In the past 7 years of the disaster known as the Bush Administration, one factor has remained consistent — the excessive use of fear and terror to coerce cooperation or to circumvent the law. Every time more power to ‘protect the citizens’ is ‘needed,’ fear and intimidation plays a crucial factor.
Aside from the fact that inducing terror is also an act of terrorism, there is more than enough evidence to impeach or prosecute both Bush and Cheney. There may be one more piece of evidence to add. As noted by the Len Hart at the existentialist cowboy blogspot, despite previous reports of bin Laden’s death, Bush has conveniently managed to keep him alive.
Shortly after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto this past month, a video containing excerpts of an interview she gave to David Frost from November of 2007 showed up on YouTube. In the video Bhutto acknowledged the death of bin Laden in 2001. For reasons unknown (aside from the obvious), the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and FOX news decided to censor the admission from Bhutto out of their copy of the video before airing it.
Bhutto wasn’t the first to acknowledge that bin Laden was dead. On December 26, 2001 Fox News reported that bin Laden had died of an untreated lung complication. Roughly six months later, the New York Times also reported that Osama bin Laden was dead.
Fox Reports Bin Laden’s Peaceful Death
On December 26, 2001, citing information from the Pakistan Observer, Fox news reported that Usama bin Laden died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication in the vicinity of the Tora Bora mountains, as told by a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral, noting that the coalition troops will never be able to fulfull their goal of finding bin Laden dead or alive.
According to the source, about 30 close associates of bin Laden, including his family members attended the funeral rites. When asked where bin Laden was buried, the source said he was sure that like other places in Tora Bora, that particular place too must have vanished.
Washington Finds Bin Laden’s Ghost Useful
On July 11, 2002, the New York Times reported that Osama bin Laden is dead, citing sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan — including, for what it’s worth, Pervez Musharraf, noting that with an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive, and that he liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with.
The article listed several key elements of a brand of politics that committed suicide in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001 that killed thousands of innocent people in the process, and that bin Laden could survive and prosper only in a world in which those elements existed. That world is gone, but bin Laden’s ghost may linger on — perhaps because Washington and Islamabad will find it useful.
It’s not known for certain whether bin Laden is alive or dead, though I’d be more inclined to go with the latter. Having him alive is convenient for the president so he can toss out more lies to further his preference of instilling fear in the American public to justify his illicit activities. Given his past record and all the other lies Bush has repeatedly told, it would be surprising if bin Laden was alive. To this day Bush continues lie about Iraq’s involvement in 9/11 so it would come as no surprise that he would lie about Osama bin Laden.
Links to More Information
Links to the information above as well as links to and snippets of numerous other misadventures of our beloved leaders can be found below:
Fox News/New York Times: “Bin Laden is Dead” article from the Existentialist Cowboy blogspot
Impeach? Prosecute Them For Crimes Against The State article from The Smirking Chimp:
“George and Dick. The two traitors. Two, thoroughly corrupt frauds, will leave office with their legacies intact. History may not treat them kindly, but it won’t condemn them as the criminals they are either. Not unless they’re impeached. These two assholes will leave behind a nation mired in debt with an economy teetering on the edge of collapse. But that’s not their problem. After all, they’ve looked after themselves quite well while in office. The children’s children of the morons who voted for this pair will be paying for generations to come for all the fun and loot that George and Dick will make off with and enjoy for the rest of their shallow, narrow lives. The poor bastards that have to clean up behind them will be seen as incompetent failures when it’s recognized that some of the damage is lasting – that it can’t all be cleaned up – that the soul of the nation has been stained permanently by a pair of greedy, Benedict Arnolds.
But, hey! What is holding office all about? You didn’t think it was about spreading good will and glad tidings did you? About leaving the nation a better place than it was? Gimme a break. All those red state folk who loved the way George talked -“Why! He’s one of us!” They’d exult. Maybe Santa and the Tooth Fairy fly with pigs too. George and Dick can’t help it if the hics and sod-busters are so naïve and stupid they didn’t know they’d get it broke off in their collective assholes as George and Dick walked away grinning. Can’t you hear them? The jokes on you, pal. We got ours. Vote republican -again. And pathetically, they will.”
