter in the world - our reduction in emissions can't help but make an impact, no matter WHAT China and India do.

And one final note: the President doesn't have the legal option to defy the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's decisions are final, they are the Constitutional law of the land. He, as the head of the executive branch, is constitutionally bound to enforce the law of the land - no matter what. But, given his flouting of his constitutional responsibilities throughout his administration, should we be surprised?

Lessons Of Vietnam

Keith Olbermann does it again, this time speaking candidly about the lessons that the Vietnam War should have impressed on our president. Instead Bush ignores them and continues to insist that "we only lose if we leave."



Also, here are some great comments on Olbermann from the Nation (reprinted by Alternet) that compare him to - who else? - Edward R. Murrow. Where have I heard that before?

Keith Olbermann Tells George Bush What a Fascist He Is

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has, once again, become a pundit worthy of being lauded among such great men as Bill Moyers and Edward R. Murrow as he calls our attention to the national travesty that is the new Military Commissions Act. This act allows the government to suspend Habeas Corpus for anyone who is considered an "unlawful enemy combatant."

Now, with a government who publicly states that anyone who criticizes this regime (it's no longer just an administration, it's truly a regime now) is "providing aid and comfort to our enemies", who's to say just who is and isn't an "unlawful enemy combatant?"

And here's another thought: considering that the UN invoked international law to forbid the invasion of Iraq and we did it anyway, doesn't that make George W. Bush and his regime "unlawful combatants?" So should they have their Habeas Corpus suspended?

I'm looking forward to watching the ACLU challenge this one on Constitutional grounds. Article One, Section Nine of that esteemed document states:

"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

The last I saw, we weren't being invaded by anyone. And we're not in an open rebellion. So this act should die an ignoble death fairly quickly.

But thank you, Mr. Olbermann, for calling America's attention to this travesty. We now have complete confirmation just how George W. Bush feels about America and the Constitution that HE SWORE to uphold and defend.

Watch the video below for his complete comments.

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Is George Bush The Worst President EVER?

Obviously, I say yes. What he's done is split the country just like Buchanan did, but not along geographic lines. So it's much harder to fix the problem. And let's not forget making our country dumber, poorer, more polluted, more hated by the rest of the world, further behind our trading rivals... where do I stop? I can't... can't do it... must..push... "Post This Entry"...

False Claims

As long as the Bush Administration is going to lie to the American people about how the U.S. is dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, the people are going to need to hold his feet to the fire and tell him to stop lying to us.

There's a part of me who thinks that the war in Iraq is still going on because it allows Bush to do whatever he wants to do at home, as few people are paying attention to his disastrous climate-destroying agenda of pandering to mining/drilling interests. The man is giving our country's natural heritage and the health of our citizens away to the highest bidders.

IMPEACH NOW!

No Escape For Lame Duck Bush

Maybe this is what we need to do to our president to make him accountable to the press in THIS country - lock the doors to prevent him running from his detractors. Not that our press would ask the tough questions, naturally...

Joke of the Day

Q: How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Watching Bush Fall

Following all the stuff lately about the non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction has made me giggle. Massive props to the CIA head George Tenet for saying publicly that our lying chief executive is continuing his ways.

I'm not deluded enough to believe that the Republican Congress is going to allow him to be impeached, much less indicted. But hopefully history will show that this loser never had any business being in the White House. I'm not saying Al Gore would have been perfect (though I'm sure he wouldn't have raped the environment like the Bush Administration has) but he certainly would have been better than the pretender on the throne.