News Dump

The U.S mid-terms are now only three weeks away.


The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley thinks that America is finally revolting against the Republicans.

"This autumn the tectonic plates of American politics are beginning to shift under the feet of President Bush and an increasingly desperate Republican party....

Some say it is the war. Some say it is the money. Some say it is the sex..."

Let's start with Iraq. Any American with a television set and an IQ above room temperature has known for a long time that Iraq is far from becoming the pacified, liberal democracy that was promised in the original prospectus for the war.....

Then there's the sex. While his party shamelessly fanned homophobia to ramp up its vote, a gay Republican congressman was making advances to teenage male interns. Congressman Mark Foley has resigned his Palm Beach seat since his dirty computer messages were exposed and the fall-out from his cyber-stalking of teenagers could cost other Republicans their places in Congress.....

And then there is the money. A rising stench of corruption surrounds the Republicans. The scale of the kickbacks made to politicians by Jack Abramoff, the convicted lobbyist, are awesome even by the standards of American bribery scandals.

A defining theme of the Bush era has been Republicans who preach fiscal abstinence while practising recklessly unprotected spending. The surplus inherited from Bill Clinton has been blown and turned into a staggering deficit.

The richest and most powerful country on the planet is now in the strange and dangerous place of being hugely indebted to the rest of the world.

Put it all together - and I get the sense that Americans are finally putting it all together - and the Republicans look like a party that is jeopardising their nation's moral, strategic and financial future...."

Much much more at the link.



So there you have it then; the Bushistas are done and dusted ... *whayhayyy for world peace 'n' all that* ... but .. heummm .. wait a minute, not so fast :



WAPO trumpets White house upbeat about GOP prospects : "... The question is whether this is a case of justified confidence -- based on Bush's and Rove's electoral record and knowledge of the money, technology and other assets at their command -- or of self-delusion. Even many Republicans suspect the latter. Three GOP strategists with close ties to the White House flatly predicted the loss of the House, though they would not do so on the record for fear of offending senior Bush aides...."


Re-reading that first line there makes me wonder spookily - is the fix in ? *tin foil hat time*


I'd read earlier this week that people are starting to question the white house rationale for pretty much everything.... i think it's just about the first time that i've seen the press questioning things :


Yahoo (associated press) - Bush keeps revising war justification "President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilization stakes now.... Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop
Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader's weapons of mass destruction ... But 3 1/2 years later, with no weapons found, still no end in sight and the war a liability for nearly all Republicans on the ballot Nov. 7, the justification has become far broader and now includes the expansive "struggle between good and evil ....."


But half way through comes a clue : "We can't tolerate a new terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, with large oil reserves that could be used to fund its radical ambitions, or used to inflict economic damage on the West," Bush said in a news conference last week in the Rose Garden......"



So there ya go then - if we take out the words "terrorist" + "radical" we have the real rationale !! ;@)


The article really is worth a read .. lots of splendid words like "jihadists", "comma" and "Islamic fascism"

Read the whole thing here



Over to the brit press.


Tons of space is given over to the remarks made by the U.K's top soldier.


The Scotsman on sunday for instance tells us that (Sir) Dickie is very concerned that Britain is being held hostage to u.s policy .. another shoe drops ..


Mary Riddell - It's time to say sorry for Iraq's agony has another good article :

"History will forgive the war on Iraq. Or so Tony Blair told the US Congress in July 2003, as the first cold shadows fell on the invasion.

The Prime Minister also warned of 'many further struggles ahead'. He cannot have imagined that these would include being gunned down by the head of the British army.

By calling for a pull-out from Iraq, General Sir Richard Dannatt has reversed the view of the French wartime leader, Georges Clemenceau, that 'war is too serious a matter to entrust to military men'.

In Dannatt's view, it is too vital to be left to the sofa warriors of Downing Street. His men have had enough, and he has said so.

The military can barely hide their glee. The previous head, Sir Michael Jackson, was seen by soldiers as Blair's puppet. Now they have a leader who puts the army first...."



To finish off - an article looking at double standards in modern day censorship : a twist on the Carmen Callil story.



I'd like to think that one day i could find nothing but "Good news" news stories ... i'd like to think that.