SATURDAY MORNING FEVER (A buncha stuff for the weekend)

In fact, it’s a whole mass of bits and pieces served up pretty much as they come...

QUIZ

First a quick quiz, as in, who said the following?

“Naturally the common people don't want war, but after all it is the leaders who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”

Anne Coulter?
Don Rumsfeld?
No my friends, it was that old transvestite junkie Nazi and Hitler’s fattest henchman, Hermann Goering, who was reflecting on his political life in Allied captivity shortly before he offed himself.

DOOM

From MSNBC A steep decline in birds, butterflies and native plants in Britain supports the theory that humans are pushing the natural world into the Earth's sixth big extinction event and the future may see more and more animal species disappearing.

THE PRICE IS NOT RIGHT

(From AOL news) ...that would put presidential spending in the $455 million range - not counting the tens of millions of dollars the Democratic and Republican parties and outside groups will pour in.

CONDENSING JOE KLEIN

(From kaymo) For those who missed it, Joe Klein, Time Magazine's leadoff hitter ran a column he must have been saving up for months this week."Bush and 9/11: What We Need to Know." Klein points out that the GOP propaganda machine wants the US public to focus on the plush monkey on his most memorable day as Resident. Sept 14 2001, when with bullhorn in hand he stood atop the rubble among firefighters etc. This is why the White House has been so reluctant to cooperate with the independent commission investigating Sept 11 2001. But soon Bush will have to face some questions. So Klein asked around Washington, among those who know stuff, to find out what questions they would ask. These are them.

1/ Why didn't you respond to the Al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole (Oct 12 2000) ?After that attack the Clinton Admin concluded that Al Qaeda had to be smashed. But they thought it best to leave the job to the incoming Bushies. Apparently Condi Rice believed that China was the biggest threat to the US, not Al Qaeda.Did Bush know about the Clinton determination re: Al Qaeda? Did he consider an aggressive response to the USS Cole attack, or the foiled plot directed at LA International Airport in Dec 1999?

2/ Why didn't Bush deploy the armed Predator drones in Afghanistan in early 2001? The technology was ready and would have offered the best chance of killing Osama. The CIA and the Pentagon were squabbling over who would be in charge of pulling the trigger so nothing happened until after 9/11. Was Bush aware of this dispute? Why wasn't he able to resolve it and get the job done?

3/August 6 2001.. Bush was told that Al-Qaeda were planning an attack in the USA, perhaps using airplanes. What was his response to this? How closely was he following the reports on Al-Qaeda, which had taken on an extremely urgent tone by late spring? Was Bush aware that Ashcroft had opposed increasing counter-terrorism money for the FBI?

4/ In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 why did Bush allow planeloads of Saudi nationals including members of the Bin Laden family to leave the US? Who asked that the Saudis be given special treatment? Was Bush aware that members of the Saudi Royal family contributed to charities that
funded Al-Qaeda?

Naturally, these are not the questions the Republicans want Americans to be thinking about come November 2004.

AND JUST WHEN YOU NEED A DRINK...

Also from MSNBC Some 100 Bahraini Islamists shouting "God is Greatest" stormed a French restaurant serving alcohol in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state and threatened diners with knives. The assailants, opposed to the consumption of alcohol banned by Islam, also threw gasoline bombs at customers' cars parked outside the restaurant near the capital Manama late on Wednesday, damaging nine vehicles.

LINK – Our pal hipspinster has a blog on fog – http://hipspinster.blogspot.com/

CRYPTIQUE – There’s never a penguin when you need one.

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