Stump Lane
in the dirt since history began

ZNet |Repression | Railroading Moussaoui

When [9-11 suspect Zacarias] Moussaoui’s case resumes, he will be barred from his fundamental right “for obtaining witnesses in his favor”; a right that could very well acquit him of the crimes for which he is being prosecuted. Once again, the Bill of Rights is being savaged in full view of the American public without a whimper of dissent. And once again, the Supreme Court is eviscerating basic Constitutional protections in the name of national security.

The Great Machine is built upon violence and exploitation. -M

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Era of Exploitation

The president’s budget would cut funding for Medicaid, food stamps, education, transportation, health care for veterans, law enforcement, medical research and safety inspections for food and drugs. And, of course, it contains big new tax cuts for the wealthy.

We have a lot of old people problems in this great nation of ours. Social Security, Medicaid, unfunded pension funds, high prescription drug prices, rising health care costs.. The list goes on and on. Quite frankly old people are generally a huge pain in the ass. They are the biggest group of deadbeat freeloaders around. Always talking about how much cheaper things used to be, how great it was back in the old days when companies were loyal to their workers and took care of them in retirement. Sheesh! See what I mean? They have this delusion of entitlement. Just because they sold the toil of their backs, they feel like we owe them something.

But, they weren’t risk-takers. They didn’t put their money on the line when it counted. They wanted to get paid. They didn’t care that their wages came straight out of the profits. Why should we worry about people who never learned the most basic fundamental: money makes money?

The way to look at it is this: If you haven’t amassed enough dough to keep you goin’ for twenty years or so by the time you retire, you’ve forfeited your right to be here. “Shuffle off this mortal coil” already. You should have thought about these things before; while you were busy buying fancy homes and cars and sending your kids off to high-fallutin’ colleges. And, don’t come crying to me when you’re the one who can’t work anymore. Ask your kids to take care of you.

Why can’t we put the old people back to work so they can pay their own way? It’s simple. We need producers. That means highly productive, vibrant, long-legged, sexy, blonde workers who don’t have all kinds of preconceived notions about how to produce. “Ideas” and “experience” really piss in the pants of productivity. By the numbers old people just don’t produce. They’re slow, weak, blind, and forgetful. They tend to call in sick a lot. People who call in sick a lot drive up health insurance premiums for everybody else. It just doesn’t work out well for anybody.

We have a solution. It’s simple, and elegant; and it solves all of the old-people problems at once: it’s the Old Age Poverty Illness and Sloth Criminalization Act. The best thing about it is that our politicians won’t have to twitch and fry on the third rail of politics, Social Security. They will be able to go back home to their constituents and say “I’d never cut benefits for loyal, law abiding, patriotic citizens.”

What the Act does, essentially, is criminalize the disease of entitlement that is really just the bitter aftertaste of poor planning. These old people didn’t get to where they are without a whole lifetime of poor financial choices, and neglecting their health. They have made themselves an unnecessary burden on the system, and in doing so are stealing from me and you, and from our great Government. It is an offense tantamount to treason and should carry the same punishment. I know that we can count on all Patriotic Americans to support this bill that outlaws treason and holds traitors accountable for their indiscretions.

A cool blog entry on OFL’s position on the Terry Schiavo case.

Philosoraptor – Bush, Erring on the Side of Life

From today’s Progress Report:
Progress Report, 3/24/05 – American Progress Action Fund

EDUCATION – FLORIDA BILL TARGETS “DICTATOR PROFESSORS”: Conservative Florida legislators are pushing a bill that aims to stamp out “leftist totalitarianism” by “dictator professors” in the classrooms of Florida’s universities. The so-called “Academic Freedom Bill of Rights” legislation is yet another state spin-off of right-wing activist David Horowitz’s campus crusade to prohibit public and private college professors from introducing “controversial matter” into the classroom and shift oversight of college course content to state governments and courts. “According to a legislative staff analysis of the bill, the law would give students who think their beliefs are not being respected legal standing to sue professors and universities,” the University of Florida’s student newspaper reports. Students would also have the right to sue if they believe their professor is “singling them out for ‘public ridicule’ – for instance, when professors use the Socratic method to force students to explain their theories in class.” The bill has two more committees to pass before it can be considered by the full House.

