But Then It Was Too Late

"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security."

{Sound familiar so far? This next part is the part I really like!}

"And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it."

"They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955 By Milton Mayer

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CHIP legislation

G.W.: The program increase will be paid for by raising taxes on the working class. (Paraphrase, near quote).

In actuality it will be paid for by a 61 cent tax increase on cigarettes which industry is dependent predominantly on the working class. In other words, it will be bad for the Tobacco Industry.

Say what you mean, man. Bad for workers hooked on a legal substance, but generally bad for big business as more people will quit using this destructive substance for survival reasons. The folks who use cigarettes will simply be less capable of affording them.

And as sales go down, hurting the profit margins of the elite, where, pray tell will the money come from then?

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Blackwatergate

"September 26, 2007
Breaking: DOD Team To Investigate Security Contractors
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a Pentagon investigation of security contractors in Iraq, CNN's Jamie McIntyre is reporting. The probe comes after a deadly gunfight involving Blackwater employees raised questions about oversight of foreign contractors in Iraq. Gates was unsatisfied with preliminary U.S. reports on the shooting, McIntyre reports. We'll update with details.

Posted at 1:28 PM Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates"

And as quickly as the investigation begins, the Stonewalling also begins.

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War is a commercial enterprise, and O'Reilly can Kiss my ass!

There was a time when I would have supported the election of Collin Powel for Commander and Chief. Of course, that was before he sold out to the money whores and bowed out in disgrace. I hope everyone notices the fate of Bush Administration officials who defy or even disagree with Dumbia and Darth Vader.

Watch this interview on Real Time...

Everyone made such a fuss about the President of Iran speaking at Columbia University calling him a liar (among other things) and comparing him to Hitler. My problem is that virtually everything that I heard said about him could be said about George Dumbia, yet no one dares say such truths about our peerless leader. Mainstream media certainly won't, or they would lose their corporate subsidies.

I was participating in an online discussion at beliefnet about a year ago where I identified as a Buddhist and I was complaining about current events and one of the participants told me that Buddhists weren't suppose to "worry about stuff like that". I quit participating on beliefnet. But the circumstance has nagged at the back of my mind ever since. Now, I see Buddhist Monks in Myanmar marching in the streets in protest of military rule and in favor of Democracy. So, I guess we do worry about these things. I guess it is like the Christian admonition to be in this world but not of it.

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The Downing Street "Memo"

Today is September 21, 2007, 869 days since congressional request for investigation. (maybe it has begun...). But I doubt it. The Downing Street "Memo"

Published by The Sunday Times on May 1, 2005 this document was the first hard evidence from within the UK or US governments that exposed the truth about how the Iraq war began.

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The Police State Is Right Here, Right Now

Carolyn Baker writes this stunning critique of Naomi Wolf's "10 easy steps" to Fascism. I can't add a word to either of these bold women other than "that's all I'm tryin' to say!". You can see Naomi's interview on The Colbert Report here. These articles are a must read for all American's!

In the "10 easy steps" outlined by Wolf, countries move from open to closed and repressive societies by devolving past certain markers, and Wolf makes a powerful case for the way in which the United States is following a similar pattern without any significant deviation. In each instance she compares and contrasts how America's adherence to the pattern compares or contrasts with the pattern in pre-World War II Germany. The 10 steps are:

1. Invoking an external and internal threat
2. Establishing secret prisons
3. Developing a paramilitary force
4. Surveiling ordinary citizens
5. Infiltrating citizens' groups
6. Arbitrarily detaining and releasing citizens
7. Targeting key individuals
8. Restricting the press
9. Casting criticism as "espionage" and dissent as "treason"
10. Subverting the rule of law

Watch the Colbert interview here.

Bush Administration Flooding Iraqi Black Market With Billions Of Dollars In Weapons

Think Progress?
Come on! And what, pray tell, did I say in my email that Jack Cafferty read?

G.W.: "The reason there is not instant democracy in Iraq..."

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 , at approximately 10:02 AM, the fascist imperialist George W. Bush said, "The reason there is not instant democracy in Iraq is because the people of Iraq have still not recovered from the brutal rule of Saddam Hussien."

Bull Shit!

