Foley's Predator Pedophile Priest Comes Out of the Pedophile Closet, Blames Victim

Archdiocese to Investigate Foley Priest

The Archdiocese of Miami announced Friday it is opening an investigation into the conduct of a retired priest who has admitted fondling former Congressman Mark Foley as a boy in Florida, calling the alleged abuse "morally reprehensible, canonically criminal and inexcusable."

The archdiocese issued a statement apologizing to Foley "for the hurt he has experienced" and said the investigation could result in Church sanctions against the 69-year-old priest, who is now retired and living on the Mediterranean island of Gozo off Malta. . . In interviews with several media outlets over the past two days, Mercieca said he had intimate contact with Foley when he was assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth, Fla. in the mid-1960s. The 52-year-old Foley, a Florida Republican, who would have been 12 or 13 years old at the time, served as an altar boy at the church.

Mercieca worked as a priest in the Miami area from the mid-1960s until he retired in 2002. . .

"The Archdiocese of Miami is distressed by the revelations disclosed by Father Mercieca regarding former Rep. Mark Foley," the statement said. "The events described are totally contrary to the ministry of a priest." . . . Mercieca told the Washington Post Thursday that he was surprised that his four decades-old interaction with Foley had become linked to the scandal that erupted last month and cost the congressman his job.

A statement issued late Thursday from the diocese of Gozo, a small island dotted with vacation villas and second homes south of Italy, said that its bishop, Mario Grech, contacted the Archdiocese of Miami seeking further information about the case. It said the diocese had only just learned of the case from the international media.

"In light of all this . . . Bishop Grech will instruct the Response Team to investigate these allegations, according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regards to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity," the statement said. "Grech will pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to the response team as he has done in similar cases."

"Bishop Grech, conscious of the gravity of pedophilia, reiterates that he will cooperate with those responsible for investigating such cases so that justice is done to the victims, the perpetrators reformed and the common good is safeguarded," it said."

Amen to that. Good for the Archdiocese of Miami. Finally.

But what continues to be disturbing is this predator's obvious intention to blame his own child victim, and his wish to spin his own criminal behavior as being somehow insignificant.

Earlier, we have blogged about experienced sexual predators and their tradition of "grooming" their victims.

That's what Foley's predator did, and did so in a position of superior power and control over his child victim.

Experts: Priest accused of molestation by Foley in denial about his behavior

AP--Experts on sex abuse say the comments of a Roman Catholic priest who acknowledged being naked with Mark Foley of Florida when the former congressman was young fit a pattern of distorted thinking that they've seen over and over among offenders.

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was naked with Foley in a sauna, and was quoted in other interviews saying he also fondled him. Mercieca told the AP that the encounters weren't sexual, a distinction abuse experts found disturbing.

"The priest is very focused on the legalities here and I think it's important for the rest of us to see the enormous power differential between these two," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

"There is a tremendous abuse of authority and position involved in these activities whether or not they constitute child molestation."

Foley, 52, resigned from Congress last month after his sexually explicit computer messages to young male pages were released. His lawyer has said that Foley was an alcoholic, gay and had been molested as a youth by a clergyman.

The Archdiocese of Miami confirmed Friday that Mercieca, 69, is the person Foley said abused him as a teen. In phone interviews, the priest, who is retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.

The priest told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune that he and Foley "loved each other like brothers" and that although he taught Foley "some wrong things" related to sex, Mercieca insisted their interactions were innocent.

"It was just fondling," he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla. ['just'?]

From the perspective of people who have worked with abusers and their victims, that thinking is typical of a molester. Offenders, who are sexually immature, commonly view their involvement with their victims as normal and are baffled when others see things differently.

"This is the same type of rationalization that I've heard time and time again from priests who have been grooming or setting a young boy up for molestation," said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer turned victim advocate.

The Herald-Tribune reported that Mercieca said he could not clearly remember one encounter "that might have gone too far" because he had been taking tranquilizers and drinking at the time.

"It's common that offenders will block out major pieces of the events. I personally believe that it's also part of the denial process, where they just don't, frankly, want to remember," said the Rev. Stephen J. Rossetti, president of Saint Luke Institute, which provides psychological counseling to Catholic priests who suffer from a variety of troubles, including sexual attraction to children. "Those are typical kinds of statements of offenders who are not in recovery."

Abusers assume that because a young person seems to be enthusiastic around them, that any boundary crossing or sexual activity is OK, Finkelhor said. And if no penetration occurs, molesters convince themselves that the interaction does not hurt the youth, he said.

Mercieca's "basic approach is, 'You're trying to take something good and trying to turn it into something evil,'" said Peter Isely, a clinical social worker who counsels abuse victims and a leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"He literally describes this 12- or 13-year old child as if they're equals in age and in personality and characteristic, as if there's absolutely no power differential," Isely said.

"This is what makes these offenders so dangerous."

States have different legal definitions of what constitutes child molestation, but many consider inappropriate touching a criminal offense. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, Fla., said law enforcement action is over in Mercieca's case unless other alleged victims come forward, because Foley says he doesn't want to prosecute.

From a clinical perspective, Mercieca's description of his actions indicates abuse occurred, Rossetti said.

"The things he's talking about are very sexually charged and they are sexual abuse," Rossetti said. "For an adult male to be with a young male naked in a bathtub or a shower would clearly be a major boundary violation in most cases - and also traumatic."

Adult males showering with naked boys? Sounds so oddly familiar.

Oh my. Can anyone say -- 'James Dobson'?

WaPo story here and here.

Foley priest
child sexual abuse
Mark Foley scandal

Dirty Bush's Oedipal War on Iraq -- "A Catastrophic Blunder"

Via the Sydney Morning Herald.

The war in Iraq has been a "catastrophic blunder" that has substantially increased the terrorist threat to Australia, one of the nation's most distinguished former diplomats said today.

Richard Woolcott, a retired foreign affairs chief who advised seven prime ministers, launched a sweeping attack on the federal government, saying that Australian democracy was not functioning as it should.

