This is the beginning. All we have been asking are answers. Then due to stonewalling and distaine, we are now going to get answers with supeona sp. power.

Hey, wasn't that Badgad Bob McDermott sitting alongside Conyers? ONe of the Democrats biggest Saddam supporters?

And Fidel's favorite American whore, Maxine Waters was right there in front also!

Never saw such a bunch of losers in my life in such a small room.

Was Joe Wilson sober? That's surprising. You know he has a REAL drinking problem and when he is drunk he starts bragging about his TROPHY wife that works for the CIA. Oppps, you suppose I let the cat out of the bag..........or did JOE WILSON WHEN HE WAS DRUNK and BRAGGING!

That was it? 30 people in a tiny little basement hole with people crammed together at little linen covered desks?

That was IT???

I hear Conyers and Durbin are RELATED!

America HATES Durbin today. Tomorrow they will HATE CONYERS!

What total FOOLS!

Wasn't that Badgad Bob McDermitt sitting by Conyers along with Fidel Maxine Waters?

What a total JOKE!

Better luck next time!

who wants to bet the Bush administration puts the petition in the WPB file(waste paper basket file)?

Brian: not until they start calling the so called "signers" on the so called "petition" to see if they really put their name on it or it was all forged!

I know my name is on it and I NEVER AUTHORIZED IT!

So this list is as phony as a $3 bill!

Great Job True Patriots! And Bradblog for being first to post, heard it on Mike Malloy. The truth will bear out....

Jimmo,

Six members of the D.C. chapter of Freerepublic.com held a small counter-protest in support of Bush's policies.

Where were you? They sure needed another person for their teensy-weensy protest for bush.

Shame on you, you slackard.

Thank you for posting this so soon. Thanks to Congressman Conyers, the 105 representatives who signed, and all of the REAL Americans who signed! It's really sad that so many others are TOTALLY uninformed to what is happening to our Country. Then, there are those who are in formed but fail to accept the truth and choose to remain ignorant.

THE UNDER ASSISTANT MIDDLE EASTERN INTELLIGENCE MAN

original lyrics by bdpoe

With stars in his eyes and stripes on his sleeves
Talking of things that you wouldn't believe
They got stockpiles over there said he speaking with care
We've got to strike fast
We'd better beware
But I talked to the inspector who found nothing there
With orders from above the truth he hides when he can
The Under Assistant Middle Eastern Intelligence Man

We were so surprised to find out we'd been conned
When it was our bombs being dropped hours before dawn
It was done on purpose to insure the peace
Who was it that appointed us the world's police
At the table over lunch he looked so fit and tanned
The Under Assistant Middle Eastern Intelligence Man

One day he took me on a grand tour
showing me things I don't want to see no more.
The naked pyramids
The dog and pony show
Unspeakable things I'd rather not know
Who is this Houdini that escapes from every trap
Secretly plotting the next target on some crumbled soiled map
Don't be deceived I'm not even his fan
The Under Assistant Middle Eastern Intelligence Man

Things have changed since the first official story
Creating false victories for greed's greater glory
Even the opposition bought into the game
Still we can't get away from the Kennedy claim
While families suffer in pain as soldiers get killed and maimed
Who forced us to revisit the past in Vietnam
The Under Assistant Middle Eastern Intelligence Man

Brad - My apologies if we're not supposed to post lyrics, and I understand if you want to remove them.

I was just looking for something else and stumbled across these lyrics.

***

When I did a google news search on "Downing Street Memo" a week or so ago, I think I got like a half dozen hits.

Now, on the "front page" of google news, there is a link to 344 related stories. It's like the dam has broken. And for certain people in the White House, it can only go down from here.

Damn it feels good to be part of "6 or 7" who helped changed history. We're obviously not done yet, but we turned it around y'all! Be loud and be proud!

Anybody besides me mentally exhausted after today?

