So Much Work for Patriots

A lot of important things have been brought to my attention in the past few days. So much so that I would have a week's worth of blogging if I talked about every issue. At the end of this blog - and maybe all future blogs - I will have a section titled: Must Read Articles. These are articles I find very important that should be on the nightly news at least once - if not repeatedly. It will also contain articles pertaining to subjects that I have previously written about. You could consider them follow-up articles.


This morning I received an email from George W. Bush. Well, from GOP.com - one of those HTML form letters trying to rally people to vote for them and give money. I get them from the Democrats as well. While reading today's email, this struck me as particularly interesting:

"After the enemy attacked us, I vowed I would rally this nation and use our resources to protect you. And that is exactly what we have done. We have reformed our intelligence services to make sure we can find the enemy before they strike. We have fought to deny them safe haven in Afghanistan and Iraq so they cannot plan and plot again.

"The fight for freedom in Iraq is the fight for the security of the United States of America and we must prevail. If we leave before the job is done, the enemy that attacked us would be emboldened."


The GOP write that "the enemy" attacked us. Who is this "enemy?" If it was al Qaeda, why wouldn't you write that? This is nothing more than a continued blurring of the lines between what really happened and what the Republicans want people to think happened.

More to the point on this is the last sentence saying that we denied them safe haven in Iraq. GOP = Grand Ol' Phibbers? Everyone - all together: al Qaeda was NEVER in Iraq prior to us invading! In fact, our intelligence communities all tell us that our being in Iraq has actually caused al Qaeda to go to Iraq.

And finally, the last sentence is very telling. The fight for freedom in Iraq is now not for WMDs, it is not for the toppling of Saddam, it is not to bring democracy to Iraq, it is not to bring freedom and liberty to the people of that nation. No, the fight for freedom in Iraq is "the fight for the security" of the U.S.

What? Our invading a sovereign nation actually caused people to hate us more and has become a rallying cry for al Qaeda. It's what they wanted. It proved their point that all we do is stick our big, bullying bombs and guns into the politics and business of nations in the Middle East. Ron Paul has said it best:

"Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there- we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East - I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. So right now we're building an embassy in Iraq that's bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting. We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us. "

MUST READ ARTICLES

1.

"The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials."

and

Activist Silenced for Fear of Surveillance

-----Repeat after me: P O L I C E S T A T E. If you don't really know what that means, simply put, it means that you have no privacy and everyone is a suspect for everything. Go read 1984.

2.

"The White House approved a Transportation Department campaign to lobby against California's application for a waiver to combat global warming through auto emissions limits tougher than federal standards, a lawmaker charged Monday."

-----While growing up, I was taught that the government was here to protect us and help make our country a better place to live. Oh my how the tides have turned....


3.

"US soldiers are luring Iraqis to their deaths by scattering military equipment on the ground as "bait", and then shooting those who pick them up, it has been alleged at a court martial."

----- So this is how we get to say that we are killing more "insurgents." Amazing.


4.

"The US Senate is expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a Bosnia-style plan to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife."

----- Why are WE making their decisions? What happened to the whole "democracy" and "elections" thing? We go in and destroy their country, kill 700,000 civilians, and then vote to break up their country? Amazing.


5.

"Bush: We Can’t Spend $22 Billion On America Because We Need $200 Billion For Iraq War"

----- Reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker: It Will Be A Great Day When Our Schools Get All The Money They Need and The Air Force Has to Hold a Bake Sale To Buy A Bomber. There's ALWAYS money to kill people...amazing...

You Can't Keep Keepin' Us Down

The more I hear Ron Paul talk and the more I see the MSM ignore him, the more I know he's onto something and the more I truly respect him. I don't know if I'd vote for him because some of his Libertarian views are just too far of a stretch for me to take, however, he's smart, articulate, full of integrity and has a firm grasp on the issues -- which is a lot more than I can say for any other Republican candidate and quite a few of the Democratic ones. I'd like to include those from the Green, Libertarian, or other third parties in this discussion, but for some odd reason, we in this country like to limit our freedom of representational choice to two sides of the same coin.

Outstanding Ron Paul at the recent Republican Debate can be seen here with some transcripts and a blog by Eric Garris about it here.



Now this (and this) has been making me smile all day. I truly love good ol' fashioned checks and balances. Let's hear it (finally) for some democracy in the USA!



This just really amazes me. It amazes me not only that the MSM doesn't report on this, but that Congress allows it to happen. If you have this revolving door of people who work for the government, then go work for major corporations, then back to the government - are they really going to represent the people and do what is in our best interest? Or are they going to bend over backwards to please those who gave them these cushy loyalty jobs?



I get a very dark, sinister feeling about this. (Another Eric Garris blog - the original story is here.) Bush has already admitted that his plan is to keep troops in Iraq up to, and hopefully after, he leaves office. Iraq is without question a gigantic illegal and immoral disaster. Maybe some quick strikes on Iran will help bolster the GOP's chances for a favorable outcome in 2008. We wouldn't bomb people just to win elections...would we?




Kudo's to Sony (and Japan) for pushing the limits and boundaries of human ingenuity. This is just awesome! Our imaginations are the only boundaries to our creativity.

That's why not for one second do I buy into this crap that Bush & Co keep polluting our national discourse with regarding CO2 limits and reduction: It'll hurt the economy or Other nations pollute, too! What are we, only the greatest nation when it comes to bombing people? News flash - creating new energy resources through research, development, and productions WILL CREATE NEW JOBS AND HELP THE ECONOMY! Why is no one throwing this back at Bush when he repeats the same tired lies?