Two Things . . .

1.  The complicity of our sitting president in war crimes and in a disregard for human life through a  failure to allow the judicial system to provide justice to afflicted parties
2.  The failure of our news organizations to keep us truly informed


(from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/22/1233110/-DOJ-Asks-Court-to-Grant-Immunity-to-Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-for-Iraq-War# by by David Harris Gershon)
A federal case in San Francisco, filed by an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, alleges that President Bush and much of his administration should be tried for violating international law in the execution of the Iraq War.

However, the Obama administration's Department of Justice has moved to request that such Bush-era officials, and the former President, be shielded with immunity.

    Per Inder Comar:
        In court papers filed today, the United States Department of Justice requested that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz be granted     procedural immunity in a case alleging that they planned and waged the Iraq War in violation of international law.

    Plaintiff Sundus Shaker Saleh, an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, filed a complaint in March 2013 in San Francisco federal court alleging that the planning and waging of the war constituted a “crime of aggression” against Iraq, a legal theory that was used by the Nuremberg Tribunal to convict Nazi war criminals after World War II.

Saleh's suit alleges that President Bush and his administration falsified pretenses for the war, failed to get international approval, and began planning for the possibility of an invasion before 2000.

However, the Obama administration would like to shield the ex-President and his officials from such prosecution, arguing that everything done was performed within the scope of their various governmental roles.

Meanwhile, Bradley Manning – now Chelsea Manning – will be spending 35 years in prison for exposing U.S. war crimes.

Crimes Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their ilk helped choreograph.

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Things . . .

. . . we've ALL forgotten. . .

. . . conveniently. . .


The Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories have never been convincingly refuted.

Ted Kennedy's episode with Mary Jo Kopechne was never satisfactorily explained.

People actually praised Richard Nixon upon his death in spite of his suspicions, grudges, lies, deceit, vulgarity, mean-spiritedness and paranoia.

Mother Theresa is internationally revered even though her positions were ultra-reactionary and fundamentalist even in orthodox Catholic terms.

Ronald Reagan is viewed as a hero even though he single-handedly sought to destroy the credibility of the United Nations, spat in the face of international law, and brought misery and suffering to the oppressed working class across the world.

George H. W. Bush is deemed an innocent incompetent notwithstanding his incomplete triumph in the first Gulf War or the broken promise ("read my lips: no new taxes") which came to embody his Republican Party's unwavering commitment to perpetual tax cuts and staggering debt.  Instead, Poppy's legacy can be summed up in three words he introduced to enable Republicans and their conservative amen corner to brush off charges of their own corruption and law-breaking: "criminalization of politics."  From Iran-Contra, Plamegate and Tom Delay to the U.S. attorneys purge and his son's regime of detainee torture, 41's criminalizing politics defense  has been part of the GOP scandal playbook ever since.

The events of 9-11-2001 have never been fully investigated to the point that the 9-11 Commission's conclusions appear to be a coverup.

Barack Obama ran for president of the U.S. on the premise of change but has, in reality, changed very little of what the prior administration hath wrought.

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False . . .

. . . and misleading. . .


(from http://factcheck.org/2013/06/jeb-bush-gets-f-on-school-spending/)
Jeb Bush has repeatedly — and falsely — claimed that the United States spends “more per student than any country in the world.” Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland all spend more than the U.S. on elementary and secondary education.

The former Florida governor most recently made this claim at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority Conference, held on June 14 in Washington, D.C. At the conference, Bush spoke about the need to create sustainable economic growth and cited education (at the 15:23 mark) as the “greatest challenge our country faces.”

    Bush, June 14: To me the greatest challenge our country faces is that 40 percent of our kids — truly, truly, honestly — 40 percent of our kids are college or career ready. And we spend more per student than any country in the world. That is not acceptable. Too many young people now have shattered dreams because they don’t have the skills to be successful.

Bush made a similar claim in an earlier interview with Newsmax TV (about 19 minutes into the video):

    Bush, March 31: We have a third of our kids that don’t make it through the system, even though we spend more per student than any country in the world. And a lot of students could be doing college-level work by the time they’ve graduated from high school but in effect they’re held back because we have this adult-centered homogenized learning model.

We asked Bush spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof for information that would support the governor’s claim that the U.S. has the highest per-student expenditure rate. But the information she provided contradicted his claim.

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Well. . .

. . . at the dedication of the Bush (league?) Library last week, the honoree's father, George H.W., along with Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, dutifully latched on to the positive about the junior Bush's eight years in the Oval Office, eliminating the negative and, "as in Johnny Mercer's old song, didn't mess with Mr. In Between."

Nothing about the futile war in Iraq, the economic meltdown, the suspicious circumstances of 911, the blatant robbery of the civil rights of Americans the honoree left behind. The former presidents essentially praised W not as a great national leader but a well-meaning guy whose heart was in the right place in spite of all the obstacles he faced. Obama praised his predecessor for his "incredible strength and resolve" regarding 911 and actually called W  "a good man" who was "comfortable in his own skin."

