Boy King Babbles

The boy king babbles on! Yesterday, in a joint appearance with President Putin, Bush said the following:

I live in a transparent country. I live in a country where decisions made by government are wide open, and people are able to call people to -- me to account, which many out here do on a regular basis. Our laws, and the reasons why we have laws on the books, are perfectly explained to people. Every decision we have made is within the Constitution of the United States. We have a Constitution that we uphold. And if there is a question as to whether or not a law meets that Constitution, we have an independent court system, through which that law is reviewed.

So I'm perfectly comfortable in telling you, our country is one that safeguards human rights and human dignity, and we resolve our disputes in a peaceful way.

I am at a loss for words. In addition to sounding like an illiterate bumpkin, he describes a fantasy land that I’m sure even the most naive of Russians know doesn’t exist.

Gannon/Guckert Update 2-25

Talk about self-serving bullshit! Listen to what Jeff Gannon has to say on the newest incarnation of his website, jeffgannon.com.

“I'm baaaaaaack! If you thought I was going to slink away - then you don't know much about me. Someone still has to battle the Left and now that I've emerged from the crucible, I'm stronger than before.”

Apparently Gannon has forgotten what he posted on this very site two weeks ago.

“The voice goes silent. Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.”

So to Gannon, five days of silence followed by a few sporadic misleading interviews is the crucible. And now he emerges “stronger than before”.

In the only article on his so-called “Gannonblog” ostensibly written by Gannon, he betrays a level of hubris fitting of denizens of this White House. Mere days after the death of gonzo-journalist Hunter S. Thomson, Gannon dares to co-opt a Thompson title by calling his own drivel “Fear and Loathing in the Press Room”. I’m truly sorry that Thompson, and his long time lawyer companion, can’t pay Gannon a late night call and show him what “fear and loathing” are really all about.

In this ridiculous fantasy piece, Gannon claims that he made some good friends in the White House press pool who “welcomed the refreshing perspective” and “respected my courage for asking the questions that I did”. Oh Yeah Jeff, it really took courage to lob those softballs that actually made the rest of our lazy press corps look like real journalists. It took tremendous courage to post those Republican press notices on the Talon site under your name. What a hero!

Gannon goes on to tell of his fall in rather dramatic terms:

“The well-funded liberal attack machine, Media Matters, filled with operatives from the DNC and failed Democratic campaigns incited activist bloggers to wage a full-scale jihad against me.”

You flatter yourself Jeff. And, you misunderstand both the left and the blogosphere.

Many, many of us on the left are sick to death of the propaganda machine that has been perfected by this administration. Given the chance to uncover interesting information about a planted, fake journalist in the White House, we took action. As a blogger myself, I can say categorically that Media Matters has never contacted me, or otherwise “incited” me to wage a “jihad” against you. Your own obvious, hypocritical, shallow, clumsy, subservience to the neo-fascist war machine is what incited me. And Jeff, you continue to spin the myth that the kinkier side of your activities was personal and past. Neither are true.

In fact, you advertised yourself on the Web. – That’s not personal - it’s professional.

In fact, you still have ads running – That’s not past - it’s present.

Here is a screen shot, taken today, of your ad at meetlocalmen.com. Click the Meet Local Escorts button, then click on the DC area of the map, then click the next button 17 times and voila, there you are!

.

If one clicks on the “Email Me” button on your page, the mail is addressed to usmcpt@aol.com the email address that you used for all of these services. And, your add refers to you as Jeff/Bulldog and contains the same prurient details as all the other ads that have been purged from the net.

Another serious inaccuracy in your article Jeff is where you claim that “Now Democrats in Congress are demanding that the White House do more thorough investigation into the personal lives and sexual histories of reporters.” In fact, congressional Democrats are calling for in investigation into the lax security practices at the White House and the administration’s numerous attempts to pay for propaganda and disguise it as news. Your personal and sexual life have only served to underline how phony your claims to be a journalist really are. Your charge that ”The Left is engaging in “21st Century McCarthyism “. . . “ is truly bizarre. Perhaps it’s your young age. McCarthy was a Senator. McCarthyism was persecution by the government of anyone with a political beliefs. It expanded into persecution of anyone McCarthy chose to persecute. In your case, the government is all too comfortable with your political beliefs. If you think that having the truth told about you is persecution, then you have a lot to learn.

Finally, the new “Gannonblog” is so far merely a collection of pointers to articles on other sites by other authors. It appears to be set up to look as if you had been working on it for some time. Unfortunately for you, some of us can read dates and would have no trouble imagining the creation of this entire incarnation of jeffgannon.com in one afternoon.

I guess to sum it up all I can say is, once a phony, always a phony!

Oh Canada

When you can’t get along with a country like Canada, it’s time to rethink your approach.

I live about 30 miles from Canada. Going there, other than the wait at the border, is a shorter drive than many metropolitan dwellers take to cross town. Once there, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference. Dairy farms in Canada look just like dairy farms in the U.S. People in Canada look just like people in the U.S. The flags are different and the road signs are metric but for the most part, the imaginary line makes no difference. But that won’t stop the Bush administration’s Canadian phase of their push to alienate and bully every nation on earth.

Recently, the Canadian government announced that it would not be participating in any further efforts toward the U.S. Missile Defense Shield, once known as the Star Wars Defense System. Did the U.S. gracefully acknowledge the right of this free and independent country to decide how it’s money and resources would be spent in this area? Not on your life!

U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, warned that Canada had given up it’s sovereignty. Despite Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s assertion that Canada would control their own airspace, Cellucci said that the U.S. would continue with development of the system. “We will defend North America.”, said the U.S. Ambassador.

The nub of the argument goes like this. The U.S. (actually the neo-fascist military-industrial cabal that controls the U.S.) is forging ahead with a re-constituted version of the Reagan era Star Wars system. Even though nearly every test of this futuristic boondoggle has failed, the true-believers (actually big investors) continue to tout a future where we are safe under an umbrella of computer controlled automatic weapons.

Canada, as a sovereign independent country has democratically chosen not to dump any more of their resources down this high-tech rat hole.

The U.S. (actually the neo-fascist military-industrial cabal that controls the U.S.) has declared that by acting independently, Canada has sacrificed her independence.

These people (the neo-fascist military-industrial cabal that controls the U.S.) are completely out of control. The Star Wars system is postulated to deal with a threat that is largely non-existent. The idea of a large scale missile attack on the U.S. is a remnant of the cold war. It has been amply demonstrated by now that nations like Russia and China are much too interested in economic progress to start a war of nuclear annihilation. The missile threat now, such as it is, comes from “rogue states” like North Korea. Building an impossibly expensive and problematic missile defense shield to deal with the possibility of one or two missiles is absurd. We would be way ahead both financially and in terms of security to take whatever diplomatic steps are necessary to reach some accord with these “rogue nations”.

