Citing war and Congress, Gates changes chairman and vicechairman
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he has decided toreplace the chairman and vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff rather thanhave them go through contentious hearings before Congress.
Speaking to reporters, and referring to the debate over the war in Iraq,Gates said he envisioned "a confirmation process that would not be in thebest interest of the country" were he to re-nominate Marine Gen. Peter Paceas chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Adm. Ed Giambiastiani as vicechairman.
Bush nominates Dr. James Holsinger for , an . Do we really need America's chief health educator waging a war onhomosexuality?
, giving Americans the best scientificinformation available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk ofillness and injury.
An outspoken anti-gay Surgeon Generaljust doesn't cut it in my opinion (and probably the majority of Americans). Stick to the health issues, and there isn't any proof that sexualpreference has anything to do with health.
Dr. James Holsinger's professionalcareer has been as a medical provider and administrator, but President Bush'snominee to be surgeon general also has had a parallel volunteer career among thetopmost reaches of the "Confessing Movement," a neo-evangelical effortwithin the United Methodist Church to return it to theological orthodoxy.Opposition to a growing tolerance and even acceptance of gays within the churchhas been one of the group's main fixations.
Holsinger also helped found achurch in Kentucky that operates an "ex-gay" ministry ...
According to Holsinger, "homosexuality is achoice and can be cured", just what we need, another government officialthat wants to cure us of "making choices" . I don't believe it is a choice,but I also think if you should make that choice, go right ahead.
-- President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, Kentucky cardiologist Dr.James Holsinger, has come under fire from gay rights groups for voting to expela lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church and writing in 1991 that gaysex is unnatural and unhealthy.
Also, Holsinger helped found a Methodist congregation that, according to gayrights activists, believes homosexuality is a matter of choice and can be"cured."
Holsinger, 68, has declined all interview requests. (now there's a good start for a potential public official) ...
"gaysex is unnatural and unhealthy." Maybe to protect us from this evildisease, "they" will be made to wear Scarlet Q's upon their chest...Isurely wouldn't want to catch that unnatural and unhealthy thing!
Federal Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Libby to 2-1/2 years in prison for lying and a $250,000 fine, and 2 years probation once his sentence has been served.
also ordered I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby topay $250,000 in fines. Additionally, the former aide will be onprobation for two years following the completion of his prison term.Libby must report to a probation officer within 72 hours of sentencing,unless Walton allows Libby to be free on bond pending appeal of thecase. Court is still in session while the judge considers the request.
White House Aide to Convicted Felon
Libby was convicted in March on four felony charges -- claiming he liedto the FBI and a grand jury, as well as obstructed justice -- relatedto the CIA Leak probe, the three-year investigation that revealed thebehind-the-scenes workings of the White House's inner circle. ...
: Blogged trial and sentencing. ''
It's sentencing day today for I. Lewis Libby. Today, Judge ReggieWalton will sentence Libby based on his conviction on multiple felonycounts after a trial and conviction before a jury of his peers.
, , they continue through 8. They give a play by play.
As far as I'm concerned, they can continue to round up the criminals on the Hill and keep locking them up. And I'd really like to see the excuses stop by their party members. On that note, Jefferson should be rammed into a freezer with his money.
I may have overdone the images, but these type of issues really chap my ass.
Many of you may be familiar with the ongoing documentary ''. Its done in a video diary format, and is based o the day to daylives of a group of friends (young adult around 20 years old), and what theirdays consist of. There are currently 34 episodes (episodes added weekly). Someleave for other countries to meet up with their friends and family's and somestay. These Iraqis are your everyday young adults...no different than the onesin your neighborhood. That is with the exception of the war. This group consistsof the joker, the serious guy, the annoying guy and the bad apple etc.,...thesame we have on our groups. Get comfortable, grab a beverage and watch thevideos.
You can view them from the or from the YouTube account
This isn't about Saddam should have remained in power, or even about theIraqi's that may become martyrs...it's about young adultys that aren't verydifferent from us or our kids.
Hometown Baghdad An ongoing documentary web series following the lives of a few Iraqi20-somethings trying to survive in Baghdad.
The everyday life of the Iraqi citizen has been the great untold story ofthe Iraq war.
The Distribution The brave Iraqi subjects and crew risked their lives every time they turned on acamera to make this series. They want to show the world what life is like whenyour hometown is a war-zone. We believe that people who see their stories willwant to share them with others. That's why we're distributing the series online.So please - watch the videos, rewatch them, tell friends about them, comment onthem, and link to them.
