...and I thought that anything Bush says now wouldn't bother me anymore.

After the Supereme Court ruling last month gave all detainees the right to petition federal judges for immediate release, Dana Perino, speaking for Bush in a press conference Thursday, said that the dangerous detainees who are detained in Guantanamo could end up on the streets of the U.S.A.  Her quote, as reported by the AP:
"I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods."

Uh.. I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but I thought that Homeland Security was supposed to be able to take care of that very unlikely possibility. After all, wasn't Khalid the Al-Quida third in command, and tactical mastermind of 9/11? He is either a confessed civilian mass murderer or a war crimes criminal, and he'll have his day in one court or another.

Bush gave Osama Bin Laden more then he ever hoped for. How many are aware that Osama wanted the price of oil to sky rocket?

http://www.plp.org/misc/exxonwtc100101.h tml

From the U.S. imperialist viewpoint, "chaos" means loss of the Saudi oil fields. Bin Laden admits that they are the ultimate prize he hopes to win for his faction of bosses. In a 1998 interview, he "claimed that the United States has carried out `the biggest theft in history' by buying oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. According to bin Laden, a barrel of oil today should cost $144. Based on that calculation, he said, the Americans have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims..." (Associated Press, 9/28)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht ml?res=9401E2DC123FF937A25753C1A9679C8B6 3

'If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he'd turn off the tap,'' said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. ''He said at one point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel'' -- about six times what it sells for now.

Here is what Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and certainly no left-winger, said with respect to the dilemma with troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq recently.

"What I said in my statement is also important as a part of that calculus, which is, I don't have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq...unlike the insurgency in Iraq, we don't have enough troops there to hold." http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/02/mull en-cant-have-more-troops-in-afghanistan- until-i-have-a-reduced-requirement-in-ir aq/

"In the last six or seven months, we have a put a tremendous amount of focus on Afghanistan, and I think rightfully so. It is an economy-of-force campaign, and by definition, that means we don't have enough forces there...I am constrained on forces I can generate quite frankly because of Iraq. Afghanistan is a significant challenge and is going to take a significant period of time." http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/30/mcca in-afghanistan-iraq/

Admiral Mullen sounds closer to Obama than he does to General Petreus or McCain on the issue of troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.  McCain has dismissed arguments in favor of reducing the troop presence in Iraq to deal with the threat by arguing that Afghanistan and Iraq are not an either/or proposition.

With violence increasing in Afghanistan (it has increased the last four months) and the Taliban getting as strong as it has been in the last seven years, isn't it time for McCain and Petraeus to "refine" their positions with respect to Afghanistan?  Did McCain visit Afghanistan in his last sojourn to the Middle East?  

How does Petraeus get around Crocker's admission to Joe Biden that it would be better for US interests to go after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan than Al Qaeda in Iraq if he has no way of getting more troops to that region without redeploying troops from Iraq?

Obama should talk more about the increasing threat that is Afghanistan; I wonder if Obama will be stressing Afghanistan more once he talks to the commanders on the ground there.

Hey all.  I read an artice today that really sent me over the top.  Mike Falcone over at "The Caucus" wrote an article about how the criminal Karl Rove was attacking Obama on abortion.

No big deal so far.  The really aggravating part came with this segment here

"Though he helped derail Senator McCain's presidential bid during the 2000 Republican primary, Mr. Rove lavished praise on his party's presumptive nominee on Friday. He spoke glowingly of Mr. McCain and his wife's decision to adopt a child from an orphanage in Bangladesh."

No note of the irony of the fact that Rove derailed McCain's 2000 campaign by raising the spectre of McCain HAVING FATHERED A BLACK CHILD.  This he now goes on to praise.

So I realize that this is minor compared to the more egregious distortions going on with that Donut delivery service laughingly caled the Associated Press.  But hey different straws for different camel's backs.

The point is I am fed up and pissed off.  

I have a burning desire to fight back lest my head explode.

I am pretty new at this whole game so I could use some help.  In fact I'm yelling out for it here.  

For instance does anybody know of a reliable way to get the e-mails for these various authors?  I wanted to point out to Mr. Falcone the irony I noted above but couldn't find his e-mail address.  

How else do you fight back?  I looking for advice from some of you more experienced hands out there.  How does one raise an effective stink outside our little echo-chamber here.  

How do we at least make it uncomfortable for them when the media lies or allows themselves to pass on lies.  

I'm tired of screaming at my computer.

So oh great and wise MyDD community...what advice might you have?  

Is Obama a flip-flopper? Has he been shifting to the right since the end of the primaries?

Let's take a look at Obama's positions on the issues now and then.

We'd like to welcome MyDD to read the joint blogger coverage from the 2008 Democratic Convention at RootsWire.org - http://www.rootswire.org.  

We are an informal group of bloggers from the Democratic Convention (credentialed and otherwise) who are pulling together our blog entries, video, live blogging, photos, and more in one place to provide a full view of the Democratic Convention from a grassroots level.

If you are blogging from the convention and have any interest in participating, come on over, look around, and contact us or sign up online.  If you're just interested in the future of our country, please come over and look around as well.

How people feel one way or another about Iran is one thing (personally, I don't see that making war with them over nuclear weapons which they don't really seem to have and are not likely to develop for years is such a good idea), but this article in the Khaleej Times made me grateful that I can blog about anything I damn well choose:

Khaleej Times Online  >> News >> MIDDLE EAST
Iran mulls death penalty for Internet crimes
(AFP)

2 July 2008

TEHERAN - Iran's parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the Internet, reports said on Wednesday.

MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society," the ISNA news agency said.

The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by death.

However, the draft bill also includes "establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy", which is a new addition to crimes punishable by death.

Those convicted of these crimes "should be punished as "mohareb' (enemy of God) and "corrupt on the earth'," the text says.

Under Iranian law the standard punishments for these two crimes are "hanging, amputation of the right hand and then the left foot as well as exile."

The bill -- which is yet to be debated by lawmakers -- also stipulates that the punishment handed out in these cases "cannot be commuted, suspended or changed".

Internet is widely used in Iran despite restrictions on access and the blocking of thousands of websites with a sexual content or deemed as insulting religious sanctities and promoting political dissent.

Blogging is also very popular among cyber-savvy young Iranians, some openly discussing their private lives or criticising the system.

Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty but Teheran insists it is an effective deterrent that is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process.

The number of executions soared last year to 317 amid a campaign which the authorities said was aimed at improving security in society, and was sharply up on 2006 figures when Amnesty International recorded 177 executions.

All legislation in Iran has to be rubber-stamped by a conservative clerical watchdog before it is written into law. The Guardians Council vets bills to see if they are in line with the constitution and Islamic law.

The most I feel about these idiots is pity.

Under The LobsterScope

    I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to those of you who oppose my decision to support the Abortion compromise.

   Democracy cannot exist without strong differences. And going forward, some of you may decide that my women's reproductive rights position is a deal breaker. That's ok.  But I think it is worth pointing out that our agreement on the vast majority of issues that matter outweighs the differences we may have on a few issues like the constitution, warrantless wiretapping, telecom immunity, abortion rights, gun rights, separation of church & state, refining the Iraq policy and the death penalty. After all, the choice in this election could not be clearer. You have no option but to vote for me. Ha Ha.

   So I appreciate the feedback through my.barackobama.com, and I look forward to continuing the conversation in the months and years to come. Together, we have a lot of work to do. The work is to make me Supreme Commander, so that I no longer have to pretend to notice your existence & reply to your online petitions & stuff.