The hottest topic on TV is the gaff John McCain made when he was asked how many homes he owned and he said he didn't know and would have to check with his staff.
It turns out John McCain owns SIX multi-million dollar homes and Barack Obama owns ONE home in Chicago estimated to cost one million dollars.
VIDEO OF McCAIN'S SIX MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR HOMES:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ek3jAkx9m10&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in center of picture to activate video.
HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE ONLY HOME BARACK OBAMA OWNS IN CHICAGO: ESTIMATED PRICE: ONE MILLION DOLLARS:
http://tinyurl.com/5jbddp
Compiled by BILL CORCORAN, Editor: CORKSPHERE: url: http://corksphere.blogspot.com/
Thursday, August 21, 2008
PICTURE OF OBAMA'S ONE HOME AND VIDEO OF McCAIN'S SIX MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR HOMES
MILITARY DRAFT ON ITS WAY---SELECTIVE SERVICE RUNS DRAFT TEST
The government has been secretely working on a plan to re-instate the military draft.
This CNN video gives details of what the plan might look like.
Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/nKLlpNlwKfI&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow to activate video.
NEW VIDEO: McCAIN 'I MIGHT CONSIDER A DRAFT'
This blogger has been saying it for months and now the words are coming out of Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's own mouth. In this video you will hear McCain tell a group of people he "might consider a draft."
If McCain pursues war with IRAN there will have to be a draft.
Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/7t76K8fymsY&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video
CNN: NATO: RUSSIA NOT HONORING CEASE-FIRE TERMS
The United States is between Iraq and a hard place when it comes with how to deal with Russia.
Russia is refusing to honor the cease-fire and are actually digging in for what looks like it will be a long stay in Georgia.
NATO: Russia not honoring cease-fire terms
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO has accused Russia of failing to honor the full terms of the cease-fire agreement brokered by the European Union last week aimed at ending the fighting in Georgia.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/19/georgia.russia.war/index.html
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Tuesday that Russian forces were still inside Georgia despite the agreement to withdraw -- and despite Moscow saying they had begun pulling out Monday.
"We do not see signals of this happening," Scheffer said. "There can be no business as usual with Russia under the present circumstances."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO's accusations were "biased."
Lavrov said NATO was taking the side of Georgia, whose forces he said had failed to withdraw to their barracks.
"They blame us as if there were no requirements for the Georgian side in the six points" of the cease-fire agreement, he said. "I mean the requirements to bring back their troops to the places where they are on a permanent basis."
Speaking later in Tbilisi with British Foreign Secretary David Milliband, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called the NATO statement encouraging, saying Russians "are not and have never been after just small pieces of Georgian territory."
"They want to demoralize my people and put them into panic," he said. "They want to not only get rid of the Georgian government but get rid of all idea of Georgia's independence and freedom."
Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of staff of Russia's armed forces, said Tuesday that some troops remained in place to protect South Ossetia's borders.
"Every day that goes by after the deadline ... is a day that the world can see that Russia is not living up to its word," Milliband said. "With every commitment and every failure to live up to the commitment, international pressure will grow."
NATO plans to set up a NATO-Georgian Commission to oversee Georgia's relationship with the international alliance, supervise its bid to join the alliance and assist Tbilisi with support in the wake of the Russian invasion, Scheffer said.
A team of 50 NATO staff members will to go to Georgia to help assess the needs of the Georgian military, help with the resumption of air traffic and assist in the investigation of cyberattacks on the former Soviet republic's computer networks.
The conflict began when Georgia launched a large-scale attack on South Ossetia on August 7 after a week of what it said were separatist attacks on Georgian villages that border the enclave. Russian troops responded in force the next day, pouring across the international border with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles and driving into Georgia from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another Russian-backed separatist territory.
The fighting has devastated parts of Georgia and South Ossetia, with many casualties reported. The U.N. refugee agency said that more than 158,000 people had been displaced by fighting in Georgia, mostly from districts outside the breakaway territories where the fighting began.
Watch residents of Georgian villages flee »
Both Russia and Georgia accuse the other of ethnic cleansing during the conflict.
VETERANS SAY THEY NEED HELP...BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. 300,000 TROOPS SUFFER PTSD SYMPTOMS
This story from Veterans for Common Sense http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10958 should infuriate you.
Washington, DC - About 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a Rand Corporation study.
Veterans say a lack of mental health services needs immediate attention, but the Department of Veterans Affairs says it's providing veterans with the care they need.
Nick Morgan is a 24-year-old Iraq War veteran who came home in Feb. 2005. He was treated for PTSD at a veterans' clinic in Morgantown, Penn. When the treatment failed, he took matters into his own hands.
Morgan says his condition has improved, but he still needs help.
After filing a claim with the V.A. for healthcare two months ago, Morgan says he still has not heard anything.Dr. Antonette Zeiss is Deputy Chief Consultant of mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
She says V.A. policy requires all veterans who request care to get a call back within 24 hours.
Since 2004, V.A. funding and its number of mental health staff have increased significantly. Zeiss says the V.A. is prepared to help all veterans who need it.
Source: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10958
FORMER POW WITH McCAIN SAYS McCAIN'S FINGER SHOULD NOT BE NEAR 'RED BUTTON'
I Spent Years as a POW with John McCain, and His Finger Should Not Be Near the Red Button
By Phillip Butler, Military.com http://www.military.com/
Posted on August 21, 2008, Printed on August 21,
2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/95825/
John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States.
Doctor Phillip Butler is a 1961 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former light-attack carrier pilot. In 1965 he was shot down over North Vietnam where he spent eight years as a prisoner of war. He is a highly decorated combat veteran who was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legion of Merits, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals. After his repatriation in 1973 he earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at San Diego and became a Navy Organizational Effectiveness consultant. He completed his Navy career in 1981 as a professor of management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is now a peace and justice activist with Veterans for Peace.
Read full story from Military.com here: http://www.alternet.org/story/95825/
ANN COULTER,RUSH LIMBAUGH AND SEAN HANNITY SMEAR OBAMA WITH FALSE CLAIM ABOUT ABORTION
Coulter, Limbaugh and Sean Hannity smeared Obama with false claim that he "believes it is proper to kill a baby that has survived an abortion"
Summary: Rush Limbaugh stated that Sen. Barack Obama "believes it is proper to kill a baby that has survived an abortion" and Ann Coulter said that Obama "wants the doctors ... chasing it through the delivery room to make sure it gets killed." They based their claims on Obama's opposition to an Illinois bill that he and other opponents said posed a threat to abortion rights and was unnecessary. Indeed, the Illinois Department of Public Health reportedly said that conduct alleged by proponents of the bill, if it had occurred, would have violated then-existing law.
