New Quaker Notebook

"I want justice. And there's an old poster out West ... I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'" (CNN, September 17, 2001.)

"And, again, I don't know where he is. I—I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him." (President Bush Holds Press Conference, March 13, 2002.)

"Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice." (President's Address to the Nation, September 11, 2006.)

"This thing about ... let's put 100,000 of our special forces stomping through Pakistan in order to find bin Laden is just simply not the strategy that will work." (Weekly Standard, September 13, 2006.)

Bush on bin Laden: "I will screw him in the ass!" (AlterNet, February 20, 2007; Haaretz.com, February 22, 2007.)

"Why is he at large? Because we haven't got him yet. That's why. And he's hiding. And we're looking." (AFP/Raw Story, May 24, 2007.)

It's Time for That Third Party

Vote Alert: Dick Cheney Dems Plan to Hide Votes On Iraq
Working For Change
May 24, 2007

Today is the day House Democrats are expected to vote on Iraq—except, news out of Washington this morning says the leadership has come up with a nifty little trick to try to prevent the public from seeing who voted for giving Bush a blank check, and who voted against it. If you thought Democrats were behaving like cowards by caving into a President at a three-decade low in presidential polling and giving him the very blank check they explicitly promised not to give him during the 2006 election, you ain't seen nothing yet. We are watching the rise of the Dick Cheney Democrats—that is, the rise of Democrats who endorse governing in secret and hiding the public's business from the public itself.

Here's how it is expected to work today in a process only Dick Cheney could love (though you never know—it could change at the last minute). Every bill comes to the House floor with what is known as a "rule" that sets the terms of the debate over the legislation in question. House members first vote to approve this parliamentary rule, and then vote on the legislation. Today, however, Democrats are planning to essentially include the Iraq blank check bill IN the rule itself, by making sure the underlying bill the rule brings to the floor includes no timelines for withdrawal, and that the rule only allows amendments that fund the war with no restrictions—blank check amendments that House Democratic leaders know Republicans will have the votes to pass.

This means that when the public goes to look for the real vote on the Iraq supplemental bill, the public won't find that. All we will find is a complex parliamentary procedure vote, which was the real vote. Democratic lawmakers, of course, will use the Memorial Day recess to tell their angry constituents they really are using all of their power to end the war, that they voted against the Republican blank check amendment which the rule deliberately propels, and that the vote on the rule—which was the real vote for war—wasn't really the important vote, when, in fact, they know very well it is the biggest vote on the war since original 2002 authorization for the invasion. It is a devious, deliberately confusing cherry on top of the manure sundae being served up to the American public, which voted Democrats into office on the premise that they would use their congressional majority to end the war.

[ READ MORE » ]

Sliding Toward Fascist America

Naomi Wolf's Fascist America, in 10 easy steps offers more than just a what-if of events in the US. We are now following each of the ten steps.

She says that it's unlikely for the US to be shut down in the manner of Mussolini or Hitler, because our "democratic habits are too resilient, and our military and judiciary too independent, for any kind of scenario like that." What is worse, she argues, is "our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion." It's worth it to read the full story.

After you've done that, go over to the Progressive for its take on Cheney-Bush's new National Security Presidential Directive for governing during a "catastrophic emergency":

Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility "for ensuring constitutional government."

You can read the document, released quietly by the White House on May 9, in this formal news release.

Meanwhile, the silence of Christians in America is hurting my ears.

Bush: I'm the Osama bin Laden Hunter

It's Time for That Third Party

Sliding Toward Fascist America