I don't think we will ever know the truth. Point is whenever King George is attacked he attacks the attacker. I would not be suprised to see the muck come up on conyers et al. It can't be true that 1/2 million Americans don't believe the president. Brings back the words of another GOP president "I am not a liar".
Ed

jimmo, what makes you think the names are forged by Rep Conyers? Thats libel.Lets see you prove it.

I'm testing some html for the first time.....
Jimmo, buddy do you know what this is?
WTC 7 Demolition 09/11/2001

Check out the New York Times Headline:

Antiwar Group Says Leaked British Memo Shows Bush Misled Public on His War Plans

"Antiwar Group"?

"Antiwar Group"??!!!

120 congressmen and over 500,000 people sign a petition and they label this a story about an "anti-war" group.

What's more, Bush didn't just mislead the public --- he mislead CONGRESS about war.

Okay, I'm not and the 6 or 7 others are not satisfied hand delivering 640,000 or 10,000,000 signatures to the Bush house on Pennsylvania Ave. I'm not even satisfied with 105 or 250 Congressmen delivering on the letter.

Okay, sorry..., Congressman Conyers, He is truly the tops. I was never prouder to be a Democrat, to stand, or to watch CSpan while he led the beginning charge on the Bush monstrosity. He is so awesome... So, everyone, get some rest, take a deep breath and hold on. The American Revolution was begun right there in that crowded little room.

Now! I am just so disgusted with the delivery process of those petitions and the obvious contempt that the Bushies have for every single signature on them.

Isn't it about time that 1700 lawsuits be filed directly against the commander in chief declaring deception and misdeeds in luring their children into harms way in an illegally declared war. No, not a class action, but 1700 individual lawsuits, 1700 wrongful death charges filed against Bush and company. Oh wait, I forgot to include the other 10,000 or more that were injured through deception. Oh, wait, maybe the families of the 100,000 Iraquis that have been killed need to have a few good lawyers filing lawsuits against the monster regime.

I mean, they created a war based on false premises, and the Downing Street Memos show it, and they don't even bother to deny it! It's time to take them to the cleaners. Don't you think so? Time to hit them with something that puts them up against the wall.

Onward Congressman Conyers! Onward Brad and the 6 or 7 of "we the people". You are American Heroes!
Gh

Jimmo, All you do is insult people you don't agree with. Try going for a run maybe. It might just be a matter of being inside too long looking at a computer screen to rant at and not getting enough exercise.

Actually,

I think Jimmo is some idiot's 14 y.o. - home skooled - couldn't - get - out - of - Kindergarten - if they - gave - him - the - answers - to - the - test idiot son.

It's been a hard (maybe hard is the wrong word) year for Jimmo:

First, Michael Jackson was acquitted, which has ruined the fantasy that Jimmo had nurtured since puberty. And now Americans are finally realizing that this administration is corrupt. I don't know how the strange perversions of the Republican mind work, but I've seen Blue Velvet. I'm sure that it also involves Jeff Gannon, the College Republicans, and pleading rationalizations to an angry wife about how you were taking a dump but fell on a football trophy. It starts with a tingling feeling during the Rush Limbaugh show and ends with homophobic denunciations of gay sponges.
-----------------------

It's not over, but there is a horizon to this Republican nightmare. It's time for the neocons to scatter like roaches, just like they did in Vietnam. And we need to keep on marching.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I ALMOST FEEL AMERICAN AGAIN.

Wow! Those were beautiful pics. These people are real Americans. I am actually in tears looking at them. A sense of relief, like maybe, just maybe, this really is it this tme. Look at how many stacks of signatures. There's my name...right there in Conyers hand.

I'm sick that they had to remain outside the gates...was Bush taking a nap? No interrupting as he bike rides? What a frickin punk coward the lot of these people are.

Here's what I'd LOVE to see, ALL the reporters just asking Scottie a gadzillion questions one day, all about the DSM, in various fashion, details, just to make him run from his "pulpit" and cry...make him crazy. Nothing but the DSM, all day press briefing...squeeze that punk like the poison pimple he is...

Baghdad Bob? LOL it's Baghdad Bush. I can see him now..."the economy is good" as you see people in the background lined up at the employment office, cars being towed as repossessed as people can no longer pay for them.

