Bush Speaks in N.J.

Some excerpts from Bush's speech yesterday in New Jersey. I don't think any interpretation is necessary.

We sat around the table and I listened to the concerns of both taxpayer employee, as well as small business owner. And the concerns are great, but the concerns can be solved.

People want to have a secure environment in which to risk capital. And, therefore, our biggest challenge, or one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that we continue to fight and win the war on terror.

On September the 11th, our country was shocked -- this part of the world was particularly shocked -- at the violence, the sudden violence done. We were shocked into recognizing that oceans can no longer protect us from harm, and therefore we have the serious charge to keep.

This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history -- revisionist historians is what I like to call them. Saddam Hussein was a threat to America and the free world in '91, in '98, in 2003. He continually ignored the demands of the free world, so the United States and friends and allies acted. And one thing is for certain -- (applause) -- and this is for certain: Saddam Hussein is no longer a threat to the United States and our friends and allies. (Applause.)

We've got a lot of brave troops still on the move, still looking for terrorists. We're cooperating with our friends and allies, we're sharing intelligence, we're running down their money trails. But one thing is certain for the American people to know, that this government will use whatever technologies and skill is necessary to secure America by hunting down those who would harm us, one person at a time. It is a charge we have been given and it is a charge we will keep.

I went to the United States Congress when I first got elected and said, this nation is -- looks like it's in recession. We need to let people have more of their own money in order to stall off the recession.

But we needed more action, so I went in front of the Congress this year and I said, let's come together, let's set aside all the party politics and partisan bickering and remember why we're in Washington in the first place -- we're there to do what's right for the American people. We must care about how to help somebody find work. That's what we ought to be focused on, not partisanship, but what's right for the American people.

Listen, if choice in health care is good enough for members of the United States Congress and their employees, it ought to be good enough for the seniors of the United States of America.

But our military muscle is not the true strength of America. I mean, there's no question about it, we've got the capacity to fight and win war and therefore make the world more peaceful.

By the way, there was no mention of WMD's in Iraq, which was about the only thing he did talk about in his speeches 6 months ago.

"The Dog Ate My WMDs"

William Rivers Pitt, a high school teacher, has heard every kind of excuse. Bush's are no different.

Our Dependable Government

Well isn't this just dandy. The IRS wants the very poor to prove they qualify for a measly tax credit while so many of the filthy rich are cheating ad nauseam on their taxes as the IRS looks the other way. If nothing else, this Republican administration is predictable and consistent.

And if that doesn't fan your ire, how about this possible scandal. Halliburton was given $500 million in contracts by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1991 for Iraqi war work. Sniff sniff... I smell something rotten. (Note: Adobe Acrobat required.)

Friday Readings and Viewings

Someone Truly Making a Difference

Blogging for Profit.

"Am I Still an Unpatriotic Traitor?"

Only 6 Days Remaining to Buy Hummer Upgrade

Critical Weeks

Attack of the Beer Belly

Deliberate Deception

Bush Playing in Parents' Driveway

Who's Watching the Press?

Teaching English to Japanese

Gollum's MTV Acceptance Speech (warning: some really foul language)

Impeachment: It's the American Way

Excerpt from Ted Rall's latest column:

Nixon and Clinton escaped criminal prosecution for burglary, perjury and obstruction of justice. George W. Bush, however, stands accused as the greatest mass murderer in American history. The Lexington Institute estimates that the U.S. killed between 15,000 and 20,000 Iraqi troops during the fraudulently justified invasion of Iraq, plus 10,000 to 15,000 wounded. More than 150 U.S. soldiers were killed, plus more than 500 injured. A new Associated Press study of Iraqi civilian casualties confirms at least 3,240 deaths. Although Bush, Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice denied such legal niceties to the concentration-camp inmates captured in their illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, these high-ranking Administration henchmen should be quickly turned over--after impeachment proceedings for what might properly be called Slaughtergate--to an international tribunal for prosecution of war crimes.

