Six bloody years ago today, a warmonger pretzeldent said: ' MONEY TRUMPS PEACE.'

[Octafish]

Last edited Thu Feb 14, 2013, 08:47 PM - Edit history (1)

When George W Bush said it at a press conference on Feb. 14, 2007, not a single reporter dared follow-up with a question about his revealing utterance. That silence speaks volumes about the state of journalism, much to the shame of real journalists and all who appreciate the First Amendment. The silence of the presstitutes also speaks encyclopaedias about the pure evil occupying the "minds" of the liars who run the United States government as their own, private Mafia. That Bush and his Have-More cronies make a killing from war must go unstated. Those who know this and let it stand are just as corrupt.



On St. Valentines Day, 2013, war is still big business. Too bad, so sad about all the collateral damage. That's progress, BFEE style.

[Az_lefty]

1. W wasn't just a fool, the man had no conscience

[Octafish]

4. Sociopath, psychopath, nutjob - just don't call him monster.

When people do that, it excuses the man's criminality - from ENRON energy policies to torture to spying on America to lying USA into war to letting NOLA drown to Welfare for Wall Street banksters to secret assassination teams. And that's just a bit of the treason he has committed.

[johnnyreb]

3. Forgetting is the first step to being unprincipled-- and thus losing voters.

Hard rock antibush antiwar info-music mp3
http://members.peak.org/~greglief/cc/In_The_Garden_Of_Eden.html

[Octafish]

5. The Supremos installed Smirko 5-4 and it's been pure NAZI ever since.

Then, they gifted us with "Citizens United."

Money also just happens to be the thing demockracy by the billionaires requires.

What a coincidence! Just like permawar and taxpayer-paid bonuses for banksters.

Most importantly: Thank you for the heads-up on the jams, johnnyreb. I will grok tomorrow when I can fire up the real computer, my Friend.

[Th1onein]

6. I HATE Bush. I hope he rots in hell. eom

[Octafish]

11. First, a cell.

The World’s Warmonger

by Garry Leech

According to the Bush administration, it is Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s desire to purchase weapons from Russia that threatens to destabilize the Andean region, not the $3 billion in military aid that Washington has provided to Colombia over the past five years. Likewise, in the Middle East, it is Syria’s efforts to obtain purely defensive anti-aircraft missiles that pose a threat to that region, not the $1 billion a year in U.S. military aid to Israel. And on the nuclear front, while there is no evidence that Iran is intending to build nuclear weapons, it is the regime in Tehran that is threatening to further destabilize the region, not President Bush’s apparent pledge to support any future Israeli attack against Iran. Meanwhile, North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to develop nuclear weapons makes the Asian nation a “rogue state,” but Washington’s abandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) to build its missile defense system, which could lead to the weaponization of space, apparently does not justify the same anti-multilateralist label being applied to the United States.

In December 2004, the Bush administration sent a letter of protest to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, and also expressed its concern to Russia’s defense and foreign ministers about Moscow’s decision to sell AK-47 automatic weapons to Venezuela. The Bush administration claims that President Chávez’s arms purchases pose a threat to neighboring Colombia and could lead to a regional arms race, destabilizing the Andean region. The Bush administration failed to note the possibly destabilizing consequences of Colombia’s recent massive U.S.-funded military build up.

One U.S. State Department spokesman stated: “Venezuela’s plans to purchase various types and large quantities of weapons are extremely troubling. And we believe that Venezuela should consult with its neighbors on such armament acquisitions.” Which raises the obvious question: Has the United States ever suggested that the Colombian government consult with President Chávez or other regional leaders regarding the massive amounts of military aid it has received from Washington over the past five years? This answer is definitely not.

The Bush administration also contributed to increasing instability in the Andean region by supporting Colombia’s flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty in December 2004. The U.S. Ambassador to Colombia William Wood stated that the United States supported the Uribe administration “100 percent,” even after the Colombian government admitted lying when it initially announced that FARC guerrilla representative Rodrigo Granda had been arrested in the Colombian city of Cúcuta. Instead, the Colombian government had paid mercenaries to kidnap Granda in the Venezuelan capital and smuggle him across the border.

