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Perjury in the Court of Public Opinion
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This past Sunday, the venerable New York Times published a lengthy screed in which it was revealed that some twenty-two high ranking retired military men and one still on active duty in the Pentagon had been suborned to give false evidence, about the conduct and progress of the aggression against Iraq, to the electronic and print media.
To those of us who have been attentive to foreign press reporting, as well as a few unembedded independents like Dahr Jamail, that the truth wasn't getting through the major media filters is not news. Neither does the suborning of the pensioners come as much of a surprise. After all, the Bush Administration has made an art out of circumventing Constitutional limitations on the federal government by suborning private corporations to do its dirty work; of course for a hetfy price that we the people pay.
Nevertheless, that men who have sworn to honor the Constitution and serve the United States have lied to the public, not to protect the nation but to cover up malfeasance, comes as a bit of a shock. As does the fact that fully twenty-two are identified by name and rank.
One really has to ask, "Have you, at last, no shame, sirs?"
The names, as best I have been able to glean from the Times article, are as follows:
Robert S. Bevelacqua
Kenneth Allard
Jeffrey D. McCausland
Thomas G. McInerney
John C. Garrett
Donald W. Shepperd
Montgomery Meigs
William L. Nash
James Marks
Joseph W. Ralston
William Cohen
Barry R. McCaffrey
Wayne A. Downing
Paul E. Vallely
William V. Cowan
Carlton A. Sherwood
Charles T. Nash
Timur J. Eads
Robert L. Maginnis
Robert H. Scales Jr
David L. Grange
James T. Conway***
Rick Francona
General James T. Conway is still on active duty and Wayne A. Downing is recently deceased. William Cohen, the former Secretary of Defense is perhaps an unlikely source of current expertise, but his business enterprise, hustling up military contracts, is rather central to this whole endeavor. Because, in addition to collecting their pensions, a goodly number of these retirees were also employed in promoting the sale of military equipment and provisions to their cronies. Indeed, some had organized their own enterprise to provide contractual services themselves. They didn't just leave their honor on the studio floor for the meagre stipends and per diems and even transport into the war zone, with which, on occasion, the media corporations provisioned them.
Now the question is: does the public have any recourse against military men who, after they retire from active duty, abuse the public trust? This seems particularly important because, while the Times refers to them as Pentagon analysts, it now seems more likely that these pensioners actually served at the pleasure of the President. And, while it's been clear for some time that a number of Generals have been dismissed, apparently for not giving the proper advice, the President's avowed reliance on what "his generals" tell him now seems validated by the revelation that these more experienced analysts' advice prevailed. Or was it an echo the President heard?
The final thought I'd offer is this. It seems that the culture of obedience which relegates responsibility to someone other than those who carry out the orders, instead of insuring stability and good order, actually promotes risky and irresponsible behavior--that individuals who would never commit attrocities on their own, do so without hesitation when it's likely that someone else will be blamed. And if that's the case, then we have to consider that violent aggression is endemic to the authoritarian/conservative culture. People aren't naturally violent; they become violent when their better instincts are repressed.
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12:02 PM EDT
Michael* has soured on Hillary --
(*Moore, that is):
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=225
Monday, April 21st, 2008
My Vote's for Obama (if I could vote) ...by Michael Moore
Friends,
...
the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I've watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name "Farrakhan" out of nowhere, well that's when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the "F" word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama's pastor does -- AND the "church bulletin" once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!
...
12:05 PM EDT
11.mary vb
Mon, 04/21/08
Reply to this
My apologies if someone has already posted Clinton's FEC report for March. Here it is. She's basically bankrupt. Cripes.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...
+++
mary vb -
Well, the moral of the story for Hillary (if someone in her own campaign has enough guts to tell her) is --
When you sling mud, you end up dirt poor.
Good firstie rd.
Did you see where she is saying Obama is a cheerleader for McCain for stating he would be a better President than Bush? Is this the same person who said McCain was more qualified to be President than Obama? What the hell is wrong with her? She really will say anything.
12:25 PM EDT
rae hart -
Well, they talk about Cheney being a bit loose with his gun shots, but if Hillary shoots anything like the way she has run her campaign, I'd simply yell --
"duck " ! --
-- and then I'd hit the dirt to avoid being sprayed by buckshot.