2007: The Year in Evidence article from AfterDowningStreet.org
Quite a lengthy list, especially since the House Speaker for some reason thinks impeachment is off the table. It’s time to recall the House Speaker as well as impeach King George and Little Hitler.
Understanding Terrorism – Definition of Terrorism from GlobalTerrorism101.com
Bhutto: Omar Sheikh Murdered Osama bin Laden video from YouTube
BBC Censored Benazir Bhutto’s Reports that Bin Laden Had Been Murdered article from OpEdNews
Report: Bin Laden Already Dead article from Fox News December 26, 2001
The Death of bin Ladenism article from The New York Times July 11, 2002
The Pakistan Observer home page – eyes and ears of Pakistan
9/11 Lies: Another Basis for Impeachment article from George Washington’s Blog
9/11: Cheney’s crime, not a “failure” article from OilEmpire.us
Another 9/11 Smoking Gun? article from George Washington’s Blog:
“The captain of emergency medical services said “somewhere around the middle of the world trade center there was this orange and red flash coming out … initially it was just one flash then this flash just kept popping all the way around the building and that building had started to explode … and with each popping sound it was initially an orange and then red flash came out of the building and then it would just go all around the building on both sides … as far as could see these popping sounds and the explosions were getting bigger going both up and down and then all around the building” (page 15 — pdf file; Google’s web version is here)”
Bush Told Of First Attack On 9/11 Before He Left Florida Hotel article and video from Prison Planet
In the Name of the Father article from Newsweek – by Patti Davis
Sunroof injury couldn’t kill Bhutto: Toyota official article from Daily News & Analysis:
“ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto could not have been fatally inured even if she did hit her head on the sunroof lever of her Land Cruiser, says an official of the Toyota that manufactures the vehicle.
“We are convinced that it can’t be a lever (that caused the fatal head injury) but we are still looking into more details,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
According to the official, the lever could not have caused the head injury as it was installed inside the vehicle and was at least six centimeters from the edge of the sunroof.
At the same time, he did not dispute the fact that there could have been bloodstains on the lever. “This is understandable. If she was hit in the head by a bullet, bloodstains could have been left on the lever.”
Benazir’s Death: Now The Truth Must Come To The Fore article from OpEdNews
The Whoppers of 2007 article from FactCheck.org:
The year 2007 wasn’t a good one for political honesty. Though not even technically an election year, it provided a bumper crop of falsehoods and distortions nonetheless.
Presidential candidates kept us busy:”
Oligarchical decay article from Salon News
Those Prospering Pastors–When To Say No article from OpEdNews:
“There is little on the planet more disgusting and infuriating than the in your face prosperity of Televangelists, Christian College Executives, Healing Hedonists and Mega-Church Ministers. I see it locally here when a pastor type comes into visit the sick with a gold ring on each finger, gold watch, gold necklace and dressed to kill. Of course, they always carry a dog eared Bible to send the correct message when the lay it up on the counter for all to see.
Recently the self appointed Apostle of the Restored Church of God in Wadsworth, Ohio has given his clarion call sermon for the faithful to cash in what they can, including equity in homes, retirement funds and property resources and “send it here!” Time is short you know, and the minister has a great work to do on behalf of the people. He just needs the bucks. Of course, this formula is a disaster waiting to happen, so we’ll see. He’s not asking for a mere 1, 2 or 3 thousand either. How about 10, 20, 50 or 100 thousand is more what the Pastor has in mind. It’s actually quite sickening. But self appointed Gurus, Pastors, Apostles and Watchmen get to do such things without much oversight. They seem to know the members won’t question it, and if they do, there are plenty of scriptures to make them feel faithless for doing so.”
America is Mortally Wounded…CODE BLUE! article from OpEdNews:
“Former Air Force Colonel and Pentagon official Karen Kwiatkowski — who was the key whistleblower who revealed that the Pentagon had a special division producing cooked intelligence on Iraq — recently wrote:
“The republic is dead. Not sick, not dying, not failing, or in a gradual decline, not waiting to be resuscitated, but already stone cold dead.”
Is she right?”
The Airport Security Follies article from The New York Times:
Excellent article written by a pilot:
“Six years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, airport security remains a theater of the absurd. The changes put in place following the September 11th catastrophe have been drastic, and largely of two kinds: those practical and effective, and those irrational, wasteful and pointless.
