AP News Analysis: Iraq Supporting Lebanon

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Many American politicians were surprised by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's criticism of Israel's attacks on Lebanon. They need only look at the stance taken by Iraq's top Shiite spiritual leader to understand why al-Maliki cannot stand with the U.S. in the crisis.

Authoritarian Voters- see a pattern?

Joe Conason: Salon- "Fifty-two percent say that the recent stem cell debate made them more inclined to vote for Democrats, and 49 percent said the same about flag burning, gay marriage and other "values issues." Only 29 percent -- essentially the conservative base -- said those debates would motivate them to vote for Republicans."

John Dean: "I ran into a massive study that has really been going on 50 years now by academics."... "The lead researcher in this field told me, he said, "I look at the numbers of the United States and I see about 23% of the population who are pure right-wing authoritarian followers."

Looks like the majority of people that are certainly voting Republican this year are the right wing authoritarian followers. Duh... Shocking!

Salon: A scary survey for the GOP

A bipartisan NPR survey shows a nation that rejects "moral values" pandering -- and is very angry at Bush.
For Democrats, who have suffered repeated Election Day disappointments since the dawn of the new millennium, predictions of victory are only another reason to be wary. But while caution is always advised and excessive optimism should be avoided, portents of a voter uprising against the Republican regime can be glimpsed on the November horizon. What seemed most unlikely a year ago -- the turnover of the House of Representatives only 12 years after the "Gingrich revolution" -- is looking very ... possible.

Washington Monthly: Practice to Deceive

Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan.



In their view, invasion of Iraq was not merely, or even primarily, about getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Nor was it really about weapons of mass destruction, though their elimination was an important benefit. Rather, the administration sees the invasion as only the first move in a wider effort to reorder the power structure of the entire Middle East.

Report on prewar intelligence lagging

This is the same report that Pat Roberts refused to complete before the 2004 elections. He promised in June of 2003 that he would investigate the administrations use of pre-war intelligence. Will he get away with it once more?

The Republican-led committee, which agreed in February 2004 to write the report, has yet to complete its work. Just two of five planned sections of the committee's findings are fully drafted and ready to be voted on by members, according to Democratic and Republican staffers. Committee sources involved with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they are working hard to complete it. But disputing Roberts, they said they had started almost from scratch in November after Democrats staged their protest.

The Washington Monthly has more on the controversy: Needless to say, the purpose of this was political: it allowed the committee to blast the intelligence community before the 2004 election, but put off the delicate topic of administration malfeasance until after the election.

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

Letterman spoof on Coulter "Clinton is gay" comment

To watch the video at C&L Click Here

Ya gotta love it!

WP: Detainee Abuse Charges Feared

An obscure law approved by a Republican-controlled Congress a decade ago has made the Bush administration nervous that officials and troops involved in handling detainee matters might be accused of committing war crimes, and prosecuted at some point in U.S. courts.

ABC News: Making Money by Feeding Confusion Over Global Warming

Ever wonder why so many people still seem confused about global warming?

The answer appears to be that confusion leads to profit -- especially if you're in some parts of the energy business.

Iran: The Next War, The Israel Connection and the Office of Special Plans

Even before the bombs fell on Baghdad, a group of senior Pentagon officials were plotting to invade another country. Their covert campaign once again relied on false intelligence and shady allies. But this time, the target was Iran.

This Week on Left Turn with Cecily Friday

Will Kimbrough joins me on the program this evening. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Jimmy Buffett (who recorded Will’s “Piece of Work” on his License to Chill CD), Rodney Crowell, Todd Snider, Kim Richey, and Josh Rouse among others. We’ll be discussing his new solo album, releasing this week, titled Americanitis. In addition, he'll be performing live on the show. Tune in for the discussion and the music Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM CST.

