Lieberman Slides Further Down The Authoritarian Scale

It's absolutely nuts that this idea has raised its ugly head in our supposedly democratic society. Yet Joe Lieberman and other freedom-hating politicians have it in their head that arbitrarily stripping people of their citizenship if it is deemed they are "terrorists" by an unknown person or persons.

Rachel has more on this:

More Evidence That Torture Doesn't Work

Republicans love the myth that fictional character Jack Bauer mirrors what happens in the real world of fighting back against international terrorists. Unfortunately, that just isn't the case. Investigators who have procured information from these people have already said that it doesn't work, but now we have even more evidence that waterboarding fails to help dismantle terror plots. In fact, it can lead to false information that wastes valuable time of our law enforcement capabilities.

From The Washington Post:

When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

The Post's article goes on to detail the story of Abu Zubaida and highlights the failings of using torture on captured al-Qaeda members. The facts are out there and anyone out there that still believes what they watch on "24" as truth needs to wake up. This isn't about being weak with those that wish to attack and kill Americans, it is about being smart, something the United States failed to do under eight years of George Bush.

The Last Throes Of The McCain Campaign

There are less than 26 hours before all the polls close on election day and all signs point toward an Obama victory (that doesn't mean you do not have to go out and volunteer and fight until every ballot is counted). That is a tremendous thing for America and the fact that we as a nation can elect an African-American to be our President. For the McCain/Palin ticket however, it means the ugliness continues to dig new depths.

From TPM:

In a speech just now in Missouri, Sarah Palin unleashed some of the most ostentatious POW-POW-POWing of the campaign, and strongly implied that Dems think the "terrorists" are the "good guys."

After saying that some Dems want to cut defense spending by a quarter, she said:

"What do they think? Do they think that the terrorists have all of a sudden become the good guys, and changed their minds? No! The terrorists still seek to destroy America and her allies and all that it is that is that we stand for: Freedom, tolerance, equality."

What she stands for is anything but freedom, tolerance and equality. Freedom only applies if you adhere to her narrow right-wing views. Tolerance for "good Christians" in "pro-America" and fugheddaboutit if you live in a big city. Equality, now that is just an outright joke. I wonder if anyone at her sparsely attended rally laughed. Most likely not, because they are probably getting ready to cry tomorrow night as the returns come in.

As for the bit about Democrats thinking that terrorists are good guys, I've got four letters for her on that:

S.T.F.U!

The People Sarah Palin Attracts

Forget about hope and change from this "hockey mom." When you go to a Sarah Palin rally, expect only the lowest common denominator to be culled from the audience, like this fine fellow who takes the "terrorist" cue from the VP nominee:

Tucker Bounds Shows His Guilt By Association Skills

Andrea Mitchell had McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds on the show yesterday to talk about the ridiculous attempt to connect Bill Ayers to Barack Obama. Andrea Mitchell called him out for the absurd notion that Obama is friends with a terrorist but Bounds went through his talking points without even wincing at all the lies he spewed.



They really should be careful with that game though, since guilt by association can be a real problem for both terrorist-lovers John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Lieberman Fearmongers For McCain

Joe Lieberman continues to be a huge disgrace to himself and our country. He clearly shows he has no shame when promoting John McCain.

Another Reason To Fire Charlie Black

Cenk is rightfully outraged about Charlie Black's latest comments that say a terrorist attack would be good for McCain's campaign. While he points out the double standard aspect (imagine if Obama said that?) the real issue is that comments like this aren't meant to be accurate or p.c. The thing is, McCain must campaign with fear to win and this is how it gets done.

Obama Will Make Bush And McCain Answer For Their Foreign Policy

Obama took on President Bush and John McCain in brutal fashion today from a rally in Watertown, South Dakota. While Bush would never have the guts to step into the ring with Barack, pining the failures of George Bush to the future debate opponent John McCain will be an easy task.

Terrorists Want McCain To Win In November?

That title suggesting terrorists support John McCain is bold, outlandish and completely unsupported by credible evidence. Yet I am just a blogger, when John McCain argues the opposite in front of an audience in suburban Philadelphia, it is campaign rhetoric, also completely unsupported by anything in the factual world.

From Reuters:

SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.

McCain, at a town hall meeting in this Philadelphia suburb, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American militants in Iraq might ratchet up their activities in Iraq to try to increase casualties in September or October and tip the November election against him.

"Yes, I worry about it," McCain said. "And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications ... The hardest thing in warfare is to counter someone or a group of individuals who are willing to take their own lives in order to take others."

It amazes me that candidates still resort to this type of fearmongering and think that they can spare their conscience. The 3 A.M. ad was equally uncalled for and frankly, both McCain and Clinton use the same type of divisive rhetoric that repels Americans from voting. That of course may be their strategy, but regardless it is a failed path for our country and one that a certain candidate consistently opposes.

Republicans Are Aiding The Terrorists

What a devious strategy, blaming Democrats for helping terrorists while leaking state secrets. Something so devilish and unpatriotic, only a GoOPer could carry out. Well it isn't as bad as telling the enemy our secret locations, but Pete Hoekstra (R-Of course) disclosed classified intelligence information. It gets better, not only did he tell the press the budget for intelligence was being decreased, Pete hypocritically bashed others for leaking too much information to the media.