Mr Woolcott made the comments during a speech at the University of Newcastle's annual Human Rights and Social Justice lecture this afternoon.

He branded the Iraq war a "disaster", saying the Prime Minister seemed unable to admit the obvious.

"The Iraq war has been a disaster and has substantially increased the terrorist threat Mr Howard said it would reduce," he said.

"The aim of foreign and defence policy is to make Australia secure - ironically some of our policies have placed Australians at greater risk."

Mr Woolcott called on the government to come up with an exit strategy.

"The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, having made such a catastrophic foreign and security policy blunder, are now trapped in a dilemma of their own making," he said. . . Mr Woolcott's criticism of the war followed recent comments from Australia's former defence chief General Peter Cosgrove that it had boosted global terrorism and Britain's top soldier Sir Richard Dannatt, who called for the recall of his troops from Iraq.

Mr Woolcott said human rights suffered in a climate of war and fear.

"In 2006 our established ideals of decency, fairness, tolerance,
justice and truth in government are under challenge," he said.

Australia's democracy was not functioning as it should, he said.

"I believe it is affected by hubris, the arrogance that comes from 10 years in power, the politics of fear, nurtured by the so-called 'war on terror' and latent racism," he said.

"The government has also suffered from a lack of the important qualities of patience and humility.

"This is impacting adversely on the wider community, including in the areas of human rights and social justice."

Mr Woolcott said his service to four Liberal and three Labor prime ministers proved the objectivity of his remarks, but from "personal experience" he expected to be attacked.

"The present government tends to treat its critics - even those who have served it in the past - as virtual enemies rather than as possibly useful channels to community opinion," he said.

And the beat goes on, here.

Iraq war
Iraq war is catastrophic failure

Bushist Reply to More Gitmo Abuse: Shut up, shut up, shut UP!

Lawyers: Paralegal, military attorney ordered to stop speaking to press about Guantanamo abuse

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-- A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said Saturday.

Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who represents a detainee at the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, filed a complaint with the Pentagon last week alleging that abuse was ongoing at the prison. He attached a sworn statement from his paralegal, Sgt. Heather Cerveny, in which she said several Guantanamo guards bragged in a bar about beating detainees, describing it as common practice.

Muneer Ahmad, a civilian defense lawyer for Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee whose military counsel is Vokey, said it was his understanding that Vokey and Cerveny were ordered Friday by the U.S. Marines not to speak with the press. He also said Vokey was barred from talking to the media about anything related to the military commissions — tribunals set up to try detainees.

Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."

Ahmad said he didn't know how the order was issued. He said Vokey previously had the military's authorization to speak with the media, and believed that they would have to consider legal options to challenge the alleged gag order.

"If he doesn't abide by it then he would be derelict of his duty," Ahmad said.

The order created a conflict between Vokey's military obligations and his ethical duty as a lawyer, Ahmad said.

"It's in Omar's interests for the truth about abuses of detainees at Guantanamo, including him, to get out in the open. But Colby (Vokey) is being prevented from doing that part of his job ... and thereby representing Omar's interests," he said. . . . "I think he is very concerned about his ability to perform his job as a lawyer," Ahmad said. "It's really quite troubling ... at this point I'm not sure what our next steps will be."

Cerveny, 23, visited Guantanamo last month and said she spent an hour with the guards at the military club. She said the guards stopped discussing beating detainees after finding out that she works for a detainee's legal team.

"It was a general consensus that I (detected) that as a group this is something they did. That this was OK at Guantanamo, that this is how the detainees get treated," Cerveny said in a telephone interview Thursday night.

Gen. John Craddock, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said Friday that he had ordered an investigation headed by an Army colonel. "The investigation is consistent with U.S. Southern Command's policy to investigate credible allegations of abuse" at Guantanamo detention facilities, the Southern Command said in a statement. . . .

Guantanamo Bay began receiving prisoners, most of them captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in January 2002.

Only 10 of the detainees have been charged with crimes.

More here


Guantanamo abuse
human rights

Bubble Boy's Oedipal War Kills Over Half a Million Human Beings -- How's That "Pro-Life" Stance Working Out ?

Well, if I had started a Freudian schlong-war just to get back at my Dad, I might not have chosen the one Axis of Evil country that didn't have any weapons of mass destruction to invade. But that's me.

But if I had done such a stupid thing, and later found out my policies had ruined the war in Afghanistan, killed hundreds of thousands of sentient beings, bankrupted America morally and fiscally, promoted torture, promoted a rapist's right to breed, bungled the response to a wide-scale national disaster, promoted government-forced maternity, poisoned the air, water, and civil discourse, undermined the rule of law and protected pedophiles, I might want to resign in disgrace or something (if not actually commit seppuku because I could not live with the shame) or, at least I'd feel bad about it.

Some people who do such evil things don't do that.

Why would that be?

Hmm.

Well, Virginia, it's like this:

Some people put firecrackers in frogs.


WaPo here.
NY Times, having buried this story in page 17, here.


Iraq War death toll
Bush

Festschrift For "The Happy Tutor" of Wealth Bondage

Festschrift, festschrift, festschrift.

Say it twenty-one times out loud real fast, and it's almost as much fun as saying "Bushist fascist, Bushist facist, Bushist fascist," as if one could find true happiness in saying such things.

One could of course say, "Bushist fascist festschrift, Bushist fascist festschrift," which has its own kind of possibilities, but that's not really the kind of festschrift this festschrift is, is it?

One stumbled onto Wealth Bondage long ago.

It may have been the very first blog one stumbled on to. One does not specifically recall.

One does recall an instant sense of wondrousness, or wonderfulness, or some deep inner sense of -- hey, wassup with this dude, in fact, as if, if The Happy Tutor of Wealth Bondage were truly there, and did in fact in some sense truly exist, there might in fact in some sense be hope for us all?

But perhaps not. For apparently The Happy Tutor may not toot his hapful horn much longer, therefore it is up to oneself now, here, here and now, to protest too much, or just enough, or, like, what-everrrr.

