April 24, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY


LYING ABOUT TILLMAN AND LYNCH

Propaganda and war have been companions for a long time. We know about the famous image from World War II of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima, for instance. We know that Sergeant York became an icon of World War I. But in an effort to support this illegal and immoral war the Bush administration may have covered up the truth about the death of ex-NFL star Pat Tillman, making it appear he was killed by the Taliban, when he was actually killed by friendly fire. Jessica Lynch's story was totally fabricated by the propagandists, although she has been very upfront about what happened. Pat Tillman is a hero, no matter how the Bush administration twisted the truth, but his family and the public have the right to know the truth. This story by Robert Collier is at www.sfgate.com:

Meanwhile, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, the last person to see Tillman alive, told a congressional hearing that a coverup began almost immediately after Tillman's death.

"Our squad leader told me basically, don't tell anyone anything at that time," said O'Neal.

The dramatic testimony came during a 4½-hour hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, tasked with determining whether there was an attempt to mislead the public about Tillman's April 22, 2004, death, and about a separate case during the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- that of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a 21-year-old Army supply clerk who was rescued after she was captured by Saddam Hussein's defending fighters in April 2003.

The military's initial account of the incident and its claims of her heroism were subsequently shown to be false.

"The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate lies," Lynch told committee members.

THE IRRELVANCE PUSHED BY RIGHT-WINGERS

The 1988 presidential campaign between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis was one of the dirtiest on memory. The Bush campaign ran mostly on irrelevant issues like Willie Horton and the flag salute. Things have only gotten worse since then because there is the vast right-wing echo chamber on AM talk radio and on the talking head shows like Bill O'Reilly. They take some molehill and build it into a mountain. Remember the "war on Christmas"? Remember Al Gore's earth tones? One of the latest is the attack on John Edwards because Edwards supposedly gets $400 haircuts. Oh, the outrage! There was a jerk who wrote The Fresno Bee and parroted the right-wing talking points. But where is the concern and the outrage over real issues, things like poverty, the Hurricane Katrina victims, the quagmire in Iraq, global warming, genocide in the Sudan, and our crumbling infrastructure? Haircuts are more important, I guess. This commentary by Dave Johnson is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

Well, this past week, we have seen clearly, that the Right Wing doesn't want to talk about these issues. Let's break them down briefly:

End the war in Iraq? No, the Right wants to continue the escalation in Iraq and potentially expand the conflict to Iran.

Fight global warming? No, the Right as best shown by Exxon-funded Media Research Center and their attacks on Laurie David and Sheryl Crow's global warming concert tour insist on putting profit before morality. They know the science as well as anyone but the scientific facts conflict with the profits of their top donors, ergo, their denial program continues.

Guarantee affordable health care to every American? Absolutely not. The cost to corporate donors makes it a necessity to stop this in its tracks. Tens of millions spent fighting and lobbying against health care reform is money well spent by those wishing to block this from becoming a right of every American.

Eliminate poverty in America? No, the programs that would facilitate this, such as the raising of the minimum wage, conflict with the goals of the Right's corporate base.

Revitalize rural America? Again, the programs that would facilitate this would cost large corporations money, no.

Restore America's moral authority in the world? The Right sees this differently. They don't mind torture, choosing war over peace and the death of civilians. It's a fundamental difference of morality.