Friday, April 29, 2005

 

Giving Props

Hello, my name's kissfan and I'm a blog-aholic.

There are several blogs that I read daily. You can find most of them in the Links section along the left-hand side of this page. I'm always amazed at some of the things I read. The insights and observations are sometimes stunning, other times frightening, and still other times hilarious.

Tonight, I want to say thank you to all the great bloggers out there and I want to direct your attention to something I read this week that just floored me. Check out this post from Ickabod over at Right Side Down. The last paragraph is pretty stunning. (If you don't regularly read Ickabod's blog, you're missing out. He's been on fire lately.)

Have a good weekend. See you on Monday!

Thursday, April 28, 2005

 

Plan? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Plan!

With Bush's poll numbers sagging like week-old party balloons, we're seeing more and more conservatives going on the offensive to deflect criticism away from Georgieboy's failed policies.  This week alone, the Today show has had Tucker Carlson (I don't care if he's employed by the network or not, he's still a conservative hack) and William Kristol on without any liberal opposition to discuss Bush's performance.  (Damn liberal media bias!)

What I keep hearing from all of these babbling suits is that "the Democrats don't have a plan."  Georgieboy even did some of his own babbling tonight during his "press conference" when he claimed that he was proud to be "of the party of ideas" (implying, of course, that the Democratic Party has none.) According to them, we are clueless and only capable of obstruction.

Well, I have news for them...We don't need a fucking plan!

Let's say I go out for drinks with my favorite local conservative hack.  We talk politics and sports and argue and have a good time.  At the end of the evening I call myself a cab but my conservative friend decides to drive himself home.  I say, "Why don't you split the cab with me?  I'll pick you up in the morning and we'll come back to get your car."  But my friend, wanting to save himself a few dollars, says "No, I'm alright.  I'll see you tomorrow."

On his way home, he sideswipes a parked car and hits a telephone pole.  The police arrive and determine he's intoxicated and place him in jail.  Now, is it my responsibility to come up with a plan to get him out of trouble?  Hell no.  He got his sorry ass into this mess, he can get himself out.

Such is the case across today's political landscape.  The conservatives are too busy complaining that the Democrats lack a plan to realize that this is their own mess.  They got us into this shit, they are now responsible for getting us out it.

Iraq?  Republican mess.  Social Security?  Do you remember Al Gore's lockbox?  What was in it?  That's right, the Social Security trust-fund. He was going to protect the trust-fund with the budget surplus but Bush decided to blow the surplus on tax cuts thereby making it necessary to borrow against the trust-fund.  Once again, it's his fuck-up.  He can come up with his own damn plan!  John Bolton?  Not my party's nominee.  Terri Schiavo?  My party stayed out of it.  The "nuclear option?"  Public opinion is opposed to it by 66%.  Doesn't sound like my party needs a plan.

The way I see things is this:  The Republican party stepped in it big time when they decided they had a mandate.  Now they want us to clean the shit off of their shoes for them.  I say screw them.  This is their mess, they got themselves into it, they can damn-well get themselves out of it.  If they hadn't gotten themselves so damn drunk with power, they wouldn't have tried to drive this shit home in the first place. It's not our job to bail their asses out of trouble.

Oh, and one more thing. I've had enough of the Republicans saying "at least my party has a plan." You're right, they do. It's a shitty one. Congratulations. Just because somebody comes up with a plan doesn't mean that we should follow it. A shitty plan is a shitty plan. Following it because you're too damned stupid or lazy to come up with a better one is no way to run a country. Maybe if you weren't such arrogant shitheads you'd have listened to some of our plans before you started implementing your own.

Dammit! Now I'm pissed!

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

 

We Win! (If We Play It Right)

With a rare showing of common sense, the Republicans have admitted they were wrong.
Don't get me wrong, this is a huge victory for the Democrats. They stuck to their guns and demanded legitimacy. I'm extremely proud of what they've accomplished. But, if we don't follow up the right way, we'll lose all of the political capital we've gained.