Anyhow, my idea of celebrating the very existence of The Happy Tutor is to bring to light here and now the wonderful, wondrous Russell Edson. I knew him once. I know not what has become of him. His work is wondrous. Troubling, yet wondrous. Not unlike that of The Happy Tutor. But in quite a different way, is it not?

Prose poems one and three are from "The Very Thing That Happens" and number two is from "The Brain Kitchen, as one's festschrift offering that The Happy Tutor may remain and prosper.

A Chair

A chair has waited such a long time to be with its person. Through shadow and fly buzz and the floating dust it has waited such a long time to be with its person.

What it remembers of the forest it forgets, and dreams of a room where it waits -- Of the cup and the ceiling -- Of the Animate One.

The Dead Fish

There were some dead fish living in a man's house. Oh do not not live in a man's house because I am the man whose house you are living in, said the man.

The fish are quite willing to say nothing because they can say nothing; and so conclude it is better to continue what has been up to this time a most successful approach to all the man's rantings.

If you are dead, screams the man, say so, you have only to say so.

To admit the obvious is only to be disbelieved in the end, so the dead comrades think.

Oh God, let dead fish find other places to be dead, cries the man.

When the Ceiling Cries

A mother tosses her infant so that it hits the ceiling.

Father says, why are you doing that to the ceiling? Do you want my baby to fly away to heaven?

The ceiling is there so that the baby will come back to me, says mother.

Father says, you are hurting the ceiling, can't you hear it crying?

So mother and father climb a ladder and kiss the ceiling.

------------
More of Russell Edson here. And here. And here. (Thank you, Google).

Dalai Lama Warns Against Anti-Muslim Spin

The Dalai Lama against 'clash of civilisations'

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has warned against portraying Islam as a religion of violence, saying Muslims have been wrongly demonised in the West since the September 11 attacks.

Promoting religious tolerance, the world's most influential Buddhist leader said on Sunday that talk of "a clash of civilisations between the West and Muslim world is wrong and dangerous."

Muslim terrorist attacks have distorted people's views of Islam, making them believe it is an extremist faith rather than one based on compassion, the Dalai Lama told a press conference in New Delhi.

Muslims are being unfairly stigmatised as a result of violence by "some mischievous people," said the Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work to bring democracy and freedom to his people.

All religions have extremists and "it is wrong to generalise (about Muslims)," the 71-year-old spiritual leader said.

"They (terrorists) cannot represent the whole system," he said.

The Dalai Lama, who has lived in Dharamsala since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, said he had cast himself in the role of defender of Islam because he wanted to reshape people's views of the religion.

Asked about the uproar last month when Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor to portray Islam as a religion tainted by violence, the Dalai Lama said "if you return to past history there are a lot of complications."

"It is better to forget ... and to deal with today's reality," he said.

"Past history is (full of) uncivilised events," he said.

Benedict had quoted statements by Emperor Manuel II -- ruling from what is now Istanbul -- that everything the Prophet Mohammed had brought, was evil and that he spread Islam by violence.

The pontiff later apologised for the comments which triggered angry reactions around the world from Muslims who said the pope's statements harked back to the medieval Christian crusades against Islam.

The Dalai Lama noted the "conflict and divisions caused in the name of religion," referring to violence in such places as Ireland, Pakistan and Iraq.

But despite that "religion has great potential to help humanity on the basis of mutual respect," he said.

"Mutual respect" eh?

What a concept.



Link here.

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude Number Six (?)

Had enough, gentle readers?

It's been a pretty sickening week, what with the uncovering of a pedophile sexual predator under the longterm protection of the GOP.

You still hanging in there? Good on ya, then, but I'm looking for a change of pace.

From the fabulous RJ Eskow, at A Night Light and HuffPo, "Surprised GOP Reacts -- Thought Child Molester Would Be 'Greeted as Liberator!'"

From The Rude Pundit, "Ten Pranks You Can Play On a Child Predator."

And more:

"(Foley's) in rehab, which means it only happened because he was drinking. We've all done it, folks -- drunk dialing. It's just that in Foley's case, it was drunk texting erotic messages to underage pages about masturbation." --Stephen Colbert

"The good news? Florida Congressman Mark Foley has entered rehab. The bad news? Rehab is a 14-year-old boy from Pakistan." --Jay Leno

"It's simple. You drink, you forget things -- especially things that could endanger minors. And I know people are wondering why Condoleezza Rice can't remember a July 2001 meeting with George Tenet where he warned her an al Qaeda attack was likely, even though White House records prove the meeting happened. She probably just blacked out. She was playing a drinking game. Every time you hear George Tenet say 'imminent,' you take a shot." --Stephen Colbert

"We're covering a story about a certain congressman. Let's call him 'Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida.' He spent most of his career protecting children from Internet stalkers. Turns out he was doing it so he could have them all to himself." --Jon Stewart

"Let's see what is going on with Father Foley. I'm sorry, Congressman Foley. As I'm sure you know by now, after getting caught sending explicit e-mails to underage boys, Florida Congressman Mark Foley has resigned. So his seat is up for grabs, which is what got him into trouble in the first place." --Jay Leno

"This is like the worst thing to happen to congressional Republicans since last Thursday . . . Most people think GOP stands for Gay Old Pedophile." --Jay Leno

"Mark Foley has now checked into rehab for alcoholism. Oh, shut up. Like that's the big problem. Who cares if he's addicted to Jack Daniels? He's addicted to little Jack and little Daniel. That's the problem." --Jay Leno

"I don't know how long Foley will be in rehab, but I'm pretty sure they don't want him home answering the door on Halloween." --Jay Leno

"Have you all been following this scandal in Washington with ex-Congressman Mark Foley? Well, a couple of days ago, he checked himself into rehab. It had gotten so bad he had to go out and develop a drinking problem.

The ex-congressman, if nothing else, is contrite. He says when he gets out of rehab, he wants a fresh start, and to turn over a new page." --David Letterman

Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

Foley: Power, Control, & Good "Grooming"

Oh golly, now that Congressman Mark Foley has resigned, the Bushists are so sad that they may lose their place as our designated protectors from evil, here. Foley's conduct over the years bothered the pages (WaPo here), but not the Bushists.

