The Place of Dead Roads

While President George W. Bush travels around the country in a last-ditch effort to sell his Iraq war, White House aides scramble frantically behind the scenes to hide the dark mood of an increasingly angry leader who unleashes obscenity-filled outbursts at anyone who dares disagree with him.

“I’m not meeting again with that goddamned bitch,” Bush screamed at aides who suggested he meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the war-protesting mother whose son died in Iraq. “She can go to hell as far as I’m concerned!”

Bush, administration aides confide, frequently explodes into tirades over those who protest the war, calling them “motherfucking traitors.” He reportedly was so upset over Veterans of Foreign Wars members who wore “bullshit protectors” over their ears during his speech to their annual convention that he told aides to “tell those VFW assholes that I’ll never speak to them again is they can’t keep their members under control.”

“Who gives a flying fuck what the polls say,” he screamed at a recent strategy meeting. “I’m the President and I’ll do whatever I goddamned please. They don’t know shit.”

# posted by nicholas @ 2:59 PM 0 comments

President George W. Bush, speaking amid protests and growing public unease over Iraq, said on Monday America owed it to the more than 1,800 U.S. soldiers killed there to complete the mission, which he linked with the campaign against terrorism.

In a speech to a convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bush again linked the Iraq war with efforts to protect the United States from another September 11-style attack -- a link critics say is an attempt to shift the justification for war...

Bush has spent August at his ranch in Crawford, Texas...with anti-war protests outside the ranch begun by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Sheehan's protest has become a magnet for anti-war feeling that is reflected in opinion polls showing a majority of Americans worried about the way the war is going, and that has gained some traction among mainstream politicians.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican and a veteran of the Vietnam War, on Sunday likened the Iraq war to Vietnam.

In anticipation of his Salt Lake City speech, smaller groups of protesters than those near the ranch had congregated near the veterans' event. Among them was Celeste Zappala, 58, the mother of a National Guardsman killed in Iraq in 2004 while assisting with the hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

"We all know that noble cause for war that Bush talks about has changed several times," said Zappala, who is part of Sheehan's group, Gold Star Families for Peace.

Bush went to war in Iraq in 2003 warning of a threat from stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. None were found.

Critics accuse Bush of shifting his argument for war when he invokes the issue of terrorism to argue for staying the course in Iraq. They point out that a commission investigating the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001, found no operational ties between those attacks and deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government.

The White House says the presence in Iraq of al Qaeda-linked insurgents shows the link with terrorism, although the U.S. administration concedes many of those militants have come into Iraq from other countries since the U.S. invasion.

# posted by nicholas @ 9:31 PM 0 comments

S.S. America off Jersey Coast.

"Ladies and gentleman there's no cause for alarm. We have a minor problem in the boiler room but everything is now under..." (Sound effects of a nuclear blast). Explosion splits the boat. Dr. Benway, ship's doctor, drunkenly added two inches to a four-inch incision with one stroke of his scalpel.

"Perhaps the appendix is already out doctor" the nurse said peering dubiously over his shoulder. "I saw a little scar."

"The appendix already out !?" the doctor shouted. "I'm taking the appendix out! What do you think I'm doing here?"

"Perhaps the appendix is on the left side doctor," said the nurse. "That happens sometimes you know."

"Stop breathing down my neck I'm coming to that! Don't you think I know where an appendix is? I studied appendectomy in 1904 at Harvard." He threw back his elbows in a movement of exasperation.. He lifts the abdominal wall and searches along the incision dropping ashes from his cigarette. "And get me another scalpel! This one has no edge to it."

He thrusts a red fist at her. The doctor reels back and flattens against the wall from the force of the explosion with the bloody scalpel clutched in one hand. The patient slides off the operating table spilling intestines across the floor. Dr. Benway sweeps instruments, cocaine, and morphine into his satchel.

"Sew her up!" he said, peeling off his gloves. " I can't be expected to work under such conditions."

Dr. Benway. Carrying his satchel pushed through the passengers crowded around Lifeboat No. 1. "Are you all right?" he shouted, seating himself among the women. "I'm the doctor."

