Yikes!

Atheists!

Piss on my leg and tell me it's raining

Neocon, war booster, and McCain advisor
Robert Kagan wants us to move beyond silly and absurd conspiracy theories about the neocons and the administration deliberately misleading the public to justify the Iraq war.

The only problem with that: They deliberately misled the public to justify the Iraq war.

Yep.
Uh-huh.
Oh yeah.
Not just once, and not by mistake.
Enough evidence yet?
How much more evidence do you need?






The verdict.

Mr Kagan would like us to think that taking seriously all this evidence of calculated deception is roughly equivalent to believing that LBJ shot JFK, or spreading scurrilous stories about Jews secretly plotting to take over the world.

What do you say when somebody repeatedly and deliberately misleads you, and then when you call them on it after you have paid a heavy price for their dishonesty, they insult your intelligence and equate you with loonies and con men?

I'm having trouble finding more than two words for Mr. Kagan.

McCain with George the president

McCain's imperial neocon agenda

Jonathan Landay at McClatchy:

Although he's cultivated a maverick image, McCain's fixation with Iraq, and with regime change more generally, is squarely in step with his party's neoconservatives, many of whom now work for his campaign. Neoconservatives believe that the U.S. must preserve its unchallenged global dominance and military superiority, and reshape the world, by force if necessary.

...While McCain has toned down many of his hard-line pronouncements in this campaign, a McClatchy review of dozens of his speeches, interviews, statements and writings over more than two decades traces an evolution from reluctant warrior to advocate of U.S. military intervention on a global scale.

In speeches and interviews McCain:

Has vowed, since at least 1999, to institute a "rogue state rollback" policy of arming rebel forces to replace regimes in Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea and other nations.
He said such nations were developing weapons of mass destruction, supporting terrorism and threatening "our interests and values."
Has advocated sending the U.S. military to "back up" those rebel forces "when they meet with reversals."
Has said that civilian casualties should be a secondary concern of military operations.
Has invoked a variety of justifications for using force, from defending the nation's security, allies, interests and "principles and values" to halting genocide in places such as Darfur and Kosovo and salvaging U.S. "credibility."
Has called for the creation of a "League of Democracies" to circumvent the U.N. Security Council when Russia and China oppose the use of force, tough sanctions or other actions sought by the U.S.

I'm getting a little tired of the idea that there is no such thing as too much war.

why Al Qaeda might want McCain to win

Because the neocons (including McCain) and al-Qaeda are symbiotic, they need each other to frighten their own followers and legitimate their militant extremism.


Spencer Ackerman:

The case is simple enough. Al Qaeda prefers an indefinite U.S. occupation of Iraq and a bellicose U.S. all across the Muslim world to radicalize Muslims to its terrorist cause and drain the U.S. of its financial wealth — what Osama bin Laden calls his “bleed to bankruptcy” strategy. Hence, the reason why, as the CIA eventually concluded, Bin Laden tried to help George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004 by releasing a late-October tape. McCain pledges basic continuity with Bush on the Iraq war. As Scheunemann put it, “John McCain will spend what it takes to win.”

More from the Washington Post:

Al-Qaeda is watching the U.S. stock market's downward slide with something akin to jubilation, with its leaders hailing the financial crisis as a vindication of its strategy of crippling America's economy through endless, costly foreign wars against Islamist insurgents.

And at least some of its supporters think Sen. John McCain is the presidential candidate best suited to continue that trend.

"Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election," said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the "failing march of his predecessor," President Bush.

The Web commentary was one of several posted by Taliban or al-Qaeda-allied groups in recent days that trumpeted the global financial crisis and predicted further decline for the United States and other Western powers. In language that was by turns mocking and ominous, the newest posting credited al-Qaeda with having lured Washington into a trap that had "exhausted its resources and bankrupted its economy." It further suggested that a terrorist strike might swing the election to McCain and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world.

"It will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaeda," said the posting, attributed to Muhammad Haafid, a longtime contributor to the password-protected site. "Al-Qaeda then will succeed in exhausting America."

...the comments summarized what has emerged as a consensus view on extremist sites, said Adam Raisman, a senior analyst for the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist Web pages. ..."The idea in the jihadist forums is that McCain would be a faithful 'son of Bush' -- someone they see as a jingoist and a war hawk," Raisman said. "They think that, to succeed in a war of attrition, they need a leader in Washington like McCain."

Christian bigotry feeds McCain campaign

Atheists and Muslims are not to be trusted with public responsibility, nor are their sons or daughters. Even christians who don't do it quite right are suspect.

Scary.

Go Big Red(neck)

PAF's heartland alma mater caves to right-wing pressure:

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln rescinded its speaking invitation tonight for 1960s radical-turned-educator William Ayers.

Just 11 days after next month’s election, the University of Illinois-Chicago professor, William Ayers, is scheduled to speak at a student research conference held by the UNL College of Education and Human Science.University officials cited "safety reasons" for canceling Ayers' Nov. 15 appearance.

Spokeswoman Kelly Bartling declined to elaborate on what safety concerns would keep Ayers from addressing a College of Education and Human Sciences event.