Doesn't seem to bother them that Foley, the cash-cow they've been coddling, is actually their own worst nightmare: a NAMBLA kinda guy, a guy whose behavior is consistent with that of an experienced sexual predator of minors.

It's the perfect set-up: an adult in a position of power and control, who has been appointed to positions that suggest his behavior is beyond reproach. He casts a wide net, presents himself as a personable and caring, and begins to encourage increasingly individual contacts.

He uses flattery, he uses images of power as lures, he frames this behavior as merely charming and benevolent. He selects his most approachable victims, and pursues them further, as Foley did in the published IMs -- starting to make personal remarks, intimate remarks, sexual remarks -- right under the nose of the child's parents.

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling

Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back

Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no

Can you say "consciousness of guilt"?

Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny

Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol…a bit

Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy

Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…

Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never too busy haha

One can admire Foley's technique -- his prey mentions a girlfriend, but Foley pays no attention. The prey mentions he feels uncomfortable, but Foley is so reassuring. It's hard for children to resist coming under the power and control of an adult, especially a powerful adult like Foley.

A predator tries to wean his prey away from the prey's protecting pack. Foley tried to set up private meetings with this boy, because that's the next step.

Once they've had sexual contact, a predator in a position of power can use his prey's own behavior (pictures, or other proofs) to further entangle the minor, blaming the minor for what happened, threatening to expose the minor to parents and society, and prevent the minor from turning the predator in.

Have some fun. Go Google good "grooming." Of the sexual kind.

Meanwhile, sit back and wonder why, though the FBI has known since July about these emails, they failed to confiscate Foley's computer.

These Bushists aren't really interested in protecting children from predators or adults from terrorism.

They're only protecting their own.



Prior Foley predator grooming behavior, here.
Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

Aren't You Glad to Have the GOP Protecting a Predatory GOP Pedophile Who's Also In Charge Of Not Exploiting Children Sexually?

Recently resigned Congressman Mark Foley has worked for a long time for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. When he resigned, the Center said it was very sorry to see him go.

I think everyone at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and everyone who is interested in Bushist fascist family values needs to read ex-Congressman Mark Foley's obscene exchange with an underage boy, available here.

This is what's called grooming.

It's how predatory adults sexually seduce minors. Which is, I believe, a crime (at least to those of us who still believe in the rule of law).

And Foley's doing it right under the nose of the kid's Mommy, who thinks her son is safe because she's right there in the same house with her kid.

Well, Mommy's wrong.



Here's a WaPo story about House Speaker Hastert knowing about Foley's criminal behavior since 2005.

Here's a WaPo story about Foley's career "protecting children."

Here's an article on preventing predators from "grooming" their prey, as Foley did:

This article is designed to increase awareness of the sexual predators who infiltrate youth-serving organizations. Since 97% of these predators have no criminal history, and virtually all of them maintain "trophy testimonials" to offer as references, ordinary screening methods are grossly ineffective. Worse, the customary reference-checking methods are mistaken for "screening" and further fail to elicit red flag information, which would suggest risks. . . .
WHO INFILTRATES AND WHY ARE THEY HARD TO DETECT?
Of specific focus in this article are the prolific serial, preferential predators described by Kenneth Lanning so well in his free book from the National Center on Missing & Exploited Children . . . this type of predator averages from dozens to hundreds of victims, operating undetected for whole lifetimes because they are expert at deception, . . . expert at impersonating "the perfect volunteer" and because 97% of them will never have a criminal history or fingerprints-on-file.

Ring a bell?

Why is the GOP protecting pedophiles?

Don't they even know enough to move them on to another parish?



Here, a WaPo story on the sadness of chickenhawks coming home to roost.
More here.
Mark Foley
child sexual abuse
sexual predators and grooming

This Evil Bill

This evil bill is about protecting torturers from prosecution.

This evil bill overturns habeas corpus--for all of us.

This evil bill is about deliberately dis-establishing the rule of law.

This evil bill is about establishing dictatorship.

This evil bill is about making torture legal.

This evil bill just "passed."

This evil bill is the most disgusting horror that the Bushist fascists have forced on the American people--to date.

There is a cancer now on not just the Presidency, but on our whole democracy.

They have voted to establish a class of persons who are now officially non-persons, a class for whom the rule of law no longer exists. Once it was slaves, Indians, Jews, women; the designated subhuman class now consists of -- whomever the dictating executive dictates.

The Nazis killed six million people, and yet were treated with dignity and tried at Nuremberg according to the rule of law.

These evil people who wrote this bill are opposed to the rule of law and are intent upon establishing a new sub-human class, and this evil action shames our country.

---------------




Those who voted to overturn the rule of law and legalize torture:

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

SHAME ON EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. SHAME.

Take action via Amnesty International, here.
[Senator Clinton, speaking against this evil bill, here.]
CIA torture
pro-torture
Dirty Bush

Goebbels, Hitler: Lie Long Enough, People Will Believe You -- Well, Until Finally They Wake Up From Their Bushist Fascist Nightmare

In the wake of the National Intelligence Estimate proving that Preznit Toad-Exploder's Oedipal adjunctive war on Iraq has emboldened jihadist terrorists, rather than reducing their threat, more attention is being paid to the lead-up to 9/11.

In a desperate attempt to do Rovian spin on their unbelievable negligence--totally disregarding all Clinton administration warnings about Al-Qaeda--Bubble Boy's fave lapdog Condi Rice called President Clinton's discussion about having left his successors detailed plans on defeating Al-Qaeda "false."

Condi's nose is growing long and longer.

Take a gander, here, at a warning memo from Richard Clark about Al-Qaeda. Look in Clarke's book, where he notes that there were zero principal meetings about Al-Qaeda.

Condi's a liar. Condi's quite a liar.

Condi's quite the liar for her bosses.

Doesn't she know that lying's wrong?

Why should she?



Current Republican Senator George "Macaca" Allen doesn't know that racism is wrong.

He doesn't even know that leaving a bloody deer-head in a black family's mailbox is wrong.

