Oh yes trampling on the freedoms of corporations and other well funded groups who hide behind their veil when it comes to taxation and other issues related to accountability, but plea to be treated like individuals when it comes to speech.
What the hell does taxation have to do with the prevention of an organization, whether it be the NRA or ACLU from mentioning legislation by name in paid broadcasts 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election? The McCain-Feingold statute makes it illegal to even mention the words McCain-Feingold in a paid for broadcast over the airwaves via television, cable or radio.
McCain said in his own words that his mind is made up and that Bush did no wrong. He himself has destroyed whatever credibility he had on the subject. He is just another Republican more interested in getting Bush re-selected than in learning the truth.
If you are working from the same McCain quote that I saw above, I don't see where he has sacrificed his impartiality. He certainly did not say that his mind is made up, I know yours is and luckily you aren't on this committee, but I don't read from his comment that Senator McCain's mind is made up. And if there is any Republican in the United States that wouldn't want Bush re-elected, it would be John McCain. What the Bushies did to McCain in the Republican primary makes interparty squabbles seem tame in comparison.
Well if what McCain said implies that he has made up his mind about the facts, well then that certainly means that Gore made up his mind when he said, "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power. ... We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." So, alright i'll accept that John McCain is "just another partisan" but what does that say about Gore and his beliefs about the subject?
I just couldn't resist This is such an easy thread to run with. This is kind of like standing on a beach preparing to shovel sand. Where does one begin? Let's first explore his lies used to convince the American public about why we needed to immediately, and against the best judgement of some of our oldest and most trusted allies, invade and overthrow the government of Iraq, since that is probably his most impeachable offense. "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons." United Nations Address September 12, 2002 "Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons." "We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have." Radio Address October 5, 2002 "The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons." "We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas." "We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States." "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" - his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." Cincinnati, Ohio Speech October 7, 2002 "Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent." State of the Union Address January 28, 2003 "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." Address to the Nation March 17, 2003 http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030606.html
I guess Clinton, Gore, Kerry all lied as well, so I guess that means you voted for Nadar and Perot the past three elections and will have to vote for Nadar again.
These W drones remind me of an abused woman. The guy beats the snot out of her and then makes her believe it was her fault and what she deserved and she apologizes to him. All the evidence is there to the contrary but she refuses to believe it because he has her convinced that what he is doing is in her best interest and that he "loves" her. No matter how many broken bones or black eyes he gives her or how many teeth he knocks out, he convinces her to keep coming back for more, until one day he kills her and then it's too late. Unfortunately, the innocent involved in her life have to suffer right along with her. And most likely the guy gets off scot free to go and do it to someone else. Hopefully, they'll wake up and not subject the rest of us to another beating, but I doubt it.
CIA Chief Tenet said that at no time did he describe the Iraqi "threat" to Bush as "imminent." He also said that all doubts that were held by CIA analysts on almost all issues about what Saddam had, was working on, or planned to get, were reported to Bush. Those doubts covered the entire spectrum of every nasty thing Bush was reporting as true. Instead of telling the American people the facts, which was that no one was sure of what was in Iraq, he reported the absolute worst case possibilities as moral certainties. David Kay when he said that "everyone was wrong" was also lying because "everyone" was NOT wrong. There were many at the UN, outside the UN, and in the CIA itself who doubted these dire warnings by Bush were true. As one expert has said, the fact that others outside the CIA and UN around the world thought Saddam had WMD is a specious argument because they were primarily relying on what Bush was saying. Bush took every worst case scenario, in some cases magnified them, presented them to America as fact, and eventually scared enough Americans into supporting his war. To phatcat's list can be added that Bush and Cheney repeatedly insisted that Saddam and Osama Bin Laden were working together when there was no evidence of it, and is something that we know today was the opposite of the truth. Lying to start a war is pretty close to the worst thing a President can do. Instead of offering Bush a chance at re-election we should be offereing him a cigarette and a blindfold.
