Stand Up Now, Or Forever Stand Down Update
For those who have forgotten, this is what an American leader looks like
See today's leaders below:
Cost of Air Force One for this Rovarian orchestrated photo stunt: Nearly $200,000
What made it worth everyone of our taxpayer dollars?
AP photo Spokesliar Tony Snow and Presidential miscounselor Dan Barlett
Getting to see the scared look on these double dorks faces when the realization hits them that their money (and their flack jackets) won't save them in a war zone.
Next time boys, stay a while...don't you want to be there for the first hand account for what you so dutifully and stupidly support?
That Dubya, where will he have you boys next? The witness stand? The Iraqi people love their Dubya so much he had to sneak into the country.
Hot Links
UPDATE: Some pictures removed, page too slow to load.
Las Vegas Sun Reid seeks to rein in Bush
During the fall of 2002, the Bush administration spoke darkly of Saddam Hussein's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons - and weeks before the November election, President Bush asked Congress for authorization to go to war with Iraq.
Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and 28 other Democrats voted for the resolution, which divided their party. The Democrats were beaten badly in the election, and the war began a few months later.
There will be no repeat with Iran, Reid said this week. He is putting forth legislation that would impose strict oversight on Bush's Iran policy, even forcing the administration to report to Congress on its process for vetting the accuracy of all statements of the president, vice president and others in the administration.
Seattle PI Troops refusing Iraq duty get a haven
Prompted by a Fort Lewis Army officer's decision to refuse to fight in Iraq, the First United Methodist Church of Tacoma has declared itself a sanctuary for servicemen and servicewomen who also don't want to go to Iraq.
The 300-member congregation's administrative council voted last weekend to open its doors beginning this Saturday after 1st Lt. Ehren Watada announced that he thinks the war in Iraq is illegal and that he has sought to resign his commission.
A statement from the church on Wednesday said that service members "who are unable to deploy to combat areas for reasons of conscience" can find protection behind its doors.
Our initiative was because of Lieutenant Watada's gesture and a clear sense that we have, as a reconciling congregation, deeply involved in justice issues throughout the city, that any war, particularly this one, is inconsistent with Christian teachings," the Rev. Monty Smith said Wednesday night.
Prissy would like to point out Dubya fancies himself a Methodist. Lot's of military families drove past his church, on their way to Cindy Sheehans tent last August while in Crawford.
Who says Georgia is a red state? Prissy presents to you the newest chapter of Military Families Speak Out Welcome to GA MFSO...
This interaction is excellent. John Murtha tells House of Dubya frat boy Louie Gohmert (R-TX)- like it is. Captain Gohmert (US Army) used his military service to pay his way through college and law school.
Born in 1953, he had time to jump right in. Let us remind him the average soldier in 'Nam was 19.
Prissy is sure playing Army in college was a lot more fun. Apparently, his legal education at Baylor did not teach him the theory of a just war or other "legal niceties" like Geneva; or that illegal acts of aggression and torture are forbidden.
Raggedy Andy (aka Ann Coulter) gives his take on John Murtha.
Prissy thinks Andy is scooping up all the cash he can, before "everybody knows" and he is forced to turn "liberal". From Editor and PublisherLatest Ann Coulter Outrage: On Fragging John Murtha
In an email interview with John Hawkins at the Right Wing News web site, Coulter was asked, among other things, to offer short comments on several individuals. After harmlessly dismissing former Ambassador Joseph Wilson as the "World's most intensely private exhibitionist," she said of Rep. John Murtha, the hawkish ex-Marine and now antiwar congressman: "The reason soldiers invented 'fragging.'"
Fragging, which became a well-known expression --and occurence -- during the Vietnam war, means soldiers attempting to kill their own officers for one reason or another.
This was so over the top that conservative Mike Krempasky at RedState.org posted, "I've said before that's its kind of ironic that just about every phrase Stewie from Family Guy uses to describe Lois could easily be applied to Ann Coulter. Well - once again, Ann proves us right." He went on to call her "fragging" remark absolutely "disgusting....there's no excuse - NONE - for the allusion to soldiers who kill other soldiers. It's despicable - and frankly, so is Coulter."
Now Andy; "fragging" isn't something a boy in a skirt should advocate...his fans won't be pleased with their own Crying Game moment.
Insider Magazine Ray Lemme and Yang Enterprises
Raymond Lemme was a Dept of Florida transportation investigator that was found dead in a Valdosta, GA motel room. He was working on a case that involved money laundering, Florida turnpike-possibly Ohio as well-Jeb and George Bush, amongst others.
Prissy only knows what she has posted regarding this case. Insider has the acutual documentation regarding the case. This is the article Prissy posted last July. For some reason, there have been many reading Coin gate lately.