Meanwhile, the real threats to our security come from terrorist organizations. The chance of a small nuclear device being smuggled into one of our ports is much higher than the chance of a missile coming our way. It would require much less money, require much lower technology, be harder to retaliate against and have a much higher chance of success than a solitary missile launch. But the Bushies and their friends find the profit potential of a diversified defense system to be too limited. So, they pursue their bullying, aggressive policies, even with our oldest friends and allies.

If the U.S. defense priority were terrorism, then countries like Canada would be our most important allies since they control many of our entry points. A strong, cooperative relationship with them would help the U.S. control who comes in our back door.

Instead, we have spit in their faces and said: “We’re bigger, tougher and better armed. You can’t stop us. We’ll do whatever we want.”

Gannon/Guckert Update 2-24

There is more and more mainstream attention being paid to the Gannon/Guckert saga.

Here is a pretty funny cartoon from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette.

And, no less than Fox News now has coverage.

Campbell Brown interviewed Gannon/Guckert on the Today Show this morning. A video clip is available courtesy of Crooks and Liars. Brown did a good job of raising the questions. Gannon/Guckert did his usual job of saying nothing. He claims that there is a little truth in what we’ve heard along with a lot of inaccuracies. But, he won’t clear up which is which.

Also today, the San Francisco Chronicle published an editorial on the situation. In it, they quote Sen. Joe Biden as suggesting the White House may be guilty of “sheer, friggin' incompetence” for allowing Gannon/Guckert in.

Talon News (Not)

This evening I discovered that Talon News has disappeared completely. All that remains at their website is a message saying in part that they "feel compelled to reevaluate operations in order to provide the highest quality, most professional product possible."

Can you imagine if the N.Y. Times suddenly closed up shop to "reevaluate operations" after taking some criticism over the actions of one of their writers?

This whole thing, to quote a friend, "just keeps gettin' curiouser and curiouser."

Talon News?

As a footnote to today’s Gannon/Guckert report, here’s an update on Talon News.

Remember, Talon News is a legitimate news agency. The description of Talon on their website’s about page reads as follows:

“Talon News is a news company which covers political, national, and world news. Talon News focuses on those stories often overlooked by other media outlets”

So the question for today is, why has Talon News removed or passworded all ‘news’ reports on their website and even those that refer one to GOPUSA?

Could it be that Talon is feeling a little less than legitimate?

Your Help is Needed

Your help is needed in keeping the ball rolling on the investigation into how Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert was allowed to serve as White House correspondent, at times without any journalistic affiliation. In addition, there is strong evidence that Gannon/Guckert was involved in both the CBS/Dan Rather memo affair and the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity.

Senator Dick Durbin has written a letter to George Bush formally asking him to investigate this matter. The letter is currently circulating among Senators who are being encouraged to sign it.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to sign Durbin’s letter and support an investigation of Gannon/Guckert and his activities.

Meanwhile, Congressman John Conyers has joined Congresswoman Louise Slaughter in writing two letters about this affair. One, to the GAO, calls for an investigation, while the other to Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor investigating the Plame leak, suggests that he might want to subpoena Gannon/Guckert’s diary, which he revealed yesterday to Editor & Publisher.

Please contact your Representatives and ask them to support Representatives Conyers and Slaughter.

Also, the mainstream media is beginning to cover Gannon/Guckert. A selection of articles is listed on Daily Kos. An editorial, published today in the Detroit Free Press, absolutely nails the key questions that need to be answered here.

Let’s keep this moving. There is more than enough evidence already to indicate some serious problems. The more attention we can focus on this, the less energy the Administration has to pursue their corrupt agenda.

At Least They're Free!

Bush’s attempts to control all events that he participates in ran into a snag in Germany today. For several weeks, Bush’s handlers have been building anticipation for a “town hall style” meeting with German citizens. The idea was for Bush to be able to sell his ideas to an audience of ordinary people, among whom he has contended that the U.S. is misunderstood.

However, the Germans being a free people, attempts to manage the meeting by pre-approving all the questions failed. Given the prospect of the idiot-in-chief talking off-the-cuff to a group of intelligent, angry Germans, the handlers decided to cancel. When filtered through the language of diplomacy, this event merely disappears from the agenda and is not spoken of by either side.

Meanwhile, a new event is on the agenda. Bush will meet with a group of 20, “well heeled” young people. The participants in this closed forum were “handpicked by several US organizations with offices in Germany”. To insure that nothing takes place that might embarrass the boy king, no journalists will be allowed to attend.

Are We Free?

A letter to the editor of my local paper brought this to my attention.

There are approximately 9 million people imprisoned on planet earth. 2.03 million of those are in the United States which accounts for about 23% of the total.

Even more telling are the rates of imprisonment which tell us the number of people imprisoned per 100,000 of population. The United States has the highest rate of imprisonment of any country in the world. That’s right, the United States, land of the free, has 701 people imprisoned per 100,000 of population.

Here are the rates of the top dozen countries as compiled by the Research, Development and Statistics Directorate of the British Home Office in their report The World Prison Population List (fifth edition):

U.S. ----- 701
Russia ----- 606
Belarus ----- 554
Kazakhstan ----- 522
U.S. Virgin Islands ----- 522
Cayman Islands ----- 501
Turkmenistan ----- 489
Belize ----- 459
Bermuda ----- 447
Suriname ----- 437
Dominica ----- 420
Ukraine ----- 415

In contrast, over 60% of countries have rates below 150 per 100,000. The rates of some of the countries that the boy king is currently lecturing on the value of freedom may give us a clue as to how they will receive his message.

England & Wales ----- 141
Scotland ----- 129
Ireland ----- 85
France ----- 93
Germany ----- 98
Austria ----- 100
Netherlands ----- 100
Italy ----- 100
Greece ----- 80

Call me naïve, but I think that imprisonment rates are one indicator of how free a society really is.

Spin 102

Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert’s return to the media spotlight, both last night with Anderson Cooper and in today’s Washington Post, has shown us exactly how the right-wing noise machine will attempt to spin his story.

