The 'Soul' of the Republican Party

In other posts I have mentioned the seemingly inexorable trend towards the destruction of the Republican Party.  I have said it almost seems like some evil plot by enemies of the party.  Perhaps that is so,  but I can not find any real evidence of  that.

Instead, it seems more like some ugly political suicide at the behest of the neoconservative far-right wing of the party, holding a gun on everyone else in the party.  The neoconservatives' implacably insist on their own brands of perverted dogma, 'nothing else, and nothing less, so help us God'.   The result is a radical shift far right which other factions of the party seem powerless to resist.   Core values and principles are abandoned wholesale and left bleeding by the side of the road.  Whenever any group so abdicates its core principles and its abrogates values to the prejudices of lowest common denominators, how can you not expect damage or destruction of the party? 

Many neoconservatives believe and say the 'soul of the Republican Party' today is represented by, among others,   popular talk show personalities Sean Hannity,  Bill O'Reilly,  Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.  These figures broadcast through either Fox News or Clear Channel Communications, and often both.  Three of them (Hannity, O'Reilly, Beck) are catholic, or ex-Catholic in the case of Beck who has now converted to Mormonism.   I mention this because it seems to a trait among Catholics towards strictness and obedience to 'doctrinal truths'.  Extreme examples are the infamous 'inquisitions' during Medieval times in the 13th centry and the Roman, Spanish and Portugeuse inquisitions supremacy during the 16th century.

Between the four of them, Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly, only one finished college (O'Reilly) with the others having dropped out early in their 'educational careers'.  At least two are or have been confirmed drug addicts (Beck, Limbaugh).   Beck has been accused of rape.  O'Reilly has been sued for sexual harrasment with the suit being settled out of court, reportedly for millions of dollars.

These people freely and deliberately engage in outrageous claims and flaming rhetoric, the more outrageous and sensational the better.  This seems hugely attractive to the lower educated classes in the country, many of whom accept their claims as gospel while disregarding realities.  There are strong anti-elite, anti-intellectual and anti-progressive currents running through all their broadcasts.  Due to their popularity among the rank and file who call themselves conservatives, Beck and Limbaugh are now the most highly paid people in broadcast media today, with a following of millions of Americans.

Since the repeal of the FCC's 'Fairness Doctrine' by President Reagan, social and political issues have become polarized  into opposite partisan camps, as a result of the influence of broadcast media on those who follow them.  Before its repeal, the Fairness Doctrine compelled broadcast media to offer the opportunity to present contrasting or opposing viewpoints.  The Supreme Court upheld its legality. However, it was an FCC rule and not mandated by legislation although Congress. 

Unfortunately for the Republican Party,  their media wing now seems to captured by special interest groups and dominated by the Fox Broadcasting and Clear Channel Communications.  Each of these entities have their own agendas, neither of which is necessarily aligned with the interests of the American people, although they both stridently claim to do so.

Fox Broadcasting is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.   Murdoch hired Roger Ailes to create the Fox News Channel which he now runs and which is now the preeminent cable news channel in the country. 

Ailes was the media consultant for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Rudy Guiliani.  His specialty is political sensationalization.  He is the author of the  'Orchestra Pit Theory", saying:  "If you have two guys on stage and one guys says, 'I have a solution to the Middle East problem', and the other guy falls into the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?"

Clear Channel Communications owns over 1200 radio broadcast stations throughout the US, and dominates in many regions being the only stations available.  Their board of directors is headed by wealthy far-right neoconservatives, largely from Texas or Oklahoma.  At least one director (John H. Williams) is a member of the infamous Bohemian Club of San Francisco.

Oh yes, it is clear some decidedly slanted 'reporting' is going on here.   Much of it is duplicitous, deceitful, and created opinion masquerading as truth and reality and has swayed elections.  It is neither reality nor truth.  Americans are being deceived and the credibility of Republicans is being destroyed. 

Will the so-called 'Soul of the Republican Party' ultimately destroy the party?