The Toledo Blade has apparently not told the "rest of the story". COIN GATE in Ohio Linked to Bushes and Florida
Judicial Watch Jun 14, 2006Documents from Army Related to Halliburton Subsidiary's No-Bid Iraq ContractNewly Released Documents Raise Questions Regarding Involvement of Vice President's Office
In an email dated April 22, 2003, Carol Sanders of the USACE, writes, “Mr. Robert Andersen, Chief Counsel, USACE, participated in a 60 Minutes interview today in New York regarding the sole source award of the oil response contract to Kellogg, Brown and Root.Mr. Andersen was able to make many of the points we had planned.” Sanders subsequently provided sound bites from the interview, including, “There was no contact whatsoever (with the VP office).
This directly contradicts another email uncovered by Judicial Watch in 2004. The email, dated March 5, 2003, sent by an official of the Army Corps of Engineers whose name was redacted, stated, We anticipate no issue [with the KBR deal] since the action has been coordinated w VP'’s office.
The newly released documents also prove the Department of the Army abused the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process by improperly invoking exemptions. One document, for example, includes a frank admission by an Army Corps of Engineer official: “I am copying you on this crap since I honestly believe the competitive procurement will never happen. The Army attempted to withhold this embarrassing document even though no appropriate exemption applied. It took the intervention of a federal district judge to force the Army to release the document.
Mercury News, a great news source House GOP nears vote on Iraq withdrawal
The administration was so determined to get out its message that the Pentagon distributed a highly unusual 74-page "debate prep book" filled with ready-made answers for criticism of the war, which began in March 2003.
But as the death toll and price tag of the conflict continue to rise, opinion polls show voters increasingly frustrated with the war and favoring Democrats to control Congress instead of the Republicans who now run the show.
And..."Many, not all, on the other side of the aisle lack the will to win," Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., said.
The Senate vote unfolded unexpectedly as the second-ranking GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced legislation he said was taken from a proposal by Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and war critic. It called for Bush to agree with the Iraqi government on a schedule for withdrawal of combat troops by Dec. 31, 2006.
National Review. Read Michael Ledeen writing the ole' CYA article... Nonsense
JJA: So how come this terrorist leader makes so many mistakes? I mean, blatant factual errors. Let'’s start with his statement #5 in the first set of numbered paragraphs that there has been “a decline of the resistance'’s assaults.
ML: Well, our casualties are certainly down, aren'’t they?
JJA: Not really. May was one of the worst months since the fall of Saddam. Recently there'’s been a dramatic increase in assaults and the number of dead innocents. Precisely the opposite of what the unnamed 'leader'” says.
ML: And then?
JJA: And then #6 in that first batch he says that there's been “an increase in the number of countries and elements supporting the occupation.” I guess he doesn'’t read Italian, does he? And even the Brits have announced they'’re going to leave. Again, the opposite of the facts. I could go on, but you get the point, don't you?
ML: And your point is?
Dearest readers, obviously poor Mr. Ledeen is not living in reality.
Prissy thinks he is having a difficult time coming to terms with the havoc he is personally responsible for supporting in Iraq. 
Tom Paine Targeting Journalists
In May, Gonzales startled the public when he said in an interview that '“there are some statutes on the books' that provide government the legal authority to prosecute journalists for publishing articles containing classified information. He was referring to the Espionage Act of 1917, under which Gonzales is attempting to create a precedent by trying two policy analysts of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee accused of leaking national security information to a journalist and a diplomat.
In April, a month before the Gonzales appearance on the Sunday talk shows, it became known that the FBI had attempted to gain entry into the private papers of deceased journalist Jack Anderson, who for years wrote a nationally-syndicated column that laid bare a multiplicity of closely-held government secrets. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on June 6 to illuminate the entire question of the Bush administration'’s pursuit of leakers. There, Deputy U.S. Attorney Matthew W. Friedrich refused to explain the FBI's action against Anderson, but affirmed that the government can prosecute 'anyone' '—including journalists' for making known classified information.
The case of Jack Anderson sheds light on the government's own practice of leaking classified information—at times to achieve political advantage. As a war correspondent for The Army Times and for radio during the Second World War, Anderson managed to find his way to one of the more hush-hush operations of the CIA of that day, the Office of Strategic Services. Their Detachment 101 ran guerrilla bands against the Japanese in the Burmese jungle. Asked what he was doing there, Anderson replied, I'’m here to make you famous.
There is a lot more to the Jack Anderson case than originally reported. Great read.
Most journalists and bloggers in 2006 develop contacts with our clothes on...not these baby-boomers. They still do it the old fashioned way...
