To Provoke War, Cheney Considered Proposal To Dress Up Navy Seals As Iranians And Shoot At Them – Seymour Hersh — a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for The New Yorker — revealed that Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President’s office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran. There were a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.

Exxon Mobil Makes Profit of $1,485.55 Per Second – Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter (just three months!). That figure is after subtracting money spent finding and producing more new oil and all other expenses. Aren’t you glad that you’re paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline so that you can say you had a part in this history-making event? They also recently gave chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson an 18% raise to $21.7 million per year, and I’m sure you’re glad you helped keep Mr. Tillerson out of the poorhouse.

Several bills have been introduced in Congress to enact a ‘windfall’ profits tax on these earnings, or at the very least eliminate manufacturing tax exemption oil companies now enjoy. Barack Obama wants to tax oil companies at a special rate every time crude goes over $80 a barrel. Most plans would either use this newfound tax money to fund investments in renewable energy, or give it to low income Americans struggling with high energy prices. But so far those efforts have been blocked – mainly by Republicans – who say raising taxes on oil companies will only discourage investments in finding new oil and raise the price of crude. (But if that’s true, then why doesn’t Exxon Mobil use more of their $11.68 billion quarterly profit that they already have to find more oil? – JLV)

McCain’s Campaign Now Getting That Karl Rove Touch - On July 3, news reports said Senator John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House. Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started out talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Rove’s low-minded and uncivil playbook.

Toles Cartoons at Washington Post

Mr. McCain’s campaign is now under the leadership of members of President Bush’s re-election campaign, including Steve Schmidt, the czar of the Bush war room that relentlessly painted his opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, as effete, elite, and equivocal through a daily blitz of sound bites and Web videos that were carefully coordinated with Mr. Bush’s television advertisements.

The run of attacks against Mr. Obama over the last couple of weeks have been strikingly reminiscent of that drive, including the Bush team’s tactics of seeking to make campaigns referendums on its opponents — not a choice between two candidates — and attacking the opponent’s perceived strengths head-on.

There’s obviously nothing surprising about the McCain campaign’s reliance on the standard, personality-based attacks that the GOP uses every election year. It’s long been obvious to everyone outside of The TNR Circle that McCain’s only prospect for winning would be to move the election away from debates over issues (where his positions are widely rejected by the public) and instead demonize Barack Obama as an effete, elitist, effeminate, far Leftist, terrorist-loving radical, and it was equally obvious that McCain would eagerly employ those Rovian tactics.

Bush Threatens to Veto Equal Pay for Women – This week, the House is expected to bring the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor for a vote, legislation that would help close the wage gap between working men and women and “close loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility” for discriminatory pay. In an official statement, the White House said it would veto the bill.

Newly Uncovered Documents Show Problems Known With Voting Machine Patch – Just before the November 2002 election in Georgia, Diebold CEO Bob Urosevich personally flew in from Texas and applied a software patch to voting machines in just two counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds. A flag went up when it became apparent that the patch installed by Urosevich had failed to fix a problem with the computer clock — which employees from Diebold and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office had been told the patch was designed specifically to address. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, who was five percentage points ahead of Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss in polls taken only a week before the voting, lost 53 percent to 46 percent. Roy Barnes, the incumbent Democratic Governor, who had been leading challenger Sonny Perdue by a fairly wide margin of eleven points, lost 51 percent to 46 percent. The last-minute patch installation and the lack of official recertification may have rendered the 2002 Georgia results invalid.

“People working for Diebold were told to keep this quiet so [Georgia Secretary of State Cathy] Cox would not find out,” a whistleblower said. “They knew she was in over her head and had come to completely rely on Diebold. They controlled the warehouse, the machines, and the certification. There were no state employees.”

Diebold renamed itself Premier Election Solutions in 2007. The company has come under fire on numerous occasions for failing to protect its software from hackers, and its systems have been decertified in California. Maryland’s House of Delegates voted to ban the company from its electronic voting in 2006, though the law didn’t pass the Senate and state is now considering Premier for their optical scan systems.

In August 2003, Walden O’Dell, then the chief executive of Diebold, announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush and had sent a get-out-the-funds letter to 100 wealthy and politically inclined friends in the Republican Party.

While McCain Wears $520 Italian Ferragamo Leather Loafers, He Tries to Make us Think Barack Obama is Elitist - McCain can wear any kind of shoes he wants, but isn’t it hypocritical to try to equate a black man to two blonde girls to try to show Obama is an out-of-touch elitist while McCain is wearing $520 Italian Salvatore Ferragamo ‘Pregiato’ Moccasins as he travels between his eleven houses? And what better way to show his American pride than to tour the country in Italian leather while charging Obama as un-American? Remember TV footage of Michelle Obama telling Access Hollywood during a family interview that Obama was wearing ten year old pants and a worn-out belt and hurriedly adding, “Don’t pan down to the shoes — because we’ve talked about getting new shoes for him.”

Strained by War, U.S. Army Promotes Unqualified Soldiers – An Army policy implemented in 2005 and expanded this year lowered the bar for enlisted soldiers with the rank of E-4 to gain the rank of sergeant, or E-5, by diminishing the vetting process. According to more than a half dozen current and former Army sergeants interviewed by Salon, the policy has produced sergeants who are not ready to lead. In some cases, soldiers were promoted even after being denied advancement by their own unit commanders. While awarding a promotion once required effort on the part of a commander, those interviewed say, the Army’s current policy actually requires effort to prevent a promotion, and has had negative consequences on the battlefield.

Regards,

Jim

In a recent email announcing the introduction of The Domestic Drilling Act (H.R.6593) and The Consumer Energy Supply Act (H.R. 6578), Congressman Nick Lampson (D-TX) stated, “As we find ourselves competing with rapidly growing nations such as China and India for energy, it is clear that we must increase supplies to reign in skyrocketing prices.”

I must disagree with Congressman Lampson. It is not only NOT clear, it is IMAGINARY.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the US produced 5,064,000 barrels of oil per day in 2007 and world production was 82,532,000 barrels/day in 2005. This means the world controls the supply of the world’s oil. It also means increasing drilling locally will not “reign in the skyrocketing prices” of gasoline.