""The insurgency is in its very last last last thros." In the background you see car bombs going off, babies lying dead, numbers of military coffins stacking up past 1700.

"We have carried on this war with the utmost respect to the Iraqi people. We have kept civillian casualties as low as humanly possible" In the background you see bombs marked "napalm- Fallujha Freedom"

"no one in the white house is gay" In the background you see JimmyJeff showing Scottie how to bark and the meaning of beg." I believe that's an 8" leash he's got him on.

"Climate change is something we don't know about and even though I said this same thing 4 years ago, we need to study it some more to make sure" Zipping his parka up on a fine July afternoon.

ok, I could really go on and on and on.

now how would you know that your name is on the list? Me thinks that you put your name on the list so that you could say it wasn't authorized so it negates the whole thing? Lol. I don't think so.. Look at the stacks again. Ok, now lets take your name off. Now look at the stacks again. You don't matter.

THE DAM HAS BROKEN AND THE BUSHIES WON'T SURVIVE THE FLOOD. Impeachment, Impeachment na na na na na na. I don't care what fundies say...coz I know we have won. It;s all over but the counting and we'll take care of that. lol

JIMMO u the guy who runs freeperville eh? Make sure you read my post about Baghdad Bush and you should know that perhaps some fundies hate Durbin but the world hates Shrubco now and they will hate Shrubco tomorrow and even better is that the other half of America that don't already hate shrubco will hate shrubco very very soon. I should say third instead of half. Have you seen those polls. Whew!

Of course they will put it in the trash. But we have copies. Lots of copies. (at least a half a million) *so it won't do them any good to try to break in and steal the tapes. :laugh:

you hear that Jimmo? Oh and thanks earlier to admitting that you added your name fruadulently intending to try to discredit a govt. document. How else would you know your name is on there.? Did you flip through the pages as Conyers was carrying them to coocoobananas? See your name on it then did ya? DOH!

I attended a protest this evening in my home state of California. It was in support of investigating and getting answers on the DSM. Had a great time with my fellow patriots. We met in front of KTLA on Sunset Bl in Los Angeles and we walked on up to CBS. But I seriously doubt you'll see any of us who were there on MSM. But it was great to get out and do something. I made a sign that said "MEMO-rize This: "We The People". It was my first protest but it won't be my last... Like one of the themes Brad uses, "Making Democracy Fun Again"...

Here's the questions I'd like to see the MSM asking Bush and his Scottie over and over again until they provide real answers, starting tomorrow:
1) Do you or anyone in your administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?
2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization to go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time?
3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?
4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?
5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

This is the first time that I have felt even rmotely commected to the policy making process. I am indeed proud to have my name on the list that was delivered to the White House today. This bunch of spoiled bullie chicken hawks that are residing in our capitol are a step closer to being diganosed as certifiable meglamainics and marched out of our Capital in straight jackets and locked away in Super Max never to see the light of day again! Keep on keeping the pressure on! Write the NY Times about their headline...Anti War Group???

This Link is just amusing. PLEASE everyone check it out.

MSNBC POLL

Did we, the 6 or 7 vote? I think Jimmo needs to vote an even it up.

Kira thanks made my day.

Jimmo?... Jimmo?..... Hello?
:::Thump:::Thump:::
Is this thing on?

I think scotty beamed him up

Jimmo sounds desperate.

The momentum is building, and it won't stop.
Jimmo, get out of the way of our righteous anger.
We are going to steam roll over the neocons.
Get on board, or get under the steam roller.

Re: Jimmo - Hey y'all, don't feed the lil troll fella, please? He's already said on other threads that he, too, signed Conyers petition, he's just bored and trying to stir things up in here.

Mean Liberal #17 - Careful with those stereotypes. I know your intent was to target the troll, but there are others in here who homeschool, for various reasons - especially since the NCLB mandates kicked in and money was pulled from resources for academically gifted students. I won't bore you with personal experiences, but trust me, I did what was best for my child.

