BUSH'S MIERS MESS

Here's the excuse the chimp needs to be able to dump Harriet Miers from the running for SCOTUS.

From Tom at the Wire, via Fixer at Alternate Brain.

Full article here: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/12973371.htm


WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large Superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp.

The windfall came after a judge who received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Miers’ law firm appointed a close professional associate of Miers and an outspoken property-rights activist to the three-person panel that determined how much the state should pay.

The resulting six-figure payout to the Miers family in 2000 was despite the state’s objections to the “excessive” amount and to the process used to set the price. The panel recommended paying nearly $5 a square foot for land that was valued at less than 30 cents a square foot.

Mediation efforts in 2003 reduced the award from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers, who controls the family’s interest in the land, hasn’t reimbursed the state for the $26,000 difference, even after Bush appointed her to the Supreme Court.

IMPERIALISTIC AMERICAN EMPIRE WILL FAIL

The British Empire, which was based on economy, failed in the end. The Imperialistic American Empire...which is based on politics, power, and military might...shall too go the way of the British Empire and fail, for politics and power last only so long.

From the Harvard Crimson via Information Clearinghouse:

Leading Historian Says U.S. ‘Empire’ To Fail

By LEV MENAND

10/20/05 "Harvard Crimson" -- -- The American empire may actually cause disorder, barbarism, and chaos rather than promote peace and order, one of the world’s leading historians, Eric J. Hobsbawm, explained last night to a packed crowd at Lowell Lecture Hall.

While he didn’t take a final stance on that issue, Hobsbawm’s lecture on the differences between the American empire and the British empire was notable for his assertion that America is an empire destined for failure.

While many other historians do not consider America to be an empire, Hobsbawm argued yesterday that it is.

Concepts of imperialism and empire are “in flat contradiction to the traditional political self-definition of the U.S.A.,” Hobsbawm said, however, “there is no precedent for the global supremacy that the U.S. government is trying to establish.”

The American empire “will almost certainly fail,” Hobsbawm said. “Will the U.S. learn the lesson [of the British Empire] or will it try to maintain an eroding global position by relying on a failing political force and a military force which is insufficient for the present purposes which the current American government claims it is designed?”

Hobsbawm addressed America’s past and present foreign policy in his speech, the second of three William E. Massey lectures this week sponsored by Harvard’s Program in the History of American Civilization.

This year’s theme, crafted by Professor of History Sven Beckert, is the “American Empire in Global Perspective,” and features speeches from the perspective of three foreigners, Hobsbawm, who is from England, Jayati Ghosh, from India, and Carlos Monsivais, from Mexico.

Past Massey lecturers have included, Richard Rorty, Toni Morrison, Gore Vidal, and Alfred Kazin.

Mentioning the work of Tisch Professor of History Niall C. Ferguson and Weatherhead University Professor Samuel P. Huntington, Hobsbawm drew clear distinctions between his owns views and their theories.

“Unlike people like me, he regrets it,” Hobsbawm said, referring to Ferguson’s opinion of the end of the American empire.

He spoke at length on the crucial differences between the American hegemony and the British empire, focusing on their different foundations. Britain had an economy-based empire and never tried to dominate the world, he said, realizing that “they were a middle-weight country” that could only hold on to the “heavy-weight title” for so long.

The U.S. empire, on the other hand, was not created through economic dominance but crafted through political means, according to Hobsbawm. He pointed to this as the U.S.’s “biggest strength and weakness,” since the political forces that hold the empire together may not necessarily last.

He said that from its roots in the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. has never viewed itself as a part of an international system of rival political powers. It lacks a foundation myth, Hobsbawm said, which is the basis for most other current nation states.

“Since the U.S.A. was founded by revolution against Britain, the only continuity between them that was not shaken was culture,” he explained, “so the national identity couldn’t very well be historical...[rather] it had to be constructed out of its revolutionary ideology.”

After graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1939, Hobsbawm went on to hold teaching positions at the University of London, the New School, Stanford, MIT, and Cornell. His most acclaimed book, “The Age of Extremes”—a history of the 20th century—has been translated into 36 languages.

Faced with the question of the future of the American empire, Hobsbawm concluded: “I’m an historian, I’m not a prophet. Don’t ask me that question.”