Here’s a quote on the matter and some simple math to show why Lampson’s proposal won’t work.

In an article about T. Boone Pickens’ wind and natural gas plan and Pickens’ support of more drilling, there is this statement at the end of the article:

“When we drill more, OPEC drills less,” Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

To consider what Mr. Luft says, lets take Lampson’s numbers for what the US might recover by expanding US drilling, about 96.4 billion barrels including ANWR, and see how that might affect world supplies and fuel costs.

These US reserves represent a little over 1,150 days worth of oil for the world, if they could be extracted at the EIA 2005 daily rate for the world. But this is very unlikely since the US would have to increase the number of producing wells by over 16 (82/5) times based on our 2007 EIA rate of production.

In other words, the number of US rigs would have to grow from July 25, 2008′s level of 1,957 to over 31,000 to equal the worlds 2005 output. Not very likely.

Even if we could double the number of rigs, this would only increase the US contribution to the world’s oil supplies by 6 percent (5/82). So, the impact on world supplies of this proposed expanded drilling will, assuming the rest of the world cooperates by maintaining there production, be hardly noticeable.

However, one thing will happen if Lampson’s bills become law. Corporate oil revenues will shift from the rest of the world to US oil producers. Only the US oil companies will gain from this increased drilling – NOT consumers.

As for his “twist” of using royalties to fund alternative sources of energy. That won’t make it into the final law.

Mr. Lampson’s proposals will not make a difference to any consumer as long as the rest of the world controls ninety-four (94) percent of the world’s oil supplies.

Wake up America and smell the ‘crude’ realities of world oil supplies. We may be the policeman of the world, but we’re just the junk yard dog of oil production.

Senate Republicans Block Effort to Aid Paralyzed Veterans – The Christopher and Dana Reeve Act, named for the actor who was made famous by his portrayal of superman and later became a champion of the disabled, along with his late wife, is part of a broad package created by Democrats which lumps together 36 bills. It would have allocated $25 million for research on spinal cord injuries, rehabilitation and measures to improve the quality of life for paralyzed Americans. The effort is backed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, which claims 19,000 members. Some 200,000 Americans suffer spinal cord-related injuries. The overall bill, dubbed the Advancing America’s Priorities Act, was blocked by a 50-42 vote, short of the 60 votes need to overcome a filibuster. The House passed the Reeve bill in 2007, but the Senate has never followed suit. Republicans blasted the bill as an attempt to bait them and distract from measures to deal with high gas prices (Republican code-talk for opening environmentally sensitive areas to oil drilling – JLV).

Texas Family-Values Republican Holds Burlesque Fundraiser in Las Vegas – Card-carrying conservative Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), who scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing “their liberal values upon the rest of the country” after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime flash, held a racey fundraiser for his leadership political action committee last year at Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce nightclub in Sin City. A description of the club is on its web site, which features a scantily clad dancer.

Despite Pledge to Run Positive Campaign, McCain Releases Series of Attack Ads Including One Comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears - The McCain campaign is out with the latest in a string of sharply negative advertisements, this time mocking Barack Obama as a self-important celebrity along the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. In a 30-second spot that focuses absolutely zero attention on McCain himself, the ad makes patently false assertions such as, “Higher taxes, more foreign oil, that’s the real Obama.” The spot reflects what observers and reporters have described as a growing superficial negativity emerging from the McCain camp.

Government Questionnaires Asking About Matters Not Related to Job Suitability – Employees at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory got an ultimatum last year: Submit to new, more thorough background investigations or leave the agency. Twenty-eight JPL scientists, engineers and administrative support employees instead took their employers to court. The plaintiffs and some observers say the ensuing legal battle has raised questions about the federal government’s background investigation methods and the constitutionality of the trigger event: Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12. Problems include:

• NASA exceeded its authority under the Administrative Procedure Act in investigating contract employees.
• The investigations constitute unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment.
• They also violate employees’ constitutional right to informational privacy.
• The broad, open-ended questions used in NASA’s investigations “appear to range far beyond the scope of the legitimate state interests that the government has proposed.”

“These new investigations are draconian,” said Matthew Biggs, legislative director of Washington-based International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. Under SF42, he said, “they can ask: ‘Why did you get a divorce? If I ask your friends and family, will I get the same answer?’ ”
“It has nothing to do with suitability for a job as a scientist or engineer,” he added.

Regards,

Jim

McCain (Who Thinks He is Best Qualified to be Commander-in-Chief) Doesn’t Know Who is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U. S. Military – McCain said this to George Stephanopoulos in his interview on Sunday :

I believe that, when he said that we had to leave Iraq, and we had to be out by last March, and we had to have a date certain, that was in contravention to — and still is — the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David Petraeus.

Of course, Gen. Petraeus is not the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Mike Mullen is.

Dick Cheney Thinks Disabled Veterans Should Wait on Him for Two Hours Without Restrooms (and Then Wait Through His Speech) - Vice President Cheney’s invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable. The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans at 8:30 a.m. at its August convention in Las Vegas. His staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney’s arrival and couldn’t leave until he’d finished talking, officials confirmed. “Word got back to us … that this would be a prerequisite,” said the veterans executive director, David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn’t have any rest rooms. “We told them it just wasn’t acceptable.”

Houston Resists Recycling – While most large American cities have started ambitious recycling programs that have sharply reduced the amount of trash bound for landfills, Houston has not. It is the worst recycler among the United States’ 30 largest cities. Houston recycles just 2.6 percent of its total waste, according to a study this year by Waste News, a trade magazine. By comparison, San Francisco and New York recycle 69 percent and 34 percent of their waste respectively. Moreover, 25,000 Houston residents have been waiting as long as 10 years to get recycling bins from the city.

EPA Tells Its Staff: Don’t Answer Watchdogs’ Queries – The Environmental Protection Agency has told its staff not to answer questions from the agency’s internal watchdog, news reporters or the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, according an internal memo that an environmental group released Monday. The June 16 memo to the staff of the EPA’s enforcement division told them that if they’re contacted by the EPA inspector general’s office, an independent internal watchdog that monitors the agency, or by the Government Accountability Office, the investigators who work for Congress, they’re to forward the call or e-mail to a designated person. John Walke, a former EPA air pollution attorney, said the inspector general’s office ordinarily has unfettered access to agency employees so they can speak candidly and anonymously.

