I’ve come to the conclusion that it is pointless to vote in the upcoming election.

The entire Washington establishment has made a complete mockery of our system of governance, our Constitution and our laws. Congress, being legally obliged to enforce our laws, has instead allowed this president to commit unspeakable crimes against the country. The total disregard of the legal and moral obligation is more than I can take. I see a condition where we are presented with little, if any fundamental difference between republicans and democrats. The stark reality is that Bush made a conscious choice to send Americans to Iraq under a known false pretense. In so doing over 4000 Americans have lost their lives. There is just no way to dismiss this. We have been witnesses to a crime of unspeakable proportion which apparently no one will be held to account for.

I could care less for all the BS reasons for this. We give our government over a trillion dollars in taxes per year. Apparently that isn’t enough. What this amounts to is a level of fraud and extortion that cannot be put into words. Our government has fully endorsed a behavioral pattern inconsistent with anything even remotely resembling justice. Every word uttered by our national leadership is a lie. This is an undeniable fact. There is no way around it. The precedent that has been established logically absolves every citizen of any requirement to obey even our strictest laws. Setting this example as one of permissible conduct establishes that power, wealth and privilege are unbounded by any law, moral or legal. I don’t think I want to vote for that.

The Bush WH, being a fan of torture, has lived up to its billing. Scott McClellan, having revealed the extent to which the administration tortured the truth about Iraq, we are presented with yet another round of evidence to add to the ever growing pile indicating official WH misconduct.

Whether congress may ever act upon the accumulated evidence of the general theme of official misconduct of the Bush administration remains to be seen. The body of work of this administration is riddled with instances of sidestepping or perhaps running right over various laws and our constitution.

One thing for sure. You can't dismiss the consistent pattern indicating a general disregard for the truth. That this altered reality has harmed the nation is undeniable. Nor can you escape the fact that it has been intentional. This intentional manipulation is damning and for congress to ignore that fact truly places Pelosi and company in the public cross hairs. No matter the circumstances, a sitting congress places the nation at great risk by ignoring what has been an unquestionably intentional manipulation. Collectively speaking, this administration has harmed this country more than any enemy in our history. This cannot remain unanswered because to do so lays the certain foundation for our national demise. The point at which government is no longer accountable is that point which precisely marks the beginning of the end. We can be witness to this or demand an accounting. That choice is ours to make.

Thw WH has expressed surprise and disappointment at Scott McClellans book.

I try not to be surprised at the depth of human stupidity. And George Bush has given us so many surprises. Imagine his surprise to realize he isn't going to walk away from office without first being heralded with the accolades he so rightly deserves. What a pleasant surprise.

Why isn't pasting of non-html working? If it doesn't work this time I give up.

Third time.

In congressional hearings a U.S. serviceman has defiantly stated he won't go to Iraq. He has called Iraq an illegal war.

There is an interesting legal aspect to this. As a member of the

Something happened to my post and I am reposting.

We now have U.S. military members refusing to go to Iraq and stating so in direct testimony before the Congress of the United States.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/85612/ 

There is an interesting legal aspect to this.

As a member of the

We now have U.S. military members refusing to go to Iraq and stating so in direct testimony before the Congress of the United States.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/85612/ 

There is an interesting legal aspect to this. As a member of the

Fighting for the sake of fighting is senseless. That is what Hillary is doing at present.

Facing impossible odds, one would hope that a person who wanted to be president would possess the common sense to bow out. The fact that Hillary is continuing her campaign says she isn't willing to accept reality. This feels way too much like Bush and makes me want to run as fast as I can in whatever direction takes me away from possibly having her in the WH.

The obvious comparison is of Obama voting against the Iraq war when the facts didn't support it. It may have been unpopular to do so but a president has to make decisions based on facts, not on emotion. In most cases irrational decisions are those where we let our emotions or other factors cloud our judgement. The American people need somebody with a level head running things. Blind nationalism, greed and Bush neeeding to settle the score with SH has produced what we have today. If we want the same tomorrow then Hillary will do fine. But if we want to have a chance to find our way out of the mess we have then we need to rely on our heads by objectively examining what is good for the country and leave our emotions and the politics of greed at the door.

I keep hearing, either from people I speak with or on various news outlets, comments that raise doubt about the experience factor on the part of Obama. I happen to think this is BS because we have 435 supposed experienced people in the congress and they screw up most everything they touch. The same applies to the Bush WH. I just don't see the experience argument having much validity. Experience is valueless if your're a dumb ass or don't learn from your mistakes or the mistakes of others.

I do believe that North Carolina and Indiana have sealed it for Obama. Certainly Hillary could continue but at this point she is going to be highly criticised within the party if she does. If she wishes to remain an influential member of the Democratic Party and be an effective senator she needs to accept reality and bow out gracefully at this time.

I can't help but notice references across the weekend in various media outlets about the role of speculators and / or commodity traders relative to oil prices. How the global price for oil has been driven by speculative trading was the common theme.

This isn't something I really know much about and I was wondering if anyone knows the extent to which global commodity prices are influenced because trading itself has driven a price escalation.

Multiple references to speculators driving the price escalation varied somewhat but the collective commentary suggests per gallon gas price increases beyond the $2.50 range have been because of speculative trading and bears little relationship to actual supply and demand. I heard people say the cost of a barrel of oil would likely be in the $50 - $75 range absent this speculation.

I'm just curious how much of this commentary might be accurate. Does anyone know if such assertions have merit?

I can't help but notice a historic coincidence unfolding. Abe Lincoln was a senator from Illinois. He was called Honest Abe. He is credited with freeing the country of slavery. Barack Obama is doing something different from most of our politicians. He, like Lincoln, is speaking the truth. Voters already know the truth of many of the issues being addressed in the campaign and Obama is just stating those obvious things the voters already know about many of those issues. Americans have had it up to their eyeballs with being lied to. Barack Obama is in the unique position of being able to speak truthfully to the American people. I suspect that will result in his being the next president of the United States.