ledge of liberty

Bush Touts Fox Slogan: "Fair and Balanced"

Bush concluded the final day of his 2-day Economic Summit (TM) with 40 minutes of closing words babble.  Why anyone lets this man speak without handlers and cattle prods is completely beyond me.  Anyway, here's a few of my favorite remarks.

• 4 years and a $236 billion surplus turned $413 billion deficit, but now Bush is "ready to work".

BUSH:  I -- but I didn't come up here to Washington -- I know a lot of people I my Cabinet didn't agree to serve to pass problems on. I like to confront problems. I like to -- I like to work with people so that we can say we left behind a better America, after it's all said and done. And I don't have that much time here in Washington. So I'm going to --  So I'm ready to work.

• Bush used the Fox News slogan "Fair and Balanced" when talking about "frivolous lawsuits" cluttering up the court system.  "Fair and Balanced"?  What ever happened to "Fair and Just"?

BUSH:  We believe, and many of you have -- believe that that money can be better spent; that it's possible to have a justice system that is fair and balanced; that if you have a claim, you should be able to go to an uncluttered court to have your claim adjudicated.

• Nicaragua, Guatemala, uh who the f*ck really cares -- Bush scolded Hilda Bankston for correcting him before the press.

BUSH: And lawsuits can just plain ruin somebody's life. Donnie headed a seminar yesterday, and I happened to be there, and we heard the story of Hilda Bankston -- I think Hilda is probably still here. There you go. First of all, Hilda was born in Nicaragua -- is that right?

MRS. BANKSTON: Guatemala.

BUSH: Guatemala -- see, I wasn't paying very close attention.  Maybe I'll get the rest of the story right here.  It's okay to correct the President -- just not in front of all the TV cameras.

Following Lead of Dictators Past: The Bush Billboards

[Enter the Billboard Gallery or Submit a Billboard Picture]

Merriam-Webster: 'Blog' #1 word of 2004

The verdict's in; Merriam-Webster name's 'blog' the top word of 2004.  That's right, 'blog' -- not 'network', not 'news', not 'CNN' --  B-L-O-G.

Freed from the constraints that govern traditional print and broadcast news organizations, blogs spread gossip while also serving as an outlet for people increasingly disenchanted with mainstream media.  [CNN]

TOP 10 WORDS OF 2004

1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane

6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

Source: Merriam-Webster

Bush Thanks Canada for Not Flipping Him Off

"I frankly felt like the reception we received on the way in from the airport was very warm and hospitable, and I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave - with all five fingers."  [G.W. via AP]

The truth is -- Bush's first visit to Canada since his Presidency was met by a barrage of

thousands of protesters, each armed with signs asking the President to "please leave" calling him an "assassin" and  "war criminal".  Hardly a "warm and hospitable" welcome.

In 2003, Bush imposed a ban on beef imports from Canada, all for a lone case of mad cow syndrome attributed to a piece of Alberta beef.  Prime Minister Martin made a not-so-subtle reminder during Bush's Canadian visit to lift the ban, serving the President Alberta beef for dinner.

Previously: LiveJournalist Flipped-Off by Bush
Photo: Bush flips the bird [via vidvote.org]

Anywhere Else it Would be Extortion

In an attempt to gain full immunity from the International Criminal Court [ICC], Congress has threatened withdrawal of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from any country who refuses to sign immunity accords.  The provision, stuck into the 2005 government spending bill, would "bar the transfer of assistance money from the $2.52 billion economic support fund to a government "that is a party" to the criminal court but "has not entered into an agreement with the United States" to bar legal proceedings against U.S. personnel."  [WP]

The International Criminal Court employs a judicial system where the international community tries the most serious crimes of war, including torture and genocide -- it was installed to hold accountable the Adolf Hitlers of the world.  Bush officially “unsigned” this article of the Geneva Conventions back in May 2002 and has since publicly spoken against it.  And now with over 100,000 dead civilians in Iraq, free fire zones, and approved torture all being accepted under the umbrella of the War on Terror -- why is the Bush administration squirming so to relinquish any last sanctions?

"Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered"

That's what 16-year-old Rachelle Waterman wrote in her final LiveJournal entry before being taken in by police.  Apparently, she and two ex-boyfriends had been plotting the murder of her mother, Lauri Waterman, for weeks before ultimately beating her to death with a "blunt object" and setting fire to her body.  All three are charged with first-degree murder.

"Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered

I won't have computer acess (sic) until the weekend or so because the police took my computer to go through the hard drive. I thank everyone for their thoughts and e-mails, I hope to talk to you when I get my computer back."

- Rachelle Waterman, 'My Crappy Life' on LiveJournal  

Bush's Plastic Turkey Wishes You a Happy Thanksgiving

[Bush poses for military holiday photo-op with fake plastic turkey]

What better way to say "happy holiday" than with a succulent and amazingly realistic plastic turkey?  That's what George Bush served our troops stationed in Baghdad last year.  You have to admit -- that is an artfully recreated bird.  I wonder what the spending budget was?  Anyway, Bush pranced along with his fake bird while the press snapped thier shots -- the soldiers collected their meals from cafeteria steam-trays.

America: Now with 50% more spies

President Bush has officially ordered Porter Goss to increase the number of the CIA's clandestine operators, AKA spies, by 50 percent.  At the same time Bush has asked for the total amount of CIA research and development officers be doubled.  Wow.  Now, there're two stages of emotion I experienced upon reading this. 1) shock and awe -- oh dear god, George Bush is actually creating jobs?!?!  And 2) the more practical -- where are we going to house all these spies?  What will they do?  What happened to "small government"?  Will every American be assigned there own personal spy?  Can I pick mine?

Bush Orders the CIA To Hire More Spies [WP/Yahoo]

G. Gordon Liddy: "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

In a recent article from the Independent, G. Gordon Liddy discusses his youthful fascination with Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.  Some might say this accounts for his extreme right wing politics, but I'd say, more than anything -- the mustache.

"at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm." His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had - through sheer will-power - "dragged Germany from weakness to strength."

This gave Liddy hope "for the first time in my life" that he too could overcome weakness. When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body." He describes seeing the Nazis' doomed technological marvel the Hindenberg flying over New Jersey as an almost religious experience. "Ecstatic, I drank in its colossal power and felt myself grow. Fear evaporated and in its place came a sense of personal might and power."  [The Independent, Media Matters]

Bill O’Reilly Sexual Harassment Suit

Watching a porno, Bill O'Reilly phones Andrea Mackris, Fox News producer, and begins to "babble perversely regarding his fantasies concerning Caribbean vacations because, purportedly: "Once people get into that hot whether they shed their inhibitions, you know they drink during the day, they lay there and lazy, they have dinner and then they come back and fool around... that's basically the modus operandi." [Mackris affidavit]

BILL O'REILLY: Well, if I took you down there then I'd want to take a shower with you right away, that would be the first thing I'd do… yeah, we'd check into that room, and we would order up some room service and uh and you'd definitely get two wines into you as quickly as I could get into you I would get 'em into you… maybe intravenously, get those wines into you…

You would basically be in the shower and then I would come in and I'd join you and you would have your back to me and I would take that little loofa thing and kinda' soap up your back... rub it all over you, get you to relax, hot water... and um... you know, you'd feel the tension drain out of you and uh you still would be with your back to me then I would kinda' put my arm – it's one of those mitts, those loofa mitts you know, so I got my hands in it... and I would put it around front, kinda' rub your tummy a little bit with it, and then with my other hand I would start to massage your boobs, get your nipples really hard... 'cuz I like that and you have really spectacular boobs...

So anyway I'd be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples really hard, kinda' kissing your neck from behind... and then I would take the other hand with the falafel (sic) thing and I'd put it on your pussy but you’d have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business...

What's fascinating to me about Bill O'Reilly's Caribbean shower fantasy, besides the obvious hilarity, is the similarity to a [un]sexy shower scene in his 1999 book, Those Who Trespass. I blogged about this very scene back in July, writing, "Hmm, Bill O’Reilly... Tommy O'Malley... do you think this is supposed to be at all autobiographical?"

Stripping off her bathing-suit, she walked into the huge shower. She pulled the lime green curtain across the entrance and then set the water for a tepid 75-degrees. The spray felt great against her skin as she ducked her head underneath the nozzle. Closing her eyes she concentrated on the tingling sensation of water flowing against her body. Suddenly another sensation entered, Ashley felt two large hands wrap themselves around her breasts and hot breath on the back of her neck. She opened her eyes wide and giggled, "I thought you drowned out there snorkel man."

