Damn! The news just gets better and better.

I keep fighting the urge to pinch myself, because if this is a dream I do not want to wake up yet!

And what is even better is that the poor son-of-a-bitch still has three and a half years to try and hold his administration together. I especially like the part below.

Impeachment Question Shows Bitterness of Divide

In a sign of the continuing partisan division of the nation, more than two-in-five (42%) voters say that, if it is found that President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should hold him accountable through impeachment. While half (50%) of respondents do not hold this view, supporters of impeachment outweigh opponents in some parts of the country.
Among those living in the Western states, a 52% majority favors Congress using the impeachment mechanism while just 41% are opposed; in Eastern states, 49% are in favor and 45% opposed. In the South, meanwhile, impeachment is opposed by three-in-five voters (60%) and supported by just one-in-three (34%); in the Central/Great Lakes region, 52% are opposed and 38% in favor.

Bush; "Why won't these soldiers applaud while I send them off to die?"

I just don't how many hints these people need before they realize that nobody supports what they have done to our country.

What can we salvage?

I keep hearing politicians from both sides of the aisle and others talking about how, now that we are there, we should not leave Iraq until the job is finished.

I respectfully disagree. I know that I am on thin ice with a lot of Democrats and Liberals who do not want us to be perceived as soft on the war and therefore soft on terrorism. Tough shit!

Number one: As soon as support for the war drops another ten points or so we will not be able to continue waging this war regardless of what may or may not be the correct approach, or in America's best interests long term.

Number two: Does anybody really believe that we are making things better the longer we stay? I would suggest that the evidence is that as long as we are an occupying force the we attract death and destruction and that when we leave it will drop dramatically.

Number three: The lie that we can help establish a government that will survive after we bring the troops home is just that, a lie. We are despised by these people and therefore our political beliefs are not acceptable to them in the long run. What is far more likely to happen is that the country will devolve into a civil war which will eventually bring forth a leader, who is most likely a dictator, who will establish some semblance of peace.

Number Four: The lie that as long as we are engaging the enemy over there they will not strike us here on our soil. I would bet the farm that right now there are numerous plots to strike America and that many of the potential terrorists are currently being trained in Iraq on the proper way to trigger an explosive devise and to circumvent security. They are coming and they are going to be more highly trained then ever before. And for this they can thank George W. Bush.

In my humble, unsolicited, opinion I believe that we need to bring our troops home and begin training our military to provide a better defensive force for our concerns in this country and abroad. We need to elect a leader who is not an ideologue and who can see multiple sides of an issue and quickly reach a decision and implement a comprehensive plan of action.

We are in for some very turbulent decades to come our way soon. This administration has done unimaginable damage to our reputation and credibility in the world. We are going to need to approach the world with much less arrogance and to be far more conciliatory in our language.

We have miles to go before we sleep.

For anybody who still doubts the Downing Street Memos this should clear things up.

Damn! Seeing it all laid out like that just pisses me off. This was done in our name. Those were American bombs dropping on people that we had no beef with. I am ashamed.

"Class can anybody tell me how screwed up the Bush presidency was?"

Oooh I know, I know! Call on me!

Damn! I never get called on when I know the answer.

Little video illustrates how George Bush got re-elected

Warning: Some of the ads make the site possibly not safe for work. It is definitely worth a look though.

One of our "Liberal" fighting men spanks Karl Rove

You know if this was some carefully constructed ploy to get America's attention away from the Downing Street Memos, then it is very possible that Rove severely misjudged the fallout and who he might be angering. I would love for this to prove to be a huge gaffe by Karl Rove which costs the Republicans dearly in the polls and the media. That might cause some of the Republicans who are still capable of running for re-election to pull away or attack him. Without Rove I think this administration will go into a freefall.

When you can't refute the facts just attack the grammar.

I hope that nobody is falling for any of this double-speak. It is embarrassing how ignorant the Bush administration thinks we are. It would be even more embarrassing if it turned out we were that ignorant.

This is just too damn funny!

I found this on "Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilley, Intl" and just knew I had to share it with you my gentle readers.

It is a little disturbing to realize just how limited our moral progress has been from America in the 1800's to America today.

Uh oh! Now we dood it!

I actually thought our reputation could not get any worse. Hey look! I was wrong!

Ten Senators sign letter about Downing Street Memo and send it to Intelligence committee

Okay can we speed it up a little? We are doing the best we can to not let this thing die but we cannot wait forever for the Democrats to get their act together.

And by the way those comments from Rove about Liberals and 9-11 is a red herring. We need to just drop this thing and move back to the issue at hand. We need to demonstrate the same laser-like focus that Republicans have to keep our issue in the forefront of the media's attention.

Sometimes it feels like Democrats are suffering from ADHD.

"And another thing the president lied about....Oh look a pony!"

Maybe we should set aside some campaign money and just buy buckets of Ritalin.

Our chinese overlords are more lovable then us.

Well hell, who did not see this coming? Look being a super power entails more then just the means and the desire to kick ass. It also means that you are respected and have political and economic superiority over other nations.

Remember when we were a superpower? Man it was great! We bullied other countries into buying our goods and we imposed sanctions on dictators we did not like and placed other dictators in countries that did not play ball with us. We were like Gods! But then we elected Bush and now we are rapidly becoming a third world country.

Stupid Republicans, you broke my country!

Too much death in Iraq. Can we please come home now?

Mark my words, this news is going to put the ending of this war on the fast track. Americans can take a lot, but when they start sending Daddy's little girls home in body bags then the debate is over! I have an eighteen year old daughter and I can barely contain my grief over these losses. I know, I know, I am a sexist and I should not care more for the girls then the young men, but I do.

I guess Karl Rove has my number, I am just an old softy liberal wuss!

But let me tell you that if anybody hurt my baby I would rip their fucking heart out with my bare hands! And if it were this president's fault I would do everything that I could to have him removed from office.

