Sunday, March 12, 2006

Bush’s Approval Rating Falls to New Low WASHINGTON - More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency. Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February. "Obviously, it's the winter of our discontent," said Rep. Tom Cole (news, bio, voting record), R-Okla. Republican Party leaders said the survey explains why GOP lawmakers are rushing to distance themselves from Bush on a range of issues — port security, immigration, spending, warrantless eavesdropping and trade, for example. The positioning is most intense among Republicans facing election in November and those considering 2008 presidential campaigns. "You're in the position of this cycle now that is difficult anyway. In second term off-year elections, there gets to be a familiarity factor," said Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan., a potential presidential candidate. "People have seen and heard (Bush's) ideas long enough and that enters into their thinking. People are kind of, `Well, I wonder what other people can do,'" he said. The poll suggests that most Americans wonder whether Bush is up to the job. The survey, conducted Monday through Wednesday of 1,000 people, found that just 37 percent approve of his overall performance. That is the lowest of his presidency. Bush's job approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74 percent, a dangerous sign in a midterm election year when parties rely on enthusiasm from their most loyal voters. The biggest losses were among white males. On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent. Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign. By comparison, Presidents Clinton and Reagan had public approval in the mid 60s at this stage of their second terms in office, while Eisenhower was close to 60 percent, according to Gallup polls. Nixon, who was increasingly tangled up in the Watergate scandal, was in the high 20s in early 1974. The AP-Ipsos poll, which has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, gives Republicans reason to worry that they may inherit Bush's political woes. Two-thirds of the public disapproves of how the GOP-led Congress is handling its job and a surprising 53 percent of Republicans give Congress poor marks. By a 47-36 margin, people favor Democrats over Republicans when they are asked who should control Congress. While the gap worries Republicans, it does not automatically translate into GOP defeats in November, when voters will face a choice between local candidates rather than considering Congress as a whole. In addition, strategists in both parties agree that a divided and undisciplined Democratic Party has failed to seize full advantage of Republican troubles. "While I don't dispute the fact that we have challenges in the current environment politically, I also believe 2006 as a choice election offers Republicans an opportunity if we make sure the election is framed in a way that will keep our majorities in the House and the Senate," said Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee. Stung by criticism, senior officials at the White House and the RNC are reminding GOP members of Congress that Bush's approval ratings may be low, but theirs is lower and have declined at the same pace as Bush's. The message to GOP lawmakers is that criticizing the president weakens him — and them — politically. "When issue like the internal Republican debate over the ports dominates the news it puts us another day away from all of us figuring out what policies we need to win," said Terry Nelson, a Republican consultant and political director for Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. Bowing to ferocious opposition in Congress, a Dubai-owned company on Thursday abandoned its quest to take over operations at several U.S. ports. Bush had pledged to veto any attempt to block the transaction, pitting him against Republicans in Congress and most voters. All this has Republican voters like Walter Wright of Fairfax Station, Va., worried for their party. "We've gotten so carried away I wouldn't be surprised to see the Democrats take it because of discontent," he said. "People vote for change and hope for the best." ___ Associated Press writer Will Lester and AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson contributed to this report. [See http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=544] 8:51:21 PM    comment []

Friday, March 03, 2006

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Friday, January 06, 2006

NSA Spied On Government Officials. According to National Security Agency insiders, outgoing NSA Director General Michael Hayden approved special communications intercepts of phone conversations made by past and present U.S. government officials. The intercepts are at the height of the current controversy surrounding the nomination of Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. It was revealed by Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd during Bolton’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination hearing that Bolton requested transcripts of 10 NSA intercepts of conversations between named U.S. government officials and foreign persons. Later, it was revealed that U.S. companies [also treated as "U.S. persons" by NSA] were also identified in an additional nine intercepts requested by Bolton. However, NSA insiders report that Hayden approved special intercept operations on behalf of Bolton and had them masked as "training missions" in order to get around internal NSA regulations that normally prohibit such eavesdropping on U.S. citizens. By noemail@noemail.org (Alpha). [Alpha Liberal: The Evolutionary Theory Of Politics] 5:24:35 AM    comment []

