Mystery of the Unaccounted 7% of America

A recent survey found that only 32% of Americans approve of the job that Bush is doing as president. On a related note 25% of Americans think that aliens from outer space have come to earth and are secretly communicating with the government. My questions is: what’s up with the other 7%?

Bush Admin Blocking Our Troops Access to Information unless it is Right-Wing

The US Air Force is blocking airmen from accessing progressive (read more favorable to the Democratic Party) web sites but allows airmen to access hyper-right-wing (read rabidly pro-Republican Party) web sites. A number of airmen trying to access www.dailykos.com, www.talkingpointsmemo.com, atrios.blogspot.com and other progressive sites are getting a “very scary screen to pop up, warning the user that a regulation or policy or some such has been violated and the address of the computer has been logged.” “On the other hand, Free Republic and Little Green Footballs [two of the hyper-pro-Republican sites] came through just fine, thank you very much.” So far no incidents of right-wing sites being blocked have been reported only progressive ones.

Previously complaints that Right-Wing-Nut Rush Limbaugh and others are being broadcast to our troops worldwide courtesy of our tax dollars, but not broadcasters from the other side of the isle arose. The Bush Administration toyed with the idea of giving our troops both sides of the debate on issues they are risking their lives for, but decided that only the pro-Republican side counted.

Support our troops by censoring any view but Bush’s. That’s what the USSR, oops, I mean the US is all about.

CIA Analyst Gives Good Analysis of Recent Intelligence Leaks

Larry Johnson, a 21 year veteran of the CIA and State Department’s anti-terror groups says, "There is a fundamental moral and ethical difference between someone who leaks information in order to serve the public good [such as alerting the public that people are being tortured or that Americans are being spied upon in violation of law] and someone, like George Bush, who authorizes leaks only for the purpose of saving his sorry political ass."

Man Who Pardoned Nixon Pans Generals Criticizing Rumsfeld

Gerald Ford, the man who pardoned Richard Nixon preventing prosecution of the person who was until now the most detestable criminal to hold the office of US President, has come out against retired US generals calling for Rumsfeld to resign or be fired for gross ineptitude in mismanaging the Iraq War.

Right. Go back to hitting people on the golf course, Fleet-Foot!

Another Life-Long Republican and Former Bush Admin Official Warns US about Bush and the Neo-Cons and the Republican Led Congress

Lawrence Wilkerson, life-long Republican, retired Army Colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, warns America about the dangers of allowing the Bush Administration to continue leading our nation down to disaster, “In January 2001, with the inauguration of George W. Bush as president, America set on a path to cease being good; America became a revolutionary nation, a radical republic. If our country continues on this path, it will cease to be great - as happened to all great powers before it, without exception.”

“From the Kyoto accords to the International Criminal Court, from torture and cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners to rendition of innocent civilians, from illegal domestic surveillance to lies about leaking, from energy ineptitude to denial of global warming, from cherry-picking intelligence to appointing a martinet and a tyrant to run the Defense Department, the Bush administration, in the name of fighting terrorism, has put America on the radical path to ruin.”

He warns that Bush and his like will set us back “800 years” to the days before the Magna Carta. His essay is required reading for all Americans.

Bush to Drop the Big One on Nevada June 2

The Bush Administration is planning on exploding a 700-ton (which is 1.4 million pounds) ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb in Nevada to simulate a nuclear bunker buster bomb that could be dropped on Iran. Keep in mind that it was just such an ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb that Right-Wing Terrorist Timothy McVeigh used to blow up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The Bush Admin is now copying the Right-Wing Terrorist who committed the biggest terrorist attack on the US before September 11. The Bush Bomb is planned to be detonated on June 2. Local Native Americans who live downwind and will receive possibly nuclear fallout (the area of the test may be at or near ones previously used for nuclear bombs so the ground would still be radioactive) are trying to stop the blast to protect the health of their children. The explosion will create a mushroom cloud similar to a nuclear bomb.

Bush Knew Saddam Uranium Docs Were Forgeries Before State Of Union Speech

“Eleven days before President Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address in which he said that the US learned from British intelligence that Iraq had attempted to acquire uranium from Africa - an explosive claim that helped pave the way to war - the State Department told the CIA that the intelligence the uranium claims were based upon were forgeries, according to a newly declassified State Department memo.”

