one more year..

[TailgateNut]

...and the nightmare known by many as GWB will be over. Let the countdown begin.!Booya!

[Spider]

1 more year and the asswipe is unemployed

[TailgateNut]

1 more year and the asswipe is unemployed


Unemployed maybe, but definately reaping the rewards for screwing us in the keester! He and the evil one (Cheney) will be taken care of by all those mega-companies who profited from their dictatorship!

[alkemical]

He'll still get a pension

[TailgateNut]

He'll still get a pension

That's "chump change" compared to what the "recipients of his good will" will contribute!

[alkemical]

That's "chump change" compared to what the "recipients of his good will" will contribute!

I'm just pointing out that we still will have to pay for it, no matter what!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TailgateNut]

I'm just pointing out that we still will have to pay for it, no matter what!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'd rather give him a check for doing nothing, than to pay him for what he has done over the past 7 years!

[Spider]

Yeah I know all of this , nothing we can do about it , just happy the Son of a bitch wont be in charge anymore .......

[alkemical]

I'd rather give him a check for doing nothing, than to pay him for what he has done over the past 7 years!

Well, you are going to get your wish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

[TailgateNut]

Well, you are going to get your wish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

Good Job!;)

[baja]

There are rumors afoot that Bush and Bowlen are in early negotiations for him and Ashcroft to buy the Broncos, I sure hope this is no true.....

[Rohirrim]

That snake still has some venom in him. I'll wait.

[cutthemdown]

whats the over under in years before you all hate the next president just as much?

[alkemical]

years? ****, i don't need more than a day.

[baja]

I already hate the next president ;D

[alkemical]

You know though, it's interesting to see whom the next president will be. I want to know what Americans see themselves as.

[TailgateNut]

whats the over under in years before you all hate the next president just as much?


As Much? I doubt that'll be possible for me. Bush takes the cake!

He is IMO, and in my lifetime, THE WORST!

[Spider]

whats the over under in years before you all hate the next president just as much?

I already dislike em ..... but I have never hated a president as much as I hate Bush ...... and I lived through the Carter years

[alkemical]

I already dislike em ..... but I have never hated a president as much as I hate Bush ...... and I lived through the Carter years

Oh we know you liked billy beer.

[TailgateNut]

I already dislike em ..... but I have never hated a president as much as I hate Bush ...... and I lived through the Carter years


The next President regardless of party affiliation will have his/her ****-ups. That's a given, considering the position. But if we were to EVER get another Bushlike president, I will consider moving to Canada.

364 days and a wake up!

[alkemical]

The next President regardless of party affiliation will have his/her ****-ups. That's a given, considering the position. But if we were to EVER get another Bushlike president, I will consider moving to Canada.

364 days and a wake up!

I dunno, depending on who might be in bed next to me, waking up sucks too

[TailgateNut]

I dunno, depending on who might be in bed next to me, waking up sucks too


Don't drag "things" home from the bar after a long night of drinking!:wiggle:

[Spider]

Oh we know you liked billy beer.

LOL peanut picking slush Billy Carter .....

[alkemical]

Don't drag "things" home from the bar after a long night of drinking!:wiggle:

Damn billy beer!

[Meck77]

one more year....4 more years of the same

We need to elect someone who isn't willing to take orders from the same group of people who've been calling the shots for decades.

Wake up America.

[TailgateNut]

Kill the lobbyists and toss out any senator/ congressman who takes any contribution from special interests. PERIOD!

[TheDave]

Like who?... RP?

If different is the only goal here maybe we should get behind "The Impaler"

[TailgateNut]

Like who?... RP?

If different is the only goal here maybe we should get behind "The Impaler"


Whaaaat?

[Meck77]

You know Dave everyone has an opinion of what is different. Some people make abortion their biggest concern. Some people want to marry men and they are willing to die fighting that.

Me personally I'm tired of our financial markets being manipulated and am looking for some real change there. I think other things will fall into place if we can make some sense of our Federal Reserve system, Our tax system, and maybe where our military is shipped off to.

Our country is in fact going bankrupt and people are profiting on in via our federal government.

We need to take some bold steps.

[TheDave]

You know Dave everyone has an opinion of what is different. Some people make abortion their biggest concern. Some people want to marry men and they are willing to die fighting that.