A 'Vast, Left-Wing Conspiracy'?

The continuous naysaying of today's Republican Party is resulting in the diminished capability and credibility and the further disintegration of the Party.  There's no doubt about that. The damage to the party is almost enough to convince you it is the result of some 'vast left-wing conspiracy'. 

America's Right Wing has apparently been captured by fools, doctrinal idiots and people ignorant of history.  I'm sorry, but there's no other way to say it.  Mobilized and motivated by God Hollerers (evangelicals) and right wing media personalities, these people are now busily, implacably, inexplicably, driving the Republican party out of business.   The 'Party of No' now invariably and vehemently objects no matter how beneficial something may be, if can remotely be considered an 'Obama' success'.  For example, even though almost every politician of whatever party without exception, agrees there is a health care crisis in our country, the Republicans so far can muster only one single vote - Olympia Snowe of Maine - who will vote in favor of the only reform plan on the table. 

I am sad and concerned about this for a number of reasons.

First, I used to consider myself as moderately conservative - and usually voted Republican, though I now regret some of the votes I cast in the past.  But through no particular effort, or move of my own I find I am now defined as 'liberal'.   My past 'moderate conservative' identity has now been shoved emphatically to the left and redefined by the so-called conservatives of today.  All things moderate or progressive are now decried as 'left wing' or 'liberal' by the people who have appointed themselves as defenders of conservative values and who define themselves as conservative these days.  But sadly, what now masquerades as conservative is conservative in name only.  There is nothing conservative about it.  Radicalism by definition can never be considered conservative in any context. 

The conservatives of today are not even fiscally conservative anymore.  No where near so.  Just take an unbiased look at the legacy GW Bush left us all to see that.  Barrack Obama now shoulders the entire responsibility to correct things.   But, there is no shame among those who define themselves as conservative.  None whatever.   They pile on, denounce, block, obfuscate, deny and vociferously lay all the problems for the past decade at the poor man's feet.  They even denounce Obama for the Nobel prize which he did not ask for and which he himself says he does not deserve.  No matter - he's still the target of choice.  I am now convinced that even if full prosperity returned overnight, and the unemployment rate dropped to 2% they would still find things to complain about.  In fact, based on observations to date, I know they would.  The biggest lollipop in the world would not rate even a smile from conservatives of today.

In their eyes, George W. Bush could do no wrong, ever, no matter what, or how stupidly or badly he ended up trashing the country and so many of its institutions.  That may truly be their doctrinal blindness, but it is also incredibly obtuse denial.  Do those people really think no one pays attention?

Another reason is I believe we must always have a strong opposition party - at least one - to keep the party in power as honest as possible. There is an absolute truth that 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'.  I don't care which faction is in power, no matter how good their original motives, left unrestrained the inevitable result is corruption.   But restraint should not mean absolute opposition to any act, good or bad, that the party in power tries.  There's a lot to the idea of the 'loyal opposition', but very little evidence of the fact today.

We have seen this before in both parties.  But today, under the control of today's 'conservatives' the Republican Party is marginalizing itself, more each day.  If the trend continues, the party may go out of business in the near future.  Historically, this has happened many times before with parties of the past when they made themselves irrelevant.  Incredibly, there have been over 95 political parties in the US which are now defunct.  Several of them elected candidates to the highest office in the land: 

• (Federalist)  John Adams;
• (Whig)  Wm. H. Harrison,  John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore;
• (Democratic-Republican)  Thomas jefferson, James Madison,  James Monroe, John Q. Adams 
• (Democratic National Union)  Andrew Johnson  
• (Republican National Union)  Abraham Lincoln

Will today's Republican Party be next?

A Cheap Government Option Health Care Plan Already Exists

I'm having trouble about so much congressional opposition to a national health care plan with a government option.   I am having so much heartburn over this because such a plan already exists.   In fact, it has existed for years. 