They haven't recovered from the fact that their death tolls have increased over 400% since we invaded them! This fact is exposed in a report from CNN reporter Michael Ware.

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Terrorism: Insurgency: Patriotism

I was watching a CNN story about the Predator Drone Unmanned Fighting and Surveillance Vehicle. The drone was survialing the area around an Air Force Base in Iraq when it spotted a lone, un-uniformed man standing outside of his car just off the base perimeter. He had just set up a mortar and was dropping a shell into the tube. It launched. He dropped another into the tube which did not launch. He apparently decided not to attempt to disarm the dud shell and left the tube, got into his car and drove away. The drone then followed him, targeted his car, and blew it, with him in it, to smithereens. He was labeled an insurgent, terrorist.

Now, I have no particular aversion to firing back at anyone shooting at me. And I afford soldiers that same right. But they had no intelligence suggesting WHO this man was. So, why the label? Could he not just as easily be called an Iraqi Patriot? After all, he was not in any uniform nor identifiable as with any particular organization (save for the hardware). And he was shooting at an occupying imperial invasion force.

Which leads me to my next example. What, pray tell, is the difference between using a person or a car to deliver an explosive devise and using a million dollar missile guidance system? Does the actual cost of the missile delivery system define the difference between an evil bomb and a righteous bomb?

And what about "U.S. Security Contractors"? We used to call soldiers for hire, Mercenaries and they usually were hired by the CIA to work black operations. Now, these mercenaries are boldly hired and deployed by the U.S. Government and sanctioned, if not outright ordered by, the White House! They don't even care about deniable plausibility any more.

The current resident ot the White House and all of his minions and cronies are simply bad and evil men. There is little room for debate on the issue. And they are going to drag all of America straight to hell with them. Is your insecurity really so great that you will idly set by and give them free reign to spread fascist capitalism in the name of freedom as you freely allow them to erode and deny you your constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms?

Too late, you already have. And your patriotic civic pride that prevents you from even listening to anything that sounds remotely unpatriotic is your Achilles heel.

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Cafferty: Buying a gun?

At long last Jack Cafferty of CNN read one of my responses on his segment of the Situation Room, the Cafferty File. The question is regarding a proposed Maryland State initiative which would require potential gun purchasers to sign a release of information for their mental health records in a knee jerk reaction by lawmakers to the VA Tech massacre.
.
Jack's question: What kind of restrictions should there be on gun purchases?
My response:
Jack,
I thought the free market premise is that if I have the money to buy something then it is good for everyone! After all, we as a nation have sold weapons to bin Laden, Norieaga, the Suni's, the Shia, Saddam, and a never ending list of criminals.I fail to see the free market rational for prohibiting sales to someone who merely had a bad 'month'.

I am proud that Jack and/or his team thought my comment worthy of reading on the air. I just hope that my sarcasm and criticism for free market ideas was not lost in translation.

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Republican quotes on war before they took charge

KY's Senior Senator Mitch McConnell said during a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate
"Domestic terrorism is not a cause we have to fight or a project we need to fund. We are not interested in capturing bin Laden. Even though he has been offered to us. We are not the world's policemen. It's not our job to clean up other countries messes or arrest it's bad guys."


"You can support the troops but not the president."--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years."--Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?"--Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy."--Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)"

American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy."--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy."
--Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area."--Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today"--Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."-- Governor George W. Bush (R)-TX

Uh, what was that, George?

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Iranian influence increasing in Iraq

We better nuke 'em before they fix what we broke!

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Oh my God, They're on to us!

Government Targets American Bloggers As Enemy Propagandists

Read it here: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/october2006/171006enemypropagandists.htm

And they said freedom of speech was dead...

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Anti-War protesters arrested and attacked with pepper spray

CNN has just reported (Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:53 PM) that Anti-War protesters arrested and attacked with pepper spray. They don't mention that Pro-war demonstrators are being given a wide berth to heckle and harass Anti-War protesters.

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UK Bank runs out of money, lines grow

UK Bank runs out of money, lines grow

As the US economic problems reach over the great pond, Britain’s 5th largest mortgage lender has been forced to ask the Bank of England for hard cash. Northern Rock has simply ran out of money for it’s customers to withdraw.