# posted by nicholas @ 4:32 PM 0 comments

Today started out okay. I did my usual stint with Mark and Mark on the Morning Sedition on Air America Radio. I always love talking to them because they are so funny and smart. We have a 7:10am time. Nightline was also following me to do a "Day in the Life of Cindy Sheehan" piece so they got there nice and early to mic me up. I gave two interviews early this morning where I said that the Camp Casey Peace Movement has taken on a life of its own. With all of the vigils last night and the Camp Caseys springing up all over the country, nothing can stop it, not even me. I said if I had to leave today, the movement would continue to prosper and grow.

The only thing that Matt Drudge could dig up on me today was a speech I had given at a College Not Combat rally at San Francisco State where I said some cuss words. This posting of his may be the first true thing he has ever said about me. I wonder, though, if any of the words I used shocked him. I wonder if he has ever used those words himself. I wonder if he has ever had a child killed by senseless violence in a war that is such a waste.

Some Gold Star Moms from Oregon joined me today and another from California. Another mom whose son was killed this past February arrived last night. Then we had a Gold Star Dad whose son had died this past June 15th show up at Camp Casey today with his family. Ruben said he just came to give me a hug. He said until today he had felt so lonely. Every time I meet a Gold Star parent whose son died after Casey, I feel so badly. I have been struggling for months to call attention to this mistake of a war to end it sooner. Every new death is like a stab in my heart.

Even what Rush Limbaugh said about me yesterday, although very idiotic, wasn't really bothering me that much because it is so ridiculous. He said that I am not real, my son is not real, and Camp Casey is not real!!!???? He said my entire story is based on "forged documents." I wonder just exactly what he meant. Did he mean that Casey's KIA report is forged? Did we bury an empty coffin on April 13, 2004? Am I just a really good actress playing a grieving mom? Does he realize how much I wish that all this were true? He is a clanging gong! How can anyone say anything so monstrous and so obviously false and how can anyone believe him?

So, although a scorching day in Crawford, things were going pretty well. We were planning our move and what turned out to be a successful mother's march up to the ranch to deliver some letters to Laura Bush. Then my sister received the phone call from a hospital in California: our mother had a stroke. We were on a plane from Waco heading to Dallas within 2 hours. The cameras beat us to the airport in Waco and filmed me getting my ticket, waiting to go through security and actually going through security. As I sit writing this on the plane from Dallas to Los Angeles, I am sure there will be a mob of cameras waiting to greet me in L.A. (Apparently whether I am walking to the out house at Camp Casey or through a small airport in Texas, it is fascinating stuff). The camera guys all wished us well and sent their best wishes to our mom, though. The camera and sound guys and I have been spending lots of time together lately.

I hated leaving Camp Casey, but this is a family emergency and the doctor couldn't really tell us about the status of our mother by phone. I couldn't bear to be worrying about her from so far away. We are carrying Camp Casey with us in our hearts, though, and Camp Casey will be moved to its new location and thriving when I get back.

In the first paragraph, I told you that the Camp Casey movement will continue to grow and thrive even if I am not there. Dozens of people work so hard to keep it going. Now we shall see. I am sure it will be fantabulistic.

I spent a majority of the day in the hospital with my mom. She seems to be getting stronger by the minute thanks to all the prayers and well wishes from the world. I am so grateful for all of the love and support we are getting right now.

My mom is still in ICU and I don't know if she will ever be able to come home, but I know she knows we are there and we even made her laugh a couple of times today even though she can't speak.

I hear things are going great at Camp Casey and more Gold Star Families for Peace members are arriving every day. They want to say..."we want to speak to the President, too. He killed our sons, brothers, and dads, too. We are tired of being disrespected and lied to. We deserve the truth and we deserve respect."

Something George Bush et. al. refuse to acknowledge is that HE WORKS FOR US. He is our employee. Did we forget that too, as a nation? I think we did, but I think we are waking up and remembering that we have the power. WE are the government. We have everything it takes to make change possible. I used to have doubts about 2006 and the progressive's chances of taking over at least one branch of our government, but now I think it is so possible. We will kick some fat booty in 2006 and we will change America for the better. WE CAN DO IT!!!

What started in Crawford on August 6th is an amazing testament to the American people. I knew we had it in us. I knew we could do it. I had faith in us, and my faith was rewarded.

Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls, and emails. With the love of my family, friends, Camp Casey, and you all, I will be back soon.

