Left Turn on Bird Street

But he'll keep the Silver Star

The tale as peddled in the New America:

"Through the firing, Tillman's voice was heard issuing fire commands to take the fight to the enemy on the dominating high ground," read an army citation when the soldier was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star posthumously for valour. "Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their fires diminished."

The truth discovered when the facts were checked:

It now appears that an Afghan soldier who was alongside Cpl Tillman as they returned to the first unit was mistaken as an enemy combatant by one of the US soldiers and fired upon. Other US soldiers began shooting in the same direction, at which point Cpl Tillman was fatally wounded. It seems, moreover, that there were no enemy soldiers in the vicinity at the time. The Independent/UK

The only thing more pathetic than lying is lying incompetently. -- Tom Nadeau

Bush trophy, or, happiness is a warm gun

by Tom Nadeau

Well, there's a couple of things wrong with this.

First of all, "the gun," which I take to mean the handgun confiscated from Saddam Hussein when he was captured in a spiderhole at his hideout near Tikrit, would be considered legal evidence in the allegedly "fair trial" for "war crimes" the U.S. claims it is going to give Saddam someday.

While any decent government prosecutorial agency claiming to be legitimate and serving the interests of justice would preserve the weapon in its care for presentation as evidence at trial, if only to maintain the illusion of fairness hardee-har-har).

Morever, technically, it would also be preserved in safe-keepng after the trial in the event of an appeal.

But, this is the New Post-9/11 America, where we have a government of men and not of laws.

Still, one would think the scrotus POTUS would have hung the gun in his Crawford, Texas den where he keeps the trophy fish the Secret Service helps him catch in the ranch's stocked pond -- you know, that peaceful place where his limited mind wanders between sentences of national addresses and softball questions at presiedntial press conferences.

But then again, this second string Satan, this idiot imp is all ego and no class. What else would you expect from him but poor taste?

One cheery possibility, though: if Kerry should beat Bush in November and the handgun is still hanging in the Mona Lewinsky Room, maybe the incoming administration can seize the tacky war souvenir as government property, thus humbling Bush, if only a tiny bit.

God knows it would be the only kind of humility this man would be capable of understanding.

Okay, so maybe I’m not that smart, but…

by Tom Nadeau

As I recall I did pretty well on the national Scholastic Aptitude Test when I took it many years ago in the eight grade. But things – or, perish the thought, I -- must have changed.

I found these two SAT questions from two different SAT question sites on refdesk.com. The first is appallingly easy. I’d be shocked and suspicious to find it on a genuine test.

The second is entirely opaque. Even the hint is incomprehensible.

My logical answer would be values of “0” and “3” because of the serial nature of the numbers offered, but I suspect the way the question is expressed, the test-designers are really shooting for some adding function, but exactly is totally unclear, at least to me.

So, the real issue at hand here is: 1) was the question poorly framed, 2) do my talents remain unmathematical, 3) has my ability to reason grossly deteriorated since junior high, or, 4) have I always been just plain stupid?


Answers will be tallied and results announced Friday.

Not to mince words

Breslin, old time cop reporter, lays out how rats fink.

The rest of the world doesn’t have any trouble distinguishing a snake from a snipe.

And just exactly how manly is it for a supposedly macho country like our red-white-and-blue republic to kidnap childrenin order to get them to rat out their father, or, more likely, be held for the ransom of surrender by the Dad? --Tom Nadeau

The science of confusion

by Tom Nadeau

Here, the science reporter not only confuses the reader, but seems to contradict himself.

If the universe has a “width,” as referred to here, then it must have a length, no? Which means it could also could possibly have a "height," although a "height" is not mentioned. So, does that mean the universe is only two-dimensional? That must be a, “Maybe, maybe not.”

And what happened to the fourth, fifth … 15th dimensions posited by other astronomers?

Moreover, the astronomers in this story say there is no evidence that the universe is finite nor infinite, yet the graphic image shows a globe-like structure, which is both three-dimensional and finite.

Worse, the reporter again brings up the the theory that time and the universe bean with a Big Bang, which would suggest a moment of beginning, which would make time and matter finite in at least one direction.

The reporter coyly asks the reader, “Confused?” The answer, of course, would be, “Yes” -- but only on the assumption that the reporter himself understands what he is talking about, and is capable of explaining it.

The correct conclusion actually seems to be: either the scientists are confused (or are mixing analogies and creating confusion), or the writer is confused, or unable to summarized well in 12 inches of copy, or confusion is created because too much is left out for lack space -- or I am clinging too tightly to my own Bow Tie Theory of Time, Space and Matter, my gloriously different and far more literate take on the shape and mechanics of space and time. (On which, more later.)

