Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

I see the CNN website has posted a lead story detailing the US military's support and protection for the MEK which is a terrorist group according to the US State Department. The MEK is in Iraq and the Iraqi government wants them out of its soil yesterday but the US says no so they get to stay under US military protection because they're supposedly providing intelligence about Iranian nuclear facilities. Nevermind if the State Department knows its terrorist groups when it sees them and the Iraqi government stews because it feels like a US puppet in being forced to allow the MEK to remain on its soil.
I thought the US learned something from training and supporting Bin Laden against the Russians in Afghanistan but it looks like we didn't learn a darn thing.
And the Bush adminstration gets bent because Pelosi visits Syria!
Geez...

The bill passed with bipartisan support so your point, if you have one, is?

Dick Cheney is just Rush freaking unbelievable. Cheney still INSISTS that Al Queda had ties with Saddam in pre-invasion Iraq! The CIA had concluded this was not the case, years ago, and now a declassified pentagon document confirms those same conclusions.
CNN's reporter couldn't believe Cheney is still spouting this total BS, three years after the CIA dismissed it and the reporter asked their military consultant, general "spider" Marks why Cheney continues to say what he says, and the general who was on the ground at the time of the invasion in Iraq and privy to the intelligence at the time, can't explain why Cheney continues to make these assertions about Al Queda and Saddam.
I think Cheney's behavior can be explained by one word, "delusional."...

"...do we feel lucky?"
Why, with George W Bush at the helm, we know we're secure. I just finished watching him speak to the American Legion live on CNN. Actually, I developed a case of the dry heaves half way through his speech when he described Iraq and Saddam as a clear and imminent threat to the United States so I couldn't continue with the discourse. And, of course, the speech was carefully choreographed in front of a pre-screened audience of approving veterans who appeared to be remnants from the war of 1812. Anyhow, the speech was carried on main stream media which, as we know from our contributors in this political forum, is clearly biased and never provides the truth so this must be further evidence of it. Since Bush wasn't speaking the truth and it was carried live on CNN, it just goes to show you that the contributors in this forum who claim the liberal media doesn't speak the truth are, in fact, correct. We saw the same thing yesterday when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets and protested against the United States and burned American flags in the process. Even the Iraqi weight lifter who used a pick axe on the statue of Saddam back in '03 stated he was wrong and things were, in fact, better under Saddam. In response, the US military issued a statement stating the Iraqi demonstrations we saw yesterday could have never happened under Saddam so this must mean we wouldn't have seen Iraqis burning our flags and protesting our presence in their country. Or, it means we would have seen Iraqis demonstrating and burning American flags even if Saddam was still in power. Either way, the Iraqis would still be holding demonstrations and the response from the US military command is just plain wrong!
So what does this all have to do with 50,000 Iranian centrifuges? If Bush hadn't destabilized the entire region, Iran would still be held in check by Iraq, and we wouldn't be dealing with the issue of the 50,000 centrifuges anymore than we would have been dealing with Saddam's non-existent weapons of mass destruction...

"Military operations in Iraq are forcing thousands of Iraqis from their homes, while US-led coalition or Iraq are holding tens of thousands of people against their will."
"The suffering that Iraqi men, women and children are enduring today is unbearable and unacceptable."
It must be great being liberated...
Although I hope John McCain reads this report, he's off at a military academy telling cadets how great things are going in Iraq. You hear the same thing from others over there who back Dubya. It's simply not true. At least those polled in the US don't believe McCain; the majority doesn't believe his rosy assessment of our presence in Iraq while only 29% do. The later figure is similar to Bush's appproval rating...

Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone was taken out today when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the parliament building, killing Iraqi lawmakers and wounding others.
Yeah, the "green zone" extends for miles in Baghdad and most of it remains intact but the implications of the attack are reverberating throughout Washington.
McCain touted the safety and security of the green zone in a speech before military cadets yesterday as well as in his horse and pony show before a TV audience on "60 minutes."
McCain is now said to be running third among GOP front-runners according to a new poll.
Bush's credibility, if he still has any, is likely to be diminished even further. Ditto for the GOP on Iraq...

With loan defaults on home mortgages approaching 1000 per week in some areas and foreclosures skyrocketing across the country, and undercurrent is now developing for using your taxpayer dollars to bailout all of the deadbeats who either assumed more debt than they could ever afford or were lured into risky "interest only" ventures by predatory lenders.
An expert interviewed on KNX news radio today estimated the cost of a bailout at $120 billion dollars!
Who do you think is driving this "bailout" scheme? It's not the deadbeats who split in the middle of the night and walk away from their financial obligations. They aren't contacting congressman asking for a bailout. It's a safe bet they don't even know who their congressman happens to be.
The people who are driving this call for a bailout are the very same ones who got a lot of people into this mess in the first place: the subprime lenders and their buddies who rape, plunder and pillage the land, ie the developers.
The Bush administration, to its credit, has thus far resisted the call from the bowels of the earth for a bailout.
But an election year isn't all that far-off and the lobbying efforts can be expected to intensify on the richter scale. The aftershocks of a bailout will only intensify when those borrowers sitting on the fence see the government covering the losses on the loans so they will likely hop on the bandwagon and default with the rest while you, the taxpayer, pays for it.
What can you do about it? Contact your congressman today and insist on no taxpayer fundings be applied to a bailout of home foreclosures. Don't wait, do it now before it's too late!

John McCain is in a jovial mood these days. When he's not advocating adding more troops for the meatgrinder in Iraq, he's calling for Iran to be bombed to the tune of the Beach Boy's song, "Barbara Ann."
He now says he was just kidding.
Drats! I thought he and the rest of the Republicans were already whipped into a frenzy about Iran and we'd have ourselves another war!
We'd bomb the ---- out of 'em, right back to the stone age.
Bomb them, bomb them and then bomb them some more.
Bring back "Big Mo" the battleship and fire thousands of rounds of rapid-fire salvos to the tune of the song "Sink the Bismarck".
We'd show that rat-faced president of Iran a thing or two about bombing as only we can...

The NRA has issued a statement on its website.
In addition to expressing its condolences to the families, it states,
"We will not have further comment until all the facts are known."
I see.
In the meantime, you can read the one of its lead stories entitled, "Pro-Gun Laws Marching through Texas Leglistature!" (No surprises there) Upon clicking on it you'll be pleased to know Texans are now closer to being able to drive with their guns in their vehicles without a concealed weapons permit. I'm relieved to know that because I'm sure the founding fathers intended that we all would have the right tp bear arms in our cars.
Thank God the NRA is standing up for our rights!...

Without replying to your post as it stands, I'll take up one small issue:
"we live in a gated community...illuminated by powerful street lights."
US Department of Justice in their 1998 study: "There is no statistical evidence that street lighting deters crime"
I live near a non-gated community of single family homes approximately 40 miles north of LA. The latter has no street lighting with the possible exception of a few ornamental globes, and has little, if any, crime.
Overpopulation, poverty and drug abuse produces most of the problems noted in your post. As far as you've described it, no further comment...