Hey look! My very own cranky senator is asking Bush to be up front about the war!

Wow this is really a breakthrough! Our Uncle Ted usually stays pretty close to the party line. You just don't want to ask him any questions about the obscene amount of pork that he sends our way. If you do he will put on his Hulk tie and open a can of whoop-ass on you.

Now Uncle Ted is no lightweight. He is number three in succession to take over for the president. So let's understand the plan. If we impeach Bush we must take out Cheney as well, cause if we don't I won't be able to sleep ever again. This would put Alaska's own cranky uncle Ted Stevens in the white house. You know that does not comfort me as much as you would think. I will tell you one thing if Ted wages war on somebody, that somebody will be obliterated, cause Teddy don't play!

C'mon be a man!

So Senator Ted Kennedy suggested that Rumsfeld resign due to his incompetence in running this war in Iraq. Rumsfeld's answer was to say that he had offered the president his resignation twice and both times been turned down. So? What are you a quitter? C'mon Donny try again, and this time don't take no for an answer!

Damn this administration is full of pansies! When I wanted to quit a job I just stopped showing up, they always got the hint!

Oh, and Donny see if you can get Karl to join you. You can even conserve paper, one on one side and one on the other.

Ooop here I go. I am having that fantasy again.

This is why he should stay behind the scenes.

Man! Did Karl Rove step in it! And he really seemed to irritate the left wing bloggers . Well you know how testy they can be! Hmm, what is the proper word for someone like this? Oh yeah, I remember, Asshole!

Let me tell you the real difference between how Democrats would have handled 9-11 and how Republicans handled it.

Democrats would not have used the opportunity to curtail the rights of law abiding Americans!

Democrats would have supported the 9-11 hearings and welcomed all of its findings!

Democrats would have made sure that the families of those brave firefighters and police officers who gave their lives trying to save our citizens were given whatever money or benefits they needed to recover from their tremendous loss!

We would not have use the opportunity to attack a nation that we had a pre-existing grudge against, ensuring that we would not be able to capture the man responsible!

And lastly we would have used the opportunity to join with the national community to put an end to terrorism as we know it today, without providing a new training ground for future terrorists.

There, does that clear it up? Asshole!

Aha! I knew it! Call me paranoid will you.

During the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, American evangelicals made no secret of their desire to follow the troops. Samaritan's Purse, the global relief organization led by the Rev. Franklin Graham -- who has called Islam an "evil and wicked" religion -- and the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest Protestant denomination, were among those that mobilized missionaries and relief supplies.

Some Iraqi Christians expressed fear that the evangelicals would undermine Christian-Muslim harmony here, which rests on a long-standing, tacit agreement not to proselytize each other. "There is an informal agreement that says we have nothing to do with your religion and faith," said Yonadam Kanna, one of six Christians elected to Iraq's parliament. "We are brothers but we don't interfere in your religion."

You know I just cannot understand why these heathens will not allow us to bring them the Good Word and help them to turn away from the path to eternal damnation. If they will not just accept our Lord then we will bomb the piss out of them until they beg us to help them rebuild their neighborhoods with our churches on every corner. This is all for their own good of course. Praise Jesus.

"Downing Street Memo": the beginning

How the British "fixed" the intelligence and facts to get to where the Americans were going no matter what.

(By the way I found this story on "Drudge". It must just burn his ass to have to cover it.)

I would just like to say that Jon Stewart at "The Daily Show" was Brilliant last night!

Damn he did a good job! You can see a clip over at Crooks and Liars.

The Daily Show continues to point out the inherent comedy in this administration while not undermining the threat they are to our freedoms and national interests.

Cheney needs to pick Bush up and climb to the top of the windmill, cause here comes the angry mob.

Yep and they have torches, pitchforks, and secret documents. I might have confused my movie metaphors a little because I am pretty sure that Cheney can only be brought down by a silver bullet to what is left of his heart.

Wow! The White House Press Corps asks a good question!

Heh heh. This is good. Anybody know who this guy is?

They are playing my song at the Daily Duck.

Nicely done! Very succinct! I give it a 8.5 out of 10.

Why must superstition rule our lives?

This does a good job of illustrating how we keep losing ground and slipping into the theocratic abyss.

Oh come on! What could he possibly know?

Ooooh, this is interesting. So we will torture everyday Iraqis within an inch of their life but we treat the main target of the invasion like a guest at Club Med. I mean what does the administration want to keep from us? We already know that he hates germs and loves Doritos . I mean are they afraid that Saddam might testify about all of the American lies that were told to justify this war. But don't we already know that? Hmm maybe it would help to get it from the horse's mouth. But you know, probably not.

Here is the question that I would love to have the answer to.

At this point poor George is holding those rose colored glasses tightly to his head. He cannot allow himself to be distracted by any negative news. He is just going to lower his head and plow forward, stopping once in a while to let out a "quack". I was just a little too young to remember what Nixon's demeanor was during Watergate, but I seem to remember that he looked defeated and did not keep acting like he was not bothered by all of the negative press that swirled around his administration at the end. At this is where we are by the way, the end. Or at least the beginning of the end.

The Chris Matthews conundrum

I used to really like Chris Matthews. During the election he was my go to guy. I loved the Zell Miller interview. And you have to love the way he took it toAnn Coulter. But damn lately it seems that he has been snuggling up to the Republicans like nobodies damn business! And is it any coincidence that this all started around the time thatDan Rather was put out to dry? No, I think that Chris lost his nerve. And he has been pandering to the righties ever since. Now maybe he has had a change of heart as it seems that he is doing an in depth story on the "Downing Street Memos". We will see, we will see.

This just in from Indiana

Hmmm. Methinks the groundswell doth continue.

This puts a stake in the heart of the fake DSM controversy.