The entire affair was an exercise in the suspension of disbelief over major decisions in foreign policy,  treatment of war detainees, and dealing with a domestic economy in trouble as he departed office.  Nevertheless, W  maintained the same composure he has shown since leaving office (and during his tenure, come to think of it)-silent and immune to public criticism. His major contribution to his party has been in keeping a low public profile, steering clear of becoming defensive and of criticizing the Obama administration. 

How will history will appraise George W. Bush? The most recent Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates that his approval rating has climbed from 30 percent in 2008 to 47 percent now, and his disapproval has dropped from 68 percent then to 50 percent. But he still he has a way to go to rival another once-dismissed president, Harry Truman. From a low of 22 percent approval, Truman rose steadily and is now among the 10 most highly regarded presidents.

Insurmountable for Bush?  I certainly hope so.

[Source: The Bush library and the willing suspension of disbelief
The former presidents gathered in Dallas glossed over the unpleasantness of 43's administration, but history will not be so kind
April 29, 2013|By Jules Witcover Jules Witcover is a syndicated columnist and former long-time writer for The Baltimore Sun. His latest book is "Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption" (William Morrow). His email is juleswitcover@comcast.net.]

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Bush. . .

(from NBC News, By Carrie Dann)
". . . Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says that the public will view his older brother, former president George W. Bush, more favorably as time passes.

"In (my father's) four years as president a lot of amazing accomplishments took place," said Jeb Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush, during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.  "So my guess is that history will be kind to my brother, the further out you get from this and the more people compare his tenure to what's going on now."

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush discusses the shifting statistics of the Republican party.

The 43rd president has largely stayed out of the spotlight since leaving office. After presiding over broad public discontent over the Iraq War and a flailing economy, George W. Bush left the White House with poor approval ratings and was notably unpopular even within his own party. . . "


I don't see how . . .

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Old. . .

. . . but worth reflection . . .

(from The Nation, Ryan Devereaux, September 29, 2010. . . )

". . . As a candidate, Barack Obama opposed the Bush administration’s embrace of the state secrets privilege as tactic for deflecting litigation as part of his argument for greater transparency in Washington. He maintained the position, at least rhetorically, following his election. In a memo discussing the Freedom of Information Act in February 2009 the president wrote, “A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.”

In an 18-month review of President Obama’s record on human rights, national security and civil liberties entitled “TheNewNormal,” Jaffer and Wizner praise the early accomplishments of the administration—including its release of crucial information regarding the Bush administration’s torture regime—but they also warn of a potential pitfall on the horizon. “There is a very real danger that the Obama administration will enshrine permanently within the law policies and practices that were widely considered extreme and unlawful during the Bush administration. There is a real danger, in other words, that the Obama administration will preside over the creation of a ‘new normal.’”

The Obama administration has invoked the state secrets privilege for the second time in less than a month—most recently in an effort to shut down discussion on the targeted killing of a US civilian who has not been charged of any crime—the new normal may have just arrived. . . "

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Is this. . .

. . . progress??? . . . 

 (From World News Daily Information Clearing House)
"Bush Found Guilty Of War Crimes

By Yvonne Ridley

May 11, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- Kuala Lumpur -- IT’S OFFICIAL - George W Bush is a war criminal.

In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were today (Friday) found guilty of war crimes.

Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia.

The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They included testimony from British man Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo detainee and Iraqi woman Jameelah Abbas Hameedi who was tortured in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

Full transcripts of the charges, witness statements and other relevant material will now be sent to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council. . .


. . . President Lamin told a packed courtroom: “As a tribunal of conscience, the Tribunal is fully aware that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any one or more of the 8 convicted persons. What we can do, under Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction by the Tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.

“The Tribunal also recommends to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission that the names of all the 8 convicted persons be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals and be publicised accordingly.

“The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions”.

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Taking ADVANTAGE . . .

. . . of the system. . . 

(from Factcheck.org)

Gingrich goes too far to say Obama has put more on the rolls than other presidents. We asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition service for month-by-month figures going back to January 2001. And they show that under President George W. Bush the number of recipients rose by nearly 14.7 million. Nothing before comes close to that. And under Obama, the increase so far has been 14.2 million. To be exact, the program has so far grown by 444,574 fewer recipients during Obama’s time in office than during Bush’s.

(from Reuters)

Unlike Americans who rely on a paycheck, Romney earns most of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest. The returns for 2010 and estimates for 2011 showed that he will pay a total of $6.2 million in taxes on income of $42.5 million. Romney and his wife Ann paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expect to pay a 15.4 percent effective tax rate when they file their returns for 2011. Those rates are far below the top income tax rate on wages, which is 35 percent, because the U.S. tax code in recent years has favored investment income over wage income.

Let's stop folks from FREELOADING on government programs.

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