The first variety have taken place almost entirely behind the scenes. Explosives scanning for checked luggage, for instance, was long overdue and is perhaps the most welcome addition. Unfortunately, at concourse checkpoints all across America, the madness of passenger screening continues in plain view. It began with pat-downs and the senseless confiscation of pointy objects. Then came the mandatory shoe removal, followed in the summer of 2006 by the prohibition of liquids and gels. We can only imagine what is next.
To understand what makes these measures so absurd, we first need to revisit the morning of September 11th, and grasp exactly what it was the 19 hijackers so easily took advantage of. Conventional wisdom says the terrorists exploited a weakness in airport security by smuggling aboard box-cutters. What they actually exploited was a weakness in our mindset — a set of presumptions based on the decades-long track record of hijackings.
In years past, a takeover meant hostage negotiations and standoffs; crews were trained in the concept of “passive resistance.” All of that changed forever the instant American Airlines Flight 11 collided with the north tower. What weapons the 19 men possessed mattered little; the success of their plan relied fundamentally on the element of surprise. And in this respect, their scheme was all but guaranteed not to fail.”
FOX News Whistle blowers. UNBELIEVABLE video from YouTube
Perfect evidence of FOX News at its best putting money over truth and human lives.
House Speaker Pelosi Accused of Earmarking Funds for Husband’s Benefit, Media Mum article from News Busters:
Just how deep does her corruption go?
“If Democrats had accused former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) last year of earmarking funds that could help real estate investments owned by his wife, would the media have reported it?
Probably on the front pages of every newspaper, and as the lead story of all of the evening news programs, right?
Well, the Associated Press published a story Monday about current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) possibly earmarking funds that would benefit her husband’s investments around the San Francisco Bay. Yet, the media showed virtually no interest (emphasis added):”
Judicial Retaliation—Ohio Style article from The North Country Gazette
An article detailing a lot of corruption and injustice in Ohio.
Bush’s Falling Dominoes article from OpEdNews
William Kristol, the New York Times and Nazi Gunter d’Alquen article from OpEdNews:
“It was an offhand remark, in 1971, by a Penn State professor to his political science students, that prompted me to become a devoted reader, then decades-long subscriber, to the New York Times: “If you don’t read the New York Times, you can’t begin to know what’s occurring in the U.S. and the world.” Over the years, I found overwhelming evidence — much of it amusing and delightful — to support his claim, even as I suppressed my suspicions that the “Old Grey Lady” was pimping for a muscular U.S. presence around the world. For years I lived with the conceit that sophisticated people spent much of their weekend mornings reading Sunday’s Times.
But, my-oh-my, how “Times” have changed! First, copy-cat journalism by Times’ “wannabes” undermined the paper’s claim to be the “paper of record.” Subsequently, that reputation was further eroded – as was the general appeal of newspapers – by the emergence and widespread appeal of “24/7” cable and internet news. Finally, the Times suffered severe self-inflicted wounds – by such dishonest reporters as Jayson Blair and Judith Miller – from which it has yet to recover.
The final straw for me, however, was the December 30, 2007 decision by the Times to hire William Kristol (editor of the Weekly Standard) as a columnist. Although the Times calls Kristol a conservative, he is, in fact, a notorious neoconservative – a member of a political cult that many traditional conservatives disavow. Readers who noticed this Orwellian elision by the Times might also recall that in January 1998, Kristol (and Robert Kagan) wrote an Op Ed titled, “Bombing Iraq isn’t Enough,” which the Times was reckless enough to publish.
Reckless? Yes, because, as Robert Parry has observed: “Under principles of international law applied from Nuremberg to Rwanda, propagandists who contribute to war crimes or encourage crimes against humanity can be put in the dock alongside the actual killers.” [Consortium News, Posted August 21, 2006] Simply recall that, under international law, the unprovoked invasion of another sovereign state is considered the most egregious of war crimes.”
Hospital lawyer: Pakistani police stopped doctors from conducting Bhutto autopsy article from The Raw Story
MSM Continues Blackout of John Edwards article from Daily Kos:
“John Edwards was the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee in 2004, a former United States Senator, an accomplished businessman, a great father and husband, and a very well credentialed candidate for President on paper. Edwards offers change and experience. (So do Clinton and Obama. This is not a bash the other candidate diary. Any of the 3 is exponentially superior to any of the Republicans.)
