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It has been such a quiet four years...amazing how suddenly the fear card comes out in the summer of a another presidential election.
Never did this manifest itself more than just after the Democratic Convention, on August 1, 2004, just after Kerry's acceptance speech, Ol' Tommy Ridge came out got all orange while saying this:
"But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President's leadership in the war against terror. The reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan. Such operations and partnerships give us insight into the enemy so we can better target our defensive measures here and away from home."
Of course, this terror alert turned out to be so much bullcrap, based on old information conveniently rolled out to steal Kerry's thunder -- and some even noticed at the time. Leading Ridge to come out two days later and say this:
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security."
Except of course...as we found out later:
The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level
Wolf Blitzer is going to fluff that beard a lot the next few months.
(pic via Annoy.com)
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But we now have Skeletor to keep us safe. What’s the problem?
First they create the terror. Next they claim to be protecting us—and destroying our rights and constitution into the bargain. Rum lot!
By definition, the US Government terrorizes its own:
http://proliberty.com/observer/20000906.htm
From the September 2000 Idaho Observer:
RAND analyst admits Defense Secretary fits profile of domestic terrorist?
“Astute observation” begs question: “Who are the real terrorists?”
The Department of Defense’s definition of terrorism is:
“The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or try to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological.”
“All acts of terrorism are politically motivated,”
“Why would Cohen, who has access to all chemical/biological weapons intelligence data, including that disseminated by RAND, scare the public with the imminence of a chemical/biological threat? Is he not mirroring the intent of ‘terrorists’ to leave a specific impression on a gullible public,” asked Don Harkins of The Idaho Observer.
Chalk gave a thoughtful and lengthy answer to Harkins’ question. Chalk explained that Cohen’s public announcement was undoubtedly prompted by lobbyists who used the Clinton cabinet member as political leverage to fund their anti-terrorism programs and research.
“Earlier today Dr. Hoffman stated that ‘all terrorist acts are politically motivated.’ What you just described to me is that Cohen’s threat of imminent chemical or biological attack was politically motivated. How, then, is Defense Secretary Cohen’s behavior different from what you guys have described as that of a domestic terrorist?” Harkins asked.
With a smile that seemed to say, “touchet,” Chalk said, “Your observation is very astute.”
According to the US State Department, the definition of TERRORISM is not confined to the physical act of killing. Terrorism occurs when a state utilizes fear tactics against its own people to accomplish political objectives.
The mere act or announcing a falsely construed terror alert - or overplaying the significance of a plot known not to be viable - is itself terrorism.
Tom Ridge admitted that many of the Terror Alerts announced under his command were in fact phony. Remember the run on duct tape? That was a clear case of state sponsored terrorism by the Government of the United States under the direction of Karl Rove against the people of the United States to achieve a political objective.
Who do you think was calling the timing of ALL the various prior terror scares purely for political gain? Karl Rove is a Terrorist under the definition ascribed by the US State Department.
The Cheney misadministration hasn’t lost its sense of timing. How better to whip the American sheeple back into line than to trot out this tired old line of BS just as Obama arrives home from his wildly successful world tour?
I wouldn’t mind the manipulation so much if only they had picked nicer colors.
1,716 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Plunger and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Your observations this evening remind us of the great funny papers cartoon “I have seen the enemy (read terrorist) and he is us!”
We are and have been a terrorist state since the very beginning, and we fought a Civil War when the banks stopped profiting from lending money to the bankrupt, terrorist slave system so they eliminated that system only to reinfranchise the old slaveholders to institute a new colonial economy based on a “free labor” slave system to be held together by political terror and Constitutional immunity. Post industrial capitalism has flourished until now upon the old slave base with the disenfranchisement of the balance of Northern “free labor” and now the corrupt and cracking political superstructure is fallin’ in on the mass of folks of it’s own weight and bankrupt economy.
The next 10 years are gunna see the end of corporate capitalism as we have known it and whatever replaces it will come from the blood of patriots.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE FUCKIN AMMUNITION, WE DON’T HAVE A CHOICE ANYMORE!!
The partial list of crimes
Ho Hum.
Same old song and dance. Second verse, same as the first!
Funny how this was mostly ignored by Conglomerate Media outlets:
http://www.cq.com/corp/show.do.....3_homeland
Was it Michael Moore who had a segment with Ridge yukkin it up at a War Profiteer convention in Hawaii? A good time was had by all!