This is what Ward Churchill warns about when he says, “It’s been announced in pretty clear terms by both David Horowitz and Newt Gingrich that I am just the kickoff for a general purge they have in mind.. Academia is to be a cheering section for red, white and blue, as they define it, and it has no other function.”

Yahoo! News – [OFL] Signs Bill That May Let Schiavo Live

[OFL] signed the bill almost immediately after its passage early Monday, vowing in a statement to “stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities.”

“In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life,” he said.

HoustonChronicle.com – Baby dies after hospital removes breathing tube

Texas law allows hospitals to discontinue life-sustaining care, even if a patient’s family members disagree.

Texas law says:

HEALTH & SAFETY CODE – CHAPTER 166. ADVANCE DIRECTIVES – SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS – § 166.046 (e) If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient unless ordered to do so under Subsection (g) [Emphasis added.]

The law was enacted September 1, 1999. That’s when Mr. “Presumption in Favor of Life” was the Guv’nor.

I wrote a lengthy post looking back two years at the start of the war. It’s over here.

Two years later many thousands of Iraqis are dead. Are the ones that survived better off? Over 1500 US soldiers are dead. Are we in the US safer? No WMD were found. Are they now ‘out in the open’, or on the black market, or did they even exist in the first place? Saddam Hussein is in jail. Is HW proud of W? Now that Saddam isn’t able to support terrorists, is al-Qaeda weakened? Will we now be able to exploit Iraq’s oil completely for US? If so, how long will it last? Have we bought ourselves any time as Empire Supreme? Has our leadership’s war machine with it’s giant propaganda appendage plunged us deeper into the abyss of Fascism? It’s been two years, how much longer do we have to figure this stuff out?

After decades of the exploitive and (regrettably) sometimes violent empire building that allowed our great institutions to amass resources, we still lacked the most vital component to prosperity: the fuel for the Great Machine. Then came a gift from our benevolent benefactor up in Heaven. 9-11 changed everything. It allowed us to conquer the final frontier, the Mid-East, and to secure forever an endless supply of the economic life-blood. Now it is time to win the final battle.

In this period, while our efforts have been occupied in the struggle to subjugate world labor forces, Dollar has been on the rise. With our every advance toward world economic domination, Dollarists have been increasing their ranks; and now have the potential to destabilize our fortress of economic stability.

There are nation-states that sponsor Dollarism. Japan, China and.. er.. Japan form an Axis of Equity. These states, and the Dollarists they harbor, if left unchecked, pose a clear and eminent threat to our economic freedom– which they hate. There are many Dollarists living here in the Homeland as well. Our latest estimates put their numbers in the hundreds of millions. They are a scourge and a constant threat that must be pre-empted.

What can we do about this threat? First we must strike at their ability to finance their activities. As the name implies, Dollarists get their economic power from the dollar-currency; but we must defeat the Dollarists! It will be hard work and sacrifice, but we must weaken the dollar-currency. Make no mistake about it, this is a War on Dollar.

The result of a weakened dollar-currency will be twofold. (1) It will starve out the millions of Dollarists living within our own borders by diminishing their purchasing power. (2) It will reduce both our trade and budget deficits by (a) allowing our fine institutions to export goods and services cheaply; and (b) reducing the real value of our public, dollar-currency debt. As you can see it is a win-win situation. A residual benefit for our distinguished institutions will be their ability to reclaim much of the property and resources currently held by Dollarists world wide and at home.

You may ask, what does a diminished dollar-currency mean to me, a good down-home, red-blooded American? I use dollars for everything. I even get paid in dollars. Will I still be able to buy the things I need?

My loyal and patriotic friend, you are asking the wrong questions. Ask yourself, “Am I a Dollarist or an American?” If you are not a Dollarist, you have nothing to fear. As always, our compassionate institutions will continue to care for you, as they do now, through employment, healthcare and retirement benefits. Nothing will change for loyal, patriotic Americans.