Bush Leaving Next President Record Federal Budget Deficit – The government’s budget deficit will surge past a half-trillion dollars next year, according to gloomy new estimates, a record flood of red ink that promises to force the winner of the presidential race to dramatically alter his economic agenda. The deficit will hit $482 billion in the 2009 budget year that will be inherited by Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, the White House estimated Monday. That figure is sure to rise after adding the tens of billions of dollars in additional Iraq war funding it doesn’t include, and the total could be higher yet if the economy fails to recover as the administration predicts.

Attorney General’s Aides Hired Less-Qualified Applicants Based on Political Ideology – Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales broke Civil Service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, picking less-qualified applicants for important nonpolitical positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department’s credibility, an internal report concluded on Monday. A longtime prosecutor who drew rave reviews from his supervisors was passed over for an important counterterrorism slot because his wife was active in Democratic politics, and a much-less-experienced lawyer with Republican leanings got the job, the report said. Another prosecutor was rejected for a job in part because she was thought to be a lesbian. And a Republican lawyer received high marks at his job interview because he was found to be sufficiently conservative on the core issues of “god, guns + gays.”

The pattern appeared most damaging in the hiring of immigration judges, as vacancies were allowed to go unfilled — and a backlog of deportation cases grew — while Mr. Gonzales’s aides looked for conservative lawyers to fill what were supposed to be apolitical jobs. (And tell me again why immigration cases aren’t being handled? – JLV)

Man Kills Two at Church Because of its Liberal Teachings – Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals “who are ruining the country,” court records show. Jim David Adkisson allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children’s musical. Adkisson was subdued by several church members after firing three rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation.

Adkisson targeted the church, Knoxville Police Department Officer Steve Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, “because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country’s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets.” Adkisson told Still that “he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office.”

Inside the house, officers found “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.

The church’s Web site states that it has worked for “desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women’s rights and gay rights” since the 1950s. Current ministries involve emergency aid for the needy, school tutoring and support for the homeless, as well as a cafe that provides a gathering place for gay and lesbian high-schoolers.

Is there really a call to violence against liberals? Here are some samples:

Rush Limbaugh: “I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.”

Stop the ACLU: Rope + Tree + ACLU Lawyer = Pinata

Ann Coulter: “Some liberals have become even too crazy for Texas to execute, which is a damn shame. They’re always saying — we’re oppressed, we’re oppressed so let’s do it. Let’s oppress them.”

Melanie Morgan: “A great deal of good could be done by arresting Bill Keller having him lined up against the wall and shot.”

Lee Rogers: “[T]he day will come when unpleasant things are going to happen to a bunch of stupid liberals and it’s going to be very amusing to watch.”

RedState contributor “Thomas Crown”: “I repeat: Should the entire American Left fall over dead tomorrow, I would rejoice, and order pizza to celebrate. They are not my countrymen; they are animals who happen to walk upright and make noises that approximate speech. They are below human. I look forward to seeing each and every one in Hell.”

Bill O’Reilly: “And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you [San Francisco] up, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.”

Rep. Peter King: “And Joe Wilson has no right to complain. And I think people like Tim Russert and the others, who gave this guy such a free ride and all the media, they’re the ones to be shot, not Karl Rove.”

Michael Reagan: “Howard Dean should be arrested and hung for treason or put in a hole until the end of the Iraq war!”

So how should we respond to such ugliness? As an example, let’s look at an excerpt from a blog post by one of the members of the Unitarian Church to the violence committed ageist his church members:

“… I feel sorry for Adkisson, even as his actions are clearly unforgivable. He was, like all of us, a soul cast upon this world, looking for direction and purpose. Had he found himself a more stable, more honorable set of influences, he may have found himself happier and saner, at least enough so that he did not feel the need to murder others in order to find meaning in his existence. He went looking for answers, and the right gave him instead a scapegoat, an over-arching group to place all his self-hatred onto, all his anger, all his rage, all his uncomprehending fury. And then he acted.

He is as lost and broken as anybody involved in this, and my heart goes out to him. Hatred does not just push people to destroy others; it destroys those that hate, as well.

None of us know what lies beyond the end of our time on this Earth. All we know for certain is that we have this time to live, and this short time to find our own meaning to our existence. Adkisson thought he had found his meaning, that he was a means to the destruction of the enemy — the enemy being his fellow humans. But his fellow humans refused to turn on him, refused to harm him, refused to kill him, refused to view him as he viewed them. In all the righteous anger and fury and pain of the moment, the members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church did not seek revenge. Two lives ended the day of Adkisson’s attack, but they did not die without meaning. In that moment, the UUs of that congregation did what all of us in the church hope we can do — they fought back with tolerance, compassion, and self-sacrifice, not with anger, bitterness, and vengeance. …”

Regards,

Jim

Fear-Mongering Conservatives Make Up Stories About American Boys Held Captive in a Pakistani Madrassa – Since early July, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas has been misleading Americans about two young Pakistani-American boys who McCaul claimed were being “held in there against their will” at a international madrassa school, which McCaul says has Taliban ties in this FOX interview.

After hearing about the two Atlanta children in a 2008 documentary called Karachi Kids, McCaul, who sees everything through red-threat-level colored glasses, immediately began exploiting homeland security fears in the name of the two children, as evidenced in this article from the Houston Chronicle on McCaul’s website. He refers to schools like the one the boys were at as “jihadist seminaries” and claims that they are “creating a new breed of terrorist.” However, in his haste to turn this into an election-year fist-bump, McCaul failed to check with his own State Department, the parents of the children or to do any sort of his own research to find out what the situation at the international school was.

If you do a check on any Internet search engine, you will find plenty of conservative blogs spreading this story. However, as CNN reported Sunday night, the media-hype surrounding McCaul’s messianic quest to bring these children home is essentially just that: overblown hype about two children who were in fact not being held against their will and not being trained at a radical Islamic school at all.

CNN video report

McCain Says Do Away With Affirmative Action – John McCain said Sunday that he supports a proposed ballot initiative in his home state that would prohibit affirmative action policies from state and local governments. A decade ago, he called a similar effort “divisive.”

