What Time Is It?

It's time to take my liberty back, just like it says in the Pledge of Allegiance. The liberty that my Forefathers fought for, and proudly laid its foundation to give freedom and justice to all and give an example for the World to follow in its footsteps.

It's time to take my free speech back as our Constitution states. The right to show my true patriotism to my country and not to the masters of its government without the fear of persecution from the false patriots. Time to make this whole land a "free speech zone" as it says in the First Amendment.

It's time to take back my language, free of distortions, twists and ambiguous misinterpretations. The language in which truth means truth, fair means fair, and lie is not a malfunction.

It's time to take back my free elections, where one vote means one vote and all citizens in good faith can vote without intimidation or disenfranchisement.

It's time to take my values back, the values taught by my ancestors, based on real human virtues like courage, fairness, faith and most of all honesty.

It's time to take my morality back, based on love, social fairness and true faith. Morality dictated by true human virtues and inclusion of all of our human brothers and sisters.

It's time to take my faith back, where the names of God and Jesus will not be used to achieve personal advancement or enrichment. To celebrate their names and follow their teachings without bragging about it.

It's time to take my Government back to its purpose as servant to the people rather than master of the universe.

It's time to reclaim capitalism with its values and free opportunites for all in their quest to work and their pursuit of happiness in a playing-field regulated by free market laws.

It's time to reclaim my Constitution to the full extent of its meaning, and those upholding its interpretation not be given the right to select leaders.

And most of all, it's time to reclaim my Country, that shining house on the hill, respected and revered around the world. The Country that invented and revolutionized democracy and taught the world individual freedom and dignity to live by.

Slam-Dunk

Two major political stories dominating the news are the most ironic to date.

The first is the devastating Senate Intelligence Committee report about the total failure of our intelligence agencies with the CIA (annual budget of $40 billion) leading the pack. In light of George Tenet's resignation it's like beating a dead horse. But the dead horse has a lot to do with the total collapse and miserable failure of our intelligence.

Here is my scenario:
If my memory isn't playing tricks on me, as soon as Bush came to the presidency, there were Republican vociferations about whether he should keep Tenet (appointed by Clinton) as DCI. Bush went to visit Tenet at the CIA headquarters. His visit was short and immediately afterward in the lobby of the Agency, Bush declared, in a photo-op, that he had complete trust and confidence in George Tenet as DCI. I wonder what they talked about behind closed doors.

Perhaps Bush told him his intention to invade Iraq and asked Tenet if he would support his president and gather intelligence support for the war.

I tend to believe that Tenet had agreed to do just that. So, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condie, Wolfowitz and company had highjacked our intelligence. That's why they all missed the gathering storm coming from Al Qaida because the CIA was looking for everything and anything to incriminate Iraq. Tenet unleashed his troops to look through all the intelligence with the Iraq scrutiny in their irises.

After that, Tenet was in the White House every day briefing the president on his progress. Richard Clarke never had a chance to brief the president about Al Qaida; he was pushed away, put down and even changed his mission to chase after crimes on the Internet. The Agency was too busy collecting data on Iraq.

Now, the "slam-dunk" thing; I tend to believe that Bob Woodward (a little older, a little wealthier and a lot lazier than in his youthful years) was talking about that scenario honestly.
What he didn't tell was, what they were talking about when Tenet made his "slam-dunk" reference. Perhaps they were analyzing the gathered, made-up intelligence and the President didn't find the case for the war strong enough. In other words he asked him: "that's all that you came up with George?" And the other George reassured him that the case was a slam-dunk.

What is outrageous that the death toll now is over 4000 (9/11/2001 and our Iraq war casualties) on our side. All that because they distracted the CIA from their normal duties to watch over the dangers facing this country.

The irony is the second major political news: On the same day, Tom Ridge's face showed up on our television screens warning of serious intelligence that Al Qaida is going to strike in our country between now and election day. They just have to keep playing this card to keep us scared, but they won't raise the terrorist warning to orange because that is very costly and probably would bankrupt some states.

"Serious intelligence" Tom? Intelligence from where? From the CIA that you guys just declared null and void??? Go sell this to kindergarteners, Tom, perhaps you can scare some there...!

The Truth about Kenny-Boy and the Neocons

After two and a half years of golf playing Kenny-Boy Lay finally got the cuffs and right after the court proceedings he declared his innocence at an ad-hoc press conference.