A variety of polls have just come out showing Edwards either leading in Iowa or in a statistical dead heat and surging in New Hampshire. Edwards could conceivably win Iowa and New Hampshire. (As can Clinton or Obama.)
But despite the apparent three way horserace, the Washington Corporate Media Cocktail Party Elitists has deliberately removed John Edwards from your TV screen for many months. And it happened again today when right wing CNN and ultra right wing Faux Noise showed clips of speeches from Clinton and Obama while not showing clips of speeches from Edwards. Regardless of which Democratic candidate you support, you should be appalled by this.
The first question to ask is, “Why has this been happening?” Why would the corporate media knowingly freeze out a candidate from national coverage when on paper, the candidate is credentialed, credible, and clearly one of the top three nominees of a major political party?
The answer I believe is as follows: John Edwards is 100% dead serious about destroying the corrupt corporate power structure that has been destroying the American middle class for decades. It’s a structure that is killing the American middle class’s wallets and pocketbooks, schools, health care, ability to own a home, etc… And who owns the Washington Post, the New York Times, 90% of talk radio, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and Faux The Most Powerless Name in Propaganda Noise? Yep, the corrupt corporate power structure.”
Why Would REAL 9/11 Truth Activists Advocate a Work of FICTION? article from OpEdNews
Report May Have Motivated Destruction of Torture Tapes article from TruthOut.org
Britain Drops ‘War on Terror’ Label article from Military.com:
“The words “war on terror” will no longer be used by the British government to describe attacks on the public, the country’s chief prosecutor said Dec. 27.
Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless “death cult.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions said: ‘We resist the language of warfare, and I think the government has moved on this. It no longer uses this sort of language.”
London is not a battlefield, he said.
“The people who were murdered on July 7 were not the victims of war. The men who killed them were not soldiers,” Macdonald said. “They were fantasists, narcissists, murderers and criminals and need to be responded to in that way.”
His remarks signal a change in emphasis across Whitehall, where the “war on terror” language has officially been ditched.”
FOX Slapped in the Face by NH Republicans For Exclusion article from The Political Inquirer:
“Limiting the number of candidates who are invited to participate in debates is not consistent with the tradition of the first in the nation primary. The level playing field requires that all candidates be given an equal opportunity to participate – not just a select few determined by the media prior to any votes being cast.”
How much does George Bush hate the troops? article from Daily Kos:
“Enough to lie to them and slap them in the face. Twice just this week.
We take you back to July 20th…
Bush, July 20, 2007:
I’m joined by veterans and military families here to express support to our troops and their mission in Iraq. I want to thank you all for being here today. We’ve just finished a really good meeting. In our discussions, these folks had a message that all of us in Washington need to hear. It is time to rise above partisanship, stand behind our troops in the field, and give them everything they need to succeed. In February I submitted to Congress a Defense Department spending bill for the upcoming fiscal year that will provide funds to upgrade our equipment for our troops in Iraq and provides a pay raise for our military – a comprehensive spending request – that Congress has failed to act on.
Bush, May 16, 2007:
Military Pay: The Administration strongly opposes sections 601 and 606. The additional 0.5 percent increase above the President’s proposed 3.0 percent across-the-board pay increase is unnecessary.”
Bhutto report: Musharraf planned to fix elections article from McClatchy News:
“NAUDERO, Pakistan — The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies in rigging the country’s upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.
Bhutto had been due to meet U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to hand over a report charging that the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency was planning to fix the polls in the favor of President Pervez Musharraf.
Safraz Khan Lashari, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party election monitoring unit, said the report was “very sensitive” and that the party wanted to initially share it with trusted American politicians rather than the Bush administration, which is seen here as strongly backing Musharraf.
“It was compiled from sources within the (intelligence) services who were working directly with Benazir Bhutto,” Lashari said, speaking Monday at Bhutto’s house in her ancestral village of Naudero, where her husband and children continued to mourn her death.”
Bush Signs Government Transparency Bill article from The New York Times / The Associated Press
Meltdown in Iowa: Huckabee Publicly Attacks Negative Campaigning With Negative Ad article from AlterNet:
“Huckabee was forced to abruptly end his press conference as the questioning of his motives by an amused press corps only seemed to build.