# posted by nicholas @ 12:50 AM 1 comments

In his recent book "Steal This Vote" - a very judicious work, despite its title - Andrew Gumbel, a U.S. correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, provides the best overview I've seen of the 2000 Florida vote. And he documents the simple truth: "Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election."

Two different news media consortiums reviewed Florida's ballots; both found that a full manual recount would have given the election to Mr. Gore....the whitewash of what happened in Florida in 2000 showed that election-tampering carries no penalty, and political operatives have acted accordingly. For example, in 2002 the Republican Party in New Hampshire hired a company to jam Democratic and union phone banks on Election Day.

And what about 2004?

There have been two Democratic reports on Ohio in 2004, one commissioned by Representative John Conyers Jr., the other by the Democratic National Committee...

The D.N.C. report...suggest that many potential Kerry votes were suppressed...

The Conyers report goes further, highlighting the blatant partisanship of election officials. In particular, the behavior of Ohio's secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell - who supervised the election while serving as co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio - makes Ms. Harris's actions in 2000 seem mild by comparison...

...But what about the future?

Our current political leaders would suffer greatly if either house of Congress changed hands in 2006, or if the presidency changed hands in 2008. The lids would come off all the simmering scandals, from the selling of the Iraq war to profiteering by politically connected companies. The Republicans will be strongly tempted to make sure that they win those elections by any means necessary. And everything we've seen suggests that they will give in to that temptation.

# posted by nicholas @ 10:45 AM 0 comments

However, there is one soothing explanation that I don't trust anymore. It was often said, in reply to charges of vote tampering, that it would have had to be "a conspiracy so immense" as to involve a dangerously large number of people. Indeed, some Ohio Democrats themselves laughed off some of the charges, saying that they too would have had to have been part of the plan. The stakes here are very high: one defector or turncoat with hard evidence could send the principals to jail forever and permanently discredit the party that had engaged in fraud.

I had the chance to spend quality time with someone who came to me well recommended, who did not believe that fraud had yet actually been demonstrated, whose background was in the manufacture of the machines, and who wanted to be anonymous. It certainly could be done, she said, and only a very, very few people would have to be "in on it." This is because of the small number of firms engaged in the manufacturing and the even smaller number of people, subject as they are to the hiring practices of these firms, who understand the technology. "Machines were put in place with no sampling to make sure they were 'in control' and no comparison studies," she explained. "The code of the machines is not public knowledge, and none of these machines has since been impounded." In these circumstances, she continued, it's possible to manipulate both the count and the proportions of votes.

In the bad old days of Tammany Hall, she pointed out, you had to break the counter pins on the lever machines, and if there was any vigilance in an investigation, the broken pins would automatically incriminate the machine. With touch-screen technology, the crudeness and predictability of the old ward-heeler racketeers isn't the question anymore. But had there been a biased "setting" on the new machines it could be uncovered--if a few of them could be impounded. The Ohio courts are currently refusing all motions to put the state's voting machines, punch-card or touch-screen, in the public domain. It's not clear to me, or to anyone else, who is tending the machines in the meanwhile ...

I asked her, finally, what would be the logical grounds for deducing that any tampering had in fact occurred. "Well, I understand from what I have read," she said, "that the early exit polls on the day were believed by both parties." That, I was able to tell her from direct experience, was indeed true. But it wasn't quite enough, either. So I asked, "What if all the anomalies and malfunctions, to give them a neutral name, were distributed along one axis of consistency: in other words, that they kept on disadvantaging only one candidate?" My question was hypothetical, as she had made no particular study of Ohio, but she replied at once: "Then that would be quite serious."

# posted by nicholas @ 1:58 AM 0 comments

How could President Bush be cavorting around on a long vacation with American troops struggling with a spiraling crisis in Iraq?

This president is in a truly scary place in Iraq. Americans can't get out, or they risk turning the country into a terrorist haven that will make the old Afghanistan look like Cipriani's. Yet his war, which has not accomplished any of its purposes, swallows ever more American lives and inflames ever more Muslim hearts as W. reads a book about the history of salt and looks forward to his biking date with Lance Armstrong on Saturday.

