The United States is ranked first in the WORLD in per-capita incarceration. Why is that? Is it a result of drugs, unfair and inequitable economics or class warfare? Our justice system is stacked against those with no money or resources. How many rich white guys are in prison for white collar or Unconstitutional political crimes? I'll write more about this at another time.

THIS IS DAY 1,989 THAT OSAMA bIN LADEN HAS BEEN FREE SINCE 911!

The brilliant maneuvers and influence peddling of certain elites to avoid military service in the Vietnam war left two ugly legacies that do grave damage to American troops today.
First, they learned young that wars are meant to be fought by certain classes, which they are above. They grew up with the entitlement spirit
of the elite. The privileged classes send the others to fight the wars.
George Herbert Walker Bush a star athlete in college. George W. Bush was the cheerleader.
In politics, that translates in adulthood into a refusal to admit they were wrong and a refusal to take responsibility for their mistakes. The war hero protects the band of brothers. The wimp blames the subordinates.
Look at Cheney. Instead of taking responsibility like a man, he works desperately and feverishly to pin the blame on others. The war hero takes responsibility of command. The wimp blames those under his command.
Look at Libby, allowing his aide Cathie Martin, to be blamed at a White House meeting for what Scooter did. What kind of vainglorious wimp allows his staff to take the blame for his own mistakes?
This is a recurring pattern in this sordid affair of the Libby case and the Iraq war.
Second, not only do those who never served fail to understand military doctrine or have military judgment. They believe generals and admirals are part of the lower class who fight the wars, not the upper classes who send them to fight. They believe the troops exist to be used for political gain, but allow them to be without body armor and other needs until this day.
The athlete enters the arena and fights with the gladiators. The cheerleaders talk tough from the safety of the sidelines.
Send others to fight wars. Blame others for the mistakes. Use others for political gain.
God save our troops, from bullies without balls.

Brent Budowsky

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says, "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office...under the United States." This is interesting because our founders didn’t think religion should disqualify anyone from serving in political office. Here comes Mitt Romney as Republican candidate for President who states that, “ I'm convinced that the nation does need to have people of different faiths, but we need to have a person of faith lead the country." He thinks article VI should be repealed. Do you realize how radical it is for a politician to say that he doesn’t believe in the Constitution? Especially since this Republican is a Mormon. Now most right-wing evangelical republicans believe that the Mormon religion is a cult and they are not followers of Jesus Christ. How do Christian “faith and values” voters resolve the two concepts? Once we start down the road of deciding which politician’s religion is valid and which is not where will it end up? Will Catholics, Masons or Pentecostals be excluded? Well Jefferson and Lincoln both believed that reason should prevail over religion when it came to serving in public office. I just wish we had a few more politicians of reason today. Article VI is critical to our Constitution because it prevents America from becoming a Christian theocracy. This is another example of why the separation of Church and State is fundamental to our Constitution. That is important, especially in today’s Republican political climate.

Every fraud uses the same ploy to stay in power--he wraps himself in the flag and screams that a terrorist enemy is ready to destroy us. Fear works. It's the oldest trick in the book: "It's not my fault, it's those evil doers."
Bush has used Iran and Iraq as scapegoats and ironically they are two of the most westernized, secular, non-fanatical populations in the Middle East
When compared to our major 'allies', Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, both of which are deeply repressive of women and religious freedom, both are primary sources of terrorist training. Pakistan gives major support to the Taliban, while Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorists were almost all Saudis. Add the fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and one has to wonder what is going on with our present administration.
Iran is a democracy. It is also a nation changing. They are deeply resentful of the Ayatollahs as well as anti-American. But two-thirds of the Iranian population is under thirty. They never lived under the brutal dictatorship of the American-imposed Shah, the Iranian hostage ordeal, nor can they remember the CIA coup that overthrew their democratically elected national hero, Mossadegh. Now that we have handed over Iraq to the fanatics by all our blunders, Iran is the least misogynistic Muslim country in the Mid-East. Sixty percent of Iranians attending college are women. Women run major businesses, are professionals, firefighters, even taxi-drivers, whereas in Saudi Arabia--our 'ally--they can't even drive.
What most Americans know about Iran is that they have a fanatic, Holocaust-denying President, Ahmadinejad. But he no more represents Iran than George Bush represents the American populous and both men are doing terrible in the polls by the way.
Unlike Americans, however, Iranians are not abysmally ignorant of what goes on outside their borders, and are capable of distinguishing between another nation's people and its corrupt and incompetent leader.
The rationale for Bush's planned attack on Iran is that Iranian-made weapons have been used by Iraqi terrorists. So have American-made Chinese and Russian-made weapons. It's a pathetic excuse by a man who has in six years done everything possible to weaken America--undermining our financial stability, destroying our environment, sabotaging our children's education, eroding our influence internationally. He has mortgaged our nation's future in a vain attempt to make little Georgie Bush--who never in his life had to face enemy fire--a military hero. The reality is that a pact with Iran is the only way to salvage the Iraq mess. But reality has never been a big player in the Bush administration.
“When fascism comes to America it will come wearing a flag and waving a cross” Do you recognize it?

I just read that the Southern Baptists plans to go to Iraq to convert all the Muslims to their fundamentalist brand of Christianity. Haven’t the Iraqi people suffered enough? Now Jerry Falwell and Richard Land want to Baptize them in the name of father Bush, his son “w” and the holy roller neo-con "Big Time"Cheney with white phosphate 50 millimeter fire and ”nucular” brimstone. It’s just too much to not allow them to dance, play cards or enjoy gay marriage in their new Iraqi utopia. Enough is enough. “W” has pretty much destroyed the Iraqi people and their country in his crusade to bring Repubic western democracy to Islam. Do we have to now commit religious torture on an already demoralized people? Why not just make the Iraqi's Exxon employees, take the oil and say thank you then be on our way. Bring our troops home now and we can bask in the glory of bringing American peace, salvation and Muslim civil war to the land of sand and oil. Is it any wonder why they hate us. Ann Coulter would be proud.

Right-wingers are in denial about all the lies "w" and Cheney have told the American people the last six years because to admit that they were lies would show them to be the gullible boobs they truly are. These brain-washed conservatives can't bear to face the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They ignore the United Nations Inspectors, the U.S. military, the C.I.A. Colin Powell, and every other organization that clearly show there are no W.M.D's. These same people believe that Sadaam had them buried in bordering enemy country's and that they will be found some day. Now that bush is making many of the same bogus claims against Iran that he did against Iraq over four years ago these same people have no choice but to believe the new lies. He will not show the evidence for his claims because that would expose it as the hoax it is. He will not admit to any wrong or take the blame for the failure in Iraq so he will keep it going until the next president comes in office. The best way for him to distract attention from the Iraq fiasco is to start a new war in Iran or Syria. Look for bombings to start in the near future. The only thing that will stop this insane leader is for the military to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and remove him and Cheney from office under force. He truly is a madman. He must be stopped for the sake of our country.