November 03, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

GIULIANI IS A LIAR IN THE BUSH MODE

Rudy Giuliani, like typical Republican candidates, is truth challenged. He has been running on the terrorism issue, claiming he was aware of the dangers of terrorism years before 9/11. But when he testified before the 9/11 Commission it was clear he didn't know much about terrorism at all. Now he's attacking universal healthcare as "socialized medicine" and claiming that his chances of surviving prostate cancer in Britain were much smaller than in the United States. The problem is he had a government health program, and the prostate survival rates in Britain are equivalent to those in the United States. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.nytimes.com:

Let’s start with the facts: Mr. Giuliani’s claim is wrong on multiple levels - bogus numbers wrapped in an invalid comparison embedded in a smear.

Mr. Giuliani got his numbers from a recent article in City Journal, a publication of the conservative Manhattan Institute. The author gave no source for his numbers on five-year survival rates - the probability that someone diagnosed with prostate cancer would still be alive five years after the diagnosis. And they’re just wrong.

You see, the actual survival rate in Britain is 74.4 percent. That still looks a bit lower than the U.S. rate, but the difference turns out to be mainly a statistical illusion. The details are technical, but the bottom line is that a man’s chance of dying from prostate cancer is about the same in Britain as it is in America.

ARMAGEDDON POLITICS

The mix of politics and religion is volatile at best. If you combine the politics with a desire for Armageddon you move into the danger zone. There are people with a major influence in U. S. foreign policy who not only yearn for Armageddon; they want to make it happen. This article by Jon Basil Utley is at www.alternet.org:

Most journalists find it difficult to take seriously that tens of millions of Americans, filled with fantasies of revenge and empowerment, long to leave a world they despise. These Armageddonites believe that they alone will get a quick, free pass when they are "raptured" to paradise, no good deeds necessary, not even a day of judgment. Ironically, they share this utopian fantasy with a group that they often castigate, namely fundamentalist Muslims who believe that dying in battle also means direct access to Heaven. For the Armageddonites, however, there are no waiting virgins, but they do agree with Muslims that there will be "no booze, no bars," in the words of a popular Gaither Singers song.

These end-timers have great influence over the U.S. government's foreign policy. They are thick with the Republican leadership. At a recent conference in Washington, congressional leader Roy Blunt, for example, has said that their work is "part of God's plan." At the same meeting, where speakers promoted attacking Iran, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay glorified "end times." Indeed the Bush administration often consults with them on Mideast policies. The organizer of the conference, Rev. John Hagee, is often welcomed at the White House, although his ratings are among the lowest on integrity and transparency by Ministry Watch, which rates religious broadcasters. He raises millions of dollars from his campaign supporting Israeli settlements on the West Bank, including much for himself. Erstwhile presidential candidate Gary Bauer is on his Board of Directors. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson also both expressed strong end-times beliefs.