Month: May 2006

Or so proclaims The Brad Blog who reports that Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who hosts a weekend radio show on Air America, Ring of Fire, has an article coming out in Rolling Stone Magazine (appearing tomorrow online, and Friday at the newsstands near you) that claims the Republican Party conspired to steal the 2004 election in Ohio:

A damning and detailed feature article, written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for Rolling Stone and documenting evidence of the theft of the 2004 Presidential Election is set to hit newstands this Friday, The BRAD BLOG can now confirm. The online version of the article will be posted tomorrow (Thursday) morning.

The article — headlined on the cover as “Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?: How 350,000 Votes Disappeared in Ohio” — has been several months in development and will contend that a concerted effort was undertaken by high-level Republican officials to steal the Election in Ohio — and thus the country — in 2004!

Kennedy told The BRAD BLOG this morning that “the best evidence says the Republicans succeeded” in their plan.

He writes in the 10-page long article, and confirmed to us today, that evidence shows Ohio Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was “certainly in on” the scheme, and there are indications that the effort went all the way up to the White House.

Kennedy is a highly respected spokesperson for environmentalist causes, but this is the first time he’s taken a prominent position on the Topic that must not be named at a certain well known Orange colored blog. It’s a significant story in itself that he has staked his name and reputation to the position that our last Presidential election was fraudulently stolen by Republicans. I, for one, will be anxiously awaiting the opportunity to read and dissect what his article has to say on this subject tomorrow. I fully expect (as I’m sure he does) that the long knives of the Conservative Smear Machine will be in action early and often to attack his character, his sanity and his patriotism.

Nonetheless, it is extremely significant that he is taking this step now, prior to the 2006 Fall elections, and in a forum (Rolling Stone) that reaches a decidedly large and youthful audience. I wish him well, and as soon as the story is available I’ll be pouring over it with my eyes and posting my reaction here at Booman.

Stolen Election of 2004

Election Fraud

Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Kenneth Blackwell

Ohio 2004 election

Republican vote fraud

Last week it was revealed that the personal information of 26.5 Million Veterans was stolen from a Veterans Administration employee who had brought the information home. The employee’s home was burglarized and the information, which was located on the employees laptop and external hard drive, went missing. Now the VA faces a monumental task of making sure that the Veterans it is charged with caring for don’t become victims of identity theft, a crime that has reached epidemic proportions in this nation, with 10 million victims in 2003 alone.
The costs of identity theft vary, but they are significant. According to a 2003 FTC study:

The survey found in the past 12 months that 3.23 million consumers discovered that new accounts had been opened, and other frauds such as renting an apartment or home, obtaining medical care or employment, had been committed in their name. In those cases, the loss to businesses and financial institutions was $10,200 per victim. Individual victims lost an average of $1,180. Where the thieves solely used a victim’s established accounts, the loss to businesses was $2,100 per victim. For all forms of identity theft, the loss to business was $4,800 and the loss to consumers was $500, on average.

And while this information has to do solely with the costs of identity theft itself, there is another big cost in the case of the 26.5 million lost identities (which is, incidentally, the largest single loss of social security data in US history)- mitigating the threat posed by this monumental blunder, which will not be cheap (the VA is estimating costs will be in the range of $500-million). This raises a big question: who will pay for these losses? One would hope that the VA would pay for its own mistakes, but it is already extremely strapped for cash with the huge influx of new vets and a stagnant budget.

Wounded Iraq Veteran and Fighting Dem, Tammy Duckworth, sent a letter to the Secretary of the VA last week demanding that the VA garuntee that this money will not be taken from its already strapped budget, posted in full:

May 26, 2006

The Hon. R. James Nicholson

Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary Nicholson:

On this Memorial Day, I am among millions of veterans across the United States who have reason to fear that our most sensitive personal information has been jeopardized through negligent and irresponsible actions committed by staff at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  Having read of your testimony yesterday before Congress, I note your statement that you share the anger and concern of veterans at this security breach, which has put our finances and credit ratings at risk.  I encourage you to follow through on the promise you made to Congress to immediately inform veterans of these risks, as well as ensuring that VA records are much better protected in the future.

Here in Illinois’ 6th Congressional district, my fellow veterans and I are united in demanding answers and accountability– the same kind of accountability that was demanded of each of us during our service in the U.S. armed forces.  Those responsible for this incident must be disciplined, steps must be taken to ensure that nothing like it ever occurs again, and actions must be carried out to assist the veterans who have now been placed at risk of financial and personal ruin.

