Democracy- Those Were the Days My Friends...

Prissy blogging live today from Camp Democracy in Washington, D.C. Camp Democracy has a great location, a nice organizational set up and wonderful event coordinators. Too bad the corporate media doesn't care...they haven't bothered to cover the event since opening day.

Oh, Prissy should mention the WaPo did a decent little article the second day of the camp.

But as usual, they are MIA. Corporate media does not love their own country enough to tell the truth... Camp Democracy on the National Mall in Washington (click to enlarge any photo)

"Bushnoccio" facing Constitution Ave

Heehee, look what's on his back!

Plenty of room at the media table

Veterans organizations against the war

Scottish bagpipe player joins Camp Democracy, accompanied by Jeff Fisher, who tells Prissy he is a vote fraud whistle blower

There are four tents at Camp Democracy, here are two of them

The main tent

See, Prissy told you they have a thing for each other!

Veterans for Peace, Impeachment tour bus

MFSO banner

Hey Rummy and Dumbya! Ever heard of these or is it "just a theory"

Will somebody ever stop them?

Or will they continue to wait it out like teenagers being asked to do household chores, until he officially declares his dictator status? Keep supporting them by doing nothing, Senators, and we'll all end up here...

Hot Links

ABC Pope Stops Short of Apology to Muslims

VATICAN CITY Sep 16, 2006 (AP)— Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.

But the statement stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders around the globe, and anger among Muslims remained intense. Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope's remarks Tuesday in a speech to university professors in his native Germany.

An Iraqi insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope's remarks on Islam, according to a statement posted Saturday on the Web.

Dearest Readers, Prissy sure wouldn't accuse him of being Christlike...

My Way via RAW Story Five Palestinian Area Churches Attacked

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that angered many Muslims.

No injuries were reported in the attacks, which left church doors charred and walls pockmarked with bullet holes and scorched by firebombs. Churches of various denominations were targeted.

Relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians are generally peaceful, and the attacks on the churches sparked concern that tensions would heighten.

Nice going Pope, just what the world did NOT need-more religious contention.

ZD Net Where democracy goes to Diebold

Avi Rubin, the political scientist who has documented many problems with Diebold polling equipment, presents his report on a day at the polls during the Maryland primary. You should read the whole thing, but I am going to excerpt extensively because of how critical the performance of Diebold equipment is to our democracy. This information must be widely discussed.

There were many problems with Dielbold equipment at the polling place where Rubin spent the day as one of 16 election judges. Software errors, despite a story by The Washington Post that emphasizes human errors in the process that, as David Isenberg rightly criticizes, urge readers to miss the real problems with the Diebold systems. Most troubling to me, the errors are so pervasive that there is no systematic approach to trying to monitor for incorrectly counted votes.

Findlaw Can Congress Fire Rumsfeld?

With the midterm election season upon us, and public opinion turning against the conduct of the Iraq war, Democratic candidates and, to a surprising degree, many Republicans too, are using Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a campaign issue. The charges include going to war with insufficient troops, bungling the occupation, and failing to articulate a realistic exit strategy.

Attacking Rumsfeld permits those incumbents who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq to stand by that initial decision, while simultaneously taking advantage of the shift in pubic opinion. For Democrats, Rumsfeld makes an attractive target because of his repeated insensitivity--from dismissing soldiers' complaints of inadequate armor to, most recently, comparing his critics to appeasers of Nazism. Republicans, meanwhile, can criticize Rumsfeld without directly criticizing President Bush.

But what, other than winning their elections, do Rumsfeld's critics actually want? Mostly, they have called for his resignation. However, so long as the Defense Secretary enjoys the support of President Bush, he will not likely resign. And given the President's stubborn streak (or, more charitably, his loyalty), criticism of Rumsfeld may only stiffen Bush's resolve to stand by Rumsfeld. Thus, the calls for Rumsfeld's resignation could amount to little more than political posturing.

But suppose Rumsfeld's congressional critics really do want him replaced. Under our Constitution, can they fire him without the President's acquiescence? The answer is yes, but only by taking one or the other of two highly controversial steps: They can impeach and convict him for war crimes (or some other offense), or they can abolish the office of Secretary of Defense entirely.

And this...Suppose, for example, Congress concluded that Rumsfeld deliberately suppressed evidence that Saddam Hussein lacked weapons of mass destruction or ties to al Qaeda, while inflating or inventing evidence that he had such weapons or ties. Lying to Congress, whether or not under oath, is a crime, but even if Rumsfeld merely deliberately misled Congress and the American people, that in itself may be impeachable.

