Wag the Dog

In the 1997 movie “Wag the Dog” the premise of the plot was to use war and threats of war to distract the public from the economic calamity that was really happening within the country. The plan in the movie was very simply to assert "There’s a crisis in the White House, and to save the election, they’d have to fake a war."

Some are wondering if the fighting between the country of Georgia and Russia, which has started three months before the U.S elections were part of the same movie premise contained within “Wag the Dog.”

Consider the facts taking place in the U.S economy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had just announced record losses, and so had most reporting corporations. Unemployment was mounting, the foreclosure crisis was deepening, state budgets were in shambles, and massive bailouts were everywhere. The stock market continued to fall as has the value of the dollar.

James Turk economist and author speculated "The banking problems in the United States continue to mount, while the federal government’s deficit continues to soar out of control. So what happened to cause the dollar to rally over the past three weeks? In a word, intervention. Central banks have propped up the dollar:

"When central banks intervene in the currency markets, they exchange their currency for dollars. Central banks then use the dollars they acquire to buy US government debt instruments so that they can earn interest on their money. The debt instruments central banks acquire are held in custody for them at the Federal Reserve, which reports this amount weekly.

The Federal Reserve reported holding $2,349 billion of US government paper in custody for central banks. This amount had grown over the past three weeks to $2,401 billion, a 38.4% annual rate of growth. So central banks were accumulating dollars over the past three weeks at a rate far above what one would expect as a result of the US trade deficit. The logical conclusion is that they were intervening in currency markets. They were buying dollars for the purpose of propping it up, to keep the dollar from falling off the edge of the cliff and doing so ignited a short covering rally, which is not too difficult to do given the leverage employed in the markets these days by hedge funds and others."

Some $400 billion in Adjustable Rate Mortgages will be due by October of this year. A wide majority of these loans are expected to default leaving the strong possibility of a pending economic collapse.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received a $800 billion credit line that will soon be gone once the coming mass of mortgage defaults take place. Banks everywhere are facing overwhelming write-offs, putting the entire banking system near collapse. Should the government provide another bailout it would bankrupt the nation.

Author and Commentator Mike Whitney reiterated the thoughts of many recently when he said "Washington’s bloody fingerprints are all over the invasion of South Ossetia. Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili would never dream of launching a massive military attack unless he got explicit orders from his bosses at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. After all, Saakashvili owes his entire political career to American power-brokers and US intelligence agencies. If he disobeyed them, he’d be gone in a fortnight.”

Is the Russia-Georgia conflict another “Wag the Dog ”scenario as many are speculating? Considering the length the Bush administration and their surrogate John McCain have already gone to force a never ending war with Iraq, and the economic collapse that is lurking around the corner as well as the upcoming presidential elections, the “Wag the Dog” tale looks more plausible everyday.

THE ANTIDOTE TO DEPRESSION IS GENEROSITY

A good heart is better than all the heads in the world. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. - George Washington Carver

We are going "multi-channel" soon. Thank you for your patience as we expand the site to encompass comedy, entertainment, celebrity, lifestyle, fashion, motivation, inspiration, home, family, garden, recipes, and advice for raising aliens (teenagers)

We are in Breaking: Yahoo News as WXB102 announces international syndication of our Las Vegas radio program, the award-winning Basham and Cornell Show. In the audio archives of you can listen to over 150 interviews with movers, shakers, political leaders, celebrities, bestselling authors and pundits — but below I've posted the Mp3 links to a few of our recent interviews with John Edwards, Bill Press, Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, Pat Buchanan, Valerie Bertinelli...

Fri May 23, 3:01 AM ET

Lydia Cornell Interviews World Leaders, Presidential Candidates, And Pulitzer Prize Winners for New Radio Show Co-hosts new Las Vegas radio show about politics and celebrity, signs with renowned literary agency for upcoming books.
Read more at... Yahoo! News

The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 am Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern) on KLAV 1230 AM Radio live in Las Vegas. Again, all shows are simulcast worldwide on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at Basham and Cornell Radio If you've missed our show, check out the audio archives.

You can click on these MP3s to listen to a few of our recent shows, or download the podcasts:

Lydia Cornell - John Edwards interview:
John Edwards Interview

Pat Buchanan interview:
Pat Buchanan Interview

NBC Tel Aviv Bureau Chief Martin Fletcher interview:
NBC Tel Aviv Bureau Chief Martin Fletcher Interview

Bill Press interview:
Bill Press Interview

Valerie Bertinelli interview:
Valerie Bertinelli Interview

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Charlie Savage:
Charlie Savage Interview Charlie’s new book is titled, “Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy.”

Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich interview:
Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich Interview

Georgetown University Jacques Berlinerblau interview:
Jacques Berlinerblau Interview

UPCOMING GUESTS: Senators Arlen Specter, Tom Daschle and Lincoln Chaffee. If you live in Vegas you can tune in Live or go to our website and listen in the audio archives.

The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 am Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern) on KLAV 1230 AM Radio live in Las Vegas. Again, all shows are simulcast worldwide on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at Basham and Cornell Radio If you've missed our show, check out the audio archives. We have interviewed John & Elizabeth Edwards, Dennis & Elizabeth Kucinich, Norman Soloman, John Dean, Pat Buchanan, NBC Bureau Chief in Tel Aviv Martin Fletcher, Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, Congressman Charlie Rangel,Valerie Plame, Christine Pelosi, Dahr Jamail, Senator Mike Gravel; Senator Byron Dorgan; bestselling authors Greg Palast, Paul Krugman, Greg Anrig.
Our MySpace Page
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Let's get Obama and Clinton together! An unbeatable ticket...

MEMORIAL DAY 2008 * GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
Since the beginning of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, California has lost 492 of its sons, daughters, fathers and mothers. Their median age was 23 and they left behind 205 widows, 3 widowers, and more than 300 children." From the Los Angeles Sunday Times May 25, 2008

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The "War on Terror" sounds like The War on an Abstract Noun". And Appeasement? Let's talk about appeasement. Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were SAUDIS, yet Bush has made a deal to give the Saudis over 2 billion in high-tech weapons. Bush also gave into Osama Bin Laden's demands to remove our largest airforce base in Saudi Arabia. That is appeasement.

When someone hates you, send them love. It works like a charm. You make your enemies stronger by fighting them. WE MUST TALK TO OUR ENEMIES. In fact, the minute we stop seeing them as enemies, we heal the rift.

It's easy to fight those who hurt you; the higher law calls on us to love those who hate us and seek to hurt us. Then we will see miracles begin to happen in human relationships.

As Einstein said, "No problem can be solved on the same level it was created on." You must go to a higher level — to a diplomatic or spiritual solution. To retaliate on the level of engaging in fear-based obsession and magnifying the enemy, only makes the "enemy" larger. This is a spiritual law. Violence against innocents on the hopes of killing militants, is always wrong. There are much more clever and thoughtful ways of annihiating an enemy and it starts in your thought about them. They diminish when the nations of world unite to reduce their power. Not by creating more violence! We are feeding the violence by fighting it. We are giving it more power.

There are 1.5 billion Muslims. They want to raise their children in peace. Only fundamentalist extremists (in all religions) preach intolerance. To those who do so, look in the mirror.

We have to try to understand others. Why do people blow themselves up to kill Americans? Is it because they 'hate us for our freedoms' -- or could it be that our footprint is on their holy land raping their oil, killing their children and stealing their natural resources. "Seek first to understand rather than be understood...You get more flies with honey than with vinegar...Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

McCain is wrong and even going against his prior behavior. If we're trying to spread democracy across the world, we at least have to set an example and talk to the leaders that were voted into power by the democratic process -- as Hamas was in the Palestinian territories! Even in our country we voted in the corrupt Bush-Cheney regime and we call ourselves a Democracy that must be reckoned with.