CONTINUED via Wayback Machine IA...

http://web.archive.org/web/20060324025041/http://www.colombiajournal.org/colombia203.htm

[OnyxCollie]

7. Economically rational.

K&R.

[Octafish]

14. Team B: The trillion-dollar experiment

Two experts report on how a group of Cold War true believers were invited to second-guess the CIA. Did the "outside experts" of the 1970s contribute to the military buildup of the 1980s?

By Anne Hessing Cahn
April 1993 pp. 22, 24-27 (vol. 49, no. 03) © 1993 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

lection years have much in common. They produce a profusion of punditry, media attention, and politically expedient action, quickly forgotten, and with little lasting impact. But not always; sometimes events are set into motion that have long lifetimes. This was the case in 1976 when, as in 1992, an incumbent Republican president faced a strong challenge from the right wing of his own party. Then (as last year) sops were offered to placate the far right and, while it is too early to know which of the 1992 capers will endure, we now know a great deal about one of the most political events of 1976, and its remarkably long-lasting effects on U.S. policy.

Late last year, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released the 1976 "Team B" reports. Team B was an experiment in competitive threat assessments approved by then-Director of Central Intelligence George Bush. Teams of "outside experts" were to take independent looks at the highly classified data used by the intelligence community to assess Soviet strategic forces in the yearly National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs). NIEs are authoritative and are widely circulated within the government. U.S. national security policy on various issues as well as the defense budget are based on their general conclusions. Although NIEs represent the collective judgment of the entire intelligence community, the lead agency is the CIA.

There were three "B" teams. One studied Soviet low-altitude air defense capabilities, one examined Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) accuracy, and one investigated Soviet strategic policy and objectives. But it is the third team, chaired by Harvard professor Richard Pipes, that ultimately received considerable publicity and is commonly referred to as Team B.

The Team B experiment was concocted by conservative cold warriors determined to bury détente and the SALT process. Panel members were all hard-liners. The experiment was leaked to the press in an unsuccessful attempt at an "October surprise." But most important, the Team B reports became the intellectual foundation of "the window of vulnerability" and of the massive arms buildup that began toward the end of the Carter administration and accelerated under President Reagan.

How did the Team B notion come about? In 1974, Albert Wohlstetter, a professor at the University of Chicago, accused the CIA of systematically underestimating Soviet missile deployment, and conservatives began a concerted attack on the CIA's annual assessment of the Soviet threat. This assessment--the NIE--was an obvious target.

In the mid-1970s, the CIA was vulnerable on three counts. First, it was still reeling from the 1975 congressional hearings about covert assassination attempts on foreign leaders and other activities. Second, it was considered "payback time" by hard-liners, who were still smarting from the CIA's realistic assessments during the Vietnam war years--assessments that failed to see light at the end of the tunnel. And finally, between 1973 and 1976, there were four different directors of central intelligence, in contrast to the more stately progression of four directors in the preceding 20 years.

The vehicle chosen from within the administration to challenge the CIA was the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). Formed as the Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Affairs by President Eisenhower in 1956, PFIAB was reconstituted by President Kennedy in 1961 after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Members are appointed by the president but hold no other government positions (except possibly on other advisory committees or panels). By 1975, PFIAB was a home for such conservatives as William Casey, John Connally, John Foster, Clare Booth Luce, and Edward Teller.

CONTINUED via WAYBACK MACHINE IA:

http://web.archive.org/web/20050312091451/http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=apr93cahn

Please download the article before it is completely scrubbed from history...

[KeepItReal]

8. One of the truest things he ever said. I remember it.

And have quoted it here.

The other truth he told was how he really wasn't worried about Bin Laden and didn't spend any time thinking about him.

[Octafish]

18. Bush on the events of 9/11: ''We got a laugh out of it.''

From the great DUer elehhhhna:

Noonan: You were separated on September 11th. What was it like when you saw each other again?

Mrs. Bush: Well, we just hugged. I think there was a certain amount of security in being with each other than being apart.

