Surprising. Rupert Murdock on why Obama will win: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid452319854/bctid1579802959

One of those oh so polite Clinton supporters at the DNC Rules Committee meeting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s Great lady vote for McCain…you were going to vote for war-mongering Hillary so why not vote for war-mongering MCain—who cares.

that’s people who assume….

Liza-My post wasn’t directed to you so you know….back to the jujubees….and you know what they say about become who ass—-ume.

His book was published by the same publisher who published 6 of George Soros books, and also other political books by Vadimir Putin, John Kerry. PublicAffairs’s founder is left-wing editor Peter Osnos. PublicAffairs is owned by Perseus Books, which is owned by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank whose board includes Democrats Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson, who is now doing Barack Obama’s vice presidential vetting. One of Perseus’s investment funds, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical, is co-managed with Mr. Soros.” (So Obama was probably in on the book deal too) Here’s PublicAffairs website with the McClellan book and a Soros book side by side on the home page. Ooops. SOMEONE FORGOT TO SEND THEM THE MEMO ABOUT KEEPING DARK CONSPIRACIES…AH..IN THE DARK NOT SPLASHED ACROSS THE FRONT PAGE. Here’s the link to US News and World Report story: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080530.htm 411: Publishers publish books by TO MAKE MONEY and regularly publish both radical right and left authors if they THINK THEY”LL MAKE MONEY. Of course Fox Views is trying to make a nafarious conspiracy out of it….because they want to diminish what McClellan is saying…they always come out with their 24/7 hysterical script and go after their detractors en masse. Big surprise that they’re not just trashing Scott McClellan but have come up with conspiracy theories that George Soros ate Scotty Come Lately’s brain. Right Wing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife fund backs authors all the time like Apple-Adam Annie. another big surprise. But Fox changes the story by making it a scandal somehow related to Soros…then they can fill up air time talking about him. The left isn’t watching Fox…the ditto-heads are and they’ll buy it the story that Soros someone wrote the book for Scotty, and paid to have it published and distributed. What’s in it for Soros can’t imagine since 75% of the US and most of the world can’t stand GWB isn’t that just throwing a few more bricks on the scale? Don’t think Soros is going to throw money at something with so little return. GWB is a lame duck…why spend $$ on him. If he’s going to spend on anything the smart investment wd be going after McCain. Gee, Scott only got got a $75K advance. Bet he’s happy with the Fox free publicity….it’ll earn the advance back in a week or less…he’s already racking up royalties. Sweet.

From Dr. Robert Bowman who was in Reagan and Carter administrations Director of Advanced Space Programs Development. He is Presiding Archbishop, Catholic Church, was president of the Institute for Space and Security Studies since 1982, vice-president of Space Communications Company; head of Advanced Space Programs for General Dynamics. And USAF Col who flew 100+ combat missions in Vietnam. He said: “I joined the Air Force to protect our borders and our people, not the financial interests of Exxon. Our freedoms are not under attack from Saddam Hussein. Our freedoms are under attack by John Ashcroft….John Poindexter….Donald Rumsfeld… Dick Cheney….George W. Bush”. “This war has nothing to do with national security or freedom or democracy or human rights or protecting our allies or weapons of mass destruction or defeating terrorism or disarming Iraq. It has to do with oil…raw imperial power. It is based on a pack of lies. Those who forced this war on an unwilling world are guilty of flagrantly violating the US Constitution, the UN Charter, and international law. What they have done is illegal, immoral, unconstitutional and TREASON.” “It’s been said that somewhere in Texas there is a village looking for their idiot. George W. Bush is not an imbecile. He is a TRAITOR.” “Before this war started, we knew it would fracture NATO, split the United Nations, separate us from our allies, and destroy the great nation we inherited from our fathers who died in World War II. And it has. We knew it would make our beloved country feared and hated, an outcast from the world community, a pariah among the peoples, and the number one rogue nation on earth. And it has. It has done so based on a pack of lies. That is TREASON.” “We knew this sadistic corporate war would incense the Arab world, provide thousands of new Osama bin Ladens, and enormously increase the terrorist threat. And it has. We knew it would further endanger the American people and destroy our national security. And it has. That is not stupidity, it is TREASON”. “The cabal of neoconservatives at PNAC who planned this war (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Libby, Perle, Jeb Bush) even before W became president, knew the American people would not stand for it unless there was a new Pearl Harbor. 9/11 supplied that. Our government was warned. They were warned by the Clinton Administration. They were warned by 11 other countries. And they were specifically warned by an FBI agent that one of them was planning on flying a hijacked airliner into the World Trade Center.” “They not only ignored the warnings, they made sure no fighter jets were scrambled to stop it. If they had just done nothing, and allowed normal procedures to be followed, the Twin Towers would still be standing and thousands of dead Americans would still be alive. This is not stupidity, it is TREASON.” “As a combat veteran, I will not stand idly by and watch our security destroyed by a president who went AWOL rather than fight in Vietnam. Honor requires that I call this by its right name. It is TREASON.” “As one who has devoted his life to the security of this country, I will not stand by and watch an appointed president send our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs for the oil companies without calling it by its right name. It is TREASON.” “A preemptive war is immoral, illegal, unconstitutional, a war crime, and TREASON. I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. That includes a renegade president. Wake up, America! It is time for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the whole oil mafia to be removed from office and indicted for TREASON. God bless America, and God save us from the traitors in our government.”