****

I've been an activist since I signed my first petition in elementary school ( to have the afternoon bathroom break lengthened by five minutes, and yes, we got it . It's hard to be patient, especially when the wheels don't seem to be turning at all, but if you really want changes, you have to dig in and be prepared to stick it out - for YEARS, if that's how long it takes.

Sometimes things happen immediately, sometimes they take years - my longest fight, to stop clearcut logging in the National Forest where my ancestors are buried, took over 20 years - but we won (and got some bad guys taken down in the process).

Sometimes activism produces very strange allies (one of the most recent battles in my home state was the Lottery Scholarship Equity Bill, where we had fundamentalists fighting alongside pagans and atheists to make score requirements equal for all - and yes, it took a couple of years, but we won that one too)

Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose - but being silent is not an option. Passive acceptance of a wrong is NOT AN OPTION.

Have courage, and gather your strength - there is still much to be done.

Yes, the petitions will probably be thrown in the trash - but it won't matter, the image is burned into the eyes and hearts of those who witnessed it. I'm pretty sure the letters and faxes we send are tossed there too, and the emails are deleted - but with every signature, we indicate intent - WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY! Those cameras kept rolling, and the images they recorded are being broadcast worldwide. The bell can not be unrung.

Our fight was to get this into the public eye, and we have succeeded - in a HUGE way.

By our actions, we have changed the future, not just of our country, but of the WORLD. We have made a difference!

And hell YES it feels good!

The White House is in it's "last throes" of hypocracy

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a changing

Comment 2 by Jimmo Hi Jimmo you little baby boy you. Are you still sucking your wittle thumb. You such a good little Neo Con Here boy here boy.

Its HUMMER drivers like you that try to make their penis bigger by doing things like OING TO NASCAR, VOTING W, USE RACIAL SLURS AT THE DINNER TABLE, BEAT YOUR WIFE BECAUSE YOUR DADDY BEAT YOU. YOUR NOT A MAN. Your weak.

Let me tell you who the men are. The guys & gals you send to Iraq who die and die again while you go to Blockbuster and rent Platoon movies because you have no courage to go their on your own. So while you beat your war drum with your sissy friends, remember that.

You are very pathetic. McDermott has more character in his ass then you will have in your whole life achievment.

You people are disgusting. I mean, look back and read your comments.

Hey Jimmo, you say your name is on the petition. Just what is it and where do you live? A few of my buddies here, just returned from Iraq and said they would love to meet you in person. Of course, a sniveling coward like you would never divulge your real name or that safe little hiding place behind your computer.

I wouldn't disclose my name and location on a site with frieks like this either.

We already know your name and location. Freieks? Ya gotta get closer than that you freak. :laugh:

Hey is there anyone available who can videotape events such as this? Or who IS videotaping events such as the hearing, and presentation of petition? I think it would be to (everyone's) advantage to make an effort to videotape the reams of testimony, index it, then upload it to internet archive. Stick a creative commons or public domain license on it, and people making documentaries on the Bush administration will have a greater pool of ammunition. Thou the testimony was aired on CSPAN3, that's not nearly as useful as having bonna-fide public domain footage. CSPAN3 owns the copyright on that footage. We need footage taken with independent video cameras.
...
If anyone living in Washington has any DV or Digital8 tapes (or any format), and wants the footage put up on Internet Archive, I'm up to the task. If you want to see an example...
http://www.archive.org/d...Last-Chance-911-Timeline
...of course it contains copyrighted footage, so its not exactly what I'm talking about, but the quality and verstility of the footage is. I uploaded a huge 2.8GB MPEG-2 file (and smaller, easier to download files too) because that is what a video editor looking to recycle footage will be looking for.
...
I'm not presently interested in making a documentary about Bush administration, but I AM interested in helping others who are. If anyone has any video footage they want shared, please contact me, I'll make sure it gets put up on Internet Archive as quickly as possible, in as high-quality a format as possible.
...
I'm not just talking about these hearings, and stuff in the past. If you have a video camera, are able to tape an upcoming event, please do so. I imagine there must be tons of peole with video cameras at these functions, but for some reason the footage is not being shared effectively.
-g

Let's see,
Bush responds to the memo and lies - he compounds the lies he to to the congress and the people of the U.S.
Bush ignores the memos - more impetus for investigation.
Bush responds to the memo and tells the truth - he admits he lied to congress and the people of the U.S.