People have been blowing the whistle on this “game” for a long, long time (Gen. Eisenhower, Maj. Gen Butler, others before them), yet We the People give a collective yawn, largely because the owners of the message machine are all in on it, and a small percentage of the public ever hears about the war profiteering parts.
This is why I think Media conglomeration issues are perhaps the most important issues we face. A truly informed electorate would not elect these Death-lovers if they understood what was happening.
We need to take it upon ourselves to let people know about “the game.” Gen. Butler’s book from the 1930s is a good place to start:
http://warisaracket.com/
More true today than when he wrote it. At least some people, like Blue America candidate Alan Grayson, get it:
http://www.graysonforcongress.com/
We must make sure more Graysons are running around Capitol Hill.
Lieberman loses primary to Lamont on August 9th:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Li.....ut_primary
AIPAC (Lieberman) lost to Lamont, cracking the door open for an anti-AIPAC rebellion at the polls. All of the President’s NeoCons had made it known since Lieberman’s loss to Lamont, just how important Lieberman had been to the Lobby’s agenda - which includes the bombing of Iran. They knew that Lieberman would lose, and Rove planned a full frontal attack for the aftermath – which by necessity always leads with a terror scare. Rove even called Lieberman directly to offer his help with the coming campaign against Lamont.
24 hours after Lamont’s victory - The Fake London Terror Scare:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/.....index.html
Despite his prior illegal actions, Karl Rove had still retained his security clearance, and knew for WEEKS prior to London’s fake terror alert what was coming - as he invented it from thin air specifically for this purpose - to take the air out of the Lamont victory. As part of the game – a CNN talking head asks the question…”Lamont is the Al Qaeda Candidate???” Rove wrote it, and CNN read it. Just when Lamont should have been enjoying a media windfall, the opposite was occurring - all thanks to Karl Rove.
The timing of the release of this information was not coincidental. Let’s take a look at how many other stories (besides Lamont’s victory) got buried within this news cycle. The Fake London Terror Scare was first reported in the wee hours of August 10th.
At approximately 11:48 a.m. August 9th, CNN reported that Ariel Weinmann - a US Submariner - had been arrested for espionage committed on behalf of Russia (passing his laptop - likely containing targeting info re: Iran). Keep in mind, he had been arrested months earlier…why the announcment today? CNN intentionally lied. They know precisely that Weinmann had spied for Israel, as this headline of that day attests (though it was later retracted/changed):
Report: US sailor spied for Israel
David Keyes, THE JERUSALEM POST - Aug. 9, 2006
CNN created a false anonymous source, and claimed that an American Jew was spying for Russia. Pentagon Reader Barbara Starr read it on the air.
SAME NEWS CYCLE: Friday, August 11, 2006; Posted: 10:06 a.m. EDT
Judge denies motion to toss pro-Israel spy case
The indictment against Steven Rosen of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Keith Weissman of Bethesda, Maryland, alleges that they conspired to obtain classified reports on issues relevant to American policy, including the al-Qaida terror network; the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel; and U.S. policy in Iran.
Rosen and Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, are accused of sharing the information with reporters and foreign diplomats. No trial date has been set.
Israeli Mole Larry Franklin worked in the Pentagon – inside Rumsfeld’s Office Of Special Plans. Franklin was arrested for spying in concert with AIPAC – for Israel.
CONNECT THE DOTS.
Were these stories all just coincidentally timed, or is there a method to the MADNESS? Why did Republican fundraiser Mel Sembler host a fundraiser for Lieberman? The same Mel Sembler who was the head of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Fund? Is that the same Mel Sembler who was Ambassador to Italy when Michael Ledeen flew to Rome to plant the Niger Yellow Cake forgery?
Yup:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/4299
Who really controls the news cycle and the “agenda?” Remember this all-important quote, obtained by Reporter Ron Suskind, presumably made by Karl Rove regarding “discernible reality:”
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10.....ssuserland
”We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
NOW IT’S UP TO US TO DISCERN REALITY.
Got a good laugh outta this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....14955.html
McSame’s pissed at a Wall Street Journal reporter. Of all the papers. Hysterical!
Right on. Thanks for that.
“Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one’s self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.”
