President Madman

A story by Georgie Anne Geyer in today's Dallas Morning News tells us that Iraq is now a 'school for insurgents' that is spreading to other parts of the Middle East, terrorizing refugees in camps that have been home to Palestinians for years. Iraq is now exporting al Qaeda type groups not only to Lebanon, but to Syria, Gaza, Bangladesh and Kurdistan.
Bush doesn't understand what he has done. He believes that terrorists are born, not created by conditions. Therefore, he's not responsible for the disaster that is taking place in the Middle East.
On Bush and the war, Geyer reports, "Friends of his from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated "I am the president!" He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny."
Our future is in the hands of a madman!

TB scare

What a scary thing. They decide the guy has "horribly" contaigious TB, and is basically whisked off to a hospital in Denver. It's arrest, but it's not called that. So far, no infection was found. TB is difficult to spread, and months can go by before a person even knows they are infected. I think there is more than meets the eye in this report. Another scare tactic? However, it does show the lack of public health teams in this nation. Face, we don't know what the F*** we are doing. Fear, fear and fear.

Read Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast today!

"When are we going to get out of here?"

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Spc. David Williams, 22, of Boston, Mass., had two note cards in his pocket Wednesday afternoon as he waited for Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Williams serves in the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., the first of the five "surge" brigades to arrive in Iraq, and he was chosen to join the Independent from Connecticut for lunch at a U.S. field base in Baghdad.

The night before, 30 other soldiers crowded around him with questions for the senator.

He wrote them all down. At the top of his note card was the question he got from nearly every one of his fellow soldiers:

"When are we going to get out of here?"

The rest was a laundry list. When would they have upgraded Humvees that could withstand the armor-penetrating weapons that U.S. officials claim are from Iran? When could they have body armor that was better in hot weather? ......

Then Lieberman walked in, wearing a pair of sunglasses newly purchased from an Iraqi market that the military had taken him to in southeast Baghdad. He'd been equipped with a helmet and flak vest when he toured the market, which he described as bustling.

Earlier, Lieberman had met briefly with Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police at a Joint Security Station; there are 31 throughout the city now. The senator, who's steadfastly supported the Iraq war along with the current surge of more than 28,000 additional American troops, said things were better.

"I think it's important we don't lose our will," he said. "To pull out would be a disaster."

The soldiers smiled and greeted him, stood with him for pictures and sat down to a lunch of roast beef and turkey sandwiches. It was unclear if they ever asked their questions.

As Lieberman walked out, he said that congressionally mandated withdrawal would be a "victory for al-Qaida and a victory for Iran."

"They're not Pollyannaish about this," he said referring to the young soldiers he ate lunch with. "They know it's not going to be solved in a day or a month."

It isn't clear whether Williams mentioned the last line on his note card, the one that had a star next to it.

"We don't feel like we're making any progress," it said.


McClatchy papers link

Mass funerals for soldiers at Ft. Lewis

This is tragic, and why in the world would they consolidate funerals? If it was my family member, I be really pissed that I could not have a private funeral.

---snip----

Too many Iraq deaths, so Fort Lewis consolidates memorial services


Associated Press - May 30, 2007 1:35 PM ET

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - So many Fort Lewis soldiers are being killed in Iraq the Army base will no longer hold individual memorial services.

Starting next month Fort Lewis says it will hold one memorial a month for all the dead soldiers.

Nineteen Fort Lewis soldiers have been killed this month -- the most of the war, so far.

The Fort Lewis acting commander, Brigadier General William Troy, told staff last week that the number of soldiers in harm's way will preclude individual services.

About 10,000 Fort Lewis troops, including two Stryker brigades, are now in Iraq, the most since the 2003 invasion.

Some other Army posts have already consolidated services.

A memorial service planned for tomorrow for one soldier will go on as scheduled at Fort Lewis, and the first consolidated service for four soldiers will be held on June fifth.

A total of 127 Fort Lewis soldiers have died in overseas deployments since Nine Eleven.