• A reporter’s sexual history should not be fair game as a means of undermining his credibility. (perhaps, except when said reporter consistently hypocritically bashes that particular lifestyle)
• A reporter’s personal life should not be fair game as a means of undermining his credibility. (perhaps, except when that personal life is professional and advertised on the internet)
• The lefties are hypocrites when they criticize Gannon/Guckert while claiming to believe in free speech and privacy. (perhaps, except that free speech refers to ones’ own opinions, not taking payment for reprinting partisan positions)
• Past mistakes shouldn’t prevent one from being a journalist. (perhaps, except that the past is present, the mistakes are ongoing and he never was a journalist)

Watch to see how many times these ‘talking points’ are repeated verbatim on the talking head shows this weekend. No doubt, Gannon/Guckert’s week of silence was used to devise this strategy and coach him on how to stay ‘on message’.

Fair and Balanced (Spin 101)

Just in case you’ve missed this particular wrinkle in the Social Security story, I re-hash it here. It is important, both as an example of how the righties will do anything to spin a story their way and as specific information to watch out for on the Social Security front.

On the Feb. 3 edition of Special Report with Brit Hume, Hume said the following:

In a written statement to Congress in 1935, Roosevelt said that any Social Security plans should include, "Voluntary contributory annuities, by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age," adding that government funding, "ought to ultimately be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans."

This all sounds well and good. The problem is that the FDR quotes are taken out of context to make the point that Hume and the righties want us to believe. Three paragraphs from FDR’s message to congress on Jan. 17, 1935 give us a clear picture of what he was calling for. (bold emphasis added)

It is overwhelmingly important to avoid any danger of permanently discrediting the sound and necessary policy of Federal legislation for economic security by attempting to apply it on too ambitious a scale before actual experience has provided guidance for the permanently safe direction of such efforts. The place of such a fundamental in Our future civilization is too precious to be jeopardized now by extravagant action. It is a sound idea--a sound ideal. Most of the other advanced countries of the world have already adopted it and their experience affords the knowledge that social insurance can be made a sound and workable project.

In that paragraph, FDR is obviously talking about social insurance. In other words, a plan to create a level below which no one would fall.

Three principles should be observed in legislation on this subject. First, the system adopted, except for the money necessary to initiate it, should be self-sustaining in the sense that funds for the payment of insurance benefits should not come from the proceeds of general taxation. Second, excepting in old-age insurance, actual management should be left to the States subject to standards established by the Federal Government. Third, sound financial management of the funds and the reserves, and protection of the credit structure of the Nation should be assured by retaining Federal control over all funds through trustees in the Treasury of the United States.

In that paragraph, FDR is telling congress that this new system should be set up to pay for itself and that the money collected should only be invested in the Treasury of the U.S. itself. This statement amounts to an outright negation of the idea of stock market investing.

In the important field of security for our old people, it seems necessary to adopt three principles: First, non-contributory old-age pensions for those who are now too old to build up their own insurance. It is, of course, clear that for perhaps thirty years to come funds will have to be provided by the States and the Federal Government to meet these pensions. Second, compulsory contributory annuities which in time will establish a self-supporting system for those now young and for future generations. Third, voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans.

This is the paragraph that Hume chose to misuse. Notice that in Hume’s version, he neglects to mention that FDR was outlining three principles for the establishment of the Social Security System and that his (Hume’s) quote is drawn from the third principle. That third principle was that encouraging people to invest voluntarily could increase their incomes in old age. The third principle says nothing about replacing compulsory contributions with private investments.

The next sentence in Roosevelt’s statement, which Hume uses only part of, refers back to the first principle of non-contributory old-age pensions. To get the system active and to take care of those who were too old to contribute sufficiently at that time, FDR was proposing that the government pay half the cost temporarily (he mentions “perhaps thirty years”) and that eventually the government contribution could be “supplanted” by reserves created over time by the compulsory contributions. This has nothing to do with the second principle in which FDR states quite clearly that the compulsory contributions would fund a self supporting system for the future.

It is obvious, in just this one document, that FDR’s intention was to create a social safety net that would function in perpetuity. Both from the number of times that he used terms like security and insurance as well as the context of the great depression, an honest reading of his words can lead one to no other conclusion.

Gannon/Gucker Breaks His (5 day) Silence

Jeff/Jim Gannon/Guckert appeared tonight on Anderson Cooper 360. It appears that Gannon/Guckert has spent the last 5 days at republican spin school. Basically all he had to say in answer to some tough questions by Cooper was that its’ not fair to “go after my personal life” and that his “personal life” has nothing to do with being a journalist.

Well Jeff/Jim – here’s the bottom line:

First, it’s not your personal life – it’s your professional life – you’re ads as Bulldog the escort are still online as I write this post.

CAUTION: The following 3 links contain adult material which may not be suitable for all audiences. Look at your own risk.

Your ads, offering your ‘services’ at $1200 per weekend are found at studfiles, workingboys and meetlocalmen

Second: You’re not a journalist. As Anderson Cooper pointed out, journalists to research and investigation. Journalists don’t publish verbatim copies of press releases with their names attached. Journalists go to school and work consistently in the industry. Journalists don’t hide when some heat comes along.

You can watch Anderson Cooper interview Jeff/Jim by clicking here.

You can read a transcript of the interview by clicking here.

Amazing Security Gap

If the story Scott McClellan told Anne Kornblut for the N.Y. Times is true then a terrorist could easily gain access to the White House press briefings and presidential news conferences. McClellan paints a picture of a really lax process that practically anyone who could pass an instant background check, in other words anyone without a criminal background, could get a daily press pass. He goes on to state that ‘lower-level’ press aides decide which organizations get into the room. So, in addition to a clean background, some desktop publishing and Photoshop skills would be useful to construct materials for a phony organization. According to Kornblut, once Gannon established himself as a reporter, no one asked him any further questions. So essentially, any reasonably skilled con-artist could quickly gain regular access to the White House.

Earlier I said a terrorist could gain access and I’m sure a couple of you thought of someone named Ahmed. Before you dismiss my idea based on ethnicity, remember Tim McVeigh. He was every bit as much a terrorist as any Al Qaeda.

And, while I’m sure that reporters are scanned for weapons every time they enter, somehow the ease of entry that McClellan suggests just seems completely wrong to me. I’m sure that, with the money, resources and patience that Al Qaeda has shown in the past, they could come up with an undetectable weapon.

Are all the people that work in this White House really that stupid?

Glitch Report

No, you’re not losing it. The sidebar, which contains my profile and favorite links, that normally appears to the right of this column has disappeared. I have contacted blogger support to find out why. Stay tuned!

Gannon privy to Classified Info?