For those who mull from time to time on the Big Q's and are stil struggling for (at least) Small A's, check out this helpful site, click on astronomy link and choose the "high school and beyond" (above?) category and go for it.

In my experience, such sites seldom provide any easy final answers in and of themselves, but, used in conjunction with beer, they often prove to be chock-a-block full of things to think about.

Tentative answers to Life's Big Q's begin to manifest themselves about Beer #8, with full enlightment arriving no later than beer #13, I've found.

Of course, some disparage this particular method of scientific investigation and the quality of its intellectual product.

For instance, that great thinker, philosopher amd critic, Ralph Odenwald, once, long ago, offered his considered opinion of my thinking on this subject over -- what else? -- a beer at the Owl's Head Tavern in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"Cheezy insights," he called them.

Justice Moore: Alive and Kicking

By Dr. Morelle DeKeigh, PhD.

Even though mainstream media has not covered our beloved, God-fearing Justice Roy Moore, don’t think he has dropped from sight.

Look at this page of recent news features on Google and you will see he is alive and kicking.

Join us as we push for Justice Moore’s qualification on the November presidential ballot. With Moore, we will get more God fearing people in office.

DeKeigh is a frequent contributor to LToBS. We support her move to get Bush out of office in November. See the link to Moore for president to the right.

Here comes a Memorial Day surprise

by Dan Gougherty

You know it was bound to happen. First, Bush's cronies in Saudi Arabia agree to increase oil production in the hopes of lowering gas prices just in time for the Summer driving season.

Heaven forbid the Red State voters having to pay more to fill their gas guzzling SUV's as they make their way to Disney World!

Now, just as we are headed into a three day Memorial Day weekend, Attorney General John Ashcroft is dragging out the terrorist threat bogeyman. We have yet another vague terrorist threat. No doubt this is just an effort to help sagging approval rates for Bush.

In his zeal to help Bush, Ashcroft did not bother to inform Homeland Security about the increased threat.

These chumps can't even get their lies straight.

It is of no coincidence that the New York Times is finally waking from its extended slumber. After admitting it gave the Bush administration a pass on their lies about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction, The Times has finally chimed in to what most bloggers already know and is questioning the timing of this warning.

I wonder if the Reverend Moon's Washington Times will finally ever fess up.

Don't count on it unless Hell freezes over and Bush learns how to ride a bike and eat pretzels

The truth will out, eventually

by Tom Nadeau

After all that huff ‘n’ puff macho tough talk, it turns out most of those oh so true blue, red-blooded ‘Mer’cans with the raggedy-ass stars-and-stripes still flying from their truck antennae just don’t have the balls to call a spade a spade.

And LToBS is not the only one to notice it. Take this view.

The stink that is now American politics is finally dawning, even on the chronically wimpy League of Women Voters, which is now expecting hanky-panky with the vote.

Same to you, fella

Guadian/UK hits the mark again, in his cartoon search for the best way to graphically express the values and attitude of the POTUS, or, as the man regards himself, God's own choice as King of the World.

Now, if he could just stay off the medication and on the bike.

’Piggy-eyed wonder’

Now here is a man who knows how to turn a phrase:

Others on the political right, as distinct from their more interventionist neoconservative colleagues, have begun openly attacking the administration. Wall Street Journal contributing editor Mark Helprin called Abu Ghraib "a symbol of the inescapable fact that the war has been run incompetently, with an apparently deliberate contempt for history, strategy, and thought." He asked why the administration was trying to occupy Iraq with current troop levels, "even as one event cascading into another should make them recoil in piggy-eyed wonder at the lameness of their policy." SF Chronicle

The Death of Democracy – Part II

by Lee Knauss

Many Americans feel safe and protected. The world of today makes this a false sense of security. We have, as a people, much to fear from home and abroad. Our government dominates the world. This domination of itself makes for hatred of America. Our policies in the Middle East since WWII are directly responsibility for the hatred of America in the Arab World. The power of our government and its disregard for civil liberties of it’s citizens and those of other countries should make every American stand up and pay attention.

Ruby Ridge and Waco are two domestic examples of the misuse of power by our government. In both cases the individual in question could have been arrested in town and a search warrant commenced afterwards by federal agents. More than likely no one would have died with this approach. In both cases the government whitewashed the whole affair. Meanwhile the Gestapo tactics of the Federal agencies continued.

Now we are in Iraq. We pretended to be there to free the people of Iraq from tyranny. Yet our treatment of Iraqi citizens bespeaks more of tyranny and oppression than freedom. Videos of our soldiers searching homes and Iraqi do not look well for American claims of freeing Iraq. When during WWII we freed countries, we did not stay and occupy. We were greeted with open arms and left with arms still open. We offered aid and did not try to specify the government that should have. We were respected.

