If you were following my tweets yesterday (follow me on Twitter here), I posted a bunch of quotes concerning Iraq from Boy Blunder And The Plunderers.
To me, the lesson of 9-11 is what I always say:
Republicans run on the platform “Government doesn’t work!” – once in power, they prove it.
And the amazing thing is, GOPers co-opted the Teabaggers – and TeaBaggers aren’t smart enough to figure that out.
I went to a Teabagger Candidate Training last February; it was produced for Teabagger Wanna-Bees by AmericanMajority.org. None are as blind as those that refuse to see. As I look back at that terrible terrorist attack ten years ago, I see a Republican Party that turned a tragic event into something worse.
Below is what I wrote on September 11th, 2008 – and reposted on 9-11 last year. I said it before, I said it again, and I still stand by it.
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From The Archives: “T-130 – It’s Hard”
by: TwoPuttTommy Sat Sep 11, 2010 at 08:58:48 AM CDT
(I said it before, and I stand by it now. This one is a post I made on September 11th, 2008 – and the T-130 was the countdown to The End Of An Error; the misAdministration of George orWell Bush. And BTW – where the (cheney) IS “Osama Been Forgotten”??!?)
“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, CBS News interview, September 6th, 2006
Looking back, I remember where I was 7 years ago, today, when I first saw the replay of the first plane hitting the tower.
And I watched the news about that attack, closely. For a long time. As in, “still.” But I didn’t hear about what Condoleeza Rice was scheduled to do, on this date 7 years ago, until April of 2004.
She was going to give a speech. Not about Osama Bin Laden; not about al Qaeda; not about Extremist Islamic Fundamentalism. No, Condoleeza Rice was going to talk about what this misAdministration felt was the most dangerous threat to America, long-range missiles, furthering the goals set out in 1997 by the neo-conservative goup, Project for the New American Century.
Fast forward to George orWell’s comment, on September 6th, 2006, above – “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, this misAdministration has never been focused on the real threat to America; this misAdministration used the ol’ “bait ‘n switch” ruse to do what the Neo-Con Right Wing always wanted: topple Saddam and radically transform America’s military. From Project for the New American Century’s 76 page “Rebuilding America’s Defenses:
even if it brings revolutionary change, is
likely to be a long one, absent some
catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a
new Pearl Harbor.(page 51)
So, just who are the people that formed PNAC; the PNAC that thought that a “new Pearl Harbor” might speed up the transformation of the American Military in a way they thought beneficial? Let’s look:
Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush,
Dick Cheney, Eliot A. Cohen, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes,
Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle,
Donald Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad, I. Lewis Libby, Norman Podhoretz,
Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen, Henry S. Rowen,
Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul Wolfowitz
So, today, as we mourn those that fell as the towers fell; those that fell in the heroic struggle on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania; those that fell on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon; those brave men and women that have fallen in Iraq, remember this:
“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, September 6th, 2006
Of course it’s hard; Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 but everything to do with furthering neo-conservative goals.
In 130 days it will be January 20th, 2009 – The End Of An Error
The photograph to the right (via MSNBC.com) is Lynndie England – an administrative clerk at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. When this photo – and others much worse – surfaced in 2004, smart money was betting to ensure things like this never happened again, Donald “I don’t do quagmires” Rumsfeld would simply ban cameras. There are some reports that’s exactly what Rumsfeld did. There was also an Op/Ed objecting to a ban, in the Houston Chronicle:
Yes to weapons of mass photography
By CLARENCE PAGE May 14, 2004If I had my way, every enlisted man and woman in the military would be issued a digital camera. As we’ve seen in the scandal about abused Iraqi prisoners, the little gadgets help boost morale by providing snapshots that can be e-mailed back home. They also can come in handy when you need to gather evidence. I like those little cameras because certain power elites don’t.
His response to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, turned into a bit of a rant of frustration: “We’re functioning — with peacetime restraints, with legal requirements in a wartime situation, in the information age, where people are running around with digital cameras and taking these unbelievable photographs and then passing them off, against the law, to the media, to our surprise, when they had not even arrived in the Pentagon.”
No, folks, it’s apparently not the administration’s gross lack of preparation for the management of post-Saddam Iraq that’s the problem, in Rummy’s view. It’s those pesky soldiers and their Weapons of Mass Photography.
Here on the still semi-frozen tundra, there are Republicans with Rumsfeldian Mindsets (“if there are no photographs, things must be just swell!”); bills have been introduced in the State Senate and State House that would make it illegal to record photographs and audio/video at an “animal facility.”
GOPer State Senators Doug Magnus, Julie Rosen, Bill Ingebrigtsen, along with House GOPers Rod Hamilton, Tony Cornish, Greg Davids, Dean Urdahl, Bob Dettmer, Paul Anderson, and the chief RightWingWalnut of ‘em all, Steve Drazkowski. (For some strange reason, DFL Senators Rod Skoe and Dan Sparks signed on to this nonsense too).
Spot over at the Cucking Stool takes a look at the legal illogic of these bills in a post titled “Republicans playing with constitutions II – The fools have never heard of Near v. Minnesota”.