How Ironic that, on the day Gregory Peck passes on, the character he played in "To Kill A Mockingbird" was voted the top hero in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Heroes and Villians.

False Clams

Josh Marshall explains "imminent threat" and how it was used wrongly by Bush to justify his invasion of Iraq.

Remember, You Heard It Here First

Invisibility technology used to hide bin Laden and Hussein.

Safety, Fuel Economy and SUVs

Excerpts from the Common Dreams Progressive Newswire:

This past April, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a stunning statistic: For the first time in a quarter century, the number of traffic fatalities in the United States rose over the previous year’s total – to 42,850. We also found out this spring that the average fuel economy for the nation’s fleet of motor vehicles declined in 2002 – for the first time in 22 years – to 20.4 mpg. There is a simple explanation for these alarming statistics: the proliferation of sport utility vehicles, which now make up one-fourth of all new vehicles sold. These vehicles are threatening to overwhelm the revolutionary safety improvements we have seen since the first auto safety laws were passed by Congress in 1966. And they are steadily rolling back the significant fuel conservation gains that began with passage of the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in 1975.

Had Congress in 1990 passed CAFE legislation sponsored by Sen. Richard Bryan, passenger cars would now be getting, on average, 40 miles per gallon, and SUVs and other light trucks would be getting 29 miles per gallon. This would have saved motorists $89 billion in fuel costs and reduced U.S. oil consumption by 1.5 billion barrels in 2002 alone. It also would have resulted in safer highways for everyone.

This is an excerpt from a Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. Read the entire statement and find out what Detroit's big three are planning to (not) do.

Give Her a Hub (sic)

THIS will either scare you or humorize you.

Got 30 minutes?

Al Franken vs. Bill O'Reilly (thanks Buzzflash for the link). Here's the 30 minute video.

Another great passes on to the big anchordesk in the sky. So long, David Brinkley.

Securing Funds for Security

This guy, Fred Kaplan, is GOOD. Read his thorough analysis on lack of adequate federal funding for homeland security. Only bad thing is, after reading it you'll come away feeling a whole lot less secure.

Bush , Osama and 9-11

This is an issue that is still unresolved. Snippet:

To suggest that the Bush Administration arranged the 9/11 tragedy is to resort to wildly speculative conspiracy theories. On the other hand, there is a substantive and documented record of neglect and obstruction to warrant a charge of criminal negligence by Bush and his national security state apparatus. It may be that part of that apparatus, especially elements within the FBI, are angered by how they and their reports were cavalierly treated by the White House. They and other congressional sources may be leaking the kind of information that was essential in bringing down President Nixon. Instead of waiting, however, for what appears as inevitable congressional investigations, we should be doing everything in our power to raise questions in public forums and the courts, if possible, about the criminal negligence of the Bush Administration. Before another pretext is created for another war for oil and the advancement of the military-industrial complex, this Administration needs to be confronted for the duplicitous and corrupt self-serving elite they are.

Read the entire article HERE.

Thought For the Day

Maybe we should cordon off the area and let Palestine and Israel just shoot it out until there's a winner. If you have a better idea, please leave a comment. And I don't mean an idea that they've already tried.

JERUSALEM (AP) 6.11.03, 10:45a -- A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and wounding nearly 70. An hour later, an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing two Hamas officials and at least five other people and wounding 30.

Proof in the Pudding

In case you thought it might be true, here is the absolute proof that Bush is the anti-christ.

North Korea Needs a Better Meal Ticket

As hideous as this story is, it should be a wake-up call to the Bush Administration to stop screwing around with nuclear weapons diplomacy and start getting serious about helping the people of this country.

Put a Cork in It

The entire sporting community is aghast, aghast I tell you, at Sammy Sosa's corked bat. Charles P. Pierce, writing for Slate, puts the whole issue into a proper perspective.