The treatment of the prisoners in Iraq is blasphemous to what we believe is the American way. I am sure that the government will try again to whitewash this issue and at best punish a few soldiers and perhaps an officer or two for these horrific abuses. The knowledge needed to know what the Iraqi man would find humiliating is not something discovered by troops in the field, but rather higher up in our intelligence community, most likely right out of Washington.

The President is Commander in Chief of the military. He and Rumsfeld are directly responsible. They have lawyers saying not to release more photos, as if the fewer we have the less the damage. They have done irreparable damage to our country already. I am sure that our intelligence community advised the military on how to treat the prisoners. This wonderful advise coupled with the weapons of mass destruction wonderful advise is sufficient for me to request a complete purge of the CIA and any other agency that has provided these recommendations. Additionally, the group that recommended the prisoner abuses should be brought up on criminal charges and dismissed without benefits from the civil service.

The President is responsible. He and Rumsfeld should be removed from office. Mistakes of this kind cannot be tolerated by the American people, for if they can do it in Iraq they can do it here.

This is the second in a two-part essay by LToBS contributor and KRBS colleague Lee Knauss. A self described “Goldwater Republican” who voted for George W. Bush in 2000, Knauss now supports John Kerry.

Art is Hell, or in it

The world being what it is these days it might seem pointless to pause over the loss of pieces of art to an untimely fire.

After all, unlike human lives and human limbs, art can be replaced physically with more art. Different art, perhaps, but art nonetheless. Easy.

Moreover, the expenditure needed to replace the lost art would be good for that particular sector of the economy.

Dead artists whose works may have been destroyed in a London warehouse, have no needs;
while live artists would benefit from either replacing any of their works that might be lost, and any new artists whose works would be purchased to fill the new gap in the collection.

Yet, losing finished pieces of art is also losing something intangible. It can also be unsettling.

If the artist is dead, well, so what? But if the artist is alive and aware that his or her masterpiece --we have to assume a masterpiece, or someone cheated someone, somewhere -- is gone, what a tragedy.

From a slightly different angle

What the Guardian/UK says is only partly true.

Having and expressing an opinion in the news columns is bad only when there's just a few news outlets around to have them, as has happened in the networks and the newspapers in the U.S.

That's why incisive (but responsible) blogging and broadly-embracing Internet news websites will be the salvation and future residence of truth's variety. -- Tom Nadeau

Election fears mount, and for good reason

This is interesting. A citizen can't sue over
paperless voting machines because he has no tangible proof he might be injured by the system.

That is, the plaintiff has no receipt to show from the
receiptless machine to show how receiptless voting machines may have harmed him to date, or may someday harm him in the future. Like on election day and the following inauguration day, for example.

How much time should be wasted confirming suspicions
that this federal judge may have been appointed by one of the Bushes?

Elsewhere, it has gotten so bad that some people who actually work in the trade say election machine scamming has
gone too far. -- Tom Nadeau

Sentiments not found in the Sermon on the Mount...

...But firmly planted in America's withered heart.

Barbara Stapleton, of the Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) an umbrella body representing 90 national and international aid agencies, added: "We are very concerned about security and the deterioration of the situation. Impunity rules in the country. It's not just the NGO [non-governmental organisations] community, but the Afghan people at large who are exposed to these levels of insecurity."

There is also evidence that the American military is using aid as a means of acquiring intelligence. Delivering blankets and food to refugees at Dwamanda in the south, Lieutenant Reid Finn had no hesitation in telling journalists: "It's simple. The more they help us find the bad guys, the more good stuff they get." Teena Roberts, the head of Christian Aid's mission in the country, said: "The result of this is aid workers have become targets. I have not come across the use of aid in this way before." Independent/UK

Odd Bodkins turns 43

Dan O’Neill’s celebrated comic strip, Odd Bodkins, turns 43 this year. It is one of, if not the, longest-running counterculture strip in the U.S. funny papers and he is a genuine character in his own right.

O’Neill’s outrageous parodies and politically pointed wit got him in hot water, and he fell from grace with the powers that be at big corporate papers like the San Francisco Chronicle, the flagship paper of his piopular strip.

Books have been written about his cause celebre.

The Pirates and the Mouse by Bob Levin tells the story of how O’Neill took on Disney, and won. It is summarized here.

After all these years, O’Neill is still at large in Nevada City, still using a pen to fan the flames of justice and still having a good time with it.

He is also also doing some new things, among them creating a separate musical world on the radio on KVMR, 89.5 FM.