SOURCE: http://mediamatters.org/items/200808200007?f=h_latest CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE VIDEO OF ANN COULTER AND SEAN HANNITY DISCUSSING TOPIC OF ABORTION.
Radio host Rush Limbaugh and right-wing pundit Ann Coulter each echoed a false claim on August 18 when they asserted, respectively, that Sen. Barack Obama "believes it is proper to kill a baby that has survived an abortion" and that he "wants the doctors ... chasing it through the delivery room to make sure it gets killed." The conservative commentators made their claims based on Obama's opposition as an Illinois state senator to a bill amending the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, which, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, Obama and other opponents said posed a threat to abortion rights and was unnecessary because, they said, Illinois law already prohibited the conduct being addressed by the bill.
Indeed, as Media Matters noted, when tasked by the Illinois attorney general's office with investigating allegations that fetuses born alive at an Illinois hospital were abandoned without treatment, the Illinois Department of Public Health reportedly said that it was unable to substantiate the allegations but said that if the allegations had proved true, the conduct alleged would have been a violation of then-existing Illinois law. Obama himself has cited specific provisions of the Illinois Compiled Statutes in stating that the "born alive principle was already the law in Illinois."
On Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity said to Coulter: "The Born Alive Infant Protection Acts. They induce these abortions," adding, "Barack Obama was the only senator to speak out against a bill that would have protected babies in that situation. ... Is that infanticide?" Coulter responded: "[O]f course it's infanticide," later adding, "I mean, this is a child that is not bothering the woman anymore, is not going to make her depressed or affect her health. It's out of the woman's body. They tried to kill it, but somehow the baby made it out alive. Sometimes missing an arm, but alive. And Barack Obama wants the doctors, you know, chasing it through the delivery room to make sure it gets killed."
On his nationally syndicated radio program, Limbaugh asserted: "We know that Barack Obama believes it is proper to kill a baby that has survived an abortion."
From the August 18 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: Ann Coulter, I'll start with you. The Born Alive Infant Protection Acts. They induce these abortions. I --
COULTER: Right.
HANNITY: I interviewed Jill Stanek. She's a nurse. Illinois.
COULTER: Right.
HANNITY: Testified before Obama's committee. A baby with Down syndrome aborted, thrown in a soiled utility room. She cradles this baby that's breathing for 45 minutes, and Barack Obama was the only senator to speak out against a bill that would have protected babies in that situation. Is that the --
COULTER: Right.
HANNITY: Is that infanticide?
COULTER: It's shocking.
HANNITY: It is.
COULTER: It's -- of course it's infanticide. Yeah, he's for a woman's right to choose through the fourth trimester. And even Barbara Boxer, whom until now was the most staunchly pro-abortion senator, even she spoke in favor of this bill. I mean, this is a child that is not bothering the woman anymore, is not going to make her depressed or affect her health. It's out of the woman's body. They tried to kill it, but somehow the baby made it out alive.
HANNITY: Yeah.
COULTER: Sometimes missing an arm, but alive. And Barack Obama wants the doctors, you know, chasing it through the delivery room to make sure it gets killed. And moreover, you know, his remark about -- the glib remark about, "Oh, when life begins, it's above my pay grade." What kind of moral principle says, "I don't know when life begins, so kill it"? No, if you don't know when life begins, you err on the side of life, at least if you're a decent human being.
Read more here: http://mediamatters.org/items/200808200007?f=h_latest
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Pt.2 OF BREATHTAKING VIDEO ON PNAC--THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRAQ WAR
This is the second part of a two-part video series on how we got into the war with IRAQ. PNAC, an evil cabal of neocons inside the BUSH White House lied to the American public to get us into the war.
See video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/zQi9lXyj0HM&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video.
BREATHTAKING VIDEO: FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THE IRAQ WAR---PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICA CENTURY Pt.1
Few people know the history of how we got into the war with Iraq, but this video shows the neocons in the Bush administration---known as the Project for the New America Century---or PNAC, and how they had one goal....world domination.
The VIDEO traces the rise of PNAC which includes Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and other neocons inside the BUSH administration who lied to the American public..
Watch VIDEO here: http://www.youtube.com/v/VgdPY_U6lqg&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow to activate video.
UPDATE ON NAMES, HOMETOWNS, CAUSE OF DEATH AND PLACE OF DEATH FOR US TROOPS IN IRAQ
This is not easy to do, but the mainstream media doesn't care anymore about how many US troops die in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The following is a list of 18 American GIs killed in the war. Click on the names in BLUE and obtain more information.
Source: http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDetails.aspx?hndRef=4-2008
Date
Total
Name
Place of Death - Province
Cause of Death
19-Aug-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
NAME NOT RELEASED YET
Amarah - Maysan
Hostile - hostile fire - Rocket fire
17-Aug-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Lance Corporal Travis M. Stottlemyer
Manama - NA
Non-hostile
14-Aug-2008
2
US: 2 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Private Janelle F. King
Baghdad
Non-hostile
US
Private 1st Class Daniel A. C. McGuire
Falluja - Anbar
Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
13-Aug-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Corporal James M. Hale
Baghdad (northwestern part)
Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
10-Aug-2008
2
US: 2 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Sergeant Michael H. Ferschke Jr.
Tikrit (southwest of) - Salah Ad Din
Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US
Sergeant Kenneth B. Gibson
Tarmiya - Salah Ad Din
Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
09-Aug-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Sergeant Jose E. Ulloa
Baghdad (Sadr City)
Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
07-Aug-2008
3
US: 3 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Main Sergeant Danny E. Maybin
Camp Arifjan - NA
Non-hostile
US
Corporal Stewart S. Trejo
Karma - Anbar
Non-hostile
US
Corporal Adam T. McKiski
Karma - Anbar
Non-hostile
04-Aug-2008
3
US: 3 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Private Timothy J. Hutton
Baghdad
Non-hostile
US
Specialist Jonathan D. Menke
Baghdad
Hostile - hostile fire - IED
US
Sergeant Gary M Henry
Baghdad
Hostile - hostile fire - IED
03-Aug-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Specialist Ronald Andrew Schmidt
Baghdad
Non-hostile - vehicle accident
02-Aug-2008
3
US: 3 UK: 0 Other: 0
US
Sergeant Brian K. Miller
Abd Allah - Salah Ad Din
Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US
Private 1st Class Jennifer L. Cole
Baiji - Salah Ad Din
Non-hostile - gunshot wound
US
Specialist Kevin R. Dickson
Balad - Salah Ad Din
Non-hostile
Total
18
US: 18 UK: 0 Other: 0
ARMY TIMES: WHY WE COULD NEVER GO TO WAR WITH RUSSIA
Overhaul of Guard training to cost over $128M - Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Army Times or click on this link to read ARMY TIMES story:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_guard_training_081908/
There is no way in hell the United States could ever go to war with Russia, or anybody else for that matter.