Renata- In this documentary all the folks speaking are CIA, Ambassadors, weapons inspectors etc and they go over the UN speech and how they felt…at the end they say how Congress is failing their Constitutional duties not to impeach. It would be interesting to know how Powell who is so universally admired went off the rails and why. Since Bush Inc is basically a thug operation one big RICO scam have to think they had something on him and twisted his arm. he was their ‘good housekeeping seal of approval’ When you see Tenet sitting behind him like he is sanctioning the entire thing, his face betrays him. He knew it was s*it. the people on this tape were long time CIA…it they knew…he knew…and the Downing Street Memo proved the Brits knew it was all a sham. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7371253996117324045&q=uncovered…

Excellent documentary here all the speakers interviewed longtime CIA including the best former head of it, ambassadors, weapons inspectors, John Dean, Nixon’s former council, etc….this was out in 2003 and then subsequently updated. It is the best. And really shows how wrong Powell was. I admired him too and esp his wife Velma. They may have had some goods on him (an affair or something) that’s how they work. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7371253996117324045&q=uncovered…

BETH—I am not interested in any ‘dialogue’ or anything eles with any Bush supporter. I have nothing but total contempt for him, his criminal administration, and the supporters of his criminal enterprise, and his enablers like Nancy Pelosi who has failed in her Constitutional responsibilities. I don’t keep enemies close and could care less what the choir is comprised of, or not comprised of. My opinions don’t shift based on what other people think of them. Nor am I interested in what red-state bigots think of Michelle Obama, which is what I believe you were referring to my ‘comparison’ bet the wives. Cindy McCain grew up in wealthy circumstances , was a rodeo queen and a cheerleader, got involved with McCain when he was married, married him after his divorce from his first wife, then she was a bookkeeper on the Keating Five scandal-couldn’t find receipts—great bookkeeper—and became addicted to pain pills, stole prescriptions from an international aid charity and forged signatures to fill them. Rich as she is there wasn’t another way? There’s just so much in that one paragraph that is anathema. Michelle Obama did NOT grow up in cushy circumstance, went tp Princeton and Harvard Law School and to work as an attorney…and is her own person. All of which I admire. My only interest now is who Senator Obama selects as a running mate. The compromise was reached on the Mich and Fl delegates so now he needs 20 more than before…but as said on MSNBC today, “The DNC is not controlled by the Clintons any more…this is Barack Obama’s party now. He’s already been winning the outside game, he now won the inside game.. Guys, it’s over.” IF by some miracle Clinton got the nomination—I won’t work for the Demo ticket, or vote. And if by some chance the nation is dumb enough to vote McSame in…I’ll be living in Europe with my attention elsewhere. In the meantime it’ll be one long slugfest between now and then. If you want to wear your white gloves and serve tea for it…goody for you…include me out of your mindset please…

