Owner: Little Country Lost URL:http://littlecountrylost.com Join Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:28:03 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A commentary on important issues facing the United States Site statistics:Click here
Open Letter to Senator Diane Feinstein 2007-08-04 23:45:00 Senator Feinstein,I am ashamed to call you my representative. What exactly was going through your head when you voted to allow the President to violate the Bill of Rights and eavesdrop on whomever he chooses? You do remember the Bill of Rights, don't you? I ask because the 4th Amendment guarantees "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures". I just don't understand how you can take a oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, and then legislate that it may be violated by the President. I find it hard, if not impossible, to believe that an educated woman like yourself could be blind to the law breaking of this administration. You are on the judiciary committee for God's sake! You have seen Alberto Gonzales commit perjury time and time again, yet you have done nothing to remove him from office. The President's staff members have defied Congress in the most despicable manner possible by no Read more:Letter
, Senator
, Diane
US Attorney Firings helping Bush to Cover Up the US Attorney Firings 2007-07-24 08:55:00 Get this.Harriet Miers was told by President Bush to not show up in response to a Congressional subpoena. She obeyed, like the good little puppy she is. Even though she was ordered to do this by her master, she is legally in contempt of Congress and should be prosecuted accordingly.The House Judiciary Committee has already requested that Miers be held in contempt, but in order for the case to continue, the grand jury must be convened by the DC US Attorney
.The DC US Attorney is Jeffrey Taylor, who is refusing to move forward to convene the grand jury.Jeffrey Taylor is a former counsil to Alberto Gonzales. His name was one of those kicked around to replace Carol Lam of San Diego after their purge, who was likely fired because of her investigations of Republicans such as Duke Cunningham. However, before Carol Lam could be canned, Gonzales and friends granted Jeffrey Taylor the DC US Attorney position. His is an interim appointment, which has not been confirmed by the Senate, because of th Read more:Firings
, Cover
, Attorney Firings
Knowing what you're fighting for 2007-07-19 18:16:00 There are so many things going wrong right now, that it seems impossible to tackle them all. We try to pick the one we care about the most, and do something to make a difference. However, in our focus to fix the problem we find most pressing, we ignore the others to our own detriment.Take the war. People have been fired up because we need to find a goal in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our citizens are dying over there, so we focus on that issue before anything else. And rightfully so. But in the attempt to find a reasonable solution to this crisis, we are not able to focus on immigration, social security, healthcare, education, global warming, or any other emergency situation facing the United States. It makes sense. How can you possibly do everything possible to find a solution to the war and fight everything else at the same time?Sounds tough, but it might actually be possible. What if, instead of frantically focusing on a single issue, we took a breath, found the source of the problem, and
Open Letter to Senator Russ Feingold 2007-07-18 18:50:00 Dear SenatorFeingold
,I’m writing to you in response to your post titled “The Question of Impeachment”, submitted on July 16th on Daily Kos.I’m afraid you have disappointed me quite deeply with this post. Your name was on my list of Senator’s that seemed to be trying to uphold the Constitution. Unfortunately, I was wrong.Let me explain.In your post, you stated that, despite the fact that you know that crimes have been committed by this administration, you do not want to call for impeachment hearings because you want Congress to be able to “do what it was elected to do – end the war and address some of the other terrible mistakes this Administration has made over the past six and a half years. “This statement tells me that you do not understand your oath of office. May I remind you that you were elected to:“Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic… “Our Constitution is under siege by the executive branch, an Read more:Letter