Me personally I'm tired of our financial markets being manipulated and am looking for some real change there. I think other things will fall into place if we can make some sense of our Federal Reserve system, Our tax system, and maybe where our military is shipped off to.

Our country is in fact going bankrupt and people are profiting on in via our federal government.

We need to take some bold steps.

The problem is, his ideas are poorly thought out and WAY to drastic to be any kind of help.

Abolishing the Fed is suicide in todays global business climate...

Creating "competiting currencies" would create 10X the problems it solves...

Moving to the Gold Standard is 100% impossible...

It is funny that Obama is called hollow and is considered to be a disaster in the making, but the same people will prop up RP as a savior to this country. RP's ideas are about as poorly thought out as any i have heard. They are completely impractical and impossible to implement. IMO that is the definition of change for the sake of change.

[Meck77]

Dave we are on a dead end path as it is.

Are you watching the news? Are you paying attention? Do you realize our banks are controlled by foreign interests as it is? Do you see the little bit about CitiGroup being purchased by Kuwait? Do you realize that the price of oil is being manipulated? Do you realize we could produce it cheaper here in America? Do you realize it would be devastating to our economy if the price of oil actually drops?

How long can we continue on this path of "Stability".

I must be a nut job flying my sig in protest of eminent domain. Sorry but it kinda bugs me when the government has the ability to steal land and hand it over to a third party to make money on.

This is just one example of the path our country is heading down. Like I said this time it's Meck. Next time it will be one of you guys or one of your family members.

Every God damn dollar we are printing out to prop this country up is making others rich and it's not the common man in America like us.

[alkemical]

http://jitcrunch.cafepress.com/jitcrunch.aspx?bG9hZD1ibGFuayxibGFuazo5MF9GLmpwZ3x sb2FkPUwwLGh0dHA6Ly9pbWFnZXMuY2FmZXByZXNzLmNvbS9pb WFnZS85MzYyMjc0XzQwMHg0MDAuanBnfHxzY2FsZT1MMCwzOTA sMTMwLFdoaXRlfGNvbXBvc2U9YmxhbmssTDAsQWRkLDQ1LDE3N Xxsb2FkPW1hc2ssYmxhbms6OTBfRl9tYXNrLmpwZ3xjb21wb3N lPWJsYW5rLG1hc2ssTWFzaywwLDB8Y3A9cmVzdWx0LGJsYW5rf HNjYWxlPXJlc3VsdCwwLDQ4MCxXaGl0ZXxjb21wcmVzc2lvbj0 5NXw=

[TheDave]

Dave we are on a dead end path as it is.

Are you watching the news? Are you paying attention? Do you realize our banks are controlled by foreign interests as it is? Do you see the little bit about CitiGroup being purchased by Kuwait? Do you realize that the price of oil is being manipulated? Do you realize we could produce it cheaper here in America? Do you realize it would be devastating to our economy if the price of oil actually drops?

How long can we continue on this path of "Stability".

I must be a nut job flying my sig in protest of eminent domain. Sorry but it kinda bugs me when the government has the ability to steal land and hand it over to a third party to make money on.

This is just one example of the path our country is heading down. Like I said this time it's Meck. Next time it will be one of you guys or one of your family members.

Every God damn dollar we are printing out to prop this country up is making others rich off of and it's not the common man in America like us.

Meck, I understand that emanate domain has screwed with your world. Hell every post in this section seems to end with a rant on it. I'm sorry for that... I really am. But if you think Government is a problem when it comes to real estate you have no idea what well healed developers, banks, and a couple of lawyers can do. Land grabs have been going on for centuries... RP isn't going to stop it.

Again saying you want change is simply not enough... RP's ideas are impossible to implement. You might as well vote for Mother Goose. In order to change things you must have an idea AND a practical plan to implement it. HE HAS NO WAY TO IMPLEMENT ANY OF HIS PLANS...