President Bush: But the day ended on a relatively humorous note. The agents said, "You'll be sleeping downstairs. Washington's still a dangerous place." And I said no, I can't sleep down there, the bed didn't look comfortable. I was really tired, Laura was tired, we like our own bed. We like our own routine. You know, kind of a nester. Like the way things are. I knew I had to deal with the issue the next day and provide strength and comfort to the country, and so I needed rest in order to be mentally prepared. So I told the agent we're going upstairs, and he reluctantly said okay. Laura wears contacts, and she was sound asleep. Barney was there. And the agent comes running up and says, "We're under attack. We need you downstairs," and so there we go. I'm in my running shorts and my T-shirt, and I'm barefooted. Got the dog in one hand, Laura had a cat, I'm holding Laura --

Mrs. Bush: I don't have my contacts in, and I'm in my fuzzy house slippers --

President Bush: And this guy's out of breath, and we're heading straight down to the basement because there's an incoming unidentified airplane, which is coming toward the White House. Then the guy says it's a friendly airplane. And we hustle all the way back upstairs and go to bed.

Mrs. Bush: And we just lay there thinking about the way we must have looked.

Noonan: So the day starts in tragedy and ends in Marx Brothers.

President Bush: That's right -- we got a laugh out of it.

From Ladies Home Journal

http://www.lhj.com/style/covers/george-w-bush-and-laura-bush/?page=6

A criminal at heart and in every way.

[Kurska]

9. I never defend bush, can't stand the man. However, I'm pretty sure you're getting the meaning wrong.

I found the video with the entire answer.

At least to me it doesn't seem like he is saying that "Money trumps peace", but that to some OTHER people (Those doing business with Iran despite sanctions) money trumps peace and that it is hard to convince them otherwise.

Contextually that seems obvious because of the "peace" that is being trumped here is something bush actually wanted (sanctions on Iran) and bush is lamenting the fact that money is getting in the way of sanctions on Iran.

Bush did a lot of really terrible things to this country and others, but he is bad enough without what seems like a dubious at best interpretation of his words.

Sorry, but I can't stand it when they take a tiny snippet of an Obama speech to make it sound like he is saying something he really didn't. Shouldn't we hold ourselves to a higher standard and attempt to understand the context of a quote?

Don't shoot the messenger, that is just my take away of the video. I guess I missed it 6 years ago, because I've never seen it before today.

[Octafish]

10. Here's the transcript. The guy's words show he's only the latest in a long line of warmongers.

That's my opinion, Kurska. I respect and appreciate yours.

Here are details courtesy of the Guardian:

Q: A lot of our allies in Europe do a lot of business with Iran. So I wonder what your thoughts are about how you further tighten the financial pressure on Iran, in particular, if it also means economic pain for a lot of our allies.

BUSH: It's an interesting question. One of the problems, not specifically on this issue, just in general, that - let's put it this way: Money trumps peace, sometimes.

In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world. And part of the issue in convincing people to put sanctions on a specific country is to convince them that it's in the world's interest that they forego their own financial interest.

And that's why sometimes it's tough to get tough economic sanctions on countries, and I'm not making any comment about any particular country, but you touched on a very interesting point.

You know - so, therefore, we're constantly working with nations to convince them that what really matters in the long run is to have the environment so peace can flourish.

In the Iranian case, I firmly believe that, if they were to have a weapon, it would make it difficult for peace to flourish, and therefore I am working with people to make sure that that concern trumps whatever commercial interests may be preventing governments from acting.

I make no specific accusation with that statement. It's a broad statement. But it's an accurate assessment of what sometimes can halt multilateral diplomacy from working.

SOURCE via WAYBACK MACHINE IA:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070218091925/http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6416108,00.html

Playing an armchair psychologist, it's plain to see the man exhibits sociopathic tendencies and psychotic episodes. Part of my diagnosis is based upon the environment in which he was raised.

Generation Four of a long line of warmongers and war profiteers.

[CanSocDem]

15. The Ruling Class...

...felt lucky to have such a vacuous shill as POTUS.

Not as easy now, but they are still creating new scams to 'fleece the rubes'.

.

[Octafish]

16. Cindy Sheehan pegged the Coward of Crawford and brought up a hero of democracy, Gen. Smedley Butler.

From Feb. 15, 2007:

Money Trumps Peace...Sometimes

by Cindy Sheehan
Published on Thursday, February 15, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

It is always painful to watch George stumble his way through press conferences. He can't get through a sentence without at least two-three "uhs," his eye lids flutter up and down in what my daughter, Carly, calls the "liar's blink" and just because it is painful that a human like that is ostensibly the leader of the free world. There is always a plethora of things that he says, does, or screws up on to write about but this time what caught my attention happened during the Q & A. George was asked if he thought the economic sanctions on Iran would work because so many European nations trade with that country.