In this War on Dollar, there will be a need to increase participation in job training, and education programs such as the National Guard, Army Reserve and others. This is why I am announcing my A TV In Every Living Room and A Hummer In Every Driveway initiative. Every man, woman and child who signs up for one of these programs will receive a wide screen TV, satellite service, and a Hummer vehicle; not to mention the career opportunities that open up with such job training. Now that’s a pretty damn good deal, you have to admit.

In closing, I would like to remind everyone to be vigilant. The Dollarists are in our midst. We encounter them every day. They look no different than you or me. They may try to recruit you into their subversive groups. They call it “organizing,” as though it were some kind of perverted sense of “democracy” but believe me, it is not that innocent. The Greeks proved that “direct democracy” fails; and you know what else those immorals were up to.

The Dollarists’ goal is to undermine the corporate-capitalist system: everything that makes this country great. They want to destroy your quality of life. They will stop at nothing to do so. The absolute best way to face their threat is: go to the mall, patronize our altruistic institutions, enjoy your television. Trust in me, and the American dream will prevail.

Text of Bush press conference – AP

[OFL]: First of all, let me– if I might correct you– be so bold as to correct you– I have not laid out a plan yet– intentionally.

I’ve laid out principles. I’ve talked about putting all options on the table because I fully understand the administration must work with the Congress to permanently solve Social Security.

And so one aspect of the debate is: Will we be willing to work together to permanently solve the issue?

Personal accounts do not solve the issue. Personal accounts will make sure that individual workers get a better deal with whatever emerges as a Social Security solution. [Emphasis mine.]

And the reason why is because a personal account would enable a worker to– voluntarily, by the way; this is a voluntary program, you can choose to join or choose not to join. The government’s not making you do that. It’s your option. And you can decide whether or not you want to put some of your own money aside in a conservative mix in stocks and bonds to earn a better rate of return than that which you would earn– your money would earn inside the Social Security system.

Questions: Since private accounts would be voluntary, who will pay the cost to implement privatization? (The Administration estimates that the transition financing cost will be $664 billion over the next 10 years ($754 billion including interest). The proposal assumes, however, that private accounts will begin in 2009. The full transition cost over the first 10 years after inception is likely to exceed $1 trillion.) Will everybody who pays into social security bear these costs? Or will the costs be borne only by those who opt-in to private accounts? Perhaps the companies that stand to benefit from privatization, those who will administer private accounts, should pay. Does this not make private accounts less “attractive”?

There was also this exchange later in the press conference..

Q: Could I follow up? Everybody else has had a chance..

[OFL]: I know. I’m trying to break the habit.. Sorry, it’s not you, Roberts. Don’t take it personally.

Q: I never do, sir.

[OFL]: That’s good. Neither do I.

Isn’t the whole ‘no follow-ups’ thing just.. weird?

There was more bumblespeak (for example about judicial nominations and about “activist judges” ruling on gay marriage) that was really beond the pale, which I will not to write about today. Suffice it to say that it seems obvious that this guy doesn’t really buy into the antiquated (read: pre 9-11) notion of separation of powers.

I get “Breaking News” alerts on my mobile device via Yahoo!

There are two options for these alerts:

• Associated Press “Greater frequency. Wide range of breaking news stories.”
• Reuters “Fewer alerts. Focus on the biggest news stories.”

I signed up a while back for the Reuters option, but it’s not very often that I actually get “alerted.”

The past week, I have gotten three alerts though. An unusual amount of activity. Here are the past three stories “big” enough for Reuters to issue a mobile alert:

* (Reuters) California judge says he agrees with jury’s death penalty sentence against Scott Peterson.

* (Reuters) Authorities say Atlanta courthouse shootings suspect in custody-Fox News.

* (Reuters) Judge issues warrant for Michael Jackson’s arrest after he fails to show for trial today.