McCain Confused Again: Says ‘I didn’t use the word timetable,’ But It’s On Video – After Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorsed Obama’s 16-month withdrawal plan, McCain changed his position, telling Wolf Blitzer that “it was a pretty good timetable” in the video at the link below. But now the Senator is denying he ever used the word timetable at all and reasserting “conditions on the ground” as the overriding factor for when US troops can leave Iraq. “I didn’t use the word timetable,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview airing Sunday.

When asked if Obama was right that the US invasion of Iraq “inflamed the Muslim world,” McCain said that his own prediction of Americans being greeted as liberators was correct. “We were greeted as liberators,” McCain said.

Contractor Made Little Progress on Iraq Projects, But Got Paid Anyhow - The U.S. government paid a California contractor $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that it never built or finished, according to audits by a watchdog office.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., received the money, part of a total of $333 million but only completed about one-third of the projects, which also included courthouses and border control stations. The inspector general’s office is expected to release two detailed audits today, evaluating Parsons’s work on the contract, which is worth up to $900 million.

“Far less was accomplished under this contract than originally planned,” the inspector general wrote. “Millions of dollars in waste are likely associated with incomplete, terminated and abandoned projects under this contract.”

What Liberal Bias? Network News Comments Are More Negative Toward Obama Than McCain – ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign, according to a study conducted by The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades. During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative. Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative.

Although McCain Says He Knows How to Catch bin Laden, He’s Apparently Keeping it Secret So We Can Stay in Danger Until After He’s Elected - On Saturday’s Situation Room, when Wolf Blitzer asked McCain about his vow to catch Osama bin Laden, John McCain said, “Well, I’m not gonna telegraph a lot of the things that I’m gonna do, because then it might compromise our ability to do so. But look, I know the area. I’ve been there. I know war. I know how to win wars. And I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden…I know how to do it.”

Which begs four obvious questions:
1) Is John McCain privy to some intelligence or strategy that would better our chances of capturing bin Laden?
2) If so, why hasn’t he shared this information with the current administration?
3) Would he rather win the election than see bin Laden captured?
4) Also, exactly which war(s) has he won?
Would somebody in the MSM please…PLEASE ask him any/all of these?! Please? Seriously — how many stupid things does this guy get to say before somebody with a microphone calls him on it?

House GOP Leader Says “[Alaskan Wildlife] Couldn’t Care Less Whether…The Pipeline Was There” – Last night, on Glenn Beck’s CNN Headline News program, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) falsely claimed that wildlife in Alaska are not affected by oil operations in Alaska. Animals “couldn’t care less whether…the pipeline was there, or the oil company was there,” he said. Glenn Beck similarly argued that wildlife can’t tell if the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline is a “tree or a pipeline,” and said that the northern reaches of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — where Boehner hopes to drill — are a “barren wasteland.” Beck and Boehner are wrong. Far from “not caring” about the presence of oil operations at the 800-square mile Prudhoe Bay facility, native species are dramatically affected. Scientific surveys have shown that the Central Arctic caribou herd has been “crowded out” due to drilling: [The survey] showed that the caribou reduced their use of the more heavily developed Prudhoe Bay oil fields by 78 percent, and their east-west movements declined by 90 percent — a sign oil activity can impact a herd’s movements. More details at the link.

EPA Chief Won’t Explain Climate Choices – Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson has declined to explain before Congress how a conclusion he made last year that global warming put the public in danger could lead to a decision not to regulate greenhouse gases. In a 28-page document the White House and EPA have refused to release, the agency last December said global warming could endanger public welfare, according to excerpts released Thursday by a Senate committee. The hearing, which was going to examine the role of the White House in EPA decisions, particularly on global warming, was canceled.

Coal Mining Operations Ignore Worker Safety Concerns – The operators of a Utah mine at the center of a collapse that led to nine fatalities last August have been fined 1.6 million dollars, health and safety officials announced Thursday. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) said the operators of the Crandall Canyon Mine had failed to report repeated collapses at the facility which meant inspectors were unable to assess practices there.

Two federal reports released on Thursday reveal previously unknown details about the August 6th disaster. Now we know, for example, that the sheer force of the collapse probably killed the six workers who were trapped in the mine pretty quickly. So, they were probably dead long before three rescue workers died 10 days later trying to save them.

In a statement, Richard Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for the MSHA, said the tragedy had stemmed from mine operator Genwal Resources’ “reckless failure” to report three previous coal “outbursts,” including one just three days before the initial incident on August 6. …”MSHA also found that the operator was taking more coal than allowed from the barrier pillars and the floor. This dangerously weakened the strength of the roof support.”

OK, coal mining destroys the land, kills those who mine it, destroys their health, and is bad for us when we burn it as fuel. What else do you need to know?

McCain Playing With Lobbyists Again – As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group he has led for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom.
The parade of lobbyists and fund-raisers at the dinner is emblematic of Mr. McCain’s tenure at the institute, one of a pair of nonprofit groups – taxpayer-financed and each allied with one of the two major political parties – that were created during the Reagan era to promote democracy in closed societies.

Operating without the sort of limits placed on campaign fund-raising, the institute under Mr. McCain has solicited millions of dollars for its operations from some 560 defense contractors, lobbying firms, oil companies and other corporations, many with issues before Senate committees Mr. McCain was on.

McCain Campaign Contributions Up Big … From Big Oil – Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling. Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month — three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban — compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.

Regards,

Jim

Another Neocon Noble Lie:

As discussed throughout this blog, the philosophy of the neocons includes preemptive invasions to stop imaginary holocausts, manufacturing external threats (fear mongering about Iraq(?), North Korea(?), Iran(?) etc.) as needed and noble lies. All this to get others to enable the truth that only the neocons know.

The neocons see themselves as the wise superior few that know their truth. They see the rest of us as unable to accept their truth. The ‘wise’ neocons also try to control the rest of us with noble lies that foster fear of impending death or catastrophe.

Ironically, this neocon philosophy was introduced to America by a refugee from Nazi Germany named Leo Strauss who thought it would save America from following in Germany’s WWII totalitarian footsteps.

