For the very small minority of Americans who read the liberal blogsphere or watch Keith O. on MSNBC, the revelations last week that torture of detainees was specifically and in grumsome detail discussed and approved at the highest level of the Bush Administration are well-known.

For everyone else, not so much.

Typically, I read several newspapers a day and visit DailyKos and other politically oriented websites. I also watch Countdown and, occasionally, Hardball on MSNBC, as well as CNN news programming.

Friday or so of last week, it occurred to me that I had read not one word in any newspaper about the torture news. Not. One. Word.

Sunday, after completely reviewing my local newpaper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and continuing to be rather amazed, I decided to go googling and try to figure out what the hell was going on. This morning, I did the same. Specifically, I did news searches using the following key words: "torture bush".

The shocking results are below.

For the last two years, John Edwards, the former Junior Senator from North Carolina, Presidential Candidate and Vice Presidential Nominee, has been planning and working toward the announcement that will come next week.

I am a supporter. Three years ago, I got on-board early. I believed. I attended fundraisers and wrote checks and encouraged others to do so as well. I literally cheered as I sat home watching an early debate in Iowa, where John Edwards came on with a rush, vaulted almost overnight into major contender status and captured the attention of the nation.

(continued below)

BushCo's Orwellian mind control over large segments of the American voting populace is an amazing and astounding phenomena to me.

How is it possible that people are so easily deluded and propagandized on such a virtually endless number of important subjects?

That is, of course, merely a rhetorical question, since there can be no comprehensible explanation and it is, in fact, a matter well beyond any rational understanding.

Indeed, I often wonder how exactly are these people able to walk around and actually be functional with the cacophony of cognitive dissonance that must be constantly banging against the inside of their skulls.

So the list of utterly innane and irrational "Things You Have to Believe to be a Republican", reprinted below, struck a serious chord with me. And whomever the author may be, I assume he or she would not object to it being widely dispersed for all to enjoy and use.

And so, without further ado, here it is -- on the flip ...

The lead staff op-ed in today's Chicago Tribune, "The founding of Terroristan", hits the nail on the head.

A "peace treaty?" No, not exactly.

Instead, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's deal with tribal elders and pro-Taliban militants in the border area of North Waziristan "sounds like a capitulation".

But, of course, it is certainly comforting to know that Pakistan officials are spinning out assurances that the deal does not mean Osama bin Laden had been granted "amnesty." See also, here.

Clearly, this deal by our idiot Preznit's loyal ally, Musharraf, "is a setback in the war on terror".

And why might that be? Oh well, just because:

It seems entirely likely that this area will become a sanctuary for terrorists, a protected place for them to regroup and rearm, a miniature version of what Afghanistan had become before the U.S. routed the Taliban starting in 2001.

More ...

 

American hero, former Senator Max Cleland (D - Ga), who would be in the United States Senate today but for scurrilious Republican lies, spoke some serious truth in Little Rock yesterday.

Cleland and retired Gen. Wesley Clark appeared together at the Arkansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the state Capitol as part of a tribute to residents of the state who served in the military.

. . . <snip>

"It is immoral to abuse the good nature of our young people, and send them back and back and back (into combat) ... with no strategy to win, and no strategy to end" the war, Cleland said.

 

Go, Max, Go!

I guess I must just have too much time on my hands, but then again one never knows what fun tidbits of information or opinion a bit of random googling might yield.

Anyway, I have stumbled across an op-ed that our community might enjoy. Perhaps, we could consider it an update on the pulse of public opinion in the Deep South / Deep Red America. Yep, you guessed it, none other than Decatur, Alabama, a self-described "bustling community of some 50,000", located only 20 minutes to the northwest of Huntsville, home the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and (at least the last time I checked) not a recognized center of liberal or other enlightened thought.

The good stuff is on the flip ...

 

Presidents Day morning, February 20, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. EST, the American Civil Liberties Union is holding a  National Town Hall, via live streaming webcast, on the timely subject of Freedom at Risk: Spying, Secrecy and Presidential Power.

This event will be held at George Washington University, Jack Morton Auditorium, 805 21st St., NW, Washington, D.C., before a live audience, and will feature an impressive panel and be moderated by journalist Marvin Kalb. The panel will include:

Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director;
John W. Dean, former White House counsel;
Laurence H. Tribe, Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard University;
Jim Harper, Cato Institute; and
Mary DeRosa, Center for Strategic and International Studies.

To participate, simply go to http://www.aclu.org to watch the live webcast and participate by asking questions in real time.

(More on the other side.)

John Edwards is an American Hero, in my humble opinion. A man with the character, the intelligence, the values, the vision, the stature and everything else required to lead our nation.

I was an early supporter of his bold and inspiring 2004 candidacy for the nomination of our party, and I will be a supporter of his 2008 candidacy.

Today, however, John Edwards, citizen, speaks for us all in issuing a clarion call to arms against the confirmation of Samuel Alito to a lifetime position to the Supreme Court.

Go now to this Petition.

Text of Petition on the other side.

In a guest editorial published in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution, Bob Barr, former U.S. Attorney, former U.S. Congressman, former member of the House Impeachment Team, has weighed in on the BushCo spy crimes scandal.

Mr. Barr throughly deconstructs and lays waste to the Administration's spin effort, addressing in turn various of the purported justifications advanced by King George and concluding the law was violated. Although behind a registration-required firewall, the piece is most definitely worth the read.

A few highlights below the fold.

Folks, MSNBC's website has this as the top story: Bush says he authorized eavesdropping in U.S. And attached to the story is this Live Poll question: Was President Bush right to authorize NSA eavesdropping on Americans?