Dem voter surge could cut Clinton margin
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9735.html
I still think the new voters, plus the people with cell phones will help Obama.
I'm still hoping.
good thead Monica - thanks for keeping it in the forefront of our busy minds!
gotta go meet the future - bbl. ;)
rae hart
Mon, 04/21/08
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I can see you are not taking my expert advice and staying away from this nonsensical blog(for those with health concerns that is) and not watching tv...............some more advice if I may......
In the 2 weeks leading up to Super Bowl 42, I refused to watch any or all tv and Super Bowl hype before the game..in fact, i turned the game on only after the saturated and over blown pre game national anthem, fly overs, fireworks and sacrificing of a virgin on the later of tomorrow ritual..............trust me rae, it made for a great game as my NY Ginats won..as predicted.........
Heres another thing I like to do.......you cna watch the resluts Tuesday nite as returns start coming in.......go to bed, long before the idiotic media calls it tho..........go to sleep........youll wake up anxiously around 1am or so, sorta like how we did on Christmas eve..remember? The you can turn on the tv and find out..................makes it more interesting right?
For your initial consult.................no charge..............
Thanks for the consultation Michael. I'll do my best to follow. But I don't think I can stay away from the blog.
I'm thinking about going on a hiking trip tomorrow, getting back late to find out about results.
12:44 PM EDT
rae hart -
Go for it ! (first visit is free, followups are $0.05, can't beat that !):
Mike wrote "In the 2 weeks leading up to Super Bowl 42, I refused to watch any or all tv and Super Bowl hype before the game..in fact, i turned the game on only after the saturated and over blown pre game national anthem, fly overs, fireworks and sacrificing of a virgin on the later of tomorrow ritual.............."
I can attest to how good this advice is. To expand the beneficial effects, I also didn't turn on the game or otherwise pay attention to its existence at anytime before, during or after it was played. I did read Mike's summaries and predictions, but it was great otherwise.
Because of the overwhelming response, we are encouraging everyone to donate anytime today.
All donations will be counted towards the minute.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/pf?outreach_page_id=38499
Donate Now!
She is using the politics of fear. She is using Osama Bin Laden in her new TV ad, some say because of tightening race in PA.
Probably get in trouble for saying this, I cannot stand her, I'd like to use other words but won't. She has no shame. I hope she not only loses Presidential bid, but she loses her Senate seat.
wOOt!!!!!!!!!!!!
finally got through and made my "minute" donation, felt just like hitting the old bat
1:15 PM EDT
rae hart -
What with Earth Day tomorrow, Hillary is simply getting ready for it by
http://www.animationlibrary.com/animation/30327/Recycle_2/
-ing Repub talking points.
Sorry, here is link to new Clinton video
I think Philly's mayor (Nutter) will be run out of town soon. He's out of step with his constituents.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4...
His favorite past time is bashing Barack. Don't think he'll win in a re-election bid.
Phil, made my donation too!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hillary, say it ain't so. Osama in your ad? Shades of Howard Dean.
Now if that crazy guy nutter will just stop japping and stop the murders in philly it would be great.
When do we find out what Obama hit with our donations during the one minutethon?
John Kerry's got a diary up on KOS about a hearing tomorrow in the Senate Commerce Committee on Net Neutrality and that we need to remind our Senators what we think about this. I think this is so important -- we don't want happening to the Net what has happened to newspapers and TV in the US of A. Here are some links for you:
Kerry's Diary
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/21/...
Commerce Commitee tomorrow
http://tinyurl.com/3twqcq
Commerce Commitee members
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index....
US Senate (find yours and call to say you support Net Neutrality)
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_in...
I'm thinking about going on a hiking trip tomorrow,
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There ya go rae..............get out in the fresh air and nature..........youll soon realize really what a really insignificant and little creature man really is as compared to his surroundings.............my tradition that starts this year will be to scale a mountain every several months, and if sucessful.......open up my backpack where a neatly concealed havanna clun rum and a coke await.............plus a honey flavoured cigar..................
Gallup Daily: Obama Regains Lead Over Clinton, 49% to 42%
That Clinton ad is really bad. When are they going to stop using the second person? Telling the voters to get out of the kitchen is not a winner.
i just hope they didn't crash the servers with those donations. lOL
On this leaking of the internals BS.