Serve your country tonight - by watching tv 2007-07-17 20:49:00 Ok, so I have a proposal for you for tonight. Hear me out:Tonight is Tuesday. Tuesday night in the summer. Everything is in repeats. There's nothing on tv.Tonight though, we’ve got a damn good tv option: The Senate is going to be on CSPAN2 debating the Iraq war all night long.I know. Woo hoo! Can't wait to watch CSPAN!But seriously, tonight is an opportunity to watch our government at work and to get a glimpse into the minds of the Senators who are making life and death decisions which affect our military, our civilians, and countless other people in the Middle East.It’s one thing to read the blurbs and hear the sound bites, but you get a totally different understanding when you watch the Senators un-interrupted as they go back and forth on tv. You can see their body language and the looks on their faces. You can see who is listening to other people’s speeches and who had to be hauled in by the sergeant at arms. You can tell the difference between someone who believes what they
Nevada Gambling with their Water Supply 2007-07-11 16:20:00 I recently took a trip to Lake Mead and was shocked to find that the lake was disappearing. Places that used to be covered in water were turned into parking lots. Boat docks were abandoned, replaced with new docks hundreds of feet away at the new water's edge. The campsites, which used to be beachfront, were now a short drive from the shore. When at the water's edge, the top of the white ring marking where the water used to be was 100 feet above our heads.It looked like a disaster zone.I did a little research when I got home and found that Lake Mead's water level is approaching the lowest it has ever been since the Hoover Dam's construction created the lake in 1931, and as one park ranger told me, the water is not expected to come back. The Southwest region has experienced droughts in the past that usually rebounded in around a decade. However, this time drought conditions are here to stay because of global warming.Lake Mead is the main source of water for southern Nevada
, providin Read more:Gambling
, Supply
, Water Supply
Nancy Pelosi's Job in Danger 2007-07-10 18:39:00 Cindy Sheehan announced that she will run against NancyPelosi
for her Congressional seat if Nancy Pelosi
does not publicly put impeachment back on the table by July 23rd.I've never been a Cindy Sheehan fan, but not because I don't agree with her. Its pretty much been because of those tacky outfits. No matter what anyone might think of her though, she is sticking her neck out for the rest of us and is actually putting her money where her mouth is. It's something to be admired.And I think she's got a pretty good idea. We all know that most Congressional actions stem from individual Congressmen's fears of losing their jobs (hence why Republicans are running away from Bush as fast as they can). Since all members of the House are up for re-election next year, this strategy might actually work.I hope that anyone who reads this, who wants the Bush administration held accountable, will write to the speaker and tell her that you will support Cindy if impeachment is not put back on the tab Read more:Danger
Paul McNulty and DOJ Ignored Voter Caging 2007-06-21 23:35:00 So the MSM has been really quiet today regarding this morning’s testimony by Paul McNulty, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. Many “journalists” are saying that nothing important was learned.How wrong they are.This morning we had it confirmed that Paul McNulty, the Deputy Attorney General, was given a report on February 6th, 2007 that said black voters were caged and their votes were not counted in the 2004 election. We learned that even though he had the information, the Deputy Attorney General decided to do absolutely nothing about it. In fact, he allowed Tim Griffin, the man accused of the caging, to remain the interim US Attorney in Arkansas until he resigned effective June 1st, 2007. Griffin’s resignation was triggered when John Conyers, of the House Judiciary Committee, picked up the caging lists from Greg Palast, the reporter that exposed Griffin’s caging extravaganza.Had it not been for John Conyers of the House of Representatives, Tim Griffin would sti Read more:Voter
NSPD-51: The Pathway to Dictatorship 2007-06-20 18:34:00 Does this concern anyone else?We know that our country will be attacked again. We know this. We’ve pissed off too many people and blowback is assured.We also know that Mother Nature is not always our friend. We know that there will be tornados, hurricanes, snow storms, floods, and droughts.The question is how will we respond when we are next attacked by humans or nature?Well, President Bush has got that all figured out. On May 9th 2007, the White House released the text of National Security Presidential Directive 51 (NSPD-51), which can be found right here on the White House website. NSPD-51 gives instructions for what will happen in the case of a “catastrophic emergency”. For those of you that don’t want to read it, allow me to show you some highlights.All of the following quotes were copied directly from NSPD-51. Anything in italics or inside parenthesis were added by me:"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels Read more:Pathway
