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Open thread 8/13
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted Aug. 13, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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60 Comments
Okay, Rove is out, or at least going, who are you going to pick on now?
It’s called “git while the gittin’s good.”
Rove is running away from Congressional scrutiny. He’s the classic rat leaving the sinking ship.
With the departure of “Bush’s Brain,” (The Big) Dick Cheney continues to consolidate his power over the White House. Next up, the Veep will go hunting with Shrub.
Rove is the ultimate Political animal, amoral and like some thinks everything revolves around partisan politics. Though he was not a part of the PNAC pact, his cut throat politics worked well for them. It is doubtful he grew principles, even Bush was aware that if things got to close to Rove going down with the ship. Rove could turn on him at a moments notice. In a sense that is why Bush wanted him as close as he could get him. Bush knew that it was better to have the other end of the leash of this rabid Pit bull.
Too much spotlight has been put upon Rove of late and he prefers to be a behind the scene guy. Black Ops is his stock and trade, he will now look for another horse to hatch his wagon to, one that will give him free range to do what he does best. Its a good thing the decision on the new Pope is over, otherwise there would have been one candidate for the post that the swift boaters would be swearing had molested them as a child!BUT if I were Rove I would be the one and not G.W. who should be afraid of another hunting accident!Bush is clueless, Rove knows to much and is aware he knows too much about Cheney and the inter working of the Administration.
Wall Street Subsidies:
Stock Market Brushfire; Will there be a run on the banks?
By Mike Whitney
08/12/07 “ICH” — – On Friday, the Dow Jone’s clawed its way back from a 200 point deficit to a mere 31 point loss after the Federal Reserve injected $38 billion into the banking system. The Fed had already pumped $24 billion into the system a day earlier after the Dow plummeted 387 points. That brings the Fed’s total commitment to a whopping $62 billion.
By some estimates, $326.3 billion has now been added to the G-7 Nations’ intra-banking system to prevent a breakdown. That amount will rise considerably in the weeks ahead as the situation continues to deteriorate. Some readers may remember that on Tuesday, August 7, the Fed announced that it was NOT planning to bail out the market.
My, how quickly things change.
So far, economic pundits and CEOs have applauded the Fed’s intervention as a “constructive” way of staving off an impending credit crisis.
Are these same “experts” who always sing the praises of unregulated “free markets” while condemning any government intervention?
Yes.
The investment banks and fund mangers love “free markets” when it means eliminating the rules that prevent them to “gaming the system”. But they don’t like it so much when their shabby Ponzi-rackets start to unravel. Then they’re the first in line to beg for a bailout.
That’s what’s happening right now. The Fed is keeping the stock market afloat by increasing liquidity at the banks. If it wasn’t for Bernanke’s billions of dollars of low interest credit—the banking system and stock market would collapse in a heap. The Fed’s “not-so-invisible hand” is the only thing holding the whole dilapidated system in place.
Is that the way it’s supposed to work in a free market system—with the Fed acting as the nation’s Economic Central Planner intervening whenever it suits the interests of its wealthiest constituents?
Sounds more like a Financial Politburo, doesn’t it?
In truth, the “free market” means nothing to the men who run the system. It’s just a public relations scam designed to dupe investors into plunking their money into a system that’s rigged for the carnivores at the top of the economic food-chain.
Does anyone really believe that the market-commissars would allow the system to operate according to the arbitrary swings in investor confidence and random speculation?
This is THEIR SYSTEM and they run it THEIR WAY. The only time that changes is when their twisted schemes go haywire and they need a handout from the taxpayer. In the present case, they are asking Big Brother Bernanke to bail them out on trillions of dollars of non-performing subprime garbage-loans which masquerade as securities in the secondary market. The Fed has already indicated that it is only-too-willing to help.
But what good will it do?
The banks are currently holding (roughly) $300 billion in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and another $225 billion in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) More than one-half trillion dollars in debt which is essentially “illiquid” and has no clear market value. They could be worthless for all we know.
That hasn’t stopped the Fed riding to the rescue, buying up many of these toxic CDOs and increasing banking reserves so the great fractional banking con-game can continue unabated. This is what one astute observer called “alchemy finance”.