This is plan utilizing local clinics for everyone with full-time doctors you may access anytime you wish for a modest annual fee.  Other costs, if any,  are at government expense, much like Medicare today.

This is not assembly-line medicine either.   It is the best of care, where doctors spend plenty of time with each patient to get to know them and their health conditions and concerns.  The plan provides excellent primary care medicine with thorough examinations and focuses on preventative medicine for the long-term well-being of its patients.  Specialists of all kinds are readily available when needed.  In other words, it is an ideal plan and one we can all wish we had.

"If you had, for example, prostate cancer, you would go to one of the centers of excellence for the country, which would be Johns Hopkins. If you had coronary artery disease, we would engage specialists at the Cleveland Clinic. You would go to the best care in the country. And, for the most part, nobody asked what your insurance was" says Dr. Eduardo Balbona, a Jacksonville, Florida internist who once worked as a staff physician for the plan.

The plan is currently available at an unbelievably low annual cost of $503 per individuals, with the rest of the costs being picked up by the US government.  But, the trouble is, this plan is not very well known.  In fact, the managers of this plan refuse to discuss it, and have not returned phone calls from journalists who wished to inquire about the details.  And, the users of this plan say little about it.  When TV personality Dr. Timothy Johnson of ABC made a personal visit to the man in charge, he was asked to leave.   Requests by ABC News to tour facilities were denied due to 'security sensitivities'.

How can this be so with a federal government's government option health care plan?

The short answer is this plan is simply not available to most Americans.  Only

members of Congress enjoy this plan.  Maybe they feel guilty about it and  simply wish you did not know the details.  That might be your two state senators and all the congressional representatives of your state, who currently enjoy exactly such a plan and regularly make use of it - at our expense.  They seem to feel it is OK for them, for not for the rest of us.

Simply put,  our elected politicians apparently feel they have the inherent right to enjoy - at out expense - something which many of them deny for anyone else.  And, if we don't rise up in righteous and furious indignation to demand this be changed,  on pain of their being drawn and quartered, we don't have a hair on our collective asses!  There should be no favored classes in a democracy.  Period.

Say some believe we shouldn't have government health care.  OK, so demand the politicians dispense with theirs.  Or, say some feel there should be equal health care for everyone.  So, those demand that if it's a government plan, let everyone qualify for exactly the same thing.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Let Congress know how you feel!

BIG TIME CRIMINALS VS. EVERYONE ELSE

Suppose you're a big time criminal dealing in millions and billions thru fraud, deception  illegal transactions, false statements and a myriad other nefarious machinations to feather your criminal nest.  (Yes, I know this sounds a lot like the Bush administrations, but this isn't precisely about that)

And suppose the authorities get you cornered and dead to rights.  You face indictment and certain conviction and the possibility of years in jail.  (No!  I told you this wasn't about the members of the Bush administrations, dammit!)

Now suppose you could just say to the authorities, "Hey.  Wait a minute!  I get a choice about things right?   Like:

    A.  Whether I even get punished or not.  Can't I just 'defer' it -  if I don't break any more laws for a while, we can drop all this nuisance altogether, right?

    B.  Hey!  I'll get to choose what my punishment will be anyway, right?

    C.  Look, sure, I may be GUILTY of all kinds of felonies and all, but let's just keep all this just between us, OK?

    D.  Absolutely no jail time for me,right?   Let's save that and maybe bag some dummy working for me, OK?

    E.  And, hey.  All that malarky about prohibiting criminals from doing business with the government - we can get around that by assigning blame to one of my defunct companies, right?

    F.  This shouldn't affect my doing business with you later, right?"

Well, hold on to your bippy, because, incredibly,  that's exactly what the US Department of Justice offers to all criminal corporations as a matter of current FEDERAL POLICY! 