The Most Valuable Progressives of 2005. [Original Post - John Nichols, The Nation] It is hard to complain about a year that began with George Bush bragging about spending the "political capital" he felt he had earned with his dubious reelection and ended with the president drowning in the Nixonian depths of public disapproval. But the circumstance didn't just get better. A handful of [...] [Progressive Democrats of America Blog] 5:00:40 AM    comment []

Impeachable Offensives & Slide Into Fascism. by Don Andrews I've been warning for the better part of four decades that our nation is inexorably sliding into fascism at the hands of power-mad presidents who have lost touch with the American people and, as importantly, the immutable precepts of our Constitution. George W. Bush joins the list of shame that includes Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. They share responsibility for sticking the needle of lethal injection into the arm of the American dream. The latest example of this is Bush's Saturday concession that he has committed at least 30 felonious and impeachable offenses by violating a 1978 federal law prohibiting wiretaps without warrants issued by a court. Egregiously, Bush said he'd "do it again." Last month, Bush, according to Doug Thompson writing in Capitol Hill Blue, told a group of GOP congressman that he couldn't care less about federal law and the Constitution. W called the GOPicans into his office to push renewal of the (un)Patriot Act. When cautioned by some of the congressmen that a push to renew controversial parts of the Patriot Act that violate civil liberties could further enrage his conservative base, Bush exploded: "I don't give a goddamn. I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way." There is something gravely wrong with W; it is obvious that he has a serious personality disorder. Despite his duty-dodging in the Air National Guard, he certainly is as enamored of his undeserved "Commander-in-Chief" title as his is of playing military dress-up, sporting a flight suit and landing on aircraft carriers, all the while killing people with impunity by waging an unconstitutional war. When reminded by an aide during the meeting that parts of the Patriot Act may violate the Constitution, Bush screamed, "Don't throw the Constitution in my face! It's just a goddamned piece of paper!" "Just a goddamned piece of paper." This is what our sad state of leadership has come to: A cretinous chicken hawk who is just as willing to shred the very foundations of our nation as he is to trot our most patriotic young people off for cannon fodder, to say nothing of the genocide he has committed through his illegal war. W's callous disregard for the Constitution is obviously shared by his evil twin at the Pentagon, Donaldl Rumsfeld. NBC News recently revealed that Rummy's Defense Dept. has been spying on law-abiding Americans who oppose the war in Iraq. NBC obtained documents from a Pentagon database that showed 1500 such incidents of domestic espionage, also prohibited by federal law as a direct result of similar chicanery under Tricky Dick during the Vietnam debacle. Rummy's Pentagon has even spied on a group of senior citizens in Florida who take issue not only with unjust war, but with unethical practices, admitted by the Pentagon, by military recruiters. Now there's a crime. The revelation by The New York Times, albeit a year late, that Bush had the NSA spy on Americans is another score for fascism and nail in the coffin of the Constitution. Does anyone seriously expect Bush to obey federal law if he considers the Constitution "just a goddamned piece of paper"? We ordinary Americans go about our lives trying to make ends meet in the crummy Bush economy; raising our kids with some sense of decency, ethics and learning; going to church, sporting and cultural events while trusting our government officials to follow the law and actually lead us to world peace and, in Jefferson's words, to "the pursuit of happiness." It's not happening now and won't happen as long as a fascist cabal holds office in all three branches of government. We're stuck with a bunch of fool's fools to whom the Constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper." God help us all. (The writer is a long-time journalist and Air Force veteran.) By noemail@noemail.org (Alpha). [Alpha Liberal: The Evolutionary Theory Of Politics] 4:48:47 AM    comment []

Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq's Oil. By Greg Palast Reporting for BBC Newsnight (London) Why was Paul Wolfowitz pushed out of the Pentagon onto the World Bank? The answer lies in a 323-page document, secret until now, indicating that the allies of Big Oil in the Bush Administration have defeated neo-conservatives and their chief Wolfowitz. BBC Television Newsnight tells the true story of the fall of the neo-cons. An investigation conducted by BBC with Harper's magazine will also reveal that the US State Department made detailed plans for war in Iraq -- and for Iraq's oil -- within weeks of Bush's first inauguration in 2001. Two years ago today - when President George Bush announced US, British and Allied forces would begin to bomb Baghdad - protestors claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once Saddam had been conquered. In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists." "Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants. View Segments of Iraq oil plans Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US. An Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah Aljibury, says he took part in the secret meetings in California, Washington and the Middle East. He described a State Department plan for a forced coup d'etat. Mr Aljibury himself told Newsnight that he interviewed potential successors to Saddam Hussein on behalf of the Bush administration. Secret sell-off plan The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by yet another secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan, crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas. The sell-off was given the green light in a secret meeting in London headed by Ahmed Chalabi shortly after the US entered Baghdad, according to Robert Ebel. Mr. Ebel, a former Energy and CIA oil analyst, now a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, flew to the London meeting, he told Newsnight, at the request of the State Department. Mr Aljibury, once Ronald Reagan's "back-channel" to Saddam, claims that plans to sell off Iraq's oil, pushed by the US-installed Governing Council in 2003, helped instigate the insurgency and attacks on US and British occupying forces. "Insurgents used this, saying, 'Look, you're losing your country, your losing your resources to a bunch of wealthy billionaires who want to take you over and make your life miserable," said Mr Aljibury from his home near San Francisco. "We saw an increase in the bombing of oil facilities, pipelines, built on the premise that privatization is coming." Privatization blocked by industry Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA who took control of Iraq's oil production for the US Government a month after the invasion, stalled the sell-off scheme. Mr Carroll told us he made it clear to Paul Bremer, the US occupation chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that: "There was to be no privatization of Iraqi oil resources or facilities while I was involved." The chosen successor to Mr Carroll, a Conoco Oil executive, ordered up a new plan for a state oil company preferred by the industry. Ari Cohen, of the neo-conservative Heritage Foundation, told Newsnight that an opportunity had been missed to privatise Iraq's oil fields. He advocated the plan as a means to help the US defeat Opec, and said America should have gone ahead with what he called a "no-brainer" decision. Mr Carroll hit back, telling Newsnight, "I would agree with that statement. To privatize would be a no-brainer. It would only be thought about by someone with no brain." New plans, obtained from the State Department by Newsnight and Harper's Magazine under the US Freedom of Information Act, called for creation of a state-owned oil company favored by the US oil industry. It was completed in January 2004, Harper's discovered, under the guidance of Amy Jaffe of the James Baker Institute in Texas. Former US Secretary of State Baker is now an attorney. His law firm, Baker Botts, is representing ExxonMobil and the Saudi Arabian government. View segments of Iraq oil plans Questioned by Newsnight, Ms Jaffe said the oil industry prefers state control of Iraq's oil over a sell-off because it fears a repeat of Russia's energy privatization. In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, US oil companies were barred from bidding for the reserves. Jaffe said "There is no question that an American oil company ... would not be enthusiastic about a plan that would privatize all the assets with Iraq companies and they (US companies) might be left out of the transaction." In addition, Ms. Jaffe says US oil companies are not warm to any plan that would undermine Opec, "They [oil companies] have to worry about the price of oil." "I'm not sure that if I'm the chair of an American company, and you put me on a lie detector test, I would say high oil prices are bad for me or my company." The former Shell oil boss agrees. In Houston, he told Newsnight, "Many neo conservatives are people who have certain ideological beliefs about markets, about democracy, about this that and the other. International oil companies without exception are very pragmatic commercial organizations. They don't have a theology." A State Department spokesman told Newsnight they intended "to provide all possibilities to the Oil Ministry of Iraq and advocate none". Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." View his writings at www.GregPalast.com. Leni von Eckardt contributed investigative research for this project. [Greg Palast] 4:24:11 AM    comment []