Hated by The Powerful All Across America

Which might be one of the best reasons to like Michael Moore. He afflicts the comfortable, while comforting the afflicted. And now there's another reason for the uber-wealthy to despise Moore, and the impoverished to like him: his new movie, Sicko. The movie takes on the insurance industry, telling truths they don't want told, and that you should hear.

Go to this place and play some of the little videos in the windows. If you don't take the time, you'll miss Moore greeting an English black couple holding a baby, leaving the hospital, and his asking how much the birth costs. "Nothing" they explain. He's incredulous. The man says "This isn't America..." and they laugh a carefree, not indebted laugh.

This Week on the Daily Show

REPEAT EPISODES:

TUESDAY 5/29 -- Don Rickles -- Comedian and author of "Rickles' Book"

WEDNESDAY 5/30 -- Al Gore -- Former U.S. Vice President and author of "The Assault on Reason"

THURSDAY 5/31 - Sec. Margaret Spellings -- U.S. Secretary of Education

This Week on the Colbert Report

REPEAT EPISODES:

TUESDAY 5/29 -- Howard Dean -- chairman of Democratic National Committee

WEDNESDAY 5/30 -- John Amaechi -- author, "Man in the Middle"

THURSDAY 5/31 -- Bob Deans -- author, "The River Where America Began"

Cindy Sheehan Gives Up Her Fight

This is pretty sad. I feel so badly for her. Click here for the whole story.

Multiple videos to view

I have found a way to store lots of videos, check it out on my
My YouTube channel

and here is one beautiful music video

More Outrageous News

It is hardly surprising not a single corporate newspaper reported the death of the Constitution. Go to Google News and type in "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" and hit enter. Google returns ten paltry results, not one from the New York Times, the Washington Post, or related corporate media source. Google Trends rates the story as "mild," that is to say it warrants nary a blip on the news radar screen. Of course, another death blow to the Constitution, already long on life support, is hardly news. Few understand we now live in a dictatorship, or maybe it should be called a decidership.

"The Bush administration has released a directive called the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive. The directive released on May 9th, 2007 has gone almost unnoticed by the mainstream and alternative media. This is understandable considering the huge Ron Paul and immigration news but this story is equally as huge. In this directive, Bush declares that in the event of a 'Catastrophic Emergency’ the President will be entrusted with leading the activities to ensure constitutional government. The language in this directive would in effect make the President a dictator in the case of such an emergency," writes Lee Rogers for Global Research. "The language written in the directive is disturbing because it doesn’t say that the President will work with the other branches of government equally to ensure a constitutional government is protected. It says clearly that there will be a cooperative effort among the three branches that will be coordinated by the President. If the President is coordinating these efforts it effectively puts him in charge of every branch. The language in the directive is entirely Orwellian in nature making it seem that it is a cooperative effort between all three branches but than it says that the President is in charge of the cooperative effort."

In short, Bush may now declare himself absolute ruler at any moment and Congress can like it or lump it. Naturally, this act of betrayal is of so little importance and consequence, the corporate media believes you are better served knowing Justin Timberlake is in love. link to article

National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive

My comment.....Just wondering if anti-war protesters are included in this statement from the above directive: "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions...

And then, there was this hilarious article, because we can all use a laugh...

Today's Sermon: Pack Up The Babies & Grab The Old Ladies!

Man and dinosaur, living together... just outside Cincinnati (actually located in Kentucky)? link scroll down to the Sunday May 27 entry.

VIDEO: Greg Palast Finds 'Lost E-Mails' Revealing Karl Rove and New US Attorney Griffin Integrally Involved

Click here to see the video

Says New Information Exposes Criminal Intent Behind US Attorney Scandal...

It was all about vote caging in order to win the 2008 elections. Iglesias even notes that he was asked to arrest voters for voter fraud in the last election, and was told he could just let them go later. The publicity of voters arrested for voter fraud was what the ReThugs wanted.

Oil companies encouraging biking to work? Is the CEO biking?

Oil companies are among the Houston-area employers encouraging workers to make their commutes by bicycle

Some of the world's biggest gas peddlers are encouraging their workers to pump the pedal.