If we actually stopped making the enemy so powerful with our obsessive focus on him, and go about the business of creating a beautiful, clean, proserous safe world for our children -- focusing on our own challenges at HOME, the "enemy" would never have any power over us. It's our attention to him that makes him bigger, for what you focus on grows.

These simple principles are the absolute answer to all the strife in the world and in our personal lives.

McCain and the Republicans call it "strength" -- that is their code word for war and military might. They think everything can be solved with bombs.
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Take a moment to appreciate beauty. For weeks I've been awestruck by the gorgeous fuscia color of this bougainvillea in our backyard. I also have Rosemary and it really perks up your mood to breathe the delicious scent. This photo, taken with my phone yesterday, does not do it justice. A week ago, the color was too vibrant to be true. As I appreciate more and more of the beauty in life, it seems to "play" and interact with me. More and more beauty becomes apparent. A French couple stopped their car to marvel at this color the other day, and on Thursday a woman -- whom I swear was an angel — stopped, and at the right moment said the exact words I was thinking: "Nature is the greatest painter." God has given us such beautiful vistas and playful creatures with which to enjoy in this life.

There is an old saying that goes: "Worry is often the cause of illness." The perceived weakening of the economy, too, may have its beginnings in the mind. Many of our problems are problems of perception. The way to be happy is to stop, look up, look around, breathe deeply and realize the sky is not falling. Take a moment to appreciate the smallest things. Think of how you can help someone else who may not have as much as you do. That will increase the wealth in your life a hundred fold. Just watch.

Of course, then there's this.... a portrait of someone who is sorely misguided and believes war is the answer to all our problems... John McCain is aligned with "Pastor" Hagee who actually believes Hitler had a high calling from God to eliminate the Jewish People to force them to establish the nation of Israel -- for a perverted, surrealistic "Armageddon" theory that will force all Jews to be in Israel in order for Christ to come back.. and kill the Jews who did not convert to Christianity!!

God Bless Uncle Lou and Aunt Annie. Keep him alive and off the ventilator.. God Bless all the victims of recent catastophes from the earthquake in China, the cycone in Burma, the wildfires in Florida, and the tornadoes in Oklahoma and Missouri. And our hearts and prayers go out to Katherine Wolf, the beautiful 26-year old mother from our church who suffered a major brain hemorrhage on April 21st, and her faithful family has been at the hospital round the clock ever since. Katherine has made some great strides, but it's still going to be some time before she goes home... God Bless Katherine, Jay and their baby.
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Did you hear Senator Lieberman joking around with Bill Bennett about Hillary Clinton on his right-wing radio show?

BENNETT: And Joe, you know, this is my style. This is a girl who puts on her pearls, goes down, throws down a shot of liquor and bombs Iran, you know. This is…lookout Mrs. Bennett, this is my kind of girl.

LIEBERMAN: Hehehe, it does have an appeal to it." BOMBING IRAN HAS AN APPEAL TO IT? Senator Lieberman and Mr. Bennett you should be ashamed of yourselves. (Apparently Hillary never said this anyway.)

MORE ABOUT DIPLOMACY...
Anyway, it's hard but every single time I think hateful thoughts about terrorists, or George Bush or intolerant neocons, I turn my thoughts to love. The hardest people to do this with are ex-friends and family. It works, even if you can only do it 9 times out of 10. It changes everything.

Our enemies can also be our thoughts about ourselves, including our fears of financial insecurity, suspicion, bigorty, intolerance, worry, accidents, disease, terrorism and all sorts of fears of losing what we have or not getting what we want.

Also, to allow the terrorists to define our lives for us, to "hop" to their commands and live in fear of their threats, is to give them too much power.

Thoughts rule the world. We can lift our consciousness above what the material senses tell us. Then we will see heaven on earth.

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HUMILITY
Nothing is set in stone. We are all redeemable, even the "bad guys" in government and politics, even our leaders. I heard a humble young Israeli at a recovery meeting day say that he 'to become humble' is everything. It's the only way to attain peace. He made a list of his character defects and then made a list of each of their "opposites." To overcome depression, think of others first. To overcome selfishness, give to others. To overcome arrogance, learn humility.

Humility is one of the greatest virtues. When I think of how I can "give" instead of "get" the whole day goes better. When I think of how to "understand" rather than be "understood" or force my will and my opinions on others, I attract love.

Love is circular. Let's all be thinking of how we can help others. Human kindness is really all that matters.
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WOMEN WE LOVE AND ADMIRE:

Drew Gilpin Faust, first female president of Harvard, and author of This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, Knopf

Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust (born September 18, 1947) is an American historian, college administrator and the first female president of Harvard University. Faust, the former Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, is also Harvard's first president since 1672 without an undergraduate or graduate degree from Harvard.

I also adore Raven-Symoné, 22, the youngest Cosby kid and star of THAT’S SO RAVEN! She is a wonderful role model for young girls.
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House Subpoenas Karl Rove! FINALLY
by Lara Jakes Jordan

The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove as part of its inquiry into whether the Bush administration politically meddled at the Justice Department.
Accusations of politics governing decisions at the agency led to the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The subpoena issued Thursday orders Rove to testify before the House panel on July 10. He is expected to face questions about the White House’s role in firing nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers had negotiated with Rove’s attorneys for more than a year over whether the former top political adviser to President Bush would testify voluntarily.

© 2008 Associated Press

valerie bertinelli

Living with the Decisions of the Decider

Guest Blog by Bartlebee

Well here we are, five years later.

Many of us said "don't go" but we were shouted down. Now, five years later and hundreds of thousands of dead, Bin Laden's still running around making home movies — and George Bush and Dick Cheney are still talking about patriotism and waving the flag.

The fruits of the decision to invade Iraq now have now been examined and the results are in. We're in a mess. Bush and Cheney did not have the courage to take the momentum we had immediately after 911 and rally the world to a UN supported US led incursion into Kashmir to root out Osama Bin Laden and his thugs and to garner the support of both India and Pakistan for such an incursion, which he could have done had he acted quickly and "decisively. Back when we had the momentum the world would have gotten behind us on any remotely reasonable plan to strike back at terrorists following the terrible images they witnessed of the 911 attacks. The world was with us. It was like we had been given an international credit card and the sky's the limit. And we could have used that card to buy our way into Kashmir and root out the son of a bitch and his thugs who murdered Americans on 911. We would have had him by the balls. But because they were cowards Bush and Cheney took that credit card and squandered the entire balance on invading Iraq, because they were afraid of what an invasion of Kashmir and UN and US forces in Pakistan and even India might mean.

Suppose Bin Laden supporters in Pakistan, where he enjoys the support of more than half the country, rose up and a war breaks out on a larger scale? Suppose it goes nuclear and Russia or China get pissed and things get hairy? These were the demons lurking in Bush's thoughts and he could not bring himself to confront them. So instead of dealing with the intricacies of such a potentially messy engagement in Pakistan and Kashmir, Bush and Cheney decided to squander the balance on their international 911 credit card by invading Iraq, making false claims about their involvement in 911 and WMD to sell their "poor mans war".

But the "bitch of the bunch" is where we are now.

Stuck literally between “Iraq and a hard place”.

Because now, that momentum is gone. The balance on our international 911 charge card is zero. In fact, it’s overdrawn. We are morally bankrupt as far as the rest of the world is concerned, so I guess it’s only fitting as far as fate is concerned that we’re also financially bankrupt as well. Problem is, we need the international credit to buy our way out of here. We need that international good moral credit to do the hard things we’re going to have to do to either capture or kill Osama Bin Laden and his thugs.