[TheDave]

http://jitcrunch.cafepress.com/jitcrunch.aspx?bG9hZD1ibGFuayxibGFuazo5MF9GLmpwZ3x sb2FkPUwwLGh0dHA6Ly9pbWFnZXMuY2FmZXByZXNzLmNvbS9pb WFnZS85MzYyMjc0XzQwMHg0MDAuanBnfHxzY2FsZT1MMCwzOTA sMTMwLFdoaXRlfGNvbXBvc2U9YmxhbmssTDAsQWRkLDQ1LDE3N Xxsb2FkPW1hc2ssYmxhbms6OTBfRl9tYXNrLmpwZ3xjb21wb3N lPWJsYW5rLG1hc2ssTWFzaywwLDB8Y3A9cmVzdWx0LGJsYW5rf HNjYWxlPXJlc3VsdCwwLDQ4MCxXaGl0ZXxjb21wcmVzc2lvbj0 5NXw=

Might as well... LOL

[alkemical]

Might as well... LOL

Dave, here are the platforms:

http://www.cthulhu.org/cthulhu/positions.html

I have received a few inquiries about the Great Cthulhu's platform, and so I have attempted to answer all such questions. If you have any questions please send them to the policy and platform committee (policies AT cthulhu DOT org), or send suggestions for stances if you have any.

Q) What is your candidates stand on abortion? Will it/he/she merely outlaw human life itself and thus end the issue?

A) The Great Cthulhu cares little for mortal affairs and mortal politics. However, as a presidential candidate, it must take a stand. Cthulhu is, therefore, pro-choice because it cares little for what you do. However, it's in favor of keeping humans alive, so that it can taunt and toy with them before they go insane and it eats them.

Q) What is the canidate's position on campaign finances?

A) Cthulhu accepts any donation which a citizen wishes to make. It doesn't oppose contributions from organizations, conglomerates, or conspiracies. In fact, it accepts any and all types of financial assistance or other donations. Preferably, large quantities of currency will be sent along with human brains,other donated organs, or your first born.

Q)We were wondering what great Cthulhu's stance was on foreign policy/ foreign aid?

A) The Great Cthulhu views our foreign neighbors as equals to the United States. It encourages trade in all forms, including slave trade, child trafficking, and it will continue to give Primary Trading Partner status to the country which sells the most children worldwide. Cthulhu will provide support to those countries which do not commit any of the following acts:

* Population control. The more humans alive, the more for it to toy with, drive insane, or puree.
* Genocide: See above.
* Captial Punishment: See above.

Q)What would the Great Leader's position be on the U.S. Military? Would we see a shift away from cooperative multi-lateralism with the United Nations? How does the Great Leader feel about nuclear weapons?

A) Our future leader would ban a standing U.S. Military. Cthulhu does not feel that humans should have the privilege oo killing other humans, it reserves that right to itself.
The Great Cthulhu's solution to the United Nations will be to eat all current U.N. delegates. It will then build the U.U.N. (Unilateral United Nations)
Our Great Leader is greatly opposed to nuclear weapons in the possession of others, because the melting of human flesh, and mass destruction, are not mortal rights.

Q) What is Great Cthulhu's position on obvious cult fronts (such as Microsoft, Lego and most gaming companies); will he/she/it treat them as previous administrations have? (i.e. pretend they don't exist or support them/crack down on them) Also and more important will he treat all cultists equally, or give his particular thrill kill cultists preference leaving (for example) shub-****urath disciples such as Clarence Thomas and Bob Packwood out in the cold?

A) Good question. Within the first 100 days of its reign, the Great Cthulhu pledges to destroy the following cults:

* Disney.
* Mass Media.
* Yuppies.
* Kentucky Fried Chicken.
* People who use the phrase "information superhighway".

Cthulhu cultists will be given the following priveleges:

* They will die last.

Q) What solution does your candidate have for the problem of massive overspending by the government on the poor and elderly. Does he have a way to free up this money for other important projects, like going to mars or building big guns.

A) The Great Cthulhu's solution to massive overspending by the government on the weak, will be to go right to the heart of the problem, by destroying the elderly, poor, and clinically insane. It does not need a big gun, and Mars will be eaten immediately following Earth's demise.

Q)My roommate, being a concientious citizen of the US, would like to know who wil l The Illustrious One's running mate be. And how will he solve the national deb t. I've told him, debt will no longer be a concern for his merely mortal mind t o ponder. Now, my concern, as a citizen of a foriegn country, how will Cthulhu rule my country as well. Please see to it that It is given more money for bombs and other implements of destruction. Will Cthulhu use psychic powers to drive u s all mad, or must a study be made of this?