By the way, to all of my liberal blogging friends, I think it is important to approach our blogs as if we were in a war for freedom. I believe that there is going to be a blogging battle to end all battles. The conservative bloggers, much like their fearful leader, are used to winning and cannot accept the fact that they might be wrong. They will attack our evidence of wrong doing, our motivation, our patriotism, and our intelligence (good luck there by the way).

But here is the thing. We are right! We are absolutely correct in our assertions that this administration engaged in criminal activity! And the funny thing is that deep, deep down the conservatives suspect the very same thing. So here is my advice. Any evidence that we turn up we will make damn sure is authenticated beyond a shadow of a doubt. And then we are going to make sure that everybody in the media is given no choice but to investigate the evidence and bring it to the American people.

We will win the way we are supposed to win. By being right!

Maybe the President can ignore us but can he really ignore these parents?

This is just the beginning. I feel a rumble, and the rumble is public opinion turning on this president and it is going to grind him into the ground. My advice to Republicans is to run as far from this administration as humanly possible.

We knew that this was coming!

This right winger believes that because the "Downing Street memos" were copied over to protect the source then that means that they are most likely fakes. I call bullshit!

These memos have already been authenticated by NBC news as well the folks at "Raw Story.com". These memos are the smoking gun, and they will be instrumental in bringing down this administration. Those of us on the left better get ourselves organized, because we know that the right fights dirty!

So in the words of this charlatan in the White House, "Bring it on!"


Hold the presses! Newshog takes them to task.

http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2005/06/now-right-wants-us-to-believe-in.html

Now we have a good old fashioned brawl going. Good! I intend to get my shots in early and often!

MSNBC finally starts reporting the news!

What can I say? This sure as hell better be the first of many stories that they do on this. They have a lot of catching up to do.

Look who knows a little something something about the military. Are you really surprised?

I was just going to copy this list and put it on my blog but I just could not steal the Goose's thunder on this. He did a great job of researching this and bringing to light even more of the Republican's hypocrisy. Goose, my man, hats off to you.

Our national shame.

When we first arrived in Iraq we might have been seen as liberators by some, but the longer we stay the more pain we cause and the more hate we create. This is not something that was a surprise to our military leaders.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040416-9999-7m16zinni.html

We just need to get out and stop killing these people. It will take decades to make any sort of positive impact on these people and the sooner we start the fewer attacks we will suffer over here. The facts are that we are going to be attacked in the United States. We have created an army of anti-American terrorists where there were far less before. George Bush and his policies have ensured that our safety will be jeopardized for many years to come. If we hold this administration accountable and separate them from the more clear thinking of us, then maybe we will someday enjoy some peace with these people.

What? Bombing a country that did us no harm is illegal?

I am beginning to develop a profound affection for the British. Hey, maybe George should have offered to send more money to Africa like Blair wanted him to. It would be funny if the british "Deep Throat" turned out to be a jolly well pissed of Tony Blair.

What is equally funny is that Bush seems completely in denial that his house of cards is coming down around his ears. Maybe next time you will listen to your father Dumbass!

Almost too many DSM stories to post.

They say "when it rains, it pours", well true believers get ready for the deluge! It appears "Downing Street Gate" is coming to a television set near you. Here are some news links.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-523-1660300-523,00.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050618/ap_on_re_eu/downing_street_memos

Oh and by the way, I don't think that Jeb will be much of an issue in 2008 either.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/10/17/noelle.bush/

More news on DSM.

I keep hearing that the "Downing Street Memos" are not that relevant because they do not reveal anything new. Wrong! What they do is provide actual hard evidence about things that had been rumored by some, written about by others, but heard by few.

I knew that we went into war for reasons other then the ones that were given by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell, but many believed every word they said. And every lie they told. These memos are the jumping off point. Now we are looking at all of the other circumstantial evidence and seeing a clear and undeniable cohesiveness which makes everything easily understood even by those who would rather not know. With these documents as the anchor maybe we can bring this behemoth to a halt and get our soldiers home and start to bring those accountable for the lies to justice.

I also read that the media did not know what we bloggers wanted from all of this. Well speaking just for myself I want justice. I want every responsible member of this administration punished for their role in starting a war on false evidence. I want a message sent to the next president, and the next, and the next, that we will not be used as pawns in a war for any self serving reasons. That we are willing to fight and to die for the freedom of this country and to protect our loved ones but we will not suit up for just any whim that occurs to our leaders.

The BBC recognizes our hard work.

Finally a little recognition! By the by, I have been watching the Conyers "Downing Street Memo" forum. It is criminal how they have been forced to cram all of those people into a room clearly meant to hold a dozen or so. No matter, the information was amazing and the media would be crazy not to use some of those sound bites.

Oooh I am just giddy!

Ohhh they used the "I" word. If they start impeachement proceedings I will be unable to leave my house until they finish. That qualifies as sort of a mixed blessing.

"Watergate 2: This time there will be NO pardon!"

Just in case you doubted their agenda.

How can Christians say they are under attack when they control the most powerful country in the world and more then 60% of the world's wealth? Take a look at some of the rhetoric.

“If we had to give equal time to every opposing viewpoint, there would be no time to proclaim the truth that we have been commanded to proclaim,” he says. “We will fight the Fairness Doctrine, tooth and nail. It could be the end of Christian broadcasting as we know it if we do not.”

.” Truth, he says, does “not rest in the wisdom of men but the power of God.” Then, in a lisping, limp-wristed imitation of liberals, he mocks, to laughter and applause, those who want to “share” and be sensitive to the needs of others.

Dobson is perhaps the most powerful figure in the Dominionist movement. He was instrumental three years ago in purging the moderate chairman of the NRB from his post and speaks frequently with the White House. He was a crucial player in getting out the Christian vote for George W. Bush.