Des Moines, Iowa – In what is likely to be remembered as one of the more bizarre moments of this campaign season, embattled GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee renounced negative campaigning today by unveiling an attack ad to a ballroom full of reporters and dozens of TV cameras.
Standing before a banner reading “Enough is Enough” and flanked by five large charts attacking the record of rival Mitt Romney, a haggard-looking Huckabee said that the fight to win Thursday’s Republican caucus had gotten “out of hand” and “out of control” and that he would refrain from any more negative campaigning.
Huckabee’s unorthodox media event comes as a barrage of new polls has battered his lead in Iowa and put his campaign at risk of crash-and-burn. Some of those surveys now show Romney regaining a lead he had maintained over most of the year until Huckabee began to surge ahead in recent weeks.”
Doctors cite pressure to keep silent on Bhutto article from MSNBC and The Washington Post
Just more proof of the incompetent attempted coverup by the Pakistani Government, and the rush to blame it all on terrorists.
20 Annoying Things About 2007 article from AlterNet
Brings up some very good points.
IMPEACHMENT – A CAN OF WORMS article from OpEdNews:
“Why are the Democrats keeping impeachment off the table, in the face of more and more flagrant crimes and violations of the Constitution? “Spineless” no longer works, since they have succeeded in getting rid of Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Rove, by way of hearings, subpoenas and various other manuevers. Bush and Cheney are much weakened, and yet they are still being shielded from accountability.
The revelation that Pelosi knew about waterboarding back in 2002 and did not object, gives us a clue. The Democrats have overtly been complicit in many of the illegal actions of the Bush administration. They voted to let him invade Iraq, and have not rescinded that decision, continue to fund the occupation, despite the evident disaster of this military adventure. They have acquiesced to torture, warrantless wiretapping, media consolidation, and many other executive outrages. They have not formally objected to signing statements that overrule the laws they pass, or insisted on the oversight that the Constitution assigns to them.
Digging deeper, it’s evident that the Bush and Cheney family fortunes, via their corporations Carlyle and Halliburton, have profited enormously from the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The national treasury has been looted by pirates, and the country is facing bankruptcy. If the financial transactions of these and related companies were brought to light, how many members of Congress would also be implicated? How many succumbed to the blandishments of Abramoff and the K Street gang, and are susceptible to blackmail because they accepted bribes and favors? How many would have to retire in disgrace, like Cunningham?”
Stonewalled by the C.I.A. article from The New York Times:
“MORE than five years ago, Congress and President Bush created the 9/11 commission. The goal was to provide the American people with the fullest possible account of the “facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001” – and to offer recommendations to prevent future attacks. Soon after its creation, the president’s chief of staff directed all executive branch agencies to cooperate with the commission.
The commission’s mandate was sweeping and it explicitly included the intelligence agencies. But the recent revelations that the C.I.A. destroyed videotaped interrogations of Qaeda operatives leads us to conclude that the agency failed to respond to our lawful requests for information about the 9/11 plot. Those who knew about those videotapes – and did not tell us about them – obstructed our investigation.
There could have been absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone at the C.I.A. – or the White House – of the commission’s interest in any and all information related to Qaeda detainees involved in the 9/11 plot. Yet no one in the administration ever told the commission of the existence of videotapes of detainee interrogations.”
We have everything to fear from ID cards article from The Telegraph UK
They Thought They Were Free article from The University of Chicago
If Congress files charges, Bush aides likely will face friendly court article from The Raw Story:
“When President Bush leaves the White House 383 days from now, historians will begin to officially sum up his eight years in office. Aside from his legacy as the commander in chief who plunged the US into an intractable Iraq war, Bush’s other lasting impression will survive far beyond the end of his term — the decidedly conservative slant he has placed on federal courts.
Bush has appointed nearly 300 federal judges, giving Republican appointees a majority nationally, including a 60 percent-to-40 percent advantage on influential appeals courts, reports David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times.”
CBS, CNN obtain secret dossier alleging Pakistani vote-rigging scheme article and videos from The Raw Story
The Thought Crime Law article from The Hartford Advocate
Police State America – A Look Back and Ahead article from GlobalResearch.ca
Lengthy article, but worth the read.
News in the Hands of Too Few? article from U.S. News and World Report:
“How a loosening of FCC rules could affect the public good.”
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