Tommy O'Malley was naked and at attention. "Drowning is not an option", he said, "unless of course you beg me to perform unnatural acts – right here in this shower." [Those Who Trespass]

Bill O’Reilly reads from Those Who Trespass [Ledge of Liberty]
O'Reilly Hit With Sex Harass Suit [The Smoking Gun]

ABC: Sharon Osbourne Dead

Sharon Osbourne XX of XX [ABC]

First Dan Rather, now this -- obviously printed in error. The truth is, Christopher Reeve has passed away. I suspect ABC must have had Sharon Osbourne's obituary pre-written and accidentally posted it in place of Christopher Reeves. Maybe they were referencing the format? Either way, it's creepy.

UPDATE: I called ABC News and explained the situation to a confused switch board operator who said she hadn't heard about it but would let someone know, just before transferring me to an audience commentary voice-mailbox. Regardless, the story was taken down within minutes. Game over.

UPDATE #2: Here's the obituary in full.

Sharon Osbourne XX of XX.

Sharon Osbourne, best known as the woman who saved Ozzy Osbourne from himself, XXX today of XXX. She was XX.
Valerie Reiss
ABC News

[Nee Sharon Arden Born October 9, 1953 in London, England XXXX: XX]

Wife and business manager of heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne, a.k.a. the Prince of Bleeping Darkness, Sharon lived in backstage obscurity until her family's wildly popular MTV reality show, The Osbournes, catapulted her to household-name status. Her XXX today of XXX was?

Sharon, Ozzy and two of their three teenage children, Jack, 18 and Kelly, 17, played out their chaotic yet happy daily lives for an audience of millions - one episode pulled in 7.8 million viewers, the most for any show in the history of the network. They also won an Emmy award for Best Reality TV Show.

Off-screen, just weeks after negotiating an astronomical $20 million dollar contract for a second season of The Osbournes, Sharon was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The show went on, though, filming throughout her illness and treatment.

Though she struggled with addictions to food, drugs and alcohol, Sharon was known for her business savvy and nerves of steel. Starting in the late 1970s, she hauled Ozzy out of a debilitating drug addiction, took over his career and helped him sell more than 70 million solo albums. When Ozzy was rejected by Lollapalooza, she created the Ozzfest metal tour, which turned out to be the largest grossing group concert in history. Sharon also hatched the idea for The Osbournes and was the family's fiercest contract negotiator throughout.

Rock n' Roll Roots

With a father who was a concert producer and band manager and a mother who danced, Sharon grew up steeped in London's entertainment industry. Sharon's father, the hard-bitten Don Arden, managed bands such as Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath, Ozzy's original heavy metal band. Sharon dropped out of school at 15 to work for her him.

Ozzy and Sharon's romance began in 1979, when Sharon went to collect $500 that Ozzy owed her father. Having been kicked out of Black Sabbath for excessive substance abuse, Sharon found Ozzy at a Beverly Hills hotel, bottomed out from a six-month cocaine binge. "He was so vulnerable and sweet and honest," she told People. "He was a bit of an oddball. But he was really, really loving."

Furious with her for poaching a client - especially one who owed him money - Sharon's father attempted to have her killed and they did not speak for 20 years.

During those years, Sharon struggled with her weight and Ozzy's addictions. At the lowest point in his struggle, Ozzy attacked Sharon one night in a drug-induced haze and tried to strangle her. "Eminem talks about killing his wife, but my husband actually tried it," Sharon told British tabloids. The incident landed Ozzy in a six-month round of rehab, though even today, he continues to drink and take prescription drugs.

In 1999, when 225 pounds had settled on Sharon's 5'2" frame, she underwent a new surgical procedure to shrink her stomach. It helped her drop 95 pounds, restricting her to small amounts of food at a time. "In my life I've seen the way people react to fat people. Somebody once said that it's more accepted to be a drug addict than it is to the fat, and it's true," Sharon told Barbara Walters.

Doctors say this weight-loss procedure had nothing to do with her subsequent cancer.

At the height of The Osbournes popularity, Sharon was included in People's Most Beautiful People issue in 2002.

When she was diagnosed with cancer, her family was shattered. Filming the show during this difficult time was more straining than they had thought. "Ozzy's been hitting the bottle again and the cameras are here all the time?" Sharon told Barbara Walters on 20/20. "So we have no privacy? You know when you're sick and you want to be on your own? And I can't throw up on my own and Ozzy can't get drunk on his own."

Osbournes No Osmonds

The family's on-screen, "ordinary" lives made the Addams Family seem like the Osmonds — they in fact parodied the wholesome duo for a Pepsi Superbowl ad this year. Their regular-yet-shocking family antics were punctuated by the constant bleep of the censor, with Sharon remaining the sane and stable mom throughout. When the family pooch had bowel problems, she called in the pet therapist; when things got ugly with the elevator-music-loving neighbors, she made nice with police.

The show also affected the lives of their teenage children. Kelly, 17 has put out an album, Shut up; Jack, 18 appeared on an episode of Dawson's Creek; and even the "missing" daughter, Aimee, who moved out when MTV moved in — has upped the ante on her modeling career. Sharon too, was set to host her own afternoon talk show. Alternately proud and bothered by her family's fame and lack of privacy, Sharon surprised MTV executives by telling Barbara Walters the show would end after the second season. She quickly recovered from the gaffe by publicly announcing, "I love my MTV."

"You're not as normal as I think you are when I'm talking to you," Walters once told Sharon, aptly capturing the essence of her allure. When Ozzy once bit off the head of a dove during a tense moment with record company executives, Sharon defended him, "He was meant to take it out of his pockets as a show of peace."

Sharon also occasionally surprised her foes with Tiffany boxes full of feces. She also told People about her meeting with Queen Elizabeth: "She was very warm and amazingly down-to-earth, and I just told her that she had great t*%&, 'cause she does."

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Sharon and her dark prince renewed their wedding vows in a New Year's Eve ceremony. The official day of their anniversary is July 4th. Sharon once joked, "I wanted to pick a day Ozzy would remember."

Osbourne is survived by her husband Ozzy and three children, Kelly, Jack and Aimee.

Zyprexa Nation

With nearly 19 million Americans currently under diagnosis of depression, the prescription drug trade has become a liquid market. And though patients are 68 times more likely to commit suicide on serotonergic medications such as Zyprexa, Risperal, Seroquel, Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, and Celexa -- anyone can get a prescription.

In June, Bush announced his New Freedom Initiative -- a plan that, according to the British Medical Journal, moves to "screen [the] whole U.S. population for mental illness" and with components of the initiative starting to fall into place and with Election Day looming, I think an examination of the relationship between the Bush family and the pharmaceutical industry is long overdue.

In 2002 the Republican Party received an unprecedented $21,717,772.00 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. These same contribution trends show the Democratic Party received only a fraction of the amount. So what does the Pharmaceutical industry have to gain from such an "investment"? Do you think the republican congress was thinking of the $22 million dollars when they passed the recent Medicare Privatization bill? A bill, which undermines the future of Medicare but puts $130 billion dollars into the pockets of the pharmaceutical giants.

In my experience following the Bush administration, anywhere you find an "initiative" or self proclaimed "good intention" -- you'll also find a corporation that stands to make a bundle. In the case of "The new Freedom Initiative", that corporation is Eli Lilly.

Is it just a coincidence, the Bush family and administrations, past and present, have a long and lucrative history with Eli Lilly? George Herbert Walker Bush served on the Board of Directors in the 1970's when appointed by Dan Quayle's father who at the time held the company in principal interest. There's Mitch Daniels, who started his career with Eli Lilly in government relations, made his way to Vice President and became W’s OMD Director. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former CEO of G D Searle, who served on the Board of Gilead Sciences and wouldn't you know it -- Eli Lilly's Amylin Pharmaceuticals. There's former Enron executive, Ken Lay, an ex-Eli Lilly Board member. And lets not forget W's Homeland Security Advisory Council member and concurrent Eli Lilly CEO, Sidney Taurel. Does anyone remember the mysterious clause that wrote itself into the Homeland Security Act -- the one protecting Eli Lilly from thimerosal lawsuits? Hmm...I wonder how that got there?