Exxon Mobil, BP and ConocoPhillips are among the Houston-area employers trying to make it easier for employees to bike to work.

click here for more

The Monica Goodling Testimony

Jon Stewart does what he does so well: cuts cleanly through the feces and calls it like it is. His piece the other night was yet another great one that told the story better than any newscast I've seen.

The sordid tale wasn't told with a misrepresentation of fact. He simply plays back the pinciples' words, caught on tape. Monica. Then Alberto. Then Alberto again. And the bites completely contradict one another. It's brilliant stuff. And well worth your time.

Buying the war...believe it? I don't

"Buying the War," Part II - Now It's Iran
By Will Bunch
The New York Daily News

Monday 21 May 2007

You would think that after after all the official and unofficial lies that came out of the Washington spin machine during the 2002-03 run-up to the war in Iraq, newspapers would be a little more skeptical about similarly unsupported, high-level but anonymous and bellicose allegations about Iran (or anyone else).

And you would doubly think that about a newspaper that, day in and day out, is one of the best in the world: Britain's Guardian.

You'd think...but you would be wrong:

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.
"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."

The story does have another source - another anonymous U.S. official, but in Washington:

"Tehran is behaving like a racecourse gambler. They're betting on all the horses in the race, even on people they fundamentally don't trust," a senior administration official in Washington said. "They don't know what the outcome will be in Iraq. So they're hedging their bets."
Boo! Scared yet?

Look, I think that reporting of the Iraq crisis should be as aggressive as possible, and that obviously includes talking to American officials in Washington and in Baghdad. And, the situation in the region has become quite volatile since our decision to invade it, and no doubt Iran is a player, but...

I can also tell you as a journalist with 26 years of experience behind me that this story is the biggest load of crap - and that's not a phrase I would use loosely - I've ever seen in my life. Two unnamed government officials as sources, and a perfunctary denial from an Iranian officials in the last paragraph - and that's it?

This is a stunning allegation - so stunning because it really makes no sense. Iran's government does have close ties with some of Iraq's Shiite leaders that we also seem to be propping up these days, but it is the bitter enemy of the Sunni forces that these unnamed Bush spinmeisters now claim they are also supporting. If such a bizarre reversal had taken place, and I were to write a story about it, I would be sure to talk to outside experts on the region and to non-U.S. government sources - and quite them by name - to prove such an unlikely premise was in fact true.

That did not happen. And in fact, the story is so "out there" that it would be best ignored - except that you can't ignore it. For one thing, it's highlighted on the Drudge Report, and since Matt Drudge rules the world of Beltway media, it's going to become part of the public discourse. Also, in spite of its lack of even truthiness, let alone truth, it does prove - just like the top-selling "Christian book" calling for an American jihad against Tehran - the lengths that some of our leaders are still willing to go in formenting Armageddon.

But the fact that one of the world's better newspapers was willing to play along - or that my own colleagues in the mainstream media seem to never learn - is the saddest development of all. Didn't anyone watch "Buying the War"?

Iglesias speaks out

Iglesias says a whole lot in these few sentences. If only the TV put on all the real nformation instead of celebrity crap!
Here it is from truthout:


Loyalty is a virtue with limits. That was one of the many hard lessons from Watergate. In that scandal, some of President Nixon's staffers carried their loyalty to the president all the way to federal prison.

All federal prosecutors take a public oath when they assume office. I personally swore in about 30 new federal prosecutors during my tenure as U.S. attorney for New Mexico. The oath is to the U.S. Constitution, not to the president or his Cabinet.

Somehow Goodling did not understand this keystone concept. She appears to have placed her loyalty to the Bush administration and the Republican Party above any allegiance to the Constitution - which may have led her to believe that Bush acolytes would make the best federal prosecutors. Paradoxically, she knew enough of the Constitution to claim the protections afforded by the 5th Amendment - the right against self-incrimination.

I trust she now understands what is at stake in the U.S. attorney scandal: the rule of law, the independence of the prosecutor and the apolitical calculus of who should be prosecuted. Now, her immunity deal secured, she needs to seek redemption by clearly testifying about how my colleagues and I came to be placed on the to-fire list. It will demand moral courage, but she must name the political operatives regardless of where they sit in the West Wing of the White House. She needs, in the words of Isaiah the prophet, to "maintain justice and do what is right."