There, he and other musicians create the imaginary world of the End of the Trail Saloon, where anyone with a sense of humor and some intelligence can drop by. If you’re thinking Duffy’s Tavern, fuhgetaboutit.

Dan O’Neill will tell us all about it as a guest on Left Turn on Bird Street at 9 a.m. Monday.

As feared

Paper ballots make be ruled out in Maryland, which is using the electronic voting many fear is rigged. -- Tom Nadeau

Bushites doing the old buck-and-wing

The fecal matter is beginning to hit the fan for Bush and all his ultra-rightwing cronies. And legal logic is the first casualty.

Some graduating University of California (Berkeley) law students used their commencement Saturday to denounce a professor who helped the Bush administration develop a legal framework that critics say led to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

About one-quarter of the 270 graduates of Berkeley's Boalt School of Law donned red armbands over their black robes in a silent protest of a legal memo law professor John Yoo co-wrote when he served in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

[…]

During a May 13 appearance on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Yoo said he thought the pictures of prisoners being abused at the Baghdad prison showed clear violations of the Geneva Conventions.

"So the question is not whether the Geneva Conventions apply or really whether they're violated or not but how we're going to remedy the situation, and the military is undertaking that," he said, adding that violators should be punished and tried.
AP

Change “the Geneva Conventions apply” to “the law applies” and judge for yourself whether this is a law professor propounding legal logic, or just another cheap pettifogger tap-dancing for an unimpressed jury.
– Tom Nadeau

Draft to return? One Sacramento Mom has good reason to think so

I found Laurie Rivlin Heller’s piece titled “A reinstated draft next year? Look at the signs” intriguing and informative. Originally posted on her blog on April 20, The Sacramento Bee published it today.

The founder of Sacramento-based Mothers United to Stop the Draft, it would appear Rivlin has scooped the mainstream media on a topic that has been lurking around for some time.

This piece demonstrates the importance and increasing influence bloggers are having.

Bravo Zulu Laurie.

Bush approval ratings plunge – start looking for several ‘October Surprises’

By Dan Gougherty

Call me Cynic.

Even though approval ratings for Bush have fallen to the lowest levels since his appointment to the Presidency, it is far too early to start making appointments to a Kerry administration.

In fact, for those who view the world through the same jaded glasses that I do, grab your ankles and hold on tight.

With the general election a little over five months from now, expect to see some combination of the following mass manipulations played out to the benefit of Bush-Cheney.

- Sudden discovery of WMD's
- The capture of bin Laden
- Unexpected statistics showing an up tick in economic activity
- Oil companies suddenly increase production and gasoline prices fall
- Some “intern” problem for Kerry
- Another surprise attack on American ground
- Another operation Northwoods

Perhaps I will be proved wrong and Kerry will win, but the cynic inside tells me otherwise.

The real “October Surprise” may not be a surprise at all. It might just be a simple replay of the 2000 election. Think Katherine Harris on steroids. Think Diebold.

If that’s the case, we need to be prepared to hit the streets and supply our own “November Surprise.”

Lynndie England and the flow of power

by Tom Nadeau

The Iraqi prisoner treatment issue bubbles along, with pictures flashing up on Internet news sites of jut-jawed generals telling congressional lapdogs that they accept “responsibility” for not noticing that “systemic” problems had led to torture parties at Abu Ghraib.

Of course, these “systemic” problems do not relate in anyway with all those congressionally funded CIA research studies followed by the writing of all those military manuals and creation of all those training sessions for all those interrogators trying to master the basic techniques. No, no, those studies, training and implementations relate to something different altogether.

The “systemic” problem these generals accept responsibility for relates solely to another, far more mysterious “systemic” problem, one something like the invisible digestion process that occasionally results in an untimely belch or fart.

That’s the “systemic” problem the generals want to talk about.

But for the moment, let’s go back to the pictures, specifically, the one showing Pvt. Lynndie England lording it over an naked Iraqi on the ground at the other end of a leash.

It is a classic master-slave image, but there is a strange aspect to that photo that deserves closer examination.

England’s face is turned to the prisoner. We can’t know for sure, but it’s not hard to imagine her sneering down at him. The prostrate prisoner’s face is not very distinct, but he seems either to be returning her gaze.

This sets up an amazing dynamic between the two figures – “master” and slave” – one that forces a profound philosophical question: which way does the power flow?

It might be argued that, at the time the photo was snapped in secret, it was from slave to master: torturer sucking life and power from the captive.

It might also be argued that, now that the photo is known to the world, there has been a power shift in the picture.

The energy now flows the other way, with power ebbing from the master back to the subjugated.

Pastels of shame

By Tom Nadeau

Pictures and proof of U.S. forces in Iraq and elsewhere employing CIA devised torture techniques – and enjoying the hell out of it – has everyone talking, except those who should be.

