A centralised democracy may be as tyrannical as an absolute monarch; and if the vigour of the nation is to continue unimpaired, each individual, each family, each district, must preserve as far as possible its independence, its self-completeness, its powers and its privilege to manage its own affairs and think its own thoughts."

James Anthony Froude (1818-1894) Author and historian Source: Short Studies on Great Subjects

Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps

There are some things common to every state that's made the transition to fascism. Author Naomi Wolf argues that all of them are present in America today. Read the entire article HERE.

This is adapted from Wolf's forthcoming book "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot."

As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated in the United States by the Bush administration.

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree, domestically, as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government -- the task of being aware of the Constitution has been outsourced from citizens to professionals such as lawyers and professors -- we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security -- remember who else was keen on the word "homeland"? -- didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable -- as the author and political journalist Joe Conason has put it -- that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realize.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create a gulag.
3. Develop a thug caste.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system.
5. Harass citizens' groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Dissent equals treason.
10. Suspend the rule of law.

(Read about each of these in detail HERE.)

As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to Internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded. Something has changed profoundly that weakens us unprecedentedly: Our democratic traditions, independent judiciary and free press do their work today in a context in which we are "at war" in a "long war," a war without end, on a battlefield described as the globe, in a context that gives the president -- without U.S. citizens realizing it yet -- the power over U.S. citizens of freedom or long solitary incarceration, on his say-so alone.

That means a hollowness has been expanding under the foundation of all these still free-looking institutions, and this foundation can give way under certain kinds of pressure. To prevent such an outcome, we have to think about the "what ifs."

Full Story

It is part of the moral tragedy with which we are dealing that words like "democracy," "freedom," "rights," "justice," which have so often inspired heroism and have led men to give their lives for things which make life worthwhile, can also become a trap, the means of destroying the very things men desire to uphold.

Sir Norman Angell (1874 - 1967), 1956

George Bush still won't face reality about the war in Iraq. Tell George Bush: Sign the bill. Bring our troops home.

Where is the Iraqi Army?

Glenn Greenwald over at Salon has written an excellent article about the continual problem the administration has with 'missing documents'. A 'must read'.

"The Bush Administrations Terrible Luck with Finding Documents"

Bush knew/didn't know about longer troop tours?

What did President Bush know about the troop tour extensions and when did he know it? was the question at yesterday's White House press briefing.

The question pertained to Wednesday's announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that tours for active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were being extended to up to 15 months from 12 months.

A reporter noted that just the day before Gates's announcment, the president said during an appearance at an American Legion post that if congressional Democrats didn't send him an acceptable war spending bill soon, troop stays in the war zones could be lengthened.

The reporter asked White House spokeswoman Dana Perino if the president was being forthright when he warned that congressional Democrats might cause longer troop tours when he must've known that his own Defense Secretary would soon be announcing that the administration would be itself extending those tours.

Perino's answer, put politely, strained credulity. It was also downright confusing. And it didn't really answer what was a fairly simple question.

She said she wasn't sure the commander-in-chief knew at the time of the American Legion speech Tuesday that the next day his own defense secretary would be announcing longer tours for troops in theater.

But when pressed by the reporter who asked skeptically how the president could not know about such a major policy change she said that the president was aware that Gates was working on a way to deal with the manpower issue related to the surge. Then she reverted to talking points about the need for giving troops more certainty etc.

continued...

They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war.

Eugene Debs

"The enjoyment of power inevitably corrupts the judgment of reason, and perverts its liberty."

-- Immanuel Kant - (1724-1804) German philosopher Source: Perpetual Peace, 1795

Paul Hipp: Sub-Iraqi HomeSick Blues

CBS Fires Imus

CBS fired Don Imus from his radio program Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation's most prominent broadcasters.

Imus initially was given a two-week suspension for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" on the air last week, but outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.

"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

continued......

Voter Fraud Panel.....Spews Fraudulent Info

A federal panel responsible for conducting election research played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation, according to a review of the original report obtained by The New York Times.

Instead, the panel, the Election Assistance Commission, issued a report that said the pervasiveness of fraud was open to debate.

The revised version echoes complaints made by Republican politicians, who have long suggested that voter fraud is widespread and justifies the voter identification laws that have been passed in at least two dozen states.

Democrats say the threat is overstated and have opposed voter identification laws, which they say disenfranchise the poor, members of minority groups and the elderly, who are less likely to have photo IDs and are more likely to be Democrats.

Though the original report said that among experts “there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud,” the final version of the report released to the public concluded in its executive summary that “there is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud.”

continued

Air America Dumps Sam Seder's Morning Show

The new owners of Air America Radio have demoted host Sam Seder to a Sunday timeslot, replacing his weekday morning show with an existing program from another syndicated network.

