To provide hospital facilities where rats roam freely and mold pollutes for injured troops returning from Iraq's war quagmire represents the height of unadulterated evil any way the Republican spin machine tries to slice it.

U.S.A. Today on March 16 showed color photos of luxury Walter Reed suites where members of the Senate and House are provided with the best of everything courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

If a member of the Senate or House were placed in a moldy, rat-infested room at Walter reed Hospital a congressional investigation would begin immediately.  One explanation given for the horrifying neglect of wounded service personnel being relegated to such scandalously inadequate hospital rooms is simply this.  

So many more injured war individuals were arriving daily at Walter Reed Hospital that they didn't have time to maintain and renovate the facilities.  Also, there weren't enough rooms to keep up with the soaring numbers of injured that were continuously arriving from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Dennis Kucinich made one of the most potentially significant comments on the current political scene in some time last week.  Citing the prospect of a possible preventive war against Iran by the Cheney-Bush neocon con Administration, Kucinich concluded that perhaps the only way to prevent such a conflict, which would contravene international law and the U.S. Constitution, would be an impeachment action.  

Kucinich further stated that he might be willing to introduce such articles of impeachment in the House.  This is significant news by any yardstick since a prominent congressman and announced candidate for president in 2008 has actually mentioned the word impeachment in direct contravention to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's previous comment about impeachment being "off the table."

How much did you read or hear about this important statement from Kucinich in the mainstream media?  Kucinich, it should be noted, did appear in the latest edition of Time.  That leading mainstream journal did not mention Kucinich in any significant context, however, instead concerning itself with trivial pursuit.  

A mention was made in the letters section that Kucinich stood at 5-7, hardly a noteworthy topic.  At that height he towered above Napoleon and Fiorello LaGuardia, as if any of this really mattered.

Anderson Cooper kept a couple of vigils on CNN recently.  One New Year's Eve, in Times Square. The other, Saddam Hussein's execution, Friday December 29th.  He was joined in the studio for an extended period of time by Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, Iraq's Deputy (acting) Ambassador to the UN.

Between reports from Baghdad and Dearborn MI, Cooper turned to al-Istrabadi for commentary but never seriously challenged al-Istrabadi's assertions or explored his role in the Iraq quagmire while al-Istrabadi was allowed to spin the incoming reports.

The closest Cooper ever got to a challenge ended with this response:

I'll let you pass on that one.

In 2002 al-Istrabadi, an attorney in private practice, submitted a paper to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations asserting the threat of weapons of mass destruction and the preposterous notion that in the absence of a Saddam Hussein's tyranny, Sunnis and Shiites would live in harmony.

Wolf Blitzer blinked a few days later on CNN's Late Edition, Sunday December 31st:

Ambassador al-Istrabadi, unfortunately, we have to leave it right there.

by Jason Miller

"If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone 'America died from a delusion that she had moral leadership'."

---Will Rogers

"It is only in folk tales, children's stories, and the journals of intellectual opinion that power is used wisely and well to destroy evil. The real world teaches very different lessons, and it takes willful and dedicated ignorance to fail to perceive them."

--Noam Chomsky

With the intensity of Dale Earnhardt, Jr vying for victory in the Daytona 500, America's mainstream media outlets have been racing furiously to imbue the citizenry of the Empire with unusually large doses of heavily choreographed agitprop.

What did Saddam Hussein's swift execution following his conviction for mass murder have in common with Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather I and Godfather II cinema epics?

The comparison became evident after analyzing the history of U.S. involvement in Iraq alongside two films underscoring the importance of the Mafia's code of silence, omerta.  

Omerta's application relates to individuals not revealing information concerning how The Family does business.  It also tenaciously enforces a rule of silencing individuals perceived as occupying positions to do the organization harm.

From the moment of Saddam Hussein's capture it became evident that the prevailing powers, meaning the Cheney-Bush Administration along with the international consortium to which it is inextricably linked, such as Skull and Bones, the Carlyle Group, along with vital corporate operations such as Halliburton and Bechtel, were not about to let the situation get out of hand.

In light of the recent media circus surrounding the execution of Saddam Hussein, I think America needs the following reminder. Please spread this message as far and wide as you can.