He stopped to collect his thoughts with what he thought must've looked like a studied and careful demeanor, but more like someone with a sour tummy, and said: "well, let's put it this way, money trumps peace, sometimes. In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world," (I added the italics). It is always interesting with people who frequently play fast and loose with the truth, such as the liars in BushCo, once in awhile, if they talk long enough they tell a truth.

"Money trumps peace" is the fundamental reason for the invasions and subsequent gory and violent occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. In Richard Behan's excellent article: From Iraq to Afghanistan: Connecting the Dots with Oil, he brilliantly follows the history of the oil-money trail in these countries that are one, rich in oil, and two, well placed for the transportation and delivery of oil. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan, or their leaders or governments had anything to do with 9-11, but they were in the way of oil and other industries that profit from oil, so they had to go. Money trumped peace in those countries and they are destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Afghanis and Americans have been slaughtered because they were blocking American imperialistic profiteering.

"Money trumps peace" is the underlying reason for all wars as two time Congressional Medal of Honor winner and highly decorated Major General Smedley D. Butler wrote in his reflective, yet prophetic, work War is a Racket:

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

During the short booklet which every prospective parent, current parent and every teen should read thoroughly and often, he keeps referring to World War I as the "World War" because he was writing directly after the "Great War;" the "war to end all wars." There was no World War II, yet. General Butler was no unwashed, hippie peace-nik. He was a warrior who, as often times happens when men face the horrors of war ("War is hell:" General Sherman), saw the futility of killing as a diplomatic tool that kills and maims our young people for "the benefit of the very few."

CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0215-29.htm

Note: I replaced the odd symbols with quote marks and apostrophes. Remember the commas.

PS: Thank you for grokking, CanSocDem.

[Kurska]

19. Still not seeing it

It seems clear to me that he isn't professing a personal conviction that money trumps peace, but to some international business interests that is the case.

"One of the problems...Money trumps peace, sometimes."

Saying it is a problem

"What really matters in the long run is to have the environment so peace can flourish. "

Here he seems to be professing what really matter is peace, not money

Yeah it is a nifty quote that makes him look bad, but If you put the sentence in context it is clear he wasn't applauding that but lamenting it.

Bush was a warmonger no doubt, but it isn't on display in this quote if you actually look at the context of what he is saying. You can say the fault is on him for not communicating himself clearly, but they do this sort of shit to Obama all the time where they remove a quote from the context to make him look bad.

[Octafish]

24. Smirk and all made it a most revealing moment for me. Here's the clip of the guy:

BTW: I think it's OK to disagree.

[G_j]

12. the war racket is an institution

that only a handful really ever question.
Very few question the actual legitimacy of the institution/racket itself.

[Octafish]

20. Smedley Butler on Interventionism

-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC (ret.), courtesy of the nice folks at Federation of American Scientists:

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

SOURCE: http://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm

Gee. All those, eh, interests he mentioned are still around today doing what they were then: Making the world safe for crony capital.

PS: While old news to you, G_j, I can't believe so many people have not a clue about the old school ties. Even fewer have a clue about Smedley Butler and Coup Against FDR.

[OldDem2012]

27. I've often wondered about who was really behind the assassination of Lincoln....

....but if I say too much I might cause this thread to be banished to the Land of Lost Conspiracy Theories.

[Octafish]

28. That makes me sad. Assassination isn't the end of the treason. Plotters intend on grabbing power.

Odd how the truth from 148 years ago -- or 50 -- and there are still forces and individuals who benefit. Why Democrats, of all people, should want to ignore them shows how some can miss, both, the forest and the trees.

"Ford's Theater" indeed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3772251

The Democrats of old, FDR, HST, JFK, LBJ, believed in the power of government to make life better for ALL Americans. Thsnks to their hard work, this nation produced the middle class. Now pols race each other to put the most into the hands of the few in true buy-partisanship.