And lets face it, we are a nation of drug addicts -- even our pets are on Prozac. We're beggars to exploitation. Whether it’s Tylenol or Paxil, caffine or coke, chocolate or cigarettes -- we’re all popping pills and downing coffee without a given thought to consequence. The War on Drugs has actually institutionalized the drug trade; dealers are to addicts as pharmacologists are to patients. Happiness is no longer a state of mind -- it will be prescribed -- just ask your dealer, eh doctor.

The Bin Laden Trial: And we thought O.J. was big

Can you imagine -- an American trial of Osama bin Laden? Think about it, the months glued to court TV.

[AP/CNN] John Kerry said Friday he would put Osama bin Laden on trial in U.S. courts rather than an international tribunal to ensure the "fastest, surest route" to a murder conviction if the terrorist mastermind is captured while he is president.

"I want him tried for murder in New York City, and in Virginia and in Pennsylvania," where planes hijacked by al-Qaida operatives crashed Sept. 11, 2001, Kerry said in his first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Saudi-bred terrorist is suspected of plotting attacks that have shed blood across the globe, not just in the United States. Kerry suggested he would place the highest priority on avenging American deaths.

He called the Bush administration's attempt to create a Muslim security force in Iraq an overdue act of desperation. "Great idea," he said. "Should have been done from the very beginning."

Kerry, fielding questions about foreign policy, presidential politics, abortion and the death penalty during a 12-minute interview with The Associated Press in this GOP-leaning Hudson Valley community, took Bush and his Republican allies head-on.

"They don't have a record to run on so all they can do is attack," Kerry said. He was responding to Bush, who a few minutes earlier had said from the campaign trail that Kerry had no significant achievements in Congress.

Word of the criticism drew a chuckle from the fourth-term senator, who wore an open-collar shirt and slacks. "That's the response to a positive campaign," he said sarcastically.

The night before, in his hometown of Boston, Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination at a convention scripted to project a positive, upbeat image to independent voters. The Democratic National Committee launched a one-week, $6 million ad campaign that features images of the convention, and party officials expect the DNC ads to turn negative this summer.

Noting that federal law limits his influence over DNC ads, Kerry didn't rule out airing his own ads critical of the White House. "I'm going to certainly reserve the right to respond to these people if they continually hack away," he said.

On the Muslim force initiative pushed by Saudi Arabia, Kerry said "Why is that being done as an act of desperation today rather than two years ago before a lot of lives were lost?" He said it was yet another lost opportunity to build a coalition that would help ease the U.S. burden in money and lives.

"A change in the presidency is essential to our ability to restore our respect" in the world, Kerry said.

Replied Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt: "John Kerry's decision to characterize progress in the war on terror as an act of desperation is his latest attempt to inject politics and opportunism into a subject that should unite Americans."

Kerry has long been an opponent of the death penalty, but in recent years has made an exception for terrorism. The former prosecutor said crimes like rape and child murder do not warrant the highest punishment.

"It's certainly terrorizing to the person who's undergoing it. I understand that,'' Kerry said. "But terrorism is a political act to terrorize a nation, to try to challenge a way of life and a standard.. It's just a different act."

He said bin Laden deserves to die.

"I would go the fastest, surest route of conviction, and in my belief that would be a trial for murder in the United States," the Democrat said when asked if he would seek to try bin Laden at The Hague.

Stepping gingerly into another social issue, Kerry reiterated that he believes that life begins at conception - and that a woman has the right to choose whether to abort.

Asked whether he believes abortion is taking a life, Kerry said a fetus is a "form of life."

"The Bible itself - I mean, everything talks about different layers of development. That's what Roe v Wade does. It talks about viability. It's the law of the land.'' The Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v Wade ruling legalized abortion in America.

"I don't believe personally that it's the government's job to step in and take my article of faith and transfer it to somebody who doesn't share that article of faith," said Kerry, a Roman Catholic.

John Edwards: The Manchurian Candidate?

You have to admit -- the resemblance is uncanny. The Manchurian Candidate, in theaters tomorrow [07/30/04] nationwide.

[Synopsis] Academy Award® winners Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, along with Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Liev Schreiber, mesmerize a whole new generation of audiences in Academy Award® winner Jonathan Demme’s “The Manchurian Candidate.” As the entire nation watches the presidential campaign hurtle towards Election Day, one soldier races to uncover the conspiracy behind it – a conspiracy that seeks to destroy democracy itself.

U.S. Army Major Bennett Marco (Washington) can’t sleep at night … and he doesn’t want to. Marco spends his days giving inspiring speeches about his platoon’s ambush in the Kuwaiti desert and the heroics of Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Schreiber), who won the Medal of Honor for saving Marco’s crew. But at night, Marco’s dreamlike memories of the desert turn sinister and terrifying. And Marco privately wonders whether the two soldiers who died in the firefight might have met darker fates than officially recorded – and whether Shaw might not be the glorious hero that everyone thinks he is.

When Shaw takes the national stage as a surefire candidate for vice president – under the thumb of his controversial mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Streep) – Marco is forced to act on his growing suspicions. With military officials questioning his sanity, and the net of security tightening around Shaw, Marco races to probe deeper into the unimaginable, shocking truth before the White House is won.

Michael Moore Takes on Bill O'Reilly

I don't like linking to Fox News, but this debate between Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly is worth reading.

[FOX News] It was a match-up the media and political observers have longed for. No, not George W. Bush against John Kerry. It's Michael Moore (search) against Bill O'Reilly.

Moore, the director who made "Fahrenheit 9/11" (search) and created one of the election season's biggest uproars, said he wouldn't go on "The O'Reilly Factor" until O'Reilly saw the entire movie. And he said any conversation would have to be aired without any editing and with the opportunity for Moore to ask O'Reilly questions.

All of the demands were met and Moore sat down with O'Reilly in the FOX News sky box high about the floor of the Democratic National Convention. Following is the full transcript of their meeting:

MICHAEL MOORE: That’s fair, we’ll just stick to the issues.

BILL O'REILLY: The issues… all right good, now, one of the issues is you because you’ve been calling Bush a liar on weapons of mass destruction, the Senate Intelligence Committee, Lord Butler’s investigation in Britain, and now the 9/11 Commission have all come out and said there was no lying on the part of President Bush. Plus, Vladimir Putin has said his intelligence told Bush there were weapons of mass destruction. Wanna apologize to the president now or later?

MOORE: He didn’t tell the truth, he said there were weapons of mass destruction.

O'REILLY: Yeah, but he didn’t lie, he was misinformed by — all of those investigations come to the same conclusion. That’s not a lie.

MOORE: Uh huh. So, in other words, if I told you right now that nothing was going on down here on the stage…

O'REILLY: That would be a lie because we could see that wasn’t the truth.

MOORE: Well, I’d have to turn around to see it and then I would realize, oh Bill, I just told you something that wasn’t true… actually it’s President Bush that needs to apologize to the nation for telling an entire country that there were weapons of mass destruction, that they had evidence of this and that there was some sort of connection between Saddam Hussein and September 11th, and he used that as a…

O'REILLY: OK, He never said that, but back to the other thing: If you, if Michael Moore is president…

MOORE: I thought you said you saw the movie? I show all that in the movie.

O'REILLY: Which may happen if Hollywood, yeah, OK, fine…

MOORE: But that was your question…

O'REILLY: Just the issues. You’ve got three separate investigations plus the president of Russia all saying… British intelligence, U.S. intelligence, Russian intelligence, told the president there were weapons of mass destruction; you say he lied. This is not a lie if you believe it to be true, now he may have made a mistake, which is obvious…

MOORE: Well, that’s almost pathological. I mean, many criminals believe what they say is true; they could pass a lie detector test…

O'REILLY: All right, now you’re dancing around a question…

MOORE: No, I’m not. There’s no dancing.

O'REILLY: He didn’t lie.

MOORE: He said something that wasn’t true.

O'REILLY: Based upon bad information given to him by legitimate sources.

MOORE: Now you know that they went to the CIA, Cheney went to the CIA, they wanted that information, they wouldn’t listen to anybody.

O'REILLY: They wouldn’t go by Russian intelligence and Blair’s intelligence too.

MOORE: His own people told him. I mean, he went to Richard Clarke the day after September 11th and said, “What you got on Iraq?” and Richard Clarke’s going “Oh well this wasn’t Iraq that did this sir, this was Al Qaeda.”