From The Blotter:

In an opinion article published in the New York Post Thursday, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., reported the top-secret budget for human spying had decreased -- the type of detail normally kept under wraps for national security reasons.

"The 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill cut human-intelligence programs," Hoekstra wrote in the piece, in which he also criticized "leaks to the news media."

Formerly the chairman of the intelligence committee, Hoekstra is now its highest ranking Republican. In its recent budget authorizations, that committee kept from public view all figures and most discussion of spending on such classified items as human spying. Hoekstra's apparent slip was first noted on the liberal Web site, Raw Story.

You just got to love the hypocrisy, even when Pete shares classified information with the general public. Hey Congress, can we get an ethics investigation here?

Wingers Equate Michael Moore With Britain's Bombers

The mind of a rightwing blogger must be a scary place. In a head full of hate and fear, these people will do anything to villify and discredit the left. Their latest target was Michael Moore and his new film SiCKO. They were in agony after he highlighted our crazy gun culture in Bowling for Columbine. We know they hate him for calling out the President in Fahrenheit 9/11. Now bringing our health care crisis into the national spotlight has them hopping mad and they would even go as far as tying him to the amateur terrorists in London over the last few days.

From RawStory:

One writer, Mark Steyn, who contributes to the National Review Online's Corner blog, posted an e-mail he received in order to identify the connection between Moore's Sicko and the British terrorists.

"'Would these be Doctors who work for the U.K. health care system so lavishly praised by Michael Moore? ...Perhaps they are not Jihadists at all but simply men driven insane by their employer? Maybe Michael Moore has spawned an entirely new breed of suicide bomber — the alienated UK health care worker'" Steyn quotes from one e-mail, after noting "I've been getting more than a few letters along these lines."

He also posted a second e-mail, and observed, "Now that Dr Mohammed Asha has been arrested in the Glasgow/London terrorist investigation, several readers have noticed that this artfully combines Michael Moore's two most recent enthusiasms, 'insurgents' and socialized health care." Steyn, however adds, "Mr Moore has yet to call these medico-jihadists 'Minutemen.'"

So because he was a doctor, does that mean we should watch out for all doctors, or just Islamic doctors? We found out Congressman Mark Foley is a pedophile, does that mean all members of Congress should be kept away from our children? I could go on and on with the ridiculous comparisons, but the point is made that connecting Moore to the bombings in the U.K. is a pathetic attempt to smear the filmmaker.

Right-Wing Terrorists

Generally the wingers in our country terrorize us with their ideas and politicians they get elected, but there are even scarier types then them. There are actual terrorists in our midst. They tend to call themselves militias that try to enforce their radical ideas through violence. One of the most infamous moments was when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Federal building over ten years ago. These groups have been laying low now for a while, particularly after George Bush got elected.

A logical hypothesis is that if the Democrats take back the Presidency and fight against their goals of breaking down gun control and the government itself. This isn't a conspiracy theory by any means. In fact there have been six underreported incidents in the last year alone attributed to these whackos.

From Rick Perlstein:

Stop it, stop it right now. Stop pretending Islamicists - or environmentalists or animal rights activists (which are, ridiculously, federal law enforcement and non-governmental terrorism-watchers' next most obsessive concern) - are the only imminent terrorist threats to our nation. We now know that students at Liberty University were ready to napalm protesters at Jerry Falwell's funeral. One of the suspects is a soldier at Fort Benning. [UPDATE: Falwell gave the kid a scholarship.]

If the media does not start connecting some dots, they will have abdicated their citizenship duties. How many times has the nation potentially come within a hair's breadth of suffering a right-wing terrorist attack this spring? As of today, three, or possibly six times - at least that we know about.

• Late in April, 150 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers carried out simultaneous raids in four Alabama counties in a sweep that yielded 130 grenades, a rocket launcher, and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.. In the town of Trussville, it took a U-haul truck to cart away all the materiel. At the Collinsville camper belonging to militia "major" Taymond Dillard, agents first had to defuse trip-wires rigged to explode hand grenades to kill intruders.

• Right-wing vigilantes arrested in a scuffle at one of the May 1 immigration marches, in Washington D.C., was found to have a stash of automatic weapons and explosives in his home.

• Now this, the violence allegedly thwarted at Falwell's funeral. One of the suspects is a soldier at Fort Benning - yes, he traveled all the way from Georgia with his munitions. Another was a high school student.

Sure the media has made note of the examples above, but as Perlstein said, no one is connecting the dots at CNN, the New York Times or any other major media outlet. Our fourth estate is not doing their job here and with many other societal movements going on in this country. For the most part, cable news and print journalism simply spits out press releases without any analysis or original thought.

These homegrown terrorists are a real problem and can potentially do serious damage when their radicalism mixes with heavy munitions. Honestly, do we really have to wait for another Timothy McVeigh, with dozens or hundreds killed and wounded? President Bush may want to bring the fight to the enemy in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here....but what about the enemy in our own backyard?