The Language The intention of the Iraqi filmmakers and subjects was to show the world whatBaghdad is truly like. That's why they usually speak English and not Arabic.
The Producers Hometown Baghdad is a production of NY-based who worked with a group of Iraqi filmmakers in Baghdad. Thesubjects also turned the cameras on themselves when it became too dangerous forour crew to travel through Baghdad. Read more about the producers .
I'll start the ball rolling...To view larger video, click ON the screen.
In a press conference on 5/24/07 Bush was questioned "if asked, would weleave Iraq", Bush replied "If they were to say 'leave', we wouldleave."
, who has warned that a hasty USpullout from Iraq would be catastrophic, said on Thursday that US forces wouldleave if the fledgling Baghdad government asked them to.
"We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is asovereign nation," he said at a White House press conference.
"If they were to say 'leave', we would leave."
I say"Bull Hockey"! First of all, who are "they"? As far back as2004 only a third of the Iraqi theys thought were were doing more goodthan harm.
BAGHDAD — Only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that theAmerican-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and asolid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear thatcould put them in greater danger, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.(Graphic: )
The nationwide survey, the most comprehensive look at Iraqi attitudes towardthe occupation, was conducted in late March and early April. It reached nearly3,500 Iraqis of every religious and ethnic group
The poll shows that most continue to say the hardships suffered to deposeSaddam Hussein were worth it. Half say they and their families are better offthan they were under Saddam. And a strong majority say they are more free toworship and to speak. (Related item: )
But while they acknowledge benefits from dumping Saddam a yearago, Iraqis no longer see the presence of the American-led military as a plus.Asked whether they view the U.S.-led coalition as "liberators" or"occupiers," 71% of all respondents say "occupiers." ...
Key findings 2005: . Key to symbols: - = 0 or no answer * = less than 1% Poll was conducted in late March and early April; for details on methodology.
With all the lies that have come out of this man'smouth (Bush), I felt it was important to give a little history regarding"them" wanting us out. The information I provided is older materialwhen the ball of "we want them out" started rolling and has onlygained momentum. It will be intersting when the hammer finally falls and how hewill spin his own words. He may simply say "well didn't say" (then we'll send some more troops to find Simon?)
Just for the record; The American people are NOT "They"
After seeing arrive in Iraq and donning his and ,I had to laugh and ask myself "didn't he pack a khaki shirt to enhance the illusion?I suppose youdon't go to war with the body protection and clothing you want,you go with want you have.
I just know these guys can get the job done, we have the #1 cheerleader rooting for us!
At this point I do not believe the politicians are voting with their heartsor using common sense to decide their votes. It is all about self/party gain. ANYONEthat says things are getting better is just plain old full O' crap. i.e."we had a great success today, a Humvee passed right by an IED (or it looked like a good place to hide one) and itdidn't go off". Come on guys, let's stop this and start being honest.
Here are a couple of helpful Reference sites worthy to bookmark.
These patriotic safe at home politicians could get the job done (I'm sure they could) The only change I would make would be to alter their gear. This would even up the playing field for their lack of combat service (excluding McCain, he can have the current issue armor) (I couldn't pass up the Dukakis pic)
We can suit them up with these ole' reliables, and be assigned this top of the line Humvee (vid)
At least they wouldn't be walking, so they wouldn't complain, or piss and moan (ingrates)
is looking better to me everyday, and for that reason I decided todedicate a post to him...the country's pAL.
First lets take a look at Al's new book ''. The Guardian p from his book.
'A drive for global domination has put us in greater danger'- Moral authority, which is ourgreatest source of strength, has been recklessly put at risk by this willfulpresident
The pursuit of "dominance" in foreign policy led the Bushadministration to ignore the UN, to do serious damage to our most importantalliances, to violate international law, and to cultivate the hatred andcontempt of many in the rest of the world. The seductive appeal of exercisingunconstrained unilateral power led this president to interpret his powers underthe constitution in a way that brought to life the worst nightmare of thefounders. Any policy based on domination of the rest of the world not onlycreates enemies for the US and recruits for al-Qaida, but also undermines theinternational cooperation that is essential to defeating terrorists who wish toharm and intimidate America. Instead of "dominance", we should beseeking pre-eminence in a world where nations respect us and seek to follow ourleadership and adopt our values. ...