I just wonder how long it will be before we see the downfall of the American Empire.

THE CRASS ASS: ROVE AT HIS FINEST

FINGER POINTING

SUPPORT FROM PEOPLE OF "COALITION OF THE WILLING" COUNTRIES FALLING

Support for the war in Iraq is not only faultering here in the US, but also with the partner countries Numb-Nutz lined up for his illegal war.

From PIPA (Program on International Policy Attitudes) :

Among Key Iraq Partners, Weak Public Support for Troop Presence

Clay Ramsay and Angela Stephens

Among the publics of the coalition partners in Iraq, support for their troops' presence in Iraq is quite weak. A majority of the public in the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Australia, and Japan call for withdrawing their troops, though in some cases this does not appear to be a demand for immediate withdrawal. A plurality of Danes call for withdrawal and a majority of South Koreans favor reduction but not withdrawal.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, which has 8,000 troops in Iraq, a majority expresses a desire to pull British troops out of Iraq, but are more equivocal when asked whether this should occur immediately.

In some polls, the majority expressing a desire to withdraw is quite substantial. A Channel 5 poll in September 2005 asked "Should British troops pull out of Iraq?" A majority - 57% - said yes. That number is similar to a finding in a January 2005 poll by The Independent in which 59% said that British troops should be withdrawn quickly after the January election in Iraq.

Read more ...

DEFECIT NOT AS BAD AS PROJECTED...SAY WHAT?

New figures released today show that the defecit isn't as large as first projected. But it is the third largest in history. The second largest was during 1983 under Reagan. Number One came in last year, thank you very much Presnit Numb-Nuts.

Must be some kind of pattern, the top three all during terms of Republican presidents. All this after Clinton left office leaving a surplus. Didn't take the chimp long to burn through that.

The rest of the story from the AP can be found here: Federal Deficit Below Last Year's Record.

Is this supposed to make us feel better about the $1.35 billion tax cut that the fuckin' idiot chimp gave to all his rich buddies? Doesn't make me feel any better. How about you?

RELIGION KEY FACTOR IN MIERS CHOICE

Remember when John Roberts was before the Senate Judiciary Commitee, questions about his religious beliefs were not allowed. Anyone who did ask such questions was quickly labled a bigot.

Now, the Emperor Chimp has stated that the reason he chose Harriet Miers was because of her religious beliefs.

From Americans United for Seperation of Church and State:

WHITE HOUSE PROMOTION OF COURT NOMINEE MIERS’ RELIGION IS APPALLING, SAYS AMERICANS UNITED

Church-State Watchdog Group Rebukes Bush For Hypocrisy Over Religion Issue

The Bush administration’s efforts to promote Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers by highlighting her evangelical Christianity is an appalling and hypocritical use of religion, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, “We’re picking a Supreme Court justice here, not a Sunday school teacher. President Bush and his allies should be talking about Miers’ knowledge of the Constitution, not the Bible.”

In remarks at the White House today, President George W. Bush defended his staffers’ references to Miers’ faith.

“People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” he said. “They want to know Harriet Miers’ background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. Part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”

AU’s Lynn said he has been concerned for some time that the Bush administration has been using a religious litmus test to select federal court nominees. On June 25, 2002, Bush said he would select judges who “understand that our rights were derived from God.”

Said Lynn, “Any such religious selectivity by the president would violate Article VI of our Constitution, which forbids any religious test for public office. Did Bush pick Miers because of her religious viewpoint instead of her legal qualifications? If he did, that is a disservice to the Constitution and the diversity of the American people.”

White House operatives have been using Miers’ religion to persuade Relgious Right leaders to endorse her nomination.

In a radio address taped Tuesday, Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson recounted a conversation he had with White House strategist Karl Rove, during which Rove told Dobson of Miers’ strong religious views.

Dobson said Rove assured him Miers is “an evangelical Christian from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life.”

The White House is apparently highlighting Miers’ church-going to other prominent religious conservatives. TV preacher Pat Robertson, breaking with other conservatives who have expressed concern over Miers’ scant track record, has repeatedly praised Miers on his “700 Club” program. On Oct. 5, Robertson stated that Miers “will be the first evangelical Christian who has been elevated to the Supreme Court in well over 70 years.”

