Saturday, March 31, 2007

AMOUNTS TO MORE THAN JUST PEANUTS

I highly suggest you click on the link to the Washington Post for the full essay by Mr. Brzezinski. Very interesting take on the current times by the former National Security Director for President Carter. Kimba

Terrorized by 'War on Terror' How a Three-Word Mantra
Has Undermined America By Zbigniew Brzezinski

The damage these three words have done -- a classic self-inflicted wound -- is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare -- political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants.

But the little secret here may be that the vagueness of the phrase was deliberately (or instinctively) calculated by its sponsors. Constant reference to a "war on terror" did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue.

The war of choice in Iraq could never have gained the congressional support it got without the psychological linkage between the shock of 9/11 and the postulated existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Support for President Bush in the 2004 elections was also mobilized in part by the notion that "a nation at war" does not change its commander in chief in midstream. The sense of a pervasive but otherwise imprecise danger was thus channeled in a politically expedient direction by the mobilizing appeal of being "at war."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301613_pf.html

Sunday, March 25, 2007

LET'S KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

This is all you got. This is all you ever talk about, this is what you cannot let go.
This is nothing.....nothing compared to the secrets you guys got brewing.
You really want to go to the Supreme Court over the subpoenas? Bring it on.
We haven't met there since that pesky little "hanging chad" thing.
Let's do lunch!!!

Friday, March 23, 2007

NEWSFLASH: BUSH "FRIEND" TO BILL OF RIGHTS

I have been challenged on a recent posting involving the Bush administration forcing a government censor to appear with the top NASA scientist when he addressed a government body, and ultimately the press (see posting below). This is not about whatever views he has expressed, but his right to express them free of censorship, or fear from intimidation.
But, this is not just my opinion, here are excerpts from numerous postings in regards to the Bush / Cheney administrations assault on the Bill of Rights. I invite you to read the links provided. Can they all be wrong? Are they all just crackpot liberals politicizing everything? i invite you to be the judge....

"Somewhere between the elimination of privacy rights and abolition of checks and balances, it becomes startlingly apparent that over the furor of “preventive justice”, the White House has silently squandered our constitutional protections of due process and civil liberties.

The PATRIOT Act’s baleful abrogation of our right to due process under the law cannot be overstated. As defined in legal jargon, our constitutional right to due process endows every person with appropriate safeguards to protect against arbitrary or unreasonable treatment under the law. It is noteworthy to all, including the Department of Justice, that the framer’s used the term ‘person’ instead of ‘citizen’ in reference to due process. This makes the worst provisions of the PATRIOT Act all the more deplorable for their targeted discrimination of non-citizens. In essence, these provisions institute ideological censorship, authorize deportation for lawful group activities, and allow the Attorney General to detain foreigners with a piece of paper.

Such blatant constitutional violations by the PATRIOT Act, however, are not restricted to foreigners alone. The legislation expands terrorism laws to include “domestic terrorism”, which could subject common political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, and harassment for political advocacy. Consequently, the mere threat of criminal action is employed to suppress peaceful dissent.

Intelligence agents are similarly granted increased powers to detain citizens for investigative purposes and conduct surveillance—even when there is no basis for suspecting criminal activity. One particularly Orwellian provision involves the notorious “sneak and peek” warrant. Not to be confused with the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizures, this new and improved PATRIOT warrant permits agents to search homes and confiscate property under a low evidentiary standard, without first notifying the owner. The House also voted to repeal Section 215 of the Act, extending government surveillance powers into the very bastions of access to the free press: bookstores and public libraries. Under this provision, the FBI can force librarians and booksellers to turn over the records of their customers without showing probable cause before an ordinary court. The Act also carries a gag order, criminalizing any discussion of FBI searches with the threat of prosecution.

