While Republicans Attempt to Take Credit, We should all remember to Thank God for President Obama!

Watching the news shows this morning, we should all Thank God for President Obama!



I think of the comments by the Republican candidates during the last election: "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran." Both McCain and Palin are famous for making this statement. Can you imagine what would have happened if they were in the White House? Clearly they would have bombed Bin Laden's hideout and demolished it, destroying any clear evidence that he was there and inciting a war with Pakistan -- a nation that actually does have nuclear weapons (aka Weapons of Mass Destruction.)



Every time I look at the Middle East map I am always appalled to see that Iraq is so far away from Pakistan -- where Bin Laden has been hiding since 9/11. Sure Iraq's Saddam Hussein was a deplorable dictator (there are so many in the world) but he had nothing to do with 9/11. Since the start of the war in Iraq, we have had over 6002 American service men and women die in this so called "war on terror." That is not counting all of the innocent men women and children in the Middle East who have died in this "war on terror." And what about all the recruits al qaeda received as a result of all the destruction in these countries.



I am glad we have an intelligent, calm President in the White House. He is using his logic and technology to identify and hunt down terror leaders. There were 23 children in Bin Laden's compound. None were injured. This stealth attack truly resulted in "Mission Accomplished." When President Obama made his Bin Laden announcement, he thanked the Seals, honored our troops and the families of the troops and thanked former President Bush and the American people. His speech was truly a Leader's speech, Presidential and historic.


On the other hand, George Bush, on May 1, 2003, announced "Mission Accomplished" aboard an aircraft carrier. He jet landed onto the aircraft vs using his helicopter, to make a more dramatic landing. The Mission was NOT accomplished as the war in Iraq has continued. Bush also said Bin Laden was on the run and he wasn't concerned about him. (see video)



During the Presidential campaign, candidate Obama promised he would hunt down Bin Laden and kill him. McCain called him naive. President Obama kept his promise.



Republican pundits are on TV today attempting to give former President Bush credit for Bin Laden's demise. This is so ludicrous. They are saying torture methods enabled the identification of the Bin Laden courier and therefore President Bush deserves all the credit. This is such an innaccurate statement. In fact, the person tortured: "KSM" -- lied about the name of the courier when he was tortured. The name of the courier was actually identified via CIA investigative efforts overseas.



It was years-long, detailed, methodical investigative efforts that resulted in the identification of the courier. Then it was President Obama himself that insisted upon the Navy Seals stealth attack, using technology, training (human and dog), and skills in threading the needle to pull out Bin Laden and all of his computers and thumb drives.



Once out, they utilized facial recognition technology and DNA to confirm Bin Laden's identity, then bury him at sea. This was brilliant! Just think. There is no where for his followers to go to pay homage or to incite new terror. He's gone. Now, the world is, in fact, safer. Thanks to our Navy Seals, intelligence, logic, technology and our Great President Obama!

I find it interesting that Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, eight years to the day after Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." As the President honored the fallen at Ground Zero this past week, I was glad he invited President Bush to accompany him, however I am not surprised he did not attend. The two have different ideologies.

As President Obama pulls out our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan this summer, I hope ALL Americans support him.
God Bless America!
God Bless OUR President Barack Obama!

George W. Bush's Worst Day In Office (he sez) was Kanye West's comments

After destroying the economy, sending the American Public off a cliff, borrowing 4 Trillion dollars from China to fund his wrongful war in Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destructions, to telling "Brownie" that he did "a heckuva job!", George W. Bush said his worst day in office was when Kanya West made this very factual comment:

George W. Bush (and many in the Republican and Teapartier extremist groups) maintain such an illogical and unAmerican mindset!

Secretary Gates (Republican) Compliments Obama-- Bush's Wrongful Iraq War a Factor!

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is a Republican and was a prominent member of former President George W. Bush's Cabinet, said he is enjoying working for President Obama. Gates praised Obama’s approach to decision-making as the nation's commander-in-chief. "He is very analytical. He is very deliberate about the way he goes through things. He wants to understand everything. He delves very deeply into these issues." (What a change from Bush)
As I was reading this report this morning, my mind zipped back to Bush/Cheney getting us involved in the wrongful war in Iraq. All you have to do is look at a map of the Middle East to understand how ridiculous it was to get involved in this war. After 9/11, the world understood Bin Laden/Al Qaeda were the perpetrators. The US government concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the Battle of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001, and according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, failure by the US to commit US ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the US in the war against al Qaeda. Bin Laden began the battle of Tora Bora inside the cave complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border. He somehow managed to escape. Today, Intelligence Reports indicate he escaped to Chitral, Pakistan. Anyone who studies a map of the middle east knows and understands the closeness in proximity of these areas. He escaped to a nearby region. Tora Bora, Afghanistan and Chitral, Pakistan are on the Eastern side of their countries, close to China. Iraq is located on the opposite side of Iran.
It made no sense to go to Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Many of Bush's advisers advised against going there, including Richard Clark. Yet, we still are there. If anyone can get us, perhaps Obama can.
Defense Secretary Gates has worked with both men. I'd say his feedback is a very good sign!
Reference:
'I very much enjoy working for' Obama, Gates says

Bush/Cheney's Favorite Contractor Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

The Nation Reports - by Jeremy Scahill:
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.