This morning John at Americablog, whose information on this story has proved highly accurate, reports that a "news producer for a major network" has told him that Gannon/Guckert knew about the 'shock and awe' opening of the Iraq war four hours before it was announced to the nation by George Bush.

If correct, this is a highly disturbing development. The farther this investigation goes, the more it looks like Gannon/Guckert was known, approved and fed information by someone in the White House.

This story is gaining coverage in the main stream. Articles appeared today in the Seattle P.I., the New York Times, the New York Daily News and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This story is beginning to show signs of what they call 'legs' in the news business.

Widespread Insecurity

Spoken in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee Feb 16 2005:

"It may only be a matter of time before Al Qaeda or another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons."

CIA Director Porter Goss

“Several Al Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons.”

Deputy Director of Homeland Security Admiral James M. Loy

The National Intelligence Reform Act, signed by Bush on Dec. 17, 2004, called for the addition of 10,000 additional Border Patrol agents over 5 years. 80% of those agents would be for the border with Mexico. 10,000 spread over 5 years would be 2000 per year. Bush’s budget proposal for 2006 only includes funding for 210.

So, does Bush simply not care if we are infiltrated and attacked or are his intelligence and security people lying in order to distract us from the failing Social Security Road Show and the Gannon/Guckert debacle?

Social Insecurity

Click on the image below to calculate your lost benefits from Bush's Social Insecurity Plan.

Death Squads as a Moral Value

The nomination of John “Death Squad” Negroponte to serve as the first Director of National Intelligence shows us once again how little questions of morality or values enter into Bush Administration decisions. Despite mountains of circumstantial evidence that show that Negroponte ignored human rights abuses in Honduras while simultaneously pressing the Reagan Administrations illegal war in support of the Contras of Nicaragua, he has once again been proffered as the best candidate for a prominent position.

Negroponte is another of the thugs that continue to resurface time after time in republican circles since the Reagan years. His shady background has been brought up each time his name surfaces in relation to some important post. In the spring of this year, Negroponte was named ambassador to Iraq. Many felt that his reputation for human rights abuses should disqualify him.

When he was nominated to be the US ambassador to the UN, in 2001, his background was also extensively outlined. Nevertheless, he was confirmed. It is patently obvious that these criminals do not care in the least about human rights or even the appearance of human values. You can find more about what was revealed about Negroponte here, here and here.

When I lived in the country, there was a widely touted home-remedy for a dog that kills chickens. According to folk wisdom, one should tie the dead chicken around the neck of the dog to discourage it’s bad behavior.

For Bush’s continual talk of a culture of life, and his portrayal of himself as a beacon of moral values, the penalty should be to have Negroponte tied around his neck.

This is Serious!

Underneath all the jokes about hotmilitarystuds and 'escorts' lies a set of extremely serious issues. Two articles in the N.Y. Times and one on Salon.com add new information to the growing scandal. If the White House is allowed to get away with using a fake reporter to set up questions in their press briefings and to destroy the career of a CIA agent merely to politically spite her husband, then we are much farther along the road to fascism then we previously had thought. Please take a few minutes to contact your legislators and ask them to take this seriously. I sent the following this morning.

Senator,

I am writing to ask that you join Senator Lautenberg and Representatives Slaughter and Conyers in calling for a release of information from the White House about what level of security checking and who facilitated fake reporter Jeff Gannon's presence in the White House press room.

It is now certain that Gannon, who's real name is Guckert, was never a journalist. It is now certain that he was in the White House before the origination of the Talon News Service that he claimed was his first job in journalism. Salon.com, among others this morning, has proof that Gannon/Guckert attended a White House briefing on Feb. 28 2003. That proof, in the form of a video clip from the CSPAN cameras, solidifies both Gannon/Guckert's unprecedentd access and the fact that both he and Scott McClellan have been lying about it. The Talon News Service, which McLellan explained met the crtieria of publishing frequently, did not even come into existence until late March of 2003. So, it seems obvious now that Talon was created to package Gannon/Guckert, not the other way around.

While Gannon/Guckert has a shady other side that includes gay pornography and tax evasion, those are not the reasons to call for a complete release of information.

The reasons for pursuing an investigation of this incident are both security and propaganda. If no one in the White House sidestepped normal security to let Gannon/Guckert in then the security surrounding the President is in dire need of repair. If someone did sidestep normal security, the system is still in need of repair.

Propaganda is an evil mis-use of one of our sacred fundamental principles, the free press. This incident is the fourth documented time that the Bush administration has used the press as a conduit for their own agenda while pretending that the information was news. Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus have all been shown to have taken money for representing administration political positions. Now we have Gannon/Guckert lobbing propagandized questions at McLellan and the President. This should not be allowed to stand.

Finally, Gannon/Guckert has placed himself squarely in the middle of the Valerie Plame leak investigation. This leak compromised assets around the world that were helping our CIA to work against nuclear proliferation. This act, which was surely a federal felony and most likely an act of treason, may be the single most serious violation committed by the group in the White House who place themselves above the law. This act alone deserves complete investigation and someone should be held accountable.

Given all those reasons, I strongly urge you to publicly join with your colleagues in calling for a special investigation of Gannon/Guckert, what he knows about Valerie Plame and who allowed him into the White House.

Thank You,

We Deserve Answers

The strange story of the White House non-reporter who now appears to have a second life as a gay internet prostitute has several serious implications that should not be overlooked.

It now seems certain that Jeff Gannon is a creation of the mind of James Guckert and that Guckert, contrary to his protestations, is not a journalist but a gay male prostitute. (WARNING! the preceding link includes some adult content) According to Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post, a California web designer has said that he “designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request”.

All this, primarily driven by blogs, has created a buzz in the main-stream. However, much of the buzz is the usual attempts to suppress anything unfavorable to the Bushies. One line of deflection is about the blogs themselves. Issues of credentials, credibility and paying one’s dues are all mentioned. The other distraction is whether or not it’s appropriate to look at the personal life a reporter. Some have called foul on mentioning that Gannon/Guckert was marketing himself (literally) on websites like militaryescortsm4m.com. The efforts at distraction tell me several things. In addition to the mainstream feeling some pressure from the blogs, I believe the Administration is feeling some pressure as well.

Here are some reasons why we should not let this story die.

It is about security. We know for sure that Gannon/Guckert was not qualified to be a White Houser reporter. We know for sure that he acted as one for over 2 years. Breaking news this afternoon confirms that he was attending White House briefings as early as Feb. 28, 2003, before his so-called news service, Talon News, even existed. So how did this men gain access?