Central banks around the world have opened up the liquidity spigots to avoid a global credit meltdown. But their efforts are bound to fail. The banks are sitting on huge losses from assets that they can’t move through the pipeline and which have gobbled up their reserves. Bloomberg News summed it up like this: “The $2 trillion market for mortgages not backed by government-sponsored agencies is at a standstill”.
The same is true of the corporate bond market. As the Wall Street Journal reported last week:
“The investment grade corporate bond market HAS GROUND TO A HALT, making it difficult for companies to access capital and hard for investors to find a place to put their money to work. ….The problems in the primary market could, if they persist, throw a wrench in the workings of corporate America, making it tougher for companies to finance, among other things, investments, buyouts and equity buybacks….For July, corporate bond issuance was down 77% from June.” (“Corporate Bond Market has come to a Standstill”, Wall Street Journal)
The mighty wheels of commerce have rusted in place. Nothing is moving. Only the sense of panic continues to grow. Trillions of dollars poisonous CDOs need to unwind, but the banks cannot put them up for bid for fear that they’ll only get pennies on the dollar. This is what a slow-motion train-wreck looks like. The Fed’s cheap credit won’t help either. At best, it’ll just buy a little time before the true value of these bonds is established and trillions of dollars in market capitalization vanish into cyber-space. Banks, equities, hedge funds, insurance companies and pension funds are all in line to suffer major losses.
The irony, of course, is that the Federal Reserve created this mess by lowering interest rates to 1% and flushing trillions of dollars into the economy. That cheap money created a series of lethal equity-bubbles in housing, credit, stocks and bonds which are quickly falling to earth. Expanding the money-supply might be a short-term fix, but it’s really just throwing more gas on the fire. Why add hyper-inflation to the long-list of existing problems?
The volatility in the stock market is a red herring. We should be paying attention to the underlying problems which are just now beginning to surface. The banks have been originating loans and bundling them off to Wall Street to avoid the normal reserve requirements. Now they’ve been “caught short” and don’t have adequate funding to cover their bets. If the Fed doesn’t help out, we’ll see at least one or two major bank closures.
This is a story that won’t appear in the media. Bank-runs are the beginning of the end—financial Armageddon.
And there’s more bad news, too. If the stock market corrects more than 10 or 15%, the massive overleveraged $1.7 trillion hedge fund industry will crash-and-burn. This may explain why the stock market has behaved so erratically recently. There have numerous late-day rallies with no good news to support the soaring equities prices. Is the market being micro-managed behind the scenes to keep it above a certain level?
Many people think so. There’s been a flood of articles about the activities of the Plunge Protection Team’s in the last two weeks. The Fed’s desperate infusions of credit into the banking system will only reinforce growing suspicions of market manipulation.
DERIVATIVES DOWNDRAFT
Banks routinely hedge against adverse moves in the market by purchasing various types of insurance in the form of derivatives contracts. Derivatives trading has skyrocketed in the last few years and the “British Bankers Association estimated last fall that by the end of 2006, the market for all credit derivatives was $20 trillion and expected to be $33 trillion by the end of 2008.”These relatively new instruments are about to be put to the test by worsening market conditions. “Hedge funds may account for as much as 30% of such credit protection” but that is little solace for the banks “because hedge funds that are losing money but also selling credit insurance may not be able to honor their commitments, rendering the protection worthless.” (“Insuring against Credit Risk can carry risks of its own” Henny Sender, Wall Street Journal)
Credit insurance in the form of credit default swaps have created a false sense of security that may prove to be unfounded. In fact, the Credit insurance business has probably encouraged lenders to make shakier and shakier loans believing that they were protected from risk. But that doesn’t appear to be the case. For example, Bear Stearns tried to soothe investor’s fears during the collapse of its two hedge funds by pointing to its derivatives coverage.
“Bear executives repeatedly referred to their dependence on hedges, including credit derivatives, to offset their losses on subprime mortgages and loans to poorly rated companies, stating that such hedges would offset losses.” (Ibid, H. Sender, Wall Street Journal)
We all know how that story ended up.
Derivatives have been celebrated as a critical part of the “new architecture of the financial markets”. Now we can see that they are poor-performers under real-life conditions and liable to trigger an even greater disaster. If the stock market stumbles, we can expect a major breakdown in credit insurance-trading with trillions of dollars in derivatives disappearing overnight.