To check out Will's site or buy the new cd Click Here

Israel Plan is set forth in 1996 Neocon Paper

This is a UK/Guardian article from 2002 that lays out what is currently being brought to reality in the middle east. This is all part of the neocon agenda folks. Redraw the geopolitical map in the middle east. And just in time for the elections....

"Its roots can be traced, at least in part, to a paper published in 1996 by an Israeli thinktank, the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies. Entitled "A clean break: a new strategy for securing the realm", it was intended as a political blueprint for the incoming government of Binyamin Netanyahu. As the title indicates, it advised the right-wing Mr Netanyahu to make a complete break with the past by adopting a strategy "based on an entirely new intellectual foundation, one that restores strategic initiative and provides the nation the room to engage every possible energy on rebuilding Zionism ..."

With Saddam out of the way and Iraq thus brought under Jordanian Hashemite influence, Jordan and Turkey would form an axis along with Israel to weaken and "roll back" Syria. Jordan, it suggested, could also sort out Lebanon by "weaning" the Shia Muslim population away from Syria and Iran, and re-establishing their former ties with the Shia in the new Hashemite kingdom of Iraq. "Israel will not only contain its foes; it will transcend them", the paper concluded."

To read the full article Click Here

C&L: Chris Matthews Slams Bush Foreign Policy on Imus

To watch the video Click Here

Lebanese children are victims of Israels wrath

TYRE, Lebanon (CNN) -- The last time I sat down to write something, it was about the cost of war. As I looked ahead to the coming days, the last words I wrote were: Who will die?

Buckley, Father of Modern Conservatism: Bush Not A True Conservative

William F. Buckley on George W. Bush: "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced, it would be expected that he would retire or resign."

Nobel Peace Prize Winner: "Right now, I would love to kill George Bush."

NOBEL peace laureate Betty Williams displayed a flash of her feisty Irish spirit yesterday, lashing out at US President George W.Bush during a speech to hundreds of schoolchildren.

ABA: Bush Undermines Law

WASHINGTON, July 23 — The American Bar Association said Sunday that President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law by claiming the power to disregard selected provisions of bills that he signed.

John Dean: The Authoritarian Streak in the Conservative Movement

The despotic personality types we see in the Bush White House have their origins in the amoral politics practiced by the low-lifes of the Nixon administration.

Reuters: US to give Israel another week for attacks: paper

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli officials believe they have approval from the United States to keep up attacks on Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon for at least another week, an Israeli newspaper said on Sunday.

Toronto Star: Jordan accused of torturing suspects for U.S.

LONDON (AP) — Security agents in Jordan are torturing terrorism suspects on behalf of the United States in hopes of forcing confessions, the human rights watchdog Amnesty International contended in a new report Monday.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse....From C&L

From Crooksandliars.com:
Mash: At the G-8 summit, President Bush grabs German Chancellor Angela Merkel from behind and gives her a quick massage before rushing off. Chancellor Merkel is not amused.

This has been an awful trip for Bush to say the least on so many levels. Please list all the problems he has had in the comment section.

Lindsay: Every woman will recognize the guy who sidles up and starts "casually" giving you a backrub without even looking at you, because he wants to preserve deniability in case you freak out. Like any practiced groper, Bush stares right past Merkel as she recoils from his touch.

To check out the video click on this link

Larry Johnson: Israel Takes a Stupid Pill

Apparently not content to let the U.S. do a self-immolation act in the Middle East by itself, Israel decided to set itself on fire by invading Lebanon. Burn baby burn? Like George Bush, Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, never served in a combat unit and launched military operations without thinking the matter through. In fact, Olmert reportedly never even served in the military. I raise this because there is one simple question Israel cannot answer about the current operations--what is their strategic military objective. Olmert has somehow persuaded the Israeli military to ignore strategy, think tactically, and in the process become really stupid. The events in the next several weeks will expose as myth the canard that you can secure a nation by killing terrorists. No you can't.

