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Bush is Still the President, Dammit

By Booman Tribune
I know it's eeasy to forget that fact, or assume that he is irrelevant in the face if the media's round the clock coverage of every possible smidgen of information related to Obama and Clinton and their titanic struggle to win the nomination this Spring. Even St. John of the McCain and his daughter's wedding got more press than Mr. Bush. But to assume that his overwhelming unpopularity, and his lame duck status makes him irrelevant would be foolish. Far from it. As the months of his reign dwindle to a precious few he only becomes more dangerous.

And the one place where he can still do the most damage to our country, and the world in general, is his favorite (and I mean this literally) stomping ground, the Middle East, which he is again scheduled to visit this week. Despite the failure of the Iraq war, his misguided attempts to destroy Hamas and Hezbollah, and the growth of Iranian influence in the region, the last thing he wanted to happen, he still possesses the power to create turmoil by unleashing his military against Iran. All he needs is for the Sunni nations in the region, concerned about Iran's growing power in the region, to grudgingly agree to stand by while once again Bush, in his favorite role as the Commander-in0-Chief Guy" orders his military to take action. It's the last stupid thing he can still do before departing office, and all indications are that it's a step he is determined to take.

 

Apart from Israel, to which Bush has been by far the most indulgent president in the Jewish state's history, he is likely to get his warmest - if most anxious - reception when he meets with the assembled Sunni leaders, many of whom are as concerned about Shi'ite Hezbollah's show of force as is Israel.

Like Bush, not to mention Israel, they see Hezbollah's victory as another in a series of advances by Iran in its effort to shift the balance of power in the Gulf and the wider region against Washington and its allies there. It is an impression that Bush, somewhat ironically, will be eager to reinforce, if only to revive the dying embers of his hopes for a de facto US-Sunni Arab-Israeli coalition against Tehran, even without a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"To me, it's the single biggest threat to peace in the Middle East, the Iranian regime," he told an interviewer from Israel's TV Channel 10, according to a partial transcript released on Monday. "Their funding of Hezbollah - look what's happening in Lebanon now, a young democracy trying to survive ... [I]t's in Israel interest that the Lebanese democracy survives. You need to be concerned about Iran, and you are concerned about Iran and so are we."

(cont.)

That Bush's own policies are behind the growth in Iranian influence is beyond question. Iraq's government is practically an Iranian surrogate in the region, even though America has been bearing the costs of arming and supporting it. The orony of this fact may be last on Bush, but it certainly isn't on many neoconservatives who have watched their dreams of an American empire get blown away like the desert sands:

 

virtually all analysts in Washington agree that almost everything Bush has done in the region - from invading Iraq and ousting Saddam Hussein and then rejecting an Iranian offer to negotiate a settlement on all outstanding issues; to pressing for the total isolation of Hamas after it won (US-backed) democratic elections in the Palestinian Territories and egging on the Israelis in their attack on Lebanon and Hezbollah in 2006 - has undermined US standing and influence, even as it enhanced Tehran's.

Even in Iraq, recent US attacks on Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, particularly in Baghdad's Sadr City, appear to have bolstered the government factions with the closest and most-longstanding ties to Iran - the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and its Badr Organization, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Da'wa party.

The fact that Tehran itself played a key role in brokering the truces between Muqtada and the government in both the southern city of Basra last month and in Sadr City last weekend underlines the degree to which Iran is effectively challenging Washington in what neo-conservative hawk Reuel Marc Gerecht of the American Enterprise Institute admits "is the only arena [in the region] where the administration is capable of moving effectively against Tehran".

Which will only reinforce the desire of the "dead enders" in the Bush administration, led by Cheny, to make one last run at bombing Iran. And it's highly likely that the biggest dead ender of them all is the President himself. Five years removed from his "Mission Accomplished" moment when media morons like Chris Matthews swooned over his manly package as he strutted across the stage of one of the most absurdist photo ops in history, the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, in his tight fitting flight suit, Bush appears ready to put on his warlord costume one last time.