The abstruse world of derivatives trading will suddenly explode onto the headlines of newspapers across the country.
HOUSING BRUSHFIRE SWEEPS THROUGH THE ECONOMY
The contamination from the massive real estate bubble has now infected nearly every area of the broader market. The swindle which began at the Federal Reserve–with cheap, low interest credit—has spread through the entire system and is threatening to wreak financial havoc across the planet. The Fed’s multi-billion dollar bailout will do nothing to contain the brushfire they started or avert the catastrophe that lies just ahead. Greenspan opened Pandora’s Box and we’ll all have to live with the consequences.
New today in the Toronto Star:
Woes Mount for Wal-Mart
With growth, stock price and profits down, the retail giant once thought to be invincible finds itself on shaky groundAug 12, 2007 04:30 AMDavid OliveBusiness Columnist
It was business as usual for Wal-Mart last Tuesday for a superstore opening in Peru, Ill., which is to say the mood was of righteous self-assuredness. A marching band played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” store manager Mitch Lippert whipped up his troops (”Who’s fired up!”), and Rev. Oscar Shepherd of Christ Family Foursquare Church sought the Almighty’s blessing “as we interact with each other in the marketplace.”
You’d never know Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was in a heap of trouble.
The company’s growth rate has slowed to a crawl, overtaken by rivals once thought to be no match for the “beast of Bentonville.” Average annual profit growth lags that of Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and other competitors. Wal-Mart’s repeated efforts to push upscale merchandise have ended in tears. Expansion at home is still thwarted by hundreds of U.S. communities; and several forays abroad are struggling or have been scrapped. The stock price is down 32 per cent since the turn of the century, when CEO Lee Scott took the reins, while the Morgan Stanley retail index has soared 180 per cent.
Read the rest at:
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/245470
“Let us allow that simple, yet profound, truth sink into our synapses, shall we?
The Federal Government of the United States can not run a bordello and make money.
One cathouse. Just one. Not “one in every state”. Not “one whether you think you need it or not”. Just one single legal bawdy-house with an already-established customer base.
And they couldn’t keep it out of the red.
Now, this is just my opinion, but if your money-handling skills are so poor that you can’t even make a profit selling sex, then you have absolutely no business getting involved in more complicated financial areas.
In other words, if “Slam, bam, thank you ma’am, here’s a hundred bucks” is too complicated for you to make a profit, then you might just want to keep your meat-hooks out of, say — health care.”
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-is-exactly-what-im-talking-about.html
Sorry Heckler, but this is a poor example to prove your point. It is a good example of taking only the facts that support you point of view to prove you point of view.
The “Mustang Ranch” failed prior to the Government taking it over which is why they owned it. So unless you are saying the Government should have used millions of taxpayers dollars and remodel the place and hopefully make a profit it is a bad example.
hud
It’s the authors point. I just found it to be humorous and well written.
But if you need another example try the post office.
So Rove goes bye-bye. Here’s Susie Madrak’s take:
“I wonder why? My guess is, Fred Thompson (who’s been attracting a scary amount of BushCo aides, given their penchant for pliable blank-slate candidates) needs him.”
http://www.susiemadrak.com
Maybe now that Rove is out of the picture, some things at the White House can actually get done. Until recently, Rove’s genius was at winning elections. As this prescient piece from the Atlantic Monthly shows, policy was never his bag. Big time, in fact. You might even call the piece an expose’ of Rove’s failures. “Genius,” indeed.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200709/karl-rove
Barbara has excerpted some of the piece over at http://www.mahablog.com
Rove won him some elections. But he was unable to turn his genius toward implementing policy in any meaningful way (Social Security “reform,” anyone?) And he was worse than useless at dealing with things that weren’t anticipated.
Five soldiers were killed Saturday in Arab Jabour, a district just south of Baghdad.
…. was not even mentioned in todays’ paper. Front page article about broken xbox 360 —- What are you guys thinking?
Mark Steyn hits scorching line drives on several issues.
” Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but, when it comes to global warming, the experts prefer to stick the thermometer where the sun don’t shine.”
“There are many honorable reasons to oppose the Iraq war, but believing that our troops are sick monsters is not one of them. The sickness is the willingness of so many citizens of the most benign hegemon in history to believe they must be.”