The story above from the ARMY TIMES is a perfect example of how broken and stretched the ARMY is and how the National Guard is now thinking of all kinds of ways to keep troops happy by letting them live at home during training and hold down the rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan.
John McCain is blowing smoke up the ass of Americans with his bravado speeches about how the U.S. will kick Russia's ass if they don't fall into line.
The media is as much to blame as McCain because the mopes in the media don't know, or don't want to believe, the United States Army is broken.
As this story from the ARMY TIMES points out, the Army is doing everything they can to try and keep troops happy and entice more people to join the Army or the National Guard.
It will not work.
The ONLY thing that will work is a DRAFT and nobody wants to touch the thought of a DRAFT because it is the third-rail of politics right up there with Social Security.
TODAY Russia thumbed their nose at the United States and NATO and took dozens of Georgia troops hostage and stole six HUMVEES from a dock in Georgia. Russia has seen what has happened to the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan and they know the United States is now a paper tiger.
Russia, like anyone with half a brain and IQ over 75, knows "the surge" was a farce and it was the Sunni Awakening who calmed things down in Iraq and NOT the U.S. military.
BTW: You won't see the above story from the ARMY TIMES getting much press coverage because that would send a signal to Americans that the U.S. is not the super-power we pretend to be, and McCain was wrong.
Commentary by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
NEW VIDEO: WORLD WAR 3 IS UPON US. "OPERATION BRIMSTONE" US FLEET STEAMS TOWARD IRAN
President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been itching to get into another war before the election and this NEW VIDEO shows how preparations are being made with a component of the U.S. Navy within striking distance of IRAN. Late news developments indicate John McCain could pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate and Lieberman has been wanting the U.S. to go to war with IRAN to save ISRAEL from a nuclear strike by IRAN.
Watch video here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/biCXQHexflY&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video.
VIOLENT, GUT-WRENCHING VIDEO ABOUT IRAQ WAR: DECONSTRUCTED--COURTESY MICHAEL MOORE WEB SITE
I doubt if you will ever see a war video like this one. It will make you angry and make you cry at the same time. The video captures US soldiers in Iraq talking about the "mission" and what a waste of time and blood the war has been and how "the surge" is a joke.
Watch video here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/4iWGYWLv7-Y&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video: WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC
AUGUST ALREADY TOPS JULY IN US DEATHS IN IRAQ: 2 MORE GIS COMMIT SUICIDE
U.S. Death Toll in Iraq for August Already Tops July -- As Two More Soldier Suicides Reported
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/us-death-toll-in-iraq-for_b_119396.html
When the U.S. military death toll in Iraq dropped to 13 last month it received wide attention. But now, midway through August, the toll this month has already topped the July rate. Meanwhile, two more Iraq vets have killed themselves here at home.
A U.S. marine killed by gunmen in Fallujah west of Baghdad on Thursday became the 15th American to die in August. A troubling seven had died in noncombat incidents. The 15 tally tops July by two.
And the war at home? Each week -- some time each day -- brings the report of another Iraq vet suicide. One of today's stories appears in the Mansfield News Journal in Ohio., and concerns Derrick Hendon who was buried in Rittman after suffering from severe 'behavioral problems," according to those who knew him.
He died at home in Akron, three years after leaving the fighting. But he was one of the war's casualties. ''I think our whole family was a casualty of war,'' ex-wife Maya Hendon said in an e-mail from Israel, where she now lives. Derrick Hendon, 25, was found in the early morning of July 31, hanging by an extension cord in the garage of his North Akron home. ''I'm just tired,'' the Ohio Army National Guardsman wrote in a suicide note.
Both Maya Hendon, who moved to Israel in 2007 with the couple's two children, and Tina Evans, the soldier's sister, say Hendon was changed by the war. They believe all returning servicemen and women should be required to get psychological counseling.
''I think he died in Iraq,'' Evans said.
Then there's this:
Hendon opposed war. Maya Hendon said her ex-husband got an early discharge from the National Guard because he opposed the fighting, even though he had great love for America and initially supported the war. From the moment he was sent to Iraq, she said, ''he was trying to get out. I know he went through some traumatic experiences, but he didn't really want to talk about it.''
She said after he returned home, Hendon, whom she had met in an Akron clothing store in 2001, never sought help. ''Derrick was the love of my life,'' Maya Hendon said.
Also, the Leaf Chronicle in Clarksville, Tenn., reports the suicide of Spc. Carl B. McCoy, 23, a likely PTSD victim who had problems with alcohol. His wife, Sgt. Maggie McCoy, said he didn't get adequate help from the military after two deployments to Iraq. He saw friends lose limbs and die next to him during the recapture of Fallujah.
"He saw a lot of things that he didn't care to go into detail about," Maggie McCoy said. "He couldn't hear the fireworks go off at the Fourth of July. ... He'd have nightmares about this and that."
VIDEO PEEK OF McCAIN'S $12,000,000 PALACE
The house is up for sale now, but for many years Cindy and John McCain lived in what only be called a palace in Phoenix, Arizona. The house...errr mansion....is on the selling block for a mere $12,000,000.
Any takers from the Democrats?
Get a tour of the McCain palace in this VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/v/cB_rEeO3Ccs&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in center of picture to activate video.
STARTLING VIDEO: McCAIN'S SEVEN MANSIONS, $520 SHOES AND WIFE CINDY'S PRIVATE JET
Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain likes to make it sound like he is living on a shoestring, but nothing could be further from the truth as this VIDEO shows. Thanks to his wife Cindy's multi-million dollar inheritance from a beer distributorship her father owned, McCain lives in the lap of luxury with SEVEN multi-million dollar mansions, $520 a pair shoes, and a far cry from the way Sen. Barack Obama grew up living off food stamps and in small apartments with his mother and grandparents.
McCain dumped his first wife after she was in a car accident and took up with Cindy who he would soon marry leaving his ex-wife just over $1,200 a month to live on and raise his daughter.
Watch the VIDEO here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ek3jAkx9m10&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in center of picture to activate video.
MARY MATALIN AND JEROME CORSI TEAM-UP FOR OLD-FASHIONED SWIFT-BOATING OF OBAMA
Jerome Corsi and Mary Matalin team up for an old-fashioned swift boating
Submitted by meg on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 2:51pm. Analysis
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSISby Meg White
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/358
One of the favorite adages of journalists was once, "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out." Now it seems that we've shifted to "I read it in a best-selling non-fiction book; it must be true... oh, it's not? Well, who cares."