Time Online posted an from 'The Assault on Reason'
Not long before our nation launched the invasion of Iraq, our longest-servingSenator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor and said:"This chamber is, for the most part, silent—ominously, dreadfully silent.There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the nation the prosand cons of this particular war. There is nothing. We stand passively mute inthe United States Senate."
Why was the Senate silent?
In describing the empty chamber the way he did, Byrd invited a specificversion of the same general question millions of us have been asking: "Whydo reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the wayAmerica now makes important decisions?" The persistent and sustainedreliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of massive andwell-understood evidence to the contrary, seems to many Americans to havereached levels that were previously unimaginable. ...
We constantly hear the broken record words of Sean Hannity trying to get that "Gore is a hypocrite" regardingGlobal Warming.
Joseph Palermo wrote on .
In today's New York Times, right-wing columnist and perennialyakking head, David (Bobo-in-Paradise) Brooks, trashes Al Gore's newbook, The Assault on Reason. Brooks labels Gore "a radicaltechnological determinist" because the former Vice President draws upon thescholarly work of Marshal McLuhan, Neil Postman, and others to conclude that theprinting press, radio, and television have had an enormous impact on ourpolitics. "Gore's imperviousness to reality is not the most strikingfeature of the book," sniffs Brooks, "it's the chilliness andsterility of his worldview."
Toward the end of his mushy-headed indictment of Gore, Brooks snivels:"Utterly at a loss when asked to talk about virtue and justice, [Gore andothers] try to shift attention to technology and methods of communication. Theyimagine that by altering machines they can alter the fundamentals of behavior,or at least avoid the dark thickets of human nature."
It's funny that someone like Brooks, who calls himself a"conservative" and an "intellectual" would be so downrighthostile to The Assault on Reason. After all, aren't people like Brookssupposed to admire the framers of the Constitution and other people who havecontributed to defining our nation's creed?......
It really doesn't matter if you like Gore or not, butit is difficult to disagree with his points of view both politically and environmentally.What once turned me off from Gore was his articulate, intelligent and almost condescendingattitude, is now something I embrace. He stayed the course and proved to us thathe really does care about the people, the country and the earth.
Gore Says Bush is an Un-American , Heretic
Al Gore 'The Assault On Reason' ~ Countdown w/Obermann Part1
Al Gore 'The Assault On Reason' ~ Countdown w/Obermann Part2
Al Gore ~ Religion/Founding Fathers - Larry King 5/22/2007
This post isn't a "The Blue State Supports Gore", this was solelyto condense a wealth of information in a single post about Al.. I am an Obama o8kinda guy, but would love a Gore/Obama ticket, and would like Richardson onGore's cabinet. If all goes well, perhaps an Obama 2012?
I feel compelled to find and post the truth every time I hear Our GreatPresident open his mouth which has become synonymous with lying.Thanks again to "granny" for sending us the link for the video.
It didn't take the liberal bloggers and general long public to react and speak outagainst the dems for caving in on the funding bill. And it seems that theybetter grow a set quickly before we start shopping around. Think about this fora moment, you tell your spouse or significant other you are going shopping, butinstead go to a friends house...simple right? umm, NO!, you are confronted bythem and are told you lied. Maybe that's a simple minded analogy, but comparethat to The President of the United States lying on an ongoing basis, changingthe story and then his supporters actually lie further to support him. Wrong,just plain old everyday kindergartenly, fundamentally, unacceptably wrong.
Well lets start this thing....
'Let's Impeach The President' Song by Neil Youg. Check out Neils page of .(check out the )The Lyrics are
I do not like Andy Dick in just about everything I have ever seen himin...except this video
'Bush Idiot Speech'
Here is a huge list of worth a peak. .
There is just so much more content which could be added to this post, but Ineed to move on from this "consumption" of me.
When does it stop? When do people start being honest and stop protecting Bushand making crap up as they go? In the last few days there have been TONS ofDemocrat bashing by us libs because they . But what about when and is blatantly full of crap? FOX to the rescue, and Brit Hume gave us an outstanding displayon Fox News Sunday. Bush is now OK with the , and when Juan Williams calls it like it is "historicalrevisionism", Hume wanted to know "who opposed it"...watchthe video then I'll tell you WHO opposed it.
I guess you want to know who opposed it? Bush did...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — on Thursday to distance himself from the centralrecommendations of the bipartisan Study Group: pulling back all combat brigades over the next 15 months and directtalks with Iran and Syria.
