Such an excuse - "I didn't mean to kill Oscar Grant, I just wanted to hurt him." Tasing a suspect who is already in custody and under control is torture.

Shutting off communication facilities in the BART tunnels creates a safety hazard.

These BART managers are a danger to life and public safety.

Libyan War Planned Right After 9/11 ... Or Before

Toppling Gaddafi was planned right after 9/11, or perhaps even before.

As American reporter Gareth Porter reported in 2008:

Three weeks after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of not only removing the Saddam Hussein regime by force but overturning the regime in Iran, as well as in Syria and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted extensively in then-under secretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith's recently published account of the Iraq war decisions. Feith's account further indicates that this aggressive aim of remaking the map of the Middle East by military force and the threat of force was supported explicitly by the country's top military leaders. Feith's book, War and Decision, released last month, provides excerpts of the paper Rumsfeld sent to President George W Bush on September 30, 2001, calling for the administration to focus not on taking down Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network but on the aim of establishing "new regimes" in a series of states... *** General Wesley Clark, who commanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing campaign in the Kosovo war, recalls in his 2003 book Winning Modern Wars being told by a friend in the Pentagon in November 2001 that the list of states that Rumsfeld and deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz wanted to take down included Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Somalia [and Lebanon]. *** When this writer asked Feith . . . which of the six regimes on the Clark list were included in the Rumsfeld paper, he replied, "All of them." *** The Defense Department guidance document made it clear that US military aims in regard to those states would go well beyond any ties to terrorism. The document said the Defense Department would also seek to isolate and weaken those states and to "disrupt, damage or destroy" their military capacities - not necessarily limited to weapons of mass destruction (WMD)... Rumsfeld's paper was given to the White House only two weeks after Bush had approved a US military operation in Afghanistan directed against bin Laden and the Taliban regime. Despite that decision, Rumsfeld's proposal called explicitly for postponing indefinitely US airstrikes and the use of ground forces in support of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in order to try to catch bin Laden. Instead, the Rumsfeld paper argued that the US should target states that had supported anti-Israel forces such as Hezbollah and Hamas. *** A senior officer on the Joint Staff told State Department counter-terrorism director Sheehan he had heard terrorist strikes characterized more than once by colleagues as a "small price to pay for being a superpower".

General Clark added some details in 2007:

I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you’ve got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you’re too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We’ve made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th of September.

***

So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it’s worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" — meaning the Secretary of Defense’s office — "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran."

Obama is simply carrying out the Neocons' war plans created right after 9/11 ... if notbefore.

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/

while I think the donkey whisperer is pretty disgusting, it reminded me that Republicans have an appropriate animal representation. Donkeys were the hard workers that were the backbone of farming communities and more. So Donkey's - represent the backbone of workers in our nation - in the Democratic Party. Republicans have the elephant - a very strong animal that is very heavy, moves slowly and remembers lessons learned years earlier -- that it doesn't forget! Trying to get an elephant to accept a new idea is nearly impossible. Or, as today shows, the propaganda is accepted and no facts and truths will dislodge their brainwashing!

The French enjoy showing we ugly Americans the high road. But, they are right.

I couldn't agree with you more Mr. Hartmann. France is a very progressive country. France was one of the first true democracies in Europe. France supported the US during the revoloutionary war, gave us the statue of Liberty. The French Aeronautical engineers are the best in the world. France also derives 75% of it's electricity from Nuclear power, and is the worlds number one exporter of electricity. This is a teachable moment, and France can teach us how to be secure in our energy policy.

Yes, the Donkey whisperer is a great add. Best political add I have seen in years. Gets right to the point and is funny.

Well, for one thing, the French love discussing politics at the dinner table. They also, for the most part, really love their country deeply - and it isn't just a yahoo love. In the US, the rich have been eating the greed greed greed idea for a long time. This idea is not so well regarded in France.