Under GW Bush et al, Congress - and the Department of Justice came up with something they call 'Deferred Prosecution'.  In their own words the US Department of Justice says: 

"We can bring a criminal charge against the company. And we will tell the company -- if you are a good company and do not violate the law for the next two years, we will drop the charges. No harm, no foul. This is called a deferred prosecution agreement.  Now, corporate criminals don’t have to worry about pleading GUILTY to crimes.  Three new loopholes have developed over the past five years – the deferred prosecution agreement, the non prosecution agreement, and pleading GUILTY a closet entity or a defunct entity that has nothing to lose."

OK, so it's not a level playing field.  Corporations are officially classed as 'Persons' for the sake of their 'Freedom of Speech rights' - (Read that as: So they can funnel large amounts of money to politicians to buy legislative favors - otherwise how would they ever have gotten such an unfair official policy in place in the first place?).  But when it comes to criminal activities - why they are something entirely else again, and in fact in a favored class all by themselves.  Personally I think it's very unfair to have it both ways, but hey, I don't have the money to force my opinions like they do.

Meanwhile, Congress gets itself all exercised over isolated acts by employees of a grassroots group like ACORN - which exists for poor people and the little guy - and cut off all federal funding.  No ifs, ands or buts, just WHAMO!  "Yer outta here"!  (THOSE SANTIMONIOUS SONS OF BITCHES!)

Yet corporate criminals, who are conservtively estimated to be behind well over 60% of all economic crimes in this great country are allowed to pay some inconsequential fines - to them - and keep merrily on their way, overcharging and ripping off people right and left - and welcomed to our national treasury with open arms.  It is very good business in fact - for the investment of comparatively very small sums they are allowed to have their way with impunity - and the blessings of Congress.

So, who are the real criminals here?  Could it be these corporate 'persons' (below), who have actually PLEADED GUILTY - yet are still at the public trough apparently unscathed?  This list includes only those who's fines have exceeded TEN MILLION DOLLARS - and some which exceed half a billion:

BANKING:

• Banker's Trust - falsification of records -PLED GUILTY; 
• Daiwa Bank Ltd. - FRAUD - PLED GUILTY;
• Banker's Trust - false bookkeeping, theft of unclaimed funds - PLED GUILTY;
• Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) - laundering illegal drug money - PLED GUILTY.

DEFENSE:

• Northrop - False statements regarding Air Launched Cruise Missile and Navy Harrier jet - PLED GUILTY;
• Teledyne Industries Inc. - Fraud - submitted false test claims on military equipment - PLED GUILTY;
• Litton Applied Technology Division (ATD) and Litton Systems Canada (LSL) - conspiracy, mail fraud & false statements - PLED GUILTY.

ENERGY:

• Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping - POLLUTION - PLED GUILTY;
• Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company - criminal violations of Clean Water Act - PLED GUILTY;
• ENRON Corporation - too many transgressions to list - PLED GUILTY.

MANUFACTURING:

• Boeing Aircraft - data THEFT -PLED GUILTY; 
• Archer Daniels Midland - antitrust, price fixing - PLED GUILTY; 
• UCAR International, Inc. - PRICE FIXING - PLED GUILTY;
• Lucas Western Inc. (Defense contractor) - false statements, faulty gearboxes for naval aircraft (which resulted in DEATH for American servicemen - PLED GUILTY;
• Rockwell International Corporation - felonious illegal storage of nuclear hazardous wastes - PLED GUILTY;
• Eastman Chemical Company - international price fixing, food products - PLED GUILTY;
• Ajinomoto Co. Inc. - suppressing competition - PLED GUILTY;
• Louisiana-Pacific Corporation -tampering with pollution control equipment, lying, falsifying quality assurance testing - PLED GUILTY;
• Haarman & Reimer Corp. - international price fixing - PLED GUILTY
• UCAR International - international price fixing - PLED GUILTY
• Mitsubishi Corp. - international price fixing - PLED GUILTY
• SGL Carbon AG - price fixing - pled GUILTY

MEDICAL:

• C.R. Bard Inc. - selling unaproved medical devices leading to injury and death - PLED GUILTY;
• Damon Clinical Laboratories, Inc.- Fraud - submitting false medicare claims -  PLED GUILTY;
• Genentech Inc. - selling unaproved drugs PLED GUILTY;
• Kimberly Home Health Care Inc. - Medicare fraud - PLED GUILTY.