Link above

So, my dream is coming true! I've been saying for months that all I had to live for in the Heartland is natural disaster (hence, I closely monitor weather and the USGC). In recent weeks I have added the collapse of the American Economy to my 'reasons to live', as it is right around the corner, or as this article suggests, 'across the pond'.

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No one is above the law — guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

The Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution especially included an impeachment clause for high officers who violate the principles of the Constitution as stated in Article II Section 4 — 

“The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Alexander Hamilton asserted that an impeachment was warranted for "those offences which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust… as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself." And James Madison at Virginia’s ratification convention stated: “A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution.”

As fact after fact come forth revealing the truths of the Iraq War and a democracy turning into a tyranny behind the mask of wartime necessity, President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney have continuously abused their powers, abused public trust, and violated the constitutional principles in an attempt to subvert the Constitution. The American people and the Congress can now hold the President and the Vice President accountable for their misconduct and unconstitutional actions against the United States of America.

Besides violating the Presidential Oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution (Article II Section 1) and violating his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed (Article II Section 3), George W. Bush along with Richard Cheney stand to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and for violating the following Articles and Bill of rights of the United States Constitution:

1. manipulated intelligence and media so as to allege falsely a national security threat posed by Iraq

—    provided a forged document dated October 2000, describing the sale of uranium to Iraq by Niger to the International Atomic Energy Commission and used that sale in the State of the Union Address 

(TRUTH: CIA claimed that Bush knew beforehand that the document was bogus.)

—    justified war against Iraq by providing false information, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD)

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."  – Bush’s Address to the Nation (March 17, 2003)

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."  

– Cheney’s Speech at Veterans of Foreign Wars 103^rd National Convention (August 26, 2002)  

(TRUTH: No WMD)

—    misled the nation to believe Iraq was linked to the terrorist attacks of September 11th by Al-Qaeda

"He (Saddam Hussein) was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. He was a threat because he was a sworn enemy to the United States of America, just like Al-Qaeda. He was a threat because he had terrorist connections — not only Al-Qaeda connections, but other connections to terrorist organizations."  – Bush (New York Times 6-18-2004)

“If we’re successful in Iraq…we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under the assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.”  – Cheney (Meet The Press 9-14-2003)

(TRUTH: Commission Investigation Report on Sept. 11 terrorist attacks found no “collaborative relationship” between Iraq and the Al-Qaeda terrorists. The only relationship was that Al-Qaeda contacted Iraq for support but was rejected. Al-Qaeda terrorists didn’t operate in Iraq until after the invasion by the U.S. military forces.)

2. deceived the Congress on the rationale for a war of aggression against Iraq and miscarried the action of the Congress

(Violation of the Federal Anti-conspiracy Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371 and The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. § 1001)

—    submitted a false report and a letter (March 18, 2003) to the United States Congress on the reasons for launching a ‘pre-emptive attack’ on Iraq (Downing Street Memo, dated July 23, 2002, revealed that by the summer of 2002, President Bush had decided to launch a war against Iraq with the justification of terrorism and WMD based on ‘fixed’ facts and intelligence.)

(Violation of Article 1 Section 8)

(TRUTH: The Oct. 2002 resolution passed by the Congress gave Bush the authority “to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States….” The resolution never granted the president authority to declare war on Iraq. In fact, only Congress can declare war for the United States.)

(Violation of Article II Section 3)

—    shifted money allocated by Congress for the war in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq. (President can only execute the laws passed by Congress.)

3. ignoring the executive duty to protect the American citizens and the country

—    failed as leaders in their dereliction of duty in preventing September 11 terrorist attacks

(Commission Investigation Report on September 11 terrorist attacks noted that the Bush Administration received heightened warnings of possible terrorist attacks in the summer of 2001 and a presidential daily briefing (August 6, 2001 – a month before September 11) regarding an imminent terrorist attack on U.S. soil.)

(Violation of Bill of Rights: Fifth Amendment)

—    denyingthe citizen’s constitutional rights for a fair trial

(ConfiningAmerican citizens without charges and denying their fundamental rights for due process of law.)