Americans United’s Lynn accused the White House and the Religious Right of hypocrisy.

“We were told we weren’t even allowed to bring up the topic of religion when John G. Roberts was nominated for the Supreme Court,” Lynn said. “Anyone who did was quickly labeled a bigot.

“Now Bush and Rove are touting where Miers goes to church and using that as a selling point,” Lynn continued. “The hypocrisy is staggering.”

Lynn also blasted the Religious Right for playing along. “If a nominee’s personal religious views are off the table,” observed Lynn, “why am I not hearing howls of protest from Jerry Falwell, Tony Perkins, Jay Sekulow and others about this cynical exploitation of religion for crass political purposes?"

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

From CNN: Bush: Religion a factor in Supreme Court pick

and from the New York Times: Bush Reassures Conservatives Once Again on Court Nominee

and the Ap via Yahoo: White House Tries to Stem Miers Concerns

There are people who say "It's not about religion."
Well it is about religion, and religion and politics do not mix. If her religious beliefs are the most important thing to her, she will not be able to judge according to the Constitution of the United States of America. Therefore she should not serve on the Supreme Court, for she shall have a biased opinion, biased towards her religious beliefs. Maybe we should have a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu, and an Atheist on the Supreme Court as well. Bet James Dobson would love that.

CHENEY'S HALLIBURTON STOCK JUMPS 3,281%

No, these people don't lie. Not at all. Remember on "Meet The Press" in 2003 when VP Cheney said he didn't have any financial ties to Halliburton since he became Bush's running mate?

Well, here's some news for ya folks. THE FAT BASTARD LIED AND HE'S GOTTEN RICHER OFF THE BLOOD OF AMERICAN SERVICE PERSONEL!

Here's the whole story from Raw Story.


Cheney's Haliburton stock options rose 3,281% last year, Senator finds
10/11/2005 @ 3:19 pm
Filed by RAW STORY

An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year, RAW STORY can reveal.


Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498 a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity.


The above graph released by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) charts the value of the Vice President's holdings in Halliburton in the past year.

“Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.”

Cheney continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options. The company has been criticized by auditors for its handling of a no-bid contact in Iraq. Auditors found the firm marked up meal prices for troops and inflated gas prices in a deal with a Kuwaiti supplier. The company built the American prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The Vice President has sought to stem criticism by signing an agreement to donate the after-tax profits from these stock options to charities of his choice, and his lawyer has said he will not take any tax deduction for the donations.

However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in Sept. 2003 that holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a “financial interest” regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate proceeds to charities. CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is a financial interest.

Cheney told "Meet the Press" in 2003 that he didn't have any financial ties to the firm.

“Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest," the Vice President said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.”

Cheney continues to received a deferred salary from the company. According to financial disclosure forms, he was paid $205,298 in 2001; $162,392 in 2002; $178,437 in 2003; and $194,852 in 2004.

RELAX NEW YORK, IT WAS JUST A HOAX

Hey Mayor Bloomberg, you can relax, it was a hoax. You can bet someone somewhere is laughing at you, though.

And now for the rest of the story from CNN:

Sources: N.Y. subway threat tip a hoax

From Kelli Arena
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Information that led to heightened security for the New York City transit system was a hoax, government sources said Tuesday.

The sources said an informant in Iraq who provided the tip had told investigators about a terrorist plot involving New York's subway system. After various investigations, the sources said, officials have determined the informant gave false information.

On Monday, law enforcement officials said they could not corroborate any of the informant's claims. That prompted the New York Police Department to scale back the increased security measures put in place on the city's subways last week.

Government sources said the three men arrested in Iraq with suspected links to the possible plot had been interviewed and underwent lie detector tests showing they knew nothing about such a plan.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned Thursday that the city had received information from the FBI about a "specific threat," prompting the heightened subway security.

The threat mentioned Friday and Sunday as possible days that an attack might occur, according to one official with knowledge of the investigation.

In addition, information alleging that someone involved in a possible New York plot had entered the United States has not been corroborated. "We still do not know if such a person even exists," an official said.

Law enforcement sources said the informant had provided some accurate information in the past and therefore his latest tip was given serious attention.