MINING:

• Summitville Consolidated Mining Co. Inc. - conspiracy, false staements - PLED GUILTY;
  

PHARMACEUTICALS:

• BASF - price fixing - PLED GUILTY;
• Haarman & Reimer Corp. - price fixing - PLED GUILTY;
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.  - Price fixing - PLED GUILTY;
• Hoechst AG - Price fixing - PLED GUILTY;
• Pfizer Inc. - international price fixing - PLED GUILTY;
• Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc. - conspiracy to defraud - PLED GUILTY;
• Warner-Lambert Company - Fraudulent nonreporting of drug problems - PLED GUILTY;
• Purdue Pharma - false claims - 'non-prosecution acgreement' by lesser owned company
• Merck Pharmaceuticals - international price fixing - PLED GUILTY 

RECREATION:

• Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. - deliberately planned and executed environmental crimes ("replumbed' iping aboard ships to surreptisiously dump dumped hazardous chemincals in US harbors - PLED GUILTY

RETAIL:

• Sears Roebuck & Co (Bankruptcy Recovery Management Service)s - bankruptcy fraud - PLED GUILTY.
  

Remember, this is just a sampling of the rampant corporate malfeasance known as 'white collar crime' in the US 'winked' at by those who are supposed to look out for the public interest.  Remember also, BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES ARE CULPABLE!  And because a name does not appear here does not necessarily mean thay aren't also culpable.  Just for fun, here's a few more you can check for yourself by googling the names + 'criminal prosecution':

Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcom, Serono, Takeda-Abbott Pharmaceutical, Lilly, Abbott Labs, Cephalon, National Medical Enterprises, HCA, Gambro Health Care, Schering-Plough, Astra-Zeneca, Bayer.

Back in 2003, California Senator Gloria Romero introduced a bill that would hold California's law-breaking corporations to the same standard to which the state holds its law-breaking citizens (California SB 335). Three strikes and you're out. If a corporation commits three major violations that result in a fine of at least $1 million or a death, the California Attorney General will revoke the corporation's charter. For companies incorporated in other states, three strikes means that they will lose their right to transact business in California.

But corporate criminals need not worry.  Two democrats joined with the California Republican majority to kill the irritating bill.  It was opposed by the business lobbies after all. 

In the end though, we the people elect the bozos who sell us down the river every chance they get.  We can unelect them too.  But unless we raise enough hell about the abuse of our 'capitalistic system' we deserve what we get.  I don't know about you, but I just faxed my indignation to all my federal representatives.

References:
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/speeches/200686.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/speeches/219332.htm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5298947
http://www.corporatepredators.org/top100.html
http://corporatecrimereporter.com/twenty061207.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0307-02.htm

How Joe Wilson Became "Old yeller"

Once there was an old hound dog down in the state of South Carolina.  He didn't have much going for himself, being long in the tooth and none too smart.  Mostly, he just laid around licking his balls and living off the bits and pieces others funneled in his direction.  He loved his status quo.

Lot's of people tolerated the old hound - they mostly loved the status quo too.  He was old and been around for a long time, licking those aging balls and appreciatively snuffling his own ass deeply and often.  Once in a great while he'd sniff someone else's ass for variety, but mostly he pleased himself.  Life was pretty good.

But then the governor of the old hound's state, who was no slouch at sniffing his own ass appreciatively himself, suddenly became the center of attention.   All he had to do was run away to Argentina and score some hot latin cha cha cha stuff down there - and then had the chutzpah to go around bragging about it whilst praying to Jesus and comparing himself to King David of biblical times.  All at once the governor was a new national sensation  - maybe not at the top of the heap but everyone sure knew who he was.