He calls for a constitutional amendment to permit prayer in the public schools. He sponsors a group called “Love Won Out,” which holds monthly conferences around the country for those “suffering” from same-sex attraction. He likens the proponents of gay marriage to the Nazis, has backed political candidates who called for the execution of abortion providers, defines embryonic stem-cell research as “state-funded cannibalism,” and urges Christian parents to pull their children out of public-school systems. He has issued warnings to the Bush Administration that his extremist agenda must begin to be implemented in Washington and by the federal courts if the Republican Party wants his continued support. Dobson apparently believes that he is without sin.


Hold me.

This stuff is really frightening to me. There are no checks and balance within some of these organizations, they simply believe that they are Gods messengers and therefore without fault.

More damning then Downey Street

This article lays out the administrations pre-war attacks that occurred in an attempt to "soften" the Iraqi defences.

"Approximately 100 US and British planes flew from Kuwait into Iraqi airspace," Scahill writes. "At least seven types of aircraft were part of this massive operation, including US F-15 Strike Eagles and Royal Air Force Tornado ground-attack planes. They dropped precision-guided munitions on Saddam Hussein's major western air-defense facility, clearing the path for Special Forces helicopters that lay in wait in Jordan. Earlier attacks had been carried out against Iraqi command and control centers, radar detection systems, Revolutionary Guard units, communication centers and mobile air-defense systems. The Pentagon's goal was clear: Destroy Iraq's ability to resist."

How is this alright? How can we bomb a sovereign nation without congress first declaring war and without the okay of the U.N.? The answer is, we can't! There was no way to ever win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people because unlike the American people they knew that the attack began before the official declaration of war and they knew that our government was lying.

My man Conyers CANNOT be stopped!

It is really unbelievable how low the Republicans will go to supress the truth! Like the late Dr. Martin Luther King said "the truth will set you free!". Though actually this truth might put some prominent Republicans in prison. Well I can dream can't I?

This is why Congress is not in the medical profession.

Hmm, I guess all of that praying was sort of a waste.

"The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he said (Dr. Thogmartin, one of the doctors who did the autopsy on Terry). "This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

For people of faith I think the lesson is to not allow yourselves to be jerked around by your beliefs so that others can use you to for their own nefarious goals.

Damning evidence, damn it!

Your daily dose of Downing street news.

Your welcome.

NBC Nightly News does "Downing Street Memo"

Did you hear it? It was music to my ears. Andrea Mitchell did a story on the memo and she made it clear that the memo and the ones that followed are the real deal. She also presented the administrations answer but gave the impression that they did little to dismiss the accusations made by the memos.

I was so excited when I saw this story I stood up and cheered! My wife asked if I was happy now and I answered that it was a good start but that I expect a lot more follow up from the media.

Congratulations to everybody at "Big Brass Alliance". If not for all of our hard work and constant hammering this thing would have just faded away. So to all of my friends at BBA give yourselves a much deserved pat on the back.

This website for "Hijacking Catastrophe" offers evidence similar to the "Downing Street Memo"

You know it dawns on me that there are some newscasters and political pundits out there that owe Michael Moore an apology. And what's more they owe all of us, the American people, an apology too. We deserved better then to have been sold a bill of goods that our media failed to scrutinize.

After we kick this president out maybe it is time to make the MSM community clean their house and get rid of the right wing influences.

The United Kingdom is just like Santa Claus to Liberals.

I was almost positive that this had to be fake and yet it is not. Okay now can we impeach this guy?

http://rawstory.com/aexternal/pdfstemp/ods020308.pdf

Christian coalition playing a little game of "Tag the Fag".

You know on the plus side this might help some of my gay friends know who to ask out.

And another memo story

More memo news.

I love reading news stories about the impact this memo should be having, because now it appears it actually is having that impact.

Todays shocker! There is a Republican with a heart!

Go visit "Crooks and Liars" at http://www.crooksandliars.com/ to see a video of Republican Representative Walter Jones (You might remember he was the one who coined the term "Freedom fries") talking with George Stephanopoulos. This guy seems to be carrying a monster load of guilt for his support of this war and he is calling for a date for troop withdrawal.

He may just be the only Republican that I would vote for in an election. The guy is clearly speaking from his heart and he not invoking God's name or hiding behind patriotism. He appears to me to be the genuine item. Okay Republicans the line forms here.

(Scroll a little further down at "Crooks and Liars" to see a video concerning the "Downey Street memo" it is heartrenching!)

Republicans see another opportunity to attack those crazy liberal college professors!

Professor Shortell had the temerity to state some very obvious contradictions within religious communities and is suffering their organized outrage. He is the newest academic whipping boy and it is just another example of the Rights desire to erode our institutes of higher learning so that the electorate will be dumbed down enough to believe their bullshit! You wonder why universities are filled with liberal professors? Could it be because they are intelligent enough not to allow themselves to be force fed the conservative talking points? Or because they believe that this country will only be truly great when it treats all of its citizens with respect and dignity?

Besides everybody knows that if you are smart then you are a liberal. Right?

By the way here is a link to the article that started all the fuss.

http://www.anti-naturals.org/theory/religion.html

This lays out exactly how Bush lied our way into war.

The downing Street Memo is finally starting to have the impact that we on the left knew that it would. This just the first few loose rocks to roll down the hill, the avalanche is still to come.

Man check some of these quotes from the above article.

It calls to mind an interesting observation that an unnamed "senior advisor" to President Bush made to a New York Times Magazine reporter last fall:

The aide said that guys like me [i.e., reporters and commentators] were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality-judiciously, as you will-we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do

Here is a quote from Joseph Goebbels. The parallell is absolutely eerie!

There was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, and this will always be "the man in the street." Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology.

It kind of makes you wonder where this administration cribbed it's ideas for world domination. I remember once in a Philosophy class being asked what we would have done if we had beeGermanan citizens when Hitler came to power. Well, what should we do?

