Matthews Schools GOP Strategist

MATTHEWS: Traditional republicans would've never got us into this war, this is a neoconservative war, fought by strange ideologues with their own strange objectives.

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AP Poll: Bush #1 Villain of 2006

C&L:

SCARBOROUGH: Now you don't have to have a political doctorate in Political Science to realize it's never a good sign when you're outpolled by Lucifer

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Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

Washington Post:
Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration.

Lies and Obfuscations

Newsweek:
A look back at some of the biggest falsehoods of 2006.

In the spirit of holding our political leaders accountable, this year-end review will tabulate the worst lies told by Bush and company, along with several stories that were underreported in the media. Much of what was generated got lost in the fog of war, but the long arm of history will retrieve these moments. As the president said in his news conference this week, if they’re still writing about No. 1—George Washington—there’s plenty of time before the historians can properly evaluate No. 43. Judging by the mess in Iraq, it could be 200 or 300 years—if ever—before Bush is vindicated.

Former US presidents hail Ford as 'man of principle;' Most disputed decision: pardoning Nixon

Rawstory:
Washington - Former US President Gerald R Ford, thrust into office by Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation, was remembered Wednesday as a down-to-earth man of integrity who strove to heal a nation deeply divided by the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War.

Ford, who died Tuesday at his California home at age 93, moved up from vice president after Nixon quit in disgrace over Watergate. A month later, Ford made the most disputed decision of a low-key political career by pardoning Nixon, shielding his predecessor from criminal charges.

Dems Seek to Use Oil Cash for Renewables

AP:WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies. That's only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business.

Bush Is Bracing for New Scrutiny

Baltimore Sun:
White House hiring lawyers in expectation of Democratic probes.
Washington - President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.

Disappearing World: Global Warming Claims Tropical Island

Independent UK:
For the first time, an inhabited island has disappeared beneath rising seas.
Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true.

Rudolph and Santa, as Good as New

NY Times:
In Hollywood, a nip and tuck can often give an old star new life. So it is fitting that the puppets that starred in the 1964 stop-motion classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are making a comeback after some cosmetic work.

Religion does more harm than good - poll

Guardian:
82% say faith causes tension in country where two thirds are not religious

More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension - greatly outnumbering the smaller majority who also believe that it can be a force for good.

Iraqi Women's Bodies Are Battlefields for War Vendettas

Alternet:
The United States' so-called "liberation" of Iraqi women has made them less free than they were under the Baathist regime, with abduction, rape, and "honor" killings now a daily reality.

Memo Reveals Tony Blair 'Lied About WMD'

The Independent UK:

" Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war"

The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

A Young Marine Speaks Out

I'm sick and tired of this patriotic, nationalistic and fascist crap. I stood through a memorial service today for a young Marine that was killed in Iraq back in April. During this memorial a number of people spoke about the guy and about his sacrifice for the country. How do you justify 'sacrificing' your life for a war which is not only illegal, but is being prosecuted to the extent where the only thing keeping us there is one man's power, and his ego. A recent Marine Corps intelligence report that was leaked said that the war in the al-Anbar province is unwinnable. It said that there was nothing we could do to win the hearts and minds, or the military operations in that area. So I wonder, why are we still there? Democracy is not forced upon people at gunpoint. It's the result of forward thinking individuals who take the initiative and risks to give their fellow countrymen a better way of life.

Fred Barnes hopes the “lame Duck” Bush bombs Iran on the way out the door

Crooksandliars:
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Bombing Iran, brought to you by the same neocon whackjobs that gave us the disaster in Iraq.

Jon Stewart Says Farewell to the 109th Congress

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Waxman has Bush administration in sights

AP:
The lawmaker who may cause the most headaches for the Bush administration when Democrats take control of Congress is a grocer's son from Watts who's hardly a household name off Capitol Hill.

Rep. Henry Waxman has spent the last six years investigating the White House and its corporate allies, focusing on everything from military contracts to Medicare prices from his perch on the Government Reform Committee.

In January, Waxman becomes committee chairman — and the lead congressional hound of an administration many Democrats feel has blundered badly as it expanded the power of the executive branch.

Anti-Gay Church Must Pay Marine's Family

BALTIMORE -- A Kansas church has been ordered to pay $3,150 for costs and fees associated with a summons and complaint filed by the father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the extremist group.

Justice!

Saudis reportedly funding Iraqi Sunnis

AP:
CAIRO,Egypt - Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.

Anyone care to guess if this has anything to do with Darth Cheney's recent visit to Saudi Arabia?

And let's not forget that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were, yeah, you guessed it- from SAUDI ARABIA. Don't hold your breath waiting for Bush to do anything about it. He and his family are tight financially and otherwise with the Sauds.

Democrats to delay pay increase to Congress, Senate, Cheney

Rawstory:
House Democrats will bring a minimum wage increase bill before the floor at the start of the 110th congress that will block pay increases for themselves--and Vice President Dick Cheney

Historian Says Bush Worst President Ever

Washington Post:
Historians are loath to predict the future. It is impossible to say with certainty how Bush will be ranked in, say, 2050. But somehow, in his first six years in office he has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history.

Brits: Abstinence is a myth

Alternet:
Increased contraceptive use, not increased abstinence, has reduced teen pregnancies

"Sexual abstinence as an effective tool in reducing teenage pregnancy is a complete "myth", the Government's advisory body on the issue claimed yesterday."