Liberal Agit-Prop

Fri - March 19, 2004

Lie number 131

From the Iraq On The Record database:

Question: Do you believe, because this is continually a subject of debate, that there was a link between al Qaeda and the regime of Saddam Hussein before the war?

Condoleeza Rice: Absolutely. . . . But we know that there was training of al Qaeda in chemical and perhaps biological warfare. We know that the Zarqawi was network out of there, this poisons network that was trying to spread poisons throughout . . . . And there was an Ansar al-Islam, which appears also to try to be operating in Iraq. So yes, the al Qaeda link was there.

Source: Fox News Sunday, Fox News (9/7/2003)

Explanation: This statement was misleading because it asserted that Iraq was providing support to al Qaeda. In fact, the U.S. intelligence community had conflicting evidence on this issue and was divided regarding whether there was an operational relationship. This statement also failed to mention that Ansar al-Islam was based in the Kurdish area of Iraq beyond Saddam Hussein's control.

Posted at 10:05 PM Read More

Wed - March 17, 2004

Bush lied and people died

This website is a searchable database of lies made by the Bush administration leading up to the war in Iraq. It features a report (in pdf format) commissioned by Representative Henry Waxman listing the 237 lies, who said them, when they were said and why they were misleading:

"The Iraq on the Record database contains 237 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq that were made by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice. These statements were made in 125 separate appearances, consisting of 40 speeches, 26 press conferences and briefings, 53 interviews, 4 written statements, and 2 congressional testimonies. Most of the statements in the database were misleading because they expressed certainty where none existed or failed to acknowledge the doubts of intelligence officials. Ten of the statements were simply false."

Posted at 08:17 PM Read More

Sun - March 14, 2004

Orwell on H.G. Wells

From an essay by George Orwell on H.G. Wells and Hitler:

"When (H.G.)Wells was young, society was ruled by narrow-minded, profoundly incurious people, predatory business men, dull squires, bishops, politicians who could quote Horace but had never heard of algebra. Science was faintly disreputable and religious belief obligatory. Traditionalism, stupidity, snobbishness, patriotism, superstition and love of war seemed to be all on the same side; there was need of someone who could state the opposite point of view."

(Sound familiar?)

"Up to 1914 Wells was in the main a true prophet. In physical details his vision of the new world has been fulfilled to a surprising extent. But because he belonged to the nineteenth century and to a non-military nation and class, he could not grasp the tremendous strength of the old world which was symbolised in his mind by fox-hunting Tories. He was, and still is, quite incapable of understanding that nationalism, religious bigotry and feudal loyalty are far more powerful forces than what he himself would describe as sanity.

Creatures out of the Dark Ages have come marching into the present, and if they are ghosts they are at any rate ghosts which need a strong magic to lay them."

Posted at 09:34 PM Read More

Black Box Voting

There is a free downloadable version of the book Black Box Voting (in pdf format) on this website. It outlines all the problems with electronic voting machines and how easily they are hacked. The author lists 100 instances where votes were counted incorrectly due to "glitches" in software.

"Diebold machines, and ones like them from other vendors, represent a major threat to our democracy. We have put our trust in the outcome of our elections into the hands of a few companies.

They are in a position to control the outcomes of our elections, and there's no way anyone can know if they, or someone working for them, did something underhanded. And meaningful recounts are impossible with these machines." -- Avi Rubin, a computer science professor at the Johns Hopkins University

There is an activist version of this website at www.blackboxvoting.org . It outlines how you can get involved to ensure your vote counts come November.

Posted at 08:26 PM Read More

Thu - March 11, 2004

Doublethink

From 1984 by George Orwell:

"...The names of the four Ministries by which we are governed exhibit a sort of impudence in their deliberate reversal of the facts. The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy; they are deliberate exercises in doublethink. For it is only by reconciling contradictions that power can be retained indefinitely."

Brings to mind the Clean Air Act and The Patriot Act.

Posted at 08:24 PM Read More

Tue - March 9, 2004

Republican Play Book

From the Repug's playbook, "The Prince" by Machiavelli:

"A Prince should therefore have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study, but war and its organization and discipline...."