They are racist. Plain and simple... as the majority of th GOP are. It is as obvious as an ass on an ass. Nothing can change it and they will always deny they are... which, given their own hypocrisy on almost any subject, translates to the opposite of their denial being the truth.

Say, if "x", then: if "conventions are your thing", then elephant is another way of just sayin'…oh…Dumbo*. So in conclusion, say, "x" is to: "donkey" is to Smarta** as "elephant" is to…(*hint: rhymes with Jumbo).

I suspect the leaders of industry in France are smarter than their American counterparts. Because they "know" they need a vibrant economy so people can buy their stuff..

However, I fear another possibility is more likely.. Since the American conservative rule has deleted virtually all rules, the leaders of industry [in America] do not need a vibrant economy, because they can simply skip out to some other market (IE: multi national with no protectionism for American workers), once they have soaked up all the money in America.. Any way you slice it, conservative economics is destructive to life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (unless you are a CEO)..

I havent been on the boards for a couple months.. Had surgery (cervical disk).. Will try to look up this thread in a couple days..

bobbler

re: Chubbell - They are racist. Plain and simple... as the majority of th GOP are. It is as obvious as an ass on an ass. Nothing can change it and they will always deny they are... which, given their own hypocrisy on almost any subject, translates to the opposite of their denial being the truth.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

You do realize it was the GOP that freed the slaves, don't you? Um, you do know that more Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than Democrats, don't you? I suspect Clarence Thomas, Michael Steele, Condoleezza Rice, J. C. Watts, Ward Connerly, Alan Keyes, Richard Parsons (former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner,) Joseph C. Phillips, Angela McGlowan, JJ Walker, Lynn Swann, Karl "the Mailman" Malone, Armstrong Williams, Allen West, Herman Cain, Janice Rogers Brown, Larry Elder, Thomas Sowell and Walter E. Williams will be surprised to learn they're a bunch of white supremacists. Who knows... maybe this week even Colin Powell is in touch with his Republican demons.

???

http://www.gun-control-network.org/Gun%20homicide%20rates.jpg

Your guest from the ACRU the other day was completely wrong. England's gun murder rate is extremely low, and this graphic completely disproves her point that "only the criminals are armed" in England. By the way, they were neatly queued up waiting for their turn to loot stores. Only in the UK...

The wealthy are scared. Unfortunately the phsyche of the U.S. is one of fear. The wealthy are just as afraid of losing everything as the rest of us. Afraid that their lives will not be as satisfying if they give up a small portion of their money. It is a sad reality that many people in the U.S. base their happiness, satisfaction and self worth on the amount of money they make and items they have. People in other countries tend to base happiness etc. on cultural experiences, personal relationships and the work they do. We need a better way to determine our Country's success than GDP or the stock market.

And as the wealthy continue to squeeze us into the starving masses...its headed that way...and is now for many people...some will struggle to survive and this will be manifested by more "crimes" like bank robberies, muggings, fraud, etc. With many in law enforcement being laid off around the country (or laying off the experienced and hiring more noobs) I'm sure many "survivors" will resort to taking advantage of a weakened system. I read an article in the recent AARP magazine about how even old people are getting into the swindle and fraud acts. Seems a lot of people are more willing to trust their money with avuncular or grandfatherly(or grandmotherly) people in the investment business...especially if they manage to win their targets over with a sob story...or even a success story....like Bernie Maddoff who made people think they were going to beat the system and get something for nothing. But then with a government like ours who bails out the wealthy when they make wild bets on derivatives and such....why should people worry about risk? Our crooked system is geared to support the fraudsters....because our government is a fraud...bought off by pyramid and ponzi schemers.

Mary Mary Beware nuclear energy does not contribute to this issue. Why poison the discussion with pro nuclear agenda. France is also having a lot of issues with low water levels due to man made climate change that is causing great concern on how to provide cooling systems for the many Nuclear Plants in operation. Danger danger young Will Robinson.