It played big in the national news organs, sure enough. But the mollifying sidebars editors shoehorned beside them – newsreader clears throat -- to “balance” the shocking allegations have played as big, or bigger.

Having belched their standard “shocked, shocked I tell you,” remarks at the media salad bar, the politicians are now quavering in that awful twilight zone between saying what they were told to think and hearing that all-important Rotarian applause.

Smaller dailies and local boob tube news shows (and anything owned by Fox and Clear Channel) have been coy about it. They’ve so far ignored, downplayed, or denied the evidence altogether.

Never comfortable when forced to think, Norm Nascar has sunk into a muttering incoherence and gestural denial.

Susie Shopper, as always, has other issues to deal with. Besides, the primary color of blood just never goes with the pastels of shame.

One odd question has cropped up in the mainstream media, on some of the online news sites and blogs. “Where’s the indignation?” – the implication being that the anti-war people haven’t erupted as loudly as might be expected.

The answer to that ought to be self-evident: a year ago we said it was wrong, all along we’ve said it is wrong, and we still think it is wrong, if not, well, wronger. Why say it again?

But the fact is that question is being slyly raised in order to stretch out the debate.

“Oh, caught us with our moral pants down, did you? Well, let’s talk about it. Discuss it from both sides. Call for an investigation. Pad it out.”

Only suckers play that game.

No, the war crimes speak for themselves. The main task now is to draft the articles of impeachment and make sure the accompanying indictments clear out enough of Congress and the Pentagon to restore democracy.

After that, there is only the party to throw.

Should we hang him in Washington by the Reflecting Pool for maximum media coverage? Or do we ship him back to Texas for Final Inoculation in a gesture of sweet irony.

Oh, that’s right. There’s no death penalty for impeachment. Damn!

Well, there are all those other political necks to be wrung for consolation.

Christianist Ayatollahs Bring America To Shame; bigger threat to the nation than communism ever was. Steps to Confront Them

By Rob Kall
of OpEdNews.Com

Every time you hear another disgusting, shameful report of a prison atrocity perpetrated by American soldiers, think of some self-righteous fundamentalist Christianist ayatollah exhorting his hypnotized flocks to support George Bush.

Every time you hear another report of the despoiling of the planet's ecology, think of an anti-abortion Catholic Bishop making the political threat to withhold communion and confession from members of his parish who vote for John Kerry or anyone who supports abortion. They better vote Roman Catholic, like the Vatican commands. A vote against abortion is all that matters, even if the guys they vote for rape the planet and helpless children too.

When you tune in to a right wing hate talk show, filled with distortions, innuendo and plain out lies, and can't find a local talk show that covers the left's perspective, think of a Christianist organization that supports suppression of freedom of speech and the right wing, in the pocket of corporatists legislators who allow de-regulation of the airwaves so a handful of right wing corporations can own and control the media.

American Christianists-- far right-wing, politicized extremists who engage their flocks' genuine Christian faith through manipulation and distortion, are, as the main voter constituency supporting extreme right wing republicanism and the Bush administration, at the core of the problem with America that has led to the state we find ourselves in today-- facing daily disclosures of worse and worse reports of horrible, twisted, perverted tortures. Contrary to what the criminal Bush administration claims, these appear to be system-wide patterns produced by policies made official by Bush's anointed and re-confirmed appointee, Donald Rumsfeld.

It is clear that Rumsfeld has had his hand directly in setting the policies that not only allowed but encouraged these un-American activities to occur. By declaring and confirming his strong faith in and support of Rumsfeld, before investigations could determine the facts, Bush made himself fully responsible for any acts in violation of international law that Rumsfeld's decisions caused. Bush should go to jail along with Rumsfeld. But that's another story.

The Christianist-led segment of the US population elected George Bush and his congressional supporters. They have put into power and maintain Bush, the man hated by more people than any other person in the history of the planet.

American Christianist mullahs-- preachers, bishops, and other leaders of the right wing churches whose political exhortations and leadership have put people like Bush, DeLay, Frist, and the toilet full of right wing federal legislator apologists for the Bush team must be seen for what they are-- the real American Taliban-- ugly, hateful, sexist threats to America. These frauds who claim to represent Jesus' teachings are really a far greater threat to the America envisioned by the founders of this nation than communists ever were.

These protectors and hiders of pedophiles, supporters of the defiling of the environment and the enthroners of of corporations as higher priority than humans are the modern day equivalents of the moneychangers Jesus threw out of the temple.
"...and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise" (John 2:13-16).