Seems any way you look at it, this criminal is going to pay for his crimes.

Hey jimmo/Hank, so much for this going away last week. lol, you must be so pissed. Goodnight to you!!

I live close enough to DC. I did not get to make it down there yesterday, but I recommend keeping your eyes on Indy Media (Independent Media) site for DC for pictures and videos.

INDY MEDIA (US)

And DC INDY MEDIA

I wonder if Rep. Conyers had used the name "Jeff Gannon," would he have been allowed in?

The picture of these brave, honorable people standing at a gate sickens me.

It shows those within the White House to be shameless and ill-bred cowards.

Maybe Congressman Conyers should have had a porn star or male hooker deliver our message in the future. They seem to have easy access to the White House these days.

Comment #3 by JIMMO: What about the 566,000 signatures you didn't mention? By the way, my inside sources informed me that "JIMMO" is Jim Sensenbrenner.

Take your gavel, and go home.

JPENTZ,

The clips on indymedia are typically WMV or MOV and small. Defenitely, there ARE people interested in video taping these events and sharing the footage.

But the small clips being uploaded simply aren't suitable for anyone trying to make a broadcast quality or DVD quality documentary. They're fine for anyone hooked up to net who wants to check out what happened. But the footage isn't suitable for recycling into other projects.

Possibly Indy Media wouldn't be keen on hosting GB size files. But IA is willing to. No reason the smaller clips can't be on both IM and IA. I sure ain't dissing Indy Media.

I'm hoping to help anyone who is uploading the smaller clips, but hasn't uploaded larger, recyclable footage files due to bandwidth restrictions, or maybe not knowing how to do it.

Today is the 1st day I'm making this reqest. I'll go make it again on Indy Media and Internet Archive.
-g

We all must realize the difference between factual news, and unfactual balance to the news, which is where the MSM fails. Covering Conyers, is covering an event, a factual event. Covering a rightwing pundit smearing Conyers, is unfactual news. It's covering a what some guy is saying about a factual event. And the MSM doesn't point out what's facts and what's non factual news. The MSM covers Bush saying there were over 200 convictions from Gitanimo Bay. This is false, you had to go to Jon Stewart's Daily Show News, to hear a news show point out that statement was false. MSM has got to start pointing out to viewers when people they cover in the news make false statements. Did any MSM news point out, after Bush's statement, that is was false? Because they didn't, people think it's true. That's how important it is for the MSM to start pointing out when people they are giving a forum to, are lying. Is it a lie, that Conyers is marching to the White House with 566,000 signatures? No. This is covering a factual event. When the MSM starts parading rightwing pundits on the news, smearing Conyers, this is not news. It's giving a forum to some guy giving false opinions about a factual event.

The biographer for Dubya has written that when he spoke to Governor Bush that George said he wanted to invade Iraq and he would use the political capital from being a Commander in Chief during war in order to pass all his legislation.

When Bush was a candidate for president he said during a primary debate that if he was given the chance he'd invade Iraq and take out Saddam.

Treasury Secretary O'Neal said that as early as his first meeting with Bush (and the cabinet) that Iraq was 'on the table'.

Apparently the former British ambassador to the U.S. has written his memoirs and is saying that during a dinner in Washington about 10 days after the 9/11 attacks that Bush told Blair, (paraphrasing) "In a few weeks we're going into Afghanistan, but that won't last long and after that we're going into Iraq. Are you with us?" He wrote that Blair was flummoxed, but said, "Yes." Was that the first time Bush semi-publicly told anyone we were going into Iraq?

When was the decision first made?

What gave Bush the idea that he could fulfill his wish to go into Iraq with public support?