 

Still, some observers believe Hezbollah's victory may yet serve the administration's ends, if only by reminding the Sunni leaders with whom Bush meets this week that, in Gerecht's words again, "Tehran is on a roll," and they need the US and even Israel to contain it and roll back its influence. Indeed, some analysts believe the weekend's events may add to the gradually growing clamor by hawks in and outside the administration to take military action - if only, for now, limited strikes on weapons factories and training sites inside Iran allegedly used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps to train "terrorists" in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories - to "put Iran in its place".

"The next couple of days may be critical," said one former senior Central Intelligence Agency officer with expertise on the region, who added that any decision to "strike will actually motivated by an irresistible urge, stemming from pure frustration over continuing American impotence throughout the region, just to 'do something' ... even though the actual positive gain in this case would be minimal, while the downside risks are enormous."

Bush is still the Decider, the leader of a "corrupt criminal enterprise" which I predict will not go gently into that good night of political oblivion. Like a spoiled little bully who's finally been made to seem like the petty and impotent tyrant that he is, he will lash out one more time to let the world know he's still the biggest badass on the planet. You see, for Bush, the only thing he really understands, and the only path he prefers to take to reshape reality foir us to study, is the use of military force. That thousands may die and millions suffer for his grandiose schemes of world domination through violence means nothing to him. He may cry tears for his daughter at her wedding, but rest assured, he will never shed a tear, or spend a sleepless night, over the murderous consequences his actions.

And until January, 2009, he is still the man with his finger on the button of Armageddon.

Comments

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PsyOp 9/11: The cause of all the chaos we have witnessed since

The fact is the false-flag attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001 is at bare minimum, a proven government criminal cover-up.

For one, a real democracy could not have allowed a 9/11 cover-up so massive to survive year one, let alone the better part of a decade. But here we have 2008 and it is blood money business as usual with trillions earmarked for 9/11 “war on terror”. A sham war of a thousand lies against a counterfeit false-flag "enemy" at a global killing field that demands no end and no exit.

Reality makes a criminal cover-up this enormous, this utterly dirty and unchecked impossible without a controlled system-wide blackout. A giant swindle with Mockingbird stooge media, military propaganda, DC and other state players virtually all on board. (This is not new. America was buffaloed into World War I and Vietnam in the same way). Such psyops is equivalent to very bad theatre with sellout Washington / media actors recycling and parroting the same morally bankrupt talking points for their corporate paymasters. A self-serve echo chamber.

That also describes transparent Fascist rule in action http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/the_9_11_liar_movement

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“We came and turned the native Arabs into tragic refugees. And still we dare to slander and malign them, to besmirch their name. Instead of being deeply ashamed of what we did and trying to undo some of the evil we committed … we justify our terrible acts and even attempt to glorify them.” – Nathan Chofshi

PALESTINE REMEMBERED ~ 60 YEARS LATER http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/palestine-remembered-60-year...

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‘What are we to do?? There are Arab children enrolled in Jewish nursery schools in this neighbourhood.’ Such is the dilemma facing the rabbinical council in Jerusalem. They have been pressing the ‘alarm’ button as more Palestinians move into neighbourhoods in the northern part of Jerusalem.

Just what is an ignorant racist to do when there is a development such as this?

RACISTS FACING A DILEMMA IN ISRAEL http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/racists-facing-a-dilemma-in-...

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Today, police departments across the United States more closely resemble an occupying army than they do public servants responding to calls for help. Police officers can now be seen wearing helmets and body armor and carrying AR-15's, just to deliver simple warrants. The militarization of our police departments not only gives the appearance of a military dictatorship but places the public at great risk.

Americans Are Living (And Dying) In A Militarized Police State - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/60717

By C.H.A.N.G.E.May 13, 2008 - 10:09am

C.H.A.N.G.E.

I've been talking about the militarization of the police force for over 20 years. Too bad folks are just starting to notice.

By CandymarlMay 13, 2008 - 10:16am

Historical prescedent and basic physics reveal the Truth of 9/11

As our own eyes witness — WTC Building #7 (a 47 story high-rise not hit by an airplane) exhibits all the characteristics of a classic controlled demolition with explosives:

1. Rapid onset of “collapse”

2. Sounds of explosions at ground floor - a full second prior to collapse

3. Symmetrical “collapse” – through the path of greatest resistance – at nearly free-fall speed — the columns gave no resistance

4. “Collapses” into its own footprint – with the steel skeleton broken up for shipment

5. Massive volume of expanding pyroclastic dust clouds

6. Tons of molten Metal found by CDI (Demolition Contractor) in basement (What could have produced all of that molten metal?)

