Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

With what is going on in Washington it is not surprising that lawlessness has become so pervasive throughout the United States.

Matt Kelley in U.S.A. Today revealed what some lawmakers are doing with their campaign funds:

"Seventy-two members of the House of Representatives spent $5.1 million in campaign funds to pay relatives' companies or their relatives' employers during the past six years, a liberal watchdog group says in a report.

"Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (C.R.E.W.) found nearly 35 million in campaign payments to relatives during the past three election cycles from 2001 to 2006 campaigns and about $1.6 million to firms owned by its employing the lawmakers of their relatives, the group found."

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as well as other Republicans boosting this administration like to call themselves conservatives and proclaim that they are committed to introducing their form of government to Iraq and elsewhere with a particular emphasis on the current Middle East.

A "60 Minutes" broadcast originally aired December 10, 2006 that was updated June 21, 2007 tells a different story.  The major question that emerges from a segment based on the courageous actions of Joe Darby, an MP in the Army Reserves, reveals the Republican right as more concerned about the type of code of silence known in Mafia circles as omerta rather than adhering to the U.S. Constitution.

Darby, who grew up in Appalachia, fashioned himself as an ordinary guy doing his duty in the Army Reserve in Iraq.  His incredible story began innocently enough.  Darby's local unit was sent to Abu Ghraib.  He worked in the office while others guarded the prisoners.

When the urge struck Darby to send home scenic pictures he spoke to the logical person, prison guard Charles Graner, the unit's camera buff.  When Graner was asked if he had any pictures he reached into his computer bag, pulled out two CDs, and handed them to Darby.

When Ann Coulter appeared on Chris Matthews's "Hardball" and unleashed more of her diseased venom against John Edwards, statements so scurrilous, dishonest and thoroughly pathetic that they need not be repeated here, it was easy to see a familiar pattern.

Matthews is on MSNBC, the same network that brought Phil Donahue's show to a quick halt for allegedly "bad ratings" that were better than Matthews's.  The difference was that while Matthews fawns over figures such as Coulter, Dick Cheney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donahue had the true audacity to present speakers with differing viewpoints to the Cheney-Bush full speed ahead Iraq invasion.

One of the most candidly memorable interviews in an ever nose-diving mainstream media occurred when Donahue interviewed former Desert Storm commander General Norman Schwarzkopf, who explained that a decision was made not to invade Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War for reasons that have been confirmed in tragic detail.

Schwarzkopf asserted that with the major religious and ideological split dividing Iraq consisting of Shiites and Sunnis that if America invaded turmoil would result in a nation that would be soon enveloped in bloody civil war.  Has anyone seen any recent repeats of this interview?

Ruth Berge of Seattle wrote a powerful letter to the editors of Seattle Times that appeared in the June 25 edition.

Ms. Berge did not hesitate to lash out against both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Patty Murray of Berge's home state of Washington.  

Berge asserts that Pelosi and Murray have turned a blind eye to some of the worst lawbreakers in American history, all the while pretending that the U.S.A. has a good justice system.

Ruth Berge minces no words as she boldly declares:

From the Seattle Times June 23, Anthony B. Robinson asks the question:

"How moral is the Iraq War?  That's the question Lutherans in the Pacific Northwest asked in their recent regional meeting, concluding that the war is neither moral nor just.  They voted to take a public stand against the war in Iraq.

"The evangelical Lutheran Church in America covers a geographical area that runs from Kent/Des Moines to the Canadian border, from the Cascades to Puget Sound."

There are 52,000 Lutherans in this area, and 112 congregations.

Robert Parry is one of the few genuine old school reporters of the stripe of I.F. Stone, Carey McWilliams and George Seldes left on the current political scene.  His words on current media coverage of the Cheney-Bush neocon regime are therefore all the more significant through awareness of his background.

In a ConsortiumNews.com June 20 article Parry lays it on the line concerning the paucity of analytical appraisals of the neocon wrecking crew and the damage done to America:

"In years to come, historians may look back on U.S. press coverage of George W. Bush's presidency and wonder why there was not a single front-page story announcing one of the most monumental events of mankind's modern era - the death of the American Republic and the elimination of the `unalienable rights' pledged to `posterity' by the Founders."

Parry pays deference to stories dealing with Bush's denial of habeas corpus rights to a fair trial, his secret prisons, toleration of torture, violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, "signing statements" that override laws, and the erosion of constitutional checks and balances.  

In the New York Times Letters to the Editors on June 17, Norman D. Carter of Poughkeepsie, New York wrote this:

"I worked on the Manhattan Project as a chemical engineer during World War Two and the total destruction of the bomb is still with me every day.  Unfortunately, the true terror is almost incomprehensible.