2006 Ohio Senate Race Below is funding as of 01/16/2006 for candidates for the Senate Seat held by Mike Dewine: Total Raised and Spent 2006 RACE: OHIO SENATE Mike DeWine (R)* Raised: $5,081,926 Spent: $2,076,700 Cash on hand: $3,693,804 Last Report: 9/30/2005 PACs: $1,136,261 (22%) Individuals: $3,725,930 (73%) Candidate: $0 - Other: $219,735 (4%) Paul Hackett (D) Raised: $849,797 Spent: $830,621 Cash on hand: $19,175 Last Report: - PACs: $66,896 (8%) Individuals: $774,600 (91%) Candidate: $0 - Other: $8,301 (1%) Sherrod Brown (D) Raised: $300,250 Spent: $352,589 Cash on hand: $2,050,495 Last Report: - PACs: $201,250 (67%) Individuals: $67,809 (23%) Candidate: $0 - Other: $31,191 (10%) John G. Hritz (R) No reports on record for this candidate. 4:20:11 AM    comment []

Spying on the US Security State. Countermeasures for US Citizens Is anyone really surprised that the USA now openly advocates torture, spying on its own citizens, or equates dissent with aiding and abetting the "brutal killers" as Bush describes them? Whew! Life is imitating art. President Bush stars as Sgt. Bob Barnes, the maniacal soldier in Oliver Stone's Platoon, who proclaims that he "is reality". Vice President Cheney is Dr. Phibes as portrayed by Vincent Price in the movie classic, The Abominable Doctor Phibes. You want torture? Talk to Dr. Phibes. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld brings to life Colonel Walt Kurtz, the rogue US Army soldier from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. American society is modeled on Starship Troopers' militarized society at war with the insects from another galaxy. A great scene in Troopers is a segment which shows children stamping out bugs with glee as the narrator says, "Support the war effort. Do your part to kill the bug!" Welcome to the USA. Is anyone really surprised that the USA now openly advocates torture, spying on its own citizens, or equates dissent with aiding and abetting the "brutal killers" as Bush describes them? Ummm, should US homegrown serial killers be designated enemy combatants? Who could argue with a clear conscience that the US didn't have 911 coming. Civilians are innocent, the American fundamentalists say. Oh me, oh my, the victimized USA and so much innocence lost on that day. That sentimental dream went out the window long ago with the Allied bombing of Dresden in WWII and the fire-bombing and subsequent use of nuclear weapons against Japan. Add Rwanda and Darfur to that and, right at home, add decades of US government approved racial segregation, plus the US government's response to Katrina and, for that matter, 911. Useless commissions, staged congressional hearings, senseless senses of congress, a presidential press conference. All by formula, of course. What's the point? Nothing changes. The USA is no victim or innocent bystander in the world's machinations. Each and every US citizen is responsible for the actions of its leaders--such as they are. If the American people want a militarized state, then so be it. Have some brass and go for it. If they want to torture, then they should have the guts to stick a knife in the throat of a living human being and watch'em gurgle and die. The NO TORTURE amendment of John McCain is a joke. The US government is a government by and for loopholes. It'll go on as long as the USA exists. Of Mice and Evil Doers Why limit the game to waterboarding or electric shock? Use the Spanish Inquisition era Mouse Trap. Put a bunch of mice into an open metal container and then secure it and them on the abdomen of the evil doer/dissenter. Slowly apply heat to the metal. Mice burrow when they can't run. Use your imagination. The "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." What nonsense! Special operators are brave, some journalists and citizens are brave, fire fighters and first responders are brave, but most Americans are from the Land of the Cowardly. The overthrown regimes, the assassinations, the support for murderous regimes, silencing dissidents, eliminating politicians and sanctioning the use of torture and murder of civilians the world over is the standard mode of operations. The leaders of the USA work hard to ensure that they are not charged with war crimes or plain old violation of US law - such as it is. And the American people tolerate it. At the pace the USA is pissing off the rest of the world, expect more 911's. We have to, in all seriousness, thank Bush and his crew for speaking bluntly about what has been known for so long by so few, but never really exposed. Yes, Americans, your leaders authorize torture, domestic spying, and are adept at creating threats that lead to wars. After all, it's good for business and anyway, how would "you", White Collar Proletariat, know what it takes to keep the gas pumps in operation or what threats are out there. Since most Americans are, as President Nixon once said, "children", they'll do what they are told. And the President's toys are the US military. There are 18,000 warfighters, those Americans killed, maimed, and mentally demolished in the ongoing Iraq War. And for what? The Shia and Kurds have their day in the historic election in Iraq that puts orthodox Islam in charge and creates a Kurdish state. Good for them. Now the USA cries foul