`*sigh*`

The New York Times > Washington > U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide

“The Army will investigate every detainee death both inside and outside detention facilities,” said Col. Joseph Curtin, a senior Army spokesman. “Simply put, detainee abuse is not tolerated, and the Army will hold soldiers accountable. We are taking action to prosecute those suspected of abuse while taking steps now to train soldiers how to avoid such situations in the future.”

I’m sure these guys aren’t intentionally killing prisoners, especially not the ones who are securely in custody and off the streets. But there is clearly a culture of abuse that has been allowed to flourish and has become widespread.

Inmate deaths are a logical result in such a culture. The Army will investigate every case and hold soldiers accountable. But, there are others that need to be held accountable.

Consider the abuse case of Specialist Charles Graner Jr., the Abu Ghraib “Ringleader.” First, isn’t a specialist a Sergeant? There must have been Officers in charge of Abu Ghraib, right? That is, there must have been someone on the premises of Abu Ghraib that both outranked Graner, and knew what was going on.

Why was the abuse allowed to continue? Why wasn’t it stopped immediately?

(1) Perhaps Graner’s superiors were rogue actors determined to extract the most information from their prisoners. They fostered the culture at Abu Ghraib and allowed the abuse to occur. Which is what this report would have us believe.

(2) Perhaps Graner’s superiors were encouraged, or given instructions from above.

To accept the premise that Graner and his group were just out of control, or even the first premise above, is to reject the fact that the same kind of abuse was going on in other places in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in Guantanamo. It is also to reject the relevance of the torture memos.

What purpose do those memos serve if not to “…Help the [Mafia] Don Stay Out of Jail?”

Support the troops! Don’t make them the scapegoats for this! Don’t exacerbate the dangers they might face if captured.

INVESTIGATE TORTURE

WASHINGTON – The government on Monday announced the arrests of 103 alleged members of MS-13, a street gang rooted in Central America..

Yahoo! News – 103 Alleged Gang Members Arrested in Sweep

No comment on this just now, but let’s follow this story and see how it develops.

==Update 3.16.05==

“Gang Arrests Had al-Qaida Link” is the headline on Newsmax, a website with a palpably pro-administration bent that calls itself “America’s News Page.”

This is the connection they draw between MS-13 and al-Qaida..

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary James Loy called MS-13 an emerging threat to the United States, referring to the gang and al-Qaida in the same breath in testimony to Congress. Besides al-Qaida, Loy said, “We are seeing the emergence of other threatening groups and gangs like MS-13 that will also be destabilizing influences.”

Ok this is how “they” are going to frame this story. Let me refer to the original article to which I linked..

..former Homeland Security Deputy Secretary James Loy called MS-13 an emerging threat to the United States, referring to the gang and the al-Qaida terrorist organization in the same breath in testimony to Congress.” [Emphasis mine.]

That much is the same. However, the same article went on to say,

[Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael J.] Garcia said Monday that while there is no definitive link between MS-13 and al-Qaida, the gang’s operations show that “you have to accept that as a homeland security risk as well.” [Emphasis mine.]

Hmmm.

The Newsmax article persists..

Local law enforcement officials are aware of MS-13′s al-Qaida link.

“The terrorist aspect, especially when you think in terms of 9/11 and how intent these terrorists are, will turn the heat up on our efforts with MS-13,” Boston police Detective Joseph Fiandaca told reporters at the time.

“MS-13 is the most dangerous gang in the area,” he said. “They are big. They are mobile. Now they have a terrorist connection.”

Did this “terrorist connection” materialize when Mr. Loy mentioned MS-13 and al-Qaida in the “same breath?” Or, are these quotes so far out of context that they don’t even relate to one another? Seems like a tenuous connection to me, anyway. It is reminicent of how the Iraq/al-Qaida connection was established.

These gang arrests will be pointed to as successes in the so-called war on terrorism. They will also serve nicely to nurture the fear of terrorism at home.

The New York Times > Washington > Pentagon Seeks to Transfer More Detainees From Base in Cuba

We now find ourselves reviewing “..the future of the naval base at Guantánamo as a detention center, after court decisions and shifts in public opinion have raised legal and political questions about the use of the facility.”

