At the White House petition site:

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Nominate former President George W. Bush respectfully be named the next U.S. Ambassador to the country of Iraq.

In the best interest of both Nations, we the undersigned, respectfully request that Former President George W. Bush be nominated for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Nation of Iraq. Said position should include all rights and responsibilities of the Ambassador, including residence in the country in which they are representing the interests of the United States.

Created: Jun 17, 2014

Issues: Foreign Policy

Signatures needed by July 17, 2014 to reach goal of 100,000 99,758

Total signatures on this petition 242

[emphasis added]

One really can’t tell if this is sincere or ironic. At any rate, there are a number of people who should accompany him there.

Previously:

Throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm (June 25, 2013)

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.

Thanks for worse than nothing, Ralph.

We knew the stakes thirteen years ago. And the consequences have certainly come home to roost, 5-4, today.

A t-shirt distributed by NARAL to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in 2000.

Today Among People Who Wear Robes:

…I don’t mind, as Mr. Dooley sagely observed, that the Supreme Court follows the election returns, but I’d like some indication that any of them read a newspaper any time in the past two years. And, as Lemieux points out, thanks again, Ralph…

St. Ralph Speaks!:

The man who made Iraq, massive upper-class tax cuts and Sam Alito possible, while reassuring us all the while that a man who governed to the right of the Texas legislature was a harmless moderate indistinguishable from Al Gore, would like to share some insights into American politics…

Roberts To Black Folks (and/or Democrats): Don’t Bother Trying To Vote (in the comments):

When people talk about the injustice of Bush v. Gore, they normally go on to say it brought us the tangible horrors of the Bush administration – the Iraq war, above all. But it might be time to note this is the most pernicious and lasting legacy of the decision: allowing two young/far-right justices to be appointed and form a tenuous but all-powerful majority for decisions like this….

It might be time? It has been for a long time.

Besides, Al Gore is fat.

Spotted today on a vehicle today in central Missouri:

The irony and fairness would be even better if he had decent insurance at his job

in the food service industry because of Obamacare. And he made a living wage while selling those fries.

Not long to the remainder bin at one of those chain stores, eh?

Matthew Norman: How did this wastrel ever find his way to the White House?

It takes a certain minimal intelligence for the truly dim to have a notion of their own dimness, but this is denied George Bush. He has the self-awareness of a bison

Wednesday, 10 November 2010

….The process of historical revisionism has, like everything else, speeded alarmingly in the internet age. The emergence of Sarah Palin as an imaginable presidential candidate, allied to the unending travails of Obama, have induced in the amnesiac, the obtuse and the plain bananas a fondness for the memory of George W Bush.

It will not spread. If this great reader of history is concerned for his place in it – and that, needless to say, is why he hired a bright young groupie from Yale to write this memoir in something approximating English – he needn’t fret. In those few lists ranking all the presidents compiled since he left office, W is invariably in the bottom five.

For the two imbecile wars he began, for condoning torture by denying waterboarding was torture at all on the grounds that his lawyers said it was legal; for turning the surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton into the crippling deficit that is bringing the age of American hegemony to a startlingly abrupt end; and for being the pitiably Wagnerian fool who stumbled on to the grandest stage without any apparent clue why or for what earthly purpose, there he will forever remain.

And that’s one of the better reviews.

We are not worthy. Jamil Smith, via Twitter, sums up the eight years of dubya’s reign in only six words:

Try not to ruin them, too. • RT @George_WBush: I’m now on Twitter & Facebook.    about 4 hours ago  via Twitter for iPhone  

[emphasis added]

You’ve got to believe that right wingnuttia just detests the wide dissemination of public speech made possible by this Internets thing. You know, that technological entity that Al Gore took the initiative to promote as a legislator.  

Seven years ago today:

Presenter: Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz   May 31, 2003

Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz Interview with Michael Dwyer, Australian Broadcasting

….Q:  Just a couple of questions on Iraq.  I was just wondering as of today, where you consider the weapons of mass destruction to be and why the United Nations and weapons inspectors are still not being invited back into Iraq.

Wolfowitz:  Well on the second point, they’re certainly welcome to come back and in fact I believe we’ve made some arrangements already for the IAEA to come back to do some checking on sites that are known.  But bear in mind this regime had 12 years to develop very sophisticated methods of hiding things.  We have found those biological vans that the defector in Germany told us about.  They seem to be exactly what he said they would be.  And I would think that would pretty well corroborate the rest of his story which is they were for the production of biological weapons.