Shadia Drury, who has studied Leo Strauss and the neocons for 20 years, said in Leo Strauss and the Grand Inquisitor, “He [Strauss] therefore taught that those in power must invent noble lies and pious frauds to keep the people in the stupor for which they are supremely fit.” Strauss believed that these inferior people and their liberties had contributed to creating Nazi Germany and could have disastrous effects in America unless they were controlled.

These noble lies come in many forms. The above t-shirt print from the web site of state Senator K. L. Bryant of South Carolina is a recent example.

Prior to this, were the nine hundred and thirty-five Bush administration noble lies that lead to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. These lies have been thoroughly researched and documented by The Center for Public Integrity.

Then there is Bill O’Reilly, the authoritarian’s spokesperson on TV and radio:

If the audio doesn’t play, here is his lie:

O’REILLY: Ok, now he [Al Gore] shows up on Saturday at the most hateful, there is not — and I’m including the Nazis and the Klan in here — there is not a more hateful group in the country than these Daily Kos people. Now, will they come to your house and hurt you? I don’t know, probably not. But, do they want to hurt you? Do they say terrible things about Tony Snow when he dies? All day long. Ok. Hateful hateful hateful. The rhetoric that they use and the rhetoric that the Klan and the Nazis use are the same rhetoric. It’s hate. Everyone knows that.

The ultimate example is Jonah Goldberg’s book titled Liberal Fascism. This noble lie is an oxymoron.

David Neiwert reviewed this book and had this to say about the author’s effort, “Goldberg, who has no [historian] credentials beyond the right-wing nepotism that has enabled his career as a pundit, has drawn a kind of history in absurdly broad and comically wrongheaded strokes. It is not just history done badly, or mere revisionism. It’s a caricature of reality, like something from a comic-book alternative universe: Bizarro history.” In other words, it’s another neocon noble lie.

These examples represent the quintessential noble lie. They project the qualities, aspirations and beliefs of the authoritarian neocons onto their liberal enemies. This is a total contradiction and just another attempt to control we the people.

The facts are liberals favor more liberty (Think hippies of the 60′s.) and authoritarians favor less liberty (Think Richard Nixon or George Bush.). But this is not what O’Reilly or Goldberg would have you ‘believe.’ The world of Orwell’s “1984″ is closer to fruition now than it has ever been. It’s like a crazy man ranting that he’s sane and everyone else is crazy.

This might be a good point for a refresher on the authoritarian personality, which, as shown by extensive research since the end of WWII, is dominant in neocons. This review should help explain why neocons use noble lies.

Based on the studies of others and most recently of Professor Robert Altemeyer, those with authoritarian personalities are the the ones that created Nazi Germany and all that followed. The professor’s recent studies also show that the Republican Party has become the party of choice for those with the same authoritarian personality.

In Conservatives Without Conscience, John Dean incorporates Altemeyer’s research and shows how the authoritarian personality gained control of the Republican Party. Dean also shows that the neocons are a major influence in the actions of The Republican Party over recent decades.

Additional studies and publications over the last 20 years by Shadia Drury confirms the writings of John Dean and and research of Robert Altemeyer and their conclusion that the neocons control the Republican Party. Professor Drury has written extensively about the neocons, their philosophy and their progenitor Leo Strauss. Shadia Drury contrasts the neocons with liberals, “He [Leo Strauss] is the enemy of liberty in general. It was for love of America that he wished to save her from her disastrous love affair with liberty.” Professor Drury also stated this about those that have become today’s Republican neocons:

The trouble with the Straussians is that they are compulsive liars. But it is not altogether their fault. Strauss was very pre-occupied with secrecy because he was convinced that the truth is too harsh for any society to bear; and that the truth-bearers are likely to be persecuted by society – specially a liberal society ….

Strauss’s disciples have inherited a superiority complex as well as a persecution complex. They are convinced that they are the superior few who know the truth and are entitled to rule. … they run roughshod over truth as well as democracy.

… The most fundamental [neocon] theme is the distinction between the ancients and the moderns – a distinction that informs all his work. According to Strauss, ancient philosophers (such as Plato) were wise and wily, but modern philosophers (such as Locke and other liberals) were foolish and vulgar. The wise ancients thought that the unwashed masses were not fit for either truth or liberty; and giving them these sublime treasures was like throwing pearls before swine. Accordingly, they believed that society needs an elite of philosophers or intellectuals to manufacture “noble lies” for the consumption of the masses. Not surprisingly, the ancients had no use for democracy. Plato balked at the democratic idea that any Donald, Dick, or George was equally fit to rule.

In contrast to the ancients, the moderns [liberals] were the foolish lovers of truth and liberty; they believed in the natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They believed that human beings were born free and could be legitimately ruled only by their own consent. [And so our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were created by liberals. Declaration of Independence has this to say about a liberal society: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."]

… He [Strauss] was convinced that there can be no disagreement among the wise. They instinctively recognise the truth. And those who deny it are unfit for the company of the wise. This explains why his students [Paul Wolfowitz, Irving Kristol - father of Bill Kristol, and other baby boomers] are a cultish clique, which is comfortable only when preaching to the converted and consorting with the like-minded. All the while they fool themselves into thinking that they are the exclusive few who see the unadulterated truth, which is concealed from the eyes of the uninitiated. …

In a 2003 interview by Danny Postel, Shadia Drury made the following statements about the neocon philosophy of Noble Lies for neocon survival:

… He [Strauss] argues that the wise must conceal their views for two reasons – to spare the people’s feelings and to protect the elite from possible reprisals.

… Lies are thus necessary to protect the superior few from the persecution of the vulgar many.

… So, they come to the conclusion that they have a moral justification to lie in order to avoid persecution [testifying under oath, criminal prosecution, impeachment]. Strauss goes so far as to say that dissembling and deception – in effect, a culture of lies – is the peculiar justice of the wise.

So, neocons use noble lies to “run roughshod over truth as well as democracy” and “to protect the superior few from the persecution.” They want to control the masses to implement their truth and avoid going to jail in the process.

As for the example of neocon lies at the beginning of this posting, they represent the penultimate Noble Lie – the left is the far right. These lies say the left are the authoritarian Nazi’s when in actuality it is the right that harbors the authoritarian personality that wants to limit “liberty and justice for all.”