"This week will be the last week," Seder announced last night on his show's weblog. "Air America recently came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the new management wants to go in a different direction."

Seder's being replaced on April 15 by Lionel, who airs on 92 stations syndicated by WOR Radio Networks and will be moving along with those affiliates. An attorney who worked as both a prosecutor and defense attorney in Florida before beginning his radio career in 1988, Lionel's the former host of Snap Judgment on Court TV and a drive-time morning program on WABC in New York.

"Americans cannot escape a certain responsibility for what is done in our name around the world. In a democracy, even one as corrupted as ours, ultimate authority rests with the people. We empower the government with our votes, finance it with our taxes, bolster it with our silent acquiescence. If we are passive in the face of America's official actions overseas, we in effect endorse them."

- Mark Hertzgaard

Obama to appear on Letterman show

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will invade the home state of his leading rival Monday with an appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman" and a pair of fundraisers with Manhattan tycoons.

The Worst Country For Kids? The U.S.

The United States may be one of the richest countries in the world, but it's also one of the worst industrialized places for kids to grow up. And the U.S. has a greater percentage of depressed people than impoverished, war-torn nations do, according to two major studies.

The first unflattering finding comes from a recent UNICEF child-welfare study that measured everything from the number of books in the home to infant-mortality rates, drinking and drug use and the percentage of children who eat meals with their families.

Of 21 wealthy nations surveyed, the U.S. ranked second to last. Only Britain was worse. Child well-being was highest in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, places that invest heavily in their children.

The problem isn't just that, compared with the European countries, the U.S. lacks day-care services and has poorer health and preventive-care coverage, which has left 9 million children without health insurance.

America finished dead last in terms of infant-mortality rates, vaccinations, the percentage of newborns with low birth weights and deaths from accidental injuries. We finished second to last when the researchers assessed a child's diet, physical activity and weight, exposure to violence and bullying and the number of 15-year-olds who smoke and drink and have sex.

continued

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3570/384*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 9, 2007


Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M.
-Operation Enduring Freedom




Army Spc. Ismael G. Solorio, 21, of San Luis, Ariz
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Pvt. Brett A. Walton, 37, of Hillsboro, Ore.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden, 20, of Claremont, NC
-Operation Iraqi Freedom


Complete Casualty List
*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.

-Benjamin Franklin

Happy Easter

Pope: 'How much suffering' in the world

Pope Benedict XVI decried suffering in much of the world in his Easter message, lamenting that "nothing positive" is happening in Iraq and voicing worry over unrest and instability in Afghanistan and bloodshed in parts of Africa and Asia.

"How many wounds, how much suffering there is in the world," the pontiff said, delivering his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter address from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists listened in the square.

Benedict read out a litany of troubling current events, saying he was thinking of the "terrorism and kidnapping of people, of the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion, of contempt for life, of the violation of human rights and the exploitation of persons."

"Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and instability," Benedict said. "In the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees."

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3570/384*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 8, 2007


Army Sgt. Todd A. Singleton, 24, of Muskegon, Mich.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Sgt. Adam P. Kennedy, 25, of Norfolk, Mass
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army 1st Lt. Phillip I. Neel, 27, of Maryland
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Cpl. Conor G. Masterson, 21, of Inver Woodbury, Minn
-Operation Enduring Freedom




Army Pfc. David N. Simmons, 20, of Kokomo, Ind
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown, 31, of Prichard, Ala.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Army Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, of Santa Rosa, Calif
-Operation Iraqi Freedom


Complete Casualty List
*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

The three defining sins of the Bush Administration--arrogance, incompetence, cynicism--are congenital: they're part of his personality. They're not likely to change. And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead.

-Joe Klein, Time Magazine, An Administration's Epic Collapse

The White House Plays Partisian Politics With Foreign Policy

More evidence of the White House's partisan manipulation of relations with Syria emerged yesterday, as President Jimmy Carter told a gathering in New York about his recent request to visit Syrian President Assad. The former president stated:

“I have known President Bashar al-Assad since he was a college student, and I thought it might be helpful if I went and urged him to support the peace process in the Middle East. But for the only time in my life as a former president, I was ordered by the White House not to go.”

The White House has had no criticism of three Republican Congressmen who are currently also visiting Syria. Indeed, one of them – Rep. Darrell Issa of California - sharply criticized President Bush after emerging from his meeting with Assad, something which Pelosi carefully avoided.