“As Pogo said, way back in the 1971 Earth Day edition of a then-famous comic strip, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Even when we don’t do anything: In the post-imperial age, powerful nations no longer have to invade and kill. Simply by driving a Chevy Suburban, we can make the oceans rise and wipe the distant Maldive Islands off the face of the Earth. This is a kind of malignant narcissism so ingrained it’s now taught in our grade schools. Which may be why, even when the New Republic’s diarist goes to Iraq and meets the real enemy, he still assumes it’s us.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/nationalcolumns/article_1804986.php
Just Damn
Heckler,Let’s see your business plan to privatize the (cough) post office. This should be interesting.
That horrible US Postal Service! The one that six days a week, 52 weeks a year, can get billions of pieces of randomly-sized paper and packages from one front door to another front door clear across the country, in anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 days.
Tom
…or 5 or 6 …..
“Until recently, Rove’s genius was at winning elections. As this prescient piece from the Atlantic Monthly shows, policy was never his bag.”
Understatement. The Rove White House saw no difference between the two.
The preventable carnage in New Orleans was the natural result of a regime that REALLY THOUGHT that ideology and spin could somehow “create reality.”
The frightening part was how well since an insane concept actually worked.
When anyone has something really important to send, who do they use? (That is, unless statute requires them to use the USPS.) I would suggest turning over the USPS to these companies.
As to a plan (I know you didn’t ask me, but I’d like to answer), there is no plan, at least not that I know of. But I trust the entrepreneurial energy and creativity of FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. more than I trust government bureaucrats.
Do we know what first class mail service would look like if the USPS were eliminated? Of course we don’t. How can we? Who could forsee what these people would come up with?
I suppose there is some small chance that people would be less satisfied than they were with the USPS. But the strong likelihood is that we would have much improved service.
Chuck E Cheese= HELL ON EARTH
never again
Heckler,Let’s see your business plan to privatize the (cough) post office. This should be interesting.
Posted by: Steven Davis | August 13, 2007 at 09:02 AM
Uhm… UPS, Fed Ex …
Heckler,
While I agree with your assessment of Chuck E. Cheese, in each of the three passages you excepted, Mark Steyn swung and missed. I think it has something to do with his faulty worldview.
The preventable carnage in New Orleans
was preventable by Nagin and Blanco if they had acted in the week before the storm. They chose not to. Anyone who has been through a major hurricane knows it takes a week or two to get major relief efforts in at best.
Nagin had several thousand school and city buses he could have used. Blanco had NG trucks and other vehicles she could have used.
The blame in that game starts with the mayor and governor before it works its way into the federal system.
Compare and contrast LA and MS pre-response and post-response to get a better understanding of why MS death tolls were lower and recovery quicker. Barbour did his job as gov. and the mayors in south MS did their jobs as mayors.
Heckler,
Do you honestly think UPS and FedEx are going to provide door-to-door first class service to every American?
CF2K
It’s good to see we can agree on something.
CF2K
You disagree with his assesment of the Beauchamp fiasco?
Rove better leave after what he helped “engineer”……
I said that 3 dollar gasoline would break the American economy because 98% is built on small business and most “jobs” are found in “small business.”
So, after bouncing-off the European Banks, mortgage funds have come home to roost, so watch gasoline “come on down baby.”
What is not being said is this billion dollar bail-out is coming out of where our Middle East tax dollars have been being sucked-up { and never mind with the “Saudi” crap, they didn’t do it….
Goldman Sachs fund gets $3 billion bailoutInvestor group comes to the rescue amid credit crisis
Updated: 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
NEW YORK – Goldman Sachs Group on Monday said a group of investors that includes Eli Broad and Hank Greenberg will sink $3 billion into one of its biggest hedge funds that has seen its value plunge amid market volatility.
The investment bank said its Global Equity Opportunities fund “suffered significantly” as global markets sold off on worries about debt and credit. The fund lost as much as 14 percent of its value during the past 12 months, according to media reports, and is currently worth about $3.6 billion.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will lead the group of investors to help bail out the hedge fund, which relies on computer-driven trading strategies. Other investors include Broad, Greenberg’s C.V. Starr & Co., and Perry Capital LLC.