Even more information about Iraq lies.

I am going to be watching the Sunday news shows carefully to see if any of them are going to feature these stories. It is unbelievable to me that they can continue to act as if none of these smoking guns exist. Get some balls Russert!

More allegations of evidence tampering come from U.K.

The floodgates are now officially open. I am just going to sit back and enjoy the show.

San Fran on the Memo

I can hardly wait until Thursday to see what Conyers has planned for this administration. I have cleared my calendar completely.

Small victory at home

As I posted earlier I was supposed to go and testify at our local school board meeting yesterday about teaching Evolution to our school children. As it turned out there was a conflict in my schedule and I was unable to make it. Anyhow I spent two days writing what I believe is a very convincing speech about the importance of teaching evolution to the kids and then did not get to amaze them with my oratory gifts. So I thought that you gentle readers would like to give it a read and maybe even write a comment about the impact it might have had.

"I must admit that I am embarrassed that a meeting like this is still necessary in this day and age.

I have had quite a lot of fun ridiculing Kansas and their antiquated school curriculum. And then I wake up and read that Alaska, my home, the place of my birth, is sliding into the same pit of irrelevance.

I am going to forego any attempt at political correctness and just call them like I see them. This is really just an attempt to insinuate a particular belief system into our science curriculum. On the surface it is defined as an innocent call for alternate scientific theories being introduced alongside evolutionary biology. But letÂ’s not allow ourselves to be fooled. This is really an attack on a line of thought that certain believers think places their faith at risk.

These same individuals have no argument with Astrophysics, Archeology, Astronomy, Geology, Geography, and so on, and so on. The reason that Evolution gets separated from the pack is because it dares to suggest that we might not be divinely created. It dares to suggest that we, like all other life on our planet, emerged from a more primitive life form.

Now first there is some confusion over the term theory as it relates to science. A theory is not just a random thought that occurs to a scientist on his ride home from work. A theory is an idea or group of ideas that are suggested by scientific observation. The scientist then continues in the direction that is suggested by the theory, and if it is a good theory, then they keep finding evidence that fits or fleshes out that theory. Now it is a given that the initial theory will change some as the scientists gather more evidence and in the end it may appear somewhat different then when it began. However, if the initial theory is faulty then it will lead to a dead end and fall by the wayside like so many theories that have preceded it. If a theory is valid then it will be reinforced over and over until it is accepted as fact though it will always be referred to as a theory. This is the case with Evolution.


Now the idea that there are all of these other scientific theories which either question evolution or refute it all together is complete garbage! There are two ways to gain fame in the scientific community, either come up with a new theorem or effectively refute an existing theorem. Evolution is not disputed by any reputable scientists. Period!

Without Evolution how would we know that the flu evolves each year so that we have to develop a new vaccine to immunize ourselves against it. If Evolution was just poppycock then it would be a dead end and therefore be of no benefit to other scientific disciplines which it clearly has been. Paleontology, Anthropology, Botany, Microbiology, and many more would be so much less illuminated if not for the framework provided by Evolution.

I have heard from some proponents of Intelligent Design that scientists want to promote anti-religious thinking or that they are promoting their own religion of Humanism. That is really a transparent attempt to level the playing field so that fundamental religious beliefs can be discussed alongside scientific theory as being similar or even the same. For this argument to have any validity we would have to suggest that the scientific community as a whole would be working together to supplant religion and that they were shaping their conclusions in an attempt to do just that.

This could not be further from the truth. The facts are that evolutionary biologists come from all walks of life and from every continent on the planet. They have numerous cultural and religious differences and yet what brings them together is the search for truth. They do not allow their language barriers, religious beliefs, or political affiliations to interfere with their important work.

Just recently, in the last thirty years, paleontologists have considered that dinosaurs might be warm-blooded. And though there is ongoing debate about the subject, nobody is referring to the other as a heretic or non-believer. Science is not based on a belief; it is based on accumulated evidence. If the evidence suggests another direction, then watch the scientific community dutifully trot off to see where it leads. That is their job! There might be some who resist at first but as more and more evidence trickles in they will be forced to alter their thinking or become irrelevant.


I would like to close by mentioning what is probably the most famous example of fundamentalist religious belief interfering with scientific progress. He is now considered the father of modern science but in 1632 Galileo dared publish “Dialogue Concerning two Chief World Systems”. In this book he referred to the theory that Copernicus had postulated 90 years earlier, that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of the universe. For this statement Galileo, a lifetime Catholic whose two daughters became nuns, was vilified and put on trial by the Inquisition. He was ordered to retract his findings, which he did, and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. It was a sad end to the life of this genius who contributed so much to our understanding of our universe.

How can we be standing here, in the twenty-first century, and still be allowing our ignorance to sabotage our progress. We owe it to our children to allow them access to the amazing discoveries that science has afforded us and the opportunity to continue on the path that was forged by the brilliant men and women who came before. "

By the way the school board unanimously decided to start teaching evolution, without quotation marks, in every science class in the school district. That makes me feel a little better.

"Two years before 9/11 Bush intent on invading Iraq" says biographer

Okay mainstream media is this enough? Do you really have to have him on tape saying that he made up the reason to go to war? Maybe we could get him to fail a polygraph. How many smoking guns does it take these days? Damn!

Did anybody, and I mean anybody, not see this coming?

Quick hide your children! They are getting ready to feed them into Vietraq's bottomless pit of death and destruction.

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/06/09_DRAFT.html;COXnetJSessionIDbuild78=CpokqsPln2CCBaBm50bQIOCj7eY66lL7YbzTKJXKTaz5e7U1rNA2!-1945125953?urac=n&urvf=11184150763320.4321547510681185

I am teaching my boys to wear dresses and swish when they walk because being ignorant or drug addicted is no longer a guarantee of being passed over.

If your not willing to suck cock
then pack up your going to Iraq!