As you acknowledged, repairing the problem and protecting affected veterans carries with it a price tag.  As you pointed out during your testimony to members of the House and Senate yesterday, the cost may be as high as $500 million.  The VA inspector general said that the cost of merely contacting each veteran by mail may be as high as $10 million.  Obviously, the VA should take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the security of veterans’ personal information, and to make whole any veteran whose finances are compromised.  But this must not be done at the expense of America’s veterans, themselves.  

Therefore, I am writing to you today to request your assurance that the financial burden for such steps not be placed on the veterans themselves– nor financed by cuts in services on which veterans depend for their health and well-being.  Based on recent actions by this administration and Congress, this is not an idle concern.   Amazingly, even during a current time of war, the VA budget shows examples of an ongoing pattern of under-funding–or even cutting–vital services.  

For example, I was greatly troubled to see the FY07 budget unveiled by this administration earlier this year called for a reduction of $13 million from the VA’s Medical and Prosthetics Research Program.  At the same time, veterans would experience a doubling of their monthly prescription drug costs under the President’s budget.  

Looking to the years ahead, this generation of veterans returning from the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq will seek treatment from the VA to a degree that the Department–based on current projections– appears unprepared to adequately assume.  As you may recall, this was among the topics that I addressed during the testimony that I delivered to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees in early 2005.  

As someone who continues to receive treatment from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs–in my case, at Hines VA Medical Center–I know the value and importance of such programs.  Thanks to the unparalleled skill and dedication of medical professionals at facilities such as Hines and throughout the VA system, we veterans receive outstanding care.  However, we realize that our VA doctors, nurses, technicians and other hospital personnel often lack the full level of resources that they need.  Please do not continue to create unwarranted challenges on these outstanding–yet often over-burdened–professionals.  

During our meetings in the past, including during your visits to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, you expressed to me your personal dedication to the veterans’ community.  At this moment, I am hopeful that you will follow-through on that commitment by ensuring that this dire situation is rectified quickly and in an appropriate manner.

Fixing the financial damage that has been done by the VA to millions of veterans is crucial.  But equally important is ensuring that the costs associated with those efforts are not borne by veterans themselves.  Given this administration’s track record of short-sighted decision-making when it comes to veterans’ medical services, I feel it necessary to alert you that veterans will find unacceptable any steps that fail this very reasonable standard.    

I look forward to receiving an early response to this letter, with your assurance that the veterans of this nation will be protected from bearing the cost of repairing the recent security breach at the VA.

Sincerely,  

Tammy Duckworth

Our veterans have given their time, their service, their life and limbs to protect our nation. The very least the VA can do is assure them that their service will not be effected due to mishandling of personal data by VA employees. I look forward to posting the VA’s response to Duckworth’s letter, all I have to say is: they better friggin respond!

Crossposted at Blue Force

Seemingly lost in the shuffle of the emerging revelations about Haditha and the surging violence in Iraq, was Donald Rumsfeld’s recent appearance on Larry King Live.  And that’s a shame because the interview is a goldmine of the wisdom and deep thoughts of our Secretary of Defense.  For example, does he ever have any doubts or regrets about Iraq?

No.

Or, what did he learn from the criticisms of six retired Generals?

Well, I guess one thing that’s pretty clear, and that — well, one of them’s running for president.  One of them’s writing a book and selling a book.  You know, I mean, you learn about human nature, I suppose.

There are also his thoughts on progress in Iraq, troop levels, elections, how hard it is to write condolence letters and American Idol. And when asked about accusations that he had lied in the past about WMD?  He lied.  Again.  
As many here will recall, on May 4th, retired CIA officer Ray McGovern publicly challenged Rumsfeld on his pre-war statements about WMD.  When King questioned him about the accusation, Rumsfeld said of McGovern:

He’s an activist.  He goes around and does this everywhere.  He was here recently at the White House.  He testified for, I believe, for impeaching President Bush and that type of thing.  So that’s what he does.

And then he lied:

He’s wrong.  The intelligence community had suspect sites where they believed the locations were most likely.  We had — our troops had gone in from Kuwait north towards — into Iraq, north towards Baghdad.  They’d been in there a day or two or three, I believe, when I was asked, “Why haven’t you found the weapons of mass destruction?”  And I said, “Because they’ve just gotten in the southern part of the country, and we know” — I said something to that effect — “that the suspect sites” — or sites, meaning suspect sites — “were in the area of Baghdad and north, that’s where the intelligence community said them, and that we weren’t there yet.  We hadn’t covered that piece of real estate.”

Wrong.  Here’s what Rumsfeld said on March 30, 2003:

MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, weapons of mass destruction. Key goal of the military campaign is finding those weapons of mass destruction. None have been found yet…And is it curious to you that given how much control U.S. and coalition forces now have in the country, they haven’t found any weapons of mass destruction?