O'REILLY: You’re diverting the issue… did you read Woodward’s book?

MOORE: No, I haven’t read his book.

O'REILLY: Woodward’s a good reporter, right? Good guy, you know who he is right?

MOORE: I know who he is.

O'REILLY: OK, he says in his book George Tenet looked the president in the eye, like how I am looking you in the eye right now and said, “President, weapons of mass destruction are a quote, end quote, ‘slam dunk.’” If you’re the president, you ignore all that?

MOORE: Yeah, I would say that the CIA had done a pretty poor job.

O'REILLY: I agree. Tenet was fired.

MOORE: Yeah, but not before they took us to war based on his intelligence. This is a man who ran the CIA, a CIA that was so poorly organized and run that it wouldn’t communicate with the FBI before September 11th and as a result in part we didn’t have a very good intelligence system set up before September 11th.

O'REILLY: Nobody disputes that...

MOORE: OK, so he screws up September 11th. Why would you then listen to him, he says this is a “slam dunk” and your going to go to war.

O'REILLY: You’ve got MI-6 and Russian intelligence because they’re all saying the same thing that’s why. You’re not going to apologize to Bush, you are going to continue to call him a liar.

MOORE: Oh, he lied to the nation, Bill, I can’t think of a worse thing to do for a president to lie to a country to take them to war. I mean, I don’t know a worse…

O'REILLY: It wasn’t a lie.

MOORE: He did not tell the truth, what do you call that?

O'REILLY: I call that bad information, acting on bad information; not a lie.

MOORE: A seven year old can get away with that…

O'REILLY: All right, your turn to ask me a question…

MOORE: “Mom and Dad it was just bad information…”

O'REILLY: I’m not going to get you to admit it wasn’t a lie. Go ahead.

MOORE: It was a lie, and now, which leads us to my question.

O'REILLY: OK.

MOORE: Over 900 of our brave soldiers are dead. What do you say to their parents?

O'REILLY: What do I say to their parents? I say what every patriotic American would say: “We are proud of your sons and daughters. They answered the call that their country gave them. We respect them and we feel terrible that they were killed.”

MOORE: But what were they killed for?

O'REILLY: They were removing a brutal dictator who himself killed hundreds of thousands of people.

MOORE: Um, but that was not the reason that was given to them to go to war: to remove a brutal dictator.

O'REILLY: Well, we’re back to the weapons of mass destruction.

MOORE: But that was the reason…

O'REILLY: The weapons of mass destruction…

MOORE: That we were told we were under some sort of imminent threat…

O'REILLY: That’s right.

MOORE: And there was no threat, was there?

O'REILLY: It was a mistake.

MOORE: Oh, just a mistake, and that’s what you tell all the parents with a deceased child, “We’re sorry.” I don’t think that is good enough.

O'REILLY: I don’t think its good enough either for those parents.

MOORE: So we agree on that.

O'REILLY: But that is the historical nature of what happened.

MOORE: Bill, if I made a mistake and I said something or did something as a result of my mistake but it resulted in the death of your child, how would you feel towards me?

O'REILLY: It depends on whether the mistake was unintentional.

MOORE: No, not intentional, it was a mistake.

O'REILLY: Then if it was an unintentional mistake I cannot hold you morally responsible for that.

MOORE: Really, I’m driving down the road and I hit your child and your child is dead.

O'REILLY: If it were unintentional and you weren’t impaired or anything like that.

MOORE: So, that’s all it is, if it was alcohol, even though it was a mistake — how would you feel towards me

O'REILLY: OK, now we are wandering.

MOORE: No, but my point is…

O'REILLY: I saw what your point is and I answered your question.

MOORE: But why? What did they die for?

O'REILLY: They died to remove a brutal dictator who had killed hundreds of thousands of people…

MOORE: No, that was not the reason…

O'REILLY: That’s what they died for…

MOORE: …they were given…

O'REILLY: The weapons of mass destruction was a mistake.

MOORE: Well there were 30 other brutal dictators in this world…

O'REILLY: Alright, I’ve got anther question…

MOORE: Would you sacrifice — just finish on this — would you sacrifice your child to remove one of the other 30 brutal dictators on this planet?

O'REILLY: Depends what the circumstances were.

MOORE: You would sacrifice your child?

O'REILLY: I would sacrifice myself — I’m not talking for any children —to remove the Taliban. Would you?

MOORE: Uh huh.

O'REILLY: Would you? That’s my next question. Would you sacrifice yourself to remove the Taliban?

MOORE: I would be willing to sacrifice my life to track down the people that killed 3,000 people on our soil.

O'REILLY: Al Qaeda was given refuge by the Taliban.

MOORE: But we didn’t go after them, did we?

O'REILLY: We removed the Taliban and killed three quarters of Al Qaeda.

MOORE: That’s why the Taliban are still killing our soldiers there.

O'REILLY: OK, well look you can’t kill everybody. You wouldn’t have invaded Afghanistan — you wouldn’t have invaded Afghanistan, would you?

MOORE: No, I would have gone after the man that killed 3,000 people.

O'REILLY: How?

MOORE: As Richard Clarke says, our special forces were prohibited for two months from going to the area that we believed Usama was…

O'REILLY: Why was that?

MOORE: That’s my question.

O'REILLY: Because Pakistan didn’t want its territory of sovereignty violated.

MOORE: Not his was in Afghanistan, on the border, we didn’t go there. He got a two-month head start.

O'REILLY: All right, you would not have removed the Taliban. You would not have removed that government?

MOORE: No, unless it is a threat to us.

O'REILLY: Any government? Hitler, in Germany, not a threat to us the beginning but over there executing people all day long — you would have let him go?

MOORE: That’s not true. Hitler with Japan, attacked the United States.

O'REILLY: From '33 until '41, he wasn’t an imminent threat to the United States.

MOORE: There’s a lot of things we should have done.

O'REILLY: You wouldn’t have removed him.

MOORE: I wouldn’t have even allowed him to come to power.

O'REILLY: That was a preemption from Michael Moore. You would have invaded.

MOORE: If we’d done our job, you want to get into to talking about what happened before WWI, whoa, I’m trying to stop this war right now.

O'REILLY: I know you are but…

MOORE: Are you against that? Stopping this war?

O'REILLY: No, we cannot leave Iraq right now, we have to…

MOORE: So, you would sacrifice your child to secure Fallujah? I want to hear you say that.

O'REILLY: I would sacrifice myself..

MOORE: Your child? It’s Bush sending the children there.

O'REILLY: I would sacrifice myself.

MOORE: You and I don’t go to war, because we’re too old…

O'REILLY: Because if we back down, there will be more deaths and you know it.

MOORE: Say, “I, Bill O’Reilly, would sacrifice my child to secure Fallujah.”

O'REILLY: I’m not going to say what you say, you’re a, that’s ridiculous…

MOORE: You don’t believe that. Why should Bush sacrifice the children of people across America for this?

O'REILLY: Look it’s a worldwide terrorism — I know that escapes you —

MOORE: Wait a minute, terrorism? Iraq?

O'REILLY: Yes. There are terrorist in Iraq.

MOORE: Oh really? So Iraq now is responsible for the terrorism here?

O'REILLY: Iraq aided terrorists. Don’t you know anything about any of that?

MOORE: So, you’re saying Iraq is responsible for what?

O'REILLY: I’m saying that Saddam Hussein aided all day long.

MOORE: You’re not going to get me to defend Saddam Hussein.

O'REILLY: I’m not? You’re his biggest defender in the media.

MOORE: Now come on.

O'REILLY: Look, if you were running he would still be sitting there.

MOORE: How do you know that?

O'REILLY: If you were running the country, he’d still be sitting there.

MOORE: How do you know that?

O'REILLY: You wouldn’t have removed him.

MOORE: Look, let me tell you something in the 1990s look at all the brutal dictators that were removed. Things were done; you take any of a number of countries whether its Eastern Europe, the people rose up. South Africa the whole world boycotted…

O'REILLY: When Reagan was building up the arms, you were against that.

MOORE: And the dictators were gone. Building up the arms did not cause the fall of Eastern Europe.

O'REILLY: Of course it did, it bankrupted the Soviet Union and then it collapsed.

MOORE: The people rose up.

O'REILLY: Why? Because they went bankrupt.

MOORE: the same way we did in our country, the way we had our revolution. People rose up…

O'REILLY: All right, all right.