And what of the embattled attorney general? Will Gonzales stay on to be the only Cabinet officer to receive a no-confidence vote? I once said that I found Gonzales to be a personal inspiration. No one can deny him his life's story, which is the American dream writ large. It began in Humble, Texas, born of impoverished Mexican American parents. He, like me, is a veteran of the U.S. military. He went to some of the best schools in America, including Harvard Law. Yet, somewhere along the line, he drank the loyalty Kool-Aid. Watching him testify before the Senate and House was painful for me. He had been a trailblazer for the Latino community, and then, in the space of a few hours of tortured testimony, he became just another morally rudderless political operative.

Will he "cowboy up," as we say in New Mexico - that is, find the courage to do the right thing? Or will he make the Senate go right up to the precipice of a no-confidence vote?

The new Monica

Oh. My. God. Did You Hear Monica Goodling's Voice?

She's a Valley Girl; who could
Have forseen a
Thing like this? Gag me with
A subpoena.

Email the Dems and tell them to get a spine!

Grieving Moms vs. Washington Pols
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/052207.html#When:01:15PM

By Robert Parry
May 22, 2007

Every other month, Gold Star mother Teresa Arciola drives from her home in Westchester County, New York, to Arlington Cemetery in Virginia, sits on her son’s grave and reads aloud from “Corduroy,” his favorite baby book. Another mother spent winter afternoons in a sleeping bag stretched across her son’s final resting place.

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The unspeakable suffering of these parents of dead soldiers stands in marked contrast to the maneuvering over the Iraq War now underway across the river in Washington. There, George W. Bush appears quietly planning another escalation of the Iraq War – possibly doubling U.S. combat troops by Christmas – and many members of Congress are frightened of the political repercussions if they stand up to him.

A possible compromise could come from a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled House granting Bush only two months of the additional war spending that he wants, rather than the full amount through the end of September.

At least requiring a second vote sometime in the summer might force serious thinking about alternatives to continuing the war indefinitely and creating many more fresh graves at Arlington Cemetery.

But Senate Democrats – faced with a near-solid phalanx of Republicans standing behind the President – appear eager to run up the white flag, give Bush pretty much whatever he wants, and break for the Memorial Day recess.

The Democrats didn’t help themselves when they started their “negotiations” with the White House by announcing that they would eventually give Bush a bill that was acceptable to him. That’s a bit like going into a car dealership, declaring that you intend to pay the full sticker price and then trying to bargain.

Knowing that the Democrats planned to fold – to avoid accusations that they weren't supporting the troops – Bush could confidently veto the first war spending bill, which had timelines for withdrawing U.S. combat forces, and threaten to veto any other bill that sought to limit his options.

Bush also has pleased some Democrats by dangling suggestions that he is taking a second look at the bipartisan Iraq Study Group’s recommendations from last December. The ISG, which was headed by Bush family lawyer James Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, urged a drawdown in U.S. troops, a focus on training Iraqis and more regional diplomacy.

Annoyed at the implied criticism of his work as “war president,” Bush shelved the report and declared that U.S. troops would “stay in Iraq to get the job done.” He added, “This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever.”

Bush chose a different course. On Jan. 10, he announced a “surge” in U.S. forces, raising troop levels to 160,000 from 140,000. Since then, the administration appears to be inching the numbers even higher while hoping that the creeping escalation doesn’t get much attention.

Second Surge?

But the Hearst newspapers disclosed on May 22 that “the Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year,” to 98,000 from 52,500, boosting the total U.S. military presence to 200,000, according to an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders.

“The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there,” the Hearst newspapers wrote.

With this quiet escalation on the one hand and hints about an ISG-like Plan B on the other, the Bush administration appears to be playing a double game with the goal of securing about $100 billion more in war spending before Congress catches on to the expanded combat plans.

Helping to lull Official Washington into a pre-Memorial Day daydream, administration officials briefed pro-war Washington Post columnist David Ignatius on more peaceful plans for the “post-surge” period.

