Democrats ready to confirm defender of torture as new US attorney general

Gonzales is, if anything, more consistent in his hostility to constitutional principles and civil liberties. He is infamous for having authored a 2002 memo arguing that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the war against Afghanistan. He is also implicated in discussions within the administration on legal justifications for the use of torture, military tribunals, and the claim that the president, as commander-in-chief in the “war on terror,” has virtually unlimited powers.

What a wonderful person to have as Attorney General… Do you feel safer now?

Demonstrating their utter prostration before Bush and the Republican right, and their indifference to democratic rights, leading Democrats have already announced that Gonzales will have little trouble being confirmed by the Senate. Although the Republicans wield a majority in the chamber, the Democrats have more than sufficient votes to mount a filibuster and thereby block a nomination. They have gone out of their way to make clear, however, that they will not exercise that option.

The Democrats in Congress no doubt wonder why they lost the election. Because they stand for nothing and will fight for nothing, that’s why.

No Comments »

Taking Fallouja will make no difference

Iraqi insurgents have extended their reach over large swaths of the country, including sections of the capital, making it unlikely that the United States can establish the stability needed for credible elections in January even if its forces succeed in Fallouja, military and political analysts say.

The war is going badly. The antiwar movement needs only to be patient and wait for the inevitable increase in body bags returning to the US and disillusionment by the public. This happened during the Vietnam War and it’ll happen again. Except this time it’s happening much faster.

From Baghdad Burning

These last few days have been explosive- literally.

The sounds seem to be coming from everywhere. I’ve gotten tired of running upstairs and out on to the roof to find out where it’s coming from. It feels like the first days of the war sometimes- planes, explosions, bullets, smoke… roads cut off.

Read more about the situation at Juan Cole- would love to say more but the generator is going to be turned off in a couple of minutes.

Yessiree, the residents of Baghdad must certainly view the US as the bringers of peace and democracy, eh?

Update:

From Quarsan

US use of Chemical Weapons in Fallujah

No Comments »

“You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the Tabernacle, if you do not pity Jesus in the slums. . . It is folly — it is madness — to suppose that you can worship Jesus in the Sacraments and Jesus on the throne of glory, when you are sweating him in the souls and bodies of his children.”

Bishop Frank Weston at the 1923 Anglo-Catholic Congress

From the “Tradtional Values” section of their website

St. John Chrysostom:
“The desire to rule is the mother of all heresies.”

St. Ambrose on private property (4th Century):
“How far will your mad lusts take you, ye rich people, till you dwell alone on the earth? Why do you at once turn nature out of doors, and claim the possession of her for your own selves? The land was made for all; why do you rich men claim it as your private property?”

“Nature produced common property. Robbery made private property.”

Cyprian of Carthage on war (3rd Century):
“The world is going mad in mutual bloodshed. And murder, which is considered a crime when people commit it singly, is transformed into a virtue when they do it en masse. The offenders acquire impunity by increasing their ravaging.”

No Comments »

‘64 Econoline armoire with ghost flames

No Comments »