over the election as if it has any democratic authority to do so. Protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States is the military's gig. Yet the high flying generals seem to want to protect individual players rather than the country. Exceeding the Speed Limit Becomes Terrorism For a time, US citizens were spared the ruthlessness of the USA's actions abroad primarily because the government and its corporate partners could control the images, the stories, the facts from reaching Americans. Recognizing they've lost that ability, the PATRIOT ACT is a sort of government-corporate last ditch effort to retain control over information flows. Now the security police can whip up a file on you containing credit ratings, health records, spending patterns, reading preferences, travel destinations and even sexual preferences. All you have to do to get tha honor is to get on a watch list by asking a hypothetical question like this, Is there any other way to change the US government-corporate system other than by overthrowing it? Perhaps one day an innovative lawyer will argue that elements of the US government, and its contractors, are engaging in terrorist activity contrary to the PATRIOT ACT. Now wouldn't that be interesting. Every state in the union has its own version of the PATRIOT ACT and has empowered their own state and local law enforcement departments with "the tools to fight the terror."  [ send green star]         Rico K.  continued...Spying on the US Security State 11:53 PM The day is not far off when speeding will be a terrorist act because it endangers other drivers, pedestrians, and national security, the latter due to the crime of excess fuel usage that could've been used in the War on those insect-like evil doers. "Forget about it", as Donnie Brasco from the movie of the same name would say. The New York Times or Washington Post report on the NSA/Pentagon's extensive domestic spy network is shocking? And Congress? With its unwillingness to perform its oversight function, departments like Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice are too big to be controlled, too powerful to be stopped from the routine violations of the US Constitution/Bill of Rights. Think about it: the US Congress has become a nuisance to the Presidency and its bureaucracy, and the judicial system. That is a fact. So just Forget About It! Countermeasures The first and most important countermeasure is to get off your lazy behind and become a responsible US citizen. Instead of being fed the news, hunt it down yourself. Start with foreign newspaper websites, other country news agencies and get used to the images of death and destruction. USA. One of the best data resources is the US government's own data. The CIA Factbook is also an excellent tool. They pull no punches on the weaknesses of each country including the USA. Want to know how many hydrophonic devices are monitoring water conditions in the Gulf of Mexico (lots of oil rigs there too), or sick of the Weather Channel? Go to www.noaa.gov and do the work yourself. Your taxes paid for it. Why let some actor feed you the weather story on TV when you can get a lot more info from those who really know about what storm is coming your way. Want to know your odds about getting away with murder? Visit the Justice Department's website and look for statistics on homicides cleared. You'll be surprised that the odds are pretty good on the criminal side of the equation. Check out US military unit websites like Camp Bondsteel, or the dynamite special operators' website at Hurlburt Air Force Base in Florida. Visit Stars and Stripes. If it's military matters that interest you, there are plenty of bits and pieces of information that can help you paint a picture of what the civilian policy makers are up to. The US military is their tool. Visit trade association web sites. The US government security masters don't want anyone to know where critical infrastructure is located. No problem. If you want to know where all the nuclear power plants in the USA are - and who owns them, visit the Nuclear Energy Institute at www.nei.org and click on Nuclear Data. While there, visit the whole site. It's very well done. And what about oil and gas pipeline maps? No problem. Visit Duke Energy at www.duke-energy.com and click on the Interactive Asset Map. Many energy companies provide asset maps as do their trade groups. If you've got cash, you can access digital maps that detail all the pipelines, hydroelectric plants and dams in the USA. There are dozens of superb dataminers running websites that are invaluable in the effort to figure out what the US government-corporate enterprise is up to. They are the 21st Century equivalent of the American Colonist's Committees of Correspondence. There are far too many to list here but three are simply indispensable. Want to know how a member of congress is likely to vote or the stock portfolio they have? Visit www.opensecrets.org and look at the congressperson's campaign contributions and stock holdings. Research yields some interesting results. Want to know when and where US government-corporate groups are meeting to set policy? Visit www.cryptome.org and check out the Federal Register postings. Want to know