We know where they are. They’re in or around Kashmir or other remote regions in Pakistan, protected by his loyalists. All we have to do then is go get him right? Like we should have done when we had him cornered at Tora Bora and Bush let him go, like he did for about 70 his family members 2 days after 911 (still waiting for an answer on that one). But unfortunately Kashmir is a disputed region between two cold war countries, both that happen to be nuclear armed. And the US military is not allowed in, nor is the UN.

What we need to go get Bin Laden is “momentum”. Like the momentum we had right after 911. But that momentums gone and it ain’t coming back. Even if we were to be attacked again we won’t likely garner the international empathy we had post 911. Not after we’ve squandered their previous empathy so wantonly. Instead we’ll likely see a cold shoulder, and probably more than one lecture by other nations about starting wars with people who never attacked us. But we won’t gain their overwhelming support. The kind of support we’d need to initiate a US led UN supported incursion into Pakistan to get Bin Laden.

Come on. We all know he’s there. We’ve known that since 2003. But we just don’t have the means to go get him now. Bush and Cheney did not show courage after 911 by invading Iraq. They showed fear. Fear of going after Bin Laden like they promised they would because they thought it would be too hard. And possibly for other reasons yet to be identified.

So here we are, 5 years later, and no Bin Laden, Al Quaida going strong, and our international moral credit account bankrupt as is our national purse. And we have more important problems at the moment other than holding those responsible for this trainwreck accountable. We still have to get the guys who attacked us on 911. Make no mistake about it, we cannot let them get away. We need to capture or kill those responsible if we're ever hoping to be respected again by our enemies, whom we have many. Even more now thanks to our trainwreck that was the decision to invade Iraq. Bush and Cheney claim it doesn't matter and that we'll get him "sooner or later", but it does matter. It matters a lot. For all their talk of "going after the bad guys" the reality is they have done nothing to actually get the bad guys who they say attacked us. And at this rate Bin Laden will die of old age or kidney failure before we bring him to the "justice" Bush so loudly boasted of from his megaphone while standing on the bodies of 3000 dead Americans.

So now we are stuck, for the want of a better pun and at the cost of being redundant between Iraq and a hard place, the hard place being the chore still waiting the men and women of our military and our federal law enforcement agencies assuming we ever get around to electing a leader who will assign them to it.

And perhaps more difficult, we have to find a way to rebuild our squandered international moral credit before doing all this because until we do no ones going to just walk us into Kashmir and let us do the job we should have done in the fall of 2001, thanks to the Bush\Cheney doctrine. So 5 years later, all Bush and Cheney have given us is more overwhelming challenges to deal with, and we still have the one we had to deal with on Sept 12, 2001 waiting on our to do list.

Heckuva Job.

Listen to Lydia on Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk

TONIGHT HBO's TO DIE IN JERUSALEM * VALERIE PLAME ON OUR SHOW

YOU MUST SEE THIS FILM TONIGHT WATCH HBO's "To Die in Jerusalem" This is the most incredible, amazing story. The Palestinian mother whose daughter blew herself up in a suicide bombing — who killed another 18-year-old Israeli girl who looked like she could have been her sister -- states her case showing the anguish of what Palestinians go through. The Jewish girl's mother beseeches the Palestinian mother to admit what her daughter did was wrong. I had tears in my eyes watching these two women come face to face. It was riveting. Please go out and rent this DVD or watch it on demand again. Amazing footage of Bethlehem on the West Bank, and the Palestinian encampments.

THis film speaks to everyone who wants to stop all fighting and do everything in our power to achieve peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

To Die In Jerusalem, Premiering TONIGHT, Thursday, November 1 at 9 p.m.—only on HBO!

Two daughters lost in conflict. Two mothers searching for answers. Two nations divided by the land they share. HBO Documentary Films presents the story of two young casualties of terrorism, and of older wounds that have yet to heal: To Die in Jerusalem

To Die in Jerusalem recounts the heart-wrenching story of two teenaged girls – one a 17-year-old Israeli student named Rachel Levy, the other an 18-year-old Palestinian student/suicide bomber named Ayat al-Akhras – who died together in a Jerusalem market in March 2002. The horrific incident ignited international outrage because of the age and similarities of the two girls, and set in motion a quest on the part of Rachel’s mother, Abigail Levy, to arrange a one-on-one meeting with her counterpart, Um Samir. The result was an underscoring of the tension and resentments that persist among Israelis and Palestinians – and undermine the desire on both sides to find common ground and forge lasting peace.

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Please listen to our interview this morning with Dahr Jamail, author of “Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.” You can listen in the archives, as he was just on live. Go to: BASHAM & CORNELL RADIO The show airs weekday mornings at 8 a.m. Pacific Time on AM 1230 KLAV in Las Vegas and simulcast on the web.

He is an American hero, he has shown courage way beyond, even unrealistic expectations, he literally risked his life… in the service of the truth. He is an independent journalist who has covered the Middle East for more than four years. He has reported extensively from inside Iraq, and has also reported from Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Dahr Jamail, and he writes for the Inter Press Service, Asia Times, and many other outlets. His reports have been published in the Nation, the Sunday Herald, the Guardian, Foreign Policy in Focus, and the Independent, among other publications.




The term New World Order (NWO) has been used by numerous politicians for many years, and is a generic term used to refer to a worldwide conspiracy being created by an extremely powerful and influential group of individuals (at least at the highest levels) which include many of the world's wealthiest people, top political leaders, and corporate elite, as well as members of the so-called whose goal is to create a One World Government, stripped of nationalistic and regional boundaries, that is totally obedient to their agenda.

The corporate alliance of the NWO is dominated by international bankers, oil companies and pharmaceutical cartels, as well as other major multinational corporations. The decision making nerve centers of this effort are in London, Basel Switzerland, and Brussels (NATO headquarters).

The intention of the New World Order is to gain complete control over every person and to eventually reduce the world's population by nearly two-thirds. This would give the ultra elite of the world the opportunity to create the "perfect society" in their minds.

Many see obvious signs within the political realm that point to this becoming a reality, sooner than we think. The bulging Mideast wars, the rapid collapse of the U.S economy, and the reduction of many of the rights and freedoms previously enjoyed in America.

In 1992, Dr John Coleman published Conspirators Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300. With laudable scholarship and meticulous research, Dr Coleman identifies the players and carefully details the New World Order agenda of worldwide domination and control. On page 161 of the Conspirators Hierarchy, Dr Coleman accurately summarizes the intent and purpose of the Committee of 300 as follows:
"A One World Government and one-unit monetary system, under permanent non-elected hereditary oligarchists who self-select from among their numbers in the form of a feudal system as it was in the Middle Ages.

In this One World entity, population will be limited by restrictions on the number of children per family, wars, famines, until 1 billion people who are useful to the ruling class, in areas which will be strictly and clearly defined, remain as the total world population.

There will be no middle class, only the extremely rich and the extremely poor. All laws will be similar under a legal system of world courts practicing the same code of laws, backed up by a One World Government police force and a One World unified military force to enforce laws in all former countries where no national boundaries shall exist.

The system will be on the basis of a welfare state; those who are obedient and subservient to the One World Government will be rewarded with the means to live; those who are rebellious will simply be starved to death or be declared outlaws, thus a target for anyone who wishes to kill them. Privately owned firearms or weapons of any kind will be prohibited."

The NWO conspirators manifest their agenda through the skillful manipulation of human emotions, especially fear. In the past centuries, they have repeatedly utilized a plan that NWO researcher and author David Icke has characterized in his latest book, The Biggest Secret, as Problem, Reaction, and Solution.

According to Icke, NWO strategists create the Problem by funding,assembling, and training an "opposition" group to stimulate turmoil in an established political power (sovereign country, region, continent, etc.) that they wish to impinge upon and thus create opposing factions in a conflict that the NWO themselves maneuvered into existence. In recent decades, so called opposition groups are usually identified in the media as 'freedom fighters' or "liberators."