His administration did...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — their preliminary review of the bipartisan Study Group’s recommendations has concluded that many of its key proposals areimpractical or unrealistic, and a small group inside the is now racing to come up with alternatives to the panel’sideas.
as did the Conservative media tools!...
Summary:, including Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh, and GlennBeck, have attacked both the members of the Iraq Study Group and its report:Kristol has called the report "an evasion" and "not a seriousdocument"; Limbaugh asserted that ISG members are "doing everythingthey can to unite the American people" in "defeat" and"surrender"; while Beck has called the ISG report "OperationWhite Flag."
Bumper Sticker campaign: 'Brit is Fullof Sh*t' or 'Humes is Full of Fumes'.
Even though I believe thatWallace has become a "little" more fair lately (maybe schooled him), Hume and Kristol against Williams isn't even a good start to fairand balanced.
As I was looking through the blogs to see what was out there to add in a 'BlueBlogs' post (what other blogs are posting), I came across 'Whatthe war is doing to our soldiers' at . The story is from Captain Jeff Leonard's , titled 'Just staring at the wall really'.Capt. Leorand is an Army counselor in Iraq, and with a team of 6 they "helpsoldiers deal with the trauma of combat."
Maj. Johns and I had been at the patrol base to the west for several days. Wetook up residence on two adjacent cots in the far corner of a plywood structurewhich, by size comparisons, was much like the other Army tents it was builtamong. There were no walls to divide the space within the structure. Cots linedthe long side walls with space for a walkway in the middle. There were about 20cots in all and transient soldiers came and went, mostly as they left for, orreturned from, their leaves home. During the daytime, the structure would shakeand breathe in the hot winds and the thin lines of light where plywood panelsmet on the walls, and at the meeting of the walls and the ceiling, would swelland widen broadening bright luminous fissures in the dark space. Small graylizards would crawl though these cracks and take refuge from the heat on theplywood ceiling between the beams.
Soldiers getting ready to go on leave would talk about things they planned todo at home with tones of relief and elation. Soldiers returning to their unitswould move about anxiously and hope for delays in their returns back to theline. When details of their returns were received, and when all hope of delayhad been exhausted, their muscles visibly tightened and their movements becamejolted, almost angry, and they began to speak of their hopelessness, the friendsthey had seen killed. They began to question and criticize the war, late intothe night on their cots in the darkness. In the morning, they would be gone,their empty cots a reminder of them, and of where they would be by now. Oftenwhen we spoke to them, we wondered secretly if they would become one more ofthose we had talked with who might later appear on a memorial flier before us,an inverted rifle and bayonet, a Kevlar, a pair of boots, and dog tags, a typedmessage naming who they left behind back home.
The major and I took up shop in a metal storage trailer during the daytime.It had no windows but had been fitted with lights and an air conditioner.Command, knowing he and I were coming, had detained or sent in several soldiersthey wanted us to see. The recent decision to extend all of the soldiers hadmade our job harder and those who lived day to day had begun to digest andabsorb the mental impact of 90 more days they would need to survive.
"No, sir, I don't really sleep. Well, maybe an hour or two, then I getup. I don't want to dream," the soldier said to us. His name was Staff Sgt.Johnson. He was a good soldier, and you could tell when you spoke to him. He wasa man of honor. He was ashamed to be speaking with us, but his leaders hadinsisted. He had served three combat tours as a squad leader in a line unit. Hisbody and his hands shook during pauses in his speaking and he stared at us, andsometimes past us, with a wide-eyed look of hyper alertness. He had justreturned from leave and two guys in his squad were killed days before hisreturn. ...
It's a quick read so hurry back then continue on...I'llwait....
Will Staff Sgt. Johnson be considered an "anti-war lefty thatsympathizes with al-Qaeda" by the conservative war mongers if he can't ordoesn't want to go back after three tours in Iraq? Melanie Morgan's display ofthis behavior was disgusting enough to get her banned from 'TheNews Hour with Jim Lehrer' (with video). Sean Hannity had the balls also with video.
Melanie Morgan was referring to , which is jammed packed with war vets and heroes. Hannity andMorgan are part of that group where if you don't support the war, you are somesort of "terrorist sympathizer" (or close to it). I'd love to see themtossed into one of these infantry squads and see how long it takes before adiaper change is necessary. Fuc* Hannity and Morgan, and anyone that thinksspeaking out against "A" war is anti patriotic.
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