Such outrageous violations of due process and equal protection have not gone unnoticed in America’s town halls. More than 160 local governments and three states have passed resolutions opposing the PATRIOT Act, and numerous civil liberty groups have filed lawsuits against the Act’s constitutional violations. At the same time the Inspector General of the Justice Department has submitted two scathing critiques of the Department’s treatment of immigrants swept up under the Act’s broad provisions. The report details dozens of blatant civil rights abuses, many alleging inhumane treatment of prisoners at the hands of Department employees."
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1184

"If anyone had predicted that the election of George W. Bush to the presidency would result in an American police state and illegal wars of aggression, he would have been dismissed as a lunatic.
What American ever would have thought that any US president and attorney general would defend torture or that a Republican Congress would pass a bill legalizing torture by the executive branch and exempting the executive branch from the Geneva Conventions?"
WASHINGTON - "A statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant.
The White House denies any change in policy, but civil libertarians are alarmed, saying the government has never publicly claimed that power before."
"Fear of the legitimate threat of terrorism is allowing us to be weak on protecting our most cherished gift we possess as Americans; our freedoms as set forth in our constitution and its amendments. We’re allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of by those who would desire to see our freedoms lessened for their own lustful purposes. Because of our fear we have ignored the fact that we were attacked by a group of predominately Saudi Arabian men on 9-11. They were from a violently radical Islamic fundamentalist organization named Al Qaeda. But Bush and his cohorts have decided to lead the nation away from those who attacked us. Instead we’ve been duped into raging war against a tactic. An unending war against a nameless and faceless foe called ‘terrorist’. It was used as an excuse for an ill-advised war of choice and subsequent bloody occupation in Iraq. It’s the excuse for the horror the neocon dominated administration is about to unleash on Iran. "
"Congress has overwhelmingly passed, and the president has enthusiastically signed, an anti-terrorism bill that, as the ACLU says, gives "enormous, unwarranted power to the executive branch unchecked by meaningful judicial review." Moreover, "most of the new powers could be used against American citizens in counterterrorism investigations and in routine criminal investigations completely unrelated to terrorism."
On October 12, the House voted, 337 to 79, for a 175-page bill that most of its members hadn't even had time to read. Democratic congressman John Conyers said on C-Span that only two copies of the bill were available to his side of the aisle.

Congressman David Obey of Wisconsin reacted mordantly to what he described as "a backroom quick fix" before the vote. "Why should we care?" he said. "It's only the Constitution." Barney Frank said it plainly: "This was the least democratic process for debating questions fundamental to democracy I have ever seen. A bill drafted by a handful of people in secret, subject to no committee process, comes before us immune from amendment."

Another sneak attack on the democratic process had put a quick fix on the Senate Judiciary Committee's anti-terrorism bill. Present at that closed-door session were Senate leaders and emissaries from the administration.

Swiftly, the Senate passed that much harsher legislation by a vote of 96 to 1 on October 11. Again, most members of the "world's greatest deliberative body" did not have time to read the entire 243-page bill.

The only senator with the honesty and courage to vote against this attack on due process, the Fourth and First Amendments, and others of "our cherished liberties," as the attorney general had called them, was Russell Feingold of Wisconsin.
On the floor of the Senate, Feingold had tried to rouse his colleagues to repel this attack on the Constitution: "It is crucial that civil liberties in this country be preserved. Otherwise, I'm afraid terror will win this battle without firing a shot."
Accounts provided to the Daily Kos website are reprinted below.
Narrative re: Bush's visit to SCC on May 9, 2006 from Barbara Nicholson
"We stood with about 50 others on rte 674 and when the motorcade came by there was assault rifle OUT the window pointing at ALL of us and the cars all looked like I remember seeing in the Hitler motorcades in the movies when I was a child, all boxy and black and one had the Pres seal and American flag on the sides. It was absolutely chilling! I worked the inner city for 15 years with gangs and even with kids and families of the Bloods and Crips and have never had an assault rifle pointed my way. In my 75 years I have seen many Pres motorcades and shook many pres hands and seen many pres elects and their entourage but never anything like this with the motorcycles, big black cars and rifles were just the very last straw. It wasn't the rifle that was scary it was knowing that this madman is so insecure and scared and psychotic that this is how he must travel.
The last thing America's workers need is another economic kick in the groin, but the Bush labor board may soon deliver what could be its lowest blow yet. The Bush National Labor Relations Board is easily the most anti-worker labor board in history and has lost few opportunities to turn back the clock on workers' rights, but even against this sorry backdrop, the scope of what they now are contemplating is breathtaking.

