Great Interview

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! recently interviewed both John Dean, Whitehouse Counsel under Nixon and Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of "The Pentagon Papers". They offer a good historical insight into the abuse of presidential powers. Here is an excerpt:

JOHN DEAN: Let me give you a very quick bottom line on that. Nobody died as a result of the so-called abuses of power during Watergate. Theoretically, if you include in their the secret bombing of Cambodia and things like that, which really never did get into the litany, you might say that's not true. But in the classic litany of Watergate activities, nobody died.

DANIEL ELLSBERG: Or even got incapacitated, since they did back off from beating me up.

JOHN DEAN: Right. True. But today, people are dying as a result of the abuses of power. And another point that -- I happened to appear before the Senate a couple of weeks ago to testify on Feingold's resolution of censure, and I thought it was important I go, not as a partisan, but just as somebody who could say, “Hey, if a shot like that had come across the bough of the Nixon White House, it might have gotten the President's attention.” That's why I thought parallel situations today, because one of the things I also discovered, to my amazement, is how little people remember about history. I was being asked questions by people like Lindsey Graham, who was 16 years old when Watergate was going on, but still you would think he would know a little bit more --

AMY GOODMAN: The South Carolina senator.

JOHN DEAN: Yes, the South Carolina senator -- than the level of questions he was asking me, which showed he had no real knowledge of it.

DANIEL ELLSBERG: That’s important, just on what we have been talking about, right? In fact, if I remember, he said that -- just what we were saying. He said to you, “Come on, now. There's no comparison. Nixon was doing domestic crimes for his own good.”

JOHN DEAN: Right.

DANIEL ELLSBERG: And you said -- the point you were making, as I understood -- you said, “You don't understand the history, Senator.” And I believe you were referring to the fact Nixon did claim and believe that he was acting for national security when he committed these domestic crimes, just as the President -- I give President Bush right now every credit for believing that when he wiretaps without warrants against the FISA Act, he's committing domestic crimes for national security. And he almost also believes, with Nixon, when the President does it, it’s not a crime, it’s not illegal. They share it, don’t you believe? They share that attitude.

JOHN DEAN: Well, they certainly have a covey of lawyers who will give them that counsel.

DANIEL ELLSBERG: Who will tell them. Unlike you. I don’t think you would have gave that advice.

JOHN DEAN: I would not give him that counsel. I don't see the Commander-in-Chief clause being read that broadly.

Predestined War

Many find it hard to believe that the Bush administration had every intention of invading Iraq before he was even sworn in. In fact, this was the reason he ran for office in the first place. The fact is, many in his administration, particularly in the area of foreign affairs, were members of the right wing think tank "The Project for the New American Century". In January of 1998, this organization urged President Clinton to use military force to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and to use force to secure our oil interests. In September of 2000 the group issued a paper that advocated, among other things:

1) withdraw from the ABM Treaty (page 12): This was done by Bush on Dec 14th of 2001
2) Control the use of space (pages 12, 67)
3) Establish a permanent military presence in the gulf (Page 16: "the Clinton Administration has continued the fiction that the operations of American forces in the Persian Gulf are merely temporary duties.")
4)Control the internet (pages 12, 68)

Interestingly, and very telling, it uses the term "Pax Americana" to describe the peace it hopes to achieve. This term is a play on words from the term "Pax Romana" which refers to a time in which peace was forced on the known world through conquest. By conquering warring nations and brining them under one rule, that war is ended. This is a perfect way to think of the new American Empire being forged today. The fact that the term "zones of democratic peace" always appears in quotes gives a hint as to whether the authors themselves actually believe the phrase.

Probably the most shocking piece is the fact that they acknowledge that they need a 9/11 type of event to get their plan in motion: "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor." - page 63
This has been the plan from the beginning of the administration, and will continue to be the plan as long as the Neo-cons are in office.

(editor's note: The page numbers referenced are the PDF page number, not the document page number)

Hurray for Illinois

Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of Illinois' 7th District recently uncovered an obscure law that has never before been invoked, yet may affect the fate of us all. It seems that a joint resolution of state legislature can force the US Congress to start impeachment proceedings.

Panspermia Now

You may have heard of the concept of panspermia. It is the idea that the seeds of life are ubiquitous in the universe. The theory claims that life came to earth on comets, asteroids and anything else that may come our way. Some scientists claim it is still happening today. For a few months in 2001 red rain fell on Kerala, India. Scientists have isolated the particles causing the rain to be red, and have some surprising results.