It seems 9/11 was part of that, but who assisted him in deciding it would be doable?

Was it Condi Rice who said, (again paraphrasing) "We can take advantage of this (9/11) and see it as an opportunity."

Was there not anyone in the White House or Pentagon or elsewhere in the government who said, "No!"?

There are many questions which need to be answered. If the Republicans in Congress won't ask them then the public will just have to replace those congressmen and let Democrats take charge, so we can get on with the nation's business --- asking questions and kickin' butt.

The Real America has Spoken!!!!! The Honorable John Conyers is the oldest representative. Why wouldn't they let HIM in the gates to the White House? Why didn't Dubya accept the petition and signatures from him personally-as a show of good intentions? Betcha he was probably peeping from behind one of the curtains..hahahahaha...

Lest not you forget Dubya..you will one day be an ordinary citizen again...will you go into permanent seclusion?

The American People pay the bills and the salaries---I say we not pay the electric, water, gas or phone bill and garnish Dubya's pay. He will have to concede to talk or head back to Crawford.

I watched the forum and a short video of what Colin Powell and Condi Rice said prior to the Iraqi war was shown. But , I remember during the second election campaign, Cheney said" If John Kerry is elected, we WILL be hit AGAIN." How arrogant of Cheney.

Well, Dubya was re-selected and not another attack..hmmmmmmmm...I got it! Attacks are planned around who is the President..DUH..think about it.

Wonder if that really would have happened if Kerry had won? Would it be our fault or Kerry's fault for being elected or would Cheney be credited for the prediction?

Yes, Gord I know. However, sometimes longer videos do make it on to the site. IF there is a longer video, which there is I am certain, a link to it could appear on Indy Media.

That, Brad Blog and the others are all we have and that is growing. IF a video exists, it would take some effort to scour blogs and indy media to find it. And I am certain one will surface, like one did of George Galloway. It takes effort to find video, but the grapevine grows and, I personally am willing to make the effort, not saying that anyone else isn't.

First of all, there's no way Bush would've lost, with his backers at DIEBOLD. Exit polls showed Kerry won the popular vote by 5 million, and the final count was 3 million. If you buy the MSM's reasoning, there was an 8 million vote swing towards Bush, because the exit pollers, for the first time in history, polled too many voters for one candidate. They did that in the Ukraine, too. I'm being sarcastic, in case you don't realize. The MSM covered the Ukraine exit polls being off, 24×7, and didn't cover their own United States exit polls being off by so much. They also didn't cover the fact that all discrepancies on computerized voting machines and computerized optical scanners went 100% towards Bush, which college professors of statistics have said is 250,000,000-to-1 likelihood. IE, the vote was hacked, and Bush won before the votes were counted. The MSM said the exit polls and college professors of statistics were wrong. Here's why I don't like Kerry: do you remember how quickly he conceded? Then faded into oblivion. I think all we saw less than 24 hours after after he lost (I use the term "lost" loosely), was his ass and elbows running at full speed away from us. Only the Green Party and David Cobb brought up vote tampering. Not John Edwards, either. But, when all is said and done, it'll be poetic justice if Bush gets impeached.

There is a man in my family who Mr. Conyers reminds me of. He is the finest man I have EVER known. He is my wife's grandfather. I respect this man more than my own father, and the reason is simply that he has integrity. He happens to be a republican in his politics but has no room for Bush and his kind. He is a veteran of the second world war. He understands sacrificing for his country. He understands what he fought for. He is a lifelong conservative who voted for John Kerry as a matter of principal and because he saw that Bush is a liar. He has not told me these things directly because he is not one to carry his beliefs on his sleeve. He simply lives his life on principal and conducts himself accordingly. I learned this from my mother in law, who is also a republican who voted for John Kerry as well.