“Moreover, the memo says that the State Department's doubts about the veracity of the uranium claims may have been expressed to the intelligence community even earlier.”

Bush Administration State Department official Carl Ford said in a previous interview that he has no doubt the State Department's reservations about the Niger intelligence made its way to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

One high-ranking State Department official said that when the department's analysts briefed Colin Powell about the Niger forgeries Powell met with then-Director of the CIA George Tenet and shared that information with him. Tenet then told Vice President Dick Cheney and then-National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice and her former deputy, Stephen Hadley (currently the National Security Adviser), that the uranium claims were "dubious," according to current and former State Department and CIA officials who have direct knowledge of what Tenet discussed with the White House at the time.

The fact that Saddam was not buying Uranium from Niger was the truth that the Bush Administration revealed the identity of a CIA agent over because her husband had the balls to tell our nation the truth.

Remember that it only took the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) one hour to determine that the documents were forgeries because the Niger officials who allegedly signed them were not the officials in power at the time they allegedly signed them. The date of the signature was right there on the forged documents. A simple Google search confirmed that the signers were not in office when the documents were signed. The Bush Administration claimed at the time that they had no idea that they were forgeries.

So, we now have documented proof that the Bush Administration knew the documents saying Saddam was trying to buy Uranium from Niger were forgeries even before Bush told the people of the United States that lie in the State of the Union Speech in January 2003 in the lead up to the Iraq War.

Will the Corporate Mainstream Media inform the American people about this? I seriously doubt it. So it’s up to the bloggers to be the only Free Press in the US.

Conservative George Will Admits Republicans Are Anti-Free Speech

Even uber-conservative George Will admits that the Republicans in Congress are anti-Free Speech in his column entitled The GOP's Betrayal On Speech. The Republicans in the House voted to limit political advocacy groups called 527s because 527s that oppose Republican policies have been more successful than ones that support them. The GOP solution, limit Free Speech so that they can’t oppose Republican policies.

Will points out that the Mainstream Media is egging the Republicans on to squelch Free Speech as long as it doesn’t suppress the Freedom of the Press. Just block grass-roots Americans from having a voice in politics, but not huge Media Corporations.

As Will points out the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine by the Reagan Administration allowed “conservatives' unfair domination of talk radio.” Republicans in Congress claim that limiting the 527s will create a level playing field, but as Will points out restoring the Fairness Doctrine would do far more to level the playing field requiring radio stations to air both sides of the issue rather than just the Right-Wing side.

Will warns that only if the Democrats in the Senate block this bill from passing will Free Speech in the US be protected. He is confident that the Democrats will do just that. Imaging that, George F. Will, arch-right-wing conservative, urging Democrats in Congress to oppose Republicans and thereby preserve Free Speech for Americans.

Pentagon Issues Talking Points Memo to Retired Senior Officers to Defend Rumsfeld

The Pentagon has sent a memo to group of former military commanders and civilian analysts on Friday giving the retired officers and analysts the words the Bush Administration wants them to use to defend Rumsfeld on television. An article published today said that “it is unusual for the Pentagon to issue guidance that can be used by retired generals to rebut the arguments of other retired generals.”

Unusual indeed! The Bush Administration has issued Talking Points to be used to rebut calls for Rumsfeld to be fired or step down.

One retired general who regularly attends the Pentagon meetings said Saturday that he found it unusual for the Pentagon to send such a memorandum in the middle of a heated debate, because it was almost certain to appear politically motivated.

"I think it's part of the charm offensive," said the general, who was granted anonymity because he said he was afraid he would not be invited to future Pentagon sessions.

For a president who has responded to critics of the war by saying he takes his cue from commanders in the field, not politicians in Washington, the past week has put the White House in an uncomfortable position. Administration officials acknowledged that unlike past criticisms from lawmakers, the comments by the generals — who say they have only military objectives in mind — could carry extra weight.