7. Chemical signature of Thermate (high tech incendiary) found in slag, solidified molten metal, and dust samples by Physics professor Steven Jones, PhD.

8. FEMA finds rapid oxidation and intergranular melting on structural steel samples

9. Expert corroboration from the top European Controlled Demolition professional

10. Foreknowledge of “collapse” by media, NYPD, FDNY

And exhibited none of the characteristics of destruction by fire, i.e.

1. Slow onset with large visible deformations

2. Asymmetrical collapse which follows the path of least resistance (laws of conservation of momentum would cause a falling, to the side most damaged by the fires)

3. Evidence of fire temperatures capable of softening steel

4. High-rise buildings with much larger, hotter, and longer lasting fires have never “collapsed”.

AE911Truth.org

By C.H.A.N.G.E.May 14, 2008 - 8:31am

Put on your tinfoil hats...

Yes, folks, thousands of Black Ops Americans participated in the "false flag" 9/11 debacle...and they are all SOOOOOOOOOOOO dedicated to the cause of turning America into a Captialist Dictatorship (aka a Fascist State) that NOT ONE...NOT ONE of them has come forward to tell the truth to the American people.

There are those who maintain that it was not a plane that flew into the Pentagon...

conveniently ignoring the remarks of those who worked up the hill at the DoD annex and watched in horror as Flight 77 hit the building. Not to mention that all those who were on Flight 77 are in fact dead and buried.

There are those who maintian that the collapse of the Towers was due to explosives spread throughout the building...

Yet no one...NO ONE can cite any evidence of seeing such charges being placed, nor can they name any demolition contractor who was involved in said activity, nor can a forensic accounting effort identify someone being paid millions to mine the WTC.

There are those who say that it was a false-flag operation...

Yet witness after witness testified to the antics and actions of the 19 FOREIGN hijackers in the days and months leading up to 9/11. Including ATM cameras, airport security cameras...even an FBI special agent who was concerned about Arabic men learning to fly big jets but not caring to know how to land 'em (unfortunately Clinton-hater Louis Freeh was too busy chasing stains on dresses to pursue these warnings from within his own bureau, and he retired WITH HONOR despite having failed to defend the American people).

I don't doubt for one minute that Chimpy was convinced by Darth Cheney to use 9/11 to secure a Repugnican stranglehold on the American political scene, and to roll back America's freedoms in ortder to keep tabs on the Repugs' opposition.

But sorry, without a tinfoil hat there is just no evidence that 9/11 itself was a False Flag event.

By blogbobMay 13, 2008 - 3:37pm

Fortunately, enough of us acknowledge the Physics of 9/11

Seems that making things up about 9/11 is all 'blogbob' (aka disinformation agent) can manage.

As evidenced by Twin Towers' destruction, the 'collapse' exhibited all the characteristics of destruction by explosives:

1. Extremely rapid onset of “collapse”

2. Sounds of explosions and flashes of light witnessed at the beginning of the "collapse" by 118 first responders

3. Observations of flashes (seen by numerous professionals)

4. Squibs, or “mistimed” explosions, 40 floors below the “collapsing” building seen in all the videos

5. Mid-air pulverization of all the 90,000 tons of concrete and steel decking, filing cabinets & 1000 people – mostly to dust

6. Massive volume of expanding pyroclastic dust clouds

7. Vertical progression of full building perimeter demolition waves

8. Symmetrical collapse – through the path of greatest resistance – at nearly free-fall speed — the columns gave no resistance

9. 1,400 foot diameter field of equally distributed debris – outside of building footprint

10. Blast waves blew out windows in buildings 400 feet away

11. Lateral ejection of thousands of individual 20 - 50 ton steel beams up to 500 feet

12. Total destruction of the building down to individual structural steel elements – obliterating the steel core structure.