Hastert and the others are going to be quick to frame this as the Republicans taking the high road. But the truth of the matter is they grudgingly decided to stop heading down the low road. Of course that's not going to stop any of them from saying shit like "leaving the unfairness inherent in the old system in place," or "The Democrats remain absolutely unwilling to compromise." So we need to counter their rhetoric with some framing of our own. I want to see Pelosi saying things like this: "When it comes to the ethics of our elected officials, we are not going to compromise." or "We will not allow greed and power to hijack the integrity of the people's house." or better yet, "DeLay and Hastert can go fuck themselves if they think we're gonna' turn around and take it in the ass from either one of those limp-dick bastards!" Okay, maybe that last one is a little aggressive, but you get the idea.

We won this battle. We can add it to the list that already includes Social Security, John Bolton (so far), and the "nuclear option" (public opinion is on our side). The list is growing, but we can't stop here. Nor can we let up. We have to keep fighting and we have to keep the pressure on. The Republicans are stupid drunk with power right now and when you're drunk you do stupid things. They're trying to over-reach on a lot of issues and it's our job to make sure the public sees it for the greed that it is.

Way to go Democrats! Enjoy this one, but don't let up. Tomorrow's a new day and a new fight. Now get some sleep and come back ready to go in the morning!

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

 

Almost?

According to the Pentagon we almost caught Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. We were "this close." (kissfan is now holding his thumb and finger approximately a half-inch apart.)

WTF? Almost? Is that anything like being almost pregnant? Hell, Al Gore was almost the President of the United States. Shit, John Kerry almost won the last election. The Boston Red Sox almost won the World Series in 1986. The Cleveland Cavaliers almost made the NBA playoffs this season. But what do all of these things have in common? None of them happened! And when it comes right down to it, we don't have al-Zarqawi either.

This "announcement" by the Pentagon that we almost caught him is a flailing attempt to put a positive spin on a shitty situation. The insurgent attacks are increasing and becoming more coordinated every day. And according to the latest poll numbers from the Washington Post, the administration is losing ground fast when it comes to Iraq (56% disapprove of the way it is being handled). So they trot out this "nothing." This insignificant piece of information hoping that maybe the public will say "hey, we're making progress!" But the truth is, we're in the same old shithole we've been in for the last two years.

As my grandfather used to say, you can dress up a turd any way you like, but in the end it's still just a turd. Iraq is Bush's turd and the Pentagon is just trying to put a pretty new dress on it. Oh the mainstream media is about to cream themselves over this, of course. Matt and Katie were on the verge of orgasm this morning reporting that we almost had al-Zarqawi. But don't be fooled. All we've got is a turd.

Monday, April 25, 2005

 

Plummeting!

Such is the Bush agenda.

I could talk for hours about the trouble facing Bush's nominee for UN Ambassador.

And I could rant for days about Sen Bill Frist's "nuclear option."

And if I wanted to, I could go ballistic talking about Tom DeLay's ethics problems.

But tonight I'm going to let the latest Washington Post/ABC poll do the hard work.

On practically every issue, Bush and the Republicans are on the losing side. Can anyone spell "buyer's remorse?" I'll bet the Democrats can spell "I told you so."

Friday, April 22, 2005

 

And So It Begins

On Wednesday, I discussed the situation concerning Tom DeLay and the offer made by the Republican members of the ethics committee. And I predicted that it was an attempt to turn the tables on the Democrats by putting them on the defensive. Well, it turns out I was right.

Now I'm not normally one to pat myself on the back, but this was just too obvious. This is has been the Republican game plan for years. When trouble raises its ugly head, redirect. "Hey everybody, look over here!"

We've seen this before. Allow me to take you on a trip in my now infamous Way-back machine.

Ah, but wait. When it became clear that those weapons were not going to be found, they redirected.

Their running a game of political three-card monty on the American public. Sadly, there are a whole lot of people that don't see the spin. But we do and we can do something about it. As I recommended the other night, we can get involved. Write that letter! Make that call! Don't let these guys turn the tables yet again. They are the party with everything to lose. They are the party that should be playing defense. Make them do it. The ball is definitely in our court, now we have to do something with it.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

 

House Passes Energy Bill House Offers Handjob to Corporate Interests

Link

Let's see...


I'm trying to figure out just exactly why this is a good thing. How does this benefit anyone but the energy corporations? Fortunately, the House has passed a similar bill before only to have it die in the Senate. But this all makes me wonder... How many times can the Republicans fuck their constituents before they're held accountable?