MOORE: …that’s how you, let me ask you this question.

O'REILLY: One more.

MOORE: How do you deliver democracy to a country? You don’t do it down the barrel of a gun. That’s not how you deliver it.

O'REILLY: You give the people some kind of self-determination, which they never would have had under Saddam…

MOORE: Why didn’t they rise up?

O'REILLY: Because they couldn’t, it was a Gestapo-led place where they got their heads cut off…

MOORE: Well that’s true in many countries throughout the world…

O'REILLY: It is, it’s a shame…

MOORE: …and you know what people have done, they’ve risen up. You can do it in a number of ways . You can do it our way through a violent revolution, which we won, the French did it that way. You can do it by boycotting South Africa, they overthrew the dictator there. There’s many ways…

O'REILLY: I’m glad we’ve had this discussion because it just shows you that I see the world my way, you see the world your way, alright and the audience is watching us here and they can decide who is right and who is wrong and that’s the fair way to do it. Right?

MOORE: Right, I would not sacrifice my child to secure Fallujah and you would?

O'REILLY: I would sacrifice myself.

MOORE: You wouldn’t send another child, another parents child to Fallujah, would you? You would sacrifice your life to secure Fallujah?

O'REILLY: I would.

MOORE: Can we sign him up? Can we sign him up right now?

O'REILLY: That’s right.

MOORE: Where’s the recruiter?

O'REILLY: You’d love to get rid of me.

MOORE: No, I want you to live. I want you to live.

O'REILLY: I appreciate that Michael Moore everybody. There he is.

Politicians and Hookers: Like chocolate and peanut butter

The DNC has plunged Boston into a hooker recession. Reportedly, prostitutes are being imported to meet the demands of the visiting democratic constituency. And if it’s not hookers -- the internet personals are just brimming with delegates looking for that special anonymous someone.

From Wonkette:

- Prostitutes Join Police Converging on DNC Boston [Reuters/Yahoo]
- craigslist > boston > personals [CraigsList]
- How I would score at the convention. [Mr. Sun]

Shock and “Oh Dear God What is That”?

Living just outside Boston, not far from the Fleet Center, the past few days have been really..."secure". And with all the pumped-up security, terrorist threat and all, I think it's safe to say -- people here are just a wee bit on edge. So yeah, it would've been lovely if someone told me there'd be fireworks at midnight.

Can I come out from under the bed now?

Talking Ann Coulter Action Figure

Plastic body, hollow head, hate rhetoric -- it's all there, it's Ann Coulter in doll form! The doll, part of the "America's real action heros" line, now joins the ranks of conservative action figure favorites such as Top Gun Bush, Talking Ronald Reagan, and the Donald Rumsfeld "Rummy" doll. Complete with slutty mini skirt and spiked silver heels, the new Anne Coulter doll parrots 5 exclusively recorded patriotic Coulter quotes. My favorite...

"Liberals hate America, they hate flag-wavers, they hate abortion opponents, they hate all religions except Islam, post 9/11. Even Islamic terrorists don't hate America like Liberals do. They don't have the energy. If they had that much energy, they'd have indoor plumbing by now."

Don't forget those extra batteries!

Whitehouse Admitts Fault

This just in -- Whitehouse staff member, Jimmy Orr, has accepted blame for deliberately misleading the American people.

It was on the official Whitehouse website where the controversy began – Orr had repeatedly referred to Barney the dogs chew toy as a soccer ball. It was only after a thorough investigation, the shocking truth was revealed -- Presidents dog was not playing with a soccer ball in the Christmas 2003 “Barney and Spot's Winter Wonderland” video, it was actually a volleyball.

"I blame myself", says Whitehouse Internet News Director, Jimmy Orr. Though a resignation has not been ordered, there is speculation as to whether or not the Whitehouse Director will be able to effectively carry out his job in light of the recent scandal.

Bush administration critics are calling for "heads to roll" over Ballgate, but for me satisfaction comes from just hearing a Whitehouse employee admit fault.

DNC Protesters to be Placed in Cage

With the Democratic National Convention coming to town, citizens looking to exercise their right to speak freely might be surprised to learn, they’ll be doing it from a cage.

While Boston Officials are welcoming the DNC protesters, it’s apparent they’ve also exhausted the cities barbed wire supply. The “Free Speech Zone”, an amalgamation of Jersey barriers, lattice fencing, barbed wire and netting, is by all outward appearances, a large cage.

City officials, concerned of a possible terrorist attack during the Democratic National Convention, are asking DNC attendees to stay vigilant and under no circumstances should they feed the protesters as they pass the free speech cage.

9/11 Commission Findings: Who to Blame?

[Courtesy of TheHill.com]

Today’s the day -- at 11:30am, the 9/11 Commission will release their final report. For an immediate fix, visit the official Commission website on or after 11:30am, as the full report will be posted then. The findings will be available in bookstores nationwide by various publishers, but there's also a limited printing of GPO (Government Printing Office) copies available for $13 a piece. You can pre-order an official version, as I [book snob] did, from the GPO website.

Are Those Documents in your Pants? Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Everyone shoves things down their pants at some point. You know how it is: You go out to read a few secret documents, you have a couple of drinks, the lights are low and the music is playing. . . things happen. [Wonkette, 07/21/04]

5 facts you should know about the pants stuffin' Sandy Berger...

1. Berger didn’t shove documents in his pants, socks, or anywhere else -- no one has come forward to collaborate this accusation.
2. The documents Berger took out of the archives without filling out the proper paperwork were photocopies of his own notes on the Millennium bomb plot, which was thwarted under the Clinton administration.
3. It was Berger’s job was to review the Clinton administration records for the 9/11 commission.
4. This was dealt with in October 2003.
5. The bipartisan 9/11 Commission report is to be released tomorrow [07/22/04]. What timing? Do you think this might affect the integrity of the Commission's findings?

This Week in The New Yorker - Me!

Ledge of Liberty blogger, Peter Smith i.e. me, mentioned in an enlightening article about George Bush's infamous Pet Goat story.

Curious viewers of Moore’s film who have tried to track down the book “My Pet Goat” have been unsuccessful, for two reasons: Moore, in his voice-over, got the title wrong—it is “The Pet Goat”—and it is not a book but an exercise in a workbook called “Reading Mastery 2.” This much was sussed out last month by a resourceful blogger named Peter Smith after he studied the raw footage from the Emma E. Booker Elementary School. Noticing that the teacher repeatedly cued the class with the same precise language (“Get ready to read these words the fast way”), Smith guessed that some particular pedagogical theory was at work. That’s what led him to Direct Instruction, a controversial teaching model that Engelmann developed in the nineteen-sixties. [Daniel Radosh, 07/19/04]

Read the article HERE

Get extra details on the writers blog at Radosh.net

Read my research on The Pet Goat HERE

Breaking News: a Bush/Gephardt Ticket

There's been much speculation in recent weeks regarding the possibility of Bush dropping Cheney from the 2004 ticket. While there's a strong constituency looking forward to four more years of Bush, there's a percentage of those who would rather see Cheney dropped in favor of a more likeable character.

Would that character be Dick Gephardt? Of course not, but who wouldn't like to see the two of them holding hands, skipping down the campaign trail? McCain seems like a logical pick, but I think he'd sooner drown than get on the sinking ship.

The candidate would have to stand up to John Edwards’s overall likeability and dare we say it – cuteness. So, who comes to mind? Tom Ridge? He's too aggressive. John Ashcroft? He's unpleasant to look at. Ralph Nader? He's too… well, isn't he already campaigning for Bush? Here's an idea -- how about Hillary Clinton? As Marc Perkel predicted in a humorous rant -- this may be Bush's sole chance of re-election.

So when Cheney feigns a heart attack, the only reason he'd drop out, who do you suppose will step in? McCain? Hillary? Powell? All unlikely candidates, but perhaps the most incredible, is the one in Bush’s head -- the Pet Goat. Now that's a cute and likeable character.

Outfoxed: the War on Liars

Keeping with the Bill O'Reilly theme -- Outfoxed, the film that exposes Rupert Murdoch's FOX Network, is currently the #2 best selling DVD on Amazon.com, sandwiched between the top selling Star Wars Trilogy and The Passion of the Christ.