Isn't this how the Taliban recruits suicide bombers?

I dare you to read this story from Seattle and not get covered in gooseflesh.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/227497_paynter08.html

This shit has got to stop! Everybody should beup in arms abbout these tactics and send a message to the Pentagon that they need to send their own children before they recruit one more poor eighteen year old kid.

Okay now we are talking!

Man, the Downing Street Memo is dropping like a bomb! Finally the newsprograms are all over this thing! The "Today" show, CNN, MSNBC, "Hardball" finally had a real discussion! It is so gratifying to see this thing finally getting the attention that it deserves.

Colin Powell even lied a bout it on the "Daily Show". If you did not see this exchange between John Stewart and Colin Powell you must visit our friends at http://www.crooksandliars.com/ , they have it posted and it is good stuff. John is really getting his interviewing chops. He knows how to phrase a question so as to be fairly non-threatening while at the same time leaving the guest no option but to answer it or look like a schmuck. Kudos John, kudos to you my friend.

I hear Matt Lauer is the guest tonight maybe John will gift him with some interviewing pointers and then the "Today show" will not have suck so bad!

NEWSFLASH! Marines run out of insurgents, start kicking American ass!

Let's see, they are underpaid, in constant danger, and getting Dear John letters at an incredible pace. Why are they so angry?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1502474,00.html

How they did it.

Below is a link to a news story byRobert Perry of "Consortium News.com".

http://consortiumnews.com/2005/060605.html

Mr. Perry does a great job of detailing how Bush and Blair made the case to invade Iraq, and how they did not let a little thing like a compliant Saddam Hussein or the legality of their actions stand in their way.

(And yes, the Downing Street Memo plays a prominent role.)

Bush got a B in Anthropology?

How in the hell is that possible? According to news reports that I found on "The Drudge Report" (which as you know is always 100% accurate) showing the grades of both John Kerry and our soon to be impeached president at Yale.

In the report it says that Bush had an overall C average but got 88's in Anthropology, History, and Philosophy. Yeah I am stunned as well. How can you get a B in Anthropology and then completely disregard evolution? How does that work?

And history? You mean he actually might know what happened to other countries that suppressed human rights and promoted propaganda?

Now I have a theory. I think that George had met Laura and had her locked in a small room doing his homework to prove her love for him. Or maybe he just paid somebody. I mean could he really have understood those subjects once and then just decided that Yale was trying to control his mind with all of it's fancy information and so he just drank until he forgot all of it?

Have I told you that I hate this administration? Cause I do!

Maybe if we change the name we can finally get this by the intellectuals.

Since I found that this propaganda is being promoted in our schools I am becoming fixated with ferreting it out.

http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?sid=209621&nid=19

Change the name as often as you want we still know that it is Creationism and that aint science!

Bush addresses Downing Street Memo

Bush and Blair are in the middle of a press conference and somebody asked about the memo. First Tony Blair dismissed it as being misrepresentative of what really happened and then Bush denied that they "fixed the intelligence". In other words they are both lying their asses off!

Well at least the cat is completely out of the bag. Now it is up to our independant press to finally do their fucking job!

Ted Kennedy is the Man!

Finally one of our senators has found his spine and confronted the Republicans with their duplicity. Okay Democrats get those siege towers ready.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Kennedy_speaks_out_on_Downing_Street_Memo_Twisted_intelligence_Distorted_f_0607.html

I read to my children every night so why did they turn out so bad?

It is time for our children's books to more closely reflect reality.

http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/humor/Misc/books/books.htm

By the way the next time that you sit in your cubicle hating your job be happy you are none of these people.

http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/humor/Misc/jobs/jobs.htm

I thought I would lighten up my post today.

You don't have to move to Kansas, cause Kansas is coming to get you!

When I finally received my paper today this is what greeted me.

Alaska's science ed standards get an F

This completely put me off my cornflakes. Let's read a little further.

Five years ago, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation -- a private, nonprofit educational think tank -- analyzed state science standards for teaching evolution in public schools.

In the 2000 report Alaska scraped by with a humiliating grade of D. This time the study's author Lawrence S. Lerenr did not let us get off that easy. This time we earned an F. I am so glad that my tax dollars are spent so wisely.

In his independent review of the Murkowski ( I hate this guy) administration's revision of the state's science guidelines -- standards that will face public scrutiny this week before the Alaska Board of Education -- Lerner says the state has fallen to an F, both for its treatment of evolution specifically and its science standards as a whole.
"Within the range of a reasonable set of standards, it was pretty bad," Lerner said recently in a phone interview from his home in Woodside, Calif. "It's clear there are two types of problems. One is, it badly needs a review by experts, people who could go through this and get out these mistakes, and it also needs a copy editor.
"But the big problem is, there is this hypocrisy with respect to evolution. There doesn't seem to be any problem if you use the word 'evolution' in either cosmology or earth science, but suddenly it becomes a nasty word when you're talking about life science. And these sciences are all connected together."
Ultimately, the proposed standards will matter -- once they're adopted by the state Board of Education, which will hold a public hearing on them during a two-day board meeting that begins 8 a.m. Thursday at the Anchorage School District Administration Building on DeBarr Road.
They'll be used to generate questions for science exams (mandated under the federal No Child Left Behind Act) that are due to be administered to public school students statewide beginning in the spring of 2008. And they could matter even more, some educators say, if future science teachers are encouraged to "teach to the test" -- and the test is indifferent to evolution.
Disputes over teaching evolution in Alaska first surfaced in 1993, when the current science standards were drafted during the administration of former Gov. Wally Hickel. At that time, a school board member who worked as a teacher in a private Christian school in Fairbanks proposed adding "creation science" to the standards.
Critics said it would have violated the "separation of church and state" provision in the U.S. Constitution, and the motion narrowly failed on a 3-3 vote. But as a result, the standards the board ultimately adopted down-played the importance of biological evolution, mentioning it only once, in parentheses.
In revising and expanding upon the standards to prepare for the statewide exam, Department of Education and Early Development staffers in the Murkowski administration decided to use the existing guidelines as a starting place. Consequently, some of the same language from the Hickel era carried over -- including the parenthetical reference to evolution.
Lerner thinks the new standards repeat what he considers the old error of marginalizing evolution, then fail in additional ways by ignoring other scientific principles that deserve attention in high school.
"Even if the word were not relegated to parentheses, the (Life Science) standard is still structured as though evolution ... were a side issue or an isolated subject in the life sciences," Lerner wrote in his four-page analysis.
"But in fact, biological evolution serves a purpose in the life sciences parallel to that served by Newton's laws in mechanics or the principle of equivalence in relativity, or the conservation of mass in chemistry or plate tectonics in geology. That is, evolution permeates the entire subject, which cannot really be seen as a scientific whole in its absence."