—    diverting military resources from pursuing known terroristsin Afghanistan 

(As the Commander-in-Chief, Bush diverted military resources from Afghanistan to Iraq. Instead of conducting an all-out effort in pursuing known terrorists, such as Osama Bin Laden who have repeatedly attacked the United States of America, the U.S. military forces were diverted to invade and occupy Iraq. To this day, Osama Bin Laden remains at large and still a threat.)

4. waging an illegal war in Iraq

(Violation of Article VI)

—    defied the decisions of the United Nations against attacking Iraq is a violation of the UN Charter

(Violation of Article VI)

—    committing a war of aggression is a violation of the Nuremberg Charter

(killing and injuring hundred thousands of civilians)

     (TRUTH: By violating the International Laws that the U.S. agreed to by treaty, Bush has violated the “supreme Law of the Land.”)

(Violation of Article VI and Article III Section 3)

—    authorizing the use of torture on detainees in prison camps, such as the infamous Iraq's Abu Ghraib and Cuba's Guantanamo Bay 

(As the Commander-in-Chief, Bush is accountable for the U.S. military personnel in violating the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution against torture ratified in 1994.)

(TRUTH: Since Bush’s declaration of “Mission Accomplished” at the end of Iraq war two years ago, the deaths and injuries of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis continue to climb every day. Despite a newly established Iraqi government, Iraq remains unstable and its future unclear.)

In the last thirty-one years, considering the two previous presidential impeachments — Richard Nixon charged for obstructing justice, abuse of powers, and unlawful refusal to supply material subpoenaed by the House of Representatives; Bill Clinton charged for perjury and obstruction of justice — George Bush certainly warrants an impeachment not only for his lengthy list but also for the severity of the impeachable offenses.

Although Cheney keeps a low profile, he has worked behind the scenes as one of the most powerful vice presidents, regarded as a driving force behind the Iraq war and the Bush administration’s energy policy, according to the White House insiders. He withheld the details of his energy task force meetings with energy industry leaders to help formulate the administration’s national energy policy. He denied that heplayed any role in awarding a billion-dollar business contract to Halliburton, where Cheney was chief executive from 1995 to 2000. Hehas shaped the administration's strategy in the war on terrorism. Undoubtedly, Cheney's shadow looms larger than Bush's presence in the Oval Office. 

Along with their own 2004 and 2000 elections under the suspicion of fraud, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney at the helm of the administration, have led this nation to an illegal and ongoing war, economic disaster, environmental decline, and international disgrace.

It's time for the American people to speak out. It's time for the Congress to do their duty.  It’s time for the American people, through the representatives of the Congress, to impeach the President and the Vice President of the United States. 

Copyright © 2005 UniOrb  

*Note: You may copy this article without permission. The only requirement is to include the byline and the URL like this:

By Diana Lee

UniOrb (Reality Check) (http://uniorb.com)

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General Petreaus' Credibility questioned?

I'm astonished by the "General Betray Us" add and all of the rhetoric calling his honesty into question. He DID only parrot everything our peerless leader has been saying for the past few months. But I don't really see how that is 'dishonesty' on his part. A quick look at the duration of the cluster fuck in Iraq should be sufficient to convince us that he is merely protecting his job by following orders. Every single other General and senior official on the Bush team who has ever disagreed with G.W. concerning foreign affairs has been summarily canned. My god, sheople have such short memories.

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So America is a Wealthy Nation?

Just check out these government agency reported statistics:

http://www.bea.gov/international/bp_web/simple.cfm?anon=71&table_id=20&area_id=3
and http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit

It's enough to curl your socks. I now have more than just natural disasters to look forward to! I can root for the collapse of the American Economy, too! Hell, it's right around the corner.

It strikes me as odd that the Fed will bail out corporations when they get into trouble, yet when virtually half of American home owners get into trouble the prez sez they shouldn't have gotten themselves into debt in the first place! Such a nice guy...

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"I Fell For That B.S.!"

6 Minute Video

Adam Kokesh spoke, on July 17, 2007, at a rally held in the Upper Senate Park, opposite the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Kokesh is with the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) organization. He is a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18339.htm

"I took an oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic..."