So far seven retired Generals and several other senior officers have come forward calling for Rumsfeld to be fired for mismanaging the Iraq War. Most of them are saying that the Iraq War was a huge mistake. Since the Talking Points were issued, some officers have come forwarding reading the words given to them in an effort to silence the debate. But Gen. Tommy Franks in defending Rumsfeld today contradicted what Joint Chiefs head Peter Pace said when he was defending Rumsfeld the other day. While both men got the memo they didn’t work out the details of that defense.

Read the words of Christopher H. Sheppard, a former Marine captain who served two tours of duty in Iraq as a combat engineer. His last line sums it up, “I will never trust any of them again.” Captain Sheppard apparently didn’t get the memo.

US Army Report Says Rumsfeld “Personally Involved” in “Degrading and Abusive” Treatment of Detainees

Yesterday it emerged that Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was “personally involved” in “degrading and abusive” treatment of detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. These are direct quotes from a US Army report on al-Qaida completed by the Army Inspector General. The report was filed in December, but the fact that Rumsfeld was personally involved in degrading and abusive treatment of detainees was kept quiet until yesterday. Those details were leaked by senior military officials to Salon.com magazine. Recently at least seven generals and several other high ranking officials of the US military have called for Rumsfeld to be fired for his incompetence and mismanagement of the Iraq War. So far, only junior officers and non-coms have been charged and convicted for a string of prisoner abuse scandals. Again this report shows Rumsfeld was “personally involved” in “degrading and abusive” treatment of detainees. President Bush responded by saying, “Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation.”

Bush’s Claim on WMD Doesn’t Make Sense

"We have found the weapons of mass destruction."
- President George W. Bush, May 29, 2003

Bush supporters are claiming that Bush didn’t know that the Trailers of Mass Destruction he told us were Mobile Biological Weapons Labs were not WMD when he made the claim. The Department of Defense's Intelligence Agency reported to the Bush Administration that they were not WMD two days before Bush claimed they were. Okay, let’s say that’s true that Bush didn't know two days after his administration was told. Why did Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush Administration continue to make the false claim for the next year?

Why did the Pentagon shelve the report concluding that the trailers were not Mobile Biological Weapons Labs and keep the information from Congress and the American People.

If Bush just wants the American people to know the truth about Iraq, why did he and his administration continue to lie about these trailers for a year and suppress the report that they were merely for producing hydrogen for balloons used for target practice by the Iraq military?

Claims that Bush and his administration didn’t know the truth for a year and were only trying to inform the public don’t make sense.

Bush also claims that he and his administration never said that there was a connection between September 11th and Saddam Hussein. Gee, I wonder where 70% of the American people got the idea that there was. A majority of our fighting men and women in Iraq think that’s why they’re there. Bush now says that it’s not and that our troops are wrong.

Colin Powell now admits that he and his State Department didn’t believe that Iraq was a threat, but that Cheney and the neo-cons were pushing the story that Iraq was a threat so hard he and the State Department just went along with that myth.

Powell never believed the story that Saddam was trying to buy Uranium from Niger or that Saddam had reconstituted his nuclear program. “That was all Cheney,” Powell now admits. But despite that, Powell testified to the UN before the war that Saddam had WMD including nuclear weapons Powell knew he didn’t have. He just went along because Cheney, the former CEO of Haliburton, was pushing for war so hard.

Now nearly 2,500 US service members are dead and more than 19,000 wounded. Many disabled for life including the highest percentage of brain injuries ever in a US war.

Update – Now the Bush White House is using a different argument about Bush lying about the Iraq WMD that wasn’t WMD:

Get this, White House Spokesman Scott McClellan is now saying that President Bush couldn’t tell the American people that the Iraqi trailers were only for producing hydrogen to inflate balloons for target practice and told us that they were Mobile Biological Labs because the fact that they weren’t WMD was classified information so he had to lie to us.

Get it?

Hmmm. That doesn’t make a lot of sense since just this week Bush admitted that he ordered Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff Lewis Scooter Libby to leak classified information from a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that Saddam was attempting to purchase Uranium from Niger, but not to leak the part from the same NIE that said that the State Department and the Energy Department intelligence agencies did NOT believe it.

It turned out that the “evidence” that Saddam was buying Uranium were forged documents. And it only took the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) one hour, yes, one single hour to determine that they were forgeries because the Niger officials who allegedly signed them were not the officials in power at the time they allegedly signed them. The date of the signature was right there on the forged documents. A simple Google search confirmed that the signers were not in office when the documents were signed.