The son wanted to go into Iraq to best his daddy in the history books, by finishing what Bush senior started. He swept aside the warnings of Brent Scowcroft and Colin Powell and didn't bother to ask his father's advice. Now he is caught in the very trap his father said he feared: that America would get bogged down as "an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land," facing a possibly "barren" outcome.

At long last, a senior Bush official admits that administration officials can no longer cling to their own version of reality. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning," the official told The Washington Post.

They had better start absorbing and shedding a lot faster, before many more American kids die to create a pawn of Iran. And they had better tell the Boy in the Bubble, who continues to dwell in delusion, hailing the fights and delays on the Iraqi constitution as "a tribute to democracy."

# posted by nicholas @ 1:26 AM 0 comments

Buy beleaguered, overworked White House aides enough drinks and they tell a sordid tale of an administration under siege, beset by bitter staff infighting and led by a man whose mood swings suggest paranoia bordering on schizophrenia.

They describe a President whose public persona masks an angry, obscenity-spouting man who berates staff, unleashes tirades against those who disagree with him and ends meetings in the Oval Office with “get out of here!”

In fact, George W. Bush’s mood swings have become so drastic that White House emails often contain “weather reports” to warn of the President’s demeanor. “Calm seas” means Bush is calm while “tornado alert” is a warning that he is pissed at the world.

“There’s real concern in the West Wing that the President is losing it,” a high-level aide told me recently.

A year ago, this web site discovered the White House physician prescribed anti-depressants for Bush. The news came after revelations that the President’s wide mood swings led some administration staffers to doubt his sanity...the reports were later confirmed by prominent George Washington University psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank...[who] diagnosed the President as a “paranoid meglomaniac” and “untreated alcoholic” whose “lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions and pumping his hand gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad” showcase Bush’s instabilities. Dr. Frank said. “He fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated.”

Conversations over the last few weeks with longtime friends who work in the Bush White House confirm even more what Dr. Frank says and others have suggested.

The President of the United States is out of control. How long can the ship of state continue to sail with a madman at the helm?

# posted by nicholas @ 9:32 PM 0 comments

Bush said he is aware of the anti-war sentiments of Cindy Sheehan and others who have joined her protest near the Bush ranch.

"But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job," Bush said on the ranch. "And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say."

"But," he added, "I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

WHAT!!!!!????? He has to get on with his life!!! I am so offended by that statement. Every person, war fan, or not, who has had a child killed in this mistake of an occupation should be highly offended by that remark. Who does he think he is? I wish I could EVER be able to get on with my life. Getting on with my life means a life without my dear, sweet boy. Getting on with my life means learning to live with a pain that is so intense that sometimes I feel like throwing up, or screaming until I pass out from sorrow. I wish a little bike ride could help me get on with my life.

The comments came prior to a bike ride on the ranch with journalists and aides...In addition to the two-hour bike ride, Bush's Saturday schedule included an evening Little League Baseball playoff game, a lunch meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a nap, some fishing and some reading.

# posted by nicholas @ 2:04 AM 0 comments

Christopher Walken for President in 2008

"Our great country is in a terrible downward spiral. We're outsourcing jobs, bankrupting social security, and losing lives at war. We need to focus on what's important-- paying attention to our children, our citizens, our future. We need to think about improving our failing educational system, making better use of our resources, and helping to promote a stable, safe, and tolerant global society. It's time to be smart about our politics. It's time to get America back on track."

The big question, of course: Is "Walken for President" for real? According to one source, the entire campaign, including registration of multiple Web domain names, is an elaborate hoax being perpetrated by members of the General Mayhem forums, one of the largest message boards on the Internet.

# posted by nicholas @ 9:37 PM 0 comments

TO THE EDITOR:

George Bush should show homage and respect to the Office of the Presidency by talking to Cindy Sheehan and other Gold Star Families that are camping outside of his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

If you can send a child to die in Iraq as a representative of this country you can take a few minutes to comfort and answer questions of their family and loved ones...

We as American citizens need to question why this small band of Gold Star Families should be forced to walk in a ditch by the side of the road instead of on a paved road. Is this the kind of respect parents and family members of slain soldiers should expect?

# posted by nicholas @ 7:24 PM 0 comments

The Peaceful Occupation of Iraq Day 6Cindy SheehanThu Aug 11th, 2005 at 23:16:01 PDT

Day 6 of the Peaceful Occupation of Iraq began early this morning when people in cars drove by our camp a few times and blasted on their horns. I just assume they were blaring their approval of us.