13. Tons of molten Metal found by FDNY under all 3 high-rises (What could have produced all of that molten metal?)

14. Chemical signature of Thermate (high tech incendiary) found in slag, solidified molten metal, and dust samples by Physics professor Steven Jones, PhD.

15. FEMA finds rapid oxidation and intergranular melting on structural steel samples

16. More than 1000 Bodies are unaccounted for — 700 tiny bone fragments found on top of nearby buildings

And exhibited none of the characteristics of destruction by fire, i.e.

1. Slow onset with large visible deformations

2. Asymmetrical collapse which follows the path of least resistance (laws of conservation of momentum would cause a falling, intact, from the point of plane impact, to the side most damaged by the fires)

3. Evidence of fire temperatures capable of softening steel

4. High-rise buildings with much larger, hotter, and longer lasting fires have never “collapsed”

AE911Truth.org

By C.H.A.N.G.E.May 14, 2008 - 8:33am

Hey!

Bush still has time to start WWIII. Then he can truly bring the Bush Doctrine of endless, needless, suffering and dying to the world! What a legacy , eh?

By CandymarlMay 13, 2008 - 10:13am

The Times of London reports that the decision has been made

at the White House to attack Iran. The plan is not to attack the nuke facilities at this point, but to attack Quds Force training camps in several locations in Iran, including Tehran. Now, what do you think will happen when we bomb a sovereign nation without cause, without a declared war? What happens when you bomb targets in and around another nation's capital? Should be fascinating to find out. Get ready for $300 oil very soon.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 10:29am

The Chimp's only concern...

Is 1) to maximize profits for his assmasters the oil companies, and 2) to ensure that President Obama will begin his term with as fucked-up a nation as possible.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
---Ray Bradbury

By LiberalIconoclastMay 13, 2008 - 11:50am

And you forgot the most important point:

To ensure his legacy as the worst president in American history. I would say adding a clusterfuck in Iran to the clusterfuck in Iraq, as well as a ruined economy, a housing meltdown and worst disapproval numbers in history should just about cement it.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 12:10pm

Gas hit $4.00 a gallon today in Wisconsin

Mission accomplished, Mr. President...

By blogbobMay 13, 2008 - 3:39pm

By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 10:29am

Now, what do you think will happen when we bomb a sovereign nation without cause, without a declared war?
--------------------
It depends. What's your opinion of Biden? I tend to find him to be a man of his word.

"The president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach."
--Joe Biden, 11/29/2007
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NEWS/7...

And idle threat? One made more than once.

SENATOR JOE BIDEN *I STAND BY MY IMPEACHMENT THREAT!*
"I want to stand by that comment I made. The reason I made that comment was as a warning. I don't say those things lightly, Chris. You've known me for a long time. If he does, I would move to impeach him."
--Joe Biden, 12/4/2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duARM8WewQE

Now might be a good time for folks to remind Senator Biden of his pledge.

I've suggested as much in a prior thread some time ago.

And, it appears I'm not the only one who remembered:

May 8, 2008
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to register our strong opposition to possible unilateral, preemptive military action against other nations by the Executive Branch without Congressional authorization.
[...]
Members of Congress, including the signatories of this letter, have previously expressed concern about this issue. On April 25, 2006, sixty-two Members of Congress joined in a bipartisan letter that called on you to seek congressional approval before making any preemptive military strikes against Iran. Fifty-seven Members of Congress have co-sponsored H. Con. Res. 33, which expresses the sense of Congress that the President should not initiate military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from Congress.
[...]
Late last year, Senator Joseph Biden stated unequivocally that "the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach" the president.

We agree with Senator Biden, and it is our view that if you do not obtain the constitutionally required congressional authorization before launching preemptive military strikes against Iran or any other nation, impeachment proceedings should be pursued. Because of these concerns, we request the opportunity to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss these matters. As we have recently marked the fifth year since the invasion of Iraq, and the grim milestone of 4,000 U.S. deaths in Iraq, your Administration should not unilaterally involve this country in yet another military conflict that promises high costs to American blood and treasure.