In a series of pending cases known as Kentucky River, the Bush board could strip what remains of federal labor law protections from hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of workers whose jobs include even minor, incidental or occasional supervisory duties. The pending cases involve charge nurses in a hospital and a nursing home and lead workers in a manufacturing plant, but these workers could be just the tip of the iceberg. "

"The right of the American people to challenge their government, to freely and openly debate the issues and policiesof the day is fundamental to our republic. Most Americans would agree that a healthy marketplace of ideas,unfettered by government interference, makes America stronger, not weaker. Not so the Bush Administration,which has used intimidation, spying, selective prosecution, and even physical barriers like so-called “free speech zones” to wage a broad and systematic assault on speech that disagrees with their policies."
Senate to Take Up Dangerous Religious Liberties Legislation in September

"In September, the Senate is scheduled to take up the "Public Expression of Religion Act," an act that essentially protects the free expression of some individuals, at the expense of millions of others. The bill would prevent individuals, often religious minorities, from having their attorneys' fees reimbursed if they win a lawsuit regarding claims made under the Establishment Clause.

"Religious freedom cannot be protected if Congress prevents Americans from taking legal action when their freedom has been violated," Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office said. "This bill would keep Americans from standing up for their right to keep government out of religion."

The ability to recover attorneys' fees in civil rights and constitutional cases, including Establishment Clause cases, is necessary to help protect the religious freedom of all Americans and keep government out of religion. People who successfully prove the government has violated their constitutional rights would, under the bill, be required to pay their own legal fees -- often totaling tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Few citizens can afford to do so. But more importantly, citizens should not be required to pay when the court finds that they are in the right."
And that is not just the "World According to Kimba",
that is the present day world according to more and more people each day.
Attack our politics, attack us period.
But the truth is, the Bush administration has used a national tragedy
to orchestrate an assault on our civil rights.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

GIVING NASA THE "NAZI TREATMENT"

/nation/la-sci-climate
According to the L. A. Times today....
A government scientist, under sharp questioning by a federal panel for his outspoken views on global warming, stood by his view today that the Bush administration's information policies smacked of Nazi Germany.
James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, took particular issue with the administration's rule that a government information officer listen in on his interviews with reporters and its refusal to allow him to be interviewed by National Public Radio."This is the United States," Hansen told the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee. "We do have freedom of speech here."
Dr. Hansen did have a government official with him at the time of addressing the panel, former chief of staff to the White House counsel on environmental affairs. And, guess what? One of Mr. Cooney's other former posts was as an official of the American Petroleum Institute. Because when you think of the Bush administration, you should think of one thing.....BIG OIL.
And remember big oil.....I mean the Bush administration's official stance on Global Warming is to create doubts. To create doubts in every one's minds that we have caused damage by dumping the atmosphere with pollutants. Tons and tons of pollutants. But many want you to think in doing so, we have caused no damage. If they really believed it, how come they require smog tests on our cars? Let's face it everyone, the Bush administration is good at two things, lying, and using rhetoric (and their friends) to cast doubt on the truth. Oh, I almost forgot, they were really good at making us fear things as well. Fear things based upon their lies.
Kudo's to Dr. Hansen for standing up to the worst friend the Bill of Rights ever had....the Bush administration. But, just where will you be working tomorrow, smart guy?