Meanwhile the leader of the established political power where the war is being orchestrated is demonized and,referred to as "another Hitler" such as they did with Saddam Hussein.

The war is drawn to the world stage by the controlled media outlets with a barrage of photos and video tape reports of bloody deaths suffered by innocent civilians.

The leaders of all major industrial countries like the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, etc. are active participants in this conspiracy.

In this century, the degree of control exerted by the NWO has advanced to the point that only certain hand-picked individuals, who have been specifically chosen, are even eligible to become the Prime Minister or President of countries like England, Germany, or The United States.

It is said that many of the major wars, economic upheavals and political dissension over the past several years was created and instituted by this elitist group. These various tragedies brought profit to those of the corporate powers involved, the greater gain will be the unveiling of the New World Order.

Is there a New World Order? Was the installation of George W Bush into the presidency, the unwarranted attack on Iraq and soon Iran, the coming economic collapse, and the taking of Americans rights and privacy a part of it?

Perhaps the actions of George W Bush and those who appear to enable him, coupled with famous quotes of the past from those in positions to know can answer that very question.

"Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it." - Woodrow Wilson

"[The New World Order] cannot happen without U.S. participation, as we are the most
significant single component. Yes, there will be a New World Order, and it will force the United
States to change it's perceptions." -- Henry Kissenger, World Affairs Council Press Conference,
Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel , April 19th 1994

SPY VS. LIE: OUTING VALERIE PLAME AN ACT OF TREASON?

Guest Post by Bartlebee

We hear a lot of talk about patriots these days. In fact the word is literally used "left and right" to describe all sorts of people from politicians to pundits. One person you won't hear the term attributed to however, at least by the right wing in this country, is Valerie Plame

And here's why.

Valerie Plame first entered the world in 1963, the daughter of a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force. In fact, she was born on a US Air Force Base — Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage Alaska. Her father was not only a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force, but worked for the National Security Agency for about three years when Valerie was young, giving Valerie her first look at the clandestine world of national intelligence, and no doubt helped shape her future career plans, which involved one thing and one thing only.

Serving her country.

A career choice Ms. Plame was well suited to, given her superior intellect and skills not to mention remarkable good looks which are no doubt an asset in the clandestine world. In 1985 Valerie was accepted into the CIA's Officer training program, and never looked back. She was installed as a Non Official Cover Officer which is the most clandestine role the CIA has to offer. As a covert operative who speaks 4 languages, assignments took her to Greece, Iraq, Turkey and parts of Europe. She worked to protect US officials including George H W Bush during his visit to Greece, whose native tongue is included in her repertoire of languages. Plame was a rising star in the CIA with a BA from Penn State, and not one but two Masters degrees, one from London School of Economics and Political Science, and one from The College of Europe, in Belgium. Plame speaks English, German, French and Greek and is an expert in nuclear anti-proliferation.

Then, in 2003, it all came to a screeching halt.

ry 2002 the CIA asked Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame's husband, to travel to Niger to confirm the validity of a report of that Iraq had an agreement to purchase Uranium from Niger to be used by Saddam Hussein to manufacture nuclear weapons. Wilson traveled to Niger, met with the former Prime Minister who was the one approached by "an Iraqi businessman" who discussed strengthening trade agreements with Niger. Wilson researched the events and concluded there was nothing there and reported back to the Select Committee on Intelligence that the accusations of a sales agreement between Niger and Iraq was clearly false.

However in January 2003, President George W Bush announced in his State of the Union address, the opposite, with these 16 immortal words; "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa". Naturally Wilson was astounded that the President presented this information to the world as fact, even after Wilson had reported almost a year earlier to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee that the story was false.

This bothered Wilson, and on July 6, 2003, Wilson wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed piece that Bush had misrepresented the intelligence and wrongly used it to help justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Although several committees including the Butler Report, the Senate Intelligence Commission and the Senate Select Committee on intelligence at various times attempted to disprove Wilson's conclusions, none were ever able to produce any solid evidence to validate the claims that a sales agreement for Yellow Cake existed between Iraq and Niger, or that it was ever discussed with the former Prime Minister of Niger, Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki. In fact the US State Dept agreed with Wilson, as did the CIA, that the claims were false and thus discredited.

Eight days after writing his Op Ed piece reprimanding the White House for using the discredited information, his wife, and covert CIA operative, Valerie Elise Plame Wilson, was outed as a CIA Covert Operative, in a column in the New York Times titled, "Mission to Niger".

And just like that, her career as a CIA covert operative, was blown.

In Sept 2003, President Bush stated that if there had been a leak, then he would prosecute anyone in his administration found guilty of such a leak. The CIA had already contacted the Justice Dept. to request a formal investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified intelligence in leaking Plames status to the press. Then, in February 2004, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed as Special Counsel to lead the investigation. During the investigation Fitzgerald filed papers naming Karl Rove and Scooter Libby as the primary leaker's of the information to the press, and not just to Bob Novak. However during the investigation Rove and Libby stonewalled, lied and did whatever they could to obscure and obstruct the facts of the investigation, most often resorting to age old "I don't recall" to avoid prosecution.

Fitzgerald knew Rove had leaked the information, as did Libby, but their diversionary testimonies and stonewalling made it impossible for Fitzgerald to prove it. Then on October 28, 2005, Libby was charged a 5 count indictment for lying to the Special Prosecutor Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. Libby, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, following his indictments, resigned in disgrace, and on March 6, 2007, he was found guilty of all but one of the indictments, and sentenced to 30 months in prison. a 250,000 dollar fine, and 2 years probation. President Bush immediately intervened, and overruled the courts ruling, granting Libby Clemency, and thus discarding the justice process.

Libby never denied that he learned of Plame's identity from Vice President Cheney, and thus while the Grand Jury's commission was expired and Fitzgerald returned to his "day job", the investigation is by no means over. But what we know is this. Rove and Libby leaked Plames identity, to discredit her husband Joe Wilson's report to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee to sell the war in Iraq to the American people and the Congress. This act alone would be enough for all but the most deluded of Bush followers, to abandon him as a traitor to the country. But the right wing has staved off a mass exodus by claiming over and over, that Plame "never was a covert op", which of course is a lie. Court records filed during the Libby hearing, and subsequent CIA information proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Plame was indeed covert and working on several clandestine anti-nuclear proliferation operations, including providing Iran with bogus data on the construction of nuclear weapons. But the right wing ignores this information, and continues to smear Plame, her husband, and her 20 year career as a covert CIA operative.

But tonight, on CBS's 60 Minutes, Katie Couric interviews Valerie Plame for the first time since her cover was blown by the Bush administration. In the interview, Couric will outline some of the actual damage done to the CIA, their long term covert operations, and the absolute danger the outing has placed numerous CIA covert operatives around the Globe. Couric will report how the day the Novak story came out, embassy's all over the world began frantically researching to see if the stealthy Mrs Plame had entered their country, and who she had contacted during her visits. Intelligence agencies began investigations all over the world to determine the extent of Mrs Plames activities and the persons associated with those activities, thus compromising potentially dozens of CIA covert operations and potentially hundreds of CIA covert operatives around the globe. We will hear how the work she performed was actually designed to stop Iran from ever developing nuclear technology, and thus averting the threats that President Bush claims to be so utterly concerned with. We will learn, how a President, and his staff, caused the country to be placed in greater threat from nuclear war, simply because they wanted to invade the nation of Iraq.

So with all the talk of patriotism and patriots that we hear from the right, tonight, CBS news, and Katie Couric, will give the world a birds eye view of an actual Patriot. One who dedicated her entire adult life to her country, and to keeping it safe from nuclear weapons. And we will hear first hand how the President who cries so loudly about his fear of those nuclear weapons in the hands of countries like Iran, destroyed the operations the CIA had worked so hard to develop, to keep those nuclear weapons from countries like Iran. And perhaps more importantly we'll get a keen glimpse into the tactics and strategy of the right wing Bush supporters, and their never ending efforts to provide lies and misdirection to real questions and real issues.

Thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation we know that both the President's and Vice President's Chiefs of Staff were the source of the leaks, which implicates the President and the Vice President as their source. If it had been just one Chief of Staff working alone, then perhaps one could argue it was a solitary self motivated effort. But both Chiefs of staff along with the White House Press Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of State indicate that it was not a solitary effort, but a combined, decisive attempt to smear two American Patriots, and in doing so, they destroyed years worth of highly classified work that was designed to keep America safe from nuclear threats, something the President claims is his primary goal. And since the right wing knows that most Americans know that Bush and Cheney were the original sources of the leak, their strategy has changed over the last year to discredit the notion that Valerie Plame was a covert operative. But in just one short hour, their collective denial of "Yes they did it, but she wasn't a covert op and her job wasn't classified, so therefore no crime was committed, no harm was done" is about to be dismantled once and for all.

Tonight the entire country will learn what only the educated and informed blogger's and web surfers are currently aware of. That Valerie Plame was indeed a covert operative, and that her work was not only highly classified, but was designed to keep the one thing from happening that George W Bush claims is the primary reason he was willing to invade Iraq and cost us so much in American lives and treasure and commit so much destruction of a people that has never once attacked us, and the reason he is now threatening to attack yet another country, and butcher a few hundred thousand more people and turn the entire global community against us. Her work, was to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of countries like Iran and Iraq. And George W Bush, and Dick Cheney, destroyed that work for their own purposes and ruined the 20 year career of a covert CIA officer who's classified mission was to do precisely what George W Bush claims is his number one goal, and the reason he's using to blow the middle east back to the stone age.

Tonight we'll see a true American Patriot, who works for one of the most patriotic organizations this country has, the unsung heroes of the CIA, who's mission is to stop wars before they get started. Tonight we'll see what the crowd "calling" themselves Patriots, do to the actual Patriots of our country. Tonight we'll see why this Patriot, who dedicated 20 years of her life to serving her country in an organization where accolades are given only in secret, and medals are seen only by the recipient, had her career and work destroyed by the President and Vice President. To sell their lousy war. A war that if they had only let the CIA do their jobs, would never need to have been fought.

-----------------------------

UPDATE: Katie Couric introduced the story this evening by pointing out that Valerie Plame was no "glorified secretary" as the Bush administration and the right wing have falsely labeled her. Couric announced unequivocally that Plame was not only a covert op, but an officer, in charge of "dozens of agents" and a highly classified operation to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The 60 Minutes Interview has just aired. For those of you who missed it you can catch recaps and excerpts here on CBS's website.

John Edwards gives Hillary a "Sense of the Senate"

This week we watched a vote pass on the Lieberman/Kyl "Sense of the Senate" bill which is essentially giving Bush authorization to attack Iran without Congressional approval.

Although a "Sense of the "Senate bill has no legal authorization, it does give Bush and those desiring a war with Iran a wink of approval once he makes that move. This bill wasn't even debated, but swiftly introduced and voted on.

What is interesting to note that one of the Democrats voting in support of this bill was Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hillary has often said she will end the war in Iraq if she is elected President. Her vote on this "Sense of the Senate" bill tells otherwise.

During the Democratic debate this week the vote on Iran was a hot topic. John Edwards stood out of the mix by taking Hillary on for her vote on this issue. This response gives clear reason why Edwards should be heavily considered;

I voted for this war in Iraq, and I was wrong to vote for this war. And I accept responsibility for that. Senator Clinton also voted for this war.

We learned a very different lesson from that. I have no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first step on a road to war with Iran.

And I think that vote today, which Senator Biden and Senator Dodd voted against, and they were correct to vote against it, is a clear indication of the approach that all of us would take with the situation in Iran because what I learned in my vote on Iraq was you cannot give this president the authority and you can't even give him the first step in that authority because he cannot be trusted.

Edwards articulated an important difference he has with Clinton, and it's a difference that all voters, not just Democrats, should grasp. This commanding debate performance and that answer in particular, Edwards solidified his status as Clinton's main challenger.

One of the most important things in life is to learn from our mistakes and strive to not make them again. Hillary has shown by her "Sense of the Senate" vote that she took no lesson from the Iraq war.

I voted for this war in Iraq, and I was wrong to vote for this war. And I accept responsibility for that. Senator Clinton also voted for this war.

We learned a very different lesson from that. I have no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first step on a road to war with Iran.

John Edwards
September 26, 2007

John Edwards learned that lesson and the mark of a great leader is to not repeat the same disastrous mistakes over again. John Edwards gave Hillary and the world a real "Sense of the Senate" with his stance on Iran.

Lets Give Credit, Where Credit is Due

George W Bush has many accomplishments under his wing. Unfortunately for Americans, those accomplishments have cost each one of us dearly. Nevertheless George W Bush is proud of his accomplishments. Therefore lets list some of these accomplishments, and Lets Give Credit, Where Credit Is Due.

•Bush spent the U.S. budget surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury, all in the name of conservatism.

•Bush broke the record for the biggest annual deficit in history.

•Bush set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.

•Bush set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock market, and it is still falling.

•Bush set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any President in US history and this was in his first year in office.

•Bush presided over the worst security failure in US history. All this after taking the entire month of August off for vacation.

•Bush set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any President in US history.

•Bush's first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs. That number has risen to 12 million and growing.

•Bush cut unemployment benefits for out-of-work Americans more than any other President in US history.

•Bush set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a 12-month period. This record will be beaten again this year, due to Bush's economic mess.

•Bush presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. Many of Bush's friends have faced indictment over this.

•Bush cut health care benefits for war veterans. Bush's lack of compassion for the veterans have resulted in 40% of all homeless males are veterans.

•Bush set the all-time record for most people worldwide to jointly take to the streets to protest his war and his policies (17 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history.

•Bush dissolved more International treaties than any President in US history.

•Bush's Presidency is the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

•Bush's cabinet members are the wealthiest of any administration in US history.

•Bush is the first President in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously face bankruptcy.

•Bush presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market in any country in the history of the world.

•Bush is the first President in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation, and he did so against the will of the United Nations and the vast majority of the world.

•Bush created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland Security

•Bush set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any other President in US history.

•Bush is the first President in US history to compel the United Nations remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

•Bush removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any Presidential in US history.

•Bush called the entire United Nations irrelevant. Bush also withdrew from the World Court of Law.

•Bush refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and he no longer abides by the Geneva Conventions.

•Bush the first President in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.

•Bush holds the record for the most corporate campaign donations.

•Bush's largest all-time contributor was Ken Lay the embattled CEO of Enron.

•Bush is the first US President to establish a secret shadow government.

•Bush took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world.

•Bush is the first US President in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view his Presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

•Bush changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. Many are close political allies of Bush and his father.

•Bush has removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.

• Bush has at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine.
(Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

•Bush was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during time of war.

•Bush refused to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.

•Bush's records as Governor of Texas have been hidden in his father's library in a secret chamber.

•Bush's records of any SEC investigations into his insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

•The minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which Bush served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

•The records or minutes from meetings Bush and Cheney attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

As America moves further into the pit of war, and into the twilight of economic despair, we should never forget where we once was as a nation, and we should not be afraid to look at where we are today.

The coming year will give opportunity to choose new leaders, and as we think of where we once was and where we are today, "Lets give credit, where credit is due."