At this disturbance to the status quo, the old hound grew unsettled.  He sulked around then and even tried nipping jealously at the heels of his narcissistic governor - to little avail.  Life just wasn't that sweet anymore.  His balls got all sore from all his over-licking and he suddenly realized snuffling his own ass was actually pretty disgusting.  Especially to everyone else - and the old hound grew very morose.

So, the old hound mulled over some way to make things better.  Not being all that smart it was a very tall order for him.   He wondered about the Appalachian Trail - that had worked for the randy governor didn't it?  Yep . . . . nope! Wait a minute! That didn't even happen did it?

How's about Argentina and hot latin cha cha cha stuff?  Nope.  Even if he could get down there, there was no way he was gonna  score any stuff of any kind.  He was too old and droopy a hound.  He  didn't even know how to spell 'randy'.

He got so down he moped - which for a hound means he drooped everywhere.  his eyes, his ears, his jaws and his entire face . . . . . drooped.  He started in crying and yelling, which for a hound means he howled.  He howled the most mournful, desolate howls anyone ever heard, and everyone threw things at him - shoes, stones, glasses and kitchen tables.

"Stop all that yelling!" they hollered.

After he second brick landed on  his tail the old hound stopped his howling - but he did note one important thing:  At least everyone paid attention when he howled.  Maybe that was his ticket.

So the old hound headed to Washington, DC where he yelled 'You Lie!" at the president of the United States of America right there during his speech  in Congress.  There was an  instant and  amazing change.

Suddenly the old hound was a new national sensation.  His new name and face was on every TV in America.  And that's how an old hound named Joe Wilson suddenly became "Old Yeller" one day in September, 2009.

Liar, liar, Pants on Fire! (Or, Joe Wilson Versus the Truth)

Maybe he believes it takes one to know one.  Seems like Joe Wilson himself may well be acquainted with shading the truth.

Wilson of course is the South Carolina Congressman who outrageously disrespected US President Obama in his recent health care speech to Congress.  Leaving aside the fact  he also disrespected the office of the President of the United States, Congress itself, and his own personal office, Wilson also disrespected the American people. Obama after all was elected to his office by a vote of the American people.
But,  Joe Wilson has his facts wrong on his claim the president lies.


But much worse, afterwards, in attempting to justify his outburst Wilson apparently told a whopper himself, claiming:  " I'm for immigration, legal immigration, I've been an immigration attorney."

'Not so!' claim those who took the time and trouble to check his statement.  Wilson and his office have declined further comment on this statement., although they have been quite vocal on everything else, if you'll pardon my sarcasm.

I don't know Joe Wilson, but I am quite familiar with his type.  His is the type who is utterly convinced of the 'rightness' of his own opinions and dogma.

Dogma is defined as 'the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from. . . . . At the core of the dogma concept is absolutism, infallibility, irrefutability, unquestioned acceptance (among adherents) and anti-skepticism. These concepts typically invoke criticism from moderate and modulated conceptual approaches, and thus "dogma" is often colloquially used to indicate a doctrine which has the problem of claiming absolute truth, when other concepts may be superior.'

We should not be surprised by Joe Wilson.  We've seen all kinds of wildly accusatory statements coming from conservative true believers who have utterly convinced themselves of all sorts of bizarre 'facts', just a few, to wit:

"Barrack Obama is not a US citizen"
"Obama is a Muslim, socialist, communist, nazi" (take your pick)
"Health care reform includes 'Death Panels'"
"Obama plans to seize everyone's guns"
"Obama is setting up concentration camps for dissidents all over the US"
"The economic crisis in the US is all the fault of Obama"
"Our country was founded as a Christian nation."
"The earth is 6000 years old."
"Everything on earth was created in place, by God, just as we see it today."
"There is no such thing as evolution."
"Global warming is a liberal myth."
"No one could have predicted the levees would break in New Orleans."
"The best way to boost the economy is thru tax cuts for the rich."
""Deregulation of the financial sector will be beneficial for the economy."