Anyway, Bush had no problem leaking the classified (and false) information that Saddam was buying Uranium, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Americans that the trailers were not WMD. So instead he told us that they were Mobile Biological Weapons Labs because to tell us the truth would be leaking classified information. Get it? Neither do I. It’s just a fancy way to say Bush lied.

Anyone who truly loves America should be sickened by this and the other demonstrable lies of this administration. You have to either be loyal to America or loyal to Bush, but you can’t be both.

Bodies of Katrina Victims Still Being Found in Louisiana

Although the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast more than half a year ago bodies of victims are still being found. The Bush Administration called off searches for victims after a few weeks and left the locals to fend for themselves.

Many of the bodies have been half-eaten by animals during all these months and only skulls and bones remain. Wasn’t that Bush’s old fraternity? Skull and Bones?

More on the Sexual Deviancy of the Bush Administration

This is going to be a little graphic. I apologize in advance, but because the Bush Administration keeps claiming to be supporters of family values it requires close examination. You are hereby forewarned.

I posted here a while back about some of the freaks in the Bush Administration. Here are some more: A Director in the Bush Administration’s Defense Department, Charles Lynch, was arrested on charges of Child Pornography. Another Defense Department official was recently sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for his role in an $18.1 million procurement fraud.

These in addition to this week’s arrest of the fourth highest ranking official in the Bush Administration’s Department of Homeland Security for trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old. He was propositioning her over the phone from his governmental office when he was arrested.

Recently indicted Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney, Lewis “Scooter” Libby wrote a novel about a young girl who is held captive and repeatedly raped by a bear. Yes, a bear: the animal. Her captors are trying to prepare her for a life of prostitution and that is why they are causing her to be repeatedly raped by the bear. This is the idea for a novel that sprung to Libby’s mind. Vice President Cheney’s wife Lynn wrote a steamy hot sex novel about two lesbian lovers. Pretty tame compared to what Libby came up with.

Read Margaret Kimberley’s article in Black Commentator and learn about:

Dr. W. David Hager, whom Bush appointed to be in charge of reproductive health issues at the Food and Drug Administration. He held that position until his ex-wife revealed that he was forcing her to have anal intercourse over a period of many years. His wife said through tears, "I probably wouldn't have objected so much, or felt it was so abusive if he had just wanted normal [vaginal] sex all the time. But it was the painful, invasive, totally nonconsensual nature of the [anal] sex that was so horrible." His defense: he claims he mistook her anus for her vagina—for years. Not very convincing considering that Dr. Hager is a gynecologist!

Read how for years the Bush Administration allowed a male prostitute (advertising on the Internet for sex while working at the White House) access to the President and staff even though he had no journalistic experience while denying access to seasoned reporters. The male prostitute would ask Bush planted questions while the seasoned reporters who were barred refused to.

These are just a few of the family values that the Bush Administration supports.

These are just the sexual perverts by the way. The just plain criminals in the Bush Administration fill a much larger list. Another blogger has a list of 55 Republican leaders who are child molesters. He’s just started as others are chiming in other leading GOP leaders who are committing the same crime. Another site that lists similar Republican leaders is found here.

Bush Authorized Leaks of Classified Information in the Revealing of a CIA Agent’s Identity

Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff testified under oath that Cheney and President Bush told him to leak information contained in a classified document to reporter Judith Miller. We now know that both Libby and President Bush’s assistant Chief of Staff Karl Rove leaked classified information about the identity of an undercover CIA agent endangering her life and ending her career of keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran.

Before the 2004 election President Bush said that if anyone in the White House was involved they would be fired. He also told America through his press secretary Scott McClellan that neither Rove nor Libby was involved in this.

“The President has set high standards, the highest of standards, for people in his administration. If anyone in this administration was involved in it [leaking classified information to the press especially in regards to the CIA outing], they would no longer be in this administration.”
- White House press secretary Scott McClellan Sept. 29, 2003

President Bush promised Americans that he would get to the bottom of the leak that revealed the identity of a CIA agent. It turns out that he is the bottom. The very bottom—no one lower, in fact.