if the media and the two party system is promoting a powerful individual as the voice of America? Take Brent Scowcroft, for example, the American Turkish Council's Board Chair (another site to visit to figure out why the US has so much invested in Turkey - www.americanturkishcouncil.org). He's the on the good side of the dark side, if there is such a thing in Star Wars. As recently reported, Scowcroft assailed the US Congress for debating the Armenian Genocide because it's bad for business which, as it happens, is national security (meanwhile the Turkish government is prosecuting its top novelist for alluding to the Armenian Genocide - so much for democracy there). Ole Brent is portrayed as such a caring fellow by the media, yet it turns out that Mr. Nice Guy was complicit with Henry Kissinger, et al, in providing support to the Indonesian government during the invasion and occupation of East Timor from 1975-1999. Thanks to the National Security Archive at www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/, the world knows that Scowcroft is as ruthless as they come. If you really want to know about national security, join a defense association like the National Defense Industrial Association (www.ndia.org). Each year they sponsor a special operations/low intensity conflict (SO/LIC) conference, exhibition and awards dinner. Embassy officials (Intel types), DOD officials, media members and active duty US/Foreign military and their contractors show up to give the attendees the latest on SO/LIC matters. It's a most excellent production by the NDIA staff who run the event. There are dozens of presentations dealing with civil-military relations, psyops, tactics, etc. Conference proceedings can be had right off the Net. What can't be had. though, though is the happy hour off-the-record (OTR) conversations in the hotel lounge or the exhibition hall. The awards dinner features commendations read aloud for active special operators for their "classified" activity all over the world (well deserved, they should be recognized). The certificate presentations sometimes tip the hat as to where the operations have taken place.  [ send green star]         Rico K.  continued... Spying on the US Security State 11:54 PM Want to know about counterinsurgency technology? Go to www.tswg.gov. The folks at the Technical Support Working Group hate publicity and despise those who question the US government-corporate rule of law, but they are to be respected for fielding technologies that help save the lives of the warfighters who are being sacrificed for the delusional schemes of the governing apparatus. There are dozens of defense related associations in the DC Metro area and many have chapters nationwide and overseas - among them are: NDIA, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), Association of the United States Army (AUSA), The Navy League, Old Crows, Association of Former Intelligence Officials (AFIO), and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Association (AUVA). They all perform studies and reports that are available on the Net or for free or a small fee. Most have monthly publications that exclude politics providing just nuts and bolts commentary on the tradecraft. The dirty little secret about the mainstream press is that they comb through the trade publications to get their next story on US military policy or technology. They know that the trade associations tell Congress what to think and often house former government officials or future ones. The associations have a lot of clout and insider information. Don't Just Sit IN Front of the CRT Good, solid information is to be had frequenting pubs near the agency/issue you are exploring. For defense/Intel purposes, pubs near military-Intel sites are the home of raucous debate coming from greybeard warfighters to those of the present day. Respect doesn't come easy but once earned, the information flow is grand. It's all strictly OTR and, if you're partial to friendly argument and good cheer - and sometimes heart wrenching stories - it's the place to learn more about what you are not supposed to know of operations past and present. Finally, don't get emotional. "Use the dark side..." How far would you go to save your own life, your residence, your job, your children, your wife/girlfriend - husband/boyfriend? That's pretty much the operational mentality of your leaders - such as they are. Will Americans become responsible US citizens? Will they restructure the US government? Will they return to the practice of public executions and torture? Will they destroy or engage the world? Find out at a theater near you. It's as close to reality as you'll get. John Stanton John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in political and national security matters. He is the author of America 2004: A Power But Not Super and co-author of America's Nightmare: The Presidency of George Bush II. Reach him at cioran123@yahoo.com 4:16:12 AM    comment []

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Hey, under the Maui sun, I finally figured out how to post this blog to a suitable domain, appropriately named. As John Lee Hooker said, "Big legs, tight skirts, 'bout to drive me outa my mind..." 11:37:37 PM    comment []