I ask you simply, who is the greatest enemy to our Constitution, Islam or G.W. and his corporate cronies? HH

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Petraeus, Seeing Gains in Iraq as Fragile, Is Wary of Cuts

Petraeus, Seeing Gains in Iraq as Fragile, Is Wary of Cuts

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." : Texas Governor George W. Bush, April 9, 1999, on the US intervention in Kosovo

As a former Marine who worked in sensitive positions at Head Quarters Marine Corps, Atlantic I am anxious for someone to explain to me why we even need a professional soldier, a warrior, one with a vested interest in continuing combat with ANYONE, to explain to us, the people, why we should remain in a quagmire that even the most obtuse will admit has been a failure.

Don't piss on me and tell me that it is raining!

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Bush says Bin Laden tape is a reminder of a dangerous world

This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black! Every time G.W. speaks I am reminded of how dangerously stupid he is and of how dangerously stupid the sheople are for allowing him to remain not only free, but free to dig our graves deeper. I don't know who is the bigger moron. The dangerous idiot or the idiots that allow him to continue to be dangerous. He is our very own Taliban, our very own Saddam! Americans are straight up morons!

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Judge Rules Provisions of Patriot Act Unconstitutional

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 6, 2007; 3:36 PM

A federal judge today struck down portions of the USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI to stop issuing "national security letters" that secretly demand customer information from Internet service providers and other businesses.

Read the full story here.

Woo Hoo! Appearantly not everyone is asleep at the wheel!

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"Bush didn't give a fuck about the intelligence."

The next day, Sept. 18, Tenet briefed Bush on Sabri. "Tenet told me he briefed the president personally," said one of the former CIA officers. According to Tenet, Bush's response was to call the information "the same old thing." Bush insisted it was simply what Saddam wanted him to think. "The president had no interest in the intelligence," said the CIA officer. The other officer said, "Bush didn't give a fuck about the intelligence. He had his mind made up."

Read the whole story here.

And all CNN can do is hype the possibility of Usama bin Laden making another earth shattering statement of "the same old thing."; that WE are liars and meddlers and theives.

Who is the liar? Turn off the Christian War Machine rhetoric...for Christ's sake!

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WMD's...Redoux

Alas, the chemical weapons, marked as such and stored in a file cabinet in the U.N. building in New York City, are reported to be common cleaning compounds. Was Saddam going to scrub us clean to death or is this just more misinformation? I'm getting to the point that I simply do not care. Can we really continue to trust our security to these bumbling boobs? In the words of "South Park" on comedy central, our choice in any election is between a giant douche and a turd  sandwich. Why should we continue to care?

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Shiva, the destroyer of Worlds

And just who IS the destroyer of worlds? Little Big Boy and his all Christian delivery crew?

Watch it here

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American ineptitude with weapons of mass destruction

First, we found Saddam's WMD's filed in a drawer in the United Nations building. Now, we are flying Nukes around the U.S. with pilots unaware of their payload. This is blatant evidence that we are indeed our own worst enemy and a genuine threat to all of mankind!

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Germany: Plot targeted U.S. facilities

BERLIN - Three suspected Islamic terrorists from an al-Qaida-influenced group nursing "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" (emphasis mine) were arrested on suspicious of plotting imminent, massive bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Read the full story here...

I find the wording in this article extremely suspect. The idea that they "hate" all Amercians is a sweeping statement that is generally speaking, untrue. What they hate is Capitalism and U.S. foreign policy that has traditionally oppressed their people and robbed their wealth. And inflammatory statements such as "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" are intended to make the reader fear for their own life while continuing to promote ignorance and misinformation.

And these people have centuries of reason to hate Capitalism and U.S. foreign policy.Christian programming never, ever ceases to amaze me! Hell, I hate Capitalism and U.S. foreign policy! We are the enemy!

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Retired UK general criticizes U.S. Iraq policy

Retired Gen. Sir Mike Jackson also singled out Rumsfeld for criticism, saying his approach to the invasion was "intellectually bankrupt," according to quotes excerpted from his autobiography and published by The Daily Telegraph Saturday. Read it here

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Dana Gould on abortion...

Watch it on Comedy Central

...and now you know!

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