Countdown's <I>Bushed!</i> Your Lying Eyes Edition
By Nicole Belle Friday Feb 15, 2008 7:31pm
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Keep track of all the transgressions of the Bush administration so you don't have to, here is the Friday edition of Bushed!. And with most statements coming out of the Bush White House, it comes down to one basic question: Who are you going to believe, us or your lying eyes?
First up is the news that the White House is resisting mightily just simply explaining how they define the term "enemy combatant" in describing at least 180 detainees currently held without habeas corpus rights at Guantanamo. Their reason? Defining the term would be....say it with me...dangerous to National Security. That's right. Don't let those terrorist have definitions, that might embolden them.
And then is the little trip to Africa that Bush petulantly threatened to delay if he didn't get his way on FISA. In a BBC interview scheduled to publish on the eve of the planned trip, Bush asserted his commitment to the UN peacekeeping missions. Unfortunately, it appears his commitment is more of the non-financial kind.
And finally, the Orwellian DoublePlusGood Speak award to former Attorney General John Ashcroft who, in a speech to Missouri Republicans, uttered this completely Bizarro-World statement:
Ashcroft defended President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program and his record on civil liberties, declaring that Bush is “among the most respectful of all leaders ever” when it comes to “respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.” Bush “respects liberty so profoundly that he has protected it and has safeguarded civil liberties more than any other president in wartime that I know of,” Ashcroft said.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little on that one.
I'm glad Keith does this Bushed series. It is amazing how many scandals this dictator president is embrioled in. Our only hope is that a Democrat can win. John McCain isn't even competant enough to take out my garbage, let alone be The president.
DO THESE CRIMINALS THINK WE ARE STUPID???
Well despite John Ashcroft's bedside heroics when Gonzo and Andrew Card came along, he's still a Bushie.
zonk @ 2:
Yes, because stupid people refuse to keep all options on the table, and they refuse to impeach.
zonk @ 2:
If they didn't think that way, bush wouldn't have entered in 2000.
Sadly, our Republic and Justice Department has been deceived and abused
by the most corrupt and dangerous President, Vice President and Administration in our Country's History.
But thankfully, the American People, U.S. Attorneys, Justice Officials, Sept11 Families, Public Officials from every political party, First Responders and Millitary Officials are Uniting to Stop this criminal Administration from further harming our People or Country.
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
Wartime president=lie
zonk @ 2, I'm afriad many Americans are stupid or cowardly. To have a president use fear like this is a reminder of how he got elected(?) in 2004. So many Americans fell for his fear mongering. Now this battle over imunity for the telecoms is the same charade. Many Americans don't even know who the Supreme Court Justices are, let alone thier own congressmen. Pathetic, huh?
ashcroft's statement has left me incontinent for life.
LOLZ.
We wonder who hasn't been Bushwhacked yet.
I am waiting to have a $.50 Starbucks coffee with old
Waterboard Mc Cain.
Tommy Chong is a much more respectful leader. He would never Bogart a joint.
McCain reversal on torture is disguting. His sucking up to the religious right is appaling. He's literally is selling his soul to the souless Republican reich-wing party. I hope he loses.
Enough with the "threw up in my mouth a little" meme. That the goddess Stephanie Miller's schtick. Get your own catch phrase.
Yeah , as if I don't realize there isn't a goddamn thing that Chimpy respects , except those who adore and praise him constantly , Asscroft ............
Shut up , ya' clown.
zonk @ 2:
YES!
Piss always trickles downward. How it's feel to be underneath Amerika.
The Bush motto always has been: If reality don't work make shit up!
When will the American People revolt?
It takes young people.
But baby boomers will join.
Notice how he qualifies his phrase with the extremely limiting "...that I know."
That should tell you a lot.
Bush is “among the most respectful of all leaders ever” when it comes to “respecting the civil liberties and rights of individuals.”
ACLU: Attorney General John Ashcroft's Assault on Civil Liberties
Since becoming Attorney General John Ashcroft:
* Has had a negative impact on civil liberties issues ranging from reproductive choice, religious liberty, freedom of speech, criminal defendants' rights and equal opportunity.
* Has worked to undermine and eliminate the authority of the federal judiciary to review certain actions of the Attorney General and federal law enforcement agencies.
* Has appointed individuals who have poor civil rights/liberties records to high-level DOJ positions.
* Has not conferred with Congress or interest groups before attempting to undo settled areas of civil rights and civil liberties law.
* Has demonstrated a disregard for court orders that do not favor the DOJ
Bold and Regressive Steps to Violate Civil Liberties in the Wake of September 11
* Pressured Congress to hurriedly enact his legislation, the USA Patriot Act, which gave astonishing powers to federal agencies:
o The Act dramatically increases the government's surveillance, search-and-seizure and wiretapping authority.