SEC. RUMSFELD: Not at all. If you think — let me take that, both pieces — the area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.

“We know where they are,” a lie, is now, “I said “that the suspect sites…,” another lie.  But why worry about the facts?  After all, the 27 year veteran of the CIA was an
activist…Rumsfeld said so.  So what was King’s hard hitting follow-up to this boldface lie?

MR. KING:  You didn’t lose sleep over that.

SEC. RUMSFELD:  No.  Oh, my gosh.

MR. KING:  Okay.  We’re going to deploy National Guard troops on the border.  Do you support that?

The lesson to be learned from the interview is this; if you can’t do your interview on FOX, Larry King is a darn good second choice.

Another highlight from the interview was when King asked him about attending funerals for the fallen and the difficulty of writing condolence letters to the family.  Rumsfeld was asked what it was like to meet with the families:

SEC. RUMSFELD:  It’s — I guess my meetings with them are forward- looking.  […]

And I have found that I benefit from doing it.

Well that alone makes the 2471 casualties in this war all worthwhile.

And the question that keeps me up at night:

MR. KING:  How do you deal with it, Mr. Secretary, emotionally?

He reads a lot of history, and then:

MR. KING:  But you still have to write the letter, don’t you?

SEC. RUMSFELD:  You bet.  You bet.

MR. KING:  I mean that’s a human being.

SEC. RUMSFELD:  And I just signed three letters right in there, before I came in here, to the families of people who have been killed.

Wow, three whole signatures…that must have been tough on the poor guy.  Especially when you consider that since the public furor over his using a signing machine, Rumsfeld has to sign each and every one of those letters…by hand.  The humanity!

What else?  There’s progress in Iraq, they’ve elected a unity government, troop levels are fine, Dick Cheney lives to serve his country, war is Hell and Rumsfeld used the expression “oh my goodness” or “oh my gosh” at least ten times.  Oh, and another thing about that criticism of him?  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were criticized too.

And he lied.  

A new video game based on the novel series “Left Behind” is not even released and already making headlines. Why? Because of it’s sickening nature. The game is similar to last year’s most popular game, “Grand Theft Auto” but instead of working as a criminal you are working for God. Your task: to convert all the “non-believers” or kill them. We have yet to hear a response from the Christian church but the author of the book issued a statement which essentially shifted the blame to the video game producers.

Scott Ritter has been a man of courage for some time. He spoke out against the war in Iraq from the beginning. His insights into the nature of the “threat”posed by Saddam – which were, in a nutshell, none – to the United States provided a degree of clarity for those of us who actually bothered to care enough to think about this matter before the war started.

His book, Iraq Confidential, provides in excruciating detail the story of how Iraq had disarmed after the first Gulf War. It confirms many of my worst doubts before the war – that the Bush administration clearly planned all of this well before 9-11, and looked for any excuse to start a war with Saddam. The Bush administration lied about this war being a “last resort”. When he said, “We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq,” that was a lie. That single fact is a big deal. Our soldiers and countless Iraqis have died over a lie. Many lies.

Now Ritter makes the case again here. Once again, Bush, who feigns ‘coming clean’, continues to lie. He blamed everyone else for “misinterpreting” his words.

Bush will apparently lie about just about anything. He is surrounded by an unfortunate group of kindred spirits. We must see this clearly for what it is. When will the weight of our moral failure in this truly evil decision to go to war finally sink into the American psyche? When will we begin to actually watch where our feet are taking us? Or will the childish innocence that was punctured on 9-11 allow us to continue to walk blindly through this world, acting as if we can do anything we want without consequence?

We need strong people like Ritter and a growing throng of others to speak out. We must speak out now unless we want to be dragged into yet another folly that this ship of fools still has time to foist upon us.

-Please don’t forget to checkout our second installment on the philosophy of politics over at No Hat Tip

posted by Tom Paine II

Petition Drive Successful! Precedent Setting Vote on Extremist Abortion Ban to Go on the Ballot in South Dakota!

Dear Friends,

We have our first victory!  Thanks to your support, we have blocked the implementation of HB1215, the extremist anti-abortion legislation in South Dakota signed by conservative Governor Mike Rounds, by collecting enough signatures to refer it instead to the ballot in November.

As you may have heard by now our partners, The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, turned in 38,416 petition signatures, more than 20,000 past the required 16,278 for a ballot referral.

But we still have a long way to go.  HB1215 is intended as the first of step in what is undoubtedly the most dangerous attack on our constitutional rights since Roe v. Wade.  Mike Rounds’ bill outlaws all abortions, including cases of rape and incest.