One of the more damning tidbits recently about the "Fair and Balanced" network, comes from an April memo instructing Fox "employees how to report on the increasing number of American fatalities in Iraq: “Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of U.S. lives", it reads." [Atrios]

MoveOn.org members are hosting Outfoxed viewing parties this weekend and there's still time to sign up, so don’t miss out. As a bonus, Air America’s Al Franken will be joining the party via the internet and offering up his usual insight on how you and I can make a difference in the War on Liars.

Watch a preview of Outfoxed HERE.

Live Journalist Flipped-Off by Bush

He describes it as the single greatest event of his life. It was the day George W. Bush gave him the finger.

After waiting around for about 45 minutes, the motorcade passed by us again. A few police cars, followed by a van or two, drove by. Then, a Bush/Cheney bus passed, followed by a second one going slower. At the front of this second bus was The W himself, waving cheerily at his supporters on the other side of the highway. Adam, Brendan, and I rose our banner (the More Trees, Less Bush one) and he turned to wave to our side of the road. His smile faded, and he raised his left arm in our direction. And then, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States of America, extended his middle finger.

Check out the live journal page HERE.

The Convention Will be Blogged! But Not by Me

I’m feeling like a middle child Brady -- the DNC's coming to town, my town, and only the “cool” kids are invited. Middle child laments aside, I’m thrilled the DNC is coming to Boston and what’s more exciting?! Could it be the A-List bloggers?

Irreverent blogger Ana Marie Cox, known as Wonkette, has been given “pol position” for the convention. “[Wonkette] will cover the Democratic National Convention for MTV and...MTV.com's Choose or Lose 2004 campaign.” [Variety, 07/08/04]

The much deserving folks at Talk Left have been given the cool kid pass, but they need reader support to make the Boston trip possible -- so, if you have a few dollars to spare, send them their way. Others on the list include, Taegan Goddard of Political Wire, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga from the Daily Kos, Byron LaMasters of Burnt Orange Report, and Aldon Hynes from Greater Democracy. Though not yet present, I’m sure Atrios will soon be added to the list.

For a more complete ballot, Cyber Journalist is tracking all the blog-worthy invitees.

On a side note, I learned through Atrios today – “The RNC is planning to pay bloggers a 30% commission on donations to Republicans that they raise through their web sites.”

The New York Times Reports “Under the program, site owners registered on Commission Junction can direct donors from their sites to the Republican National Committee's site through a banner ad or other link. Ms. Iverson would not provide details on how the Web sites would be paid. Still, by enlisting others to help it raise money, the committee hopes to reach audiences that might not donate otherwise.” [NYT, 07/12/04]

Read a related article HERE

The Pet Goat: Part One & Two

It’s the obscure book George Bush was reading on September 11th, now immortalized by Michael Moores Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s the harrowing tale of a girl, her goat, and a robber. It’s a tough one to track down, but look no further, here it is in it’s entirety, the final chapter in the goat saga; The Pet Goat: Part One & Two. Read at you own risk, this story may distract you for up to 7 minutes.

Part One: The Pet Goat

A girl got a pet goat. She liked to go running with her pet goat. She played with her goat in her house. She played with her goat in her yard.

But the goat did some things that made the girl's dad mad. The goat ate things. He ate cans and he ate canes. He ate pans and he ate panes. He even ate capes and caps.

One day her dad said, "that goat must go. He ate too many things." The girl said, "dad if you let the goat stay with us, I will see that he stops eating all those things."

Her dad said he will try it.

So the goat stayed and the girl made him stop eating cans and canes and caps and capes.

But one day a car robber came to the girls house. He saw a big red car near the house and said, "I will steal that car."

He ran to the car and started to open the door. The girl and the goat were playing in the back yard. They did not see the car robber.

More to come.

Part Two: The Goat Stops the Robber

A girl had a pet goat. Her dad had a red car.

A car robber was going to steal her dad’s car. The girl and her goat were playing in the back yard.

Just then the goat stopped playing. He saw the robber. He bent his head down and started to run for the robber. The robber was bending over the seat of the car. The goat hit him with sharp horns. The car robber went flying.

The girl’s Dad ran out of the house. He grabbed the robber. “you were trying to steal my car,” he yelled.

The girl said, “but my goat stopped him.”

“Yes,” her dad said, “that goat saved my car.”

The car robber said, “something hit me when I was trying to steal that car.”

The girl said, “my goat hit you.”

The girl hugged the goat. Her Dad said, “that goat can stay with us. And he can eat all the cans and canes and caps and capes he wants.”

The girl smiled. Her goat smiled. Her Dad smiled. But the car robber did not smile. He said, “I am sore.”

The End.

The Pet Goat, Siegfried Engelmann & Elaine C. Bruner, Lesson 60, page 153, Reading Mastery 2, Storybook #1, SRA (Scientific Research Associates), McGraw-Hill, 1995, ISBN# 0026863553

Related article: The Pet Goat, a Story by George W. Bush

Related article: Mystery of “The Pet Goat” Revealed

Shame, Shame, Shame

If you only have time for 1.5 minutes of news today, this is the news for you. Vt. Congressman Bernie Sanders brought a bipartisan sponsored U.S. Patriot act amendment to the House floor. The amendment would “restore protections to library and bookstore patrons’ records which have been undermined by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.” When voting time expired, the amendment received a majority of votes in the U.S. House with 191 Democrats and 18 Republicans - that's majority support. But, “the House Republican Leadership then held open the vote twice as long as scheduled, an additional 20 minutes, as they “persuaded” Republicans to switch their votes. As Democratic members chanted, “Shame, Shame, Shame,” Republican leaders closed the vote on a 210 to 210 tie.

Watch the video HERE

Read a related article HERE

Stephen John Jordi, Terrorist?

Religious fundamentalist, Stephen John Jordi, plotted to blow up abortion clinics, churches, and gay bars; he had the gasoline cans, the flares, the starter fluid, and propane tanks - the threat was real. So, when Jordi was sentenced yesterday [07/08/04] in a Fort Lauderdale court, why did U.S. district judge James Cohn apply a minimum sentence, declaring these not acts of terrorism, but ones of a lesser charge and a 5 year sentence?

We all know religious extremism is bad, right? Plotting to kill hundreds, if not thousands, in the name of god is kind of serious, yes? Targeting a specific group of people for their collective ideological or political views could, I don’t know, be construed as terrorism. So, I’m left with this big question, with the “War on Terror” upon us - why not a charge of terrorism?

ter·ror·ism (tr-rzm)
n.
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Bushgate

Whether it be stealing an election, misappropriating tax funds, or favoring corporate over public interests; from Oilgate to Funeralgate, it’s clear Bush has more than two hands, two feet and a face in the scandal pie.

1. Oilgate

Harken Energy Corp. was in the midst of a serious financial crisis in the spring of 1990, and George W. Bush had been fully apprised of it when he sold most of his stock in the company in June of that year, newly released internal corporate documents reveal...

2. Riotgate

More than three decades apart, two political riots influenced the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. In 1968, protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago hurt Democrat Hubert Humphrey and helped Republican Richard Nixon eke out a victory. On Nov. 22, 2000, the so-called “Brooks Brothers Riot” of Republican activists helped stop a vote recount in Miami -- and showed how far George W. Bush’s supporters were ready to go to put their man in the White House...

3. Harrisgate

Five months before the election, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered the removal of 57,700 names from Florida’s voter rolls on grounds that they were felons. Voter rolls contain the names of all eligible, registered voters. If you’re not on the list, you don’t get to vote...

4. Contractgate

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has won contracts worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to newly available documents...

5. Taiwangate

Desperate for international support, Taiwan under former president Lee Teng-hui established a secret $100 million fund to buy influence with foreign governments, institutions and individuals, including some in the United States, according to current and former Taiwanese officials...

6. Electiongate

George W. Bush wishes the election was over. He wants everybody to forget about what happened in Florida, stop examining ballots, move on, and accept him as a legitimate president...

7. Travelgate

President Bush is using Air Force One for re-election travel more heavily than any predecessor, wringing maximum political mileage from a perk of office paid for by taxpayers...

8. Ethicsgate

For an administration that likes to quote Scripture, the situation is fittingly biblical — an eye for an eye, do unto others, that sort of thing. The issue is Democrats raising ethical questions about key members of the Bush Administration, something that was rampant when the parties were flipped during the Clinton era...