If not a security breach, then the White House planted this untrained, inexperienced “journalist” in the pressroom to lob setup questions to Bush and McClellan. If he was planted, this would be the fourth instance of the Bushies using the media directly for propaganda.

Gannon/Guckert has placed himself right in the middle of the Valerie Plame investigation. This involves a federal felony at the least and perhaps treason as Ms. Plame’s network of contacts throughout the world were exposed by the leak.

Hypocrisy! A gay, prostitute impersonates a journalist right in front of the man who promised to “bring honor and integrity back to the White House". Remember, this White House is the family values administration who claim to have won the election on the question of values. That opens their actions to scrutiny on the values level.

Late reports today are that many legislators are interested and quietly encouraging about this story but they lack the courage to publicly demand an explanation from the White House. Senator Frank Lautenberg has sent a letter to George Bush asking for all documentation on the credentialing of Gannon/Guckert. Two members of Congress, Jon Conyers and Louise Slaughter have filed a Freedom of Information Request with the Homeland Security Department asking for all records having to do with the authorization of Guckert/Gannon to attend White House Press events.

These legislators need support. Contact your Representatives and Senators and ask them to support Lautenberg in the Senate and Conyers and Slaughter in the House. Ask them to take a public stand on this and put pressure on the White House to release this information. There is no national security interest here, thus no possible need for secrecy save politics.

Class Warfare

In an article in today’s Seattle Times, the presidents of Washington State’s six public universities called for more funding from the State Legislature to “avoid a crisis in the higher-education system”. The presidents, along with students, were participating in Higher Education Day, a day of lobbying the legislators to increase funding. Stephen Jordan, president of Eastern Washington University, described the current system as headed for a crisis. Class sizes have continued to grow while number of faculty and their salaries have change very little. Tuition costs have increased steadily for at least a decade.

From 1999 through 2004, average undergraduate university tuition for a resident of Washington increased from $3638 to $4863 per year or a 33.7% increase for the cost of 4 years. During those same years, the average faculty salary at Washington’s 6 public universities increased from $54,230 to $61,239 or around 13%.

However, a look at the compensation for the presidents of these universities shows a trend similar to that in the corporate world. The chart below shows the increases in dollars and percentages for these six presidents from 1999 through 2004. The average salary for these 6 presidents has increased from $145,117 in 1999 to $248,421 in 2004. That is an increase of around 71%.. Do you know anyone who has received that kind of increases? I sure don’t!

In addition, the salary numbers only tell part of the story for university presidents. Most of them receive additional compensation such as free housing, automobiles and even deferred payments. For example, President Mark Emmert, of the University of Washington, received a $160,000 signing bonus for taking the job. He also has the use of a mansion, which is undergoing $540,000 in renovations. While Emmert and his wife are displaced from the mansion, they are being housed in a $6000 per month condominium rent free. Emmert’s contract also includes a $120,000 per year deferred payment if he stays 5 years and the use of several automobiles. His salary and benefits package totals $762,000 per year. (note the President of the U.S. only makes $400,000 per year)

One of the top arguments one will hear if this subject is broached is that not all of that money comes from taxpayers. It is true that some of it is from private donations. But, money is money. It seems to me that private donations could be raised to lower the cost of tuition, build buildings, raise salaries and all the other needs that seem so apparent in higher education today. In order to do that, though, the fundraiser would have to be altruistic. Is anyone twisting the arms of donors to put their money into education instead of presidential perks and sports programs? From the look of the numbers, I think not.

The bottom line on this seems to me to look a lot like class warfare. Just as in the business world, the gap between the bottom and the top is increasing. Just as in the business world, more creative rationalizations are being used to explain why the elite should be so well compensated. Just as in the business world, the ordinary people are paying, whether in dollars, in time or in decreased services, while the elite grow richer every day.

Even though the entire amount of money spent on these presidents is small compared to the fiscal problems in our state, the elitist lifestyles they exhibit send entirely the wrong message to the hardworking faculty and students of our universities and colleges.

Click Here to View Salary Chart for Washington University Presidents

* Salary figures available at 2004, 2003, 2001 and 1999

The Meat Ax Update

(Note: Against the Madness is now hosted on it's own domain at: www.againstmadness.com )

A few more interesting budget cuts were detailed this morning in USA Today. They appear below marked with a red * (see below)

"It is a fair, reasonable, responsible, serious piece of effort. It's not something we have done with a meat ax, nor are we suddenly turning our backs on the most needy people in our society."

Dick Cheney

If not done with a meat ax, perhaps they used an improvised explosive device! The Budget proposal from the Bushies clearly shows their true priorities now that there's no election to worry about.

This post is an experiment. I thought seeing all these numbers in one place might be useful. It is my intention to update this list as things progress. It is a work in progress.

Much of the intitial research on this was done by the Center for American Progress and can be found in their daily progress reports for Feb. 7, 2005 and Feb. 8, 2005

Increases in Spending:

• Social Security Privatization ------------- 1.5 Trillion
• Additional Tax Cuts --------------------- 2 Trillion / 10 yrs
• Enforcement of Tax Laws --------------- 1/2 Billion (7.8%)
• Defense Department -------------------- 4.8% to 419 Billion
• New Embassy in Iraq -------------------- 1.5 Billion
• Iraq & Afghanistan (not included above) -- 5 Billion per month
• Promoting Sexual Abstinence ------------- 38 million increase
• Medicare Prescription Drug Bill
  orignally estimated at 400 billion ----------720 billion *

