Secret Message to Welsh Cabal

Mission Accomplished!

Deceive, Inviegle, Obfuscate? Vote Them Out

"C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action."

Emphasis added.

And whilst I'm adding emphases around here, let me just emphasize that nothing we have learned about the decisionmaking process for the US invasion of Iraq has countered the basic principle evidenced here: that the Bush administration decided what they wanted to do, then did their best to sculpt - that's my polite way of saying "fabricate" - information and opinion to make it happen.

And then, adding insult to injury, when things started coming out about the Administration "cooking the books", got mad at the intelligence community over the bad intel they themselves created!

I've only got three words: vote them out. Vote. Them. Out.

The Current Memo
The Smoking Gun Memo, and Proof Bush Fixed the Facts
Cooking the Books
The Price of Loyalty, by Ron Suskind
Cooking the Books

The Iraq–Al Qaeda connection. General Wesley Clark...appeared on Meet the Press. As reported by Jim Lobe in a piece he wrote last week for the Web site TomPaine.com, Clark made a startling allegation. "I got a call on 9/11," Clark told host Tim Russert. "I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, 'You got to say this is connected. This is state-sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein.' I said, 'But — I’m willing to say it — but what’s your evidence?' And I never got any evidence.")

Some administration officials expressing misgivings on Iraq

"...intelligence analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the White House's argument that Saddam poses such an immediate threat to the United States that pre-emptive military action is necessary."

Despite the April 2002 CIA assessment, the May 2002 fabrication notice and the July 2002 assessment suggesting the source may have fabricated information, the source was highlighted in the October 2002 NIE, and he was one of the four HUMINT sources specifically referred to in the part of Secretary Powell's February 2003 speech before the UN Security Council that discussed the mobile BW production units.

Senate Intelligence Bad

On Oct. 6, 2002, the DCI called the deputy national security advisor directly to outline the CIA's concerns. The DCI testified to the SSCI on July 16, 2003, that he told the deputy national security advisor that the..."reporting was weak." (page 56)

On Oct. 6, 2002, the CIA sent a second fax to the White House that said, "More on why we recommend removing the sentence [from the State of the Union address] about procuring uranium oxide from Africa: Three points (1) The evidence is weak [emphasis added]. One of the two mines cited by the source as the location of the uranium oxide is flooded. The other mine cited by the source is under the control of the French authorities. (2) The procurement is not particularly significant to Iraq's nuclear ambitions because the Iraqis already have a large stock of uranium oxide in their inventory. And (3) we have shared points one and two with Congress, telling them that the Africa story is overblown and telling them this is one of the two issues where we differed with the British." (page 56)

And, Now, Blaming the Other Guy
Report: Iraq intelligence 'dead wrong'

No National ID Cards

National ID Cards: 5 Reasons Why They Should Be Rejected, courtesy of the ACLU.

Here's the biggest reason: they won't make us any safer. Most of the security "fixes" this administration has come up with have been throwing good money after bad.

Wasting time and money restructuring and re-organizing federal agencies (to create the Department of Homeland Security) instead of pumping money and resources into existing interagency liaison and communication tools, and letting those people get on with their jobs.

Wasting time and money on airport safety regulations that verify you have pieces of paper that say you are the owner of a ticket, instead of making sure that, whoever you are, wherever you're from, you didn't bring a weapon on board.

Wasting time and money invading Iraq instead of following through in Afghanistan and fucking CAPTURING BIN LADEN, the guy who *took credit* for the Sept 11 attacks.

And now, wasting time and money creating national databases of useless information about Americans. It will always have errors, it will always be out of date, and it will rarely, if ever, provide information at the right time on the right bad guy.

You know what works when it comes to nabbing bad guys? Experienced cops with a nose for the job. The guy who makes you feel squirrelly, who sets off some subtle radar that you can't even define? That's the one to pull aside out of the queue and ask for extra ID, to see if he squirms. A database is never going to provide that ineffable clue for a human mind to pick up on.

And I thought cleanliness was next to godliness

And here it's actually "republicanism".

Democrats Kicked Out of Church by Pro-Bush Pastor

If this church is no more than an organ of the Republican Party, it should lose its tax-exempt status immediately. It's not a church, and shouldn't be allowed to hide behind the name of one.

Alert! Connecticut Dog Rescue Needs Help!

Greyhounds are such lovely dogs. I hear they're not like huskies, not that kind of working dogs who like to run for long periods of time, but are actually quite catlike and slothful.

I want one.

Rescue or foster a greyhound today! Plainfield, CT Greyhound Track to Close: Greyhounds Must Go or Be Killed.

News Flash! My Mom's Really a Man!

What Makes a Woman a Woman?

Quoth Feministe from Senate Bill 51 and House Bill 356:

"WOMAN- The term `woman’ means a female human being who is capable of becoming pregnant, whether or not she has reached the age of majority."

Wow, once I hit menopause, I'll cease to be a woman. That's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Does this mean I'll get paid a dollar on the dollar, instead of 76 cents? I have to go call my mother, I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear she can finally be a first-class citizen in This Man's America. Golly!

Wups! Better make that "he"!

And just think, all those FTM transgendered folks can finally be themselves, once they're no longer fertile! Screw getting surgery to create a dick, all you need is to be an infertile female, and *bam* -- you're a guy! I mean, after all, what else would you be? Women are not-men, and men are not women, so a not-not-man is a man!

So, here's the question for you: if I'm on birth control pills, or menstruating, or not ovulating, I'm not capable of become pregnant. Am I not a woman, then? Should I register for the draft?

And, what if I missed my pill on a given day?

How will people tell when I am or am not a woman?

Boy, just think of all the problems that men will suddenly have an impetus to solve, now that they are equally the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and of rape.

I look forward to the day.

It's The Smell

"It's The Smell", by yours truly, is now up at Peridot Books.

*waves to crowd* No applause, please. Just throw money.

Racism

Poor health linked to subtle racism?