As of yet, the almighty Cthulhu has not chosen a running mate. If you feel you know a good candidate, or perhaps you've eaten one lately, please submit your candidate suggestions to: runningmate AT cthulhu DOT org

As stated above, Cthulhu will treat all countries in the same manner as it treats the United States. No study will be needed, since to merely gaze upon it is insanity itself.

Q) What is the candidates stand on welfare? I think all of the bums should be eaten by mister cthulhu.

A) You are wise. You will be eaten second to last.

Q)How will Cthulhu deal with a strongly bipartisan Congress? How does Cthulhu plan to deal with the budget deficit? Has Cthulhu yet chosen a running mate? If so, who is it, and from whence did it come? Given that the candidate is now dead and dreaming in the Pacific, what measures will be taken to speed its awakening should it be elected president?

A) Cthulhu will have no problem dealing with Congress, as they will be the first to be eaten. The budget deficit will shrink drastically once Cthulhu cuts unnecessary spendings like Defense, Welfare and Social Security. Mass support of Cthulhu will raise the its awareness of the need to take control of our suffering country, and should lead to its return. The Great Cthulhu will awaken in time to take its presidential oath.

Q) Just what does Cthulhu think of the institution in corporate America known as the "power lunch"? Out here in California, it is often held at a Japanese restaurant and features sashimi (raw fish), tempura-fried vegetables, teriyaki chicken or beef, tonkatsu (a type of breaded pork chop) and/or sushi. Would it continue to be deductible under the IRS regulations if he were elected?

A) The Great Cthulhu is opposed to any an other such institutions. They sound way too nice. Anyone caught committing such a henious act will suffer multiple seconds of torture before being destroyed.

Q)If Great Cthulhu becomes president, we obviously would all go mad. Do we get to choose which particular pathological condition we are blessed with, or does the big C just roll a d100 and we get what we're given? Also: He's been dead but dreaming for quite a bit of time now. What's to say He's not going to be a bit sleepy when he wakes up? I mean, how's a Priest of the Old Ones supposed to destroy a world effectively if He's half-asleep for goodness sake?!

A) The Great Cthulhu will not give humans that kind of decision over their own fate. They are far too weak to be able to handle that kind of pressure. Ever notice how your potential for destruction increases when your in that state? This will only enhance Cthulhu's domestic policy.

Q) How does the Great Old One stand on the testing of nuclear weapons?

A) As long as Cthulhu does all the testing, it's a-okay.

Q)What about redundancy pay?

A) The Great Cthulhu will see to it that those receiving redundancy pay will suffer greatly, well, more so than normal.

Q)Will he, as president, go jogging? (what a nasty thought!)

A) The Great Cthulhu is in perfect health, and due to its high metabolism and steady diet of human flesh, has no pathetic human need for exercise. In fact, those humans caught jogging with be destroyed immediately.

Q) Pornography

A) Well since that isn't actually a question, Cthulhu is taking the stance that it will not read anything, just look at the pictures.

[baja]

Meck, I understand that emanate domain has screwed with your world. Hell every post in this section seems to end with a rant on it. I'm sorry for that... I really am. But if you think Government is a problem when it comes to real estate you have no idea what well healed developers, banks, and a couple of lawyers can do. Land grabs have been going on for centuries... RP isn't going to stop it.

Again saying you want change is simply not enough... RP's ideas are impossible to implement. You might as well vote for Mother Goose. In order to change things you must have an idea AND a practical plan to implement it. HE HAS NO WAY TO IMPLEMENT ANY OF HIS PLANS...

A vote for Paul is a vote for returning to a government for the people this is the value of Ron Paul regardless of your valid objections. I would not be surprised to see an alternate party evolving out of the Ron Paul movement, might be called the Constitutionalist Party.

[TheDave]

A vote for Paul is a vote for returning to a government for the people this is the value of Ron Paul regardless of your valid objections. I would not be surprised to see an alternate party evolving out of the Ron Paul movement, might be called the Constitutionalist Party.

i hope you are right about that... but if it did not happen with Ross Perot why will it happen now?

[baja]

Way different times Dave.

[baja]

Ro's quote says it best, "Nothing is as powerful as an idea who's time has come.

[TheDave]

Way different times Dave.

We differ in opinion there i see a lot amout of similiarities between 92' and today...

[baja]

We differ in opinion there i see a lot amout of similiarities between 92' and today...