Cuts in Programs/Benefits

• Job Training Funds ---------------------- 1/2 Billion
• Grants to local police --------------------- 90% - from 600 Mil to 60 Mil
• Grants to firefighters -------------------- 215 Million
• Drug co-pays for Veterans --------------- 200% increase
• Veterans access to healthcare ------------ $250 per year fee
• Centers for Disease Control -------------- 9% cut
• CDC - Public Health Emergency Fund ---- 12.6% cut
• Training for Health Professionals --------- 64% cut
• Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injuries ----- Eliminated
• Collection of stem cells from cord blood ----- Eliminated
• Low Income Heating Assistance -----------8.4% cut
  ------last year - L.I. Heating Assistance --- 23% cut
• Projected avergage increase
  in home heating cost ---------------------- 24 % increase
• Department of Health & Human Services --- 2.4% cut to 68 Billion
• Program for Chronic Disease Prevention ---- 6.5% cut
• Block Grants to "address urgent health
  problems" ---------------------------------- Eliminated (131 million)
• National Institutes of Health ---------------- 3.4% effective cut
• Reduction of your S.S. benefit for each
  $1.00 in your private account ------------- $1.03
• Increased fees on a variety of things from
  beer to airline tickets - essentially a
  middle class tax hike ---------------------- 5.3 Billion in additional fees
• Actual cost of Medicare Prescription Drug
  Bill vs. original estimate ------------------- 195 Billion increase over 5 years
• Environmental Protection Agency ---------- 5.6% cut
• Funding for Clean Water ------------------ 369 Million cut
• National Park Service --------------------- 90 Million cut
• Funding for State Incarceration of illegal
• aliens who commit crimes --------- Eliminated (300 million)
• Vocational Education ----------------Eliminated (1.2 billion)
• National Youth Sports Program ------- Eliminated (18 million)
• Grants for Drug Free Schools ------- Eliminated ( 437 million)
• Education Technology Grants under
  No Child Left Behind Act ------------- Eliminated ( 496 million)
• Robert Byrd Scholarship Fund -------- Eliminated ( 41 million)
• Media Campaign to combat obesity
  in children ---------------------------Eliminated ( 59 million)
• Assistance to Northwest loggers in
  declining job market ------------------ Eliminated ( 6 million )
• Assistance to rural communities
  in purchasing fire engines ---------- Eliminated ( 10 million)
• Byrne Justice Assistance Grants - aid local
  police - violent and drug crime -- Eliminated ( 626 million)
• Domestic food safety inspections --- Cut 5% *
• Foreign Drug Plant inspections ---- Cut 5.8% *
  (think Flu vaccine!)
• Oversight of Blood Banks ---------- Cut 4.7% *

Budget Deficit

• Bush's calculation -------------------------- 319 Billion
  does not include Iraq, Afghanistan or
  Social Security Privatization
• Artic National Wildlife Area drilling fees ---- 1.2 Billion
  drilling is not approved by Congress
  without these fees Bush's calculation ------ 320.2 Billion
  
  

What We're Up Against II

For years, the neo-con right has poured money and energy into building a structure to dominate US political life. Due to their alliance with corporate interests (thus the term fascist), they have undoubtedly had more money available to work with than the progressives. Fortunately for the progressives/liberals, we have more truth to work with.

Recently, the Jeff Gannon / phony reporter story has given us a window into part of the apparatus used by these people to advance their causes. Their approach is every bit as strategic as if they were fighting a blood and bullets war. And, I have no doubt that some of them would do that too if they felt it would help.

Jim Guckert, aka. Jeff Gannon, apparently received his ‘journalism training’ from an outfit called “The Leadership Institute”. A look at this Institute gives us a glimpse of the money, organization and also the ideological fervor that is driving the neo-con agenda. From the very first page of this web site, the goal of neo-con dominance is obvious. I have noticed how often these people tell us exactly what they are up to, a good example being Dick Cheney’s remark about using a “meat ax” on the budget which turns out to be exactly what they did. But I digress.

Gracing the front page of “The Leadership Institute” is the following statement:

“The Leadership Institute’s Mission is to identify, recruit, train and place conservatives in politics, government and media.”

The page also features prominent links to “The Campus Leadership Program”, designed to infiltrate college campuses and “Conservative Jobs”, a compilation of conservative placements throughout the country.

Guckert/Gannon’s bio, which has since been removed from the Talon News site, called him a graduate of the Leadership Institute’s “Broadcast School of Journalism”. The “Broadcast School of Journalism” is a two day seminar led by Morton Blackwell who also is noted for co-founding the Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell. According to various sources, Blackwell was the delegate at the 2004 Republican convention who handed out purple bandaids to other delegates as a show of mocking John Kerry’s purple hearts. He was also one of Karl Rove’s early mentors.

The Leadership Institute proudly describes their Broadcast Journalism School as follows:

The Broadcast Journalism School is a one-stop, full-service seminar for conservatives who want a career in journalism. You'll learn information you won't receive anywhere else and get personalized advice from our expert faculty:

· Learn how to find good internships and make the most of them
· Gain networking skills to help you land your job and increase your effectiveness
· Develop a top-notch resume and learn how to make yourself stand out in an interview
· Learn a proven, step-by-step job hunting strategy and much more

An intense two-day seminar, the Broadcast Journalism School is designed to give aspiring journalists the skills necessary to bring balance to the media and succeed in this highly competitive field.

All this is available in a two day workshop for a fee of $50 that includes meals, course materials and even free housing on a space available basis.

In addition to Broadcast Journalism School, the Leadership Institute also offers a number of other classes such as Effective Television Techniques, Grassroots Communications, Internet Activism and Student Publications. On the training page of their website, they proudly display the names of former students including Senator Mitch McConnell, Congressman Mark Souder, Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist, who is one of the prime architects of the Social Security ‘crisis’.

In a telephone conversation last Thursday afternoon, a woman called Inez proudly described the Broadcast Journalism School to the Ed Shultz radio show. During that conversation, she mentioned some connection between the Institute and journalist Robert Novak. This connection is especially intriguing as Novak was the journalist who first identified CIA agent Valery Plame and then later refused to identify his source. Recently, Guckert/Gannon has been connected to the same leak.

So the bottom line is this: The ultra-right, neo-con, fascist conspiracy that Hillary Clinton referred to years ago is a reality. The furor over Guckert/Gannon’s acceptance into the White House on a daily basis for over a year has given us a glimpse into the workings of the conspiracy as well.

Organizations like The Leadership Institute serve as fronts for recruiting and indoctrinating people to serve throughout the system in furtherance of the neo-conservative, fascist agenda. While they frequently hide behind Christian principles, a close look at their amoral operations shows that this is merely a political manipulation.

Progressive/Liberals need to become more aware of both these organizations and their activities and most importantly, they need to become more organized themselves. This is a struggle for the very survival of our way of life and we must not allow these people to win.

What We're Up Against

Why do you suppose that a “large network of influential conservative groups” is joining forces to help the White House win the public relations battles on Social Security Privatization and lawsuit reform? Could it be that “corporate America, the financial services industry, conservative think tanks” and others are that concerned about the need to insure that retirees in 2043 get their full benefits? Could it be that they are that concerned about the effect lawsuits are having on the price of our goods? Could those concerns be why they are planning to spend “$200 million or more” to convince us that now is the time that we have to deal with these ‘crises’?

I think it’s more likely just old fashioned greed. And, the fact that they know their window of opportunity is narrow. Given the current state of the economy and the dawning realization that these changes to vital programs do not benefit ordinary people, the Republican dominance of congress may not last very long.