Jerome Corsi's new, widely discredited book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality sustained its number one spot on The New York Times bestseller list yet again this week. And for some reason, I find myself thinking of the waves of untruths that have passed through the hands of editors of late.
In 2006, James Frey's A Million Little Pieces sat atop the bestseller list for 15 weeks and was a selection for Oprah's Book Club. Thanks to revelations from The Smoking Gun, the book was shown to be a lie. Since Frey didn't have the passion of a political campaign backing him, his book is now printed with author's and publisher's notes. Random House even agreed to compensate some readers for the lies.
There's been a serious rash of discredited memoirs much like Frey's over the last few years. Writers and editors have paid hefty prices, including monetary ones and jail time, for lying in print. In response to the rash of memoirs that have been uncovered lately, I jokingly invented the word "semoir" to refer to the new genre. I haven't heard anything back from William Safire yet, but I'll let you know when I do.
But what we really need is a word for books filled with lies that are known by editors and publishers to be falsehoods, but are never retracted. The historical prevalence and modern popularity of deceptive nonfiction closely mirrors that of the "semoir." However, the shame and punishment don't exist. And that's because they are written, edited, and published by people who don't care about journalistic integrity. They are out to do two things: make money and win elections.
Enter Mary Matalin. She's been a pundit for years, after starting out in Washington serving first the RNC and then President George H.W. Bush. She has served as an aide to both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Now she is the editor-in-chief at Simon & Schuster's Threshold Books. Matalin publicly took up the mantle for The Obama Nation, the newest offering from Threshold.
Corsi is perhaps best known for co-authoring the attack book, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, which was part of the campaign credited for defeating Kerry in his presidential bid in 2004.
While Unfit for Command was culturally successful (heck, we might not even have the phrase "swift boating" to rely upon were it not for Corsi's libel), the book was widely denounced as fabricated. Still, it worked. And the larger body of evidence shows that Corsi and others are bent upon "swift boating" Obama with this new book.
The Obama Nation has also been largely discredited in the media. Media Matters, a Web site run by one-time right-wing columnist David Brock, deemed the book "unfit to publish" listing pages of lies and misrepresentations as support. Still, there are no plans to print retractions or corrections. Just keep that printer crackin' 'em out as is, says Matalin.
The fact is, the book is marketed as a political attack job. Jerome "I apologized for saying that racist stuff so long ago oh and be sure to catch me on white supremacist radio" Corsi admits that he was inspired by the election. He told The New York Times that he wrote the book for a very specific reason:
"'The goal is to defeat Obama,' Mr. Corsi said in a telephone interview. 'I don't want Obama to be in office.'"
Just today, the political action committee Save Our Republic sent out an e-mail supposedly written by Corsi soliciting contributions to pay for political ads that will "stop Barack Obama and the radicalism he represents from creating an America where the values and philosophies that made America great become just a distant memory to some or dead history to others." Oh, and the postscript of the e-mail notes that anyone who donates $125 or more to the PAC will get a free copy of The Obama Nation.
In addition, the book's cover boasts that, "The Obama Nation is the definitive source for information on why and how Barack Obama must be defeated."
This stands directly in conflict with what editor Mary Matalin told The New York Times about the book:
"Ms. Matalin said in an interview that the book 'was not designed to be, and does not set out to be, a political book,' calling it, rather, 'a piece of scholarship, and a good one at that.' She said she was unaware of efforts to link it to any anti-Obama advertising."
But maybe she never read it. Timothy Noah wrote a piece on Slate.com about Matalin and her contribution to the conservative publishing world. He said he received a response from Matalin that explained that "editor" doesn't really mean "editor" anymore:
"I do not deal with any mechanics (like print runs, reprints, financial relationship with authors), or for that matter, editing of the Threshold books. I am more akin to a consultant relative to the issue of potential interest among political readers."
Matalin's very own Web site bio says she "runs" Threshold. How she can do that as a consultant is beyond me (not that I'm the only one to wonder). I guess when you run a business dedicated to peddling lies, it's a lot easier to lie about your job. Those years working for the current administration couldn't have hurt, either.
But, as Noah noted, "conservative imprints aren't required to adhere to the same standards of truth as the grown-up divisions." Noah criticizes the book, but then lets both the writer and the editor off the hook because they are part of a tradition of lies.
Well, what can be done? Not much, I suppose. Those who read such books are much more likely to rely upon FOX News than BuzzFlash, Slate.com, or Media Matters. Readers of Corsi's books might believe every last lie in them, and there's little anyone can do.
But this election year, I would, at the very least, like to see the same amount of outrage that is currently devoted to PACs, lying campaign ads, and 527s be spread out to cover the right-wing lie publishing empire. Just because the people willing to believe these lies probably live in red states anyway doesn't mean we shouldn't care. Obama is slowly learning from John Kerry's grand mistake in ignoring these liars.
So should the rest of us.
THIS ISN'T GOOD: TALIBAN LAUNCHES MASSIVE ATTACK ON US BASES IN AFGHANISTAN
Taliban Launches Large Coordinated Assaults
by: RockRichard
Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 13:56:13 PM EDT
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=B7C9DFB4315A9BCFE27EBA51E74A5860?diaryId=1788
This isn't good:
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting, one a complex attack with multiple suicide bombers on an American military base on Monday night, and another by some 100 insurgents on French forces in a district east of the capital, killing 10 French soldiers and wounding 21 others, military officials said Tuesday. ...
The attack on Camp Salerno in Khost Province was one of the most complex attacks seen so far in Afghanistan with multiple suicide bombers and a backup fighting force that tried to breach defenses on to the airport at the base. It followed a suicide car bombing at the outer entrance to the same base on Monday morning, which killed 12 Afghan workers lining up to enter the base, and another attempted bombing that was thwarted shortly after.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for all three attacks in Khost. Their spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahed, reached by telephone at an unknown location, said that 15 suicide bombers, equipped with machine guns and vests packed with explosives, with 30 militants backing them up, attacked the base, one of the largest foreign military bases in Afghanistan. He claimed that some of the bombers had gotten inside the base and had killed a number of American soldiers and destroyed equipment and helicopters. This last claim was denied by General Azimi of the Afghan military.
The article goes on to describe in detail the eight hour Taliban attack and the coalition/Afghan National Army response. Basically, the Taliban attackers were very precise, very coordinated, and very large in numbers.
This isn't an attack on a remote firebase.