Sorry for this detour about my adopted grandfather but I needed to find a way to express how I feel about Mr. Conyers. In my mind he exemplifies what it means to be an American. He is fair. He speaks quietly and respectfully, but with great integrity and forcefullness. His loyalty is to the Constitution and the country. He is determined and unbowed in the face of repeated attacks on him, and he is tenacious. We are all fortunate that this man is with us at this time in our history

Peace

Sometime when history is written I hope that men like Conyers gets remembered for being true to our nation and standing up when popular opinion is against him.

Cheers for the underdog, keep on sloggin' I wont quit either.

If there is one man in the USA that deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor it is Mr. Conyers. And as far as this lunkhead Jimmy is concerened what he needs is a qick trip down to the local recruiting office. But then I'm not so sure they take physically deformed recruits. Any one know if NO BALLS AT ALL keeps you out?

I think George W. is going to find out that using "GOD" for a sales pitch to justify war and bankrupt this country was a bad idea.

"If Kerry had won" we'd have been hit again? Who was president on 9/11?

Has Cheney been right about anything? Yes...once, except he was Secretary of Defense at the time, under Bush pere. He told him, "Don't get bogged down in Iraq."

If I had the bad fortune to live in a place like Kansas or Pennsylvania where religious fundamentalists had taken over the local school board, I would home school, too. If I couldn't fight it, or move.

The pictures Rep Conyer and others at the White House gate make me happy. They also piss me off. Who is the 17 year old dweeb in a suit sent to greet the him?
This insult and the broom closet sized room for the hearing will backfire big time. Eventually.

First of all, thanks Brad for posting the pics & news. To bad the jerk at the gate was such a rude moron, but what else should we expect from a Bushevik lackey.

Second...this is for jimmo...I SIGNED THE PETITION AND GAVE MY PERMISSION!!!
Just because it wasn't a repuke idea doesn't mean it isn't real. You must be one of those Kos calls a 101st Keyboardists. If you love this war so much, why don't you go and let someone come who doesn't want to be there!

Thanks Brad and all who put so much work into this blog.
This is like an island of sanity, in a sea of ignorance--can't remember where I read this.
Sappy as hell, but oh well.

Behind the Downing Street Memos: the Office of Special Plans

by Justin Raimondo

'Yes, a good deal of this is "old news" – but the Israeli connection is new. And if, as there's ample reason to believe, it can be shown that the Israelis fed us (via Chalabi and the Office of Special Plans) a stream of lies to rationalize a war to save their asses, the growing scandal that they were stealing our secrets blind and selling weapons to China all along may well provide the tipping point in the public's attitude toward the war – and toward our "special relationship" with Israel.

The key, once again, is focusing, not on the lies themselves – most of us can repeat them in our sleep – but on who told them and the crimes they committed in the telling. When the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence looked into the intelligence-gathering that preceded the war, the Office of Special Plans and other obscure neocon-controlled governmental bodies were declared "off limits" to the first phase of the investigation – and then "Phase II" was indefinitely postponed. '
http://antiwar.com/justin/

Buckshot, don't make us all laugh. You represent the kind of fascism we're trying to get rid of in this country. The entire war was an illegal, unmoral mass murder disaster. Anyone who fully goes along with it needs to be out there shooting Syrians, Iranians and Iraqis as we speak- Not here in the United States of America.

Now get out there and stop projecting your hate on the rest of us. The truth of the matter is these people are criminals, and must be held responsible once and for all to the rule of justice. I am a long time republican and recognize this is not about party loyalty. No, it is about right and wrong. What Bush, his band of cult christians and the PNAC, CNP groups did is unquestionably and unequivocably wrong. What America did was right in calling them out on what it was: Lies to the world about going to war. Lies about saving everyone from terror. Lies about protecting everybody through "destroying their privacy" in the Patriot Act.

It's time for you to wake up and stop following the lies, or get out of the way. We don't need anymore liars, we need the truth. The truth will set us free.

Ronald Price

Baltimore Sun
Damning evidence can't be ignored

By David Swanson and Jonathan Schwarz
Originally published June 15, 2005

SINCE ITS publication May 1 by The Sunday Times of London, the so-called Downing Street memo has dominated the media in Britain and on the Internet in the United States. The memo is the official minutes from a secret meeting about Iraq held by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his inner circle July 23, 2002.