Meanwhile, progressives and liberals need to step up their activity level to resist the $200+ million dollar tide of brainwashing bullshit that is about to descend on us. These neo-con fascist freaks think they can buy anything they want to by just applying enough corporate money and advertising. We must resist while there is still enough of this country left to allow resistance.

The Free World

While answering questions after a joint appearance with Polish President Kwasniewski yesterday, the boy king uttered the following:

“The Iranians just need to know that the free world is working together to send a very clear message: Don't develop a nuclear weapon.”

Someone needs to explain to this incurious blunderer that the phrase ‘free world’ refers to the old division between the countries in the Soviet Union and the rest of the planet. Since the Soviet Union dissolved, the term is obsolete.

Perhaps Bush wants us to see Iran in the same light as the old Soviet Union. Or perhaps this is just the result of having Condi the Sovietoloist as his main foreign policy advisor.

More on Gannon

If my earlier post about the apparently fake journalist Jeff Gannon tweaked your curiosity at all then you really should take a few minutes and look at this compilation of information produced primarily by the collaborators at The Daily Kos. The summary version reads as a chronology so you can see how the different pieces interrelate. There is also a longer version that has lots of links and sourcing information.

The short form of this is that ‘Jeff Gannon’, or whatever his name really is, may well have been the person that Valerie Plame’s name was leaked to. This in addition to his being planted in the White House Press Corps as an outlet for Administration propaganda.

This is really outrageous!

Another Laugh

The following was sent to me my email - author unkown:

Wednesday was Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address. It is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog.

Just for Laughs

We need to maintain a sense of humor about all this when we can. To further that end, here is a funny link for you.

CAUTION! This link does contain mild profanity.

Enjoy!

Truly Weird II

George Bush, speaking on Feb. 4 at the 5th stop on his five state tour to promote his Social Security agenda explained his plan as follows: (at least that’s what he claimed to be doing)

THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

Okay, better? I'll keep working on it. (Laughter.)

Can there be any doubt that this man has no idea what he is talking about?

Truly Weird

This is truly weird. Apparently, there has been a GOP operative posing as a journalist under an assumed name receiving White House credentials to attend and participate in daily new briefings. Jeff Gannon (not his real name), who claimed to be a journalist with the Talon News Service, has drawn attention for over a year as one who consistently produces administration friendly questions that seem to offer Press Secretary Scott McClellan and Bush himself an easy out. Frequently, these “softballs” are served on a bed of right-wing propaganda.

Dan Froomkin, who produces the column “White House Briefing” in the Washington Post has documented a number of biased, questions, frequently delivered at a time when McClellan needed the relief. Recently, the controversy surrounding Gannon has heated up after he presented Bush with the following set-up question during a January 26 press conference.

“Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock-solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?”

This serves as a good example of the political agenda fostered by Gannon. The reference to Harry Reid and “soup lines” turns out to be a lie. Gannon later admitted that he got the term from a Rush Limbaugh monologue and that, in fact, Reid had never mentioned “soup lines”.

Joe Strupp, writing in Editor and Publisher, brings many of the misgivings about Gannon being expressed by other White House reporters to the fore. Strupp quotes Bob Deans, who covers the White House for Cox newspapers: "I think Jeff's questions suggest he has a pretty strong partisan bent that is at odds with the mission of White House correspondents who go to those meetings on behalf of the public,"

Strupp goes on to relate that Gannon was refused a congressional press pass in April of 2004 because he was unable to establish that Talon News was a legitimate news service, unaffiliated with any political organization. The inability to qualify for a congressional pass led to inability to get a White House credential as well. To circumvent this problem, Gannon has apparently asked for and received a temporary pass on a daily basis. Strupp was unable to get any comment from the White House Press Office on this practice.

But Gannon’s involvement in things clandestine doesn’t stop there. While interviewing Joe Wilson, husband of outed CIA operative Valerie Plame, in October of 2003, Gannon claimed to have seen an “An internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel” implicating Plame in selecting Wilson to investigate the yellow cake - Niger connection. Gannon apparently was rewarded for his efforts with a subpoena before the Grand Jury investigating the Plame affair. The revelation of Plame’s CIA employment appears to have been retaliation against Wilson for his outspoken criticism of Bush for making the yellow cake claim after Wilson had debunked it for Dick Cheney’s staff.

Now, due in part to investigations by a number of organizations, including The Daily Kos and Media Matters, Jeff Gannon seems to have disappeared. Although not conclusive, information found seems to point to a murky web of right wing political and porno connections.

Gannon’s website, jeffgannon.com, now has only one entry which reads:

Jeff GannonA Voice of the New Media
The voice goes silent.
Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life.
Thank you to all those who supported me.

All of Gannon’s writings have disappeared from his own site and it’s been reported that many articles including Gannon’s have also been deleted from Talon News. My attempts to look at Talon’s archives were met with a log-on requirement. Talon does prominently display a link on it’s home page to GOPUSA and to MensNewsDaily.com. GOPUSA, whose chair is also chair of Talon, proudly declares itself to be “Bringing the Conservative Message to America” while MND says it is “Subverting the Mainstream Media.”

It is utterly ridiculous that a ‘journalist’ would just disappear to return to private life after being questioned about his affiliations. Any legitimate journalist, especially at the level covering the White House, would expect to have their background, qualifications and connections thoroughly examined.

In the wake of revelations about Armstrong Williams and other ‘real’ journalists taking money from the Bushies to promote propaganda, it seems obvious that Gannon was a plant, placed in the White House to help further the Bush viewpoint. Now that he has been exposed, he will return to the murky underground of conservative activism.

Stand By Your Man

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows Bush’s job approval rating has risen to 57% following Iraqi elections that went “better than most Americans expected”.

But wait a minute! Bush’s candidate in the Iraqi elections, Iyad Allawi, lost. Allawi, the Interim Prime Minister, and his slate of secular Iraqi’s is reportedly losing to a coalition of Shiite Muslim parties with ties to Iran. So how did Bush do a good job here?

At a cost, as of this writing, of 153.8 billion, growing by 5 billion per week, isn’t the creation of a new fundamentalist Muslim ally for Iran a colossal blunder?

I was reading somewhere recently about one of the ways that human beings show resilience. Apparently, when circumstances that were predicted to be quite bad do indeed develop, people tend to find ways to be optimistic about them. In other words, once we’re in the stuff, we tend to describe it in less negative terms.

Randi Rhodes put it differently yesterday. She said that much of the country is “married to Bush”. Just like countless people who have stayed in abusive marriages, she said “they’re all singing Stand By Your Man.”

Woe is us.