“The post-surge policy would, in many ways, track the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton report, which senior administration officials say the President now supports,” Ignatius wrote. [Washington Post, May 22, 2007]

This notion of Bush finally entertaining the ISG recommendations is music to the ears of hopeful Democrats, such as Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. They seem content with having sent Bush a message about Iraq rather than forcing him to accept an exit strategy.

In the House, however, other Democrats, such as Rep. John Murtha and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have resisted pressure to simply cave in to Bush. They favor, at minimum, putting some strings on the spending bill or keeping its time frame short so Congress would get a second shot at assessing the situation in July or August.

Since the Democrats have set the upcoming Memorial Day recess as the deadline for getting Bush a spending bill that he will sign, the odds favor an impending capitulation rather than an extended impasse. But the Democrats have to worry that they may discover, as they head back home, that Bush is set on escalating the war and that they've been hoodwinked again.

There are some certainties, however, If the Democrats do run up the white flag: Bush and his advisers will enjoy one more high-fiving celebration at the White House; the anti-war Democratic base will be furious; and more mothers can expect to be spending time at Arlington Cemetery.

[For more on the new graves and new grief at Arlington Cemetery, see the Washington Post, May 20, 2007.]

Need a Laugh?

Bad news got you down? For a really good laugh, watch this Stephen and Stone rematch.

It is all about the OIL stupid!

Pentagon Making Preparations To Keep Tens Of Thousands Of Troops In Iraq For ‘Decades’
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee this month, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace uttered a “carefully worded” statement revealing that the Pentagon had no plans to fully withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq if legislation passes Congress mandating troop redeployment:

PACE: Sir, we have published no orders directing the planning for the overall withdrawal of forces. We do have ongoing replacements of forces, and we do change the size of the force over time so that that system is available to either plus-up or draw down, but we have published no orders saying come up with a complete plan for total drawdown.

NPR investigated Pace’s statements and found one scenario being considered within the Pentagon would maintain a strong U.S. military presence in Iraq for several decades into the future.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/21/iraq-decades/

This Week on the Daily Show

MONDAY 5/21 -- Zaki Chehab -- Middle East journalist and author of "Inside Hamas"

TUESDAY 5/22 -- Sec. Margaret Spellings -- U.S. Secretary of Education

WEDNESDAY 5/23 -- Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins -- Commander of the Airforce Thunderbirds

THURSDAY 5/24 -- Al Gore -- Former U.S. Vice President and author of "The Assault on Reason"

This Week on the Colbert Report

MONDAY 5/21 -- Michael Pollan and Jared Diamond,
author, "Guns, Germs and Steel"

TUESDAY 5/22 -- John Amaechi -- author, "Man in the Middle"

WEDNESDAY 5/23 -- Bob Deans -- author, "The River Where America Began"

THURSDAY 5/24 -- Jimmy Wales -- founder of Wikipedia

Bush gets testy with reporter

Link
All I can do is groan. This is our President? holy cow.

Eating on food stamps

http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/
Let us see how they do on meager rations.

The War Prayer by Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation

*God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!*

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory --

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- except he pause and think.

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(*After a pause.*) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.



Twain apparently dictated it around 1904-05; it was rejected by his publisher, and was found after his death among his unpublished manuscripts. It was first published in 1923 in Albert Bigelow Paine's anthology, Europe and Elsewhere.

The story is in response to a particular war, namely the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, which Twain opposed. See Jim Zwick's page "Mark Twain on the Philippines" for more of Twain's writings on the subject.