Congress is catching on to Tim Griffin 2007-06-19 16:53:00 Finally! The Congress
is going to investigate the rigging of the 2004 election.Just a quick catch up: Monica Goodling (who used to work for Alberto Gonzales) testified in front of the House Judiciary committee in regards to the eight US Attorneys who were fired in the middle of the President's term. During her testimony, she let it slip that Paul McNulty wasn't exactly honest about how much he knew about Tim Griffin
having caged thousands of voters in Florida in 2004.Before her testimony when she let the magic word fly, the only person that was really paying attention to 'caging' was a journalist named Greg Palast. In his report for the BBC, he outlined how Tim Griffin (Karl Rove's protégé) created lists of thousands of mainly black voters who were either students, homeless, or serving our country overseas. A mailer was then sent to these black voters at their home addresses marked "do not forward". When that person wasn't home, the letter would be returned and the person's vo
US Army considering extending tours... again 2007-06-19 15:13:00 Does it feel like deja vu? Apparantly, the army is considering extending the tours of duty for our soldiers if Bush's escalation is to be maintained through the Spring of 2008. As if multiple tours of 15 months weren't enough.How many times do we need to see this headline before the American public says no? What is it going to take for us to stand up and fight for those that have been fighting for us for 6 years?I graduated from high school in 2000 and knew a few people that decided to serve this country after graduation. If only we could have known then that the President who would be elected only a few months afterwards would be so reckless with their lives. If only we could have told them to never sign up in the first place.The tragic part is that they probably would have signed up anyway. That's just the type of people we're talking about. It's a bravery and selflessness that I can't even comprehend.While we all know that their blood is dripping off Bush's hands, our inactio
Ron Paul called it in 2001 2007-08-10 20:40:00 I'm blown away. Here is a link to a speech made by Ron Paul
, a not-covered-enough Republican candidate for President, on November 29th, 2001. He predicted everything that we now know as reality. It's a bit long, but an amazing read.This is a great example to throw in the face of everyone that says "we had no way of knowing". Some of us knew. Apparently, this included some people in Congress.So if the information was available and out in the open in Congress, why did our representatives vote the way they did?Isn't that the question?
"Conservative" and "Liberal" : Dangerous Terms 2007-08-14 14:14:00 I found this interesting blog today written by six students in Wisconsin. At first I was a little turned off because of the line at the top reading, "Fighting Like Warriors and Thinking Right. Systematically Debunking Liberal
Rhetoric." Looked like it would just be another partisan whine fest.But it wasn't. Instead I found an articulate analysis of this kid Brian's view on Bush and Rove. I looked at a few of the other articles, written by other contributors, and found more of the same. Level-headed arguments written by obviously intelligent individuals. While I didn't agree with everything, I found myself often nodding my head in agreement, even though this was a website that clearly states that it is "conservative" and that they are out to debunk "liberals". In theory, because I am labeled a "liberal", I should have hated this website.It got me to thinking. Are we really doing ourselves any favors by labeling everyone either a "conservative" or "liberal"? It seems to me that the o Read more:Terms
We've Got to Keep an Eye on Karl Rove 2007-08-13 22:28:00 Exciting morning, huh? I must admit, I smiled when I heard the news. But now I'm not so sure. I’ve noticed today that some people are talking about the work of Karl Rove
in the past tense, as if he's definitely finished. This is a concerning trend. Smart people with a genuine desire to see the end of the Bush administration, and who are desperate for some kind of hope, really want to believe that today's announcement means that the days of Karl Rove are over. They really want to believe that Rove is resigning out of panic or that he is walking away to go harmlessly write his book and chill with wifey. I understand the desire. I wish I could believe it. I could really dig having something to celebrate. But I don’t have cause to celebrate. The truth is, we don’t know what this means. There are a lot of “whys” that need to be addressed. And they might not add up to a move made out of panic or a simple fade into irrelevance. Let's take a quick look at thi