Sincerely,
The Honorable John Conyers
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee

Petition started: http://www.democrats.com/impeach-bush-if-he-attacks-iran
Contacts for Biden here: http://biden.senate.gov/services/contact/
Contacts for Conyers here: http://www.house.gov/conyers/contact.shtml
Contacts for HJC here: http://judiciary.house.gov/Contact.aspx
Contact to urge your Representative to sign on: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

Get to it, folks.
____________________
The "Dream Ticket" is a Death Trap!
Obama / Sebelius '08

By SJerseyIndyMay 13, 2008 - 1:19pm

All of that depends on dems having spines that are not

usually found in their invertebrate bodies. I have watched Bush arrogantly flaunt his power with signing statements and lies for 7 years. I honestly doubt if he takes the threat of impeachment seriously, because he has seen dems cave over and over again. Is there anything in the Constitution or federal law that allows swifter removal of a president for good reason?

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 1:43pm

re: By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 1:43pm

Can he be hung for treason?

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

"Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed." -- Albert Einstein

By GazmikMay 13, 2008 - 2:00pm

Why should he be treated as well as Saddam and Mussolini?

What I really want to know is what provision is there if a president went nuts all of a sudden and put the country in danger? Can he be relieved like the captain of a ship, or would we have to suffer the consequences and then just try to impeach him after the damage is done?

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 2:04pm

re: By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 2:04pm

From Section 4 of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

"Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed." -- Albert Einstein

By GazmikMay 13, 2008 - 2:19pm

Great, so all we have to do is get Cheney to relieve Bush for

attacking Iran..........which is what Cheney has wanted for years........ so that then Cheney can take over? I think we have a better shot at inviting Canada to overthrow our government for us.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 2:29pm

By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 1:43pm

While I share your concern on the whole spinelessness issue, one thing is certain:
Democrats are less likely to get a spine if we do not let them hear from us.
____________________
The "Dream Ticket" is a Death Trap!
Obama / Sebelius '08

By SJerseyIndyMay 13, 2008 - 3:51pm

Too bad

Joe Biden is a member of the Senate, which does not ahve the power to impeach, only the power to convict and remove from office.

By blogbobMay 13, 2008 - 3:40pm

By blogbob May 13, 2008 - 3:40pm

One does not have to have the power to impeach in order to have the power to persuade the appropriate committees to begin the process of doing so.
____________________
The "Dream Ticket" is a Death Trap!
Obama / Sebelius '08

By SJerseyIndyMay 13, 2008 - 3:49pm

If the repubs hadn't turned impeachment into nothing better

than a political witch hunt with Clinton in the 90s, Bush would probably be impeached long ago. Instead, they are fearful that if they try to impeach Bush and Cheney, the public will just see it as payback, and not a serious grievance over presidential conduct.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 3:56pm

By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 3:56pm

I think that conventional wisdom is slowly falling by the wayside. There once was a time when elected Democrats wouldn't even mutter the "I" word unless it was part of a sentence outrightly proclaiming "Impeachment is off the table" or some such version. That they now openly talk about it and go so far as to warn the President of it in committee letters to his office is cause for cautious optimism. As they level these threats, they should be hearing from us to let them know they at least have our support for as much and at most have our demand for as much. We ought not remain silent simply because we feel the cards are stacked against us.
____________________
The "Dream Ticket" is a Death Trap!
Obama / Sebelius '08

By SJerseyIndyMay 13, 2008 - 4:10pm

I have signed impeachment petitions in the past, including the

one by Kucinich to impeach Cheney. Has anyone heard how that is coming? The silence is overwhelming.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 4:17pm

By Uffdaguy May 13, 2008 - 4:17pm

Petitions full of names probably help a little. Direct calls to members of Congress probably help more.
I'm under no illusions that either will make it happen. But I'm certain silence makes it less likely...
____________________
The "Dream Ticket" is a Death Trap!
Obama / Sebelius '08

By SJerseyIndyMay 13, 2008 - 4:22pm

I'd like to see something actually happen

I want to see Kucinich get his motion passed. My congressman has signed on. My feeling is if you keep the bastards busy trying to save their skins from investigations coming at them from all directions, they don't have enough time to do any more mischief.

By UffdaguyMay 13, 2008 - 4:33pm

Comments

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