[OldDem2012]

13. The comments from W that always stuck in my head were....

1. While Governor of Texas:

"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier." Describing what it's like to be governor of Texas".
(Governing Magazine 7/98)

2. For all intents and purposes, W actually became a legally sanctioned dictator when the US Supreme Court voted him into office in December 2000:

"I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator".
(CNN.com, December 18, 2000)

3. As the NeoCons assumed full control over the US Government:

"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it".
(Business Week, July 30, 2001)

And then we had the attacks on 9/11/2001, and the passage of the Patriot Act in October 2001. W no longer had to make remarks about being a dictator.

[Octafish]

21. Idée Fixe

Thank you for the heads-up on the history of that revealing quotation, OldDem2012. What a guy, shockingly ignorant of history for a history major. With Bar and Poppy for parents, he obviously learned to love the iron fist at a very early age.

My 2-cents on my own personal idée fixe, Secret Government from DU2:

Ever wonder who put the “Mock” in Democracy? If you’re like me, you know it was the Bush Family Evil Empire.

The Bush family names leaves a stain of treachery that goes back to busting the old Weimar Republic and building NAZI Germany through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on through Vietnam, Watergate, October Surprise, Iran-Contra, arming Iraq and Saddam, BCCI, Inslaw-PROMIS, Selection 2000, ENRON Energy Policy, 9-11, Illegal Iraq Invasion, Plame NOC-outing, e-Selection 2004 and all the rest of their various treasons of the present day.

Of course, I submit the Bushes don’t act alone. They are the dirty tip of the rotten spear for a Secret Government who oppose democracy, rule of law and the United States Constitution. Don’t take my word for it. Let’s look at the record.

Exhibit A:

When 9-11 happened, Sneering Dick Cheney, Smirking Duhbya Bush, Trent Lott and the rest of the GOP leadership got ushered to safety where they could continue governing, no matter what. The problem was, they left out the Democrats.

'Shadow Government' News To Congress

Dem Leaders Say They Weren’t Told; GOP Staffers Not Sure

White House Casts Light On 'Shadow'

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2002 (CBS)

Quote: “This is not the kind of thing you tell 10, 50 or 100 senators. If you do, you might as well tell the world." Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

(CBS) After lawmakers complained that they were kept in the dark, White House officials on Tuesday briefed top members of Congress about the "shadow government" that President Bush set up outside Washington as a safeguard against terrorism.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said two top Bush aides briefed Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D. on Tuesday, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., "had been previously informed."

But House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., was not part of Tuesday's session. His spokesman Erik Smith said Gephardt did not know about the meeting until it ended. He said he did not know why Gephardt was not invited.

"We're disappointed, we don't understand why they would choose not to invite Mr. Gephardt," Smith said.

Fleischer told reporters that Gephardt's absence was "a scheduling matter," but when pressed on whether Gephardt was invited, Fleischer replied, "I don't make all the invitations here at the White House.”

CONTINUED…

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/05/politics/main503014.shtml

How nice. A “shadow government.” No need for an opposition in the dark twilight of the Fourth Reich. Right?



Exhibit B:

Bill Moyers described the Secret Government that operated beyond Congressional oversight during Iran-Contra days:

The Secret Government

by Bill Moyers
Seven Locks Press, 1988

EXCERPT...

The contras: Reagan has compared them to our Founding Fathers. In reality, Ronald Reagan and CIA director William Casey were their founding fathers. Two months after his inauguration, the president approved the funds Casey used to create the contras. Their ultimate goal was the violent overthrow of the Nicaraguan government, a government the United States legally recognizes. So the war had to be carried out covertly, as a campaign of terror. But Americans were outraged when J CIA agents mined the Nicaraguan harbors and blew up fuel tanks, causing thousands of Nicaraguan citizens to flee their homes; and Congress, in protest, cut off the contra funds. Still the president refused to give up on his crusade, and his men went to work secretly to keep the war going. The question now was how to evade Congress, the law and public opinion.
First, a small cabal in the White House took charge of policy: President Reagan, CIA Director Casey, National Security Advisers McFarlane and Poindexter, and their aide, Colonel North.