We said all along that we will never get to the bottom of the Iraqi WMD program simply by going and searching specific sites, that you’d have to be able to get people who know about the programs to talk to you.  And that’s why we gave the UN inspectors authorities they never had before to interview people.

It’s quite significant I think that Saddam never allowed any of his people to be interviewed without tape recorders present or monitors present, and we now have our hands on some small number of those people, and I think eventually with information that we get from people who know about the programs, we’ll get to the bottom of what was there and what happened to it….

Over five years later:

Bush: My biggest regret is false intelligence on Iraq WMDs

“…The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq,” Bush said. “A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein.”

But he declined to speculate on whether he would have gone to war if the intelligence had said Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction….

My biggest regret is that at the end of 2000 I had to ask myself the question, “Did I do enough?” And almost ten years later I continue to be painfully reminded of the answer.

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Docudharma Tag: petition for a special prosecutor, for background

Hat tip to David Swanson this morning…

Obama Supporters in DC Want Bush Arrested

By David Swanson, January 19, 2009 at 07:33:58

More below the fold!

ConvictBushCheney.org

By David Swanson, Mon, 2009-01-19 05:04.

Click to sign the petition to Attorney General designate Eric Holder:

Dear Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder,

We the undersigned citizens of the United States hereby formally petition you to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes.  CLICK TO SIGN:

Collect signatures in the real world by printing out this PDF.

Please also phone the Office of the Attorney General at 202-353-1555.

Join our Facebook group.

There are a lot more steps you can take.

A proclamation in the name of dubya was issued from the White House yesterday. They are consistent in their cluelessness and obsessive in serving their base:

For Immediate Release

Office of the Press Secretary

January 15, 2009

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial-birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America. Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother…

[emphasis added]

Timeout: Could someone explain how teen abstinence is part of “promoting a culture of life” and yet there’s no mention of the horrors of war?

The proclamation continues:

…America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

I encountered this same attitude up close and personal during the closing days of the last campaign:

Kicking up the tempo

…A large sedan plastered with republican and anti-choice bumper stickers pulled to a stop as we walked down the street on our canvass. A little old lady (very spry) jumped out and asked us who we were. We told her we were canvassing for Obama. She told us, “Wait a minute, I’ve got something for you.” She pulled forward out of traffic, then jumped out of her car to open the trunk. We stopped our walk in the opposite direction and turned to walk toward the car. As she opened the trunk she turned to look for us and started, saying, “You scared me!”

“You know I’m pro-life.” I replied, “I take it that means you’re against the death penalty and war?” “Oh no, it’s about murdering babies. Do you believe in God? Are you saved, is Jesus your savior? What church do you belong to?” I replied, “I don’t. I’m Jewish.” Without missing a beat she asked, “What about Israel?” I replied, “What about it?” She handed us each a flier and asked us to read it, saying, “Pray on this. I know you’re doing what you believe in.” She turned to go back to her car and we each said, “Have a nice day.”

[emphasis added]

Evidently starting a war based on lies doesn’t figure in their equation.

Irony impaired in perpetuity.

Politics vs. Justice: Spotlighting The Holder Confirmation Hearings

by buhdydharma at Docudharma, Wed Jan 14, 2009

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Docudharma Tag: petition for a special prosecutor for background

First let me say that we want Eric Holder confirmed as Attorney General. We want him confirmed because of statements like this…

Washington, D.C. — Eric H. Holder Jr., Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton administration, asserted in a speech to the American Constitution Society (ACS) that the United States must reverse “the disastrous course” set by the Bush administration in the struggle against terrorism by closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, declaring without qualification that the U.S. does not torture people, ending the practice of transferring individuals involuntarily to countries that engage in torture and ceasing warrantless domestic surveillance.

“Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the ‘War on Terror’ have diminished our standing in the world community and made us less, rather than more, safe,” Holder told a packed room at the ACS 2008 Convention on Friday evening. “For the sake of our safety and security, and because it is the right thing to do, the next president must move immediately to reclaim America’s standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights.”

We want the man who said those words to be our next Attorney General. Because in truth and in a logical world the best way, perhaps the only way, to “reclaim America’s standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights”…..is to investigate and then prosecute those who have criminally destroyed that standing. They destroyed it by using torture.

For those of you still on the fence as to whether the Bush Administration engaged in actual torture as opposed to merely “Enhanced Interrogation,” I offer this statement released today by a Bush appointee.

The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a “life-threatening condition.”

“We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani,” said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. “His treatment met the legal definition of torture.”

One of the arguments made in defense of the Bush Administrations official policy of torture that first surfaced at Abu Ghraib is that it was “a few bad apples.”