Focus South Dakota is a group of veteran state and national political activists who led the effort to take HB1215 to the people and continues to play an advisory and funding role to Healthy Families and other in-state efforts.  But our role is a larger one as the hard-hitting voice that will directly and aggressively fight the extremists nationwide through media, mail and voter education.

As we move forward to the next stage of battle in this war, we ask for your help in putting our voice on the air, on the internet and in the field.  

The anti-choice extremists and religious fundamentalists are poised to funnel millions of dollars against us.  If they are victorious, they will take their campaign to other states.  We need to cut them off now and let them know that their first attack on Roe v. Wade will be their last.

Donate $25, $50 or $100 today to say “Not In My State” and help us defeat the abortion ban in South Dakota from being enacted in other States.

Help us stand together with the women and men of South Dakota by defending their constitutional rights and individual freedoms.

Jim Robinson
South Dakota State Chair

Kimberly Scott
National Chair

I see from this Washington Post article that the antiterrorism budget for the two cities directly attacked on 9.11.01 [New York City and D.C. for those who’ve forgotten] will be shortchanged $114M from last year’s budget thereby taking on 95% of the $120M budget cut.

I’m no rocket scientist, nor am I a counterterroism expert, but A) reducing the antiterrorism budget and B) cutting said budget primarily in the two most prime target cities does not seem like sound counterterrorism advice. I got some ideas, as I’m sure most if not all BooTribbers do, as to how we can go about protecting our country, what the DHS has announced today and done in the past – probably not high up on the list if on it at all.

Homeland Security

DHS

Counterterrorism

Budget

Washington and New York will receive 40 percent less in urban grant money compared to last year, with Washington dropping from $77 million to $46 million and New York falling from $207 million to $124 million, DHS officials said. The combined total means that the two areas bear almost the entire brunt of a $120 million cut in the overall budget for the program, the statistics show.

The front page of the DHS website has plenty of talk about the upcoming hurricane season. And when did that become a national security concern? I didn’t know we were at war against Mother Nature. On the sidebar, you can read this press release leading to the state by state and urban area breakdown [.pdf]. I can’t find the 2006 document for a comparison right now. Anybody have that?

I think it’s ridiculous that people from across the country whine and moan about those idiots in DC and NYC who are such idiot liberal fuckers who want to destroy our country while continuting to live in the two most prime terrorist targets in this hated country of ours. And it’s even more ridiculous to take monies away from the counterterroism grants from said high risk targets.

…All by its lonesome, the federal government extracts over Two Trillion Dollars from us every single year. Yet, with all this unthinkable wealth, it has been incapable of reducing poverty, improving our schools, preventing 9-11, catching those who perpetrated the attacks, making health care affordable, reducing crime, and so on. Going even further, each year, it passes new laws that make it legal to pry into your life even more…

Click Here for More Related Commentary

“It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.”
H. L. Mencken

Politicians would never try to mislead us would they?  The American People deserve honesty from their government; but one would be hard-pressed to prove that, in practice, we receive anything but the opposite.  To be clear, when I refer to our government, I don’t mean the Party in power at the moment, but instead, I am referring to the institution of the federal government itself, which has cheated us, wasted our money, conquered nations, and lied to us, no matter which party has held the reins.

Lying may be the lifeblood of politics, but sometimes it gets so obvious and so absurd, that I just can’t let it go. To some every-day famous promises (“I’ll call you,” “You’ll have your money next week,” and “I’ll be there at seven!“), we can add a whole slew of false statements made by politicians over the past century. Here’s just a few of them:

• The income tax will never go above 6 percent.
• Saddam Hussein definitely has WMDs.
• The Democrats are the Anti-War Party.
• US Troops will be in Bosnia for just one year at the most.
• The Civil War was fought to end slavery.
• Bill Clinton was a man of peace.
• Social Security will always be our safety-net, and the tax will be only 2 percent. 
• The Drug War will reduce drug usage and crime in America.
• Federal aid to education will never result in the federal control of education. 
• FDR would never send our boys into any foreign wars.
• The PATRIOT Act will only be used against terrorists. 
• Bombing Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, and the rest, will strike such a tremendous fear into the hearts of terrorists that they’ll never bother us again. 
• The War on Poverty will reduce poverty in America. 
• War with Iraq will only come as a last resort.
• Iraqi oil will pay for an American invasion.
• Republicans will always try to reduce the size of government. 
• Democracy is on the March.

Coming Soon.