More……Read, read, read…..http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20246355/
My, my, look at their “boy”
http://www.aipac.org/
While we’re doing links, here’s one about Kansas own Happy Hooker.
http://www.pitch.com/2007-08-09/news/her-dirty-secret/full
Kathleen Sebelius, the only Kansas governor to have her name written on the walls of corporate crappers with the note “for a good time call….”
get a “life”
Wow, enforcing the law is a good thing!
Novel concept from the Wichita Eagle no less.
Something tells me “dump” isn’t even a democrat. What an ass!
It better be difficult to define a “Democrat” because if we don’t move toward the Middle in politics, and stop allowing the “far-left” to dictate the platform, we’ll lose the next election.
“Gun Control” might cost us the election, as the vast majority of Americans want their guns and are needed for personal protection in the changing climate of crime.
If we remain stagnant, we’ll lose big-time.
“There are many honorable reasons to oppose the Iraq war, but believing that our troops are sick monsters is not one of them. The sickness is the willingness of so many citizens of the most benign hegemon in history to believe they must be.”
Posted by: Heckler | August 13, 2007 at 08:14 AM
I have not EVER heard any of my fellow Americans call our troops “sick monsters”. Anyone care to enlighten me when this happened?!?
Ed, I don’t really care what you have to say. You’ve never added anything but hate to this board.
TDT, they keep trying to paint anyone who opposes the IRAQ war in the same light as those who mistreated the vietnam war vets. It just burns them that they can’t use how horrible and unpatriotic we are- so they make it up.
Casino loss have you down? Worried about loosing our young people? Here’s a pretty interesting article on transformation on the home on the range:
Life on the Great Plains is anything but plain, simple
The Great Plains, which makes up more than 15% of the USA’s land area through 10 states but holds barely 3% of the nation’s population, is going through another transformation. The more rural parts of the region gradually are adapting to a century of decline in farming and the steady exodus of young people. Scattered corners of the Plains that have suffered economic setbacks are adjusting partly by reverting to nature: land preservation, eco-tourism, wildlife products, hunting grounds and recreational ranches.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-12-great-plains_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Hmmmmm
–95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens–83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens–86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens–75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens–53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens–50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border–71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes”–47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens–63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens–66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66% 98% are illegal aliens.–380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the U.S. in 2005 to illegal alien parents, making 380,000 babies automatically U.S.citizens and, under our laws, entitled to invite the rest of their family to join them–97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayers–66% plus of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
Heckler,
Source, please.
TDT
Google Scott Beauchamp.
Google Jesse Macbeth.
Google Haditha.
There are certain elements in the U.S. media who are willing to beleive just about any story they hear about U.S. soldiers committing atrocities. They print them with little to no verification.
TDT
FBI INS stats from the first quarter of 2006
Bush is retaliating against Russia for objecting to missile shields being laced throughout Europe, as a part of expanding Israel’s “war” in Iraq to Iran by frighting Europeans { terrorizing }.
Is there just “No-end” to George and his Zionist “buddies?”
“Russia flexes military muscle, evoking cold war posturingRussia and Georgia spar over a missile firing. The US responded in muted fashion after Russian bombers flew over Guam.By Dan Murphyfrom the August 13, 2007 edition
The Russia of President Vladimir Putin has taken a number of provocative military steps in recent days, creating concern about how the US and Europe should engage with a country that also has a vital role to play in Middle East peacemaking and the nuclear standoff with Iran.
On Tuesday, Georgia said a Russian jet fired a missile at a radar installation in the country’s disputed South Ossetia region, which its president alleged was part of an intimidation campaign by a Russia that, as the Soviet Union, once ruled many of its neighbors, reports Reuters.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the missile, which did not explode, was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against its neighbors across Europe and urged European states to condemn Moscow.
“This is not Georgia’s problem. This is a problem for European security and safety,” Saakashvili said in English after traveling to the village where the missile landed.
Russia has responded by saying Georgia is lying about the incident, though the US is siding with Georgia, an ally that has sent troops to the war in Iraq, reports the Associated Press.”
Is there anyone left that George W. can’t piss-off?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0812/p99s01-duts.html
Heck
“There are certain elements in the U.S. media who are willing to believe just about any story they hear about U.S. soldiers committing atrocities. They print them with little to no verification.”
Do you still believe that only the underlings knew about Abu Ghraib and their superiors knew nothing?
This so-called “war” brings on atrocities just as did Nam…
And now, a little political humor.