"Bubble Boy" Bush and "Big Dick" Cheney and "Psy-cho Ops" Rummy don't even know that torture is wrong.


Any other questions, boys and girls?







An article on some well-deserved anti-bushist-fascist backlash, here.

Torture Recipient John McCain Caves In, Supports Dirty Bush's Pro-Torture Program

Above, Americans in Vietnam practice their water torture skills on another human being, which back in the olden days, they would have gotten in a lot of trouble for. (Well, maybe. Think of all the punishment Lt. Calley failed to receive for orchestrating the slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians.)

OK, at least they might have felt bad about it.

That was then, this is now. Now, torture's as American as apple pie!

Dirty Bush somehow has rammed through his morally incorrect pro-torture bill, here.

Oh look. Lawless Bush has managed to undermine the foundation of our entire legal system, and is getting away with it. He's even repealed habeas corpus.

Well, that sure makes me mad enough to boil someone in oil!

Better yet, thanks to Preznit Toad-Exploder, America no longer cares about torture, really, because our frog-torturer president never felt anyone else's pain right from the get-go, did he? Some say that's kind of a sociopath thing, the utter lack of empathy thing.

The many classical forms of torture now made "legal" by Bush, with the apparent consent of McCain and rest of the morally incorrect, utter pussy Republicans:

Chinese water torture

American "waterboarding" water torture

Bamboo slivers under the fingernails

Thumbscrews

Marinating people in excrement

Sleep-deprivation torture

You get the picture. See, these forms of torture don't involve "serious" threat of death. Oh, and if you uninintentionally, accidentally cause serious bodily injury, that doesn't count, either. Same for cruel and inhuman treatment, too, because if it's accidental, it won't count. The ultra-"oops!" defense. Thank Yoo very much!

Shame on all these Bushist fascist moral perverts.

But, well, I wouldn't want to think about the hefty cases of PTSD that will be coming down the road for our brave band of American torturers, even with their shiny new Bush-granted "legitimacy."

Nope.

One feels sorry for them. The torturers will suffer for what they've done, not only in the next life, but in this one.




Ariel Dorfman, here.
Russian torture, here.
NY Times, here.
CIA torture
pro-torture
Dirty Bush

Dirty Bush & His Pro-Atrocity Crowd: Water Torture By Any Other Name Would Be -- Waterboarding

While it is not clear exactly what techniques the White House wishes to keep, sources have said those previously used include nakedness, prolonged sensory assault and deprivation, the imposition of "stress" positions, and water submersion to the verge of drowning. Bush has said none of those amounts to torture.

None of those amounts to torture, says Bush. How about we try them on him and see if he agrees with himself? National TV would be nice. But not just Bubble Boy. Rummy, too, and Cheney. Plus some loudmouth media whore media blowhards.

Sigh. I get quite weary of blogging against torture, how about you? You know, having to blog against torture. You'd think the whole thing would be self-evident.

Call me a silly starry-eyed card-carrying Buddhist if you will, but I think that people ought to know right from the get-go that one should really not be inflicting pain on others.

Not intentionally, anyhow.

Because that's, you know, wrong.

So I think that when one comes across people who appear to get off on intentionally inflicting pain on others, for whatever rationale, that, um, you know, there's something really really wrong with them.

And it's quite disturbing to be living in a country where Bush, Cheney, and Rummy, three powerful people, fit into that category. That our country is being run by three people who have something really really wrong with them.

It's disturbing that Preznit Toad-Exploder earned his nickname by purposely blowing sentient beings to bits when he was young. For fun.

It's disturbing that Dirty Dick "Shooter" Cheney finds recreational amusement in blowing to bits captive sentient beings who have zero chance of escape.

It's disturbing that Don "Psycho-Ops" Rumsfeld finds no moral quandary in ordering the torture of captive sentient beings while labeling it as "not torture because I said it's not torture." Water-torture by any other name Orwellianly becomes "waterboarding." The label itself minimizes it, making it sound like, you know, kinda fun. It's summer, hey, let's all go waterboarding!

It's winter, hey, let's all have a little bit of fun at Abu Ghraib! Piling prisoners in pyramid piles is no worse than piling up pyramids of cheerleaders! And we don't call cheerleader pyramid piles torture, do we? Honestly, Abu Ghraib Sgt. Graner's own defense lawyer said that--in Graner's defense! (I'm not making this up! I don't need to. I never need to.) Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, CIA's not-so-secret secret prisons, it's all the same government-supported sadism.

The point of torture is not to cause death but rather to cause suffering. Intense, unbearable suffering such that the torture recipient come to wishe that he or she were dead, so that suffering will cease. Is that clear, boys and girls?

Is it also clear that these our three sadists-in-chief--Bush, Cheney, Rummy--believe it's moral to cause unbearable suffering to captive sentient beings? Is it clear that their hysteric horde of followers now think that torture is as American as apple pie?

There's something really really wrong with these people.

They can't tell right from wrong.

Or, worse, they can tell right from wrong, but they choose to do evil anyway.

A Song on the End of the World

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea.
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born,
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
There will be no other end of the world.
There will be no other end of the world.

Warsaw, 1944
Czeslaw Milosz

None Dare Call It Torture, Well, Bubble Boy Doesn't Dare, Anyhow, Since It Would Make Him A War Criminal, Would It Not?, at WaPo, here.
Excellent article by Tom Malinowski at WaPo, here. Moral correctness at its best.
WaPo on "Bubble Boy's Last Stand for Torture Tantrum: Give Me Torture Or Give Me Breath! which I'll hold till I turn purple!! and then you'll be sorry!!)", via WaPo, here.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Stand Against Torture, here.
Colin Powell finally shows some spine, along with the two Geneva Convention Republicans, here.
Upcoming worldly karmic consequences, here.
Iraq torture
Geneva Conventions
Bush, torture

9/11 2006: Remembering 9//11/2001

"I blame the entire Bush leadership for continuing to work on Cold War issues when they back in power in 2001. It was as though they were preserved in amber from when they left office eight years earlier. They came back. They wanted to work on the same issues right away: Iraq, Star Wars. Not new issues, the new threats that had developed over the preceding eight years"

"And I said, 'Paul, there hasn't been any Iraqi terrorism against the United States in eight years!' And I turned to the deputy director of the CIA and said, 'Isn't that right?' and he said, 'Yeah, that's right. There is no Iraqi terrorism against the United States."

