Category: Republicans

US Official: “There will be an attack on Iran.”

Posted on by TL

The neo-cons are having wet dreams about attacking Iran, and they’re stepping up the rhetoric.

According to an article in yesterday’s Time Magazine,  the Bush Administration is planning on putting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the terrorism list.  The article by Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, gives every indication that the Bush Administration intends to go forward with some type of attack in Iran, “an awe and shock campaign, lite, if you will,” and actually believe that taking out the IRGC will pave the way for Democracy in Iran, and help stabilize Iraq.

And, dammit, we’ve heard that all before.

From the article:

As with Saddam and his imagined WMD, the Administration’s case against the IRGC is circumstantial. The U.S. military suspects but cannot prove that the IRGC is the main supplier of sophisticated improvised explosive devices to insurgents killing our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And later:

A second part of the Administration’s case against the IRGC is that the IRGC has had a long, established history of killing Americans, starting with the attack on the Marines in Beirut in 1983. And that’s not to mention it was the IRGC that backed Hizballah in its thirty-four day war against Israel last year. The feeling in the Administration is that we should have taken care of the IRGC a long, long time ago.

So, take out the IRGC, and we’ll have regional stability at last.

But what if that doesn’t happen?

And what do we do if just the opposite happens — a strike on Iran unifies Iranians behind the regime? An Administration official told me it’s not even a consideration. “IRGC IED’s are a casus belli for this administration. There will be an attack on Iran.”

Yet another half-baked casus belli from the neo-cons an “W”.  Will they finally be sending their own children to fight this one?

And The Field Narrows

Posted on by TL

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has dropped out of his race for the White House.  According to the AP:

The campaign statement said Thompson intends to take some time off before returning to the private sector and his nonprofit work.The 65-year-old said he’s comforted by the fact that he thinks he made a difference for people during his campaign.

He finished sixth among 11 candidates in this weekend’s GOP straw poll in Iowa, garnering a disappointing 7 percent of the vote. He had said before the Iowa event that he would drop out of the race unless he finished first or second.

The statement didn’t say whether he would endorse another candidate.

The Republican field thins out by one.

Iraqi political crisis grows – And We’re No Boy Scouts

Posted on by TL

I remember a few things from the Boy Scouts.  Leave a place better than you found it.

Yes, I remember.

And we’re so off in Iraq.  So much damage.  So much lost.  So much al Qaeda.  And, funny thing is, al Qaeda was not there in anywhere near the numbers before we arrived.

And now, their wonderful government is collapsing in upon itself:

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s political crisis worsened Monday as five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings — leaving the embattled prime minister’s unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.

<snip>

The new cracks in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki‘s government appeared even as U.S. military officials sounded cautious notes of progress on security, citing strides against insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq but also new threats from Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

From the Associated Press.

Does anyone in Washington have a clue as to how we’re going to get out of Iraq, after leaving it worse than we found it?

I See White People

Posted on by TL

Oy.  Republicans.  White, one and all.  Even those who are not so white.

It’s true.

Take a look at the Cook County, IL, Republican Party Executive Board:

What a group.   I’m sure it’s a coincidence that all of their People of Color were not elected to office this year.  Must have had other things to do.

Or, perhaps the family maids and chauffeurs don’t get much of a vote in the GOP.

George Bush And The Nine Trillionth Dollar

Posted on by TL

George Bush and the Nine Millionth Dollar

It’s almost here. Can you feel the excitement? People are already starting to line up at the Pentagon, White House, U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Capitol Building, and countless other key locations around Washington, D.C., for the midnight release of the U.S. Government’s George Bush and the Nine Trillionth Dollar by Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury Department.

That’s right, literary fans, the excitement is building around the globe. President Bush, under the guidance of Vice President Dick Cheney (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Questioned) and Director Paulson, has already issued instructions on a strict embargo on the book until midnight on a date in the very near future but yet to be announced. Citizens will be given last minute instructions on where to queue up for copies of the book, which will sell for $45 retail. Advance-order copies are available from Amazon.com and Borders Books for $50. Reached by phone by Larry King, Vice President Cheney justified the extra $5.00 for those who order early by saying, “If you order late, the terrorists win.” Color-coded wrist bands will be available at select locations throughout the D.C. area for $100 each so lines are orderly as the members of the public line up for their midnight copies.