Friday came three months to the day after four bombers carried out attacks on three London, England, subways and a double-decker bus, killing 52 people and wounding 700. (Full story)

After Bloomberg's warning, some intelligence officials played down the New York information, saying it was not credible.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg said city officials couldn't wait until a threat materialized to act.

"We have to protect this city. We can't just sit around with your fingers crossed," Bloomberg said. "We have to make decisions and show leadership. And that is exactly what we have done. And if given the same situation we would do exactly the same thing."

RECALL FOR AHNOLD

A doctor in California has started to circulate a petition for the recall election of governor Terminator.You can find out about it at Just Ain't Right.

Go on over, Helen would love to have you.

POLICE STATE, USA

"Police State", a statement that was used quit offen during the Vietnam protests of the 1960's. Haven't heard that statement mentioned much since then.

Until now. Ever since 9/11, the Constitution has been taking some big hits. As citizens, our rights have slowly been eroded by the so called Patriot Act. The FBI and Police now have the ability to arrest anyone for no reason at all.

The following is an article I found at Information Clearinghouse. Follow the link and read the rest and tell me what you think has happened and what we, as patriotic citizens, need to do.

The Police State Is Closer Than You Think

Police states are easier to acquire than Americans appreciate.

By Paul Craig Roberts

President Bush claims the power to set aside habeas corpus and to dispense with warrants for arrest and with procedures that guarantee court appearance and trial without undue delay. Today in the US, the executive branch claims the power to arrest a citizen on its own initiative and hold the citizen indefinitely. Thus, Americans are no longer protected from arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention. Continued

GOD SPEAKS TO PRESIDENT NUMBNUTS...PLUS OTHER LIES AND SHIT

Headline..."God speaks to President Bush."

That should blow all the catholics clear out of the water. The Pope is the only human that God is supposed to talk to. If that's so, why the hell is he wasting his time with an idiot.

Now, either God really is talking to the chimp, or that jerk is insane and he's just hearing the voices in his head. If the latter is the answer we're all in one hell of alot more trouble then any of us thought. I think it would be a good idea to get him a reservation for a rubber room.

If you or I, or Joe Blow down the street, were to stand on a corner and start telling people...whether we knew them or not...that God has-was-is speaking to us, someone would be getting the guys with the straight jackets. You know damn well that there would be a rubber room waiting for us.

We would be taken into protective custody to prevent us from harming ourselves. Then it would be go before a judge to be told that we need psychiactric help, and then off to the "loonie bin."

So why is it that the chimpster gets to say this in public, in front of the news media, and nobody questions his mental health?

Now, with that said, I'll move on to the next subject "Lies and other Shit."

Is it just me and a few others, or has anyone else noticed that everytime the chimp's approval numbers fall or someone in his administration gets in trouble that a terror threat all of a sudden pops up? Think about it.

Before the '04 election his rating was taking a dive. All of a sudden we started having terror alerts. Now Karl The Fascist Pig Rove has to go before the grand jury again and we have an alert about the possibility of a terrorist attack on the New York subway. Just a coincidence or a lie to take everyone's mind off Rove's little problem. When's the last time you heard anything about Tom DeLay's screw-up. All we've been hearing is the threat, or possibility of one.

Then there's those 10 terrorist threats that were averted. If there really were 10 threats, why is it that we didn't hear about them until there were problems surfacing for asshole's administration? I don't think there ever were any threats, except for the ones Bush seems to have running around in his feeble, evil mind.

These lying fucks would do, or say, anything to get people to think about anything else except what they are trying to get away with. This whole administration is built on deceit and bullshit. They have lied to us from day one. Part of the chimp's first campaign was to bring fiscal responsibility back into government. No fiscal responsibility with this asshole, not with the huge defecit that he has handcuffed this country with.

The Main Stream Media, the ones the republicans call the liberal press, keep retelling Bush's lies for him. The real sad fact is that people keep believing these lies.

It's time to take the press and this lying administration to task. It's time to force them all to tell the truth about the war in Iraq, the Plame scandal, the cronyism, and how they are trying to fuck us over by screwing with the Constitution and cutting the taxes of the top 2% while gutting all the social services.