I have to say that the most upsetting part of this is that I was completely unaware of this problem in our schools. I have much enjoyed making fun of Kansas and its time travel back to the 1600's and all along the problem existed right here in my own backyard.

Well there is going to be a meeting with the schoolboard and yours truly is going to give them a healthy ass kicking. In the mean time I will occasionally look out my window at our majestic mountains to remind myself that we are not in Kansas yet.

The few, the proud, the bottom of the barrel

US lowers standards in army numbers crisis

Jamie Wilson in WashingtonSaturday June 4, 2005The Guardian

The US military has stopped battalion commanders from dismissing new recruits for drug abuse, alcohol, poor fitness and pregnancy in an attempt to halt the rising attrition rate in an army under growing strain as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An internal memo sent to senior commanders said the growing dropout rate was "a matter of great concern" in an army at war. It told officers: "We need your concerted effort to reverse the negative trend. By reducing attrition 1%, we can save up to 3,000 initial-term soldiers. That's 3,000 more soldiers in our formations."

Are we really going to lower our standards below a Lynndie England level? How much dumber and vacant eyed do we want our military to be? I want to believe that the American Military Force is filled with physical and intellectual marvels but there is growing evidence to suggest that these poor bastards are being sent to die because they just could not figure out another way to support themselves.

Don't get me wrong I support our soldiers and I want every one of them home safe. But I know that if we cannot send more capable combatants then drug addled high school drop-outs then the soldiers over there are screwed!

At this point the only way to save our troops is to get them the hell out of there! I know that we will lose face around the world. I know that we open ourselves to being threatened and ignored by countries that were intimidated by us in the past. But we should have thought of all of that before we went into Vietraq and engaged in a war that George W.'s father told everybody would be unwinnable. It is too late now. Our reputation is beyond salvaging, but the lives of our boys can and must be saved. Bring them home!

Time will be on our side in the long run. If we elect a competent president in 2008 and spend the next twenty years cleaning up our own house and being supportive to other countries, we just might be able to gain back most of our integrity. We may no longer be a superpower (China is taking that role) but we can keep our country from splitting apart which is what is going to happen if this administration even hints at reinstating the draft. America will see rioting in the streets and Georgie-boy will have to sneak out of the country under cover of darkness.

I have three children of enlistment age and I can tell you that I will fight to the death to keep them from going to die in an illegal war. I am not alone in that sentiment by a long shot. I love my country. It is time to make the hard choices and do what is right.

SCOTT McCLELLAND YOU SOULLESS SYCOPHANT APOLOGIZE NOW!

That's right you you crotch sniffing cur, you owe the fine people at Newsweek and Michael Isikoff an apology!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8090656/

But let's not stop there, you owe the news media in general an apology! But let's not stop there, you owe the American people an apology for interfering with our right to access information by attacking our sources of said information and sending them scurrying into their cubicles! You self righteous bastard!

It is shit like this that is keeping the majority of the public in the dark about the "Downing Street Memo" and other important news stories. We need to call these assholes on this crap everytime they try and take our eyes off of the story and direct it back on the media. If we don't protect our MSM it is going to become extinct. I am sorry my fellow bloggers, I know that many of you are anxious to take their place but I am old fashioned I want to sit down, turn on the news, and see some actual news. Damn I hate these guys!

Man do I have a lot of reading to do!

I saw these bozos on that "Coast to Coast" program today. This is some conservative "think tank" that identifies these books as the most harmful for Americans to read. Now I am ashamed to admit that I have only read the first two. Surprisingly I am neither a Communist nor a Nazi. Maybe I did not read them carefully enough.

Anyhow, my immoral brethren, this is your reading list for the summer. Good luck.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=7591

Look who is coming late to the party.

Kerry assails Bush on Iraq Policies on Social Security, health care also draw fire
By STEVE URBON, Standard-Times senior correspondent NEW BEDFORD --

Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday called on Americans to be more aware of the "bait and switch" Iraq war and the "hollowing out" of the Army in the pursuit of a mistaken policy. In a swing through SouthCoast, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee attacked the priorities of the Republican Party and President Bush, elaborating on what they are sacrificing -- health care for children, infrastructure, Social Security -- in the pursuit of tax cuts. "The Holy Grail of the Republican Party is a tax cut, whether or not we need it," he said in a meeting with The Standard-Times editorial board. Sen. Kerry puzzled over the apparent lack of interest by Americans in the Iraq war and the near silence in the U.S. mass media about the so-called Downing Street Memo. That leaked secret document, the minutes of a 2002 cabinet meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, says bluntly that Mr. Bush had decided to attack Iraq long before going to Congress with the matter, and that "intelligence was being fixed around the policy." It caused an uproar in Great Britain and badly hurt Mr. Blair in national elections but went almost unnoticed in the United States. "When I go back (to Washington) on Monday, I am going to raise the issue," he said of the memo, which has not been disputed by either the British or American governments. "I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home. And it's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you that." He questioned Americans' understanding of the war and the sense that criticism equals disloyalty, saying, "Do you think that Americans if they really understood it would feel that way knowing that on Election Day, 77 percent of Americans who voted for Bush believed that weapons of mass destruction had been found and 77 percent believe Saddam did 9/11? Is there a way for this to break through, ever?" Earlier in the day, Sen. Kerry met in a "town hall"-style meeting with about 75 seniors, where he assailed the recently passed Medicare prescription drug benefit, the GOP's tax cuts for wealthy Americans and the attempts to privatize Social Security. He said to the largely supportive group, "The next time one of those conservative senators or congressmen comes to you and starts talking to you about American values, I want you to look him in the eye and say, what is the value that is represented in providing the wealthiest people in America with a great big tax cut at the expense of the poorest people in the country?" "I went back and reread the New Testament the other day, and I've got news for you. Nowhere in the three-year ministry of Jesus Christ is there any suggestion at all that you ought to take from the poor and give to the rich and leave children at risk," he said to a loud round of applause. Invoking the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal's "safety net," Sen. Kerry accused Mr. Bush and the GOP of misleading the public about Social Security and their intentions. "They're never telling the truth," he said. "There were people who opposed Social Security in the '30s and '40s. There were people who voted against Medicare in the last quarter-century. And they're still there," he said. He dismissed claims that Social Security will be bankrupt by 2042 or 2052, but "Medicare Part A does go bankrupt in 2020. Why isn't the president talking about that?" Several seniors quizzed Sen. Kerry about the practice of penalizing Social Security recipients who have other sources of income, especially those who have lost their spouses or who worked for some time outside the Social Security system. Sen. Kerry replied that he and others are backing legislation to ease those cuts, which one city resident said were causing her to have to sell her home. Dartmouth resident Robert Michaud made a case for private retirement accounts, charging that they have been shown to produce a better rate of return than Social Security. A person making $90,000 a year puts $12,000 into Social Security, he said. Raising that income cap "is not tweaking, it's a crime," he said. Later in the day, Sen. Kerry attended a forum in Fall River discussing the Head Start program.

Well it is about fucking time!

Now where are the rest of the Democrats?

This poster kicks the mainstream media's ass!

To Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw:

This morning, I turned on TV briefly (to catch the weather report, since we really need rain here in Tennessee) and I heard the two of you discussing the self-outing of "Deep Throat" yesterday. At the end of your on-air discussion, you said, "If there's another Deep Throat out there, give us a call, won't you. We're waiting for your call."Yeah, bullshit. For the past eight months, thousands of people have been sending you information on the 2004 stolen election and you've been ignoring it like a burning herpes sore on your anus when your wife asks you why you just can't sit still. So here's one more attempt to call your bluff. How about contacting Clint Curtis and Sherole Eaton, both of whom have very important stories to tell about the 2004 election theft, and neither of whom is hiding anything (including their identities).Clint Curtis has testified under oath numerous times and has taken a polygraph test (which he passed) saying that he was hired by Tom Feeney (now a Republican Congressman from Florida and the chief beneficiary of Tom DeLay's largess) to create a software program to hack electronic voting machines (and throw the elections) in south Florida. Sherole Eaton has been fired as an elections official in Ohio after going public with an affidavit saying that a Triad employee (another electronic voting equipment vendor) had illegally tampered with the vote tabulating equipment in her county (including replacing the hard drive) just before the sham recount occurred there. Once again, neither of these brave Americans have hidden their identities or their stories. But they may as well have, for all the attention that you and the rest of the corporate media has given their stories since they went public.So don't fool yourselves, because you certainly are not fooling us. There are no more Woodwards and Bernsteins left in the corporate media, only patriotism-deficient reporters competing to out-trivialize "Access Hollywood" on the evening (non) news. If you had an ounce of journalistic curiosity or patriotic relevance left, you would write Clint Curtis immediately (his email is above) and arrange an on-camera interview tomorrow. Or you would contact Bob Fitrakis with the Columbus Free Press or Brad Friedman with BradBlog (whose email addresses are also listed above) to conduct an interview with Ms. Eaton -- I am sure they would be happy to arrange it right away. If you don't do those things, stop kidding yourself that you are American journalists in the Woodward/Bernstein tradition any more than the "hot military stud" whose presence in OUR White House press corps was another quickly forgotten and barely covered story. Your self-imposed journalistic castration says more about your fear of, or fawning flirtatiousness with, this illegitimate regime which has captured our country than anything that you and your bloated cohorts have revealed in quite some time."Deep Throat, call us -- we're waiting." Waiting for what -- to put Clint and Sherole on indefinite hold, where they can listen to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" played ad nauseum until the shuttle service to Gitmo comes to pick them up. Shame on you folks -- your on-camera hubris is only matched by your irrelevance these days.So get in touch with Clint and Sherole or stop pretending you do anything of value for this country. Hurry along now, there must be another celebrity somewhere doing something else nauseating enough to keep us distracted while our votes are stolen and our democracy is smothered under a Paris Hilton-stained pillow.If you're what passes for journalists these days, we don't need no steenkin' journalists. At least not ones who cash GE checks.

Most assuredly,Fly by night

Now that is telling it like it is.

Hell just froze the fuck over!

In what must be the most unexpected move ever in journalistic history Fox news (yeah that Fox news) has broken the story of the "Downing Street Memo". They take some shots at its importance but nonetheless they have accurately depicted what it says and the movement on the left to get it more noticed by the MSM. Here read it for yourself. Damn!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158228,00.html

Thank God somebody clarified this for me.

An oldie but a goodie) You know you're a Republican when...
...Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
...trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
...A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
...Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
...the best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
...providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
...global warming is junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
...being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

I just did a gut check and, yep, I am still a bleading heart liberal.