I thought about that difference after I hit submit reply. ;D

keep watching the news roll in Dave you'll come around. ;D

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

whats the over under in years before you all hate the next president just as much?

What was the over/under in minutes before you showed up on this thread to deflect for GeeDubya?

[ak1971]

Like who?... RP?

If different is the only goal here maybe we should get behind "The Impaler"

WOOO HOOO!!:thumbs:

[Spider]

We differ in opinion there i see a lot amout of similiarities between 92' and today...

««««««««««««««« Ross Perot voter here , but if you tell anyone about that , I will tell everyone about your pink thong

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5369/ffathersremedy2ai6.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

As Much? I doubt that'll be possible for me. Bush takes the cake!

He is IMO, and in my lifetime, THE WORST!

http://www.bartcop.com/sticker-wheelchairz.jpg

[Dead Head]

Yeah I know all of this , nothing we can do about it , just happy the Son of a b**** wont be in charge anymore .......

Why do you have to bag on his family and call his mother a bitch? LOL. You should leave families out of it.

[Spider]

Why do you have to bag on his family and call his mother a b****? LOL. You should leave families out of it.

ROFL! desperation .... His Mother is a b**** .....

[TailgateNut]

363 days and counting, unless we impeach the bastard!

[Rohirrim]

363 days and counting, unless we impeach the bastard!

As the stock markets around the world are telling us today, Dubya has already done his damage. He rides away in a limo and a lifetime multi-millionaire pension, we get to clean up his ****.

[TailgateNut]

As the stock markets around the world are telling us today, Dubya has already done his damage. He rides away in a limo and a lifetime multi-millionaire pension, we get to clean up his ****.


He's a damn criminal! Worse than 50% of the white collar criminals currently serving time.
He needs to be IMPEACHED, JAILED and then upon completion of his sentence sent to live in exile!

[alkemical]

wow, you guys are nicer than i am. Good think i'm not in charge.

[broncocalijohn]

He's a damn criminal! Worse than 50% of the white collar criminals currently serving time.
He needs to be IMPEACHED, JAILED and then upon completion of his sentence sent to live in exile!

I was thinking Oakland but that might be too harsh.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://www.bartcop.com/big-board.jpg

[TailgateNut]

362 days and a wake up!:thumbsup:

[broncocalijohn]

The next President regardless of party affiliation will have his/her ****-ups. That's a given, considering the position. But if we were to EVER get another Bushlike president, I will consider moving to Canada.

364 days and a wake up!

So many say it but very few (including the bleeding hearts in Hollywood) actually do it. I know one who did. My crazy, never holds down a job, suck on my Daddy's money, communist Aunt. She actually moved there and of course my Grandfather bought her a house. Funny thing is that she never became a citizen and works on campaigns for any and all liberals. She even flew to Ohio for the ballot counting "fiasco". So, it is now Canada's problem they have her........ again! She was born there but only lived there for a few years.

[spdirty]

The death of Heath Ledger prompted the White House to postpone President Bush's event Wednesday promoting an ad campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.


Ledger, 28, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," was found dead Tuesday in his New York apartment. There were sleeping pills near him, but the cause of his death remains under investigation.


The president was to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse. A federally financed study released in December at the White House showed illicit drug use by teens continued to gradually decline overall this year, but the use of prescription painkillers remained popular among young people.


White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's event had been scheduled for a while.


"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," she said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2008/01/23/national/w074422S09.DTL

what a spineless twit.

[Hogan11]

...and the nightmare known by many as GWB will be over. Let the countdown begin.!Booya!

Wayyy ahead of you Nut

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showpost.php?p=1172624&postcount=212

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Wayyy ahead of you Nut

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showpost.php?p=1172624&postcount=212

That's awesome, dude. :thumbsup:

[TailgateNut]

Wayyy ahead of you Nut

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showpost.php?p=1172624&postcount=212


Great job. Post that sucker each and every day until the Idiot gets the BOOT!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Bush at Dead End

Last Friday, President George Bush called for a $150 billion dollar stimulus package to “jump start” America’s flagging economy. The problem, he assured his viewers, was temporary.

“I'm optimistic about our economic future,” said the President, “because Americans have shown time and again that they are the most industrious, creative, and enterprising people in the world. That is what has made our economy strong. That is what will make it stronger in the challenging times ahead.”