As Sinclair Lewis supposedly said, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Which political party is hung up on flag lapel pins? Which political party is affiliated with white evangelical extremists? Which party is anti gay? Which party thinks liberated women need to be put in their proper place? Which party considers black leaders “arrogant?” Which party wants a single-party state? Which party is truely closest to being fascist?

David Neiwert concluded his review of Liberal Fascism this way: “Why dream up fascists on the left when the reality is that real American fascists have been lurking in the right’s closet for lo these many years? Well, maybe because it’s a handy way of getting everyone to forget that fact.”

If you are still not sure, here are some additional quotes about neocons from Dr. Shadia Drury from the references used in this posting:

To be clear, Strauss was not as hostile to democracy as he was to liberalism. This is because he recognises that the vulgar masses have numbers on their side, and the sheer power of numbers cannot be completely ignored. Whatever can be done to bring the masses along is legitimate. If you can use democracy to turn the masses against their own liberty, this is a great triumph. It is the sort of tactic that neoconservatives use consistently, and in some cases very successfully.

With the neoconservatives in power in the US, it will be difficult to conceal the real nature of neoconservative policies. … The policies are by now very clear: no gay rights, no liberated women, no uppity blacks, lots of prayer in the schools, a strong commitment to the death penalty, and the re-criminalisation of abortion. [Doesn't this sound like some Republicans and German Nazis to you]

The neoconservative goal is reactionary in the classic sense of the term. It is nothing short of turning the clock back on the liberal revolution [Especially since the 1960's.]. And it will use democracy to accomplish its task. After all, Strauss had no objections to democracy as long as a wise elite, inspired by the profound truths of the ancients, was able to shape, invent, or create the will of the people.

It is ironic that American neoconservatives have decided to conquer the world in the name of liberty and democracy, when they have so little regard for either.

… that justice is merely the interest of the stronger; that those in power make the rules in their own interests and call it justice.

… Only perpetual war can overturn the modern [liberal] project, with its emphasis on self-preservation and “creature comforts.” …

… The combination of religion and nationalism is the elixir that Strauss advocates as the way to turn natural, relaxed, hedonistic men into devout nationalists willing to fight and die for their God and country.

… But fear is the greatest ally of tyranny.

Anbar Sheik That McCain Said Was Protected by the Surge Was Assassinated Last Year – The major Sunni sheik who John McCain said was protected by the surge and subsequently helped lead the Anbar Awakening, was actually assassinated by an al-Qaeda led group in midst of the surge.

On Tuesday evening, McCain falsely claimed that the downturn in violence in Iraq’s Anbar province was a result of the surge, when in fact the surge began months afterward. Moreover, he said, if it weren’t for the work of U.S. forces, the major Sunni figure leading that awakening wouldn’t have had the protection he needed.

“Colonel MacFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks,” said the Senator. “Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening.”

The Arizona Republican’s campaign went further the next day, claiming that the major figures that turned around Anbar province would have been killed had the surge policy not been in place. “If Barack Obama had had his way, the Sheiks who started the Awakening would have been murdered at the hands of al Qaeda,” said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

Sadly, that murder took place even with the surge underway. In September 2007, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, the sheik widely credited with persuading Sunni leaders to turn against al Qaeda in Iraq, died in a bomb attack in Anbar.

McCain Cancels Trip to Oil Rig After Fuel Oil Spill, Blames Weather – Thursday, workers on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast will see clear skies, mild temperatures in the 80′s and 90′s, and feel only a slight breeze. However, John McCain’s campaign says inclement weather caused the cancellation of his appearance there, aimed at promoting offshore drilling. Perhaps a more likely cause is the 400,000 plus gallons of oil floating through the Mississippi, spilled yesterday after a barge collided with a tanker at New Orleans. No sooner than the announcement of the spill, McCain’s campaign announced the cancellation of the candidate’s visit to the rig. McCain was planning to helicopter from Louisiana, where the spill occurred, to an oil rig in the Gulf Coast to make the case for expanded off-shore drilling.

McCain Campaign Complains About Lack of Press Coverage, But McCain Cancels His Only Press Conference for This Week - The one scheduled McCain press conference of the week has just been canceled, we are told. No word as to why. Grumble, grumble.

CBS Spokesman Distorts Standard of Editing on Couric-McCain Interview – CBS edited an interview with John McCain that mixed answers to different questions. A CBS spokesman tried to defend their behavior and told TV Newser:

Of the 14-minute interview, a little less than three minutes was used on the Evening News. A CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “As all news organizations do with extended interviews, last night’s Obama and McCain interviews were edited to fit the available time and to give viewers a fair expression of the candidates’ major differences. The full transcript and video were and still are available at CBSNews.com.”

But here is what the CBS manual—CBS NEWS STANDARDS….SEC111-5….EDITING says:

If a question to an interview subject is used, the answer must be to that specific question. The question and the answer may be edited, but not in a way that would distort the meaning of either. Answers to different questions may not be combined to give the impression of one continuous response. In short, we cannot create an answer merely because we wish the subject had said it better.

Land Sold for Bush’s Presidential Library for Well Below Fair Market Value; Library Operation to be Without Academic Oversight – United Methodist Church’s South Central Jurisdiction Conference approved the sale of 23 acres of land-locked Southern Methodist University soil to the Bush Foundation for well below fair market value. Moreover, they agreed that the think tank for President George W. Bush would have no contractual academic oversight for the next 250 years. None of the other presidential policy centers are so rigidly structured like Bush, Jr.’s. Both his father’s and President Bill Clinton’s have academic oversight through their respective universities.

Political Appointees at the Department of Labor Are Trying to Make it Tougher to Regulate Workers’ On-the-Job Exposure to Chemicals and Toxins - Political appointees at the Department of Labor are moving with unusual speed to push through in the final months of the Bush administration a rule making it tougher to regulate workers’ on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins. The agency did not disclose the proposal, as required, in public notices of regulatory plans that it filed in December and May. Instead, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao’s intention to push for the rule first surfaced on July 7, when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted on its Web site that it was reviewing the proposal, identified only by its nine-word title. The department’s speed in trying to make the regulatory change contrasts with its reluctance to alter workplace safety rules over the past 7 1/2 years. In that time, the department adopted only one major health rule for a chemical in the workplace, and it did so under a court order.