"All corners of the earth are at risk....  The leaders of the world are incapable of controlling future use of the bomb."

The Geneva Convention rules of war were created to prevent wars such as the Nazis had conducted.  After 50 million people had been killed in World War Two, world leaders recognized the danger of killer dictators like Adolf Hitler.  

Karl Rove and Robert Mueller cautioned the public against a new email scam set to emerge


Washington, DC (Rotters) - In a joint announcement this morning FBI Director Robert Mueller and special presidential assistant Karl Rove confirmed that over 140,000 of Rove's personal e-mails had been maliciously deleted from Republican National Committee servers by botnet programs apparently uploaded by spammers. Mueller stated that he had contacted Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and was working closely with the Justice Department in investigating the possibility of charging a group of arrested spammers with violations of the presidential records act, a 30-year-old law which mandates the archiving of all presidential correspondence.

Perhaps the most interesting political information to come out of last week did not involve the early position jockeying for 2008 presidential aspirants, but the steadily sagging numbers of George W. Bush.

An NBC-Wall Street Journal Poll registered Bush at his lowest ever total, plummeting to 29 percent.  An analysis of what caused startlingly negative earlier figures to drop even more led to more troubling news for Bush, Cheney and Rove.

The pollsters discovered that one major group was responsible for the Bush collapse below the 30 percent threshold.  Republicans have now begun to register negative responses toward Bush.  Members of his own party staying with him out of a sense of loyalty represented the only significant positive readings for a besieged Bush for some time.

It has been said with increasing frequency recently, this site included, that the only support base the neocon ruling elite has left is the hard core, thoroughly programmed, Limbaugh dittohead-Fox zombie contingent.  The current poll figures corroborate this belief.

"Scooter" Libby apparently attempts to turn up the heat on the White House


Washington, DC (Rotters) - In a stunning development, former vice presidential counsel I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby waved the estimated five weeks grace period in place before he would have to officially report for incarceration. He reported early today to an undisclosed federal penitentiary to begin serving his 2 1/2 year sentence for his role in the Valerie Plame scandal. Libby appears to be embracing a tactic employed recently by a number of other celebrities, including Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton.

While Mr. Libby's motives remained unclear, many Washington insiders felt that Libby and his legal team were attempting to take advantage of the groundswell of support from conservatives all over America and turn up the heat for an official pardon from President George W. Bush.

The G8 Press conference we didn't see...

President Bush walks up to the podium, stumbling only slightly as he climbs the platform stairs. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen," he smirks. "Beautiful day today, so go easy, won'tcha."

The press clamors for attention. President Bush points his finger, "Helen."

"Mr. Bush, "How do you feel about the latest news that global warming is speeding up ocean waves? "

"Sounds like good surfin to me." Bush snickers, press follows.

John Baycich, of Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, in a letter to the New York Times June 7, wrote with stunning precision regarding Iraq:

"America's defeat in Iraq occurred the moment we decided on a unilateral invasion based on known false information.  It already threw the entire Middle East into greater upheaval.  It has also diminished our stature as a nation for many years to come, if not forever.  There is no right way to do the wrong thing."

What on earth is George Bush chasing around the world for now?  When his infamous two-word response to the "shock and awe" misguided Iraq War began, he observed, "Feels good!"

Does it feel good now?  With over 3,500 U.S. service personnel returning to the U.S.A. in flag-draped coffins, estimates of almost a million Iraqis dead, 2 million Iraqis fleeing for their lives to Jordan, Syria and Iran, 2 million more Iraqis displaced, it should feel horrifying to this Republican Administration.

A recent column suggesting that the neocon image machine was busy grooming former Tennessee U.S. Senator Fred Thompson as a citizen politician, who stands above the battle, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan, is moving forward briskly.

Despite all the huffing and puffing by Republican right propagandists about Hollywood and its left wing domination, neocons of the Karl Rove stripe have an affection for actors since it is easy to blur reality with image since imagery is so strongly defined within the acting profession while images that were displayed on movie and television screens can be more easily inculcated into the public mind.  

This is particularly true in the image driven fantasy world of Fox News, Clear Channel and a society of submissive Fox zombies and Rush Limbaugh dittoheads.  

Reagan was a cowboy television narrator on "Death Valley Days" and later the GOP image machine worked overtime to depict him as just the man to topple the Soviet Union and battle terrorists all over the globe.  While the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed, historical analysis has determined with each year of analysis that this demise was ultimately destined to occur.  