The former employee, identified in the court documents as "John Doe #2," is a former member of Blackwater's management team, according to a source close to the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information provided to him by former colleagues, "it appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." John Doe #2 says he worked at Blackwater for four years; his identity is concealed in the sworn declaration because he "fear[s] violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration." He also alleges, "On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death and violence."

In a separate sworn statement, the former US marine who worked for Blackwater in Iraq alleges that he has "learned from my Blackwater colleagues and former colleagues that one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information about Erik Prince and Blackwater have been killed in suspicious circumstances." Identified as "John Doe #1," he says he "joined Blackwater and deployed to Iraq to guard State Department and other American government personnel." It is not clear if Doe #1 is still working with the company as he states he is "scheduled to deploy in the immediate future to Iraq." Like Doe #2, he states that he fears "violence" against him for "submitting this Declaration." No further details on the alleged murder(s) are provided.

Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information contained in his statement "in grand jury proceedings convened by the United States Department of Justice." Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, which left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees are awaiting trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempting to commit manslaughter and is cooperating with prosecutors. It is not clear whether Doe #2 testified in front of the Nisour Square grand jury or in front of a separate grand jury.

...Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe". To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.

Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis." Among the additional allegations made by Doe #1 is that "Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq." He states that he personally witnessed weapons being "pulled out" from dog food bags. Doe #2 alleges that "Prince and his employees arranged for the weapons to be polywrapped and smuggled into Iraq on Mr. Prince's private planes, which operated under the name Presidential Airlines," adding that Prince "generated substantial revenues from participating in the illegal arms trade."

Both individuals allege that Prince and Blackwater deployed individuals to Iraq who, in the words of Doe #1, "were not properly vetted and cleared by the State Department." Doe #2 adds that "Prince ignored the advice and pleas from certain employees, who sought to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent Iraqis." Doe #2 further states that some Blackwater officials overseas refused to deploy "unfit men" and sent them back to the US. Among the reasons cited by Doe #2 were "the men making statements about wanting to deploy to Iraq to 'kill ragheads' or achieve 'kills' or 'body counts,'" as well as "excessive drinking" and "steroid use." However, when the men returned to the US, according to Doe #2, "Prince and his executives would send them back to be deployed in Iraq with an express instruction to the concerned employees located overseas that they needed to 'stop costing the company money.'"

Doe #2 also says Prince "repeatedly ignored the assessments done by mental health professionals, and instead terminated those mental health professionals who were not willing to endorse deployments of unfit men." He says Prince and then-company president Gary Jackson "hid from Department of State the fact that they were deploying men to Iraq over the objections of mental health professionals and security professionals in the field," saying they "knew the men being deployed were not suitable candidates for carrying lethal weaponry, but did not care because deployments meant more money."

Doe #1 states that "Blackwater knew that certain of its personnel intentionally used excessive and unjustified deadly force, and in some instances used unauthorized weapons, to kill or seriously injure innocent Iraqi civilians." He concludes, "Blackwater did nothing to stop this misconduct." Doe #1 states that he "personally observed multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force." He then cites several specific examples of Blackwater personnel firing at civilians, killing or "seriously" wounding them, and then failing to report the incidents to the State Department.

Doe #1 also alleges that "all of these incidents of excessive force were initially videotaped and voice recorded," but that "Immediately after the day concluded, we would watch the video in a session called a 'hot wash.' Immediately after the hotwashing, the video was erased to prevent anyone other than Blackwater personnel seeing what had actually occurred." Blackwater, he says, "did not provide the video to the State Department."

Doe #2 ..alleges that Prince "obtained illegal ammunition from an American company called LeMas. This company sold ammunition designed to explode after penetrating within the human body. Mr. Prince's employees repeatedly used this illegal ammunition in Iraq to inflict maximum damage on Iraqis."

Blackwater has gone through an intricate rebranding process in the twelve years it has been in business, changing its name and logo several times. Prince also has created more than a dozen affiliate companies, some of which are registered offshore and whose operations are shrouded in secrecy. According to Doe #2, "Prince created and operated this web of companies in order to obscure wrongdoing, fraud and other crimes."

"Blackwater is a law unto itself, both internationally and domestically. The question is why they operated with impunity. In addition to Blackwater, we should be questioning their patrons in the previous administration who funded and employed this organization. Blackwater wouldn't exist without federal patronage; these allegations should be thoroughly investigated," Kucinich said.

Get Ready for the New Great Depression. Leading Economists Say: "We are in the midst of a Depression with No End in Sight."