I want some feedback here people! I'm pissed, really pissed! I want to know just what you're pissed about and how pissed you are. Speak to me people, I know you're out there. Leave a comment, let me know how you feel about all the lies and deceit of this insane idiot some call "President" and his crew of cronies.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN IRAQ.....

HARRIET MIERS, MOUTHPIECE FOR THE CHIMP

By now everyone knows that the Emperor Chimp has choosen Harriet Miers to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Many Republicans, as well as many Democrats, think this was a hastily made choice. Many are concerned that she does not have the qualifications to fill the position as she has never served on the bench.

Some think, with good reason, that her nomination was made to try to take the attention away from the Valarie Plame scandal and all the indictments against Rep. Tom DeLay. Although these are very valid points, I'm not so sure either of these is the reason the chimp nominated Ms Miers to the highest court in the land. I think there is another reason, or motive, for the chimp to make this choice.

Harriet Miers is the chimp's mouthpiece. She parrots every word, every pharse, and every thought that oozes from the chimpster's evil mouth. I offer-up the following from Salon to help to prove my point:

Harriet Miers on Bush, Ashcroft, 9/11 and Barney

Harriet Miers may not have written a lot of law review articles, Supreme Court briefs or judicial decisions, but that's not to say that she doesn't have a paper trail: As George W. Bush's staff secretary and deputy chief of staff for policy, she has written extensively for the "Ask the White House" feature that appears on the White House Web site.

Amid questions about Barney the First Dog and the kind of clock that sits in the Oval Office, Miers has answered queries about virtually every policy initiative of the Bush administration. Her answers, written and posted in something approaching real time, show Miers to be a reliable if sometimes ineloquent mouthpiece for all the usual Bush administration talking points: We're better off than we were four years ago, we're fighting terrorism and promoting freedom abroad, and we're leaving no child behind at home. Oh, and George W. Bush? He's a really, really, really good president.

Here's a sampling:

Oct. 29, 2004: Miers advocated drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, insisted that the administration is "sowing the seeds of freedom" in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to bring "the goal of peace for all nations ever closer," and dismissed concerns over the lack of funding for the president's "No Child Left Behind" plan as the result of "a great deal of misinformation out there."

Oct. 14, 2004: When a writer suggested that Bush's tax cuts and other policies were aimed at helping big business more than "ordinary Americans," Miers said that she hoped the writer would "spend some time learning about what the president really has done for the American people, in tax relief and so many other ways." When another writer asked why Bush is "restricting federal funding on embryonic stem cell research," Miers said: "You should start from the premise that the president supports promising medical research."

Sept. 10, 2004: Miers defended the administration's efforts to draw links between Iraq and 9/11, said she appreciates "the president's calm, strong leadership" and declared that it would be a "great idea" to turn Sept. 11 into a national holiday. Miers said she was with Bush on 9/11, helping him prepare the remarks he would deliver from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and she remembers that Bush praised her by saying, "Good hustle." "He made me feel good that I was contributing," she said. When a writer said that the United States is in "a struggle for civilization and the survival of the free world against anarchism and barbarism" and a "fight to preserve our way of life against extremists who would return us to the Dark Ages," Miers thanked him for expressing himself "so wonderfully." "I certainly agree with you," she said. "As I said before, we will persevere and we will not relent."

Aug. 11, 2004: Asked about her job at the White House, Miers said her principal responsibility is to "coordinate policy development for the administration." She praised Bush's staff and singled out Andy Card for leading it in a "remarkable" way. "You may have seen him on TV," Miers wrote. "He is from Boston. He does not have a Texas accent like me." She said that then Attorney General John Ashcroft was doing "an outstanding job." And she explained that metal horseshoes are "too heavy for Barney to lift, so he doesn't carry them around. Instead he moves them around with his nose."
-- Tim Grieve

I believe that the chimp is so full of himself that he wants to make sure that he has some form of lasting control over this country even after he has left office. Placing someone on the bench of the highest and most powerful court in the country would be an excellant way to be sure that his thoughts and ideas would have a lasting effect on the United States for years to come.

I really think Sen. Harry Reid better think long and hard before he has to make his vote on Ms Miers appointment. The Democrats who sit on the Senate Judicial Commitee, especially Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, better think long and hard about this one, too.

IS DEMOCRACY FOR IRAQ IN THE TOILET?