Regards,

Jim

Conservative Michael Savage Claims That Autism is Almost Always the Result of a Brat Who Hasn’t Been Told to Cut the Act Out (Updated With Petitions)

I pointed this one out yesterday, but it bears repeating, and there are now petitions to have Savage fired. Conservative radio host Michael Savage claimed that autism is almost always the result of “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.” Michael Savage has gone to far in his prejudice and discrimination of children with autism. Autism is a neuro-developmental medical condition that requires early identification and lifelong treatment. He has crossed the line by making children the object of his shock radio tactics and promoting mistreatment of children with disabilities. Here are a few other examples of Savage’s remarks:

• “We’re getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. … They never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers.”
• Savage accused former page of “gay-baiting” Foley and added: “Maybe he’s a Democrat.”
• Savage advocated “militarization of our children” to respond to terror threat.

Here’s the petition.

You can also use Media Matters’ form to find your local Savage station and make your voice heard.

Republican State Senator’s Blog Compares Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden – A Republican state senator put a graphic on his blog that shows Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden wearing similar clothing, along with a line that says the difference between them is “a little B.S.” The image was posted on Sen. Kevin Bryant’s blog on Friday. It appears to be a photo of a T-shirt with images of bin Laden and Obama wearing turbans and the words “OBAMA” AND “OSAMA,” with the “B” and “S” highlighted in red. The state Democratic Party chairwoman called the posting a “desperate and juvenile attempt” by Bryant to get attention for his re-election bid. “That kind of ignorance and hatred, I’m surprised to find it exists,” Carol Fowler said. “South Carolinians are not ignorant, hate-filled people.”

McCain Surrogate Says, “The Muslims” Are “Going To Kill Us” – On a conference call with reporters, John McCain surrogate Bud Day doesn’t do much to endear his candidate to Muslims: One of John McCain’s fellow POW’s in Vietnam, Colonel Bud Day, defended the war in Iraq, saying, “The Muslims have said either we kneel or they’re going to kill us.” Apparently, Day thinks that all Muslims are terrorists. A McCain campaign spokesman declined to disavow the comments. Bud Day is best known for his work with the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, attacking John Kerry in the 2004 election. He’s now a member of McCain’s Truth Squad. Ah, great job of picking quality people, Mr. Straight-Talk.

McCain Makes False Claims On Iraq Timeline – In an interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric tonight, John McCain made the false assertion that the Surge brought about the so-called Anbar Awakening. One problem. The surge wasn’t even announced until a few months after the Anbar Awakening. Via Spencer Ackerman, here is Colonel MacFarland explaining the Anbar Awakening to Pam Hass of UPI, on September 29, 2006. That would be almost four months before the President even announced the surge. Petraeus wasn’t even in Iraq yet. This isn’t some gaffe. This shows that McCain has a real misunderstanding of what has happened in Iraq over the past year.

It is history that anyone trying out for Commander and Chief must understand when there are 150, 000 American troops stationed in Iraq. It is an absolutely essential element to the story of the past two years. YOU CANNOT GET THIS WRONG. Moreover, what is most disturbing is that according to McCain’s inaccurate version of history, military force came first and solved all of our problems. If that is the lesson he takes from the Anbar Awakening, I am afraid it is the lesson he will apply to every other crisis he faces including, for example, Iran.

Republican Front Group Skirts Election Law – In 2002, a shady Republican front group spent millions of dollars attacking Democratic Senate candidates across the country, including Paul Wellstone (D-MN). The group, Americans for Job Security (AJS), registered as an “issue advocacy” group, even though election laws prohibit such groups from electioneering for or against candidates. AJS’s ability to skirt election laws allowed the group to take corporate contributions and hide the identity of its donors. The group spent an estimated $8.5 million nationwide against Democratic candidates in the final weeks of the 2002 election.

AJS is up to its old tricks, calling itself an “issue advocacy” group to hide the identity of its donors. Just as the Wellstone campaign did in 2002, the New Hampshire Democratic Party has filed a complaint against AJS with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) laying out a solid case as to why the group is in clear violation of election law.

Please sign the petition to the Federal Election Commission to force AJS to abide by the law and reveal its donors..

Dick Cheney’s Staff Took Advantage of 9/11 to Enhance Presidential Power – Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, told the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Dick Cheney’s staff took advantage of 9/11 to enhance presidential power and that — in the words of Republican lawyer and former 9/11 Commission director Philip Zelikow — “fear and anxiety were exploited by fools and zealots.” Mayer added, however, that there were also opponents of torture and other extreme powers within the administration. “Almost from the start after 9/11,” she stated, “lawyers in the administration have said, ‘That’s not the American way, we can’t do that, it’s criminal, it may be a war crime.’”

This Is What “Respectful” Looks Like? – From John McCain campaign memo to reporters, March 12, 2008:

Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues.

John McCain today:

I had the courage and the judgment to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.

Yep, because nothing says “respectful campaign” like accusing your rival of hoping America loses a war in order to serve his personal ambition.

McCain’s Tank Full of Nonsense – McCain’s new ad accuses Obama of keeping gas prices high, all by himself. That’s absurd, and McCain knows it – he has said repeatedly that our current problems were “30 years in the making.” The ad also tells us that gas prices are high because “some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America.” Not true. The federal government’s estimate is that if the moratorium on offshore drilling were lifted today, it would be 2030 before we’d see a noticeable effect on supply and prices. For the same reason, it’s simply not true that drilling more now will “rescue our family budgets.” Read the details from FactCheck.org.

McCain’s Small-Business Bunk – He claims 23 million small-business owners would pay higher tax rates under Obama. He’s wrong. The vast majority would see no change, and many would get a cut. McCain has repeatedly claimed that Obama would raise tax rates for 23 million small-business owners. It’s a false and preposterously inflated figure.

We find that the overwhelming majority of those small-business owners would see no increase, because they earn too little to be affected. Obama’s tax proposal would raise rates only on couples making more than $250,000 or singles earning more than $200,000.

McCain argues that Obama’s proposed increase is a job-killer. He has a point. It’s true that increasing taxes on those at the top would leave them less money for other purposes, including investment and hiring in the case of business owners. But the number of business owners who would see their rates go up would be only a small fraction of what McCain says. Many would see their taxes go down.