The Act greatly expanded government policing powers, even in cases unrelated to terrorism.
The Act allows for the sharing of secret information on American citizens among federal agencies.
* During Congressional testimony, asserted that anyone who raised concerns about his actions would ""aid terrorists"" and ""give ammunition to America's enemies,"" statements which are antithetical to the spirit of the First Amendment right to dissent.
* Authorized DOJ officials to monitor the discussions that attorneys have with clients who are in federal custody, including those detained, but not charged with a criminal offense in violation of the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments.
* Rounded up and imprisoned over 1200 men of Middle Eastern descent based largely on pretextual immigration violations and refused to disclose their identity and location and the reason for their detention. The detainees have been denied fundamental due process rights.
* Sought to question roughly 8,000 men of Middle Eastern descent, who are legal residents of the U.S., a flagrant form of racial profiling.
ETC. [...]
Undermining the Effective Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws
* Said that he believes that ""there is no evidence of racial bias in the administration of the federal death penalty,"" despite various studies to the contrary, including one from the DOJ itself.
* Considered releasing the Adam's Mark Hotel chain from a racial discrimination court ordered settlement, which would set an unacceptable precedent in public accommodations law.
* Abandoned a landmark civil rights case against the Philadelphia transit system. The transit system used a harsh physical test that has nothing to do with the job requirements, but excludes nearly all women applicants from transit police positions.
* Has failed to bring any new cases against any police departments for police misconduct or abuse. Is attempting to change the definition of racial profiling in a way that would undermine future litigation.
* Undercut minority-voting rights by failing to fully enforce the Voting Rights Act in Mississippi.
* Under his leadership, DOJ has brought only one new case for civil rights violations in the workplace.
* Said that the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine is ""proper,"" making DOJ one of the few groups that clings to this position.
* Justice Department determined that the Monterey County, CA plan to reduce the number of polling places for the Oct. 7 recall election compiled with the federal Voting Rights Act. This decision further frustrates efforts to provide access to voting facilities in a county with a history of low voter turnout and racial and ethnic discrimination.
* Released racial profiling guidelines that were little more than rhetorical smoke and mirrors. The policy guidelines provide no rights or remedies and include a broad and largely undefined exception when ""national security"" concerns come into play.
[...]
*Prepared by the staff of the ACLU Washington Office and update September 5, 2003.
Why did Bush fly out of our country right after the
shootings at Northern Illinois University.
Why isnt the bastard here in the United States during this terrible hour.
There are odd connections between the NIU shootings
and the Virginia Tech massacre.
Yea those Virginia Tech shootings..
the day Gonzales was to testify on the Attorney Firings.
http://www.legitgov.org/niu_shooting_oddities.html
http://www.legitgov.org/virginia_tech_shooting_oddities.html
Silvestre Reyes, Chairman, House Select Committee on Intelligence responds to Bush on FISA
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_silvestr_080214_congressman_call...
This phrase has made me uncomfortable ever since it first came into use. However - I can't think of a better comment to make regarding Ashcroft's amazing take on Bush and civil liberties.
Vomit.
*
VeitVet, Baby-boomers are part of the problem. My parents generation pretty much have it made. Social Security, and an economy we can only dream about. Meanwhile people of my generation are going to have squat. Many of my own family voted for Bush, mostly because of the tax issue.
Anonymous @ 4:
They are not stupid because they fail to impeach. You are viewing the dilemma from a flawed paradigm.
If they are not stupid, then they must be complicit.
The democrats secretly want the power of the state enlarged as much as the republicans.
You are the suckers that believe that there are two competing parties, when in actuality - and one borne of facts, not wishful dreams - there is only ONE party.
The Smiths - Expose the Crooks @ 23:
The tin foil hats are in the cupboard down the hall on the right hand side just above the rolls of Bush toilet paper rolls.
"Welcome back to the family of civilised nations".
The day after he's gone.
From your (former) friends in the UK.
VietVet8666 @ 20:
they wont.
ever.
they are too committed to the illusion of the "system" that we have. They actually think they live in a democracy, when they live in a less-authoritarian system of 1984. But its a system evolving into a more overt police state.
No we dont think so.
People are dying.
A firearms dealer in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Friday confirmed a bizarre link between the graduate student accused of killing five people at Northern Illinois University and the gunman in last year's deadly shootings at Virginia Tech.
Truth B Told @ 30:
As a baby boomer i resent that remark.
Bush began Saturday in the West African nation of Benin and ended on the other side of the continent, in Tanzania. He is visiting five of the most stable democracies on the continent to highlight his administration's good works toward health care, education and infrastructure.
What a flaming hypocrite !
I despise this arrogant asshole....
The 'eagle' doesn't fly far from the shrub.