To raise money for the contras, the secret team turned to rightwing governments that could do favors for the United States and receive favors in return. The king of Saudi Arabia doled out a million dollars a month; the sultan of Brunei coughed up $10 million that was misplaced through a White House error. The secret government also encouraged the fund-raising efforts of retired Gen. John Singlaub. Relieved of his command for insubordination in 1977, he now runs the World Anti-Communist League.

SNIP...

GEORGE GORMAN, former captain, U.S. Marine Corps:
I'm two years senior to Oliver North out of the Naval Academy, and the only thing he's got on me is a Silver Star and six more years in the Corps. And when Oliver North started to say the things he started to say, I literally wanted to throw things at my TV set. I seriously considered mailing my Naval Academy ring back to the Naval Academy and denying ever having gone there. I was so embarrassed and humiliated that a professional military officer would stoop to the dishonor and disgrace and warmongering that Oliver North and Poindexter and McFarlane and the rest of the crew did. Selling arms to the Iranians after they blew up the Beirut barracks, after they blew up the Beirut embassy, is the most immoral thing- that's like selling Zyklon-B to the Germans after you've found out the Holocaust is under way.

CONTINUED...

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Moyers/SecretGovt_Moyers.html

Gee. Appears the BFEE has some serious Constitutional issues there, for our Democracy.



Exhibit C, what author Joseph Trento had to say about Ted Shackley (photo) and the government-within-a-government, the “CIA within the CIA” that stayed in power, no matter whether its members were in government or not:

Prelude to Terror:

The Rogue CIA, The Legacy of America's Private Intelligence Network the Compromising of American Intelligence

Book Review:

After decades of writing and research about American intelligence, Joseph Trento has written the most authoritative indictment of CIA splinter groups, two generations of Bush family involvement in illegal financial networks, and the funding of the agents of terror. Prelude to Terror reveals the history of a corrupt group of spymasters-led by Ted Shackley-who were fired when Jimmy Carter became president, but who maintained their intelligence portfolio and used it to create a private intelligence network. After this rogue group helped engineer Carter's defeat in 1980 and allied with George H.W. Bush, these former CIA men planned and conducted what became the Iran-Contra scandal and, through the Saudis, allied the U.S. with extreme elements in Islam. The CIA's number-one front man, Edwin P. Wilson, was framed by Shackley and his cohorts so that Wilson's operations could be taken over. For the first time the story of how CIA director George H. W. Bush was recruited into this network, and brought it into the bosom of the Saudi royal family, is told in detail, as well as how this group's manipulation of the CIA bureaucracy allowed Osama bin Laden's fundraising to thrive as al Qaeda flourished under Saudi and CIA protection.

SOURCE:

http://www.campusi.com/isbn_0786714646.htm

Going by what other people's idées fixe are these days, more are seeing things less from the democratic side.

[OldDem2012]

25. I noticed you referenced Prouty's book, "The Secret Team"....

....this link goes to the entire online book:

THE SECRET TEAM. The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World.

For those who don't know, this is a very important book that provides some very solid background to the concept of "shadow government".

[Initech]

17. I am still pissed that Nancy Pelosi never pursued impeachment.

Bush shouldn't be enjoying retirement, he should be awaiting trial for war crimes.

[Octafish]

22. Come on, Initech. You know the GOP would have extended the same professional courtesy.

No. Not really. I made that up as a joke. This is no joke and it's not made up at all:


The people who tried to overthrow FDR in 1933 had kids.
And they are the ones* screwing America now.

What's different today: No Smedley Butler or FDR to stop them.



Baron de Rothschild and Prescott Bush, share a moment and some information, back in the day.

* Of course, it's not just a few rich families's offspring who screw the majority today. They've hired help and built up the giant noise machine to continue their work overthrowing the progress FDR and the New Deal brought America for 80 years.

Why would the nation and world's richest people do that? Progress costs money. And they don't want to pay for it, even when they've gained more wealth than all of history put together. Instead, whey continue to work -- legally, through government and lobbyists -- to amass even more, transferring the wealth of the many to themselves.

And instead of an armed mob led by a war hero on a "White Horse," their weapon is "Supply Side Economics." To most Americans, that means Trickle-Down or, more accurately, "Trickled On."

[Initech]

23. Yeah that's definitely true!

I definitely have read a lot about the "Business Plot". Someone should make that into a movie with Daniel Day Lewis as Smedley Butler. That would be a best picture!