Lou Dobbs Airs Propaganda While Congress is on Vacation 2007-08-15 17:21:00 Congress is out of session and the investigations have stopped. Apparently, the only thing left to cover during August is going to be war propaganda.The newest thing being rolled out for the cameras this summer is going to be the term "genocide" applied to Iraq. It began today on CNN.The top story on Lou Dobbs
Tonight was the series of truck bombs detonated in Kurdish villages located in Northern Iraq, which are mainly populated by the Yazidi religious minority. The attackers are assumed to be Sunni, who had threatened the Yazidi's for being infidels. According to the latest estimates, the death toll has risen to at least 500 people.During the irresponsible piece by Barbara Starr, Major General Benjamin Mixon, a member of our armed services and a total country bumpkin, gets on the screen and says, "this was an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide."This was a terrible tragedy for the Iraqi people and it never should have happened. But it was not genocide. This language Read more:Vacation
, Propaganda
, Congress
Scary Scenario for Attorney General Replacement 2007-08-29 23:21:00 So there is a rumor going around that one possible replacement for Alberto Gonzales could be none other than Joe "let's bomb Iran" Lieberman. Why? Lieberman is likely to be loyal to Bush and they are both motivated to attack Iran. The thought is that if the attack on Iran is a major goal of the Bush administration, Lieberman would be a great pick to help them with their mission. The nomination of Lieberman would also kill the Congressional investigations into the Bush administration (keep reading).Here's how this would play out, as I understand it:Lieberman gets nominated by Bush to be the new AttorneyGeneral
.The Senate would confirm Joe Lieberman, despite his flaws, because the Senators would not deny one of their own.Lieberman's new position would leave a vacancy in the Senate. The most likely scenario for filling his seat would be that the Governor of Connecticut would get to choose his replacement. The Governor of Connecticut is a Republican, and would most likely elevate a Rep Read more:Scary
Senator Sex and Fighting Terrorism 2007-08-29 22:52:00 Thank you Larry Craig for a hilarious story. Larry Craig, one of the card carrying members of the anti-gay caucus of the Senate, plead guilty to soliciting gay sex from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom stall.The story itself is juicy, and due to the hypocrisy of the story's subject, it's hysterical. Keith Olbermann's reading of the police report and Dragnet reenactment of the crime is priceless.The only thing that I've noticed about this story that is going largely ignored is why the undercover cop was working to catch gay guys in an airport bathroom. Aren't the billable hours for our undercover airport cops better spent trying to catch would-be terrorists than horny Senator
s looking to get some?I do raise an eyebrow to the coincidence of this arrest.Luckily, I don't care. Peace out hypocrite. I hope your wife kicks your ass. Read more:Fighting
, Terrorism
Paul Clement: Better than Alberto Gonzales? 2007-08-27 14:53:00 Solicitor General Paul Clement is going to, at least temporarily, take over for AlbertoGonzales
as Attorney General when his resignation takes effect September 17th. But is this good news or bad news?Let's get the bad news out of the way. As described by law.com, Paul Clement "has a perfectly appointed conservative resume." This resume includes clerking for Justice Scalia, being a former member of the Federalist Society, working with Kenneth Starr, and of course, being appointed to his current position by President George W. Bush. During his tenure as Solicitor General, he has publicly argued that President Bush has the power to imprison those he deems enemies indefinitely and deny them access to legal council. Possibly most concerning, however, is the revelation by TPMuckraker that it has been Paul Clement who has been determining which documents are given to Congress and which ones are not, and let's just say that the Justice Department and the White House have been airing on the Read more:Alberto Gonzales
Attacking Larry Craig: More Than Gay Bashing 2007-09-01 12:07:00 Larry Craig
, the Senator from Idaho, is resigning from the Senate. As most everyone on the planet knows, Larry Craig was arrested after soliciting sex in an airport men's room. He has denied that he is gay, but after being pressured by his Republican colleagues, he will be ending his Senate career.Compare that to the story of David Vitter, a Republican Senator from Louisiana. David Vitter had been rumored to have hired prostitutes, which he denied, until his phone number was found on the list turned over by the "DC madam". Unlike the debatable "crime" committed by Larry Craig (after all, he was arrested for tapping his foot and waving his hand under the bathroom stall divider), prostitution is definitely illegal in Washington DC. Instead out running Vitter out of town, Senate Republicans defended Vitter, describing his affair as a personal matter. Vitter, needless to say, it still in the Senate.A simple case of Republicans punishing the gay guy and defending the straight guy?Well, ye Read more:Attacking
