Who can accomplish the mission?

May 1-2, 2004 Weekend Edition

	National Guard Officer Offers Criticism of Bush's Iraq Plans New York Times -5-1-04 ... address was broadcast on the first anniversary of Mr. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech and came directly after the president's weekly radio address. ...
Iraqis hail Falluja 'victory' as US changes tack ABS CBN News, Philippines - 5-1-04 ... Hussein's generals patrolled the city of Falluja on Saturday, a year after George W. Bush declared the US "mission accomplished" in ousting the Iraqi regime. ...	Kerry Tells Veterans to March for Benefits The Porterville Recorder, CA -5-1-04 ... situation in Iraq after Bush flew onto the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln last May 1 and spoke under a banner declaring "Mission Accomplished.". ...

Money can buy a lot of things--but not war hero status.

"According to a new Gallup poll out today, 61 percent of Iraqis believe the war to remove Saddam Hussein was worth any hardship. ... The problem is, the other 39 percent are shooting at us." Jay Leno

The-World-Is-A-Safer-Place-Without-Saddam News

British Troops, Militants Clash in Iraq AP
2 Americans, 4 Others Die in Saudi Attack Guardian, UK
2 U.S. Sailors, 1 Soldier Killed in Iraq AP
America's new Iraqi allies in Fallujah are 'not squeaky clean': general AFP
Bush: U.S. Troops Face Serious Challenges in Iraq Reuters
Iraqi Prison Photos 'Beyond Disgust' - Arab League Reuters
Iraq Veteran Criticizes Bush on Radio AP
Ex-Weapons Inspector: Too Few Iraq Troops AP
AP Toll Says 1,361 Iraqis Killed in April AP
Bush warns of more violence in Iraq as furor mounts over prisoner abuse AFP
Report Blames Saddam Security for Attacks AP
Prisoner Torture 'Included Sex Assault with Broomstick' Scotland on Sunday, UK

"Yesterday, the Treasury Department unveiled the new fifty dollar bill. You know who's on the 50-dollar bill? Grant. Grant was a Republican president, who was a total failure in school, bankrupted his businesses and somehow wound up as president. Bush calls him a role model, a trailblazer -- a leader." Jay Leno

www.unfairlybalanced.com

Bush Republican Image Control: New Lows

The effort of the Bush White House and their allies to control the political reality perceived by American voters has reached new lows. Hiding facts from the public are standard operating procedures for the Bush Republican political machine as demonstrated by the Cheney Energy Taskforce cover-up and their manipulation of the 9-11 Investigative Commission. They have no problem with using their powerful allies in the federal courts (like Supreme Court Justice Scalia) to hide their failures and questionable actions from the voters. They have misused the media to gain power and now have their allies in the media to keep needed information from the voting public.

Democrats have been aware of the manipulation skills of the Bush Republican political machine since the 2000 Election Florida Recount. They twisted press images to get illegal votes counted from supposedly military ballots. Some Bush voters admitted to voting twice, some votes seem to be cast after Election Day and hundreds were of so doubtful that they may not have been cast by military personnel.

Tens of thousands of legal Democratic voters were illegally kicked off the voting rolls by Katherine Harris’ and Jeb Bush’s state organization BEFORE the recount. The Bush machine kept that fact from the public during the recount. Republican operatives from Congressmen King (NY) and Delay (TX) staff played key roles in the Dade County Courthouse riot that intimidated the election board from completely their recount. The Bush machine managed to keep that fact from the public during the recount.

Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas had close family connections to the Bush campaign. Thomas’ wife even ran a recruiting website for Bush out of their house during the recount. They should have excused themselves from the Recount cases. They did not or all votes in Florida would have been recounted! Gore would have been in the White House today. We would not have been in the Iraq mess today! The Bush machine covered-up these connections until after Bush occupied the White House.

We have investigative reporter Greg Palast to thank for finally revealing these facts and more. For the full details, read Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast.

The way Bush gained power has carried over to the exercise of that power. The distortion of facts by Bush Republicans concerning terrorism and weapons of mass destruction has pushed us into an unwise War In Iraq. The manipulation machine is fully committed to keeping the depth and consequences of this unwise War from the voters.

They are dishonoring our fallen soldiers from this conflict in order to keep from paying a political price in the elections this Fall. Their private sector backers at Sinclair have shamefully refused to carry a “Nightline” TV broadcast that will read the names of each soldier killed in Iraq. Sinclair has given thousands of dollars to the Bush campaign. Sinclair owns 8 TV stations that normally broadcast every “Nightline” broadcast.

Democrats need to challenge the Sinclair broadcast licenses with the FCC over this media manipulation. The airwaves belong to the public. Sinclair uses them for private profit by law under clear guidelines. They should not be able to use them to undermine our Democracy. They are obligated to inform the public instead of politically manipulating the voters. News broadcasting being politicized by the Bush White House is not in the public interest.

The White House is doing the same by stopping journalists from taking photos of coffins returning from the War In Iraq. They are engaging in similar behavior concerning the 9-11 hearings. Beside the outrageous secretive restriction concerning their unprecedented joint testimony before the committee, they are trying to deny testimony by government translators of documents that show that the Bush Administration should have known the 9-11 attacks were coming on “national security” grounds. The information and testimony is essential to the workings of the 9-11 Commission. This cover-up attempt is political and not a real national security issue.

Do we really need these people running our government? Voters need honest, open government. Voters need full information to make an informed vote. We need to see reality the way it is instead of just the illusions being sold by the Bush Republicans as fact.

Written by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence (hosts of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ).

www.mystolennation.com

Data Show Different Spy Game Since 9/11

washingtonpost.com - Sat May 1, 1:00 AM ET

For the first time, the number of secret surveillance warrants issued in federal terrorism and espionage cases last year exceeded the total number of wiretaps approved in criminal cases nationwide, according to new statistics released yesterday...