[darkangel218]

26. You insult satanism by associating it with Chimpy

Just sayin.

[Octafish]

30. Good point. I've changed the subject line.

From DU2, a Valentine for George Walker Bush:

A Fan Letter from Hell

Edited on Sun May-18-08 10:26 AM by Octafish

Dear George, Jr.,

First off, I want to say that I am your biggest and Number-1 complete Fan. From the bottom of heart and wallet, wherever they are, I want to thank you for all you and your family have done for our sacred Cause.

Your grandfathers helped finance our Party. They helped us rebuild and re-arm for the fight against the Bolsheviks. We couldn't have even imagined starting a war without them.

We also owe your ancestors and their friends an enormous debt for their inspiring work on Eugenics and racial superiority. The human experimentation was really something, too. And to think some believe our scientists came up with that one! Thanks for letting us keep the credit.

Your ancestors and their colleagues helped keep our planes, tanks and ships fueled during the Second Great War. It wasn't easy squeezing petrol out of coal, but we did it. Teamwork. And just like today with so-called "Alternative Energy," Big Oil owns the patents.

Your family and friends' support was there after the war, too. Your ancestors and their colleagues welcomed as many of our officers and men as could be exfiltrated to safety and new lives serving the Cause in the West. So, we never laugh at any joke where the punchline is "military intelligence."

Today, you — and members of your family and friends — continue the work of our sacred Cause. For instance:

Your Department of Justice serves as the Political Action Arm of Karl Rove. Its function: protect and reward friends, punish and destroy enemies. Along with political enemies, you jail drug users. You even out your own spies as a warning to other truth-tellers. We would just shoot them in our time, but in yours they must serve a higher purpose. That’s some Department of Just-Us. Such humor, ja?

Your excellent Domestic Policies have not merely left no child behind, you have left an entire nation of rabble behind. Your fiscal policies have served the interests of the monied class to the exclusion of the masses, including your bourgoise middle classes. Your Trickle-Down, Flood-Up policies have served to nearly- bankrupt the United States Treasury and enrich your family and supporters’ accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland. Reverse-Robin Hood came in the disguise Tax Cuts that serve to lower the common person’s standard of living in the short- and long-terms. Perhaps, best of all for the future, you have de-funded public education and funded Pentagon propaganda. Good thing you can keep printing those I.O.U.s to the dictators running China and Saudi Arabia.

In the field of Foreign Affairs you also show your true colors. “With us or against us” pretty much tells the world: “Fear Us. Support Us. Do what we Order. Or Die.” In the case of Iraq — a nation innocent of any role in the attacks of September 11 and posing no threat of any kind, let alone WMDs, to your country — you manufactured evidence of a threat and manipulated public opinion to support an illegal and immoral invasion and occupation. In the process, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children have died. The cost: the lives of more than 4,000 of your nation’s finest men and women and health of untold thousands more. As a highlight, you more than quadrupled the price of oil, creating unimaginable wealth for your family and friends.

You must have learned the value of war from your Poppy. When he was in the Oval Office, his Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama killed 2,000 people who had nothing to do with Manuel Noriega’s CIA-affiliated drug pushing. Still, the guy was a witness and had to go.

In Baghdad, Poppy's acting ambassador to Iraq gave a green light to Saddam Hussein, who then ordered his army to invade Kuwait. Then Poppy's minions doctored satellite photographs in order to sell the lie to Saudi Arabia that they were next. In the process, oil prices and his Q-numbers went up like a V-2. Inspired! It also gave Poppy all the excuse he needed to declare an end to the "VietNam Syndrome" and gun-boat-shy international policies his fellows' actions had created.

Those were the days. And, thanks to you and yours, these are, as well. Wish I had time to write more. The smell of sulfur means its time to get back to The Pit. Before I go, though, I must say:

No one has done more to harm America than you. Not Stalin. Not Mao. Not even all the dim-witted Kings of England. Not even me. You. You, George Walker Bush. You! You are The Beast. You have done more to damage the Constitution and the safety, welfare and happiness of “We the People" than anyone in history.

Thank you from the bottom of the space in my chest where my heart, I am told, used to be,

Yours in Eternity,

Uncle Adolf

Bush has exemplified the worst of the worst.

