America: Going to Hell in a Hand Basket

In case you hadn't noticed, our nation is sinking fast. I hope you have noticed because as Black Commentator says, the corporate media won't tell you.

There is a an international conversation going on that Americans are not privy to, because of the censorship practiced by our corporate media. Whether we hear it or not, the bell is tolling.

Black Commentator printed this brilliant analysis from Aijaz Ahmad, writing for India's national newspaper, the Hindu. It is called the Global Descent of America. It is a must read.

The Bush Family and the Nazis

As the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is commemorated, it is worth noting the connection between the Bush family and Hitler's Germany. Prescott Bush, the President's grandfather, had business dealings with the Nazis even after the U.S. entered the war. The Guardian has the story.

Time to Get Out of Dodge

Ted Kennedy is now saying what his junior Senator should have been saying last year. The U.S. must leave Iraq.

He doesn't say anything particularly earth shaking, just common sense statements about people hating occupation. These days common sense looks like brilliance.

One Nation, Under a Cult

I have called Bush delusional and I have called him a fascist. Seymour Hersh has outdone me. He says the Bushmen are a cult. I agree with him. Hersh has ominous thoughts on the direction the country is moving toward.

"You know, if you have not sold your stocks and bought property in Italy, you better do it quick. And the third thing is Europe -- Europe is not going to tolerate us much longer. The rage there is enormous. I'm talking about our old-fashioned allies. We could see something there, collective action against us. Certainly, nobody -- it's going to be an awful lot of dancing on our graves as the dollar goes bad and everybody stops buying our bonds, our credit -- our -- we're spending $2 billion a day to float the debt, and one of these days, the Japanese and the Russians, everybody is going to start buying oil in Euros instead of dollars. We're going to see enormous panic here. But he could get through that. That will be another year, and the damage he’s going to do between then and now is enormous. We’re going to have some very bad months ahead."

You Say Personal, I Say Private

The Republicans want to eliminate social security but they don't want to say that of course. The Bushmen held their focus groups and they must have told them that "private account" was too scary. Now they are called "personal accounts."

None of that is surprising, but as usual the press are disgracing themselves by repeating conservative phraseology and not owning up to their blanket suck up to Bush. Salon has the story on the press capitulation. As of now you don't need to go to the GOP to get their talking points. Just read the paper and watch the evening news.

Conscience of a Conservative

"In the ranks of the new conservatives, however, I see and experience much hate. It comes to me in violently worded, ignorant and irrational emails from self-professed conservatives who literally worship George Bush. Even Christians have fallen into idolatry. There appears to be a large number of Americans who are prepared to kill anyone for George Bush."

These words were written by a Republican, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, who served as Assistant Treasury Secretary under Reagan. He has also served as an associate editor for the Wall Street Journal editoral page and as contributing editor for the National Review.

In a commentary for Zmag he not only skewers the fanaticism and delusion of the right, but the failure of the supposedly liberal media to stand up to Bush. Roberts' words are a powerful indictment of a delusional, crazed nation.

Will Israel Attack Iran?

If it does, it will be with the full support of the United States. The same people who gave us the Iraq occupation are chomping at the bit to let Israel attack Iran and destroy its nuclear capability.

Israel did the same thing with Iraq, which made Condi's now infamous "mushroom cloud" remark all the more laughable. Saddam Hussein couldn't resurrect his plans for attaining nuclear capability even if he wanted to do so.

The full insanity of the Bushmen and the irrelevance of the Democrats has come to fruition. What will the Democrats do? We already know the answer to that because they don't dare criticize Israel either. They will do nothing.

The pro-Israeli lobby has silenced the nation. You can't run for dog catcher if you speak out against Israel. Once again Israel's desires will help determine foreign policy decisions that the rest of the world finds abhorrent.

The Muslim world will hate us all the more. Actually, the entire world will hate us, all of us, no longer making a distinction between the government and the people.

Bringing Liberty to the Iraqi People


Chris Hondros, Getty Images

At his coronation today the Mad King went on and on about liberty and how the United States would bring it to the rest of the world. This week an embedded journalist showed the world that Iraqis now have the freedom to be shot to death if they drive down the wrong street.

The young girl in the photo saw her parents gunned down by itchy fingered U.S. troops. You know, the ones we are supposed to support without question. This child is just one of thousands who would probably disagree if you told them they were better off without Saddam.

Chinese Terrorists

You have to give credit where it is due. Only the Bush administration could add more paranoia and fear mongering to their already frightening inaugural celebration.

Phony terror alert number 99 alleges that Iraqi and Chinese terrorists are on their way to Beantown, to throw tea in the harbor I suppose. As always, the evidence is such a sham that even public officials have to say that they doubt the official story. Boston's Mayor said there is “a lot of misinformation out there.”

In today's Black Commentator I note how Bush's pathological paranoia has made the whole country just as crazy as he is.

John Kerry, A Day Late and a Dollar Short

"Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote."
John Kerry

Well, well, well. It seems that John Kerry does know how to speak up. It is all a few months late of course. I don't know whether to say better late than never or to keep cursing his name. I think I will choose the latter. I guess Kerry realizes that showing clear differences with Bush was the key to victory, but I hope he doesn't think he can run again.

Kerry says he may not vote to confirm the inept and undiplomatic Condi Rice as Secretary of State. That's nice but I'll be a little more impressed if he says no to the torturer, Alberto Gonzales, who wants to head the Justice Department.

King Day

How should we remember Dr. King? As always, read Black Commentator for the answer. On Monday the media will go on and on and on about the I Have a Dream speech. They won't tell you that when he was alive they had nothing good to say about him.

CBS

"From a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on…. I vote for Viacom. Viacom is my life, and I do believe that a Republican administration is better for media companies than a Democratic one."

There you have it. In case you couldn't figure it out, you now know why CBS fell on its sword after correctly reporting that George W. Bush didn't show up for his national guard duty. Greg Palast tells all.

Privilege

"White reality is privileged at every turn, so that if whites say something is a problem, it is, and if whites insist it isn't, then it isn't."
Tim Wise

As usual, Tim Wise hits the nail on the head.

How John Kerry Can Redeem Himself

Keith Olbermann has been unique in the corporate media. He has actually covered the vote theft of 2004. Imagine that.

Today Congress will ratify the vote of the electoral college unless at least one member of the United States Senate says that they should not. In his blog Olbermann reports that as many as six Senators may do just that. John Kerry should be one of them.

Instead of thinking about running again and bringing another Republican to the White House, Kerry must stand up today and do what he should have done on November 3rd when he punked out and gave George W. Bush legitimacy.

He must say that the Republicans cheated. They cheated when they made sure that Ohio polling places had insufficient numbers of voting machines. They cheated when they tabulated votes electronically. John Kerry can only redeem himself if he stands up today for the voting rights of American citizens.