Wait a minute! Some two years ago at the US Senate hearings when they asked his opinion about the biggest corporate collapse in US history, Kenny-Boy candidly took the fifth. Why he did that is a real mystery. Perhaps he could not incriminate his lower managers by declaring his innocence at that time. Or, claiming that he was totally out of the loop would look bad on his CEO resume.

To me, every time someone takes the fifth translates to as being guilty and not wanting to testify against oneself. At least that is the intent of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

I am not gonna derail the subject in painstaking details. Enron's sad story is in the conscience of the nation, or aunt Millie's electric bill in California is common knowledge in the land.

I will only mention this oligarchic alliance of the neoconservative right-wing and big corporate business with identical flaw of character: lie, denial, shady secrecy, dirty dealings, shamelessness - taking over this country in their well organized coup.

Running a large corporation is just like running a country. Can you imagine if the US would go bankrupt and the president would point to his Treasury Secretary as the culprit who mismanaged the country's finances without the president's knowledge, while declaring his innocence and lack of any knowledge of wrongdoing?! Woops! That is the intelligence failure story lurking in my subconscious.

The New Crusader

"Back to the Past" says Laura Bush in her effort to help the President
take the US back to The Middle Ages.

...they've got a ticket to ride...

The face of "pessimism" in America.

Neocons are Liars

The Rude Pundit today exhibited so eloquently the philosophy of the " lie".
That is acceptable for normal people or more for the "simple minded" as the neocons would interpret it with a straight face, even smiling coyly .

I just couldn't let go and had to do my own dissertation on this subject. I traveled back in time to the Ancient Greeks to bring forward some of their wisdom.
I found Epimenides coming to the rescue of the neocons.

Here it goes; Let's say that I am a neocon. Remember, this is a hypothesis. I do not associate with that notion. Here is the analysis:

1. I am a neocon.
2. I state: "all neocons are liars"
3. Since I am a neocon, I am a liar also.
4. If I am a liar, what I just stated is false.
5. If my statement that "all neocons are liars" is false, the opposite of the statement is true.
6. That means "all neocons are not liars" They are rather truthful.
7. Since I am a neocon, I am also truthful. So, I spoke the truth.
8. If I speak the truth my statement "all neocons are liars" is a true statement.

..................
And on and on...

What is really outrageous the silence of the people, the statesmen, the politicians, the opposition, the moral majority, the religious organizations, the Vatican...
We just lost our innocence. Lying will become an acceptable norm and humanity will descend slowly toward anarchy.

The Face of Saddam

When the ship is sinking, all the rats come up from the bowl of the ship to the main deck ready to jump. And the rats jumped. I mean the Provisional Government Council of Iraq. After reading one sentence from a hardcover document looking visibly restless, the Administrator of the invaded left in a hurry jumping on the first cargo to exit the "sinking ship". He never looked back at the sailors left behind to try to keep the ship afloat.

Three days later Saddam's face is paralyzing all Tv screens around the world, a mesmerizing image of the world's pariah, the heartless, cruel dictator quenching the insatiable thirst of a sensationalist human community. Call it "arraignment", "theater", call it "international circus", "photo op for the invader", "distraction", "changing the subject" or "blindfolding the world's events".

Saddam looked slim, somewhat defeated, aged a bit, defiant and feisty and nonetheless dignified but mostly very human as the world has never seen him before. The illegitimate court of an illegitimate government, resulted by an illegitimate invasion of this country, trying to level charges against an elected legitimate president using the law and the constitution created by the government of the accused. If Saddam is accused among other crimes of the invasion of the sovereign country of Kuweit, does that mean that George W. Bush can be charged of the crime of invading the sovereign country of Iraq? I am not a legal expert, but the irony of the situation unfolding tells me that they have their hands full unless they will attempt a "guerilla" court proceeding determining his fate in the fashion of another infamous dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Evidently, this is a media plot orchestrated by the invader. There is no base to prosecute Saddam under these circumstances. The infamous dictator was the legitimate President of a sovereign country, invaded by another without a formal Declaration of War, and deposed by force by the invader.

Only history will tell, and perhaps next year the invader's arraignment for War Crimes at the International Court in Hague, once again will fill our TV screens. And somehow Saddam will have the last laugh.