Earlier today, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman strongly condemned the invitation and called on the NU Board of Regents and President J.B. Milliken to block it.

Heineman said through a spokeswoman this evening that he was pleased the university had reconsidered and rescinded the invitation.

An Omaha charitable foundation had announced it was pulling all of its contributions to the university. Several other donors also have indicated to university fundraisers that there could be a financial cost if Ayers speaks.

And Nebraskans by the hundreds continued to register their opposition with university administrators and others, lighting up phone lines and filling e-mail boxes.

Thanks to David Neiwert at Crooks and Liars.

Violent Hate Speech from the "real Americans"

People for the American Way document some of the hate speech directed at liberals, ACORN, and Obama:

"You liberal idiots. Dumb shits. Welfare bums. You guys just fucking come to our country, consume every natural resource there is, and make a lot of babies. That's all you guys do. And then suck up the welfare and expect everyone else to pay for your hospital bills for your kids. I just say let your kids die. That's the best move. Just let your children die. Forget about paying for hospital bills for them. I'm not gonna do it. You guys are lowlifes. And I hope you all die."

“Hi, I was just calling to let you all know that Barack Obama needs to get hung. He's a fucking nigger, and he's a piece of shit. You guys are fraudulent, and you need to go to hell. All the niggers on oak trees. They're gonna get all hung honeys, they're gonna get assassinated, they're gonna get killed.”

The scapegoating and meanness of the McCain campaign -- their narrative about dangerous un-American others (blacks, liberals/socialists, non-christians & baby killers, terrorists) taking over the country -- is bringing the poison to the surface. Of course McCain didn't create this kind of ugliness, but he seems happy to feed the fires of hate if it improves his chances on election day. Country first, don'tchaknow.

h/t Crooks and Liars.

McCain Strategy: Pump up the Racism and Fear

Here's TPM on the McCain strategy:

McCain's final strategy relies on two pillars. The first is aggressively playing to voters' fears of electing a black president. Make no mistake: not just his campaign in a general sense, but McCain himself and his top handful of advisers, are banking on the residual racism in a changing America to get them over the finish line. The second is an aggressive use of innuendo to convince casual voters that Obama is in league with Islamic terrorists bent on killing Americans.

...Ayers is nothing more than a tool that permits McCain, Palin and all their surrogates to use the noun "terrorist" in polite company in the same sentence as "Obama," over and over and over again. It allows them to cobble together a 'respectable' version of those Obama smear emails they can push in commercials and robocalls and surrogate talking points every hour of every day.

Stripped down to its components McCain's message to voters is this: "Don't forget. He's definitely black. And he may be a terrorist." That's the message.

GOP campaign theme: Scary "others" are about to take over the USA

They're not like "us real Americans". They're un-American. They're anti-American. They're liberal-leftist-socialists. They kill babies. Some of them aren't even white people. They might not be christians. They're probably terrorists.

Tell me this isn't thinly veiled racism layered on top of old-fashioned GOP fear-mongering. Or maybe its fear-mongering layered on top of old-fashioned racism. Hardly surprising that some of the GOP base are concluding that some lynchings might be in order. John Lewis was right: they are playing with fire.

Promoting hatred and fear. That's what the Republicans mean when they talk about putting the country first.

It's fraudulant and utterly vile.

Scary: Representative Michelle Bachman equates liberals and leftists with anti-American terrorists, and calls Obama anti-American

They're everywhere, these treacherous anti-Americans.

You know, what this country needs now is a new McCarthyism to keep all those scary anti-American elements in check. Especially now that the GOP has shredded the bill of rights and increased the ability of the national security state to spy on ordinary citizens and people exercising their free speech rights.

Too late for "victory" in Afghanistan?

Nir Rosen travels to Taliban country and lives to tell the tale.

General J.C. Christian presents

Passionately Credulous Bigots for McCain



Thanks to the General.

more ugliness from the GOP base

These folks are from those, you know, pro-American places Sarah likes to visit. Notice that one of these Repugs recites the line that "the only difference between Obama and Osama is BS". Wonder where that came from?

More here on the racism that is surfacing in this election.

In my dreams

If the liberals win the upcoming election, America as we have known it will no
longer exist. This country that we love, founded on Judeo-Christian values, will
cease to exist and will be replaced by a secular state hostile to Christianity.

Reverend Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association


Yeah, baby! Where do I sign up?

Olbermann is pissed off about McCain's poison

"You are not only a fraud, sir, but you are tacitly inciting lunatics to violence."

McMean and the RNC spread the poison

Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500.

Apparently, robocalls like this have been reported a number of states (including Ohio, where our friends in the video below are). It's not just an accident that the GOP faithful speak from this script.


Thanks to Ben Smith and Daily Kos for posting this.

UPDATE: Audio here; listen for yourself.

More right-wing phantasms of fear here.

McBush

Oh yeah.

Rethugs

This image was posted on the official web site of the Sacramento County Republican Party.

What does the Republican party have to offer America? Character assasination, racism and fear.