, Larry
Study Indicates the US is Prepared to Attack Iran 2007-08-31 14:50:00 This is so scary.A study was done in the UK that lays out the United States' plan for bombing Iran. Here is the report. Scroll down to page 70 and at least read the conclusions (there are also some amazing revelations in the notes).Also, if you haven't already read it, here is a link to Seymour Hersh's article from April of this year. This is a long, but captivating article, and is regarded as one of the most important pieces of research in the past 7 years.Read these articles, pay attention to the increased saber rattling in the media, and keep in mind that former White House chief of staff Andrew Card told The New York Times in September of 2002, ``From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August."Many journalists are assuming the new product for this September will be a new or extended "surge" in Iraq. It would be wise to also consider the very real possibility that the new product is Bush's next war with Iran. Read more:Study
, Attack Iran
Earthquake Did Not Cause Mine Collapse 2007-08-31 14:16:00 In an August 28th USA Today article, it has been confirmed that "all of the evidence" indicates that the mine collapse was not caused by an earthquake.That means that when the mine owner, Robert Murray, goes on TV and blames an earthquake, he is flat out lying. Read more:Earthquake
, Cause
Open Letter to Diane Feinstein 2007-09-27 15:21:00 Oh my God. You did it again.Yesterday you voted Yea on the Lieberman/Kyl amendment, which basically calls Iran's military a terrorist organization and informally declares war on their country.I'm confused by your vote. Don't you remember how the Iraq war started? Let me remind you:While the media was airing program after program aimed to get the American people to see Iraq as a enemy which needed to be destroyed as soon as possible, Congress gave the irresponsible President Bush the authorization to use force against Saddam Hussein. Many Congressional Representatives believed he wouldn't use it, but needed the authority to use as leverage to stop Saddam from developing more weapons of mass destruction.They were wrong. The Bush administration pulled the inspectors and went to war, even though they knew there were no weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq posed no immediate threat to the United States.Five years, 455 billion dollars, 1 million dead Iraqis, 3,801 dead soldiers, 27, Read more:Letter
, Diane
Why Bush Wants Us To Believe Iran's Our Enemy 2007-09-24 17:32:00 Short story: I think the Bush administration might switch from the Shi'ite's side to the Sunni's side in Iraq and in the Middle East region.Before I start, a few things you need to know:Iran = Shi'iteIraq's Government = Shi'iteSaudi Arabia = Sunnibin-Laden and Al Qaeda = SunniAl Anbar province = SunniSo General Petraeus gets up and testifies that we need to stay in Iraq. Big reason: things are working in al-Anbar province. Their story has been that this one sheik's tribe struck a deal with group Bush calls "al-Qeada in Iraq" and violence there has gone way down, due to (of course) the Americans.Of course, it's total bullshit. The violence stopped when we paid the local Sunni's to stop it. We also sat by while they killed and forcibly removed (aka ethnic cleansed) the Shi'ites in al-Anbar. Oh yeah, and that sheik that shook Bush's hand wasn't a sheik at all. For being a phony and helping Bush sell his story, he was assassinated on Thursday, September 21st, the same day Bush Read more:Enemy
United States Military - As Cool to Work for as Blackwater? 2007-09-22 16:00:00 Blackwater Guards were acting as traffic cops. One guy slows down but doesn't completely stop when they want him to, so they open fire on his car. 8 people killed. Blackwater said they were ambushed. They lied. But it doesn’t really matter because there are no laws for Blackwater anyway. Blackwater is made up of guys who used to be our soldiers. But they no longer work for America. They do what Blackwater tells them to do because Blackwater gives them a lot more of our taxpayer money. It's also cool to go to war with immunity. No more pesky Uniform Code of Military
Justice.This is an "American" company and these guys live and train here... in our country. The Executive branch has stolen our military and has created one of it’s own. It’s currently overseas, but if the Iraqi government can be strong enough to get rid of it in their country, Bush's self proclaimed "professional army" might be coming home. Military Commissions ActNSPD-51Executive Order allowing the sei Read more:United