Of Incorrigible Transgressors, Tacit Complicity, and Lady Justice's Conspicuous Absence"

by Jason Miller

"The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer."

---Henry Kissinger, New York Times, October 28, 1973

Baghdad's kangaroo court has issued a verdict that virtually guarantees that Saddam Hussein will launch his journey into the hereafter from the platform of a gallows. Convicted of "revenge killings of 148 people, deportation of 400, and razing of orchards," (1), and still facing a charge of genocide that resulted in the deaths of 180,000 Kurds, Hussein is undoubtedly a malevolent individual.

A motion picture with the title "Judgment at Baghdad" could be a box office bonanza around the world if the truth were told about Saddam Hussein and his rise to power, as well as who helped him to become a murderous dictatorial monster.  This move could fall into the horror flick category, which is so popular these days, only this could also be advertised as a reality show.

The United States remembers Benedict Arnold as a traitor, and in this movie there are a lot of traitors whose betrayals could be shown graphically with the killing scenes using deadly weapons supplied by out of control governmental action, weapons that were supplied by leading corporations.

This film would begin in 1959 when Saddam was, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sen-Sentinel December 23, 2003 article by Jim Mullins, who stated, "Saddam `wiseguy' in Mafia parlance, who made his `bones' in a CIA plot to assassinate then Iraqi Prime Minister General Abdullah al-Karin Qasim.  Qasim had joined the Baghdad Pact, a regional agreement with Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Great Britain, put together as a bulwark against Soviet influence."

All that dramatically changed when Iraq's Prime Minister General Qasim suddenly withdrew from the post in 1959 and began buying arms from the Soviets.  Then "the CIA set up a six man team under Saddam to assassinate him.  Saddam botched the job, killing the General's driver and only wounding Qasim."

An Associated Press article from Baghdad last week generates much food for thought.  The article dealt with the trial of brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and a line of argument being vigorously pursued by the prosecution.

The focus was on 1982 and the brutal genocide of significant segments of the Kurdish population of Iraq's northern territories.  The Shia beliefs of the Kurds clashed with Saddam's Sunni regime and many were forced to pay the ultimate price of death for those basic underlining differences.

The important element was to register on the year mentioned by the prosecution.  The year 1982 should be familiar to those studying the Iraq-U.S. relationship for a fundamental reason.  It preceded 1983, a pivotal year in that relationship.  Remember those photos of a glowing Donald Rumsfeld sitting in the office of none other than the perpetrator of genocide himself?  

The delighted Rumsfeld, as President Reagan's emissary, had helped shape a trade deal that provided the U.S. with Iraq's most valuable commodity of oil in exchange for weapons and technology.

Remember when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld mouthed the slogan to get the infamous war against Iraq going?  He referred to it as the "Shock and Awe" campaign.  This fantasy driven campaign to strike fear into citizens of Iraq and the fear campaign aimed at American citizens with the false claim of being threatened by those non-existent weapons of mass destruction, did result in plenty of shock.

The entire world watched in shock and horror as they witnessed massive destruction inflicted on Iraq, based on cunningly woven lies and deception.  Lest we forget, war is the number one moneymaker.  The greed driven mentalities of warmongers is always waiting to spring into action.

Rumsfeld was on a different mission in 1983.  Press release photos showed Donald on something less than a divine mission.  He was shaking hands with dictator Saddam Hussein as he solidified a deal exchanging "weapons" from the US for an oil deal.

This assisted in killing the Kurds and the Iranians with US assistance in the arms department.  Then it was in fashion to assist dictator Sadden.  When Saddam became angry with Kuwait slant drilling (stealing) Iraqi oil, before Saddam revengefully invaded Kuwait, he did extend the courtesy of asking the US powers that be what the US would do if he invaded Kuwait.

This would be the most watched TV reality show ever.  It would surpass the Super Bowl around the world, as it would reveal what the mightiest military power on earth had done with its political and military might.

First off, it would ask the most vital question terrifying the world today: Did the U.S.A. strike Iraq without absolute proof the U.S.A. was threatened?

That would lead to a logical conclusion: If Bush led the U.S.A. to a war in Iraq on lies and deception, no doubt Bush will go down in the history of the U.S.A. as the worst president this nation ever had.