At the moment, there have been exactly 79,199 responses and fully 70% have picked the "No, it's unconstitutional" choice; which does seem pretty impressive to me.

Now, these on-line surveys have no scientific validity and may, in fact, be entirely worthless, but even so, I have to think the Leftie Blogosphere might need to jump on this one.

Like, with both feet.

[Updates on the flip.]

Today on Today, the Commander in Chief, the President of our great United States of America was asked by NBC's Brian Williams about the Newsweek cover story entitled "Bush in the Bubble", which offers some helpful analysis; such as:

Bush may be the most isolated president in modern history.

and

What Bush actually hears and takes in, however, is not clear. And whether his advisers are quite as frank as they claim to be with the president is also questionable.

Given the opportunity to definitively address these radical leftist notions, Mr. Bush, as we all might expect, hardly rose to the occasion.

Pithy quotes of the interview on the flip.

Like many, I am positively giddy with joy today. Delay indicted. Frist investigatively slammed by the FTC. Bush falling in the polls. The Rethug Corruption Machine unwinding.

Of all the damn things, it was an email from the DLC that re-focused me on the big picture that I suggest we should all be reminded.

Here it is.

Believe me, I'm no DLCer. But I am on their list and they do occasionally (not very often) offer up some truly cogent analysis.

So, FWIW, I pass this on the community.

WIW is, IMO, a read.

Or, if you prefer, the meat of the thing is on the other side.

I heard from our friend, John Edwards, a short while ago, and since an earlier, quite excellent diary by girlfromsouth, "We're Watching John Edwards' Two Americas Right Now" [ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/2/13737/40966 ], quickly scrolled by, I'm sharing John's thoughts with the community:

Dear David,

During the campaign of 2004, I spoke often of the two Americas: the America of the privileged and the wealthy, and the America of those who lived from paycheck to paycheck. I spoke of the difference in the schools, the difference in the loan rates, the difference in opportunity. All of that pales today. Today - and for many days and weeks and months to follow - we see a harsher example of two Americas. We see the poor and working class of New Orleans who don't own a car and couldn't evacuate to hotels or families far from the target of Katrina. We see the suffering of families who lived from paycheck to paycheck and who followed the advice of officials and went to shelters at the Civic Center or the Superdome or stayed home to protect their possessions.

As all will hopefully recall, Independent World Television will hopefully very soon be the world's first global independent news network. The key word here is independent, as in independent from all governments, corporations or commercial advertising. See generally, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/25/104646/250 or, better yet, http://www.iwtnews.com/

The present start-up status of IWTnews is the web is being utilized to promote, organize, and raise funds everywhere.

Given our constant and totally accurate bitching, moaning, and general castigation here at dKos of the Corporate Media Cartel, or CMC, a/k/a SCLM, and the obvious impact of rampant public ignorance and overwhelming BushCo propaganda upon the horrible state of our world's affairs, the question I was thinking of this morning was: How would IWTnews cover the London bombings?

And then I received the email that I wanted to share with you all . . . on the other side.

This news item struck me as a real shocker.

Today's The Hill reports that Republican Congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee has signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill to establish independent, bipartisan commissions in each state to redraw Congressional district maps every 10 years and restrict redistricting efforts from taking place between census cycles. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/062305/brief.html

As Rep. Wamp cogently explains: "Too many Congressional districts have been carefully designed to guarantee victory for one political party or another."

Wow! Like in Texas? And Georgia?

And a Republican Congressman actually thinks this might not be a good thing?

Wonders never cease.

More below the fold.

Many may recall Turtle Bay's inspired and successful effort to make a small difference for a group of severely disadvantaged urban youth at Community Prep High School in New York City.
See, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/21/94840/2628

Well, I thought some at least might like to know that I (and probably other contributors to this good cause) just today received a nice Thank You letter from the the Principal and the Director.

This letter stated:

"Dear Friend and Contributor,

Our entire school was overwhelmed by the generosity and support of the DailyKos.org [sic.] community. Your kind words, thoughts, and suggestions were appreciated as much as your financial gifts.

We are now in the proocess of planning an excellent day in the country!

'In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.'    Mother Teresa

...Again, thank you for your caring and support."

I thought a quick diary was in order to share this message with the entire community.

Our friend John Edwards and his One America Committee -- http://www.oneamericacommittee.com/ -- send me an email several hours ago with this subject line: "Take Action: Protect The Voice Of The Grassroots!"

Citizen Edwards advises that on Thursday, 3/24, the Federal Election Commission proposed new regulations to restrict political expression on the Internet and opened the floor for public comments.

He states: "[I]t is critical that public comments to the FEC include those from defenders of online democracy."

He further states: "[W]e need more voices in politics today, not fewer. And we know that the Internet is one of the best ways for these voices to actually be heard. The FEC needs to encourage a vibrant conversation online - not squelch one of the greatest communications tools our democracy has known."

Please take a moment on this important matter and sign John Edwards' Petition:
http://ga3.org/campaign/freespeech/step1.tcl
Thanks!

Trouble is brewing in Fantasyland, that good little girl and boy land where all good Republican youth are safely cloistered away from corrupting cultural influences.

It seems that next week's $40 million extravagaza of an inaugural will include a youth concert to be hosted by the Bush twins, those personifications of moral rectitude, and may feature none other than Kid Rock, the self-decribed "original Pimp of the Nation". Source: http://www.kidrock.com/bio/bio_detail.asp?item_id=11&categoryid=871