What was the reaction of the U.S. and the rest of the world to those rousing words from the head of the world’s most powerful nation?

Stock markets tanked across the globe. Tuesday’s historic rate cut by the Federal Reserve has temporarily staunched the bloodletting, but no one believes the crisis is over.

Right now, in Europe we are waiting to learn if markets will plunge even further.

This is not to pin the melt-down on Bush alone. (More on that later.) But the fact is that the international prestige of an American President, his ability to reassure jittery investors around the world—never mind his own country--has never been lower.

From the start, Bush’s vacuous promises and pigheaded policies—at home and abroad—have turned out to be miserable failures, bringing only disaster in their wake.

Why give any credence to this latest White House initiative?

In just about ever arena, from its attempts to sabotage the U.S. constitution, to intervene across the Middle East and Central Asia, the Bush administration has reached a dead end.

Bush and Cheney used the vague fear of terrorism to themselves terrorize the American public and a supine congress to go along as the administration subverted what we once thought were some of America’s most basic tenets. We are at the point where Americans actually debate the pros and cons of secret prisons, torture, rendition, and unauthorized electronic eavesdropping. And the administration coolly looks the other way as the CIA destroys inconvenient evidence of its brutal acts.

You can be sure that if such ruthless policies had led to any major intelligence breakthroughs they would have been trumpeted by the White House. If they weren’t it’s because they led nowhere. A dead end they has corroded America’s image around the world.

Meanwhile, obsessed with the threat of terrorism, the Bush administration refused to deal with the growing crisis in health care and dismissed—until just very recently and very reluctantly—the threat of global warming.

It refused to act to curtail the corrupt and fraudulent lending practices that ballooned into the sub prime loan crisis, which, more than any other factor, has precipitated the world wide stock market meltdown.

Though bringing about peace in the Middle East and promoting democracy in the region was supposedly central to the Administrations war against terrorism, here also Bush is at a dead end.

No sooner had Bush left Egypt last week than President Mubarak jailed more of his opponents.

Once Bush had left Israel, the Israelis killed more Palestinians in Gaza and instituted a ruthless embargo. The idea was that somehow by throttling 1,500,000 men women and children in Gaza, cutting off their electricity, threatening their supplies of food and medicines, that would bring an end to the primitive rocket attacks against Israel from Palestinian militants.

Those tactics, as scores of commentators, including many Israeli hardliners, have pointed out, are also dead-end, doomed to failure. They will generate only more hatred among the Palestinians, doing nothing to resolve the underlying problems.

Indeed, the tactics of the U.S. and Israel attempting to isolate and destroy Hamas in Gaza are as sterile and futile as America’s strategy across the region.

Nothing was more pointless and tragic than Bush’s invasion of Iraq. The much vaunted surge of American troops has tamped down violence, but ethnic and religious fury smolder just under the surface. Iraq is prostrate Despite the enormous waste of lives and resources, the country’s leaders are still at each others throats. With American troops still there, they have no reason to work out a settlement. Now some of those leaders estimate that American soldiers will have to be stationed there for at least another decade. And then what?

Bush last week announced the U.S. would sell 20 billion dollars worth of sophisticated arms to his great friends, the Saudis, for their on going support. (as long as they’re not asked too forcefully to reduce the price of petroleum) of such policies.

Ironically, the Saudi Royal Family, this pillar of U.S. policy in the Middle East, are divided within their own ranks. Fearful of their own armed forces, the Royal family has fostered another power, the National Guard, to protect the Royal Family from any eventual upheavals the army might decide to support. For similar reasons, access to those high performance jets the U.S. has supplied the Saudis over the years is also strictly limited. Only Saudi pilots who have undergone rigorous loyalty tests are stationed within flying range of the capital Riyadh.

Meanwhile, another great U.S. ally, Pervez Musharaff is currently touring Europe, attempting to convince heads of state here that he’s really still on top of things back in Pakistan, despite the fact that his domestic popularity figures at home are lower than even those of President Bush.

His own country is being torn apart by the disastrous conflict in neighboring Afghanistan which has spilled over the borders.

Afghanistan is another dead end.

The Taliban, once roundly defeated in are now revived and threatening major centers. America is dispatching thousands of troops to back up NATO forces, that the U.S. Secretary of Defense recently implied weren’t up to the task. British Defense Minister, Des Browne announced that the British forces could remain there for “decades” to come.