All those Bush voters; the Nascar dads, the security moms, the evangelicals; they aren't benefiting from this kind of policy. Joe Lunchbox; who lives in a trailer, works at the factory, has a gun rack in his truck and a "Support Our Troops" magnet on the tailgate; is getting nothing from the Bush administration except empty promises of a brighter tomorrow. Meanwhile, the fat cats and bigwigs at Exxon, Chevron, Pfizer, and MBNA are rolling in it. They're up to their eyes in tax-breaks and incentives. They're in so deep they're practically drowning.

But the average Bush voters don't see it. They're sleeping with the enemy and they don't even know it. How long before America wakes the fuck up? How long before the flock turns on its master? How long before the peasants revolt?

Soon, I hope.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

 

As the Tables Turn

For the last several weeks, the Democrats have been pushing for an investigation into Rep Tom DeLay's alleged ethics violations. Alright, who the hell am I kidding? There's nothing "alleged" about them. He's a slimy bastard whose so drunk with power he can hardly stand up. So basically the Democrats are trying to get his sorry ass busted.

The problem is, there's a little hang-up. In order to get the investigation started, the House ethics committee would have to agree to undertake it. However, the committee is dead-locked right now over proposed changes to the rules. Earlier this year, in an attempt to save DeLay's pathetic ass, the Republicans proposed a rules change that would allow a case to be dismissed if there was a tie vote. Seeing as how the committee is made up of five Republicans and five Democrats, that means a strictly party-line vote would eliminate the possibility of a full investigation. Ironically, the rule they are trying to change was instituted by the Republicans themselves during the nineties. The Democrats, recognizing this for the partisan bullshit that it is, have refused to play ball ever since. Thus the deadlock.

Knowing that their party is being dragged down by Tom DeLay, the Republicans attempted to turn the tables on the Democrats today.

Basically, the Republicans are dangling the DeLay investigation in front of the Democrats like a carrot on a stick. Saying, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." However, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who has the most to gain from this. If the Democrats agree to the rules change, the Republicans on the committee can all vote in favor of DeLay and the case will be dismissed. So the Democrats are doing the right thing by refusing to chase the carrot.

Unfortunately, the Republican noise machine will waste no time cranking up the rhetoric on this one. Expect to hear things like, "We offered to investigate Tom DeLay but the Democrats refused because they don't have the proof." Or, "Democrats know that Tom DeLay has done nothing rong, so they're blocking the investigation to avoid the embarrassment." That's why the House Dems have to keep spinning the table right on back around. Before the Republicans can spin this into a Democratic problem, House leader Nancy Pelosi needs to hit the airwaves. Hit every morning news show and expose the Republican's sleazy behavior. Explain that they are trying to hide the corruption of one of their own by changing the rules to the game. If she waits too long, the tables will have been turned and the Democrats will look like the fools.

Although I believe Nancy Pelosi to be a capable person, she could use some help. This is where you come in, dear reader. Lend a hand. Write a letter, call your local radio station, hand out flyers. Whatever it is you feel comfortable doing. For too long, the Republicans have been able to turn the tables in order to hide their corruption. I say "No More!" Turn the tables back. They're the party that has the most to lose.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

 

As Their Resolve Hardens, Cracks Begin To Show

It's not very often that I do this, but tonight I'm going to give credit to a Republican senator for doing the right thing. During today's Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, Ohio's Republican Senator George Voinovich said "I've heard enough today that I don't feel comfortable about voting for [John] Bolton [nominee for UN Ambassador]." This would have produced a committee vote of 9-9, thereby killing the nomination in committee. To avoid defeat, the Republican dominated committee decided to call for a three week delay before taking the vote. Presumably to kick the shit out of Voinovich for going against the family. It takes balls to stand up to your party, and apparently Voinovich has got a pretty large pair. Much more so than Chuck Hagel (R-NEB) who said he would vote to send Bolton's nomination to the full Senate but couldn't guarantee that he would vote to approve. That's a chickenshit's way out. He knows that if it goes to the full Senate that the nomination will be approved even without his vote. Then he'll be able to save face with his constituents back home. What a cop-out!

Meanwhile, the White House has hitched its cart to Tom DeLay's wagon.

Naturally, this means that there will be no true investigation. With Rove and the White House on board, the evidence will be "inconclusive" and no blame will be assigned. Key witnesses will not be allowed to testify, vital documents will be lost and Tom DeLay will be exonnerated of any wrong doing leaving the impression that it was all a "desperate" attempt by the Democrats and the "seedy liberal media."