I hope that you’ll keep this short-list of false government promises in mind when you hear politicians from both sides of the aisle tell you:

• The War on Terrorism will make America safe.
• A national sales tax will be equal and fair for everyone. 
• A military draft will help prevent future wars.
• Campaign finance reform will end corruption in politics. 
• Gun-control laws will keep guns away from criminals.
• NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO and FTAA are free trade agreements.
• Showing your papers will protect you.
• Iran is the world’s greatest threat.

The politicians making these statements are no different than those who made the promises in the first list.  A casual study of history should have proven to all of us by now, that even if we should ever develop some faith in politicians, we should never believe any of their promises on face value. So long as there are empires, there will always be even larger lies to cover their cruelties.

Where the Problem Lies

The real problem is power. Throughout the world, and throughout history, those who reach a level of power have often times abused it.  Our politicians are no different.  If we give them too much power, they’ll abuse it.  Period.  Whether they’re from one political party or the other, or if they’re good people or not doesn’t matter one bit.  Power given to politicians will always be abused – if not today, then by someone in the future who will take advantage of the extra power we handed to them.

• Drugs and drug crime will only cease to be huge problems once the Drug War is completely ended.
• Government waste will only end when the federal government can no longer tax us.
• Education will be proper for our children only when it’s completely out of the hands of politicians.
• You will be safe from terrorism only when our politicians stop trying to run the affairs of other countries.
• Democracy will only be on the march when we tell the government what to do, instead of the other way around. 

Now What?

We all have to realize that there can never be one person who will change the world for us.  This is the first step in dealing with the behemoth state that is attacking our liberty daily.  But, each one of us can do our part to make sure we don’t make the situation worse.

All by its lonesome, the federal government extracts over Two Trillion Dollars from us every single year.  Yet, with all this unthinkable wealth, it has been incapable of reducing poverty, improving our schools, preventing 9-11, catching those who perpetrated the attacks, making health care affordable, reducing crime, and so on.  Going even further, each year, it passes new laws that make it legal to pry into your life even more.

With all that in mind, the key here is to refuse support for any proposal that would increase the extent, size, or power of the federal government (as virtually every proposal does). Any new power we give the feds today will most likely be abused at some point, and cause us all great harm – either today, or in the future.

The moral of the story is this. If you love the lie, stick to the state as your cover, your comfort, and your resource.  But, if you love the truth, you have to find it outside the halls of power.  Truth is Freedom, and therefore, truth is, unquestionably, the number one enemy of the State.

It sure is an exciting time to be an enemy of the State; to be someone who says it with honesty. Ben Franklin was right; honesty is indeed the best policy after all.  And I do hope that maybe, just maybe, we are moving into a time where the tide against us will finally turn, and that honesty will become a part of our political existence.  If The People take the reins from the politicians, there are strong signs that America will move in that direction.

Written by Michael Boldin [send him email], who is an outspoken critic of the American political system, and an editor and contributing writer for PopulistAmerica.com.

Well, um, if you aren’t doing anything.  [Looks at feet.]

Okay.  No.  I’m not asking you out.  I’m asking you to do one little thing.  If you are not too busy on Friday.  It is a war protest thing.  And I know it will sound a little “hippie” to some of you younger folks.  But it is fun.  And if you aren’t doing anything to help stop the war on Friday.  Then you should try this.  It is easy.  I swear.  Meet me down under this break.
Here is the deal.  It’s called Petals for Peace.  My local anti-war group has been delivering single flowers to our wing-nut pro-war Rep. Mike Rogers (NeoHawk-MI) when he comes home on recess, as a way to protest the war.  We’ve given him about 500 in five days.

I don’t think it is too far outside the mainstream.  We’ve gotten press coverage here and here.  And the UAW has jumped in with some rank-and-file support of our protest (they took up a collection and dumped about 130 flowers on the Congressmen last time — and they are in again on Friday).

Plus, we’ve made it easy to participate from anywhere (We’ve had people from France, Italy and Australia deliver flowers.)

Here is all you have to do.  On Friday, between 9 a.m. EST and 5 p.m. EST deliver a flower to Rogers by one of these methods:

By phone — Call Bancroft Flowers (517-371-4120) and order a flower. They deliver.  And they are cool, but no affiliation to me or the peace group.

By fax — Draw a picture of a flower with your own peace message (optional) and fax it to Rogers’ Lansing office (517-702-8642).

In person — Buy a carnation at Bancroft Flowers (1417 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing) and walk it over to Rogers’ office. His office is just one block to the west on Michigan Ave. Easy as pie.

We’ll also be out there picketing from 9 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Friday.  If you are in the area.  By all means, come out and say, “Hi.”

So what are you doing Friday?  If it is Petals for Peace, then click on the button over there.  We need more Kossacks.

Thanks.  Peace.  Out.

Cross posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune and My Left Wing.