******************
Listen in the archives to Lydia's interview with Charlie Savage, Pulitzer prize winning journalist from the Boston Globe, who broke the story on Bush's signing statements (usurping the Geneva Convention's torture ban, among other things.) Charlie’s new book is titled… "Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy." NATIONAL REPORTING

Don't forget, Congressman and Democratic presidential contender DENNIS KUCINICH will be our guest on on Monday September 17!

The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 a.m. Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern). All shows are simulcast on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at BASHAM & CORNELL SHOW

On Labor Day Bush Runs Away

DENNIS KUCINICH will be our guest on BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK on September 17!

Keith Olbermann gave another of his riveting "Special Comments" on the unconscious person in the White House. George Bush has shamed our nation. He has written a book revising history for his "legacy." Instead of helping the families of the troops who died for his disastrous war, he is bragging about pocketing speaking fees of $50,000 after he leaves office. He is the cause of their deaths, yet he goes to Iraq on our labor day for a photo op. There is a brilliant post at my friend Alicia's blog called "Suicidal Insanity." Last Left B4 Hooterville

As hard as it is to love our enemies, I believe we must pray deeply for George Bush. We must pray to see him guided by the right ideas and principles, instead of fear. Every thing he has done, has been fear-based and disastrous. It's as if he has no moral compass, no conscience and no feelings for others or what they go through. He is playing with toy soldiers.

But there is a spiritual power that is much bigger than Bush or any of us, believe me I know firsthand. When we actually put into practice true prayer (which has nothing to do with the anthropomorphic fear and punishment fundamentalist god of the religious right) THINGS ACTUALLY CHANGE.

This is a universe of laws of harmony. We ourselves must stop our defeatism. Refuse to allow any thought of Bush starting war with Iran into your consciousness. We ourselves cannot be fearful. Bush cannot have that much power. We will not allow him to start war with Iran. I for one, am seeing him as waking up. If he has even a glimmer of the true "Christ" within, he will know he has been ruled by fear. Love casts out fear.

We have to stop saying "Bush is going to attack Iran" as if it's a done deal. We can say, "We will not tolerate this any longer" but let's get active. We need to get out on the streets.

We need to hold our thoughts higher about the man. It is metaphysics and I guarantee it works. As hard as it is to change our vision of him, we have to. Our vision of him will create a different outcome.

ON THIS LABOR DAY ...



On this Labor Day in the United States, a national holiday established more than a century ago to honor the American worker, Americans typically spend the day away from work, enjoying picnics in the park or spending the last holiday of the summer outdoors.

We must not forget that U.S. workers had to literally fight for their rights to a decent wage and improved working conditions and many risked their lives trying to organize.

In 1894, some 34 railway union members were killed when President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to break up a railroad strike outside Chicago, Illinois. Cleveland, who was up for re-election that year, needed to appease angry workers nationwide, so he signed into law a national holiday called Labor Day in honor of the worker.

Violence against U.S. workers continued in the 20th century. In 1902, 14 coal miners
were killed by a mine company's private police force. In 1911, about 150 people, mostly women and children, died in a fire working in a New York City sweatshop, Massachusetts police beat women and children in a textile strike.

Americans labor in many different ways. On this Labor Day, the number of people without health insurance continues to rise, up to 15.8% last year. 47 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2006, an increase of 8 million since Bush took office.

Median annual earnings for full-time, year-round workers dropped from last year, the third year in a row. Household income is down $956 since 2000. It rose slightly last year because more household members are working, and for longer hours. But they are getting paid less for their work.

Wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s.

The trend to re-classify full-time workers as “independent contractors” continues to rise. Although the same work is done by the same people, contracting it out allows employers to avoid the minimum wage increase and terminate benefits that accrue only to “employees.” Reclassification also lets them avoid payroll taxes, a dodge that creates an invisible subsidy to corporate America in the range of $3 billion.

Since 2000, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance for families have skyrocketed. The average monthly worker contribution for family coverage in 2000 was $135. It has increased to $298 or by 84%.

In the first quarter of the year, wages and salaries represented 41 percent of gross domestic product, down from almost 50 percent in the first quarter of 2001 and a record 53.6 percent in the first quarter of 1970, according to the Commerce Department.

The corporate policies of George W Bush has allowed more manufacturing companies to move overseas in the last six years, giving the country a trade deficit of more than $700 billion annually. And the jobs lost in manufacturing have been disproportionately union jobs.

While the unionization rate in manufacturing was more than 40 percent in the sixties, in 2006 it was just 11.6 percent, less than the 12 percent average for all workers, although still somewhat higher than the 7.4 percent average for the private sector as a whole.

Government policies have also supported anti-union practices in other ways. A main purpose of trade agreements like NAFTA was to make it as easy as possible to relocate factories overseas.

A 30 percent over-valued dollar effectively imposes a 30 percent tariff on goods exported from the United States, while providing a subsidy of 30 percent on goods imported into the United States.

We have a growing crisis in America today, and it is our own countries purposeful neglect of the homeless, the hungry, and the working poor. It was recently reported that there are nearly one million people that are homeless in the United States today.

Even worse, over 40% of the homeless are families. Reuters reported that more Americans went homeless and hungry in 2006 than the year before and that children made up almost one quarter of those in emergency shelters.

Nearly one million families lost their homes last year. This year, it will likely be 2 million. There were 25,000 layoffs in the mortgage industry in the first three weeks of August. Building supply and furniture manufacturers have been cutting back. With home construction 25 percent below last year and falling, hundreds of thousands of building trades workers could lose their jobs.

As economic conditions worsen, right-wing corporate interests are always ready to sow division and fear. It’s the immigrants’ fault. Consumers aren’t spending enough. Consumers aren’t saving enough. It’s the government’s fault for wasting your tax dollars on health care for kids.

In the Great Depression of the 1930s, the American people rejected those arguments. They rejected racism, and under the slogan “Black and white, unite and fight," They organized unions that raised wages and improved working conditions.

On this another Labor Day, Americans have labored with the fact that their sons and daughters, neighbors and friends are strapped in an endless war for profit, with no end in sight.

The U.S economy is quickly falling into a severe recession, that could very well end up in a Modern Day Depression if something isn't done. Millions of Americans lose their jobs each month, millions more are underemployed.

There is much laboring going on in America, on this Labor Day. The homeless labor for a better way, our nation labors over those stuck in a needless war, each American labors over the future of the economy and those in the workplace labor with fear over the future of their employment.

That is America, On This Labor Day!


We live in the richest country in the world. There's plenty to spare and for no man, woman, or child to be in want. And in addition to this our country was founded on what should have been a great , true principle -- the freedom, equality, and rights of each individual. Huh! And what has come of this start? There are corporations worth billions of dollars--and hundreds of thousands of people who don't get to eat.

Carson McCullers

WHERE HAVE ALL OUR FREEDOMS GONE?

I am out of town and can only leave short posts until August 10. Meanwhile Larry is holding down the fort, and doing a great job. I was going to write a post about the Bush administration called "If They Have Nothing to Cover Up, Why are they Covering Everything Up?"

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a terrific spy-thriller, but if this is the way the NSA is spying on us, then we don't stand a chance of ever getting our "freedoms" back. It also closely parallels what is going on in the Bush administration today. It's a socio-political parable. I got goosebumps at the chilling way it mimics exactly what is going on right now in America, in the CIA and with our troops. Watch the ending. Let me know what you think. - Lydia

More on that later...

Where Have All Our Freedoms Gone?
Guest Blog by Larry



On a balmy day many decades ago, the Senate of Rome voted overwhelmingly to make Ceasar their Emperor. It was also a balmy day in America, as the U.S Senate voted 60-28 to violate the constitution and allow George W Bush the freedom to spy without warrant on any American he may choose.

The Senate, who is controlled by the Democratic majority was told by George W Bush, that they couldn't go on their month long summer vacation until they agreed on his desire to spy on every American.