But the cracks are showing. Voinovich is the first, but there will be more. As the Republicans continue to over-reach in their lust for power, the cracks will grow. More and more, we will begin to see moderate Republicans forced out of the party's ever-tightening, noose-like circle as they grow drunk with power. They'll attempt to hide their corruption and their under-the-table dealings, but it will be their own party that hangs them. People like Voinovich will begin to step forward and call bullshit. With help from the Democrats, it will be the moderates on the Republican side that eventually bring the Republican party to its knees.

While we have probably lost the fight over Tom DeLay, we have taken our first step toward a stronger party. I know it seems small, but it was big in other ways. You have to win the battles in order to win the war. This was the first of many battles that await the Democratic party and this was a good start. So kudos to the Democrats on the Senate Foriegn Relations Committee and a big pat on the back to Senator Voinovich. One down, hundreds more to go.

Monday, April 18, 2005

 

You Were Expecting Something Else?

This is typical.

Look, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not an expert on the finer points of the law, but I've got a pretty good idea about right and wrong and this was just plain wrong.

Let's say I've got a buddy who just got married. He loves his wife dearly and is spending a lot of time with her. Feeling slighted and a little jealous, I pay an acquaintance from work to call my buddy's house periodically asking for his wife. In these phone calls, my acquaintance drops hints that he and the new wife are romantically involved. My buddy gets pissed and ends up divorcing his new wife and now has more time to go fishing and watch ballgames with me.

Did I do anything illegal? Of course not, there's no law against lying. Did I do something wrong and unethical, damn right I did. Just because I hired someone else to do the dirty work doesn't exonnerate me. This is wrong. What the Education Department did was also wrong. They hired someone to drop hints in an attempt to influence the public's opinion. It's sleezy, underhanded and dishonest. Bad management? Yep! Poor judgement? Boy howdy!

And what about Bush's statement concerning this issue? He said "We didn't know about this in the White House." Oh really?

I thought Bush was going to "restore integrity to the White House." Apparently that was only the first of his lies.

You know, Clinton didn't technically break any laws when he had his affair with Monica Lewinsky but the Republicans sure prosecuted the shit out of it, didn't they? Too bad there wasn't someone around at the time to call it what it was: "poor judgement."

Friday, April 15, 2005

 

The Truth Behind the "Nukular Option"

Now that the "nukular option" is big news, I think it's time to take a look at what is really fueling it. Judging by Sen. Bill Frist's position and this flyer that is being circulated, one might be inclined to think that this has something to do with religion. But the fact of the matter is that religion has nothing to do with it. In fact, religion condemns what is really behind this so-called "nukular option."

The driving force behind this is plain, simple, unadulterated arrogance. Bill Clinton once said that the reason he butted heads with the Republicans was because they were convinced that there would never be another Democratic president after Jimmy Carter. This is now true of the Senate. They are convinced that they will never relenquish control. What else could possibly describe their short-sightedness? Do they really believe that there will never come a time when they might want to use the fillibuster themselves?

In an odd way, I think this is actually a good sign. To me, this is a perfect example of the Republican party getting comfortable. They are drunk with power and are beginning to over-reach. They're exposing their greedy underbelly for all to see. If all goes right (and I have a good feeling that it will), the Democrats will only have to sit back, remain quiet and smile as the Republican party slits its own throat.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

 

George W. Bush Hates the Patriot Act [And Other Observations]

Today George W. Bush addressed the American Society of Newspaper Editors Convention and he made some rather telling remarks. He was revealing his inner-George, so to speak. To begin with, he apparently hates the Patriot Act:

Isn't that nice? Georgieboy thinks there has "to be a certain sense of privacy." I guess that explains why he wants the Patriot Act renewed.

Then there was this:

Okay, so let me get this straight; Georgieboy was given the opportunity to distance himself from a man who has threatened judges, abused his power and violated the ethics rules of the House of Representatives (see also here, here, here,...), and he chose to say "I'm looking forward to working with him." Well, there you have it folks. Bush is siding with DeLay. He's choosing corruption over ethics. So much for values and morals. We should be so proud.

And then, as if he hadn't sided with enough questionable people already, he made this statement:

You don't suppose he's talking about this John Cornyn, do you? I can't imagine that Georgieboy would want to align himself with someone who tried to justify violence against judges. That would seem rather hypocritical of someone who claims to always choose on the side of life.

