the drum beat grows louder

For most of us, I don’t think there’s a need for any more evidence that the war in Iraq was a war of choice decided on far in advance of 911 (after hearing the recounts of Paul O’Neil, Richard Clarke, Joseph Wilson and others), but, just in case you had any doubts, here’s an excerpt from a new article on the Tom Paine site:

The Downing Street memos have brought into focus an essential question: on what basis did President George W. Bush decide to invade Iraq? The memos are a government-level confirmation of what has been long believed by so many: that the administration was hell-bent on invading Iraq and was simply looking for justification, valid or not.

Despite such mounting evidence, Bush resolutely maintains total denial. In fact, when a British reporter asked the president recently about the Downing Street documents, Bush painted himself as a reluctant warrior. “Both of us didn’t want to use our military,” he said, answering for himself and British Prime Minister Blair. “Nobody wants to commit military into combat. It’s the last option.”

Yet there’s evidence that Bush not only deliberately relied on false intelligence to justify an attack, but that he would have willingly used any excuse at all to invade Iraq. And that he was obsessed with the notion well before 9/11–indeed, even before he became president in early 2001.

In interviews I conducted last fall, a well-known journalist, biographer and Bush family friend who worked for a time with Bush on a ghostwritten memoir said that an Iraq war was always on Bush’s brain.

“He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999,” said author and Houston Chronicle journalist Mickey Herskowitz. “It was on his mind. He said, ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He went on, ‘If I have a chance to invade…, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency”…

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050620/why_george_went_to_war.php

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

closing time on planet earth

Maybe it’s time to give some serious thought to loading a rocket up with rational scientist types and getting the hell off this planet.

Posted in Other | 7 Comments

backlash

I don’t like having to defend my feelings for Jesus Christ. I shouldn’t have to. In this country, people shouldn’t have to make such pledges. As I’ve just been called a “Christ hater” though, I feel compelled to say something.

For the record, I do not hate Jesus Christ. In fact, I like him quite a bit, or at least I like that part of him that was passed on to me through people that I respect, people who, I thought, tried to live their lives in accordance with his teachings. These people, and I have several in mind, were not confrontational with their Christianity. They were open, honest, and caring toward their fellow human beings. They weren’t the type of people to yell, “Christ hater,” when confronted by opinions contrary to their own. They were the type to engage in thoughtful conversation… So, with their conceptualization of Jesus in my mind, I can say with some confidence that I do in fact like Jesus. What I don’t like, however, is when people invoke his name to justify censorship, intolerance, violence or other political machinations. Perhaps it’s just my reading of the Bible, but, at least in my opinion, those aren’t things that he would have approved of.

Maybe I’m na

Posted in Church and State | 61 Comments

krumping 101

No blogging tonight. I threw my back out krumping.

OK, that was a joke. I don’t krump. Actually, I don’t do any “clown dancing.”

Truth be told, for the most part, I just sit still and stare out the window when I have my clown makeup on. (It runs when I sweat, so I try to keep the activity down.)

As for krumping, I just learned about it this morning from my friend, Dave. (I think he’s taking an introductory class at his local community college.) Now, I’m just cruising around the net, looking for video documentation of krumping battles and wondering how I might be able to edit myself into a few of them. (note to self: As soon as possible, enroll Clementine in a blue screen course.)

Posted in Art and Culture | 10 Comments

my submission to the contest

Posted in Church and State | 1 Comment

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