Politics or Poppycock

A Look From the Left At Politics, Politicians, Policies and Issues of National Concern

Archive for June 17th, 2008

‘Yesterday’s Man’ Leaves Europe

Posted by James O'Rourke on June 17, 2008

 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
President Bush concluded his farewell journey through Europe in Belfast, Northern Ireland yesterday with attempts at rapprochement with leaders throughout the continent. ”[L]ots has changed” since 2003, London School of Economics international relations professor Michael Cox noted. While Bush enjoyed warmer relations with Germany, Italy, and France — mainly due to leadership changes in those countries — most Europeans, like many Americans, are suffering from “Bush fatigue,” as they are looking forward to the next president and “will be glad to see the back” of Bush. Anti-American sentiment in Europe runs high as a result of Bush’s leadership. A recent poll by London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper found that “[m]ore people in France, Germany and Britain view the United States as a ‘force for evil‘ than good in the world.” And despite Bush’s seeming friendly relationship with conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany’s leading news source Der Spiegel reported last week that “senior politicians from Merkel’s ruling grand coalition as well as from opposition parties have done away with diplomatic niceties, seizing on Bush’s farewell visit to express their aversion to the president who remains vilified in Germany for launching the Iraq war.”   Read the rest of this entry »

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To be a Republican you need to believe:

Posted by James O'Rourke on June 17, 2008

1.  Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2.  Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s Daddy made war on him , a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

3.  Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4.  The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N.  resolutions against Iraq .

5.  A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6.  The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

7.  If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex. 

8.  A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9.  Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism.  HMO’s and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10.  Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11.  A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12.  Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet .

13.  The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of our business.

14.  Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host.  Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

15.  Supporting “Executive Privilege” for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16.  What Bill Clinton did in the 1960′s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80′s is irrelevant.

17.  Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

 

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Report Questions Pentagon Accounts

Posted by James O'Rourke on June 17, 2008

Officials Looked Into Interrogation Methods Early On
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Military lawyers raised strong concerns about interrogation methods a month before then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld approved them. (By J. Scott Applewhite — Associated Press)

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 17, 2008; Page A01

A Senate investigation has concluded that top Pentagon officials began assembling lists of harsh interrogation techniques in the summer of 2002 for use on detainees at Guantanamo Bay and that those officials later cited memos from field commanders to suggest that the proposals originated far down the chain of command, according to congressional sources briefed on the findings.

The sources said that memos and other evidence obtained during the inquiry show that officials in the office of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld started to research the use of waterboarding, stress positions, sensory deprivation and other practices in July 2002, months before memos from commanders at the detention facility in Cuba requested permission to use those measures on suspected terrorists. Read the rest of this entry »

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