Finally someone is standing up to Halliburton/KBR. Vanity Fair is running a piece titled “The People vs the Profiteers”. It is a truly mind opening, and brings to light not only the HUGE overruns and fraud connected with the subcontracting of the war, but the DOJ’s efforts to NOT investigate potential fraud.
Between Halliburton, KBR and the slew of other contractors the American taxpayer is being raped by no-bid, cost-plus contracts, billions upon billions of dollars are going straight from our paychecks into the coffers of the multi-nationals.
You can say all you want about the connections between Cheney and Halliburton, KBR and Gonzales, and many others in the administration. The facts speak for themselves.
Here is a clip of Garofalo bringing up some good points on Real-Time with Bill Maher. Rants on Blackwater, Iraq, Bush, Halliburtan, etc. Even Salmon Rushdie (of Satanic Verses Fame) chimes in. Why doen’t we hear more people speaking like this in the mainstream media?
People need to get over themselves, just because someone attempts to show you another point of view DOES NOT MEAN they are insulting your beliefs. One of the best things about America is the fact that EVERYONE can have an opinion, and those opinions differ, and those opinions can co-exist.
I bring this up since a Community College professor is saying he was fired for saying that people should not take the bible as literal truth.
One note to those that DO take the bible as literal truth, unless you have read the original texts (dead sea scrolls, etc) in the original language (Aramaic) you cannot take it as literal truth. It has been recited, edited, condensed, translated, reworked hundreds of times over the centuries. I’m thinking people’s own perceptions, notions, and views have worked their way into the text. It is amazing how ones own opinions can affect the translation. That and you have to read ALL the books, not just the ones that have been canonized, there is a lot more out there that may or may not have just as much meaning.
We’ve all pretty much realized that the Iraq war is about Oil, and not about Terrorism. I’m just glad that someone with a discernable amount of power isn’t afraid to say it. I would imagine in Washington saying the war in Iraq is about Oil doesn’t make one the most popular kid on the block. Good ‘ol Dennis doesn’t care, and I have to have respect for politicians that actually stand for something and aren’t afraid to say what everyone is thinking.
So now we can’t even voice our opinions at an event featuring a Democrat? I’d expect this if someone wandered out of a “Free Speech Zone” during a GOP event, but seriously what did this kid do to get arrested?
I give Mr. Kerry a lot of credit for trying to answer his questions and for coming out against what happened.
It’s just a matter of time until this kind of thing becomes more and more common.
Today President Bush commuted the 30 month sentence delivered to Lewis “Scooter” Libby over the Valarie Plame scandal.
Apparently in this administration even if there is some sort of accountability, it is easily overturned. The President “concluded”, and by concluded I mean was told, that the 30 month sentence was excessive.
I sort of understand, if I had a nickname like Scooter I really would not want to be in Federal prison, but we are talking about Treason. I think that a 30 month sentence for an offense punishable by death is rather lenient myself. When H.W. Bush was director of the CIA he noted that anyone that compromises the cover of a covert agent is committing treason.
H.W Bush “I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.�
There should be an outcry by everyone in this country to make this administration accountable for its actions and the actions of those associated with it.
Newt Gingrich said yesterday that the American people may have to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism. I for one am not willing to make this concession.
Freedom of speech is vital to a free society, and any encroaches on it should be seen as an assault on each citizen of this country. Redefining what is “free” speech and what is not is a slippery slope and is traditionally the starting point for totalitarian rule.
I’m of the opposite opinion, that limiting free speech actually enables terrorists. Putting limits on what is considered illegal speech would force individuals underground, and in today’s age, that means they will still be connected to the world and each other, but away from prying eyes. Keep them in the open, if someone is blatantly preaching hate, violence or other negative points of view, GOOD, now we can watch until they attempt to commit a crime, arrest them and their colleagues. Putting pressure on those that speak out will only serve to create new breeds of terrorists by giving them a position to rally support for.
I’m going to have to say Keith is winning in the showdown with the GOP. His words are carefully chosen to the point where the right has no rebuttal (they have a rebuttal, but it is incoherant ramblings and stutters). If you don’t have cable, get it, and turn it to MSNBC at 7:00pm Central.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed into law in 1798, by President John Adams. They were ment to protect the US from those alleged to be dangerous and to muffle internal dissent. There are some easy comparisons to the current Military Commissions Act.
Both are meant to protect the US from potential harm by outsiders, and both acts have the potential to incarcerate American citizens for utilizing the rights outlined in the Constitution.
Twenty-five people, primarily prominent newspaper editors but also Congressman Matthew Lyon, were arrested. Of them, eleven were tried (one died while awaiting trial), and ten were convicted of sedition, often in trials before openly partisan Federalist judges. Federalists at all levels, however, were turned out of power, and, over the following years, Congress repeatedly apologized for, or voted recompense to victims of, the Alien and Sedition Acts.
When powers like these, which are meant to supercede the constitution are enacted, we become a country not with a founding pricipal outlined by the founders of the country, but a dictatorship wherein the President has absolute power.
I can only hope that the same proves true for the Republicans, that this act will backfire and they will be swept from power.
President Bush has signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the RNC is already hard at work exposing the terrorist sympathizers, The Democrats. No Democrat has EVER said we should let terrorists free, No Democrat has ever said that we shouldn’t interrogate suspects. The reason they did not vote for this bill is to do EXACTLY what they swore to do in their oath of office, defend the constitution. This bill goes way beyond simple interrogation, and way beyond simply trying terrorism suspects. This bill effectively gives the President absolute power to stifle criticism and hold US Citizens indefinitely without trial. This affects us all, as the President has voiced his opinion that reporters for the Washington Post, LA Times, and other news organizations are traitors by publishing leaked information. Simply saying “the US does not torture” does not mean that we don’t torture. The methods allowed by this bill are considered torture, and I ask Mr.. Bush if he would be willing to subject himself to these methods to determine their humaneness
I applaud each and every member of both the House and Senate the voted against this bill. The RNC should quit making facts up to scare the American people into submission.
I emplore everyone to write to the Senators and Congressman that had the courage to stand up for what this country believes in and express your more sincere gratitude, for those that voted for this travesty of liberty write to them as well and let them know that you will not stand for this.
“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.â€?
- Heinrich Himmler
The text of the press release is continued below
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