Michael Rivera
Reply from fancynancy
Good morning, pups. It’s Bobo and Herbert today. Bobo typed about “The Biggest Issue.” He clucks that America’s stagnation in educational progress threatens the country’s long-term economic and sociological prospects. So maybe NCLB wasn’t all that great after all? Color me unsurprised. Mr. Herbert inquires “Can Obama Run the Offence?” He says Barack Obama needs to show that he can play offense and pile up enough points to win this election.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got Thomas’ English muffins hot and crispy out of the toaster. It’s my last day of vacation, so I’m going to have to try to wrap my mind about applying my nose to the grindstone again tomorrow… Sigh. Have a great day.
Kind of off topic but when was the last time some American Terrorist gunman or mad bomber was found to have read FDL, KOZ watched KO and read the Nation?
Wasn’t O’Reily saying just last week that Move On was as bad as the Klan?
Just how many people has Moved On lynched? When have we advocated violence? How many killers listened to Wingers before they killed?
The largest conspiracy in the world can be brought to its knees by the largest supercomputer ever conceived, powered by unending, relentless human determination to get to the truth. That supercomputer is called the Internet, POWERED BY PATRIOTS, and the thousands of dots that make up the BIG LIE are all being connected.
The truth WILL PREVAIL.
What part will you play?
Don’t be caught criticizing the cybersluths when the crime is solved.
Pick a dot, and connect it to another. Then pick another, and connect it to the first two. And so on, and so on, and so on.
The power is in your hands.
It certainly does not seem as though there have been a number of right wing assassination victims over here rather it seems that the “left wing” are always the victims. JFK, RFK, MLK, Wellstone, numerous OBGYN Docs, dozens and dozens of people during the civil rights “battles”. I guess the left wing are lousy with guns but the right wing worship them.
NOW IT’S UP TO US TO DISCERN REALITY.
Reality is fine for despite Bush’s belief in the Surge or his economy both are tanking. Its us I worry about if we don’t stop Bush. 70% see things our way its just that the MSM and the Democrats in Congress seem to be part of the 30%ers still motivated by fear of 9/11.
And yet we still don’t have troops in Pakistan looking for Ossama…despite all the money we give them.
I wonder if Pakistan is trading the food aid we are giving them in for cash like Saddam did during Iran Contra old dogs often repeat the same old tricks.
There is no “Osama,” and most in Washington know that to be a fact.
Wrap your head all the way around that, and consider what it means.
Those Democrats that you think are motivated by fear are motivated by the fear that comes with blackmail. The Administration is known to have started the warrantless wiretapping program PRIOR to 9/11. The entire political system works on bribery, sexual favors, etc., and it was Abramoff’s job to entrap as many of them on tape as possible.
It worked.
Mornin’, pups -
CNN just finished running an extended (for them) piece on car bombs.
Ah, yes……the old terra racket is cranking up, fer sur :-(
Maybe if Conservatives did a better job governing and with the economy they wouldn’t need to hate radio, tv, newsprint etc.
They wouldn’t need to kill our leaders because their leaders would be getting what needed to be done done.
The need for lies, for force on their part suggests that they know their way screws people and that lies and force are the only way they can govern.
Excellent post, Plunger!
Many thanks.
Denying the existence of Ossama sorry no sale.
I just watched the movie ‘The Bank Job”. Supposedly true. Lots of photos of politicians with hookers. And I thought of all those poker parties with women included. Such an obvious way to get the pix and keep everyone in line.
Well, if there’s another terror attack in addition to 9/11, the anthrax attacks, and the ricin attacks on the Capitol, then we can say for sure that Georgie did nothing to protect our country.
It’s supposed to be a simple matter to prove a positive. You’re on. Show us the most recent photo or video of Bin Laden. I’m not guessing that he does not exist, I know it for a fact. The facts surrounding Bin Laden do not match the myth. You have no proof he is alive, because he is not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
I am offended every time someone in public office uses the fascist term “homleand”
this is AMERICA and it’s “AMERICAN SECURITY”, it’s “NATIONAL SECURITY”, it is NOT “homeland” security and democrats NEED to STOP anyone in their TRACKS when they use the term “homeland” with something along the lines;
“this adminsitration has copied the fascist model as if it were a template, they hhave plaguerized hitler’s “enabling act” and called it “the patriot act”, they have abandoned this country’s constitution and law and they have even embraced the torture policies of hitler himself, and I WILL NOT allow AMERICA referred to in nazi terms like “homeland” in my presence, if YOU cannot bare the thought of using “AMERICA” in your descriptions then I will have NOTHING to do with you”
there, democrats can co-opt my little riff there if they want
Is the story that someone in Ohio is accusing Rove of threatening him to take the fall or else true?
there have been terror attacks, those like the one in the church just the other day, they simply aren’t reported as terror attacks
and all the attacks on americans by civilians in Iraq and around the world, these are terrorist attacks as well
it is bizarre this president gets to say there have been no terrorist attacks when in fact they have multiplied exponentially
Are the neocons in America planning a new attack here? Or are they scheming with people abroad to attack the Olympics and will use the attack accordingly? Not sure, but something is up. Georgie wants to stay in power so no one from the outside can find out what he and his wingers were doing over the past eight years. They would rather kill Americans then allow that to happen.