Lemonade

Michael Kinsley has constructed a simple proof of the inherent unworkability in Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. You can find it at the L.A. Times. It is short and well worth reading and passing on.

On the Al Franken radio show this morning, Kinsley likened the privatization plan to someone who rescues a man lost in the desert. The parched wanderer wants water badly, but the rescuer touts the benefits of lemonade. When the thirsty victim finally concedes that lemonade would be better, the rescuer hands him a packet of lemonade powder and declares: “Just add water!”

Meanwhile, a look at the statements made over the last couple of days by Bush and company show that the “crisis” word is no longer being used. In addition, a careful interpretation shows that they are not even claiming that their plan will fix the problem. Bush is now trying to sell this as what he calls “a better deal.” The key question would be, for who?

Please do not make the mistake of assuming that the Social Security fight is over merely because some Republicans are not supporting it. Pass on this or some other story to a friend or acquaintance.

We must keep the pressure on all our lawmakers to convince them that privatizing Social Security would be political suicide.

Bush and Propaganda

Jack Shafer, in a Slate article, compares G.W.'s relationship to the press to that of Kim Jong-il of North Korea. If you haven't yet read "The Propaganda President" it would be worth your time.

Liars All

Rumsfeld offered to quit over Iraq abuse. That’s one of the headlines making the rounds in the mainstream. Actually, it should read: Rumsfeld says he offered to quit over Iraq abuse. Yesterday, on Larry King Live, Rumsfeld made that claim. You decide for yourself whether one of the architects of the Project for a New American Century and long time partner in crime of Dick Cheney really offered his resignation to the boy king. I think not.

Bush himself is on a campaign trip through five states attempting to sell his plan to reform Social Security. The man who told us just 3 days ago that Social Security would be broke in 2042, now claims that opponents of his plan are using “scare tactics”. But he’s the one who was calling it a crisis. He’s the one who says we have to act now. Also, the prevaricator in chief is now claiming that he will work with anyone who has a “good idea” to share. With his track record of cooperation, I can hardly wait to watch that play our.

Condoleeza Rice, referring to a possible attack on Iran, says: "The question is simply not on the agenda at this point," After meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Rice claimed : "We have many diplomatic tools still at our disposal and we intend to pursue them fully.” Apparently, Rice has not noticed that her department is not participating in negotiations between Iran and the Germans, British and French. But then we already know that she lacks judgment and often forgets things, she told us so herself in her appearances before the Senate and the 9/11 Commission.

Shooting People

Yesterday, we learned about Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, a Marine infantry officer who recently told a counter-terrorism strategy group in San Diego that it’s sometimes “fun” to kill.

In remarks that were video taped, Mattis says: "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling." He then continued: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

Now that by itself would be bad enough but the reaction (or should I say non-reaction) of the Marine Commandant, the Defense Department and the White House is even more troubling.

Marine Commandant, Gen. Mike Hagee, said in a statement: “I have counseled him concerning his remarks and he agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully." Hagee went on to further excuse Mattis by saying he was sure that Mattis “ . . . intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war”. Hagee also praised Mattis as “one of this country's bravest and most experienced military leaders."

Finally, in direct contradiction of Matis’ words as well as his tone, Hagee said, in reference to the need to kill: “This is not something we relish, yet we accept it as a reality in our profession of arms."

Meanwhile, the Pentagon and the White House have been silent.

If there were any doubts about what kind of tone is set for our troops by their leaders, this should clear it up. This is more evidence that the abuses at Abu Graib were far from “an isolated incident” involving a “few bad apples”. Many of our troops are lead by people who enjoy the blood, pain, suffering and death of those we choose to call enemies. Or, just as badly, the look on war as a game they enjoy playing. This is how war becomes the first option rather than the last.

Thirty years ago, while serving in the National Guard, I had the misfortune of running into one of these psychopaths at the firing range at Fort Lewis in Washington State while doing our annual qualification with the M16. This man was the range master, who is in charge of the range and gives all the orders, when to pick up the weapon, when to load and when to fire. As we fired at paper silhouettes of human beings, this psychotic roamed up and down behind us shouting things at us like: “Pretend that’s your wife and she wouldn’t put out last night. Teach her a lesson. Show her who’s the boss.”

Only fear of dying in Vietnam kept me from throwing down that rifle and walking away. That experience ranks as one of the most disgusting moments in my life. I had no doubt that I was in the presence of a truly twisted and evil mind. When I read the words of Gen. Mattis, I had exactly the same reaction.

Democracy?

Dozens of people were barred from attending a speech George Bush gave to sell his Social Security changes in Fargo, North Dakota on Thursday. The list included City Commissioner Linda Coates, two high school students and James Holm who produces the progressive talk radio show hosted by Ed Shultz.

Predictably, the White House blamed the incident on an “overzealous staffer”. Notice how often ‘the little guy’ ends up holding the bag for this bunch of thugs? While Bush and company use our tax money to sell us their completely jaded and unworkable ‘Social Security Reform’ plan, they ban any possible opposition.

In a statement released on Thursday, Tom Athans, the C.E.O. of Democracy Radio, said “News of the Bush blacklist of dozens of citizens from a Fargo, North Dakota speech is as frightening as it has become routine for this Administration.” Democracy Radio is a non-profit group that has helped increase the exposure of the Ed Shultz show from 2 radio stations to 77 in just one year. They are in friendly competition with Air America Radio which has also undergone phenomenal growth during their first year of operation.

Perhaps, with Democracy Radio on 80 stations and Air America Radio on 47, the White House is starting to feel the presence of the 50+ percent of the electorate that vehemently dissaproves of their approach to governing. Given the rapid growth in liberal/progressive radio, they should rethink their 'mandate'.

It's Insurance not an Investment!

All of the current talk about rates of return and the comparisons of how “your money” might perform if invested in the stock market at just the right time is just a smoke screen to hide the true agenda of the cult that runs the White House.

If you scan any of the original documentation surrounding the Social Security programs you will find the words insurance and protection used frequently. Here are a couple of examples from the ‘godfather’ of Social Security, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In a fireside chat on June 28, 1934, Roosevelt said:

“. . . the third principle is to use the agencies of government to assist in the establishment of means to provide sound and adequate protection against the vicissitudes of modern life -- in other words, social insurance.”

From Roosevelt’s statement on signing the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935.

“We can never insure one hundred percent of the population against one hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.”

Social Security was never intended to be an investment program. It was never intended to create competitive returns. It was intended to insure that no elderly person would die on the streets in povety.

Contact your legislators now and tell them not to privatize Social Security.