Indeed:

Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Fox News Sunday, President Bush admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He said he personally asked “what tools” were available to use on him, and sought legal approval for waterboarding him:

  BUSH: One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. … And I’m in the Oval Office and I am told that we have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the professionals believe he has information necessary to secure the country. So I ask what tools are available for us to find information from him and they gave me a list of tools, and I said are these tools deemed to be legal? And so we got legal opinions before any decision was made.

KARL: Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

CHENEY: I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it.

All of their false claims of legality come from one source, their own pet lawyers. Much of whose legal “work” has already been destroyed by the Supreme Court. Their only claim to legality comes from complicit lawyers in the White House and in the now famously corrupt and politicized Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice that Eric Holder has now been nominated to lead.  

A Department of Justice that should, unlike the DOJ under Bush, be independent of political concerns. As Obama himself acknowledges..

OBAMA: What I — I think my general view when it comes to my attorney general is he is the people’s lawyer. Eric Holder’s been nominated. …His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not to be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So, ultimately, he’s going to be making some calls….

The Attorney General does NOT, unlike the DOJ under Bush, work for the President. He works for The People of the United States. And he works for justice. Non-partisan, non-politicized justice, with no other agenda other than serving justice and representing the legal interests of the American people.

In a logical sane and rational world….a non-politicized world….AG Holder’s task would be clear cut. A “slam dunk” if you will.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has just released a 487 page report (NOTE: pdf file) whose table of contents clearly spells out what must be on AG Holders agenda in both reforming the DOJ and to effectively “reclaim America’s standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights.”:

Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys and other Department Personnel

Selective Prosecution

Politicization of the Prosecution Function

Politicization of the Civil Rights Division and Voting Rights Enforcement

Detention

Enhanced Interrogation

Ghosting and Black Sites

Extraordinary Rendition

Warrantless Domestic Surveillance

National Security Letters (NSLs) and Exigent Letters

Use of Signing Statements

Midnight Rulemaking

The Leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s Covert CIA Identity

Improper Use of State Secrets and Other Authorities

Manipulation and Misuse of Intelligence

All of these charges have been well documented and backed up with evidence. In addition to the admissions by Bush and Cheney of authorizing an entire network of torture and torture facilities. There is no question that crimes have been committed. The only questions left are what to do about it….and if we can overcome the politics that surround and protect the Bush Administration’s crimes.

We The People want Eric Holder confirmed as the nex
t Attorney General of the United States.

IF Attorney General Holder will uphold his statements of principle. Especially as to his objections to “Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the ‘War on Terror'”

However, thanks to the efforts of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Addington, Yoo and Bybee….we do NOT live in a logical sane and rational world, a non-politicized world. They have succeeded, so far, in muddying what should be crystal clear water. The evidence is there. Will we as a people and a country under the Rule of Law ignore it?

Due to politics and separate from any question of law, AG Designate Holder may not be able to directly come out at the confirmation hearings and state that he will even investigate these crimes, but he must be asked the question. In the muddied waters of our current political environment it would be political suicide to directly state that he will pursue justice. How low we as a nation have sunk into those muddy waters when the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America must not, for purely political reasons, openly state that he will pursue criminals.

He cannot state his intentions openly, yet he has to be asked the question posed by Bob Fertik of Democrats.com on Obama’s website, over seventy thousand people have voted for it to be asked:

“Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor — ideally Patrick Fitzgerald — to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping,”

There is an internet campaign by The Center for Constitutional Rights and by The Pen urging us to call (800-828-0498 or 800-473-6711 ) the following Senators and urge them to ask that question:

1) Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)

2) Senator Dick Durbin (IL)

3) Senator Patrick Leahy (VT)

4) Senator Russ Feingold (WI)

Over 15,000 people have signed The Citizens Petition: Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes. Obama was asked the question by George Stephanopoulos. It has been covered by the New York Times. As the inauguration approaches and the muddy waters start to clear, momentum is building for accountability.

We have in Eric Holders confirmation hearing a chance to make our voices heard even more in this quest for accountability. Please take this opportunity to add your voice.

We do NOT want to torpedo Eric Holders chances of becoming Attorney General. But we DO want to make sure he lives up to his statements and principles. Please take this opportunity to let the Senators on the Judiciary Committee and AG designate Holder know that you support the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the crimes of the Bush Administration.

Sign the petition, call the above Senators and your own representatives, and make your voice, and the voices of your fellow citizens, heard.

………………………………………………………..

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Docudharma Tag: petition for a special prosecutor for background