Ashcroft's name immediately popped into my head regarding the "creepy culty Obama" thingy...
What I find TRULY profoundly creepy is the definite REALITY on the ground of people like Ashcroft and Delay and Rove and on and on, who simply,INDISPUTABLY belong to the publicly documented and archived,BONA FIDE CULT of George W Bush.The same CULT that our heroic,patriotic media refuse to even acknowledge, much less name.
Creepy?Where do we FUCK---ING---GOD---DAMNED start?
P.D. @ 26:
I agree.
xoites defends Constitution @ 32:
resent all you want. the state will accept that. but it wont accept revolt.
and what are you going to do - take up arms? the state - a state controlled by either the democrats or the republicans - will annihilate you.
Truth B Told @ 37:
My suggestion which i put up over two years ago was a national strike.
xoites defends Constitution @ 38:
Come on. the elites have studied human behavior for over 200 years. they have funded nearly every scientific and behavioral study given grants. They have even funded the Human Genome project (now you give that one a ponder of what they have planned.)
The national strike would be coopted before it began, just like the SPP agents in Canada attempted to do with the peaceful protesters. Or perhaps another, even more aggressive Cointelpro.
The people are too dependent on their mortgages, their retirement security, the delusion of their children's security and future (one of debt slavery) and their trinkets of entertainment anesthesia to do anything about the littlest of issues, let alone one of this magnitude. Besides... if the media - arguably an arm of the government, and the elites, don't cover it, it doesn't happen.
The biggest disappointment is Congress' lack of sack and not impeaching the President and Vice President for high crimes and misdemeanors. As for Ashcroft, what planet did he fall to Earth from to make a statement like that?
Truth B Told @ 39:
I know you are right about all of that, but i still think it is a good idea and i still think it would work on the one condition that it was a spontaneous act.
surfjac @ 40:
Well he has formed his own Lobbyist Group so i think that explains everything he said in a nutshell.
xoites defends Constitution @ 41:
thats a very big condition. But most people have been conditioned to accept their lot in life - the you can't fight city hall mentality. They can't possibly believe that the government would do bad things to its own people to further the governments goals.
they deny the littlest of government malfeasance, how can they possibly entertain the pivotal moments in human history? ahem.... unmentionable event.
the more I look at it, the more I view this civilization as something out of a bad sci-fi dystopia movie.
like the remake of the invasion of the body snatchers - at the end, when the normal woman reveals herself - but then realizes that her friend - played by Donald Sutherland - has become a pod person.
A real revolution can not be planned. It cannot be orchestrated. It can not be started. It can not be stopped. A real revolution occurs when there is no other option and nothing you nor i nor anyone else can create or deny it.
Iran was almost exactly as we are now before the revolution. Be very careful what you wish for.
xoites defends Constitution @ 44:
I kinda like the Robin Hood idea in the meantime...
Saturday February 16, 2008
Air America Radio Host Richard Green replays statements by Keith Obermann, Robert Wexler and Johm Conyers regarding the Bush administration's attempt to gain immunity via legislation for the telecoms who have illegally listened to our phone calls and read our emails.
http://www.alexjonesfan58.com
Black is white. Up is down. Hot is cold.
MN USA @ 47:
Gerge Bush! In the flesh! I had no idea you posted here.
xoites defends Constitution @ 44:
The Revolution "might not" be televised...
Actually a General Strike might very well succeed whether the corporate media played along or not,by effectively shutting down the whole damn country.At said juncture, it would predictably boil down to a "P.R War" pitting management against labor.Sadly,it's not hard to guess how THAT particular scene would play out.
xoites defends Constitution @ 28:
Good one. :)
peaceful easy feeling @ 50:
I would open a boutique but i am afraid of a brown paper bag shortage.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........dammit!! What war!! What war, you pathetic drivelling corrupt bunch of asswipes!!! There is NO WAR!! And I'm tired of them using that as their excuse to screw decent people in their own country, and kill and maim (brown people) as they feel like it. You rich bastards got something coming to you all right. No wonder you need so much security. You know.
xoites defends Constitution @ 41:
The possibility of a spontaneous act like that, is virtually nil. It would take planning to have a national strike and the media would catch wind of it. That would pretty much end it. Venezuala was totally spontaneous when the US tried to overthrow Chavez. That wouldn't happen in the US or Canada. We don't do without in the same manners.
Republican Party Motto
"The only thing we have
to fear, is fear itself!"Hey!! What does Keith have against Gengis Khan?!?!
To all of you talking about the revolt:
I think if we stop buying at Walmart might send a message. Fuck the Waltons and all that Chinese crap they sell. Don't shop at Walmart. If you have to buy something, buy it somewhere else.
You can also drop AT&T and Verison if you use them. Back when Bush told the country to go shopping I knew he was an asshole.