We’re almost there! According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the current debt to the penny is $8,945,504,468,375.99. Less than $35 billion to go!

“We’re very excited,” said Director Paulson, “This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. We never expect to hit $9 Trillion again!” This all but answers the questions billions are wondering, “Will the debt ever come down?” and, “Will there be a sequel to this book?” Paulson could hardly contain his enthusiasm for the most famous series of books the U.S. Treasury Department has ever produced, “We anticipate publishing volume both 10 and 11 in the next few years, as long as we can keep a Republican in the White House. Help us reach our goal!”

Many are hoping for some answers to long-standing questions in the new volume:

  • Who will live?
  • Who will die?
  • As the needs of U.S. citizens grow and debt increases, who will the United States borrow from next?
  • Who will the United States pass the debt to when Japan and China finally call their loans?

“The debt is the money the federal government borrows from other countries and it’s own citizens,” President Bush explained. “It’s money that we borrow.”

Thousands emailed the president after this statement, thanking him for explaining the national debt at last.

The White House and the Treasury Department announced that millions have already placed advance orders for George Bush and the Nine Trillionth Dollar using credit cards, of course.

(Graphic: Turning Left)

G.O.P. Afraid of You(Tube)

Posted on by TL

Time Magazine is reporting that key G.O.P. presidential candidates are suddenly finding scheduling conflicts and other excuses to back out of the September 17 YouTube debate on CNN.  From Friday’s story in Time:

The Rudy Giuliani campaign has cited scheduling conflicts in saying it will skip the Republican version of this week’s Democratic debate, while Mitt Romney has mocked the seriousness of the questions and also seems likely to withdraw. John McCain, one of two candidates who had agreed to participate (Ron Paul is the other), has also expressed doubts about the Democratic debate’s level of decorum and aides say he may reconsider his commitment. Undeclared candidate Fred Thompson may still not officially be in the race by the event’s Sept. 17 airdate.

The Republicans’ sudden aversion has political observers wondering whether abandoning an opportunity to participate in the fledging format shows a potentially costly reluctance to engage with voters or is simply an exercise in prudent message management.

Are the Republicans afraid of facing real voters?  Skating through the presidential campaign while only answering carefully scripted, carefully crafted and negotiated questions in debates with  pre-screened audiences?

That seems likely, although the Republicans will try to spin this differently.

Should I Believe Gonzales, or the FBI?

Posted on by TL

It really looks like Gonzales’ world is collapsing around him, like that of so many, “Heck-Of-A-Job,” members of the “W.” Fan Club before him.  The man has no credibility left, and could not possibly inspire any sense of confidence in the office of the Attorney General.  From today’s Washington Post:

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III yesterday contradicted the sworn testimony of his boss, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, by telling Congress that a prominent warrantless surveillance program was the subject of a dramatic legal debate within the Bush administration.

Mueller’s testimony appears to mark the first public confirmation from a Bush administration official that the National Security Agency’s Terrorist Surveillance Program was at issue in an unusual nighttime visit by Gonzales to the hospital bedside of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who was under sedation and recovering from surgery.

Imagine trying to use a doped-up John Ashcroft to get approval for a program.  Does anyone at all in the White House have any sense of ethics?

Where are all of the Republican’s who care so much about right and wrong?  Why be so silent?

I know, everyone and their grandmother wants to win the White House again, because, really, that’s all that matters.  So, line up behind St. Alberto and be silent.  We know your game.

All the while, we’re one step closer to Bush and Cheney.  The movement to impeach them is growing.

I’m Kicking John McCain Off My Blog

Posted on by TL

Google Ads. Gotta love them!

Turning Left has been a low volume blog for the past few months. Now, however, it is really starting to take off. We have over 500 regular readers! We enjoy sharing our views, but the real key is when we all leave our computers, we must act. We must do. This cannot be the end of the story.

I place some Google Ads here to help pay for the site. That’s a no-brainer. But John McCain has been showing up of late! And I don’t want him here.