This is another freedom that has been taken away by those we elect to protect our interests. The Congress has already allowed Mr. Bush to send the FBI to enter your house without a warrant and without your permission, did you know that?

The government can read your postal mail without your permission, do you realize that? The National Security Agency can read your e-mail and listen to your private phone conversations, are you aware of that?

Congress gave Mr. Bush the right to install the "Patriot Act" which in essence allows the government to arrest anyone they "suspect" may commit a crime in the future. This act requires no warrant.

The entire Congress gave Mr. Bush the right to institute Martial Law on the citizens of the U.S, for any reason, any time he so chooses. This act was done, by Executive order, with little opposition from Congress.

Where have our other freedoms gone? Our assets can now be seized by the government if it is decided a citizen may be interfering with Bush's duties as President by protesting the Iraq war.

George W. Bush was demanding that Congress rewrite the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), so that the U.S. government can more easily spy, not on terrorists, but rather on innocent Americans. Bush has his wish and each American will pay the price.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Americans overwhelmingly oppose giving Bush the right to spy on each of us without warrant and without cause. What about the rights of "We the People" or does it really matter.

It doesn't matter because, if these past six-plus years have taught "We the People" anything, it has taught us that America can survive terrorist attacks, but can it survive the threat posed by the extremist agenda espoused and practiced by the dictatorship of George W Bush and today's Republican Party.

*****************
This morning from 8-9 a.m. PST Basham and Cornell discuss the new law Bush signed giving himself unlimited spying powers and condoning all the laws he broke the past 6 years.

If you're in Vegas, tune in to: KLAV 1230 to listen live or on the interent BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

Nevada is a red state, but we have the ONLY Progressive Talk-radio show in Las Vegas! Basham and Cornell Show is now a DAILY SHOW! Tune in LIVE FROM 8-9 a.m. Monday thru Friday online or live from LAS VEGAS (KLAV 1230) BASHAM AND CORNELL PROGRESSIVE TALK

STEREOTYPES *

Please read Larry's excellent article "Stereotypes" below. But first I want to add this riveting news. Bush is trying to sell the Saudis a large cache of U.S. made high-tech weaponry for a $20 billion dollar asking price. Just now on Randi Rhodes show, evidence was presented that this is absolutely high treason, considering that most of the 911 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. And right now Saudi Arabia is emptying their prisons to unleash all their high-risk criminals. Guess where they are sending them? To Iraq, to kill American soldiers.

Remember, our government once upon a time, PROMOTED Saddam! We were “in his corner,” giving him support. Until he was no longer useful to us, that is, and served us better as a “bad guy” (which he already was, granted, but up to then we found it convenient to ignore that fact).

And we wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t trust us.

According to CNN, one of the more controversial proposals will probably be selling the Saudis, for the first time, satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound version of the aerial bomb. The Israelis are said to be very concerned about the Saudis having that precision-strike capability, so the United States will discuss basing the weapons as far away from Israel as possible, the official said. Other elements under discussion are new naval vessels, an advanced version of air-to-air missiles already used by the United States, and advanced Patriot missiles.

Hmmm... Bush wants to sell our weapons to the Saudis. Will we never learn? - Lydia



Stereotypes
Guest Blog by Larry

We all face being stereotyped in one way or another. That is just a part of life, a view that people may have of us, right or wrong. Some stereotypes are totally inaccurate, while a few may be close to reality.

Some of us are viewed as having the world at our fingertips, that we can do no wrong, when in reality the private world may be filled with insecurities and failures that are masked to the public eye.

Some of us may be stereotyped as elusive and cold when in reality we are shy or just not comfortable with being open with others for fear of betrayal or possibly even disbelief.

There are some of us who are stereotyped as being perhaps merely a country hayseed, one who can barely string two audible sentences together, or write anything of significance, when in reality we may be fluent in the proper settings and have the gift of written words.

Whatever the stereotype you fall under, you are viewed in a certain way by those who have never taken the time to know you. They have never taken the time to see the person inside of you, and what you are all about.

In 2000, America was presented with a projected stereotype of George W Bush. There were millions who were led to believe that George W Bush was a kind man, a compassionate man. A man of good morals.

Millions of Americans were led to believe after 9/11 hit, that Mr. Bush was a fearless leader who would seek those who harmed our country and bring them to justice. Some believed that Mr. Bush was the only one who could save our country.

Often in stereotypes, we discover that the person we have one view of is totally different than what we once believed. We find that those we thought had it all together is really scrambled and confused, that the country hayseed is really very articulate and gifted with words.

Those millions who thought George W Bush was a kind and compassionate man, discovered he is really cold and calculating. Those who thought Mr. Bush was filled with morals and principles now see a man with the principles and morals of an alley cat.

Those millions who stereotyped Mr. Bush as honest and trustworthy now see a vision of corruption and greed. Those of religious beliefs who once thought Mr. Bush was a man of peace, now see a man filled with hate and war.

As we see people we barely know in a vision we have in our minds, we often see the wrong stereotype. We see what we want to see, not what is behind the surface of the inner person.

After nearly seven years, America now has the true stereotype of George W Bush. As we see the arrogance and contempt for our rights and freedoms being stripped away, as we see thousands die shameful deaths due to greed and power, we now have the true stereotype.

Let us all hope if we get another opportunity to choose a leader for America, we will look inside the soul of the person before we choose. America can't afford another stereotype of shame.

Wisdom From The Past Guides Us Now!

Guest post by Mike


Certain core principles and tenets are classic and timeless, Such as the freedoms and liberties enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and the Golden Rule..........The amazing visionary and prophet Edgar Cayce gave us such core tenets in the wake of the looming Nazi threat and shadow of WW2.

Cayce warned over and over again that the only obstacles to peace and prosperity were imperialism, racism, religious zealotry, and the greed of self serving elites...........I read this warning from the Great Edgar Cayce and it was like he was screaming this warning to our society from the grave.........GWB says EVERYTHING changed after 9/11, I say beware of snake oil salesmen who say "Everything Has Changed" or "Things Are Different This Time", for they usually NEVER are, particularly for core principles and tenets that are classic and timeless.

Like Detective Columbo, I'm a little slow on the uptake at times, so hopefully you guys could help me put together the most recently divulged facts from the Attorney gate saga.

Lets see now, The Attorney for the President, and the President's Chief of Staff both go to the hospital, BUT allegedly NOT for the man they work for The President but as he CLAIMS for a completely different branch of government .......(cough cough).......in the spirit of bipartisanship. Now mind you Bush and his counselor have shown nothing but contempt and disdain for both Congress and for bipartisanship, not to mention Congressional over site and the checks and balances ......but I digress.

Where were we, oh yeah, the Chief of Staff and the attorney FOR President Bush went to the hospital bed of a man in intensive care who was incapacitated to get him to sign and authorize an illegal unconstitutional spying program of President Bush's that he refused to authorize and stated was illegal when he WAS of sound mind and health............

Now the plot thickens so bear with me here, because as it turns out the Attorney General John Ashcroft, KNEW he was not fit to perform his duties and make critical decisions when he became ill, so he appointed James Comey as Acting Attorney General and lo and behold President Bush and his cronies tried to get Comey to approve his illegal spying on American Citizens Program and Comey ALSO refused stating it was unconstitutional.

So, AFTER Ashcroft did not approve Bush's illegal spy program and then mysteriously became ill, Bush and Gonzalez attempted to get Comey who they obviously KNEW was acting AG to approve it, THEN when Comey ALSO refused to approve the illegal program FOR BUSH, The Presidents Chief of Staff AND his Attorney KNOWING full well that Ashcroft was incapacitated and Comey was the real and legitimate Attorney General and the ONLY one who could legally approve the program at the time, illegally tried to pull and end around, and get the incapacitated Ashcroft to sign and authorize President Bush's illegal and unconstitutional program illegally, knowing full well that he was not the legal AG and lacked the authority to authorize such a program not to mention was not of sound mind.................