Stop and think about it. If the commercial polls showed you single digits but your own polls showed double, you wouldn't leak it to Drudge. You would just phone bank like hell and sit back with a big grin waiting for the surprise.
The facts are, Hillary is out of money, her crowds are minute, and her lead has been cut to almost zilch. Her campaign leaked probably fake, or at least optimistically spun, internals for two reasons -- first, to pep up the flagging spirits of her ever-dwindling base, and second, so that after it's razor close she can make some innuendo about voting irregularities and white, uh, I mean "her" voters feeling intimidated.
Geoff Garin aleady trotted out the intimdation meme on Russert -- that Obama supporters intimidated Clinton supporters in various caucuses. When Russert asked for a fuller explanation, Garin retorted that he had just been with the campaign for two weeks, so he really didn't have the specifics. Yeah, sure.
These people are vile to their very marrow.
-- volney
Flooding here in the Norfolk area of Va.
We haven't had this much rain in over a year.
Flash flood watch. I am watching.
And another thing, candidates' internals really aren't worth crap anyway. I've been with candidates and watched them confidently rate people as 5s who were 3s at best on a really good day.
Candidates believe their own PR too much. But Hillary still has two eyes to see the size of her crowds and the size of her bank balance, one leaking faster than the other.
-- volney
I don't much like the DNC anti-McCain ad either. First of all we should not be giving his visage air time. Second of all, the verbiage starts our with "you could say." That's not an assertion McCain is going to stand behind. The figures he quotes are from the always unreliable press, so what's to be believed or not? The only thing the minimally attentive audience is going to be left with the the pleasant, reassuring sound of McCain's voice. I'm surprised they didn't have him say "my friend."
2:35 PM EDT
Boston Marathon results today:
http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/
TODAY'S MARATHON WINNERS
MenRobert K Cheruiyot2:07:46WomenDire Tune2:25:25...
Dire Tune from Ethiopia took the women's crown in the closest finish in Boston Marathon history, edging out Alevtina Biktimirova.
...
With his third straight victory, Cheruiyot gave Kenya its 15th men's victory in 17 years
...
Animal Rights advocates have a friend in Jesus
Cat Lovers Appreciate Soul Mate in Vatican
By ANDY NEWMANTheir names are Shadow, Butch, Misty, Rusty, Sparky, Sunshine, Esther, Marty and Spunky. They are cats, some former strays, some tiger-striped. But to Jan Fredericks of Wayne, N.J., they are family, they are God’s creatures and deserving of compassion.
And in Pope Benedict XVI, Ms. Fredericks, the chairwoman of the fledgling American branch of Catholic Concern for Animals, believes that she has found a kindred spirit: Along with an enormous entourage and a message of peace, the Pope brought with him to the United States a lifelong love of cats.
Benedict’s kindness toward the strays of Rome is already the stuff of Vatican legend. His house in Germany, its garden guarded by a cat statue, was filled with cats when Benedict lived there full time before he was posted to the Vatican in 1982.
And Benedict is, without a doubt, the first pope to have had an authorized biography of him written by a cat — Chico, a ginger tabby who lives across the road from Benedict’s old house in Germany.
“I think it shows a sensitive side, and I believe it shows that God lives in a person,” Ms. Fredericks said Friday. “I think all leaders should have compassion for animals.”
When the pope arrived at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Ms. Fredericks and some members of the group were there, handing out about 300 copies of a pamphlet called “Are We Good Stewards of God’s Creation?” (Also represented outside the stadium was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which wants Benedict to follow up on some scathing criticisms of factory farming he made when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.)
The pope’s fondness for felines has been often remarked upon since his elevation in 2005. One prominent Catholic blogger based in California, who writes under the pen name Gerald Augustinus, claims to have a 2-year-old Siamese named Benedictus, or Benny for short.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/nationalspecial2/21cats.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
WTF--the IRS has sent us a REFUND CHECK for a refund we never claimed, with this verbiage:
The amount on the enclosed refund check is different from the amount shown on your return. You should be receiving a notice in a few days that explains why the amount of the check is different and what additional information, if any, you may need to provide to the internal Revenue Service. The notice will explain how to contact the Internal Revenue Service if you need to provide additional information or have questions about the notice. Please do not call us until you receive the notice.
DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE ANY CLUE THAT THEY WORK FOR US?
If you are certain that the amount of the refund check is too high, please return the original check to the internal Revenue Service center where you filed our tax return with a letter explaining the reasons why they amount is too high, and we will send you the correct amount. If you do not return the check, you may owe Interest.
Everybody knows that if someone sends you something you didn't order, you get to keep it without paying. LOL The spouse wanted to sign the check over to the library building fund. I think I'll just trash it. Like right, I'm going to waste my time writing the IRS a letter!
28.
Monica Smith
If the shoe were on the other foot and Obama told Clinton to "get out of the kitchen" the media would be all over him, but IMO her gender makes macho talk acceptable, even appealing.
Well done blog Monica.
I can see hearings as far as the eye can see for each and every one of these retired miliary men. If they are truly guilty of such reported deeds, I see their deeds as treasonous. Let them hang alongside Bush and Cheney.
Africa has the best runners in the world for sure.
Nooo, Monica, keep the refund!!!!
In other news, Geoff Garin now denies the Drudge leak to the WaPo:
"They flatly denied a banner headline on the Drudge Report saying the campaign has internal polling showing her 11 points ahead. Geoff Garin, the new strategist on the Clinton team, swore up and down that no such poll nor any such data exists within the campaign."
Like I said, vile to the marrow, leak then deny. I assume Drudge knows a campaign source when one calls.
It reminds me of the pro-Obama re-do of the Mac 1984 ad that got put on YouTube and then traced to an idle Obmam staffer... who up until a short time earlier had worked for Clinton.
-- volney
Obmam = Obama
tired, too much spring cleaning
-- volney
longitudinal tracking polls always seem to have their finger on the pulse of voters most accurately, and If I were a campaign and saw mine tanking I'd make some changes pronto
NC has cancelled the Democratic debate. Hallelujah. No link yet. There was concern what another *debate* would do to the party. Phew...
Monica - In Oregon one year we (as a bloc of parents) turned over our state refunds to the school. It felt great!
Thanks annilow for the info and links re: Open Internet.
I just wrote our Senator Nelson who is on the Commerce Committee. Perhaps he will do something right on this issue.
When do we find out what Obama hit with our donations during the one minutethon?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
my money went to the "minute" but was several late because my browser kept crashing, so I hope they counted my $100 even if it was a few minutes late
17.
rae hart
Mon, 04/21/08
Sorry, here is link to new Clinton video
===========================
This woman is delusional - but maybe crazy like a fox - Rove had the same tactics - accusing the opponent of doing what you were doing while you were doing it.
You can always send Obama the money Monica
I'm going to use mine to take my son on a fishing trip though.
mary vb
Mon, 04/21/08
Reply to this
Monica - In Oregon one year we (as a bloc of parents) turned over our state refunds to the school. It felt great!
====================
You should have given it to the Oregon Health Plan. They need it more than the schools. People far below the poverty line are getting cut off.
Just did my BO one Minute contribution. No problem with server.
They are trying to destroy Medicaid in Oregon - when people get kicked off for earning over the limit - even for one month - they cannot get back on.
mary vb
Mon, 04/21/08
Reply to this
NC has cancelled the Democratic debate. Hallelujah.
======================
No more debates. The MSM is just using them to demoralize Obama and his supporters. Blame ABC - the cartoon channel
Fred - This was in 1997 and it was a personal choice for us at the time. I think it stinks about Medicaid in Oregon though.
new thread.
new thread
re: anobamaminute - this msg is up on their site now:
Because of the overwhelming response, we are encouraging everyone to donate anytime today.
All donations will be counted towards the minute.
Monica, This reminds me of the top Military people who were involved in reporting false casualty figures during the Viet Nam war. One who later retired wrote a book titled Dereliction of Duty. Can't remember the guys name right now. I think some top Pentagon people were indicted, and some were convicted too. This is another story of huge importance that I hope doesn't disappear from the news screen too fast.
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By * rdorgan on Apr 21, 2008 11:59 AM EDT12:01 OM EDT
Ok, I'm going to use the F-word !
Howard is first !