By June 2001, there still hadn't been a Cabinet-level meeting on terrorism, even though U.S. intelligence was picking up an unprecedented level of ominous chatter. The CIA director warned the White House, Clarke points out.

"George Tenet was saying to the White House, saying to the president -- because he briefed him every morning - a major al Qaeda attack is going to happen against the United States somewhere in the world in the weeks and months ahead. He said that in June, July, August.
Clarke finally got his meeting about al Qaeda in April, three months after his urgent request. But it wasn't with the president or cabinet. It was with the second-in-command in each relevant department. For the Pentagon, it was Paul Wolfowitz. Clarke relates, "I began saying, 'We have to deal with bin Laden; we have to deal with al Qaeda.'

Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, said, 'No, no, no. We don't have to deal with al Qaeda. Why are we talking about that little guy? We have to talk about Iraqi terrorism against the United States.'
Clarke went on to add, "There's absolutely no evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda, ever." When the interviewer pointed out that some administration officials say it's still an open issue, Clarke responded, "Well, they'll say that until hell freezes over."Clarke says the last time the CIA had picked up a similar level of chatter was in December, 1999, when Clarke was the terrorism czar in the Clinton White House. Clarke says Mr. Clinton ordered his Cabinet to go to battle stations -- meaning, they went on high alert, holding meetings nearly every day. That, Clarke says, helped thwart a major attack on Los Angeles International Airport, when an al Qaeda operative was stopped at the border with Canada, driving a car full of explosives.
Clarke harshly criticizes President Bush for not going to battle stations when the CIA warned him of a comparable threat in the months before Sept. 11: "He never thought it was important enough for him to hold a meeting on the subject, or for him to order his National Security Adviser to hold a Cabinet-level meeting on the subject."
Bush never thought it was important enough?

Well, well.

Stupid is as stupid does, is it not?




(Media whore media story, here. More, here.)


9/11 anniversary
Iraq War lies
Bush

Just a Little Note for Our Search Engine People

I've recently noted a huge upsurge in traffic reaching this blog via searching for "Iraq power drill torture" or "power drill torture Iraq" or "torture drill Iraq power" or something like that. It's disturbing.

This is, after all, a Buddhist blog, people.

Today there appeared another interesting trafficker, an Iranian person who Googled "President of Iran Hungry Hungry Hippo." I'm not kidding. I don't have to.

Any how, I don't think any of you really belong here. Convince me otherwise if you wish.

Otherwise, really, go away.

Thanks.

Deja Vu All Over Again, Again, As Fifth Anniversary of Al-Qaeda Attack Approaches

On the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, . . . President Bush wandered alone around the Situation Room in a White House emptied by the previous day's calamitous events.

Spotting Richard A. Clarke, his counterterrorism coordinator, Bush pulled him and a small group of aides into the dark paneled room.

"Go back over everything, everything," Bush said, according to Clarke's account. "See if Saddam did this."

"But Mr. President, al Qaeda did this," Clarke replied.

"I know, I know, but . . . see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred."

Reminded that the CIA, FBI and White House staffs had sought and found no such link before, Clarke said, Bush spoke "testily." As he left the room, Bush said a third time, "Look into Iraq/Saddam!"

There was no linkage between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration knew this, and invaded Iraq anyway. They put together a propaganda barrage pushing their lies until seventy per cent of Americans falsely believed Saddam was responsible for 9/11.

Five years after 9/11, a Senate report finally reveals the truth. There was no linkage between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

However, there is a linkage between Bush's Oedipal invasion of Iraq and the increasing moral and fiscal bankruptcy of this country, our failure to destroy Al Qaeda, our actual enemy, and the growing threat of Islamist fundamentalism, both Shi'a and Sunni.

Meanwhile, boys and girls, Osama Bin Forgotten. Al Qaeda, the medievalist energizer bunny, just keeps on ticking. And it looks like there's a nuclear Caliphate arising to take over the Middle East--but it will be Shi'a, not Sunni.

So it goes.

"Nothing America could have done would have provided al Qaeda and its new generation of cloned groups a better recruitment device than our unprovoked invasion of an oil-rich Arab country.

Nothing else could have so well negated all our other positive acts and so closed Muslim eyes and ears to our subsequent calls for reform in their region.

It was as if Usama bin Laden, hidden in some high mountain redoubt, were engaging in long-range mind control of George Bush, chanting, "invade Iraq, you must invade Iraq."

-- Richard A. Clarke, Against All Enemies

WaPo update on Bush's bogus linkage here.


Estimated US death toll, here: 12,000 dead, 25,000 badly wounded?
Estimated Iraqi death toll may reach 180,000, here.

9/11 anniversary
Iraq War lies
Bush

RUMMY: NO IRAQ PLAN BEYOND THE CAKEWALK

Guess what, boys and girls?

There's more Bushist fascist dirty laundry heading your way, and it's chock-full of stinky skid marks.

Secretary of Defense, Donald "Psycho" Rumsfeld didn't just have a really BAD plan for post-war Iraq, he had ZERO plan.

Because it was going to be a CAKEWALK. Got that?

Psycho Rummy PURPOSELY ordered the U.S. military NOT TO MAKE ANY POST-WAR PLANS.

Oh, my, boys and girls.

Can you say "criminal negligence"?

Can you say "unimaginable frickin' hubris"?

Can you say "impeachable offenses all over the frickin' place"?

[B]efore the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists to develop plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said in an interview.

In fact, said Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, Rumsfeld said ''he would fire the next person'' who talked about the need for a post-war plan.

Well, Rummy sure fired Shinseki.

Scheid said the planners continued to try ''to write what was called Phase 4,'' or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like security, stability and reconstruction.

Even if the troops didn't stay, ''at least we have to plan for it,'' Scheid said.

''I remember the secretary of Defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that,'' Scheid said.