And some of us are NOT interested in flat earthers who think there is no global warming and support mass murdering dimwits. So save your sanctimony on how to behave. “Perhaps some of us do know what courage is and what it is not.” Really? Well let’s see your list of courageous actions you’ve taken over the last seven years to prevent the illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq based on lies to profit Halliburton et al, and what you’ve done persistently to get the perpetrators punished, and the troops home. Because unless it is a VERY substantial list, I am not interested in your persistent Ms Manners preaching…very tiresome.

Cat lord, I was responding to Right-Winger Monica Crowley—who has an advertisement for Hillary is Satan baseball caps on her blog http://www.monicamemo.com/ —-and made the on air assertion that the French must and will change. Sarkozy’s approval ratings have tanked and the French are not Americans. They take action— overall they’re better informed and a lot smarter. Sarkozy is not going to succeed in shoving change down the throats of the French public. Apparently Crowley forgot what happened to Dominque de Villepin (who I’d hoped would be the president of France) after his jobs bill fiasco, his career was toast. Sarkozy is NOT de Villepin—who is a very classy man who speaks at least 3 languages. Here he is on Charlie Rose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLFniHz8i_g&feature=related The hubris of the US right-wing pundits stating “France has to change” is bizarre. It comes from not wanting the most influential country in the EU to have a higher living standard, the best medical care on the planet (free), longer vacations, a stronger currency than the USD, and at least with Chirac, the independance to say no to profiteering wars. France is only slightly larger than Texas, with less than double California’s population, remains the world’s 7th largest economy, and has a higher UN human development index— in the top 10—the US is not: Iceland 0.969 Norway 0.968 Australia 0.962 Canada 0.961 Ireland 0.959 Sweden 0.956 Switzerland 0.955 Japan 0.953 Netherlands 0.953 France 0.952 ___________ Finland 0.952 United States 0.951 Spain 0.949 Denmark 0.949 Austria 0.948 United Kingdom 0.946 Belgium 0.946 Luxembourg 0.944 New Zealand 0.943 Italy 0.941 Hong Kong 0.937 Germany 0.935 Israel 0.932 Greece 0.926 Singapore 0.922 South Korea 0.921 Slovenia 0.917 Cyprus 0.903 Portugal 0.897 Brunei 0.894 Sarkozy the American is not a good speaker. His address to the US Congress and his twitchiness were not presidentia, but then we don’t have a president with stature or bearing either. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlt2GE4EYo4 And with the US being #48th in the world in infant mortality, 55th in literacy, 72nd in overall health, 44th in freedom of the press; right-wingers look pretty ridiculous saying France should change when we are the ones that need to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcz_NHAFGS0 I liked Cecilia Sarkozy esp after she refused to go to Kennybunkport and have hots dogs with the mass murdering dimwit. Good for her. I hope she is very happy in her new relationship.