Posted at 08:32 PM Read More

Thu - February 26, 2004

Bush's Fuzzy Math

Remember, everything he says is a lie :

"President Bush stumbled Feb. 19, saying the average tax cut is $1,089. The White House corrected that figure to $1,586. But the fact is that most Americans won't see anywhere near either of those amounts.... The 'average' is misleading because it is inflated by very large cuts given to a relative few at the top.... A more meaningful number is the median -- or mid-point. The Tax Policy Center calculates the median cut received for income earned in 2003 is $470."

That's a hell of a difference. Less than half of what he said. The guy is a pathological distorter.

Posted at 08:15 PM Read More

Tue - February 24, 2004

Barack Obama

I'm endorsing Barack Obama for the Senate. I like his name, he has a great website, and he sounded intelligent in the one debate I heard on NPR. I know my endorsement will jump-start his campaign and allow him to ultimately beat the ice cream man.

Posted at 09:11 PM Read More

Sat - February 21, 2004

Video commentary

Here's a Liberal Agit-Prop exclusive video commentary on Bush's behavior on September 11th, 2001:

In QuickTime format (2.9 megs)

In AVI format (7.5 megs)

Posted at 11:40 PM Read More

Thu - February 19, 2004

Twilight in America

The United States of Ashcroft

"The past two weeks will likely be recorded in history books as the moment when President Bush's homeland security regime crossed the line, and significantly intruded upon the lives of law-abiding, innocent Americans."

"It may also come to be known as the moment when people living in the U.S. suddenly realized the extensive powers that the government can exercise against anyone, regardless of any connection to national security -- especially now, with the advent of the USA PATRIOT Act."

"The message could not be more clear: The government is not going to stop at only investigating people connected to terrorism; it is willing to look at the most personal aspects of anyone's life. And the guiding principle won't be security; it will be politics."

Posted at 08:12 PM Read More

Tue - February 17, 2004

Open wide and say "ashcroft"

The Department of Justice does not believe in the privacy rights of patients (except in the case of Rush Limbaugh):

"Perhaps it shouldn't be a shock that an administration that doesn't recognize a woman's dominion over her own body doesn't respect the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship."

Posted at 09:11 PM Read More

Sat - February 14, 2004

9/11 timeline

An excellent timeline of the events of September 11th, highlighting Bush's complete inaction :

"So many pieces of the puzzle do not fit. Simply by reading the mainstream media reports, we can see that mere incompetence doesn't explain what happened to Bush on that day. For instance, it makes no sense that Bush would listen to a story about a goat long after being told the US was under attack, and even after the Secret Service decided to immediately evacuate him from the school."

Posted at 02:16 PM Read More

Thu - February 12, 2004

No Fly List Includes Lefties

Make sure you have a plan B for your next vacation:

"The (government's no-fly) list is now alleged to include not only suspected terrorists and those believed to be a threat to aviation security but civil rights activists say it also targets people based on their political views. A list that is thought to include members of the Green Party, a Jesuit priest who is a peace activist and two civil rights attorneys."

Posted at 09:21 PM Read More

Act Against Patriot

Here is a site that provides tools to protect your community from the Patriot Act:

"...Organizing to get a resolution passed provides an opportunity to educate many people in your community about the dangerous provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and how they weaken democracy. Passing a local resolution also expresses to the federal government, and specifically to your representatives in Congress that their constituents are not happy with limits on and violations of civil liberties."

Posted at 08:56 PM Read More

Tue - February 10, 2004

Melissa Bean

I went to the opening of Melissa Bean's new campaign headquarters last night. There were 20-30 people there. Quite a few disappointed Dean supporters, looking to channel their energies elsewhere. If we can't have our man in the White House, maybe we can take back the Congress.

Posted at 08:20 PM Read More

Meet the Press
Decline of the creative class
Dean Meetup
Why the media hates Dean
Detention Camps
Dean Meetup
Knit One, Politics Two
Kerry's income/assets
To whom is he beholden?
Incurious George
De-Chimp
Hyper-elite
Ministry of Information
An Article on the Media Creation of the Dean Scream Story
New Alert System 3.0

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