The democracy for Iraq that the Emperor Chimp has been waiting for has hit a roadblock.

From BBC online:

On Sunday Shia and Kurdish members of parliament pushed through the changes in the referendum rules on 15 October.

Sunni Arabs reacted angrily to the amendments on Monday.

They believed many registered voters may not show up at the polls because of violence.

Read the full article: UN condemns Iraq charter change

And from the AP via Yahoo: U.N. Eyes Iraq Voting Law Changes

MORE PROBLEMS FOR TOMMY-BOY

After Tom DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury, he said that he had done nothing wrong and that he would be found innocent.

Well, now Tommy-boy has even more problems.

Another grand jury in Texas has indicted DeLay on charges of money laundering.
From the Associated Press:

Grand Jury Indicts DeLay On New Charge

By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press Writer

A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader.

Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through a political action committee to the Republican National Committee in Washington.

The RNC then sent back like amounts to distribute to Texas candidates in 2002, the indictment alleges.

The new indictment came hours after DeLay's attorneys filed a request to dismiss the case. That request argued that the conspiracy charge was based on a law that was not effective until 2003, the year after the alleged money transfers.

The judge who will preside in DeLay's case was out of the country on vacation and could not rule on the request. Other state district judges declined to rule on the request in his place, said Colleen Davis, a law clerk to Austin attorney Bill White, also represents DeLay.

Poor Tommy looks sooo tired of being picked on.
Problems on top of problems for Rep. Tom DeLay.
Dontcha all feel sorry for him?

OUR FREEDOM AND THE IRAQ WAR

Here's a few snippits from the opinion page of The Oregonian.

IRAQ WAR

Sunday, October 02, 2005 The Oregonian

'Our freedom' isn't tied to Iraq war built on lies

Supporters of the war in Iraq say that our soldiers are over there fighting "for our freedom." There is no evidence for that view.

In what way are they fighting for our freedom? Iraq has never been a threat to our freedom.

The war in Iraq was started by our invasion of Iraq, not by Iraq's invasion of the United States. Supporters of the war are deluded, and they need to look at the real reasons we are killing people in a foreign country.

Sept. 11, 2001, had no connection to Iraq until we invaded Iraq. President Bush took us to war on false evidence knowingly presented as truth, not on bad intelligence from misinformed CIA agents.

I am tired of seeing so-called patriots repeating the president's lies. It is time for the truth to unmask the deceivers. Let's not wait 20 years as we did with Vietnam. If people really supported our troops, they would stop lying to them and us and bring them home.

ANCIL NANCE Southwest Portland

Possible solutions to Iraq war continue to be elusive, divisive

Let us now leave Iraq because our presence there is a magnet and motivating force for al-Qaida recruits, thus reducing our safety.

And let us now leave Iraq because more than 1,900 of our best and bravest military men and women have tragically and needlessly lost their lives for a war we did not need to wage, a war that, according to eyewitness Paul O'Neill [former secretary of the Treasury under President Bush], Bush and his National Security Council decided to wage on Feb. 1, 2001, fully seven months before 9/11.

MARSHALL McCOMB Huntington

Let the Iraqis decide

President Bush says that troops must stay in Iraq to defend America (from what, I'd like to know). I see millions running for their lives from the ravaged Gulf Coast and see a valid threat to our country.

Let's let the Iraqi people decide if they want us to stay. If the majority vote "no," then let's pull out. This war is proving too costly. How about a war on hurricanes? To me that's a real threat.

GARY THOGERSON Gresham

Bush as compulsive gambler

President Bush's decision to stay the course in Iraq is similar in many ways to a compulsive gambler who has been on a losing streak but insists on staying in the game, knowing that a big win will surely come.

The gambler stays in the game despite the odds against winning. Bush keeps us in Iraq despite knowing the cards are stacked against a positive result.

The big difference between the gambler and President Bush is that the gambler may ruin his own life, but the president is gambling other people's lives and the financial future of an entire nation.

JIM RANDLE Salem

Return Saddam to power

Democrats are having a terrible time offering an alternative to the quagmire the Bush administration has created in Iraq because it is assumed that what has been done cannot be undone.