Spot states the obvious: “Whether it’s the First Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, or Article XIII of the Minnesota Constitution, Minnesota’s Republican legislators prove over and over again that they don’t have a freakin’ clue.”
I’m saying the local GOPers are simply taking a clue from Rummy; that the GOP – from top to bottom – firmly believes “out of sight” means “out of mind.”
Because if there’s one thing the GOP demonstrates over and Over and OVER, it’s that they are clearly out of their minds.
***Update*** The Winona Daily News has an editorial on this GOPer plan to ban cameras – it’s titled “Our view: Bill just a coverup of bad behavior”
From it:
Magnus’ bill, if adopted, would make Minnesota the fourth state to adopt rules that seem to protect the guilty and punish those trying to make a difference.
While deception by way of a hidden camera isn’t necessarily transparent, those who are engaging in shady business practices aren’t also going to let a camera crew inside to document violations.
This form of video, while guerrilla in nature, is one in which the ends often justify the means. What is exposed is often essential to making sure our treatment of animals is at the very least humane and ethical.
This isn’t just some anti-PETA bill.
This same legislation wouldn’t just block video of animals being led to slaughter, it might also make it a crime to show workers mishandling food, endangering the safety and health of humans.
Furthermore, telling the public what can and can’t be recorded comes perilously close to regulating free speech and putting unnecessary restrictions on a free press, which might also come armed with cameras.
Let’s call this law what it is: A shield for acting irresponsibly and a bully tool to punish anyone who might even dare to expose deplorable behavior.
And this GOPer plan to ban cameras is just another pathetic example of the GOP protecting the Corporate Boardroom at the expense of everyone else.
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
(I said it before, and I stand by it now. This one is a post I made on September 11th, 2008 – and the T-130 was the countdown to The End Of An Error; the misAdministration of George orWell Bush. And BTW – where the (cheney) IS “Osama Been Forgotten”??!?)
“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, CBS News interview, September 6th, 2006
Looking back, I remember where I was 7 years ago, today, when I first saw the replay of the first plane hitting the tower.
And I watched the news about that attack, closely. For a long time. As in, “still.” But I didn’t hear about what Condoleeza Rice was scheduled to do, on this date 7 years ago, until April of 2004.
She was going to give a speech. Not about Osama Bin Laden; not about al Qaeda; not about Extremist Islamic Fundamentalism. No, Condoleeza Rice was going to talk about what this misAdministration felt was the most dangerous threat to America, long-range missiles, furthering the goals set out in 1997 by the neo-conservative goup, Project for the New American Century.
Fast forward to George orWell’s comment, on September 6th, 2006, above – “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, this misAdministration has never been focused on the real threat to America; this misAdministration used the ol’ “bait ‘n switch” ruse to do what the Neo-Con Right Wing always wanted: topple Saddam and radically transform America’s military. From Project for the New American Century’s 76 page “Rebuilding America’s Defenses:
even if it brings revolutionary change, is
likely to be a long one, absent some
catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a
new Pearl Harbor.(page 51)
So, just who are the people that formed PNAC; the PNAC that thought that a “new Pearl Harbor” might speed up the transformation of the American Military in a way they thought beneficial? Let’s look:
Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush,
Dick Cheney, Eliot A. Cohen, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes,
Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle,
Donald Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad, I. Lewis Libby, Norman Podhoretz,
Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen, Henry S. Rowen,
Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul Wolfowitz
So, today, as we mourn those that fell as the towers fell; those that fell in the heroic struggle on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania; those that fell on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon; those brave men and women that have fallen in Iraq, remember this:
“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, September 6th, 2006
Of course it’s hard; Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 but everything to do with furthering neo-conservative goals.
In 130 days it will be January 20th, 2009 – The End Of An Error
(cross posted from ; comments welcome there)
“If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” —President-elect George W. Bush, at a photo-op with congressional leaders during his first trip to Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000
Ladies and Gentlemen, today’s a daily double of Dumbya:
“I’m the decider, and I decide what is best. And what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense.” – George Dubya Bush, Washington, D.C. April 18, 2006
Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, while you look at these remember that yesterday, we noted that Donnie RumsFailed said this:
“I am not going to give you a number for it because it’s not my business to do intelligent work.” –Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asked to estimate the number of Iraqi insurgents while testifying before Congress, Feb. 16, 2005
So, what we have here, is Boy Blunder playing “The Decider”, and deciding to keep a guy that claims it’s not his business to do intelligent work.
Only 176 more days until The End Of An Error – January 20th, 2009.
(this post originally published at MnBlue.com)
”I’m also not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.” — President George orWell Bush, aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
DOH! Like, who didn’t know that??!? Unfortunately, Boy Blunder surrounded himself with like (lack?) minded people:
“I am not going to give you a number for it because it’s not my business to do intelligent work.” –Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asked to estimate the number of Iraqi insurgents while testifying before Congress, Feb. 16, 2005
Rumsfeld was eventually let go, because he replaced “The Powell Doctrine” – which consists of warfare conducted with overwhelming forces – with what I like to call “The RumsFailed Doctrine”, which consists of “war on the cheap.” So Rummy is gone, and in 177 days, Boy Blunder will be, too. January 20th, 2009 will be The End Of An Error.
(this post originally published at MnBlue.com)