Paparazzi photo showing the hand of an unknown assailant seconds before the gangland style execution of soprano's creator David Chase


New York, NY (APE) - Fans outside of a New York City nightclub, Leotardos, were stunned earlier tonight as David Chase, the veteran Hollywood screenwriter and creator of the hit HBO series The Sopranos, was apparently executed in Mafia hit fashion by an unknown assailant. Witnesses said the assailant appeared out of nowhere and apparently fired three shots into the unsuspecting Chase before vanishing into the night. Chase had been attending a closing cast party with friends and family when the apparent execution occurred.

The June 9 Seattle Post-Intelligencer contained an Associated Press release from Paris written by Elaine Gailey that stated:

"The CIA ran secret jails in Poland and Romania to interrogate key terror suspects, shackling and handcuffing inmates, keeping some naked for weeks and reducing contact with the outer world to masked and silent guards, a European investigator said Friday.

"The CIA called the report `distorted,' but stopped short of denying the existence of prisons in the two countries."

Swiss Senator Dick Marty was asked by a human rights watchdog to investigate the activities of the CIA, when news of secret prisons emerged in 2005.  Senator Marty accused Germany and Italy of obstructing investigations into secret prisons.

When someone in high elected office shows the nation how vulnerable our Constitution is, we should be thankful for the wakeup call.  Like many ruthless dictators, evil kings, and monster generals, Dick Cheney is the leading practitioner of the ends-justify-the-means mentality, where only his vision of the desired ends counts.

And if this means disregarding and disobeying the Constitution, torturing prisoners, killing thousands of American soldiers, disrespecting Congress, destroying our environment, embracing the invasion of illegal immigrants, increasing out national debt, and disregarding the will of the vast majority of Americans, so be it.  Serving corporate interests rather than serving the people is Cheney's brand of patriotism.

By Jason Miller

Thomas Paine's Corner

http://www.bestcyrano.org/T HOMASPAINE/?p=108

"Children are completely egoistic; they feel their needs intensely and strive ruthlessly to satisfy them."

--Sigmund Freud

Frightening as it may be, the Earth's fate rests in the hands of children. With incredibly formidable military firepower at its disposal, the United States could catalyze Armageddon at any time. And while they may be adults chronologically, our sociopolitical structure is dominated by emotional infants.

In the mid-1970s the TV sitcom The Jeffersons portrayed the rags-to-riches story of a black entrepreneur living the American Dream. The pugnacious and overbearing George Jefferson (former neighbor of All in the Family's Archie Bunker) becomes a dry cleaning magnate and leaves blue-collar Queens for swanky Manhattan. As the show's theme song recounts:

"Well we're moving on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Moving on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie."

But now fast-forward to 2007 and real world America. When it comes to those deluxe apartments in the sky, today's exclusive penthouses sit atop much taller high-rises--but the chances of ever living in one (or even breathing its rarified air as a dinner guest) have shrunk considerably. And although the proverbial economic pie is much larger today as well, a relative handful of gluttons are gorging themselves while everyone else settles for leftovers and crumbs.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY) has introduced a bill calling for UNFPA funding and presidential accountability for refusing to release these congressionally appropriated funds--as Pres. Bush has done for the past six years.

By Dr. Lawrence Smith, Population Institute, at RH Reality Check.

This may help to better understand the Washington establishment and its courtesan punditry who serve to reinforce their ceaseless narrative of exceptionalism. This is why they've disingenuously covered up the infantilism of George W. Bush for so long: Little Dubya is the id of the ruling class made manifest -- he's their troubled child, who, by his destructive actions, cracks the deceptively normal veneer of a miserable family and reveals the rot within. At a certain level, it's damn entertaining: his instability so shakes the foundation of the house that it causes the skeletons in its closets to dance.

According to a report not yet released, the Council on Science and Public Health of the American Medical Association has recommended that a chronic and widespread affliction of Americans be officially declared a psychiatric disorder.  It has been named the Political Attention Deficit Disorder (PADD).  It is recommended that the disorder be included in a widely used mental illness manual created and published by the American Psychiatric Association.  The current manual was published in 1994; the next edition is to be completed in 2012.  The benefit to people of an official classification is coverage by health insurance.

Sometimes we learn in rather interesting ways.  Well, to give credit where credit is due, I bumped into Rollerblading glimpse of the future which explained how roller-blading in the Google parking lot led to early awareness that something was up when it came to Google and PHEVs, as solar panels were going up over parking spots with plugs hanging from the roof structures.

And, well, Arjuna's roller blading might have given him knowledge of something that could truly change the globe.

The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as the Independent Bloggers Alliance, the Peace Tree and Worldwide Sawdust.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

So reads the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. However, the Constitution does not prevent employers from encroaching upon the free speech of their employees. Even so, most Americans assume their right to free speech is protected in all aspects of their life - including their jobs. The reality is quite different.