"I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information [about the leaking of classified information] inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true and get on about the business. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information -- outside the administration. And we can clarify this thing very quickly if people who have got solid evidence would come forward and speak out. And I would hope they would."

- President George W. Bush, Sept. 30, 2003

Now Bush claims that he leaked part of the National Intelligence Estimate (a part that proved to be false and did not leak the part that contradicted the part he did leak) was because he wanted the American people to know the truth. Really? Then why leak it as an anonymous source to a single reporter? Why not hold a press conference and declare it to the world? Because he knew the information was not true and didn’t want it traceable to him. Only because Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, has been indicted for perjury when he testified to a Grand Jury and lying to the FBI about revealing a CIA agent’s identity as political payback has this gotten out.

Shocking Diebold Conflict of Interest Revelations From Secretary of State Further Taint Ohio's Electoral Credibility

by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman


Ohio is reeling with a mixture of outrage and hilarity as Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has revealed that he has owned stock in the Diebold voting machine company, to which Blackwell tried to award unbid contracts worth millions while allowing its operators to steal Ohio elections. A top Republican election official also says a Diebold operative told him he made a $50,000 donation to Blackwell's "political interests."

A veritable army of attorneys on all sides of Ohio's political spectrum will soon report whether Blackwell has violated the law. But in any event, the revelations could have a huge impact on the state whose dubiously counted electoral votes gave George W. Bush a second term. Diebold's GEMS election software was used in about half of Ohio counties in the 2004 election. Because of Blackwell's effort, 41 counties used Diebold machines in Ohio's highly dubious 2005 election, and now 47 counties will use Diebold touchscreen voting machines in the May 2006 primary, and in the fall election that will decide who will be the state's new governor.

Blackwell is the frontrunner for Ohio's Republican nomination for governor. The first African-American to hold statewide office, the former mayor of Cincinnati made millions in deals involving extreme right-wing "religious" radio stations.

As part of his campaign filings he has been required to divulge the contents of his various stock portfolios. Blackwell says that in the process he was "surprised" to learn he owned Diebold shares. According to central Ohio's biggest daily, the conservative Republican "Columbus Dispatch," Blackwell claims his multi-million-dollar portfolio has been handled "by a financial manager without his advice or review."

Blackwell says he gave verbal instructions to a previous fund manager about which stocks not to buy, but failed to do so when he brought in a replacement. He claims the new manager bought 178 Diebold shares in January, 2005, for $53.67/share. He says 95 shares were sold sometime last year, and that the remainder were sold this week after Blackwell conducted an annual review of his portfolio. He says both sales resulted in losses.

Prior to the 2004 election, Blackwell tried to award a $100 million unbid contract to Diebold for electronic voting machines. A storm of public outrage and a series of lawsuits forced him to cancel the deal. But a substantial percentage of Ohio's 2004 votes were counted by Diebold software and Diebold Opti-scan machines which frequently malfunctioned in the Democratic stronghold of Toledo. Many believe they played a key role in allowing Blackwell to steal Ohio's 20 electoral votes---and thus the presidential election---for Bush. Walden O'Dell, then the Diebold CEO, had pledged to "deliver" Ohio's electoral votes to Bush.

Blackwell has since continued to bring in Diebold machines under other multi-million-dollar contracts. In 2005, while he owned Diebold stock, Blackwell converted nearly half Ohio's counties to Diebold equipment.

Those machines have been plagued by a wide range of problems, casting further doubt on the integrity of the Ohio vote count. A number of county boards of elections are trying to reject Diebold equipment. Two statewide referendum issues on electoral reform were defeated in 2005 in a vote tally that was a virtual statistical impossibility. The deciding votes were cast and counted on Diebold equipment.

In recent months, Blackwell has ordered all 88 county boards of elections to send into his office the memory cards that will be used in the primary election, in which Blackwell expects to win the gubernatorial race. There is no effective statewide monitoring system to protect those cards from being rigged.

Matt Damschroder, the Republican chair of the Franklin County (Columbus) Board of Elections has also reported that a key Diebold operative told Damschroder he made a $50,000 contribution to Blackwell's "political interests" while Blackwell was evaluating Diebold's bids for state purchasing contracts. Blackwell denies the contribution was made to him.