, States
, Blackwater
, United States
Bush Pardoned Himself for War Crimes 2007-09-22 11:34:00 Here's the video from CNN telling about the bill that passed the House. I don't know if it passed the Senate. I'll check it out and let you know.UPDATE: When you watch the video, you find out that this bill wasn't something passed in the last few days. It was passed in mid-2006 before the Congress was switched over to the Democrats.This being the case, I have to assume that the bill Cafferty is referring to is the Military Commissions Act, which is one of the most shameful pieces of legislation in American history. This is the same bill that eliminated habeas corpus, which is a fancy way of describing the right to say, "Hey! You got the wrong guy!"The habeas corpus aspect of the Military Commissions Act is well known to the public, but the immunity portion was news to me. Unfortunately, the immunity for Bush and his co-conspirators that Cafferty refers to is there, probably because the bill came into existence to protect Rumsfeld's war criminal ass.The Military Commissions Act cam Read more:Crimes
9/11 Warnings Were Ignored Starting in 2000 2007-09-21 11:56:00 Dan posted this article from the San Francisco Gate/ New York Times. Here's the gist of it:"A military intelligence team repeatedly contacted the FBI in 2000 to warn about the existence of a U.S.-based terrorist cell that included the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a veteran Army intelligence officer who said he has decided to risk his career by discussing the information publicly.The officer, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, said military lawyers later blocked the team from sharing any of its information with the FBI."Later in the article we find out that the FBI canceled scheduled meetings with this military intelligence team because they were afraid that the data-mining methods used in operation Able Danger may have exposed the FBI to controversy.Shaffer says he told the 9/11 Commission about this situation, but it was left out of their report.One thing I find interesting is the revelation that there were data-mining concerns in mid-2000. Bill Clinton was still in office
I Apologize for Missing this Crucial Story 2007-09-20 20:01:00 To my non-existent regular readers: I have failed you. As usual, the despicable mainstream media completely ignored a huge story, but I too failed to warn my people in time.I regret to inform you that I have allowed International Talk Like A Pirate Day to pass us by yesterday without a word.Won't happen again. I hope you can forgive me. Read more:Missing
, Crucial
Meyer Tasered for Talking about Voter Caging in Public 2007-09-20 13:59:00 Here is a link to an extended version of that video we've all seen of that 21 year old kid, Andrew Meyer
, from the University of Florida being tased at a school assembly while trying to question John Kerry.The clip of the actual tasing has been on the news over and over again, but it's very different when you see the incident in full. There's so many disturbing things about this. Here' s just a few:Andrew didn't push his way up to the front to ask these questions, like the crazy person the media has made him out to be. He waited his turn and was given the mike.He was holding up and asking questions about Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast. I've read this book and within in it we find out that millions of voters were caged by the Republicans. I assumed that nothing was being done because our representatives didn't know about it. However, John Kerry clearly says he read the book. How could he have read that book, and 3 years later still have done nothing about it? More importantly, why Read more:Talking
, Voter
, Public
Blackwater: Please Stay in Iraq 2007-09-20 11:47:00 Iraqi officials banned Blackwater
from Iraq this week, ordering all of their employees to leave the country immediately due to 10-20 Iraqi's who died in an attack Sunday that the victims claim was unprovoked. Since then, Secretary of State Condi Rice has made a phone call to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and Blackwater's license is now "under review".Blackwater, and all the other private security companies that are operating in Iraq, represent a great injustice to our troops, considering private contractors are paid way more than our soldiers to take the same risk. These companies also represent a great injustice to Iraqi's, because there is nobody holding their employees accountable for the crimes they commit since private contractors exist in a legal black hole.Despite these facts, my biggest selfish fear is that the Iraqi officials actually succeed in kicking Blackwater out of their country. That would mean that Blackwater would be forced to make their money right here in the Read more:Please
, Iraq
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