Sunday, March 18, 2007

HE WANTS TO TRAVEL THROUGH THE MUCK, AND THE MIERS


Senate judiciary committee chairman Pat Leahy has finally done what I have anticipated. He has publically threatened to subpoena Karl Rove, and Harriet Miers, the Bush administrations former White House counsel. The Vermont Senator wants testimony on the firing of the eight federal prosecutors, and he wants them in public. Leahy had anticipated some sort of negotiations with the White House in regards to thir testimony from their present counsel, but had heard nothing from Mr. Fielding, the Bush administrations lawyer."I want testimony under oath. I am sick and tired of getting half-truths on this," Leahy said. "I do not believe in this, we'll have a private briefing for you where we'll tell you everything, and they don't."


Arlen Spector, the committee's top ranking republican is not fighting it either, claiming to be "reserving judgement." "I want to see exactly what the White House response is," Specter said. "Maybe the White House will come back and say, 'We'll permit them to be interviewed and we'll give them all the records.'"


At issue is the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, dismissals that Democrats say were politically motivated. Such prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the president. The Attorney General had at first, claimed the firings were performance related, and were carried out without the White House playing a role, however he has retracted both of these assertions as untrue. This mea culpa was not due to a sudden case of honesty, or character, but the surfacing of several e-mails from Karl Rove himself into the possibility of the ousters.


What at first seems to be a very trivial matter, and certainly not unprecedented (Clinton fired 93 upon gaining office), has blown up into the scandal dujour. One can only surmise these latest congressional hearings are the direct result of a lame duck President who is currently afraid of his own shadow. His unwillingness, or inability to come to the quick defense of his own people is what is amazing, and unpalatable. Perhaps he does in fact, read the papers. Although it cannot feel good to realize that his Presidency will be long remembered as one of the ten worst in our countries history. That is, however, not enough reason to empty the contents of his nut sack on the night stand of the Lincoln bedroom before going to work each morning.

Friday, March 16, 2007

HOLDING THEIR FEET TO THE PLAME

Did anybody catch the house intel investigations today on Cspan? The panel was barely half full. Of course, as the committee chair brazenly pointed out, "After all, it is a FRIDAY." And as all followers of the previous congress already know, being a Senator or Representative is now be officially classified as a part time position.
The Republicans seem to be holding on to one main point. If Rove, etal, cannot be proven to have had knowledge that Ms. Plame's CIA position was, in fact, covert and undercover, then they could have dropped the dime on her employer if they liked.
Horseshit. They knew. Let's face it. The last person on earth the administration wants swearing in to a committee investigation is K. Rove, esq. He simply knows way too much. So, Rumsfeld, fired in disgrace. Libby, found guilty. Now, Attorney General Gonzales will take the G. Gordon Liddy fall guy of the year award (take one for the gipper).
Ms. Plame's husband was sent to Niger on an intelligence investigation in regards to the possibility that Iraq was developing a nuclear bomb. This was investigated by a three star general, and various intelligence level operatives previously, and found to be false. Bush knew it, and falsely raised the nuclear specter in his State of the Union speech, knowing full well it was false. But it sure rocked Washington, didn't it. To the tune of billions of dollars and thousands of military lives, fighting a war we need not fight. What do we have to do, ask the President to swear in before addressing congress and the American people?
Mr. Wilson then became extremely vocal in regards to the phony intelligence reports flying around the hill. His penitence was having his wife's occupation outed. Shame.
Please forgive the photo stolen above. It does not nearly do her justice. Ms. Plame could get a confession from a dead man. Simply put, she is intelligent, strong, and one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the house chamber. She could easily change professions to journalism and host her own TV show. She was quite impressive, on many, many levels.
The low point of the hearing was one of the conservatives asking her political affiliation, which she immediately rebuffed as not having any bearing on the hearing, or the issue at hand. I am sick to death of the politicizing of everything, and everybody in the world today. As if your party affiliation is "the true measure of the man", and speaks to their inner character. We do not ask policemen, or firemen, or the armed forces what their political affiliations are, and the same should go to the members of the CIA and FBI, etc.
Speaking of party affiliations, should the fired special prosecutors party affiliations mean anything in terms to their length of employment? They uphold the law, period. Some of the lawyers fired for "performance issues" (later admittedly false and apologized for by the Attorney General as an out and out lie), had exemplary records, and their liberal, or conservative leanings would not affect their performance whatsoever.
Once again, the AG is going to take the fall for the administration. I do not believe the AG wanted to fire any of these top performers. He was acting on orders from the top administration officials. The odd thing is the firings occurred mid-term, and not at the beginning of the administrations term of office as is normally done.
This is one of many missteps by this administration, who is in full punch drunk boxer mode, flailing away at the legitimate criticisms for the lying, calculated way they have gone about affecting the changes they want to carry out. They haven't landed a punch in quite some time now. With the Dem's investigating everything, they will be reduced to a defensive posture from here on in. And you know what? They deserve it. They have plenty to hide. They have earned every low point they get on the favorable / unfavorable polls, as well as deserving the mistrust the American people feel towards them.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