9. Torturegate

The disclosure that the Justice Department advised the White House in 2002 that the torture of al Qaeda terrorist suspects might be legally defensible has focused new attention on the role President Bush played in setting the rules for interrogations in the war on terrorism...

10. Funeralgate

A sworn affidavit by Texas Gov. George W. Bush insisting he had no discussions about a state investigation into a political contributor's funeral home business has been contradicted by the company's own lawyer...

How Long Till Orwell?

Today CNN reported on a FBI bulletin sent out to local authorities of possible July 4th terrorist suspects. This has got to be the most Orwellian, paranoid piece of text I’ve ever read, rivaling the likes of 1984.

The sky is falling, big bother’s watching, everyone’s a suspect and everyone’s an informant. So, I’m curious; do you think we’re moving towards an Orwellian Society?

George Orwell's, the FBI’s list of suspicion…

1. Irregular, loose-fitting clothing not appropriate for warm weather, possibly with “protruding bulges or exposed wires” or a noticeable chemical odor.

2. Sweating, mumbling or unusually calm and detached behavior. In addition, people who refuse to show their hands, possibly to conceal a detonator.

3. Disguises, including military, police, medical or firefighter uniforms or someone posing as a pregnant woman.

4. Large or heavy baggage not appropriate for the location, such as a big duffel bag carried into a restaurant.

5. Terrorists may also make anonymous threats to observe how security reacts and may attempt surveillance disguised as homeless people, shoe shiners, street vendors or street sweepers.

6. Booby-trapped explosive plastic-foam beer coolers, inner tubes and other floating objects.

Mystery of “The Pet Goat” Revealed

"Open your book up to lesson 60 on page 153…and get ready to read the title." - Mrs. Daniels, Emma E. Booker Elementary School, September 11, 2001

It’s taken a substantial amount of research, spurred on by reader inquiries of an earlier article, to track down the infamous goat story President Bush was reading on September 11, 2001. There have been several dead-ends, but alas I've found the elusive pet goat.

It was during a photo-op with the second graders of Emma E. Booker Elementary School, the President was notified of United Airlines Flight 175, the 2nd plane to crash into the WTC. From watching the footage of the President on the day, now immortalized by Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, the question we're all left pondering is; with knowledge of the first attack, why did Bush spend the next 7 minutes reading the story about a pet goat?

A few months ago, I was struck by the oddity of the footage. I, like so many others, wanted to know what was so engaging about a book which would cause the leader of the free world to ignore the largest attack on American soil for 7 minutes, but when I searched, I found nothing. No information on the internet, no information at the library, and no information at the bookstores - it was as if the book never existed. This seemed extraordinarily odd to me considering its affiliation with the President and especially September 11th. And with all the books published and stories written on the subject, surely somebody must have a copy of the book.

When viewing the video of Bush at the Floridian elementary school, I was immediately struck by the odd, almost military teaching method. “The fast way” is repeated throughout the drill, and in the end, this was what led me to a book series called “Reading Mastery”.

“Reading Mastery approaches reading instruction in a clear, straightforward fashion. Six levels, plus a Fast Cycle, help children develop strong reading strategies that make the difference between lifelong reading success and failure.” -sraonline.com

Reading Mastery is a technique of “Direct Instruction” - a teaching technique developed by Siegfried Engelmann in the 1960’s which makes the claim, "Kids taught in a fully implemented Direct Instruction program read by the end of kindergarten…That's all kids, even disadvantaged kids, ghetto kids, and special-ed kids." As it turns out, Siegfried Engelmann is also the co-author of the “The Pet Goat”, a story found on page 153 of SRA’s “Reading Mastery 2” storybook #1.

Siegfried Engelmann, the proclaimed “Schoolyard Prophet” has authored many books during his lifetime including the controversial 1992 “War Against the Schools' Academic Child Abuse” [Portland: Halcyon House], a book which challenges institutionalized teaching methods. Engelmann headed several government education related programs during his lifetime, including Project Follow Through, a 1967 initiative of President Johnson's War on Poverty.

SRA, the Scientific Research Association, that published the “Reading Mastery” series in 1995, is a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill, a corporation which has a multi-billion dollar stake in Global industry companies such as Platts (energy), Standards and Poor’s (finance), Business Week (media), and appropriately named Construction (construction).

When I called SRA, looking for information on lesson 60 (the elusive goat story), I was quickly taken aback, when after a significant hold time, the friendly operator now returned anxious, and not with an answer to my enquiry, but a need to know my name, telephone number and town of residence. Needless to say, I declined further assistance and thanked the woman for her time.

Really, that was all it took, now positive I had the right book, I just needed a simple Ebay search. A kind seller confirmed the inclusion of “The Pet Goat” in the Reading Mastery series with a surprised, “it's in book 1, page 153 just as you said”, then with a big capital "LOL", she commended me on my “good research.”

“The Pet Goat” can be purchased HERE

Watch the video HERE

[07/10/04] UPDATE: THE PET GOAT: PART ONE & TWO

The Pet Goat
by Siegfried Engelmann & Elaine C. Bruner
Lesson 60, page 153
Reading Mastery 2, storybook #1
SRA (Scientific Research Associates)
McGraw-Hill, 1995
ISBN# 0026863553

“A girl got a pet goat. She liked to go running with her pet goat. She played with her goat in her house. She played with her goat in her yard. But the goat did some things that made the girl's dad mad. The goat ate things. He ate cans and he ate canes. He ate pans and he ate panes. He even ate capes and caps. One day her dad said, "that goat must go. He ate too many things." The girl said, "dad if you let the goat stay with us, I will see that he stops eating all those things." Her dad said he will try it. So the goat stayed and the girl made him stop eating cans and capes and caps and capes. But one day a car robber came to the girls house. He saw a big red car near the house and said, "I will steal that car." He ran to the car and started to open the door. The girl and the goat were playing in the back yard. They did not see the car robber.

More to come."

Reporter Tells Bush Where to Put His WMD’s

Even if you'd rather hack off an arm than watch another Bush interview, this one you just can’t miss. Irish Journalist, Carole Coleman met with Bush earlier this week just before his scheduled trip to Ireland. The exchange was heated, you see Coleman is a real journalist, and unlike the fembot Nazi Ann Coulters of the Fox Network, she wasn't afraid to ask the real questions.

Needless to say, the White House is furious with Coleman and as a result, canceled a scheduled interview with Laura Bush. They even called Coleman to berate her for not “ask[ing] him a question on the outfit that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wore to the G8 summit” as they had previously requested. Yes, damn her for not asking those hard-hitting questions. Instead, we’re subjected to meaningless exchanges like…

QUESTION: Mr. President, the world is a more dangerous place today. I don't know whether you can see that or not.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Why do you say that?

QUESTION: There are terrorists bombing every single day. It's now a daily event. It wasn't like that two years ago.

BUSH: What was it like September 11, 2001?

QUESTION: I saw four of your soldiers lying dead on the television the other day. A picture of four soldiers just lying there without their flak jackets.

Watch the interview, and just as Bush launches into his fifth turrets attack of "let me finish, let me finish, lemme finish plea[se]”... slow it down, pause it, and if you catch it at just at the right moment, you might actually see little Georgie-boy’s head explode.

Watch the interview HERE.

Bush Uses Hitler in New Ad Campaign

Unfortunately, this is not some internet gag, what you are looking at is an actual still frame from President Bush’s new campaign ad, which uses images and footage of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to communicate some deranged abstract message. Never before has a President sunk so low; referring to the Democratic Party as the “Coalition of the Wild-eyed”, employing footage of Adolf Hitler and the sieg heil chants of the fascist nazi regime to gain voter support. The campaign ad, in all it’s repugnancy, can be viewed on the front page of George W. Bush’s official re-election website at georgewbush.com.

[07/04/04] UPDATE: Click HERE to watch the video.

To follow is a transcript of the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign ad, “Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed”...

Graphic:
The Faces of John Kerry's Democratic Party
The Coalition of the Wild-eyed

Video Clip of Al Gore:
"How dare they drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison?"

Video Clip of Adolf Hitler:
[Chanting sieg heil]

Video Clip of Howard Dean:
"I want my country back”

Video Clip of Michael Moore:
"We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons."

Video Clip of Dick Gephardt:
"This president is a miserable failure."

Video Clip of Aldolf Hitler:
[Hitler shouting in German]

Video Clip of Al Gore:
"He betrayed this country! He played on our fears!"