So how did all of this happen? How did Georgieboy get so far off the reservation? Well, this wasn't one of his hand-picked, loyalty-oath-signing, ass-kissing, friendly audiences. These were real journalists and they ask real questions and when he's allowed to go without a net, things always get interesting. I have to think he's a little more honest when he doesn't have time to prepare an answer. However, honesty to George W. Bush means stepping on his dick in public. I expect to see him on a much shorter leash for a while to come now.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

 

If I Were John Kerry, I'd...[Part II]

be raising holy hell again. Tomorrow morning I'd jump up on the dais there on the Senate floor, whip out the old dong again and scream "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO, YOU CONSERVATIVE COCKSUCKERS!!!! It's that time again fuckers and this time I'm starting with you Cornyn. Line up assholes!"

Of course some people might view this as a little extreme, but I think old Johnny-boy Kerry has earned this one. Check this out:

Do you remember all the shit Kerry had to take for this comment? Every conservative ass-kisser came out against Kerry claiming he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Turns out, he was right. Again!

So I say to John Kerry, yet again, "Whip that thing out ol' boy. Shove it in their faces and wave it around all you want. Because once again, you were right. In more ways than most people will ever know, you were right. Enjoy yourself, buddy but watch out for Senator Lott. I hear he uses his teeth."

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

 

Cows and Politics - A Quick and Easy Primer

Today was a standardized testing day at my school and I was assigned to administer the test in the history room. On the wall was a poster explaining the different political ideologies in what is possibly the simplest of terms. I thought I'd share them here.

Here goes:

Now isn't that a lot clearer than when you learned it in high school?

Monday, April 11, 2005

 

They Wouldn’t Do That Would They?

As I watched the John Bolton hearing today, two things occurred to me. First of all, why does this guy look so much like Fred Goldman? But more importantly, "Why would Georgieboy nominate someone so ill-suited for the position of UN Ambasador?

I'm sure we're all familiar with Bolton's past statements concerning the UN: "There is no such thing as the United Nations" and "If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." You know, friendly diplomatic stuff.

So here I am thinking to myself; "How is that Bush picked the one person who is possibly the most ill-suited for the job?" Then it hit me. He did this on purpose.

By picking John Bolton, Bush knows that the Democrats will go ballistic. The Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will grill him during the hearings and will most likely all vote against him. However, Georgie's got the advantage. He holds enough votes to get him through committee and even confirmed. So he's kind of killing two birds with one stone, if you like. Not only does he get a hard-liner at the UN, but he can also exploit the Democrats' opposition as more left-wing obstructionism.

Georgieboy doesn't give a shit about the UN. By sending Bolton he's basically giving the whole UN a great big middle-finger "fuck you." Plus, he and his flunkies can roll out the video of Sen. Boxer and Sen. Kerry and Sen. Obama grilling poor John and say, "See how angry they are? See how partisan they are? They're being obstructionists."

But, they wouldn't do that..........would they?

Thursday, April 07, 2005

 

You Mean They Were Lying?

From yesterday's Washington Times:

First of all, what the hell is a "news organ?" It sounds pretty indecent to me. And second of all, it appears as though one of those Republican senators was lying.

Let's see, March 18 to April 6...that's twenty days. Twenty days during which the right-wing noise machine was crying forgery. Twenty days of denials. Twenty days of finger-pointing at the Democrats. Everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Powerline to Republican senators themselves were crying foul and blaming those dirty trickster Democrats.

And all the while, Brian Darling, aide to Sen Martinez, sat quietly and let it all happen. He let the Democrats take the heat for his own immorality. Party of moral values my scrawny little ass! Pathetic.


NOTE - Truespeak will not be updated tomorrow evening. kissfan and the Mrs. will be out of town. So have a great weekend and I'll see you all Monday night!

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

 

They Said What?

Over the last two nights Truespeak has been breaking down the recent report from the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities blah, blah, blah. Why? Because the actual media is too preoccupied with dead people to focus on the fact that we royally fucked up when we went to war in Iraq. After all, what's 1500 soldiers lives worth anyway? Shit, we got a dead Pope, here.