See below: (Couldn't get this to post earlier)
Citizen Spook, retired Fed attorney. Prissy cites this one, as Spooks updated Treasongate seems to be missing a few things. Spook's analysis are always interesting. STRONG INDICATIONS ROVE HAS BEEN INDICTED BY RUNAWAY GRAND JURY IN "SEALED VS. SEALED"
So what is "Sealed vs. Sealed"? Now let's review the two ways a Criminal Indictment can come down under the Constitution:
1. A US Attorney may request and indictment be returned by the Grand Jurors which is then signed by the US Attorney.
2. A Grand Jury may return and indictment without the request or signature of a US Attorney.
Under number 2 above, such activity constitutes a "Runaway Grand Jury", although that disparages the true purpose of Grand Jurors as a fourth branch of checks and balances.
Spook gives a great analysis, Prissy recommends reading it all. Keep in mind, since its still secret-we are all giving it our best guess.
Senate Majority Karl Rove gets not so warm welcome in New Hampshire
Back in July 2004, before media reports surfaced showing frequent communication between the phone jamming co-conspirators and the White House, Rove offered this comment on the phone jamming: "Rove said that given the many campaigns in which he's been involved, "I'm sure I've encountered" phone jamming "somewhere along the line, but I don't know enough about it to comment."" [Distaso, Union Leader, 7/14/2004]
Two years after telling reporters that he was sure he'd "encountered" phone jamming "somewhere along the line", Rove kept his big mouth shut on the subject. Instead, Rove stuck to more positive topics, like the uh, Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq.
Unexplained as of yet is the fact that communication occurred not only between the Office of Political Affairs at the time the plot was being planned, carried out and scrapped, but also communication between the New Hampshire state party and Rove's own office at the time the plot was being planned.
Click any photo to enlarge
As promised, the pictures from the Columbus display of the American Friends "Eyes Wide Open" tour. The tour will be folding at the end of the month-but not due to lack of interest.
On the contrary, the tour volunteers told me between 5-6,000 people walked through the exhibit. The cost is becoming prohibitive, due to the number of boots!
View from corporate America across the street from the exhibit. The building is public, with private tenants. One must have an escort and permission to get off at certain floors. One nice looking man noticed Prissy with the camera and asked what floor, while getting into the elevator. Prissy explained she was here to get a good shot of the exhibit across the street.
He said the 8th floor would be best and he would escort me there. Prissy explained her own young relative had thankfully and recently returned from Iraq as part of the National Guard. He said "thank you" for his service. Prissy did not tell him that he was welcome, but smiled politely and said the message would be passed onto him.
Then he said "What did your young relative think about the experience?" Prissy told him he thought it was a waste of lives and money. Mr. Neorepublican stiffly said, "Well, I imagine we would hear the same from soldiers of WW II, Korea and Vietnam. Prissy said "Regarding WWII, I doubt that, for Korea maybe and for Vietnam I hope so..." Prissy then quickly changed the subject.
The view from corporate America in downtown Columbus
Just then another apparent neorepublican popped around the corner, checking Prissy out and saying "Hey Joe, so and so just got accepted into SnootyName...(he was referring to an exclusive local country club) Prissy's guide, looking a bit embarrassed, said "Bet that put him down 10 thou". Prissy commented, "More than that". To which neorepublican co-worker responded "Yeah, more like 12 5".
Glad to hear things are going so well with tax cuts for the rich, paid for by the rest of us...
Ironic the young people who should have been standing in the empty boots display across the street, made only a little more than that in the year they gave their lives.
Display with information about what is really going on in Iraq. A tribute to the Iraqi people.
Washington Times Marine may call Murtha as witness
"How would you feel to be falsely accused of killing innocent people," the attorney said. "He was angered and hurt by it because he doesn't understand how the public could think he and his Marines could do such a thing."
Col. Dave Lapan, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters at the Pentagon, said Mr. Murtha was one of eight senior House members and senators briefed by Gen. Hagee in May on the investigation. "I don't know what he told them," Col. Lapan said.
A spokesman for Mr. Murtha did not return a message yesterday seeking comment.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is expected to finish its probe by August, at which time Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, who commands the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Pendleton, will decide whether to bring charges that could include murder.
Reuters Military deaths in Iraq hit 2,500
Editor and Publisher Editors Of Expelled Gitmo Reporters Criticize Move
"I really don't know why the Pentagon pulled the plug," Rosenberg, a 16-year Herald veteran, told E&P just after returning to her newsroom today. "I think it is a pity. ... Why would you empty Guantanamo of every independent reporter when there are lots of questions to ask?"