The significance of the memo - and additional leaked British documents now surfacing in public view - can hardly be overstated. They conceivably could lead to impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

The Bush administration consistently has made two claims regarding its decision to invade Iraq:

Mr. Bush chose war only as a last resort.

Mr. Bush dealt honestly with intelligence about weapons of mass destruction and alleged Iraqi ties to al-Qaida.

The Downing Street memo contradicts these claims.

Here are some of the key words in the memo, written three months before Mr. Bush received congressional authorization for war, four months before U.N. Resolution 1441 held Iraq in "material breach" of disarmament obligations and eight months before the invasion in March 2003:

"[British intelligence chief Richard Dearlove] reported on his recent talks in Washington. ... Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam [Hussein], through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. ... It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbors, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

Other internal British memos from March 2002 and July 2002 reveal British officials discussing Mr. Blair's agreement with Mr. Bush to support an invasion of Iraq and Mr. Blair's insistence that Mr. Bush make a public show of going to the United Nations in order to - as the British ambassador to Washington, Christopher Meyer, put it - "wrongfoot Saddam on inspectors" to create a pretext for war.

The British privately scoffed at the frightening claims made by the Bush administration. In a memo to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in March 2002, Peter Ricketts, the political director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: "US scrambling to establish a link" between Iraq and al-Qaida "is so far frankly unconvincing."

Anyone who follows the news will not be surprised. A long list of whistleblowers, including former Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill and former National Security Council official Richard Clarke, have reported that the Bush administration was obsessed with regime change in Iraq from Day One and regarded 9/11 as an opportunity to put its plans into action. Removing Mr. Hussein was in the 2000 Republican Party platform. Bush administration misuse of intelligence has been well documented.

But the Downing Street minutes and other recently leaked documents illustrate that the intelligence was wrong by design. The documents show officials at the apex of the government of our closest ally confirming among themselves what were the darkest suspicions about the Iraq war among ordinary Americans.

The evidence suggests that Mr. Bush has lied to Congress and to the American people about the justifications for war. It includes a formal letter and report that he submitted to Congress within 48 hours of launching the invasion in which he explained the need for the war in terms that appear to have been intentionally falsified, not mistaken.

Lying to Congress is a felony. Either lying to Congress about the need to go to war is a high crime, or nothing is.

AfterDowningStreet.org, a coalition of veterans groups, peace groups and other activist organizations, is urging Congress to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry that would require the House Judiciary Committee to hold formal investigations with the power of subpoena. The result would be a determination as to whether the president has committed impeachable offenses.

Democratic Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey of New York, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said Monday, "I think a Resolution of Inquiry is completely appropriate at this stage. It's something that should be done."

Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has not expressed support for a Resolution of Inquiry. But he has asked Mr. Bush in a letter to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street memo. At least 90 members of Congress and about 500,000 U.S. citizens have signed the letter. Mr. Conyers plans to deliver it to the White House tomorrow.

He also plans to hold hearings about the memo tomorrow and participate in a rally in front of the White House.

David Swanson is co-founder of AfterDowning- Street.org, and Jonathan Schwarz is a consultant for the group.

The British media are more confrontational than American media, to put it mildly. At the same time, England's laws have always maintained a lower threshold for libelous statements. If the Downing Street minutes weren't accurate, the writer (and any newspaper taking up the cause) would have been susceptible to libel charges.

The minutes must have been accurate, because they played a major role in the election campaign and cost Blair seats in Parliament. And nobody is crying foul or suing for libel.

So we're left with the imbecilic Scott McClellan saying John Conyers' petition, and the half-million signatures on it, don't count because Conyers opposed the war (sic) all along. According to that logic, unless Tom DeLay or Rick Santorum opposes Bush's policies, any opposition isn't meaningful.

Good news...the way the polls are going, those might be the only two supporters Bush will have left in a few months.

To comment #5:

TALK IS CHEAP; PROVE YOU'RE ON THE PETITION