Today, the "temple" is the world of ideas about faith and religion. The "moneychangers" are the sell-outs who call themselves ministers and bishops and popes who use the ideas of faith, of God, to sell their politics. They charge up the passion, the faith, the tender, trusting, open hearts of their congregations, who yearn for trust and a spiritual bosom to nurture them... and they turn these innocent, good hearted people into toxic fools who now support torture, sexual perversion, contemptful mistreatment of the dead and an exploding litany of actions that have horribly sullied the reputation of the United States.

It is not enough for these twisted Christianist Taliban leaders (and the minority of right wing, extremist Jews, (mostly extreme orthodox) who misguidedly support Bush because of his anything goes for Israel policy) to condemn what has happened in the jails, though I have not seen much of a response or uproar from them yet. They are directly responsible for electing and encouraging the "leaders" who have taken our nation down this road of shame, irresponsibility and incompetence.

The people of America who cherish democracy and the values of the founding fathers of our nation face a situation similar to that of the majority of the people in Iran. There, the mullahs, though representing a minority, hold the reins of power. They perpetrate crimes and corruptions that have dragged the nation backwards.

In our free country, it is not possible to jail these American fundamentalist ayatollahs . We can't even stifle their speech. But we can let our neighbors know that they are despicable. We can speak out that they are the hypocrites whose support has allowed the perverse, unacceptable by any religion's standards, actions that the Bush administration's leadership has encouraged and then applauded (Bush did say he thought Rumsfeld was doing a wonderful job.)

You can call in to your local talk show and name the ministers and Bishops who function as right wing political operatives, supporting the Bush torture and sexual perversion (like having prisoners form naked pyramids or pose as though performing oral sex) prison policies. You can write letters to the editorial pages of your local dailies and weeklies. They protest in front of family planning clinics. We can protest in front of their churches with signs declaring that anti abortionists are pro-torture, pro-sexual deviance (probably best to do with coordination with the police. This is confronting them on their turf, and will inflame passions.).

Get in the faces of the hypnotized flocks. Make them confused. Force them to struggle with the idea that it is not a black and white issue-- that opposing abortion is making a deal with the devil and that their leaders have sold their souls to dark side. People want to do what is right, what is good. Their leaders have misguided them, taken them down the path of the unrighteous, through the valley of the shadow of death. Their cups overflow with blood and lascivious fluids. They bear responsibility for the evil. For they have forsaken goodness and mercy and they have lost the way of the lord.

It is not enough though, to just bash Bush and complain about these anti-abortion hypnotized sheep. We must offer them a solution that, while respecting women's rights to chose, also offer a perception of the progressive model that is spiritually resonant with their beliefs. The right wing has think tanks that spend millions developing these models, policies, slants, frames and perspectives. The left desperately needs to take the same approach. We now have the Center for American Progress as the first reasonably well funded left of center policy promotion think tank. We need dozens more, just to catch up with the right wing. The issue of how to deal with the right wing's clutch upon fundamentalist religion must be warred with. It will take many battles and a serious investment by wealthy contributors and foundations for an effective strategy to be reached. Until we take on this challenge, the extreme right will continue to be able to manipulate the religious right with, as is now the case, minimal contention or competition of ideas from the left. This must change.

Rob Kall, rob@opednews.com, is the editor/founder of OpEdNews.com. This article was originally published by opednews.com . Kall has published over 100 other articles including a series of articles on the need for progressive policy promotion think tanks.

‘Fahrenheit 911’ opens, but for the scarier story read ‘American Dynasty’

Michael Moore’s controversial film, at least to the Bush family and Disney’s Michael Eisner, “Fahrenheit 911” debuted yesterday to wide acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival.

While I look forward to Moore’s new film, for a more detailed, objective and might I say scary examination of the Bush family and their stealthy-wealthy cronies, check out Kevin Phillips’ most recent book, “American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush.”

Phillips, the GOP strategist who originated Nixon’s Southern Strategy and life long Republican, painstakingly investigated and details all the interlocking relationships of the Bush family with, among others, the bin Laden’s and the House of Saud. Phillips also details the presidential aspirations of the Bush family going back several generations.

After reading the book, I am convinced regardless of the outcome of this year’s presidential elections, this is not the last we will hear from this family.

Obviously Moore’s film will attract a huge audience and could have a major impact on the political landscape. For a more detailed, and as I said, scarier account of the tentacles of the Bush family, read ‘American Dynasty.’

Rumy pulls a Bush, Wolfowitz pulls a Fonzie while Berg’s father blames Bush

In what can only be described as a pathetic effort to stem the Bush’s slide in a public approval rating, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq yesterday. In his most telling comments, when asked how he dealt with the negative publicity surrounding the torture of Iraqi prisoners, Rumy stated “I don’t read newspapers.”