Oh and lets not forget of course that although Gonzalez's boss GWB was obsessed with getting the illegal spy program rubberstamped and was attempting to do everything in his power to do so both legal and illegal, and although he claimed on many prior occasions he would continue the program regardless of the legality or of Congress's disapproval.........

Gonzalez had the audacity to claim that he went to Ashcroft's hospital bed with authorization document and pen in hand NOT for his boss GWB who was adamant and obsessed with getting it authorized but instead as a bipartisan ambassador of good will for a COMPLETELY different branch of government despite the fact that he has never showed this benevolent bipartisan spirit of cooperation before or since.

Now my head is spinning from that last paragraph from all those illegals so I could use some help here people...........does it sound the least bit plausible or logical that two of the presidents most loyal henchman would illegally go to a sick mans hospital bed NOT for the man they worked for who was moving heaven and earth to try and authorize his illegal program that both legitimate AG's denied authorizing because they stated it was illegal and unconstitutional but rather for a separate branch of government that they have shown NOTHING but contempt for.

What kind of man could go to an incapacitated man in intensive care's hospital bed and try to get that man who was not of sound mind to illegally authorize an illegal program Gonzalez KNEW he lacked the legal authority to authorize in the first place.......further picture how nefarious, ill intentioned and untrustworthy Comey and the FBI would have to deem this man to think it best NOT to allow him to be alone with Ashcroft without FBI supervision.

Do you think this man, Alberto Gonzalez merits the trust to remain Attorney General and head of our Department of Justice when not only has he tried to compromise and infect our justice system with partisanship, but every action he has committed has show his disdain and contempt for honesty, equal justice for all and the rule of law..........this man must be ripped from the levers of power and the fabric of our nation like a cancerous tumor!

We must keep Cayce's warning in mind when we evaluate the actions of Gonzalez and the Bush Administration, for it is a benevolent voice of reason screaming a warning from the grave.


Image by Stephen Pitt Cartoons

Darklords, Dunces and Dictators!

Guest post by Mike


Darklords, Dunces and Dictators! Truth oftentimes mirrors or is stranger than fiction, this article will compare history to fiction to illustrate the similarities both in motives and actions between historical and fictional darklords, dunces and dictators.

An interesting commonality when examining evildoers is the theory that evil may start out with fair motives before the all consuming desire for power to exert their will and control and dominate others eats them up and becomes the sole objective. Now keep in mind when I say "fair motives" I DON'T mean benevolent or good intentions that benefit society as a whole, what I do mean is that originally the motivations were more likely self serving and megalomanical in nature such as seizing power to do what these people felt was right or beneficial to themselves rather than genocidal or nihilistic. Hitler for instance most likely didn't ORIGINALLY intend on committing genocide by throwing people in ovens and gas chambers but the quest for total power lead him to those twisted actions eventually.

Lets examine this theory first by looking at one of my all time favorite authors Tolkien. Tolkien states that the Darklord Sauron was not wholly evil in his beginning, in fact Tolkien states that at the beginning of the second age Sauron's motives, the rehabilitation and reorganization of Middle-Earth were indeed fair, however his arrogance and desire for the power to control and effect how that change and reorganization were carried out eventually consumed him and metastasized into something very different, the desire to exert his will and control and dominate other's.

I think this is a very common theme, for the rise of dictators/darklords, although we will likely never KNOW definitively I would speculate that Bush, Cheney and the Neo Con's original intentions weren't to torture, destroy the US Constitution or get bogged down in an almost 5 year and counting unwinnable quagmire in foreign lands............

I think they were energy men who KNEW peak oil was fast approaching, they also KNEW our economic and military dominance is predicated on cheap oil, and that Iraq and Iran were just about the ONLY countries with relatively untapped oil and gas reserves that could be increased significantly. In fact Iraq probably has the cheapest oil reserves in the world and Iran has enormous natural gas reserves and could probably almost double oil output with significant investment, all that was needed was the implementation of the Neo Con plan to overthrow the USA hostile governments and install puppet governments loyal to them and we not only would we have cheap oil to keep our economy humming for almost 2 decades, but American oil companies and those in league with them could reap vast fortunes developing and buying those reserves and rewriting the laws to give our oil companies favorable contracts. ........problem is it didn't go as planned and now the desire to dominate and exert our will in ANY way possible has superceded the original plan.

The original plan was to usher in another 20 year economic boom by insuring our access to cheap oil, they also wanted to continue Reagan's work to maintain our military dominance, and continue the erosion of safety nets and regulations protecting the working class, and permanently rig the system in favor of the wealthy. Essentially they wanted to undo the NEW DEAL, abolish Social Security, destroy unions and neuter regulatory agencies like the SEC, FCC, FDA, EPA, OSHA......etc.

Similarly, although we will never truly KNOW, although Hitler despised the Jews I think in the beginning, his original plan was not the nihilistic and genocidal extermination of a race, but rather to restore Germany's former economic and military power and pride and extricate it from the yoke of harsh, punitive war reparations. I think his seething hatred and racial prejudices combined with his megalomanical obsession with exerting his will and dominating and controlling others consumed him and transformed him in to the monster we read about today.

Lets move on to the movies, in Revenge of The Sith, when Padme is witnessing the rise of the Empire, Palpatine who manipulated the republic into war to seize and cement absolute power via dictatorship, triumphantly proclaims himself emperor and Padme says "so this is how democracy dies with thunderous applause" . It chillingly reminded me of how people cheered as the heinous Patriot Act was railroaded through Congress to give the "DECIDER" special "war powers" that further eroded the checks and balances and started the transformation of our country to a police state and dictatorship.

Another "interesting" Star Wars comparison is Dick Cheney stating he is President of the Senate and thus does not fall under, nor is he subject to Executive Orders and oversight.............kinda reminds you of Emperor Palpatine shrieking "I AM THE SENATE" or cackling "unlimited power" as he implements his coup to hijack the republic and seize ultimate power.

Anakin Skywalker is another perfect example of fair motives being corrupted and replaced with the all consuming and nihilistic obsession for the power to implement the desired changes. Anakins original desire was for the power to protect the ones he loved, end the war and restore order and justice to the universe...........eventually his obsession with power transformed him into the very thing he despised and opposed.

Fortunately if we follow this theme to its logical conclusion evil always turns on itself and defeats itself, its arrogance often blinds it. Sauron never imagined any one would even attempt to destroy the ring, the irony here is that it wasn't one of the good guys that actually destroyed the ring, it was evil that turned on itself that destroyed the ring and laid the mighty Sauron and his evil empire low, it was Gollem's greed and obsession that led to Sauron's demise. Same for Hitler, it was his arrogance that caused him to overextend himself in Russia, and hastened his demise. similarly Evil once again turned on itself when Darth Vader turned on the emperor and destroyed himself and his master. Arrogance and the megalomanical perception of omnipotence and obsession with unrivaled and untouchable power led all of the previous dark lords, and dictators to the same ruinous path to the void and the nothingness and irrelevance that awaits them.

Now that we covered the darklords and dictators its time to focus on the dunces...........GWB and the Neo Cons will be brought down by their own incompetence, pompous arrogance and perceived omnipotence, exactly WHAT will bring them down is the question of the century........lets see we have attorneygate, Iraqgate, Spygate, Libbygate, and most recently Commutationgate, that is clearly a plan to further obstruct justice by providing Libby an EXCUSE to not have to testify and likely implicate GWB and Cheney in the Plame civil suit while his appeal is going on etc..............too many more to list! I'd like to hear your opinions on what will bring about the demise of the Bush Administration


Image by Stephen Pitt Cartoons