In a Los Angeles Times article, Managing Editor Doug Frantz said, "Expelling Carol Williams and her colleagues represents a Stone Age attitude that only feeds suspicions about what is going on at Guantanamo."
Earlier today, a Pentagon spokesman, J.D. Gordon, told E&P that the ejections came because other media outlets were threatening to use to get equal access. He would not identify which media outlets threatened legal action, but said more than a dozen news outlets called to complain between Sunday and Monday.
Wired ACLU Sues Pentagon for Monitoring
The ACLU said the Defense Department shared the information with other government agencies through the database, known as the Threat and Local Observation Notice, or Talon.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department never commented on pending lawsuits.
In April, the Pentagon said a review found it had collected data on U.S. peace activists and discovered that about 260 entries in the Talon database should not have been kept there or should have been removed.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for eastern Pennsylvania, charges the Pentagon is refusing to comply with requests by the ACLU to declare who had been monitored.
From Wayne Madsen: June 15, 2006 -- Although the major media and the White House spinmeisters have worked overtime to squash the story of marital problems between George W. Bush and Laura Bush over the reported affair between the President and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, WMR is continuing to pursue it. We recently learned from a noted Washington socialite that Laura Bush has been seeing an old romantic flame, described as a wealthy businessman from Texas. Mrs. Bush is said to have been comforted by the male friend over the years as she weathered her husband's various extramarital trysts.We continue on the story and, unlike the major media, we care as much about Bill and Hillary's marriage issues as we do about those of Millard and Abigail Fillmore.
Mad Cow Productions, great site Heroin Trafficking, A Pink Leather Coach, & The GOPMOBby Daneil Hopsicker
According to Kidan, it was a man named John Gurino who murdered Boulis shortly after the gambling czar left his Fort Lauderdale office on Feb. 6, 2001. Kidan previously had denied knowing anything about Boulis' slaying when police interviewed him a month after the murder.
Examining Kidan's claim offers some insight into how the scandal is being played out. In last week's stories about him, for example, Adam Kidan was described, as he always is in major media accounts, as a "Long Island businessman."
In reality Kidan is nothing of the kind. He doesn't live on Long Island, and he is anything but a businessman, a fact made clear when he wrote checks to the three Mob figures currently in jail awaiting trial for the hit totaling over $200,000 in the weeks before Boulis' gangland-style slaying.
Turkish Press Bosnia admits to handing terror suspects over to United States
Bosnia has admitted that it handed over six terror suspects of Algerian origin to US forces in 2002 without any formal extradition procedure, the Council of Europe said.
The six persons, five of whom had Bosnian citizenship, "had simply been handed over to the custody of US forces despite a decision by the (Bosnian) Supreme Court ordering their immediate release," the report said.
All six were transferred to the US Guantanamo prison camp on the island of Cuba. Bosnia-Hercegovina is the only one of the Council's 46 member states queried by its secretary general that has admitted to violating the European Convention on Human
Rights by cooperating with the United States in alleged extra-legal transfers of terror suspects.
Online Journal Desperate Bush administration ends already blown Zarqawi deception
The Zarqawi campaign is discussed in several of the internal military documents. "Villainize Zarqawi/leverage xenophobia response," one U.S. military briefing from 2004 stated. It listed three methods: "Media operations," "Special Ops (626)" (a reference to Task Force 626, an elite U.S. military unit assigned primarily to hunt in Iraq for senior officials in Hussein's government) and "PSYOP," the U.S. military term for propaganda work . . ." (WP . 10 April 2006, further details).
In this regard, the senior commander entrusted with Pentagon's PSYOP operation is General Kimmitt who now occupies the position of senior planner at US Central Command (USCENTCOM), responsible for directing operations in Iraq and the Middle East confirms that
There was clearly an information campaign to raise the public awareness of who Zarqawi was, primarily for the Iraqi audience but also with the international audience.
A goal of the campaign was to drive a wedge into the insurgency by emphasizing Zarqawi's terrorist acts and foreign origin, said officers familiar with the program. Through aggressive Strategic Communications, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi now represents: Terrorism in Iraq/Foreign Fighters in Iraq/Suffering of Iraqi People (Infrastructure Attacks)/Denial of Iraqi Aspirations, the same briefing asserts . . . (Ibid)
Jon Stewart asks Ken Melhman questions about Rove-Stewart doing what he does best Rove
More later...
Quotes of the Day
History is moving, and it will tend toward hope, or tend toward tragedy.--George W. Bush (1946 - )
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.-- Charles Mackay
The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.--H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), 'Prejudices: Fourth Series,' 1924
If the truth doesn't save us, what does that say about us?--Lois McMaster Bujold, Diplomatic Immunity, 2002
Will the Marines come marching in to save the democracy?