Transcribed by Steven Orso (snorso@facstaff.wisc.edu)

This Week on the Colbert Report

MONDAY 5/14 -- William Langewiesche -- author, "The Atomic Bazaar"

TUESDAY 5/15 -- Walter Isaacson -- author, "Einstein: His Life and Universe"

WEDNESDAY 5/16 -- Howard Dean -- chairman of Democratic National Committee

THURS 5/17 -- Randy Kearse -- author, "Street Talk" and Rep. Tom DeLay,
author, "No Retreat, No Surrender"

This Week on the Daily Show

MONDAY 5/14 -- Jeremy Paxman -- author of "On Royalty"

TUESDAY 5/15 -- Tim Russert --
Host of NBC's "Meet The Press" & author of "Wisdom of Our Fathers"

WEDNESDAY 5/16 -- Don Rickles -- Comedian & author of "Rickles' Book"

THURSDAY 5/17 -- Brink Lindsey -- Author of "The Age of Abundance"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Let's keep those moms in mind who have lost a son or daughter in Iraq and Afghanistan. This isn't such a happy day. Also, all moms who have lost a child in any way must be remembered as we enjoy time with our own youngsters. I told my daughter last night that because of her I get to have my own special day! Thanks a lot, Little Dem, for being such a riot all these years.

The true meaning of Mother's Day

Mother's Day History
From Jone Johnson Lewis,
Your Guide to Women's History.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe
Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Bush speech during Queen's visit this morning

The idiot discussed fear, fear, oh and.....the gift the English gave us....the Magna Carta! Does Bush not realize that inherent in that document is the right to Habeas Corpus? The right his administration took away from us?
It was apalling to listen to the freak of a President foam at the mouth, with absolute no knowledge of the subject matter.
Puhleeez!

This Week on the Daily Show

MONDAY 5/7 -- Lee Gutkind -- Author, "Almost Human"

TUESDAY 5/8 -- George Tenet -- Former CIA Director & author of "At The Center of the Storm"

WEDNESDAY 5/9 -- Michael Beschloss -- Author, "Presidential Courage"

THURSDAY 5/10 -- Reza Aslan -- Middle East expert & author of "No God But God"

Iraq War Hampers Kansas Cleanup

As a Nebraskan, who grew up in tornado alley, I know how much we depended upon our National Guard troops. Now these poor folks in Kansas, can't depend on the National Guard. I feel so sorry for the folks in Greensburg, what a trauma to lose an entire town. When Xenia, Ohio was wiped off the face of the map several years ago, they had all the help they needed. Sadly, the folks in Greensburg won't get the help they need. At least the Red Cross showed up, so they can have food and water. Just think, no tents, no nothing. How horrible.


Iraq War Hampers Kansas Cleanup

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) -- The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that state’s governor.
Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies is gone. She said not having immediate access to things like tents, trucks and semitrailers will really handicap the rebuilding effort.

The Greensburg administrator estimated that 95 percent of the town of 1500 was destroyed by Friday's tornado.

The Kansas National Guard has about 40 percent of the equipment it is allotted because much of it has been sent to Iraq.

This Week on the Colbert Report

MONDAY 5/7 -- Richard Preston -- author, "The Wild Trees"

TUESDAY 5/8 -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb -- author, "The Black Swan"

WEDNESDAY 5/9 -- Jane Fonda -- actress, "Georgia Rule";
and author Salman Rushdie

THURSDAY 5/10 -- Jann Wenner -- editor-in-chief, Rolling Stone

Benedictine Sisters Take on CocaCola AND Walmart

The Benedictine Sisters of Boerne's St. Scholastica Monastery want to see
more fairness in CEO/worker compensation. The Coca Cola chief executive was paid more than $32 million last year, compensation that the nuns feel doesn't serve the best interest of the stockholders. Or the employees.
In the Walmart case, a whistle-blower exposed the company's practice of spying on certain troublesome shareholders, including the nuns of St. Scholastica Monastery.
I love it when Boerne makes this kind of national news; we should all be very proud of these women.

And now for something completely different......

We've all known that W's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a Nazi sympathizer. But this video suggests he was more. Some may see 'conspiracy theory' here, but it certainly looks like the 'sympathy' is continuing in our president.
Watch the nine minute video and decide for yourself.

News from the Onion

Bush Has One Of Those Days Where He Feels Like 68 Percent Of People Hate Him

Awww...DeLay's World Has Just Gotten A Little Sadder

Tom DeLay's infamous PAC goes bye-bye.

Hat Tip to Gwen.

Well...The Jackass Did It

Our dear leader just flipped a birdie at the American people. God, I hate him!