So what have we learned? Basically we've learned that the intelligence community failed to properly validate any information, failed to vet any of their sources, and based their entire conclusion on the testimony of of a person named Curveball who later turned out to be completely unreliable. Oh, and they ignored any evidence that was contrary to their preconceived notions about Iraq's WMD.

By December, 2002, (nearly two months before Powell's presentation to the UN and three months before the beginning of the Iraq invasion) the intelligence community was at odds with itself over the validity of their information. Serious questions were being raised during some heated high-level meetings. Yet time and time again, the American public was told that Iraq was known to possess weapons of "mass destruction/murder." There was no qualifier to any of these statements. They were blatant declarations of fact. We were told, without question, that he had them and would not hesitate to use them against us. We couldn't wait any longer.

Oh, how wrong that was. Let's climb aboard the wayback machine, shall we, and travel back in time to those three months between December, 2002, when the questions first arose and March, 2003, when the invasion began. Let's see just what we were told.


Nineteen times in three months and this doesn't include any statements from Cheney or Rumsfeld. And all this time, there were questions about the veracity of the intelligence.

Now some have argued that you can't blame Bush because he was given bad information. But I think Ickabod says it best when he says:

Clearly not.

Look, Bill Clinton was in favor of regime change in Iraq. I think most people would have been happy to see Saddam removed from power, but regime change alone was not going to sell this war to the American people. Bush knew that. Without the charges of WMD, this was a dead issue. During the run-up to the invasion, Bush and the rest of his administration sold this war to the American public using false claims. For the last three months prior to the war the intelligence community couldn't come to a consensus on whether or not the information was reliable. We clearly could have waited another couple of months to know for sure. But had we waited and found out the information was unreliable, the invasion wouldn't have happened. Bush had to act when he did whether he had good information or not.

What it comes down to is this: George W. Bush, his administration, and the intelligence community misled the American public into a war that has cost our nation over 1500 lives. This was either a fuck-up of colossal proportion or this was the deadliest lie ever told to the American people. Either way, this administration should be ashamed.

But don't you all worry your pretty little heads about this little old report. Shit, we got a dead Pope, here.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

 

Fooled 'Em With the Curveball

As promised, Truespeak will be taking a closer look at the section of the report from The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction that discusses Iraq's biological weapons (BW) capabilities. A word of warning: It's not pretty.

At the beginning of this section of the report, the commission states its "Biological Warfare Summary Finding." It reads:

If there were an award given for the year's biggest understatement, this particular statement would have to be considered the odds-on favorite to win.

It appears that Curveball came onto the scene in early 2000 through a foriegn liaison service and quickly endeared himself to the Intelligence Community by telling them exactly what they wanted to hear. His information was passed on to senior policymakers and was incorporated into the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). By October, 2001, with the attacks of September 11 still fresh in everyone's memory, Curveball's information about Iraq's mobile BW facilities and their continued efforts to pursue BW agents seemed more appropriate than ever. And by the following year, his information, seemingly corroborated by other sources, became the basis for the October 2002 NIE.

So basically Powell was going to the UN with bullshit. Kind of lends credence to all those reports of Powell's tirade prior to the presentation, doesn't it?

Now we all know what the post-war inspectors found. Jack Squat! (I have to attribute that quote to the late Chris Farley's character Matt Foley.) But let's let the commission tell us what they think.

Now you might be asking yourself, "How could we have possibly got things so wrong?" Obviously our intelligence agencies are smart enough to check out the validity of any intelligence that comes accross their desk, right? Well, apparently not. The failure to vet any of this newly acquired information provided by Curveball appears to be how we got ourselves into war. Not only was the information not confirmed, but doubts about its veracity were roundly ignored. The commission's Biological Warfare Finding 1 states:

Did you catch that? They didn't even attempt to validate this information. God damn I feel safe! But wait, it gets worse.

Commission's Biological Warfare Finding 2:

Unduly wedded. That's just a fancy way of saying they refused to listen to dissenting opinions. I apologize for the length of the next quote, but the incompetence exhibited by the intelligence community is truly frightening.

WTF? They're being told specifically that the information is questionable, but nobody does anything about it. Instead they make Curveball the basis for their entire case.