But for what? For what are British and Canadian and German and Dutch and French forces fighting and dying in the forlorn reaches of Afghanistan?

So that, we are told, Afghanistan will not become once again a training ground for international terrorism threatening the West--the justification given for U.S. intervention in much of the world these days.

But, as William Pfaff pointed out in a recent column, for a number of reasons the justification makes no sense. “The first is that terrorists and guerrillas need a “training ground.” Why? The suicide bomber needs motivation and nerve, but training is wasted on him or her. The bomb-maker can learn the techniques of bomb-making and the characteristics of explosives on the internet, and buy the ingredients locally…

“A farm in the Midlands or Scotland (or better yet, Utah!) serves nicely as a training ground on which to do your physical training exercises. In the evening, after prayers, you can sit around the farm kitchen table and listen to ideological lectures. Or you can do the same thing in a city apartment. All Britain’s bombers thus far, so far as I know, were British-bred.”

What is going on in Afghanistan is a convoluted battle of shifting alliances, tribes and warlords. “None have the slightest interest in Britain, other than to be left alone (or put into power) by NATO.” Says Pfaff.

It’s a conflict that has been raging for decades, fed by the arms and interests of the U.S. and Afghans neighbors, all intent on maintaining their influence in the region. One would have thought, after their disastrous experience of aiding Al Qaeda and other Muslim extremist groups to attack the Soviet occupiers in the eighties, the U.S. would have learned its lesson in Afghanistan. Not so.

Though the U.S. and its Nato allies are intent on preventing “radical” powers from taking over, what their intervention is doing is only further radicalizing the situation. If that sounds familiar, it is. It’s what the U.S. has been doing all over the globe for decades.

What should be done in Afghanistan? Says Pfaff, “To do what can be done in the way of peaceful reconstruction is one thing. To perpetuate foreign war on the pretext that Afghanistan in Taliban hands threatens the NATO powers is grotesque. The only serious response is NATO promotion of negotiations among the contending Afghan groups and their immediate neighbors. That would leave the future in their hands, where it should be.”

Indeed, what is so remarkable, so appalling, is that so much of the havoc that the U.S. and its allies have wreaked around the globe is based on doctrines, accepted as gospel, but which, in fact, are full of holes.

Take Bush’s signature War on Terrorism. The idea that Al Qaeda is some kind of monolithic evil force with tentacles reaching around the world that the U.S. and its allies can actually do battle against bears no relation to reality. The various revolutionary groups and movements and popular fronts and rebel armies that are lumped together as “terrorist” organizations “linked to Al Qaeda” are each caught up in their own conflicts, against their own local enemies, each with their own local aims.

The only reason for such groups to take violent action against the U.S. is when the U.S. joins forces with the—often repressive—local regimes they are battling.

Most ironic, is the havoc that Bush’s policies have wreaked on the readiness of America’s own armed forces. Tom Dispatch quotes from a recent editorial in Aviation Week & Space Technology :
"The fact Washington must face is that nearly five years of war have left U.S. forces worse off than they have been in a generation, yes, since Vietnam, and restoring them will take budget-building unlike any in the past."

These criticisms of what passes for U.S. strategy are not at all new. Experts have been making them for years. Yet, somehow, the illogical, dead end policies that have been driving the Bush administration have taken on a life of their own. Most of the candidates in the primaries—even the democrats--are fearful of questioning them—just as the question of immigration, gay marriage and abortion have become politically radioactive.

The great danger is they will continue to guide American policy even after Bush has gone.

http://barrylando.com/

[TailgateNut]

360 days and a wake up, unless the truths are revealed and he's put on trial!

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

...unless the truths are revealed and he's put on trial!

The truths have been revealed - time and time again - and Smirky McFlightsuit still hasn't been put on trail or called to account in any way, shape or form.

I'd love to see it happen - it needs to happen if we are to have any hope of getting our country back - but I'm afraid the same people who have gotten fat off Dim Son's policies over the past seven years will make sure AWOL Boy rides off into the sunset unimpeded.

[TailgateNut]

359 days unless my wishes are answered prior to that day of celebration!

[broncocalijohn]

TGN, are riding this thread of yours everyday like NPN? When you post the countdown everyday, it feels like the calendar is as fast as molasses.