Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day let us remember all those who sacrificed their lives for this country. Currently in Iraq that number is 4,081 American soldiers killed. Noone should have to give their life for light and transient reasons. That is why we are opposed to this war.

Here is my Memorial Day cartoon based on the theme song to the 60's television western "Rawhide". I thought a song about cowboys herding cattle to slaughter somehow appropriate for our current "cowboy" President.

Click on cartoon for larger image.

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"Memorial Day" >>

"Letters Give C.I.A. Tactics a Legal Rationale"…

…sez the headline from this article in the NYT. Big Brother just got a big boost in the favored means to extract information from prisoners that may have knowledge of a future 'terrorist attack.'

Excerpt:

The Justice Department has told Congress that American intelligence operatives attempting to thwart terrorist attacks can legally use interrogation methods that might otherwise be prohibited under international law.[…]

“The fact that an act is undertaken to prevent a threatened terrorist attack, rather than for the purpose of humiliation or abuse, would be relevant to a reasonable observer in measuring the outrageousness of the act,” said Brian A. Benczkowski, a deputy assistant attorney general, in the letter, which had not previously been made public.[…]

If the United States used subjective standards in applying its interrogation rules, he said, then potential enemies might adopt different standards of treatment for American detainees based on an officer’s rank or other factors.

“The cumulative effect in my interpretation is to put American troops at risk,” Mr. Wyden said.

Aw, c'mon people! Under these terms any one of us could be snatched off the street and tortured just because your next door neighbor is tired of your barking dog and calls in a report that you are engaged in 'terrorist activity.'

This is an open order allowing the torture of anyone as long as they are tortured in the name of national defense. Everyone 'may' be presumed to pose a threat and thus be subjected to torture. This means ALL of us are prospective torture victims.

Big Brother is not only here, he has unpacked his bags, taken residence in the home of the bush/cheney torture rooms, and awaits his first victim to apply state approved torture, secretly, without benefit of habeas corpus, no attorneys, and the whereabouts of the suspected terrorist unknown to the victim's family.

When will we bring back coliseums, sell tickets, and start feeding terrorists to the lions if they won't talk? Might as well have Roman-style entertainment to enjoy while Caesar bush cheers on the lions. Entertainment for the masses.

And soon, the end of empire.

Pity our poor troops that will face having to endure inhumane torture because of this policy for it is they who pay the price of bad leadership.

Cross-posted from VidiotSpeak

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"U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran"…

…says the headline in the washingtonpost.com.

Excerpt:

The nation's top military officer said yesterday that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" as one of several options against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.

It's official, people.

Our itty-bitty ever more irrelevant Fearful Leader has his surrogates taking over the bellicose talk to prepare the nation for yet another war we cannot afford, and one that we may not be able to win.

With all the continuing investment in Iran by Russia and China can anyone reasonably believe they are going to sit on their hands and do nothing while billions and billions of their investments get blown to hell?

It's all over 'cept for the cryin' and die'n.

Cross-posted from VidiotSpeak

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When your military just isn't broke enough go and give 'em a lot of guff…

… which seems to be the purpose of Gates' latest comments slamming the Air Force:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in old ways of doing business."

Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been "like pulling teeth."

Addressing officer students at the Air Force's Air University, the Pentagon chief praised the Air Force for its overall contributions but made a point of urging it to do more and to undertake new and creative ways of thinking about helping the war effort instead of focusing mainly on future threats.

"In my view we can do and we should do more to meet the needs of men and women fighting in the current conflicts while their outcome may still be in doubt," he said. "My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield."[…]

He likened the urgency of the task force's work to that of a similar organization he created last year to push for faster production and deployment of mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles that have been credited with saving lives of troops facing attacks by roadside bombs in Iraq.

So in other words Gates is pleading for the equipment they should have had ready before the war commenced, just like body armor, and specially armored vehicles for the troops.

There was no mention of how many of our troops have died needlessly because the bush maladministration failed to properly plan and prepare for war.

And without a single combat-ready brigade available on our continent to defends us in the event of a sudden attack, maybe the Air Force, unlike Gates, bush, and cheney, realizes that some resources should be held back for a fight with a REAL enemy and not the mythical and useless war on terra which has no bounds, will never end, and that is depriving the citizens of America the just attention and monetary policies required of our leadership to actually provide a functioning government of, by, and for the people.

Cross-posted from VidiotSpeak

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"When your military just isn't broke enough go and give 'em a lot of guff…" >>

No need to cheer, food rationing is finally here…

…which alone should be enough to clue us in that we need to change our ways now that we are a third rate, third world banana republic with no bananas.

Isn't this just another sign on our highway to hell for being such war pigs?

And if the new war pig elected doesn't renounce war and start using all that additional money for the good of mankind instead of conducting genocide to steal oil resources, it will get worse to the point that the only two TRUE superpowers, Russia and China, will eventually either attack and defeat us militarily or break us completely by dropping the dollar as a stable currency upon which the world used to rely. The resultant run on the banks would wipe us out financially.

Maybe Russia or China will put into place better policies that would produce a better life for Americans. At least we could petition them for government aid.

People really don't see any parallels between Russia losing almost everything from over-the-top spending on defense and war-making during the Cold War and where America is now?

Cross-posted from VidiotSpeak

NOTE 4-27-08: When I wrote this I guess I 'assumed' that everyone would be aware that Costco and other warehouse stores were rationing rice, limiting customers to only two 20-lb. bags of rice per customer. I have since realized that this post might not make sense if you were not aware of that fact. I apologize for any confusion, but when one of the world's main staples in food runs short, it is time to start worrying.

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"…McCain is the rare exception who is not assumed to be willing to sacrifice personal credibility to prevail in any contest."…

So says David Broder in one of the funniest statements of all time, not just today. I know he believes people still take him as seriously as he does himself, but really, this statement has to be the funniest lie I ever heard about or read of John McCain.

Cross-posted from VidiotSpeak

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