Forward Operating Base Salerno is home to one of two U.S. combat brigades in Afghanistan. Along with the headquarters, there are significant numbers of support, aviation and field artillery assets. I can't locate exact numbers (probably unavailable for OPSEC reasons), but I'd estimate it is the second largest U.S. commanded installation in the country, behind only Bagram Airfield. A footprint this size comes with a proportional security operation. What the Taliban have demonstrated with this incident is that they are able to conduct large scale, coordinated attacks on significant coalition military bases, and that is unacceptable for a group we should have defeated several years ago.
Click on link to read more: http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=B7C9DFB4315A9BCFE27EBA51E74A5860?diaryId=1788
MUST SEE VIDEO: BILL O'REILLY DEFENDS FOX NEWS AND THEIR RACIST ATTACKS ON OBAMA
BARACK OBAMA has been the victim of a less than subtle racist attack by FOX NEWS and in this video from YOU TUBE FOX NEWS' BILL O'REILLY comes to the defense of FOX NEWS and claims they have been "fair and balanced" in their reporting on OBAMA.
Commentary: You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see how the FOX NEWS reports on BARACK OBAMA are a subliminal form of racism.
Watch video here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/fO0vX7YvZ7g&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in center of picture to activate video.
SHOCKING VIDEO: VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST JOHN "SONGBIRD" McCAIN
This YOU TUBE video shows Republicans and Democrats from Congress attacking John McCain over the documents that have been buried about McCain's time in the Hanoi Hilton after he was captured and how McCain is not telling the whole truth about what really took place during the time he was a POW.
Watch video here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/9MUY9S6iCvk&hl=en&fs=1
Click on diamond-shaped arrow in picture to activate video
OBAMA HITS BACK AT McCAIN OVER IRAQ WAR: ACCUSES McCAIN OF QUESTIONING HIS PATRIOTISM
Obama hits back at McCain over Iraq war
Obama tells military veterans that McCain is wrong to question his character and patriotism
BETH FOUHYAP News
Aug 19, 2008 09:37 EST
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=304398
Democrat Barack Obama challenged his Republican opponent John McCain on Tuesday to stop questioning his "character and patriotism."
Addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Obama reaffirmed his early opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq and said the so-called "surge" strategy of sending 30,000 additional troops to Iraq last year had not produced the political reconciliation necessary to achieve lasting peace in the country. McCain supported the Iraq invasion and was an early champion of the surge.
"These are the judgments I've made and the policies that we have to debate, because we do have differences in this election," Obama said. "One of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can't disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.
I have never suggested that Sen. McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America's national interest. Now, it's time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.
"Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country," Obama said to applause.
McCAIN TAKES CREDIT FOR VETERANS BILL HE FOUGHT AGAINST
In still another brazen display of lying to not only the American public but to veterans as well, GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain took credit for a veterans education bill he never voted for and actually opposed the bill.
Meanwhile, Demorcatic hopeful Barack Obama joined 96 other Senators in voting FOR the bill.
McCain takes credit for a bill he fought against (again)
Posted August 18th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16597.html
In late June, the Senate approved a war supplemental spending bill, which included the Webb/Hagel GI Bill, expanding educational benefits for veterans. It passed 92 to 6, with John McCain failing to show up to vote. (Barack Obama was there, and he voted with the majority.)
The next day, McCain bragged to an audience in Ohio that “we … agreed to an increase in educational benefits for our veterans.”
Ali at TP noted that McCain made a related boast this morning.
Speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) once again tried to steal credit for the 21st Century G.I. Bill, which McCain had vigorously opposed, even submitting his own proposal to undermine the chances of success for the main bill. Today, McCain told the audience of veterans that he “sought a better bill” and declared the final passage of the GI bill “the result” of his efforts:
“As a political proposition, it would have much easier for me to have just signed on to what I considered flawed legislation. But the people of Arizona, and of all America, expect more from their representatives than that, and instead I sought a better bill. I’m proud to say that the result is a law that better serves our military, better serves military families, and better serves the interests of our country.”
OK, let’s unpack this a bit. First, McCain not only opposed the GI Bill expansion, he actively fought against it. Indeed, he bragged that his opposition to the bill was evidence of his character. McCain not only opposed the bill, he did so for all the wrong reasons. He even went so far as to say the GI Bill expansion would literally “hurt the military.”
And yet, he’s gone from characterizing himself as a supporter to arguing that he personally made the bill even better.Second, McCain’s argument flatly contradicts what the VFW knows to be true.
VFW’s deputy director for legislative affairs Eric Hilleman: The Graham-Burr-McCain plan is “very partisan and is seen as a way to convolute the GI bill, or to slow the Webb-Hagel proposal down.”
VFW National Commander George Lisicki: “People are leaving after their first enlistment because they are tired of being shot at, and their families are tired of the frequent deployments… Whether they stay in four years or 20, we owe this newest, greatest generation the gift of education.”
In context, McCain was admittedly in a tough spot. The VFW championed the Webb/Hagel bill and made it one of the group’s top legislative priorities of this Congress, while McCain fought against the VFW every step of the way. McCain couldn’t exactly be honest, and address the organization today with an explanation on why he tried to deny veterans better educational benefits.
So, McCain chose Door #2 — he lied to them, and hoped the veterans in the audience wouldn’t know the difference. The result is a situation in which McCain adds insult to injury — he fought against better benefits for veterans, then he misled veterans about his own efforts.
It’s pretty much the opposite of “support the troops.”
As long as we’re on the subject, McCain also used his speech to the VFW to:
* attack Obama’s judgment on Iraq, just one day after the NYT highlighted how spectacularly wrong McCain’s judgment on Iraq was after 9/11;
* tout his plan for a “Veterans Care Access Card,” which by all appearances, veterans completely oppose;
* repeat the claim that Obama is effectively committing treason, insisting that Obama wants the U.S. to fail in Iraq because of his personal “ambition.”
Something digby recently said continues to ring true: “I am really starting to hate this unctuous, double-talking creep.”
Monday, August 18, 2008
CNN REPORTS: WHEELCHAIR BOMBER KILLS 3 IN IRAQ
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man in a wheelchair blew himself up Monday in a northern Iraqi police station, killing three National Police officers, including a commander, police said.
The attack also wounded nine officers on the police force, which the Iraqi Interior Ministry operates.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/25/iraq.main/index.html
The bombing in Samarra raises concern about the recent tactics employed by insurgents in Iraq. Bombs have been placed inside dead animals and hidden in carts. And in recent days, vagrants have been involved in bombings.
"As a sign of desperation, some of those terrorists resorted to some new methods and techniques," said Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan.
One of the tactics is the use of remote-controlled "sticky" bombs, small enough to tape under vehicles.
A high-ranking Samarra police official said the disabled man came to meet with Brig. Gen. Abdul Jabbar Rabei Muttar, deputy commander of security, at the security operations building in Samarra. The pair met last week as well.