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks of 2001, President Bush sat down to play poker with the biggest stack of chips at the table, the odds-on favorite to win one of the highest-stakes games ever played. This huge initial chip advantage was built from a unified and supportive citizenry at home, a mainstream media that rarely questioned his judgment or intentions, an international community prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, and a military machine bigger than the next couple dozen countries combined. But since those early heady days, Bush and his close advisers and neocon allies have made one horrendous decision after another. The great tragedy, of course, is that the president has not been playing with his own chips. Rather, in this game his poor play has cost the lives of our courageous soldiers and many Iraqi civilians, our country's stature in the world, and our national resources much needed for other purposes, domestic and international.

According to dictionary.com, the word moratorium means "a suspension of activity." Examples include the moratorium on nuclear testing and the 1969 moratorium staged in protest of the Vietnam war. It is time for a new moratorium, this one, hopefully, can bring an end to the war in Iraq.

This article was originally posted by me on MicahsCall.org.

Back in the days when the Presidio of Monterey's roads were open to civilian vehicles, providing a shortcut between Monterey and Pacific Grove, I used to enjoy watching what would happen outside at 4:30pm. For the uninformed civilian merrily driving along, having cars in front of her suddenly stop and troops get out of their cars, stand at attention and salute, must have seemed so bizarre. Some motorists would honk their horns, some would yell, most would just sit and wait, steaming at the interruption of their day.

The frog-in-boiling water model helps us understand political upheavals: how citizens wake up early enough (or too late) to respond to social and economic oppression.  Sometimes the greed and arrogance of Ruling Classes makes them careless and social waters heat too quickly.  Sensing doom, alert citizen-frogs escape or revolt.  Or they stay complacent and boil.  The Bush Administration has turned the heat up on us, explaining why nearly 75 percent of Americans believe their country is on the wrong track and 70 percent think the economy is worsening.

The recent report from the Administration for Children and Families defends abstinence-only programs by attacking comprehensive sexuality education.

By William Smith, SIECUS.

Senator Tom Coburn must have felt like a champ last week.  He released his own missive on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), claiming in the title of the document that the CDC's "wasteful" spending indicated a "CDC Off Center." The 114 pages of that report have consumed more paper and staff time in its creation than it is worth.  Until the CDC comes fully into line with Dr. Coburn's vision of fiscal restraint and public health strained through an ideological sieve, such diatribes make for amusing reading.  I was pleased to see that yours truly made the cut when Coburn retold the story of how I got booted from a peer-reviewed panel at the national STD conference. I was tossed out because I was actually going to question the public health rationale for abstinence-only-until-marri age programs--of course, that's not exactly how Coburn told the story. Amusingly, the CDC ended up picking up the last minute tab for the goofs brought in to replace me--of course the report didn't mention that.

 

The topic below was originally posted on my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as The Peace Tree, the Independent Bloggers Alliance and Worldwide Sawdust.

Foreign Affairs published a sobering article by Bruce Riedel in their May/June issue entitled, "al Qaeda Strikes Back." Riedel, a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution retired last year after 29 years with the CIA.

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll results vividly show a population incredibly dissatisfied with their nation's political system.  In other countries in other times such a depressing level of confidence in government would send a signal to those running the government that a major upheaval is imminent.  But not here in the USA.  Why?

First, here are the highlights of the poll that surveyed 1,008 adults from June 8-11, with a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

A whopping 68 percent think the country is on the wrong track.    Just 19 percent believe the country is headed in the right direction - the lowest number on that question in nearly 15 years.  And most of those with the positive view are probably in the Upper Class.

By Scott Swenson

Sen. Sam Brownback's remarks that rape and incest victims should carry a pregnancy to term amount to verbal rape of the body politic.

Greetings from Kansas, where I am home with family starting a summer of writing on the road.  Kansas is also home to Sen. Sam Brownback whose presidential campaign has yet to crest the two percent mark in most GOP polls.

He trails even "None of these candidates." If there were a percentile ranking for compassion, he would rank even lower.

Speaking before the National Catholic Men's Conference, Brownback said women who become pregnant from rape or incest should carry the pregnancy to term.

Brownback's argument follows a preverse "two wrongs don't make a right" logic for which the assembled Catholic men gave him a standing ovation.  Without any discussion of the millenia of sexist indoctrination introducing the concept of male dominance before a man even considers rape, Brownback ignores the original sin to get to the red meat --- the "compounding" issue of abortion.

From a purely political standpoint, Brownback's campaign is raising no money, attracting no voters, and bringing no new ideas to the table. His debate performances have a Howdy-Doodey on meth quality that only serve as comic relief from the dour Reps. Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo.  He seems to believe the only way to attract attention is to state extreme positions in front of friendly audiences.