Video Clip of John Kerry:
"Today, today, George Bush will lay off your camel, tax your shovel, kick your [bleep] and tell you there is no Promise Land."

Graphic:
This is not a time for pessimism and rage…

Graphic:
President Bush: It's a time for optimism, steady leadership and progress

Paid For By Bush-Cheney '04 INC.

Has Everyone Gone Insane?

Bush thinks so...

In July, Bush will be rolling out his New Freedom Initiative, a plan that moves to screen the entire US population for mental illness. According to the March 2004 White House progress report, "consumers of all ages" with a strong focus on children, will be screened for mental illness and medicated accordingly.

At face value, the report is laden in good intentions to integrate the mentally ill into society through technology, education, and community, but at a closer examination of the details, the plan appears to better serve drug companies than it’s patients. Should we really expect anything less from the Bush administration?

Between Bush ties to Eli Lilly and the overwhelming contribution trends of the Pharmaceutical industry to the Republican Party, lets look at the New Freedom Initiative for what it is – another vehicle for our governments money grubbing corporate freaks to take advantage of the average American.

Read a related article HERE

Download a PDF of the New Freedom Initiative HERE

Please Don’t Kill Me!

With 152 executions under his belt as Governor of Texas; should we be really be surprised to learn that during a 1999 Talk Magazine interview, our President, then Governor, mocked a woman after he condemned her to death? Puckering his lips, feminizing his eyes, and letting out in a desperate squeak, “please don't kill me!"

Not the words of a nefarious cartoon villain, but the words of our President. It was during his time as Governor; George Bush executed more prisoners than any governor in U.S. history, averaging 1 execution every nine days, with as many as 7 executions per month, and occasionally 2 executions per day. These statistics put whole countries to shame. George Bush executed the first woman in Texas since the 1860’s, executed the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, the rehabilitated, and statistically 9 innocent people.

It was during a 1999 interview with CNN correspondent, Tucker Carlson, when Bush decided to publicly humiliate a woman after refusing her request for a 30-day stay of execution and condemning her to death. There was public outcry to save the life of Karla Faye Tucker, who during her 14 years of imprisonment, found God, became the leader of a prison ministry, and by all outward appearances seemed rehabilitated. With incoming pleas for clemency from Pope John Paul and the world community as a whole, it was outrageous that Bush should so quickly discount world opinion and put the woman to death.

The very essence of prison is rehabilitation, so why spend 14 years and taxpayer money to rehabilitate an inmate, just to put them to death? This is not a question of pro or anti-death penalty; it’s more a question of logic, a question of humanity. Did Karla Tucker deserve to die? I don’t know. But I do know the spirit of justice should look upon the past, rise above quick judgment and cruelty, and objectively balance wrong with right.

"Devil May Care"
Tucker Carlson
Talk Magazine, 9/99

Bush's brand of forthright tough-guy populism can be appealing, and it has played well in Texas. Yet occasionally there are flashes of meanness visible beneath it.

While driving back from the speech later that day, Bush mentions Karla Faye Tucker, a double murderer who was executed in Texas last year. In the weeks before the execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. 'Did you meet with any of them?' I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. 'No, I didn't meet with any of them,' he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. 'I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' 'What was her answer?' I wonder.

'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'

I must look shocked -- ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel, even for someone as militantly anticrime as Bush -- because he immediately stops smirking.

'It's tough stuff,' Bush says, suddenly somber, 'but my job is to enforce the law.' As it turns out, the Larry King-Karla Faye Tucker exchange Bush recounted never took place, at least not on television. During her interview with King, however, Tucker did imply that Bush was succumbing to election-year pressure from pro-death penalty voters. Apparently Bush never forgot it. He has a long memory for slights.”

Film to Expose Nike Sweatshops

"While doing research for a term paper in Theology, Jim Keady, a graduate assistant soccer coach with the top-ranked St. John’s University Red Storm, discovers that the Nike Corporation is abusing its overseas workforce in sweatshops. At the same time Keady is exploring this issue, the SJU athletic department is negotiating a $3.5 million dollar endorsement deal that would require all coaches and athletes to wear and promote Nike products. Feeling that coaches and athletes would be walking billboards for a company that exploits its labor force in poor countries, Keady publicly challenges the SJU administration. They respond with an ultimatum, “Wear Nike and drop this issue … or resign.” Keady is ultimately forced to resign, and the story hits the major media... ESPN, HBO Real Sports, the New York Times, the front page of the Village Voice, etc..

In an attempt to silence critics at St. John’s and uncover the story behind the statistics about Nike factory workers, Keady assembles a team and travels halfway around the world to Tangerang, Indonesia to learn and document first-hand Nike's overseas’ operations. To gain a more human perspective on the lives of Nike’s factory workers, Keady and college friend, Leslie Kretzu live for one month in an Indonesian slum on the wages that workers are paid: $1.25 / day. In the process, they encounter the local mafia, intimidation, starvation, football-sized rats, fist-sized cockroaches, raw sewage in the streets, massive burning of toxic shoe rubber, corporate complicity and cover-up.

Through their time in Indonesia, Keady and Kretzu discover the reality of U.S. multinational corporations' labor practices in the developing world and how Nike's cutthroat, bottom-line economic decisions have a profound effect on human lives.

Along with Keady and Kretzu's critique and commentary, SWEAT includes powerful interviews with Indonesian workers producing for Nike, Adidas, and the Gap; Audioslave's Tom Morello; US Olympian, Kevin McMahon; Former Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid; Indonesian Democracy Leader, Dita Sari; US Congressperson, Sherrod Brown; Best-Selling Author, David Korten; Comedian and Political Commentator, Janeane Garofalo, all offering suggestions on how things could be done differently and how average Americans can help to stop sweatshop abuses." -sweatthefilm.org

For more information, visit the website HERE

The Emma E. Booker School 9/11 Video

This obscure video originated from the Emma E. Booker Elementary School website, but was quickly removed from the internet. Many people have seen the footage of Bush on September 11th, sitting in an elementary classroom reading the story of the “Pet Goat", but very few have seen this second video. A video opening with a Presidential motorcade and concluding with a prepared speech in front of students and staff as the events of the day were unfolding.

To watch the video click HERE.

President Bush’s Address at Emma E. Booker Elementary:

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a difficult moment for America. I, unfortunately, will be going back to Washington after my remarks. Secretary (of education) Rod Paige and the lieutenant governor will take the podium and discuss education. I do want to thank the folks here at Booker Elementary School for their hospitality.

Today, we have had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. I have spoken to the vice president, to the governor of New York and to the director of the FBI, and I've ordered the full resources of the federal government to help the victims and their families and to find those folks who committed this act.

Terrorism against our nation will not stand. And now, if you'll join me in a moment of silence.

(pause)

May God bless the victims, their families and America. Thank you very much.”

Who Killed Margie Schoedinger?

On December 2, 2002, Texas resident Margie Schoedinger, filed a lawsuit against President George W. Bush, claiming he and others committed "individual sex crimes" against her and her husband. The proper paperwork was filed, a detailed court petition was submitted, and it was apparent this case was serious; President Bush would be served with papers to appear before the court on charges of rape.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; this is big, if it’s for real, why didn’t I hear about it? Well, it appears there’s been a “media blackout” on the story, as no one, with the exception of a few local newspapers and internet sites, reported the story. The charges, whether fabricated or not, were legitimately filed and can still be read on the Fort Bend County website. Margie claimed, she had been harassed by both FBI and policemen, who she also filed cases against, and stated in her court petition…

"the Defendant [George Bush] also informed the Plaintiff [Margie Schoedinger] that his only option to assure his never having to answer for the previous contact would be to simply see Plaintiff pressured to the point of committing suicide"

On Monday September 22, 2003, 38-year-old African-American, Margie Schoedinger was found dead, with an apparent "gunshot wound to the head". The Harris Country Examiner's Office filed the death as a "suicide". Only 9 months after charges are filed, Margie Schoedinger is found dead.

Jackson Thoreau who interviewed Schoedinger shortly before her death reported, ”she didn't sound "deranged" to me in July 2003. She sounded like someone who had gone through something weird and was trying to sort it out. She sounded like someone who wanted the truth to come out.” It was during this exchange, Schoedinger expressed, "I am still trying to prosecute [the lawsuit]…I want to get this matter settled and go on with my life…People have to be accountable for what they do, and that's why I'm pursuing it."