Well at least Rumy is behaving with the same head-in-the-sand approach of his boss. George W. that is, not Dick Cheney. The whole group has adopted an “ignorance is bliss” type approach.

Meanwhile Rumy’s deputy archetypical neo-con Paul Wolfowitz pulled a “Fonzie” while testifying in front of the Senate. The “Fonzie” response of course refers to the character on televisions “Happy Days” who was physically unable to utter the words “I’m sorry.” For Wolfowitz the word he could not utter was “inhumane” after being grilled Nevada Senator Harry Reid.

Speaking of inhumane, Nicolaus Berg’s father squarely placed responsibility of his son’s death at the feet of Bush. The more that is revealed in this story the fishier it gets. Hopefully the press will wake from their coma and look into this matter.

The Death of Democracy

By Lee Knauss

I am an American. Born in the depression, raised in WWII and Korea. I became self supporting at age 13 and was firmly entrenched in the belief of the American Dream and Liberty and Freedom. I became what might be called a Goldwater Republican, but not exactly. I did come from Arizona and owed Barry a favor that he did for me at the request of my mother, but I did not agree to his entire platform. I became a Republican because it stood for less and smaller government and more responsibilities shouldered by the individuals. Having made a living since age 13, I firmly believe that his is true. I enlisted in the USAF at age 17 and gave 10 years of service. I worked in the defense of this country as a civilian contractor until I retired.

I have watched the last fifty years of history in this country and have seen all kinds of violations to our Bill of Rights…the McCarthy years and other government imposed trespasses against the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Many of these have been explained away as needed by National Defense and or security. The right to search and seizure by the Drug Enforcement Agency without due process of the courts and, now the greatest of them all – refusal to give Writ of Habeas Corpus, holding citizens without representation or a speedy trial. These breeches of our Bill of Rights when condoned by our Chief Executive are tantamount to the full destruction of our Bill of Rights and signify the end of any rights.

The President of the United State is responsible for all the actions of the officials below him in the executive branch of our government. He has sworn to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. When an official below him commits a breech of the Bill of Rights upon an American citizen, he is required to act in defense of the citizen and dismiss the official responsible for any violation. If he condones such actions, regardless of reason, he should be impeached. If he refuses to act against the officials who have committed the violations he should be impeached along with all of those officials. All of them should be barred from public life.

The administration of George W. Bush has violated the Bill of Rights by holding citizens and non-citizens without trial or even charges for more than two years. He has full knowledge that these citizens and other non-citizens are being held. He expresses to the world that we are spreading peace and freedom, yet that is not the message they are receiving. The holding of the people by our government is directly equitable to the act of Hitler’s Gestapo. The current actions in Iraq against prisoners only reinforce the world’s opinion of American policy.

I call upon every American, regardless of political party or belief, to cry out for the impeachment of George W. Bush and all of his administration that are responsible. We cannot condone these actions for any reason. If our Senators and Congressman will not act, when petitioned, then they should be impeached as well for they have sworn the same oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

Be you right, left, of the Moral Majority, it is essential to the future of Democracy in America that our government be sent a strong message that violations of the Bill of Rights cannot and will not be accepted by the people.

Lee Knauss host the popular “Classic Country Time” show which follows Left Turn on Bird Street every Monday morning from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on KRBS in Oroville, Calif.

Just in case you forgot, Rush Limbaugh is an idiot

In the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal, one thing we can rest assured about is this -Rush Limbaugh is a bona fide national idiot!

Not that it took much to figure this out. Like the obedient punk he is, Limbaugh has goose-stepped right along with the Bush neo-cons calling the torture of prisoners nothing more than frat boy hazing.

The scary part is that he probably is expressing what the Bush administration believes, but is afraid to say for themselves publicly. Perhaps Limbaugh is simply sending the message to the Bush drones.

Whatever is the case, all I can say is that when Limbaugh goes on trial and, God willing, convicted for his “alleged” drug charges, I hope he gets to spend some quality time being hazed.

Perhaps he will know what it's like being one of W's frat boys and having somebody "blow off a little steam" on him.

Move over ‘Reagan Democrats,’ here comes ‘Kerry Republicans’

By Dan Gougherty

As co-host of Left Turn on Bird Street, I have had the good fortune to discuss my political believes in the hope that I might influence someone in the listening area of KRBS. While our regular liberally slanted audience has been supportive, I began to feel as though I was preaching to the choir.

This week though I got an indication that one of our arguments on why Bush must go struck a chord with the last person I would have picked to find common ground with.

Lee, whose program follows ours, host a country music show featuring classic Country Western songs sung by everyone from Patsy Cline to local karaoke performers. Based on several factors, I had correctly determined Lee to be politically conservative. I guess you might say Lee could be a NASCAR Grandpa.