Maurine—-Ambassador Joe Wilson served many diplomatic posts with distinction including as the US Ambassador to Iraq under the first Bush administration. Wilson’s service was highly praised Geo Bush, Sr. After the gross betrayal by GWB & Co of he and his wife, in 2004 Wilson wrote “The Politics of Truth” subtitled “Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity: A Diplomat’s Memoir”. Here are some of the highlights of his diplomatic career serving both GOP and Democrat presidents: 1976–1978: General Services Officer, Niger 1978–1979: Administrative Office, Togo 1979–1981: Administrative Officer, U.S. State Department, WDC. 1981–1982: Administrative Officer, Pretoria, South Africa 1982–1985: Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Burundi 1985–1986: Congressional Fellow 1986–1988: DCM, Republic of the Congo 1988–1991: DCM, Baghdad, Iraq 1992–1995: Ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe 1995–1997: Political Advisor to the Commander in Chief of U.S. Armed Forces, Europe (EUCOM), Stuttgart, Germany 1997–1998: Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs, United States National Security Council, Washington, D.C. There are plenty of video links above in an earlier post of mine with Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame on various programs including 60 Min providing the details of her work, her outing and that her life had been put in danger as a “hit” against Joe Wilson for criticizing the Bush admin’s rush to war. And esp for his NY Times Op Ed piece on his trip to Niger and that there was no basis in fact for their claims of Saddam obtaining yellow cake there. As you note above, Wilson knew the country well from being posted there as a diplomat. The unmasking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson by White House officials in 2003 damaged U.S.intelligence abilty to counter nuclear proliferation abroad, Plame Wilson, was a clandestine operative in Directorate tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran. Bush Incs actions seriously eroded the CIA’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear program. McClellan stated Bush OKd the outing. Further, the Downing Street Memo—-written by insiders in Tony Blair’s cabinet in July 2002 after their meeting with US counterparts, that the basis for war was being created by manipulating phony data (ie British leaders confirming Plame and Wilsons assertions) and that Bush had already made up his mind to attack…the full text of the leaked memo confirms what Plame and now McClellan said—they just cherry picked to fashion a pretext….and in outing Plame destroyed her operatives, sources and assets in other nations that took decades to assemble Here’s the Downing Street Memo IT SAYS EXTREMELY SENSITIVE-ONLY NEED TO KNOW-NO COPIES MADE—SECRET—ETC. AND AS LEAKED TO the The Sunday Times, May 1, 2005 _______________________________ “SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY DAVID MANNING From: Matthew Rycroft Date: 23 July 2002 S 195 /02 cc: Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Attorney-General, Sir Richard Wilson, John Scarlett, Francis Richards, CDS, C, Jonathan Powell, Sally Morgan, Alastair Campbell IRAQ: PRIME MINISTER’S MEETING, 23 JULY Copy addressees and you met the Prime Minister on 23 July to discuss Iraq. This record is extremely sensitive. No further copies should be made. It should be shown only to those with a genuine need to know its contents. John Scarlett summarised the intelligence and latest JIC assessment. Saddam’s regime was tough and based on extreme fear. The only way to overthrow it was likely to be by massive military action. Saddam was worried and expected an attack, probably by air and land, but he was not convinced that it would be immediate or overwhelming. His regime expected their neighbours to line up with the US. Saddam knew that regular army morale was poor. Real support for Saddam among the public was probably narrowly based. C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and FACTS BEING FIXED around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action. CDS said that military planners would brief CENTCOM on 1-2 August, Rumsfeld on 3 August and Bush on 4 August. The two broad US options were: (a) Generated Start. A slow build-up of 250,000 US troops, a short (72 hour) air campaign, then a move up to Baghdad from the south. Lead time of 90 days (30 days preparation plus 60 days deployment to Kuwait). (b) Running Start. Use forces already in theatre (3 x 6,000), continuous air campaign, initiated by an Iraqi casus belli. Total lead time of 60 days with the air campaign beginning even earlier. A hazardous option. The US saw the UK (and Kuwait) as essential, with basing in Diego Garcia and Cyprus critical for either option. Turkey and other Gulf states were also important, but less vital. The three main options for UK involvement were: (i) Basing in Diego Garcia and Cyprus, plus three SF squadrons. (ii) As above, with maritime and air assets in addition. (iii) As above, plus a land contribution of up to 40,000, perhaps with a discrete role in Northern Iraq entering from Turkey, tying down two Iraqi divisions. The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun “spikes of activity” to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, WITH THE TIMELINE BEGINNING 30 DAYS BEFORE THE US CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS. The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But THE CASE WAS THIN. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force. The Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change. The Prime Minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors. Regime change and WMD were linked in the sense that it was the regime that was producing the WMD. There were different strategies for dealing with Libya and Iran. If the political context were right, people would support regime change. The two key issues were whether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan the space to work. On the first, CDS said that we did not know yet if the US battleplan was workable. The military were continuing to ask lots of questions. For instance, what were the consequences, if Saddam used WMD on day one, or if Baghdad did not collapse and urban warfighting began? You said that Saddam could also use his WMD on Kuwait. Or on Israel, added the Defence Secretary. The Foreign Secretary thought the US would not go ahead with a military plan unless convinced that it was a winning strategy. On this, US and UK interests converged. But on the political strategy, there could be US/UK differences. Despite US resistance, we should explore discreetly the ultimatum. Saddam would continue to play hard-ball with the UN. John Scarlett assessed that Saddam would allow the inspectors back in only when he thought the threat of military action was real. The Defence Secretary said that if the Prime Minister wanted UK military involvement, he would need to decide this early. He cautioned that many in the US did not think it worth going down the ultimatum route. It would be important for the Prime Minister to set out the political context to Bush. Conclusions: (a) We should work on the assumption that the UK would take part in any military action. But we needed a fuller picture of US planning before we could take any firm decisions. CDS should tell the US military that we were considering a range of options. (b) The Prime Minister would revert on the question of whether funds could be spent in preparation for this operation. (c) CDS would send the Prime Minister full details of the proposed military campaign and possible UK contributions by the end of the week. (d) The Foreign Secretary would send the Prime Minister the background on the UN inspectors, and discreetly work up the ultimatum to Saddam. He would also send the Prime Minister advice on the positions of countries in the region especially Turkey, and of the key EU member states. (e) John Scarlett would send the Prime Minister a full intelligence update. (f) We must not ignore the legal issues: the Attorney-General would consider legal advice with FCO/MOD legal advisers. (I have written separately to commission this follow-up work.) MATTHEW RYCROFT (Rycroft was a Downing Street foreign policy aide) ———————————————————-