''We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today.

''He said we will not do that because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war.''

They got around that for a while, didn't they?

Full story here.

Oh, and how about the Senate finally figuring out that the evidence showed no linkage between Saddam and Al Qaeda, and sort of coming clean about it, having cleverly kept these inconvenient truths hidden during the last presidential election, here.

And here. GOP strategies to cling to power by smearing Dems, here.


There's just not enough contempt in the whole universe to heap on these immoral, sadistic liars.

There isn't.

Rumsfeld made no postwar plan
Dirty Bush
Bushist fascists

Lawless Bush Admits He Ran Secret Prisons

BUSH ADMITS SECRET CIA PRISONS

Sydney Morning Herald

US President George Bush on Wednesday acknowledged the existence of previously secret CIA prisons around the world.

WaPo here.

Independent UK, here.

Once, one was worried about medievalist Islam destroying America.

But our home-grown Talibangelical Bushist fascist racist sadist authoritarian know-nothings are doing a much better job of destroying America--right here, and right now.

Dirty Bush, Dirty Dick, and Rummy are feckless, reckless, and out of control.

They are working hard to leave the rest of us fiscally and morally bankrupt.

Twenty-first century barbarians, they kidnap and kill at will.


How low can they go?

When will they pay for their crimes against our nation? Anytime soon?

secret CIA prisons
Dirty Bush
Bushist fascists

Oedipal Tragedy: Arrogant Bush Junior Creates the Civil War His Very Own Daddy Warned Against, and Even Sistani Cannot Stop It.

I no longer have power to save Iraq from civil war

The most influential moderate Shia leader in Iraq has abandoned attempts to restrain his followers, admitting that there is nothing he can do to prevent the country sliding towards civil war.

Aides say Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is angry and disappointed that Shias are ignoring his calls for calm and are switching their allegiance in their thousands to more militant groups which promise protection from Sunni violence and revenge for attacks.

"I will not be a political leader any more," he told aides. "I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters."

It is a devastating blow to the remaining hopes for a peaceful solution in Iraq and spells trouble for British forces, who are based in and around the Shia stronghold of Basra.

Thanks a lot, Bubble Boy. Thanks a lot, Preznit Toad-Exploder. Thanks Dirty Dick. Thanks, Rummy. You sure are reaping what you sowed. Too bad it was a crap crop, eh?

Some people, when they discover themselves trapped in an Oedipal tragedy, take self-punitive measures. Will this be happening anytime soon?

Just asking.

Bushist Fascists Stoop to Smear and Smear Again--How Low Can WaPo Go?

This WaPo editorial is quite a piece of tripe (no offense to tripe).

It pretends that naming Armitage as a Novak source magically ends the Plame affair.

Voila! "It was just silly old Dickie's inveterate gossipmongering!"

(Say, wasn't that Turdblossom's made-up cover story all along? Why are the media whore media still flogging it? Perhaps because the party-line dimwits at WaPo and the Times appear to be still buying it? They're still publishing it. Ee-ew.)

The bizarre piece of Bushist fascist propaganda came right from Closet Cupcake Karl Rove (or the guy whose recent WaPo editorial was utterly refuted by facts printed on the same paper's very own front page?).

How the mighty have fallen. How the fourth estate has crumpled into total whoredom. Poor Kay Graham, in her grave, and spinning like a top.

Good refutation of tripe "editorial" by Larry Johnson, here.

Johnson reminds us that:

Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published.

He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed. (Washington Post, 27 July 2005)

Well, perhaps if the CIA had only TOLD Novak that she was undercover, thus blowing her cover, Novak wouldn't have blown her cover, eh? It's the CIA's fault for not blabbing, don't you get it?

Emptywheel's analysis, here.

MediaMatters' story on the current anti-Fitzgerald, anti-Plame/Wilson propaganda infestation, as part of a concerted effort to trivialize treason, here.

Facts? Ha!

If they have no facts, why, let them just fake!

And faking it is what the entire reichwing noise machine is up to, from sea to shining sea.

Why, at WaPo and at WhiHou and the Grey Lady and throughout the media whore media empire, it's a veritable Cheney-cum-Goebbelsfest of vitriolic partisan propaganda 24/7.

No kidding.

Say, boys and girls, does this sound familiar?

Never allow the public to cool off;
never admit a fault or wrong;
never concede that there may be some good in your enemy;
never leave room for alternatives;
never accept blame;
concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong;
people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one;
and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Yes, these are the kind of un-American fascists we really need to be worried about.

"There is only so much room in a brain, so much wall space, as it were, and if you furnish it with your slogans, the opposition has no place to put up any pictures later on, because the apartment of the brain is already crowded with your furniture."

Oh, and I'm not telling who was responsible for the above, but he had a nasty little moustache, was abused as a child, and went on to massacre millions.

These days, a nasty little man without a moustache whose childhood was also nasty, is the heir to that same philosophy of propaganda, and this nasty man helped prop up a government (led by one who in his youth derived pleasure from deliberately exploding toads) that has killed tens of thousands, promoted torture and racism and sexism, and pissed away billions and billions of your tax dollars while lining the pockets of his fatcat buddies.

When will we be tossing the m-f Bushist fascists off the m-f plane?

Plame affair
CIA
Bushist fascists

Say "Bushist fascist, Bushist fascist, Bushist fascist" 50 Times Real Fast And This Whole Bushist Fascist Nightmare Will Go Away?

