This is a piece from Military.com; written by a man who's been there (but, unlike a lot, he got out; and, in one piece)  There are also MANY ways that our military kills our kids, from not giving them body armor to a disregard for civilian deaths - which just pisses the locals off even more and causes them to become insurgents - and kill our kids.  So many, many ways that Bush is killing our kids - this is just one more way.

For military buffs, this is an insightful look into how the Soviet-style military that we've grown to be (central, bloated command, with initiative taken away from the men in the field - and all over-seen by people with no military experience).

As a Vietnam-era Navy vet, who had friends on the ground and in AC-47's, and with friends in the current military, this rings SO true - and sad.

Our kids are losing their lives, thanks to the top of our leadership being inept, corrupt and arrogant.

The story (original here) comes after the fold.

This is kinda long, but it is full of links and quotes and will scare the shit out of you, if you've been paying attention to what's been going on since 2004. I will sink to this plea: PLEASE RECOMMEND this diary, so as to keep it on the front page for a while!

By now, you've read about Directive 51 and how Bush wrote a directive that allows him, and him alone, to declare a take-over of our government.  Oh, the act SAYS that the 3 branches are co-equal, but as I'll show you, that's just bullshit.

Combine Directive 51 with what happened in pre-election 2004, and you can't help but conclude that 'something wicked this way comes'.

On the flip, be prepared to flip (out).

Check this out; let me know if I'm off base, somewhere:

http://corruptsec.blogspot.com

This shit happens every day; I've just decided to start documenting it.

Any suggestions are welcome for companies to blog about.

I have offered, to several news organizations, to pay my own way to Iraq and to absolve them of all liability.

Can you believe it?  No luck.

I have been a stringer for The Houston Post, The Houston Chronicle and The Denver Post.  In addition, I was a weekly columnist for The Denver Post for exactly 52 weeks (The Art of Walking), so it's not like I'm some yahoo wanting cheap thrills.

I already have the body armor and helmet and night vision (in antici.....pation of going, plus military experience during Nam), so I'm ready to go.

If anyone knows of a news organization that will sponsor me, please let me know.

Yes, as fucking unbelievable as this sounds, especially in the wake of Katrina, Bush is cutting NOAA.

Of course, he's upped their PUBLIC RELATIONS expenditures!  Gotta look good!

The new director is none too happy; guess he's not a true Bushie (and will soon be gone).

The frickin' quotes after the fold.

From an e-mail that I sent out, in response to another e-mail.  Full text follows.

This is just great. <sigh>

"We want to spy, but we will justify it by not targeting any particular individual!  Instead, we will just sweep everything up, so that we can't be accused of profiling or whatever."

Oh, well, that makes it ok.

That's exactly like saying,

"We want to search homes without a warrant.  So, to be able to justify that, we will search EVERYONE'S home and not just certain individuals.  Consequently, those people with the ACLU or Human Rights Watch won't have to worry that we're targeting them."

I was wondering, today, just what’s happening in South and Central America.  You know, other than our Prezidunce traveling around down there, trying to piss each and every South and Central American off, one at a time (and, by the way, doing one heckuva job!)

I thought, other than the pissing-off thing, what’s been going on down there?  Haven’t been reading about FARC killing a lot of people or the Amazon burning down (although it is) or us trying to overthrow yet another democracy.   Maybe everything is starting to smooth out!!

Then I thought:  No... that’s not right.  That CAN’T be right!  Bush is our Prezidunce!  If we’re not hearing about him screwing things up, it’s only because our media isn’t telling us, and the time to worry is when things get quiet.

Things are too quiet, I thought. (ominous music goes here)

While not absolutely, technically correct, the thrust of the headline is true.

I'm not going to comment much, here.  The article is long, and you'll have enough outrage without my trivial comments.

The following is quoted directly from MSNBC under the Fair Use statute, and with attribution.  I did not write a word of it, and quote it in its entirety, without any content modification, except for bolding and blockquoting.

So, without further ado, let's get ready to rumble!

Updated Text!  Comment from Dot in body of text.
2 women, yesterday, wanted to speak to their imperial senator; obviously, a senator is above that kind of 'wallowing in the masses' kinda thing.

Below the fold is her post to OregonDems@yahoogroups.com

I encourage you to write to this pinhead senator and let him know whether your agree or disagree with his actions.
http://gsmith.senate.gov/...

Imagine the gall of these women!  Expecting someone as important as a Senator to speak with old, female constituents who obviously can't contribute much money to his re-election is just un-American!

Naturally, a Senator that would have elderly women arrested for exercising their free speech rights is a Rethuglican!

Oh, yes!  Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaaha!

Oh, this is SUCH a treat!  The Retreaticans are imploding in Washington, civilian Retreaticans are making excuses for them and sticking to... er... with their leader, who is 'staying the course'.  How many times have we heard that?

Bill O'Liely/Hannity/Novak/Coulter/Cheney/Rumsfeld ALL deriding the left for wanting to set a timetable and get the flock out of Vietn... er... Iraq.

Cut and run is what they said we wanted to do, although no one on the left ever said anything like that.

Well, NOW what are the Pukes gonna say?  

Well, the article from the AP actually talks about 'terrorists' being jailed indefinitely under a Bush proposal, but the headline is still completely true.

Specifically, the article says:

U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.