So, what to do with the detainees?

Under the administration’s approach, the State Department is responsible for negotiating agreements in which receiving countries agree “to detain, investigate, and/or prosecute” the prisoners and to treat them humanely.

What leftist wuss made them put that last bit in there? Humanely! These aren’t cute little puppies and kittens we’re talking about. They’re evildoers. They are suspected of either doing evil, or planning to do evil all over the place. Don’t they realize how hard it is to get evilodor out of the carpets and upholstery once evil has been done?

“Our top choice would be to win the war on terrorism and declare an end to it and repatriate everybody,” a senior Defense Department official said in an interview. “The next best solution would be to work with the home governments of the detainees in order to get them to take the necessary steps to mitigate the threat these individuals pose.”

“Mitigate.” Now that’s more like it. So sinister. It leaves plenty to the imagination. Quite a departure from Defense Department Official’s rose-colored scenario though, isn’t it? Seriously, we’ll let you have your evildoers back, but you have to put up a fence, give them a collar, have them declawed, spayed, neutered. The last thing we need is a litter of evildoers that we can’t even give away.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that future transfers into Guantanamo remained a “possibility,” but made clear that the court decisions and the burdens of detaining prisoners at the American facility had made it seem less attractive to administration policymakers than before.

“It’s fair to say that the calculus now is different than it was before, because the legal landscape has changed and those are factors that might be considered,” a senior Defense Department official said.

Calculus? What was the calculus before? That it’s ok to abandon the basic tenets of due process, habeas corpus, and burden of proof? Our ideals and our Bill of Rights are based upon inalienable human rights. We were wrong to deny anybody those rights. We can’t declare non-human status based on skin color or nationality. That’s un-American. (See how I changed-up on you there, Nationalist Dogs?)

No, the legal landscape hasn’t changed. The rulings that have come down have just called the tyrants out on what they are doing.

Robert Kane Pappas’ Reflections on Orwell, 2005 – BuzzFlash

Robert Kane Pappas: The spin process is very effective, both in newspaper reports and on TV and in radio. If you make it your business to be informed, what happens is, you end up watching the mainstream news with your mouth hanging open. If you watch only what they offer, you’re largely intellectually lobotomized. Your opinions are determined by two- and three-word sound bites: “Death Tax,” “Conspiracy Theory,” “They hate our Freedoms,” “Democracy,” “Liberal Bias,” “Class Warfare.”

You want a rabbit? – Baghdad Burning – March 08, 2005

The event of the week occurred last Wednesday and I was surprised it wasn’t covered by Western press. It’s not that big a deal, but it enraged people in Baghdad and it can also give a better picture of what has been going on with our *heroic* National Guard. There was an explosion on Wednesday in Baghdad and the wounded were all taken to Yarmuk Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in Baghdad. The number of wounded were around 30- most of them National Guard. In the hospital, it was chaos- patients wounded in this latest explosion, patients from other explosions and various patients from gunshot wounds, etc. The doctors were running around everywhere, trying to be in four different places at once.

Apparently, there weren’t enough beds. Many of the wounded were in the hallways and outside of the rooms. The stories vary. One doctor told me that some of the National Guard began screaming at the doctors, telling them to ignore the civilians and tend to the wounds of the Guard. A nurse said that the National Guard who weren’t wounded began pulling civilians out of the beds and replacing them with wounded National Guard. The gist of it is generally the same; the doctors refused the idea of not treating civilians and preferring the National Guard over them and suddenly a fight broke out. The doctors threatened a strike if the National Guard began pulling the civilians out of beds.

The National Guard decided the solution to the crisis would be the following- they’d gather up some of the doctors and nurses and beat them in front of the patients. So several doctors were rounded up and attacked by several National Guard (someone said there was liberal use of electric batons and the butts of some Klashnikovs).

The doctors decided to go on strike.

OFL (pronounced ‘awful’) says, “In the end, Iraqis must be able to defend their own country — and we will help that proud, new nation secure its liberty.”

With our help, they’re almost there.