He talks about Rummy critics, who point out the deliberate malfeasance

Reuters Pope to give blessing as pressure for apology grows

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Pope was due on Sunday to make his first public appearance since Muslim fury erupted over remarks he made about Islam, with pressure growing for a personal apology.

The Vatican issued a statement on Saturday saying the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued; but Muslim countries and religious groups continued to express anger at remarks they felt portrayed Islam as a religion tainted with violence.

Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican, calling the Pope's remarks "offensive", while Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said the Vatican statement was not enough.

"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," said the Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib.

Bloomberg Liberty's Maffei Sets Path to Transform Malone Empire

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Liberty Media Corp. Chief Executive Officer Greg Maffei said he wants to use almost $13 billion in John Malone's media investments to buy companies he can run.

Liberty Media may swap $10 billion in News Corp. stock for a controlling stake in satellite TV provider DirecTV Group Inc., according to people familiar with the talks. Maffei, speaking at a Merrill Lynch & Co. conference yesterday, said he also wants Time Warner Inc.'s Atlanta Braves baseball team and other assets in exchange for Liberty's $2.9 billion holding.

Malone hired Maffei last November to turn Liberty's media- company investments into businesses. If he can't make trades, Maffei said he'll sell Liberty's stakes for cash and use it to buy media companies. At the top of his list, Maffei said yesterday, is a deal with News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch.

The irony! Liberty media

Falls Church News, VA a must read article from a very tiny, but excellent newspaper. A “Clean Break” From Law: Espionage and Engineering the War In Iraq

In a discussion last Tuesday, Mr. Smith, Director of Research at the IRMEP, highlighted specific applications of the neoconservative strategy doctrine in the foreign policy of the Bush White House. The paper was written by several Bush Administration officials, including former chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee Richard Perle, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, and current Middle East Adviser to the Vice President David Wurmser. The study group also had ties to former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who later worked with Perle at the Project for the New American Century.

The report came under increased scrutiny in 2003 as perceived connections were discovered between the document’s recommendations and the escalating War in Iraq, and the “War on Terror” as a whole. The IRMEP began studying the paper at that time, and the recent conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah in Lebanon has augmented the desire to research the document, and assess options for further action.

Prepared in 1996 for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, then recently elected PM and leader of the conservative Likud Party, the paper details a strategy for Israeli security and prosperity in the region. It advocates a method for advancing this strategy through the use of “hard power”—military strength instead of diplomacy and incentives—and issue framing. The authors infused rhetorically opaque arguments, crafted around Judeo-Christian and western democratic themes, to make opposition viewpoints seem indefensible.

The specific recommendations of the IASPS group within the “Clean Break” document include several provisions which have, in recent years, become manifest. Among the “laundry list” of proposals: the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, abandonment of the “Land for Peace” or “Comprehensive Peace” strategy in favor of a “Peace for Peace” or “balance of power” solution, engaging Syria and Iran through attacks in Lebanon, and legitimizing the pursuit of Palestinian militants beyond Israeli borders.

Coming this week on The Prissy Patriot: 'Why Ricky went AWOL'' and the Ohio vote fraud situation.

It is no "conspiracy theory". It was by conspiracy that Kerry did not win Ohio and thus the presidency.

Apparently, Kerry, whom only recently acknowledged that he was cheated despite overwhelming hard evidence and his background as a prosecutor, did not really want to work that hard anyway...

Quotes of the Day

Oh don't we know it...from one who wrote the American chapter of that book Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.-- Richard M. Nixon

Be entirely tolerant or not at all; follow the good path or the evil one. To stand at the crossroads requires more strength than you possess.--Heinrich Heine,German poet and satirist (1797 - 1856)

Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.--Admiral Hyman Rickover (1900 - 1986)Unfortunately, nuclear-powered submarines were his idea too...AKA "Father of the Nuclear Navy"

He said this in his old age:

"I do not believe that nuclear power is worth it if it creates radiation. Then you might ask me why do I have nuclear powered ships. That is a necessary evil. I would sink them all. I am not proud of the part I played in it. I did it because it was necessary for the safety of this country. That's why I am such a great exponent of stopping this whole nonsense of war. Unfortunately limits – attempts to limit war have always failed. The lesson of history is when a war starts every nation will ultimately use whatever weapon it has available." Further remarking: "Every time you produce radiation, you produce something that has a certain half-life, in some cases for billions of years. I think the human race is going to wreck itself, and it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it." (Economics of Defense Policy: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., Pt. 1 (1982))

The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it.--Plutarch (46 AD - 120 AD)