Far from my intent to equate him in any way with one's belief systrem.

Evil Incarnate seems to have been Bush's dream job.

Eternal thanks!

[Prophet 451]

29. Hey, leave us Satanists out of it n/t

[Octafish]

31. There's plenty of room for all, except the evil ones.

I'm talking BFEE, see?



What a smart guy said:

The Bush Family: A Continuing Criminal Enterprise?

Gary W. Potter, PhD.
Professor, Criminal Justice
Eastern Kentucky University

The S&Ls, the Mob and the Bushs

During the 1980's hundred of Savings and Loan Banks failed. Those bank failures cost U.S. taxpayers over $500 billion to cover federally insured losses, and much more to investigate the bank failures (Pizzo, Fricker, and Muolo, 1989; Brewton, 1992; Johnston, 1990). More than 75% of the Savings and Loan insolvencies where directly linked to serious and often criminal misconduct by senior financial insiders (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305). In fact, less than 10 percent of bank failures are related to economic conditions, the rest are caused by mismanagement or criminal conduct (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 305).

A good example of the Savings and Loan failures can be found in the activities of Mario Renda, a Savings and Loan insider who often worked in close collaboration with organized crime (Pizzo, Fricker and Muolo, 1989: 123-126;302). Renda served as a middle man in arranging about $5 billion a year in deposits into 130 Savings and Loans, all of which failed (Kwitny, 1992: 27). Many of these deposits were made contingent on an agreement that the Savings and Loan involved would lend money to borrowers recommended by Renda, many of whom were organized crime figures or people entirely unknown to the banking institution involved (Kwitny, 1992: 27).

SNIP...

Prescott Bush: The Yakuza’s Frontman

Finally, and perhaps most seriously, the Bush family pioneered the practice which has now become commonplace of collaboration between corporate and organized criminals. Prescott Bush, uncle of the current President and brother of the former President, played a key role in helping the Japanese Yakuza extend their financial and real estate holdings to the United States. In 1989, Prescott Bush made arrangements for a front company for Japanese organized crime groups to buy into two U.S. corporations and to make a sizeable real investment in the U.S. (Helm, 1991a: 1; Isikoff, 1992: A1). West Tsusho, a Japanese corporation, was identified by Japanese police officials as a front company for one of that country’s largest organized crime syndicates. Prescott Bush was paid a fee of $500,000 for his help in negotiating West Tsusho’s purchase of controlling interest in Assets Management, a U.S. corporation (Helm, 1991a: 1; Isikoff, 1992: A1). Bush also assisted the Japanese mob in investing in Quantam Access, a U.S. software company, which was ultimately taken over by the Japanese (Helm, 1991b: 10; Isikoff, 1992: A1). Both companies ultimately went into bankruptcy (Isikoff, 1992: A1; Moses, 1992).

George Bush Sr.: Shutting Down the Organize Crime Strike Forces

Despite assessments from senior law enforcement officers and experts on organized crime that efforts to control organized crime would be crippled, in December 1989, the administration of George Bush, Sr. abolished all 14 regional organized crime strike forces (McAlister, 1989: A 21; Struck out, 1990). The organized crime strike had been created as independent entities so they would not be subject to political influences or bureaucratic wrangling within federal law enforcement. In the two decades of their operation the strike forces had secured convictions of major organized crime figures in several U.S. cities (Struck out, 1990). It is at the very least curious to note that the federal strike force in Miami had been responsible for indicting Miguel Recarey, the man for whom Jeb Bush had intervened with regulators. Organized crime strike forces had similarly indicted Mario Renda, the organized crime liaison to the S& L’s, as well as several other key figures in the Savings and Loan Fiasco (Pizzo, Fricker, and Mulolo, 1989: 112, 120-123, 303, 337).

CONTINUED...

http://critcrim.org/critpapers/potter.htm

That's the way a professor of criminal justice puts it. Me, to get a better handle on War Inc's first family, I call them the "BFEE" for short. Sorry if I offended anyone other than those who deserve offending.

[johnnyreb]

32. "Evil is Real" 2005 inaugural music mp3

George W Bush inaugural musical translation from J20 2005 "Evil Is Real" mp3
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/11046