Many U.S. service personnel have died and been wounded.  The wounded would be outraged if it can be proven the power of the presidency has been used to perpetrate a fraud, the worst kind of fraud - surpassing anything Ken Lay may have done in holding California hostage in his greedy designs to stick it to the golden state.  Of course Bush and Kenny Boy are great pals enjoying baseball games together.

At last the full picture of the Republican morality charade is becoming evident for every truly patriotic U.S. citizen to see and shudder at over the extent of the hypocrisy involved.

What Bill Clinton did that rallied the "religious" (so-called "right") to feverishly demand impeachment stands out in stark contrast to the terrifying reign of terror conducted by the Bush Administration.

Remember the forever smiling Ken Starr throwing millions of taxpayer dollars down the drain to prosecute Bill Clinton?  Let's face a reality check.  What President Clinton did pales by comparison with that White House resident Bush has been up to during the past sex years of his deceit dominated Administration.

As the staggering national debt skyrockets, the Republican-dominated Congress hasn't had to worry about where their ill-gotten gains are coming from.  They have money gushing in to them in a floodtide of lobbyist cash for big business votes.  

What it amounts to technically is bribe artistry engineered by big business to demolish democracy, while at the same time we self-righteously proclaim that we are attempting to bring democracy in Iraq, all disconnected from their oil reserves, they repeatedly insist.

When it comes to spinning media snake oil tales about imagining the way that things could be and wishing them into existence through the printed page, Joe Klein has few equals.  A definitive major media insider, Klein serves as columnist for not one but two prominent national publications, Time and Newsweek.

Klein's soft sell approach is clever, masquerading the propaganda of the messenger and messages.  He could well be termed Krauthammer Light, a friendlier, more agreeable version of the perpetually dyspeptic, combatively ardent neoconservative Charles Krauthammer.

Joe Klein attained fame and riches through the publication of a thinly disguised fictional work about Bill Clinton, a humorous Slick Willy expose called "Primary Colors" that made him all the more famous since it was initially written anonymously.  There is nothing that sells faster than the curiosity engendered by an "I want to be alone" demeanor, as evidenced by Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes.

The consistent message to Democrats has been a warning to not jeopardize electoral success through undue negativism concerning Cheney-Bush.  Bill O'Reilly has been delivering the same consistent message.  The messengers who saw nothing wrong with the relentless assault on Clinton deliver the harbinger of failure in the wake of allegedly mean-spirited attacks by Democrats.

After all, what do we really have to be upset about?  What's a debt in excess of $8 trillion amid a tap dance of crony capitalism and one-sided tax cuts in favor of the Cheney-Bush Junta's wealthy clients?  People are getting upset over the shredding of the Bill of Rights?  

What good are search warrants anyway?  We're fighting the war on terror!  So what if we're being spied on, it's all in a good cause.  Lighten up on poor Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld already!

The latest rat to jump the sinking ship of Iraq is Congressman Norm Dicks of Washington. He admits that he was mislead and that Bush had doctored intelligence in the leadup to the war with Iraq.

Dicks' reversal comes as the steady drumbeat of revelations continues about the extent of the Bush plan to fix facts around the case for war in Iraq. He is the congressman for Washington's Sixth District, which includes Tacoma.

The local news came on after the college football games yesterday, and I happened to catch those precious three and a half minutes (between the fire in Bumbleville and the Dumblefoolers Convention in town and the could a missing white girl happen here? and the weather and the sports) during which the AnchorFigure recites in her/his Most Serious Voice the Extremely Condensed version of the important national/international news that the prodcuer has determined must fill the gaps between fires, weather, sports, and missing white people.

At any rate, yesterday must have featured a dearth of missing fire sports convention human interest weathers, because they included a several minute CNN feed of Nic Robertson reporting on the Saddam Hussein trial in Iraq.

The story, transcript here (scroll down a bit), featured a lawyer whose two brothers were killed by Saddam Hussein in 1979.  It also mentions that a primary reason for the initial delay in the trial were "the charges that accuse Hussein and seven former regime allies of brutally repressing a 1982 assassination attempt."

Both of which, of course, took place before ...