NBC anchor Brian Williams interviewed President Bush. He asked him about his poll numbers and President Bush said, 'The key for me is to keep expectations low.' I think you can accurately say, 'Mission Accomplished.'" --Jay Leno

"The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans was marked by President Bush with a moment of silence. A little different than a year ago, when President Bush marked the occasion by a week and a half of silence." (Jay Leno)


"I think President Bush gets confused. He said progress is being made in New Orleans and he hopes one day New Orleans will be a democracy. You know hurricanes, they hate freedom." (Jay Leno)

"Today is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Not only that, it's the six-month anniversary of when President Bush found out about it." (Conan O'Brien)

"NBC News was also marking the anniversary [of Hurricane Katrina], but they had to settle for lesser celebrity guests, like this guy who took some time from a tour of New Orleans to tell Brian Williams about all the reading he's been doing this summer [on screen: President Bush saying he's read 'three Shakespeares' this summer]. The point is that he read three Shakespeares this summer, and that's a great way to kick off eighth grade!" (Jimmy Kimmel)

"Yesterday the president of Iran challenged President Bush to a televised debate. President Bush turned down the debate, but did challenge the Iranian president to a game of 'Hungry Hungry Hippos.'" (Conan O'Brien)

"The entire case against John Mark Karr was completely bogus. It was based on a bunch of ridiculous claims he just made up without any basis and facts. The good news? Today, the White House offered him a job." (Jay Leno)

"CNN, to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11, is going to be re-playing their original coverage of that day. Let's just hope that President Bush doesn't tune in and go, 'Oh my God, they've done it again!'." (Bill Maher)

US, Aussies Lied About WMD Failure

Australian WMD expert and diplomat reveals deliberate attempts by the Bush Administration to conceal their complete failure to find WMDs in Iraq, ostensibly the reason Bush invaded Iraq.

The letter by Dr. John Gee

outlines in detail interference by the CIA and the Bush Administration in first reports about the weapons hunt to avoid finding that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction.

Dr Gee, one of Australia's leading chemical weapons experts, briefed Mr Downer on his concerns after his resignation. He bluntly told him that he believed Iraq had no such weapons.

The John Howard government colluded with the Bush administration to hide this failure for six months; Australia's foreign minister Alexander Downer is now in hot water for having been caught in a bald-faced lie intended to hide their failure until after the 2004 elections.

In a news conference . . .at the time, Mr Downer gave no indication that Dr Gee had told him there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or that the CIA was distorting the weapons hunt.

Instead he said that the weapons hunt was "a work in progress".

Ultimately, . . . the Iraq Survey Group publicly concluded six months later that there were no such weapons in Iraq. Until then, neither Mr Downer nor the Prime Minister, John Howard, would acknowledge this.

Full story from the Sydney Morning Herald, here and here.

In Nightmares Begin Responsibilities: Katrina's Unhappy Anniversary

While we're aware of recent path of Hurricane Ernesto, and are all aware of the unhappy anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I thought I'd do a deja vu all over again recycling of some of my fave Katrina raves, that hurricane that nobody could have predicted (except for those who had predicted it) and about which nobody could do nothing (except when super-competent FEMA chief James Lee Witt had he been back-to-the-future-ly time-warped in.)


Saturday, September 03, 2005


Nightmares:

Via an interview with BBC News with Lieutenant Commander Sean Kelly of the Northern Command, video here:

NorthCom started planning before the storm even hit.

We were ready for the storm when it hit Florida because, as you remember, it crossed the bottom part of Florida, and then we were planning, you know, once it was pointed towards the Gulf Coast.

So what we did was we activated what we call defense coordinating officers to work with the state to say okay, what do you think you'll need, and we set up staging bases that could be started.

We had the USS Baton sailing almost behind the hurricane so that after the hurricane made landfall it's search and rescue helicopters would be available almost immediately. So we had things ready.

The only caveat is, we have to wait until the President authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion, we have to wait for the President to give us permission.

"WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO GIVE US PERMISSION."

Permission George W. Bush clearly failed to give.

Negligence? Malevolence? Incompetence? Racism? All of the above?

Just asking.

Yes, indeedy.

And how about a little deja vu here?

And a little deja vu here. And here.

All over again.


Katrina anniversary
FEMA
Bush, Katrina
Snakes on a plane
Bush saying he's sorry, sorta, here.

Christian Lady Fired From Church As Satanic Talibangelical Dominionism Spreads North

Can you believe it?

Crappy-"christian" "church" fires an elderly Sunday school teacher with 54 years teaching experience because bizarre Talibangelical male minister forbids adult women to teach adult men.

Who would Jesus dismiss on the basis of gender, eh?

Will Crappy-'christians' be paying attention to the actual words of Jesus anytime soon, or will they be staying with and harping on all the words He didn't say?

And remember, boys and girls--these Dominionists believe in permanent slavery for women and slavery for the poor, and in the death penalty for disobedient children. I'm not making this up. I don't have to.

Hey, kids! Worried about the imposition of medievalist Islamic Shari'a Law? Try pre-medieval Mosaic Law!

[E]nforcement of the Mosaic Law will involve the application of the death penalty for such capital crimes as murder, rape, kidnapping, bestiality, incest, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, idolatry, witchcraft, the offering of human sacrifice, unchangeable rebellion in adolescent children, flagrant negligence resulting in the death of another person, blasphemy, apostasy, the spreading of false doctrines, and Sabbath breaking. The reconstructed society will regard dissenters and heretics as treasonous criminals at war with the law and society."

Full story here and here.

Hat tip to Buddhist Jihad.

Church fires woman teacher.
Talibangelicals
Christian misogyny
Snakes on a plane

Rightwing Blowhards Discover Their Bush is Idiot -- Is Late Really Better Than Never?

What took them so long?

Oh, right. They're stupid.

Pundits Renounce The President

For 10 minutes, the talk show host grilled his guests about whether "George Bush's mental weakness is damaging America's credibility at home and abroad." For 10 minutes, the caption across the bottom of the television screen read, "IS BUSH AN 'IDIOT'?"

But the host was no liberal media elitist. It was Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman turned MSNBC political pundit. And his answer to the captioned question was hardly "no."

While other presidents have been called stupid, Scarborough said: "I think George Bush is in a league by himself. I don't think he has the intellectual depth as these other people."

Well, frickin' duh, Joey.

Maybe you guys should stop PolPot-ishly deriding smart people, for a change?

This is your boy:

"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?" -- George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006



YouTube catch here.

WaPo story here.

Wonderful YouTube montage here. And here.

NBFH blasts from the past (recent Bush idiocies) here and here.




Bush is Idiot
Joe Scarborough
Dirty Bush
Snakes on a plane