From the Darkness posted by Ben

There is just one key issue that I would like to emphasize about the massive Dem wave from yesterday's elections. A huge number of candidates who won were not supported by the establishment Dems; they were supported by local and national bloggers and built their campaigns entirely from the grassroots. Some of them even defeated establishment-choice Dems in their primaries.

No matter what the news says, remember that the number of progressives heading to Washington this year is huge. This was not a victory for conservative Dems. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And it certainly was not a victory for Republicans, although they will surely try to claim that the Blue Wave further validates their failed conservative agenda. Nothing could be further from reality. Which, of course, is the point.

Going Back Online posted by Ben

This is a test of my updated blog access software.

Thesis is Done posted by Ben

My wife's thesis is done and she defends today.

And she let me use the red pen on every single page!

This should restore my regular internet acccess (and energy!)

For the record, in-depth copy-editing is a whole lot of fun, but I wouldn't want to do it for a living.

Sirotablog: Ike Predicted GOP Demise Over Social Security posted by Ben

Sirotablog: Ike Predicted GOP Demise Over Social Security:

"'Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.'
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54"

Would anyone believe that Ike could have made me miss any aspect of the 50's? The man is turning out to be a regular prophet regarding the military/industrial complex!

Words for an Army Recruiter posted by Ben

"I would love to enlist and help the power-hungry war criminals in the Oval Office wage their unjust war, but I have a bathtub full of puppies at home that I need to drown first. And that may take a while."

EPA Puts Mandated Lead-Paint Rules on Hold posted by Ben

EPA Puts Mandated Lead-Paint Rules on Hold

That's right, it wasn't enough for the Bush administration to roll back decades of policy on mercury emissions. Now they want to do the same for lead-based paint, making compliance with so-called Federal standards voluntary.

When are people going to wake up and realize that this supposedly Christian president has no qualms about encouraging business to poison the public solely for the sake of increased profits?

The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly delayed work on completing required rules to protect children and construction workers from exposure to lead-based paint, exploring instead the possibility of using voluntary standards to govern building renovations and remodeling.

The EPA move, first disclosed in documents provided by an agency whistle-blower, has prompted angry questions from Democrats in Congress, the attorneys general of New York and Illinois, and public health advocates around the country.

How can Christians be so blind to the willingness of Republicans to poison our air, water, and environment, to lie for the sake of war profiteering, and to always put the interests of the rich ahead of everybody else, no matter the consequences?

There is nothing moral about Bush's agenda. To claim otherwise is at best deluded and at worst criminal.

Postmodern Spam Poetry posted by Ben

Granted, spam has evolved greatly since it's early days. One piece of that evolution, of course, has been the addition of random text meant to trick the spam filters.

I suppose that it was only a matter of time before the spam was reduced purely to that random text, with absolutely no content, advertising, or malicious attachments included.

With that in mind, all that I can do is appreciate the expressive poetry which arrived in my inbox this morning.

[all sic] In the middle of the night, I was walking by the sea, and a baby baluga jumped out from amongst the bushes. SO one day Mr. Gregor exclaimed "Why do skater normals have no preppy either?!?!?!" So I wanted to watched. or Maybe if I wanted to watch it then I had a dream that countless historian lost their credit but i dont Remember what it was. I don't like you but can I have your autograph. No one wants your autograph so I started to cry in the pizza shop. Where did Ryan go? He must have moved to Ohio.

Hey, I moved to Ohio! Maybe this is not only poetry of the highest caliber, but prophecy...

Church Excommunicates Democrats posted by Ben

This is not an Onion article. A church in North Carolina has just excommunicated all of its Democrat members for not supporting President Bush.

While more of the country may slowly be coming to its senses, we should expect to see increased insanities from right wing extremists.

Here's the initial post from Democratic Underground:

My Mom just emailed me the news. There's no link yet.

She said WLOS tv just broke in to report that the East Waynesville Baptist church has officially excommunicated all its democratic members.

She said that before the election, the preacher told the congregation from the pulpit that if they didn't vote for * they had to come to the altar to confess their sins and repent. they could'nt be members. (My Mom doesn't attend that church--she's United Methodist, but I know of lots who do attend).

From Mom's email: "One of the local women who got excommunicated said on TV that it was like a cult. Another man who got excommunicated said that the rest of the congregation stood up and applauded as the Democrats were told to leave."

TV news clip is available here and mirrored here.

Not in the US Media: Proof of US/UK War Plans posted by Ben

Writes John Conyers:

"Dear Mr. President:

We write because of troubling revelations in the Sunday London Times apparently confirming that the United States and Great Britain had secretly agreed to attack Iraq in the summer of 2002, well before the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action. While various individuals have asserted this to be the case before, including Paul O'Neill, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Richard Clarke, a former National Security Council official, they have been previously dismissed by your Administration. However, when this story was divulged last weekend, Prime Minister Blair's representative claimed the document contained 'nothing new.' If the disclosure is accurate, it raises troubling new questions regarding the legal justifications for the war as well as the integrity of your own Administration."

Full Text Here

What is Representative Conyers writing about? Only the proof positive that Bush and Blair not only planned to Iraq over ten months before they stopped denying that they intended to exercise military force. Only that they planned from the beginning to justify a war based on grounds that they and their advisers knew were false.

Under any other president, this would be an impeachable offense.

From the secret Downing Street memo, recently leaked:

Date: 23 July 2002

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.

CDS said that military planners would brief CENTCOM on 1-2 August, Rumsfeld on 3 August and Bush on 4 August. [snip]

The Defense Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

So why is this a big deal? Smintheus from Daily Kos explains:

The bombshell from the British papers this morning has had virtually no impact yet on D Kos, and I'm curious to know why it has not turned American politics upside down already. The leaked memo from the Prime Minister's office of a secret meeting (July 23, 2002) shows that after consulting with Bush and his administration, the British leaders met to strategize about an invasion of Iraq that Bush had already decided upon (months before the Congressional resolution)! The memo reveals the depths of cynicism of both the US and UK governments. For ex., the UK head of intelligence reports that for the Bush admin "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy". Much of the memo is devoted to developing a strategy to provoke a war against Iraq, and the problem that there was no apparent justification for it. The Foreign Secretary said "the case [for war] was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

But it gets worse. On May 6, 2003, Bush made this statement:

I've not made up our mind about military action. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully. Hopefully, that as a result of the pressure that we have placed -- and others have placed -- that Saddam will disarm and/or leave the country.

Had not made up his mind? Then how was he able, ten months before, to convince Blair to help him fabricate a series of excuses for war? How was he able to go to Congress and say with a straight face that he would exercise all possible peaceful options before resorting to military action? How was he able to say the same to the American people?

The answer is simple. He looked all of us in the eye and lied. Because of that lie, 1500+ American soldiers are dead, more than 10,000 are wounded, countless Iraqi civilians have lost their lives, we have spent over $300 billion dollars, and gas prices have only gone up.

Of course, for those of us who knew from the beginning that we were being lied to, this is hardly a surprise. But now is the time to put aside our tired cynicism and demand that Bush be held accountable for the outrageous effects of his lies.

And I ask again, why hasn't our media touched this explosive story?

More information at:

Democratic Underground
Britain's The Sunday Times (1, 2, 3)
The Raw Story
and Daily Kos

Schedule Difficulties posted by Ben

Sorry about the lack of posts. I'm developing a huge backlog of things I need to write about. Unfortunately, the combination of additional work hours and my wife's thesis (which is taking all available typing hours on our one computer) is severely limiting my ability to get that commentary out in a timely manner.

Thanks for your understanding!