Back to the Good Old '80s

With folks like Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Elliot Abrams, John Negroponte and so many other luminaries from the Reagan/Bush years running the show for us (and a host of others "advising", such as Richard Perle, Wolfy and like-minded geniuses), it shouldn't be a surprise that they have thawed the "death squads" strategy from the meat-freezer where they keep Bill Casey's head stored for revivification.

And yet, I was surprised.

I know that there are plenty of people happily willing to do "whatever it takes" to achieve whatever they currently want. I understand that "winning is the ONLY thing" for these same myopic and power-drunk robots of the American Way.

But have they heard the one about the babies and the bathwater? Or pot and the kettle? The glass houses and stones? What goes around comes around?

There are no laws for the neo-cons. For W and friends, law is for anyone who can't steal an election, can't take a bribe, can't call dissenters unpatriotic and can't use confidential information to strike back at those who dare dissent.

But in the 80's, some heads did roll in Iran-Contra, which also slowed down the Reagan/Bush machine mightily. If it weren't for Dukakis' issues, '88 should have been a gimme (as well as '00 and '04, lost by candidate issues, electoral robberies, and nothing else).

In the 00's, so far, we get Libby's head. But, The Raw Story, one of my favorite blogs, says that Rove's head is all but plattered, which would bring an end to our 80's revival before we have to put shoulder pads in our suits, let alone start digging up the new victims of our new death squads, who the apologists will falsely laud as heroes, using terror and murder to secure freedom.

What's Good For GM Is Good For...India

Hmm...I wonder where they found the money to hire people in India?

Denied!!

David Irving, world-renowned Holocaust denier, is arrested in Austria, where denying the Holocaust is a crime...

...which reminds me of the program I heard on radio today. All about how Pinochet and other war criminals are being arrested for their crimes against humanity and human rights abuses while travelling abroad, under the auspices of international laws which require signatories to arrest suspected war criminals that remain unprosecuted in their home nations.

Those in jeopardy of foreign arrest under those treaties and agreements include American officials by the name of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Hadley, et al, for their abrogation and violation of the Geneva Convention (as well as others).

Which is worse: to deny the Holocaust as the basis of a career, or to promote and sanction the torture of uncharged, undefended prisoners of war, as policy and politics?

Discuss.

Maybeas Corpus

Bye-bye, due process. Nice knowin' ya.

Lindsay Graham finally just said no to that albatross known as habeas corpus. It had been a yoke on the exhausted shoulders of power since, oh, 1215, in that stupid Magna Carta thingy. And he wasn't gonna let it make its 800th birthday without finding someone he thought didn't deserve it. That's right: start with the terr'rists.

Last week, it passed as an amendment, in a 49-42 vote. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Ron Wyden of Oregon, all Democrats, drew the line in the sand with him.

Republicans voting against were limited to Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.

Haven't dug up thenine no-shows yet.

UPDATE: Seems like there has been a change of heart (shouts to the NYT for this digest):

The Senate also approved, 84 to 14, a compromise, announced Monday night, that would allow terror detainees some access to federal courts. The Senate had voted last week to prohibit those being held from challenging their detentions in federal court, despite a Supreme Court ruling to the contrary.

Now, I am very confused where things stand, I admit. It's bizarre that this is getting SO little attention. It must not be a big deal, because terror detainees in American prisons aren't American, or people, or whatever would make anyone notice, or care, or the slightest bit worried for their self-centered little selves...

And speaking of prisons...peep this for the latest on the prisons in Iraq that our government acknowledges. Total in prison is over 13,000, up from 5,673 in March, 2004, from a stated total of 35,000 taken to date. Of the grand total, only 4% have been tried, and 2% convicted of anything at all.

Think that any of those 22,000 released were less than pleased with the effectiveness of American war-fighting and ineffective systems of justice? Hmm, where to vent that anger...


UPDATE: I blogged too soon. This article says that the total prisoner count in the GWOT is over 83,000.

Bushie's GWOT: Now, with more fodder than ever before!

Robertson declares that God Has Left the Building

Don't you dare tell Pat that Intelligent Design doesn't belong in your science class:

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city."

And in case you didn't get it the first time, Sodomites, oops, I mean, Doverites,

"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there," he said.

No God, Pat? Thanks for clearing that up.

And all it took was a school board election in Dover, PA...

If Only It Were Retroactive

An idea whose time has come...citizenship tests for babies born in the USA!

"There is a general agreement about the fact that citizenship in this country should not be bestowed on people who are the children of folks who come into this country illegally," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

Birthright citizenship, or what critics call "anchor babies," means that any child born on U.S. soil is granted citizenship, with exceptions for foreign diplomats.

Yes, yes, those little baby time-bombs are just surruptitiously dropped overboard to give families an anchor here...the kind of anchor that doesn't prevent those despicable freeloaders from being deported, or being taxed without having a vote, or working for less than minimum wage, or getting in on our fabulously efficient healthcare system for anything less than extortionate costs.

If only it were retroactive to all the grown-up descendants of illegal immigrants of bygone days, we would likely have very few members of Congress left to debate this insane trial balloon from the "our"-side-of-the-fence party.

I wonder if Tom Tancredo's immigrant grandfather got here legally, those many years ago...so far he hasn't returned my email (below). I'll update when he does...

Hello Representative Tancredo,

I just read this statement, attributed to you by UPI.

"There is a general agreement about the fact that citizenship in this country should not be bestowed on people who are the children of folks who come into this country illegally," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

May I ask, did your family (for instance, your grandfather, mentioned on your website) enter this country legally? Can this be verified in some way for the general public?

Also, would you be willing to make this proposed law retroactive, and strip the citizenship of anyone whose parents, grandparents, etc., entered this country illegally? That would create consistent policy, address the legacy effects of "anchor babies" on contemporary American society, and let the remaining Real Americans have an undiluted, unified voice in how to deal with this pernicious state of affairs and its historically beneficial influences on American society.

Thanks for your answer (in advance),
[rejoinder]