Thursday, October 19, 2006

another congresscritter down? is it hastert?

* parry:
"History should record October 17, 2006, as the reverse of July 4, 1776.
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In signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Bush remarked that “one of the terrorists believed to have planned the 9/11 attacks said he hoped the attacks would be the beginning of the end of America.” Pausing for dramatic effect, Bush added, “He didn’t get his wish.”

Or, perhaps, the terrorist did."

* raimondo:
"The frame-up of Vladimir Putin for the murder of Anna Politkovskaya is the latest chapter in an ongoing propaganda campaign that seeks to topple the Russian government and install a more pro-Western regime – one that won't send missiles to Syria, trade with Iran, or exercise its UN veto."

* Bovard:
"How to Make a Power Grab 'Mundane'
The Washington Post's story today -- "Bush Signs Terrorism Measure" -- looks like just another routine report on the approval of a piece of legislation, accompanied by the usual "he said/ she said" quotes. A typical reader might shrug at this point and shift to the sports section to read the latest autopsy on the Redskins.
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And this is how the Washington Post and much of the Establishment media portray almost every government seizure of power. It is never a question of looming tyranny: instead, it is only a question of different perspectives on how best to serve the American public. Waiting for the Washington press corps to sound the alarm on Leviathan is like waiting for Bush to renounce his love of power."
i was going to make the same point yesterday. the beeb and cnni were both using using 'tough on terror' graphics on the story. urghhhhhhh!

* juancole:
"Bush and a supine, cowardly Congress shredded the US Constitution on Tuesday, abolishing the right of a court review (habeas corpus) for some classes of suspect. Suspect, mind you, not proven criminal.

In other words, we have to be confident that George W. Bush is so competent, all-knowing, and inherently just that we can just trust him. If he says someone is an enemy combatant, then he or she is. No need to check with a judge about why he or she is being held. And then Bush can have the suspect tortured to make him confess, and can convict him on the basis of the coerced confession, all in secret.

This law creates two classes of persons inside the United States, citizens with rights and non-citizens (12 million persons? Equivalent to the entire state of Michigan!) without rights.
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King George came on O'Reilly and said that it is "illogical" to disagree with his policies in Iraq and branded arguments that he is drifting along without a plan "propaganda."

Bush sounds more and more like the Borg every day. I swear to God, next we are going to get up in the morning and hear him proclaim, "Resistance is futile!"
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So of course eventually Bush-think will lead to attempts to cure those of us who are critical of him of our illogicality, and to suppress our "propaganda." We'll all be right-thinking non-propagandists after a little water-boarding. You say we don't have to worry about that because we are citizens? But what is to stop Bush from declaring you an enemy combatant and stripping you of your citizenship? And then keeping you away from any civil court where those letters of cachet can be challenged?

The Republic is Dead, Long Live the Republic"

* archpundit:
"Sometime, probably in the next 48 hours though I'm bettting sooner than later, an Illinois Congressional race is going topsy turvy. It's another pick-up for Dems. If you are observant around the net you'll find the information. Mobilization is already occurring around the state to get ground troops."
denny?

1 comment:

Superteemu said...

I don't know the reason behind Raimondo's love affair with Putin - do the Russians simply pay him, or does he wear tinfoil hat press-formed from thick aluminium sheet, obstructing blood flow to make him think that all foreign US adversaries are "good".

I was established reader and supporter of AWC for years, but those sermons made me cancel my backing some time ago. Here, "living next to a bear", we have enough independent experts of Russia of our own, reporting of concentration of power to Putin men. True - lots of good things happening there too - but on many fronts, the developments looks even worse than on US.

Politkovskaya's murder was main story of all news channels here for several days, and drew crowd of almost 3000 for candle vigil in front of Russian embassy despite lousy weather. While undoubtly most think that Putin is to blame, many experts raised the possibility of "framing". However, to demand evidence before accusations in this case is ridiculous - chances of independent investigation happening are probably close to zero.

(I don't know what they feed to young wannabe-journalist girls there in Ukraine, but damn, I want some of that too...)