The 935 lies of BushCo

We forget things so easily. I forget my BART ticket sometimes and have to buy one at the station.

Forgetting about why we went to war under *suspect* pretenses is a slightly larger issue. Do you remember why we went to war? It's all seen through spin-doctor induced haze...but I think I see something.

The Center for Public Integrity recently released a searchable database that details 935 'false public statements' perpetrated by the Bush administration: mainly seven individuals (George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Ari Fleischer, Paul Wolfowitz, Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, and Scott McClellan)

The massive database at the heart of this project juxtaposes what President Bush and these seven top officials were saying for public consumption against what was known, or should have been known, on a day-to-day basis. This fully searchable database includes the public statements, drawn from both primary sources (such as official transcripts) and secondary sources (chiefly major news organizations) over the two years beginning on September 11, 2001. It also interlaces relevant information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles, speeches, and interviews.

It's not that an administration hasn't lied before, however, when I think back to the furor over impeaching President Clinton because he lied about getting a blowjob (and his definition of sexual relations) and I compare it to the lies spouted by the current administration...well there's no comparison.
What's really illustrative to me is how the number of lies told really peaks just prior to the invasion of Iraq. It's like they knew they had to lay it on thick to get the support needed to mobilize when the rest of the world (please spare me the laughable justification of the 'Coalition of the Willing') favored other means of resolving the conflict.

We became so polarized by 9/11 and the administration used the tragedy to pounce on Iraq because it could 'legitimately' establish a prolonged presence in an Middle Eastern, oil-producing country: an act the Administration deemed necessary for America, regardless if the tactic smacked of the deprecated model of the military-industrial complex.

We'll be in Iraq for decades to come. This was the plan. 9/11 just helped make it easier to execute because we were raw with frustration, anger, and sadness. We let it happen.

So I'm supporting my troops, and not the government that tosses them upon a sacrificial pyre in the name of democracy. Let's not forget our mistakes of voting this chimp and his circus trainers into office when we're at the polls on Feb 5...ok...I didn't vote for this guy, but at least two people did.

Or, you can vote for Romney and let him build more Guantanamos.

Give it up for CoCo county political awareness

More progressive and critical thinking from the other side of the tunnel...

Here was something I read in the Times this weekend about the crosses on the hillside on Deerhill Road in Lafayette. These crosses are meant to symbolize the fallen American soldiers that haven't made it home. The crosses have been causing quite a stir in the community, which isn't known for its political activism. The piece is also showcased online. I've presented a portion here. Check out the whole column, which was written by Andrew McGall.

War has no blinders: It strips artifice from human life. It is blood and bone, steel and sinew, comrades and death. We at home cannot afford to turn our attention from that reality. Our silence is assent. Silence dishonors the dead who cannot speak. Respect for the troops also means:

• We don't send them into meat-grinding fake wars based on lies, deception and outrageously misguided, cynical ideologies.


• We send troops in sufficient numbers to dominate an enemy whom we can identify, isolate and defeat. That's war. Any lesser situation should revert to peaceful, if tense, politics and diplomacy.


• We send them fully equipped and trained for the war at hand.


• We maintain an Army that controls its own supply line, giving no role to the war profiteers feasting like vultures in Iraq.


• We do not privatize war, we do not create a profit motive for waging and prolonging wars. War is not a no-bid payoff to our dues-paying buddies.


• We bend our whole will to bringing the troops home.


• We never stint in our care and support of those who return crippled in body or mind.

I get a little hot under the collar when I make critical statements about the war, and how people seem to instinctively link the criticism to the troops serving in Iraq. It was nice to see someone so clearly articulating the difference of being critical of an unjust Presidential administration, and respecting and supporting the men and women representing U.S. interests by putting their lives in harm's way every day of duty.