Damschroder is former chair of the Franklin County GOP. He says former Diebold contractor Pasquale "Patsy" Gallina boasted of making the contribution to Blackwell. Damschroder himself has publicly admitted to personally accepting a $10,000 check from Pasquale, made out to the Franklin County GOP. That contribution was made while Damschroder was involved in evaluating Diebold bids for county contracts.

Damschroder was censured but not removed from office. On Election Day 2004, Franklin County voting officials told the Free Press that Blackwell and Damschroder were meeting with George W. Bush in Columbus. AP accounts place both Bush and Karl Rove unexpectedly in Columbus on Election Day. Damschroder has denied that he met personally with Bush, but refuses to clarify whether or not he was at GOP meetings with Bush in attendance on Election Day.

An eyewitness ally of Blackwell told a small gathering of Bush supporters, with a Free Press reporter present, that Blackwell was in a frenzy on Election Day, writing percentages and vote totals on maps of rural Republican counties, attempting to figure out how many votes, real or manufactured, Bush would need to overcome the exit poll results in Cleveland and Columbus. Meanwhile Blackwell has run one of the most vicious primary campaigns ever seen in Ohio politics. A series of expensive television ads have assaulted Blackwell's GOP opponent, Attorney-General Jim Petro, vehemently charging him with extreme corruption and dishonesty. GOP operatives fear Blackwell's attacks could shatter the party.

Now Blackwell's Diebold revelations have both Petro and the state's extremely feeble Democrats jumping for joy. Petro, who has a large portfolio of his own, says he will pursue the question of whether Blackwell has broken the law. "Considering Ken Blackwell's history with Diebold, I think this warrants further investigation to remove any hint of impropriety," says Petro campaign manager Bob Paduchik.

Democratic candidate Ted Strickland has reported no stock portfolio at all. "If [Blackwell] doesn't know what's going on with his own checkbook, why in the world would voters want him to be in charge of the checkbook as governor?" asks Democratic spokesperson Brian Rothenberg.

The common statewide wisdom is that "Ken Blackwell will never lose an election in which he is in charge of the vote count."

But Ohio Democrats never seriously questioned Blackwell's rigged 2004 vote count that put Bush back in the White House. They've mounted no serious campaign challenging Blackwell's handling of the tally in 2005. They've presented no plan for guaranteeing the integrity of upcoming 2006 November election, which will again be run by Blackwell, even though he may be the GOP nominee.

Attorney-General Petro has become Blackwell's sworn enemy. A rugged campaigner with extensive statewide connections, it's not likely Petro would quietly accept an election being stolen from him. That might explain Blackwell's vehement attacks on his fellow Republican.

But having accused his cohort of widespread corruption and with a long history of scornful contempt for all those who challenge him, Blackwell's own Diebold revelations have opened a Pandora's Box. What comes flying out could affect state and national politics for years to come.

More and More Bush Administration Officials Pedophiles and Sexual Deviates – Bush Admin Doing Background Checks on Activists but Not on its Own Staff

The fourth highest ranking official of the Homeland Security Department has been charged with soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl over the internet. He was actually on the phone with an FBI agent posing as a 14-year-old talking dirty to her when the authorities busted into his office to arrest him. This Bush Administration official joins a host of other administration officials charged with pedophilia, other sexual deviations, and numerous other crimes. Why is it that the Bush Administration spying on Americans who disagree with Bush, but not bothering to do background checks on their own staff?

Cities Try to Prevent Terrorist Attacks on Hazardous Railroad Cars, But Bush Administration Hinders Their Efforts, Putting Us All At Greater Risk

US cities are trying to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Terrorist may plant explosives on railroad cars filled with hazardous chemicals or target them with weapons (such as .50 caliber sniper rifles see update below) to make them explode near highly populated areas. Government studies suggest that the explosion of one tanker car carrying, say, chlorine would cause up to 100,000 deaths and possibly many times that number made il in a densely populated area. The Bush Administration, doing the bidding of industry executives, is thwarting cities from protecting city dwellers.