"Fox News is an unbiased source of information"

And, my personal favorite:  "If you're not with us you're against us."

Here's a link to some other commonly passed around 'conservative' myths. 

In other words, if you don't follow the dogma 100% you are an enemy.  Implacably.   This is well illustrated by some Arizona Republicans who once wanted to take arch-conservative Barry Goldwater's name off a building named for him.  Why?  Because In 1989, Goldwater said the Republican Party had been taken over by a ''bunch of kooks,'' a reference to forces supporting TV evangelist Pat Robertson and Mecham.

''It's typical of those people. If you're not with them 100 percent, you're not with them. Therefore you're persona non grata. But that never kept Barry Goldwater from speaking his mind.''
    ~ Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.

A huge problem with this approach is that such an inflexible dogma tends to further radicalize those who are already on the edge.  That's why we're seeing such an increase in violence and belligerency from the people commonly called 'Wingnuts' these days, giving rise to what is being called 'right wing terrorism' complete with guns at public meetings, in-your-face-screaming-and-shouting, threats and outright physical attacks.

"If you assert the opposite, that eliminates mountains of evidence demonstrating that what you are saying is false. That's what power means. And the way we assert the opposite is by just saying that the media are liberal."
     ~ Noam Chomsky

"It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society, it is belief."
     ~  George Bernard Shaw

The Conservative Whopper Factory

We recently saw SC Representative Joe Wilson disrespect the President of the United States by crying out during a presidential speech, 'You Lie'!  Wilson later apologized, under pressure from his own party,  and the President graciously accepted his apology. 

Never before in my memory have I ever witnessed such  continuous and relentless, venomously acidic assaults on any US president.  It is ominously paranoid and downright pathological.  As I watch the Far Right relentlessly attacking President Obama and accusing him of 'lying', two paramount facts continuously pass through my mind:

First, just who are these folks who so implacably believe they are so 'right', but whose leaders are responsible for the greatest political, economical and foreign policy disasters in US History?

Secondly, just where do these people get off accusing ANYONE of lying, when their own leaders operated a veritable 'Whopper Factory' out of the White House for years?

Here's just a few proven examples:


"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."
~VP Richard P. Cheney,  Aug. 26, 2002

"No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq".
~ Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,  Sept. 19, 2002

"We know for a fact that there are weapons there".
 ~White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer,  Jan. 9, 2003

"Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people 
now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaida."
~President George W. Bush,  State of the Union speech, Jan. 28, 2003

"We have also discovered through intelligence 
that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas."
~President George W. Bush,  State of the Union speech, Jan. 28, 2003

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent.... The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
~President George W. Bush,  State of the Union speech, Jan. 28, 2003

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
~President George W. Bush, March 17, 2003

"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat."
~US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld,  March 30, 2003

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories." 

~President George W. Bush, 5/29/03

"But let’s remember what we’ve already found. Secretary Powell on February 5th talked about a mobile, biological weapons capability. That has now been found and this is a weapons laboratory trailers capable of making a lot of agent that–dry agent, dry biological agent that can kill a lot of people. So we are finding these pieces that were described. … This was a program that was built for deceit and concealment."
~ US Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, 6/3/03

"And I have yet to hear from our commanders on the ground that they need more troops. "
~President George W. Bush, 11/04/04

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." 
~President George W. Bush, 09/01/05

"It really caught everybody by surprise" and was a major reason for the delay in the government's emergency response." 
~ US Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff (09/04/05)

"That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight." 
~US Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff (09/05/05)

"We are finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. We are gathering information about where the terrorists may be hiding. We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do ... to that end in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture."
~President George W. Bush, Nov. 7, 2005

"We’ve never been stay the course, George!"
~President George W. Bush, 9/8/08

There are hundreds - likely thousands - of others, but this gives the gist of just some of the production from the GW Bush Whopper Factory  In fact, the Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit/non-partisan research organization has recorded 935 'whoppers' on the Iraq War alone!

For further reading:

http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm#spy