The man was searched when he entered the building, but police didn't look under his wheelchair seat, where the explosives had been placed. The man, who police say was cogent, detonated the explosives when Muttar approached him.
Also Monday, a roadside bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of Shiite Muslims in Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 15, an Interior Ministry official said.
The strike, in southeastern Baghdad's Zafaraniya district, is the latest attack against pilgrims trekking to Karbala for al-Arbaeen, one of the holiest days of the Shiite religious calendar. It falls on Wednesday.
On Sunday, a suicide bomber in Iskandariya killed at least 45 people and wounded 68 others, and armed militants attacked pilgrims in southern Baghdad, killing three and wounding more than 30 others.
SHOCKING DISCOVERY: MOLDY BARRACKS FOR WOUNDED VETERANS
Fail: More Moldy Barracks for Wounded Soldiers
by: Brandon Friedman
Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 12:55:05 PM EDT
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1780
More problems with shitty barracks for wounded soldiers:
LAWTON, Okla. - Mold infests the barracks that were set up here a year ago for wounded soldiers after poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center triggered a systemwide overhaul, soldiers say.
Twenty soldiers, who spoke to USA TODAY early last week, said their complaints about mold and other problems went unheeded for months. They also said they had been ordered not speak about the conditions at Fort Sill.
Officers at the Army base last week ordered that ventilation ducts in two barracks be replaced and soldiers be surveyed, anonymously if they wished, about any concerns. Maj. Gen. Peter Vangjel, the commanding officer, said it was "inappropriate" for soldiers to be ordered not to talk about the mold.
Is it really that hard to square away barracks for the wounded? Given this latest eruption of maintenance incompetence and failure in leadership, I'd just like to direct everyone's attention back to a statement made in April by Brigadier General Dennis Rogers--Director of Operations and Facilities for Installation Management Command--in regard to the Fort Bragg barracks situation:
"I'll tell you right now before we even start: I assume responsibility for the shortfalls in barracks maintenance which were referenced in the video by Mr. Frawley. We let our soldiers down.
And I note that a number of you are veterans, or most of you are veterans, and you served. So you know that there is no excuse for that. We let our soldiers down."
Of course, this statement was made after the much-hyped "nationwide walk-through."
So what's the deal now?
Can we meet the standard, or what? This is pathetic. What incentive do you give people to enlist when this is what you offer them?
WAR NEWS TODAY: MASSIVE INCREASE IN VIOLENCE IN IRAQ AND AFGHNISTAN
There has been a massive increase in violence in both IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN according to the reliable source WAR NEWS TODAY http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/
The shame of it all is the mainstream media keeps LYING to the AMERICAN public about conditions on the ground in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN.
The are a total of nearly 200,000 AMERICAN troops stranded, yes, stranded, in both countries and the prospect of either war ending soon is slim and none.
As YOU go through this list of what is happening in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN click on the part in BLUE and you will be able to read more on each topic.
Anyone reading the following list of violence in both IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN and claiming "the surge" has been a success is not only DUMB but BLIND.
COMMENT by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE
Monday, August 18, 2008
War News for Monday, August 18, 2008
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an eastern province of Afghanistan on Saturday, August 16th. No other details were released. We assume this to be an American soldier.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from non-combat related injuries in an eastern province of Afghanistan on Sunday, August 17th. No other details were released. We assume this to be an American soldier.
The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the region of Forward Operating Base Attal, in the Gereshk area of Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Monday, August 18th. One other British soldier and an Afghan National Army soldier and the patrol interpreter were wounded in the attack. Here's the NATO statement.
Pakistan's Musharraf announces resignation:
Iran tests rocket for future launch of satellite:
Ex-Marine decries prosecution in civilian court:
Renewed violence grips Tal Afar:
Philippines drives rebels out; 34 people killed:
Record number of US contractors in Iraq:As of early 2008, at least 190,000 private personnel were working on US-funded projects in the Iraq theater, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) survey found.
Baghdad:#1: A roadside bomb wounded five people, including three policemen, when it exploded in the Mansour district of western Baghdad, police said.
#2: A roadside bomb wounded nine people, including three policemen, when it exploded near a U.S. military patrol in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said.In a separate incident, a roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. patrol while approaching an Iraqi police checkpoint in the al-Yarmouk neighborhood in western Baghdad, injuring three Iraqi policemen and six civilians, the source said. It was unclear whether the U.S. patrol sustained any casualty as the troops immediately cordoned off the area, he said.
#3: Gunmen killed one man and wounded his wife when they opened fire on the couple's car in Zaafaraniya district of southeastern Baghdad, police said.Faris Jabir Thahir, a Shiite cleric, was killed by unknown gunmen while he was driving his car with his mother and wife in Baghdad southeastern neighborhood of Zaafaraniyah," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Thahir's mother and wife were wounded by the attack and transported to a nearby hospital, the source said.
#4: A suicide bomber killed 15 people Sunday night, including at least six U.S.-backed Sunni Arab fighters, near a crowded outdoor market in east Baghdad, security officials and local leaders said. At least 30 people were wounded in the attack near the historic Abu Hanifa Mosque in the Sunni district of Adhamiya. Women and children were among the dead, said Abu Abed, the head of the U.S.-funded Sons of Iraq neighborhood security group there. The commander at the checkpoint, Farouq abu Omar, and four of his men were slain, he said.Also Monday, mourners in Baghdad's Azamiyah district fired guns in the air to show their grief during the funeral of Farooq al-Obeidi, deputy head of a group of U.S.-allied Sunni fighters who was killed by a suicide bomber. Nine other people were killed and at least 20 were wounded in Sunday night's blast, Iraqi officials said. They declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to release the information. The U.S. military put the toll at eight killed, including six U.S.-allied fighters, and 12 wounded.
#5: Another explosive device wounded two policemen and an Iraqi civilian in the central district of Karrada.Three police officers and a civilian were wounded in roadside bomb that exploded in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, police said.
#6: Sunday Police found 1 dead body today in Saidiyah neighborhood(south Baghdad).
#7: Iraqi forces killed three militants and arrested 33 others during last the 24 hours in different areas in Iraq, Defence Ministry said in a statement.
Diyala Prv:Khanaqin:#1: One civilian man was injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the house of an Iraqi army officer northeast of Baaquba city on Monday, a security source in Diala said ."The IED went off inside the house of an Iraqi officer in the rank of captain in the village of Taja, Qarat Tabba district, Khanaqin, (155 km) northeast of Baaquba, wounding one civilian man near the house," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq
Basra:#1: Masked gunmen ambushed a bus carrying electoral officials in southern Iraq on Monday, killing two and seriously wounding a third, officials said. The attackers opened fire from a passing car in the Abu al-Khasib area south of Basra, which saw bitter infighting among Shiite factions before a U.S.-backed Iraqi military operation curbed violence earlier this year. Two top members of a local committee preparing for provincial elections were killed, according to police and the head of Basra's elections panel, Hazim al-Rubaie.