WHAT HAPPENED?

If you are one of this blogs repeat visitors, thank you!! Over the course of the past two years, I have blogged and blogged and blogged (173 posts). Over the course of the two year period I have gotten over 3000 "hits" on this address. Mind boggling.

Although some look upon blogging as a waste of time, I have found great joy in it. The ability to write and publish my thoughts, rants, and off centered humor in a somewhat public forum was one of the great passions in my life. Best of all, it was all me. Created, written, posted and oft times miss-spelled by me. I took great pride in it.

Which leads me to the title of this, seemingly first post on this blog. What the hell happened? The short answer is, I do not know. Got hacked into I guess. Lost all of my postings,. Replaced by a time lapsed photo of traffic on a freeway (to see this phenomenon, just click on the link to my "Just blowin' Off Steam" blog). This happened where ever I had put an Audiovox link for pod casting. In hind sight, I should have let it alone. Maybe the problem was not internal, and would have straightened itself out on its own.

But, for those who know me, I do not simply let things sit, I must tinker. I always was good at tinkering with my template in old blogger, and not much has really changed, has it? Apparently so. To make a long story longer, I began tinkering, and got the freeway picture to go away....A testament to my amazing deductive skills and true genius intellectual abilities.

Unfortunately, in tandem with this hurculean feat, I also apparently completely wiped all trace of the ludicrous meanderings which have comprised this blog for so long. So, as everyone knows, sometimes you have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and start again with an undaunted spirit. Oh yes, I considered chucking the whole thing, but where would the world be without the absolute power and hubris of The World According to Kimba?
I like to think I have changed some minds politically. Perhaps not. I know my writings have at least spurred on some thought, sometimes some discussion. Mostly from a gentleman who lives near me, whom I have never met (my fault). If you have read my previous postings, and especially the comments, you would have stumbled upon a gentleman who refers to himself as Papa. His comments have made me think, made me write, made me mad, and made me laugh. Thank you, Papa. I have read his blog, and it has indeed given me, as he frequently signs off with, "much thought." I haven't changed his diametrically opposite political views from mine, but I can take credit for polishing his barbs, if only with an extremely fine grit.
That is the amazing part of blogging, your blog can be read all over the world, and indeed mine was (as documented by my site meter). Most did not leave comments, but to those who took the time to read and comment, thanks an awful lot.
So, take a look at a brand new, fresh start. I will continue to blog as much as time permits (normally early on weekend mornings). I hope you find something here that will spur on your creative juices, or at least your ire. Because that is what is so great with blogging, it keeps the communication and the dialogue going.
For the first six months of my blog, I told no one. People stumbled on to it and left comments who I haven't got even the foggiest notion who they are. And I wrote everything that came to my mind, free of anyone knowing who I am, or where I come from. Then, as I got more political (and vocal), I started letting others in on my secret (once I deleted the posts of a personal, more diary-like nature). And I was off and running. Over 3000 hits later, I give you my first post of The World According to Kimba part deux. Picking myself up and starting all over again. That's all right, everyone needs a clean sweep, a second chance, and I intend to take it.
And that is the pathetic "World According to Kimba." And again, thanks for reading.