Exactly Perris. One of my readers made the same point. Right wingers feel they’re righteous so when one of their own guns down 2 liberals, they see it as a “good cleansing” for America. What they don’t understand is they are the real threat to our country and are no different than al-Qaida in their ideology and actions.
Our nation would be the safest planet on the planet if the neocons of America packed their bags and moved out of it. ;-)
***safest nation on the planet.
Yes!
OBL has probably been dead for 5-6 years. The last reliable video of him dates to nov-dec. 2001. The supposed audio messages of him are a joke, easily fabricated.
http://www.bloggerheads.com/im.....t_suit.jpg
They love having the power of life or death and do not give a sweet pidoodie whether the life is American or some ferriner. Bush gets his jollies over deciding who to allow to be murdered by the state, witness all the state sponsored murders in Texas. I am sure that they also just love to watch those torture movies. They will burn the WH down before they let some Democrat get their hands on the paper trail of their evil doings.
As I’ve posted before, and as usual ignored, W is going to trump up a crisis and declare martial law.
W’s executive orders concerning continuity of government, so-called, cite such broad parameters for a
Do you mean there is no more need for a DC madam in this administration?
Joe Scar asks a McC spokesman: “Do you think Obama loves his country?”
I think the whole FISA/Immunity episode comes down to something about 9/11 we are “in the dark” about. Very possibly the Telcos have wire tap knowledge of explosive facts about 9/11 we do not know about.
Osama’s dead because no American has seen him? What a crock of shit. And I’ve got some swamp land I want to sell you guys. Cheap.
Attaturk has a new post upstairs…
I do not know if Ossama is still alive no. But somebody is killing our troops in Afghanistan call them Al Quieda, Taliban etc all I know is the Leaders of Afghanistan demanded that Ossama be tried by Islamic Law rather than hand him over to our law.
So of course we attacked, what I find confusing is why didn’t we keep after Ossama and his fighters? Somehow I doubt the Afghanis could get fighters to die for an imaginary person. People without TV need to see you in person to believe.
They need a reason to kill. Only Modern man kills because the TV said so.
Strange how all those random “citizens,” that killed the various Liberal leaders who were inspiring change to the status quo, all had remarkably accurate aim. None missed.
The one attempt on a Repube was John Hinckley, and he missed of course from point blank range, and did it for Jodie Foster. I’ve seen some persuasive arguments that H.W. Boosh was behind that since he was V.P. at the time.
Given that the Boosh name has been involved in high level workings of the Warshington military and banking Establishments since before Prescott, sure makes ya wonder.
AT&T taps were in place prior to 9/11. They weren’t used to thwart terror, they were used to ensure it. Look at the operations that got shut down and the hot leads that got stonewalled in the weeks prior to the event. Coincidence?
AWESOME OVERVIEW HERE:
http://www.afrocubaweb.com/news/wagdog.htm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed Executive Order 01-261 September 7, 2001, four days before the WTC tragedy of Sept. 11
http://proliberty.com/observer/20011008.htm
Kay Griggs, Former Marine Colonel’s Wife, Talks Again About Military Assassin Squads, Drug Running, Illegal Weapon Deals And Sexual Perversion Deep Within The Highest Levels Of U.S. Military And Government
http://www.red-ice.net/special.....riggs.html
“I know that there was a war game going on via Tampa, I think it was called Bright Star, which was being run on 9/11 by a weird and insecure USMC General who was in charge while the Army head was conveniently away in the Near East.