In related news US nuclear plants are susceptible to attacks from .50 caliber sniper rifles, gigantic guns that are able to shoot through inches of steel, and yet are still freely available to almost anyone in America. The Bush Administration and the Republican led Congress bowing to gun lobbyists have allowed these terrorist weapons to be sold legally throughout the US. A year ago Congress and President Bush were warned that .50 caliber sniper rifles could bring down US airplanes and compromise US nuclear plants, but due to pressure from powerful gun lobbyists they failed to pass legislation keeping the terrorist weapons from entering our nation. These sniper rifles fire armor piercing bullets up to 2000 yards with great accuracy.

Facts on .50 Caliber Sniper Rifles
http://www.vpc.org/50caliber.htm

.50 Caliber Sniper Rifles were designed to attack parked or landing aircraft, armored personnel carriers, rail tank cars, bulk fuel storage, and concrete bunkers.

.50 Caliber sniper rifles are powerful enough to puncture armored limousines and can be used as tools for assassination.

.50 Caliber Sniper Rifles have effective ranges up to 2,000 yards, or in other words, 20 football fields laid end to end. Deer hunters generally shoot at ranges of 150 to 200 yards.

Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network bought 25 Barrett .50 Caliber sniper rifles in the late 1980s.

.50 Caliber ammunition is the largest round available on the civilian market and highly destructive armor-piercing, incendiary, and explosive rounds are easily available.

Bush’s FBI Investigating Americans Feeding Poor Instead of Terrorists

Under the Bush Administration, the FBI is spending our tax dollars and wasting agents who could be protecting us from terrorists instead gathering information on Americans: antiwar and environmental protesters, and activists who feed vegetarian meals to the homeless, the agency's internal memos show.

"They don't know where Osama bin Laden is, but they're spending money watching people like me," environmental activist Kirsten Atkins told the Los Angeles Times.

Atkins' license plate number showed up in an FBI terrorism file after she attended a protest against the lumber industry in Colorado Springs in 2002.

Internal FBI memos recently released show that under Bush they are focused on investigating environmentally concerned Americans, citizens critical of the Iraq War and good Samaritans feeding the poor.

Don't you feel safer?

Update: The Pentagon under Bush has been keeping tabs on Americans who disagree with Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. The Bush Administration has been spending our tax dollars and using our men and women in uniform to spy on Americans including Quakers, a Christian denomination dedicated to peace – which Jesus advocated (“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God”). Bush is using not only the FBI and the NSA to spy on Americans who disagree with him, but also the United States Armed Forces.

Ohio Secretary of State Owns Stock in Diebold, the e-Vote Company he helped in Elections Despite Reports of Vote Fraud

This just in:

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) "made an embarrassing announcement Monday: He ACCIDENTALLY bought stock in Diebold Inc., a voting machine maker that benefited from decisions made by his office. "In 2004, Diebold "drew the ire of critics" after the company's CEO "sent a fund-raising letter in which he committed to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to President Bush." He did just that, and questions still remain about voting irregularities resulting from use of Diebold and other e-Vote manufacturers.

Blackwell “accidentally” owned 178 shares of Diebold stock.

Blackwell "has a pretty unique history with this company," said Bob Paduchik, spokesman for Republican Attorney General Jim Petro, who is also seeking the GOP nomination for governor. "This should be investigated."

Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo called the request for an investigation "absurd" and said county boards of election determine which machines to use. However, in his duties as secretary of state, Blackwell's staff narrowed the list of companies eligible to replace Ohio's antiquated voting equipment with more modern technology. Diebold made the cut, and a rival firm accused Blackwell of improperly favoring the company. Blackwell said the Diebold machines are the only electronic machines to meet federal and state standards under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. It turns out they weren’t and the state of Ohio is being sued over this misinformation.

Blackwell claims he had no knowledge that he had bought Diebold stock. Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Brian Rothenberg responded, "If Ken Blackwell didn't know how his own money was being spent, why would the people of Ohio think he would be a good steward of their checkbook?"

Gee what a coincidence: the Ohio Sec. of State owns stock in the very company his elections orders benefited despite the fact that Diebold’s electronic voting systems have been found to be easily hacked and reported incorrect votes in the 2004 election and elections since all across America. “Golly, I didn’t realize I owned stock in the company I was helping steal the vote for the Republican Party. How did that happen?”

(Sigh)