Before we get to the less than negative things that are happening out at Camp Casey and in the world at large today, over 700 people showed up at the Camp today. There were more people, flowers, cards, mail, interviews, laughter, heartache, comraderie, excitement, and just sheer work.

We had the first birthday party tonight at our little event. Alicia from Austin turned 17 today and they came to Crawford to celebrate with a cake. Alicia said that she wanted to be out here for her birthday. So many great people from so many parts of the country and our world are here.

Today is kind of a blur to me. From running around from interview to interview, to getting a visit from Viggo Mortensen, today was a whirlwind of activity. I have discovered that the White House press corps is always looking for something to do and someone to cover. We have been happy to oblige them. We had a press conference today with Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out members. It was very effective when people who actually have skin in the game ask the president to be held accountable for the words he has actually said.

Still putting out the O'Reilly fires of me being a traitor and using Casey's name dishonorably, my in-laws sent out a press conference disagreeing with me in strong terms; which is totally okay with me, because they barely knew Casey. We have always been on separate sides of the fence politically and I have not spoken to them since the elections when they supported the man who is responsible for Casey's death. The thing that matters to me is that my family: Casey's dad and my other 3 kids are on the same side of the fence that I am.

Since Congress is not holding George Bush accountable and the media is not doing their jobs and holding George Bush accountable, we the American people need to hold him accountable for lying to us to get us into a disastrous war. November 2 2004 was not his accountability moment: today is. We are finished allowing him to get away with deceiving the American public and abusing his power.

We are mad as hell and we're not taking it anymore.

# posted by nicholas @ 7:18 PM 0 comments

Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents.

It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the city. Two American flags adorned the yard. The prospect's mom greeted him wearing an American flag T-shirt.

"I want you to know we support you," she gushed.

Rivera soon reached the limits of her support.

"Military service isn't for our son. It isn't for our kind of people," she told him.

# posted by nicholas @ 7:14 PM 0 comments

Thursday, August 4, 2005 2:13 PM CDT


To the Editor:

I am the proud father of two sons who are in the military. My Marine has recently returned from Iraq and my Guardsman, attached to the 134th Medical Company at Washington, is being deployed to Iraq on Aug. 6.

I have a few questions I'd like to ask your readers.

Why do we continue to support and be sucked into the lies our current administration are presenting to us? How can we continue to support an administration that:

n Secretly decided to go to war;

n Decided to deceive and mislead Congress and the American people with false claims about both weapons of mass destruction and ties between Saddam Hussein and 9-11;

n Secretly diverted $700 million from the war in Afghanistan and started bombing Iraq to provoke a war;

n Agreed to go to the U.N. only to "legalize" an illegal invasion - and then walked out of the U.N. when inspections worked.

Items 2 and 3 are both impeachable offenses. The Bush Administration's conspiracy to deceive Congress culminated in a fraudulent letter to Congress on March 18, 2003, claiming continued U.N. inspections would endanger the national security of the United States.

This fraud violated the federal anti-conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, which makes it a felony "to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose..."; and the False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.

President Bush did not declare war until March 2003. Congress did not authorize military action until Oct. 11, 2002. But Bush began an air war six weeks before that authorization and increased "spikes of activity" five months before. This means that additional communications to Congress from the president, claiming that he had not yet begun the war, may be felonious, and that Bush violated the constitutional requirement that Congress authorize any war.

These criminal actions constitute high crimes under Article II, Section 4, of the United States Constitution: "The President, vice president, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

As a parent who is proud of not only the commitment his sons have made to their country, but all of the young men and women who have answered their country's call, I urge you to call or write your congressmen and urge them to support an investigation of the events that lead to our involvement in Iraq and if any wrong-doing is found the guilty parties be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Not only do the young men and women of our country deserve this, but the friends and families of the more than 1,820 American men and women who have given their lives in Iraq also deserve the justice of an investigation.

Surely, if the government can investigate the illegal use of steroids in professional baseball, they can also investigate the president of any wrong doing in his handling of the war in Iraq.

Michael Bennett,

Donnellson

# posted by nicholas @ 12:09 AM 0 comments