Lies and the lying liars who tell them

Sorry, Senator Franken, I couldn't resist borrowing a line from you.

Marcy Wheeler, one of the great watchdogs of our time, feels lots of folks are missing the point on what went down Friday in the al-Haramain case. Summarizing so we can focus, she writes:

You have missed the fact that DOJ just admitted that Bush lied provided "inaccurate" information to the Courts, and that DOJ has just submitted new material that presumably corrects that lie "inaccurate" information.

She has much more to say in her post. Just thought I'd keep y'all abreast of these ongoing revelations.

And before Göran asks, No, of course we're not surprised.
--the BB

BLOGSWARM 031908 - Part 6

Before concluding this day--when, frankly, I have been expressing at least a small part of the anger and outrage that has been compounded over the past five years--I was going to write one last post. I had thought to look at Bush's speech today.

Ugh. I am too tired and it is too full of crap. I will take a stab at it nonetheless, vile mass of putrefaction that it is.

His ability to project is amazing, placing all the evil on his purported foe (Saddam or al Qaeda, and really, who could tell them apart when he kept mentioning them together... and denying it) and seeing himself as the champion of all that is good. Those who have written of his manichaean traits have diagnosed him quite accurately. So very black and white, and there is no question in what passes for his mind that he is wearing the "white hat."

For someone who flouts the Geneva Conventions, fabricated and executed a doctrine of preemptive war, and refuses to be bound even by our own Army Field Manual, he has little room to speak of "death squads acting on the orders of Saddam Hussein that obeyed neither the conventions of war nor the dictates of conscience." He speaks of the horrors of "torture chambers, and rape rooms" without any hint that he knows we have practiced torture and rape ourselves. (Can we all say Abu Ghraib, children? I knew we could.) He speaks of the "mass graves of thousands executed by the regime" with no acknowledgment of the thousands killed by our actions.

All evildoers are lumped together, of course, without a hint of distinction, so that those who are fighting to rid their land of occupiers would, given the chance, rush over here to attack us. [Yes, he really said that: "The terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of America."] I don't think he realizes that those who want to attack us here can still do it and don't have to wait for the conflict there to end.

You know, I cannot imagine W playing checkers, much less chess. I can picture him blowing up those frogs with firecrackers, though. He still gets hard blowing stuff up, twisted SOB.

He said, quite baldly, that "The surge is working." Never mind that what it was meant to accomplish has not happened. We all know that militarily it did help create a breathing space but that breathing space was not used for its intended purpose. The Iraqis have not gotten their shit together (and why should they when they can play us endlessly?). Oh, and one of the goals was the oil-sharing agreement, which anyone with half a brain knows is about allowing foreign investors to get their slice of the pie (can we say Texas oil men, Cheney and Bush? Yes!).

"In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology, and his murderous network." Bush appears not to grasp that bin Laden and his network have very little to do with the al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) crowd and even when various Iraqi factions join to oust AQI it does NOT mean a large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden. What a fucktard.

"More than 4,400 men and women have given their lives in the war on terror. We'll pray for their families. We'll always honor their memory.

"The best way we can honor them is by making sure that their sacrifice was not in vain."

I think the worst way to honor them is wasting more lives in a war that has never had a clear and HONEST rationale, a clear and concrete measurable mission, and a plan to conclude. Those who lost their lives, or had their lives trashed in horrific injuries and disfigurement, have acted honorably and their service is not to be called into question. We DFH types honor them and are usually the ones fighting for their care and benefits, unlike the obstructionist Republican legislators who mouth platitudes and never come through. But their leaders--the ones who sent them on this screwed-up mission to play oil markets, enrich cronies, and establish theoretical hegemony--have not acted honorably. Bush and his ilk have dishonored our nation and its ideals, ignored and broken its laws, and betrayed our troops, our people, and the trust placed in them.

Impeach the motherf**kers, convict them, remove them from office, and haul them to the Hague to be tried as the war criminals they are.

And that's the nicest thing I intend to say about Bush and Cheney today or any day.
--the BB

Telcom industry opposes amnesty!

mcjoan reports"The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) is opposed to telco amnesty, and have weighed in with their own letter to Congress."

To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives:

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) strongly opposes S. 2248, the "FISA Amendments Act of 2007," as passed by the Senate on February 12, 2008. CCIA believes that this bill should not provide retroactive immunity to corporations that may have participated in violations of federal law. CCIA represents an industry that is called upon for cooperation and assistance in law enforcement. To act with speed in times of crisis, our industry needs clear rules, not vague promises that the U.S. Government can be relied upon to paper over Constitutional transgressions after the fact.

CCIA dismisses with contempt the manufactured hysteria that industry will not aid the United States Government when the law is clear. As a representative of industry, I find that suggestion insulting. To imply that our industry would refuse assistance under established law is an affront to the civic integrity of businesses that have consistently cooperated unquestioningly with legal requests for information. This also conflates the separate questions of blanket retroactive immunity for violations of law, and prospective immunity, the latter of which we strongly support.

Therefore, CCIA urges you to reject S. 2248. America will be safer if the lines are bright. The perpetual promise of bestowing amnesty for any and all misdeeds committed in the name of security will condemn us to the uncertainty and dubious legalities of the past. Let that not be our future as well.

Sincerely,
Edward J. Black
President & CEO
Computer & Communications Industry Association

Remember: if George W. Bush opens his mouth, he is lying to the American people.

There is NO legitimate reason to support telcom amnesty.

Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell the uninformed.

UPDATE:

And let's not forget the gutting of the Intelligence Oversight Board.  Read what smintheus has to report if you want to catch up on this topic.  It's a related issue.
--the BB

It's we DFH who support the troops!

Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars reports on how we are treating our troops. From NPR's Morning Edition:

A document from the Department of Veterans Affairs contradicts an assertion made by the Army surgeon general that his office did not tell VA officials to stop helping injured soldiers with their military disability paperwork at a New York Army post.

The paperwork can help determine health care and disability benefits for wounded soldiers.

Nicole also notes that, while in his SOTU speech Bush called for allowing troops to transfer unused education benefits to family members, the budget he submitted makes no provision for this. As usual. Big words + No action = Big Lies.
--theBB