And more torture. Did they mention more torture?

and now a word from the GOP base

We may well be about to elect our first black president. And that will indeed be a milestone for this country. But there is a large reservoir of small-minded meanness among us that is not going away, and that will continue to poison our politics for a long, long time. And the GOP is happy to take advantage of that and fan the flames.

Thanks to David Neiwert at Crooks and Liars for posting this.

Department of Undead Horses: "Victory" in Iraq is a delusion

McClatchy reports that a new NIE on Iraq confirms what we've known for some time: underlying political tensions in Iraq remain unresolved and fester just beneath the surface. There isn't going to be any tidy happy ending to the Iraq story where McCain and his neocon pals get to ride off into the sunset like triumphant gunfighters.

A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year.

...The draft NIE... warns that the improvements in security and political progress, like the recent passage of a provincial election law, are threatened by lingering disputes between the majority Shiite Arabs, Sunni Arabs, Kurds and other minorities, the U.S. officials said.

Sources of tension identified by the NIE, they said, include a struggle between Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen for control of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk; and the Shiite-led central government's unfulfilled vows to hire former Sunni insurgents who joined Awakening groups.

McCain and Governor Palin can talk up American victory in Iraq as much as they want, and the brain dead jingos in the GOP base may be eating that up like zombies devoring dead flesh, but what happens in Iraq will will be determined by the Iraqis. Surge or no surge, they still have shit to work out. Until they do that, there will be no stability and no lasting peace.

Maverick, or dangerous asshole?

Tim Dickinson writing in Rolling Stone about McCain's history of recklessness and duplicity.

The myth of John McCain hinges on two transformations — from pampered flyboy to selfless patriot, and from Keating crony to incorruptible reformer — that simply never happened. But there is one serious conversion that has taken root in McCain: his transformation from a cautious realist on foreign policy into a reckless cheerleader of neoconservatism.

"He's going to be Bush on steroids," says Johns, the retired brigadier general who has known McCain since their days at the National War College. "His hawkish views now are very dangerous. He puts military at the top of foreign policy rather than diplomacy, just like George Bush does. He and other neoconservatives are dedicated to converting the world to democracy and free markets, and they want to do it through the barrel of a gun."

...In 1998, he formed a political alliance with William Kristol, editor of the neoconservative Weekly Standard, who became one of his closest advisers. Randy Scheunemann — a hard-right lobbyist who was promoting Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi — came aboard as McCain's top foreign-policy adviser. Before long, the senator who once cautioned against "trading American blood for Iraqi blood" had been reborn as a fire-breathing neoconservative who believes in using American military might to spread American ideals — a belief he describes as a "sacred duty to suffer hardship and risk danger to protect the values of our civilization and impart them to humanity." By 1999, McCain was championing what he called "rogue state rollback." First on the hit list: Iraq.

Privately, McCain brags that he was the "original neocon." And after 9/11, he took the lead in agitating for war with Iraq, outpacing even Dick Cheney in the dissemination of bogus intelligence about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. "There's other organizations besides Mr. bin Laden who are bent on the destruction of the United States," he warned in an appearance on Hardball on September 12th. "It isn't just Afghanistan. We're talking about Syria, Iraq, Iran, perhaps North Korea, Libya and others." A few days later, he told Jay Leno's audience that "some other countries" — possibly Iraq, Iran and Syria — had aided bin Laden.

...Over the next 15 months leading up to the invasion, McCain continued to lead the rush to war. In November 2002, Scheunemann set up a group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq at the same address as Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. The groups worked in such close concert that at one point they got their Websites crossed. The CLI was established with explicit White House backing to sell the public on the war. The honorary co-chair of the committee: John Sidney McCain III.

In September 2002, McCain assured Americans that the war would be "fairly easy" with an "overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." On the eve of the invasion, Hardball host Chris Matthews asked McCain, "Are you one of those who holds up an optimistic view of the postwar scene? Do you believe that the people of Iraq, or at least a large number of them, will treat us as liberators?"

McCain was emphatic: "Absolutely. Absolutely."

Today, however, McCain insists that he predicted a protracted struggle from the outset. "The American people were led to believe this could be some kind of day at the beach," he said in August 2006, "which many of us fully understood from the beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking." McCain also claims he urged Bush to dump Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "I'm the only one that said that Rumsfeld had to go," he said in a January primary debate. Except that he didn't. Not once. As late as May 2004, in fact, McCain praised Rumsfeld for doing "a fine job."

Indeed, McCain's neocon makeover is so extreme that Republican generals like Colin Powell and Brent Scowcroft have refused to endorse their party's nominee. "The fact of the matter is his judgment about what to do in Iraq was wrong," says Richard Clarke, who served as Bush's counterterrorism czar until 2003. "He hung out with people like Ahmad Chalabi. He said Iraq was going to be easy, and he said we were going to war because of terrorism. We should have been fighting in Afghanistan with more troops to go after Al Qaeda. Instead we're at risk because of the mistaken judgment of people like John McCain."

McCain's a fucking fraud, and a dangerous one.

the Rising

Haven't had much time to post recently. But (as usual) Bruce says most of what needs to be said right now.