My readers know I am an optimist. I see a glass of water as half full, not half empty. My entire life, I have always believed that if you worked hard enough and always did your best you would succeed.

However, times are different now. I am sharing with my viewers my concern for our economy. Though I have shared my concern before, this time, I am listening to my own favorite economists and others who are saying the U.S. and the Global Economy is in free-fall with no end in sight. The stimulus package, though needed, is but a band-aid and will not stop this free-fall. Now more banks are failing and there is talk of Bank Nationalization.

. Robert Reich: "The truth is, no one has any idea how long this crisis will last or exactly how to reverse it. Anyone who says differently cannot be trusted..Financial stocks are in free fall because no one trusts financials any longer. A sell-off in bank, housing, insurance and other financial stocks has accelerated."

. George Soros: "the world financial system has effectively disintegrated.. there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis."

. Paul Volcker: "I don't remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world."

. Lindsey Graham: "I'm very much afraid that any program to salvage the banks is going to require the government. I would not take off the idea of the nationalizing the banks."

It is clear, historians will look back and say we are in the midst of the 2008 -2010 Great Depression.

I ask all viewers and all Americans to start considering their options for the future. I don't want you to be fooled by some in government or in the media that are saying there may be hope to get out of this current mess this year or next. We all have to understand we are in the midst of a Depression.

Most of us still have some time. We need to start developing a plan in case you lose your job and your family has no income. Consider the fact you probably cannot sell your house. Even so, you can still make these plans and not negatively impact the economy.

Here are some simple suggestions:

1. Write down every penny you spend. That is, write down all your purchases, starting today. Do this for a month.

2. Once you have your list, make a monthly calendar. This will be your monthly plan. You can plan your shopping and your menus well in advance.

3. Figure out what you can buy in bulk once a month, things like Toilet Paper, canned/boxed goods.

4. Start clipping coupons. Also, if you shop at Wal-mart, they will match any low prices from any competitor. Just take their flyers with you when you go to the store.

5. This is the start of a monthly budget. Do some analysis. Decide what you need, what you don't need.

6. You will start saving money once you do this. So start saving as much as you can. Save enough money so that you can survive for 3 months if you lost your job.

7. If you do lose your job, you will probably qualify for unemployment. So on top of your 3 months savings, the unemployment will help you too.

8. Take any job. Don't think any job is beneath you. Remember, Wal-mart and McDonalds are always hiring. Think of the jobs your grandparents worked just to survive and bring you along.

9. If needed, bring extended family members who need help into your home and share costs until the crisis is over.

Don't wait for the last minute. Start writing down all you spend today. This is the easiest, yet most crucial step.

Finally, I think all of us personally remember the last 8 years and how we got here, so I will close with: "Thank you George Bush for eight miserable years of Economic Gloom and Doom and for getting us into this mess!"

References:

Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse"

Hope and Trust, and the Mini Depression

Washington, Wall Street Buzzing About Prospect of Bank Nationalization

The Movie "W", Real or a Pile of Crap?

My husband and I met in the 1970s. We were teenagers. We met and fell in love. We used to walk to the movie theater every weekend.

From the time I was a child, I loved movies. I persuaded my husband into the habit when we were young. Then after we got married, and grew as a family, going to the movies every Saturday became a tradition.

Every Saturday morning, I go to yahoo.com and we read "what´s on" and often, we read the movie reviews.

Today, I really wanted to see "W". He did not. So today, as we very rarely, but sometimes do, we went to different movies. I saw "W." He saw "Pride and Glory." He said he enjoyed his movie, but not especially the ending. (In reality, I knew he missed having me next to him, holding hands.)

I said to him, "You were right. You would not have enjoyed my movie." I knew watching this movie would be like visiting a dentist´s office for him. For me, I had mixed reviews.

The movie provided a kind biography for "W." I like biographies, however, even though I do not like W, I almost felt sorry for him. As the story line goes, "W." had a rough childhood. His parents did not believe in him and favored their son Jeb. His brother was brilliant. "W." was not. W was an alcoholic. He was not bright. He fell in with the wrong crowd. He was lucky to find a nice Librarian for a wife. His wife loved him and supported him throughout his career. (I liked that part. What more could a wayward husband ask for?) His friends from Yale supported him in running for Gov. of TX. He met Karl Rove who was the evil brains manager. He fell in with his Father´s political PNAC crowd. (Cheney was the evil culprit of most of his problems during his Presidency.) Upon his win for Prez, they masterminded the evil nature of his Presidency. He also fell under the evil influence of the extremist Christian Right.

All "W" ever wanted was his father´s love and a happy family.

This movie was very frustrating for anyone who watched it.

For the Right, it showed the world their Dirty Political Antics.

For the Left and W, it portrayed "W" as an honest, innocent victim of the evil Right, all in search of his father´s approval.

The end result, VERY ODD and a bit frustrating!