Lawrence Wilkerson: Cheney's Office Cultivated a Pro-Torture Environment

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served General Colin Powell in various capacities as a close aide for 16 years -- most recently as Powell's Chief of Staff at the Department of States, has written a short, matter of fact assessment of the torture proclivities during the Bush administration and the Vice President's central role in promoting a "pro-torture" national security/military environment.

John Dean: Triumph of the Authoritarians

What I found provided a personal epiphany. Authoritarian conservatives are, as a researcher told me, "enemies of freedom, antidemocratic, antiequality, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, power hungry, Machiavellian and amoral." And that's not just his view. To the contrary, this is how these people have consistently described themselves when being anonymously tested, by the tens of thousands over the past several decades.

C&L: TDS Bush & the Pig

Folks, you just can't make this crap up. We are facing a grave crisis in the middle east, our president is asked a serious question by reporters and here's his response:

To watch the video Click Here

U.S. vetoes U.N. condemnation of Israel

UNITED NATIONS - The United States cast the first U.N. Security Council veto in nearly two years Thursday, blocking an Arab-backed resolution that would have demanded Israel halt its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Valerie Plame sues Cheney over leak

WASHINGTON - The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.

This Week on Left Turn with Cecily Friday

Aziz Huq joins me on the program this evening. He is head of the Liberty and National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. In 2003 he clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is currently working on a book, to be published in March 2007, titled Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in Times of Terror. He joins me this evening to discuss the latest on the Supreme Court ruling in Hamdan vs Rumsfeld and its potential effects from Guantanamo to the Bush administrations warrantless spying programs. Join us for the discussion this Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM CST.

To learn more about the Liberty and National Security Project Click Here

Alternet: Could Bush Be Prosecuted for War Crimes?

A Nuremberg chief prosecutor says there is a case for trying Bush for the 'supreme crime against humanity, an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation.'

Man indicted in phone jamming case will argue Administration approved election scheme

The fourth man indicted in a New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme -- in which Republican operatives jammed the phone lines of Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in a 2002 Senate race -- will argue at trial that the Bush Administration and the national Republican Party gave their approval to the plan, according to a motion filed by his attorney Thursday

Blumenthal: The imperial presidency crushed

The Supreme Court's rejection of kangaroo military tribunals shackles Bush's legacy to Nixon's -- and could even land him in the dock for war crimes.

This Week on Left Turn with Cecily Friday

Due to the 4th of July holiday and my propensity to slack over long weekends I am without a guest tonight. But stay tuned and call in, because in the second half of the show I will be taking calls on what Independence Day means to you and how you view it now under the rule of the Bush administration. So give your freedoms a check up, tune in for the discussion and call in Wednesday evening (tonight!) at 7:00 PM CST. Studio Line: 615-662-8226

Reuters: Bodies flood morgue despite Zarqawi’s death

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Baghdad’s central morgue received nearly 1,600 bodies last month -- the highest number since the February bombing of a Shiite shrine sparked a wave of sectarian killings, a morgue official said on Wednesday.

AP: North Korea tests seventh missile amid outcry

>UNITED NATIONS - North Korea test-fired another missile Wednesday, intensifying the furor ignited when the reclusive regime launched at least six missiles, including a long-range Taepodong, earlier in the day

Happy 4th of July Weekend!!

Time Poll: 66% Say Country is on Wrong Track

In a new TIME survey, Americans say the President is performing poorly and that the country is increasingly on the wrong track

GIs may have planned Iraq rape, slayings

One can only guess what kind of reaction this horrible crime will create across Iraq and the middle east. As the military continues to lower their standards for recruits, in order to provide warm bodies for this unending war, will we see a rise in these types of incidents? Let's hope not. For it only spells trouble for all of those that serve in our military. My heart aches for the victims of this crime and for anyone who may become a target of its revenge.

Iraq - Investigators believe American soldiers spent nearly a week plotting an attack in which they raped an Iraqi woman, then killed her and her family in an insurgent-ridden area south of Baghdad, a U.S. military official said Saturday.