BTW, I'm a pre baby boomer. My mother got pregnant with me the month my father LEFT for the war. The baby boom began 9 months after the GIs started returning from the war.
Saint Augustine @ 56:
We have less than 50 minutes before the end.
John Amato:
Can you tell me why this thread has "Quote This Comment" and "Refresh Comments" functions while the Mid-Day Open Thread does not. It sure confuses me when I'm drinking and blogging, especially since I'm approaching the end of the world and I'm half shit-faced.
Just curious, not meant to be offensive or obtuse on my part.
Saint Augustine @ 58:
All open threads are like that. It is used to confuse us drinkers, i am almost certain.
Bush “respects liberty so profoundly that he has protected it and has safeguarded civil liberties more than any other president in wartime that I know of,” Ashcroft said.
What's the difference between civil rights and unalienable rights?
Bush may very well be protecting civil liberties.
Friday @ 60:
The only thing Bush has protected is corporations and the fucking incompetents he has allowed to screw over us.
Maybe someday he will not have Secret Service protection or maybe one of the agents assigned to him will have a burst of sanity and leave him unprotected....
Saint Augustine @ 61:
c69ke on a chip..that's the ticket
Shit, I promised mydelf I wouldn't come near the comments and I wouldn't read C&L, because my brain cannot take anymore shit, I am full up and tired of carrying these evil fucks around. someone up there said something about the r word, I keep saying this, because I am probably ignorant, but I would say just stop particiapting in their madness, quit buying, quit using credit cards, quit obeying their laws that supress us, not the laws that would hurt someone if violated. Since this is not practical I would say do it in shifts, crazy? maybe so, maybe not. We strike in one part of the country, and then another, back and forth in a continuous wave, I have already started, one man. You know we don't have to cooperate, it says so in the constitution.
My head just exploded.
zonk @ 2:
Yes! and we are!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04f2UJOPJfQ
zonk @ 2:
Yes, Yes they do. Why do they think we're stupid? Because we've continued to let them get away with it for almost 8 years.
* Verdillac's head explodes*
ConcernedCanuck @ 53:
we've had years to plan it, but squandereddt hose years with "It's not gonna happen," "A stupid Idea", "Too Risky,' "No one will cover it,"
"Vote Democratic, they'll fix'er"
*head explodes again*
Idiotland @ 65:
Holy Shit...Holier than shit...Cancel the insurrection...I understand now...I will redirect my passion to jello sculpture...
Dubya passed a law agisnt protesting Iraq stabalization, well he and the rest of his administration ought to get thier assets withheld because it is the him and his Oil buddies that are keeping progress from happening. If you all remember when Saddam Hussein was in Power gas was 1.60 gallen. Since The phony war started the turmoil has put a damper on the supply of oil.
68
Verdillac Says:
Yea let's organize, and we'll throw jello at 'em. By the way it is never too late, we just stop participating, just pick one thing and stop doing it, civil disobedience, don't buy a car, anything that sticks a wrench in the gears. Shit..f69k it, I lost my head, what was I thinking this is America and dissent, and action are unpatriotic. Soooo........call me a traitor, I only want to be free..paraise the lord and pass the ammunition er jello.
Asscroft should've kept the original title to his "Let the Eagle Soar": "Let the Bullshit Soar".
The only way I know of protest is cutting down on gas and buy from South America. I have a scooter that gets 70 miles per gallon. Accomplishing of lowering gas usage and global warming. Now my roommates want to get a scooter. I think maybe every household should think about a spare scooter(moped) and consider them for alternate transportation.
I just watch a dodge's commercial of a woman who draws fast speed line behind a drawing of a car, and the engineer ask that she wants a bigger engine for the car, and she says yes!
The car industry seem to be feeding line that you the consumer want faster and bigger engine for the vehicle. Yet, why do we need faster car when we have speed limits? To get from 0-60 in how many second? When I pull up to a gas station, people ask how many miles I can get with that scooter. When I tell them, they laugh and smile, and ask how much would I sell it for.
The number one selling vehicle in Oregon is the foreign car Prius, hybrid vehicle.
You've got to give George Orwell credit, he hit so close to the mark with his book. Only getting it wrong by a few years. Rove must've read 1984 and gone, "Whoa! Instructions!"
Re asscroft's statement: I see he is still heavily on the sauce, just like the fucktard president he loves as a personal suck buddy.
John Ahscroft is a right-wing neocon of the first order. And he made the statement in Missouri, where we are chuck-full of neocons who probably still like Bush.
John has been a totally humorless son of a preacherman since the day he entered politics. I would expect no less of him than that ridiculous appraisal of Mr. Prez.
That Asscroft quote just tells me they really are in desperate damage control mode.