BTW,

I hate this goddam fucking war. All 17 years of it. The article Kathleen links to in #98 scratches the surface, but we’ve killed close to 2 million Iraqis since Apryl Glaspie encouraged Saddam to invade Kuwait back in July, 1990.

Maybe it goes back even further. If someone in our government okayed the shipment of oil drilling equipment to Kuwait, aimed specifically at drilling on a slant into Iraqi oil supplies, then we’ve been complicit even before 1990.

“Vice President Cheney has taken a very prominent role in covert military operations and training exercises designed for the “seamless integration” of different national security and military authorities to possible terrorist attacks. … Mr. Cheney subsequently played a direct role in supervising training exercises that simultaneously occurred during the 911 attacks.

According to former Los Angeles Police Officer Michael Ruppert, Mr. Cheney had a parallel chain of command that he used to override Air Force objections to stand down orders that grounded the USAF during the 911 attacks, LINK.

Mr. Ruppert learned that the Secret Service had the authority to directly communicate presidential and vice presidential orders to fighter pilots in the air thereby circumventing the normal chain of command. (Crossing the Rubicon, pp. 428 – 429). Furthermore: “It is the Secret Service who has the legal mandate to take supreme command in case of a scheduled major event – or an unplanned major emergency – on American soil; these are designated “National Special Security Events”.LINK.”

Shocking, isn’t it? Besides, since when has the Secret Service had resources and training to handle a national emergency?

So many things need to be investigated and revealed (and probably fixed).

And Rudy scores with our next AG:

Filed at 2:49 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his campaign to win over Republican conservatives, presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has a persuasive ally in Theodore Olson, a high-profile lawyer often mentioned as a possible replacement for departing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

I know I’m alone down here but I don’t give a shit.

Ted Olsen has been bundling contributions for Giuliani’s campaign so it is no secret that Rudy would be pulling for him, would it?

Israel gave protection to the Sabra and Shatilla massacre.

Twenty-five years ago this week since the massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps at Sabra-Shatilla.

http://www.counterpunch.org/

By our invasion of Iraq we created an enviroment for a genocide to take place.

How exactly were the massacres in Sabra and Shatilla in 1982, which began on 15 September, caused by the US invading Iraq?

Was Fred Thompson a B-52 pilot?

I think the only joystick he ever used is carried in his pants with two attachments.

njprogressive @ 44

OT [but related to the previous thread]

Mr. NJP read the big profile of Jack Goldsmith in this past Sunday’s NY Times Magazine “The Conscience of a Conservative”. Mr. NJP’s take: David Addington wants to do away with the Bill of Rights to enhance the president’s power. Jack Goldsmith wants to do away with the Bill of Rights to enhance the president’s power, but he wants Congress and the Courts to agree to it.

Oh my god. How’s about we freaking chop the preznit’s power off at the KNEES?

This unitary executive theory needs to die a thorough, complete, stake-thru-the-heart-and-head-chopped-off DEATH.

Bah!

It only started dying in the Soviet Union when Stalin died. Even then it took 31 more years to really start gasping for breath there.

Kathleen @ 27

Mr. Cheney subsequently played a direct role in supervising training exercises that simultaneously occurred during the 911 attacks.

Thank you, Kathleen.

Five Cheney-directed anti-terror training exercises on one day: the day the terrorists actually struck.

What are the chances of that?

On 7/7/05 a private company was running anti-terror exercises in London at precisely the same locations where the bombs went off.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/i…..icleId=821

What are the chances of that?

And on October 15th there will be terrorist drills in Washington DC.

That should be the day no one goes to work, at least not in any tall buildings that have any sort of national significance.

OT [but related to the previous thread]

Mr. NJP read the big profile of Jack Goldsmith in this past Sunday’s NY Times Magazine “The Conscience of a Conservative”. Mr. NJP’s take: David Addington wants to do away with the Bill of Rights to enhance the president’s power. Jack Goldsmith wants to do away with the Bill of Rights to enhance the president’s power, but he wants Congress and the Courts to agree to it.

I’ll agree with that analysis.

OT, but the UC Irvine/Erwin Chemerinsky story is proving to have long and strong legs.

Page A1, above the fold, in the LA Times for the second day in a row.

http://www.latimes.com/news/lo…..ome-center

People who know the chancellor are saying that this is so out of character for him that it MUST be the result of external pressure, but the Regents and Bren are both saying “it wasn’t us.”

The faculty senate is on the warpath.

Some are even saying that the scheduled 2009 opening of the law school will have to be postponed.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out, but I think the job is once again Erwin’s–if he wants it after this fiasco.

God only knows what they were thinking out there. Even conservatives are coming to his defense. What could be so terrible about having a noted constitutional law scholar as dean of a law school unless the regents are going to use the Cheney version of the constitution. Then they might have to go to Pepperdine and recruit Ken Starr for the job. He’d be familiar with that truncated document.

“Significantly, public officials briefed about the true circumstances of the B-52 incident will almost certainly place enormous pressure on Vice President Cheney to immediately resign if it is found that he played the role identified above. It is therefore anticipated that in a very short time, the public will learn that Cheney has resigned for health resigns.”

I want to believe this.

Link?