Some of these quotes are from many years gone by. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“If you don’t read the newspaper
you are uninformed, if you do
read the newspaper you are
misinformed.”
Mark Twain
Suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress….
But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain
contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-.George Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man.W hich debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
-G Gordon Liddy
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:
If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan (1986)
I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-Will Rogers
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you seewhat it costs when it’s free!
-P.J. O’Rourke
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much
money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-Voltaire (1764)
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)
No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
-Mark Twain (1866)
Talk is cheap…except when Congress does it.
-Unknown
The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at o ne end and no responsibility at the other.
-Ronald Reagan
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.
The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-Winston Churchill
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is thatthe taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is
to fill the world with fools.
-Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
There is no distinctly Native American criminal class…save Congress.
-Mark Twain
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 – 1995)
A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson
Not sure where to put this.I ran acrossed it and thought it bear remembering in tthe Bush did it mantra:
Clinton Manufactured Iraq Crisis,Violated ConstitutionWASHINGTON, DC — President Clinton, in launching the massive Dec. 16 attack on Iraq, used a manufactured crisis to deceive the American people, and to bypass Congress’ power to declare war.Warplanes aboard the USS Enterprise, combined with more than 200 cruise missiles from eight Navy warships, converged on Iraqi targets at 5:06 p.m. EST (1:06 a.m. Baghdad time). Over a four-day period, reports U.S. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who oversaw the Iraq attack, 300 strike fighters, bombers and support aircraft flew 600 sorties, more than half of them at night. Another 40 ships took part in the attack, with 10 of them firing cruise missiles. More than 600 bombs were dropped, 90 cruise missiles fired from the air and another 300 from ships at sea.
The United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) report Mr. Clinton used as cause for war, says syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak (Wag the Congress, The Washington Post, Dec. 21), contains six complaints cited by Richard Butler, executive chairman of UNSCOM. These complaints “reflect Saddam Hussein’s obnoxious style but do not compare to more than 400 unimpeded inspections reported by Iraq since cooperation resumed Nov.14.”
Mr. Novak provides an example of the type of incidents Mr. Clinton used to justify the attack on Iraq. “On Dec. 9 weapons inspectors from UNSCOM, acting on a tip, showed up without notification at the Baghdad headquarters of the ruling Baath Party to search for ballistic missile components. The Iraqi escorts, citing a 1996 agreement, said only four inspectors could enter.”
The Butler report itself was a setup.
According to Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Times (Did White House orchestrate a crisis? Dec. 18), Scott Ritter, a former U.N. inspector, said Mr. Butler conferred with the Clinton administration’s national security staff on how to write his report of noncompliance before submitting it to the U.N. Security Council. The former inspector said the White House wanted to ensure the report contained sufficiently tough language on which to justify its decision to bomb Iraq. “I’m telling you this was a preordained conclusion. This inspection was a total setup by the United States,” said Ritter. Mr. Ritter resigned from UNSCOM in August, accusing the Clinton administration of interfering in how and when inspections were carried out.
The decision to attack Iraq was made before the Bultler report was submitted to the U.N. Security Council.
Reports the MacLaughlin Group (NBC, Dec. 18), that while the president told the nation Wednesday night that the attack was triggered by this Butler report, the “time line into the bombing itself shows that the president ordered airstrikes 48 hours before he saw the report.”
Mr. Clinton’s reference to Iraq’s nuclear weapons was completely at odds with the report of the agency charged with reporting on Iraq’s clandestine nuclear weapons capabilities.
Says the MacLaughlin Group, there is another report that was filed with the UNSCOM report: the International Atomic Energy Agency report. The IAEA worked hand in glove with UNSCOM. The agency is charged with determining any Iraqi clandestine nuclear weapons capabilities. This week the IAEA filed a companion separate report, accompanying the UNSCOM report, that went largely unnoticed. In it, the IAEA gives Iraq a clean nuclear bill of health, describing Iraq’s level of cooperation as, “efficient and effective,” reported the McLauglin Group.
President Clinton told another lie, says Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of history at Boston University, and author of the best-selling “A People’s History of the United Sates.”
