Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America by Scott Ritter
Senior law enforcement officials say Leung, who became a prominent fundraiser for the Republican Party, was never questioned seriously before Mueller's order was issued [in late 2001].What are the chances that, like they did when they told John O'Neill to stop investigating the Bin Ladens, the Bush administration told the FBI not to investigate someone who was raising a bunch of money for them? After all, Republicans don't "investigate" their donors unless they crumble to pieces, taking their employees life saving with them. Nope. Instead they give them billion dollar contracts to rebuild what they just got rich blowing up, without bidding... Halliburton. Enron. Katrina Leung. And, sadly, not enough people will care in the swing states to stop this guy from getting another four years.
"today [sic] my father and brother went out to see what happening in the city, they say that it does look that the hits were very precise but when the missiles and bombs explode they wreck havoc in the neighborhood where they fall. Houses near al-salam palace(where the minister Sahaf took journalist) have had all their windows broke, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in. I guess that is what is called “collateral damage” and that makes it OK?" — Salam Pax, from Baghdad, in his Blog, Where is Raed?
...in a Feb. 26 debate in the British Parliament, George Galloway, a Labor Party backbencher from Scotland, declared that "that born-again, right-wing, Bible-belting, fundamentalist Republican Administration in the United States want war." — from Bush, the Bible, and Iraq by Stan Crock of BusinessWeek
"But in the name of peace and the security of our people, if he won't do so voluntarily, we will disarm him, and other nations will join him — join us in disarming him." — WOther nations will join him. Well, of course they will, because the one thing Karl Rove (Bush's Brain) has calculated is that W won't get re-elected unless there is a war actually going on during the election in 2004. Oh, and if you'd like to see what actual reporting looks like, by a guy who works for a non-profit news organization, check out Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
Just in case you were wondering, yes, the NFPA gave almost all of its political donations to Republicans, and gave HEAVILY to Bush. The listeria outbreak in question made it to public schools while the Bushies hid the recall for two weeks. Don't believe me? Read all about it in the lawsuit against Wampler Foods. Oh, and if Bush has his way, this lawsuit will be limited, because he thinks getting sued when you kill people is bad for bidness."A number of key [USDA] personnel have bought into much of the industry proposal.... [The rules were weakened because of] industry efforts made at the White House level." — National Food Processors Association newsletter, November 11, 2002
"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion ... and you allow him to make war at pleasure. ...If today he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us,' but he would say to you, 'Be silent.: I see it if you don't.'" — Abraham Lincoln
"Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." — Abraham Lincoln, in an 1864 Letter
"We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and other generations." — Resident Bush, 2003 State of the Union Address
"Instead of surpluses, we now face a period of budget deficits.... The re-emergence of deficits is not welcome news." — Resident Bush's 2004 Budget
"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."—Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, as reported Dec. 6 in ABC News' political Weblog, The Note.
"I want to tell you, ladies and gentleman, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches."—Strom Thurmond, then-governor of South Carolina, in a speech from his 1948 "Dixiecrat" presidential campaign.
The NRA's traditional call for strict compliance with existing laws suggests it would favor tough enforcement. In fact, the opposite is true. For years, the gun lobby has fought to weaken enforcement by adding loopholes to gun-control laws, while undercutting efforts to keep guns from criminals and crack down on lawbreaking dealers. Consider:more
* Punishing dealers. The Tacoma gun shop that once owned the sniper rifle has a history of sloppy record keeping, according to The Seattle Times. Two years ago, the shop could not account for 150 guns, as required by law, but it kept on doing business. Now investigative sources say a federal inspection has found that another 100 guns are missing from the shop, which raises the risk that guns are falling into the hands of criminals.
Such lax monitoring can be traced to a 1986 NRA-backed law that hampers the ability of federal authorities to inspect dealers and prosecute violators. The measure limited inspections of shops to once a year, reduced penalties for dealers who failed to keep proper sales records and added new burdens on prosecutors bringing criminal charges. That helps explain why in 1999 federal agents found 21,000 guns missing from dealer inventories, but revoked just 20 licenses.
* Barring sales. A 2000 court order in Washington state barred Muhammad from harassing his then-estranged wife and children -- an order that would prevent him from legally buying a gun. A 1994 federal law forbids the sale of firearms to individuals who are subject to such restraining orders. Yet, if the NRA had its way, even that protection would be gutted. It unsuccessfully tried to kill the 1994 measure, which expanded the list of those barred from buying guns to include stalkers or harassers under court ''stay away'' orders.
* Tracking guns. Last week, after investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) spent days combing the Tacoma gun store for records of the sniper weapon, the dealer belatedly filed a report saying that the $1,600 rifle was stolen between July and October. The dealer had not noticed that the rifle was missing until agents asked about the gun found in Muhammad's car, the Tacoma News Tribune reported.
Little wonder the BATF didn't investigate the shop sooner. With 500 inspectors to regulate 64,000 dealers, the agency has trouble ensuring that sellers keep better track of guns, and the NRA has worked to keep it that way. For two decades, it has sought to undermine the BATF's authority, cut its budget and damage its reputation. In a 1995 fundraising letter to supporters, for instance, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called BATF agents ''jackbooted thugs'' bent on harassing law-abiding gun owners.
Some Democrats are “willing to do anything to try to prevent the president of the United States from having the basic authority he needs to deal with a dangerous threat to the American people, but Democrats need to be careful what they call for. They’re liable to get it.” -- Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)