Sept. 1-10 2001 - In an exercise, called Operation “Swift Sword” and planned for four years, 23,000 British troops are steaming toward Oman. Although the 9-11 attacks caused a hiccup in the deployment, the massive operation was implemented as planned. At the same time two U.S. carrier battle groups arrive on station in the Gulf of Arabia just off the Pakistani coast. Also at the same time, some 17,000 U.S. troops join more than 23,000 NATO troops in Egypt for Operation “Bright Star.” All of these forces are in place before the first plane hits the WTC. [Sources: The Guardian; CNN; Fox; The Observer; International Law Professor Francis Boyle, the University of Illinois.]
http://www.fromthewilderness.c....._lucy.html
Sept. 11, 2001 - Gen. Mahmud of the ISI (see #16), friend of Mohammed Atta, is visiting Washington on behalf of the Taliban. He is meeting with the Chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., [Source: MSNBC, Oct. 7, 2001; The New York Times, Feb. 17, 2002]
Sept. 11, 2001 - Employees of Odigo, Inc. in Israel, one of the world’s largest instant messaging companies with offices in New York, receive threat warnings of an imminent attack on the WTC less than two hours before the first plane hits. Law enforcement authorities have gone silent about any investigation of this. The Odigo research and development offices in Israel are located in the city of Herzliyya, a ritzy suburb of Tel Aviv that is the same location as the Institute for Counter Terrorism, which eight days later reports details of insider trading on 9-11. [Source: CNN’s Daniel Sieberg, Sept. 28, 2001; MSNBC Newsbytes, Brian McWilliams, Sept. 27, 2001; Ha’aretz, Sept. 26, 2001]
Sept. 11-12, 2001 - Nearly a month before the first reported outbreak, White House officials start taking the powerful antibiotic Cipro to treat anthrax. By the end of the year it will be known that the Ames strain of anthrax used in the attacks against Sens. Leahy and Daschle was produced by CIA programs coordinated through Fort Detrick, the Batelle Memorial Institute and the Dugway Proving Ground. [Source: NBC; CNN; www.tetrahedron.org www.judicialwatch.org]
Oct. 10, 2001 - The Pakistani newspaper The Frontier Post reports that U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain has paid a call on the Pakistani oil minister. A previously abandoned Unocal gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan, across Afghanistan, to Pakistan is now back on the table “in view of recent geopolitical developments.”
Nov. 25, 2001 - The Observer runs a story headlined “Victorious Warlords Set To Open the Opium Floodgates.” It states that farmers are being encouraged by warlords allied with the victorious Americans are “being encouraged to plant as much opium as possible.”
June 14, 2002 - Common Dreams website publishes an account from a former member of the 1/118th Infantry Battalion of the South Carolina National Guard: “My unit reported for drill in July 2001 and we were suddenly and unexpectedly informed that all activities planned for the next two months would be suspended in order to prepare for a mobilization exercise to be held on Sept. 14, 2001. We worked diligently for two weekends and even came in on an unscheduled day in August to prepare for the exercise. By the end of August all we needed was a phone call, which we were to expect, and we could hop into a fully prepared convoy with our bags and equipment packed.” [Source: Common Dreams, http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0614-02.htm
The CIA and Other Deep Pockets
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 a number of news stories appeared concerning investments in “put” options in United and American Airlines.
Most of the investments in these put options originated in Germany through the Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank had earlier acquired Banker’s Trust, a investment banking firm whose Vice Chairman in charge of “private client relations” in the late 1990’s was A. B. “Buzzy” Krongard. In March of 2001, Krongard was appointed Executive Director of the CIA.
Certainly, the CIA has a history of laundering money and dealings with shady investment characters. What becomes particularly relevant in the lead-up to 9/11 is the August CIA briefing of Bush concerning the potential threat of attacks by bin Laden using hijacked planes on certain sites, such as the Pentagon and World Trade Center, and the fact that the CIA had bugging equipment on bin Laden messages and international banking operations.
http://www.counterpunch.org/shor0521.html
http://www.onlinejournal.com/a....._842.shtml
http://www.hereinreality.com/insidertrading.html
No doubt about it. Gubberment and the Sheeple are taking this terrorist crap WAY too seriously. What a joke.
JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
Way, way late, but maybe you’ll see this..
Some see it as dots to be connected, I see a giant Jig-Saw puzzle. Each piece shows more of the overall picture..:)
“What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security…
“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter…
They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer 1933-45
All Fear, all the time from here until Nov. 4th. That’s all we can expect from McShame. Now we know that targets are being expanded from the usual gays/hispanics/blacks/immigrants/muslims to a more general “liberals” as evidenced by TVUUC attack.
So, did anyone in the press gallery get up on his hind legs and shout, “pull the other one!”?