Attacks on Pelosi have also now regularly featured photographs of her wearing a headscarf, coupled with suggestions that she is engaged in "appeasement" of Islamic extremists. Joe Conason assesses the attacks in a column at Salon.com this morning. He states:

As for the headscarf, which Pelosi wore while visiting a mosque and a marketplace, there could be no conceivable reason to vilify this natural gesture of respect -- except to excite religious and ethnic bigotry. Women have been covering their heads upon entering certain places for hundreds of years, and so have men for that matter. Nobody complains when an American politician puts on a yarmulke in a synagogue or an American woman covers her bare arms in a cathedral, and nobody should.

No, the war against Pelosi is a rear-guard assault by the White House against moderates and liberals in both political parties who understand that the failed Bush policies have jeopardized American interests and hurt the Mideast peace process. What Wolf and Pelosi have in common is their endorsement of the Iraq Study Group's proposals, which emphasize regional diplomacy, including direct talks with both Syria and Iran. Indeed, it was Wolf who first approached James Baker about undertaking the Iraq report, and who sponsored the legislation that paid for the group's work.

The malice behind these attacks leaves the clear impression that the "war party" is still at the helm in the White House, and that military confrontation with Syria is still given a priority ahead of talking. This belies the president's muddled statements about pursuing a dialogue with Syria.

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3570/384*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 7, 2007

Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom





Army Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, N.C.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Spc. Levi K. Hoover, 23, of Midland, Mich.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Arkl
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Navy Cmdr. Phillip A. Murphy-Sweet, 42, of Caldwell, Idaho
-Operation Iraqi Freedom


Complete Casualty List
*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3570/384*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 6, 2007


Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Joseph C. Schwedler, 27, of Crystal Falls, Mich.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Pfc. Jay S. Cajimat, 20, of Levittown, N.Y.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky,
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Army Spc. Ryan S. Dallam, 24, of Norman, Okla
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Army Pfc. Daniel A. Fuentes, 19, of Levittown, N.Y.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Army Capt. Anthony Palermo, 26, of Brockton, Mass.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Army Pvt. Damian Lopez Rodriguez, 19, Tucson, Ariz.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Complete Casualty List

*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3562/379*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 5, 2007


Army Sgt. Forrest D. Cauthorn, 22, of Midlothian, Va.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Army Spc. Jason A. Shaffer, 38, of Derry Pa.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Complete Casualty List

*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

"In order that all men might be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it."

-Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) - Source: The Rambler, 1750-52

U.S. Employing Known Terrorist Organization

This is so obscene on so many different levels. So now we use terrorist organizations to advance a sick administration's foreign policy agenda? What depths will this government NOT sink to?

We should all be 'over the top' outraged over this story. While we have U.S. troops fighting and dying in Iraq - supposedly against terrorists - we are actually encouraging terrorists to act against Iran? THIS is a perfect example of why we are despised around the world and why we have become a target of terrorists. Not because of our freedom - but because we are hypocrites. Seems that under this administration terrorism is evil unless it suits our interests and then it's expedient. President Bush and his party are constantly saying that those of us who don't support his policies - are supporting terrorists. Actually it's the President who is supporting the terrorists.

A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran.

It has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials.

I Googled Jundullah, and found the following:

Jundullah (Army of God) (Persian: جنداللہ) is a militant Islamic organization that is based in Waziristan, Pakistan and affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Jundullah is but one of several small terrorist cells that have emerged after the government's crackdown on 'jihadi' elements.

Jundullah is a purely militant outfit whose objective is to target Pakistan's pro-US rulers and US and British interests in the country. Members receive training in Afghanistan and South Waziristan, and it is now actively recruiting.

News Flash - Bush is the President Not the King of U.S.

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3562/379*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 4, 2007


Army Pfc. James J. Coon, 22, of Walnut Creek, Calif.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge, 39, of Camiere, Miss.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV, 23, of Ashaland, Ky.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Pfc. Walter Freeman, Jr., 20, of Lancaster, Calif
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Pfc. Derek A. Gibson, 20, of Eustis Fla.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Complete Casualty List

*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3562/379*

Most Recent Casualties:

April 3, 2007



Army Pfc. Gabriel J. Figueroa, 20, of Baldwin Park, Calif.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Staff Sgt. Shane R. Becker, 35, of Helena, Mont.
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Complete Casualty List

*casualty counts are as of day of posting rather than date of death

Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 3538/380

Most Recent Casualties:

April 2, 2007


Army Spc. Curtis R. Spivey, 25, of Chula Vista, Calif
-Operation Enduring Freedom




Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, of Marion, Ind
-Operation Iraqi Freedom




Army Spc. Brian E. Ritzberg, 24, of New York
-Operation Iraqi Freedom



Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Olsen, 20, of Eagan, Minn
-Operation Iraqi Freedom

Complete Casualty List