Yes $82 M to investigate the Clinton’s THOROUGHLY by Ken Starr. And another $2.4 spent by richard Mellon Scaife in his “Arkansas Project” to uncover anything on the Clintons. Starr even sent Susan McDoughal to prison for 18 months trying to force her to lie. Her book on the experience revealed an incredible nightmare. At the same time under $3M to investigate Plame—and that was the most heinous conspiracy to commit treason by Rove/Libby probably CHeney and now McClellan says GWB authorized it.. And only $3M committed at first to investigate 911. plus forestalling the investigation of 911 for over a year…and Bush/Cheney REFUSING to testify separately or under oath. Priorites indeed. Hypocritical “conservative” values on display again. The theme being lives, property the US Constitution, nor the truth matter. It’s all about BushCos mafia-style racketeering and corruption and power.

Bella- Just for background, Richard Clark worked for the State Department from the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Clinton promoted Clarke to be the chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council. Under GWB Clarke no longer had cabinet-level access, but continued to work in the executive branch until his retirement in January 2003 as counter-terrorism czar. Clarke came to widespread public attention for his role as counter-terrorism czar. In March of 2004 (ie 15 months after leaving 30 years service in 4 consecutive administration) he appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about his memoir, Against All Enemies, then testified before the 9/11 Commission. consistently critical about GWB’s actions pre 9/11 and in attacking Iraq. 15 months after leaving office with 30 years to reconcile into a book and get it published was working fast. Clarke was exasperated with Bush Inc from the start. McClellan has subsequently said that it took him some time away from WDC to decompress, sort things out and write ie, etc. Clinton after leaving office gave an interview in his home office where he wrote his memoir and described the process. It’s not a simple task to write a book, and after getting it done and published if it coincides with the election that has a lot to do with publishing cycles and also that books tend to sell best in Dec.

ChefZee, Oh yeah, that would be a highly amusing contortionist effort to watch. But then, would just provide so many more targets to throw darts at—and who cares or as the time. As it’s said, pretty fades, but stupid is forever.