Dawr:#1: A US military helicopter has reportedly crashed in Iraq's northern Salahuddin province 150 km north of the capital Baghdad. "We have received information that a US helicopter crashed in the Shwikhat area near the town of Dawr,” an anonymous source from Salahuddin's Joint Coordination Center (JCC) told Xinhua on Monday. "The helicopter crashed maybe due to technical failure because we did not see or heard any anti-aircraft fire before the incident," said the source, citing eyewitness reports. He added that US troops had closed off the crash site immediately following the incident. The US military has not yet confirmed the report.A media advisor for the U.S. army denied on Monday that a helicopter crashed in the al-Dor district, Salah al-Din province.
Mosul:#1: Gunmen killed a religious leader on Sunday outside a mosque in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
#2: An explosive device on Monday detonated near a U.S. patrol vehicle in eastern Mosul city, an official Iraqi source said."Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a U.S. patrol in Mosul's eastern al-Nuaimi Street, but casualties have not been reported thus far," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq. Speaking to VOI, a media advisor for the U.S. army denied the news, saying "None of our patrols has been hit by an explosion in Mosul city."
#3: Meanwhile, an official source from Ninewa police told VOI that an Iraqi lawyer, Faris Sadeeq, was seriously wounded on Sunday night when unknown gunmen driving a civilian vehicle attacked him in front of his house in Falasteen neighborhood, southeastern Mosul, and was taken to a nearby hospital.
#4: A member of the Kurdish security forces was wounded in an explosive charge attack that targeted his patrol in eastern Mosul, the second blast to hit the city on Monday, an official source said. "Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near a Zirfani forces patrol in al-Faisaliya neighborhood, eastern Mosul, wounding a patrolman," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq.
#5: A roadside bomb wounded three prison guards in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Afghanistan:#1: Nine Afghan civilians have been killed in a bomb explosion outside a US military base in the eastern province of Khost bordering Pakistan. A bomber detonated an explosive-laden car near the gates of the Salerno camp in Khost on Monday, killing 9 civilians and wounding 13 others, Afghan and US military officials said.
#2: Several militants were also killed Sunday when a group of insurgents attacked US-led forces during a search operation in the Tag Aab district of the north-eastern province of Kapisa province, a US military statement said. The troops responded to the insurgents’ attack with small-arms fire and airstrikes and recovered weapons and ammunition, it said.
#3: A helicopter of U.S.-led coalition forces made an emergency landing on Monday in Nangarhar province in the east, the U.S. military said, adding there was no report of injuries. It did not say why the aircraft made an emergency landing.
#4: The Interior Ministry said nine Afghan guards protecting a convoy of supplies for foreign forces were killed in a Taliban ambush on Sunday in Zabul province in the south.
#5: Several insurgents were killed during a clash with U.S.-led coalition forces in Kapisa province, near Kabul, on Sunday, the U.S. military said.
#6: Several militants were killed during a clash with Afghan and coalition troops in southeastern Paktika province on Sunday, the U.S. military said.
AP REPORT: RUSSIA MOVED MISSILES INTO GEORGIA
Report: Russia moved missiles into Georgia
Moscow claims it will pull back Monday, but may not remove all forces
The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26248480/
GORI, Georgia - The Russian military moved missile launchers into a breakaway Georgian province ahead of a pledged pullout, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials.
Russia's president promised to start withdrawing forces from positions in Georgia on Monday, but suggested they could stay in South Ossetia, the region at the heart of the fighting that has reignited Cold War tensions.
The Times, citing anonymous U.S. officials who were familiar with intelligence reports, reported that the Russian military moved missile launchers into the region on Friday.
U.S. officials told the Times that Russia deployed several SS-21 missile launchers to positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital. That would put the missiles within range of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, the Times reported on its Web site.
The European Union-backed cease-fire agreement calls for Georgian and Russian troops to withdraw to the positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.
In Washington, top American officials said Washington would rethink its relationship with Moscow after its military drive deep into its much smaller neighbor and called for a swift Russian withdrawal.
Read more http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26248480/
McCAIN'S CROSS IN THE SAND STORY---PLAGIARIZED
Long story short.
In 1973, a russian author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, wrote about his time in in the book "The Gulag Archipelago" and relayed exactly the same story.From the book:"As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/17/122230/161/...
The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross.
The man then got back up and returned to his work.As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed. He knew he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet empire. Yet he knew there was something greater than the evil he saw in the prison camp, something greater than the Soviet Union. He knew that hope for all people was represented by that simple Cross.
Through the power of the Cross, anything was possible."And here is a nice long excerpt from John McCain's book "Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions " released in 2005, reprinted in the NY Sun, about what a big fan he is of Alexander Solzhenitsyn writings...http://www.nysun.com/opinion/solzhenitsyn-at-work/83117 /
Edited to add, apparently in 1973 he wrote a very detailed 12,000 word account of his time in Vietnam that was published in US News and world reports and wouldnt you know it, no mention of the cross in the sand...http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/17/15300/5629/...
WOW!!
McCAIN'S FORMER POW SPEAKS OUT: WHY I WILL NOT VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN
As some of you might know, John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine, says Phillip Burtler, that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam.
He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States.People often ask if I was a Prisoner of War with John McCain. My answer is always "No - John McCain was a POW with me."
The reason is I was there for 8 years and John got there 2 ½ years later, so he was a POW for 5 ½ years. And we have our own seniority system, based on time as a POW.
John's treatment as a POW: 1) Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care.
Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW's for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.
John was offered, and refused, "early release." Many of us were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to "admit" that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was "lenient and humane." So I, like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of us could accept. Besides, we were bound by our service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW's were released, with the sick and wounded going first.
I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate. Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost.
So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button. I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
CNN REPORTS: BAGHDAD SUICIDE BLAST KILLS 15, WOUNDS 30
You NEVER hear or read about it anymore, but there is STILL a war going on in IRAQ and a suicide bomber killed 15 in Baghdad and wounded another 30 in the most recent act of violence in the capitol city.
Baghdad suicide blast kills 15
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/17/iraq.main/index.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bombing killed 15 people, including a leader of a U.S.-backed militia, and wounded nearly 30 others Sunday in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said.
Faruq al-Obaidi, the deputy leader of the Awakening Council in Adamiya, was among the dead, and two of his sons were among the 29 wounded in the blast, an Interior Ministry official told CNN.