Over the last several months I felt as though Lee had non-verbally displayed his disapproval of our political views. Rarely would he say anything other than when necessary.

Then something strange happened. After our last show, Lee said that he wanted to talk with Tom and me about something. We gave each other the look like, “What is he is going to say.”

Much to our surprise, Lee said that he has been listening to us for sometime and that while he disagreed with us on most every issue, he did agreed that “Bush must go.” When we asked Lee what lead him to this, he pointedly said that Bush in undermining the constitution by holding American citizens without charges and this was a violation of our civil liberties.

Lee proudly told us that in his lifetime he had voted for every Republican Presidential candidate up to and including George W. Bush. A self proclaimed Goldwater Republican, Lee said it was too scary to think of what will happen to our civil liberties if Bush is given four more years. For that reason, and that reason alone, Lee said he was going to vote for John Kerry.

Although we did not get to speak more on the topic because Lee had records to spin, I was left wondering what, if any, was mentioned in any of our shows that might have prompted him to let us know of his change of heart.

Was it our reminders about American citizens being held for years without charges or my not-so-subtle jokes about Attorney General John Ashcroft coming to seize the station and hauling us away to parts unknown?

While I plan to have an extended talk with Lee on this topic, it sparked an idea. If I was able to help influence even one conservative voter to switch his vote based on this one issue, maybe we should come up with a term to describe true conservatives who are concerned with our civil liberties.

A true conservative does after all share common ground with true liberals in that both are mindful of constitutional rights and their desire to protect them.

Much like Reagan tapped into the economic angst of union members and the middle class in 1980 and won the so-called “Reagan Democrats,” Kerry has a unique opportunity to tap the growing fairness angst common to conservatives and liberals. While I am not suggesting Kerry move to the right on several key issues, in fact he should move more to the left, there are opportunities to find common ground with the all important swing votes.

From this point forward, the swing voters should claimed and identified as “Kerry Republicans.”

To accomplish this, Kerry could proclaim “I will protect every American citizen’s right to full access to all of their constitution rights.” For the tax debate, Kerry could say he supports a “fair tax” system that favors the “the hard working individuals and families that bare the brunt of the excessive corporate tax breaks.” You get the idea.

The point is Lee demonstrated that Kerry can win this election not by going to the center or mimicking some of Bush’s positions, but rather to find a few key issues that will appeal to the fair mindedness and common concerns of all Americans.

With Bush’s record on human rights here and abroad, as Dick Cheney might say, this is ought to be a “slam dunk” for Kerry.

Speaking of Arnold, it seem's the machines are winning!

by Dan Gougherty

I know this is a little off subject for LToBS, but this is the best (only?) way for me to let of a little steam. The other way would be to open my window and scream out, “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not gong to take it anymore!”

Not wanting to wake up my neighbors and cause embarrassment to my family at 2:00 a.m., I have decided to let out an electronic primal scream.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous movies are the “Terminator” series which are based on the premise that in the future we will be controlled by machines. The movies were only half right.

We don’t have to wait for the future, the future is here. The machines have already won!

Although I have not been hit by the “Sasser” virus, I have been given the run around for the last 48 hours by all those nice off-shore service techs’s employed by Dell Computer. Not only is my computer malfunctioning, when I actually get to speak to a live person, they were more like drones programmed to lie. This is on one of the three, or is four service calls, that have virtually replaced all the hardware on my computer.

I am almost ready to trash all of these computers. They have taken over our life.

Alas, not wanting to be seen as a Luddite, I will once again be subservient and obediently subjugate myself tomorrow.

But for that one moment when I was ready to rage against the machine, I understood the true meaning of “Free at Last!”

‘Governator’ blows gasket over bobblehead

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has showed his more, shall we say, sensitive side.

Schwarzenegger is so upset with an Ohio firm that has made a bobblehead of him brandishing a gun that he has threatened to sue. Ohio Discount Merchandise Inc., which has distributed bobbleheads of political figures from George W. Bush to Hillary Clinton, defended itself by noting that now Schwarzenegger is governor, he is part of the “public domain.”

A little advise to the Governator - lighten up. The proceeds from your bobblehead are going charity. And don’t forget as the saying goes, “You’re in the Big Leagues now.”

This week’s guest on LToBS is writer Jonathan Schwarz

Jonathan Schwarz has (with Michael Gerber) written for the New Yorker, The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal, and contributed to Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. He also co-edits a website called A Tiny Revolution.

Join Tom and Dan as they will discuss Jonathan’s recent article, “Business as Usual,” about Bush’s deception on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The article was recently posted on TomPaine.com.