I know if someone clicks on his ad, they’re taking money from John. Pennies, but a few million pennies here, and a few million pennies there, and, before you know it, you’re talking about real money!

But I don’t want John McCain on my blog. So I’m booting his URL from my Google Adsense account. Not now, not today, never again.

Oh. And Ann Coulter too. Next time she shows up here, she’s history.

No, not the history she creates when she writes or speaks.

History as in gone.  Not here any more.  Somewhere else.

White House Cites Executive Privilege To Withhold Tillman Documents

Posted on by TL

U.S. Army Corporal Patrick Tillman

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a statement Friday indicating the White House was asserting executive privilege once again to withhold documents pertaining to communications between the White House and the Defense Department regarding the death of U.S. Army Corporal Patrick Tillman by “friendly fire” in 2004:

Today Chairman Waxman and Ranking Minority Member Davis sent a letter to the White House objecting to the withholding of documents related to the death of U.S. Army Corporal Patrick Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. As a result of deficient responses from both the White House and Defense Department, the Committee also announced an August 1 hearing to examine what senior Defense Department officials knew about Corporal Tillman’s death.

Following the Committee’s April 24, 2007, hearing on the Tillman fratricide, the Committee wrote to White House Counsel Fred Fielding seeking “all documents received or generated by any official in the Executive Office of the President” relating to Corporal Tillman’s death. The White House Counsel’s office responded that it would not provide the Committee with documents that “implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests” and produced only two communications with the officials in the Defense Department, one of which was a package of news clippings. The response of the Defense Department to the Committee’s inquiry was also deficient.

In response to the deficiencies in the White House and Defense Department productions, Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Davis today sent letters to White House Counsel Fred Fielding and Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting complete document production by July 25, 2007. Chairman Waxman also wrote the Republican National Committee to request communications about Corporal Tillman’s death by White House officials using e-mail accounts controlled by the RNC.

In addition, the Oversight Committee announced that a hearing will be held on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, to investigate what senior officials at the Defense Department knew about Corporal Tillman’s death.

Questions surfaced after Tillman’s death when the public learned the Army withheld the truth:

The first Army investigator who looked into the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan last year found within days that he was killed by his fellow Rangers in an act of “gross negligence,” but Army officials decided not to inform Tillman’s family or the public until weeks after a nationally televised memorial service.

We Love You As Long As You Are Christian

Posted on by TL

Harry Reid finally went too far. Watch this video. Truly unbelievable.At least that’s what the great granfalloon, the Religious Right, is saying.Imagine disrupting a chaplain leading an assembly in prayer.That’s exactly what happened Thursday in the United States Senate. CNN has the report:

Three people were arrested in the Senate visitor’s gallery Thursday for disrupting the chamber’s morning prayer, led for the first time by a Hindu clergyman.

As Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Nevada, began to lead the brief prayer, two women and one man shouted, “This is an abomination,” according to the Associated Press.

Capitol Police Sergeant Kimberly Schneider tells CNN that the three were arrested in the Senate visitors’ gallery for “disruption of Congress.”

The Great Granfalloon, the American Family Association, actually issued an Action Alert when they found out about the possibility of a Hindu leading prayer for the Senate:

Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto “One Nation Under God.”

Here’s the great theological statement you were advised to pass along to your United States Senator:

“In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods,” the Christian historian explains. “And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator — that’s not one that fits here because we don’t know which creator we’re talking about within the Hindu religion.”

There are many things wrong with this statement — not the least of which is that the Declaration of Independence is not the United States Constitution! Have these people even read the Declaration of Independence? It’s not about God at all. A Creator is mentioned in the beginning, and a Supreme Judge near the end. That’s it. Other than that, it’s one of the most inspiring pieces of literature any country has ever produced. Among the great crimes King George was accused of:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

Ouch. Depriving us of the benefits of Trial by Jury. Sound familiar to anyone on the Right?

I’m with Vonnegut. I would like to see these clowns on the Right once, just once, quote the Sermon on the Mount. Why are they stuck on obscure passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, and they never quote the Christ they claim to love?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Why don’t we ever hear any of that?

Get with it on the Right: Jesus is a Liberal.