I submit that we acknowledge the entire war, having been initiated on false premises, was a huge mistake, and that we return the country to the government that was in power before we so foolishly deposed it.

Saddam Hussein is in our custody. The one time since Iraq's creation by British mandate in World War I that it has functioned as a unified political entity was under his leadership. Let's reinstate him and let him get on with the rebuilding of his country as he did so well after the first Gulf War.

Bad things would happen to many Iraqis with his return, but it would never approach the nightmare that any citizen of that land lives with today.

MICHAEL R. CAPPER Cannon Beach

Women and war

War is always tragic. I am saddened that our country must create "heroes" and "villains" to frame our misguided involvement in Iraq.

Jessica Lynch was not a hero and Pfc. Lynndie England is not a monster. Both young soldiers were undertrained and thus ill-prepared to handle the unique horrors of guerrilla war.

We should not attempt to cleanse our bloody hands by using these women. It won't work, and it is patently unfair.

STEVEN G. MATSUMOTO Southwest Portland

FEMA'S SELECTIVE HELP

When there is a natural disaster, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Administration, key word here being emergency) is supposed to be set-up to help the state, or states, effected by said disaster. Every taxpayer's dollars help pay for this aid not just those in certain states.

It doesn't seem to work that way though. Some states find it very easy to get FEMA's help, while others are ignored.

On Wednesday, 28 September 2005, Fema announced that it would be giving California $1.2 million to help pay for the firefighting of the Topanga wildfire. This is not the first time that FEMA has sent aid to help pay for firefighting costs. They have done this for Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington, Arizona, Utah, South Dakota, and Colorado just this year.

I am not saying that help was not needed in these states for these fires, but it does seem that FEMA picks and chooses which states receive help and which don't.

Let's use Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and Wisconsin as a few examples.

Last year, hurricane season 2004, every time it looked like Florida would be hit by a hurricane FEMA was already set-up to help with disaster relief. As soon as the hurricane would pass, in came the needed supplies, food, water, generators, and housing where needed.

Of course, last year was an election year, and the incumbent in the White House had to look good.

This year, when Hurricane Katrina was racing towards Louisiana, we have a completely different reaction from FEMA. Those in charge, Michael The Horseclub Lawyer Brown, sat on his hands, waited, and did nothing for days. There are still parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that have recieved no help from FEMA.

Then Hurrican Rita comes along. It appeared that Rita would slam into the coast of Texas. FEMA jumped right on it and got aid into place so they could be ready in the aftermath. But even with that, most of the rural areas were ignored.

Now lets look a tornados in Wyoming and Wisconsin.

Wyoming has a population of 493,782, or 5.09 per square mile. Wisconsin, meanwhile, has a population of 5,363,675 or 98.75 per square mile. More people means more housing. More housing means more destrution and property loss.

On 22 August 2005, FEMA was ordered by the president to send Federal aid to the victims of a tornado in one county in Wyoming. See this link: President Orders Disaster Aid For Wyoming Tornado Victims. One tornado, just one in a state that is very sparse in population.

On 18 August 2005, four days before the president made his order to FEMA about Wyoming aid, Wisconsin was hit by 27 tornados. One of those tornados was an F3 (the scale only goes to F5). This F3 cut a path through southern Dane County, one of the heaviest populated counties in Wisconsin. The destructive path this tornado took was 17 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, killing 1 and injuring 23. The city of Stoughton was hit the hardest. There was a total of 67 homes destroyed and over 400 damaged.

Even with the amount of damage done by these 27 tornados, FEMA refused to send any form of aid at all. Of course, Wisconsin does have a Democrat as governor as does Louisiana. Unlike California, Florida, and I believe Wyoming with their Republican governors. This may very well have to do with why they all get help from FEMA and Wisconsin does not, that and the fact that Wisconsin carried Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election. I have posted on this previously on 23 September of this year.

If that is the reason Wisconsin did not get any Federal aid from FEMA there is something drastically wrong with how FEMA handles individual natural disasters, and that needs to change, and change NOW!

The people of Wisconsin pay more taxes in to the Federal Government then they get back in the form of state aid or buisness contracts, which all states get, but when there is a destructive tornado Wisconsin gets no help. This partisan republican bullshit has to stop. We are all citizens of the United States and deserve to be treated as such.