A retired AF Judge Advocate has this to say:

Scott L. Silliman, a retired Air Force Judge Advocate, said the broad definition of enemy combatants is alarming because a U.S. citizen loosely suspected of terror ties would lose access to a civilian court -- and all the rights that come with it. Administration officials have said they want to establish a secret court to try enemy combatants that factor in realities of the battlefield and would protect classified information.

Even if you think that this is a good idea, after the flip, let's review The Enabling Act (oh, I'm sorry - The PATRIOT Act), shall we?

When I went to bed last night, it was - oh - 1981 or so.  You know, high deficits, a crazy cabal in charge of the country, the US creating tension in the world, high gas prices, etc. etc.

However, when I woke up this morning, it was 1950.

Wha' happened?  I feel like I'm in the movie, "Back to the Future", except this movie has no gag lines or cool sets.

To be fair, though, the voice that woke me up had, at first, a comforting sound, as it said, "Do not adjust your set.  We are in control.  We control the horizontal."  Like Nick Danger, Third Eye, says, "Then it hit me."  Ouch!

Why, you ask, do you think you're in 1950?

Standing in for DailyOutrage, there is only one Outrage that I'll write about today, and it's not something that BushCo did; rather, it's something that Democracy For America and Democracy for Texas and the nation Democratic Party and the Texas Democrats (TxDemocrats.org - more about why it's not .com in a moment) and what they're NOT doing!

After the fold, I'll give you a little Texas Constitutional history, and then I'll go on a rant (just a bit) and then tell you what you can do - if you'd like to help Take Back Texas!  Texas is, after all, where the malignancy called "BushCo" started, and this is where that malignancy should be put to sleep.

There will also be a poll, and then we can all sleep better tonight.  And.... awaaay we go! (apologies to Jackie Gleason)

Alice!  Oh, Alice!  Please wait!

I've fallen down (the rabbit hole) and I can't get up!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.

The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.

Where does Bush find these people that are so ready to try to tear down what has taken decades to build?  He's torn down environmental laws, labor laws, privacy laws, the Constitution, US/foreign relations, etc. etc. etc. etc.

And now, BushCo takes us Back to the Future, where hating someone because of their sexual orientation is ok.

Crimes against gays were already up, ever since the bru-ha-ha over the marriage amendment travesty started; this should kick it into high gear.

There is a new blog coming next week; DailyOutrage.

This is a daily blog that lists the daily outrage from BushCo and its affiliated criminals.

Ok; I know, I know!  One entry??  For BushCo, per day???

The daily entry will actually contain a list of outrages that have been recorded since the last post, so you can usually count on it containing more than one entry - maybe 10 or 20, the way things are going.

The list is being fed by people on the newsgroups:
DailyKos@yahoogroups.com
OpenDebateForum@googlegroups.com
ImpeachBushNOW@yahoogroups.com
DiehardDems@yahoogroups.com

And anyone else that would like to contribute.

To contribute, send an e-mail containing a link to the outrage (no non-linked articles and blogs that are linked must have links to hard news sources; this will be a factual blog - though, with some opinion and snide remarks thrown in).  The outrage's e-mail is:

outrage at larry-wilson dotcom

 Spam will be tracked down and dealt with - if possible.

Note: David Van Os is the Democratic candidate for the Attorney General of Texas.  He knows no other way that to speak the plain truth from the heart.  He is running against the current AG, Abbott, who has $5.8 million in the bank; I believe that David, who accepts NO corporate funds, has a low 4 digit bank account balance.  That's just not right.

Disclaimer: I am on the steering committee and received this when he e-mailed it to steering committee members.  I asked for, and received, permission to repost here.  PLEASE CONTRIBUTE to David's campaign, even if it's only a dollar.  If you contribute, please end your contribution with .11, like $5.11.  Thanks, Wolverine.

David's campaign has national implications, since - as AG - he can, and will, go after oil companies for war profiteering and Texas anti-trust violations. View the poster he wants to put up, on his website. There is an explaination of some of why he should be getting national support here.

David's message is on the flip-side.

We are now a nation of torturers; we've known that for a while, but the following is still un-frickin'-believable!

In Tennessee, this story is hitting the wire again.  The first time around, Janet's boob, at the Super Bowl, grabbed the headlines, and that was WAY more important than 5 cops torturing an alleged drug dealer in his own kitchen.  These cops beat him, hooked his privates up to batteries, put a gun to his head, beat him some more, threatened to do the same to his wife, and they did it because he 'voluntarily' sign a 'consent to search'.

There is audio and a transcript(pdf); the guy's wife had the presence of mind to turn a recorder on before she was hustled out of the house (down to the store where, fortunately, the cops didn't feel secure enough to drag her back from).  The audio is riveting, but if you read the trascript along with the audio, be sure to take some Vallium or something - and keep loaded weapons out of your reach.  (Warning: the tape is graphic and disturbing.  This is, after all, someone being tortured, up close and personal)

In a move that should surprise absolutely no-one, the new FEMA nominee, Acting FEMA director R. David Paulison, took questionable deductions on his taxes; 2003-5.  link

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman, "predicted it would not hinder his approval as permanent chief."

Yep.  Before we find out if he's a crook or not, we already know that, even if he is a crook, he's the man for the job.  Actually, committing crimes before coming into office is a trend that the President and Vice-President set with their DUIs.  It simply doesn't matter to anyone whether or not Paulison is a cheat.  Well, except Lieberman, of course, who said that we should 'err on the side of caution'.  In other words, he said nothing.

Hell, compared to the rest of the Bush Bunch, he's a regular saint.