Biological Warfare Finding 3:

And Biological Warfare Finding 4:

Basically what ensued was some extremely heated discussions between some rather high-ranking officials in the intelligence community over whether or not the information provided by Curveball was accurate. The concerns centered around the fact that as of this point Curveball had not been adequately vetted. By December of 2002, almost two months before Powell's speech the UN, this doubt led to some high-level meetings amongst the intelligence officials to discuss the problem. In an e-mail to several officers of the DO, the group chief stated:

However, her view of the situation lost out. The information was deemed credible enough, despite this lack of verification and the objections of some rather high-ranking individuals.
Biological Warfare Finding 5:

Furthermore:

What? They're giving up already? Holy Shit! All the evidence was there. He was a liar! And instead of taking our time and making sure that we had it right, we said "Fuck it! We're going in!" And now here we are, over 1500 dead soldiers later, and for what? A fucking green card!

That's all I can take for tonight. Tomorrow night, we'll take a little trip in the Wayback Machine (there it is oldwhitelady) and take a look at what was said after we already knew the information was bullshit and we'll explore why this is still George W. Bush's responsibility.

Monday, April 04, 2005

 

The "Nukular" Option

With the recent death watch that has consumed the country, it's pretty obvious that the report presented by The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction last Thursday is going to get precious little coverage. In fact, just to put things into perspective, I did a Google search today on a few items and obtained the following results:

That seems about right. After all, the deaths of over 1500 soldiers for what appears to be a great big "I think so," isn't nearly as important as the feud over Terri Schiavo. And I realize that the Pope has passed away, but once again, one person versus the death of over 1500. Not trying to be callous, but Schiavo was ill and dying. The Pope was ill and dying. These 1500 plus soldiers were killed because George Bush sent them to fight a war that was sold on what can only be described as false information.

So, since the media isn't going to do it, Truespeak will. Let's take a closer look at the report, shall we? In fact, the part that most interests me is the first chapter concerning Iraq. Tonight we'll look at the section concerning nuclear (or is that "nukular") weapons.

For starters, the commission sums up its findings as follows:

As it turns out, there was always disagreement on the uses of these tubes. But more on that later.

To begin with, the report discusses what was known about Iraq's nuclear program following the 1991 Gulf War. And from the looks of things, we appear to have been guessing based upon past behavior and not hard evidence. While past behavior is often a strong indicator of future behavior, these guesses quickly became accepted as fact and any new evidence that didn't align with these guesses was quickly dismissed as unreliable.

After a discussion of what the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) found after the war (no WMD), the report analyzes how the pre-war intelligence got things so wrong. The begin with this statement:

As stated before, if the evidence didn't align with the preconceived notion, it was dismissed. To quote the report:

Nothing like ignoring the facts. If this were a junior high science project, they'd get an "F" on their research techniques and the validity of their conclusions would be called into question. Good thing this isn't junior high.

The report goes on to find the following:

And...

Call me crazy, but basing everything on an assumption that your contemporaries can't agree upon doesn't really sound like solid intelligence let alona a "slam dunk." And what of the other evidence that was being used to substantiate their claims?

Of course we all remember the famous words from Georgieboy's 2003 SOTU Address - "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Turns out this was based on blatantly forged documents that were provided by a liaison intelligence service in late 2001 and early 2002. According to the commission:

Once again, this information fit their preconceived notion, so why question it? Concerning those documents, the report states:

When I was younger, there was this woman that I worked with who was always on my case. She was always accusing me of something I hadn't done and when I'd deny it she'd say, "Denial is always the first sign of a guilty man." Little did I know that this approach would become the method of operation for our nation's intelligence agencies.

It's truly shameful to think that the lives of over 1500 soldiers didn't warrant a closer look at the evidence. Like a bull in a china shop, we just charged straight ahead without bothering to consider the damage we were doing.

More on the commission's findings concerning Iraq's biological weapons tomorrow.

Friday, April 01, 2005

 

Unbe-fuckin'-lievable!

If you haven't read yesterday's report from the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, I highly suggest that you do. It is truly frightening to think that our government would send our soldiers to die for what amounts to a massive "I think so." Starting on Monday, I'm going to be taking a closer look at the section of the report dealing with Iraq. Basically, our intelligence community was like a "blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there."

If Georgieboy insists on taking credit for the accomplishments of all governmental agencies during his tenure in office, then he's going to have to take the blame as well. And boy did he ever screw the pooch on this one. As Atrios would say, "This is craptacular!"

Have a great weekend, I'll see you Monday.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com