Stealth Drunk

You know how annoying it is when you can't bring your beer with you to get shit faced in public? You know what I mean, all those places that bar you from brining in your own booze and drinking, places like the movies, church, court, Chucky Cheese, etc. Problem solved! Introducing the Beer Belly! Now you can be drunk anywhere, and as a bonus, you instantly get that sexy physique that drives all the women at the trailer park wild!

Tony Snow moving his desk!

That's right! Tony Snow will no longer sit in the Fox studio and tell you what the administration wants you to believe. He will now do it from the White House. The thing that amuses me in this one is a line from an AP article published on Yahoo News. "One factor in Snow's decision to take the job was that he had his colon removed last year" Apparently, as the White house Press Secretary, you need to be able to pass a lot of shit!

Cure for "Nintendo Thumb"?

Have you ever sat around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and thought to yourself "I want to play a video game, if only I didn't have to lift that stupid controller!" Well, it looks like the solution is on the way! We all know that a typical video game requires way too much energy to play, and who wants those unsightly huge bulky thumbs from constantly working them out. Scientists have, thankfully, turned their attention to solving these problems. It won't be long now until gamers evolve into giant couch slugs, not unlike Jabba the Hut.

CLEVER new car, but can it be used for parking?

European scientists have revealed a new concept car which gets 108 mpg. It is a 2 passenger tri-cycle, fully enclosed, and very safe. It is sure to be unpopular among teens as it has a top speed of 60 mph, and the design is not conducive to "parking".

Are we in a binary star system?

It sounds like a no brainer. You look up in the sky and you only see one sun. However, researchers at the Binary Research Institute claim otherwise. They claim that we are part of a binary system, and the orbit of Sedna adds evidence that they are correct.

The Protection of Ignorance

Could it be that the republicans in Congress are only there to line their own pockets? As easy as this is to believe, it simply isn't the case. Not all republicans are evil. Not even all of the leadership are evil. The problem is fear and self preservation. If you disagree with the current administration, you are destroyed. Right and wrong does not matter. The facts are irrelevant. They will use the full power of the federal government and spare no taxpayer dollar in the quest. We have seen it with John McCain, John Kerry, Valerie Plame, Richard Clark and countless others. If you suggest wrongdoing on their part, they attack you, attack your character, get people to lie about you and do everything they can, except actually address the allegations.

What is a hapless republican to do? The answer, put their head in the sand until it is over. The problem is if they know about wrongdoing and do nothing, it will reflect badly on them when it comes out. If it was their job to look for that wrongdoing and they look the other way, that is the definition of corruption. That is what the "Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006" is all about. Introduced by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), this bill is an attempt to not do their job. They know that if they actually did provide oversight to the president, as the Constitution states they must, they would have to deal with all of the illegal actions. This bill basically states "we are going to make the illegal parts of what has been revealed so far legal, and we are going to make it not our job to ask questions about the rest."

Why do we need congress if it is not going to do it's job?

Too Late for Diplomacy

While Bush and his cohorts are saying that they want a diplomatic solution to Iran, what is really going on? They said the same things befor the Iraq war, even though they had already decided privately to go ahead with it regardless. In fact, they were already at war.

In 2002 Operation Southern Focus started. It was a bombing campaign designed to soften Iraqi air defenses prior to a US invasion. You are probably re-reading those last 2 lines again and thinking to yourself "The war didn't start until 2003", and you would not be the only one. In fact, all the time Bush was saying that the choice for war was up to Saddam, Bush had already privately declaired war.

Is the same thing happening today? Retired Colonel Sam Gardiner seems to think so. In an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Col. Gardiner says "The issue is not whether the military option would be used, but who approved the start of operations already".

Secretary of Torture

Salon.com Reported that Donald Rumsfeld was personally involved in the interrogation of the real "20th Hijacker" (not Moussaoui). Mohammed al-Kahtani was subjected to humiliating treatment, sleep deprivation, etc. According to interviews with Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt and Gen. James T. Hill, Rumsfeld personally approved of many of the tactics currently drawing criticism from the international community, as well as encouraging them to be creative.

How long will we allow war crimes to be committed in our names? How long will we sit back while the coffers of both Iraq and the USA are being dumped into the pockets of Cheney and company? Why isn't it obvious that the only reason you would invade a country without having an exit strategy would be if exiting wasn't part of your strategy? We are there to stay, or at least until they find a way to throw off the shackles we have on them.