Mr. Clinton said that other nations besides Iraq have weapons of mass destruction, but Iraq alone has used them. Says Prof. Zinn, “He could only say this to a population deprived of history. The United States has supplied Turkey, Israel, and Indonesia with such weapons and they have used them against civilian populations. But the nation most guilty is our own. No nation in the world possesses greater weapons of mass destruction than we do, and none has used them more often, or with greater loss of civilian life. In Hiroshima hundreds of thousands died, in Korea and Vietnam millions died as a result of our use of such weapons.”
Mr. Zinn’s words echo those of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. cited by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, in a Dec. 20 letter sent to each member of the Security Council. Said Rev. King, “The greatest purveyor of violence on earth is my own government.”
Presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan (Failed President, Flawed Policy, Dec. 18) says, “It is time to ask how grave a threat Iraq is to America. In the Gulf War, Iraq did not attack us; we attacked Iraq. We launched the ’round-the-clock air strikes with 2,000 planes for six weeks; Iraq fired back a handful of Scuds. Iraq killed scores of Americans; we killed thousands of Iraqis. Yes, Saddam makes “war on his own people,” but who inflicts the greater suffering — Saddam or a U.S.-led embargo that has claimed the lives of 239,000 children, 5 years old and under, since 1990?”
Presidential candidate Jack Kemp, in a Dec. 18 letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said that “reports coming out of the Pentagon and from a former U.N. weapons inspector raise a number of serious and troubling questions that, in my opinion, vindicate your skepticism. These questions are so troubling that I believe they warrant immediate congressional inquiries.”
Matthew Rothschild, Editor of the Progressive Magazine, writes (An Attack That Makes No Sense, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 17, 1998) , “The U.S. bombing campaign against Iraq is an act of war not sanctioned by international law or by the U.S. Constitution. Within 72 hours of his grand jury appearance in August, Clinton bombed Sudan and Afghanistan. Now, the day before he faced impeachment, he attacks Baghdad and other locations in Iraq. Our founders gave Congress the sole power to declare war. Congress has not issued such a declaration in this instance. According to international law, a country can take unilateral action against another country only for the purpose of self-defense. But this bombing attack can hardly be called an act of self-defense. Saddam has not attacked the United States and does not pose an imminent threat to us.”
Two congressmen have broken ranks with the U.S. Congress to speak out against Mr. Clinton’s attack on Iraq, and his usurpation of Congress’ power.
Last Wednesday, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) called on President Clinton to resign for the good of the country and the safety of American soldiers. “Once again President Clinton is using American troops to deflect attention from his record of lies, distortions, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Just a couple months ago, the president launched an attack against the nation of Sudan in an attempt to cover over his personal problems; an attack which we know now had no basis whatsoever in protecting US interests.”
In a little-noticed speech on the House floor last Thursday, Rep. David Skaggs (D-CO) said: “President Clinton acted in violation of the Constitution in ordering these attacks without authority of Congress.”
I’ll get Mary going, and hopefully everyone else.
This made me FURIOUS. God I hate people like this- makes me want to tie her down and beat the hell out of her.I think every place that cares for helpless people should be able to videotape. From daycares to schools to nursing homes to mental health places.
http://ugv.abcnews.go.com/player.aspx?id=582454
That’s two fantastic posts from Littlejohn.
APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!!
Able to? or must?
People still have rights to privacy. Even if it does drive me nuts sometimes.
But, the worker should not pass go, not collect 200 dollars, but go directly to jail.
There’s no right to privacy in the workplace.
Many different companies use cameras for internal as well as external security risks.
Nursing homes are a perfect place for video cameras so that abuse like this can be stopped – and the guilty thrown behind bars.
“There’s no right to privacy in the workplace.
Many different companies use cameras for internal as well as external security risks.”
You are correct. However, a patients bedroom is their’s. I think that a patient could make a case that they do not want a camera in their room. THat is all I was thinking of. The patient’s point of view, not the workers. And if they GIVE UP their right tor privacy for Safety, are they not doing what is railled against here?
I see your point LJ.
Though one gives up much control in a nursing home, reluctantly anyway.
After seeing this, I’d probably agree to the camera in my room if I was a patient. If nothing else, I could at least flip-off the camera when I felt like giving my opinion.
Yeah, I think I would too.And if I had any thoughts of an employee abusing my relative that was unable to make decisions for themselves, a camera would be there in a hearbeat!
