“Pathological Presidential Liar” or “Idiot-in-Chief”?

We have so much to be thankful for. Especially BuzzFlash. Here are a few items we have followed just from today’s edition:

Keith Olbermann Special Comment:

And even the less strident but equally direct Dan Abrams, also of MSNBC, determinedly points the finger at the US administration:

Gotta love that Jack Krugman! What is in it for the people who lie so obviously for their lying leader? Why do they cement themselves into a wall which is about to collapse?

Note that Dick Cheney has wrongly (but very intentionally) suggested that the USA and “the international community” are the same thing. With Howard and Blair gone, the US is now alone, now has no friends, in its adventures in the Middle East. Oh, except Israel. There is no “international community” which can be said to be “prepared to impose serious consequences” of the type satanically implied by Cheney. The United States joins no other nations in sending any message, clear or not. Oh, except Israel.

Official in Blackwater probe quits

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother’s link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday.

Democrats Call for Inquiry in Destruction of Tapes by C.I.A.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — Angry Democratic lawmakers called for investigations today into the Central Intelligence Agency’s destruction in 2005 of at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts accused the C.I.A. of “a cover-up,” while Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said it was possible that people at the agency had engaged in obstruction of justice. Both called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate.

“We haven’t seen anything like this since the 18½ -minute gap on the tapes of Richard Nixon,” Mr. Kennedy said in a speech on the Senate floor, as reaction to the disclosure about the videotapes seemed to intensify minute by minute.

Latest news on Teh Howard Legacy:
The Howard government appears to have made a significant, if belated, contribution to American politics after all – the AWB defence:
La la la la. I can’t hear you. I can’t recall. I have no recollection. I’ve gone a bit deaf in that ear. War wound. It never happened. I can’t read. The department head didn’t tell me. I wasn’t even there and anyway I had my back to the room. La la la.

Bush Does Not Recall Learning of Destroyed Tapes

In a news briefing today, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was asked whether Bush, Vice President Cheney or other top officials had seen the tapes before they were destroyed. She said she spoke to Bush this morning and that “he has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their destruction before yesterday,” when he was briefed about the matter by Hayden. She said she did not know whether other administration officials knew about them.

Perino declined to comment on any prospective investigation, saying that Hayden still is “gathering facts” about the destruction of the recordings, which occurred before he became CIA director, and that the White House counsel’s office is assisting him. She said Bush “supports General Hayden” and has “complete confidence in him.”

Perino defended the interrogation program, which she said was “put in place to deal with a very limited number of people, the most intransigent of terrorists.” She added: “This program has saved lives. It is legal, safe, effective. It is limited, it is tough, and it has led to the capture of individuals — terrorists — who had information that was able to lead us to others.” She called the program “critical to the safety of the country.”

Asked why the recordings would be destroyed if the program were so defensible, Perino refused to comment.

Additionally, apparently Bush can’t recall being told in July or August that Iran had actually halted its nuclear weapons program. Clearly he is suffering from Alzheimer‘s at an earlier age than Ronald Reagan did. Maybe Bush caught it from Reagan. Maybe it’s a Presidential disease. Ex-Attorney General Gonzo Gonzalez, the little shit, has a terrible case; ex-CIA Director George Tenet obviously had it, if selectively, when he wrote his account of the Bush years. Perhaps it’s a Republican epidemic. Except, you know, that would be ironic – an elephant never forgets.

Elsewhere, via BuzzFlash, comes news that supports Naomi Wolf‘s view that the USA is careering headlong into fascism. This almost-enacted legislation promises to satisfy (in some cases to reinforce) items 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9¹ of Wolf’s Ten Steps:

Here come the thought police

With overwhelming bipartisan support, Rep. Jane Harman‘s “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act” passed the House 404-6 late last month and now rests in Sen. Joe Lieberman‘s Homeland Security Committee. Swift Senate passage appears certain.

Not since the “Patriot Act” of 2001 has any bill so threatened our constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The historian Henry Steele Commager, denouncing President John Adams‘ suppression of free speech in the 1790s, argued that the Bill of Rights was not written to protect government from dissenters but to provide a legal means for citizens to oppose a government they didn’t trust. Thomas Jefferson‘s Declaration of Independence not only proclaimed the right to dissent but declared it a people’s duty, under certain conditions, to alter or abolish their government.
[ ... ]
While Ms. Harman denies that her proposal creates “thought police,” it defines “homegrown terrorism” as “planned” or “threatened” use of force to coerce the government or the people in the promotion of “political or social objectives.” That means that no force need actually have occurred as long as the government charges that the individual or group thought about doing it.

Any social or economic reform is fair game. Have a march of 100 or 100,000 people to demand a reform – amnesty for illegal immigrants or overturning Roe v. Wade – and someone can perceive that to be a use of force to intimidate the people, courts or government.

The bill defines “violent radicalization” as promoting an “extremist belief system.” But American governments, state and national, have a long history of interpreting radical “belief systems” as inevitably leading to violence to facilitate change.

^{¹ 1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy, 4. Set up an internal surveillance system, 5. Harass citizens’ groups, 6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release, 7. Target key individuals, 8. Control the press, and especially 9. Dissent equals treason.}

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