The bombing took place about 8 p.m. outside a coffee shop in Adamiya, a Sunni stronghold in northeastern Baghdad. The bomber parked his bicycle near the shop and approached al-Obaidi, who was in a car at the time, the official said.
"While I was shopping just across the street, I heard a huge explosion," said Omar Qassim, a member of al-Obaidi's group, told The Associated Press. "Body parts were flying through the air. I immediately realized that Farooq's party was targeted and he was probably dead."
The attacker was a woman or a man who wore a black abaya robe to conceal the explosives, Iraqi officials told AP.
The Awakening Councils have been recruited by the U.S. military to fight against Islamic jihadists loyal to al Qaeda in Iraq and other militias. U.S. commanders credit the movement for much of the sharp reduction in violence there over the past year, but the jihadists have denounced its leaders as traitors and have frequently targeted them.
An al-Obaidi aide told AP, however, that a rival in the Awakening Council may be behind the attack.
"We had received information that we would be targeted by groups within Azamiyah and within the awakening movement itself," Khalil Ibrahim told AP.
A police official also told AP there was suspicion the attack was part of an Awakening Council power struggle.
POLITICO: OBAMA SLAMS THOMAS; McCAIN SLIP MAY HAUNT HIM
LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Given the sharp words exchanged between their campaigns in recent weeks, John McCain and Barack Obama put on a good show of civility Saturday at their first joint appearance of the all but officially begun general election race. Midway through the forum at Saddleback Church, McCain joined Obama on stage.
By: Carrie Budoff Brown August 17, 2008 01:30 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12583.html
The rivals, who have spent the summer quarreling as much over the definition of “celebrity” as the details of their policy proposals, exchanged a man hug, a handshake followed by a one-armed embrace. Smiling and tieless, they took their place on either side of the Rev. Rick Warren, the evangelical preacher who brought them together.For one night, at least, Warren may have achieved his desired goal of comity.
Neither candidate spoke critically of the other. And perhaps most tellingly, their campaign’s rapid response teams fell silent for the night.
It may well prove a brief respite before a critical three-week stretch in which McCain and Obama will announce their vice presidential picks and accept their party’s nomination. Obama mentioned a potential vice presidential nominee, former Sen. Sam Nunn, when asked by Warren to name three people he considers wise and would rely on for counsel as president. Nunn was listed after Obama's wife and his 85-year-old grandmother.McCain threw in a vice presidential possibility, as well: former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman, whom he described as someone he valued in economically difficult times. He also mentioned Gen. David Patraeus and, surprisingly, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
Warren sought introspection over confrontation, pressing the candidates in separate one-hour interviews to reflect on their most gut-wrenching decision, their biggest moral failing and their faith. Warren often asked blunt questions and, at one point, playfully warned Obama: “Don’t give me your stump speech on these.” Obama appeared at ease in the southern California megachurch, a setting that played to his comfort level with openly discussing his faith. He quoted a Biblical proverb and spoke at length about his faith as a “source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis.” “I know that I don’t walk alone, and I know that if I can get myself out of the way, that I can maybe carry out in some small way what he intends,” Obama said. The audience of several hundred inside the auditorium offered polite and occasionally enthusiastic applause throughout the forum. Yet Obama had trouble with the crowd when Warren asked, “At what point does a baby get human rights?” “Whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade,” Obama said in a response that elicited a low murmur from the audience. He went on to acknowledge that he supported abortion rights, a position that has proved an obstacle to Obama in increasing his share of evangelical voters.A few minutes later, however, the audience members thundered applause when Obama said he believes marriage is the union of a man and a woman. But the crowd also clapped when he said he would not support a constitutional amendment codifying that definition.As the candidate who often appears less at ease discussing his faith, McCain appeared comfortable as he wove bits of his religious views into his answers. He joked more often than Obama and told stories about the adoption of his 17-year-old daughter from Bangladesh and his captivity in Vietnam. Asked what his faith meant to him, McCain said it “means I’m saved and forgiven.” He referenced the works of his Southern Baptist church in Phoenix, and his reliance on prayer during his captivity in Vietnam.
McCain said his greatest personal moral failing was the “failure of my first marriage.”There was speculation as to whether Warren would press McCain on his divorce, which McCain addressed before Warren, who was critical of former Sen. John Edward’s ability to lead after he admitted he had an affair, had a chance to ask.
Obama cited his youthful experimentation with drugs as his greatest personal failure. “What I traced this to is a certain selfishness on my part,” Obama said. “I was so obsessed with me, and you know the reasons that I might be dissatisfied that I couldn’t focus on other people.”
The forum was an unusual setting for a first joint appearance, marking the first time that two general election candidates appeared together in a megachurch. But the event served the interests of both campaigns in their pursuit of evangelical Protestant voters, who overwhelmingly favor McCain, according to a June survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. That poll showed 61 percent of evangelical voters supporting the Republican senator, with 25 percent preferring Obama, figures that align roughly with June 2004, when 69 percent backed Bush and 26 percent Kerry. (Bush ultimately took 78 percent of this vote, up 10 percentage points from 2000.) The difference is that more than 11 percent of evangelicals are undecided this year, twice as many as in 2004, the survey found. Saddleback hosted 5,000 attendees Saturday on their sprawling college-like campus, with an amphitheater, cafés and beach volleyball nets. The auditorium looked more like a soundstage than a hall of worship. The audience in the auditorium, which accommodated only a small slice of the people who made the trip here, sat quietly through the commercial breaks, although at one point someone shouted an approval — “We love you, John” — of the sort more often heard at Obama events (and, McCain might add, teenybopper concerts).
Asked which justice he wouldn’t have nominated to the Supreme Court, Barack named Justice Clarence Thomas, the court’s only African-American.“I don’t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time, for that elevation, setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretations of a lot of the constitution,” Obama said.McCain said he wouldn’t have nominated the four most liberal justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. "This nomination should be based on the criteria of [a] proven record of strictly adhering to the Constitution of the United States of America, and not legislating from the bench," McCain said. “Some of the worst damage has been done by legislating from the bench.” Warren asked Obama to define rich: “Give me a number.”Obama drew laughter when he briefly hesitated, then quipped: “You know, if you’ve got book sales of 25 million ...”Turning serious toward the end, Obama said: “I want people to know me well,” and added that if they do, “they’re going to make a good decision and we’re going to be able to solve the big problems that we face.”Asked his definition of "rich," McCain tossed off “$5 million,” then seemed to recognize this could join the list of comments he has tossed off in the past that have come back to him in attack ads.”I'm sure that comment will be distorted," McCain said. "The point is we want to keep people's taxes low. ... I don't want to raise anybody's taxes." Mike Allen contributed to this story.
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