Here’s a motivational video rap from a U.S. Marine.
This patriotic man has it right!
Proud of this young man as a Marine and a true Patriotic American!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBflQLa75C8
I think the option should be available to those who want it. And staff not know WHO has the cameras on and who doesn’t when it involves personal cares like in their own room.
Not mandatory no.
I’d like some legitimate criticism on something I’ve been up to. If anyone wants to help me out, give me an email and who you are. o_serenity_now@yahoo.com
Do you still believe that only the underlings knew about Abu Ghraib and their superiors knew nothing?”
Lots of times military officers “know” something that they just choose “not to know” about. It is rare that they would order something illegal as happened in the movie “A Few Good Men” but they may “approve” something by ignoring it or being silent about it.
Kev, it depends on how the officer/enlisted situation is configured.
When I was in, I was lucky to see a full Colonel once a month unless it was walking down the street and saluting one.
For one star Generals and above, I was lucky to see one once every three months.
Field Grade officers, Lt Col. and Majors, don’t get into field that often as they are busy commanding at HQ.
Captains and Senior First Lieutenants are sometimes to busy trying to become field officers that they don’t spend as much time in their units as they should.
Which leaves second lieutenants to mind the store and I can assure you that their whereabouts are kept close tabs on by enlisted.
So in Abu Ghraib incidents, yeah I can believe that officers didn’t know much about what was happening.
Anyone who has been in the military can confirm that NCO’s are given wide latitude once they are in the field.
Of course, this does not excuse the behavior, I was merely substantiating the fact that sometimes Officers are scarcely around or cannot be located.
LOL! (shakes head)
*Woman Buys Fake Cocaine, Calls Cops to Help Her Get Refund*
Monday, August 13, 2007AP”ROCHELLE, Ga. — A woman was arrested after she called local police to help “get her money back” after she was unhappy with the crack cocaine she purchased.
Juanita Marie Jones, 53, called Rochelle Police late Thursday night after she purchased what she thought was a $20 piece of crack cocaine, according to police reports.
She told officers she broke the rock into three pieces and smoked one, only to discover the drugs were “fake.”
She took Officer Joel Quinn and Deputy John Shedd of the Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office into her kitchen and showed them the drugs, police said.She was promptly arrested on charges of possession of cocaine.”
Political_mom wrote this:
“Something tells me “dump” isn’t even a democrat. What an ass!”
Posted by: political_mom | August 13, 2007 at 12:08 PM
In response to this:
“While we’re doing links, here’s one about Kansas own Happy Hooker.
http://www.pitch.com/2007-08-09/news/her-dirty-secret/full
Kathleen Sebelius, the only Kansas governor to have her name written on the walls of corporate crappers with the note “for a good time call….”
To which I can only point out that even if I were the ghost of Jerry Falwell (boo!) Pitch isn’t exactly National Review, and to quote from the article:
“During her first term, Sebelius appointed Republicans to her cabinet. When she ran a second time in 2006, the governor inspired other conservatives, such as Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, to switch parties.”
Certainly one can encourage party switching, but to place a conservative Republican in the line of succession to the governor’s mansion rather than a real Democratic candidate and you think I’m the enemy? Mom, you better read the article before you throw up the defenses. Then make your own call.
Look I don’t agree with Sebelius on this, but this is not the way to go about it.
Not everyone is going to agree on issues, but I believe Sebelius will listen. Make noise that people will want to hear, not this noise.
Thought I’d post this link for PMom and Econ101 since they have some autistic children.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20226463/site/newsweek/page/0/
Is from an MSNBC link.
She’s been deaf on the power plant issue, she’s been deaf on the Med Center issue (which will have a heavy impact on indigent services at KU Hospital) and the triggering factor for me is that the good Democrats in her administration are being pushed away in favor of these conservative Republicans. They’re the ones who have her ear.
Thank you for the article Kansas, but I’d disagree, we often know far more that our kids have more intelligence than they’re given credit for. It’s just so much harder to pull it out of them.
And what you see as intelligence, can be completely different than what they see and perceive…their intelligence might in fact be far higher than ours. Good example is Temple Grandin. There are amazing stories out there…people who look profoundly disabled, but when they learn how to communicate via a typewriter, you find they’re amazing. Watch Autism Is A World.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson”
Actually, that was Barry Goldwater.