McCain Advisor Tied To Bush’s Pay-For-Play Influence Peddler - John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser is a close business associate of Stephen Payne, the lobbyist caught on tape offering access to top administration officials in exchange for donations to the Bush Library. Payne’s company’s entire business model is international influence peddling in exchange for oil and gas leases from politically unstable and dictatorial regimes. McCain’s senior foreign policy and national security adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is listed as a member of Worldwide Strategic Energy’s executive team in a pre-prospectus obtained by Majikthise.

Census Bureau Plans War on Data – In taking the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau intends to “edit” the accurate responses of legally married same-sex couples to report them falsely as “unmarried partners.” Such “editing” would not only be highly offensive, it would lead to the reporting of inaccurate demographic data, completely contrary to the Bureau’s mission and goals. Politics should have no place in the Census. Accuracy should be the only criterion.

Regards,

Jim

Right Wing Radio Host Michael Savage Says 99 Percent Of Autistic Children Are Misdiagnosed Brats - Radio talk show host Michael Savage, who described 99 percent of children with autism as brats, said Monday he was trying to “boldly awaken” parents to his view that many people are being wrongly diagnosed. “In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out,” Savage said on his radio program last Wednesday. Savage offered no apology in a message posted Monday on his Web site. He said greedy doctors and drug companies were creating a “national panic” by overdiagnosing autism, a mental disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate. Some parents of autistic children have called for Savage’s firing after he described autism as a racket last week.

John McCain Doesn’t Know Geography - How many more of these will it take before we finally dispense with the idea that John McCain is some sort of foreign policy genius who is uniquely qualified to be commander-in-chief? Today on “Good Morning America,” John McCain was asked whether he agreed with Barack Obama when he says the situation in Afghanistan is “precarious and urgent.” In predictable fashion, McCain downplays the significance of the deteriorating security situation there. McCain then says, “We have a lot of work to do. It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.” But there is no Iraq-Pakistan border. They are separated by Iran. Just another gaffe to add to the pile.

USDA Considering Release of 24 Million Acres of Land From the Conservation Reserve Program - One of the most successful conservation programs in the U.S. is at risk. The USDA is considering the release of 24 million acres of land from the Conservation Reserve Program for commercial use. The penalty-free release of this land would deal a devastating blow to our water, soil, habitat and efforts to stop global warming. It would be the equivalent of having 11 million more cars on our roads…each year. If this CRP land is released, there will be billions of dollars of taxpayer investment lost in addition to millions of acres tagged for land and wildlife conservation.

Bush and McCain Keep Telling Us Our Problems Are All in Our Heads – Have you noticed that President Bush and John McCain keep telling Americans our problems are all in our heads and that we just need to feel better?

Regards,

Jim

Anti-Terror Money Sought for Luxury for Senior Officers and Civilian Leaders – The top Air Force leadership sought for three years to spend counter-terrorism money on “comfort capsules” for military planes to ease the travel of senior officers and civilian leaders — with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules’ carpet and leather chairs — according to internal e-mails and budget documents.

But for the rest of the troops…
Americans Die in Iraq From Electrocution Due to Shoddy Workmanship – Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been largely ignored: shoddy electrical work by U.S. contractors at military bases leading to numerous electrical fires, troops receiving painful shocks, and even death by electrocution. Army Times reports that the shoddy wiring and electrical risks have brought about the deaths of 11 service members and two U.S. civilians.

However, a follow-up report by James Risen in the New York Times on July 18 states that the problem is far worse than General Petraeus stated, and the military has known about the systemic problems since 2004. Since the invasion, over 283 electrical fires on US bases have been reported, along with two deaths in 2006 at a base in Tikrit, the death of Sgt. Maseth, and innumerable painful shocks dealt to Americans. A log of complaints compiled early in 2008 found soldiers living in just one Baghdad building complex were complaining of painful electrical shocks ‘on an almost daily basis.’

And as for the victims of natural disasters…
Katrina Trailer Contractor Failed to Act on Known Health Risks – Gulf Stream Coach — the politically connected company handed a $500 million federal contract to manufacture trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims — knew its product was contaminated with dangerous levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde in early 2006. But it failed to notify residents or take any action to protect them. Gulf Stream’s founding family and employees contributed at least $81,650 to political candidates and groups, with 94 percent of that going to Republicans.

McCain Attended ZERO Afghanistan Hearings Over Past 2 Years - John McCain., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, has attended zero of his committee’s six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years.

Karl Rove Tried to Fire Prosecutor During Plame Leak Investigation – In a supplement to his responses to the House Judiciary Committee, Patrick Fitzgerald confirms what we’ve always suspected: Karl Rove was trying to have Patrick Fitzgerald fired while Fitzgerald was still investigating Rove for his role in leaking Valerie Wilson’s identity–and the timing lines up perfectly with the Administration’s efforts to fire a bunch of US Attorneys.

Special Counsel Deputy Boss’ Political Agendas and Personal Vendettas – The second-in-command at the government’s top whistle-blower office has quit in a dispute with his boss, whom he accused of putting “political agendas and personal vendettas” ahead of the agency’s mission and independence. James Byrne’s resignation as deputy to U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch is effective Saturday. Bloch is under federal investigation, accused of destroying evidence potentially showing he retaliated against his own staff.

ABC News/Wash. Post Withheld Results of Poll Favorable to Obama – ABC News and The Washington Post issued staggered releases of the results of their latest poll, withholding from their first release results favorable to Sen. Barack Obama, including the finding that 50 percent of registered voters would vote for Obama for president versus 42 percent for Sen. John McCain. The next day, the Post ran an article headlined “Poll Finds Voters Split on Candidates’ Iraq-Pullout Positions,” which did not mention Obama’s 8-point lead over McCain.

Oil and Gas Drilling is Destroying Wildlife Habitats - Take a look at what oil and gas drilling does to the land. It’s not just a rig or a pump. It’s pipelines, sludge ponds and roads… lots of roads. Some of this activity is in wildlife migration routes. Is this what you think of when you hear, “America the beautiful?”

Regards,

Jim